[center][h3][u][color=#cbc66d] Roslyn Wicke [/color][/u][/h3][/center][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/vzhDyH3.png[/img][/center][center][color=#cbc66d]"Who do I look like?"[/color][/center][h1][center]The Riddle of Lindenholdt Part 3 [/center][/h1][center][sub]Date: Zales 32nd Location: The Inn[/sub][/center] [h2]Holding onto Sanity[/h2][hider=*][i]Roslyn pulled a strand of hair out from her eyes. Dressed in a simple skirt, a blouse, and boots, she stepped off the boat's edge and onto the dock. Her hand rested on the satchel filled with her gear at her side. The eerie silence struck her first causing a shiver to slither- She blinked. [i]Wait. No, this shouldn't be happening. [/i] The girl knew this nightmare all too well. Already the hairs on her neck bristled, wondering why the herbs weren't working. Did she take enough? Her questions flew past unanswered as panic sent her mind spinning. Her eyes snapped to the treeline. She knew it had to be here, but where? Frustrated at not seeing it, she hollered. [color=#cbc66d]"Where are you, you bastard?!? I know you're here! STOP toying with me!"[/color] Silence answered her. She sent the mist scattering when she pulled back to the dock. Her hand reached into her satchel for her smoking ban- Roslyn gripped nothing, but air. With wide eyes, her feet came to an abrupt stop and she ripped her bag open. Empty. The dread washed over her as she realized how fucked she was. Once again, a wail echoed across the bog. The sound vibrated in her skull, threatening to bring her down to her knees as she slammed her hands over her ears. Movement came from her right. She turned to face it. Her skirt's edge skimmed the water, sending ripples across the calm surface. The dark creature detached from the shadows. It looked different from before, more toad-like than canine with an eager, wicked grin. Greedy eyes settled upon her. For that moment, she froze in place. When it began to crawl forward, the spell broke. Her courage scattered like a bug fleeing from a frog and she ran the opposite direction. Jaws suddenly found Roslyn's heel. It ripped her leg out from underneath her, slamming the girl belly first into the water. With the breath knocked out of her, she laid there trying to force her lungs to work. The sounds of sloshing water drew nearer. When the shadow covered her, Roslyn forcefully flipped herself onto her back. Her foot kicked out at the leg. Once, twice, and three. It flinched then reared back, an amused snort at her efforts. Scrambling to her feet, Roslyn once more rushed for the dock. She tapped into her gift with the hope of getting distance between them. She shot a look over her should just in time to see the mouth open and a sticky tongue-[/i] Roslyn jerked upright from the table. Her head shot over her shoulder, half expected to see the flash of fangs biting down on her. Seeing nothing, she lowered head and exhaled. Her heart still thumped rapidly in the center of her ribs. Her arms wrapped around herself to stop the subtle trembling. [color=#cbc66d]"Just a... bad dream."[/color] Though she tried to shrug it off, the words failed to comfort her. Taking stock of her surroundings, she found herself in one of the rooms alone. She didn't recall climbing the stairs, but it wasn't unlikely. Or maybe aided by one of the student's kindness. Either way, it didn't matter. She took notice of being in her day wear and groaned. Her hand pulled the fabric from her clammy skin as she rose to her feet. In a few small steps, she reached the basin and pitcher. After pouring in the water, she splashed her face and leaned over to let it run off. Something green flashed in the corner of her eye Lifting up her arm, she pulled back her sleeve to reveal the familiar sight of the greed stone on her wrist. A frown formed. Didn't she take this off? A greasy, sly voice interrupted her thoughts. [color=78d15a][i]"Merry Caldores, Rosie-girl."[/i][/color] Roslyn jumped and gripped the basin's edge tightly. She fought her impulse to look in his direction, catching the singing downstairs. The fiend smiled at her. [color=78d15a][i]"I don't take kindly to being ignored, remember?"[/i][/color] As if to make his point clear, he snapped his fingers. A blinding flash erupted and forced her to step back. Rubbing and blinking her eyes, she cursed at the little vermin. [color=#cbc66d]" Asyn bach, what do you want? Or you just like bullying me?"[/color] The frustration of his antics had finally evaporated any patience she had with him. Unbothered by her anger, he ripped open another tear in reality and reached in. He withdrew his pipe and lit it. Rings of smoke drifted upward. Of course, only Roslyn could smell it. [color=78d15a][i]"First, change your tone."[/i][/color] He took another puff. [color=78d15a][i]"Second, I got an offer for you."[/i][/color] [color=#cbc66d]"Same damn one that you've been offering for a month now? No thank you. I want nothing from you."[/color] Zast chuckled. [color=78d15a][i]"Oh, you're a nice girl, but you have a lot to learn about the world. Everyone wants something. Thar aren't a person in the ol' world who's really content with their lot in life. Those that say they are, are lying to themselves. Now sit down and listen to me. It’s a different one."[/i][/color] [color=#cbc66d]"No, I'll say it again. Leave me alone."[/color] Roslyn had already started to fix up her hair and adjust her dress. With any luck no one will notice she wore the same thing twice. [color=78d15a][i]"You like to punish yourself, don't you? "[/i][/color] [color=#cbc66d]"Stop it."[/color] [color=78d15a][i]"Or what? Gonna to blow a hole in the wall again? Someone might think you're crazy. Speaking of that, didn't someone already see you talking to yourself? What was her name? Marie? Marlyn or something like that?"[/i][/color] He then added. [color=78d15a][i]"Do you think she's mentioned it to the others yet?"[/i][/color] [color=#cbc66d]"This conversation is over."[/color] [color=78d15a][i]"No. I always get what I want. I promise you, it will only get worse until you agree, Rosie girl. And I won’t leave you alone for long…"[/i][/color][/hider][h2]A Merry Caldores Morning[/h2][hider=**]Zast's words chased Roslyn as she walked out onto the upstairs landing. Her back knocked the door shut behind her. She lifted her arm to glance at the glinting green stone fastened to her wrist. The center glowed to mock her causing her to drop it at her side. Thankfully, no one had thought to come and wake her for breakfast. Sounds of conversation and cheer drifting up from downstairs drew her to the railing. She leaned on it and looked down, spotting a few individuals below. Ingrid, Jana, Xiuyang, Johann singing, and... Edith? [i][color=#cbc66d]What is she doing here? Why isn't she with her family?[/color][/i] Roslyn pursed her lips and focused on lessening her dour mood. It was the holidays after all. She stepped down the stairs to join the others. She couldn't stop the yawn that bubbled up from her throat causing her to raise a hand to stifle it. With a soft, tired voice she greeted them. [color=#cbc66d]"Morning."[/color] Looking at Edith's dress, she then added. [color=#cbc66d]"Did I miss something or this normal for Caldores here?"[/color] Johann blinked and quickly carried on with his singing and cooking, perhaps not willing to break his stride through conversation. He remembered, after a moment, to give Ingrid a smile of thanks. [color=goldenrod]"Something about my mother raising me well,"[/color] he remarked, spilling some food onto her plate with a sheepish chuckle. [color=#DA70D6]"Give me everything!"[/color] Jana enthused, just behind Ingrid, and he was happy to indulge her on this first day of the holiday season. Johann wasn't the star of the show any longer, however. That honour belonged to the unexpected Miss Grunewald. Edith was, in truth, a little bit vacant-looking, and one could sense that she had been through some sort of recent ordeal, but she seemed in good enough spirits. [color=#87CEEB]"I am starting to learn that Ersand'Enise is a very... unique place,"[/color] she sighed at Xiuyang, thanking her for the blanket before speaking reassuringly for a bit of time with Ingrid. She nodded when Roslyn addressed her, however. [color=#87CEEB]"Oh yes. It is customary for people to show up to each other's houses dressed in zeir nightgowns and pilfer as much breakfast as zey can."[/color] She nodded enthusiastically. [color=#87CEEB]"Extra points for looking as raggedy as one can."[/color] She flashed a smile and a double thumbs up for Roslyn before she had reached the front of the cue. She took her plate from her lap and held it out eagerly. [color=#87CEEB]"Hit me, big boy, with everythin' you got."[/color] Marco shuffled down the stairs into the main hall looking like a risen corpse. His eyes were half shut, his hair was curled in two different directions, and the buttons of his coat were all stuck in the wrong holes. Marco was beyond tired. His morning ablutions had done little to purge the fatigue incurred from last night’s party, and it felt like stones had been tied to his upper eyelids as he fought the urge to turn 180 degrees and bury himself back under the covers. Narrowly avoiding tripping on the final step, Marco shuffled towards the kitchen like a zombie, sneaking in and out with a fresh pot of coffee with a little help from his rotund companion Johann. He took this to the table where most of the others had already situated themselves and squeezed into an empty spot among the benches. However, before he could pour himself the first cup and give his peers a friendly morning greeting, another wave of exhaustion rolled over his body like a tidal wave, and his forehead impacted the table with an audible thud. Roslyn caught the sassy remark, but said nothing. Her struggles to properly wake took priority over being witty in the morning. She caught Marco dragging his feet into the room like a deadhead as he tried to sneak in. Shaking her head, she pulled back then approached him. [color=#cbc66d]"You look as tired as I feel. Need a bit of a chemical boost?"[/color] She offered. It didn't seem like he would be getting to his coffee without a bit of help. It was amusing to find out that Marco had something in common with her grandfather. Both of them had snores that could harvest hops in their sleep. For a moment, Roslyn considered taking a page out of Marci's book and playing a prank. It would've been easy to leave Marco with his hair standing on end and shocking things with touch. Deciding it was better not to poke the bear, she simply touched Marco's shoulder. She trickled in a chemical boost to his wake up system. Next she moved to grab a plate for some much needed food. [color=slateblue]"You get used to it,"[/color] Xiuyang replied to Edith with a smile. There was some encouragement there, but also some resignation. Like everyone, the previous day's events had left her somewhat exhausted. Perhaps that was why she asked no further questions, or perhaps she was being polite. The recently rattled were entitled to their moment of calm, being left alone, or some such thing. She would understand that desire better than most. She took her seat and breathed deep, disguising a yawn. She was a bit disheveled, but not too much. Even her bed hair was acceptable, a genetic feat that demanded an apology to women everywhere. [color=slateblue]"Ok, Marco?"[/color] she asked him, amused. With his head still glued to the table, Marco's hand blindly groped for the pot, knocking over a thankfully empty flagon as he did. When he finally found it, he didn't even bother with a cup, but instead threw his head back and began pouring the caffeinated concoction straight down his throat in a vulgar display of sheer thirst. Between swallows he would breathe in and out through his nose, then swallow again, repeatedly, until a family sized serving of Kerreman coffee had disappeared in less than a minute. Marco belched and wiped his mouth with someone else's tablecloth. [color=7b6c64]”I am now.”[/color] Marci said things. They were perfunctory things of 'thanks' and 'will do' that people said when they had things to do and wanted to be polite. It struck her, as she raced for the final door, that she didn't know if it was the privy but, by process of elimination, it had to be. Toilet thoughts: She wanted more than 'perfunctory' with Dory. They would've been sisters-in-law had Manfred lived. They should be close. They never really talked these days., She missed Manfred dearly and felt like a horrid little bitch for blowing him off at first., She still had that ambrosia seed he'd given her. She didn't know if it worked or, if it did, [i]how[/i] it worked. Would she not be able to get hurt at all or would it just heal her? Would it heal [i]old[/i] injuries, too? Maybe just not able to die, or would she only stop aging?, She wondered if she should pop in unannounced on the Hohenfelter family Caldores celebrations., No. She'd glimpsed Edith in a nightgown downstairs, so something strange had happened., She was a fucking wizard and magic could do a [i]lot[/i] to take the edge off of a hangover., That did the trick: thinking a bit + magic. It was about ten minutes later that a Marceline who was surprisingly bright-eyed and bushy-tailed appeared at the top of the stairs. [color=598527][i]Xiuyang,[/i][/color] she thought, spotting her friend among the people downstairs, [color=598527][i]what the everliving fuck was in that bottle?[/i][/color] Sure enough, all of the others were there too, except for Evander and... Edyta, who had probably already eaten an extra-holy breakfast in her 'Gods'-Chosen-Special-Girl dimension' and fucked off to go kill a demon or hunt down some poor sanguinaire or whatever. [color=598527][i]Ugh. Help the cripple, anyone?[/i][/color] She took a moment to draw and didn't even bother to follow the course of the stairs. She just picked an open spot and floated with middling grade onto it, wheelchair and all. She stifled a yawn, stretched languidly, and managed a smile as she rolled her neck. She threw her arms up as if to catch and made eyes at Xiuyang. [color=598527]"Biscuit me, suunei!"[/color] [color=7b6c64]”A morsel is about all I need right now. I've eaten a disgusting amount of food since we arrived in town, and it's about time I cut back.”[/color] Marco spread a spoonful of jam across a small plate and used it to dip his biscuit in between bites. His hands were already starting to shake as a huge amount of caffeine slowly trickled into his bloodstream. [color=slateblue]"More for us,"[/color] Xiuyang replied with a shrug—and by 'us,' of course, she meant herself. Then, ignoring any disapproving looks she might get, she took a biscuit, aimed, and tossed it at Marci. [color=slateblue]"I gotchu, sis."[/color] The biscuit sailed through the air and Marci realized that it was coming in low. She had meant to catch it with her hands. The ravenously ambitious Xiuyang had been aiming for her [i]mouth[/i]. With a small, quick adjustment, she leaned forward, opened up, and it crammed itself right between her gaping jaws. She toppled forward onto her own lap, but the catch had been worth it, and the biscuit was... good. Johann knew how to cook. She chirped a thanks in Xiuyang's direction and pulled up at the end of the table. That had been an act of love, kind of.... Right? [color=slateblue][i]*Undershot it. At least I didn't throw too hard,*[/i][/color] she thought. She was still getting used to her new strength. At least Marci looked pleased. She grinned jovially and began tearing into the meat. Marci ate quickly, as was her habit anyhow. Time was money and, unless the food was especially good, it only needed to do its job and get into her stomach. It then fell to her to teleport Edith back home to be with her family, and she did so without incident. Perhaps even the Knowers were taking the day off and letting this one pass. Shortly after one of the two tethered had returned, Johann finished his chef turn, and the feast that he had laid out was enough, not only for his fellow biros, but for many of the inn's other guests. There was the Crisian couple and their three kids - Marta, Louis, and something else - trying to make it home by Oraff's Caldores. They were jolly and game and the presence of children who were not precocious Rita or foulmouthed Nyckee or bratty Genevieve forced others to remember their better natures. Meanwhile, Old Man Antonio was an absolute hoot with his stories, like the incident where he'd lost his wedding ring and skivvies to a crocodile, or 'the lionbear story', or the time he'd woken up in a barrel halfway to Xolectoxo. The Hofler brothers were drunk by noon and must've taken almost every dare that came their way. At least they made a killing doing so, and the children found them endlessly amusing. The big family and friends group from near the capital mostly kept to themselves, but they were good for a few Caldores carols, and a handful of them helped with the dishes and cleanup. There was that Eskandish businessman with the great mustache who lamented how stupid the coming war was, and the trio of Mycormiish acrobats who finished each other's sentences, put on a little show, and laughed at everyone's jokes. Frida, the fiddler, played music for the entire bunch tirelessly and, once old Conrad found the upright piano and pulled it out from storage with Marco's and Evander's help, they had a two-piece and a few piano players and nothing could stop them. In short, it wasn't the start to Caldores that the group of youths from the fancy academy were used to, and it likely wasn't the one they'd been hoping for either but, as far as impromptu holidays went, it was - at least - a Caldores. He rubbed his face with both hands, groaned dramatically, and slumped back again, one eye squinting at the mug's scattered remains. *Was it worth getting up to clean?