5661/The Knight of the Round Table Alliance

The Knight of the Round Table Alliance
Date of Scene:	26 January 2018
Location:	Yamato <ET>
Synopsis:	The Watch recruits Krusty of the Round Table Alliance.
Cast of Characters:	August Kohler, 261, Empty Tidings, Athela Valemore, 1149, 1108

---

August Kohler has posed:
August sent out the call for a small group of Watch elites. It was recruitment time, and he wanted a band of people in case it either went well, the person had a lot of questions, or they wanted to meet new Watch people if they accepted. Therefore, he walked into the guild hall of the Round Table Alliance, dressed in...a winter coat. He'd look for the first 'assistant' he could find, and asked them to meet with 'Krusty', identifying himself as August Kohler from the 'giant flying snake fight'.

And then, he'd wait. If ushered in to see Krusty, August would go immediately, telling his group to follow him along. The man seems knightly, so he's not sure if something will happen simply from the invitation or not.

Goku (261) has posed:
    Given the experience he had gone through with Krusty not even twenty-four hours ago, Goku made sure to put forth effort and come along. Who knows? Maybe his voice could help convince Krusty to join if he was having hesitations? Dressed in the gear that he is pretty much ALWAYS dressed in, the Saiyan arrives with little fanfare when the call is made. He appears out of empty space -- a result of using his Instant Transmission to carry himself the great distance required. "Phew! Made it. Just in time." Waving to the other Watch elites that have gathered, Goku beams a toothy grin. "Hey everyone!"
    Letting August take point, Goku casually places hands on his hips. Waiting for instruction or direction.

Empty Tidings has posed:
Empty Tidings hooked up with August's little diplomatic entourage with a brief comment about how he seems under-dressed and an awful lot of smiling. She's dressed in something nice, floral, and apparently fitting with the local eastern aesthetic, if not the one that involves a lot of oddly-shaped buildings run down into plant-covered ruins. She'll have to visit sometime and see what's up with that.

"'Giant flying snake fight,'" she murmurs. "What a novel way to meet someone."

Athela Valemore has posed:
Much like Goku, Athela has come along in part due to yesterday's events. She's curious about this world, this Guild, and whatever problems it may be having in general. Other than the athsetics and the whole 'game world' thing some people mentioned, it has it's similarities to her own. For the time being however she is merely following, this is August's show.

Krusty (1149) has posed:
    Considering her simple appearance compared to the more outlandish Adventurers that can be seen wandering the large Guild Meeting Hall, the assistant that August approaches is probably one of the People of the Land that has been mentioned by Krusty in the past. At the meeting request she disappears into one of the back rooms for a moment, before returning and saying, "Representative Krusty will see you know. Please, follow me."

    The group of Watchmen are guided into through the corridors of the hall. The designs are all rather ornate, with identical looking doors lining each side of the hall in short intervals. Strangely there's no obvious sign as to what each door is for, perhaps encouraging thoughts about how anyone even navigates this place successfully.

    The assistant reaches one of the non-descript doors and knocks on it. From within there's a call, "Come in." The assistant opens the door, revealing not an office or another hallway, but rather a plane of glittery space. Some kind of portal? She motions for the group to enter. Entering the portal will probably feel similar to that of travelling by warpgate.

    On the other side is a fairly simple looking office. The large use of wood makes it feel rather comfortable. Krusty can be seen sitting behind a rather large wooden desk, numerous pieces of parchment randomly spread out upon it, one of which he is currently writing on with a quill. He's naturally not wearing his suit of heavy armour, but is instead in a uniform that the group likely would have seen worn by others on the way in. The uniform of the Round Table Alliance.

    As the group enter into the office, Krusty stops writing and stands, giving them a polite smile as he says, "Greetings."

