In a bid to rescue Master Armstrong from Halatali, Ulfarr hatched a desperate, hasty ploy. He would distract Final End with a job while some of his associates plucked the elder monk from his holding in the stone halls.
The force was a small one, Mukahli, Avenio, Evening and Tarot...capable enough...but without a solid plan, things went downhill quickly. Mukahli unwittingly (?) alarmed Gunnar’s watcher at the gates, who thus fed them into a trap. It lead to half the party facing a well-trained Bloodblade Monk in Wellwick, while the other half returned to Halatali only to discover that Ronsen had been moved to a location unknown. Though Avenio and Evening did defeat the monk (mostly Evening, while Avenio made sure no reinforcements came), the mission itself was a failure. To add to their troubles, it became evident that Gunnar had expected them...and was quite prepared.
Avenio Naemig spoke in a timbre of habitual calm, though it was clear from the notes of warmth in it that he was pleased, "Ah, Jancis. I've finally found you." The man smiled as she turned, and was for perhaps one of the few times she has seen him, not bedecked head to toe in steel encasing. His dusty travel clothes appeared well-worn, but not uncared for, "Are you well?"
Jancis Milburga looked up from her pondering, shoes clapping lightly on the stonework that wasn't overgrown. Her eyes took in all of Avenio, the surprise and then welcome smile growing as she reached hsi face. "Sir Avenio. Althyk's Joy." She repeats his words quietly 'finally found' and steps closer. "I was taking a walk. I. I am well. Safe. Busy I have been busy. It is good to see you." She tried to see if there were changes beyond the armor. "Muffin is well."
Avenio Naemig offered her a quick grin as she approached, and her comment ellicited a soft but genuine chuckle, "How comforting. I've been... busy, as well. Not exactly 'safe', but... well, that would be boring." He gave a surly little shrug and an apologetic smirk, "But I've been well, besides. And as always confounded by the nature of men."
Avenio Naemig: "If you hadn't guessed, I had indeed come to find you. I knew you frequented the area, but couldn't find any property listings. I'm afraid I may be in need of your aid again."
Jancis Milburga slid her hands up her arms to cross them lightly, "There are more good-natured than not. Quietier and harder to notice. Some boring is nice." She stressed -boring- with a smile before her brow furrowed, "In need of. What is it?" Against she checked over him with her gaze in a nurse-like curiousity.
Jancis Milburga: "Does anything hurt? Would you like to sit somewhere and talk? There are many benches about. Or somewhere specific."
You give Avenio Naemig a big hug.
Jancis Milburga slid her hands up her arms to cross them lightly, "There are more good-natured than not. Quietier and harder to notice. Some boring is nice." She stressed -boring- with a smile before her brow furrowed, "In need of. What is it?" Against she checked over him with her gaze in a nurse-like curiousity.
Jancis Milburga: "Does anything hurt? Would you like to sit somewhere and talk? There are many benches about. Or somewhere specific."
Avenio Naemig couldn't help but chuckle again as she seemed suddenly worried for his immediate health. He made a soothing motion with one gloved hand, patting the air placatingly, "I'm in fine fettle as ever, slake your worry, my friend. There are some things I must tell you, and a choice you must make. But, aye, perhaps somewhere quiet to sit would be welcome. Do you.... live nearby? There's also a nice view of the water down there, yes?"
Jancis Milburga looks westward. "I do. I have stayed in the house there for many moons. When I am not traveling and being boring." She took up the term as a fond joke. "You can see the water well from the edge there, almost like the ocean. Come let me show you." Her hand reached out and brushes over the top of his before leading the way.
Avenio Naemig followed her out over the bridge, where a light mist could be felt on the breeze, and stopped. He gazed out over the water, his pale azure gaze tinging grey compared to the casual wrath of the nearby falls. The man looked unchanged for the most part, his demeanor resolute and stoic as always. Though he carried no visible weapon, he walked - as always - with the confident step of a mercenary unafraid to trod where he pleased. He took in a long breath, casting a gaze over his shoulder.
