Here But For You

It's midday, the sun is high in the sky though sadly protected from prying eyes by a thick, black layer of snow clouds, which slowly let out a steady, delicate fall. A few inches in the morning, a few more predicted at night. Fun for the kids of the city, not so much for the merchants who still have to make a living. Volunteers with shovels clear walkways to keep things moving, and along one of these freshly cleared ways, a small pile of furs moves about. This pile, topped with a wild growth of bright red hair, appears to be browsing, funnily enough, at more furs, perhaps considering adding some white to her mass of browns and blacks.

Following at a proper distance from the pile of furs is a man. Human-looking by his appearance he stands out for his robes which are more suited to a desert environment than the cold winter of Alexandria at the moment. He has shaggy black hair atop his hair and dark eyes, but his complexion is pale. It's hard to gauge where he might be from just from these things, he has a sort of look that is foreign but doesn't harken back to any particular location. As if he doesn't really belong anywhere. He doesn't seem to be trying to draw attention to himself, but he doesn't really seem to be trying not to draw attention to himself either.

Carver is leading Deathless through the streets, a fetish chain of winterberries attached to both of their cloak's. She will never completely discard the furs, but they are a little thinner today, less layers upon her hide armor and her right arm kept free. Sign of her adventuring since her primary skill is that of an archer.

She does pause briefly to speak with a merchant, a vendor who seems to be a common scribe selling a collection of maps and trinkets.

GAME: Carver casts Endure Elements. Caster Level: 9 DC: 14

Skyler has arrived.

Rocky moves slowly in the cold, his armored bulk moving from stall to stall with quiet curiousity. Steel armor isn't the best for winter wear, but padding underneath helps. Solid boots keep the snow off his feet, and a deep green cloak keep the snow off his back. That's good enough.

A small haystack of color catches his eye, the bright red contrasted with the wintery grey. Smol. Fur. A combonation that drags attention along for a look. Huh. Neat. All sorts of intresting people in the city.

"... Yes, I think it's called an Ion torch?" Skyler is in the market, wearing his usual leather greatcoat and his sword across his back, haggling with a man in rather threadbare wizard-ish robes selling off a blanket with a sign that says 'Magik Wheres: discunted'.

Hopefully he's better at magic than he is spelling, because Skyler, in true Skyler fashion, doesn't seem to be making much sense. "It was like a little moon spinning around his head! Reminded me of when I get hit on the head really hard and start seeing little birds spinning around my head and it lit up and it was *so*. *Fucking*. *COOL*!" He pauses, putting hands on his hips, "And I want one. Do you have one?"

The small pile of furs topped with bright red hair moves away from the fur stand, only to pause, slowly turning towards the odd figure of the young man that doesn't belong anywhere. Eyes narrow, staring for several moments before the pile changes direction and heads towards him. Along the way, the pile glances to armoured man, and horse leading Carver, but her attention is fixated on the young man... "You've been following me." Not a question, a statement, delivered with a little accusation, "You've been following me for days."

The man stops as the little pile of furs turns on him, his dark eyes narrowing. He's still some distance from the woman beneath them so her words are clear to be heard and his response comes just as clearly. "Not just you." He motions toward Skyler standing over at the 'Magik Wheres' shop. "But that one seems to notice me less. Or perhaps he does not care."

<OOC> Aftershock says, "To be clear the man is quite young. He seems about sixteen or so."

Money changes hands. Carver leaves with mysterious maps. The scribe has his few platinum coins. The ranger tucks them away into her belt, turning away in time to see Halia approach a man who looks very out of place. A curious tilt of her head is given but while she knows the story of the mysterious stalker? Not enough details to put it together. Instead, she goes to leave until Skyler's voice is recognized, pausing near his stall to listen in. Why not?

Where else is she needed for today?

It's a kneejerk impulse, swiftly overridden by cultural standards, situation specifics, and some touch of situational awareness. But it's enough to keep Rocky openly watching the conversation between the fur clad halfling and the young human male.

People seem to think that Skyler is as thick as two short planks of wood. And while it's true he's not the brightest Ioun torch to circle the ol' noggin, he is far from unobservant. Pale grey-green eyes seem to be focused on the poor magic merchant who lifts his thread-bare hat to scratch the bald spot it covers, focusing on a liver spot in his confusion, but...

His shoulders are tense as he pointedly *doesn't* look at Halia and the return of the creepy kid. Not even after the merchant finally realizes what the excitable (ex) Sky-Pirate is talking about and sends him on his way with a muttered grumble about 'condescending humans'.

Skyler seems to disappear into the crowd abruptly, finding a wide-set dwarf and crouching low on the ground so the little man's broad belly hides him from the kid and Halfling as he attempts to sneak up.

