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Vera

Aelrod's Mansion, West Garden
@Guilty Spark@OwO@Psyker Landshark



The satisfying crumple of her foe's mask, shards plinking along the back of her gauntlet, raised a storm of confidence in Vera. With a stomp of her foot she coursed forward, staying on top of the staggered harpy and ready to deliver a follow-up bludgeoning. But her fist found only the wind, and she was left with only the gust from the harpy's escape buffeting in her ears until its magical tones came to taunt her. Even if this voice was going to be her only company in the silence, she wasn't about to indulge it in banter. She couldn't even afford to gawk after unmasking the intruder.

The harpy was already weaving another spell, adding remote weaponry to the list of arcane abilities she was wielding. Vera knew that trend wasn't going to stop if she let the harpy get comfortable being out of reach. She kept moving forward, pulling her sword out as the enemy's spectral weapons materialized. Her eyes turned, widening with realization as she saw the others emerging from the manor with eerie quiet, only to snap back to the harpy's blades when the spell was set into motion.

She canted her own blade and swung to parry the projectile out of her path. The sudden impact of a steel slug driven by a spell, even glanced off of her weapon, rattled all the way up her arms but didn't stop her stride. Just as well the outside world was silenced, she could only hear her own pulse. There was no time to worry about it coming back around, there were two more right in front of her. It was a fine line between panic and frenzy that Vera was barreling down, too afraid of dying a target dummy to worry about the rest. She couldn't dodge three swords, but it wouldn't matter if her opponent couldn't juggle her spells with an angry elf in her face. Her grip tightened, her teeth grit, she presented the tip of her sword like a lance and threw herself at the enemy.

Vera

Aelrod's Mansion, West Garden
@Guilty Spark@Moonshadow@OwO@Psyker Landshark



For a second Vera did not think much of the sudden stumble from the guard behind her. The out of place skip in the rhythm of her accomplice only alarmed her when she heard the rest of him toppling down to the garden path, equipment and all. She turned to see how the man had tripped, hand twitching as she got ready to offer it.

"Oh." Instead, she froze. Was returning to the scene of the crime really that tempting? That or... Aelrod did just say everyone in town wanted him gone. Vera's eyes wavered between the guardsman crumpled on the ground and his mysterious assailant, anxiously dancing around the masked figure's cloak for the first sign of movement. Their spell rippled by, a subtle pulse of the senses followed by an eerie quiet. The word spoken to conjure the magic told her all she needed to know about what it was doing. This masked mystery either didn't want to hear that she was not, in fact, alone or had very personal intentions for the two of them.

Vera bit down the cold and did what every impulse called on her to do. She shot forward, her posture sinking low as she closed up on the mage. Her mailed fists went up, ready for the bout. With one she steadied herself, reaching down and holding fast to the grip of her arming sword. The other soared up and up, back pitching, legs pushing into it as she aimed a vicious uppercut for the alabaster jawline on that mask.
Vera

Aelrod's Mansion,
@Guilty Spark@Moonshadow@OwO@Psyker Landshark



She could only clasp her hands together, wringing them behind her back as she turned Aelrod and Orga's answers over in her mind. It was unfortunate that the handful of competing textile merchants had been too optimistic a candidate for an antagonist. No, instead they had a component of Arskel's ruling class who were inviting factional conflict with the region's largest guild. Vera's eyes slid open, panning around the room. It had to be a joke. Oh, your guard was kidnapped by the henchmen of someone on the city council? Sorry, his life is currency spent in the political game and the guild values your continued investments so lightly against the enemies you've made that they sent us to make you feel safe.

Well, they were currency too. The object wasn't justice but satisfaction. Sure, just like the enemy had kidnapped a guard instead of killing Aelrod dead, they would go out and bag some fall guys on the other side, even hand them to the Watch and smile. She'd done her fair share of that. There was a tension to being evaluated that could not be dispelled but at least that was familiar. Before Vera could concoct something professional sounding to say, it turned out the real professional had something to say. Vera was happy to yield the floor to the knight, and with it the whole process of questioning. At least for the moment.

"Thank you kindly, Mister Aelrod, Mister Orga. I believe while the men are being gathered I shall go and have a look at the west garden, then." Bowing her gratitude as well as stating it, Vera then turned. A few uneven strides across the floor, a glance down at the paper dog slowly sliding out through the same door, and she was off to find her way to the scene of the crime.

Vera

Aelrod's Mansion,
@Guilty Spark@Moonshadow@OwO@Psyker Landshark



Former knight. Vera automatically gave a solemn nod back as Mathias introduced himself. There was no time to stand around and offer the usual mixer of histories and qualifications, even the members of the group that weren't here by emergency had forgone that much, but knowing even a little about a partner was comforting.
"Vera. Nice working with you." And then they'd departed.

Coming upon the manor grounds, Vera pulled her thoughts from the past and set them upon her surroundings. She to say that this was for tempering her nerves and dispelling the dread that came with the possibility of challenge. More cynically, she figured that it was best to try hard even if she had nothing to offer. Behind her anxious glare she studied the first perimeter they passed through. What boundary existed between the manor and the streets? Flower gardens and grass up to the fences, soft terrains that welcomed the imprint of those trespassing upon them. If they didn't have the barest ability in magic to cover their tracks, at least. She sighed, instead looking to the guards. A pair to mind the doors. As it should be, professional seeming, working in tandem, not a word passed between the two as the lot of them were processed and taken into the grounds.