* Before the right answer could be thought or said, the aroma of a fresh meal wafted into Evander's room. His stomach gurgled in protest to get him to move. He fought back as successfully as his battle last night. "Fine," he rasped to no one in particular. "I surrender." He arose. One step, he clumsily kicked his shoe across the room. "Of course," he croaked. "Leave me too, why don't you." He was stiff. He dragged a hand down his face and to his side. As he turned to leave, he opened his palm and the mug flew up into it. His head throbbed, he waved his other hand before arriving at the door to his room, it opened without a fight. As he emerged from his bedroom he could hear the morning chatter. Half-way down, he saw the unusual flight of a rare soaring biscuit. Marci at the end of it with her mouth wide to catch it. *Not surprised.* He arrived at the bottom step. Sat down at the table and before he could say a word Johann arrived with more food and coffee. "Thank Oraff for you, Johann." Evander plundered a dish to shovel down and bury into his belly, following up with a pour of coffee in the same mug he carried from his room, only a tinge of mead crept into the nutty taste of his coffee. There he sat, realizing he only wore one shoe.[/hider][h2]Ghost from the Past[/h2][hider=***] He had been all jolliness - all good nature and songs and jokes - and it was all part of his ongoing plan to bind the others to him such that he might survive any 'slander' regarding the way that he spent his spare time. Ingrid, he believed, was probably even flirting with him, though he could not discern what her goal might've been. Of course, given the weather, the cook had not made it over, and so his services were welcomed with - first - skepticism and - then - relief. Conrad even joked about hiring him on full time, and Johann made sure that he laughed at what had to be a joke. If one were not a firstborn son, he'd just as well be a cook at a small Althernean inn. Dorothea, he sometimes worried about. She seemed to have gotten what she'd sought yesterday, though they hadn't had the chance to catch up in depth. Still, she seemed rather... withdrawn, and he wondered if there was something that he did not know about her or her plans. That small worry aside, all was going well - perhaps even better than well - despite the foul weather and consequent forced hiatus from his true task here. That was when, like a wrecking ball to his happiness, [i]she[/i] appeared. Margarethe. The Miller's Daughter. [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4oQWgTfCFA[/youtube] She stood in the doorway, the howling wind announcing her. For a moment, the two of them just stared at each other. Then, her face lit up with false joy and she flew into his arms. So strong was Johann's disgust and revulsion that he nearly shoved her free, but his sense of public image and self-preservation kicked in milliseconds before disaster. [color=#FFB8D9]"Johann!"[/color] Her momentum nearly carried him over. [color=#FFB8D9]"Johann Steinbauer von Ostermark-Karnholdt!"[/color] She squeezed him tightly and then pulled back with a big smile. [color=#FFB8D9]"See, I remember the whole thing!"[/color] He had already released her, and so she released him, just the tiniest hint of uncertainty playing on those perfect porcelain features of hers. [color=goldenrod]"What brings you here, Maré?"[/color] Reflexively, he used the pet name he'd had for her, years ago. She blushed a little bit and knelt to gather the bag she had left in the doorway. Xiuyang had already closed it behind her to keep the cold out. [color=#FFB8D9]"I..."[/color] She snorted and blinked shyly and looked up. [color=#FFB8D9]"I'm the new waitress here. I only got into town two days ago."[/color] Her voice lowered and her bearing became anxious. [color=#FFB8D9]"I hope you don't think it's beneath me. A miller's daughter with precious little of the Gift doesn't exactly have the greatest-"[/color] Johann shook his head emphatically. [color=goldenrod]"No, Maré, not at all. I think it's just right for you."[/color] She smiled in relief, not missing a beat. [color=#FFB8D9]"Oh, and I suppose you're the chef and we'll be colleagues now, will we?"[/color] Her eyes darted about curiously at the others who he seemed to be something a bit more than a mere acquaintances with. [color=goldenrod]"Just... for one day,"[/color] he answered after a moment, his well of wit and charm nearly running dry with the effort. [color=#FFB8D9]"Jojo, are you... okay?"[/color] she questioned in a quiet voice, eyes ripe with worry. [color=#FFB8D9]"You look like you've seen a ghost."[/color] Her gaze darted around the others and she swallowed, voice lowering to a whisper. [color=#FFB8D9]"If this is about... [i]before[/i], I hope it won't be too awkward. I can... leave."[/color] She glanced down at her shoes and then back up at him, apologetically. But he was stuck with her and they both knew it. What an ogre he would look like if he took her up on her saintly-selfless offer! To send her back out into the cold? To rob a common woman of the new career she had traveled some hundred miles for? No. She knew well and she had planned it this way. Johann shook his head quickly. [color=goldenrod]"No, Maré. Nothing like that,"[/color] he assured her. It was not just any Caldores day, but it was Ipte's Caldores, and so Xiuyang had made sure to set aside some time to excuse herself and talk with her significant other over their shared relic that was the pair of mirrors of swift exchange. It was a luxury she knew even temporal mages would covet, and she exercised it as often as she thought she could without being a bother. They shared pleasantries, laughs and heartfelt longings, and Xiuyang assured Ciro that the murder had been solved, the bad guys were cornered in their foxhole, and she would (she hoped) be home soon. It was in the aftermath of this that she just happened to be at the base of the stairs and near enough the door that it wasn't so much trouble to shut it behind the new arrival. Snug in her blanket once more, she watched the conversation between Johann and the girl who she only knew as "Maré." She was not so quick to offer her blanket to just anyone; it seemed both Edith and Roslyn were special cases. Perhaps the high of her recent conversation had colored her perception, but she got the distinct impression that there was a definite [i]*something*[/i] going on between these two, and it was more complex than a straightforward mutual affection. Still, Johann didn't seem to want to antagonize her, and so, Xiuyang was also all smiles. [color=slateblue]"Salomé Solari,"[/color] Xiuyang introduced herself, offering a warm hand, seeing that she was the second closest person to her. Finishing serving herself, Roslyn turned in time to spot Xiuyang's toss to Marci. She watched it sail right into the latter's mouth. A good thing too since no one liked catching food on the face. The merriment seemed to flood the place leaving her filled with warmth and cozy. She took a seat near the end and closest to the window, its glass covered in thick frost. It felt like a cozy, warm Caldores indeed. Roslyn considered asking Johann if he needed a break when the door opened. A woman stood there. She locked eyes with their cook then tossed herself into his arms. Roslyn didn't realize, but a hint of sourness entered her expression. At the same time, a subtle discomfort tightened in her chest. Inwardly, she dismissed it as she observed the interaction. Something about it felt... off. Her eyes shifted from the woman to Johann before Xiuyang introduced herself. That was enough to cause Roslyn to break her usual silence. [color=#cbc66d]"And I'm Roslyn Wicke."[/color] She paused for a moment then added with genuine curiosity. [color=#cbc66d]"Nice to meet you, Miss...?"[/color] Margarethe seemed overwhelmed by the introductions of these two wealthy, exotic ladies. Neither could be older than her, but both were her social betters. She bowed slightly at the knees and head. [color=#FFB8D9]"Lady Solari."[/color] She shifted slightly and did the same for Roslyn. [color=#FFB8D9]"Lady Wicke."[/color] Her cheeks were quite pink. [color=#FFB8D9]"I... uhm. I'm afraid my family name is simply... Muller."[/color] She noticed the offered hands belatedly and, eyes darting Johann's way as if to ask for permission, took Xiuyang's and then Roslyn's. [color=#FFB8D9]"Margarethe Muller."[/color] She glanced at Johann's way again. [color=#FFB8D9]"We knew each other as children."[/color] She smiled faintly and wistfully. [color=#FFB8D9]"So that's why you might've heard 'Maré'. He taught me to read and write and we had nicknames for each other. He was..."[/color] She pressed her lips together, mischievous for a moment. [color=#FFB8D9]"Jojo. Like Yoyo."[/color] The little smile burst into a grin, but only for a moment. Johann glared at her and it died. [color=goldenrod]"Yes, well, that was a very long time ago,"[/color] he said stiffly. Margarethe's arms migrated to wrap themselves across her midsection. [color=#FFB8D9]"I suppose it was."[/color] She rocked back and forth for a moment. Then, she was smiling again. [color=#FFB8D9]"What are the chances, though, hmm?"[/color] Before he could throw another bucket of cold water on her cheer, she turned to take in the others. [color=#FFB8D9]"Oh, and you've tasted his cooking, too, haven't you?"[/color] Her eyes darted between the other two girls as Marci looked up from her meal and hiccupped. Presently, she hammered her chest a couple of times and gave a thumbs-up. [color=#FFB8D9]"But I just [i]have[/i] to ask, because curiosity's gnawing away at me: what brings a whole bunch of you here, of all places, on Caldores?"[/color] [color=goldenrod]"To solve a murder,"[/color] Johann answered, and Margarethe's eyes widened. [color=#cbc66d]"Yes, I haven't finished mine yet. I am glad he did or it would've been a very boring start to Caldores."[/color] Roslyn's eyes flickered between the two. She noticed the bitterness from Johann and the girl's discomfort. It faintly reminded her of the break up between Ingrid and Niallus, but the spite felt one sided. Her challenge was trying to figure out how to get Johann alone and talk to him. There was no way she was doing it here in front of everyone. When he answered Margarethe's question, Roslyn nodded. [color=#cbc66d]"It didn't start off that way. Originally it was finding two missing individuals, but I think we got too hopeful. Not conversation fitting Caldores."[/color] [color=slateblue]"Yes, I suppose it would be poor form to discuss the gruesome details of an ongoing investigation at the best of times. With a lady no less."[/color] Xiuyang jumped on the opportunity Roslyn created, and she said it as though she were admonishing herself, but there were those in the room who knew her better. "Loose lips sink ships" was the proverb of the hour. The meal cooked up by Johann was truly magnificent and the perfect cover for her to quietly reflect on her morning. On some level, she wished things had gone either one way or the other. Either the hero saves people from the clutches of some command mage or a monster draining the blood from someone, leaving them barely alive. But it wasn't that. She traded coins for blood, revealing herself as a 'cam'parii' for the first time to anyone and it went fine considering the worst outcomes. She did get to play hero, but it was messy, and if it hadn't been for the beggar, Edith may not be here. Though she wouldn't chastise herself for not being perfect, they're all alive, after all. But there was a growing part of her that felt she had done something wrong. She remembered thinking "I should of gone after you" when facing Jana. An awful thought, no other way of framing it. But Ingrid almost could. It would have been easy, and then she could have woken them up much sooner. Edith wouldn't have crawled herself to frostbitten palms. Bastian wouldn't have almost lost his life to the water. Jana wouldn't have been hit so much or so hard. She could have kept in thought, as it was her nature, but the songs kept her in the moment. Jana was happily eating, Edith was alive, and there was some levity in her, despite the situation. She just coasted on the gaiety Johann had made for everyone, singing some songs in a language she didn't quite understand. ... That is, until she saw the definition of an old 'friend' walk through the door for Johann. Oh, how desperately Ingrid wanted to know if this was an old flame or a love left unrequited. No attempt to hide her interest in what was happening between them. No, she watched with a growing smile on her face. Now [i]this[/i] was Ipte's Caldores. Jana, sitting at one of the tables, peripheral to the others but not separated either, stabbed a sausage with a knife and downed it with one or two brief chomps. [color=#DA70D6]"Hah!"[/color] she snorted, swallowing, [color=#DA70D6]"Now [i]that[/i] was awkward."[/color] She shook her head. [color=#DA70D6]"'M surprise she didn't..."[/color] Unable to find the word, the big blonde woman made an 'implosion' gesture with her hands and a matching sound effect. [color=#DA70D6]"- you know, into a hundred little piece of cloudies and kitties and candies. Hah!"[/color] she laughed. [color=#DA70D6]"Ha-hah! You're the big charmer, Johann."[/color] She ate the second half of the sausage in a single bite. A side eye from Evander to Margarethe, *friends? Nope.* The glance lasted no longer than a blink before he returned to the true objective of his devotion: his plate. With the hunger of a thousand lions, he buried his face back into the food, chewing with such single-minded purpose that the chatter around him blurred into nothing. whatever awkward introductions or information about the investigation were unraveling at the table passed by him like wind, but certainly not wind carrying the aroma of Johann's cooking, because that would catch his attention. Then the girl left, and with her exit... the room seemed to exhale. Bang! Evander set his plate down harder than intended. The sound cracked through the air, and with a grin he declared, "Done!" If any scraps of tension had remained, his obnoxious announcement sliced them clean away. He leaned back, licked his chops, and chased it all with a long gul of what coffee might be left. Each swallow washed the hangover a little further back. Instead of the nasty little hangover devil rapping it's bony knuckles against the entire cage of his brain, it merely knocked gently against the corner with less energy and determination to ruin Evander's day. Rising with his dish in hand, he strolled over to Johann. Evander glinting faintly, "So, Johann, whose that?" At least four pairs of eyes flicked visibly back and forth between Johann and Evander, and a couple of them widened. [color=598527]"Holy shit,"[/color] giggled Marci nervously under her breath. [color=goldenrod]"Oh, nobody,"[/color] Johann replied, trying to sound casual about it, [color=goldenrod]"just a girl from my hometown who I knew when we were kids."[/color] He forced a smile and waved Evander off. [color=goldenrod]"Nice enough person though, just between us -"[/color] He lowered his voice. [color=goldenrod]"I could never quite match her cheeriness and always found it a bit stressful to keep up."[/color] He breathed a playful sigh of relief. Roslyn watched the girl's sheepish reaction, but said nothing. The awkwardness screamed in the back of her mind and chased her back to her seat. She had just started to tuck in again when she heard Jana's voice. [color=#cbc66d]"She was rather enthusiastic, wasn't she?"[/color] She went to bite into a sausage when Evander asked a question. Of course, her eyes weren't the only ones that shot in Johann's direction. They squinted, not fully believing him. Her attention glanced back at Margarethe briefly. [color=#cbc66d]"It's hard to imagine someone more cheerful than you, Johann."[/color] She paused and bit her lip. [color=#cbc66d]"It might've been my imagination, but it felt like you got a bit sour at some points..."[/color] Evander tilted his head slightly, watching Johann's attempt at casual dismissal, it was something akin to a street performer fumbling through a ballad or dropping sticks they tried to begin juggling. Matching Johann's voice, Evander replied, "Stressful, was it? I could see that. Poor man, beset in childhood by kindness and cheer." He gave a soft huff of laughter, more through his nose than his mouth keeping the noise down. "You know Johann, most would call that good fortune. But not you, why not? Hmm..." Evander brought his index finger to his bottom lip and tapped. Then, making an "L" with his left hand down and an "L" with his right hand up, he formed a box around Johann as if measuring his size, zooming back and forth. "I get it, a tough big guy like you, I imagine you'd rather wrestle something easier-like a bear." The corner of his lip twitched as if suplexing a grin before rising. He leaned a hair closer, lowering his voice so only Johann caught it, "Still, for someone who finds her exhausting, you didn't look particularly relieved to see her go." He let the moment hang for Johann to catch his heels, it was a bold statement, but it appeared true from where Evander was sitting. Then, Roslyn spoke, Johann was a cheery fellow, it certainly didn't seem like Margarethe was looking for anything more or less, the way she looked at him told everyone, he was enough. "Yeah, Johann, what makes you think you had to keep up?" As Evander spoke, he had to ask himself, *Why did he care about this? A childhood romance. Ahh, because it'd-* [Redacted] For a moment - just a flicker of time - Johann imagined grabbing Evander by the skull with unstoppable force and smashing his head into a pulp against the wall. It would take one blow, he knew. The moment passed and, with it, the impulse to immediate and extreme violence, but he marked the tone, and the words that were meant to be interpreted one way but could be said to mean something else. He knew them well, for he had heard them in his brother's mouth, and in those of Jurgen Hohenfelter, Eike Frickmayer, and Gertrude von Lanthen. They were the classic repartee of the bully who was always just a little too clever to get caught. [color=goldenrod][i]I know what you are, and you are a [i]very[/i] lucky man that we'll be on the same side in the coming war, but you'll get yours. Don't worry, you arrogant little piece of shit.