Drake pulls a comb from his bag and continues fighting with his hair as Victi recovers from a fit of laughter which does nothing to assuage his frustration. What does help is the mention of enchantment; his ears perk up and smiles until a scrap of hair falls over his face and tries to cling to his nose. He snarls at it and brushes it away before answering her question about money.
"So no theft? If you're feeling lucky or like you can get away cheating, I'd try gambling. Spend a day on the dock playing that cup game or roll some dice. And as for spellcasting? I guess if you were to sell simple enchantments or repair stuff for folks, maybe you can make money fast." He stops himself there; he has another idea...the vixen's certainly pretty enough for it, but it'd either fly over her head or get his head bitten off.
"So no theft? If you're feeling lucky or like you can get away cheating, I'd try gambling. Spend a day on the dock playing that cup game or roll some dice. And as for spellcasting? I guess if you were to sell simple enchantments or repair stuff for folks, maybe you can make money fast." He stops himself there; he has another idea...the vixen's certainly pretty enough for it, but it'd either fly over her head or get his head bitten off.
"Theft is blunt and.... hmm inefficiently cruel with no real payoff besides the goods. Dishonest gambling is better, I like playing with illusions, but it takes a lot of moving parts," she replies, casting a simple grounding spell to normalize Drake's electric charge. Over the next few moments, everything should go back to normal. She'd had most of her fun with the static charge. No point making her guide like her too much less.
"I could give an example about the complexities of falsifying a die roll, I guess, but the more pertinent point is that I'm mostly thinking about the fact that I'm broke and hungry, and want to solve both of those problems," she explains sassily, "A day of gambling doesn't get me food before mid-morning, but a few magical favours might! I could also try making leaves seem like coins or whatever, but that also feels a bit cheap. That said, it's a bit of a rite of passage I haven't done yet, so that's worth it. Part of why I'm paying you in enchantments, by the way. Those kinds of things are easier to make than falsify hard enough to field-test."
"I could give an example about the complexities of falsifying a die roll, I guess, but the more pertinent point is that I'm mostly thinking about the fact that I'm broke and hungry, and want to solve both of those problems," she explains sassily, "A day of gambling doesn't get me food before mid-morning, but a few magical favours might! I could also try making leaves seem like coins or whatever, but that also feels a bit cheap. That said, it's a bit of a rite of passage I haven't done yet, so that's worth it. Part of why I'm paying you in enchantments, by the way. Those kinds of things are easier to make than falsify hard enough to field-test."
Drake breathes a sigh of relief as his hair and fur fall where it all should go. He laughs a little and runs the comb over his head a few more times to make sure it's all under control.
"I'll roll with whatever you prefer to do. Disguising leaves as coins, or gambling, or- uh, I know we need money, but you're built for hunting, aren't you? And I know how to make snares," he shrugs. "We can hunt this morning and get coin later."
"I'll roll with whatever you prefer to do. Disguising leaves as coins, or gambling, or- uh, I know we need money, but you're built for hunting, aren't you? And I know how to make snares," he shrugs. "We can hunt this morning and get coin later."
"Sure, as long as you're fine with raw or know how to cook things," she replies, standing up and walking toward the door of the room, "I'll get the Shriker, you.... do whatever you need to do for us to go properly, and then we can go looking for something edible."
Optimizing schedules was..... always tricky. Food had to come first, but Victi's thoughts raced through various orders of action. Deal with money second, or get enchanting? Probably money, in case she needed to buy reagents or rent time at an enchantery. Okay, where did research fit into this? Some artifacts of that power level were actually sensitive to relative position of celestial bodies enough for date of use to matter, or at least location. Knowing that, or any other conditions, would be important.... Sadly she had not a clue who would have that kind of info. Cults, private collectors, secret archives.... you never knew.
Ugh, planning was always a complete pain.
