No Undue Risks

Log Info

• Title: No Undue Risks
• Emitter: Aryia
• Characters: Aryia, Ravenstongue, Mikilos, Aya
• Place: Northern Bridge over Tornmawr
• Time: April 21, 2022
• Summary: A trio and a half of elves run into each on the northern bridge, taking a moment to catch up on current ongoings. Ravenstongue mentions a powerful intruder in their home, which sets Aryia and Aya on a question spree about them, as that might be their mark. Mikilos and Ravenstongue offer their aid where they can, and careful warning of the inherent danger of the subject in question is issued. Keep the hunting sisters posted if they come across anything.

Northern Bridge over Tornmawr, Sunset

The open sky of the northern bridge fields bask the stone in reds and golds of the setting sun, traffic moderate as folk leave their daily duties to go back and rest or revel. There's a busker sitting against the bridge's rails, lightly plucking a lyre halfheartly as their hat is only a layer of copper deep.

A grey skinned mul'neissa is idly listening nearby, elbows on the rails and looking northward to the walls. Pensive in her expression. Despite the usual getup, her hair is done in spiraling curls that bob idly from an errant breeze.

Her fingertips touch together on one hand, a little silverly light appears, and it vanishes as they depart.

Mikilos mutters absently to himself as he crosses the bridge, stretching his arms out and behind, working out the knots. The lyre perks an ear, listening as he draws closer, but it's flash of light that draws his attention. "Ah, good evening. How are you today?"

There's a distant call from above... A voice that the grey-skinned mul woman would recognize and hear from miles away:

"Snacks! Snaaaaacks! Snaaaaaaaaacks!"

That's right. There's a certain white raven soaring in the sky and he's diving straight down onto the bridge--

Where a certain dark-haired half-elf stands and opens a box of freshly baked goods. She pats the white raven as he lands on her arm and proceeds to pull out a miniature croissant from the box, wolfing it down in one smooth and fluid motion.

"Pothy, you don't have to announce your presence to the world, you know?" Ravenstongue says with a smirk. "These people are just trying to enjoy their evening..."

She looks over in the direction of Mikilos--as he's not hard to spot--and walks over, only finally spotting Aryia as she approaches. "Hi Aryia! Hello, Mikilos," Ravenstongue says.

The setting of the sun sends many hurrying and/or indoors. It also draws others out into the growing veil of darkening dim. From the eastern side to the upper city, another mul'niessa arrives onto the bridge. Her steps are neither lazy nor hastened, though Aya's focus shifts about her surroundings far too keenly and dutifully for a casual stroll. The lyre's licks, lash of luminous light, and even Mikilos' manly mutterings draw her attention to-

SNACKS?

Once the raven appears (momentarily?) sated(?), she ventures towards the gathering.

Aryia silent musings are put on pause as a familiar tall mage gives greetings. One hand snaps a finger with a tiny burst of light and points at him. Signature Aryia greeting. "I'm good."

Though, the announcement makes her crane her head up and sigh through her nose. She ponders if she could nail the bird on it's path downward with a well placed shot of a copper piece from the busker's hat, but she disregards that. Ravenstongue also gets a snapping-lighty-fingergun in hello.

Her attention shifts off of the half-sil to-

She leaves her spot.

The mute's greeting with the approaching mul'neissa is an unprompted smile and a hug. <Handspeech>

Mikilos hehs, eyes following the raven's arrival, and raising a hand in greeting to his food source as he lands. The hands raises slightly higher to extend the greeting to Aya as well. "What as all of you out and about this eve?"

There's a moment where Ravenstongue's violet gaze settles onto Aya and she immediately is making the finger gestures to cast a spell--except she realizes half a second later who it is. She sighs deeply. "Ohhh, hi Aya," she says in greeting. "Sorry, we had a... very unpleasant houseguest a couple of days ago who attacked us, and for a moment, I thought you were her."

"Bitch," Pothy says, mimicking Ravenstongue's voice.

"You said it, Pothy," Ravenstongue says, but then quickly adds, "Her, not you, Aya."

She sighs again and offers a smile. "Honestly, just trying to enjoy the day," she says to Mikilos. "Had a lot on the mind lately."

Aya's posture tightens somewhat, one foot sliding rearward in reflexive brace. Just in time to receive Aryia's rapid relocation and energetic embrace. Her own lips curl in a partial reflection of the other's smile as the hug is returned. "It is good to see you, too, sister. Is all well?"

Mikilos then receives a nod in return. "Even-" Her mirth halts at Ravenstongue's gestures; she may not utilize magic as such, but she is no stranger to it. Still, her first reaction is a blink.

The explanation that follows does not alleviate the sudden tension. Quite the opposite, in fact, as her face hardens. "What transpired? How similar was the resemblance?"

