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Count Kord     The City of Konigburg.

    The air carries the acrid scent of coal at all times. There is a constant haze of pollution, and soot can be seen in spots where the city's cleaners cannot easily reach. It isn't strong enough to cause health issues, but it is enough that it's clear some serious industry is going on in this city. The buildings are made of solid stone, metal beams, and shimmering glass, like some kind of steampunk rendition of Victorian England mashed with Germanic designs. The streets are filled with grimy peasantry going about their daily lives in patchwork clothing, and their equally grimy and malnourished Pokemon living alongside them. The main streets have this appearance throughout, a general industrial misery where the sky is constantly grey and everyone gives a suspicious stare to strangers.

    Kord has called allies and interested parties to Konigburg for a singular purpose. The metallic golem Pokemon known as Registeel is rumored to reside within the city, somewhere in the sprawling structures that seem claustrophobic the moment anyone travels outside of the main roads. He has advised them of the city's intel, and he has said that he is willing to leverage his wealth in order to gain information, but due to his own nature and the general ire toward Yveltal throughout Bayern, he cannot do any searching on his own. Despite his titanic power, he is not born of limitless strength and resources to deal with an entire city rising up to smite him. He is arrogant but not stupid.

    Several options have been made available to the explorers:

    * The local aristocrats have a sprawling spiderweb of informants and spies, as they are at their most cutthroat here in Konigburg. They might know something, if only someone can get one of them to spill the beans.
    * The gangs of Konigburg are ruthless but they know the mire of stonework that composes the city better than anyone else. Getting on the good side of one of the larger gangs might prove fruitful, but it stands a risk of getting embroiled in the many gang wars.
    * The Steel Cathedral has the second largest gathering of Xerneas followers in Bayern. They're known for being charitable, but the help they give does not come for free. They might be able to grease some wheels... but they might need some convincing. You're seeing where this is going.

    There are other avenues, if one has other ideas. Konigburg is, after all, the largest city in Bayern, the hub of hopes and dreams for the naive and innocent, where wisdom is forged like a hot knife or the unwary are shattered like carbonized trash.
Robert Speedwagon     Smog, pollution, and coal dust....

    Aaaaah, just like home~. Well, for Robert Speedwagon anyway. The only thing that's really out of place is the Pokemon. Fortunately the Ogre Street Gang has been in enough other worlds that the Pokemon aren't something frightening. Oh but they're definitely going to stare! All these creatures are so strange-looking!

    On the bright side, given the similarity of the worlds, Speedwagon and his gang is likely to fit in a little better than normal. About the only visible difference is that they have no Pokemon. Which could just be 'they're THAT poor'.

    He's left his sledgehammer behind, Robert has, but he's got that bowler hat on, with the blades carefully concealed. Tattoo has his knives well-hidden, and its easy to hide martial arts -- just hide your hands in your sleeves! Never know when trouble's going to crop up, after all!

    Well, it's a cinch that neither of the three of them are going to be able to get much out of the aristocrats. It'd be like pulling teeth for Speedwagon's gang. On the other hand, being part of a gang themselves, it's natural for them to gravitate toward other gang-controlled areas. They have a very distinct air of 'don't go to these places unless you're looking to lose body parts'.

    So yes. The Ogre Street Gang are going to poke around in the unsavory areas of the city, since they'll probably seem familiar enough to the three of them.
Athela Valemore Two steps into Konigburg is all it takes to remind Athela why she prefers the coastlines and open fields of the other areas of Bayern. The sky was never clearly blue, the air smelled like downwind from a pack of Stunky, and seeing the downtrodden citizens reminded her of why most of her family ancestory left Bugen City when the aristrocrats started winding their fingers into the trade professions.

Yet she was here. To say she nor her patron dared to trust Kord too far, before or after his transformation, would be an understatement. But the potential of him being right, and one of the mad titan Regigigas' golems was hidden in the city, was much more dangerous to ignore. It was her duty to investigate, and perhaps hope it is wrong in the end. In the greater scheme of things, it mattered little what they thought of the now mythical Count, they shared the same enemies in this matter.

