Goriel and beyond, part 4

[Jack Rothwell]

OOC Eli'll probably be arriving pretty late in the day, as a little fyi for planning./OOC

[Alberich]

Tim's nostrils flared just a little at Desiree's talk, but he held his peace. "She used to be married to one of my relatives so she has to obey me" - well, a natural tyrant and slavemaster, like this elf, would seize on any excuse to treat humans like underlings. If Rose decided that her prior marriage to someone in this elf's family trumped her duty to her church and country, so that she'd take orders from this damned elf, so much the worse for Rose. (Typical barbarism - the sort of thing they did in Goriel, putting their 'families' above their gods, fighting among themselves, caring nothing for their country...but of course if you got away from Luminosita and his teachings, how easy it would be to fall into barbaric ways shared by the elves, perverting the Good Lord's gifts into sick and fantastic forms.) Rose had ducked his question about whether "the elf would be giving the orders" so it might be at that...but in truth Tim didn't take anything Drusia said at face value, and didn't really believe that was Rose's mindset. Elves were famed for their ability to tempt and deceive as well as to dominate and kill. He wasn't planning to match wits or argue theology with her for sure. And he'd give the benefit of the doubt to Rose over the elf any day.

And he'd seen the elf's flexibility for himself - opening up with threats and weapons, then kneeling in abject apology, and although he hadn't admitted it and wasn't going to admit it, he'd seen her cut out a man's intestines and squeeze them to get information. The torture itself didn't bother him per se -- the Church used methods like that sometimes, though only in the best of causes, to prevent the damnation of souls -- but seeing feminine hands do it that way, for her own private purposes, and then how she talked this morning -- well, it meant to him that she could change her visage to suit her whims. Maybe Rose had married into the elf's family and maybe she hadn't, and maybe Eli was "family" to this elf and maybe he wasn't, and maybe this was her private family agenda and maybe it was something else. Tim would go on as he'd been planning to go on regardless.

"Oh, and I can be a bit ascerbic. That's just me - you'll just have to get used to that part."

"So can I," he said simply. It wasn't really true - "acerbic" was not the right word for any of his usual moods. It was his way of saying-without-saying, I'm not your 'family' and I don't consider you my mistress or my superior. "I doubt these 'Ralkin' will have anything to save him with. That magic he uses has a corrupting effect. Once he started using it, just over a few days, it started affecting his whole way of being. Not so that he's gone all the way, but not the same. Desiree saw it too. Others who use the same thing for longer, and want to be that way? They'll be gone completely. But from what I saw of it, the magic's all about attacking and summoning...monsters and things. Not healing. But maybe getting him away from it - where he can't keep using it - and can have some reminder of, well, the better things in life - maybe he can heal himself, the way sick old men stop feeling bilious when they take up temperance, or a drunk can dry out and be himself again."

That fit what Lillith had told him about half-elves just now: "We also tend to be resilient and... enduring, I suppose. We can snap back from magical effects pretty quickly. That can be an advantage sometimes. It can be a disadvantage sometimes, too."

He didn't use the terms he believed in, about spiritual healing. He didn't think the elf would understand them, and he had no plan to listen to her fleshly soulless elf-doctrine on the subject. He also didn't add that he thought these Ralkin were demon worshippers, pledged to powers that didn't know how to heal. "Book of Devil Worship, Chapter Five - How to Stop Worshipping Us." It made no sense to him. One thing for certain - he mustn't let any of their books or items leave with the elf. Those things belonged in the fire.

Drusia's talk had brought one question to his mind: "Who was the other elf, the one who was hiding outside? More of your family, and where's that one going to be?"

* * *

A little later in the morning, both Dina and Desiree received some good news. They were both receiving generous "morning-after" gifts from men they'd been with the night before -- which, until the night before last, was the only kind of gift-giving there ever was from "lords" to geteroi. (Actually, Drusia could've told them stories...ah, but Drusia wasn't there.) Malyuta had sent a generous sum through the Chamberlain, with instructions that Desiree should be allowed to buy, or order, something to her liking. Dina had received sums from a couple of different men.

Dina didn't want to place an order, but wanted to be escorted to the marketplace to meet the wonderful new artist - she was planning to use her gift to arrange to carry out her fantasy. But what was Desiree's wish?

[Graybeard]

Sister Rose nodded grimly as Therese finished her account of what she'd learned at Clan Chepilesky. "No, no, you're right, of course," she said. "We had nothing to do with the deaths the other night. Except, that is, for the possibility that someone would try to hang them on us, or at least, use us as the excuse for the attack. It sounds like that's what happened." She sighed. "Just one more reason to get out of this miserable place."

By the time they were done talking, Lillith had succeeded in coaxing a sparrow down into her hand, and now Rose turned to the little bird, murmuring softly and soothingly. Magic flowed from her fingertips as she affixed a tiny bit of the charcoal to one of its legs. "Now show us the way," she said gently. The bird obligingly took wing, fluttered in circles for a moment, then headed off.

