Week 1

Tycho, Higura and Saffron work together to put together a roll call. There are a total of 67 refugees. Drachma, the four gladiators and about 20 laborers are the most physically hardy, ideal for taking on Tycho's training regimen. Another 20 are inexperienced, but trainable. Subtracting the 5 laborers that Danae reserved as assistants, Tycho has a base of 40 to work with. [Private to Alus Tycho: Roll a Charisma+War (your guerilla specialty counts). Depending on how well you roll you'll be able to speed up their training. As long as you get even 1 success, though, you succeed at training them in 1 dot in an ability or a specialty in the next week or two.

If you look at the Ex2 core chapter 7, Drachma is probably a Heroic Mortal, the gladiators Elite Troops, the laborers Regular Troops, and the 20 inexperienced are Green Troops. No equipment, except for Drachma/gladiators/laborers, who have short spears. If you want, you don't have to train everyone in the same thing: you could give some a dot of Archery, others Melee, others Stealth, etc. as long as it's an Ability you know. The base time for training the refugees is half the values on the chart on Ex2 core p. 274, but you'll have to divide time between training them and yourself.]

Another 15 outright refuse such intense combat training, but offer their skill at cooking, cleaning, minor crafts, even some foraging. They can be persuaded to learn to use slings or bows but they will not fight in a melee.

5 of the refugees are too young, elderly or crippled for anything but menial work.

The last 2 actually confess to having minor thaumaturgical skill (Apprentice-level) that they kept quiet for fear the Immaculates would kill or recruit them. One of them is Miir, a quiet middle-aged man who used his abilities as a grave-tender, largely Arts of the Dead and Warding. The other is a young woman named Tamra, who was shunned by her family for her ability and forced to sell her body to survive.

Saffron finds her most likely apprentice in Tamra. She never learned any harmful or overly esoteric Arts: rather her skills were more inclined toward Alchemy, Husbandry and even some Enchantment; she has a hand for making very beautiful textile crafts. In any case, Tamra is smarter than she lets on, and once Saffron can penetrate her shyness, she proves to be a competent learner. [Private to Saffron: If you continue to tutor her, she will learn a couple of dots of Medicine in 2 weeks straight, or about 4 weeks if you space out her lessons.]
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:57, Mon 09 Feb 2009.

While Tycho works on martial training, both Higura and Saffron work toward strengthening the refugees' trust and confidence, organizing them into groups for non-martial tasks, and getting a feel for their needs and worries. [Private to Saffron: Roll Charisma+Presence to determine how positively you affect the refugees, how well you can organize them, etc.] [Private to Yaishin Higura: Roll Int+Medicine to care for the refugees' minds. Then Int+Bureaucracy to put together your lists and logs pertaining to the refugees and their organization.]

Mostly, their concerns are about survival, comfort and remaining clear of Dragon-blooded forces. Some complain about nightmares, still quite shell-shocked about the escape, the Gatekeeper and Equalizers, or being in the Earth District at all, considering that their religious roots put a strong importance on hierarchy. Others are more strong-minded and adventurous, and find themselves warming up to the idea of freedom, even revolution, pushing themselves wholeheartedly into their training.

No matter who Higura talks to, though, none of them want to go back down. And over half are certain they wish to stay with the Exalts, though the wisdom of doing so is something still left to discuss...

The experience the refugees had went through would very likely be traumatic for many of them. Of course, one could say that life in Five Coils in and of itself is taxing to the human will, but that is counting without the reassuring element of the familiar. Indeed, sometimes the mind wraps itself around the familiar of routine, even if this routine is harsh and unforgiving. As much as the prisoners of Five Coils might have been wishing for freedom, a sudden event in which their lives were in danger at every single second could prove very damaging for their psyche, not quite ready for the shock.

