[Bizzare] Behind Schedule? {Derric ~ Mia}

[Sesha]

She caught the book with a fluid grace, a look a disgust burning into the back of the vagrant woman’s dark haired skull. This interruption was neither warranted, nor welcomed and left a bad taste in her mouth. Sesha would normally welcome such a distraction, but the oddly bound woman now blocked her path further, her fingers tightened on the book and she cleared her throat rudely. “I see you’ve found yourself a girlfriend,” she said, speaking poison over both. “Too bad she’ll suck you dry,” she added in Symenos, guessing at the woman’s pallid heritage. It was a poor recreation of the tone spoken by the Spider-folk, but might serve to cut the woman emotionally as much as she wished to physically. “I must say, good luck to both of you! Prey your children kill you before they eat you! Now may I-” she stopped short, her eyes falling on the contents of the book for the first time. “Is this us?” Sesha asked in disbelief, dazed by what she saw. Intricately sketched into the book, Sesha saw a scene exactly like the one she was now encountering, but drawn from above, as if the artist had been watching the three of them from some impossible vantage. The flower in her hair, the scarf she’d obtained only moments ago, the tome open between her hands, even the way she stood, angled to escape; all were drawn in fine detail. Sesha looked closer, seeing behind her image seven tiny circles – the coins! She thrust the book into the woman’s hands. “What is this? Why are we in here?” she barked, her whole body shaking. “What are you? I demand you answer me!” Her voice was nearly a screech, drawing a few casual stares from those passing by the alleyway. She’d completely ignored her mark, and the coins. Nothing like this happened in Alvadas, even with its mystery.

[Dramiana Rosenthal]

"These?" Derric said, motioning to his clothes as he took a step back to increase his distance from the stranger. "I don't know, the Syliras Bazaar, I suppose. Hey, who are you anyway?" The manner in which Derric acknowledged her caused her left brow to tick: how could a man be so skilled at sleight of hand and not recognize a rouse when he saw one? The halfling's beautiful deep eyes suddenly caught his own humble brown ones, and there was a flood of adjectives to describe the way she looked at him: entrancing, melancholy, eerie, and hypnotic. “You. Don’t. Know?” Her voice changed to a more honest representation, though the mark of her curse caused an odd aura of distrust to loom over the three of them. “Are they not yours, Prestidigitator?” Obviously, in her meanderings about town in the last few days, she'd seen him procure a dove out of his sleeve once or twice. All of the ‘r’s trilled tenderly off of the tongue, and all of the vowels were elongated and light, eloquently pronounced. It was never determined if she was speaking in Symenos or in the Common Tongue. He asked for her name and her station, but how was such a thing relevant to his clothing or his current condition? So she kept her keen gaze upon the foppish gentleman, he nearly making her smile unawares. Vividly intrigued and wanting more interaction, there came the caustic noise of a dis-pleasured thief behind her: “I see you’ve found yourself a girlfriend.” Strike one. The grip on her chains tightened. “Too bad she’ll suck you dry,” spoken in Symenos in a way that not only butchered the language, but also the young pilferer’s intelligence. Strike two. “I must say, good luck to both of you! Prey your children kill you before they eat you! No may I-” Miana's brow lines furrowed and curled in an angry fit of rage, and Derric would find the depths of her amaranth eyes brazen and wroth. There was lightning in them. The violent pang of her mother’s death coursed through her nerves on cue, igniting Mia’s veins. Strike three. Without tact, the woman continued to prattle about her book, daring to gaze into the cryptography within its pages. It was thrust viciously into her tiny arms where the summoner cradled it, but her gaze never faltered and continued emblazoning with anger. Deftly, the young woman tugged hard on her fetter, now wrapped around the both of them. Its intent was to tangle them up and perhaps collide them into each other. Stepping gingerly out of the cat’s cradle she had prepared for them, the two were now squished against each other, dangerously close to kissing. In fact, she hoped they did kiss just so the two of them would shut up. Should the trick work, both Derric and Sesha would be entwined in something of a tight embrace too close for comfort. With that, Damiana turned her vehement gaze upon Sesha. For although the charlatan hadn’t insulted her outright, an incontrovertible commandment was given her: “Never. Insult. Her. Memory. Ever. Again.” Maybe the hypnosis had fallen on deaf ears, though the intent was there. True enough, Sesha hadn’t outright insulted her mother, but the inference had struck such a violent surge of Djed through the youngling, that her reaction was less than civil. And just as the violent rush of anger had erupted, it was quelled. She became once again shrunken and meager, cadaver-like in appearance rather than terrible and haunting, and soft-spoken once more despite the two strangers having never experienced the contrary. Gingerly, the seven golden mizas were returned into Derric’s pocket while the petite creature walked toward the direction of the hedge maze causing the argent leash to slowly unravel around the two of them to eventually free them of their miserable “cuddle.” Now who looked like the flowering young couple? Therefore, Dra-Miana did not speak to either of them again for the remainder of the evening.

