To the Victor Go the Spoils
Log Info
- Title: Forearmed is Forewarned
- GM: Verna
- Characters: Auranar, Ravenstongue, Simony, Telamon
- Place: Cor'lana and Telamon's house
The (Cor'lana and Telamon) Lupecyll-Atlon residence -- Evening.
The night is cool and the sky is clear. Despite the lack of cloud cover, there is little natural light: the sun has already set; the moon has not yet risen; the stars twinkle faintly, appearing more fickle, dim, or distant than they might otherwise.
Upon the chamber door there comes a rapping, not a tapping: a trio of firm, equally-spaced knocks upon the wood.
As winter has loosened its grip on Alexandria and the weather has warmed, things seem to be looking up for all the worries of the world. Telamon stands in the kitchen, making a simple if abundant meal -- heartland sausage, corn, shrimp, and potatoes, seasoned and simmering in a pot as he hums to himself. A large wooden spoon stirs the pot by itself, as Telamon removes a loaf of bread from the oven.
At the knock, Telamon's eyes flick to the door. "Lana, can you get the door? My hands are a little full at the moment, even with the unseen servant."
Cor'lana, dressed for the spring evening in a lavender-color cotton dress that goes past the knees in the skirt, seems to be in good spirits. Maybe it's because it's not her turn to cook tonight. Maybe it's because Pothy is all swaddled in blankets on the couch. Maybe it's all of the above.
"I'll get it!" Cor'lana says, hopping up from the couch next to the be-swaddled Pothy.
"Lana, lemme ouuuuut," Pothy protests, wriggling from the blankets that cocoon him. "This was comfy but now I want to sample Telamon's cooking! For taste-testing purposes!"
"If you don't want to be swaddled like a baby, maybe you shouldn't be shaped like a baby," Cor'lana retorts as she walks over to the door, opening it just a little to see who's on the other side. "Hello?"
While others may be dressed for Spring's arrival, Simony is dressed for war. Her armor is burnished and shiny, her warhammer a constant companion on her hip. Her helm is at least removed and left hanging in the front hall.
She also insists on remaining standing.
"Here, Pothy.", the Goblin says with a giggle. She offers the bird a peanut, produced from a small pouch on her hip. "This should tide you over for now."
Before the door is a man not unlike the night sky: dark save for a few twinklings of faint light. His complexion is a deep black and his ears are elongated to points. For these reasons, he might be taken as mul'niessa. There are some differences, however, as his hair is equally dark, as are his eyes. In fact, even his clothing is a similar, utter black. The differences between attire, flesh, and eyes are primarily in texture and sheen. The fain twinklings come from small jeweled piercings set in his ears.
The man stands quite still; perhaps too still. He appears aware of Cor'lana's greeting and the opening of the door, but he does not immediate offer a greeting nor explanation.
Behind this shadow of a man is the faintest edge of a bright pink color. Like the flash of sunrise in the sky. Then, Auranar peeks around the dark man, only the top of her head visible around his muscular frame. "Hi Lana!" Her voice is cheerful.
Telamon sets the bread down, his eyebrows furrowing. "Simony, keep an eye out..." Then he catches his breath as he hears Auranar's voice, and he smiles. "Aura, you made it!" Relief floods his tone, his shoulders sagging a bit as tension fades. "One more to return to us," he murmurs to himself.
Turning to the servitor, he instructs, "Stir -slowly-. Don't overdo it, we're not churning the laundry here." With that, he pulls off his gloves and steps out of the kitchen, dressed in simple linen garments with an apron that proclaims in both tradespeak and sildanyari, 'Kiss the Cook!'. "Pothy, if you try to dive into that pot I will put you on hardtack rations."
"Do not," Pothy whines, accepting the peanut and making whining noises all the while--until his little bird-brain starts working again. Auranar. "Ranaaaa~!"
