Umbertiel

[Jack Rothwell]

Eli stood rigid in the haberdashery as the action continued around him, partly out of pure surprise at the soldier's reaction to a simple fire spell, partly out of the shock of having a bucket of water dumped on him by, of all people, the shopkeeper under the mistaken belief that his hand had spontaneously combusted. The water made a tinny noise as it pitter-pattered down his armour and pooled around his feet.

"Pbbbbtbtbtttbbttttt." He eventually said.

OOC Or would 'wargarbal' be more apporpriate?/OOC

[Drusia]

"Pbbbbtbtbtttbbttttt." He eventually said.

Well, I feel stupid right now. When all this started I hid in the back of the shop and now those people are just walking away. I walk back over towards Eli.

"Sorry," I say to him, "I'm not used to dealing this this sort of situation." I could have helped, but I didn't. I feel awful about that. "You were really impressive, though. I'm glad you stood up to those guys."

OOC: Just my luck - gone for a day, and I miss out on a really cool altercation. **sigh**

[Graybeard]

"Well, come on, let's make sure everyone's all right. Also, learn exactly what happened in there."

Sister Rose rolled her eyes, partly in the expectation of seeing something utterly bizarre in the haberdashery (in which she would not be totally disappointed), but also to provide cover for a quick mind-to-mind comment, in case anyone was watching. <"Maduin's mind magic makes me nervous sometimes. I think, though, that he might be useful to have in reserve when we have our session with the mysteriously youthful Father Blaise. Let's arrange to have him nearby.">

If she'd known the opinions of certain other people regarding that juxtaposition, however, she'd never have suggested it.

Moments later, they were standing at the entrance to the Plinkett store, and Rose surveyed the scene, in growing wonderment.

"What happened?" she asked, not totally sure she wanted to know the answer.

[Jack Rothwell]

"I could have helped, but I didn't. I feel awful about that. You were really impressive, though. I'm glad you stood up to those guys."

Eli managed a reassuring smile at Desiree's words, lifting a hand to wipe the worst of the wet off his face and feeling his chest swell with pride despite his usual down to earth way of thinking. He opened his mouth to tell her that it was ok, that he hadn't really done anything he considered brave, he'd just been backing up his companions (Friends? Too early for that term perhaps) with a display that in retrospect seemed a lttle blockheaded but, damn it, they hadn't left him with much of a choice.

More than anything at that moment he wanted to cast an incantation to dry himself off, but apparently people in Umbertiel looked at magic as some kind of demonic force to be feared and he wasn't prepared to set off another panic. Rose's entrance shook him out of his train of thought.

"What happened?"

"A bigoted zealot, blockheaded militia, wrongful arrests and a bucket of water. In that order." Eli replied.

[Graybeard]

"A bigoted zealot, blockheaded militia, wrongful arrests and a bucket of water. In that order."

"Okay," Sister Rose replied, starting to tick things off on her fingers. "Bigoted zealot: got that. Like I said on the road, the Orthodox clergy are not, by and large, the most tolerant of men." Which adds to my puzzlement at the surprisingly urbane, as well as surprisingly young, Father Blaise. That wasn't the way I expected him to behave. "Blockheaded militia: check. A lot of them really are blockheaded, and I don't think it's just my own status saying that." Special ops always looked down on the regular spear carriers ... but there were reasons. "Bucket of water: that explains a few things." She couldn't help a smirk, which she rapidly suppressed, at the half elf who looked like a drowned rat. Collateral damage had got Brad, too, as he was rushing to Lillith's side. Speaking of which, she looked like the donation basket at a good will store. How had that happened? Brad was trying to remove the piles of clothes from her; Rose playfully and lewdly hoped for a moment that his clothing removal might go a little deeper than intended, just to balance the absurdity of the whole thing ...

That left Desiree, who was emerging from hiding at the back of the store; Maduin, who was doing his best impression of total innocence, to the point where Rose was afraid that if she turned on the Empathy, it'd blow a fuse; and Bryce, who ...

"Now tell me more about this false arrest," she said, hoping that Bryce wouldn't erupt like a volcano in the process.

[Jack Rothwell]

OOC I just felt like adding a little detail./OOC

Eli, at Rose's explanations, offered a gloomy nod and began laboriously wringing out his ponytail, muttering something in elvish that probably wasn't a cheerful ode to the day.