And anything to make sure Konigburg does not have to befall the same fate as Archengrad did because of the cultists.

All the same Athela pulls the hood of her cloak up over her head, as much a vain attempt to keep gunk out of her hair as to keep a low profile. Keldeo was little more than a mostly forgotten legend to these people and most of the city probably doesn't even know of her more than the passing stories of the supposed 'Lost Sword' dealing with Team Golem in other parts of the land. All the same, to be seen lurking around with a bunch of outsiders, possibly at the behest of one of the feared men in Bayern, was more mud Keldeo's name did not need to be dragged through.

But at least she wasn't -alone-. "So." The young knight glanced back to the others that have gathered. "What do we want to pursue first?" The only of her own pokemon visible with her was her Timburr. They and their evolutions were common labor Pokemon in most parts of Bayern, he wouldn't stand out so much. Though he looks as discomforted as she does, if only because this place is just 'built' and little put into more than the minimal craftsmanship to keep it standing.

... Well, it makes sense the gang goes to check out the gangs. Probably best to leave it to Speedwagon to look into familiar, so to speak, turf.
Finna     Finna has pledged some help to Count Kord! Averting a disaster is pretty high on her priority list, and she operates on a principle of 'you scratch my back I'll scratch yours.'

    Now that she has a whiff of the city though, Finna's almost regretting that choice. "Smells. Worse. Than Tusk in summer." She mutters from her position which is UNFORTUNATELY on the rooftops, leaping stealthily from building to building. She's donned a cloak of local make, and as it flaps about other local clothes can be glimpsed. Commoner garb, nothing special.

    Why exactly is she doing this? Because her sensitive ears are turned towards the streets below, listening for any gossip. Auspicious personalities about that she might perhaps benefit from impersonating, or criminals talking about anything that might benefit the cause!

    But, mostly she's making a lazy path towards the Steel Cathedral.

    She's not really certain what will come of her attempts to mosey around, as she doesn't know the local culture yet and hasn't had time to plan out much of an approach! But everything starts with small steps.
Count Kord     Speedwagon lucks out and runs into one of the more docile, but no less dangerous, gangs when he wanders off into the more rundown areas to find them. What he runs into are people with blue and white scarves, men and women of varying ages with their faces concealed. They seem to populate a few blocks of Konigburg, and generally leave Robert and his crew untouched while they traverse through. The area this gang is in has a variety of Normal-Type Pokemon: Snorlax, an enormous, rotund, snoozing felinoid-bear; Raticate, a numerous rodent with smog-coated fur and large teeth and their smaller, purple pre-evolution, Rattata; Smeargle, dressed with similar scarves, spotted painting graffiti on any surface they can reach with their paint-oozing tails.

    This area is like a sanctuary of art, the people look well-fed, and even the Pokemon are smiling.
Staren     Staren wants to help, he does.

    But dealing with aristocrats? Socializing with gangsters?

    That is just not going to go well.

    So Staren takes a more direct approach: Throw a bunch of resources at the problem and brute-force it.

    Trickling into the city are humanoid figures in cloaks of various plain colors -- greys, browns, black -- holding what look like metal detectors to the ground. They walk normally for several steps, stop with the device pressed to the ground for a second, and move on. Overall there's a couple dozen of them.

    In the air above, several tiny drones indistinguishable from insects at a distance keep watch over the whole operation and generally watch for trouble, like if a huge group of people mass up and move together for some reason or a lot of folks start moving towards the bots all at once.

    Staren himself is just outside the city, attempting to blend in with a black cloak. Coordinating this whole operation, piecing the map of underground structures together and directing the bots, is taking his whole attention, so he doesn't want to be attempting to walk through the city and dodging pickpockets or whatever at the same time.
Count Kord     No one seems to be talking openly about anything important. In fact, most people don't seem especially friendly and talkative in Konigburg, and at most she hears insults, arguments, or hushed and barely comprehensible conversations about personal information that isn't very relevant to her search. She manages to leap from building to building without much issue. Up there she meets a variety of flying-type Pokemon, but mostly just Pidgey that stare at her dumbly like perfectly synchronized food vacuums.

