No Thank You

JP with Winteroak, Omni and Lorem:

Malacost looked at Voah and kept a grin from his face. To the two it looked like he was smiling at the absurdity of the situation, inside he was thinking how the mighty Arbiter Voah Sahnsuur had come to be attached to such a being. Pillars knew he wanted to slap the man across the face and wipe that silly dreamy expression from his face.

"We were saying that you should be our eyes and ears against these Dark Robes." Malacost explained. "They know what we look like and you, well now that I think about it, I don't think I ever seen anyone quite like you before in all my travels. Where are you from young man? " He asked his curiosity suddenly peaking.

Voah had to dampen the urge to melt into the enjoyment of the food and show some restraint as she tucked into the meal of cooked meats and veggies. It was like breaking a fast after several days, but the difference was that she hadn't been starving, instead subsisting more on bland survivalist rations. It was a good thing she had conversation and information exchange to make easier to stay focused. She hoped that her enthusiasm for the taste of the food might have translated into her demeanor as passionate about the situation at hand.

It was no surprise to Voah to hear that Alcuin had little success infiltrating the temple. This place was vastly different than Helias and the two of them were obvious sore thumbs. She explained that while she typically worked alone, she could adapt her methods to involve others and that infiltration seemed admittedly a much easier feat back in Helias where she could fit in without being known as an Arbiter OR she wasn't so foreign in appearance as to be easily discovered and thus her cover blown. This conversation led them to the fact that Gonyaul had an easier time with the locals, while still foreign to them, they seemed to be more tolerant of him. She responded to Alcuin's words as Gonyaul had been a absent during much of the discussion.

"He's from a secluded village in Kru'll, a relative of my mentor, Yan'Dian. Right?"

None of what she had suggested was a lie, though they had never spoken in depth about her mentor.

Gonyaul had to do a double take. They wanted him to be involved? He had not signed on to helping them. He had not agreed to participating. He merely said he would stay. And should he have the ability to keep those he cared about safe and likewise keep those he didn’t know at peace than he would try to take action.

His surprise over their request stalled him to the point Voah answered before he had a chance to Alcuin’s question. He looked to Voah, processing what she just said, then back to Alcuin. He just smiled. He never thought about it, but if Voah’s mentor was indeed Vaux than he possibly could be related to some degree.

“I no want to be a part of this.” Had he given the wrong impression by eating the food? He put his hands up into a surrendering gesture. He wondered right then and there was this history repeating itself? Did the Vaux get roped into the inquisition and fighting in wars because they made small, seemingly harmless, compromises to assist? And that eventually led to mass genocide as things escalated out of their control. He felt if he agreed, then they would just keep being used more and more as it suited them. When would it stop? He got the impression that they both would do whatever it took to get the end result they wanted, even at his expense.