Suspicious Stalker (Part 1)

Log Info

• Title: Suspicious Stalker (Part 1)

• GM: Aftershock

• Characters: Auranar, Corey, Magpie, Simony

• Place: Mithral Fork, Alexandria

All in all, there are some things that need celebrating! Magpie has successfully shouted the Society into publicly apologizing for the GROSS, HORRIBLE SLANDER AGAINST HER NAME, and that does merit celebration.

Observing that since that time she has been skillfully, but not perfectly, followed and spied on...

Well, that's less of a celebration-worthy event, but another excellent reason to invite her friends to dinner.

So, invite messages went out; to Auranar, Corey, and Simony, offering to buy a meal at the Mithral Fork, one of Alexandria's finer eating establishments.

And she even comes dressed in her finest clothes! ...Possibly some of all her finest outfits, because that many colors would probably not willingly be seen on a single outfit. And she does have every intention to drop a dizzying amount of gold on a single meal for four... But first, she must clue in her compatriots.

With a few murmured words and a few arcane gestures, she throws her hands up, causing a large flower made of harmless, glittery, illusory light to sprout from the center of the table. "To victory!"

Covered by the showy flash, she also lays a brief letter over the top of each of her compatriots' menus, for them and them alone to read.

<< So yes, I'm totally buying you all dinner here. But also I'm being followed, probably because there's a coverup going on over Professor Kinkade and his old friends. Right now my big reason to be here is I need help finding the guy tailing me, and with luck we can invite him to the table and have a very friendly chat about what they want. If we're not lucky, well... we have a nice dinner and start problems outside, after. Either way, grub's on me! >>

Fancy dinner, and shady doings! This cannot but be the best dinner.

Auranar arrives in a most fashionable dress in shades of brown and warm pink that complement and contrast nicely with her skin. The warm pink is the same shade as her hair assuming a nice meal out considering the establishment that Magpie had invited her to.

Thus it is some surprise when the letter appears before her and she reads the contents. Someone is following Magpie? Someone who might have to do with the disappearance of mages? This sounds serious. She folds the note away into her napkin and smiles at the other two at the table, realizing that she actually knows at least one of them if not well. "I'm Auranar by the way. Pleasure to get to know more of Magpie's friends."

Corey has arrived in his nicest-anything, which is... his mithral armor, cloak, and other accoutrements, because he's a Warden of Gilead and can get away wearing his usual gear for adventuring to a fancy event. After all, he is Cor'ethil Cari'thana! Sworn to defend the wilds! Sworn to protect mortalkind from aberrations and evil outsiders! And--

"To victory!" Corey cheers, holding a glass of water and smiling brightly. Yes, just water. Magpie is about to learn that her friend is a frustratingly cheap diner, often trying to assess if there's a 'secret' way to get more value out of an order on the menu for cheap. He's already surveyed the menu and has deduced that almost all of the specials are not worth his money. It's common in restaurants to upcharge for the limited-time item--

"It's nice to meet you again, Auranar." Corey's all smiles. He has to remember to pause his trains of thought to respond to people. Karasu's not here to quietly prompt him. "I hope you're doing well. Oh, erm, An, my twin sister--she wanted me to pass along the message that she hopes you're well." He gives a small sigh. "I don't understand why she has me playing courier..."

A fancy dinner, the perfect time and place to show off a bit of finery. A touch of power, too. But in moderation, as befitting a Temperence of Navos. Simony openly bears three affectations: her celestial chain is polished to a bright sheen, her simple tilted hourglass holy symbol dangling from a chain around her neck and a strand of prayer beads entwined around the wrist and fingers of her left hand.

Her robes have been replaced with a full length cloak, a dark coppery hue with a thick, bright blue border.

Once ushered to the table, the Goblin removes her helm. Long braids of white hair fall down her back, almost halfway to the floor.