Aryia gives the hug a squeeze before pulling away and giving a sharp nod with a thumbs up in response to Aya. All's well!

Though, she's about to answer Mikilos before her attention snaps to Ravenstongue.

And her visage hardens in a similar fashion to Aya's own. Undivided focus.

Mikilos perks at Ravens' tale, frowning. "That's... not good. And potentially very bad. What happened?"

"Ah, well..." Ravenstongue frowns again. She keeps the box of goodies open for Pothy, and the bird busies himself by scarfing down more miniature croissants. Probably for the best, all things considered, or he might swear again.

"Apparently, the house I purchased and have been living in for months with Telamon was previously Seldan's house. This mul'niessa woman with white hair and red eyes showed up in our backyard while we were trying to convince our garden pixies to give Tel his tunic back--long story there--and she demanded to talk to Seldan. I had to explain we've lived there for months and while I know who Seldan is, I don't know where he is now... And she asked to see the house. Tel obliged--I found out she'd cast some sort of spell on him to get him to do so--and after she went around touching all of our things..."

Ravenstongue draws in a breath of air and looks very quietly livid. "She started strangling Tel and told me I'd never get to be happy with him unless we both agreed to a pact with her and swear not to reveal her existence to the city. She was /abominably/ powerful--neither of us could get our spells to take hold on her, and then Telamon had the bright idea to use this new power he's discovered recently where he just /glows/ like the sun... She let go of him and we ran out of the house together to safety."

Ravenstongue sighs again. She takes a break to pet Pothy, which seems to calm her nerves. "We've been staying with a friend from the Shining Chalice since then. The house seems like it's fine--we've had people go check on it, and it looks like she didn't harm the pixies. We saw her flee the house and go deeper into the city as we ran, too, so it's not like she's holed up in our old house... But it's just..."

She shakes her head, at a loss for words.

Aya'eyes widen in surprise for a moment. "Seldan relinquished his home here?" Obviously she still has much to catch up on. She exhales a breath and returns to the more pressing concern. "I regret that this happened to you..." The hard edges return to her visage, and a quick glance is given to Aryia before her eyes return to Ravenstongue.

"If she is whom I suspect, it is very bad news, indeed. I am hunting a fiend; she, or it, was here in the city recently. I was unsure whether she had left. She is immensely powerful, a habit of threatening men, and any resemblence to me is not a coincidence." Now a glance to the raven.

"The bird has the right of it."

Aryia slowly blinks as the explanation of transpired events is laid to bare. Her lips part, stop, then seal as she shares a look with Aya.

Then, very like her, she hisses out, "Tsssh... f-ck." The mute spits on the ground and kicks her boot along the ground. "Sounds exactly like fucker number one," she motions to anyone, but its mostly pointed towards her sister in agreement.

She watches Aya, her narrowing her eyes and nodding once as she smashes a fist into her palm.

>Crrrack!< goes her knuckles. "Glad you're alright RT." <Handspeech>

Mikilos nods in agreement. "If you've need of anything. you've but to ask. But if it is who we believe, then simple wards or scrying will have little effect."

Ravenstongue looks to Aya and nods. "That sounds like her. She threatened Tel specifically--she kept touching him and seemed very upset when she realized he's in love with me. Told me she'd killed someone who loved her before and she'd do the same to Tel if we didn't submit."

She sighs. "But we're okay. I don't think she'll come back and hurt us again--she's looking for Seldan, not us. We're just random people she came across and decided to harass. She probably has more important things to do and bigger targets to take out. Still hasn't stopped me from researching some magic and trying to get that house warded. Maybe even invest in some other home defense measures. I found something about leshy cultivation that was intriguing."

Ravenstongue looks at Pothy and smiles a little. "Honestly, I'm just glad I made it out of there alive."

There is a visible wince from Aya at the sharing of what was said and done. "I am sorry..." The words are soft and she is silent a moment before she resumes. "-We- are hunting," she corrects due to Aryia's choice commentary, cracking knuckles, and Mikilos' offering. On the former, the near brow arches at her sister before she gestures inquiringly to her, "Do you touch your girlfriend with those filthy hands?" Partly inquiring, that is; one corner of her mouth curls upwards briefly.

Now with slightly less tension, she turns back and nods to Mikilos, "Any efforts to locate her would be welcomed. Barring that, it is not surprising that she would hunt for Seldan. We may be able to use that to predict her movements and find her. She will be ended and no longer a threat to anyone."

Aryia rubs at her face, a sigh leaving as she pats Aya on the shoulder before straightening her posture. "Thanks for the information, RT. It's really, really helpful."

The gestured comment makes the mute blink, and a light dusting of red crosses her cheeks before she fires back, "Guess I got a filthy mouth, too."

