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Post by carnackiArdent on Jan 11, 2019 7:14:30 GMT
Clay wakes up refreshed after a night outside, thinking he's spent too long hiding in buildings every night.
He immediately feels a little stupid when he sees all the other people who got there after the gates closed, or otherwise didn't go in, coming from their camps. He really should have considered that that would be a thing. Then again, a night out there on his own still felt good.
He makes his way in through the gate once it's open and heads to the inn. Presuming that Rei and Holly have already left, he's kind of left to consider his next step. He can either try and get in touch with Lady Sorra, or go back to the Guild again and try talking to the branch leaders still there now that it's not, well, nighttime. Or track down some of the ones who left - he thinks Miss G and Master Ming-Na will probably be okay with seeing him, at least - but that would take longer.
Trying to talk to Lady Sorra first is probably the best plan, even if it means he'll need to stick around in town to wait for her to get the spare time to talk to him. He heads toward the castle proper and... pretty much just walks right up to the gate guards. "G'morning! Is there a way I can get a message to Lady Sorra?"
He has his message written down on a folded piece of paper, a laboriously scrawled:
To Lady Sorra. Have some questions about Dark Branch history. Am hoping answers might help deal with our problem. If you have time I will wait at the inn. Signed Clay, Fighting Branch, at and the name of the inn where the group's been meeting.
He may be hoping nobody besides her will read it. Spelling is a bit of an issue for him still, not to speak of his handwriting, but he hopes it's at least clear enough that she'll know what he's asking about.
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May 31, 2023 21:25:23 GMT
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Post by Raven on Jan 11, 2019 7:59:46 GMT
One of the gate guards takes the note and pockets it, claiming that they will pass it along when they next see her. Not much Clay can do about that except wait then.
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Post by carnackiArdent on Jan 13, 2019 7:04:20 GMT
Clay sighs quietly. Not much left to do now; he doesn't want to head to Saffron in case Lady Sorra's reply or chance to visit turns up while he's gone.
He heads back to the inn to pass some time training. Aside from that... well, taking books out of the Archive didn't seem to be allowed, so all he can really do is sit and think, and he's not sure he's really doing anything but thinking in circles.
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May 31, 2023 21:25:23 GMT
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Post by Raven on Jan 15, 2019 6:07:10 GMT
Clay's circle thinking seems to pass time well enough, as he 'comes to' a few hours later when Fan pokes him to get his attention. Oh hey, there's Lady Sorra coming towards him now. Hooray!
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Post by carnackiArdent on Jan 16, 2019 3:25:36 GMT
"Oh, Lady Sorra!" Clay hops to his feet and gives her a little informal half-bow. "Thanks for coming! Sorry to bother you, but turns out going to the library just makes you want to know about what isn't in the books."
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Post by Raven on Jan 16, 2019 3:43:06 GMT
Lady Sorra smirks slightly. "Yup. That's one of the downsides of a desire to learn. There's always more to it. What did you want to know?"
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Post by carnackiArdent on Jan 16, 2019 3:55:42 GMT
Clay sits back down - actually sitting normally in his seat rather than hanging off the side or getting up and pacing, for once. "Okay, so between talking to Lady Genevieve and some stuff Rei found out, and then going to the Archives, I think we've figured out a few things - apparently D'mara changed really suddenly about three years ago? We sort of figure something happened that started her looking for Yveltal. And about six months later she formed the Dark Branch."
He taps the tabletop as if marking the point on a timeline. Then another point right next to it. "And Steel Branch formed right after. Was there a reason for that? I always kinda got the impression that your branch was keeping an eye on Dark Branch." Something he'd heard a while ago - he thinks probably from Rei - gave him that idea. "I didn't think much about it, 'cause D'mara's creeped me out since I met her, but was there something about that time that made you want to watch her?"
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Post by Raven on Jan 16, 2019 5:10:39 GMT
"Hmm. I suppose I can tell you a little bit about that. I'm afraid that the majority of that story is a state secret, and thus unable to be shared. What I am able to tell you is that it was a mission from the Queen herself at my suggestion. D'Mara had always been a secretive woman, and I was a touch paranoid about her true motivations for becoming the Queen's Adviser." She grins a little bit as she leans in closer and lowers her voice. "I could tell you more, Clay, but then I'm afraid I'd have to kill you."
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Post by carnackiArdent on Jan 16, 2019 18:26:51 GMT
Clay sighs. "'Secret' is kind of a dirty word for me right now. It always seems to do more harm than good. But okay, fine. Did you find out anything that isn't a state secret? Like what happened that made her change? It's not like she just woke up one morning and said 'I'm gonna become the god of death and take over the world.'"
