Seven(?) against the Convergence

[Graybeard]

OOC: So it appears that, contrary to Rose's strong preference, Desiree and Anfisa will be leaving the party soon and heading off to Tsuirakushiti (and probably beyond). How do we want to do that? Spin off a new thread? Do it here? Just put them in a temporary pause (it'll take at least a day for an airship to get from Rinkaiel to Tsuirakushiti)? Something else? One way or another, I'd like to get this resolved soon so the main party can head north to the epic conclusion of this long-running show, and to life (such as it is) beyond.

[Alberich]

[OOC: If that's happening, I'm all for the "new thread with new adventures" idea.]

[Graybeard]

[OOC: Let's hold off on the new thread for the moment, leaving it as an option ... but after what is about to happen, it's an option that may not be taken. Incidentally, what is about to happen is 100% consistent with recent developments. Explanation follows if desired.]

The ticket counter for the airship service to Tsuirakushiti was finally open, and a small line was forming to get travel runes and board. Sister Rose shook her head sadly as the group started for the queue. This idea of sending Desiree (and, as seemed inescapable, Anfisa) off on the airship just did not feel right. She was viscerally convinced that they were going to be heading off into greater danger than if they continued traveling with herself, Argus, and so on ... although she wasn't sure why.

But then Therese noticed something.

Rinkaiel, like most of Farrel, wasn't a very magical place, Tsuiraku-town excepted. The subtle magical aura of an Illusion spell was therefore undetectable by almost everyone in the terminal ... but not quite everyone. Maybe Therese's sensitivities had been put on edge by all the things she'd been through. Maybe she was better at magic detection than she thought. In any event, she pulled Rose over to one side (wishing, not for the first time, she'd been able to master telepathy) and whispered in her ear.

"That very tall man, about third in line at the gate ... I'm just all but sure he's an elf in disguise."

And the airship to Tsuirakushiti suddenly became the one place in all of Farrel that Rose knew she must, must, MUST keep Desiree away from.

[Alberich]

Anfisa and Desiree had already entered the queue when Therese made her terrible discovery. In fact, they'd made it through the ticket queue in record time - their passports qualified them for the "preferred customer" line, and pretty faces and shapely bodies brought out the gentlemanly streak in the most hard-boiled of travelers. Thus, they were past the ticket booth and among the customers scheduled for boarding by the time Rose and Therese had made sure of the elf.

[Graybeard]

Not for the first time, a shaken Sister Rose wished she could communicate telepathically with Therese. However, wishing wouldn't make it so; the Sisterhood woman just seemed unable to master the skill. She settled for a whisper, hoping it wouldn't be overheard. "Got him. Hang on a minute." She turned away and put on the Empathy spell.

He's an elf, all right, she quickly concluded. The "man's" emotional state was -- alien. She'd got just a hint of that sensation weeks earlier, when she'd used the spell to decide whether Drusia -- her many-times-great-grandmother-in-law, she reminded herself -- was to be trusted. Then, however, the remoteness, the aloofness had been submerged beneath a set of very human emotions pertaining to the humans she'd been traveling with, not to mention the half elf whose life she'd saved, and the dreadful huntress she'd saved Lillith from. This time, the elven demeanor was the dominant part ... and that told her all she needed to know. She flashed a quick telepathic warning to Desiree. [OOC: Leaving it up in the air for the moment what that warning is, but since Alberich says it happened, it happened ...]

[Graybeard]

[OOC: Gonna do a double here, because of all the PMs that have been flying around, edits to postings, etc. I think we're good to go forward, although a couple more PMs are going to get exchanged. Anyway:]

"We have to do something about this," Sister Rose, increasingly alarmed, whispered to Therese. The elf had settled into the same boarding area as Desiree and Anfisa, for the moment paying them no mind as he read some manner of paper. However, it was just a matter of time before he looked around at the other passengers ... and then the jig would be up.

"I'm going to try something. Cover me." She stepped around a corner and her eyes glowed green with the shapeshifting magic. Reality blurred.

What returned a moment later was a rather different-looking woman (albeit with the usual green eyes). She'd darkened her skin tone and hair a notch or two, and her slender physique looked like it had put on a few pounds -- not many, as she wanted to be able to react (and, if necessary, fight) quickly if something went wrong, but enough to disguise her identity. Her robe had been modified into a ragtag uniform of sorts, with shiny buttons, egg salad on the shoulders, and a badge of sorts that looked like it had been hammered on with a blunt object, as indeed, back in the days when she'd used it in Albigenish, it had. (Not for the first time, Rose gave thanks for the anonymous Tsuirakuan who'd developed the capability to put a Pocket Dimension spell on a token that could be bought, as she'd done in Kiyoka. Not only was it a godsend for packrats like herself, it had certain ... advantages for Special Ops, as even some of her more thaumato-phobic colleagues in the service had come to appreciate.)

She showed this badge and a photo ID, also of some antiquity and fortunately aged to the point that its coloration matched her own of the moment, to the gate agent. "Captain Nuria, Port Authority of Isabel," she announced, sounding as official, and officious, as she could. "We want to question one of your passengers who was a witness to some possible criminal activity in our port. She is not a suspect, has nothing to hide, but may I speak to her?"

The agent, not yet used to the higher security posture that was starting to diffuse out to the airship terminals beyond Tsuirakushiti, shrugged and waved to the boarding area. Rose smiled her thanks and walked over to where Desiree was sitting, flashing the "badge" in front of her. "Miss? May I ask you a few questions?" she said, orally ...