"Good evening! I am sure you have all met me before, if only briefly for some. I am called Simony Smithsdottir. I know you, Auranar, through Telamon and Cor'lana. And you... You are Cor'ianthar? I am sorry if I abuse your name a little, but I know that you accept Corey as a suitable shortened version. Magpie, it is good to see you again, there is so much to catch up on..." Simony adjusts the pince-nez on her nose, quickly reading the letter, a frown forming momentarily before the grin returns. "You certainly know how to get me to show, free food. But dear... this is really expensive. Have you discovered the Unified Theory of Magic or somesuch?"

GAME: Corey rolls Perception: (10)+21: 31
GAME: Simony rolls perception: (18)+24: 42
GAME: Auranar rolls Perception: (5)+5: 10
GAME: Magpie rolls perception: (18)+13: 31
GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20: (4): 4

Shortly after Magpie's group settles in, a human-looking woman with brown hair and a scarf wrapped around the lower part of her face enters. Her dress is a bit commonplace, so the staff seem surprised by her presence, but they seat her anyways in a corner. She chooses the seat where she can observe your table and watches you over the edge of her menu.

"Corey, Simony, read the note," Magpie says out of the corner of her mouth, then lets the flower disappear in a burst of fast-fading glitter, plastering a smile on her face as the waiter comes in. "We might need a couple more minutes to choose... it all looks so wonderful! But if you could start us with a round of... wine, if you please? That'd be wonderful.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spots the new arrival... one that looks extremely out of place in these august settings, as she starts handing out the dessert menus. "So you know what you're saving room for!"

And, of course, more notes blip up on the dessert menus:

<< Over Auranar's right shoulder, the woman in the scarf. Don't actually look. I'm thinking I'm gonna invite her over after the soup course. Objections? >>

Auranar doesn't need the menu to know there's another note, but she quickly reads it anyway, feeling a chill up her spine that the enemy (possibly) is right behind her and she's not supposed to look. "I say the more the merrier Magpie." She offers warmly, hiding the second note with the first. She smiles warmly at Cor'ethil. "You can let your sister know I got the message. I am thankfully well. How is she?" It's a good conversation to use to pass the time. Particularly since she is curious.

GAME: Corey rolls Bluff: (4)+4: 8

"Aha! I'm Cor'ethil Cari'thana. So... close enough, but please just call me Corey," Corey says in reply to Simony, smiling in a good-natured way. "Archmage Telamon--I have to specify, as I understand his wife is also a fearsome sorceress in her own right--Lupecyll-Atlon is a good friend. He's helped my beloved and I quite a lot recently."

Corey turns his attention to the menus, where he looks at the notes, and his eyes widen. "Oh shit," he murmurs, before he remembers he needs to not look perturbed by the weird lady that he noticed. So...

In classic Corey fashion, he overdoes it. He laughs at Auranar. "Oh. She's good. Really good. Really good at driving me up the wall. She's been canvassing the libraries of Alexandria, and I think she's been checking out various books on sildanyari woodworking techniques that she read about two-hundred years ago in the original Sildanyari? But she's interested to see if maybe there's new remarks and materials in the Tradespeak translations. She's not even a woodworker. Although she seems to have found a new subject of fascination that she could carve wood about if she did--"

Whoops, almost gave away his poor sister's feelings. He laughs, as though that might bury it. "I'll let her know you said hi." Smooth, Corey.

The paladin also simply gives a thumbs-up to Magpie's answer. Increasingly Corey levels of smooth.

The Goblin smiles brightly. "I will have to pass on the wine, I've taken a vow of temperence when it comes to alcohol. But tea would be an acceptable replacement, please?" The last part is directed to the waiter. The dessert menu is read with interest, the message acknowledged with a slight shake of her head. "I've heard good things about the soups here. I think /everyone/ will find something to enjoy!"

Simony giggles lightly and sighs. "Dessert will be the death of me, I am sure."

The Goblin smacks her fist into her palm and bows slightly. "My apologies, I try very hard to get names correct. Corey is easier." She smiles brightly, seemingly amused at Corey's enthusiasm, and brotherly duty and dedication to his sister. "I feel that you're her older brother?", she wonders.