Optimizing schedules was..... always tricky. Food had to come first, but Victi's thoughts raced through various orders of action. Deal with money second, or get enchanting? Probably money, in case she needed to buy reagents or rent time at an enchantery. Okay, where did research fit into this? Some artifacts of that power level were actually sensitive to relative position of celestial bodies enough for date of use to matter, or at least location. Knowing that, or any other conditions, would be important.... Sadly she had not a clue who would have that kind of info. Cults, private collectors, secret archives.... you never knew.
Ugh, planning was always a complete pain.
"Uh...What about your safety?" Lisa asks. The objection is impulsive, an instinct. While objectively she can easily acknowledge that Adriannu is just as if not more competent than she is, the chimera still strives to keep the child in her company safe from harm.
And that involves, in her mind, keeping her in sight. Letting Adriannu scamper off with not one, but two shards to wait alone at some "agreed upon location" sets off so many alarms. The knee-jerk reply has absolutely nothing to do with the dawning realization that the shard was left in her backpack which, to her knowledge, they'd abandoned in the flight from her ruined woodland cabin.
On the other hand, her face going white, then flushing with color as she spits a curse from under her breath has everything to do with realizing her shard is gone.
"Sorry," she steps back from the girl's second request. "Uh....I think- Raven must"- she must, or else it surely would have been returned to them with Adriannu's daggers...
"The shard is in Raven's care." That doesn't reassure Lisa at all, but hopefully it will put Adriannu at ease. It sounds better- and is hopefully more true -than "I lost it" or "I left it behind."
And that involves, in her mind, keeping her in sight. Letting Adriannu scamper off with not one, but two shards to wait alone at some "agreed upon location" sets off so many alarms. The knee-jerk reply has absolutely nothing to do with the dawning realization that the shard was left in her backpack which, to her knowledge, they'd abandoned in the flight from her ruined woodland cabin.
On the other hand, her face going white, then flushing with color as she spits a curse from under her breath has everything to do with realizing her shard is gone.
"Sorry," she steps back from the girl's second request. "Uh....I think- Raven must"- she must, or else it surely would have been returned to them with Adriannu's daggers...
"The shard is in Raven's care." That doesn't reassure Lisa at all, but hopefully it will put Adriannu at ease. It sounds better- and is hopefully more true -than "I lost it" or "I left it behind."
Time had passed. Alastor had focused on keeping in view of the roads to avoid getting lost in the woods. He was eager to get into town and finally have some questions answered by his closest accomplice. As the town came into view before him, he smiled. But it was not to last.
Standing at the entrance to town was the last guard he'd wanted to see. Brandis. A man with all too much of a drive for the law. Bastard was by the books and unshakeable. Worst of all, Alastor had some run-ins with the guy in the past, and knew the guy was good at his job, albeit arrogant at times.
Stopping a good distance from the gate, Alastor raised his hand over his shoulder. "Hold up. We have an issue. I don't think we're getting in this way."
Standing at the entrance to town was the last guard he'd wanted to see. Brandis. A man with all too much of a drive for the law. Bastard was by the books and unshakeable. Worst of all, Alastor had some run-ins with the guy in the past, and knew the guy was good at his job, albeit arrogant at times.
Stopping a good distance from the gate, Alastor raised his hand over his shoulder. "Hold up. We have an issue. I don't think we're getting in this way."
Adriannu raised an eyebrow at Lisa's concern about her safety before answering back with a sigh. "Wouldn't I be safer away from the place that Victi might be heading? Anyone else is hardly a threat since I have been know how to handle myself in the streets. How else did you think I got my first set of daggers, my blankets or my pack? You can't get those things in a forest after all." Her attitude towards her heavily implied stealing was decidedly cavalier, though considering that she hadn't had anyone to look her after all, it probably wasn't surprising the lengths that she had to go to in order to survive.
Now with that objection suitably quashed, she pointedly flicked her open hand to silently demand Lisa's shard once again. Yet the child quickly gained a puzzled look for a brief upon seeing Lisa's white face and hearing her curse under her breath. That expression was then quickly replaced with an eerily calm one as she promptly asked the Chimera a question. "You are not going to tell me that you left the shard behind at the cabin, right?" This was delivered in a uncharacteristically sweet way which only served to further suggest that of course she wouldn't have left such an important object behind.