<OOC> Skyler says, "Does a fat dwarf give me full cover or half-cover?"

"Irrelevant. I can't speak for him, I can only speak for myself. So." The pile of furs moves closer, clearly not interested in speaking too loudly even in this public place, "I doubt anything I said would have changed Jarik's mind, I doubt anything I did would have changed anything at all in fact, so, I ask you, why you follow me. Do you want something? Am I cursed? Are you waiting for a time to strike and kill me?" Her tone doesn't offer suggestions of anger, just pure curiosity, like she wouldn't be upset if any of the above were true.

GAME: Skyler rolls stealth: (9)+4: 13

GAME: Halia rolls perception: (5)+9: 14

GAME: Carver rolls perception: (18)+15: 33

Despite the fact that the sun is hidden away, the light is enough for the living, golden statue to be almost blinding. The Sith stands stock still, unblinking, as he takes in the colourful market. So many people!

Tonameyo spends another several minutes just absorbing the scene, before he rubs his hands together gleefully, and wades into the throng.

"Oopsss, pardon me. Oh my! Ack, ssorry!" His tail is all over the place, the Sith seemingly unused to a crowd. He has to stop every so often to pick someone up, or some dropped basket or crate after his tail's knocked them over or down. "Sso sssorry! May the Sun warm your face this day! Goodnessss... I did not know it was possible for you to bend that way. Do not be alarmed, thiss one can heal it back!"

The golden Sith approaches an apparently animated pile of furs with red hair. "Cursssed? You should go to a temple if you are cursssed. Thiss one can ssuggesst the temple of the Platinum Dragon for such a thing."

The young man watches Skyler's antics for a few moments before returning his attention to Halia. "I can not say for certain. I would consider you cursed, but then perhaps you would not. I am not waiting to kill you, but perhaps you will die in any case. The choice is not mine." He spreads his hands a little.

Carver watches as Skyler crouches behind a jolly dwarf, rubbing at her left cheek with her knuckles. Distracted. Until Deathless bumps her with her nose, and she reaches up and scratches her companion behind her ears with a laugh. "Always a sight here in the markets, eh?" She determines it's for the best that she does not understand what the 'rehabilitated' rogue to instead take in the rest of the square. The near-glowing Sith is a beacon of itself, and she gives Halia's conversation with the strange young man a second look. She is not a gifted people person but the body language becomes clearer the more she observes. Hmmm....

Rocky blinks as a golden distration arrives, only to itself join with the former center of attention. And then there's the topic. "Curse? What is this of a curse?" The greyscale steps closer, taking active intrest in what's going on... if not utterly clear as to what IS going on.

Tonameyo has reconnected.

"Riddles." Halia states, raising her chin slightly, which isn't very far at all, considering she has to look up to the boy, "So I might be cursed, I might die but it's not up to you? What /is/ up to you, why do you follow me?" Voices are heard from her peripheries, Sith appear to be curious beings, one armoured, one golden, each is addressed in turn, "This boy, who may or may not exist, is following me around. He warned myself and others about a course of action we undertook for the guild, appearing to be opposed to it."

A Sith smile can be a scary thing, full of sharp pointed teeth. Tonameyo is cognizant of this fact, and goes to great effort to not show off his pearly whites. But his expression is full of boundless cheerfulness. "Ah, my greysscale kin. It is wonderful to ssee you.", he says to Rocky.

But then Halia speaks, and the gold-scale Sith's expression begins to drop as he listens. His tone is still cheerful as he nods and says, "It iss well..." A pause, and his nostrils work at the air. "Miss. This boy will not cause you harm this day."

Tonameyo's expression darkens further as he regards the aforementioned boy. "Explain yoursself. It will not do to threaten people here." A golden hand casually drops onto the pommel of the longsword sheathed at his belt.

Does Skyler successfully sneak up? No. He's about halfway to his goal when the fat dwarf turns left when he goes right, and he's left exposed. He freezes, before straightening up, popping the lapels of his greatcoat, and casually saunters up...

...in a flanking position with Tonameyo, his sword hilt oh so close to his hand. "I suspect he isn't human." Skyler says quietly, with uncharacteristic seriousness in his voice, "He won't answer a direct question and speaks in metaphors and uses big words." He scratches his jaw, "People that want to keep the end of the world happening are pretty free with *what* the end of the world will be." He pauses, "What's in the box, creepy kid?"

"Nothing." The boy says grimly, in response to Halia's question. "Or so little as to be unimportant." He glances toward the others asking about the curse, but has no answers for them. Nor does he reply to the implication that he may or may not exist.

