< @Kalle @Jorimel >

"Did I..." he trailed off a little and took off his pack to look inside it, before pulling out a few strips of the meat that he had salted and wrapped in some waxy leaves. It was cool now, but still edible. Although Mae seemed to get herself a little distracted by the newcomer's title, he himself did not know much about the craftworlds and their lives.

With a glance at the royalty, and one back at Avrielle, he stepped forwards next to the Saim-Hannian and knelt down in a way similar to how she had before. He took one of the meat strips and laid it down in front of the Saurid, not willing to let it eat out of his hand yet. The trust simply wasn't there.

Winterheart grumbled and snarled. Mumbling something under his breath. This damn quest was turning out to be a tea party of pleasantries. Now a noble pops up, the corsairs were more than enough to bear already. He rested his shuriken catapult on his shoulder, still holding it by the handle.
His gaze followed Talis making friends with the little reptile. Making note of how he did it and what would happen. Twice Alo had been surprised before how this worlds beauty had calmed him. Some part of him wanted to just abandon the craftworld and get lost in the wilds. Then all those back at Il-Kaithe would have been right, he couldn't let them win. Winterheart didn't want to be humiliated again in front of all his peers.

The little saurid had frozen at the sight of so many Eldar and it stood still now, only its eyes flickering from person to person. It didn't move to bite anyone, or to flee. The faint musical hum of another gate opening behind and to the left did not distract it from the more present danger. As the Wild Rider and the young Exodite paid closer attention to it, it went up on its toes and a row of small spines that lay flat along its back stood up. As they were tipped with brightly-coloured feathers the effect was more mildly disconcerting than fear-inspiring. Talis approached it softly with a small strip of meat. It lowered its crest and sniffed. Once he had laid it on the ground, it cautiously took a few steps forward, took hold of the meat with its teeth and retreated to a safe distance to eat.

Meanwhile, the group made introductions and assessed each other for threats or declared allegiances. Lysandriax, who normally made a point of doing so first, held back to hear how the others would speak. Then she stepped forward, bowing her head slightly in greeting.

"Well met, traveller. I am Lysandriax, formerly of the Sky Serpents, now seeking the Duke's head." She grinned as she spoke, her usual levity restored. "Do you know the working of these gates? What leads to where?" Iktomi hadn't spoken, but rather than draw attention to his grieving silence with introductions she moved to slightly shield him from the main view as she spoke, the gesture discreet. "If we have a webway gate to take, then let us not spend too long on taming the local wildlife." But she frowned slightly at that, for the little beast was clearly as much of a stranger as she was.

Avrielle, whose attention was divided between the newly arrived Eldar and Talis' attempts at befriending the saurid, looked up at Firnweth.

"I am Avrielle," she said, "from Lugganath, and we are working on behalf of Warlock Liasethanil and the Seer Council. Well met, milady." She gave a small, polite bow as she spoke, careful to keep the radio gear from bumping the chamber wall or any of the gates.

The gates themselves varied, some looking more modern in design, some ancient, yet this meant little; the Eldar no longer had the means to create new webway gates, though those from the Craftworlds often repaired and maintained the ones they found if they were able. There was no pattern discernible to the way that some opened, yet - or perhaps at all; three had shifted during the group's time in the cavern, but they now all seemed quiescent. Two remained open - the one that had provided the saurid, and the one that had recently shifted. The way behind Firnweth was closed. Neither of the open gates seemed the source of the perfume, and nor was the new arrival. The vaulted cavern itself was far higher than the largest gate, which looked tall enough to admit a Wraithlord but no more. Apart from the gates, there was no way out of the chamber save the one by which they had enteered.


@kanila @DaKaptin @Wata @Colapse @Kalle @BlackNecron @BadDo9

Talis didn't have much to offer in this conversation - at least he felt - as all these people had callings above him. Truly, he was a simple exodite, who didn't do quite much more than their resident ranger. In any case he smiled at the small Saurid taking the strip of the meat, and laid another down after scooting closer to the creature. He would scoot back just a little after placing the meat down, but still was a bit closer. He hoped to help the creature build the confidence he himself wanted to gain.

The way the the newcomer reacted to his presence baffled Onvar sightly. And her following introduction only added to his confusion. A princess?
What is it with nobles and this group?
As he mustered her closely, he could only groan in his mind. Whoever she was, she definetly did not not fit anywhere else than the luxorious rooms of nobility. The way she presented herself, the way she seemingly did not pay attention to her surroundings, or much heed to warnings. And, of course, her clothing. Everything about her screamed that she did not belong here. And that was exactly what his warmask conveyed to him.
Except less friendly. And a lot louder.

After Onvar had assured himself that there truly were no other threats in the cavern, he took off bothe warmask and his helmet elegantly, and approached Firnweth Sepestra with a polite smile. As he spoke, his voice exuded a certain calmness.
@Casavay
"As you can see, we have many questions for you. Your appearance was.......quite unexpected, to say the least.
Sadly we don't have any seating besides the ground under our feet, so would you mind giving us a bit of an explanation while standing? We may be able to help in some way."

Firnweth responded to the excited spear-bearer first, figuring how her query was inexorably intertwined with the Biel-Tanite's. "Well, my mission was to seek out kin, which I seem to have succeeded at. And I am alone because I am Enuriael's wife, not his ward, though the words are similar in sound and shape." She failed to mention the fact that it was a very particular breed of kin that she had been asked to seek out, primarily because she figured that she could accomplish her mission here just as easily. "I would rather discuss the delicacies of my intentions in something that is approximate to a homestead, and not a damp cave", she admitted, her smile not fading.