And it is that particular trauma that Higura works with, speaking with the refugees calmly and reassuringly, and listening to the fears and nightmares they have experienced. Comforting them without strengthening their wills would be very much akin to making promises one could not keep - for simple comforting words would quickly fall apart should these people be confronted to the same situation again. Instead, Higura tries to get at the bottom of each individual fear, explaining its mechanism and reason to the people who shared it with him, and helping them to find ways to cope with stress and other difficult influences. He does not try to take away their fear, but rather helps them understand it, and cope with it, so that they might better live with it and control it. All in all, everything is about balance.

The paperwork is slightly more difficult for him, as outside of reports, Higura has not had much chance to practice this sort of work in a very long time. As he is used to work one-on-one, organizing such a monumental effort is something he has to take much time and effort simply to put together. He starts off with easy tasks - taking roll call, and noting each and every person's previous tasks in the Coils, so that everyone can be assigned to what they know best. He makes certain to update the list once Tycho and Saffron distribute the refugees under their respective tutelage, so that all can know what resources are at their disposal should a task need done.

Building a list of tasks to undertake proves to be a more difficult objective to accomplish. There is so much to cover, and everything seems important - coupled with the fact that the groups still doesn't have much information about their current whereabouts or the resources at their disposal, the task becomes very arduous to quantify. Instead of making very precise plans of actions, Higura instead decides to focus on immediate needs - food, water, facilities - and makes broad lines of action that should be further precised when everyone is back and all the information shared. After all, he is only a record keeper, not a leader, and the decision of how to proceed should belong to everyone.

Organizing a small settlement able to accommodate that many people would be a difficult ordeal... But Higura continues to believe that if they work together and pool their areas of expertise, they have a good chance of success.

As Higaru cures their old nightmares, Tycho gives them new ones.

As a taskmaster, the mechanical Solar is without mercy and to him it seems only reasonable; the Terrestrial's were apt to lack that either. Even from the first day, while he is still designing a training regiment to put them through, every one of the forty finds themselves running for hours. With voice and gesture and even the angry flare of his anima, he pushes them to the breaking point. It was the first thing they need to learn, that running is the most vital aspect of fighting. You run into the attack, you run to retreat, and when you can't run anymore, that's when you lay down and die. They run every day from that point onward, no matter what else they spend their time doing and if they learn nothing else, then they learn to run.

It's hard to work on a schedule when you don't know what the deadline is. Every minute he doesn't have them spending doing something feels like wasted time. They've no real weapons, beyond those few with spears, so arms-training is out. They've no essence weapons or bows, to doing the more effective thing and turning them into bowmen is out. He's left to work with what he has, to teach them how to use the simplest weapon of the rebel; their own two hands.

No matter where they are, here or elsewhere, there will always be something they can hurl at their enemies. Bits of junk, scraps of food or filth, chunks of stone and masonry, even the bodies of fallen friends, if they have to. Tycho's hands had held and unleashed all of those, at least once. A day spend scrounging yields a suitable pile of missiles and images scratched into the walls serve as suitable targets. . The most difficult places to hit were also the most effective: the knee, the wrist, the hand, and the head. A strike to any one of those has at least the chance of disabling an armed and armored opponent, far more of one than hitting their undoubtedly armored body ever will. Even a Dragon's head can be made to rattle when a stray rock gleams off their helmet. From the outset, Tycho does not make their task easy. Every throw is disrupted by chaotic shouts from those waiting their turn, from flashes of light off Tycho's anima or the pounding of his hands against the floors, and even from the sudden passage of another missile unexpectedly darting across their vision. They can't replicate a real riot, of course, but he does all he can to teach them how to aim under distraction, to do it fast and to dive back into the crowd before they can be singled out.

