A Masked Dance

[ShrubSeph]

Gethen smiled, inspecting the lock he had hit. Mari had leaped away, and Brin was glowing. He probably should have warned them. Oh well, no use worrying about that now, he thought. He pushed open the passage in the ceiling. 

"Alright, who's going up first? I vote for the one who can fly and heal themselves," he said, gesturing at Brin

@BringerOfLight

Edited July 10, 2020 by Kings_way

[BringerOfLight]

19 minutes ago, Kings_way said:

Gethen smiled, inspecting the lock he had hit. Mari had leaped away, and Brin was glowing. He probably should have warned them. Oh well, no use worrying about that now, he thought. He pushed open the passage in the ceiling. 

"Alright, who's going up first? I vote for the one who can fly  heal themselves," he said, gesturing at Brin

@BringerOfLight

Quote

Ok, I'll send Brin up there, but where is he going to come out?

 

[ShrubSeph]

Quote

I assume it comes out either on the street or in another tunnel. Is Silas' place above or below ground?

Edit: I think it comes out on the street.

@BringerOfLight

Edited July 10, 2020 by Kings_way

[BringerOfLight]

On 7/10/2020 at 0:29 PM, Kings_way said:

I assume it comes out either on the street or in another tunnel. Is Silas' place above or below ground?

Edit: I think it comes out on the street.

Brin smiled at the suggestion, and lashed himself out of the hole. He came out on a busy street, where a small crowd was suspiciously watching the hole that had mysteriously and noisily appeared.

"Er…" Brin said. "Police business?" 

That seemed to satisfy the crowd, and most went back to their business.

Brin leaned down the hole, and called down: "Alright, who's next?"

[+Sorana]

Althea looked at Gethen, Mari and Max. The ceiling was still a little bit above her head and she didn't want to risk lieaving someone stuck down here. Looking around she saw a larger piece of rock lying on the ground to one side and knelt down next to it. It's surface was slimy, covered by grime and something that might have been some plants and she felt a surge of relief at the thought that they would be out of this place soon.

Inhaling a little bit of stormlight she turned the rock into a piece of rope. It wasn't long, but long enough to reach the manhole above them. Hopefully that would help the other three to get out of the place as well, without her needing to elsecall them all out of it. She could, but the she didn't have enough knowledge about the situation above ground to determine whether it was worth it or not. Another advantage was the simple fact that she prefered not to show off too much of her powers. She doubted they would be stupid enough to consider her a beginner, but then there was a huge difference between a beginner and herself. She'd been elsecalling a few minor things now and then so far and she liked it that way.

"Can you catch the rope?" she called up to Brin and help it up. "It should be long enough that you can tie it to a pole nearby, so that we can climb out."

@BringerOfLight

[BringerOfLight]

8 hours ago, Sorana said:

Althea looked at Gethen, Mari and Max. The ceiling was still a little bit above her head and she didn't want to risk lieaving someone stuck down here. Looking around she saw a larger piece of rock lying on the ground to one side and knelt down next to it. It's surface was slimy, covered by grime and something that might have been some plants and she felt a surge of relief at the thought that they would be out of this place soon.

Inhaling a little bit of stormlight she turned the rock into a piece of rope. It wasn't long, but long enough to reach the manhole above them. Hopefully that would help the other three to get out of the place as well, without her needing to elsecall them all out of it. She could, but the she didn't have enough knowledge about the situation above ground to determine whether it was worth it or not. Another advantage was the simple fact that she prefered not to show off too much of her powers. She doubted they would be stupid enough to consider her a beginner, but then there was a huge difference between a beginner and herself. She'd been elsecalling a few minor things now and then so far and she liked it that way.

"Can you catch the rope?" she called up to Brin and help it up. "It should be long enough that you can tie it to a pole nearby, so that we can climb out."

@BringerOfLight

"Yup!" Brin called. A rope would be easiest. He hoped no one was staring.

[Gears]

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Greetings. My character, the Anarchist, needs a plot to call home. Could I have a quick summary of the current state of affairs so I can place my darling explosives addict in the thick of things.

