#196
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Father of proud children. Expect the next 18+ years to be erratic and/or chaotic.
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#197
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__________________
he/him\his
In Repose |
#198
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Hrani directs the carriage back to Lepidstadt, more than glad to be parting ways with the other portion of their group. Not only does that rid him of the dubious new elements in their party, it also leaves him alone with only Mara, surprisingly the only person here he seems to come close to trusting. And so the pair of them talks. The woman opens up, more so than the magus has ever heard her do in the past...and Hrani is surprisingly understanding. He tells her about his home, among the sloping mountains, covered in snow and in ice. It certainly isn't the same as being underwater, but motion is more three dimensional there as well than it is here, among the humans. You cannot simply go north, east, south or west where the elf is from, without considering altitudes. And many a battle he was in actually happened on slopes. Hrani even goes so far as to explain this is why he holds his sword in one hand and keeps the other empty. He has just always needed a free hand to maintain balance. Putting a shield or a second weapon in it, like many of the 'flat-landers' are prone to do just doesn't feel right.
The magus doesn't dwell on combat or battle long, however, knowing these are likely things Mara doesn't wish to talk about. So instead he listens some more about her home, and her people, and talks about his in return. They are xenophobic to a certain degree, it is true, though perhaps not quite as much as Mara's people. Mostly, they simply have little interaction with outsiders, because they do not wander into the elven lands in the mountains. When a notable exception does, such as when Petros Lorrimor came to them, the initial reaction is mistrust. But of course, the professor eventually swayed most those that encountered him. Because of course he did. Hrani is sure Mara knows how the man tended to have an inspiring effect on people. It was hard to hate him, even for Hrani's people. If Mara wants, Hrani talks a little about his memories of the man that brought their little group together. Whether it is because he can empathize with Mara feeling like an outsider in this world, or whether her features seem somehow elven to him, or whether his sword has planted more sinister thoughts into Hrani's mind about the usefulness of someone with Mara's talented tongue, Hrani is unusually open, friendly and trusting during their trip back to the city. Of course, all his paranoia comes rushing back when they are stopped at the gate. As the elf is accustomed to, he gives Mara and her honeyed words the first crack at things, but these guards seem rather persistent. Something is definitely going on here. "I'm afraid we might have a problem." Hrani says in response to the guards demanding to search them. "You see, we have rather...pertinent evidence concerning the beast's case." In particular, the magus thinks about the face they are carrying with them. He would rather not have to try and explain that to simple guards, Mara's tongue on his side or not. "We cannot risk that being compromised in any way. I really would prefer if this could go peacefully, but as my associate has already pointed out, you know from seeing us at the courthouse that we are here on official business." Hrani's hand moves slowly, but clearly to Orenmir's hilt, though he doesn't draw the sword yet. Dice Intimidate:
Hrani pauses a moment for dramatic effect, before finishing. "Unless you can come to an arrangement more...beneficial to both our sides with my colleague here." The magus shoots a glance at Mara, before looking back at the men's purses, hoping she has seen them as well. And hoping he hasn't entirely misread this situation. He oh so hates having to try and read humans... |
#199
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#200
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The elf's pointed glance to Mara and to the guard's coin purses does not go unnoticed. Coupled with the mysterious smile from the cloaked woman who fled at their approach, the singer begins to piece together a theory for the guards' behavior. She looks from one guard to the other, silently measuring the dynamics of the situation. The one guard is clearly embarrassed, already cowed by Mara's initial response. The other guard, the one weighed down by a surfeit of gold—that is the one they must deal with, and that is the one to whom she speaks.
“My colleague speaks truly,” she begins, tossing her hair back with irritation, though her voice remains sweet, perhaps even sweeter than usual. “Though he means no offense to a guard so highly decorated as yourself,” she rests her fingers gently upon Hrani's sword hand, “one who is rewarded with so much gold that he requires two purses to carry it all. So unusual. If you will forgive my saying so, is this station not beneath you? Should you not be Captain of the Guard, at the very least? Would that not be a station more fitting for one who so casually displays such wealth?” The songstress flashes a sweet, sweet smile. “Why, I should speak to the Captain himself about this matter, to correct this injustice. Or perhaps to the court—as you know, we have business there anyway—for this is surely criminal, yes? I wonder if a bribe was involved to deny you your true station? Dice Intimidate:
Her eyes narrow dangerously, and her tone, though still as smooth and pleasant as cool silk on a hot day, acquires a firm, threatening edge. “Or you could simply let us pass without hindrance and enjoy your gold ... and our silence.”
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#201
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Father of proud children. Expect the next 18+ years to be erratic and/or chaotic.
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#202
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Pike hesitates for a mere second before he motions Runa and Signy to take the lead. He remembers how painfully ineffective he was at fighting the ghost of Hean Feramin and unless his walking stick and crossbow has suddenly gained some fantastic ghost slaying abilities of their own he'll be just as ineffective now "Good call Runa, we're looking for a room that belongs to a child, since time is not something we have an awful lot of we can't investigate each house from top to bottom so we have to limit our search to places most likely to yield results." he loads a bolt into his crossbow and lights his lantern "Ready when you are."