    She finds that the buildings are structured very haphazardly. Buildings are renovated with extra floors, balconies are placed in weird positions, all buildings modified to barely keep up with an exploding population.

    The Steel Cathedral is ahead, a gleaming masterpiece of plated architecture, with a great bejeweled glass tree standing in a plaza in front of it. It is adorned with black statues at key locations in the form of Yveltal, a shape that Finna is familiar with Kord's bestial form. They seem to serve the same purpose as gargoyles.
Robert Speedwagon     Giant rats are to be expected, even if seeing one with teeth bigger than a man's head is initially disturbing. Initially when they first see a Raticate, Tattoo suddenly is NOT THERE. He really doesn't like rats, apparently! Speedwagon sighs. "Tattoo. Get down from there."

    Tattoo's on a ledge overhead; how he got up there is anyone's guess. "But BOSS! Tha... that rat!"

    "It's not a rat," Robert reasons. "It's... somethin' else. Unless it bites yer, don't worry about it." He'll eventually get Tattoo down from the ledge, with plenty of threats and cajoling.

    Though that said, Speedwagon's response to the art dog thing painting graffiti is probably predictable. "What...?! How is that creature ''painting'' with its tail?!" He's almost more interested in the Pokemon than in the people. But there ARE questions that need to be asked.

    Since the gang seems to have left the three of them alone, his approach is polite. He'll approach the first one of these scarved people, remove his hat, and greet, "'Ello there. Ya 'eard anything about weird people runnin' around?" Pause. "Besides us." They're looking for cultists, right? And cultists are weird!
Carna     Enark exhausted himself helping Theurgus's apprentice resolve an issue of corruption spreading throughout their world, potentially tied to the same corruption that spreads throughout Lumiere now. So he is taking a little break this time around, and leaving Carna on her own. She is attired as is common of her these days, in noble-looking finery that would fit in upon the body of a victorian-era prince, though with a more gothic bent to it. The red-haired woman has no visible armament aside from a deep black chain wrapped around her left arm, and likewise no visible pokemon accompanying her.

    She is unbothered by the pollution in the air, though she gives it a sniff or two in order to determine if she is in danger from a fire of some kind. She has a duty to the Concord, and to Count Kord by extension, and thus has come to aid him. She does not pretend to understand anything at all about this world, but she made some notes on the major points, as well as the name of the thing she is here to ask about. The old Carna's journal was not especially helpful when it came to pokemon, so she'll have to record information herself in her new one. For now, she intends to approach the city's leadership and higher-ups. When she isn't missing all her skin, and is dressed nicely instead of in armor and rags, Carna may appear to be quite pretty and noble after all. Surely that's all that arisocats care about.

    These are snobby felines she's going to go see, right? That's the deal here? Yeah, she's pretty sure that's the deal.
Count Kord     Staren finds something that might give him a headache, as the drones map out the underground of the city.

    The sewers are a knotted mess of tunnels, collapsed structures, and former homes fallen into sink holes. Below that, there are catacombs that stretch on for miles and miles, with no clear purpose or end, and even below that there is a cavern system that seems to be connected to an aquifer of some kind, creating an alternating set of open spaces with underground rivers and great lakes that obfuscate his radar. It is an absolute mess that doesn't come out as a perfect image, but it does give him an idea of why no one has found Registeel in this place yet. It's just too hard to find anything if one tries to brute-force it without tools like his.

    And then there's the wildlife.

    His drones would probably have their security countermeasures set off when Porygon, strange duck-like spirits, inhabit the devices to ... do absolutely nothing but nestle in the warmth of technology. The brief presence of sapient magical data might cause issues. The other species that sniffs out his drones is not nearly as kind. Rotom surge out of a nearby lamp post into one of the drones, and begins trying to hijack it and send it dancing down the road in a fit of capricious ghostly mischief.
Athela Valemore Athela erfs softly as Mizzen gives her a nudge, like she had been off in a daze for a moment. Or trying to clear her head of the smells. Could of been a bit of both. "Yes, I know," she replies to the Timburr. "You dislike standing around."