A2 (1108) has posed:
    Why A2, of all the Watch's relatively well-known personages would 'grace' a meeting like this, has a confusing and counter intuitive answer. Considering the number of other, more socially well adjusted, less (ostensibly) awful people following August to what he swears up and down is a visit and possible recruitment drive, there shouldn't be any need whatsoever for the last figure that tags along close by the youth, dressed as the most generic 'wandering cloaked ninja traveler' imaginable, save that even the highly stereotypical borrowed coat doesn't do a lot to hide the fact that the person wearing it is traveling in high heels.

    She also doesn't really try to hide her face either (it didn't come with an edgy mask) so the grey 'scars' across her nose and cheekbone are as plain as the silver hair spilling out the front of the hood. "The hell kind of a name is 'crusty'?" she asks, quietly, the minute the assistant is out of earshot.

August Kohler has posed:
August walks in. He doesn't take a seat anywhere, and instead makes sure the door is closed once everyone's inside. There's a glance at windows to see if anyone could be watching or listening, before August steps up. "Krusty. Name's August Kohler. I have a pair of questions for you." He doesn't introduce the rest of the group - he'll let them handle themselves. "Number one. Are you currently a member of one of the multiversal organizations?" August waits for this one to be answered before he asks number two, taking a step forward.

"Number two. What do you fight for? What spurs you into action?" This is probably not how office meetings go at all. Good thing August isn't business professional whatsoever and doesn't try to be! That's what he has the others for.

Empty Tidings has posed:
Empty Tidings is absolutely socially well-adjusted. And that other thing isn't important, A2, don't you let people put you down about it. "A bad nickname, I sincerely hope," she murmurs in A2's direction.

Portals. Tidings eyes it for a second when they first see it, but decides that the odds of being summarily annihilated are low when August and Goku tromp on through and don't turn into dust. She steps forward... and decides she has experienced far more inconvenient methods of getting into someone's office. Maybe it's a security measure?

Empty Tidings bows politely. She gives August a side-eyed look when he goes right into it, but does not openly berate him for being so blunt. This is who she signed up to work with, she reminds herself. She suppresses a sigh.

Goku (261) has posed:
    "Does anyone else think Krusty has a cool name?" Goku whispers to his allies that have gathered. "I mean, it's just so awesome. Though it sort of reminds me of pie crust." The black haired alien rubs his chin, imagination no doubt sparking his brain to create some great mental images of various pies. This daydreaming stops when the assistant arrives though, black eyes drawing down to her casually. And then? They're off.
    Stepping through the hall in his boots, Goku admires the various ornate designs of the hall he and the other Watchmen step through. Though the true pièce de résistance is without doubt the portal. Hidden by a door, no less! The saiyan snickers in admiration. "Awesome." Following August, he steps through without fear. As he emerges from the other side of the portal, the sharp smell of wood hits his nose. Scrunching it up amid some shock, he quickly grows used to the surroundings.
    "Yo, Krusty!" He calls out in a familiar-sounding tone, lifting a hand to wave from behind August. "Man, you were great yesterday! Legit, amazing! You did things with that axe I haven't seen ever. And how do you move around like that with such heavy armour?!" Unlike his lead, he appears to lack the same sort of tact and direct messaging. When August does in fact go straight to business, he swallows. "Oh, yeah. I'm Goku. In case you forgot."

Athela Valemore has posed:
Athela Valemore holds and arm to her midsection as she bows briefly, cloak draping over her shoulders and sides as she does so. "It is good to see you again." She spares farther introduction than that since they met the day before, and she doesn't want to interrupt August getting down to business.

If one looked closely they might see a pair of small eyes in the depths of the hood of her cloak. Presumably one of her pokemon is lurking there, as it shifts a little to keep its position as she stands again, ruffling the fabric briefly. She rolls her eyes at the comments about how valid of a name Krusty is, but doesn't deem it worth a response.

Krusty (1149) has posed:
    "It's a skill available to Berserkers." Krusty's response to Goku.

    Krusty briefly glances at each member of the group, recognizing a number of them from recent quests. Still a couple are new to him. To those he places his hand against his chest and briefly bows, "I am Krusty. Official representative of the Round Table Alliance and leader of the guild D.D.D. A pleasure to meet you."