Not all of them spend their time throwing stones, though. Out of the pack, Tycho sorts the biggest and burliest of those he has to work with. Two against one, they're forced to face off against the gladiators who retain their deadly spears, though the points are blunted with clothing wrapped around them. The object of this game was simple: get the spear away from the soldier without getting stabbed. It is a far more difficult task than most of those chosen for it actually think and from the start, men are "dying" left and right upon the points of the spears. It's harder work than simply throwing stones, because the teamwork and coordination has to be far more in close. Just getting your foe to look your way can be challenge enough and Tycho teaches them to do whatever it takes; feint, yell, scream, cry, laugh like a madman, sing and dance a jig. Whatever it takes to get them to take their eyes off your partner for a moment, giving them the chance to make a dive. Then as soon as one of them has their hand on the weapon, for the other to leap in as well. Far too often early off, when one would actually make it in to grab the spear, the other simple stood there and watched. Any time Tycho saw this, his baton would clip the onlooker behind the ear and knock their legs out from under them, staring down intently at them as he walked past. It was a brutal and wordless message, but they swiftly learned what it meant.

This sort of training helped the gladiators and laborers too. Spears were not Tycho's favorite weapons. They were the weapons of the Peaceforce, of "the enemy." Whatever irony there was from using the weapons of the enemy against them, he'd have just as soon broken them in half and trained twice as many to use clubs. Having something with a point, something that could pierce their enemies, seems to reassure the mortals though. Having been on the business end of one more than once in his life, Tycho knows enough of how they're best employed to offer advice on them as well. He found himself less inclined to be as physical with them when advising them, they were already forced to do the hardest bit of work. They were living targets already. The spears were well blunted, Tycho made certain of that. They couldn't harm anyone, but it didn't mean that an over agitated attacker couldn't get carried away and break a finger or nose trying to pry the weapons free.

He has to be on guard all the time to break that up if it starts. He or Drachma, whom Tycho quickly learns to appreciate the presence of. Having the mortal stand in on watching the training of the others puts them more at ease, makes them more eager to learn, than when in his own presence. Indeed, it is with Drachma he shows the most leniency and personal attention. The man who had spoken for all the mortals thus far seems skilled enough already in holding them together, but late into the night, when the others have all collapsed from stress and strain, Tycho imparts what he can to Drachma of tactics and strategy. They pour together over urban battlemaps etched into the floor, move scraps of cloth around while pretending they were formations of soldiers and rioting civilians. The man wouldn't be making general any time soon, but he could at least know when shout a retreat.

[Private to GM: So, stunting if he can, please. Also buying 3 dice from his War Excellency for the roll and spending WP.]

Tycho works the refugees hard, but after the first day or two of grousing, they come to realize that the machine-man really does know what he's doing. They even learn to appreciate it, in some way, between all the sweating and bruising and exhaustion they feel in that first week. After all, he IS doing it to ensure their survival in the long run, and they trust Drachma's judgment in trusting him, too. Drachma himself is appreciative of Tycho's private lessons, understanding that he wishes his people to be more self-sufficient regardless of whether they accompany the Exalts or not.

The combination of Higura's psychiatric care, Saffron's encouragement and Tycho's training regimen gives the refugees little time for their fear of recent events to take permanent root. After all, the fear of Tycho knocking their legs from under them or thundering over them with that ravaged not-quite-human face is a lot more actual and immediate. Even knowing he's on their side isn't enough to keep them from scrambling to satisfy him!

Fortunately, the physical exertion proves to be a potent source of stress relief for the active ones. Higura's common sense explanations help significantly as well; he soon has a small nightly seminar in his hands, where refugees come asking questions about the realities of Five Coils, the Gatekeepers and the Dragon-blooded that they've previously been kept in the dark about. They trust in Higura's wisdom, and appreciate the calm, patient way in which he offers explanations when he has them, and encourages open discussion when he does not. Both Higura and Saffron's approach employ the use of critical thinking techniques in alleviating unfounded concerns, grounding them toward considering the factors that DO matter.

