Roleplay from Jessica Gildre
"LADY JESSICA!"
The shout made several guests jump, and Jessica quickly turned in surprise. Before her stood a young warrior she had never seen before, clad in armor. Quickly, she spared a glance back at the masked man who was currently admiring the massive tapestry on the wall, then turned back to the loud woman just as she continued.
"Maura Arnickles Renodin, at your service."
Jessica broke a small smile and inclined her head towards the woman, but paused and raised an eyebrow at the warrior when she spoke her family name.
Roleplay from Maura Arnickles Renodin
Seeing her interlocutor's surprise at the name, Maura just waved her hand in the air and doing her best not to slur the words she said - "Yes, there is some relation, but forgive me, the ins and outs of our pedigree are a bit too hazy for my not entirely sober mind."
Careful not to make any blunders, Maura adopted a tactic to swiftly change subjects, not allowing for any of them to linger for more than a minute. A socialite trick she learnt from the most adapt courtly noble lady she knew. That particular trick never failed her, altough admittedly it wouldn't have much chance to fail her, since she never used it before.
After a quiet couple of seconds Maura said, noting Jessica's wordless welcome: "Person of few words, I see? I don't mind, I'm a taciturn creature myself..." - and raising a cup of wine she commented - "... takes a couple of these to get more than one sentence at a time out of me."
Proud of her social skills she changed the subject again:
"Quite a gathering of peculiar characters you have here, my lady." - she half-whispered in conspirational tone and subtly indicated the masked knight with her eyes.
Roleplay from Jessica Gildre
Jessica nodded, and also looked towards the masked man. Her brow narrowed slightly. Was he familiar to her? How could he be? He was wearing a mask. Still... there was something...
Quickly, Jessica looked back to Maura, smiled, and raised her glass towards her. Then she took a long drink of her wine.
Roleplay from Gythrul Attano
Gythrul was aware of being watched. He turned slightly and saw two women out of the corner of his eye. Lady Gildre and one he had run into earlier.
He turned on his heel and walked over to them.
“Lady Gildre.†He rasped, bowing slightly. “It is an honour to meet you under more favourable circumstances. I am Gythrul Attano.â€
He turned his head to regard the stranger.
“I don’t believe I am familiar with you, My Lady. You are?â€
Roleplay from Jessica Gildre
“Lady Gildre.†He rasped, bowing slightly. “It is an honour to meet you under more favourable circumstances. I am Gythrul Attano.â€
Jessica's eyes widened as the masked man spoke his name. She stumbled backward away from him and spit on the ground. Frantically, she looked for a weapon, silently cursing the dress.
Desperately, she pulled a fire poker from a rack beside the hearth and spun back to point it at Gythrul. She heard Bryant let out a shout at her disturbance, and within a moment several guards charged into the parlor. They looked for an enemy, confused, and only found Jessica pointing the fire poker at Gythrul, her hand shaking visibly.
Roleplay from Maura Arnickles Renodin
"Lord Gythrul, I am pleased to meet you. My name is Maura Arnickles R..." - she got interrupted by the hostess of the evening pointing an improvised weapon at the newly met knight. She swiftly unsheathed her scimtar only to be reminded that the handle lacks a blade, making it completely useless in fight. She immediately sobered up, internally cursing the lapse of attention. Even unarmed she still instinctively stood next to Lady Jessica in defensive stance and asked: "M'Lady are we in peril? Is there an assassin behind that mask?"
Roleplay from Gythrul Attano
Gythrul chuckled as Jessica brandished the fire poker. It was an unpleasant sound, a skeleton laughing.
“Lady Gildre. My reputation appears to still be strong. I wonder if it’s Keffa or my actions in general that has provoked you.†Another chuckle. He turned to Maura.
“A pleasure to meet you Lady Maura. Fear not, I am only the Last Tongue of the Gods, Defiler of Keffa and Apostate. I served the Daimons during the ‘Invasion’.†He explained, eyeing off the guards.
