Noah's group already has a different shape. Where there was no unity at all, there are now partners, and sets of partners, sparring hard. Noah continually makes them switch pairs, so that now those with enhanced survival instinct want to know exactly what their companions can each do well, and how to help them improve in their weak areas. Some of their independence-minded egos have been eroded--just enough to permit the idea that their fates are tied to how well they communicate with those around them. This is good. Noah already considers them hybrids... it's an experiment, and it's the only way he thought he could teach them anything. Why would they ever have listened to a soldier drilled to march in rows and think in straight lines otherwise? Hmm. Anyway, Noah's not with them at the moment. He's letting them get over the fact that the 'butter churn incident' didn't work the way they wanted it to. At the moment, he's in the Croxx library, doing something that he rarely does: reading.
Torvald enters the library and walks around the many shelves of books. He's looking for Cecil. He seems to be doing a lot of that lately, but his uncle has been very hard to catch up to. Things still seem out of hand to him, but that's just out of his hand. Other's seem to have gotten a grasp on the situation. There is a buzz in the air from the anticipation of the upcoming war. Everyone is hopeful that they'll finally be rid of the vampires.
Noah is seated on the floor rather than in a chair, bent over a large volume that appears to consist entirely of lists of numbers. It's an inventory of everything from swords to cattle--some steward's personal accounting of some small percentage of funds here over about five years. Noah's flipping through the pages fast, concentrating. Around him on the floor are collections of regional history and folklore, as well as several personal memoirs. Out of the corner of his eye, he recognizes Torvald as he comes through scanning for Cecil, and he says, "Hello, sir. Someone you're trying to escape?"
Torvald looks over at Noah upon the sound of his voice, Torvald's expression is at first blank, but then lightens. He gives a small chuckle at the question. "I think someone keeps escaping me." He walks toward Noah and looks down at all the books, taking note of what Noah is reading. "You know it might be easier to sit at a table with those?"
Noah glances down at the book spread across his lap, and then back up, making a little grimace and nodding out toward the nearest table. "People try to talk to me when I sit over there," he explains. "No one bothers me if I look like these books are the most important things in my world." He shrugs a little, and then changes the subject. "Have you seen them lately?" The 'them' in question can only be Noah's new pack of wolves.
Torvald laughs a little louder at Noah's statement. Torvald has never learned to be quite in the libraries. He's not that big on reading himself. "No, but then I haven't seen the person I've seem to have been searching for all week." He's stretching that a little. He sees Cecil at some meal times, it's not hard to miss him then since they're out a dinning room upstairs, but he's always too busy to talk.
Noah asks, "Who is it?" as if he's thinking he could be mildly helpful. He's in a bit of a nebulous space, at the moment, trying to decide what form he wants to live in when he comes out of it. Asshole or altruist? He's pretty much balanced between them, right in the middle where everything is exactly neutral.
Torvald sighs a little and glance around as if simply willing it will make the man appear. "My uncle Cecil. There is still much to discuss." He's a little hurt. If Cecil hasn't been seeking his advice, then he's been getting it from someone else. Maybe that creepy prince guy from Modeia.
Noah's expression doesn't change at all. "Haven't seen him. I have been meaning to ask, though... Is he really going to just put up a wall here and go charging over the border? What, exactly, should I be preparing my group to do?" He figures that's reasonable enough. But Torvald may or may not trust him enough to tell him. Who knows? And besides, he figures the Croxxes don't have any illusions about how 'secret' their plans are to the Jar'Ha.
Torvald doesn't have any illusion about how secret their plans are to the king up north, but the Jar'Ha have never proven to be intelligent. Odds are they haven't a clue in the world of what's going on. And the Kelosh war ship had to pass through their waters first. He tries to look like he knows what's going on himself, but that's why he wants to talk to Cecil. He then shrugs and tells the truth. "He's been making all his plans without me. He's got some army from Modiea nearby and I think he's been discussing everything with their generals."
Noah's expression shifts a little. "Where's Modeia? I haven't seen anyone...." Well, he's been sort of living the past weeks with his head up his ass anyway, so it's his own fault. Slowly, he closes the large red-bound book in his lap.
Torvald shrugs again. "It's a small kingdom hidden in a valley, but apparently they have a nice sized army anyway. " Torvald had never heard of the place until Cecil mentioned it. It must be very well hidden. He thinks he might have heard rumors of it once on a travel, but dismissed any rumors of hidden cities. He thought those were just myths.
Noah sits back a little, frowning. "I... guess... none of this strikes you as strange at all." He's used to not knowing what the bigwigs are doing. Marian never told him her reasoning about most things. As a soldier, he sure as hell didn't have a right to ask. Now, though, this is just another pebble falling into his jar.