    Krusty straightens again, turning his attention on August as he begins. To the first question, Krusty simply answers, "No." To the second, he pauses for a moment to consider his answer. He then adjusts his glasses as he says, "A few things. A challenge. To help others. To right wrongs." Krusty eyes August closely, but maintains a polite smile as he says, "Some interesting questions for a meeting requested out of the blue."

Athela Valemore has posed:
Athela grunts and makes a mental know to herself, Round Table was only the name of the group and not the guild itself. That shall have to be corrected in future notation.

    "Perhaps it alludes to him being well weathered and experienced," she asides back to Goku after his comment about pie crust. "You know, like when they say an elder seaman is a 'crusty old sailor'."

Empty Tidings has posed:
"August is an inquisitive sort with no sense of timing or decorum," Empty Tidings says, immediately cutting August off before he can do something like challenge Krusty to a fight for his allegiance. She glides a step closer when she speaks up. "In my experience, he speaks his mind no matter the situation, and particularly likes to posit hypotheticals to stir up conversation... and less polite things, too," she adds, smiling a little wider.

"What do you consider 'wrong,' though?" She rests the tips of her fingers on Krusty's desktop. "It's such a broad and often loaded term. What it means is significant to a small known few, yes, but when speaking to people from other places with other values, it --"

She cuts herself off, clearing her throat. Tidings looks momentarily embarrassed and slightly sheepish in tone. "I'm sorry for all the questioning. It isn't every day I get to meet a knight from another world."

Goku (261) has posed:
    "Berserkers, huh? I'll have to look you guys up. You seem really strong." Goku beams, taking a mental note of that term. He says no more for the immediate moment though, choosing to let August continue and steer the conversation. Instead he just folds arms across his chest. Not really in an intimidating way. Just casually.
    He does make a motion to glance to Athela at her suggestion, a stern and serious nod coming from him in understanding. "Makes sense to me."

August Kohler has posed:
"I was going to do no such thing." August glances at Tidings, sighing and frowning noticeably, but actually...allowing her to mostly take point, until he speaks up again. "See, I instead might have wanted to offer you a position in something. Depending on how you answered, that is. You're intelligent, strong, and held your cool back there when we fought. Good priorities. There's an organization out there that wants people who will do the right thing...whatever they think that is, and however they want to do that. /I'm/ a part of that organization." August rubs the back of his head. He had a better speech but Tidings took the wind out of his sails.

"Would that disinterest you at all? If so, we can leave right now. No more words spent on this. If not..."

Krusty (1149) has posed:
    To assist with Goku's interest, Krusty does explain a little more, "Berserker is a sub-class available to Adventurers in this world. My main class is Guardian, which is usually focused on defense and protecting others. But with the right skills and sub-class, they can make for a decent offensive attacker."

    Krusty nods along in agreement with Empty Tidings, "I imagine that it's a word that has many different meanings for each person, on each world." But it's August's words which draw most of Krusty's attention. He listens attentively... Then says, "The Watch." He smiles knowingly, "I've heard of it." Tying back to his explanation to Goku, "Another of the classes in this world is Assassin. While primarily focused on dealing damage, their stealth skills are also useful for information gathering. I've had a number of those in my guild doing just that."

    Krusty turns and walks over to the lone window in his office. He looks out as he appears to be considering the offer. After several moments he turns back to the group, saying, "Admittedly, I cannot publicly join such an organisation, due to my position here. But from what I understand, that is not necessarily a problem for the Watch?"

A2 (1108) has posed:
    A2 has met less people in this room than Krusty has, all things said. Half of them she hasn't even 'met' over a radio, with a general disinclination to small talk therein. The only reason one would have to believe she belongs with them at all is that she seems to remain continuously more suspicious of the environment than the decidedly motley crew being lead through it, especially with something as blatant as a portal door. The only need for it to exist that she could possibly think of would be so that it could be easily sealed off and be made completely inaccessible --or inescapable.

