Tsuiraku-town, part 2

[kagome_kino]

Maya began wandering around the house calling out names at random "Miss.Laya ,Mr. Rhett?..." she was bored and pretty hungery and didn't know what was edible in the kitchen andwithout her belonging currently stuck "are we playing hide and seek?" she called out as she searched the house.

[Graybeard]

Maya's wanderings took her into the back bedroom just as the levitating Nera was starting to move slowly and carefully toward the open window, still sound asleep. [OOC: Feel free to react to this little oddity...]

-----------

"I am sorry to say you appear to have no unique capabilities in conjuration or evocation," Lifemage Madori told Layla in a rather formal tone of voice. They'd repeated the exercise with the pewter mug that Soc had used back in Kugelheim, what seemed like an incredibly long time in the past even though it was only two weeks at most, to convince Layla that she did have magical potential. However, it wasn't really any easier for her now, despite her growing command of the magic around her.

"I'm not too disappointed," Layla said, panting slightly; the conjuration magic seemed like hard work. "There really isn't much need for repairing pewter mugs in my line of work." The humor, or irony or sarcasm or whatever it was, seemed to pass over Madori without leaving a trace, and she didn't push it. If she understood correctly, limits on her capacity for "conjuration" might mean she'd never be able to cast Force Bolts or Fireballs or the other offensive spells the Tsuirakuan archmages were reputedly able to obliterate whole city blocks with ... but that was okay, that was what firearms and explosives were for.

"Indeed," the Tsuirakuan said. "Let us now turn our attention to your capacity for life magic."

Now we're getting somewhere, Layla thought as the woman directed her attention to a mannequin in the corner of the room ... a mannequin that appeared to be breathing.

[kagome_kino]

"huh whats that??" Maya asked seeing something float inside the house. She waited a few moment and just watched as Nera floated towards the window, of course that didn't last long getting bored just watchin. Maya walked towards the infant looked at the object in her view curiously before attempting to grab the baby.

[Kincaide]

"Kid?" Rhett called out, hearing Maya call out his name when he entered the house. A quick search revealed her in the nursery as the other child, Nera, began to float out the window. Rhett spat a curse, trying to think quickly, Maya was already trying to grab the baby but if she did not move fast enough then Nera would be spirited away.

He rushed forward as well lunging for the child's leg while old fairy tails from the North flitted through his mind. He was certain the mage who cast this spell was not going to eat the child but that was no less a reason to stop her abduction.

[kagome_kino]

Maya plucked little Nera out of the air with little effort and held the tiny girl in her hands. Hmmm warm skin? Maya looked down at the thing in her hands and tilted her head "a familiar?" she asked confused.

[Graybeard]

There was a curse in Tsuirakuan from outside the house, then rapid footfalls receding in the distance. Once again, all at the house at the vineyard was quiet ... until Nera woke up in unfamiliar arms.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH MY GRANDDAUGHTER?" Jasmine roared as she entered the bedroom in response to the infant's squalling, with Jamie not far behind, both guns drawn.

----------

"Your capabilities for life magic are average, maybe a bit greater, but unexceptional," Lifemage Madori informed Layla, the latter puffing from the effort of the ... peculiar ... exercises she'd done with the mannequin. "You can probably learn enough for some basic magical first aid, but your ambitions should go no further than that. The development of true expertise in the field requires years of study in the subject, as well as immersion in a culture that regularly uses magic."

Bullshit, Layla thought, although she held her tongue. There were perfectly good folk healers in Farrel (trained in the Northern Confederacy, rumor had it) who'd never been close to such a "culture," not to mention the lifemages that she knew existed in Veracia. Some Tsuirakuans just seemed to enjoy rubbing people's noses in their cultural superiority. Well, no matter. "I'm a bit tired from that," she said. "Would you mind if I took a brief break?" I'm not that tired, but it would be nice to saunter by that apothecary and see what's going on...

The other woman nodded. "I have a thing to do as well. We shall start again in half an hour." She saw Layla to the door, stepped back inside, and closed the door without another word, leaving Layla to wander into Tsuiraku-town on her own.