Speedwagon has gone off towards the grungy, gang ridden part of the city. Finna was prowling about in whatever form she decided to take this time, Carna was dressed like and honestly better suited to deal with the aristocrats. Staren was... doing whatever it is Staren does. She's never been able to figure him out.

Frankly, she's just glad someone else is going to deal with the high society snobs. "Come," she nods to her pokemon to follow, and starts walking towards the lower side of town as well. The downtrodden that aren't all too happy with the high society might be more willing to talk.
Count Kord     Carna would find that the wealthy areas of the city are pretty easy to locate. There are a number of houses that one could approach for information, if they're feeling bold enough for that. The largest of which is a great manor see at the very end of the large main street, with a fountain in front of it, and a statue of the Sword of Justice known as Cobalion, a quadrapedal pokemon with two great horns like a goat, standing with its head lifted proudly. Its body is painted a stunning cobalt.

    That great blue manor with its ornate banners looks like the most important building in the whole city.
Count Kord     The rats don't seem to care about Tattoo besides the brief startle he gives them. The Smeargle gives Speedwagon a quizzical look, and then licks the tip of its tail and smiles at him, before turning back to its artwork. It doesn't seem to be interested in chatting, if that's even possible.

    The question makes the scarved, somewhat rotund woman place her hand on her hip as if she were about to give a witty retort, but then Robert clarifies. She breathes a sigh into her scarf, and she says, in a hard-to-place accent, "You'll have to be more specific, love. This is a city. We're all weird here."
Staren     Staren went for quantity over quality, which may be something of a mixed blessing in this case.

    The airborn specks are mostly okay with a weird data surge -- some might crash and reboot, but the disruption is mostly to communications and Staren's monitoring abilities.

    The humanoids, on the other hand...

    ...Universally surge or glitch out when inhabited, freezing in place for several seconds while they reboot. People might notice that, if mysterious cloaked figures with strange devices wasn't already drawing attention. Staren, seeing his devices start crashing, groans in frustration, then stomps his foot when it happens to pretty much /all/ the bots. "What the hell is going on?!" he stamps his foot in annoyance.

    It's several seconds before he can even realize one has been hijacked, and he scrambles to get eyes on it and to remote into the bot, if it's still operational, to try and troubleshoot the problem.

    At least the robots aren't particularly strong or anything. Still, that fancy GPR could serve as a crude metal club, like most things.
Carna     Big. Big means important. And Carna has, thus far, had pretty good luck with the color blue. She wouldn't even be who she is right now, she thinks, if not for Enark of the Blue Scholars. And Priscilla, in white. So she'll keep an eye out for white too, if she's following omens or whatever. But for now, a big blue building seems like as good a place as any. She approaches the gates openly, even if she'd much rather be trying to vault them stealthily and sneak in to negotiate with her sword against this cat's throat.

    But she is making the attempt at proper conduct. She is not wholly the same person she used to be. She, in fact, does not even remember the person she used to be. So hopefully that means 'kill them all and loots the bodies' is no longer her modus operandi all of the time.
Count Kord     Athela finds the area of the city run by those who color themselves as Electric-themed. Maybe not the best place for the water-based trainer to end up, but nonetheless she's there. The people here wield metal pipes, and they have a variety of ragged and surly-looking pokemon. Amazingly, there are electric lights in this area of the city, and some rudimentary elevators and other early technologies.

    She gets stopped by a very large man with metal gauntlets. He has shocking white hair, and a lightning scar across his face and down his neck. He has a Raichu curled around his shoulders, which glares down at her with more malice than his passive gaze does. His attire is basic, tattered and patchwork clothing barely fitted onto his immense frame. He is... quite a specimen of humanity.