"Well," Rose said to Lillith, "Eli went that-a-way. We'd better tell everyone else. I wish I'd thought to do that earlier, with a bit of that figurine, but it's too late now, Blaise's impressions on it have been over-imprinted with our own. Let's find a little something for our pathfinder to eat; it'll be back in a few minutes, and we'll repeat the process until we find Eli ... or not."

[OOC: Leaving it vague exactly which direction the bird went; JR, feel free to fill that in, or not. as appropriate.]

[Jack Rothwell]

The sparrow turned sharply south, first leading the group to the scorched remnants of the Valahiri inn. It wavered briefly on the warm currents of the last of the heat leaving the timbers, then cut southeast, heading towards Nagishima street, and the place of Eli's departure.

[Drusia]

"So can I," he said simply.
"Who was the other elf, the one who was hiding outside? More of your family, and where's that one going to be?"

"No, not family," I tell him. "She heard about a 'nation of half-elves' that turned out to be the fake clan you all are pretending to be. She was coming here to investigate, but asked me to help her. She and I have similar philosophies about the difference between Half-Elves and Errants, so she knew she could trust me not to go killing anyone out of hand. I trust her to help me take Eli alive... not enough for me to tell her that he - or Rose, or Desiree - are related to me. I have no intention to trust any elf with that information."

I pause.

"As for her being my family - not really possible. Elven siblings are almost unheard of anymore. We can't really... procreate with one another anymore. It's been over a thousand years since a full elven child was born. That's one reason why I made a family from my half-elven children - because I could never have one with another elf."

This is a very... sensitive point for most elves. And for me as well. However... having had more than thirty healthy children, when most elves can't even have one, helps it hurt less.

"Oh," I say, changing the subject, "Has Rose briefed you on Mind Speech yet? I was trying to speak with you without Rose hearing yesterday, but you seemed to find my speech unnerving." To say the least. "I was under the impression that Rose taught all of her companions the technique - she used it heavily enough when I traveled with her before - so didn't realize you wouldn't be familiar with the technique."

I pause again.

"I'd offer to teach you," I say, "But I understand that you don't exactly like me. I've had a thousand years to get used to Luminosans, but you've only just met me. If you prefer, I'm sure Rose or Lillith... or Argus or Brad could teach you."

-- Drusia

[Drusia]

Malyuta had sent a generous sum through the Chamberlain, with instructions that Desiree should be allowed to buy, or order, something to her liking. Dina wanted to be escorted to the marketplace to meet the wonderful new artist - she was planning to use her gift to arrange to carry out her fantasy. But what was Desiree's wish?

"A new wardrobe!" I say excitedly. "Oh, yes, let's go shopping! Please?" I've been using borrowed clothing (and the outfit Lillith sewed me) long enough. I want something talored for me, in colors chosen by me, with jewelry selected by me, and new scents combined to my taste.

"I'd like to pick things out myself," I explain. "I want to make sure everything is just so." I bounce up and down excitedly, clasping my hands beneath my chin.

-- Desiree

OOC: If she can think of a way to rope in Anfisa as well, Desiree would like to. Both because this might be a good opportunity to do some preliminary planning (with Harker at the very least since they're visiting his shop anyway) and because she thinks it would be fun to go out shopping with Anfisa.

[Alberich]

"I'd offer to teach you, but I understand you don't exactly like me.

Tim couldn't suppress a grin at that one. The prophet speaks! He nodded. "I'm sure she'll teach me that later." The elf got a point for a good guess that he didn't want this lesson from her. He thought the integrity of a man's private thoughts, the ability to keep them to himself, was a great gift of Lord Luminosita, and he definitely did not want his every secret laid bare. Especially not an elf, and especially not now. Rose didn't think this communication could be used to read his thoughts...but he was not brimming over with confidence. And Rose would probably be back any moment, leaving little lesson-time anyway.

"But there is something I've been thinking about. I wanted to raise it when Rose was in here. If Eli does come back, or sees us, or catches me alone - he might try to recruit me. And if he does I should at least pretend to go along. I'm a lot better for healing than for frontal attack but I might be able to make a difference from the other side. If that comes up. Also, if he gets away again, Rose would have an easy time tracing me for another go. I don't think I should signal magically though, because he could sense the magic himself and realize what I'm doing -

"So what I'm thinking is, if Eli shows up to take me away and I'm not in eyesight, I'll slap myself twice and curse the mosquitoes. Easy enough around here" -- he didn't know the half of it; he hadn't been out in the wild places where they could get really thick. "Then you can do what the tactical situation requires."

"Also, if you don't know, when he calls up his d...things, he can see through their eyes and hear through their ears. And some of them are small and subtle. So I don't think I should talk about this out in public when we leave here."

* * *

Later in the morning, as Desiree expressed her excitement, Anfisa wandered in to ask what the excitement was. When she found out, she cooed appreciatively, "Oooo! - that's wonderful! Could I come along and help you pick out colors and things?"