EDIT: Cancellation on that order. I'm making my own thread.

 

Edited July 15, 2020 by Gears

[ShrubSeph]

On 7/13/2020 at 10:31 AM, BringerOfLight said:

"Yup!" Brin called. A rope would be easiest. He hoped no one was staring.

Gethen watched Althea throw Brin the rope, who left, probably to tie it. When it came back down, he grabbed it and climbed up.

He emerged onto a street and looked around. It looked to be a nice part of town with buildings going up to ten stories. "Who's next?" He called down the hole. 

@Sorana@BringerOfLight@kenod@I think I am here.

Quote

Sorry for a bit of godmodding, I just wanted to move the story along. I can edit it if you want.

 

[kenod]

Mari walked up to the hole, and simply ignored the rope, instead just jumping up and then lowering her weight. She shot up out of the hole, weight and speed returning to normal just as she passed through it, and she lightly landed next to Brin, and waited for the rest to come up.

[Voidus]

"Thank you." Laurelai said, hesitating for a moment before shifting seats to join the woman. "Sareshe made it for me, one of the best Arelish seamstresses I've had the joy of finding. She has a little shop on Reo street, I had to track her down from an Elantrian I met at a party."

She gave a polite smile and raised her glass to her lips, savouring the smooth taste as she surreptitiously eyed the redhead once more. She was wealthy enough to afford an outfit like that, plenty of people has ostentatious costumes tonight but few were so well made. Expensive without seeming garish, a line that even many nobles form the various worlds still hadn't quite managed to find. A Scadrian Noblelady then? Or one of the wealthier Skaa?

"But if we're sharing trade secrets then I have to ask for one in return." Laurelai continued, pointedly staring at the elaborate golden headdress. "That's a lovely piece, it can be difficult to find someone who can pull off the necessary blend of boldness and subtlety at this time of year."

Laurelai kept her eyes afixed to the womans face, trying not to stare too obviously. But mentally she was still in a perplexed rush of deduction followed by rapid dismissal, it wasn't too often that she took this long to try to read someone. Usually she would take a few moments to conclude what she could, maybe observe their behaviour and try to reason some less obvious truths about them. But in those cases where she couldn't get much of a read she would usually move on relatively quickly. So why did she find this woman so curious?

Perhaps simply her excellent taste in fashion, company and drinks? She reasoned with an internal grin. But that didn't quite feel like all of it, there was some mystery about this woman that Laurelai was determined to unravel.

"Oh, and I'm Laurelai." She said after her brief lapse into introspection. "Laurelai Esserethel."

Habitually she felt her hand rise to the neckline of her dress, almost pulling free the coin that hung from a nondescript cord there but she managed to shift her hand at the last moment. She didn't want to seem overly nervous.

@ZincAboutIt

[+ZincAboutIt]

"Sareshe is indeed worth her weight in gold," Lita conceded, an approving smile touching the corners of her mouth. This woman knew what she was about, hiring a real seamstress for the Festival instead of buying a costume off the rack for cheap. And fashion advice from an Elantrian? Immortals of all stripes had notoriously expensive taste. The young woman didn't strike Lita as fabulously wealthy, though she was clearly familiar with and comfortable in luxury. A comfortable living, then, with purchases such as that dress reserved for a special occasion. 

"But if we're sharing trade secrets then I have to ask for one in return." The woman said, eyes fixed on Lita's headdress. "That's a lovely piece, it can be difficult to find someone who can pull off the necessary blend of boldness and subtlety at this time of year."

"Indeed it can," Lita answered, reaching a finger up to lightly brush one of the bronze spokes. "I did some business with a Rosharan Lighteyes a year or so back; he owed me a favor. Got in touch with an artifabrian down in the Rosharan quarter. It's soulcast - a single piece of bronze, if you'll believe it. Heavy as hell, to tell it true, but sometimes these sacrifices must be made."