[/i][/color] Then, Roslyn piling on in front of [i]everyone[/i] was the icing on the cake, but it cut, and cut [i]deep[/i]. [color=goldenrod][i]You traitorous [b]bitch[/b].[/i][/color] Marceline giggling like the selfish vapid little cunt she was. That Eskandish horse neighing about him. And the silence of the others: all the same. Easier to say nothing so as not to make things awkward. Easier to let someone else absorb it. Johann was reminded of why people disgusted him. He forced a smile and leaned back. [color=goldenrod]"So, cooking a nice breakfast and lunch for you still isn't enough to escape an interrogation,"[/color] he questioned, trying to force a playful note into his voice, [color=goldenrod]"huh?"[/color] He rose, shaking his head. [color=goldenrod]"Tsk. Demanding audience but, you know, I'm actually not feeling so well just now."[/color] He patted his stomach, trying to stop his hand from shaking. It was close - [i]so[/i] close - to all coming crashing down around him. [color=goldenrod]"They say a chef should never eat his own cooking."[/color] He moved to leave the room, counseling his arms, legs, and back not to stiffen. [color=goldenrod]"Now I believe it."[/color] He made to leave, thinking that he should perhaps part with some remark about the privy being off-limits for the next few hours, but his pulse was racing. His heartbeat was thudding behind his ears. That would be too crude. It would make him the disgusting fat guy. He couldn't think straight. He could only put one foot in front of the other, walk away, and plan how he would recover from this, because he [i]would[/i]. [i][b]ESCHIRAN[/b][/i], he wanted to turn around and obliterate Evander. Xiuyang watched in disbelief and some kind of disgust. For a moment she was lost in self-reflection, wondering if she'd ever made fun of someone's crush like that. She knew that she had, but she'd never seen it in such a light. [color=slateblue]"You know, there was a way to express your curiosity without sounding like a gossiping virgin,"[/color] Xiuyang scolded Evander. Marceline had gone from mirth to horror. Everything had been so funny for the entire day and maybe she'd just needed the release of laughter from the pressure cooker of the past two days. Johann was full of shit. Whatever Margarethe was to him, it was a deeply emotional thing. She recognized the hurt, and so she clammed up, said nothing, and recognized, only after the fact, that her nervous giggle - half laughter and half dread - had made her look like the worst kind of bitch. She looked at Xiuyang and then at Roslyn and cringed. She reached down to unlock her wheels but, after a moment, thought better of it. Roslyn regretted her words when she caught Johann's reaction. Her brother was right. She never thought before she blurted things out and now she paid for it. As Johann made a hasty retreat, she set her fork down and rose to her feet. Any appetite she had, disappeared leaving her food unfinished. [color=#cbc66d]"I need to apologize. Excuse me."[/color] She didn't even listen to the exchange between Evander and Xiuyang. She had messed up and now she needed to make it right. At least, that's what her father had taught her to do. She followed him as she called out to him. There was a chance he wasn't going to listen or even want to talk with her, but she had to try. [color=#cbc66d]"Johann, wait. Please."[/color] And now came the attempt to feel better about oneself. Johann would be forced, by social convention, to accept the crocodile tear apology, and it sickened him. It sickened him just to hear her voice, even though she had not been the main culprit - just another little fish who'd smelled blood and gone in for a bite. [color=goldenrod]"Sorry, but what's inside here [i]won't[/i] wait,"[/color] he said quickly, doing an admirable job of keeping his voice even. [color=goldenrod][i]Do not speak to me. Do not say a [i]word[/i] to me.[/i][/color] He had been singing this morning. He had cooked for them. They forgot so quickly, and it was all that [i]demon[/i] Margarethe's fault. Well, it was also Evander's for being a smarmy little prick with a face that just begged to meet a fist. For a moment, he indulged in the fantasy of pulverizing the Revidian. Then, he put one foot in front of the other and kept walking. Margarethe. Someone had sent her, or she had sent herself. He could not figure out if she was the mastermind or the puppet, but she was here to ruin him. Ingrid had watched with mild amusement at the awkward exchange. She wanted to know more, she expected a little laugh from some people as when didn't someone laugh at your expense? No matter the time, what was taking place or how important it was to you, someone will laugh. Nothing was out of the ordinary other than some sly bullying from Evander. Ingrid saw how small it made Johann feel and did nothing. She would have crumbled there, she knew that, but did nothing. I guess she just assumed Johann just had it together, some pestering from a Revidian dick would have been nothing to the man that could pull something against the powerful mother here. In the end, she should have said something. [color=8882be]"Even on Caldores, some people can't put away their venom. You are truly a man among men Evander."[/color] She said not for Johann, she had already missed that, but to just bite at him for his unpleasantness. If only for a split second, Johann cracked like his breakfast eggs. Evander saw it, the mask slipping with the giant rattling in his shell. If Johann thought one casual question was an interrogation, then he'd be a weak link in this war to come. *Margarethe wasn't a nobody. She was intertwined with his shadow.* She meant more to him than a 'hometown nobody' he tried to dismiss her as. Johann pretended, he lied, he got called out, felt offended, and defended himself. A man only does that when he's hiding something... something deep. For now, Evander saw nothing but a pot where Johann stood. He reached over, poured another cup of coffee, and let the steam curl lazily into the tense air. Out of the corner of his eye he caught Roslyn rushing after Johann, certain she'd only throw herself into the blast radius of his heat. *Bad move, Roslyn.* Turning to face the others, sipping casually. Their expressions were mixed with disgust, shame, and frustration. It was as if they were attending their best friend's funeral. *None of them truly knew Johann,* Evander thought, *and yet here they sit, pulling faces as if they've lost a dear friend, or rather Evander killed their dear friend.* He shrugged, sipped again, and only then caught the stone Xiuyang threw his way. "Gossiping virgin?" Evander let out a laugh, sharp and amused. "Please Xiuyang. Hardly. It was plain as day. Clearly he's holding onto a lot more than a hometown nobody," He shrugged and sipped again, "Besides, don't forget why we're here." [color=slateblue]"[i]*'Clearly.'*[/i] So you took it upon yourself to dig at an open sore to see what would come out? What business was it of yours? Do you not have enough self-control in that 'investigative mind' of yours to leave [i]*one*[/i] stone unturned? Perhaps when you've lost something worth having, you'll think before you speak,"[/color] Xiuyang fired back. [color=slateblue]"As a matter of fact, I haven't forgotten why we're here—and if you have anything of worth to start contributing, the others can fill me in later."[/color] With that, she made to do much the same as Johann, and go cool off elsewhere. She couldn't fully grasp why she was so furious, but she did know that she wanted to be anywhere else but here. Marci felt like she needed to say something, one way or another. All three of her closest friends had - with varying degrees of eloquence - already done so. The spirit of Ipté that had seemed to animate the group had fled from the room like an adulterer before a Hundrian confessor. On the one hand, Evander had been... a prick. It was a mean thing to do, especially publicly. There were no two ways about it and, yet... there were. He had also exposed something about Johann. The others might not have sensed it on more than a social level, were they more perceptive than Marceline, but tethered were not only differently abled as mages, but also differently [i]trained[/i]. The spike of fury - the rapid change in biochemichals, the pulses in Johann's brain: he wasn't just miffed. He was murderously angry, and it was not difficult to trace that back to the arrival of Margarethe. Whoever she was, she mattered and, suddenly, the peripheral concerns Marci had held about Johann - easily dismissed and little different from those she harboured about many people - took a step right into the center of her field of view. Marceline, under the guise of either trying to go apologize, if anyone thought her that sentimental, or going to check on Roslyn or Xiuyang, backed away from the table. Let people ascribe to her whatever motives they would, so long as those were mundane. She was looking for someone else. Evander absorbed Xiuyang's fury unlike the 'jolly giant' who had stormed off to flood the next room with his clouds. He lifted his cup and took a long sip. His reply came steady, "I didn't dig, Xiuyang. If I wanted to open a wound and drive a knife into it, you'd know." By this time, he was at the table. He set his cup down, this time, with deliberate care. Smirking slightly, "I even gave him a compliment at the end. But I'll grant you this, if a single question is enough to split a man like rotten fruit, then maybe the stone I turned over was worth the effort... to see what's really inside." He looked around the inn as if to draw some metaphor in the air, *just like this whole city.* "And honestly, Xiuyang, if you'd taken the time to know me, you wouldn't be so quick to assume what I've lost." He leaned back, eyes cool. His eyes flicked back to the table for his cup again. *Almost gone. Again? What a shame. Where is a Johann when you need him.* He smirked at the thought. He nursed whatever sips he had left. He was going to add more but he let Xiuyang take the final word instead. She clearly needed it as she rose and stormed off, just like the 'jolly giant' before her. Evander watched as Marci backed up from the table, "You too?" Xiuyang did not go so very far away. She was in the kitchen, close enough to make out that Evander was speaking, but not enough for clarity on what exactly he was saying. She thought she might have heard her name being spoken, but she focused on scrubbing dishes, as if it would clear her mind and her conscience. Johann did not want to talk, and she would not force him. There were other ways to express her gratitude for his cooking, and although the realization came late, Shune's counsel told her that she could improve his mood without spreading more venom on Caldores. [color=slateblue][i]*If I may be so selfish, please keep some unity in this group, just until this mission is over,*[/i][/color] she prayed, either to the gods or directly at her friends. Anyone would do. There he was again. He simply enjoyed needling people and it was a minor miracle that someone had not already killed him for it. Marceline barely twisted back. She glanced over her shoulder. [color=598527]"And here I thought we [i]knew[/i] each other, Evander."[/color] She let out a small snort and turned so that he did not see her smirk or the roll of her eyes. [color=598527]"Stay sharp and warm."[/color] Then, she left the room.[/hider][h2]Two Sides to Every Story[/h2][hider=****] It was all a haze, but Johann stumbled out into the alley behind the inn with the inescapable feeling that he had made an ass of himself - that he had ruined it all. It may yet have been salvageable, but people [i]knew[/i]. They knew him for what he truly was, or at least suspected. He was not dressed for the outdoors, but it didn't matter. He had the Gift in spades. [hr] Marceline found her in the stables, hands trembling as she stroked a horse's mane. The blizzard had quieted somewhat, though she sensed worse still to come, and the sheltered nature of the place - in the inn's courtyard - helped. Still, she found herself drawing for warmth as she approached Margarethe. [hr] As he walked, he began planning his vengeance. He would not do something so rash as go out and fight Evander. No, he needed to engineer a long and painful downfall, and that would begin with a believable self-extrication from the morass he had presently fallen into. They would have to cheer Johann and jeer the Revidian. Fortunately, he sensed, by Xiuyang's comments, that it would not be so very hard to achieve. He would lean into his base of friends, isolate Evander, and weaponize them against him. His boots crunched softly in the snow and the cold wind bit at his ears, nose, and fingertips, only one of which he could tuck into his sleeves. The larger problem was Margarethe. If so much as a hair upon her perfect little blonde head was touched, all fingers would quickly point his way. They didn't know her. They had no idea how calculated she was - how deliberately cruel. Mostlike, they assumed there were 'two sides to the story' and that her actions had been perfectly reasonable. [hr] [color=598527]"Hallo? Margarethe?"[/color] She spoke in Kerreman. The girl - so blonde and doll-like, jumped at the sudden intrusion, but Marci did not apologize. She pulled up a bit short and tilted her head, and forced a small smile as snow continued to drift down around her. The miller's daughter blinked and bowed her head slightly as the animal made a noise. She shushed it gently and continued to stroke its mane. [color=#FFB8D9]"Yes, it was..."[/color] Marci couldn't see the blush because of the weather and distance between them, but the slight uptick in thermal energy in the girl's cheeks said the same thing. [color=598527]"Marceline,"[/color] the tethered replied. [color=598527]"I'm... sorry if I've come here out of the blue. I don't have any pretext."[/color] Margarethe snorted, and the horse seemed to mimic her. That was worth a smile from both and a nose rub from the blonde girl. [color=#FFB8D9]"So it's about... him, right?"[/color] [hr] Eventually, lost deep in thought, his immediate anger turned to planning, to blinking back tears, and to convincing himself that it all might be okay, that it was better, that he had been refocused. Johann found a place on a side street, beneath a lattice awning, that had a couple of barrels and some crates stacked high. His hands were cold and his nose was runny and he likely looked pathetic, but a part of him didn't care. Nobody here knew him and their opinions didn't matter. He sat. He sat and, the moment that he did, he couldn't help but feel as if... He took a moment and swept his surroundings and, just as he was sufficiently suspicious to start rising and do a second one, a voice bade him, [color=f26522]"Stop."[/color] It was small and female and it took him a moment to place it as his eyes levered up to find the nun perched atop the crates, one knee drawn to her chest, catlike, watching. She was pretty, it struck him, and his bitterness began to rise again. She was sworn to the church and so it had never really occurred to him, but she was. Her eyes beheld him, unblinking. This one was bad news, he knew. [color=goldenrod]"What do you want, Rezaindian?"[/color] She vanished and, a moment later, reappeared to his side, leaning against a wall, arms crossed. [color=f26522]"To ask you that same question,"[/color] she replied briefly. He remained in such a heightened emotional state that it took him a moment to process. He could put the act back on, but he didn't feel like it. Besides, he sensed that she would see through it immediately; perhaps she always had. He decided to give the shallow, petulant answer. Maybe it would make her scurry off. [color=goldenrod]"To be left alone,"[/color] he growled, shooting her a look. She snorted, pushed off of the wall, and shook her head. [color=f26522]"Lying is a sin against Shune."[/color] [color=goldenrod]"You, who are without sin, shall deal the first lash."[/color] [color=6ecff6]"I sin every day."[/color] [color=goldenrod]"Not much of a nun, are you, sister."[/color] [color=f26522]"What do you want, Johann?"[/color] She strode up to him and met his eyes. He scowled. [color=goldenrod]"What business is it of yours?"[/color] Her eyes narrowed. [color=6ecff6]"None,"[/color] she admitted, [color=6ecff6]"at least not directly."[/color] He could feel her draw, then, and his adrenaline spiked. [color=f26522]"But it [i]becomes[/i] my business if you endanger people because of it."[/color] [color=goldenrod]"I'm not a danger to anyone!"[/color] Johann blurted in exasperation, the words emerging unbidden. He drew as well. [color=goldenrod]"I only want..."