Pothy's started calling her this lately. Rana, because Au-rana-r, to match her sister, Lana. "Lemme out, lemme out, I need to say hello--"
"Good evening, Captain Doyle," Cor'lana replies, standing rather stiffly as she looks at the man, before offering a smile in Auranar's direction. "Has my sister returned home from the duel that was levied against Apotheosis, the Ever-Child?"
Pothy immediately quiets at the greeting of 'Captain Doyle', his blue eyes wide. The bird stills in a way he doesn't ever really do.
Simony leaves the peanut within reach of Pothy, and she turns towards the direction of the front of the house, her ears perking up as she attempts to eavesdrop on the distant conversation happening at the front door.
The Goblin nods her head slightly in response to Telamon, looking relieved as the news of Auranar's return is announced. "That is good news, Tel, good news indeed! So..." A little sigh escapes her. "Hopefully just a few things to wrap up."
"She is returned," Doyle states factually with no inflection and little expression beyond that required to speak, "as Her Majesty bid me." His timbre is deep yet clear, like a perfectly formed yet aged brass bell. A verbose and gregarious one, he is not.
For her part, Auranar stays behind Doyle, sort of shift a bit more to the side, but he is kind of in the way. "Ummm." She glances into the house, feeling a bit uncertain about what Simony is talking about, then she smiles, hearing Pothy inside. Auranar glances at Doyle. "Can I go inside?" She doesn't want to be rude. (She has a feeling he could squish her like a bug.)
Doyle's voice provokes an instant flash in Telamon's eyes. But he keeps his cool, as he approaches the door, stepping up next to Cor'lana. His humble attire can't hide the lifted chin, the straight back, as he stares coolly at Doyle. "Please come inside, Auranar," he says, giving her a smile, before his gaze flicks back to Doyle.
He does not, noticeably, make any motion to invite the fey captain inside. "Is there anything else we should be apprised of?"
Cor'lana opens the door and smiles widely, letting in Auranar. "Yes, of course," she says. "Please come in, Auranar." Like her husband, she's not inviting in Captain Doyle.
Pothy continues to be absolutely silent and still, his blue eyes resting on Simony for the moment. In the interrim, Cor'lana says, a bit more cheerfully, "You'll have to tell us all about what happened, Auranar." There will be a bit more cheer once Captain Doyle is clear of their front step.
The Goblin turns to face Pothy, eyeing him curiously. "You're safe. If Auranar's returned, well, I think it means she beat challenge."
Simony grins. "After this, I'll go down and get you some sweets from the market, okay? Perhaps some seeds, too?"
"No," Doyle answers Telamon's inquiry flatly. He then moves to grant Auranar entrance... by stepping forward into the residence, himself. He is not aggressive with his movement, but it remains firm and confident. "There is one more task I was bid, once she is returned fully from whence she departed." Doyle turns now towards Auranar and regards her ... flatly. It is nigh impossible to discern whether he is expectant, impatient, bored, other, or none of the above.
Auranar follows Doyle into the house, obviously a little discomforted by the fact that he'd stepped into her sister's house. She shifts closer to the couch - and to Pothy. Keeping her eyes on Doyle even as she offers all of them - except Simony really since she doesn't know the other very well really - a small smile. Then she kneels beside the couch and frees Pothy from his bindings. "Hey little brother... I did it." Her eyes are a little shiny.
There's a sudden chill in the air that has nothing to do with winter when Doyle steps inside, and Telamon's voice is frosty. "Are you accepting my hospitality, Captain Doyle?" Yes, it's a slightly barbed comment, but it's clear the half-sil sorcerer is not exactly thrilled with the fey lord's movement.
Not too far away, there's a soft baying sound, like a dog howling at the moon.
"I would love that," Pothy murmurs gently to Simony as Doyle enters, and then he looks at Telamon with bright blue eyes. "Tel, he is not the enemy. Please believe me on that."
When Auranar frees him, Pothy nuzzles into her hands that freed him. "You're one of my most favorite people, Rana," he says. "One of my most favorite big sisters."