He does however seem amused with the way that Tonameyo's hand falls to his sword, offering a faint humorless smile. "Your weapon can not harm me." Of this he seems very certain. "You should keep it sheathed lest you hurt yourself or an innocent in trying. Besides, I am not threatening. Simply stating fact. If you find the facts threatening then that is an issue you should take with another not I."

Then his eyes turn toward Skyler and he nods respectfully. "Finally a wise question, but one I can not answer. I have been forbidden to tell anyone." Yet there's a certain manner to the way that he says this, as if he is trying to offer a hint by the very way he is saying it.

'May or may not exist'? That sounds like a ghost. Ghosts give curses. As a warning. Right, that makes sense. Ghost just trying to do his job.

Rocky's focus shifts back to Halia. Not mad, just a little disappointed. "Is wise to listen to warning of a guardian. Guild works very hard, but is not all knowing." Turning his attention to the mysterious boy, the grey scale is polite. "Is there a treasure to be returned?" There's always a treasure to be returned in the bard tales. Sometimes those are accurate.

"Are you hoping they will lead you to the one the box was delivered to?" Carver asks as she finally joins the crowd. She isn't sure he's a ghost, too... aware of himself. Not consumed with an obsession. Whatever that may be. Something grander? Something more terrifying? Probable. Or a really gifted liar.

<OOC> Aftershock says, "Perception rolls :D"

GAME: Halia rolls perception: (3)+9: 12

GAME: Tonameyo rolls perception: (12)+8: 20

GAME: Carver rolls perception: (14)+15: 29

GAME: Rocky rolls perception: (11)+13: 24

GAME: Skyler rolls perception: (17)+10: 27

"I don't feel threatened." Halia offers to the golden figure, her words soft, "I don't believe he is even a danger, but I think--" The small pile of furs glances towards the armoured Sith, nodding once, "--I think you might be right. Returning the box might be the best idea. I don't need to know what's in it, it's not important, and--" Once more she pauses to look at Carver, "I don't think he's ghost either. Not do I think he's ending the world. But it seems we might have to make this right."

Tonameyo's cheerful snort is followed by a shrug. "The blade itsself may not harm you, however thiss one is a sshaman of the Platinum Dragon. What the blade alone may not do, spell and ritual can make up for."

"Hah. I am not ssome neonate with a shaky hand. Thiss one doess not harm innocentss. And it iss not the truth that iss threatening, but the manner which you sspeak it."

The golden-scale Sith grows still, only the blinking of his nictilating membrane proof of life. His eyes bore into the 'boy'. "Tssssa. What iss it that you want? What iss it you require to passs on to your deserved resst, hmm?"

At first, Skyler looks slightly taken aback at being called 'wise', even just by implication. His brow furrows, almost like he's disturbed by that observation before he shakes his head and snorts. "Well, you're obviously not fae." He says bluntly to the kid, "Even the most ickle twee pixie knows how to bend rules better than you do."

He glances over the kid, and then pointedly at his feet. "So I'm gunna assume... psychic imprint? Ghost? Defense of whatever's in the box?" He scratches his jaw, "I assume you're not some sort of projection or else the Ward everyone creams over would block you, wouldn't it?"

And then abruptly Skyler reaches up to ruffle the kid's hair. That or stick a hand through his forehead, whichever happens.

To everyone's surprise - likely even Skyler's - but not the boy's, Skyler's hand actually touches hair. Soft, fluffy, slightly warm hair. And the snow starts to collect in it. The young man looks at Tonameyo unhappily. "I do not know that I will ever find rest. But that box must not remain in the hands that it remains within. As the wise one said; I am not fae. It is not in my nature to be disobedient." He lifts his hand and takes Skyler's hand in his own. It feels very human. He takes a small link from the mithral shirt that Skyler is wearing and turns toward Halia, reaching out toward her and plucking a single hair from her head. It's flame-red in his fingers as he curls it into his palm with the link.

"I must return to my Master." The young man says, sounding solemn and sad.

GAME: Tonameyo rolls knowledge/religion: (9)+5: 14

GAME: Carver rolls knowledge/religion: (17)+3: 20

<OOC> Tonameyo says, "ERm. I would like to reroll mine. :)"

GAME: Tonameyo rolls knowledge/religion: (20)+5: 25

<OOC> Skyler says, "Can I roll sleight of hand to yank some of his hair out?"

<OOC> Aftershock stares at Skyler

GAME: Halia rolls knowledge/arcana: (9)+4: 13

Rocky is indeed surprised at physical contact. This raises new concerns. As does the claiming of tokens, though this sith stays in place. "'Master'? What Master?"