[/color] He trailed off. He could not admit it to this creepy little ginger witch who regarded him utterly without empathy. Then, she tilted her head and let the energy she had gathered dissipate. [color=6ecff6]"To be cared about."[/color] They locked eyes for a moment before he looked away, not confirming it. [color=6ecff6]"You think me such a being of stone, Johann, but I understand the need well."[/color] Her breath came out in puffs of white, though the wind cut them quickly to ribbons. [color=6ecff6]"There are none who draw breath who do not feel it. It is a gift from the Gods."[/color] [color=goldenrod][i]It is a curse,[/i][/color] he knew, though he dared not say it. For a moment, he wondered if he could get rid of her, but there was no being he had ever met more elusive than Edyta Laska and, if he failed, Madrona would come for him. Instead, he changed the subject. [color=goldenrod]"I wonder if you are keeping so close an eye on Margarethe."[/color] [color=f26522]"Another is."[/color] He reached out with his senses and, indeed, there was another energy signature in the stables near Margarethe's and Sonnenblume's. [color=goldenrod]"If she is here,"[/color] he warned, [color=goldenrod]"it is not only for me. Mark my words: she will be our collective ruin."[/color] The Rezaindian cocked her head to one side, not rejecting his words outright. [color=6ecff6]"What makes you say that?"[/color] If he could turn Edyta Laska to his side, even if just for this one instance, he would have gained a powerful ally and he might yet triumph. [color=goldenrod]"Because she only wears a human face,"[/color] he began, [color=goldenrod]"but, Hetraxa knows, she is [i]not[/i] human."[/color] Edyta sniffed, in the brisk cold air, and waited. [color=goldenrod]"I suppose I should air it all out now,"[/color] Johann sighed, but she did not respond. [color=goldenrod]"She lured me in - coming out every day to meet me, eating the food that I brought her, reading and chatting with me, laughing at my jokes, twirling her hair around a finger just like she had [i]me[/i] around it."[/color] He could feel the emotions well up inside of him and he knew that it was unmanly. He had never been much of a man, though. His eyes narrowed to slits and he regarded this little Rezaindian who had appointed herself judge and jury. [color=goldenrod]"I loved her - innocent, neglected boy that I was - with everything my heart could offer, but she didn't love me back."[/color] Edyta's eyes narrowed. [color=goldenrod]"She is a beast of the night."[/color] He shook his head. [color=goldenrod]"I was not something to love, for her. I was a plaything. I was [i]prey[/i] but, when she saw my power, for -"[/color] There was a moment where he considered the consequences of revealing something of his honest self, but his pride and ego led him instead. Johann's pride had long since been broken but, now, it grew anew. [color=goldenrod]"- I am quite a powerful thaumaturge, indeed, she knew she couldn't best me and so she cared not one iota for me anymore. She left me shattered and never looked back."[/color] Sister Laska's face gave away precious little, but she was thinking with that stunted, murderous brain of hers. She was considering. Johann could tell. [color=goldenrod]"And now she is here, where strange things are happening and people are disappearing and her old prey is to be found."[/color] Small and cold, this Rezaindian was. All at once, she crouched and her muscles tensed and he began to draw, but she was not some wild animal. Her leap carried her lightly and deftly onto the crates where she had crouched before. [color=6ecff6]"And what of you, Herr Steinbauer?"[/color] she questioned, eyes predatory. [color=6ecff6]"What of your innocence or guilt?"[/color] [color=goldenrod]"What I have hidden of myself,"[/color] he replied, spreading his arms in a gesture of openness, [color=goldenrod]"I have done only out of a misplaced pride and sense of shame."[/color] He bowed his head to this dirt-eating peasant in clerical robes, much as it pained him to do so. [color=goldenrod]"For this, I apologize, sincerely."[/color] She muttered something foreign or unintelligible under her breath. [color=f26522]"Nie to miałem na myśli."[/color] Then, she stood, resting her hands on the twin sickles tucked into her belt.[color=6ecff6]"Then I bid you walk the path of rightness and you need not fear, for -"[/color] [color=goldenrod]"Of course, sister."[/color] She nodded. [color=f26522]"For I am watching, always."[/color] She was there and then she was gone and it was more than he might've hoped for, but he should have known and not underestimated himself quite so badly. When it came down to wits, he would always bend the feebleminded to serve his will. [hr] It was better to appear calm, collected, and in the know, so Marci nodded slowly, sagely. [color=598527]"You two have history."[/color] Margarethe took her hands away from the horse, who snorted in protest. [color=#FFB8D9]"Her name is Sonnenblume,"[/color] she said softly, thinking better and reaching back up. [color=#FFB8D9]"She was born on the same day as me and used to work at the mill."[/color] She shook her head the horse whinnied. [color=#FFB8D9]"She's getting a bit old for that now and we have two younger horses, so papa let me have her for my journey."[/color] Marceline was touched, but she didn't want to hear about horses. She was also struck by how utterly... normal this girl was. There was more to this, but she was deflecting. [color=#FFB8D9]"Johann knows her too."[/color] That cut the interjection Marci was preparing off at the knees. [color=#FFB8D9]"She used to carry our sacks back to customers when he came to help at the mill."[/color] She patted the old mare and, after checking her feed, closed the gate, and turned. The animal seemed to accept that her part in this conversation had come to an end. [color=#FFB8D9]"Except when she had Kleiner Prinz. He does her job now and she is out here, away from her home and her family."[/color] A wind began whipping up the snow and Marceline put gloved hands on her wheels and made to push herself into the stables. [color=#FFB8D9]"It must be hard for her."[/color] Margarethe tilted her head and took in Marci's efforts as the tethered found herself struggling for traction and had to turn to the Gift. [color=#FFB8D9]"That looks hard too,"[/color] she admitted, rising to see if any help was needed, but the younger girl waved her off and made it inside a moment later, boosted by some kinetic magic. [color=#FFB8D9]"Oh, right. The Gift."[/color] She took back her step forward and leaned against a post. Had there been something bitter in her tone? Marceline was great at reading people's energy but, she knew, it came at the neglect of learning how to read their faces and voices. Still, it seemed as if... well, she had once carried the same tone, before grey aberrations, when she had been consigned to only 35 years of life. [color=598527]"So, you and Johann. He was a miller's hand?"[/color] Margarethe shrugged. [color=#FFB8D9]"No, my lady. He was a second son and underappreciated by his father. One day, after he joined some servants dropping off rye, we talked and he was..."[/color] She trailed off and her gaze slipped down to her boots and lingered there. She shrugged again. [color=#FFB8D9]"He started coming by and helping out and spending time with me."[/color] [color=598527]"Just to talk?"[/color] It had slipped out and Marceline regretted her tone the moment it left her lips. Margarethe's eyes met hers, and the miller's daughter furrowed her brow. [color=#FFB8D9]"Do you actually care or is this just for your investigation?"[/color] There was, unmistakably, a note of defiance this time, and Marci realized that she was both a social better and the younger of the two. It was [i]her[/i] turn to shrug. [color=598527]"A bit of both."[/color] Margarethe nodded. [color=#FFB8D9]"Hm. Okay."[/color] She pushed off from the post and took a deep breath and busied her hands with rearranging some of the tangled reins on their pegs. [color=#FFB8D9]"When you're in a position like me - a commoner with some resources and some prospects - you both fear and aspire to be like the nobles you work with from time to time."[/color] She shook her head, grunting a bit with exertion as she untangled some straps. [color=#FFB8D9]"I didn't understand, at first, what Johann was there for. I was a little nervous and a little confused, but you don't turn down the attentions of a boy like him."[/color] She hung the harnesses back up and paused as if to regard her handiwork. [color=#FFB8D9]"He was strange and, well..."[/color] She twisted on the spot and indicated his heft with a gesture. [color=#FFB8D9]"And a lot of the girls would laugh at him behind his back."[/color] She glanced down, once more, at her boots, and sighed before looking back up. [color=#FFB8D9]"I will admit that I was one of them."[/color] She shrugged, sadly. [color=#FFB8D9]"I am under no illusions that it was either good or right, but I did. He was so..."[/color] She smiled faintly. [color=#FFB8D9]"Earnest."[/color] Their gazes met and Marceline nodded. Margarethe's flicked, once more, toward her horse. [color=#FFB8D9]"I think he was lonely and underappreciated,"[/color] she admitted. [color=#FFB8D9]"desperately so."[/color] Her face became dark and something in her countenance changed. [color=#FFB8D9]"When you are one of the small people, who cannot pull, from the air, all of the heat or lightning to cast a heavenly lance, who cannot lift herself from the ground at will and fly, who cannot stop another's heart from six miles distant and who must worry that, if she raises her head too high and is noticed, it might be [i]her[/i] heart that is shattered thusly, your greatest objective is to remain unnoticed and unmolested by the monsters above you and to live out your days in peace and decent means."[/color] [color=598527]"Did he hurt you?"[/color] Marci asked simply, and was met with an immediate shake of Margarethe's head. She found herself slipping into empathy when what she'd come seeking was answers. [color=#FFB8D9]"No."[/color] The common girl shook it again. [color=#FFB8D9]"He fed me and taught me to read and write and use the tiny bit of the Gift that I had."[/color] [color=598527]"And you laughed at him behind his back?"[/color] Marceline's face hardened and she tried to harden her heart. Still, Margarethe was shaking her head, and she took a step forward. [color=#FFB8D9]"No. I stopped, because I am a daughter of Oraff and Dami, same as you, and he was good to me."[/color] [color=598527]"But not good enough."[/color] Fearlessly, Margarethe's eyes narrowed. [color=#FFB8D9]"Do you wish me to tell it or will you try to guess?"[/color] Marci's narrowed in return. [color=598527]"You're awful brave for someone who just professed an existential fear of those with the Gift."[/color] [color=#FFB8D9]"Bravery is being afraid and speaking truth nonetheless."[/color] The tethered considered for a moment. [color=598527]"Jean-Marie du Montrouge."[/color] Margarethe nodded. [color=#FFB8D9]"The truth was that I didn't love him and I couldn't make myself do it, but I loved... being loved, by someone who might amount to something in the world. I loved to learn. I loved to speak with him and share my ideas. He was -"[/color] She shrugged. [color=#FFB8D9]"- a dear friend but, to him, I was more."[/color] She threaded her fingers together and looked quickly away. She took a couple of steadying breaths and Marci found herself nearly overcome, once more, with an uncharacteristic need to comfort the girl. [color=#FFB8D9]"I did not ask for his love."[/color] She turned back abruptly, voice strident and eyes red-rimmed. [color=#FFB8D9]"I did nothing to encourage it, but there was that earnestness."[/color] She wrung her hands and her bearing fairly [i]crackled[/i] with anxiety. [color=#FFB8D9]"It became obsession. I feared for my life to turn him down."[/color] [color=598527]"And yet, you did."[/color] Margarethe nodded. [color=#FFB8D9]"I did."[/color] Marceline studied her for a moment, her question unspoken but clear. For a moment, Margarethe's eyes shifted from wariness to something... darker, but then she breathed and they lightened. Marci didn't know quite what she was about to say but she could sense that it was everything to the miller's daughter, and that she had decided to trust the tethered. She swallowed. [color=#FFB8D9]"My father had long been wary of the young Herr Steinbauer's intentions in coming to help out from time to time, but he found us together under a tree, one day."[/color] The normal course of events might've been for her father's intervention and, perhaps, his intercession on her behalf with Johann's father, to have put an end to matters. However, Marceline could already tell that this tale was headed in a different and darker direction. Margarethe paced a few steps each way, as if gathering herself. She glanced out at the swirling snow and turned back. [color=#FFB8D9]"There is no negotiating with the House of Steinbauer but from a position of strength."[/color] She shook her head bitterly and it morphed into a nod. One deep breath, Marci counted, and then another. [color=#FFB8D9]"There was an old witch - a hedge witch, a medicine woman -"[/color] Her nostrils flared and the tethered could sense her heart hammering inside of her chest. [color=#FFB8D9]"She knew something of how to make a person stronger - an unholy power."[/color] Margarethe stood at the edge of the stable and leaned out, eyes seeming almost to search for something up above. She whirled back to face Marceline so suddenly that the tethered felt herself tense up. [color=#FFB8D9]"He is still in her debt, and so am I, but I gained dominion over the Gift - no, over [i]magic[/i], because it was no gift given to me. I took it so that I might not live in fear of a man obsessed with me."[/color] She stalked forward and threw her arms out to her sides, head tilted. [color=#FFB8D9]"Judge me as you will - sinner or victim - but that is the full truth of it."[/color] Marceline found her hands caught between going to her wheels and stretching out to draw energy, but then Margarethe brushed past her and the tethered turned, feeling slow and inadequate - feeling somehow... [i]lesser[/i] next to this whirlwind of nature that was Margarethe Muller. [color=598527]"And why have you come here?"[/color] [color=#FFB8D9]"Would you believe me if I said it was a random act of Reshta?"[/color] she tossed over her shoulder. Marci shook her head. Margarethe was finished with the reins and she turned fully about, crouching down to the tethered's level. [color=#FFB8D9]"I am not your enemy, Marceline Hohenfelter."[/color] She smiled reassuringly. [color=#FFB8D9]"I swear it in Dami's name."[/color] [color=598527]"Why?"[/color] Marceline repeated, momentarily hating herself for feeling - somehow - reassured. [color=#FFB8D9]"I have come to destroy Johann Steinbauer."[/color][/hider][h2]Desperate Dealings[/h2][hider=*****] Roslyn had been on her way back when she stopped dead in her tracks. Her eyes flickered with anger as she stared at the hallway leading back to the others. [i][color=#cbc66d]Of course you picked now.[/color][/i] The urge to apologize to Johann gnawed at her, but it would have to wait. She couldn't blame him for not wanting to talk with her. Forcing a breath through her lips, Roslyn twisted about then climbed up the stairs. A perk about being a wall flower, most people never noticed when they went missing or cared. At least, until her problems affected them. Upon reaching the room, she tugged it open then disappeared behind the door. She let a moment of silence pass before she shattered it with her anger. [color=#cbc66d]"All right! What will it take for you to leave me alone?" [/color] Zast grinned when he materialized once more. He blew another puff ring into the air before he hopped onto the bed. [color=78d15a][i]"Don't you remember what I said? Oh, and great show you and that fellow, Vanny, put on."[/i][/color] [color=#cbc66d]"Evander,"[/color] Roslyn corrected and stepped into the center of the room. [color=#cbc66d]"And that wasn't my intention. I shouldn't have put him on the spot like that. And didn't expect Evander's response either."[/color] [color=78d15a][i]"But you did and I'm proud of you for it. This group was too boring otherwise and the holidays needed a bit of... fun. "[/i][/color] She took another breath, not letting him derail the conversation. This needed to be fixed sooner rather than later. [color=#cbc66d]"You still haven't answered my question. What will it take for you to leave me alone?"[/color] Zast tapped his pipe out on the carpet. [color=78d15a][i]"You weren't interested in any of my deals, so... why don't [b]you[/b] make an offer?"[/i][/color] If only she could wrangle his little neck, but she couldn't. Any attempts had her grasping air and looking crazy. Her hand reached for her braided hair while she toyed with it. What could she offer such a greedy little... The idea came to her quicker than she expected as she smiled. Why didn't she think of it earlier? [color=#cbc66d]"What if I do some treasure hunting? There's an item here that has gotten my interest and if I obtain it, will you stay silent and out of my sight?"[/color] Zast tilted his pointed nose upward as his fingers tapped his chin. She watched him, breath held, for a reply. She hoped it might appeal to the greedy nature she had noticed within him. [color=78d15a][i]"You got yourself a deal. Only until Caldores is over, no longer. Consider it a generous offer for the season, Rosie girl. Until then..."