Then he turns to face Doyle. Pothy seems... a little larger. Maybe it's the puffing out of his feathers. But that boyish voice of his turns ever-polite and silent. "Announcing the Queen's Darkness, Doyle, Captain of the Queen's Ravens, noted by myself, Apotheosis, the Ever-Child, as an esteemed individual of the Court belonging to Her Majesty, the Queen of Air and Darkness, to whom I express my salutations and regards."
His boyish voice doesn't stumble for a second on his words. "It is well to see you again, Captain Doyle." That part actually sounds a bit happy.
Cor'lana blinks. Maybe Pothy and the Captain had a better relationship than she thought? "May I get you a cup of tea?" she asks of Captain Doyle. "It is Alud'rigan's lavender-mint tea."
Simony offers a friendly smile to Auranar as she comes to kneel beside Pothy. "Happy to hear of your success.", she says softly. Turning away, the Goblin takes a few steps towards the door, but remains inside the living room. "It's a bad idea to enter without being invited.", she whispers.
She turns slightly to mask the fact that her hand rests on the head of her warhammer. The little hairs on the back of her neck rise up, and she shivers at the sound of the baying hounds. "Oh no."
The small form relaxes though, upon hearing the Raven speak well of Captain Doyle.
Doyle's attention is taken from Auranar briefly with Pothy's polite salutations. A nod is given; a small movement to some, but significant in the context of the fey captain's known or displayed behaviors (or lack thereof). "I accept your salutations, for myself and on behalf of Her Majesty."
He addresses Cor'lana with a simple, if relatively polite, "I must decline. Duties remain to be tended." Telamon's barbed comment is not responded to at all.
His attention returns to Auranar and the final task at hand. "Your ingenuity impressed a number of Her Majesty's Court. I am bid offer you this reward for your efforts." One hand reaches to his clothing to retrieve a small item from within, despite no visible indication of its presence prior. He then extends the item, supported reverently with all fingers, towards Auranar. It is a small ebon box of lacquered or naturally black wood. It is not unlike a container for small valuables or keepsakes.
This is obviously a surprise to Auranar who clearly did not expect anything as a reward. In truth she suspected strongly that the Queen had set this up to try and gain Pothy back. So receiving a gift for thwarting the woman? She eyes the box a touch suspiciously, then rises to her feet. Graciously she accepts the box, nodding her head to the man. It could be cursed. "Please extend my acknowledgement in response to this gift."
She withdraws a careful step and murmurs a few word, hoping that Doyle will not consider it an insult that she colors her own dark eyes with the faint illumination that allows her to see magic before she studies the box, and then opens it.
Telamon subsides somewhat, though his eyes never leave Doyle. Instead, he reaches over to touch Pothy gently, patting the familiar. "We've been securing allies while you've been gone, Auranar," he says with a small grin. "Just so you don't think we've been lost without you."
He finally moves his gaze over to Simony, "Relax. Sometimes a howl is just a howl, after all." His eyes twinkle.
Pothy leans into Telamon's touch, a soft little contented hum leaving him. He seems exceedingly happy for Auranar and her special prize, although... He seemingly braces for something horrible. It is, after all, a gift from Her Majesty.
Cor'lana nods gently to Telamon's words. "We have assembled a team of operatives and a direction," she says softly to Auranar. "We'll speak more on that after the Captain departs." It would not do to discuss those things in front of a member of a fae court that may have some involvement with Verna's disappearance--even if Captain Doyle himself was likely not involved.
The Goblin watches with fascination the polite and ritual greetings exchanged between Pothy and the Captain. The fingers of her left hand twitch ever so slightly, she definitely wishes she had her pencils and paper right now. Such a scene.
The little box is eyed curiously, Simony's eyes lighting up, her expression practically screaming "what's in the box, what's in the box open it hurry!". Her head tilts towards Telamon though, one of her pale eyebrows arching up at him.
"You've lived here long enough to know that that is rarely the case." Her right hand remains out of view, leaning on the head of her hammer. "Is he from the fey court?", she whispers.
