Lies of a Mission

Log Info

• Title: Lies of a Mission
• Emitter: Robert
• Characters: Robert, Jay, Nemori, Eztli
• Place: A07: Lower Alexandria Market District
• Time: Tuesday, November 01, 2022, 10:04 PM
• Summary: Nemori, Jay and Eztli are working or hanging around the Ilife forge when Robert returns. He was away on a trip, that ran unexpectedly long. Jay is non-plussed, but Nemori reacts badly to his absence and not asking for help. Eztli also explains she has lost too many friends and family. Robert apologizes but Nemori storms out, and Jay moves to follow her, unsettled by conversations involving family death.

-=--=--=--=--=--=<* A07: Lower Alexandria Market District *>-=--=--=--=--=--=-

Just west of the Northern Highbridge and east of the arena, commerce blooms. Noisy and bustling, most anything may be purchased here for a price. Vendors from all cultures sell their wares from exotically colored carts, and the smells of different nations and far-off city-states mix with local ones from Alexandria and its riverbanks.

For all its commerce, visitors are advised to keep hold of their purses. Even the merchants possess a certain, cunning look. Most are positioned at carts or stalls as opposed to a formal storefront, with trade here being mobile, and visiting from all parts of the world.

Though the quality of goods suffers here compared to Upper Alexandria, the options are more diverse. Too, the oversight of the Watch is slightly less, and during times events are held at the Arena, chaos abounds. After dark, the square becomes a hangout for bards and other entrepreneurs whose business is best conducted by night; the shadows at the edges of the square often contain furtive figures engaging in their own brand of business.

-=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=-

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=  Appearing, in Order  =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Robert       6'3"     235 Lb     Human             Male      A middle-aged Cerenzan with a friendly, fatherly vibe.
Jay          5'9"     145 Lb     Eaglefolk         Male      A perky male Blue Jay with a discerning eye.
Nemori       4'10"    110 Lb     Mul'niessa        Female    A tall and slender, dark skinned elf.
Eztli        4'6"     140 Lb     Sith-Makar        Female    A two-toned, short sith-makar.
-=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=

Twenty-five days isn't a terribly long time-- certainly not for the longer-lived races-- but these things can be relative. It can seem longer when, for example, a friend is vague about a three-week trip, remains cagey about the details, and then is four-days late in returning with no word. It gets harder to follow instructions not to worry and might make one question promises to return.

Still, the day-to-day at the Ilife Smithy has continued apace with Nemori and the wargolem, Gramyre, to man the forge. And there were no over-promised or pressing orders left for either to scramble and fill. The workload was more than reasonable-- with room for Nemori to take on more if she desired. She was left in charge, after all.

So it might produce a sense of relief to hear the heavy crunch of sandaled feet coming off the cobblestone street and through the gravel to the little half-door on the smithy. To look up and see the aging Cerenzan carrying a heavy steel amphora in one arm while the opposite rests bandaged in a sling, tired-but-smiling.

The red-skinned human wears a muted brown, tan, and ochre kaftan with an extra woolen wrap to ward off the chill. He's tanned, too; quite a bit darker about the face than when he'd left.

Keeping the forge company, if not warm, is one Integrity C Truefeather, the 'C' is for cozy, and he is cozy in a blanket that half covers him. The half that is nearest the wall and the outside. He has a seat on box of scrap metal and some papers spread out on the barrel head of a container of quenching oil. Not one in current use, as that would threaten his filings.

"So, then this Citizen started accusing the prosecutor of sleeping with the judge. Very loudly. I told him that's absolutely something you don't do. In a courtroom, the Magistrate is God. So even if God is sleeping with the prosecution you don't mention it."

"Well that got me censured, and I'd be ok with that if the private citizen was held in contempt." The bluejay marks another note, "Except he wasn't, and I didn't even want to be there. He didn't want me either. I was assigned advice council for the defense. I wasn't the Defense."

His head pops up, "Oh hey, is that Bob?"

Nemori is, of course, at the anvil hammering a piece of glowing metal into shape. Flat and long, likely intended to be a blade of sorts. Wearing her heavy apron, but having shirked the tunic in favour of a snug, sleeveless shirt, sweat shines on her arms and her neck and her face as she beats the metal into submission. Tap, tap. Tap, BANG. Tap, tap. Tap, BANG. Jay's rambling to fill the void of conversation is something of the norm; sometimes prompting responses from the shadow elf, but more often providing something of a familiar comfort. A melody combined with the rhythmic hammering that sometimes, SOMETIMES, lets Nemori fall into something of a fugue state.

