Sylvia POV

The dwarven woman sat at the original campfire circle, having borrowed a large pot from the cooks as she watched some water warm up to a boil. She was in the middle of carefully carving some of the mantis chitin, shaping the material to serve as vambraces for Isaak's armor. Miriam sat close by as she shaped and sewed a hide shirt and a half skirt while following Sylvia's measurements. The duo focused intently on their labor for some time, that was until Sylvia's attention was grabbed by Zasutir's return, more surprised by the fact that he was accompanied by an unfamiliar child that clung to his side. "Shepherd..." She said almost hesitantly as she considered her words. "Where... Where did you find that pantless child?" She asked, worry plainly in her voice.

Zasutir seemed to smile with relief upon seeing her as he approached with the rather cheerful dogkin boy at his side; she could hear the boy's tail wagging with excitement as they walked up. "Ah Sylvia, just the dwarf I wanted to see." He enthused kindly as he looked at the dogkin boy. "Grimm, this is Sylvia and Miriam; go on and say hello." He encouraged as he let the boy's hand go.

Grimm eagerly rushed up, waving his hand after getting close. "New person! It's very, very nice to meet you. I'm Grimm!" He exclaimed excitedly to Sylvia before going over to introduce himself to Miriam before Sylvia could respond. However, he seemed to become sufficiently distracted by what Miriam was doing and stayed after introducing himself.

Sylvia had a bit of a warm smile on his face after such a cheerful greeting, though she resumed her worried expression as she stood and walked off a few steps away with Zasutir, quirking a brow at him curiously. "Explain." She said rather sternly, not wanting any complicated answers as she crossed her arms and glared up at the lizardkin man.

Zasutir swallowed as he took a moment to gather his words, though, after a few moments of withstanding Sylvia's glare, he spoke up, being as honest as he could. "Vitmori entrusted me with the care of this boy for the evening... His name is Grimm, and apparently, he is wholly the creation of the dungeon that attacked Isaak and Trisha. He supposedly woke up a short while ago and was told to serve Vitmori." He explained in a hushed voice, almost entirely in a single breath. As Sylvia continued to watch with what could only be described as some kind of incredulity, he continued. "Vitmori would like me to integrate him with children his age and see how he behaves."

"What children his age? He sounds like he's less than a few days old!?" She replied with an equally hushed voice as she considered everything Zasutir had just dumped on her before sighing as she pinched the bridge of her nose before glancing at the boy again, watching as Miriam began taking his measurements. At the same time, he, in return asks about what she's doing and what those measurements mean. Sylvia looks back to Zasutir, her expression softening as she uncrosses her arms. "Did you mean that? An entire beastkin child was found in the bottom of that terrible place, a child born only a couple of days ago who is now walking around and talking like any other child. How can that be?"

Zasutir looked uncertain for a moment, being confronted by a more grounded view with someone who had not interacted with or experienced any sort of dungeon magic beyond watching the longhouse get built. "I do not know... This sort of knowledge is beyond me. What I do know is that Vitmori has not led me or us as a community astray. He has done quite a lot for us for so little in return, and I can feel the intention behind his actions through my bond with him. I have had no reason to doubt him." He explained, taking a slow breath before continuing. "All I really know is that Grimm has been a very polite and enthusiastic child, being unrelentingly curious and cheerful. I would rather embrace that than rebuke him with suspicion and doubt." He stated.

Sylvia considers that, glancing back over at Grimm as he attempts to thread a needle while under Miriam's watchful eye. Looking back to Zasutir, she crosses her arms again, more uncertain rather than standoffish with the man. "I don't like it... But I also don't feel comfortable judging a child by his origins like this. I expect you to inform the others, but I'll support you if they push back." She explains before looking at Miriam and speaking up. "Miriam, could you take Grimm over to where we are keeping the extra clothes and get the boy some pants?"

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Miriam smiled pleasantly as she gave a nod. "Yes, ma'am." She then stood as she offered a hand to Grimm. "Come along; let's put those measurements to good use."

Grimm, ever eager for new experiences, practically bounced with exhilaration. "O-okay!" He gushed happily before taking Miriam's hand as they headed for the Longhouse.

Zasutir smiled a bit as he glanced over at Sylvia. "Thank you... I'll start speaking with the others." He said as he dismissed himself.

Sylvia responded with a simple nod. "You do that..." As soon as Zasutir left, Sylvia just sighed heavily as she reflected on Zasutir's words before looking to the now boiling pot of water, dropping in the chitin shells she had been working on in order to clean them of any remaining bug flesh.