[Kincaide]

"Easy lady," Rhett said putting himself between Maya and Faye and Jasmine, "Someone tried to spirit the tyke off. The kid saved your granddaughter," While Jasmine's fury filled the room, Rhett loomed above her, his hands out in a placating gesture. His body mostly blocked Maya and Nera from view. Getting past him would be difficult.

"Save your fury for the mage that tried to snatch the little one," Rhett had heard a voice outside but he did not catch what it said and by now its owner was long gone. Their shadowy foe was looking for leverage and Rhett did not fancy fighting folk who considered infants to be collateral. Well, he did fancy it but not with so many noncombatants under one roof. They were walking targets but he had no idea where they could be stashed for now.

[Graybeard]

Simultaneously accepting Rhett's explanation and ignoring it, Jasmine slithered past Rhett as if she was made of liquid, seized her "granddaughter," started to smother her in love as Jamie holstered her guns. Of course, this commendably grandmotherly action earned her Nera's usual expression of affection: a suddenly, explosively filled diaper. "Jamie! Come take care of your child!" Jasmine's imperious call rang out.

Jamie rolled her eyes, accepted her smelly burden, started to put her in the crib while she fetched a clean diaper -- and then she noticed the glowing, newborn-sized artifact that was already there. "What's this?"

Jasmine looked at it, snarled. "The bastard! He was running off with MY granddaughter and leaving a MAGICAL ROCK in her place! I'll find him and tear off his nuts for that! He --"

Jamie was trying to be reasonable. "But Mom, think of all the diapers we wouldn't have to --" *WHACK* "MOOOOMMMM..."

-----------

The brief walk through Tsuiraku-town hadn't really revealed much, Layla thought as she returned to the laboratory. However, the failure to see anything interesting was interesting in itself. The apothecary/coffee shop was open for business pretty well as if nothing out of the ordinary had ever happened there, certainly nothing as extraordinary as a man meeting a messy, magical death. She couldn't see into the back room (kitchen?) without looking like she was prying, and now was clearly not the time for that. Then again, she didn't need to. The voices coming from back there were saying utterly pedestrian things about the orders they were taking at the counter, customers in the apothecary, and so on. If Layla hadn't known better, she'd have thought she'd imagined the fatal encounter that she'd witnessed the previous day. She walked back to the laboratory shaking her head. Tsuirakuans...

Lifemage Madori was waiting for her at the door, her usual flat expression modified slightly by something that Layla couldn't exactly decode, but assumed to be displeasure. "A thing has arisen," the older woman said. "My presence is required elsewhere. Your instruction is ended for this day." She stepped back inside before Layla could object or even say goodbye, and there was the familiar sound of a door being locked.

Just what the hell is it about this place? Layla wondered as she headed back for the liquor store. I don't know ... but I'm getting this funny feeling that I'd better find out.

[kagome_kino]

"baby?" Maya said getting more confused bythe second "baby's... fly?" she said confused and mulling it over in her head until like a light bublb it made sense "aha ha so thats why you get tucked in tight at night!" she exclaimed smiling as if figuring it out on her own."

"Someone tried to spirit the tyke off. The kid saved your granddaughter,"

"Oh i guess that would make more sense..... why would someone steal a baby?" she asked still confused. Maya let Nera go without contest not really wnting the kid in the first place. "magic rock?" Maya repeated "not sure if you would want to touch that butthen again maybe you do."

[Kincaide]

Rhett hefted the artifact and looked it over. He assumed it was Tsuirakan made, but there was not a brand name anywhere and no one in the house was likely able to a more through examination of it. Whatever it was, it was creepy as hell. The thing was already twitching and moving a little, mimicking the movements of a sleeping baby.

"Once Layla get back, I'm taking this thing into town and seeing if I can get Kitaura's people to take a look at it," He told the others. He grabbed a spare blanket and proceeded to wrap the thing up tightly so he would not have to watch it mature further and move, "Until then I'm going to pick a very visible spot and keep watch," He started to leave but stopped and tousled Maya's hair, "Good job kid," he said and headed downstairs.

Rhett grabbed his rifle from where it had been stashed and went out on the front porch. He took the rifle out of its case, slid the bundle under a chair and sat down. This entire thing was leaving a bad taste in his mouth.