Not this time, however. Her ear twitches and her chin shifts to the side a little bit, though her eyes never waver from the flattening ingot. Alerted by Jay, she picks up on the crunch of gravel. All she says is, "Welcome back. There is an order pending on the ledger if you feel up to the task." Clearly she hasn't sen the man's injured state.

Eztli was a frequent visitor of the forge, even with Robert away, as it had become somewhat of a gathering spot, perhaps to Nemori's dismay. The small multi-toned makari was propped up on one side of the forge, flipping through one of her books. Occasionally she would look up from the tome, glance to the shadow elf, and hide her face back behind the book. "Jay, you know that it's not your place to call that out, especially if you aren't one of the attorneys present." Eztli sighs. "If the magistrate deems it irrelevant to the case or proceedings, then that's for them to decide, you know."

She sniffs the air once, and looks around. "That, it was starting to go away, but, yes-, that's Robert coming back! At least, I think so." They exclaim, leaving their seat. "Robert! You're, oh goodness, you're hurt, what happened? Do you need to go to the defence?" She asks a touch worriedly.

"I've spent enough time abed, thank you, miss Eztli," answers Bob with a smile. "Yes, IC, it's me..." and he clears his throat before adding, "Muse' grace, Lady Nemori. Maybe in a moment."

Stepping into the smithy, a visible tension eases from his shoulders as he sighs. Getting in out of the cold probably feels nice.

Navigating through the space, he draws near Jay and grins another greeting. Then, he hefts the heavy metal jug, braces the narrow base with the inside of one foot, and leans it into the corner a wall and crate makes. The stopper is unusual; metallic with six hooks holding it in place and made of runed, concentric rings. Likely a combination puzzle. The deep sound it made sitting down does a bit to imply its weight.

Bob sighs and rolls his shoulder to be rid of the load.

"I'm sorry for the late return," he offers, rubbing the back of his neck. "There was an unplanned stop and some further... unexpected delays. The Seers have said I'm fine," he adds to answer Eztli's earlier question.

"Well the citizen insisted on defending himself but he has no idea of court proceedings so I was assigned to him to help him file things, and not waste the court's time. So I had to offer guidance." The l-eagal egalrin hops to his feet, setting the blanket down, "except that only works if he listens to me, and he wouldn't."

The heavy jug immediately draws his attention, the bird-man's head turning this way and that to examine it. "What's that? You're really tanned. Are you sure you don't need healing? Do you need help with anything else?"

His dark feathered hand hovers over the combination lock, "Well, I told them time stretches out when you get older, so not to worry about being late."

Nemori sets aside her cross peen hammer, returning her piece of shaping metal to the coals with her tongs. Then she takes up the crank for the bellows, turning it slowly to bring the heat of the forge up. Only now does she look over at the returned Forge Master. Picking up on Eztli's concerned tone, she regards the human with narrowed eyes. She notes the injury, the skin tone.. the amphora as well, though her attention moves on. "I had feared you were not returning," she admits.

"I know, it's hard Jay, but you can't force them to do work they don't want to do." Eztli sighs. "Especially if they don't want help. Can you think of why they were so stubborn?"

But more pressing matters had their attention afterwards, and the small makari walks over to inspect the jug, and the man. "I was worried too. I just show up some time to find you're no where to be found. I don't want to lose any more people, you know." They huff. "Still, or because of that, I'm glad you're okay, and I think Nemori is, too."

"Mithral," Bob answers Jay. "Mostly. The top third is packed with elementally-charged crystal for my experiments." He smiles and watches Jay, nodding his head subtly, "I know the combination but you can have a crack at it if you'd like...

"Of course I was coming back." That simple phrase, directed at Nemori, does wonders to demonstrate how poor a liar the artificer is. He clears his throat again. "I caught a bug and needed seeing to." Perhaps an oversimplification or toned-down version of the truth. "We had to set down in the Shining Reaches and found Seers on pilgrimage to the Broken Plains.

"The sun never seemed to set while we were in the Vast." He shrugs and draws a hand down over a fresh beard even greyer than his thinning hair.