Reyvyre POV

Reyvyre was just the slightest bit flustered, mainly due to the fact that in a single day on the back of an imperially trained drake and its rider, they closed the distance that took her and Reonim 4-5 days of travel on foot and cart. For now, they've landed before the sunset and begun setting up camp. The drakewardens were hearty enough that they were down to business in no time, setting up tents, getting a fire going, and securing the perimeter; all the while, a team of two drakewardens headed off to hunt some fresh game for both the people and the mounts.

She was mildly amused, however, turning her attention to the ladies in waiting who forced their way onto this trip, intending on looking after the Empress as she joined us on this journey. Most of the noble ladies were out of their depth; while not overly indignant or spoiled, they were comparatively useless when it came to setting up the royal tents or contributing towards the campsite. They did somehow manage to get some tea going, which was refreshing in itself. There was one lady in waiting who managed to hold her own, she was the daughter of one of the Imperial Knight Commanders, and instead of following her father's footsteps, she was pushed to test as one of the Empress' ladies in waiting. She was selected, much to her surprise. The Empress mentioned that this particular lady was something known as a 'tomboy,' whatever that means. Regardless, the boyish woman took the lead in the women's half of the camp, working alongside some of the female drakewardens in putting up the tents. At the same time, the other ladies did their very best to prepare a comfortable dining area for the empress and helped where they could in preparing a meal with what the drakewardens brought back.

Eventually, things settled down, and the Empress was seated at a small foldout table with two chairs. While the Empress sat at one, she invited Reyvyre to join her, much to the elf's surprise, as she joined after some hesitation. The food was served, which ended up being a hearty stew of wild game, wild tubers and mushrooms, and some cream that was brought with them, all accompanied by a black tea of the Empress' choice. The duo quietly ate before the Empress spoke up. "So... Reyvyre." She started, seemingly searching for her words.

"Yes, Empress?" Reyvyre replied politely, taking up a cloth napkin to gently wipe some spilled soup off her chin, having been slightly startled to be suddenly addressed mid-spoonful of stew.

She took a few more moments before speaking up properly. "Can you tell me what the apocalypse was like? What have you seen of it, at least?"

Reyvyre blanched at that, a bit nervous about revisiting such brutal memories that weren't even hers. She slowly nodded, taking a sip of her tea before speaking up again. "Very well... What would you like to know?"

The Empress seemed to hesitate, taking a sip of her own tea quietly before speaking up. "Was there any good in the apocalypse... Or was it all bleak?" She asked with desperate curiosity.

Reyvyre was at least pleasantly surprised by the direction as she leaned back, setting her tea down before closing her eyes thoughtfully. After a few more moments, she opened her eyes and spoke up. "I'd say I really liked the PDAs; they were extremely beneficial to the state of living late in the apocalypse."

The Empress looked utterly confused by that statement, quirking a brow. "PDAs? Really? Personal digital assistants saved the day, an old device even in my days..."

Reyvyre couldn't help but tilt her head curiously at that. "No? PDA stands for Phoenix Down Agents… They were apparently some kind of special soldiers or knights that were secretly trained and lived among the common people. They rose when the world fell and gathered people to various 'power stations,' 'mega' farms, and 'server' farms to keep information and supplies up. Then those PDAs would train the ordinary people to be soldiers and knights to defend those places before becoming wandering warriors once the people could survive without them." Reyvyre couldn't help but smile as she reminisced over the memories of these noble heroes.

The Empress couldn't help but be entranced by what she heard, forgetting about her stew as she sipped her tea, gesturing for Reyvyre to continue.

Reyvyre smiled and continued going over the memories she had seen. "They had these magical devices on their wrists that projected illusions of pages that showed living maps, information about their own health and conditions of their bodies, kept track of their missions and objectives, and even how many of those bullets they had in those gun things. It was a magic tool on a level I couldn't have imagined before, though perhaps I'll try my hand at creating something like that with those diamonds that Vitmori produces." She couldn't help but explain excitedly, getting herself somewhat riled up for the future.

"Wow..." The Empress said, feeling rather starstruck as she considered the things Reyvyre explained to her, having a good feeling that the elf couldn't have made something like that up. "Gosh, all that reminds me of a few video games I used to play... How interesting!" She exclaimed, Though she quickly sobered after remembering these details were coming from a very real apocalypse where many people died.

Reyvyre was not put off too much, more curious about what the Empress mentioned. "What is a video game?" She asked curiously.

The Empress smiled kindly. "Well, that's a big question... Let's see, where to begin?"