Embers IC: Duskwood recovers

Weiss winced at the jab, shuffling to make room.
"Ow, why the meanness?"
Mumbling under her breath she leaned back, sipping at her drink as eyes flickered around the room, expression already lapsing into one of thought even as her gaze returned to the table.

“'Cause we’re friends.” She smirks at Weiss. “Maybe a fence to keep certain people in so they aren’t running about losing fence posts and cows and whatnot all the time, Seb?” She pulls off her glasses and begins to clear raindrops and mud that may or may not have been there for much longer on her trousers, then replaces them and squints at the symbols on the table.

"If the power did shatter in multiple directions, we may need to do this more than once."
Aryana looks confused for a moment

“And we don’t have an Elsicarian glyph for person to person. I’m not sure if any of them could work that way. Could we use the vase to hold the power, and then do a second ritual to transfer it?”

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Seb looks up from her drink, and says thoughtfully “I think with the runes we used – take or give, life-force, person or object – a person-person or object-object transfer should be possible.” She pauses, and then adds, “We’d need to test it first, of course. Maybe between two dragon scales?”

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“Potentially, or the welder of the gauntlet could act as a catalyst during the process, storing it within themselves for a bit” Shiehk takes a sip of his drink before scribbling down a few more notes
"It is intriguing to note that the Iron Wraith can store souls in their grasps until they reach the shrine to offer to their God. Perhaps the grasp we have can do the same…" his voice trails off again as his mind flows with ideas, quickly scribbling down anything that come to his mind

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Aryana raises an eyebrow

“I’m assuming the welder would be a person and not an…” She trails off for a moment. “Wait are you suggesting that the gauntlet should be welded by a Nephilim?”

“I mean… that could work.”

Glancing between the four of them Weiss frowned, eyes flicking down to her cup- before a sigh escaped her, moving to slowly stand as Shiehk carried on the thoughts.
“I’m going to go and find something a bit stronger than this. You academics sound like you’re in your own worlds already.” Lightly teasing she pulled herself and away from the table, head shaking lightly. Bloody scholars.

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"Stronger than… whiskey? Well, you could try some of Granny Apple’s cider, but you might want to track down a good source of the purge first. Otherwise you may find yourself in Namassis, with no idea how you got there. "

A wink flickered Aryana’s way, or at least presumably so. It was hard to tell with that mask still on.
“What’s stronger than one glass of whiskey, Ary? Two glasses, or one real big mug. I would have thought a professional puzzle solver like you could have figured that one out.”

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“Right, so you’re going for a bottle then? Or do you plan on tapping the whole keg?” Aryana tilts her head slightly and grins

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Shiehk glances at Weiss before closing his booklet and returning it to his bag “Not a Nephilim no. A person. But perhaps Weiss is right, we shouldn’t be discussing plans now. We should be drinking.”

“Right, so person-to-person requires Seb’s hypothesis to be correct. Is which case, we wouldn’t need an intermediary as the current holders of power are humans and not objects themselves. I feel like Seb is quite probably correct. Like all known ritual magic, the intent would be supplied by the ritualists. But also like Seb, I’d want to try this first, to test that assumption.”

Aryana grins

“Some of us can do both at once.” She winks at Shiehk and fills his cup.

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She’d begun to step away before the comment reached her, giving the woman a pause. “Hm, do you think stealing a whole keg counts as a sin? Would it be less of a sin if I paid for it with stolen money?”

Moving to elevate the table of her daggers Weiss holstered them, backing up to the door as she glanced at Shiehk. “Why not both? It’s not like any bad plans have ever come about whilst drunk.”

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“I’ll drink to that,” Seb agrees as she drains her glass. “But I’m totally tapped for ideas right now. Hard enough keeping my thoughts straight, let alone having new ones.”

She shoots Weiss a grin. “Guess it depends on who you stole them from.”

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Shiehk takes the newly filled cup and takes a long swig from it “Thank you. But no we should celebrate, after all we did stop the evil sorcerer and live.”

Seb shuffles uncomfortably in her seat for a moment, evidence of an internal struggle. “Most of us,” she finally says with more force than she intended. “A lot of good people perished in that fight. Duskwood bled more than we’ve ever bled before, and it would pay for you to not forget that.”

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“Many of them were killed by people fighting for us. Don’t be too surprised if many in Duskwood decline to drink with you in the days ahead.”

Aryana looks sad as she raises her glass

“To those who can no longer share our table or fight by our side”

Shiehk bows his head, remembering those who have died over the last few days being here, wincing slightly at a certain memory “Yes, you are right Seb, to fallen comrades” raising his mug in the air

Seb raises her glass. “May their creations never be forgotten.”

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"I return with a paid for keg, and a ‘retrieved’ plate of cheese."
Stepping back through the door Weiss smiled, moving to set both down on the table between everyone. Moving to stand straight, hands adjusting her mask as she did.

“Seb, I have a… Question that you may or may not be able to answer.” Speaking as she sat down again Weiss leaned forwards, eyes on the blacksmith.

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