A lie, though a plausible one. It was soulcast, though she'd had one of the more artistic R&D members dream it up, not an artifabrian. The payment had been... memorable. Lita forced down a little shudder when she recalled how 'artistic' he had been with the elderly vagrant she'd procured for his experimentation. She took another sip of port, ridding her mouth of the taste of that memory.

"Oh, and I'm Laurelai," the woman said after a moment. "Laurelai Esserethel."

Esserethel. The name sounded somewhat familiar, and Lita immediately began flicking through one of her Copperminds to see if she had anything on that name. It wasn't nearly as thorough as her records back in the DoCI, but she always made a point of keeping a rudimentary index with her at any time. 

"A pleasure," Lita said, taking another small sip from her glass as she finally came across the name. Esserethel, the professor. He'd actually been considered for recruitment at one time, apparently - that was before she'd taken over the Department. Lita wasn't sure what had caused them to drop him as a potential addition. Morals, probably, she thought. 

"I'm Lita." No last name; Laurelai would surely notice, if she was halfway as clever as Lita guessed. The woman's hand darted up towards her neckline for a moment as if to grab something before flitting to the side. An unconscious movement, but a conscious diversion. Lita caught the tiniest glimpse of a slender cord beneath the neckline of Laurelai's dress. It was wholly unsuited to her outfit - something worn always, then. A sentimental token, most likely. 

"So, how long did it take you to Forge your hair black?" Lita said, taking a calculated risk. She couldn't be completely sure, but she'd have put decent money on Laurelai being a Forger. The Arelish tailor, the generally Sellish appearance, the watchful, calculating gaze. With any luck, it would startle Laurelai enough to cause her to fiddle with whatever she had around her neck, unconscious need for comfort overcoming her natural wariness. Lita smiled, allowing a flash of white teeth.

[+Sorana]

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It's perfectly fine. I mostly wanted to wait for the rest before posting again, to set a pace everybody can follow easily.

Althea climbed up after Gethen and Mari and took a look around on the street. It was empty, compared to usual times, but then the festival was a lot of things but not a usual time or situation. She nod curtly, gratefully at Brin that he had helped with getting the others out and then crossed her arms in front of her chest - thinking. They had found the piece of skin, so someone had met with the Dustbringer. Either that, or he had been assaulted - no, there hadn't been any signs of a fight. Given his last confrontation she doubted that he would suddenly start fighting with subtlety.

Pulling out her device she checked it again, both for the runner and to see if there were any information on the piece of skin they'd found. Chances were slim, with most of the staff outside and partying she doubted their network would run as smooth and fast as usual. It was normal. Which also made this night the perfect night to target someone. Surprise had her widen her eyes by a fraction when she saw that she had been wrong.

"I think I've got something." she said quietly, quickly reading through the message. It was short, obviously sent by someone drunk, close to a jazz club not far from here. "Someone saw a person with skin that roughly matches the pieces we found. He wasn't entirely sure whether it was a costume or not, but felt as if the skin was too good to be fake."

She closed the message before anybody could take a close look and pulled up a map instead, entering the adress and then turning her device so that everybody could take a look at the way. "It's not far. If we want to, we can see what wee can find there."

@BringerOfLight @kenod @Kings_way

[Voidus]

Laurelai gave the headpiece another appreciative glance, a brief flash of envy striking her at the abilities of Soulcasters to so easily create from nothing at all. People often thought of Forgers in much the same vein but in truth the two practices were vastly different in spite of some of their superficial similarities. But still, now that she'd seen it and heard the story she might be able to create a stamp to produce something similar. Perhaps something to save for next year.

She nodded politely back as Lita introduced herself, though Laurelai felt her brow twitch for a moment at the lack of a last name. She's just begun another sip of port to disguise her moment of surprise when Lita asked her next question.

"So, how long did it take you to Forge your hair black?" Lita said, smile gleaming on her face as she watched Laurelai.

Laurelai felt her arm twitch and almost sputtered half of her drink back into its glass in surprise, completely destroying the calm atmosphere she'd been presenting. Her gaze darted up to meet with the amused green eyes of Lita and Laurelai felt a sudden welling of admiration and irritation washing through her. As she set her glass back to the table her free hand reached up to coil itself around a lock of hair as though to reassure herself that it was still there.