"I'm not in a hurry to leave any of you, miss Eztli, but this was a thing needed doing. Now it's done." He takes a few steps and sags dowwn onto a stool, blowing out a long sigh. "And I'm very glad to see all of you."

"Some people just think they know better and the rules don't apply to them." The bluejay shrugs, "Or he's got nothing better to do than proceduraly aggravate the legal process. He is skilled at that, some fantastic ideas."

"I might try a few of them myself."

The egalrin shrugs, "Maybe he's lonely and getting thrown in jail is the only way he can get attention."

"Bob, do you want a drink? We've got some water." Jay finds a ladel, "oh, not that water. We could order food. Fernwood Fly-out!"

He hops about happily, "But first! I'm going to try the lock." Leaning his head against the lock he listens carefully, like a woodpecker hunting grubs in bark, and starts turning the dials. clik-clik-clik. clik-clik-clik.

GAME: Jay rolls disable device: (14)+12: 26 (Success!)

Nemori's lips press into a flat line, looking entirely unconvinced, and the light blue of her eyes is almost piercing for a moment as she regards Robert after his deflection. Then she shrugs, stopping the crank as she retakes her tongs to pull her job back out of the forge. This time, however, she picks up a different hammer, and she sets the flattened steel on edge along the anvil's horn. Her hammering begins to slowly but a curve on the once-ingot. "It IS good you are back." It isn't exactly an affirmation of Eztli's claim of her being glad he's okay. "Maybe your neighbour will finally cease and desist her endless demands on my time with you returned to take up her attention."

"Robert you, if you aren't certain of what you were doing, then you always can ask me, or Jay, or Nemori for help." The small makari huffs again, before hopping over and hugging the artificer for a moment before stepping back. "So please don't worry us like that, or at least tell me, first. Okay?"

Eztli sighs, and leans against one of the walls, glancing between the egalrin attempting to open the object, and Nemori working. "Yes, do you want some food or drink? You must be exhausted, I can go out and grab some things for all of you. You too Nemori, I don't know if you're stopping to take enough breaks."

Bob's smile turns a little weary and he nods in surrender. "Of course. I'd trust all of you with nearly anything... but this was a private and personal matter come from events before you were--" he looks askance at Nemori and smiles a little brighter in spite of himself-- "before most of you were born.

"And now that it's done, I'd like to put the matter behind me. I'm very sorry for making any of you worry... or work harder than she's used to."

The big man nods. "Water would be lovely, thank you, IC, but if I eat now you'll have to cart me home. I just wanted to sit in the forge for a minute before I retire for the evening. Then I'll be back at work tomorrow."

"Okay!" The bluejay briefly abandons the lock puzzle to draw some water from the drinking barrel and bring over a cold mug. He sets it down beside Robert. "And I understand. Family secrets stay with family! Here, here's a good seat."

He's back to the lock puzzle, a slight turn, a reverse quarter turn, another turn, all with is ear carefully pressed against it.

There's a 'pock', the interlocking rings glow, and then the lid rotates slightly and jumps up a few millimeters. "A-ha! That was a fun one."

"I've been doing some research with Artificers... and... ah, it's not worth sharing. Maybe later." He leans triumphantly on the case.

Nemori's hammer blows have been getting.. less measured. Until she brings the hammer down unevenly; the head of the hammer bounces off of the hammered metal at an angle, then ricochets off of the anvil proper with a discordant tone. It slips from her hands and ends up bouncing off of the earthen floor. This is followed by a snarl of disgust as she tosses the unfinished blade.. what should have been a scythe blade, by the looks of it, though it is unfortunately now all wonky shaped.. to the ground as well, along with the tongs.

Then she whips about, pointing accusingly at Robert. "You left thinking you would not be back!" she charges. "Papers detailing the division of your property.. the certificate of ownership of your house.. you.. How do Integrity's people put it? Your affairs were in order? And you could not be bothered to ask for help?"

Nemori isn't exactly vibrating, but she's clearly let the reins loose. Her other hand gestures sharply towards Eztli, her next words building upon the diminutive sith's admonishment. "We are your family too!"

The small makari winced with every off swing, until the blade clattered to the floor. The small makari took a wide berth, reaching to pick up the red hot blade with one hand, and place it on the edge of the forge, followed by handing up the tongs where she knew they were kept. It may have to be melted back down or used for scrap, but at least no one would be injured by it lying about. It was all just a distraction, before they froze up on the spot, glancing to Robert. "You were, you were making wills for this?" Eztli asks, looking up to the man, and tilting her head to one side. "You, what could have been that important Robert? I know it's a bit selfish but, I don't want to lose any more family, not after everything. Not after everyone weathering all those wights that came by, giving me some small shred of hope."

