[centre][h1][color=FF7F50][u]Noelle Laurents[/u][/color][/h1][/centre]
[centre][h3][color=FF7F50]Location: Balmung Castle  |  Banquet Hall  |  Mentions: n/a[/color][/h3][/centre]
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As light conversation rose amongst those gathered at her table, the girl calling herself Noelle had politely kept to herself, putting to use the proper etiquette that had been drilled into her by a most strict taskmaster. She was at the court of a lord and there were certain expectations to be followed regardless of the fact that she was there as a gun-for-hire. Good posture, elbows off the table, napkin placed across her lap, Noelle slowly began to do away with the cut of meat on her plate - Quillback she would learn from the discussion downtable. 

As she ate, the girl quietly studied those gathered - by their tongue, Noelle would guess that Edren citizens made up nearly half of their number, though one of them had the remnants of a Skaelaen accent. Another still had the tongue of a traveler, bearing the taint of Skael, Edren, and what sounded like Osprey? It was a bit different to the woman seated across from Noelle, but there was no mistaking the Mystrel’s origin - she wore it plain. Which only left the timid woman. Noelle hadn’t had many opportunities to hear her speak yet, but her dress marked her as one of the forest folk. Curious that they’d be willing to threaten their precious neutrality by answering the summons of an Edren lord, but these were ‘unprecedented times.’

A couple among their number seemed as if they may be potential threats - most notably the northern woman - but the overall risk level seemed low. They were too meek, too foolish, too self-destructive, too trusting, or too detached to prove any significant danger. Judging from the sheer number of people within the banquet hall and the manner in which they were placed, Noelle wouldn’t have been surprised if the lord had intended to form multiple parties for whatever task he had in mind. If that was the case, Noelle would have ample time to devise contingency plans in the scenario that her peers needed to be neutralized. As Noelle brought a bit of Quillback to her mouth, her dead eyes sliding to the side, glancing toward her neighbors. Mages first, then the Osprey woman…from there the threat becomes negligible. 

As the resident fool rose to his feet and called for attention, Noelle ignored him, taking the time to survey the room as subtly as possible. While there were a not insignificant amount of guards present, she would have thought more would have been stationed with the number of rough individuals gathered. An attempt on Lord Leonhart in this situation, while difficult, wouldn’t be impossible. She had turned over the materia cannon and one of her handguns when she had arrived, but the remaining palm-sized gun stored within a hidden pocket on the inside of her leather breastplate would be plenty. The most difficult part would be drawing close enough to ensure the lethality of the shot as the ‘guests’ seemed to be kept away from the lord’s dais. Extraction afterwards may be unlikely, but it would be altogether a small price to pay to destabilize a realm. Had that been her mission, the parameters seemed acceptable…but regicide had been left out of the mission dossier.

The northern woman’s outburst across from her had caught Noelle unaware, but she maintained her composure, continuing to indulge in her meal as the woman displayed her impatience. Part of her was thankful - feigning interest in the whimsy of dainty men wasn’t exactly her favorite part of the job. When she began to call out the lord in question directly, Noelle grabbed her cup of red wine and began to sip, quietly amused and perfectly content to play audience to the disaster theatre being performed before her.