Torvald says, "Well, not so much as strange no. It's a war, they've got to keep their big plans secret. I may be a Croxx, but I'm not really all that high in rank. I just like to voice my opinion anyway." He shrugs and smirks a little. He's was wanting to complain about the Kelosh war ship and Angel being sent to the king, as well as lament about the innocent people that might get killed in Jar'Ha lands. He once evacuated a whole village before, but they're talking about a lot more people than that, they can't evacuate it first.
Noah grins crookedly at that. He can't exactly say that he likes Torvald, because he hardly knows him, but he's not frustrated with him anymore either. "There's something wrong," he says flatly after a moment. "I'm not sure what it is. I mean--more wrong than usual. I'm not the only one who feels it."
Torvald feels like everything is wrong. But he's been passing it off as his own insecurities about everything being out of his hands. That and he thinks Kelosh would rather take them over than help them. "Wrong? Who else feels that way? Can you elaborate anymore on that?"
Noah had been reluctant to say it out loud, because, as a basu, sixth sense and far-reaching instinct are said to be out of his reach. Reading clues? Putting them together? Sure. 1 + 1 = 2, here. But this really is a sense, and if he hadn't overheard some of his hunters talking about the same things he was getting, he would have ignored it. "The hunters. I think I was able to humiliate them in the courtyard the way I did because they were all jittery inside about something anyway. And it's not the Jar'Ha--or not in the usual way. They're not afraid of them; they want to bust their heads open. But they don't know what it is anymore than I do. I was hoping you could tell me... how many magic-users exist around here? Or how many came on those ships?"
Noah's just groping in the dark, but this is, of course, the reason he's going against his preference and sitting still enough to read. Folklore and history... inventories with potentially sorcerous paraphernalia?... memoirs. Noah doesn't know shit about magic. He's trying to get some handle on it.
Torvald makes a slight wincing face and almost glances toward the ship, even though he can't see through the wall toward it before looking back at Noah to answer. "There's no telling. At least one or two. I guess it all depends on what their real motive is. I hear only horror stories about the wizards of the Kelosh empire. They are said to have an immortal magic family. You won't find a magic user on Kyami that hasn't heard of the Arepharis family. We've met two. One killed Uncle Ferdinand, the other healed his wife."
Noah puts that together with a sudden flash of insight. His eyes narrow slightly, and his head turns so that he eyes Torvald sidelong from the floor. "Nick Corwin," he states. Yes, yes. He's been around long enough to hear about the death of Ferdinand Croxx. It's just too strange a motive for murder in Noah's mind... but oh, well. Trying to wheedle some information out of this turn of the conversation, he asks, "Why are they here, anyway? The soldiers from Kelosh. I assume Cecil requested their presence...?"
Torvald frowns in disgusts, "Yeah him." He clearly doesn't like Nick Corwin. He makes no attempt to hide it from anyone. "No, they weren't requested. Calling an army from Kelosh is playing with fire. They conquer. We're smaller. I don't like them here. They were sent. If you can believe the letter that came with the ship, the Jar'Ha have done something to piss off the Kelosh emperor."
Noah puts the inventory aside and gets to his feet, joints popping. He's been there a while. "I'm surprised the Baron allowed them to remain in port here," he says thoughtfully. Then he claps Torvald on the shoulder and says, "Come with me. I need a Croxx." With that, he heads out of the library.
Torvald starts to answer about the ship remaining in port. Torvald doesn't like them there, but he doesn't want to insult the Kelosh empire, of the warship might shift ports to the Jar'Ha. You play with fire and you'll get burned. Unless it's real fire and you're using it against vampires. He shakes his head due to the chaotic rout his thought took and turns to follow Noah. "Where we going? A Croxx for what?"
Noah says, "To lend this an official touch. We're going to board the ship, you're going to shake hands and smile, and my hunters are going to have a good look at everything." He stops, glances back at Torvald. "Think you can handle that?" He knows that where he comes from, ships are considered sovereign extensions of their nation's borders... but, where he comes from, they're steel, affixed with huge anti-aircraft weapons, and would dwarf the sorts of wooden ships he's seen in these harbors. Hmmm.
Torvald starts to argue at first. He has no desire to go anywhere near that ship, he's already spoken to someone when they showed up earlier this week. His expression and mood changes upon the mention of hunters having a look around. Wasn't he offered a tour of the whole ship? Maybe he should take that offer up now, that will take long enough for anyone to find anything hidden he won't be shown on a tour. He smirks mischievously. "I can handle that."
Noah never thinks of himself as a self-starter, or as someone who takes command--but that's just a lie he's been told, and has told himself, for years, despite evidence to the contrary. Oh, well. Noah sets his course for the courtyard where his sixteen hunters are still hell-bent on winding each other with staves. They've been working harder, but that's because they've been knocked out of the routine they were used to. In short order, Noah tells them that they're going to be Torvald's escort, and that they're going to be expected to stay on the subtle side of espionage. Get dressed, get armed, get ready to get into a scowling contest with Kelosh.