Luckily for Lisa, she managed to come up with a somewhat acceptable cover up by saying that Raven had it. "Odd choice to leave it in her care, since you were worried about my safety. Since unless there is something about Raven I haven't been told yet, one would think I would be better equipped to defend myself then she is. Though I supposed Victi probably wouldn't think a cat would be carrying it..." Adriannu seemed to pause ad she mulled over this bit of news, offering Lisa a precious chance to distract her with something, anything to get her to drop the subject.
Now with that objection suitably quashed, she pointedly flicked her open hand to silently demand Lisa's shard once again. Yet the child quickly gained a puzzled look for a brief upon seeing Lisa's white face and hearing her curse under her breath. That expression was then quickly replaced with an eerily calm one as she promptly asked the Chimera a question. "You are not going to tell me that you left the shard behind at the cabin, right?" This was delivered in a uncharacteristically sweet way which only served to further suggest that of course she wouldn't have left such an important object behind.
Luckily for Lisa, she managed to come up with a somewhat acceptable cover up by saying that Raven had it. "Odd choice to leave it in her care, since you were worried about my safety. Since unless there is something about Raven I haven't been told yet, one would think I would be better equipped to defend myself then she is. Though I supposed Victi probably wouldn't think a cat would be carrying it..." Adriannu seemed to pause ad she mulled over this bit of news, offering Lisa a precious chance to distract her with something, anything to get her to drop the subject.
She stops and looks ahead. "I take it that guard and you dont get along huh." She chuckles as she places a hand close to her mouth in a cute way to giggle. "What? Can we not charm our way through? My human form can be pretty persuasive in that way if you know what I mean." She smirks a little mischievously as she looks at Alastor.
Adriannu wrote:
Adriannu raised an eyebrow at Lisa's concern about her safety before answering back with a sigh. "Wouldn't I be safer away from the place that Victi might be heading? Anyone else is hardly a threat since I have been know how to handle myself in the streets. How else did you think I got my first set of daggers, my blankets or my pack? You can't get those things in a forest after all." Her attitude towards her heavily implied stealing was decidedly cavalier, though considering that she hadn't had anyone to look her after all, it probably wasn't surprising the lengths that she had to go to in order to survive.
Now with that objection suitably quashed, she pointedly flicked her open hand to silently demand Lisa's shard once again. Yet the child quickly gained a puzzled look for a brief upon seeing Lisa's white face and hearing her curse under her breath. That expression was then quickly replaced with an eerily calm one as she promptly asked the Chimera a question. "You are not going to tell me that you left the shard behind at the cabin, right?" This was delivered in a uncharacteristically sweet way which only served to further suggest that of course she wouldn't have left such an important object behind.
Luckily for Lisa, she managed to come up with a somewhat acceptable cover up by saying that Raven had it. "Odd choice to leave it in her care, since you were worried about my safety. Since unless there is something about Raven I haven't been told yet, one would think I would be better equipped to defend myself then she is. Though I supposed Victi probably wouldn't think a cat would be carrying it..." Adriannu seemed to pause ad she mulled over this bit of news, offering Lisa a precious chance to distract her with something, anything to get her to drop the subject.
Now with that objection suitably quashed, she pointedly flicked her open hand to silently demand Lisa's shard once again. Yet the child quickly gained a puzzled look for a brief upon seeing Lisa's white face and hearing her curse under her breath. That expression was then quickly replaced with an eerily calm one as she promptly asked the Chimera a question. "You are not going to tell me that you left the shard behind at the cabin, right?" This was delivered in a uncharacteristically sweet way which only served to further suggest that of course she wouldn't have left such an important object behind.
Luckily for Lisa, she managed to come up with a somewhat acceptable cover up by saying that Raven had it. "Odd choice to leave it in her care, since you were worried about my safety. Since unless there is something about Raven I haven't been told yet, one would think I would be better equipped to defend myself then she is. Though I supposed Victi probably wouldn't think a cat would be carrying it..." Adriannu seemed to pause ad she mulled over this bit of news, offering Lisa a precious chance to distract her with something, anything to get her to drop the subject.