    "What do you want?" he asks, his voice thundrous like a great storm.
Count Kord     The Rotom gets kicked out of Staren's device shortly after he tries to regain control. Unfortunately, trying to operate advanced tech in this place will be hellish on their circuitry, because they're constantly assailed by electromagnetic interference, impediments by metallic structures, and other city-based obstructions. One humanoid drone gets attacked by a pack of muggers with knives that flee when they realize it's not a real person. He's getting a gradual map of the sewers, though, at the very least. It looks like people could travel across the entire city using these tunnels, if they know where they're going. A haven for cultists, perhaps.
Finna     Finna looks plenty more confident than she feels, wearing a brilliant and cheery smile as she usually does! For she dives down into an alley before emerging onto the path straight for the cathedral's main gates.

    She COULD go sneaking in, of course, but when dealing with divinities, she would rather not needlessly offend them. She's mischevious, but not stupid.

    She will stroll right on in and past the magnificent colorful tree - a symbol she HAS appraised herself of by now, if just barely - for a look at just what sorts of people frequent the place. As usual, her eyes and ears are primed for any juicy gossip as she searches for anyone who looks official enough to flag down!
Count Kord     Carna is stopped by a man in a black suit with a lift of one of his hands, with grey hair. He gives her attire a look from head to toes, and gives the most confused look. He turns to a servant that scurries by with a basket of supplies, and asks them about something in a hushed voice. He's apparently standing at the front door waiting for visitors to arrive, judging by what he says next.

    "Are you here to visit the Duke, Lady...?" the butler fishes for Carna's name, smiling at her awkwardly. He's an anxious fellow, his face wrinkled even beyond his elderly state.
Robert Speedwagon     It's honestly a little weird to him, really, for a woman to be a member of a gang. But the time Robert Speedwagon has spent in the Multiverse has shown him that there are women who are just as capable as a man, if not MORE so! It's a curiosity now, but not something that shocks him. Fortunately.

    Speedwagon gives a hearty laugh at the response. "Ah, right ya are," he agrees. "By 'weird', I mean more specifically... babblin' about prophesies 'f doom, sayin' forbidden names -- that sorta thing." He's at least TRYING to be tactful, without just blurting out 'where are the cultists?'.
Athela Valemore Rudimentary. Normally it wouldn't strike Athela as such, but after what she's seen in the Multiverse, the merely basic technology stands out. Konigburg was the city of marvels... But those marvels belonged to the rich and powerful. Considering how little there was to work with here, even basic ingenuity was something to behold.

Caught up in trying to examine how these people need so much effort merely to get from day to day Athela doesn't notice the larger man approach them until he's practically right there and just his prescense is hard to miss. His voice, even moreso.

"Looking," she replies, keeping her own voice even. Her mind churns, trying to think of an approriate way to approach the matter without it... well it's probably going to sound bizarre no matter what.

The Raichu's glare gets a snort from her Timburr, his log bobbing a bit as he rolls the shoulder it rests again. Not afraid of you, spark rat.

The metal gauntlets (weird an electric trainer would wear something that conducts electricity?) are noted but Athela keeps her gaze on the man's face. "There has been word circulating that something sinister may be lurking in the city." She's really at a loss for any other way to put it.
Staren     You can tell Staren's actually getting work done because he produces a constant stream of noise. "Nnnngh." "Seriously?!" "Oh come on!" "What the hell!" "Rrgh!" and so on. Still, it's progress, however slow. Almost certainly more than he would have gotten talking to snobs and gangsters.
Alexis Maaka     This isn't the first time Maaka's been to a victorian-esque shithole. The last time was the real deal, not to mention the town near Windknight's Lot when she'd met helped out Jonathan, no less. The cyborg keeps to herself, mostly for fear of attention being all focused on her. As she gets the way of the land, she mostly frequents a pub or two, getting info out of idle conversation with patrons to get local wisdom.

    She's been following this fellow with the bowler hat, mostly due to hearing about a man with a similar description when Jonathan explained the whole 'Dio' affair to her during that mess involving the demon and Alucard, keeping to herself mostly out of necessity. Plus if there's trouble this guy and his mates ought to dislodge it.

    Of course, eventually she decides to make her presence known, lighting a cigar with a flick of a matchbook. "I'll say. No shortage of 'mons 'round here. Definitely a shock for visitors." She comments aloud, letting the stogie light her face up.