[/i][/color] He took another puff then offered out his hand to seal the deal. [color=78d15a][i]"you’ll be stuck with my beautiful voice."[/i][/color][/hider][h2]A Holy Drop In[/h2][hider=******]Oraff gave way to Eshiran and much of the bad feeling from earlier lingered like an ill stench. Margarethe, much like Roslyn, more or less slinked back into her room and disappeared. None knew what she was thinking or what she had said to Marceline save the tethered and Margarethe herself. Marci, then, was next to return, and she busied herself by cleaning tables. Her pulse throbbed behind her ears and her hands shook as she worked. After a few minutes, she dropped a plate. Her elbow bumped the table as she was sliding it onto the stack on her lap and it just slid off, clattered to the floor, and smashed into a dozen pieces. For a moment, she just sat there, stalk-still, thinking nothing and very much at the same time. Then, a hiss of vexation escaped her, and a muttered [color=598527]"Scheiße."[/color] Laboriously, the tethered turned around, wheels crunching over shattered ceramic, and made her way back to the large wash basin in the kitchen, where she left the dishes. Along the way, the mess seemed to disintegrate until there was none of it left. [hr] It was some time later that Johann reappeared, radiating an artificial warmth from having to pull upon the Gift in the frigid weather outside. He did not search out Margarethe, nor did he seek out any other. He simply trudged over to the great room and threw himself down on an easy chair by the hearth as the natural light began to dim in the windows. But there was another who had been involved, and this was Edyta Laska. She had waited until 1:40 HE, when Charity was doing her sweep, and she had informed her superiors of her suspicions, but using language imprecise enough that she might later escape her words should she need to. [color=crimson][/color] came the reply. [color=crimson][/color] [color=6ecff6][/color] Charity didn't bite on the teasing remark, though. There was only a hard pinch in return, and Edyta nearly yelped. [color=crimson][/color] the tethered messaged her, sooner than she had expected. [color=crimson][/color] There was a momentary pause. [color=crimson][/color] Marci had just closed the door behind her when it locked of its own accord. She burst out with her senses and there was Edyta Laska leaning against a corner. The nun materialized as a sonic bubble dropped and her presence was immediately threatening. [color=598527]"What the fuck, Laska?"[/color] She reached for the lock with her magics, immediately feeling trapped and not wanting to, but she felt herself unable to shift its mechanism. [color=f26522]"I spoke with Johann, Marci. You spoke with Margarethe."[/color] [color=598527]"Yeah. So?"[/color] [color=6ecff6]"We should exchange information."[/color] [color=598527]"And you couldn't [i]lead[/i] with that, like a sane person?"[/color] Marceline shot back. Edyta grimaced. [color=6ecff6]"Sorry. I couldn't risk this getting out if you were hostile."[/color] Marci's face scrunched up into a mask of bemusement. [color=598527]"And appearing uninvited in someone's room, locking the door behind them, and dropping a sonic bubble is the best way to make sure of that, right?"[/color] [color=f26522]"This is a serious issue."[/color] The Rezaindian blinked. [color=598527]"I'm damn sure it is."[/color] Marci took a push forward, shaking her head in incredulity. [color=598527]"But I don't know if I can trust you after an entrance like that."[/color] [color=6ecff6]"We only have a couple of minutes. What did she say, Marci? I need to weigh the two against each other and report to my superiors."[/color] Marci narrowed her eyes and rescinded her push forward with a push back. [color=598527]"And I'm just supposed to dutifully spill it all out?"[/color] She began to draw. This was insane! The nun was insane! [color=598527]"She told me things in confidence, you know."[/color] She shook her head. [color=598527]"I'm a woman of my word."[/color] [color=6ecff6]"Please don't make this hard. I'm trying to save lives here."[/color] Marceline regarded her antagonist with hooded eyes, trying to decide on a course of action. There was no negotiating with this one, no charming her, and no distracting her. Perhaps the tethered might overpower her, but that was not a sure bet and would drastically escalate things in a direction that she did not want to go in. Quickly, she sent out a pinch message to a couple of select friends. [color=598527][/color] With the person in front of her, she used her words, however. [color=598527]"Unlock my door and treat me as a rational empathetic person worthy of Ahn-Dami's respect, or we're going to fight."[/color] Sister Laska studied her, and her eyes were reptilian, analytical things, but they also carried the smallest seed of doubt - doubt that she had likely gone about this the wrong way. The lock clicked open and they both deflated a bit. [color=6ecff6]"Marci, I need to know. Did Margarethe mention anything that would lead you to suspect she's a sanguinaire, wildblood, or something else like that?"[/color] Marceline nodded. [color=6ecff6]"And there's more, or I take her head tonight."[/color] An electric pulse ran up and down the younger girl's spine. [color=598527]"Holy... [i]shoot[/i], Edyta."[/color] They stood across from each other and the Rezaindian waited. [color=598527]"Okay,"[/color] Marci relented. [color=598527]"Okay."[/color] She shook her head in lieu of being able to wrap it around everything. [color=598527]"She said plenty: that she had gone to a local hedge witch and obtained an unholy power - she didn't tell me what it was - and that she'd done so because she had feared how Johann, a powerful and desperately lonely noble boy, was obsessed with her and might take rejection poorly."[/color] [color=f26522]"The details of [i]his[/i] story are different."[/color] [color=598527]"They [i]would[/i] be."[/color] Marceline replied, [color=598527]"But she had more to say and it was... [i]really[/i] something else."[/color][/hider][h2]Backup Has Arrived[/h2][hider=*******]Footsteps came from the stairwell, loud and quick at first, then slower once the drawing had come to an end. Within a minute Xiuyang was at the door, opening it, with her trusty gourd in hand. She beheld Edyta Laska, blinking not once, but twice. [color=slateblue]"You're here for the goods, too?"[/color] She held the gourd close to her chest, as though she were loath to share it. [color=slateblue]"Hmm..."[/color] she studied her, eyes narrowed. Roslyn had been sitting near the window when Marci's pinch brushed her skin. Adrenaline rushed her veins as she jerked from her seat and moved out of the room. It took every ounce of her strength and will not to jump the steps, two to three at a time, to reach the bottom faster. [i][color=#cbc66d]"What the hells, Laska?"[/color][/i] The girl recalled her last interaction with the nun and the sheer terror of it. Naturally, Roslyn was only a few paces behind Xiuyang when she caught the interaction. She hadn't come unprepared, but she didn't want to be obvious. [color=#cbc66d]"Oh, I guess I wasn't the only one that wanted to see Marci..."[/color] Xiuyang's eyes flicked back to Marci. [color=slateblue]"Yep! I was wracking my brain for that plum flavor I tasted back in ReTan, and I think I've got it now."[/color] She was all smiles as always. The nun's eyes darted back and forth between her initial target and the pair of new arrivals. [color=6ecff6]"Oh,"[/color] she remarked, [color=f26522]"You called your friends."[/color] Her eyes narrowed. [color=f26522]"What was that about wanting to be treated with respect?"[/color] It was three on one and Edyta Laska did not care one iota. Xiuyang clicked her tongue. [color=slateblue]"I had an appointment like a good and proper merchant's daughter. Why, is there some reason why my friend needed to call me urgently?"[/color] she added with what one might describe as a dangerously carefree tone. Roslyn forced herself to calm, though it wasn't easy. Laska had already made her jump twice in her lifetime and the mere presence still set her on edge. Her eyes flicked between all involved and it seemed like Laska wasn't buying the ploy. [color=#cbc66d]"I just wanted Marci's advice on something."[/color] She paused then added. [color=#cbc66d]"I'm a bit surprised to find you here though. Is this a habit to drop into people's rooms?"[/color] Edyta Laska, however, did not play the same games as others did. [color=f26522]"No,"[/color] she rejoined, not bothering to match Xiuyang's tone. [color=f26522]"She called the two of you and you came. There's nothing to gain by denying it."[/color] The nun shook her head. [color=f26522]"She must've felt intimidated by me, or maybe she had something to hide after pretending to go speak with you two and speaking with Margarethe instead. I was just asking her to share."[/color] [color=slateblue]"Interrogating—since you've yet to share any findings of your own with the rest of us paupers, you can call it what it is. Nothing to gain from denial, right, sister?"[/color] Xiuyang smiled as she offered her correction. [color=slateblue]"I was called here to de-escalate, not threaten you. For whatever it's worth, I have no intention of making enemies today. I was called, and so I came. You're not being plotted against. We share a mission here—or am I mistaken?"[/color] [i][color=#cbc66d]Not fully a lie[/color][/i] Roslyn retorted in her head. It had crossed her mind to ask for help with Zast, but her fear of her friends turning away because she was mad, stopped her. It wasn't worth the risk. [color=#cbc66d]"I rather avoid conflict myself. So you won't get any hostility from me. I just want to help the people here and personally, I know from experience that cooperation tends to yield better results."[/color] [color=f26522]"Mince words if you want,"[/color] the Rezaindian replied, [color=f26522]"but the fact is that I don't trust her, or any of you."[/color] She shook her head. [color=f26522]"Your group is compromised. At least two of you are working for the other side so, yes. I ask the questions and you give the answers and, if I like them enough to trust you, then we share for real."[/color] She tilted her head expectantly. [color=f26522]"Marceline, now that you have your emotional support workers here, what did Margarethe tell you?"[/color] Marci blinked, backing up a push and skewing towards her friends. [color=598527]"Who?"[/color] she asked. [color=598527]"Who's working for the other side and what does it have to do with Maré?"[/color] Edyta let out a hiss of exasperation. [color=6ecff6]"I am [i]trying[/i] to make sure that we [i]are[/i] on the same side. This resistance is making me doubt it."[/color] [color=598527]"I should give my answer in front of these two as well?"[/color] Marceline gestured at Xiuyang and Roslyn. [color=f26522]"Same stone, more birds."[/color] The tethered considered for a moment, eyes finding her friends and asking the obvious unspoken question: [color=598527][i]Should I answer?[/i][/color] Roslyn was quiet while Laska went on, her expression reserved and quiet. It didn't last long. She weighed the consequences for they were pretty big. She could take a guess over who those two were, even if she didn't want to. It didn't mean they were right. Upon seeing Marceline's look at her, she aired her answer, [color=#cbc66d]"Someone has to start to share or we're not going to get anywhere. It's a sad truth and one we can't avoid."[/color] Xiuyang had, apparently, hit a point where an eye-roll was a sufficient response for Laska. To Marci, she shrugged. [color=slateblue]"I don't like the vibe I get from Maré, if that helps. I was only close to her for a moment, but she has... what would you call it... that certain magnetism. I recognize the stench."[/color] The 'stench' was metaphorical, but it did describe her sister well, she thought. Marci was about to speak, given leave to by Roslyn, but something that Xiuyang had said stuck out to her. There had been that weird feeling she'd had - the empathy and regard for Margarethe that had seemed to come from nowhere, that had seemed far too sentimental for her. She considered for a moment, thinking of people who she knew, and the answer all-but smacked her in the forehead. [color=598527][i]Yvain.[/i][/color] She held up a finger. [color=598527]"She's a rosebud. Maré is a rosebud."[/color] She nodded slowly. [color=598527]"That would explain why Johann couldn't resist her."[/color] Edyta nodded, body language shifting, and she perched on the corner of Marci's bed, unbidden. [color=6ecff6]"The question is whether she did it knowingly,"[/color] she followed up. [color=6ecff6]"He says that she did."[/color] Her gaze swept Roslyn and Xiuyang. [color=6ecff6]"He's adamant that she lured him in and that he was... prey."[/color] She furrowed her brow. [color=#cbc66d]"I don't know much about rosebud, to be honest. Do you, Xiuyang?"[/color] Roslyn looked at Xiuyang. She nodded. [color=slateblue]"You see it among highly successful merchants and con artists. Hard to imagine someone raised in poverty not abusing its power, when its use is employed simply by being near someone. It's the path of least resistance. For a woman without proper means, to not use it would mean isolation."[/color] Xiuyang considered Johann. She had never had cause to suspect him, never known the Solari family to have been touched by a scheme that bore the name of Steinbauer. She knew better than to trust someone she knew very little with information too crucial, but to grant him basic trust as a respectable person was not a bridge too far, she thought. If "two" were working for the "other side" as Laska put it (there were surely more than only two sides to this, Xiuyang thought), she knew one of them had to be Dorothea. The other, she couldn't be sure. Maybe one of the local constables—or Evander was fully supporting the Revidians instead of focusing on the investigation. She couldn't put it past him. [color=slateblue]"I have nothing for or against Johann,"[/color] Xiuyang added, once she remembered to answer Laska. [color=f26522]"That was less than illuminating,"[/color] Edyta grumbled, stroking her chin. She had made herself at home in this room and that was that. [color=6ecff6]"But this unholy power - this making Johann 'prey'."[/color] She shook her head. [color=6ecff6]"That is what I most want to know about."[/color] Marceline shrugged uncomfortably. [color=598527]"For what it's worth, keep in mind that I don't trust her at all."[/color] Sister Laska nodded and Marci took a deep breath. [color=598527]"She said that she was here to destroy him. She spoke kind of... cryptically."[/color] The tethered pursed her lips. [color=598527]"He is involved in 'monstrous' undertakings."[/color] She glanced about. [color=598527]"He lets his darkness own him. Things like that."[/color] She sniffed and shook her head. [color=598527]"As for her power... I don't know about making him 'prey', but she didn't divulge the nature of it, only that it was 'unholy' and that her use of magic wasn't a 'Gift' but, rather, something she had 'taken'."[/color] Marceline rolled her eyes slightly. [color=598527]"Sounds straight out of the Traveler's handbook, if you ask me."[/color] She shrugged again. [color=598527]"Prey, though..."[/color] She looked to the others. Roslyn leaned against the wall as she recalled a moment during the time when Enth's sacred tree's burning. The way he spoke to her countryman seemed harsher than his usual self. Of course, he explained it away and she accepted it. However, it reminded her of how little she really knew of him. [color=#cbc66d]"Truthfully, I don't know much about Johann. Any time I've seen him, he seemed rather pleasant and helpful. At least, until the outburst after breakfast..."[/color] Roslyn trailed off with regret. She pulled her hands up to cup her neck while she considered her thoughts. [color=#cbc66d]" I do recall an interaction with one of my countrymen. It was when the Enth sacred tree was attacked. He seemed a bit harsher than normal in that moment, but there was a lot going on that night."[/color] [color=slateblue]"It's what you get for having half a conversation without me. This is the first I'm hearing of an unholy power—and last I checked, 'rosebud' isn't that. Perhaps the church would view it as a crime worthy of a lifetime of penitent living, but it wouldn't be enough to protect her from Johann." [i]*Then again, I grew up around the textbook example of someone who doesn't deserve it, so perhaps I find its influence less compelling,*[/i][/color] she thought. [color=slateblue]"Perhaps she has some way to suppress the Gift in others. If she's been here the whole time and only just now pretended to arrive, that may connect a few dots."[/color] Marci considered. [color=598527]"So he said she saw him as prey?"[/color] The Rezaindian nodded. [color=598527]"If that's literal, she's a sanguinaire or a wildblood."[/color] She considered asking if they might call Ingrid in for her insight, before she remembered that she was speaking with a woman who hunted those down like animals and had nearly killed Zarina once. Sister Laska was not a friend, not even a true [i]ally[/i]. [color=598527]"If it's figurative, then it could mean that he thought she preyed on him for his money, his influence, or something else."[/color] Marceline shrugged, resting her hands on her wheels and drumming on them with her fingertips. [color=598527]"She called the power [i]unholy[/i], though."[/color] Restless, the tethered rolled towards another part of the room and positioned herself there. [color=598527]"Could be a Venomhand, too."