    "You're one to talk." A2 dead-facedly shoots back at Empty Tidings, not even so much as blinking for all the thought and energy it requires to throw that jab. Her expression changes more in agitation for August leading with the two bluntest questions she'd ever heard him lead with, as if he were secretly hoping to land himself in trouble. Then, again, less subtly, her eyes twitch when she hears him speak out 'Number two', quickly flicking and then lowering away from him. At the words regarding 'Berserkers', she watches Krusty bow, and then responds to Athela (again without turning) "Experienced, maybe. Weathered, not a chance."

    The desk then has to tolerate A2's weight when she seats herself on the edge pulling her hood down and yet still not quite managing to free all of her hair. This of course, leaves her facing away from the person the group is supposed to be socially courting as a potential prospect, but she seems interested in something else. "You've been considering it, haven't you?" The question sounds rhetorical. "Otherwise that wouldn't be even close to the first thing someone would have asked. That's pretty much asking if the kid will take you, instead of the other way around."

Athela Valemore has posed:
Athela gives a brief nod of the head. "We care more about the right thing getting done at the right time. What steps are required to keep your 'public' image a seperate entity can be accomidated, but may rely much on yourself to maintain, yes?" She turns her head to look towards August, would would know better on that matter than herself. She has a bit of luxury in not having to worry about certain political ties, herself.

Goku (261) has posed:
    Goku seems to struggle a bit with the concept of classes and sub-classes. Given the twisting nature of his face, struggling hard. "So you focus so much on defence that it becomes... offence?" The saiyan tries to compute this, mind going around in the circle as the Adventurer continues to discuss tidings with August. His eyes spark back to attention when Krusty explains the Assassin class. "Oh really? Sounds sneaky. I know the Watch has a bit of a reputation like that, but it's not really all what we're about. I mean, sure, there's a heap of that which goes down because the Watch is much smaller." Goku isn't really with it on the finer details, so doesn't digress much further than that. "...But... I mean, look at me." The man smiles. "I'm not sneaky at all. Trust me." His toothy grin sparkles in whatever light is present, and is followed by a few giggles. "Heh!"

August Kohler has posed:
There's a glance at A2's agitation and a shrug, pretty much 'what?', as August turns to Krusty. His frown slowly forms into a small smile. "She's right, you know. Looks like you've been considering us. Well, we have no problem if you use a fake name or wear a mask or whatever, several of our members have no public affiliation. As long as you're helping out one way or the other, we don't care if you're calling yourself Krusty or Jim." August starts pacing, tilting to reach into his pocket. He doesn't pull his hand out.

"Are you in?"

Empty Tidings has posed:
> Empty Tidings will remember you said that, A2.

She frowns at August's back for a couple seconds, but lets it fade to an impassive mask. It's the moment of truth. Is he actually a Paladin agent, looking for a chance at an ambush? Or is he someone actually interested in working with them? It wouldn't be the first time things have felt like they rested on a knife's edge, all suspicion and wariness.

Personal experience, there.

Krusty (1149) has posed:
    Krusty is definitely not a Paladin. That's a class only available on the European servers.

    To Goku's confused question, Krusty simply replies, "Not quite." But doesn't expand on it further. Not really the time.

    But at A2's observation, Krusty smiles and raises his hands a bit. He's been caught, "Maybe a little. I must admit your dedicaton to doing what needs to be done is a kind of freedom I can appreciate. And I have been looking for a way to take action in the Multiverse without draging the Alliance in to it." The would cause far too much trouble for Krusty's likes.

    Krusty leans against the back of his chair as he appears to consider the offer for a little longer, then nods to August, "Alright, I'm in."

August Kohler has posed:
August turns towards Krusty, pulling a note out of his pocket. It's a folded piece of linepaper. If opened up, it has a list of instructions under a simple substitution cipher, which if followed, will lead him to a location where he can confirm and get a radio frequency. While it's not actually good encryption, it has a different purpose - making sure the group can leave, because if something happens to August so that he can't verify it...