[Derric]

Derric It happened quickly, so fast in fact that Derric had no time to escape before finding himself trapped too closely to the pickpocket for comfort. As the Symenestra walked away, the magician pushed against Sesha, separating himself from her. After quickly checking his pockets for the stolen mizas, Derric turned and spoke to the thief. "Think we should head after her?" Almost immediately, Derric turned to gaze at Mia as the woman walked away. He silently debated the question that he'd posed for Sesha. If it had been a human, he would have gone after her in a second. However, he knew enough about Symenestra's to know that they had fangs, claws, and that they were poisonous. The performer, just like many other humans in Mizahar, saw them as a race better left alone and altogether avoided if possible. On the other hand, they weren't exactly standing in an unpopulated area. The woman would be unintelligent to try anything too hostile with so many people around. Derric glanced back at the pickpocket. Despite the fact that she had just stolen from him, two heads were undeniably better than one, and he was willing to listen to her opinion.

[Sesha]

Sesha was just a quick to offer her aid in separating the two of them, her small skill in combat served as a personal counsel that such a thing should not be attempted again. She held no desire to continue on this little encounter of theirs, but the pickpocket was a lover of all things secret and the fettered wench carried a great big leather-bound one in her milky arms. “I know what I saw,” she said sternly but low enough not to draw attention outside the range of her attempted mark. It was not an apt approach to their further shared company, but simply the best she could manage at the moment. “She’s a witch. That much is obvious. Did you see her eyes?” Sesha had reason to be wary of such a person, but she was so often too curious for her own good. She kept her voice low, peering out of the alley after the meanderings of the obnoxious woman. Something was definitely sour about her. Sesha could taste it in the air. “Come along, but keep out of sight and especially out of my way.” She pressed past him and into the mass of milling bodies. He might learn a thing or two, she thought with a faint grin, reminded of her own tutors. She didn’t offer another word to the man, focused on her new mark. Perhaps this wouldn’t be such a dull evening after all. She thought nostalgically of the seven Mizas rolling in her palm. Such silly things these foreigners.

[Dramiana Rosenthal]

OOCI'm not sure how you would like to proceed since the season has changed. We can perhaps have this thread graded and you all can catch up to Mia in the library on the 1st day of winter?

[Derric]

Derric OOCYeah, I say we might as well just call this done. Technically, we are allowed to continue into the next season, but we really don't need to drag this out more. Derric shook his head at the pickpocket's command. He'd made up his mind that chasing the Symenestra was unnecessary, and he had decided any good that could possibly come out of the chase was not worth the risks entailed. In these thoughts the performer was adamant, and with that he turned to continue his journey into the Bizzare. The question still reigned concerning whether or not he had made the correct decision, but Derric pushed the worries aside. Having not seen Mia's book, he was relatively unaffected by the encounter. Aside from a few sour feelings, originating from being tied to the pickpocket, the man had nothing to hold against the Symenestra. To him, it was a cause not worth fighting for. It was only thirty or so chimes later that Derric realized Sesha's latest theft. Yet, he'd noticed the missing mizas much too late for it to be reversible, and let the mischief slide for the time being. Seven mizas wasn't worth tracking down a single person in the sea of beings that made up the population of Alvada's bazaar. However, Derric was good with faces. He had a feeling that if he saw her again he'd know it. And, should that happen, he'd get his money back. END? OOC2I'm out, however if Sesha wants to continue to track down Mia, that's fine. I gotta get to my quest threat now that Cadence it back!

[Sesha]

Sesha stamped her feet and shouted an oath. Now is not the time for this! A twenty foot span stood before her, dropping into a pool teeming with some kind of otherworldly sea creatures. A final glimpse of the witch disappeared behind the next corner. “Pray we don’t meet again, girl.” She gathered her cloak about her shoulders and turned into the nearest alleyway, seeking out some other fool for the time being.

[Puzzle]

Thread Complete! "What a well made thread we have here." And so ends the thread, but the beginning of a new tale for all three of our wondrous protagonists. A thief, even in a causal way, is always entwined with their marks, and in today's case, Sesha and Derric became entwined in more ways than one! And who is this mysterious Symenestran hypnotist? What is Dramiana's game? All in all, a delightfully fun thread. You should all be very proud of yourselves for it. Derric, I would name a sandwich in your honor for, as a writer, letting your character get stolen from. A lot of writers have too much pride ("My character is invulnerable! Nothing bad ever happens to them!"). They forget that misfortune is the soul of plot, and you all did a very good job with making things quite difficult for one another. You should each give each other a round of applause for it. Sesha   Skills +1 Charm +2 Larceny +1 Observation +2 Persuasion +2 Intimidation   Lore "Tradecraft: weather can create unexpected trace" "Cruelty as a weapon" "Things can always become more unexpected in Alvadas" "Curiosity can be overpower hatred."   Ledger +7 Gold Miza From stealing from Derric. turquoise scarf Because silk carts are handy. Fancy pipe Assuming you didn't steal it in another thread already.   Reward I am giving you 3 gold miza 8 silver miza and 16 copper for the additional people you stole from, so add that to your ledger as well. Derric   Skills +1 tracking +2 persuasion +1 running   Lore "Sometimes a bump isn't a bump" "The wrong way of running through a crowd" "Symanestra girls are an odd lot" "Leverage is a tricky thing"   Ledger -7 gold miza   Reward I am giving you +2 observation in addition under the judgement that perhaps this whole encounter has made Derric more mindful of thieves in the future. Dra-Miana   Skills +1 observation +1 tracking +1 stealth +1 hypnosis +2 weapon skill: kusarigama   Lore "Book wisdom: the decency of clothing v. the people that wear them" "speed of hand isnt speed of mind" "Some people need not be beasts to be beastly"   Ledger N/A   Reward +1 hypnosis (to a total of 2 for the thread)