[/color] She crossed her arms about herself and glanced at the others. [color=598527]"Even something as innocuous as like...just taking a couple of big aberrations."[/color] Marceline studied the nun. [i]She[/i] was known to have taken at least a couple of black aberrations, forced or otherwise. How might this paragon of the church feel about [i]that[/i]? [color=6ecff6]"I think the part about her power being unholy is literal,"[/color] Edyta replied. [color=6ecff6]"But him being prey?"[/color] She shook her head tightly, drawing one knee up and enfolding it behind an arm. [color=6ecff6]"Most likely an embellishment because he was an emotional mess when I spoke with him."[/color] Marceline nodded slowly. [color=598527]"First time I've seen him like that,"[/color] she admitted, [color=598527]"though I've... [i]sensed[/i] things before that seemed... [i]off[/i], about him."[/color] She glanced Roslyn's way. [color=598527]"Easy to dismiss at the time but, the more that little things add up..."[/color] She trailed off and shrugged. Then, as she reviewed what people had spoken about, two things struck her. The first, left unaddressed, was who Edyta thought was working against them from within their group. The second was this idea of Xiuyang's that Margarethe had been there all along. [color=598527]"She's been here all along?"[/color] Marceline tilted her head. [color=598527]"She told me that she wanted to destroy him, but never mentioned being in Lindenholdt for a while. For what it's worth, she'd stabled the horse that supposedly brought her here and was caring for it when we spoke."[/color] She pursed her lips for a second. [color=598527]"Did she talk with you too?"[/color] [color=#cbc66d]"If she was a Venomhand, wouldn't we have felt it? I think we can scratch off a few obvious types."[/color] Roslyn pointed out, recalling her education. Edyta nodded. [color=598527]"Oh yeah. Shit,"[/color] added Marceline. Xiuyang shook her head. [color=slateblue]"We had two separate groups encounter a Gift-compelling force. One, you said was a Command mage. I didn't ask for a description before, but unless you made visual contact, we can't rule anyone out. As for the mine, I theorized that the other source was a machine, but I could not be certain. There was a woman in the mine who didn't seem human, and the presence of dark magic with her. Her identity is unaccounted for, and she or someone in her group—their numbers were concealed from me—could just as easily be responsible for my inability to use the Gift at the time,"[/color] Xiuyang explained. [color=slateblue]"I can't think of many singular, unholy magics that can even the score between Johann and—pardon the term, a peasant. The forbidden magics are supposed to be a rare sight—for anyone who's not a Biro of Ersand'Enise, anyway,"[/color] she laughed mirthlessly. [color=slateblue]"And yet, we've seen two here. I thought it worth mentioning."[/color] [color=#cbc66d]"Okay, so let's not get ahead of ourselves. Is there any hard evidence that Margarethe is involved at all?"[/color] Roslyn cautioned as she reflected over the facts. [color=#cbc66d]"I'm not about to assume the worst of anyone because of bad timing. So, let's establish what we know for sure and can figure out."[/color] She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. It wasn't easy to ignore Zast whispering in her ear. [color=#cbc66d]"If both of their stories have similar parts, those are likely facts. It doesn't serve either of them any good to change them. It's the parts that are different that we need to focus on. Those are likely colored by their views or lies. Can't be trusted."[/color] Her thoughts moved on to what little she knew of wildbloods and sanguinares. [color=#cbc66d]"As for the wildblood and sanguinare stuff, I recall a few things. Wildbloods, I read somewhere, are influenced by the moons. Three moons will be happening on the thirty-fourth. I am not sure if plush tail oil will affect Wildbloods or not. It's also expensive."[/color] In Roslyn's mind, she knew it was the only thing that nulled the Gift other than certain magics or anti-magic devices. So it made some sense. If Margarethe was one, she might have some and likely purchased by someone else. Biting her lip, she continued. [color=#cbc66d]"Sanguinares need blood and some go rabid over it. If she is one, she might react to any blood spilled around her. Especially if she hasn't fed. If she fails those two tests, we can rule out what she isn't."[/color] Xiuyang shrugged and leaned against the wall, next to the door. [color=slateblue]"All I'm saying is that we should watch her, and watch our backs, especially after we've just kicked the hornet's nest. I don't need hard evidence to suspect her when her timing is so convenient—and which one of them has claim to being in the right in their lovers' spat is less of a concern to me than which one is a threat to our mission and to my friends."[/color] She crossed her arms. [color=slateblue]"If you are plotting the simple demise of someone you hate, are you really going to carry it out on Caldores? Even the heretics must know that getting away with murder at this time of year is harder than any ordinary time. If she's telling the truth about 'destroying him,' she means to ruin him in spectacular fashion, with as many witnesses as she can hope to have gathered together. Unless Laska counts Johann as one of her two suspects and is keeping mum about it, that means Margarethe intends to get in our way, even if only indirectly."[/color] [color=#cbc66d]"Fair, I don't disagree with that. It is odd. I just don't know if she's connected to what's happening here or if she's here for her own agenda."[/color] Roslyn's arms fell down, crossing over her waist. She glanced toward the frost covered window.[color=#cbc66d]"Everyone in this town seems to know more than they let on about each other's secrets. It's possible Johann knew more about what's going on here than we do, at least from the town's side of things."[/color] She considered what they could do. [color=#cbc66d]"At best, we can control who gets what information from us. Anything goes wrong, we know who we can't trust and investigate them more."[/color] [color=598527]"It sounded like something more than just killing him,"[/color] Marceline admitted, glancing Xiuyang's way and considering before saying more. [color=6ecff6]"Third person Sister Laska will only say that Margarethe dealing with Johann wouldn't be a bad thing for us,"[/color] Edyta remarked. [color=f26522]"He was trying to manipulate me into going after her with his choice of words. He is not to be trusted."[/color][/hider][h2]The Dark Truth Hidden Beneath[/h2][hider=********] [color=598527]"What? How can you be sure?"[/color] Marci asked skeptically, restless where she had parked herself. The Rezaindian rolled her eyes. [color=f26522]"Believe me or don't. Your success isn't important for the Rezaindian mission. Really, shouldn't you have actually gone home already?"[/color] Marceline sighed tiredly and shot the nun a withering look. [color=598527]"Seriously? Are you doing this on purpose?"[/color] Edyta, in response, pursed her lips and, with a second eyeroll, relented. [color=6ecff6]"I'd ask you the same,"[/color] she rejoined. [color=6ecff6]"But let us just say, [i]milady[/i], that men like our dear Johann speak a certain way to women like me... and [i]her[/i] -"[/color] She paused to choose her words with more care than usual. [color=6ecff6]"- that's a little bit different than you might be used to."[/color] She shook her head. [color=f26522]"In no way do I think little miss pink is innocent and, if she's a monster, I'll take her head myself."[/color] Marceline scowled. There were perhaps too many reasons for her to name just one, but she just did not like Edyta Laska. There was something about her that... she could place it but she didn't like it. [color=6ecff6]"If you insist on staying involved, I warn you that you could die."[/color] She shook her head. [color=6ecff6]"You're all important people from important families, so I advise you turn back."[/color] Marceline shrugged. [color=598527]"No. If they're all stupid enough to be here, then I'm their tethered and I have a job to do."[/color] She scowled for a second. [color=598527]"Besides, now I'm hooked into it. I wanna see where this goes and I think we can beat it."[/color] Edyta looked meaningfully at the others, just a bit weary of their heroism. [color=6ecff6]"You too, I take it?"[/color] She received differing affirmatives from each, but it was worth a nod and a shrug. [color=6ecff6]"Fine, then what I tell you does not leave this room or you'll die, and that's not me threatening you; that's what Mother Madrona will do."[/color] Marci made the pentact. [color=598527]"I love the church."[/color] Edyta spoke no words for a moment, but her face said enough: [color=f26522]"You don't have to love it; just accept the reality."[/color] She exhaled and knit her hands before herself. [color=6ecff6]"Manus Sinistra Deorum - who are [i]well[/i] above my level - have been brought here because command magic outside of the church's sphere has been used and we have reason to suspect that it comes from a powerful demon."[/color] [color=598527]"Powerful...?"[/color] [color=f26522]"Tier Six,"[/color] the nun replied shortly, [color=6ecff6]"and Johann wants it to use that magic."[/color] She narrowed her eyes and, a moment later, the door flung itself abruptly open. [color=f26522]"You can stop lurking and trying to breach the sonic bubble and come in."[/color] Ingrid was just outside. [color=6ecff6]"Now,"[/color] Edyta continued, [color=6ecff6]"what I've found leads me to believe that it's not the demon using the magic, but someone else - a mortal human, from this very town - who's responsible. They're in league with the demon and almost certainly trying to summon it."[/color] [color=598527]"J-Johann?"[/color] asked Marci in stammered disbelief. Sister Laska shook her head. [color=6ecff6]"No,"[/color] she responded. [color=6ecff6]"Why else do you think he could be here?"[/color] She tilted her head. [color=f26522]"What else do you think he could want?"[/color] Marci's needn't call for help from Ingrid, she was perceptive enough to notice a teleporting icevein entering the tavern. Ingrid sought little conflict with the church and decided to let it stand as is. Predictably, Ingrid couldn't [i]just[/i] do nothing. Edyta knew what Ingrid was and so did Marci, she wanted to make sure what was being said didn't involve her. And then she was caught. Shadows being cascading off of her form revealing the giantess as she stepped into the room, shutting the door behind her. She was silent for a moment to confirm the sanctity of the bubble. [color=8882be]"I can imagine he is here for the thunder spears, thought that would be too simple for him."[/color] Edyta merely pursed her lips and inclined her head in agreement with Ingrid's last few words. She waited, looking at the other three. Roslyn simply nodded as her confirmation and listened. When the horrible news broke, the girl's heart began to race. Her grip tightened about her arms and she was deathly quiet on the outside. A tier six like a grand demon level threat? How, when, why? So many panicked questions ran through her head as she trembled in place. Despite her attempt to hug herself, she couldn't stop it and she hated herself for it. [color=#cbc66d]"A teir six, that's a grand demon. Like Belthagor?"[/color] Her voice cracked a bit at the name. [color=#cbc66d]"He doesn't understand how terrifying those... things are. "[/color] She forced herself to lower her pitch a bit, the trembling only subsiding slightly. [color=#cbc66d]"As for Johann's motives to be here, I don't know. I don't think we know him well enough to understand how he thinks or what he would want. That's the issue."[/color] Xiuyang took a long breath and exhaled. Whether she was trying to stay calm in light of the revelation or taking frustration with herself for not knowing more, no one could tell. [color=slateblue]"He made sure to tell me from the very beginning there was more going on here than would appear at first glance, and nothing good. He wants us to get involved in this beyond just finding the bodies, I think. He certainly hasn't advised us to leave, as you have. My interactions with him have been short and impersonal, I'm afraid."[/color] [color=f26522]"I'll be a bit more direct, then, Salomé,"[/color] replied the nun. [color=f26522]"We don't need your help and, if you stay, you're going to get splattered and your rich parents will lose an heir."[/color] She arched an eyebrow as if to check for comprehension. Xiuyang let out a snort. [color=slateblue]"Hah. You don't need to pretend to care for me to ease your conscience, sister. If my friends choose to leave, I will go, since you insist you need no assistance—but if my friends stay, I will also stay."[/color] Ingrid glared at Laska for a moment before moving on. [color=8882be]"If we question his actions, a few things come up to question from the start."[/color] she flipped out her notebook. [color=8882be]"His stated reason for being here is for a Caldores visit to this small but ancient town. I found it odd but no irregular to scrutinize with the Watchmeister agreeing that it was."[/color] [color=8882be]"Next, Mother Madrona knocked him out and we left without him only for him to return as we were about to enter the cathedral grounds. I had originally saw his plan as simply a way of making it seem like he was trying to 'act' as if he had tried his best when it was a paltry effort. I may have been surprised and just happy to see him. With his freedom of movement, someone could have saw him in town or noticed he had not gone directly there."[/color] [color=8882be]"Lastly, and Marci and Laska will remember this, he had left saying we were foolish for going further. I thought it was cowardice but in reality, he could have checked on some business and came back afterward."[/color] Ingrid closed her notebook. [color=8882be]"The last is just some idle thought. If he had made the breakfast himself, as he took the credit for, then he would have been up for hours before us. He may have sense Jana, Edith, and Bastian being controlled out of the building and either didn't sense it despite his skill and cautiousness, or he ignored it."[/color] [color=#cbc66d]"What? Jana, Edith and Bastian were controlled? When? How? "[/color] The statement seemed to jerk Roslyn from her panic, but only for a moment. [color=8882be]"Early morning, Command magic."[/color] Ingrid stated plainly. [color=8882be]"A song called them out there to the river in the direction of the cathedral. It took some heavy shock to break Edith and Bastain out of it. Bastain was already in the river and almost died to some moving ice. Edith was crawling, palms peeling off, It's a miracle she is alive. Jana was then commanded to fight me and almost took my arm before I knew she was under control."[/color] She took a deep breath, [color=8882be]"Sorry, been talking too much."[/color] Roslyn's eyes turned downward in thought. There had to be a pattern there, but she struggled to think properly. [color=#cbc66d]"Jana, Edith, Bastian... Why those three specifically?"[/color] She repeated their names a few more times before it finally clicked. [color=#cbc66d]"Didn't they all collect the bodies? Jana found Weber along the way. Bastian and Edith went with you to retrieve Zimmerman."[/color] [color=slateblue]"It's the one thing they had in common—which means me and Ingrid are their next targets, if they think they can get away with it,"[/color] Xiuyang added calmly, thinking for a moment. [color=slateblue]"Mm. Might be hasty to rule out anyone who knows we found them, either. I presume someone wants the cause of death covered up, but they might target anyone who knows anything."[/color] Ingrid nodded in agreement with Xiuyang [color=734960]"Let's hope they try and take us then. We might have a better time recollecting what was taking them. Edith mentioned a song and Jana remembered seeing a child play the violin. If it is a demon, as the church concluded, the violin or pipe organ could be a demonic artifact."[/color] [color=slateblue]"If we find reason to suspect the organ, smashing it would be quite satisfying,"[/color] Xiuyang quipped with some levity. [color=slateblue]"The issue would be finding an opportunity to investigate it, without that psycho playing or sleeping with it."[/color] [color=#cbc66d]"A violin? That could easily be hidden by an organ playing, but only people in the church were the architect and organist. At least as far as I could tell."[/color] Roslyn noticed that Zast went silent. Uncharacteristic of him, but she wouldn't address it and risk him yammering again. That was an issue for another time. She rubbed her arms to stop the trembling then sighed. [color=#cbc66d]"Knowing this, I regret asking Marci to tell Edith about the bodies now."