There's no way she could have seen the stamp is there? Not through a dress and when it's on my back. Not even the Lord Ruler's tin was that good surely.

Dabbing at her mouth to clean up and more importantly give herself a moment to recover and regain her demeanour, Laurelai forced the panic from her mind. Panic was distracting, she needed to think this through appropriately, rationally. Had the woman simply read her? She certainly seemed sharp enough to read most people but picking up something that obvious about a Forger was no easy feet. If she'd been in the middle of her workday then perhaps noticing some loose flecks of Soulstone would have done the trick but as it was Laurelai had nothing on her to identify her as such.

"An hour to finish the stamp, a moment to use it." She replied, forcing a smile. For a moment Laurelai had considered feigning ignorance but given her own reaction that wouldn't be too convincing.

Could Lita have seen her before and know that her hair had changed since then? Some of the students her father had taught knew her from a distance, and though Lita didn't exactly seem the type Laurelai couldn't exactly judge her solely by appearances at this point. Her headdress was bronze she'd said, could she be a Ferring? Being able to stay awake was certainly something that led many down the path of researchers and study. But that didn't quite seem to match, perhaps something else.

"You must have quite the keen eye." Laurelai said, still smiling. "There's not much of a point to it if people can easily tell."

The Windlass was not as noisy as much of the city was, but still for Lita to have overheard the conversation that Laurelai had when she'd arrived she must have at the least been paying attention or had particularly good hearing. Many tineyes kept tabs on their surroundings like that out of habit, had she noticed something that those with less refined senses couldn't have picked up perhaps?

Lost in thought once again Laurelai found that she'd once again pulled her mothers coin free, the simple iron was cool the touch as she rolled it between her fingers. The familiarity and comfort had become something of a habit when she was thinking deeply about something but that usually only happened while puzzling over a particularly difficult piece of history or forging. It wasn't often that she lapsed enough mid conversation to seek that comfort.

"Sorry." She half-muttered, tucking the coin back away again. "Nervous habit."

She used the motion to break eye contact as well, unsure if she may have been staring while she'd gotten lost in thought. It was thoroughly uncomfortable to be on the back foot this much in a conversation, best to try to right it if she could.

[BringerOfLight]

11 hours ago, Sorana said:

Althea climbed up after Gethen and Mari and took a look around on the street. It was empty, compared to usual times, but then the festival was a lot of things but not a usual time or situation. She nod curtly, gratefully at Brin that he had helped with getting the others out and then crossed her arms in front of her chest - thinking. They had found the piece of skin, so someone had met with the Dustbringer. Either that, or he had been assaulted - no, there hadn't been any signs of a fight. Given his last confrontation she doubted that he would suddenly start fighting with subtlety.

Pulling out her device she checked it again, both for the runner and to see if there were any information on the piece of skin they'd found. Chances were slim, with most of the staff outside and partying she doubted their network would run as smooth and fast as usual. It was normal. Which also made this night the perfect night to target someone. Surprise had her widen her eyes by a fraction when she saw that she had been wrong.

"I think I've got something." she said quietly, quickly reading through the message. It was short, obviously sent by someone drunk, close to a jazz club not far from here. "Someone saw a person with skin that roughly matches the pieces we found. He wasn't entirely sure whether it was a costume or not, but felt as if the skin was too good to be fake."

She closed the message before anybody could take a close look and pulled up a map instead, entering the adress and then turning her device so that everybody could take a look at the way. "It's not far. If we want to, we can see what wee can find there."

@BringerOfLight @kenod @Kings_way

"I'm up for it, mates," Brin said. "Nice contraption you have, by the way. How did you get all that information?

[kenod]

Mari nodded. "Sure," she said. "Should be interesting. I have never heard of any creatures that leave skin like that behind." She wondered if there was some clandestine way she could get it send to one of the labs. Sending in something like that might get her a decent pay-rise, or get some people to owe her a decent favour. Especially the second would be nice, favours accomplished much more than mere money could.