August isn't subtle, but he's smart enough to not just hand out the frequency. "Welcome aboard."

Goku (261) has posed:
    As Krusty leans back, Goku bites his lower lip in anticipation. When Krusty seems content delaying it and declares his hand, the saiyan thrusts an arm up into the air in victory! "Aw YEAH! Welcome aboard, Krusty! We're going to have all kids of adventures. Just you wait and see." Clearly delighted by the news, he puts hands on his hips. "See, guys? I told you there was nothing to worry about. I knew right in my gut after fighting with him yesterday that he'd be in with us." Flicking a thumb up, he beams a hearty smile to Krusty.
    Watching the note get delivered carefully, Goku tilts his head in curiosity before turning about just a bit. "Shall we head back? I dunno about you guys, but all this recruiting has got me hungry."

A2 (1108) has posed:
    A2 shrugs. It's a slow, subtle, and nearly useless gesture, for all the emphasis she puts on it, but it communicates exactly how shocked she is to have been right. "It's how it is. You consider how you could do something after you've already decided you want to, whether you realize it or not. You look like the kind smart enough to notice they did." She then swivels on the desk, just enough to look.

    "Quick answer, though. I hope you spent a lot of time thinking about it, because otherwise I can only imagine you regretting it later. Code names and fake identities are easy. Figuring out what 'what needs to be done' is and living with the consequences is harder. Good luck." Then she finally gets up, giving the guild furniture some relief. Seems she had been expecting either this outcome or a fight, nothing in between.

    "Pass." she says to Goku on the way out. Probably due to not eating in general, and not just to be mean. Probably. "And don't believe everything your gut tells you in the middle of a fight."

Athela Valemore has posed:
Athela is quite relieved that the note is used instead of saying potentially sensative information outloud. She nods in approvingly, and casts a faint bit of a smile to Krusty. "Then I shall look forward to fighting at your side again some time." Business seems to be done here so she turns. There's a burbling from under her cloak hood at the mention of being hungry and the small pink blob of a slug critter pokes its head out. Whatever the burbling sounds meant it gets an amused eyeroll out of Athela. "But you're -always- hungry," she replies to the pokemon.

Empty Tidings has posed:
Adventures.

Hooray.

"I could eat," Empty Tidings remarks, a touch flatly. She inclines her head to Krusty. "Call us if you need us. I'm sure we'll get along splendidly."

She's still not discounting the guys with clubs outside the door.

Krusty (1149) has posed:
    Krusty takes the slip of paper and looks at it curiously for a moment, before slipping into into his pocket. He nods slowly in response to A2, "I'm fairly confident I understand what I'm getting into."

    But it looks like there all looking to leave so Krusty smiles, "I look forward to working with you all." He proceeds to return to sitting at his desk, once more taking up his quill. He expects the group to be able to find their own way out.

    Oh, and there are guys with clubs outside the door. But they just happen to be a couple of Adventurers walking by, chatting with each other harmlessly.

Goku (261) has posed:
    "Aw, come on!" Goku protests to A2 as he exits with the group. "We can consider it to be awesome Watch hang out time! And hey, I'll have you know my gut saves me all the time. Nearly as much as my head. How else do you think I lived this long?" Pause. "Just, uh, don't count the time where I died." Pause. "Both times I died, I mean. Yeah. Those don't count." Ahem.
    Turning a little as he departs, he raises a salute-wave to Krusty. "Cya soon, Krusty! Maybe next time we meet you can show me a few of those axe moves, huh? Heh. Later."

August Kohler has posed:
August leaves silently. No time for chatter right now - he has to pick up his Servant and get home. That was his backup plan, admittedly, which is the other reason he was pretty confident - if someone shot him, Archer'd probably come barreling his way in a word. He pulls out some money from his pocket as he leaves.

Time for meat-on-a-stick.