Scene #2698: Bertram's Barbeque

Owner	Pose
Bertram Silent	Bertram has sent out personal invites to two people, and only two. The invites lead to a hut in the east shroud, a bit south of the Hawthorne Hut, but only by a few malms. An easy trip from the aetheryte, if you ignore the Malboros that seem to invest the area surrounding the hut. The hut itself is well-constructed, simple, next to a gentle river stream and surrounded by a small patch of garden that grows vegetables and medical herbs. Bertram himself is not wearing anything resembling his white mage's outfit, no, he's standing outside in his garden wearing an apron, sturdy boots, some kind of mitts and a chef's hat. It's obvious from a small distance what he's doing, assuming noses haven't been shut down from the Malboro stench, as the smell of freshly steamed fish and freshly grilled burgers is pretty strong.
N'Raha	Man, if you wanted N'raha to show up, the fish was doing it. Burgers aren't usually his thing though, but a nice piece of ground aldgoat sometimes hit the spot. The miq is sitting nearby, out of his armor and just resting in the grass in a Alexander Academy hoodie. He's trying to fiddle with his cheapy phone, poking at it to get some pictures of Bertram in his chef's outfit. "So I didn't realize you did this too, Doc. I mean, I cook but just enough to get by, you know?"
Kyra Hyral	Unless Kyra's got some kind of serious tanking backup, she will definitely ignore the Malboros lurking in the area. She will outright avoid them, in fact, and she certainly does so as she travels. In fact, she's pretty careful in trying to avoid random encounters on her own in Eorzea until she has a better idea of just how strong everything is here. Kyra doesn't catch the smell since she approached the place with a gas mask on the lower half of her face. Once she spies Bertram, though this takes a bit of squinting since he's not wearing the usual white mage garb, she removes it and gives him a wave. "Hey there Bertram-ooh, that smells good." Grinning, she gives N'raha a cheerful wave. There's a strange-looking flesh horn sticking a few inches out of her forehead. Her hood doesn't manage to hide it very well.
Bertram Silent	"Hello miss Hyral, N'raha. I like to think I'm a pretty decent culinarian." Bertram says humbly as he finishes up the cooking, putting out plates for three and placing the fish (princess trout) and burgers (aldgoat) along with a strange looking salad and some kind of reddish-orange sauce at the center, "Serve yourselves." He says as he sits down and gets himself a burger and some of the salad, dousing the latter in the sauce while only putting a bit on the former. "I hope you made it here without? I know the wildlife can be a little nasty, but I find it discourages bounty hunters." The Medicus's eyes have not failed to notice the bit on Kyra's forehead, but he doesn't mention it. Yet. "Anyroad, how are you two doing?"
N'Raha	The miq snorts. "I can sneak pretty good you know, even for a guy getting used to wearing armor all the time." He likewise doesn't mention the horn, but he does glance at it from time to time. He's not the most subtle of people, to be certain. Aldgoat burgers and fish and... trap salad. Well, it could be worse. He's certainly made worse. "And I'm okay. I... I don't know about all of this 'being made captain'. You guys... you guys are older than me and you're all sorts of experienced. I'm not sure if I'm being made the butt of a joke or not."
Kyra Hyral	Kyra helps herself to half portions of both meats, eager to sample both types of the native food. She also takes some of the salad and waits a moment to see what Bertram does with the saurce before adding it to her salad. "Oh, I was careful enough to avoid the Malboros but next time I come out here, I think I want to have someone come with me. Those things are scary. Brrr." Kyra shudders, seating herself. She starts with the fish. "Eh, I'm alright. Things have been pretty easy going lately which is good. I've been trying to keep my stress down. I visited Gensokyo the other day to watch Marisa and Xiao fight over that one book we found in that ancient city we all went to." she pauses, then leans over and pokes N'raha, "What's this being made captain stuff?"
Bertram Silent	The salad has a unique aspect to it, it's partially made out of a local plant, which tastes as strong as it smells, though apparently not as poisonous. The sauce masks the taste of Malboro enough for it to be merely a strong element. The combination is a bit bitter, but mostly spicy, and works fairly well. "Honestly, N'raha? I don't feel suited to the job, as it's often best to let a frontliner set the pace. If Alwyn doesn't feel suited to it either, then you're the best we've got. I'm sure you'll do fine, if you need any advice just ask. It's not like being captain makes you suddenly have to make decisons alone." Bertram seems to enjoy his malboro salad, munching it down as he finishes that speech. "So as you both know, I'm a trained Medicus. Are there any issues either of you need help with?" He seems to look at N'raha to avoid making Kyra feel like this is about her, even though it totally is.
N'Raha	N'raha turns a faint shade of pink, his ears reddening as well as they both look to him about the comments. "Like, they were joking about me being the captain of that pirate ship we... ah, liberated. I mean... I'm learning how to be a pirate of sorts from the Marauder's Guild, but... uh." He pokes at his fish a little uneasily. "Maybe I just feel a lot more in charge when I'm actually in battle than I do when I'm out of it. It's like a switch or something."