[little wheel]

On 7/8/2020 at 3:11 PM, Ashbringer said:

Apparently not.

The man could fly now. And evidently make a giant hammer from nothing. What couldn't this man do? 

Tyrian knew this wasn't going well. But although Cinder kept nudging him, tugging on the bond... he just couldn't make himself give up.

Tyrian! Listen to me. Take the blow. Do it!

Cinder's voice resounded in his mind as he watched the hammer fall. Why would that help? The force of the blow would...

Wait...

Tyrian turned off his seemingly-useless Division and fueled his Abrasion. He leaned back.

And took the blow square in the chest.

Some of the impact would slide right off. Some shattered half the bones in his body, which the storm within set to fixing. But perhaps the rest would do something to those shadows...

Tyrian toppled over, Stormlight gone. Well, mostly gone.

It was now or never.

Silas Sent himself now to a position behind Tyrian's head.
"You present me with two choices. I can make my little friend finish you off, or I can take you out for a drink while we discuss this like civilized folks. Not that either of us are, but it's nice to pretend sometimes."
Silas crouched down and smiled, all the while focusing on creating a humanoid form out of Night.

[Ashbringer]

4 hours ago, bees? said:

Silas Sent himself now to a position behind Tyrian's head.
"You present me with two choices. I can make my little friend finish you off, or I can take you out for a drink while we discuss this like civilized folks. Not that either of us are, but it's nice to pretend sometimes."
Silas crouched down and smiled, all the while focusing on creating a humanoid form out of Night.

He was right behind him now.

Tyrian could... feel the man, standing there, bending over, just an arm's reach away. It would take a second for him to swing his arm around and embed his sickle into his sternum.

But a second was too long. Silas would just blink away again, always being just an inch out of reach, just a second too far. And even if he hit, who knows what that crystal could take?

So, Tyrian just sat there. He couldn't attack, he couldn't retreat... using his spikes would take too long... what else was there? Give up? He looked to where Cinder had sparked over to, and the spren slowly shook his head. He didn't have any ideas either.

Then he remembered his Gift. It was hidden, it was in under the strap of his bandolier, if he could get to it, it would take longer then he'd like but if he could use it then he-

No, a silky voice sounded in his head. Not yet.

What was left of the fight went out of Tyrian. There was still a tendril of shadow around his ankles; it looked like the same thing that Silas was making. Tyrian focused on that shadow and burned chromium.

Nothing.

He was out of options.

So, Tyrian threw his sickle to the floor, letting it slide away. It was more of a symbolic gesture - Tyrian was the real weapon, not some curved metal - but he hoped it got the point across.

"Fine. I... you win."

He gave a weak chuckle. Once, he'd thought he'd never have to say those words.

Again.

[+Sorana]

Turning around Althea started to walk along the street, towards the indicated direction. "I sent an image of the skin to an associate of mine." she replied to Brin's question. It was positive that he didn't trust her blindly, but tried to find out a little more. He didn't know who she was, if she maybe even worked with the Dustbringer. She knew she didn't, what had happened had been neccessary, a chance for the man to change his course. It had been the only way. Not with Max rioting him like that.

Althea made sure she kept her face even, although she sometimes found it hard to hide her dislike of Max use of his power. He knew what he could do. And yet, he still reached out for it instead of looking for another way. Lifting a hand she touched her fingertips to her forehead, remembered how she had nearly clawed her own eyes out. Things had been different back then. Max had been crazy, comepletely, utterly crazy. He hadn't been able to influence his power, or to steer it. Tonight he had done that. He had been careful and only rioted what he'd deemed neccessary. But the expression - the fear, the panic. She knew them. Knew them far too well.

She put on her mask again after a few steps, after the first weird glances by some on the street. It was better to blend in, to vanish in the crowd. Easier to divert their attention that something was going on. The last thing they needed were spectators, drunk spectators at that. Better to keep things quiet, to ensure they didn't endanger any citizens. Otherwise they could turn around right here and now.