I didn't exactly intend to leave it with her, you know. Lisa's ears twitch; the only indication that she's annoyed with what she interprets as snide remarks from someone half her age.
She can't snap at the girl, though, because she knows Adriannu's mostly right. Instead, she quickly changes the subject, accepting the assurance that the cathera can defend herself just fine. "Alright, alright. Let's decide on a place to meet later."
She pauses, trying to narrow down the potential meeting places, and to further keep Adriannu from nagging her about the unfavorable logistics of Raven carrying a shard, she starts to do so out loud. "Absolutely no taverns or bars; I'm sure you don't need me to explain why. And on that note, I'd prefer you stayed away from crowds. Crowds have city guards...what I mean to say is someone might try to whisk you off to an orphanage or a place of that sort.
"Yet crowds make good plain-in-sight places to hide. Or you could go somewhere quiet. An alley, perhaps, or the tree line on the edge of town. I'll let it be your call," she says, hoping that trusting in Adriannu's intuition isn't a mistake...not that she can expect the wild child to do anything she tells her to anyways.
Victi Aurora Silverfur wrote:
"Sure, as long as you're fine with raw or know how to cook things," she replies, standing up and walking toward the door of the room, "I'll get the Shriker, you.... do whatever you need to do for us to go properly, and then we can go looking for something edible."
Optimizing schedules was..... always tricky. Food had to come first, but Victi's thoughts raced through various orders of action. Deal with money second, or get enchanting? Probably money, in case she needed to buy reagents or rent time at an enchantery. Okay, where did research fit into this? Some artifacts of that power level were actually sensitive to relative position of celestial bodies enough for date of use to matter, or at least location. Knowing that, or any other conditions, would be important.... Sadly she had not a clue who would have that kind of info. Cults, private collectors, secret archives.... you never knew.
Ugh, planning was always a complete pain.
Optimizing schedules was..... always tricky. Food had to come first, but Victi's thoughts raced through various orders of action. Deal with money second, or get enchanting? Probably money, in case she needed to buy reagents or rent time at an enchantery. Okay, where did research fit into this? Some artifacts of that power level were actually sensitive to relative position of celestial bodies enough for date of use to matter, or at least location. Knowing that, or any other conditions, would be important.... Sadly she had not a clue who would have that kind of info. Cults, private collectors, secret archives.... you never knew.
Ugh, planning was always a complete pain.
Drake involuntarily shudders at the idea of eating raw meat. Good thing he does, in fact, know how to cook over a campfire.
While Victi fetches the Shriker, he throws on one of his few extra shirts- he can't wear that other one another day after all the running around they did -and he finishes all of his self-grooming, combing his hair out neatly and styling it into a pair of short bob-tails that hang in front of his ears.
Satisfied, he goes downstairs, thanks the tavern keep for the pleasant stay and joins Victi outside. Once the Shriker reaches them he'll join her in the seat, getting a little too comfortable as always, and he's complacent with wherever she chooses to go. He looks forward to it, actually. He doesn't have to hunt that much, usually managing to live off of hot meals from bars and whatever rations he can pick up between marketplace visits, but if he's traveling and not in a hurry, he'll often hunt anyways for fun and to spare him the horror of eating stale meat and cheese for supper. When the game is plentiful, a good hunt alone will always lift his spirits. A good hunt with a beautiful albeit terrifying sorceress? Who knows, should be even better.
Victi seems awfully giddy on the ride, apparently eager to get hunting.
She drives them a couple km out into the woods before stopping in a clearing. She dismounts excitedly, possibly tearing herself out of Drake's grip in her enthusiasm.
"Just as a heads up, I don't used magic or weapons when I hunt. Be back here in.... some amount of time. I dunno, half an hour or something," she says before bounding off into the woods. Her body shifts as she does so, lowering onto all fours and re-proportioning slightly while otherwise staying the same size.