    Speedwagon and his buddies might end up having the scare of their life. Assuming dealing with a literal vampire lord before wasn't enough of a fright.
Count Kord     Finna walks right up to a woman in colorful robes that gives Finna a bright smile. The woman has a basket full of fresh fruit she's just giving out to whomever wants, and so a plum is handed out toward Finna as she approaches. The people around here seem to be ailing or wounded, but recovering. There are /a lot/ of people prostrate before the great glass tree, the crystalline structure shining over their ragged clothing as they make prayers and offerings.

    "How can I help you?" she asks, in a charming tone of voice. She has blue hair, for some reason, despite everyone else around here having ordinary shades.

    Finna can see the woman has a set of antlers resembling the tree's colors, and the woman's eyes glow with a faint iridescence...
Carna     When Carna is stopped, she matches the servant's gaze with her deep crimson ones, for the briefest of moments considers whether to introduce herself as the name she was told she goes by ever since she awoke on a couch in Enark's study, to find out she was dead, and then without noticeable hesitation, answers, "Maria." It's the first name that came to her when she awoke. She doesn't know if that's really her name or not. It sounds similar at least, even if not quite entirely right. But it feels like a better fit than 'Carna'. The resonance of it within her spirit gives her more confidence in who she is and what she does, outside of the nagging of whispers in the back of her mind.

    "And yes, I have."
Count Kord     The member of the Bluescarf Gang gives Robert more of that wry staring, because he's a charming enough lad to her. His inquiries do get more specific, but she doesn't respond immediately, instead briefly distracted by Maaka's approach. She puts her other hand on her other hip, and then regards Robert real seriously for a few seconds. As she does this, a cat with a red gem on its forehead falls from nearby and lands next to her without a sound, and curls its tail around her ankles. A Persian.

    "We don't give free tips, dearie," she tells Robert. "We have our own problems to deal with. The other ruffians have been trying to steal from us weekly, we haven't time to help find your loony friends." She reaches down and pets the oversized cat's head. The cat lids his eyes and smiiiles at Robert.

    The street just got real quiet. People are staring.

    "What'll you do for us, mmh?"
Count Kord     The enormous man glowers down at Athela. He knits his brow and frowns at her. Her stalwart behavior is new to him, because most people cower before him. He steps aside and sits on a stoop, and reaches up to scritch his Raichu's ears, giving her a sleepy expression as he considers her words.

    "Might've seen something like that. But only the boss is supposed to decide about dangerous things like that." He's not the boss??? "The boss doesn't talk to Swords... maybe you can convince him to chat if you help us out. We got a problem that needs fixin', down in the sewers."
Alexis Maaka     Maaka's hand swiftly reaches beneath her coat, in that subtle kind of way where she's PROBABLY reaching for the .45 holstered on her thigh but could also just be reaching for something else. "Depends on what the favor is." She says. "I'm in the business of problem-solving for cash or favors m'self." She releases the grip on her FN FNX, and approaches the Bluescarf with an open hand to shake. "Alexis Maaka, at your service. This here's..." Pause. She glances to Speedwagon and his comrades, hoping to -god- they take the hint and roll with her on this.
Finna     Finna's not quite her usual self today. At some point in her approach she's subdued the gleam of her tattoos to nothing, and adopted the whiskerish silvery triangle marks of facepaint on her cheeks, short black hair, and more babyish face of Nico Zangt!

    But on being offered a plum, she reaches out with both hands to cradle it and accept it gratefully. Because that is what you do when someone who clearly glows with divine energies offers you hospitality.

    "Many thanks for these blessings of nature." She answers most earnestly and genuinely, with all the sincerity and reverence she would offer her own patron or the gods of her mortal life.

    Seems Finna's not totally incapable of manners after all!

    She glimpses up at the spirit-antlers just once, and tries not to show her realization that she's dealing with either a spirit in human form... or perhaps a very blessed priestess of Xerneas?