Stopping in front of a building she paused, waited for the others to catch up. "That should be the place." she annouced and carefully stored her device in her inner pocket. The building had three stories and she could hear faint jazz music coming out of the door. Now and then laughter and cheers reached her ears. A bar of some sorts. That wasn't good. The noise of the guests would hide anything else and they proved a large mass of individuals they had no idea about. They could be random visitors, or they belonged to the prisoner, only waited for his command to get rid of any potential thread. They needed to be careful until they knew more about this place.

She stayed where she was to give the other a chance to take a look, to come up with an idea how to proceed, maybe to offer a skill. Personally, she would simply walk inside, ask for the man and go there, hoping that the guests were indeed that. Guests. But she didn't know who she was travelling with, so maybe one of them had another idea, or some experience that made this easier, reduced the risk for everybody.

[Channelknight Fadran]

Fadran steps into this thread, and blatantly asks for a TLDR because he is very unsure what's going on.

As he wanders the streets, he starts humming under his breath, to the tune of the old Spiderman theme. 

Alleyverse, Alleyverse. Why am I saying that in verse?

[BringerOfLight]

8 hours ago, Sorana said:

Turning around Althea started to walk along the street, towards the indicated direction. "I sent an image of the skin to an associate of mine." she replied to Brin's question. It was positive that he didn't trust her blindly, but tried to find out a little more. He didn't know who she was, if she maybe even worked with the Dustbringer. She knew she didn't, what had happened had been neccessary, a chance for the man to change his course. It had been the only way. Not with Max rioting him like that.

Althea made sure she kept her face even, although she sometimes found it hard to hide her dislike of Max use of his power. He knew what he could do. And yet, he still reached out for it instead of looking for another way. Lifting a hand she touched her fingertips to her forehead, remembered how she had nearly clawed her own eyes out. Things had been different back then. Max had been crazy, comepletely, utterly crazy. He hadn't been able to influence his power, or to steer it. Tonight he had done that. He had been careful and only rioted what he'd deemed neccessary. But the expression - the fear, the panic. She knew them. Knew them far too well.

She put on her mask again after a few steps, after the first weird glances by some on the street. It was better to blend in, to vanish in the crowd. Easier to divert their attention that something was going on. The last thing they needed were spectators, drunk spectators at that. Better to keep things quiet, to ensure they didn't endanger any citizens. Otherwise they could turn around right here and now.

Stopping in front of a building she paused, waited for the others to catch up. "That should be the place." she annouced and carefully stored her device in her inner pocket. The building had three stories and she could hear faint jazz music coming out of the door. Now and then laughter and cheers reached her ears. A bar of some sorts. That wasn't good. The noise of the guests would hide anything else and they proved a large mass of individuals they had no idea about. They could be random visitors, or they belonged to the prisoner, only waited for his command to get rid of any potential thread. They needed to be careful until they knew more about this place.

She stayed where she was to give the other a chance to take a look, to come up with an idea how to proceed, maybe to offer a skill. Personally, she would simply walk inside, ask for the man and go there, hoping that the guests were indeed that. Guests. But she didn't know who she was travelling with, so maybe one of them had another idea, or some experience that made this easier, reduced the risk for everybody.

"This is the place, huh?" Brin asked, curiously.

Not waiting for anyone, he promptly walked through the front door.

[Ashbringer]

1 hour ago, Channelknight Fadran said:

Fadran steps into this thread, and blatantly asks for a TLDR because he is very unsure what's going on.

As he wanders the streets, he starts humming under his breath, to the tune of the old Spiderman theme. 

Alleyverse, Alleyverse. Why am I saying that in verse?

Quote

Umm...