... But mind to mind, something quite different was being said. <"For the sake of your deity and mine, go along with this ... and get ready to run.">

[Alberich]

Tim turned to Argus and spoke softly. "Did they tell you anything about what they're looking for?" he asked. Upon receiving a negative reply, Tim said nothing but simply looked around, not focusing on the disguised Rose lest he give her away. He supposed he'd have to be ready for "whatever," in case this mysterious, private Rose-Therese business ended up having something to do with him. Now that they had their travel papers, what could be so bleeding complicated about getting a couple of heathen harlots onto an airship and off to the life they wanted to live?

[Drusia]

She flashed a quick telepathic warning to Desiree.

I shiver and lean forward in my seat. An elf in the same waiting area as we are? Planning to board the same airship?! Can this really be a coincidence?!

I take a breath and try to calm myself. Stop. Think.

There are several possibilities. One, Rose might be lying. She didn't want me to leave the group - maybe she's trying to scare me into staying? But... no, I don't believe that. First, Rose wouldn't do that to me. Second, she sounded terrified. Rose might be a good liar verbally, but I don't think she knows how to lie with her mind. She is frightened.

I swallow hard, trying to control my breathing.

Second possibility - the Elf knows I'm here. But... why would he wait for me to enter a high security location? Wouldn't it have been easier to kill he earlier? When... when I was in another high security building, or when I walked out and met my very accomplished and combat trained friends? So he might be waiting until I'm somewhere less secure - like the Airship itself.

My mental control slips and I let myself imagine a sneering elf throwing me off of an airship in flight. What would a fall like that even feel like? How long would I have to wait for my death?

No, no, no - the elf would stab me first, surely. He'd want to make sure I died and not leave it to chance. I might know a flight spell or something. He might throw my corpse over the side, but he wouldn't throw me overboard alive. That's... oddly comforting.

I breathe a little slower.

Third option - it really is a coincidence and the elf has no idea I'm here. That's... lovely? He'll still have a whole airship ride to spot me or hear a rumor about me and then I'm back being murdered again.

Okay, so either he didn't want to face Argus and the others, or he doesn't know I'm here. Either way, my best bet is to get back to Argus and the others.

I turn to Anfisa. "We have to leave," I tell her softly. "We can't use this airship. There's a man on this one who wants to kill me. We need to get out, rejoin the others, and wait for the next airship." I tell her this quickly and calmly - at least as calmly as I can manage.

I swallow again, stand, and offer her my hand -

And meet the gaze of the man standing behind her. My eyes move over his angular features and I know what he is, just as he sees the tips of my ears poking through my hair as I leaned forward to help Anfisa stand up.

I start to take a step back, but he's already raising his hand. And he's smiling. It almost looks like a friendly jesture. Anfisa, who just missed my hand due to me stepping backward, is blinking in confusion and opening her mouth. His hand flares -

"Anil--!"

Something slams into me and I'm flying through the air. For an awful moment it's like my fantasy about falling from the airship. Then, my back slams into something. Glass shatters and I'm falling again and then --

I gasp, the wind knocked out of me from the impact. I can't breathe - just the impact, or is there something wrong? - can't breathe. Can't -

-- Desiree

OOC: The elf did sometihng and she was thrown through a window. Where she landed (aside from it being hard) and what type of magic did it to her is up to whomever posts next (assuming they saw it). Also, I have no idea what happened to Anfisa during the unknown magical thingy.

Edit: It has been suggested that her current location is "the tarmac". Unless anyone has a better idea, that is where I will assume she is.

[Alberich]

"We have to leave. We can't use this airship. There's a man on this one who wants to kill me. We need to get out, rejoin the others, and wait for the next airship."

Anfisa bustled up close as Desiree relayed this news. She didn't scream then. Survival was of the essence and survival meant moving now. She looked around for signs of this enemy as she reached for her beloved's hand and prepared to be led away.

Distrusting Desiree didn't occur to her for a moment. What did occur to her was that she'd get between her lover and the enemy, and take a blow for her if she had to. Cruel irony. The enemy was behind her, and when he struck, Anfisa caught a part of it without even trying. Then she screamed -- an ear-piercing shriek -- but only for a moment 'til she hit the platform, stunned.

* * *

"Come on!" yelled Tim to Argus and Tamina, as he charged toward whatever-the-hell-it-was to do something-or-other about it.

[Jack Rothwell]

If Tamina had been listening in on the news of the elf being present she would've taken it with relative nonchalance despite the concern on Rose's face. Then again, her only interactions with the species had been with Drusia (which certainly made a good case for her to like them) and the one called 'Jack' who'd, admittedly, been a jerk. Although for all Jack's snide remarks and light-fingered approach to other people's property he'd still helped her fight her mortal enemy. She might've considered Keyes' remarks about it being dangerous for Desiree's kind around them, but murder in broad daylight with a hundred witnesses around? It seemed an unlikely course for even the most hate-filled man to follow.

Instead the kobold had wandered off a short distance and spent the few minutes idly watching the people go by, impatient to get moving, before the sound of shattering glass and Tim's shout had seized her attention.

The third thing had been the sharp, tin-smell of blood. Tamina could've picked out that source with her eyes closed.

The priest was taller than her and he'd had a head start, but a hummingbird spell was a hummingbird spell, and a determined kobold mage with a desire to help would not be outpaced by than anything short of teleportation. Tamina came out of the magically assisted run slightly out of breath, but with a healing spell already in mind as she dropped to Desiree's side to examine the unfortunate half-elf.

OOC Utilize Tamina for healing as needed. Of course, that might be tricky with the elf nearby.../OOC