Saffron gently but consistently reminds the refugees that survival involves working together, and that includes not only martial training but also daily chores. Even the trainees are not exempt to this; along with doctor-enforced rest times at regular intervals between training hours, they are assigned tasks such as fetching water, tuber-peeling, cleaning and waste disposing (which no one likes but all agree is necessary. Fortunately, the incinerator in the nearby mining settlement is sufficient.) Higura helps by keeping track of names and scheduling -- a sometimes frustrating task, as his assignments are not always fit for a particular refugee, leading to hurried revisions. There ARE complaints, but mostly, people do their jobs.

All in all, the refugees are starting to shape up into something more than cowards or self-serving individuals. Like a rock shaped into a polished gem, the true brilliance and resilience of these people are just starting to show through. Many of them are already speaking of themselves as part of a whole, a few even considering the idea of a name to unite them all.

[Private to Alus Tycho; Saffron; Yaishin Higura: Well, results of the first week were good. Those refugees who didn't already have Melee 2 now have it. They also now have Valor 2. They're half-way toward getting Integrity 1. Drachma doesn't have as much War as the Heroic Mortal stats give, but he'll end up with War 3 or a pertinent War specialty by the next week if lessons continue.

Barring Saffron posting anything, or any other additions you may have, this probably does it for week 1. So you can post in the main thread again till week 2 start.]

[Private to Alus Tycho: You can always talk to the group about finding more suitable weapons for the refugees. Or see if Danae can squeeze time to make any for them.]
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:11, Thu 05 Feb 2009.

[Private to Alus Tycho; Gatekeeper; Yaishin Higura: Sorry, revolution group. I work horrible hours (8a.m. yesterday  - 3 a.m. this morning) and without my personal laptop (which I am replacing, I hope this weekend, next at the latest) I couldn't finish my response. The Gatekeeper covered almost everything I was going to say (YAY GATEKEEPER), so I will just post the couple other things I wanted to accomplish and keep it short, so not to waste your time or slow us down. ]

   Saffron also spends the first week learning the names of every one of the refugees. She always has a kind word, a gentle smile, or a compassionate touch when they need it.

   She takes her helper under her wing teaching Tamra everything she can.

Tamra apparently enjoys the challenge of Saffron's lessons, and appears to have a knack for working with people. Now that she is no longer on her knees for anyone, her quick mind begins to show through. She'd simply never been taught, or had a teacher gentle enough not to frighten her. Her first week opens up her mind to the intricacies of medicine, an experience made all the more robust with the sheer amount of practice she gets, tending the minor wounds of the refugees in training. [Private to Saffron: Tamra got Medicine 1 the first week, in a couple more weeks she could get Medicine 2 or 3!]

Week 2

At the beginning of the second week, Nanaret and Xurizu's inventory of the mining settlement brings Tycho several more 'weapons' with which to arm the refugees. He may well find them more suitable -- laborers' weapons used to arm the people. If Danae could be persuaded, she could further work with these tools to make them even more suitable as weapons, but even without, the tools of a miner can be surprisingly deadly if used correctly.

Of the handful of refugees not training with Tycho, a fraction of those turn out to be skillful cooks. Higura assigns the one who appears the most responsible, a middle-aged woman named Blynna, to take charge of the kitchen and food stores. To her go the harvested tubers, plant matter, mushrooms and fish, and she sets to enforcing Turtle's warnings about the latter two. She also humbly asks the Exalts to bring back any flour or grain, cooking fat or oil (the cavefish oil is too strong), or other types of meat that they can find.

The royal confection is Blynna's only vice; it seems difficult for the refugees to resist the stuff. It may take more careful rationing than the mortals are capable of, as there is not yet certainty they will get any more. Allowing them to get used to such fare may make them irritable and argumentative with one another as the confection stores get short -- and they will not last the week.

Now that the refugees have settled into some form of regular schedule, their training and assignments can continue to be refined.

---

OOC: Here are the weapon stats, not that you necessarily NEED to know them but just in case. These are all based on Ex. stats of a hammer, axe/hatchet and poleaxe, respectively.