Bob holds up his gloved hand and makes a calming gesture towards the mul'niessa, glancing at Eztli and Integrity, too. "IC helped me with the first draft of that after my Yetta passed. I've had those papers for years." He gestures towards the egalrin. "This... task had the potential to go awry; I was being overly prepared on the off chance I didn't return.

"I didn't tell you-- and, yes, IC, I found someone else to update the paperwork-- because I didn't want any of you to worry." He sighs and leans forward in the chair, resting his forearm on his thigh.

"We're all old men. You kids don't deserve our old battles." He sighs, tired suddenly. "I won't put you through it... and I didn't want you to see what we had to do."

"Well. I generally suggest people update their wills before adventuring and trips." The bluejay confirms. "I guess... well I haven't been practicing law as much as adventuring, so asking someone else makes sense."

He ends up sitting down on a crate, looking at Bob, then at Nemori and Eztli, "Sounds like you don't want to talk about what you had to do."

"You and Nemori could do dueling hammering and not talking about things."

Nemori doesn't look particularly mollified. She just stares at Robert for a few heartbeats, then spits out, "Fine." She pulls off her apron, which unfortunately ends up being more of a struggle and less an impressive show of pique due to the ties at the back.. but she does get it off, and she hurls it behind her, shooting Jay a glance that seems to say, 'not helping.' And then she storms off. Well, begins to storm off.

The shadow elf stops at the smithy's entrance, half turns and reaches one of her arms forth wards the water barrel; a quick enchantment summons a small deluge which drops into the barrel, some of it splashing back up and over the sides. Then, in very deliberate words, says, "Do. Not. Follow. Me." THEN she storms off.

She'll have to thank Eztli for picking up after her tantrum later.

The small makari holds up one hand as if to stop the mul'niessa from leaving, but she thinks better of it. "Just be careful on the way home Nemori, at least so I can worry a bit less about you tonight, too." Eztli sighs before she slumps down against the wall, pulling her tail into her lap.

"I'm older than you you know, Robert." They huff. "Old enough to know so many people, made so many friends and acquaintances-"

"And to see so many of them die before my eyes from those undead abominations of the dragon, or just finding the bodies." The small makari sniffs. "So worrying about that happening again, it can't be as bad as that, can it?"

"Integrity--" Bob's tone shifts only for him to stop talking when Nemori speaks her mind and storms into the night. "IC, I'm sorry," he grunts as he pushes up to standing. He walks over and gently takes the egalrin's head, stooping and holding it against his sternum for a moment. "I really, truly am."

The Cerenzan smooths Jay's feathers for a moment and then lets him go, turning to step, shift a box, grunt, and slide down to sit right next to the smaller sith-makar.

"I didn't mean to worry you, miss Eztli." He leans away and lifts his arm, settling back against the makari sorceress and wrapping her around the shoulders. "And I won't go anywhere for a good while, I promise."

"I'm uh... I'm sorry to hear that Eztli." Jay says, sounding flustered, spreading his wings and tucking them close in again. The subject is unsettling, he doesn't want to hear more. He is suddenly aware of the walls, and then Robert is holding him, pressing him close. The bird's heart is racing but the closeness is calming him. He returns the embrace and squeezes Robert tight. "It's good that you're back."

Released, he's at the exit, "I'm not following Nemori. Not that her elf eyes will see. I'll be back, soon, when I know she's home safe."

Silently, he's out into the night, his garish patterns somehow helping him blend in the shadows and city lights. He's away on silent wings.

"It's alright Jay, really. It's just, I guess that's why I'm so scared of people leaving, and being left in the dark with nothing but worry." Eztli sighs, waving off the egalrin. "I won't talk about it more now, I promise."

"I, I know Nemori will be safe, I trust her, but I understand, and I still appreciate it Jay. Don't worry about coming back to let me know, I trust you enough to make sure." They chuckle quietly as they lean against the artificer next to them. "I won't make you promise Robert, but, if that's true, that would make me happy. Just please be open with us, so we can help you keep that promise, okay?"

Robert nods in affirmation.