Kyra Hyral	"Aww, c'mon, you don't want to be a dashing pirate captain?" Kyra teases, poking N'raha again. After sampling the fish, Kyra takes a break between the two proteins with the salad. She makes a face while eating it, chewing slowly as she experiences the flavor of Malboro for the first time. Due to the sauce, she isn't aware of what she's eating. Having nearly been eaten by a Malboro at one point, she'd probably find it funny to be eating one now. "Actually, yeah, I do have a question you might be able to answer-it's about that city. The one we went to where Diabolos was hiding out. What happened there? What did the white mages do that left it in such a crappy state?" She seems oblivious to the unspoken questions about her flesh-horn or Wild Magic problems at this moment.
Bertram Silent	"If you don't want to, N'raha, I'm sure we could find someone else to do it. I just thought out of all of us, you or Alwyn would be the best choice." Bertram sounds serious, and after finishing up his burger, looks right at Kyra. "I honestly don't know. White Magic, and by that I mean full fledged white magic, is very rare these days. I've barely started to learn, and even that was an exception. There's maybe five white mages in all of Eorzea. There's so much about White Magic that I do not yet know, and much of the art's history seems to be lost." He takes a moment to think before speculating, "Considering it builds upon Conjury, and what I know about both Conjury and White Magic... my first guess is that they forgot ours is a power borrowed, not taken; and that the Elementals had enough of their ceaseless misuse of their power. Especially since they seem to have gotten involved with Voidsent." That last word is said with a degree of distaste that he normally reserves for Garleans.
N'Raha	'Best choice'. N'raha takes the teasing more in stride though, as he settles in with his burger, actually taking pieces of the ochu salad and planting them inside the burger itself to give it a bit more crunch and flavor. Then he finally speaks up. "A lot of the old, very old magic... that all got lost over the years. Between the Calamity and the many years since the Allegans being gone and buried... welll." He blushes. Okay, so maybe he's a bit more of a nerd. "There's just so much that was lost. I know Alwyn might look like a Dragoon, but that's... all of that's really locked up tight by the snow elfs and crap."
Kyra Hyral	"..whaaaaat? It's rare? But how do you heal people while you're fighting without them?" She certainly didn't know anyone outside of Bertram that could use it here...but then again her pool of people she knew well from this world was 'three'. "I mean, okay, I know not all worlds have the benefit of white magic but /most worlds/ with magic at all do have some kind of healing magic. Er, unless I'm missing something." Kyra listens, between N'raha and Bertram, she can at least piece together some kind of speculation of what happened. "There was something about forbidden white magic too. Maybe, like you said, they pushed the magic too far and took too much? -pfff, snow elf? What's a snow elf?"
Bertram Silent	"Conjurers practice an art of magic much like White Magic. It's lacking in certain very powerful respects, but it sufficies." Bertram explains, and continues. "And some Arcanists also focus on healing magics, Physick can be as good a healing spell as Cure in the right situation. Our White Magic builds upon Conjury, but based on what I've been told, much of what we call Conjury you would also call White Magic." Bertram sighs deeply when N'raha calls the Ishgardians snow elves. "There are currently four independent city states in Eorzea. Gridania, Ul'dah, Limsa Lominsa and Ishgard. Ishgard is located in Coerthas, a realm that has been snow-clad ever since the Calamity, and the majority of its people are Elezen, sometimes referred to as Elves." He makes no judgment on that moniker, not out loud anyway. "I don't know much about Ishgard, they hold Halone in even higher regard than my people do Rhalgr, and their fear of heresy drives them to isolationism; so it can be hard to find out more."
N'Raha	N'raha at least has the awareness to look ashamed at useing the word, and he pokes a fork at his ochu salad a bit. It takes him a moment or two to speak up again. "I mean, they've got... they've got real problems. They have a lot of stuff to deal with up there, it's just." He prods at his salad, feeling like a scolded student.
Kyra Hyral	"Oh. Interesting, maybe we need to compare notes a bit more deeply on that sometime." Kyra nods, opting to try the burger as Bertram continues to explain the nuances of white magic and ice elves. "I wonder what it's lacking in. White magic isn't something I'm used to being called 'powerful'. Holy is nice but it still doesn't measure up to a Flare unless it's against some kind of demon." She hmms as she finishes that burger extremely quickly. She obviously liked that. "Like what kind of stuff?"
Bertram Silent	"Well as I said, I'm still learning, the biggest difference is in sheer restoration potency. The few spells I've learned allow me to heal much faster, and much more efficiently. Regen is both extremely potent and extremely mana efficient, merely by handing out its curative effects over time instead of instantly." Bertram tries to explain, "There's also some techniques to speed up and enhance all casting, though I can't keep that up endlessly. In the end I can heal far more than I could relying just on Conjury." Bertram smirks, "And then there's Holy. When I'm using a certain technique to optimize my offenses, it is extremely effective at dealing with large groups of enemies. I can't wait to use it, unfortunately I'm a good while away from being able to use it more than a few times in a fight, it's extremely draining." Bertram takes a moment to think about the question, "They are war with the Dravanians. Also known as Dragons, and this war has been going on for a long time. Why, I do not know, and apparently this has fueled a religious fervor which leads to isolationism." He sighs, "They're fortunate Midgardsomr sacrificed himself to bring down the Agrius. I would fear for the survival of the city if Midgardsomr was fighting alongside the Dravanians."
