Lorenzel, Part 2

[Drannin]

Argus nodded silently at Drusia's mental instructions. Sound, all of them. And... he felt that he could trust Drusia. If she had wanted to kill Lillith, she would have done so by now, and Argus doubted whether he could have stopped her. Glancing appreciatively and the elf's illusion work, Argus turned to Maduin.

"Maduin, could I have a moment of your time? There's a few things I want to discuss with you." Argus gestured away from the crowd. Time to bring him in on our little secret... and see if he's willing to lend me his considerable social skills.

[Graybeard]

[OOC: Just here for a minute, not back for real until Saturday, but just to throw a few words in ...]

"Oh, dear, let me fetch you a towel," the old woman fussed to Sister Rose, and disappeared into the rear of the shop. Well, we're definitely going on to that Salticiel, Rose thought...

Meanwhile, Brad blinked at developments with Lillith. Something had just happened, but he couldn't put his finger on it. "Wh -- what's going on here?" he sputtered, not seeing Lillith's ears.

[OOC: Feel free to use Brad as necessary, and keep in mind, he's not the brightest light globe in the Luminositan temple...]

[Porcelain Fish]

Maduin blinked, and then smiled warmly at Argus. "Of course Dr. Cleiviein. I'm at your disposal."

[Drannin]

Argus lead Maduin away from the crowd and spoke quietly. "I'm going to go gather some information, like Drusia said. However, I don't so much 'gather information' as 'interrogate.' What can I say, I'm more the brute force kind of person when it comes to social interaction. That's why I always relied on Cirella for the soft touch." A twinkle in Maduin's eye suggested that he had some experience with Argus' style of socializing, albeit with a younger female version. "Anyway, I think I might have more luck if you helped me out in talking to the locals, maybe seeing what we can find out." It was quite the admission from Argus. Despite himself, he was having a hard time remembering that Maduin was assigned to be his watchdog. Was the man just charming? Or truly trustworthy?

"And second..." Argus hesitated here. "I need your help in faking Lillith's death." He watched to see what impact THAT would have.

[Graybeard]

[OOC: OK, back...]

As Edith bustled off toward the back of the shop, Sister Rose quickly calculated: was there time for an attempt at mind-speech before the woman came back? She thought so; at least she'd try. She turned to where Drusia was gently caressing Lillith's ... no longer pointed ears. Well, that was interesting. Whatever the elf had done, it was sufficient to survive more than casual scrutiny. Magical detection (apart from the Empathy) wasn't really one of Rose's strengths, of course, and it was possible that a careful magical examination would reveal something amiss, but still, good if imperfect concealment was better than no concealment. Wasn't it?

Anyway, Rose "spoke" to Drusia. "<Nice job there. I hope it'll last a while, because a complication has just arisen. Our hostess here just told me something important regarding our main mission in coming to this area. We're going to have to travel to the next town down the road, probably before you can get your ruse set up.>" She didn't get a chance to "say" more, nor to listen to the elf's response, however, because the old woman was on her way back with a towel ... and this didn't seem like the time to demonstrate that, Hygiene spells being what they were, it wasn't really necessary.

[Porcelain Fish]

The smile froze on Maduin's face, brain scrambling to catch up.

Of course. Drusia's rival at the store. Her sudden panic. Sister Rose's insistence that they leave in short order. It all came together with frightening ease. The woman, Rose had mentioned, was an elf. Somehow, they'd come to realize this elf was tracking them, and to make matters worse, they'd found an old woman who was, if not a supporter, then a sort of ally at any rate.

If Lillith was in danger from this elf, and it certainly seemed as though his current companions believed she was, then her status as Fayna's sister made her safety a primary priority. Not to mention Maduin wasn't remotely inclined to allow his current project to be murdered in front of his eyes.

Maduin's hazel eyes darkened even as his smile widened disingenuously, as though he'd just heard a clever joke. A thought, an act of will, and magic spiderwebbed through the air around the two Tsuirakuans, a subtle but potent enchantment that would keep their words private, the sounds carrying beyond its boundaries becoming meaningless chatter to other ears.