She drives them a couple km out into the woods before stopping in a clearing. She dismounts excitedly, possibly tearing herself out of Drake's grip in her enthusiasm.
"Just as a heads up, I don't used magic or weapons when I hunt. Be back here in.... some amount of time. I dunno, half an hour or something," she says before bounding off into the woods. Her body shifts as she does so, lowering onto all fours and re-proportioning slightly while otherwise staying the same size.
((Just saw your message in the OOC. All cool, best of luck with everything!))
Alastor shook his head. "Not going to work here. The bastard's unshakeable. I've tried everything, the guy doesn't have a life outside of his guard work. It's pathetic." Alastor thought things over. "Good ol' Hole in the Wall ain't gonna work either."
"The fact that yeh've been seen around me will mean he won't trust you either. We gotta.." Wait. They wouldn't know her here. Why would they assume anything? "...Okay, I mighta thought of somethin'. I need yer to charm him, but not to get entry. I need a distraction so I can slip in. Reckon yeh got the skills? I don't fancy time in lockup."
Alastor shook his head. "Not going to work here. The bastard's unshakeable. I've tried everything, the guy doesn't have a life outside of his guard work. It's pathetic." Alastor thought things over. "Good ol' Hole in the Wall ain't gonna work either."
"The fact that yeh've been seen around me will mean he won't trust you either. We gotta.." Wait. They wouldn't know her here. Why would they assume anything? "...Okay, I mighta thought of somethin'. I need yer to charm him, but not to get entry. I need a distraction so I can slip in. Reckon yeh got the skills? I don't fancy time in lockup."
"Can I charm him? Psh please I an charm anyone!" She smirks as she hands him Raven gently. She changes into her human form. "I will meet you in there." She winks and struts on over to the guard. She looks up at him and taps his shoulder gently. "Excuse me. I am new and I have no idea where to even start! Can you maybe give me some of your favorite spots?" She says as she moves a little closer to him appropriately. Her top was low cut which accentuated her breasts and curves.
Stepping off of the ship as they continued their conversation and upon Lisa forbidding meeting up at a tavern or bar, Adriannu would roll her eyes. "Rather surprised you even felt the need to mention taverns and bars, I mean do I really seem like the sort who would try to sneak some booze? If I was going to try sneaking something, it would be something useful, not something that could potentially impair me. I have seen plenty of drunken slobs on the streets to be thoroughly turned off by that particular drink. She asked in a rather wry tone of voice, clearly unimpressed once again by Lisa.
Luckily the Cathera wouldn't linger on the subject and instead addressed her other pontional spots to meet up. "Alleyways or some big landmark would be just fine and I'm not worried about being picked up by some orphanage people. Just act like you belong there and people usually won't pay any attention to you. Then if someone does inquire about you, just tell them that your parents had some work to do and you were told to wait for them here. Plenty of people don't like kids so it's not hard to believe that some adults would believe their business would be smoother without their presence. Honestly, I'd rather you pick something that will be easy for you to remember since I don't know how familiar you are with Telmarune so I wouldn't want you to get lost or struggle to find the place we agreed to meet up at again."
Luckily the Cathera wouldn't linger on the subject and instead addressed her other pontional spots to meet up. "Alleyways or some big landmark would be just fine and I'm not worried about being picked up by some orphanage people. Just act like you belong there and people usually won't pay any attention to you. Then if someone does inquire about you, just tell them that your parents had some work to do and you were told to wait for them here. Plenty of people don't like kids so it's not hard to believe that some adults would believe their business would be smoother without their presence. Honestly, I'd rather you pick something that will be easy for you to remember since I don't know how familiar you are with Telmarune so I wouldn't want you to get lost or struggle to find the place we agreed to meet up at again."
As Lisa and Adriannu step off of the ship's ramp, they realize that at the moment only the inside walls of the ship and the top side of the ramp are visible. The ramp begins to close and, assuming that isn't interrupted, there's a whirring sound of the vessel lifting into the air and speeding away shortly after, leaving no trace but the downwash from its liftoff to blow around leaves and mess their hair.