N'Raha	N'raha also murmurs a bit on that point. "Also, you have to remember that conjurers and white mages... They're the speakers of Nature, of the Land. You get that powerful... you might be able to ask it to do some pretty heinous things." He reaches into his adventurer's bag, and pulls out some bottles of Apple Juice to hand around. "Any magic like that's got to have some... consequences, eventually, once you get further down the road."
Kyra Hyral	"Ahh, okay, so there is a lot of buffing and healing over time so far, it sounds like. Interesting. You can hit a large area with Holy? I certainly can't do that. I'm not sure it /can/ be done, really." Kyra looks at Bertram thoughtfully. "I do agree that it can be draining. Though I usually don't have problems with magic particle reserves. But that's a good point, N'raha, similar effects but the magic I know of comes from within. Well, mostly. Geomancy does work with nature." Her good mood fades a little, "Dragons...that your dragons are evil here is definitely a bizzare thing to me. But more and more I'm finding places with unfriendly, vicious dragons."
Bertram Silent	"Holy is, like..." And Bertram grabs his weathered Yagrush out from below the table and points it upwards, channeling magic for a fraction of a second as a small glowing ball of light rises upwards, then explodes in a bright flash of sacred light. Bright enough to be a flashbang grenade, but with energy flowing out rapidly, but harmlessly. It seems to know Bertram doesn't want to hurt the people around him. He puts the staff back where it came from. "It's a bit targeted but it hits every enemy around me, not so good at range, and I really can't overuse it. Normally I need more time to cast it, too. I just used a technique that lets me hurry through a spell if I really need to, that's draining in its own way and well, for some things hurried spells are ineffective spells, holy included." He then simply agrees with N'raha, "Our power comes from the elementals, if the elementals don't approve, well... we either stop or we face the consequences. They can cut us off if they act as a whole, and then..." He makes a gesture that suggests the followup speaks for itself.
N'Raha	The Miqo'te just sighs and chews on his burger. At least he can be right about some things. He really wished he knew more about dragons to answer that part of Kyra's question. But he does swallow and smile. "I wanna thank you, by the way, Kyra. You've been doing a lot of good here and... it's nice having the help, really. I mean... there's so many generous off-worlders, but you're doing a good job."
Kyra Hyral	Kyra watches as Bertram casts holy, squinting when the light explodes and quickly looking away. Afterwards, she nods at the familiar-looking magic. "Wait, wait, a technique that makes you cast faster? And it's of the same magic family..? It sounds like it might be time magic. Or at least that's what it might be on Galianda." N'raha's complement brings a blush to Kyra's pale cheeks. "Well, uh, you're welcome N'raha. I try, you know? My magic can be kind of unreliable sometimes, sure, but it's super awesome otherwise, right? Anyway, I'm glad to help. Exploring this place is a lot of fun. Plus the people on MogTube give me /so/ many views when I stream the jobs here."
Bertram Silent	"It's not time magic, it's more like... emergency tricks. It's something that I've learned in my forays into thaumaturgy, though I've never gotten very good at thaumaturgy and my knowledge of it is far more theoretical than practical, I stuck with it for this technique as soon as I discovered it exists." He pauses, thinking a bit, "Thaumaturgy is a very offensive oriented magical field, they wield the less gentle elements. Fire, Lightning and Ice, often to devastating effect. Good to have in your team, but... I could never wrap my head around the intracies of its practical application." Finally, "I appreciate your help too, Kyra. If there's anything I can do to help you, please let me know and I'll see if I can help with that."
Kyra Hyral	"Ah...by the way my pattern is, I simply cannot learn my world's version of Thaumaturgy. I might be able to learn someone else's..." she thinks back to Orphen and his lessons as she tried to learn 'fire'. "But having partied with some black mages, I agree that it's very good to have one on your team." Kyra looks thoughtful for a few moments, "...can you try to teach me that spell-quickening thing?"
Bertram Silent	"I don't know, as I said my knowledge of thaumaturgy is ... limited, and I'm not a great teacher to begin with." Bertram pauses to think. "Do you know of a technique called Cleric Stance? It's a basic conjury skill, so I assume you do, but if not... it would help you with a better awareness of offense and defense, and might help you when you're casting offensive magics on the enemy. I could teach you that if you don't know it."
Kyra Hyral	"Oh.." Kyra begins, looking slightly sad, but letting it pass. But as Bertram mentions Cleric Stance, Kyra shakes her head, "That sounds kind of like a monk skill, but no, I don't know what that is at all. That does not sound like any skill in the whtie magic from our world so...sure! Let's give learningg that a try. I mean, it's possible I might not be able to do it but I'm going to try and pick it up anyway. I've been able to pick up other offworld stuff before. So there is hope!"