The woman at her table seems to see something note worthy because she pulls out writing materials and starts writing up a storm. Her quill sketches over the paper quickly, as if she's writing a manifesto at the dinner table.

This behavior seems to distress the staff further, but they focus harder on serving their other guests and ignoring the one in the... corner.

That she begins to write at the table is... unexpected, but, it really doesn't much change The Plan. And with a slight shrug, Magpie continues to enact The Plan! Which consists of... doing absolutely nothing but chatting with friends and drinking wine, until the waiter returns to collect their orders. For Magpie, it's 'Sil Onion Soup, then lamb curry, and rum-raisin cake for dessert. And--"

Hurriedly, Magpie fishes out a scrap of paper, and scribbles out a note. "Could you give a second one of my order to the lady with the pen? And this note, please."

<< If you want to know something you think I know, you can join us for dinner. None of us will bite, I promise. --Magpie >>

Auranar orders something a little less flavorful for her soup - cucumber - as well as a nice salad with chicken on it, and a piece of pie for later. She hopes she's not putting Magpie out too much with her order. She can't really see behind her, but she keeps a close eye on the expression of her companions to warn her if anything unusual happens.

Corey orders a very simple meal. Chicken and rice. It's easy for the chefs to make, and most importantly, it's one of the cheapest items on the menu that isn't a meal intended for a child. (He might have ordered one, but Karasu questioned him why when he tried to order one once, and the resulting silence was so awkward that Corey vowed never to do it again. He'd actually only tried before out of curiosity, as such a custom is not done in Llyranost--)

"So! Anyone see any fun shows in the Theatre District lately?" Corey asks. "How about that Felines show?" He politely doesn't mention the bawdy songs that are sung about Archmage Telamon's wife.

"I'll have the asopao de pollo, and the chicken alfredo for the main course, with the country salad. I'm willing to take your recommendation for a dressing, just nothing done with alcohol, please." She hums and haws over dessert. "Treacle, please, for the dessert."

Her gaze doesn't go to the 'suspicious' guest at all, but instead, surreptitiously, to the different ways out of the room. "I hear it's quite catty, Corey."

The woman gets the note and is informed of the food ordered on her behalf and one can see the expressions cross her face from a distance. Though not all might be able to read her emotions. In the end she pours some sand on her paper to dry the ink lines and bundles up her stuff to hastily saunter over to the table and sit down with the rest of you with great suspicion written on her face.

"So..." She eyes Magpie. "Care to admit the reason that the Arcanists Guild would apologize to a lowly member such as yourself? Or why you stole a cursed book from the Elunan temple?" She smiles slowly.

GAME: Magpie rolls sense motive: (9)+2: 11
GAME: Auranar rolls Sense Motive: (18)+3: 21
GAME: Corey rolls Sense Motive: (1)+2: 3 (EPIC FAIL)
GAME: Simony rolls sense motive: (11)+5: 16

Good gods this woman is just going right on the attack, never mind that she's getting free food and honest conversation...

Looking to her friends, Magpie sighs quietly to herself, then passes a hand down her face, plastering her brightest, friendliest smile on. "...Hi! I'm Magpie, that's my old friend Auranar Lupecyll-Atlon and my other old friend Simony Smithsdottir. Between the three of us, we managed to figure out how to seal away a major demon lord that was throwing minions all over the city." Picking up her wineglass, she tips it at Corey. "This is my new friend Corey, who's a paladin, and a really cool guy who was nice enough to catch the person who set my room on fire, and what was your name again? Cos if we're gonna be friends, I'm gonna need to know your name so I know who I'm buying dinner for because I'm not rich by trade so it was kinda weird to drop fifty gold worth of food on 'That girl with the pen.'"

"Anyway! Hello, good to meet you, and after you tell me your name I think I need to ask if I accidentally stole your bakery order? Cos I haven't a clue how I managed to upset you this much."

