gotta rhyme something with orange
azama &forsyth &katarina | herald [@ statues]
Cart bearing statues rumbles forth, quietly, gently into the dark of the ever ongoing tunnels. Some folks use torches to see, others use magic - to each their own. For his part, Azama employs a small star that hovers about him, its soft glow lighting path enough.
It allows him not to trip over his feet ahead of himself.
It also - fortunately and unfortunately - allows him to see the faces of his nearest travel companions.
“You two have met?” he inquires after both Katarina and Forsyth. My, my… Hopefully Forsyth hasn’t been a bad influence on her. That purple head of hair there is one of his favourite ex-students, you know.
And as for that green head of hair right there... that one has yapping about the job for a solid while now, on and on about how they need to be cautious, and in case anyone forgot or got hit in the head with a rock or whatever, this job is suuuuper important, and they can’t afford to muck it up and— okay, Azama’s paraphrasing at this point. And maybe mildly exaggerating but shhhh no he's not.
Anyway, moving on:
“You do realize you are traveling mostly amongst peers here, right? Do you not think it insulting to their work that you deign play mother hen at every other bend in the road?”
Azama yawns and stretches, here, and doesn’t particularly bother hiding it. Then he smiles, catlike, head tilted askew in teasing. Or… maybe-teasing.
“Do settle down, dear.”
@viridescent-lance @ephemeralove
It's a fairly routine mission, all things considered. Forsyth and a small retinue of knights accompany a caravan as it ferries statues to the monastery, their journey through Faerghus a long and tiring affair. He can hardly fault the laypersons for wanting to take a shortcut, but surely his fellow knights would understand the dangers of taking such unwieldy cargo through unproven tunnels...!
Alas, Forsyth's advice goes unheeded. Worse than that, one of his most vocal detractors is none other than the detestable monk Azama.
"I consider Katarina to be a dear friend of mine." The gall! Is it not obvious? Forsyth should be asking the same thing, but he doesn't want to put Katarina on the spot. At least the monk has been civil thus far in his interactions with her; perhaps the most he's ever seen him, honestly. "I wasn't aware you two were so well acquainted, myself."
These tunnels have seen human use, at least, and even have rudimentary markings and torches. Forsyth just can't shake this foreboding feeling, especially not with the area's history of seismic instability.
"Do you think peers incapable of processing new and important information?" Forsyth has endeavored not to rise to Azama's provocations, especially in the presence of a mutual friend. He really has. "I simply did not--and do not--think that risking death is worth saving a day or two of travel!"
May Katarina forgive him, but his patience only stretches so far.
"A mother hen, you say? I'd rather be marked as such than behave like a father who eschews his children for his own convenience!"
@ephemeralove