"I will lend any assistance necessary." Maduin kept his tone calm. His head turned back toward the wagon. "I have a winter palette collection in my luggage which can be used to serve our purposes admirably for the . . . viewing. A word of advice by the way - I suggest you break the news to Fayna at your earliest opportunity, which I expect to be quite soon."

[Drannin]

Argus swallowed. "Yes. Yes, I agree. There are certain secrets which shouldn't be kept, and putting it off will only make things worse." Argus glanced back at the others, distantly appreciating Maduin's privacy spell. Gotta remember this one.

"However, a more immediate problem is how to fake Lillith's death... and how to get her to play along. Assuming that it's best to get her to play along." Argus felt it was, but given how jumpy Lillith was of late...

[Graybeard]

As soon as Sister Rose had wiped up the spilled tea, she turned back to the older woman. "As it happens, we have some business in Salticiel." At least we do now, after what you just told me. "How long a voyage is it from here?"

"Oh, not long at all, ma'am," Edith replied. "With your wagon, you should get there well before dinner time. I think there are one or two inns where you might stay. It's a nice little town, very much like our own."

Rose smiled her thanks and started to take her leave and gather up the other travelers to get on the road, but the other woman had one more thing to say. "Be careful on the road, though. There's a small elven ruin along the way, and it sometimes attracts kind of a bad crowd -- if you know what I mean." Her eyebrows arched significantly while Rose tried to figure out what she meant...

[Porcelain Fish]

Maduin considered the quandary Argus had posed. Admittedly, it was a thorny problem.

"Lillith is very . . . cautious," he said after a moment. "On the one hand, that can lead to the skittish behavior we've seen. On the other, cautious folk tend to be extremely good at buckling down when it comes to their own self-preservation, at least as long as they aren't flighty and panicky. Lillith is not stupid. She knows the elf will kill her - which by the way, I'd like to ask you about at some point - but hopefully she trusts, if not me, then at least you and Rose enough to realize that she won't meet a similar fate at our hands."

Maduin folded his hands, deliberately refraining from knotting them in his robe or biting his lip as he thought. "Our main difficulty will be in presenting her in such a state that she in fact appears to be dead. A little makeup isn't going to be enough on its own, and while I would test my own craft against this elven huntress if necessary, I'd prefer to have something to back it up in case she's more talented with illusions and glamourie than a private college student."

Maduin's head came up, and his smile lessened but became more genuine. "On the other hand, Dr. Cleiviein, if it were done very subtly, we could have several witnesses to corroborate the story as we chose to orchestrate it. I very much doubt our pursuer is going to carefully examine everyone on the scene to ensure that there was no tampering, and as long as we kept the ah, "fine-tuning" low-key, then she might not even notice at all. In fact, if necessary, our "adjusted" witnesses could fill both roles."

[Drusia]

"<Nice job there. I hope it'll last a while, because a complication has just arisen. Our hostess here just told me something important regarding our main mission in coming to this area. We're going to have to travel to the next town down the road, probably before you can get your ruse set up.>"

I nod in reply, adding an <"I understand,"> mentally. I stay with Lillith, stroking her hair. As everyone wanders off I lightly touch a few key spots on Lilith's body, checking for common half-elven deformities that I might not have seen before. Nothing. She's clean - beautifully and perfect. I continue to marvel - did her parents know what kind of miracle they'd created?

I hold her a little closer. And, lowering my mind to a bare whisper, hardly pushing at all, letting it flow out from my fingers to her forehead like warmth, I tell her <"I'll protect you. I won't let her hurt you. For your mother's sake, and for Kenny's sake, I'll keep you safe.">

She stirs - mumbles something? - but doesn't awaken. I stroke her hair and do what I can to make her feel safe and loved. Even if my love is a hand-me-down.

-- Drusia