Gervasiel

[Sareth]

Lillith beamed. "While I was helping Suriah settle herself, a man came into the stables for one of the horses there. I'm pretty sure it was that Kurou person you mentioned. But here's the thing. I was able to convince him I was just a stable hand, and got him to tell me that he was going to be away tonight, but back tomorrow!" The girl was practically levitating with glee at having accomplished that tiny coup.

[Graybeard]

His preparations finished, "Kurou" mounted his horse and rode off to the east.

-----------

"Well done! It sounds like you've learned something interesting," Sister Rose said to Lillith, smiling as reassuringly as she could. "That gives us a little time to plan what we do next, and maybe relax a bit in this nice place." It really is nice enough -- if you forget about the explosion at the gazebo, of course...

Truthfully, Rose was more than slightly nervous herself. Quite a lot had happened in the few hours they'd been in town. Her own injuries were largely healed; that delightful magic gadget of Drusia's had mended the headache, and such nicks and scrapes as had survived the healing magic weren't anything to worry about. But there were other casualties among the party, not to mention what was left of the body at the gazebo, now in the care of militia from the temple. And Argus ...

... Could he have made contact with his daughter? (His other daughter?) Rose couldn't figure out how, but the Tsuirakuans were full of surprises. He was still barricaded behind his magical wall, and she couldn't think of anything else that would provoke that kind of reaction out of the man. For a moment, she felt just the slightest pang of envy. I haven't seen my own mother for years, nor Kenny's extended family. Well, maybe change was coming there. They were definitely going to drop in on Snamish on the way north, to deliver Lillith and the new girl -- Suriah, was it? -- to their sanctuary. Maybe she could fit in a few days in Saus afterward to see her mother. She'd remarried after the death of Rose's father, to a widower with a considerable family of his own, and he had plenty of relatives in Saus that she got along with well, so her eldest daughter's extended absence in the service of Luminosita didn't wear on her too badly. (Me, on the other hand...) Still, the Nuria family had been close in Rose's youth, and it would be nice to see them again. She permitted herself a brief chuckle at the prospect of Brad's father and mother, now well up in years, discovering that their son had developed the hots for a half-elf woman. It might be better if Brad stayed in Snamish with the object of his affections ...

She snapped her attention back to the here and now; Lillith's little datum called for elaboration, and here came Suriah, determination in her step and something obviously on her mind.

[Caoimhe Faelan]

Suriah had watched the man depart from the doorway of the stable before heading for the inn. Her jaw was set, mind working. Who was this man?

"Miss Rose? Can I speak with you a moment?"

[Drannin]

"...And that's pretty much the story on Lillith," Argus finished. He had just related all of the pertinent details on his eldest daughter to his youngest (weave, it was strange to think that way). Fayna, for her part, was staring into space, taking it all in. She was silent a moment, face blank, eyes flashing as her mind worked a mile a minute, taking in this startling new revelation.

"...Interesting," she said at last.

Argus raised an eyebrow.

"I... wasn't expecting this," Fayna admitted, blinking. She brushed some hair out of her eyes.

"Are you angry?"

She blinked again. "No, of course not! I'm just... startled, is all."

Argus nodded his understanding. "I know exactly what mean, dear. Now you know how I felt." Indeed, Fayna's blank-eyed confusion mirrored what he had felt when he had first learned of his connection to Lillith.

"It seems I have more family than I thought..." Fayna mused, stroking the arms of her chair. She looked to be deep in thought. Argus wondered what was going through her head. Finally Fayna came back to the present. "Well, then..." she began, then faltered. Argus suddenly realized how weary he was. The last little while had drained him immeasurably, and yet filled him in a way that he simply couldn't describe. Perhaps Fayna was feeling the same way.

"I think, my child, that we both need some time to get our thoughts in order." Reconciliation took time, and there was so much to ponder.