GAME: Skyler rolls sleight of hand: (1)+9: 10 (EPIC FAIL)

<OOC> Aftershock says, "There is a free reroll Sky"

GAME: Skyler rolls sleight of hand: (20)+9: 29

Curious, but not offended, Halia allows the hair to be taken, if anything it's a rather sweet gesture even if it gives her a little sting. "Wish him well for me, please, and I invite him to talk directly. This is a problem I wish to solve." She pauses, considering, "And you do not need to watch me, I invite you to join me. We can speak whenever you wish, though Boris may become curious of you."

"Golden songbird," Carver says with a disgusted expression. "I thought that was just legends, another horror story of old Charn. Yous might have handed him off *to* his master."

Skyler *is* surprised, but he's nothing if not resourceful. He ruffles the teen's hair as if he were a young child not someone less than five years younger. And even as a link of his chain mail is taken, he holds on to the boy's hair so a few strands are tugged out.

"Golden songbird? Is he a Castrati? Is that why he's so pretty?" Skyler asks Carver, frowning, "My great-uncle was one of those. Made me glad my singing voice was described as 'grating' by even my mother."

The gold-scale Sith straightens, and stiffens. "To deny ssomeone their resst is an affront to the natural way.", he says, the cheerfulness finally having drained from his voice. A harder tone creeps in.

A golden hand curls into a golden fist, the knuckles cracking, the tendons straining. "It iss ssaid that thiss thing is not posssible yet here one sstandss... thosse blassphemerss did thiss in the name of the Platinum Dragon."

"Where and whom iss your masster? Where iss thiss box?" These are asked of the boy, and Halia, respectively.

"Perhaps I will... join you." The young man says, looking at Halia, but he doesn't sound as though he has much hope that he'll be able to. His eyes slide to Carver and he nods once. Seriously. "They did at that."

Then he steps away from the group, even as Tonameyo asks his question the young man shakes his head. "Even if I wanted to answer one of your ilk... I can not." Others will have to answer for him it seems. He vanishes then, disappearing without a trace.

Rocky says, “.....This One is very confused." Rocky turns to the other as the apperition disappears. "So... was a box in a place with a job, and now there is a box in a different place, a ghost, a master, and maybe a curse?”

"In Dran, my Mada, she tol' me a story once." Carver says, as she turns to Skyler. "It was to scare me of course, but, in the older days, some cults would ply young boys with sweet candied toxins and boil them slowly in gold, so their sacrifice would be endless wealth at their eternal torment. I don't know what this Castrati is but they're more of a... genie, or jhinn, but not really tied to the elements."

"The box might have contained his bones and he is now the, eh, 'golden songbird' of an evil man. For only someone like that would keep such things in their pockets, yous understand?"

Halia sighs softly, glancing to the golden one with a shrug, well, the pile of furs she is shifts a little, so it's probably a shrug, "A man who went through the guild has it, we handed it over as part of the job. Seemed like the best thing to do at the time. We're going to have to ask for it back, or... find another way." She shakes her head rapidly, hops in the air a few times to clear her head, her mop of hair bouncing with her, "I'm not sure I want to be cursed." To answer Rocky's question, she simply nods.

The golden Sith's sadness lasts only a few moments, before the cheerful demeanor returns. "That one iss a being known as a Djinn. A genie. A young boy, weakened with poissson, and then boiled alive in gold. It iss ssaid it hass never worked. Perhapss a lie... perhapss a truth hidden behind a lie. Thiss one knowss not."

Tonameyo looks to Halia, and he crouches way down that he might look her in the eye. "Thiss one will travel with you to assk for the box, or to learn of itss whereaboutss. Then we can free that one. This one would not like you to be curssed, either."

"And hair! We got hair!" Skyler proudly holds up the chunk he pulled off the 'songbird', grinning at Rocky, adding, "Yeah, went to this weird place in the desert, killed some weird glowy bugs. I got bitten by an ant that vomited acid on me, very traumatic."

Which is ironic since what CArver describes *is* legitimately traumatic, and his jaw snaps shut, grin disappearing. "Gods of my fathers." He says slowly, sounding faintly horrified, "I should have *looked*. I had the damn box, I considered looking at it, and decided to throw it to Jarik to 'do the right thing'."

He shakes his head, and glances over at the golden Sith. "I'm in, too. Jarik as well, maybe. That sounds like an affront to the Gods, and he's weirdly devote."

"Not your fault... but your responsibility." Carver agrees.

Halia looks Tonameyo in the eye, though, unless he's laying on the ground, her two foot height means that she still has to raise her gaze to his, "What makes you think I'm the best one for this task? I can tell you safely, that I'm not. This is a task for people who know the Guild and its rules, which is not me. So, I can help, but I can do no more than that."

"Thiss one doess not know if you are besst. But you have more information about the box than thiss one does. Sso your help iss dessired, if you are willing to do that?" The golden Sith nods. "Jusst sso, your help is welcome, little Miss."