After Auranar accepts the box, Doyle straightens to his straight, neutral and nigh-unmoving stance. As it is opened, however, there is a soft sound from him: a sudden intake of breath from one who rarely appears to be breathing. The already ebon lord seems to darken further and his shadow lengthens... though all could be mere tricks of the light.
The small box fit for jewely does, in fact, contain a piece of jewelry. It is a single platinum ring that gleams with a notable aura of mana to Auranar's eyes. Not that she would need magical senses to recognize that it is magical: it resonates with one that Auranar, herself, wears.
Nor would she have any troubles recognizing it. It is a ring that Auranar has seen almost daily; touched perhaps as often... though not in the past days. Familiar enough that others present may well recognize it, also.
For those that might not discern the significance of the ring on its own, a slender gray finger still rests within the band to provide further context.
There are times, when one knows that something terrible is coming. Like the building of a storm. There is a pressure in the air. A feeling which can not be described, but which the inner mind knows completely. The charged particles that race forward toward their inevitable conclusion.
Auranar looks at that gray finger, and she simply knew, from the moment that the box was offered what she would find inside.
Her dark eyes lift to look upon Doyle, to the length of shadow upon him, and the darkness which is a man who led her to this place and this moment.
Auranar's eyes are as dark as that void, holding no sorrow, no fear, no pain. Not even anger. Only certainty.
The box closes soundlessly.
"I see you Queen of Air and Darkness, but you are not welcome here. You are not welcome in the home of my sister. You are not welcome in the home of my brother by bond. You are not welcome, and so you must leave. Take her and yourself Doyle, if you wish your Queen's safety in any measure." Her voice is utterly calm and without emotion. Her body a slender line like a willow tree standing in the calm of the storm she had always known would rise. "Go, and never return. Never let my eyes fall upon you again."
Telamon's eyes fall on what's inside, and he stiffens. Just as Auranar's own emotions are bottled, Telamon strives to master his. The stars in his eyes blaze with cold fury, the endless night between worlds, and the ominous powers which drift there.
Then Auranar beats him to ejecting Captain Doyle and his mistress, and very faintly the corner of his mouth quirks up. But he merely moves to the door, and opens it, staring at Doyle pointedly. Nothing else needs to be said.
At that moment that Pothy's eyes fall upon the finger... Pothy tears his eyes away. Water forms from his raven eyes and falls down. The white raven is reminded again of Her Majesty's cruelty.
Cor'lana's violet eyes blaze in fury. "Out of respect for Apotheosis's wishes of peace in this house," she says, "none are to prevent the Captain from leaving peacefully."
She goes to take Auranar's side, standing by Pothy and her sister. Her eyes suggest that the Captain should, indeed, do as her sister commanded promptly.
The Goblin, like everyone else, is curious about what's in the box. Til she finds out what's actually in the box.
Her eyes go wide as recognition dawns. And then her expression darkens.
She turns about abruptly and strides into the kitchen.
This is followed by a rather unhappy sound of someone's lunch being revisited.
The darkness of and about Doyle lingers for but a moment, and then it is gone. Doyle blinks, once, the act apparent more by the momentary loss of sheen to his eyes than any conspicuous movement. He regards Auranar and Cor'lana a moment longer before he states simply. "My tasks are complete. I take my leave."
He then steps to and through the door and off the porch with the same strong, measured stride with which he had entered. Given his appearance, and nature, another stride or two beyond are all that are required for him to vanish into the night.
It is Auranar then, who closes the door behind him. Who seals the house and she stands there for a long moment. In the silence unbroken by anything but the sound of Simony being ill in the kitchen. Then she turns, the box gone from sight, but not gone entirely. She looks at her sister and Telamon. She knows that she could give herself a moment for grief now, let herself feel the pain of what has happened. Yet it will not help Verna if she does so. Instead she keeps herself in the calm. "Can I stay here for the time being? We have much to discuss."