    Though her own nature might not be so easily hidden. To the right senses she has her own aura of gently wafting moonlight. The scent of a chilly but pleasant spring night wafts from the young woman, vibrant and full of life. Listen closely enough to that scent and you might hear the faint snarl of beasts and the pulse of primal life.

    It's all the more obvious right now, because on her approach, Finna focused all of her spirit as subtly as possible to enhancing her charm and poise. So when she pulls down her hood, she's vivaciously full of almost blushing life, a young woman of well-formed shape and perfect health. Something about her just... smells right, everything from the way she fidgets her fingers to shifts her weight about sends all the right signals to the psyche of onlookers. Signals that say, this is a friend whose name you just don't know yet!

    "I'm Nico Zangt! My father--" She glances about left and right, lowering her voice a bit rather self consciously. "Working on behalf of my father. He's a scholar. Surveying all of the nooks and crannies beneath the city to help flush out... eheheh. You can probably guess. Was wondering if the Cathedral might have records or information that could help him."

    At this point, all she can do is hope that her bit of trickery won't offend whoever this is.
Robert Speedwagon     The bowler is pretty distinctive, yeah. The things that look like popsicle sticks alone are probably enough to distinguish it, and him. He's loud, boisterous, and that's probably how Jonathan would have described him. They're friends, yes, but a gentleman is honest! But yes. Neither he nor any ofhis group has any idea that Maaka is following them. So when she speaks up, all three startle.

    It indeed doesn't help that the cigar lights up golden eyes -- that's not a normal color for folks' eyes! -- and Speedwagon does have a moment where some sort of primal fear of SOMETHING grips him. A sharp inhalation, his eyes widen, and he tenses... and then whatever it was passes, as he gets a better look at the face those gold eyes are a part of.

    It's not 'him'.

    He's holding his hat in one hand. He brings the other hand to his chest. "Beggin' your pardon... yer startled me," he offers, by way of apology. Whatever it was, there was a moment of existential fear, over SOMETHING. He's better now, though.

    The appearance of the giant cat gets a blink, though it's hardly the weirdest Pokemon he's seen so far. The scarflady has concerns, though! "Ah-ha. Rivals. Definitely somethin' I can understand." Sure, they need help... but what sort of bad is he dealing with here? He can sniff out the bad people. He tilts his head a bit, regarding the lady with the scarf quietly for a moment, with a quiet, "...Hmm." She'll probably be aware that she's being sized up somehow.

    After a moment, he seems to relax, the shrewd look fading. And yes, he does indeed catch the hint from Maaka. "The name's Robert Speedwagon," he offers, with a polite bow of his head. He's already got his hat off. And he also agrees, "We might be able ter come t' some agreement. Yer got a specific thing in mind?"
Athela Valemore It's a funny moment. Someone actually seems to realize what she's suppose to be, if not her personally, and Athela is not entirely sure if it's a good thing. Of course she didn't even think about her Sword being visible at her side, the big indicator it is, when she got distracted by the local kludgework.

But the burly man is content to talk rather than pick a fight over it, thankfully.

A few locks of red finally shuffle free of the hood on their own as Athela gives her head a curious tilt to the side. Sewer? She probably shouldn't be surprised that Konigburg has an entire sewer, but when indoor plumping in general is a luxury for most of Bayern that's not near the seas... Yeah. Still mildly amazing, even to one that's visited the Multiverse.

"What sort of problem?", she askes. The concept of having to do one quest to get information for another is hardly an unusual concept to the young knight.
Count Kord     Carna's led into the manor. The inside is pristine, made of finely polished stone and decorated with lavish rugs. There are suits of armor everywhere put up for display purposes. There's /air conditioning/. In a medieval manor. The butler leads her up to an office, where she's ushered inside and the door is closed behind her. Sitting behind a desk is a very severe man with a blue suit appropriate to the era, and a thin grey moustache. His hair is swept back and his eyes are half-lidded behind a pair of spectacles that shine somewhat in the buzzing old-style electric lighting.