Irina said, "All right - as long as we can get you enough escorts. Which I think we can. After Dina gets back - we're not having three of us out in the open at once." She went to make the arrangements.

[Graybeard]

Sister Rose, Therese and Lillith followed the sparrow, each with their own thoughts: Rose with a building sense of anticipation, Therese with puzzlement (just what were these people?), and Lillith ... well, her sympathies were with the bird.

It was only a few minutes later that they stood before the derelict building at 12 Nagishima Street, in a part of town that would have been distinctly unsafe for three women traveling together later in the day. (Of course, one of the women looked like a man, with a weapon prominently displayed, which helped too.) Rose whistled softly, calling the sparrow down, and wishing that she had more to give it than the tiny scrap of suet that she'd found from last night's dinner. However, the bird's behavior was odd. She expected it to circle above the building if Eli was inside, or fly on in the direction he'd taken from there. Instead, it landed at her feet, and pecked at the ground several times, each time pausing to cock an eye up at her, not so much communicating -- the spell wasn't powerful enough for that -- as simply being unable to proceed.

Rose nodded, placed the suet on the ground, dismissed the spell. Hunger and suspicion vied in the bird's tiny brain for a moment, then hunger won; all that flying had been stressful. It picked up the suet and flew off.

Rose looked at the other two women. "Any idea what that was all about?" she said. Then she answered her own question. "Eli came to this building, that was clear enough. But now it looks for all the world as though he's gone underground, or to the far side of the world. We're going to need help from here." They headed back to the Yurkashev compound.

[Drusia]

"But there is something I've been thinking about. I wanted to raise it when Rose was in here. If Eli does come back, or sees us, or catches me alone - he might try to recruit me. And if he does I should at least pretend to go along. I'm a lot better for healing than for frontal attack but I might be able to make a difference from the other side. If that comes up. Also, if he gets away again, Rose would have an easy time tracing me for another go. I don't think I should signal magically though, because he could sense the magic himself and realize what I'm doing -

"So what I'm thinking is, if Eli shows up to take me away and I'm not in eyesight, I'll slap myself twice and curse the mosquitoes. Easy enough around here" -- he didn't know the half of it; he hadn't been out in the wild places where they could get really thick. "Then you can do what the tactical situation requires."

"Also, if you don't know, when he calls up his d...things, he can see through their eyes and hear through their ears. And some of them are small and subtle. So I don't think I should talk about this out in public when we leave here."

"I didn't, actually," I reply. "I don't know much about demons. Or summoning. Or magic in general, aside from the basics - healing, magical device operation - and my speciality as a transpositionist." I frown. "So. He can use summoned creatures to spy on us. And if he can, so can his master."

I pause. "Also, while I like the idea of getting an ally -" assuming that this Tim is an ally, but I think he at least wishes to help recapture Eli - "into the enemy camp, I'm not quite understanding how slapping yourself and talking about mosquitoes will help if you aren't within earshot." I feel like I missed some sort of important step in the logic chain as to how Tim slapping himself has something to do with a non-magical alternative to a tracking spell.

-- Drusia

[Alberich]

"Well, obviously, a signal only works if I'm within earshot of at least somebody. But it's also fast.

"Tracking me with magic isn't a problem if he gets away with me, and I can leave several items that I've handled for years to make that easy for Rose. Here." He gave a pouch with several such items to Brad, including a missal he didn't need just now (the prayers he used, he had memorized, and it wasn't as if he was going to perform any weddings or consecrations in the immediate future). "It's only if I try to signal you with magic that he'll know what I'm doing - and kill me at once. In the worst extremity - if he gets away with me completely - if you see one of those creatures and it draws an L-shaped sign" - he demonstrated with his fingers - "it's from me."

Yes, that's right, elf, there are problems that you can't solve at once by just showing up and hitting them with your awesome elf powers. Otherwise, you'd have Eli now. So let's have a contingency, okay?

"The summoning magic - it works by him drawing circles with strange symbols on any surface he can find, then he summons them. The symbols take a little while to draw - they're complicated, even for the tiny creatures. There's a book with all the symbols. He may have some memorized but I think he'll lose most of them if we can destroy the book."

He also told them about the silka and the galdy (though in reality he knew Drusia had seen and killed galdies already).

"Oh, also - he hinted to me that the book came from some kind of shady dealer in Getsemiel. I don't know how many secret shady book dealers there are there" - those incense-addled lollygaggers wouldn't spot a heretic sect preaching on their street corners - "but if we lose track of him completely - maybe that dealer can give us a lead later on. Rose should take the lead on that if it has to be done - she has the contacts and can do it without diplomatic incidents."

And it might require some subtlety and human relations - things that Rose can actually do - not your preferred way of extreme arrogance and violence. Also, the city is flammable. I don't want the faithful, even those Holy-Joe annoying faithful, burned up in the crossfire. Come to that, I don't want anyone else breathing the smoke from that fire, either.

He looked at Brad to make sure he was paying attention - so that if he didn't get a chance, someone would share all this with Rose and Lillith. Happily, he seemed to be.