Vera gave a short bow as the master of the house introduced himself, and fell in while Aelrod finished his explanation. One by one the other members of the group stepped up. For her part, Vera only nodded along at the back. Magical tracking made mundane deduction utterly worthless, any target that could veil themselves from a mage could damn sure cover their tracks if they wanted to, and anyone that could be found was going to be found faster by the intuitive power of the mystic arts. If their mage ever pulled out the right book. Vera tried not to watch, if only to give an air of confidence in her colleague's abilities. She cleared her throat.

"While we... prepare to conduct magical inquisition, there are a couple of things that I would like to ask you and your guardsmen, Mr. Aelrod. You said that you are among a handful of those who bring textiles to Helmlenfell. While indeed," She nodded towards her dwarven counterpart, "Knowledge of the terms of your contract would provide some clues, I would first consult your knowledge of the market. Who else competes for the textile trade in Helmlenfell? The person sending you these letters wants you out of Arskel, if any of your colleagues have property here it would give us a basis to begin our search."

"Second. Where could Andar have been when he disappeared? What was his route? And more importantly, how did he come to be alone while standing watch? Whoever was his watch partner that evening, or the squadron on grounds, even if they did not hear anything, their accounts should give us a clearer picture of where our culprit was not. May we meet with them?"
Vera

East Wing Common Room,
@Guilty Spark@Moonshadow@OwO



Vera knew better than to take uncertainty for granted. Hopefully it wouldn't take them too long. A delicate way of telling them that they had only so much time to see to their tasking. She could bear with that, it was easier to figure something out in a day than pass some initiation test right there and then. She shifted in her boots as Kiska set the case upon the table, her eyes falling from their hold on the handler as her badge glimmered before her. At first she did not react. It seemed to be a presentation, but their briefing went on and more than that: They had not yet earned those pins. She understood quickly, though. Whether or not they were truly initiated, a component of their test was to do real Guild work as real members of the Guild. Under no finer supervision than that of one of the Guild's financial overlords, no less. Her nose twitched.

Petra seemed to harbor non of the hesitation that Vera did, and even though she knew why they were being given it was still a relief to see someone else go and accept. As she waited, she could not help but wonder if the life of a patron was so light as to be entrusted to the untested or if this exchange of muscle and security for donations was so routine as to go without disguise.

Her worrying came to an end and she nearly jumped at the clap. Vera's neck twisted, she took a step away, only to gawk at the colorful streamers issuing from the elf's book. Vera lingered on the book, struck by the novelty of a spell book and briefly distracted with the usual new team sport of wondering just how that artifice played into the mage's craft. Maybe that made it just a little harder on her as the mage fed the book to a book pulled out of itself. Whatever she had been about to say about the party favor died in her throat at that. She stood by again, as her other teammate took their token.

What levity. But Vera didn't presume that they could walk up and take those coins because it meant less to them, or because they didn't understand what those coins meant. These were the kinds of people that could take their chance and do it with aplomb. She had to be the same. As the last, she walked up to the table and plucked up the remaining coin. She held out her left hand and slotted the token in amidst the tightened down straps of her gauntlet, striking the pin through one of the sturdy belts. As she shifted the glove back to comfort, she looked up at Kiska.

"When we find them, should we deliver them to the Watch? Or to Mr. Aelrod's guards?"

Vera

East Wing Common Room,
@Guilty Spark@Moonshadow@OwO



She'd checked it three times that morning, but she had gently adjusted the belt carrying her sword one last time when she planted herself for the morning's muster. This was not the day to misstep, for her group it was the date of their initiation trials. For her, the trial could just as well have already started. Towering over her fellow elf, her complete stillness made her stand apart even more. Everything felt tight. It was with great wisdom that she commanded herself to breathe, ripping her glare from a random group across the hall when her handler spoke up. She couldn't help but flicker another look in their direction as Kiska remarked on their number.
"Vera." She almost choked, her voice a little quiet with a strain that finally broke when she started talking. "Likewise," She nodded her head towards Sheri. "Just Vera. Pleased to meet you all." She exhaled, gradually deflating as she eased back into a speaking tone. "Let's all do our best today, yeah?"
@Aerandir Sorry to be unhelpful here but I really didn't write much beyond what I needed to make explicit for the backstory. I figured since Vera is from a city-state on the High Road that I'd let the GM define which city that is when/if it became relevant instead of taking on the task of writing a city-state in the middle of the defined part of the setting. Safe to say if your scope shows any of the north half of the High Road, Vera's home will be on it somewhere.
@Guilty Spark Thanks. Also yeah, as an initiate, it was hidden up top.
Seems like it'll be a packed thread already if all the people from the interest check turn up, but if someone drops out or you're willing to add another body to the pile I've got this draft of a character. Chief questions are "Did I fuck up magic entirely?" and "Elves physically mature at 20 like in D&D right?"

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