[Porcelain Fish]

"It turned out to be a case of mistaken identity once I assured the good priest that he had the wrong fellows," Maduin said brightly, holding up a pale lavender gown with spare, tasteful embroidery over the bodice in a lighter shade of the same color next to Sister Rose and eyeing it critically. "Apparently Sister Bree had sent him after the wrong people. Fortunately, he was very understanding, and he'll be keeping an eye on her from now on to make sure she doesn't accidentally incriminate any more innocents. Really, a very good chap."

"That'll look quite fetching I think." He handed her the gown and considered the dove gray jacket of soft, thin felt in his other hand, glancing back between it and her. "Hmmm . . . a little bit too plain. Maybe with a nice brooch though . . ." He shrugged, folding the jacket over his arm. "Of course, when we entered, someone was so startled that they knocked over a couple of the clothing racks, though I didn't see who it was. Fortunately Lillith wasn't terribly hurt by the whole debacle."

He wandered away back into the aisles, eyes lighting on a button-down shirt in a rich dark blue. "Bryce, I think this would look simply smashing on you," he called.

Bryce's expression remained clouded, but he turned and walked toward where the Tsuirakuan was holding up the shirt, a treasure hunter's triumphant smile on Maduin's face.

[Drannin]

Argus raised and eyebrow. "Well. A charming series of amusingly unlikely events. Just what we needed."

He sighed. "And it's just going to get better, isn't it?"

[Graybeard]

[OOC: Something that happened in this little encounter is going to have a very unexpected and consequential effect on some long-term BBEG-related happenings. Work with me a little here... /OOC:]

A most uncharacteristic frown crossed Sister Rose's face as she listened to Maduin's explanation of what had happened in the store.

"Mistaken identity? I think not," she said sternly, turning to the Tsuirakuan. "They knew exactly what they were doing. Unless I miss my guess, that nun you don't like --" now she gave Bryce a significant look -- "sent them, and she knew where she was having them go. I could tell that when I saw her watching from the temple."

She turned back to Maduin. "Another thing. The mind magic you used could be detected half a mile away. I wasn't even trying to detect it, didn't have any detection spells up or anything, but I could feel it -- that was big-time spellcraft. If I could sense it, so could -- others. And I don't know what you did or who you did it to, but I'd wager it had something to do with that 'mistaken identity' that wasn't so mistaken at all."

Then her voice, and face, softened. "It was about you and Bryce, wasn't it?"

[Porcelain Fish]

Maduin's expression didn't alter in the slightest as a ward against evesdropping coiled around them, a charm that would turn their words into inconsequential nothings in the ears of those who weren't meant to hear them. He handed off the lustrous dark blue shirt to Bryce and sifted through more, absently examining a short-sleeved shirt in a pleasant shade of light green.

"Indeed, it's quite apparent that Sister Bree knew exactly what she was up to. If we come into close contact, she'll be quite lucky to come out of it with the better part of her faculties intact." Maduin flashed Sister Rose a grin utterly at odds with his words. "It's obvious that she feels an extreme amount of antipathy towards Bryce. It's equally obvious that those men came in here looking for us and found something they were utterly unprepared for." He handed off the shirt to the tall, red-headed soldier in question and started looking through the trousers hanging on another rack, handing Rose a pinstriped pair of gray slacks after a moment. "These should fit Brad. In retrospect, I suppose I could have let Bryce gut all five of those minions, but that wouldn't have been very subtle, and matters were quickly getting out of hand already."

"I wouldn't have seriously injured them." Bryce's eyebrows rose slightly.

"The point stands. One shouldn't involve the innocent in games not of their making." Maduin pulled out another pair of trousers in night blue dark enough to be almost black and handed them to Bryce. "These should fit, but I think they'll need a little tailoring."

"I like the color," Bryce said after a moment.

"Of course you do," Maduin replied without missing a beat. He patted Rose on the shoulder. "And don't worry. Part of the benefit of being in a group is that no one's quite sure who did what unless they were in on the plot. If anyone's silly enough to come looking for trouble, they'll find it." He winked. "The only question is what they'll remember afterward."

"Could you make her yap like a poodle?" Bryce asked, a dark grin tugging at his mouth now. "After I beat her face in of course. I'd feel bad if I did it afterward."

"We'll see." Maduin tossed Bryce a roguish wink, and glanced back at Rose, still holding the gown. "Go try it on dear, I think you'd be surprised how good you look."