    He has his hands steepled on his desk, resting with thumbs up so he can tap his white-gloved thumbs together. His amber eyes watch her, and his mouth is a neutral line.

    "There is no noblewoman by the name of Maria in all of Bayern," he states, calmly, and then leaves silence. The door locks behind Carna with sinister timing. The door is metal. She won't be able to leave that way without some severe violence.

    Nothing happens yet. It's just tense. He seems to be waiting for her to explain herself.
Count Kord     The antlered woman looks startled by Finna's deference. She wasn't anticipating that from someone she can see as obviously god-touched. She then notes the subtle supernatural charm in the fox woman as she explains herself, and gives a softer smile toward her for the attempt. It doesn't have the immediate impression that it's working, and there's a moment of silence, of thought, as she briefly and notably examines 'Nico' as if trying to assess her intent in inquiring about the archives.

    "You're lying," she states. "Mmh... I do love a good mystery, though."

    "They do have records," she explains, turning to step aside and gesture for Finna to enter the building freely. "Give them this..." She holds up a multi-colored coin, and hands it to Finna. "They will give you free access."

    "Give the Count my condolences," she adds, "He must be taking it badly. You poor things usually do..."

    Then the woman turns to leave, but vanishes like a puff of smoke as she reaches the bottom of the cathedral's steps, and the empty basket drifts down to land on the stone without anyone nearby apparently noticing it at all.
Carna     Carna, or 'Maria', evidences no discomfort or wariness about the situation, except a slight skepticism about this man who does not, in fact, appear to be a cat. She has no reason to think this Duke is any threat to her, or that she can't decapitate him from across the room before he can stand up if he turns out to be such. "I am not from Bayern," she admits easily, as though such were never in doubt. "I come from Lumiere. It's very evident that in these times, strong ties between different lands and people who know what's best for others is one of the greatest safeguards against chaos. So is dealing with problems before they can become threats, rather than waiting for them to strike."

    She tries to scrape together the knowledge of manners as provided by one of the two souls that comprise her. "My apologies for coming unannounced, but from what I have seen and heard, you seemed the most likely to understand the precarious position we are all in, and that the one who seizes opportunity is the one who will be remembered in the end."

    She pauses, letting the significance of those words sit, and then gestures at the door one-handed. "If my measure of you has been inaccurate, however, there may be others more amenable to working together and receiving the benefits of such." Thank goodness for the soul of that knight that Priscilla used as the foundation of her identity. All this fancy talking would be a lot harder otherwise.
Count Kord     The Duke of Konigburg stares at Maria with a silent gaze. He sits almost perfectly still and his stoic face is lit by the windows shining dingy light, and the buzzing electric tones from the lights lining the walls. He breathes a sigh as he processes what she's saying. He slowly stands, moving with a deliberate kind of motion, and he plucks a cane up from where it was leaning against his desk. He walks over to one of the enormous windows and leans on the cane. His movements are regal, to put it lightly, the very picture of confidence.

    "I should have you put to death for impersonating nobility."

    'Should.'

    He taps his cane on the floor three times. The cane chimes with some kind of crystalline core. The door unlocks behind Carna.

    "Instead, you will prove you are worth something to me, if you want to talk about mutual threats," he clarifies, turning to regard her and lean on the cane with both hands. "I have a job for you."
Carna     'Maria' is fairly certain that she was some form of nobility or something in life. A knight. Though other parts of her say she was a scholar or... Some sort of magic user? She doesn't recall. Her memories are all so foggy. She actually bristles a bit about the accusation of impersonation. But she waits for the Duke to finish before speaking. "I am Lady Maria Cameron, nobility in the world I come from -- where I journeyed from, seeking cooperation with someone who understood the significance of the threat posed by the being called 'Registeel'. I am a landed knight with a title. It is your choice whether you recognize that or not. But I would hope I do not need to explain that attempting to execute me would cause more problems for you than it would solve."

    She then inclines her head and says, "That being said, an exchange of favors, and dealing with mutual threats, is perfectly in line with what I had in mind. I and my followers will do all that I can to fulfill any agreements made here. What is the nature of this task you have for me?"