GAME: Magpie rolls diplomacy: (13)+12: 25
GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20: (12): 12
GAME: Auranar rolls Diplomacy: (6)+6: 12

Auranar seems to relax a little herself when the woman sits down at their table (at least the person isn't behind her anymore). She smiles thinly at the unnamed writer and eyes her prospectively. As if weighing her for a county fair. "Hello." She waves her fingers at the woman, her dark eyes glittering dangerously, but she tries to keep her voice civil. She only manages to a certain extent. "What is the source of your curiosity about such things? Accusing someone at dinner is hardly polite you know."

Corey stares at this woman, trying to assess her plans. He can't get a read on her. His mind's on too many tracks of thought. He's apart from Karasu, so much of his mind is occupied on the fact that he wishes Karasu was here. He wishes that he could have convinced Ansír to come along so he didn't have to play messenger and be so awkward with Auranar. He hopes his mother's okay (and he's also worrying about her too). He thinks about his sisters and how he'd been almost ready to tell Simony about his oldest sister and his twin sister, who's actually just slightly older than he is by a few minutes, and...

"Hey."

The word drops out of Corey's mouth. He's usually smiling. He's not smiling. This was supposed to be a dinner with friends, and he was supposed to be having fun, even if it was also a dinner with friends with a Plan. And right now, he's not going to be that bright and cheerful paladin of Gilead.

He's going to be his mother's son, even if he's not very good at walking in his mother's path.

"I think you owe Magpie an apology." Corey says this very seriously. "What has she done to you? She invites you to our table, she pays for your food, and then you come over here and you... You're rude." Which is, in Corey's mind, one of the absolute worst things anyone can ever be. "For no reason!" And that's even worse.

The Goblin tries to keep an impassive visage, but she is not her God, and happens to be FOND of her gremlin friend. Her right hand bangs the table, making a few of the glasses dance momentarily. "Lowly? That is a poor way to repay hospitality, insulting your host." Her frown is immense, with a little bit of snaggletooth showing.

GAME: Corey rolls Intimidate: (1)+4: 5 (EPIC FAIL)
GAME: Corey rolls Intimidate: (7)+4: 11
GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20: (14): 14

The woman frowns at Corey. "Not everyone is polite, and in my business it's better to ask and hope for answers than lay around pretending to be something I've never been." She frowns at Auranar and Simony as well, but doesn't bother to talk to either. She instead focuses on Magpie. "I have a name, but you can't have it. Just in case one of your friends is one of those fiends that steals names." She looks at each of you suspiciously. "It's Kebba Hairte and I'm going to get to the bottom of this, so you might as well answer my questions."

GAME: Corey rolls Knowledge/Local: (17)+7: 24

"Kebba..." Corey murmurs the name, and then he blinks, silver eyes widening. "Oh! I recognize your pen name. You're that Crimson Pen writer! I heard you've been trying to get a by-line at the Tribune lately." Here Corey flushes a little. "I actually really liked your last book, Gravity... But I asked the bookseller if they had any others recently by you, and he said no. Said he heard something about your last two publications being 'erratic'. Is everything okay?"

Suddenly he looks entirely empathetic at Kebba. "Do you need a muse? I've heard it's like that for romance book writers. All I know is... That last book you wrote about? Your dark, tall, and handsome protagonist reminded me of my husband-to-be. Maybe you'll get your muse back if you talk to him?" He has entirely forgotten the whole thing with Magpie... Or so it seems.

Crimson Pen Writer

Magpie's eyes go wide; she has read Gravity, but in the same way that she reads all Crimson Pen novels, and right about now would be a baaaaaaad time to clue this new person into her hobby of vocal literary critique.

...But she wants to transition into Serious Journalism. O... kay. That is... a thing that could probably happen.

"What is the 'this' you want to get to the bottom of, though? I might have answers, but it'll help if I know what actual questions I'm answering, y'dig?"

The frown doesn't leave, but Simony refrains from banging the table again. For now.