Hammer (Spd 5, Acc +1, Dam +8B/2, Def +1, Rate 2, overwhelming, piercing)
Pick-Axe (Spd 4, Acc +1, Dam +5L, Def -2, Rate 2, can be thrown)
Shovel (Spd 6, Acc +0, Dam +7L/2, Def +0, Rate 2, 2-handed, overwhelming, reach)

As everyone continues to exert their expertise, Higura keeps on filling the gaps left over, so to speak. He assists with medical tasks when needed, and helps assigning and organizing everyone to where they would work best. He continues to hold counseling sessions with the refugees, and seems satisfied to see that most of them are building a strong sense of self and will from the ordeals they have been through and the new training their are receiving. Of course, Higura is more than happy to hold private sessions with individuals who find the need to talk further, and does his best to advise those under his care to the best of his abilities.

Such session actually are beneficial for him as well, as they allow him to keep his interactions up to speed - conversation is an art that can erode if not practiced enough, and that is why the doctor deems it important for him to stay in good shape in that regard as well.

"I'm not making any of you run today," says Tycho as he begins the morning training regiment. His words instantly gain their attention and their approval. Helpful as it might be, no one actually likes the morning runs, even less so since moving into the actual mining encampment. Standing tall before his assembled 'students,' Tycho has gathered them into what at least to his untrained eyes looked like the newest and least worked of the mining shafts, some short distance away from the actual encampment itself. The mechanical Solar hefts a heavy mining pick from his shoulder and slams it into the ground, splitting open the earth as it's pointed head buries into solid rock. The metallic note of the shivering pick hangs in the air for a long few seconds before the Solar's equally metallic voice interrupts. "Today, you dig."

He hears their groans of remorse and the corners of his eyes wrinkle as his face tries to form a smile. Running doesn't seem so bad now, does it? Groans are all they offer in the way of resistance though, lining up swiftly take hammer and pick and shovel from the Drachma and the gladiators, who'd piled the tools into abandoned ore carts and wheeled them along after the rest of the refugees.

They have already been working with them as weapons for a day or so, not enough time to really learn anything more. Most of them could at least hit something a quarter of the time already, which in terms of marksmanship was a wide step up from most of the people Tycho had worked with in the resistance movements. What they needed more was to make every hit count. Every blow has to hurt. Whomever they strike needs to feel as if they were stepped upon by a warstrider. They might get faster by running, but if they were going to get any stronger, they needed hard labor.

For the first time in who-knew how long, the sounds of picks and pounding hammers began to fill the air. It was a clumsy orchestra of clinks and clanks and the rattle of stone being shoveled into carts. The laborious grunts and long suffering moans of men and women slowly pushing those rock filled carts across the sloping mine floor. Tycho works them until they think their arms are going to fall off, then he works them more.

Half way through the day, the mining stops and everyone is assembled for a staged battle. Tycho takes charge of the gladiators and laborers on one side, while Drachma is forced to put what he's learned so far to the test as he's told to lead the rest of the refugees. The narrowness of the mining shaft, with all it's alcoves and jutting rock formations is almost perfect to practice fighting in the urban jungle. Tycho, as a Terrestrial, presses his "Peaceforce" soldiers down upon the refugees relentlessly, taking every advantage of their superior training and weapons to overwhelm the outnumbering refugees. It's a fairly messy business though. They've no armor, not even the thick leathery aprons and iron smithy masks the old rebels use to scavenge. No matter how careful, this sort of grand melee is going to result in more than a few cuts and bruises, even a few broken bones.

Still, that has already been taken into account and anyone still fit to run dispatched to ask Saffron and her apprentice to come to the training area. Higaru, too, if he has the time. It was looking likely they would be making the area a camp for the night and the "troops" will certainly benefit from a pep talk from someone whose every word does not sound like a saw blade.