[/color] She swallowed. [color=#cbc66d]"You know, we suspect a third party killed those men. What if they were trying to create more conflict? Both sides would insist they had nothing to do with it, but neither would trust the other's word. What demon would benefit from that? "[/color] Edyta Laska had gone quiet for some time, and none had noticed that it was due to the added strain of having to account for five people all-but speaking over each other in their eagerness to connect the dots. She was listening, too, however. She was listening to their ideas and letting them do the legwork on her behalf. If she was collecting information, so was Marci, who had been distracted by a sudden exchange with Edith. A question occurred to her. [color=598527][/color] [color=#87CEEB][/color] [color=598527][/color] [color=#87CEEB][/color] There was a pause. [color=#87CEEB][/color] [color=#87CEEB][/color] Marceline groaned inwardly. [color=#87CEEB][/color] The younger tethered grimaced visibly. [color=598527][/color] [color=#87CEEB][/color] [color=598527][/color] [color=#87CEEB][/color] replied the deputy, [color=#87CEEB][/color] Marceline's blood froze. Her expression might've as well, and she didn't respond immediately. It didn't even occur to her that her sudden silence could be construed as rude or as cause for concern. [color=#87CEEB][/color] It was all that Marci could do not to visibly blink and end up looking weird. There had been another very useful tidbit of information in there that she had missed as her mind raced. [color=598527][/color] she replied. [color=598527][/color] [color=#87CEEB][/color] The youngest person and only Kerreman in the group took a subtle deep breath, held it for a couple of seconds, and released it. How to collect it all and break it to people? She cleared her throat. [color=598527]"Sorry. Not to interrupt,"[/color] she began, finding a second where she could slip in amid all of the near-frenzied theorizing, [color=598527]"but I was just pinch-talking with Edith, and... get this: the tune was Kling, Glöckchen, Klingelingeling and she remembered it not because Johann was singing it this morning, but because Fraulein Ilse von Mollern was practicing it the other day."[/color] She nodded slowly. [color=598527]"I think that was the song she was playing when we arrived, in the other room, on viola."[/color] [color=#cbc66d]"Oh, hells."[/color] Roslyn rubbed her eyes and focused on breathing. Her eyebrows rose in surprise,[color=8882be]"That is useful. Jana's memories hazed quickly after being released from the caster's spell. Have we any useful information on her or the Von Mollern's?"[/color] Ingrid asked the group that went to the archives. Marceline considered for a moment and then scowled. [color=598527]"I don't think we looked into them much. Spent most of our time on the Frickmayers and the cathedral, from what I remember."[/color] She shook her head and glanced at Roslyn's and Xiuyang's way. [color=#cbc66d]"We were mainly focused on the missing men. I did skim through the fire records and some lineage stuff with the Frickmayers. We did find a paper in the rubbish which Xiuyang preserved, but not sure it has anything to do with the Von Mollerns."[/color] Roslyn gave Ingrid an apologetic look. [/hider][h2]Hidden Schemings[/h2][hider=*********]Evander/Johann *What was it about being snowed in that made people crazy?* While the others swam circles in their feelings, Evander leaned back in his chair, boots planted on the edge of the table. Between two fingers he flicked a coin, sending it tumbling end over end toward an empty mug across the table. *Clink.* It missed. With a lazy gesture, he pulled it back across the wood with the gift, then tossed it again. Flip. Drop. *Clink.* The rhythm became its own little game, as the others played theirs. People came and went. No bother, no brooding. He flipped the coin, reeled it back, and repeated. A faint smile cast across his lips as the next attempt rung around the inside of the mug. "Gotcha." He murmured to himself, though the humor in his voice leant itself to applying beyond the coin game. *He was alone.* Evander dropped his boots to the floor with a muted thud. Rising, he stretched his shoulders and arms long with a low growl, like a lion rousing from a noon nap. He sensed Johann by the hearth, big, brooding, and bent in the fire's glow. Before striding over, Evander detoured toward the pot, poured a fresh cup of coffee, and carried it with care. Along the way, he heated the cup to a warm temperature using his gift. "That was close," Evander said, three quarters from Johann. When reaching Johann, as he was setting the cup down within reach, "I thought you were going to crack my skull there for a second like your eggs." The cup tapped softly against the stone near Johann. Evander stepped back, close enough to be heard, far enough not to provoke. "Peace offering," The words came out as if it were the most natural thing to give in these situations. [color=goldenrod][i]There it is. You're trying to reconcile because you want something,[/i][/color] Johann thought. [color=goldenrod][i]The question is: 'what'?[/i][/color] Part of him wanted to find out. The other part wanted to push a little and see what made Evander tick. The man was both a bully and a clever bastard. [color=goldenrod]"It's customary to apologize for one's ill actions before offering to make peace - at least to one's social peers."[/color] He scanned the coffee for anything untoward and his hand hovered. Evander's brow arched, though... his face remained cool. He remained one shoulder against the stone, "A peace offering doesn't always follow an apology. Sometimes it follows perspective. And sometimes..." A faint smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth, "...it's because a man would rather share a cup than elbows." Evander gave a small shrug, "Besides, what was ill about asking a question?" Johann's drink turned bitter before he even brought it to his lips. His whole life, these days, seemed made up of little social games and he had dealt with the subtlest types of bullies for as long as he could remember: the sort who'd never openly mock him because of his status, but who'd slip in words, gestures, turns of phrases, and tones that they could later plausibly deny were nothing if not well-intentioned. How he hated them. It was a reminder of why he was doing what he was doing. There was nothing unsafe in the cup and, had there been, a chemical mage of his caliber would've neutralized it. Johann brought it to his lips with a small nod of thanks, and sipped. Part of him didn't even want to bother wasting words on this snake of a man for, now, he was certain that was what Evander was. [color=goldenrod][i]So tiring. So very much the same.[/i][/color] A genuine human being - what he might've given to find just [i]one[/i]! What it might've [i]done[/i] for him! Now... he, [i]himself[/i]? He'd have apologized, but these men were all proud, raised with their family mottos and coats-of-arms and legacies that wore them as if they were little more than suits of armour in need of filling. And they protected those fragile things by covering themselves in hardened facades and bristling with a veritable arsenal of verbal, magical, and monetary weaponry. How he hated them, and Evander was one of them: the appearance of empathy, of humanity, camaraderie, and conversational interest, but it was all for the things that filled his empty suit of armour. Johann had felt recovered after his long walk outside and his conversation with the nun, but could he really rally himself to engage in yet another of these chess-like exchanges? Evander had been joking, earlier, but it was no joke. He could crush the Revidian with but a thought, and it would probably make the world a better place. He nursed his drink while pondering the murder of its pourer. No, it wouldn't make the world measurably better. It was built, near-indelibly, at this point, on a complex social fabric of rules, lies, and justifications. There were a hundred thousand other perfect little blond boys like Evander whose hands and words could wield weapons but whose mouths could not simply form the words 'I'm sorry'. The death of one would mean the end of Johann, even if he [i]technically[/i] got away with it, and this world's chances of becoming something better - its chances of being forced into drastic change by one strong and willing enough to take on the task - would tumble a rather measurable amount. Johann would have to play this game, because not playing meant losing, and the victory he sought was far more than some petty personal thing. He kept his sigh inward as he considered his conversational options. [color=goldenrod][i]What have you given me to work with?[/i][/color] He made a 'thoughtful' face, for he could nurse his drink and silence no longer without appearing brooding or petulant. It was obvious. Perhaps the only meaningful words out of Evander's mouth, besides his carefully-chosen opening platitudes about women, were those about sharing a cup rather than elbows. [color=goldenrod]"So is that it, then?"[/color] he asked, not turning all the way and seeking his truth, instead, in the fire, though even that had been interfered with by Evander. [color=goldenrod]"Is that the nature of all relationships, when one strips matters to their essence: transactional? Concluded either for mutual benefit or at least the avoidance of harm?"[/color] Gone was the jovial giant who cooked and sang and was, in truth, a total hypocrite by the measure of his own philosophy. Johann sipped again. *There he is brooding again.* Evander watched Johann sip and nod, disdain spilling over his face and body, even if the coffee did not. "Quite a leap, Johann, to go from a kind gesture to theorizing about the nature of *all* relationships as transactional." Evander noticed the jump in logic, and the redirection was almost too obvious. Johann wasn't speaking about Evander, he was circling around something else. *What did Margarethe do to this man?* He leaned in slightly. "But let's sit with that for a moment. You could argue every relationship gives something and takes something." *You'd know best, Johann. You trade false cheer for approval, a jolly mask bought at the price of your honesty.* Evander thought. It was plain to him, Johann wasn't the man he pretended to be. He was bitter, resentful, and the girl he dismissed as a hometown nobody is the same girl he cracked over when lightly questioned. *There was more between them, more than either admitted. And more they knew about Lindenholdt and the murders, too, then again, the whole town reeked of secrets. It wouldn't be a surprise if most the town knew who did what to who and worked together to steer the investigation off trail.* Evander, keeping to task, raised her name once more, but this time as an example to drive the theory of transaction. "Take Margarethe, for instance. You must've given her a lot, possibly a piece of yourself. And in return, she gave you something too. But sometimes what's given isn't always a gift. Sometimes, a curse. Sometimes, burdens. Other times, nothing at all." He leaned back, the firelight flickering in his eyes. If Johann exposed anything, it was his pain and it all came to the surface when Margarethe showed up. Evander's tone shifted to something close to sincere, even quite genuine, "I'm sorry, Johann, for whatever she did to you." His gaze cast at the flames, "But pain is only worth something if it buys change." His gaze drifted back to Johann, "So I could agree with the idea that some relationships are transactional. And in those transactions, what we purchase isn't mutual benefit, avoidance of harm, comfort, or even loyalty." He paused for a moment, "No." His chin dropped slightly to his chest, "It's transformation. The question is whether you bought yours... or sold yourself cheap." His chin still down, but his eyes cast up to look at Johann, "So, did you buy yours after Margarethe?" Johann set the coffee down and rose. Always, the subtle cut and thrust, the subtle dance. Evander was digging, and so he tilted his head. [color=goldenrod]"There's no need to maintain a facade of care."[/color] He shrugged. [color=goldenrod]"It might even be refreshing if you didn't. You're probing for answers, and I don't blame you."[/color] He picked the cup back up, tucked his free hand into his pocket, and watched the flames, seeing if he might 'transform' them by drawing away some of the combustion that Evander had caused. [color=goldenrod]"But before I go spilling my guts out, I'd like to ask you something first."[/color] He twisted to regard his counterpart, better at controlling his face first, better at hiding the voice in the back of his head that reminded him, "I will destroy you - you and all those like you." A fire-blackened log collapsed in a shower of sparks, noticed as an individual for the first time only as it died. [color=goldenrod]"Do you care if people like you?"[/color] "Understanding your pain isn't a facade," Evander spoke truthfully as he watched Johann tuck his cup, play with fire, and ask his question. Evander answered without hesitation, "No. I care if people are honest about who they are and what they want." [color=goldenrod][i]Like a hound: always on target. Always refocusing.[/i][/color] Johann noticed something else about Evander, however. Never, in all of his time knowing the man, had he taken a step back or apologized. To the best of his knowledge, he hadn't even done so with Marceline after their infamous spat. They had merely normalized relations because he had not been a complete ass the next time they'd interacted, she'd felt as if she'd gotten one back, and it was ultimately easier for than living in constant tension. Either this Revidian was the sort to eat his own cooking because he truly believed it to be haute cuisine, or he was every bit as disingenuous as Johann, just... in a different way. [color=goldenrod]"Margarethe... is a monster,"[/color] the portly Kerreman warned with a sigh. The flames began to gutter and he decided to let them live, after all. He took another sip and glanced at Evander.[color=goldenrod]"A creature utterly without soul who used me until she was done with me and then discarded me without so much as a care. She even went so far as to make a contract with a maledict and take up an unholy new power. She'd have sucked me dry if she could've, but she cut and ran when she realized I wouldn't be an easy mark."[/color] He shook his head tightly. [color=goldenrod]"She'll be more direct, this time,"[/color] he warned, [color=goldenrod]"because I know her true nature, but she'll try to undermine and isolate me and she did a wonderful job of that today."[/color] He scowled and finished the last of his drink. [color=goldenrod]"She gets under my skin even more than you do."[/color] Johann snorted. [color=goldenrod]"At least people know you're a self-important ass. They all fall for her schtick hook, line, and sinker."[/color] He took a step to the side to set the cup down, deciding that he was just about finished here. [color=goldenrod]"But I think she's wrapped up in something much deeper. I think that she is and she'll frame me."[/color] He took one last long look at the flames. [color=goldenrod]"She'll frame me and destroy [i]you[/i]."[/color] *Finally, some answers.* Evander listened. *Monster. Without a soul. Used him. No care. Contract with a maledict. Unholy power. Ran. Undermine and isolate. Self-importance. Frame him.* "Now I care." Evander said as Johann started to open up about what he really thought and felt, "If what you say is true, and we are here to investigate, then it may be in our best interest to cooperate and keep the wrong person from the guillotine." He nodded his head as if to say, 'you.' Evander came off the stone, stood upright to the front of Johann, "What do you say we help each other get to the bottom of whatever Margarethe might be up too?" At Evander's "now I care," Johann couldn't help but let out a snort at a truth reached in roundabout but reached nonetheless. Then, came the meat of it, and he listened. When Evander was finished, he furrowed his brow and let out a breath that could be interpreted as a pensive sigh, as if he needed to be convinced. There was every likelihood that the Revidian was merely playing the part of the ally and using him, but the inverse was also true, and so he held out his hand to shake and nodded. [color=goldenrod]"That sounds just like a transaction I'd like to make,"[/color] he declared with a smirk. Evander smiled at that and extended his hand to shake Johann's. "Now that the pleasantries are over, what is this unholy power we're up against and who's the owner of the contract?" Johann scowled deeply. He looked frustrated. [color=goldenrod]"That's just the problem."[/color] He shook his head. [color=goldenrod]"I know that she went to a maledict - there are always some living in the woods, on the fringes - and I noticed that, suddenly, she could use the Gift afterwards."[/color] He shrugged helplessly. [color=goldenrod]"As for the nature of it, I would only be guessing but, given its source, it cannot be anything but unholy, likely dangerous, and possibly a double-edged sword. That's how these people work."[/color] *Margarethe went into the woods and came out with the Gift?* It was possible it was a maledict. It was also possible it could be something else. There were many other ways to access and develop the Gift other than birth. For now, Johann believed it was a maledict, and Evander would share that belief until evidence suggested otherwise, showing a little bit of frustration to show Johann and him were on the same side, then he followed up: "Great, we have to deal unholy powers and maledicts giving the Gift away in the woods. If the blizzard and a murder weren't enough." He shrugged like Johann, "Alright, so what we know is Margarethe is likely entangled with a maledict who resides in the woods, what we don't know is why she's back or what she is doing to set you up possibly." He paused for a moment to think, "What do you think possessed her to make that deal? And, when you said *these people*, are there others we need to watch out for who are like Margarethe in Lindenholdt?" There appeared to be a fundamental understanding here. Margarethe was from his hometown in Ostermark, not Lindenholdt. He gently reminded Evander of as much. [color=goldenrod]"Maledicts often work with or for demons, though,"[/color] he allowed, [color=goldenrod]"and Ostermark isn't so very distant."