The City of Amran

Rykan kneels at the front of the altar in quiet contemplation. The rain on the roof gets louder, and he loses himself in the sound, letting it wash over him. "The Wind brings the rains." he murmurs quietly. He has almost settled into a meditative rest when there is a loud knock at the door. The noise snaps him back to awareness, and with a little regret, he stands. His knees creak as he does so, and he wonders absently how long he'd been sat there. The hour is late, but the Seeker, Hans? He had mentioned that he was expecting company. He begins to walk over to the doors, only to find Hans is already there. Must be getting slow in his old age.

The voice that responds is rough, but Hans recognises it immediately.

"It's me! I answered your call! Now let me in!"

The gun withdraws from the eye slot and the door unlocks. Hans ushers the man, er, corpse, er, zombie inside.

"I wasn't expecting you to show up this fast. Then again, Divah did beat you here..."

He motions that he should keep his hood up as long as they're in the company of the Cleric.

"Father Rykan, you're still awake. I'm so sorry about all this, my colleagues are usually much more... subdued. Cecil, left corridor, third door on the right."

While he keeps the father occupied he motions the fellow librarian onward with a hand hidden behind his back.

Cecil storms off in the indicated direction, keeping well inside his cloak.

"Fine. But I want to speak with you."

Rykan attempts to greet the newcomer- but he has already left. A bad journey perhaps. "Quite alright...at least this one *yawn* left the windows intact. If you'll excuse me...it's been a...long day. Good night." Rykan offers a slight bow and leaves, in the direction of the other hallway, to his much needed bed. Curiosity could wait till the morning.

Hans nods at the man's excusal and smiles as he walks off. He was right, it HAD been a long day.
Not everyone was as used to long nights as the Seekers.

He turns and walks back to the study, sitting back down and studying the documents. Cecil appears to have gone into some kind of sleep-mode for Zombies. Thankfully.

He allows the information to filter in as his muscles rest in the chair. When he's done, he allows himself to fall asleep on the pile of paperwork, finally spent.

[OOC - And the next day... ]

Morning arrives. Hilde awakens from a quiet sleep and takes a deep breath- regretting it almost instantly. Her eyes snap open to find an extra body in the room with them. Body being quite appropriate in this instance. She remembered hearing about the reporter in Gevell, but she'd not actually met him, only seen him from a distance. It seemed that it was true what they said about the unfortunate soul...he was truly dead. She couldn't see much of him, hidden under a hooded travelling cloak, but it could be no other.
She glances to the others in the room, Divah sleeping peacefully, seeming strangely serene after last night, and Hans, still sat in the chair, but sprawled across the desk, his head resting on his arms. At least he'd got some sleep after all.

Taking care to be quiet as to not wake the Seekers, she folds up her cloak, and while sat on the bench, dons her leather armour. The straps creak slightly as she fastens the buckles. The papers at the table are calling her, but she waits for a moment, eyeing the others, to see if anyone else will wake.

Cecil rises from his curled position on the floor, eyes still shut. He settles into what is clearly a fighting stance. Brow furrowed with concentration, he moves through a calm routine, his head looking towards invisible assailants. He finishes a slow, sweeping block, before launching an explosive series of punches and kicks, turning rapidly to a fast rhythm, eyes still firmly shut.

Hilde can hear footsteps in the corridor outside, then they stop. There's a knock at the door. "Seekers- just so you know, we've some breakfast left if you want it." calls Rykan's voice. There is a pause. "Oh, and your friend is talking to Gwen this morning. Very polite."

Friend?

He quickly checks for Divah, who's still asleep on the bench.

He tears the door open, eyes looking mildly pissed.

"What friend? We're all in here!"

He looks like he's about to rush off, but doesn't know the way to her room.

"Where are they!? Show me, quickly!"

Rykan stumbles back, out of his way. "Uh, well- this way- why-?" He gestures down the hall to the corridor on the opposite end of the main church room.