TL:DR for this thread, it's a masquerade ball that has the Alleyverse brand of chaos. It's a yearly celebration for 3 days where people usually wear masks and do party things and also sell large quantities of swords. Meanwhile, a prison van was transporting Silas, an insane Aether user. The van ended up broken into by Tyrian, my very violent Dustbringer, who released Silas. A group of Althea the Elsecaller, Brin the Skybreaker, and Max the Rioter/Soulbearer chased Tyrian into the underground sewers of the city, then regrouped at a bar to try and find where the Dustbringer went, joined by Mari the mass-shifter and Gethen the Tineye/Spinner. Meanwhile Silas tried to... "recruit" Tyrian, which ended in the two dueling and Tyrian losing and agreeing to work for Silas. The two groups are probably about to collide violently.

Meanwhile there's a few other plots, mainly the Deadspot and a few organizations and shops.

 

[Channelknight Fadran]

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Okay.

Fadran starts walking through the streets, watching people enjoy the masquerade ball. How was he supposed to know that celebrating here required some form of... well, mask? Maybe he could buy one.

As if on cue, a merchant started shouting "get yer masks here! Only twenty spheres a pop!"

Twenty spheres for a mask, huh? Fadran mused. I can pay that.

Fadran forks over the dough, picking out a mask that roughly resembled one from one of his favorite media. Putting it on, he begins to scan the area, searching for... well, anything. Something to do.

It's a party and you don't know what to do? Icona asks. I'm ashamed of you.

I've never been good at... partying. Fadran replies. How is it done?

Icona chooses not to reply, and Fadran sighs out loud. Perhaps he could start haggling... a merchant's way of life.

[kenod]

On 7/17/2020 at 4:03 PM, BringerOfLight said:

"This is the place, huh?" Brin asked, curiously.

Not waiting for anyone, he promptly walked through the front door.

Aura followed behind him, a bit more cautious than Brin, but not wanting to let him go in alone either. She looked behind her, hoping that the rest was coming too, since she had no interest in going in alone herself either.

[+ZincAboutIt]

Lita let her smile drop a little and took another sip of port, enjoying the sensation of a correct guess as Laurelai's carefully-guarded countenance shattered with surprise. She sputtered, coughing, and Lita could watch the thoughts racing behind her eyes.

"You must have quite the keen eye." Laurelai said, recovering quickly. "There's not much of a point to it if people can easily tell."

Fast on her feet, Lita noted, impressed by how quickly she'd managed to compose herself. Laurelai's eyes were still a little wide and wild, but Lita had expected her to take longer to put herself together.

"It was a guess," Lita responded, softening her expression to help assuage the young woman's pride. "Black hair is astoundingly rare with your complexion and eye color, and while you saw fit to include your eyebrows in the Soulstamp, you neglected your eyelashes. You missed a bit of mascara on the inner corner of your right eye - a few blonde lashes are visible. Don't take it too hard. most people would never notice such a thing."

But I'm not most people. The words hung in the air despite her not saying them. Lita smiled at Laurelai again, feeling a thrill of satisfaction as her hand went to the cord around her neck, drawing out a pendant of some kind. A bit of Tin was all she needed to make out the round, silvery surface of - 

Lita felt her heart stop for a moment, instinctively taking the memory and shoving it into a Coppermind for verification. She felt herself freeze, her face unmoving, not daring to breathe, as she looked at the iron coin hanging at the end of Laurelai's cord. It was rare - she had seen its like only once before, in the exact duplicate that she kept in the drawer of her bedside table.

"Sorry." Laurelai tucked the coin back into her neckline, seeming somewhat embarrassed. "Nervous habit."

"Think nothing of it," Lita replied, relaxing her jaw into an easy smile, her mind churning with the implications. How had she obtained a coin like that? Lita had found hers in Forian's wallet the night she'd fled Elendel. Three years ago. "Quite a pretty charm," she continued, keeping her voice easy, as though she were barely interested. Inside, her heart thundered. "Is it a Sellish currency?" 

@Voidus
 

[Rosharan A.C.]

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Quick question. Is the festival still technically going on? I kept up until around page 11, and I'm not sure what's happened since then. I know that a criminal got loose, a building collapsed, and some tunnels were made, among other things. These seem like they could potentially cause an early end to the festivities, so I was curious.