Turtle spends a fair amount of his time with the refugees this week, making sure that his instructions regarding gathering are followed, and that the mortals are both preparing the fish with the due amount of caution and successfully identifying the edible mushrooms from the hallucinogenic variety.  Though it quickly becomes apparent that the mortals are unlikely to wander off alone to die in the tunnels or sever their own fingers peeling tubers, he still spends a fair amount of time with them.

Turtle even joins in the strength-building mining sessions Tycho holds, working alongside the mortals and helping show them how best to .  It quickly becomes evident he has shifted rocks before, in vast quantities, and "It isn't just about strength, hmm, but, how you use the strength...  Leverage, you see.  You're wasting your arm length if you just, swing from the elbow, let your shoulder do, most of the work..."  The gentle Lunar even participates in a few of the mock skirmishes, though he not only fights in his mortal form but shows an extreme effort not to hurt those he ends up fighting, even when facing up against the magitech enhanced Solar.

Turtle also intervenes a bit while observing the domestic workers, noting the potential for disruption in the insects' sugary gift.  After observing odd behavior from the mortals exposed to it, he decides to take personal responsibility for dispensing the royal confection, using the pretext of keeping it as an emergency reserve for when the available food supplies begin to run dry.  Until either the food situation becomes quite serious or a permanent source of the substance is negotiated, the sugar is off limits to mortals and Exalts alike.

[Private to GM: Turtle is using Tycho's skirmishes as an opportunity to learn two combat charms, Second Dexterity Excellency and Subduing the Honored Foe.  Between them they take 3 days of training, which I'm hoping will be covered by participating this week.]

The refugees grouse and complain, but when set to work, they work. The laborers, at least, make a good precedent for the others to catch up to. And since they make up a third up to nearly a half of their team, the slackers don't have much opportunity to slack without looking really conspicuous.

Between the mock battles and blessed moments of rest, they work the earth. They are fortunate that Turtle is working with them this week, because his skill at earthcraft gives him the eye for recognizing useful ores and materials. It appears this mine has largely been situated to take advantage of a significant iron ore vein, which also contains deposits of coal, limestone, clay, even iron-derived ochres used as pigments. Traces of lead and graphite are found as well.

Extracting ores is more than enough labor to last a week. Only the coal and clay and ochre are immediately usable; the rest requires smelting or other processing techniques to separate. Most of the ores were likely transported elsewhere for processing, but the blacksmith's furnaces were likely also utilized for more immediate small-scale needs.

As Tycho's primary goal is not to extract the ores but to train the refugees, though, they do not concentrate on quantity of useful ore as much as the exercise the labor provides. But Tycho discovers the hard way that care needs to be taken in what areas are chosen to be excavated, so as not to jeopardize the structural integrity of the surrounding caverns. A cave-in that nearly kills two of his men reminds him of the dangers of mining amateurly. Overall, though, the regimen does much toward building strength and power, while continuing to build Drachma's confidence as no less than Tycho's second-in-command, and de facto leader.

Turtle's sage advice further aids in improving efficiency and safety precautions. The refugees are rather unhappy at first to have the confection restricted, but it ultimately leads them to work harder, as their attention is focused elsewhere. The methods for picking and preparing edible foods continue to be practiced and perfected so that few accidents occur. If he were inclined to offer aid, he could similarly affect the mining process in a positive way as well, given his experiences with laboring in the Earth levels.

[Private to Alus Tycho: Assuming this regimen continues, those refugees that don't have them yet will get Strength 3 and Melee 3 next week. If they have Strength 3 already they'll either work towards Strength 4 or get Athletics: Feats of Strength +1, depending on the amount of time people end up staying put. (It'd take months normally to get 4 in any attribute so I'm trying not to be too generous.) If they have Melee 3 already they'll either work towards Melee 4 or get Melee: Mining Implements +1, again depending on time.

Oops -- almost forgot Drachma. He should have War 3 now. I'll let you think about whether you'll give him a specialty, or try to push for more War, or something else (Presence?)]
This message was last edited by the GM at 08:44, Mon 16 Feb 2009.