Inside is a small room, with a bed, chair and small shuttered window. Gwen, who has clearly been crying, is sat up in bed, facing a figure sat on the chair, with her back to the door. As soon as the door slams open the woman whips round, kicking the chair towards the door and drawing a short sword. She stands protectively in front of Gwen, sword pointing towards the gun-wielding seeker.

Hans isn't even surprised anymore.

He darts backward, drawing his second gun and pointing it at the woman, out of her reach but making sure she is very securely within his.

"Drop it, now, and explain who you are and why you're here."

His grip on the triggers tightens.

"I assure you, I'm very, very good with these. And I assure you, you can't dodge a pair of bullets."

Divah woke slowly to the sound of other people, not openly 'awake' to anyone, but still paying silent attention to what was going on around him. Mornings were supposed to be calm but something near him was letting off too much energy, the sweeping sound of strikes to the air grating on his mind and forcing him to haphazardly remove his cloak pin and toss it at whatever was being such a nuisance, a gentler reminder than anything else at his disposal. He let out a brief string of not-quite-words to mirror his drowsiness being woken up by others.

"shrfffnnnnn ya' frmmmmm"

Just as the cloak pin hits, Cecil turns, his eyes snapping open, and a small dagger hits the wall next to Divah.

"Oh, it's you. Where are the others?"

"If you two are awake- Hans just left. Quickly. Perhaps we ought follow?"

Cecil retrieves his knife and sprints down the corridor. Seeing the standoff inside, he draws a much longer combat knife.

"Hans, we have things to talk about. Urgently. But first, who is this?"

"I'd rather have some breakfast, honestly..."

Divah felt around for his bag of scrolls and other fabulous implements before darting up and angrily searching the room, finding the offending bag that was decidedly not on him. Deciding not to make further comment on people messing with his potentially dangerous gear in a non-scientific manner, he rummaged around before taking two small jars out of his bag, one of water and one containing some sort of powdery mixture. He poured the water inside the jar of powder, sealed the lid and began to gently shake it.

"So how was everyone's day?"

Divah looked around, realising that the source of offending swoopy noises and Hans were both gone from the room.

"So how was your day?"

Rykan hurried after Hans, fearing further trouble. He stood awkwardly in the hall while weapons were drawn. "Now, I'm sure there's been a misunderstanding- can we please not...make a mess?

Hilde stood up, putting on her belt, and eyeing the elf. "Perhaps once I've stopped- whatever it is they're about to do." She indicated that perhaps he might like to join them- and strode out of the room, towards the noise.

"If you insist..."

Divah slowly trailed after Hilde letting the mix in his hands slowly turn into a porridge-like mixture, absorbing the water and becoming one semi-solid mass in the jar. Mornings were supposed to be less hectic than this.

Up ahead, Hans stands with his pistols pointed into the room, while Cecil is holding a large knife. Rykan wavers nearby, not sure if he ought to interfere or not. As she reaches the door, Hilde looks inside. Gwen is looking awkward, protected behind the sword wielding woman. The figure herself stands strongly, and has not lowered her blade despite Hans' warning.
"Sassa?" she asks, cocking her head slightly.
The stranger turns slightly, her eyes flick towards the Ranger, and a grin appears on her face.
Hilde raises a hand and waves the Seekers weapons down. "Relax. A friend."

"Tch."

He's less than pleased at the stranger's ease of passage into the Temple, but he spins his guns and holsters them anyway. He waits for Hilde to initiate conversation with this 'Sassa', while silently mouthing an 'are you okay?' to the girl behind Hilde's friend.

Gwen nods, and a smile of relief comes back on her features. "Sassa was just telling me some stories."

Rykan sighs with relief. "Good, well, now that's settled- I'm sure we can sort something out for breakfast- we weren't expecting quite this many, but we've a well stocked pantry, should be able to find something for everyone..." he looks at the jar in Divah's hands with some curiosity. "You may as well come take a seat in the dining hall- there's enough benches for everyone..." he trails off, not sure if he should wait or not, and starts off down the hall.