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#203
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he/him\his
In Repose Last edited by Sassafrass; Jan 11th, 2018 at 04:44 AM. |
#204
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"They're awake." the dwarf states, his eyes meeting Fido's, showing signs of unease. He reaches for a vial in his belt, uncorks it with his teeth and pours it down his throat. Cast: Shield (+4 Ac even against incorporeal touch)A slight shimmer appears around his left arm, an arcane shield that should -if Danrose's studies on relative force theories are to be believed- protect him even from the incorporeal. Next he fishes out a cigar which he lights with the torch in his hands before he offers one to Fido "See that?" he says, nodding towards the body "Thought it was a scarecrow at first, but it ain't. Damned bear trap did its work on this one, caught him before the children did." he inhales a healthy amount of smoke "Stuck with your foot in a trap in a village haunted by dead children.... yeah that would top the charts for terrifying ways to die, any day." He doesn't have it in him to chuckle at his own remark, there is too much going around him and his keen senses are picking everything up. For his part he's glad to be outside in the remaining sunlight, safe from the whispering dead inside and whatever has awakened up in the hillside. He hears the commotion from inside, the twisted rhyme and the hissing wail around them. Dropping the torch to the ground at his feet he grips the crossbow with both hands, a cloud of sweet smelling smoke around his head "Runa, Signy....report?" |
#205
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Hrani does his best to complete his intended setup, figuring it will let Mara step in, offer the bribe which will sound much preferable to the trouble he himself is hinting at, and they will all be on their way. And then Mara goes and screws his plan up by not offering a bribe. Of course, given his inability of reading social situations in general, and among non-elves in particular, the magus assumes he must have misread things here and his plan would not have worked. So it is a good thing Mara is there to 'screw it up' and come up with a better one.
And so she does, and once more the songstress' incredible tongue gets them out of something that words should not be able to get you out of. The pair heads into the city, and once they are out of earshot of the two guards, Hrani gives Mara a smile and a bow, as well as three claps of applause. "Wonderfully done, as always! I'm hope my actions did not make things unnecessarily harder for you, I was trying to help but it appears I misread the situation and predicted an incorrect response..." In the back of Hrani's mind, Orenmir once again marvels at the possibilities possessing such a silver tongue would open up... "So, where to? Shall we deliver our evidence to the courtroom? Give it to our boss as soon as possible, so he has the maximum amount of time to think about it? Or do you suppose he's still busy with today's proceedings anyway and does not have time to think about tomorrow's hearing yet anyway...?" They could of course meet up with Carlo and Andrzej as well. The Varisians were supposed to be doing research after all. Somehow, Hrani isn't all too sure how much they're actually like to have gotten done in the rest of the group's absence... |
#206
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“Harder?” Mara arches a puzzled eyebrow at Hrani's protestations of ineffectiveness. “On the contrary, if you had not indicated the guard's extra purse to me I would have never realized that they were acting as a result of a bribe.” It appears that the elf is not the only one capable of misunderstandings. “It was you who discovered their weakness; my part in this whole affair was quite minor.” The soprano returns the elf's smile with one of her own. Though she is clearly pleased and very flattered by Hrani's praise, her humility is not feigned, unlike when she downplays her talent as a songstress.
“We should deliver the evidence to Jamir and Barrister Kaple at once,” she responds to the elf's question, “before some other guard or official interferes.” Mara purses her lips as her face assumes a thoughtful, concerned expression. “Speaking of which, the question remains as to who is behind the bribe. I would not have thought that the prosecution would be so insecure in their case. Who do you think is responsible?”
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#207
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Hrani nods, happy to see Mara declare they should deliver the evidence before anything else. He'll be more comfortable once they have handed that over.
"You're right. It seems someone has already attempted to stop us once, there is no guaranteeing they won't try again. As for who placed the bribe...there are several possibilities. But I agree, the prosecution seems so confident in their case I can't imagine them doing this. On the other hand, I'm still not sure who Fido and Signy are working for, but given their attitudes it sounds more like it would be one of the prosecutors or one of the judges in favor of blaming it all on the B-...on Sully." Hrani says, catching himself at the last moment. He still isn't convinced by this whole naming the Beast business, but from the impression he has gotten it is important to Mara, so he will try to go along with it, even if in his head the creature will probably remain 'the Beast' forever. Another thought occurs to him. "It's possible that Barrister Kaple might know something about...well everything. It feels like something has been going on here in Lepidstadt while we were gone. Perhaps those that were here the entire time caught some news..." With that, Hrani begins walking towards the courthouse. He didn't fail to hear Mara deflecting his compliment back to him. He still isn't convinced it wasn't all her working, but he doesn't argue the point. Perhaps the two of them really are working well together... |
#208
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__________________
Father of proud children. Expect the next 18+ years to be erratic and/or chaotic.
Last edited by Thorsten; Jan 17th, 2018 at 08:18 AM. |
#209
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Last edited by Blackfyre; Jan 21st, 2018 at 07:10 AM. |
#210
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__________________
he/him\his
In Repose Last edited by Sassafrass; Jan 25th, 2018 at 10:11 AM. |
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