She makes a 'tch' sound and smirks, shaking here head and looking aside. "Yes. If we can get the drop on them it'd be great." <Handspeech>

Mikilos frowns, considering. "....how much do you know about this demon? What it calls itself, what it used to do before this vengance thing, where it resided? I have some ideas, but need more information." He looks to RavensTongue. "How's your magic progressing? What sort of spells can you handel?"

Ravenstongue looks to Mikilos and says, "Well, as of last night, I /think/ I can charm just about anything, not just people anymore. I still need to test that theory, but I'm certain I can pull it off. I can blast things with lightning bolts and quicken people's bodies, as well."

She sighs. "Tel and I have been training together lately, too--just not hard enough. I think we both got too wrapped up in the domestic life and in unraveling some mysteries in my bloodline--we've been tracking down one of my mother's former lovers, for instance."

Pothy swallows the mini croissant he was working on and says, in a voice like Ravenstongue's, but lower and more alluring, "Anyone and everyone who will have me."

Ravenstongue just looks a little like she's watched a frog leap into her soup. "Yeah, thanks, Pothy."

Aya inhales a breath, holds it a moment, releases. "Until recently," she answers Mikilos, "it resided in me. For some months until my sister defeated it and restored me. I know nothing of it before then, and little since aside from its threats."

She then looks to Raven to firmly nod, "There is much more to life than training. That domestic life, family, is worth far more. I regret that I never realized that far earlier." It is after that she returns the pat on Aryia's shoulder.

Aryia slowly blinks at Pothy, her tilting her head to the side before recognition crosses her face and she coughs into a fist. Whatever comment she had dies in a silent clearing of the throat. "Nice. I uh, haven't really learned anything new, but I'm keeping sharp."

She looks to the others, pouts a bit, and shakes her head as her witty joke zips by the others. The mute does, however, puff up in pride at the mention of defeating the demon once before.

But that was a special circumstance. One that Mikilos was there for.

She smiles some at that, leaning into Aya to bump her shoulder against the other's. <Handspeech>

Mikilos nods, frowning. "I have a spell that can track down anyone, even on other planes of existance. But I have to have met them before, or have an object they owned." He nods to Aya. "And pretty sure meeting you possessed by it doesn't count. Which means I can't track this demon. BUT, maybe Ravenstongue can, with a scroll?"

"I could try," Ravenstongue says, looking thoughtful. "I've come a long way from that lost little lamb that came into your shop a long time ago, Mikilos."

There's a little turn of her lips as she gives Mikilos a little grin. "You and Aya can also call me Cor'lana, by the way. Means the same thing, but I tend to go by that more these days. I don't mind Ravenstongue or RT, but it was the name I was given when I was born and... I identify with it more these days."

She also shrugs. "Or just Lana. Tel calls me that and I like it."

"Or annoying," Pothy chimes in, mimicking Ravenstongue's voice, followed by a "haw-ha-hah-ha-ha-ha" in his usual imitation of a pompous nobleman's laugh.

He gets a mini-croissant shoved into his beak, shutting him up. Ravenstongue still smiles pleasantly.

Aya gives Aryia a flicker of a smile as she listens, Mikilos' mention guiding her focus back to Ravenstongue once more. "I would welcome any aid you might offer..." a pause before she adds, "but I would not ask you to put yourself or others at more risk. Lana." She does not use Pothy's suggestion, but it does cause her mouth to quirk unevenly. An expression that does not last. "I have caused more than enough harm to others as it is."

Aryia gives a light chuckle at Pothy's shenanigans and the silence thereafter. She does nod with Aya, however. "It is a dangerous foe," she motions. <Handspeech>

Mikilos nods to Cor'lana. "I'd heard something about finding your name, but wasn't sure the details. I should have asked."

Ravenstongue--Lana, maybe--looks resolute as she shakes her head. "She tried to kill Tel," she says. "So I'm all in on aiding you if I can be helpful. Much as I'd love to see her st--"

She blinks a few times, then looks a little bashful--an expression that suits her far more than the words she was likely about to utter. "Err, I mean I know I'm not powerful enough to stop her myself, but I'd love to help. /That/ is what I meant."

Pothy looks at Ravenstongue for a long moment before he cheerfully says, "Pillage! Plunder! Murder! Murder! Murder!" He's mimicking some sort of comedy routine from some street act.

Ravenstongue looks at Pothy with wide eyes. "You're /really/ not supposed to encourage me. Jeez, you really didn't like her that much, huh, Pothy."

Aya nods once to Lana, her justification and explanation accepted without anything further required. "I understand and welcome your aid." That appears to cause her thoughts to drift elsewhere a moment, belied by a glance back to the west. "I should see that she has not threatened another. Again."

She begins to turn back whence she came with, though pauses. "Should you learn anything new or see her again, please notify Aryia or myself at once. I can be found in the nobility district or the Fernwood. We should take no undue risks."

-End Scene-