He runs a hand through his hair in frustration. "And this is... kind of more of a side thing, but I was looking at the guild roster in the archives, around the time I think I would've been born. Honestly I was looking for my parents, but that's pretty hard when I don't know their names. And it seems like a lot of people from then are dead or missing? At least half of them by five years ago. I know adventuring is a dangerous job and all, but... did something happen back then?"
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Post by Raven on Jan 16, 2019 19:39:07 GMT
Sorra sighs and shakes her head. "I'm afraid that I do not know the cause of Lady D'Mara's sudden personality shift. I wish I did, but I'm so busy with my duties that I've never had time to properly investigate it."
When Clay brings up the subject of dead Adventurers, Sorra pinches the bridge of her nose in exasperation. "Oh boy, Clay. You sure know how to ask the hard questions. This one is sort of an open secret. We aren't supposed to discuss it, but everyone who was around back then knows about it. To put it simply: revolution happened. The previous Adventurer's Guild, for reasons I can't understand, decided at some point that if the current monarch wouldn't support their organization, they'd remove her and replace her with someone who would. So they attempted a coup d'etat. They attempted to murder our Queen. So, naturally, they had to be stopped." She sighs heavily. "I suspect that a fair number of those deaths could have been avoided, as many came to us after the fact saying that so-and-so had been coerced into joining the coup d'etat. Unfortunately, we (the Knights of Kanto and the Celadon City Guard) did not have the luxury to stop and inquire properly. We were forced to defend ourselves and our Queen, and all were guilty by association."
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Post by carnackiArdent on Jan 16, 2019 19:49:01 GMT
"Oh. That... oh." Clay wrinkles his nose. "That... explains some things. Does, um, do any of the legends about Yveltal say anything about it bringing dead people back? Because in the dreams - the nightmares Darkrai sent us that started this whole thing - she has an army of people wearing the Guild's symbol. For a while I thought it was something to do with how Rei saw her take control of Laurel, but when I saw how many people had died I started to wonder if she might be getting an army that way."
Quietly, he adds, "I guess it also explains who ended up in charge, after that. You'd all have been pretty young then, huh?"
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Post by Raven on Jan 16, 2019 21:30:18 GMT
Sorra frowns, considering the implications of this. "Under normal circumstances, I suspect that Yveltal's job would be to ensure that the dead stay dead. However, now that you mention it, I wouldn't put it past her to make the attempt. If her goal is to wipe out the living, that's certainly the most efficient way to do it. The dead do not tire, do not need to eat or drink, and cannot be killed. From a purely statistical standpoint, they are the perfect soldiers." She hums in thought.
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Post by carnackiArdent on Jan 19, 2019 6:46:43 GMT
"That's what I was afraid of." Clay sighs quietly. "So we still don't know what got her started, she might have an army of zombies, and my personal side thing is kind of a bust, unless I can get some other lead. I know the branches didn't really start until after... all of the stuff you mentioned, but I don't s'pose you'd have any idea who might have sent a couple of Adventurers out into the wild west of Cerulean?"
Clay is still holding out hope that his parents might not have been among the people executed in the Guild uprising. Among other things it raises the question of how he wound up out there.
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Post by Raven on Jan 19, 2019 7:11:50 GMT
Sorra considers a moment. "Hm. Afraid I can't say who might have been in charge back then. If they were sent on an official mission, there would likely be records of that someplace. If only for bookkeeping purposes. If they ran away to avoid being dragged into the uprising, then I'm afraid there is unlikely to be any further leads. Assuming that they were on an official mission, I would suggest returning to the Archives and looking for those records I mentioned. As poor as record-keeping may have been during that particular time-frame, surely there is some record of your family." She frowns briefly before her face suddenly lights up, only to fall again. "Ah, I just thought of something, but I suspect you don't even know your last name, let alone where your family might have originally been from. Am I correct?"
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Post by carnackiArdent on Jan 19, 2019 7:19:56 GMT
Clay shakes his head. "Not a clue, sorry. Clay probably isn't even the name they gave me - Master Nob gave it to me when he found me. Pokémon don't really... do names the way humans do, so I didn't exactly have a name with the troop. Unless the way I look is a hint about the where, I don't think I have any leads without going back and looking for mission records like you said." After all, Clay's fairly dark-skinned even without the tan from the amount of time he spends outdoors.
He rubs the back of his neck. "I know it's not really important, honestly. I've got a family... a few of them, really, depending on how you count. It's just one of those things that'd be nice to know, y'know?"
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