Higura continues to make progress with the organization of the camp. He and Saffron become intimately familiar with the names of every refugee and make progress in profiling their behavior, interests, skills and tastes. [Private to Saffron; Yaishin Higura: it would be entirely too much work for me to actually mention these things in detail. But if necessary to embellish a post, you could potentially make up names, personalities and jobs for any of the still-unnamed refugees, so long as you keep in mind the general categories and proportions they are divided by (see the first post in this thread).]

Saffron and Higura find the refugees in training most receptive to their teachings and encouragement during the evenings of rest, when their bodies are weary and their minds are open. However, Higura starts to discover that the refugees are generally more comfortable around Saffron than with him. His methods are certainly effective: guiding a person to the heart of their troubles, helping them face their fears and banish them with logical thinking. But it is more clinical than instinctive, and earns him few friends, though he helps many people in the process.

Nightmares and anxiety attacks are becoming more of a rarity. The people seem less to fear the idea of 'trespassing' to above levels as much as they do losing the freedom and livelihood they are now building together. Some still profess indecision about continuing above with the Exalts, but now that they have seen what it is like just one district above, their curiosity is awakened about what lies beyond this one. It is difficult to stifle the thirst for knowledge once it has been awakened. [Private to Saffron, Yaishin Higura: The refugees gain Integrity 1. And may eventually get 2 by the end of the stay in the mining settlement. Also, I'd welcome it if one or both of you actually wanted to type out a 'pep talk', get some morale going for Tycho's troops-in-training or for the refugees in general.]

Among the health cases Saffron has to deal with -- besides the minor cuts and bruises Tamra and some others are becoming skilled at patching up themselves -- are a broken clavicle, a couple broken limbs and misplaced ribs, a poor man who broke BOTH legs in the cave-in, a handful complaining of complications from coal or lead dust, and the rare case of a man who actually ate a bad cavefish. Combined with her medicine crafting, her days are busy.

   Saffron does not push the refugees one way or another. When she can she points out the pros and cons of both decisions so that the people can get used to making decisions on their own. She makes it clear that as long as she can aid them, she will, but she will not stay in this place forever.

   When any of her people show reticence toward Higura she reassures them. And as she sees he is helping many, but making few friends, she makes time to be around as he is helping them to offer him a smile and kind words. Her hope is that by showing the people she is comfortable and friends with the doctor they can trust him, find comfort, and relax around him.

The day comes, rather suddenly, when the mechanical Solar approaches the pair of healers. Covered in dust from the days labor, his whole body lets out a soft and almost sinister sounding hiss as he approaches them. "Higaru, Saffron, I need to speak with the two of you."

He knows he is being a bit unprecedented. There has been little communication between his activities and their own so far. The Solar kept his distance from most everyone beyond Danae, who he goes to for regular maintenance.


--------

[Private to Gatekeeper: So, lets aim for Strength/Melee instead of the Specialties for now. The Specialties would be more useful for immediate reasons, but the Strength/Melee dots are better in the long run. If we have to pack up and move out before then, can always try to find the time to renew their training later. For Drachma, lets give him some Presence instead of War]
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:17, Wed 18 Feb 2009.

The doctor does not try to corroborate Saffron's words necessarily, but rather accepts them humbly. Saffron can likely tell that he appreciates her efforts a lot - despite his work involving others a lot, the doctor does not seem to mingle much with others. Not necessarily by choice, but perhaps out of circumstances. Higura appears the type who has many acquaintances, but very few friends.

Despite the unprecedented nature of the situation, Higura seems to respond to Tycho as if it had been a usual and natural occurrence. Stopping his usual regimen of tasks almost immediately, he uses a towel to wipe his hands carefully before smiling towards the machine man. "Of course, mister Tycho. What it is I can do for you?"

"I am happy to listen," Saffron says nodding slightly.