Alastor nodded, taking Raven before moving away from Jules. Going wide, he approached the wall from a blind spot and began approaching the gates as quietly as possible. Seeing Jules talking to the guard, he waited for an opportunity to slip in.
Brandis smiled as he turned to the newcomer. "Welcome to Northhold. It's always good to see a new face." As if to support himself, his eyes never shifted downwards. "I don't have many favourite locations myself. After all, the city is filled with great spots. But if there was one I could recommend, it's the meat store on the main street." Turning towards the gate, he pointed down the main road. "It's run by a man named Stiv. Good fellow. My partner can show you more if you'd like, his watch is over soon." Brandis' partner looked over at Jules, a smirk showing on his face.
Alastor grimaced. Yeah, that's the Brandis I know, he thought to himself, bastard can play dumb too well.
Brandis smiled as he turned to the newcomer. "Welcome to Northhold. It's always good to see a new face." As if to support himself, his eyes never shifted downwards. "I don't have many favourite locations myself. After all, the city is filled with great spots. But if there was one I could recommend, it's the meat store on the main street." Turning towards the gate, he pointed down the main road. "It's run by a man named Stiv. Good fellow. My partner can show you more if you'd like, his watch is over soon." Brandis' partner looked over at Jules, a smirk showing on his face.
Alastor grimaced. Yeah, that's the Brandis I know, he thought to himself, bastard can play dumb too well.
"Right, right." The mental picture of Victi ripping savagely into wild animals is...kind of jarring, but strangely enough he isn't surprised especially as he watches her morph just enough to let her run comfortably on all fours. He shrugs and kneels in the clearing and swings a pack from around his shoulder onto the ground in front of him. He figures he'll let her go after game the hard and fast way, and he'll set some snares. It'll take more than half an hour, but heck, with her powers and the Shriker, he assumes they can wander miles away and be back in due time to check his traps.
As he pulls some rope out of his pack, he studies the quiet, serene clearing and wonders if Victi'd protest to setting up camp in one place for a day or two.
As he pulls some rope out of his pack, he studies the quiet, serene clearing and wonders if Victi'd protest to setting up camp in one place for a day or two.
Ripping and tearing is kept to a surprising minimum. Victi's actual strategy mostly revolves around jumping up vertically and coming down hard to break necks. In the first hour or so she manages to track down a largish game beast, the difficulties brought by her bright white fur offset by her acute senses (admittedly magically enhanced, but she didn't really count that as using magic), cunning, and stealth. If Drake gets a fire going, she'll happily drag her catch back toward the smell of the smoke.
"Jules, Alastor!" Liliath kept crying, "Fine if you guys are going to be this mean to me, I don't need to see you 2 anymore. You were supposed to be in the woods! In the woods! Not in this city!"
Thoroughly done with this child's attitude, Lisa rolls her eyes right back and snaps, "Let me remind you that we've known each other for a barely a day; you could be the sort to try anything-" She cuts off as the ramp on the shuttle retreats and the vessel disappears completely, only the whirring sound and a gust of wind alerting her of its departure.
After the breeze settles, she brushes a wisp of hair from her face and sighs, "I'm sorry. That was...yeah. Look, I'll leave you at the marketplace, and we'll go our separate ways for awhile." She runs a shaking hand through her hair and rests her face in the other, taking a moment to catch her breath and mentally prepare to join the crowded streets past the end of this alley.
She starts heading that way, half reaching out to take the child's hand before letting it fall to her side. She silently nods to request that Adriannu follow her closely.
After the breeze settles, she brushes a wisp of hair from her face and sighs, "I'm sorry. That was...yeah. Look, I'll leave you at the marketplace, and we'll go our separate ways for awhile." She runs a shaking hand through her hair and rests her face in the other, taking a moment to catch her breath and mentally prepare to join the crowded streets past the end of this alley.
She starts heading that way, half reaching out to take the child's hand before letting it fall to her side. She silently nods to request that Adriannu follow her closely.
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