Avenio Naemig: "There is much I should tell you, since I value your friendship. I hate to come only when I need your aid, but trust is something I find in hard supply, these days." He hesitated only briefly before beginning again, "Do you remember a few moons ago, the ... seedy business that started out in Mor Dhona? How much of that nightmare do you remember?"
Jancis Milburga looked out on the waterfall that at first was loud, the sound becoming more familiar until it was a soft noise in the background that gave its own kind of surrounding quiet. A quiet that could not travel far. "I remember." She started, slowly reflecting back.
Jancis Milburga: "I remember a city. With tall buildings and stone streets. There were illusions that wanted revenge. Dark magicks. You were wounded. We were split up. I. A courtyard. A church."
Jancis Milburga brings her hand up to her face, feeling her own breath as she pulled up the fractured memories of the subconscious world. "You were wounded and protective. The others. Many others. We followed through a narrow alley. There was something important. Thaliak..."
Avenio Naemig nodded once, pausing before going on. Like that night, the past continued to find a way to re-assert itself. "Aye, that's The Landing, alright. Or what was left of it, in my mind. An impressive recollection of detail, in particular. Well, it exists. Or... some cruel joke in its place. Before the Calamity, it was a town. My hometown: Nauphica's Landing. Just a tiny quarry village on the borders of Gyr Albania. Then war came, and with it ruin."
Avenio Naemig: "I was only eighteen at the end of the Era. When Bahamut chewed the earth, my village was destroyed. Partially directly due to my own actions." the highlander sighed, but went on, "The ensuing changes to the land made the village unaccessible by foot. That, and the all-but-extinguished population ensured the city never even survived long enough to be mapped on the Garleans' rebuilding efforts."
Jancis Milburga repeats "Nauphica's Landing" and looks over to listen to more than the words. She looked in disagreement to his assertion of fault, but dared not interrupt. "Then something of it remains beyond memories? And plagues you with darkness?"
Avenio Naemig turned to her briefly, his cerulean eyes glazed over with memory passing before them, "Verily. Thus it remained for years: a shell, existing only in parts and what you were forced to experience. Up until recently. I've found that a man who wants my head has set up shop there. In what cannot be more than cruel fate, he's used the shell of the ruins to create a base of operations, smuggling any number of ilicit contraband from drugs to slaves and everything in between."
Avenio Naemig turned his gaze away with frustration, clear distaste for the den of dishonesty, "With the help of some friends, I've already shut down several of these little... 'shops' he has going. And it would seem I've now several reasons to return and settle The Landing to its grave once and for all."
Jancis Milburga frowns deeply at the news of a 'shop'. She immediately agreed. "And dismantle this last base of pain. No matter where he places it, though it sounds he has done so intentionally to provoke you. It will fall the same as the one that took Caen. And I want you to be able to go to this place and see peace there. Some closure where graves grow grass and feed on new life."
Jancis Milburga: "Where is it? I can gather supplies. I. I cannot scout it alone. I made promises to be more careful for the time being. But I can come with you and be at your back."
Avenio Naemig turned again to look at her with a careful look of touched shock, "You know so little of the detail, yet you offer so willingly. Aye, I could use your help. The reconnaisance has been performed, and I've done a lot of preparation, which has led to... the actual infiltration." He paused as his stony gaze softened, and he stared at her with an almost apologetic amount of worry behind his cerulean stare, "I agonized for a long time about asking you to come, for I knew you would not hesitate.
Avenio Naemig: "But apart from the danger, I find there is no one else I'd rather have at my back in the thickest of things. And perhaps having you there might dissuade me from taking stupid risks."
Jancis Milburga: "I do not understand why that would make you wait. I know and trust you." Her focus stayed on him, watching the emotion on his face. "Though I do want to hear the details and be prepared. Avenio." She didn't give him a title, "You are far from stupid. There is hope you keep kindled for others. Gladly I return what you have given me to you."
Jancis Milburga asks, "What do you wish to see this Landing as?"
Avenio Naemig exhaled in relief and nodded to her, one hand working it's way to rub at the back of his neck as he replied, "Dead and buried, as it should be. It shall live on it me, its only survivor. But all else needs to end. I have a plan in place to stop it. With the help of some adventurers and the local law enforcement, we're to attack in two places at once. The first, a small team will sneak within during the opportune time find as many of the leadership as possible."