The name adds another line or two to the frown-furrow on her forehead as she puzzles over the name. Then Corey adds the relevant information, and the frown vanishes. It's not a smile, and not a frown, but there is a hint of amusement. "Melaton and Nor'Cala: The Groom's Tail.", she says dryly.

"Split the fanclub for a while with that one. Both with the innuendo with the word tail... and the insinuation that the protagonist has an actual tail."

Auranar has never in her life read a crimson pen novel. (Not outside her own home at least.) She flushes at the words and makes as if she's busy with her food for a long moment. She doesn't want to give away that she's actually read the novels. Auranar watches the others converse with the woman though and politely (not so politely kicks Cor'ethil under the table. Then smiles sweetly at him. "I'm told paladins have a real eye for these things."

The woman flushes with pleasure at having her name recognized. "I've always wanted to work for the Tribune. At least a little! I wanted it since I was a girl but... I've a real talent for the Crimson Pen." Kebba flushes a little deeper. "I'm the one that wrote the Dol/Kikilos pairing! I even had a great idea for a pairing a short time ago for our... series but they shot me down... Now my pen is writing nothing."

She sighs sadly and then rubs her head. "I've been having so much trouble sleeping that I can't seem to get my usual stories in and all I can think is how I've wasted my life thus far writing for a trashy novel collection!"

Kebba looks at Corey with wide eyes, and then Magpie. "But you did take a cursed book from the Elunan temple didn't you? The description of the culprits match you and your pink-haired friend exactly!"

"We're also the ones who gave it to the Elunan Temple for safekeeping," Magpie says mildly. "The whole point was to keep it away from, again, the minions of a greater demon lord. And before I go on, some of this stuff I need you to promise is off the record. No maybes, no lying, I say 'this is off the record' then you don't write about it. Not because I wanna make your life harder, but... Like, I thought the person who was following me had more to do with the nonsense around the fire and the actual slander of my good name. I need to keep some secrets so people don't know I or we know."

Finishing her soup, Magpie leans back in her chair, still favoring Kebba with a friendly smile. "If you can agree to that, then I'll answer any question you want! Save the heavy stuff for over dessert though. I really did want to celebrate my victory with my friends, see."

Auranar nods her agreement with Magpie, though she doesn't like the other woman sharing secrets before securing a promise of silence. She can't help it now though and she eyes Cor'ethil carefully, hoping that he's gotten her secret message. At least it doesn't seem like anyone else has.

"Huh?" Corey says as he looks at Auranar, and then he blinks. He eyes Kebba as Magpie talks about the offer... And then he squints.

"Oh." The word leaves him, and then he yawns, putting his hand on the top of his head for a moment that's just a bit too long, petting down his own hair like something's out of place. "Well. You know. I really rather like other forms of literature myself."

He smiles brightly. "Have you ever heard of a book called Aminaeri, by Lady Pasi Neithi'ariandra? It's a book of poetry in the New Sildanyari School tradition of bardic poetry, which actually isn't that new by human standards. One of my favorite poems goes like, and you'll have to pardon my rough recollection..."

He clears his throat.

"Feunda

Il

Enis

Nori'mana

Dracith

Maritha'mallo

Amenualis

Raturose

Katade

Enis

Dieni."

Corey smiles a little. "It's a bit of an odd form of contemporary, or near-contemporary sildanyari poetry that uses singular words or phrases for each line, but I feel it's rather thoughtful."

GAME: Magpie rolls sense motive: (12)+2: 14

The Frown<tm> is back as Simony blinks, something seemingly not sitting well with the diminutive woman. She looks to Auranar briefly, and then to Magpie. That book. She helped Magpie render it safer, a demon was carefully excised, preserving the book's integrity.

Then Corey begins quoting some lovely poetry, the Goblin happy to have spent the time learning the language. "Your future husband is quite lucky." The furrow returns again... Waaaait a second. Simony grins. "Magpie. Say no more.", she says as she stands up. "Jacob sends his regards, Koz'gon."