[/color] he shrugged. [color=goldenrod]"I am nearly certain that there are others in this town who owe similar debts and are working towards the same objective. Dare I say that the two murdered men were a great way of sowing discord between Revidian and Kerreman allies and to get everyone looking for culprits other than the real ones when people inevitably went missing."[/color] “Demons too.” Evander sighed. “Wait, you think the maledicts in the woods, Margarethe, and the murders, are all tied up with a network of people with aims to destroy the relationship between Revidia and Kerreman?” Evander was now hooked. “Ok, Johann, you know this place well, who in this city would benefit greatly from ripping apart Revidians and Kerreman?” Evander was barking up the wrong tree. The relationship between the two was incidental to the greater plan. It just helped to have the pair of erstwhile allies not working together. He indulged his own 'ally', however. [color=goldenrod]"Well, sentiment among many of the merchants here is that the Revidians have been acting too aggressively from a diplomatic standpoint and it's isolating them from their major markets in Perrence and Kressia. The Perrench also control Mirabeau Island and the top of Dami's Eye, and that's a vital route."[/color] He paused to consider. [color=goldenrod]"I was investigating the von Mollerns and the Grunewalds when you guys arrived, to be honest."[/color] Evander's face showed a smidge of curiosity, "And, what did you find?" Johann shrugged. [color=goldenrod]"Truth be told, not much yet, but the others who went to the archives can tell you that the von Mollerns and Grunewalds have been working behind the scenes to take down the Frickmayers for generations. Their research corroborates mine."[/color] Evander crossed his arms, raising his index finger to his chain and tapped. "Hmm... that does seem to be the report, it's obvious these families have bad blood, but to what extent have each of them gone to secure their legacy in Lindenholdt is the question. Do you think the von Mollerns and Grunewalds are tied to Margarethe and the demons in this region?" Johann nodded. [color=goldenrod]"I'm almost certain they're involved with the demons."[/color] He pursed his lips. [color=goldenrod]"As for Margarethe... it connects. I haven't caught her red-handed, but she has a history of dark dealings, a bone to pick with the person investigating them - me - and has shown up at [i]just[/i] the right moment."[/color] He shook his head. [color=goldenrod]"That's a lot of coincidences piling up."[/color] Evander shook his head. "Well, if we believe Margarethe to be involved in something more sinister, why not follow her?" He paused to read Johann's initial reaction before beginning again, "She would likely lead us to the very plot of your downfall, what do you think?" Johann snorted. [color=goldenrod]"Me?"[/color] He stabbed at his chest with a finger and shook his head. [color=goldenrod]"No. She's got tabs on me and it'll look deeply suspicious of I do it. I'd need to be the bait and someone else should keep track of her."[/color] "You got it." Evander stepped forward, setting a hand on Johann's shoulder as though they were already old comrades. "The trick will be to get her moving, fast. If she thinks you're onto her, she might accelerate this little game of hers." He stepped back, pivoting on his heel toward the flames, "Yes, do you see it, Johann? We'll watch where she runs." A flame in the hearth began to take shape as a small figure running, "We'll see who she trusts." The small flaming figure ran into a group of figure. Evander extended his hand, drew in the fire, and turned toward Johann. He extended his hand, opening his palm to reveal two small flaming figures holding knives together, "We'll see who holds the knife with her." Evander crushed his palm shut, fire and smoke curling through the seams of his grip as if escaping the top of a furnace. "I don't even think you need to act." He stepped closer, lowering his hands behind his back and clasping them together. "No. Be as you are toward her. Bitter, angry, and this time... loud." He paused in front of Johann, took a long look into his eyes before finishing, "You said so yourself, last time she ran from you because she felt weaker. Make her feel that way again. Get her to move faster than what she's ready for, she'll show us the way." Evander gave enough space for Johann to absorb the theatrics, the plan, the feelings around his former crush. Then, with a thin cut smirk, he finished, "And when she does, I'll be there to collect the truth." Johann appreciated Evander's theatrics - truly, he did - but he would be the sacrifice in the Revidian's plan. He would look like an ogre and Margarethe would play the victim. He shook his head. [color=goldenrod]"She'll isolate me. She'll run to the girls instead and be innocent and persecuted and their collective brain cell will fall for it. I'm fairly certain she's a rosebud."[/color] He scowled. [color=goldenrod]"We need them, or at least a couple others. She can't feel as if she can fight back, because she will."[/color] He stroked his chin pensively. [color=goldenrod]"Who can we grab and sway? We need to move quickly if this is to work."[/color] "A rosebud." Evander repeated, *that made things socially difficult.* He paused, considering. Among them, there was one exceptional girl. Exceptional in that she could talk to all of their minds, all while in a chair. For her, Evander imagined, there was a unique relationship between those pinched and those who were pinched. She alone could connect them all, across distances, and do so with a personal touch. He could imagine there was a unique intimacy about the whole thing, especially if befriended. Constant contact is what gave her sway. Always there to call or be called on. If Evander could persuade her, he was sure the others would follow. He was sure they'd think twice about siding with Margarethe if this one exceptional girl did not. "You're right. We need them, or at least a couple. Or maybe..." He raised a finger, holding it there as a punctuation, "...just one." His eyes narrowed, "Now, where do we stage this?" Johann could sense it: who Evander was talking about. He didn't like it. That one was shifty and she was always scanning with those tethered manas of hers. Had he avoided Xiuyang because of her clear hostility towards him, or was there another reason? [color=goldenrod]"Marceline, you mean,"[/color] he replied, [color=goldenrod]"and I think we let things die down a bit for today, but we let... I'd say her and... [i]Xiuyang[/i] in on the plan and start working to keep Margarethe feeling on the outs."[/color] He nodded slowly as he spoke. [color=goldenrod]"Then, we crank up the pressure even further tomorrow. Of course,"[/color] he added, [color=goldenrod]"at least some of it will have to depend on the weather."[/color] He started, as if a sudden idea had occurred to him. [color=goldenrod]"You know, the constabulatory or the cathedral would be ideal!"[/color] “Yes,” Evander replied as he moved past Johann. “They’ll see Margarethe for what she is.” He paused at the doorway, glancing back just long enough to add, “The cathedral. Until then… see you soon.” With that, he slipped out of the hearth room, heading to find Marceline and Xiuyang.[/hider][h2]Piecing Together A Plan[/h2][hider=**********] Xiuyang listened in silence, her focus on the two men. There seemed to be tension, but no outright hostility. When Roslyn brought up the preserved paper, she shrugged and produced it, handing it over to Laska. Despite everything they knew, it didn't help their biggest issue. Who was next? Anyone could be targeted and that left a lot of room for something to go wrong. Possible plans cropped up in Roslyn's head like ripen wheat until one idea stood above all others. Her stomach knotted then sank downward. It seemed the most logical, but it required a risk and if anything went horribly wrong... someone would die. And it would be all her fault. She swallowed down her anxiety. What other choice did they have? [color=#cbc66d]"I-I have an idea... but it will be risky. There's too many targets for us to watch. What if we set a trap?"[/color] Once the words were out, her back pressed harder against the wall. The girl realized there was no retreating now. [color=#cbc66d]"It's clear the third party wants conflict with the two groups. We have some individuals with influence on both sides that could ease the tensions. Marci, Edith and Johann-if we want to trust the latter two- with the town. Sadly, I think there's only Evander on the Revidian side."[/color] Roslyn didn't dare stop for fear she'd lose her nerve. [color=#cbc66d] "If word got back to the Von Mollerns, they might try to stop it."[/color] She picked at her sleeve, the greed stone hidden beneath, and took a deep breath. [color=#cbc66d]"Of course, it's fully up to the 'bait' if they are willing to risk it. If anyone else has a better idea, please say it now."[/color] [color=slateblue]"You forgot one Revidian,"[/color] Xiuyang corrected with a grin. [color=slateblue]"I am neither so prideful nor so weak that I'm unwilling to serve the role of bait."[/color] [color=598527]"I don't mind being bait,"[/color] Marceline was saying, [color=598527]"but I'm honestly not sure how much pull I have here or if the players would reveal -"[/color] Roslyn and Xiuyang felt the pinch message at the same time as their tethered friend carried on. [color=f26522][/color] It had a different feel from Marci's messages, and Edith's. [color=f26522][/color] [color=slateblue][/color] was Xiuyang's terse response. Her eyes probed Laska. Roslyn's eyes glanced at Xiuyang, seeing if she was the only one that felt the message. [color=598527]"I don't mean to throw cold water on things. I think the theory is sound, but -"[/color] Xiuyang received one message: [color=6ecff6][/color] Roslyn received another: [color=f26522][/color] In truth, the diffident Hendlish girl was the last person among the trustworthy who she'd have brought in by choice, but Roslyn had brought [i]herself[/i] in by finding the note. [color=598527]"...Evander really knows anyone either, though I could be wrong. I know his father's a big fish."[/color] [color=#cbc66d]"To be honest, I don't mind and am a bit glad. I am not eager to put anyone in danger. The waiting game is not ideal, really. "[/color] Roslyn's posture relaxed when someone found the flaws in her idea. [i][color=#cbc66d][/color][/i] Her pinch language was sloppy and needed refining, but it could get the job done. So, Laska [i]*did*[/i] want her to lie, even to make Roslyn look like a fool, when it was convenient for her—not that she could have possibly known what was convenient for the secretive Rezaindian. [color=slateblue][/color] Ingrid had listened and all she could think is that getting involved in an internal conflict within the town would never work out for her. But who cared at this moment, life was long. [color=8882be]"I could be bait. I was there at the Crypt, I grabbed both bodies, and I stopped them from killing the 3 of them."[/color] [color=slateblue]"That's a fair point. They probably are the most cross with you. If they choose to go after someone else, that might reveal something about their priorities,"[/color] Xiuyang offered in agreement. If the comment might've rebuked most people, Edyta Laska didn't even address it. [color=6ecff6][/color] [color=598527]"We just need to make them [i]think[/i] we're threatening their plan and whoever's behind the scenes will act,"[/color] Marceline replied. [color=598527]"The issue is that 'they' could be anyone. Any mysterious third party antagonist's gonna go after Ingrid for foiling their shit."[/color] She pursed her lips. [color=598527]"They need to catch someone red-handed that threatens the von Mollerns if they, indeed, have something to hide."[/color] [color=6ecff6][/color] [color=598527]"But [i]who[/i]?"[/color] Marci concluded, [color=598527]"And what should they be caught doing?"[/color] [color=6ecff6][/color] Roslyn had gone quiet for a moment when her attention caught her reflection in the glass. It hit her. [color=#cbc66d]"Me."[/color] [color=8882be]"That and soon to be half of the town."[/color] Ingrid chuckled nervously. [color=8882be]"Seems either way that we need to use the archives again for more research. Or blowing up the pipe organ."[/color] Ingrid suggested. Marci tilted her head. [color=598527]"I love the chutzpah, Rosy, but... you're not exactly a big glaring target most of the time, and I'm glad for it."[/color] [color=f26522]"That's church property, [i]cam'parii[/i],"[/color] growled Edyta. [color=f26522]"What is it with you and blowing things up?"[/color] She rolled her eyes. [color=f26522]"How do you know I don't?"[/color] Edyta smiled. [color=8882be]"Sound magic. It's connected and if there was a way to spread the command magic as far as possible, then the pipe organ might be used. Remember, everyone will gather there for Caldores."[/color] Ingrid spoke with a little bit of fear. She believes it would take place on the fourth night for that is the night of Eshiran. [color=slateblue] "Sorry, [i]*why*[/i] are we making Roslyn the bait?"[/color] Xiuyang asked with no small amount of skepticism. She blinked at Laska's blunt admission that she knew of Ingrid's nature yet hadn't killed her already, but she left that rabbit hole for a future investigation. [color=f26522][/color] Edyta replied. [color=f26522][/color] Wait - as Xiuyang glanced her way, was the nun... smirking ever so slightly? It was so faint and brief as to have surely been an artifact of the Revidian's imagination. [color=#cbc66d]"I guess I learned something new about you."[/color] Roslyn commented at Laska, her eyes narrowed a bit. She didn't quite know that word as she waited until everyone let her talk. Her attention returned to the earlier topic, [color=#cbc66d]"I'm honestly a bit surprised at you guys."[/color] She shook her head. [color=#cbc66d]"Who do I look like?"[/color] [color=598527]"Uh... your mom?"[/color] Marceline tried, arching an eyebrow. [color=598527]"Or like - "[/color] Then, she sat up straighter and her eyes widened. She pointed right at her friend. [color=598527]"Oh oh ooohhh!"[/color] she exclaimed. [color=598527]"You look just like Sibylle!"[/color] [color=8882be]"Ipte?"[/color] Ingrid said flirtatiously. Roslyn had just opened her mouth to speak when Igrid's words caused her to shut it instantly and abruptly blush. Edyta casually rested her hands on the hilts of her sickles. It had taken entirely too long, but whether Sister Laska realized it or not, Xiuyang had finally teased the smallest expression of trust out of her. She might have made a similar face unawares, as well. [color=slateblue]"Alright you two, do you need a room to yourselves?"[/color] Xiuyang quipped. [color=slateblue]"If we can account for Sybille's activities, it should be possible. She does seem like the sort to keep to a strict itinerary even on Caldores. Poor girl."[/color] [color=8882be]"She deserves more power. The way she bossed Bastian around was worthy of Dami's praise."[/color] Ingrid laughed. And then she thought, [color=8882be]"If she got caught, who would take Roslyn in? We might be able to learn their involvement since we would be searching up the von Mollerns."[/color] Marci nodded emphatically. [color=598527]"The Wachtmeister - Whatwashisname von Mollern! Oh, he'd be forced to abuse his power if his family had something to hide and we were getting too close. If he didn't,"[/color] she continued, [color=598527]"then it's a pretty good indicator that they're actually on the level."[/color] [color=6ecff6]"And do actual research,"[/color] added the Rezaindian laconically. She had managed to coax her hands away from their perennial drift towards her weapons. [color=6ecff6]"Is there anything else we need to know?"[/color] [color=#cbc66d]"I was a bit concerned about what little I learned about the heir. I feel like there might be something there."[/color] Roslyn finally managed to squeak out her words. Ingrid mouthed 'snow mouse' at the squeak. Xiuyang opened her mouth to say something to Laska, but then she shrugged and showed her open, empty hands. [color=slateblue]"If you're looking for a spar, you'll have to find another partner."[/color] She lifted herself back off of the wall she'd returned to leaning on. [color=slateblue]"Only what the boys are up to,"[/color] she offered. Once more, Edyta ignored the opening jibe. [color=6ecff6]"They're either fighting or scheming, neither of which is good,"[/color] she decided, offhandedly passing the note back to Roslyn. [color=6ecff6]"Oh, you were right to pick this up - it has Lady Frickmayer's name on it - but it just looks like a list for a servant going to market."[/color] She shrugged. Roslyn received a pinch from Xiuyang. No message, just a pinch. It felt like a kind of warning. [color=#cbc66d]"All right. I guess I will toss it out when I get a chance. Next we should figure out the audience with Lady Frickmayer. Don't think there's anything else to cover."[/color] Roslyn said, seemingly disappointed. Truthfully, she got the hint and slipped it into her pocket closest to Xiuyang. When the opportunity presented itself to do it without getting caught, Xiuyang patted Roslyn on the back to distract her while she pilfered the paper. Even though the distraction wasn't necessary, she did it anyway. Old habits, it seemed.[/hider]