Avenio Naemig: "Second, the bulk of our forces and the Yellowjackets will assail the tunnels that have been constructed beneath the town which are being used to smuggle goods south of the Shroud. They'll also be there to cut off any escape of our targets."
Jancis Milburga closed her eyes periodically, echoing silently his words to commit to memory. "You plan to be part of the first group? You mentioned trafficking before. How many there are unwilling or doing so under duress?"
Avenio Naemig nodded, "I do, aye. And my friend Berrod will be heading the latter team," he frowned at her latter quesiton, and shrugged gravely, "Unknown. Dozens? If not more. Aye, some are there on payroll, some are indentured servants. Others are in shackles. Both willing and unwilling. The depravity knows no bounds." the man grimaced, "I should like to shield you from witnessing such horrors, were I not in such dire need of your help."
Jancis Milburga looks a bit surprised and happy to hear Berrod's name, her expression fond and thoughtful at the mention of Armstrong. "That is why you hesitate. Little wonder that is what I remember most from that. That tangible dream. Ever protective." She looks at her hand again a moment. "I am sorry there are such horror. If you want me to help you focus, I will make it through the horror and you will be there to bolster me through it. I can even mend some of it. It will not all be loss."
Jancis Milburga: "Be other survivors and reassurance that this man who. Who is a man no longer but a monster will not bring more. Not more to you. To anyone. Mostly not to you. Plants will grow and animals will graze."
Avenio Naemig nodded again, his expression grateful, "Having you there would be a comfort. And you're not to 'Dendo's "tastes" so he won't try to sully you with that... that -way- of his." The man shuddered, but decided not to elaborate. Given what she knew already, perhaps that was best, "And thank you. There will be a chance to do much good that night besides the closure I'll get."
Jancis Milburga lifted her hand to Avenio's sleeve at the shudder, her fingers silent on the fabric from the lack of callouses the healer maintained somehow. She squeezed supportively and waited, but no more came of this Dendo. "Much good." She repeated in agreement, accepting her ignorance as a boon to him. "The armor. And your hair. That has changed."
Avenio Naemig looked up again, startled briefly. He grinned sheepishly, and raised a hand to run through the shaggy, shorn locks at the back of his head, "Ah, you noticed? It had gotten too long, I think. Easier to fight like this anyway." He flashed her a quick grin, "The armour I still have. It rests at home tonight. It was Berrod who helped me realize I didn't need to wear it every day. I have to admit my joints have thanked him."
Jancis Milburga smiles in the respite of other weighing news that brought him. "I have trained with some. Thaliak only knows how people wear it as another skin. Can barely lift my feet and hands after a bell with it. I can see why Sir Armstrong would prefer without. He is a tactile man. If you see him again soon, please give him a fond greeting from me. Everytime I think of him, I smile. And it is good to see you, regardless of why."
Jancis Milburga: "Thank you for finding me."
Avenio Naemig chuckled softly once more, and nodded, "I shall. Don't let him fool you with his sour moods - he's really just a softie. It was nice to see you again, Jancis. I shall send word when I have a date for our incursion, yes?"
Jancis Milburga: "Yes. Yes and I will be ready. Avenio, be safe. Even before that date. You can carry armor and others and protect everyone who has gotten close to you, let yourself be protected as well."
Avenio Naemig offered a small, final smirk, and then nodded, "Verily. Be well, Jancis. I shall endeavor to stay in touch, I promise." With that, the man gave a polite bow and headed up the walkway at an even, unhurried gait.
Jancis Milburga waved, watching his departure.
After spending many moons working on mineself and work that had to be done, I found myself reaching out to old friends and company I long missed.
Steadfast, I was accepted to the fold. To aid in ongoing work. The meeting that night opened me up to what plagued the agency the most. Work that is still in progress.
“For the sake of those who don’t know the whole situation, I’ll begin at the beginnin’, an’ make it brief. For those o’you up to speed, bear with me aye?”