“This show of force is quite unnecessary, My Lady.â€
Roleplay from Jessica Gildre
Jessica looked around frantically. The guards just stood there, not moving. Other nobles were looking at her with odd expressions.
What was going on??
"Cousin!" a voice from the crowd commanded, "Settle your arm. Danger does not face you here tonight."
From between several nobles Sir Lavitz entered the room. A hush fell on the room, and Jessica stared at her cousin, mouth agape in surprise, exposing her stump of a tongue. Lavitz had not been seen for months, since before Jessica had landed on the shores of Obia. He had been locked away in his estate, deep in meditation and prayer. He had grown a long, unkempt beard and wore simple brown robes. He moved forward to stand next to Gythrul.
"There are forces at work here of which you have no knowledge, cousin," he said to her, "The Oracle and the Inquisition have their own affairs in his matter. Trust that is taken care of... even if I do agree it is troublesome to have one as Damned as he in our midst."
Jessica shook her head. She wanted to scream. Her face was red, and tears welled in her eyes. She grasped the poker with both hands, trying to stop her hands from shaking.
Roleplay from Maura Arnickles Renodin
'A daimon servant in the holy realm? Is he mocking us?' - Maura thought.
"Sir Gythrul, a splendid joke, as we both know if that were true statements you would be enjoying Grand Inquisitor's hospitality by now." - Maura said, not entirely convinced with her own words. There 'was' something disturbing about this man but she couldn't really put finger on it.
She said: "Good jesting knight, why don't you take off your mask, so we can all feel more comfortable?"
Roleplay from Goriad II Gabanus
After finishing his conversation with Alacrix (Ooc, hope we can finish it. Long live time warp) Goriad II was drawn to a scene elsewhere in the room. Guards were rushing in and there was talk of a fight.
He arrived just after Lavitz did, in time to see Jessica's shaking hands pointing the rod at a man in armour and a mask. He was about to interfere untill he saw Maura's large posture. It was unmistakable as there were few women of her size. "You!" He said as he gazed right into Maura's eyes "I searched the whole south for the two of you, where is she?"
He did not pay heed to the man Jessica was pointing a weapon at and as such was even unaware of who he was. With all the guards he figured the man could be no real threat.
Roleplay from Maura Arnickles Renodin
Shifting her gaze from Gythrul to Jessica and back again a couple of times Maura was oblivious to the gathering around them and whom it was composed of, until a certain voice shifted her attention entirely. A voice that also shifted her posture from battle-ready to completely defeated. "You!" - a shout sounded, shortly followed by the sharp sound of the bladeless handle of her sword hitting the stone floor. Maura knew to whom the voice belonged and whose stare will her eyes meet. "Grand Inquisitor" - she whispered looking straight at him.
"I searched the whole south for the two of you, where is she?" - said Goriad II.
Maura failed to hold his gaze as her eyes fell on the floor and she said in complete surrender: "she's with the Veiled Goddess now."
Roleplay from Goriad II Gabanus
Maura did not meet his gaze and said: "she's with the Veiled Goddess now."
Goriad II shook his head "Impossible, none of us can reach Obeah's world, not untill we weaken the veil between our worlds."
He paused a moment to let his words sink in and then continued: "What happened to her?"
Roleplay from Jessica Gildre
Jessica looked disbelievingly between Lavitz and Goriad II. She then turned her glare back to Gythrul, threw the fire poker on the ground, and stormed from the room.
Roleplay from Maura Arnickles Renodin
"Impossible, none of us can reach Obeah's world, not untill we weaken the veil between our worlds,†said Goriad II. A moment later he asked: "What happened to her?"
To the theological remark Maura replied - "That may be so..." - and shook her head, whith her eyes still motionlessly transfixed at the useless clunker of a weapon dropped to the floor, and continued - "... after all she was the one to read all about our faith, not me."
She calmed her voice before answering the question - "On our way between Bolkenia and Cagamir... Jarra died." - the name of her friend was heavier than the cornerstone of the building in Maura's mouth and her vocal chords were heaving it with equal amounts of shame and pride.