Red eyes twitched briefly towards the lizard-in-taming. It ensured the merchant mistress about the safety of moving, and so, she crossed the room to meet the other newcomes, gifting them with a bow in response to Avrielle's, though deeper and perhaps a bit melodramatically. "Though it is overused these days, I bid you the greatest of days in this umbral age, Avrielle and Lysandriax. This traveller's name is Firnweth Sepestra, Ambassador of the Aether Stars fleet, wife to Prince Enuriael the Gilded, and..." She straightened herself, lowering her voice conspiratorily and bowing slightly forward, shifting around nervously while doing so, "...not to talk bad behind a respectable lady's back, but if the blasted crone knew, she would not be here... I presume she took a wrong turn."

Firnweth dropped the joke, however, to add, in the tone of mild, but positive, surprise, "Ah, another sailor of the stars then! Scarce are my meetings with the Sky Serpents, so forgive me when I seem naive... but I have not been keeping in touch with the Duke's entourage. The man never ceases to be a hurricane of entertainment! Which is sadly disliked by my husband's court."

Maesanai appeared to find the Ambassador's answers --- and demand --- reasonable, because she merely nodded along to her explanation and shared in the joke with a hearty laugh. "Ah, and I who had thought to ask you for directions!" Maesanai exclaimed with feigned exasperation, before she turned her cunning eye towards the webway gates. She regarded them each in turn, the one that was closed and its two shimmering counterparts. She glanced between them and then back to the group at large. "If we are to complete our mission --- I'm sure someone else can explain better," she added for Firnweth's benefit. "Then I say that we must make our choice now, of which gate to take. One is sure to lead to our prize!" she declared, brimming with confidence.

Lowering his rifle, Faenkon kept it handy in case one of the portals activated and unleashed a new danger. "Well it would seem the introduction are done now. So we need to get moving before something larger than this little saurid makes its way through." Faenkon began examining the different arcs, trying to find any clues as to which one they needed to take.

Onvar was not very happy with the nobles "explanation", but refrained from giving his complaints a voice. Instead, he thought about how to solve this new problem. He walked over to the arc that had transported their new visitor, but, as expected, it firmly refused to open.
Damnation. But that would have been too easy, wouldn't it?
His cynical streak was acting up again.
@Casavay
After a short moment of thought, Onvar turned around towards Firnweth again, adressing her in his usual calm efficiency.
"There are now two options on how to proceed this. On one hand, we could escort you out of the cave and call for a shuttle. That shuttle would take you to the craftworld of Lugganath, and from that point it should be no problem to find a way to return to your domain. On the other hand, you could join our little expedition to recover an ancient artifact relevant to our race. But....on a sidenote; no offense, while your support surely would be appreciated, your current...equipment.....might suggest that you take the first option."

While Onvar knew that any eldar with some fighting capability would be a boon for their cause, he personally would rather not have to manage corsair nobility hindering their progress.

As for the next direction to take, Onvar took it upon himself to state the obvious.
"None of the portals powering up and down seem like viable options. Since they are opening and closing at will, they have to be damaged in one way or the other. Let us see if we can find one that can be safely opened and closed, so that we don't have to worry about it closing behind us forever."

It was a matter of some debate, to Onvar at least, whether the newcomer was dressed for the occasion of a prolonged sojourn in a cavern or otherwise following the adventurer's path. But, as he conceded, Firnweth was here. And the way ahead needed to be determined and taken swiftly.

The little saurid sniffed at the air, and finding no familiar scent of the green jungle, it looked around. It spotted Iktomi's fancy hat with its plume of saurid feathers. From another, larger species, to be sure; but the little creature erected its spinal feathers and stood on its toes once more, before slowly easing down as it saw that the tall Felarch was preoccupied with his own thoughts and not making a kill. Its head tilted, and it looked towards Talis. It smelled food. The cavern was dark in the corners, and the strangers were all lofty and unknown, but this one had something edible. It trotted forward warily and stood in front of the crouching Exodite. Avrielle stood still, careful not to spook the little creature, her eyes darting from it to the gates.

Lysandriax nodded as Onvar spoke. "Aye, finding a way makes sense. Let us be about our business. I'm not one to say who can join and who cannot, for I invited myself," she grinned, and gave Firnweth a nod. "So I have no objections."

Between Onvar's logical deduction and the careful scouting of Faenkon and his drone, the Eldar managed to eliminate most of the gates. Some were closed and dull, the gems adorning them lifeless and seeming flat; one radiated a harsh and unwelcoming feeling that even the least sensitive could detect. One, however, was neither cycling through closed and open nor dulled with age and wear. It was not new - on the contrary, the decorations it carried were the most ancient in style - but it was in good working order. It was easy to concentrate and bid the gate open to its Eldar masters.

On the other side was a plateau under a dark grey sky. Distant rainstorms blackened the horizon further, and a number of wheeling shapes circled overhead. Large birds, or some kind of aerial creature, rather than an artificial construction like the drone. They were not immediately overhead. In the area of the gate, there were a few cracked walls and a circular enclosure that surrounded a deep pit - a well. It was hot, the dry air feeling like that before a storm. There was a road, battered and made of the same cream stone as the walls, and a vague impression in the dim light of two other, larger groups of probable ruins some miles ahead. The gate did not become inactive, but it powered down once the last traveller was through.

The saurid kept close to Talis, staring around as it took in yet another unfamiliar sight. Adjusting her radio pack, Avrielle nervously did the same.



@kanila @DaKaptin @Wata @Colapse @Kalle @BlackNecron @BadDo9