Fayna smiled faintly. "You're right. And we both have a lot to do." She straightened. "Namely, finding you the best damned Doctor in the world. You are NOT petrifying. Period." Argus chuckled. That determination hadn't changed since Fayna was a child. "And so, Father..." Fayna's face softened. "I'll be in touch, okay? I... want to see you again."

"And I you, Fayie," Argus whispered. Father and daughter stared into each others eyes for a moment, then Fayna smiled softly and broke the link, saying as she did so: "I love you, Daddy."

Argus stood alone in the empty room, feeling Maduin's privacy field fading. It was time to check on the others, and see what they had learned. "I love you too, child," he whispered.

[Graybeard]

"Miss Rose? Can I speak with you a moment?"

"Certainly," Sister Rose smiled. "What's up?"

[OOC: OK, so not every contribution has to be a great, lengthy tome... ]

[Caoimhe Faelan]

Suriah took a deep breath. "I know you just met me, but I kind of figured out what was going on, and whatever Lillith told you about that man in the stables, I think you should know - he did something. Something with magic, before he left. I don't like it."

[Drusia]

After overhearing some very... odd fragments of conversation from Maudin et al, mostly about things that either don't concern me or no longer concern me, I decide better to leave the rest alone for now. In any case... Rose is talking to Suriah. Much more interesting. I drift over.

Suriah took a deep breath. "I know you just met me, but I kind of figured out what was going on, and whatever Lillith told you about that man in the stables, I think you should know - he did something. Something with magic, before he left. I don't like it."

"What sort of magic, do you know?" I ask, my interest peeked. After all, the explosion was a magical device, not a spell. Whatever she saw, it wasn't that.

-- Drusia

OOC: Sorry, been swamped. ^^;;

[Caoimhe Faelan]

OOC: Well, we're glad to have you back!

IC: Suriah frowned. "It was kind of like this.... murmur, or whispering, at the back of my mind. He was..." Her frown deepened as she tried to remember. "He was moving some... packages into his saddlebags when it happened. It might not have anything to do with it, though." Her certainty dropped and her face hinted at sadness. "It might even be left over magic from that explosion."

Somehow she knew that the explosion earlier was magic related, although she wouldn't have been able to tell you that she knew it or why.

[Graybeard]

"He was moving some... packages into his saddlebags when it happened. It might not have anything to do with it, though. It might even be left over magic from that explosion."

"Maybe," Sister Rose said. "You're right that the explosion was magical, no doubt about that. As yet, though, we have nothing to connect it to the man in the stable." She didn't think it timely to mention the very similar exploding crystal ball at Centoriel; neither Suriah nor Maduin nor Drusia had been there, after all. As far as she knew, neither had Arsoro Kurou. Still, it might be prudent to continue as though there was some connection. "Of course, if he's Tsuirakuan, anything's possible." (She'd been traveling with Argus and Maduin long enough now that they shouldn't be offended by that assessment, and maybe it would provide an opening to find out what had been happening upstairs in Maduin's room.)

She turned to Drusia. "I'm starting to think we might want to keep discreet, distant surveillance on this Kurou, if that's who he is. Got anything there? You seem to be good at that sort of thing." She started to say more, but Argus was coming downstairs, and the look on his face took precedence over whatever was going on with this possible Tsuirakuan mage...

[Drusia]

She turned to Drusia. "I'm starting to think we might want to keep discreet, distant surveillance on this Kurou, if that's who he is. Got anything there? You seem to be good at that sort of thing."

"So, no seducing him, then?" I reply, smiling wryly. Ah well. "If someone points him out to me," I continue more seriously, "I can follow him from a distance. I have ways of not being seen besides invisibility. Or, if you were thinking something more passive... there's a mage spell that creates a small sensor that relays information to the mage who created it. If Maudin or Argus can make one, I can follow him and bug his accommodations with it."

Back in the day I had other people supporting me with magical nick-knacks like this. Even now, I could probably call in the Peregins to help me. Of course, that would be a remarkably bad idea with Lillith and Suriah around, so for the moment I'm stuck using whatever resources people here can provide.

-- Drusia