Renew the Pact: Time of our Lives, part 5
Log Info
- Title: Renew the Pact: Time of our Lives, part 5
- Emitter: Whirlpool
- Characters: Paenitia, Aryia, Seyardu, Fallon, Lyme
- Place: Goldcoast of Veyshan, Tashraan
- Time: Friday, June 25, 2021, 9:09 PM
- Summary: The moment Farland has been waiting for is at hand. His entourage is prepped, ready to bid or interfere with the other bidders. Vuvet's famous text, 'You're Enchanted to Meet Me', is on the docket. Bidding commences, he's about to win, when Akoniril appears and bids against. A quick aggressive distraction by Paenitia is successful. Farland wins... a wand? Everyone is confused, fish are flopping, the Hight Priestess and the Off-White Rook are still entangled by golden hair. The auction is halted while the crowd calms down and frenemies Farland and Akoniril go outside, where Akoniril explains this is an effect of the death of Animus, and Navos' negligence. Things are altering before their very eyes, yet they remember due to their exposure to an Animus shard at some point. Everyone is incredulous, but Fallon was exposed and the others... who knows. Whether an altered object remains an item of import is also unclear.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Appearing, in Order =-=-=-=-=-=-= Paenitia 3'0" 34 Lb Halfling Female A Lucht knight, dark skinned in bold feathery finery. Aryia 4'8" 110 Lb Shadow Elf Female A heavily scarred mul with a curious look about her. Seyardu 5'6" 150 Lb Sith-Makar Female A friendly silver sith-makar with a perpetual squint. Fallon 5'6" 145 Lb Half-Elf Male A short hooded man. Lyme 7'2" 435 Lb Orc Butch Black-skinned oruch of suitable stature -=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--= -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= NPCs of Note =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Farland Friendly Gnome Male A sorcerer and a Resurrectionist, and a gentleman. Akorinil Belvade Shadow Elf Female Diplomatic Delegate, Priestess of Taara, Aristocrat -=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=
The Story So Far
The adventurers in fancy dress went to the auction site, and wait, as several items are bid on. Noteably, Fallon is convinced there was a sword while everyone saw a decanter. Other items, including poetry between the gods and a collection of skeletons from Blar are sold. Then, the item they're after, Vumvet's famous text titled 'You're Enchanted to Meet Me', is up.
The adventurers are assigned tasks. Aryia is to bid after anyone else, always raising the price and leaving things open for Farland to swoop in. Seyardu is sent to distract the well-dressed man, Fallon to deal with the stuffy over-dressed woman with the rust monster. Paenita decides to distract the goblin bidder by aggressively seducing him from on high. Lyme settles for looking absolutely fabulous and blocking the Auctioneer's view of a bidder.
Aryia bids against the others, leaving it open for Farland to swoop in at the end. He does so, and things are going exceptionally well until the last second when Akoniril appears, and bids.
Paenitia makes a valliant effort to stop her.
The tower clunks over. The tower crumbles, falls, over on her. Complete with distressed damsel and her long tresses of hair. A wig that in some strange happenstance wrap around the Lady Belvade. Surely the Dark Lucht could not have been trying to deliberately entangle her!
In either case, they both go to the floor.
"I BID!!! you farewell."
And now
Well, not exactly to the floor. Not falling at all.
Akorinil Belvade is a regal figure of power and prestige. She radiates presence and poise.
...and right now, she seems unruffled by the display of attachment and hair. "If you don't mind, I hope you're done."
And then there's the 'bid'.
There is a heavy sigh. "Ah."
Aryia, blinking (and sweating profusely in her gaudy outfit), slowly raises her hand again to bid during the distraction.
Fallon is unsure if he should continue making a scene with the guards and the ridiculously-dressed lady. And he's getting tired of the performance. So he stops, and quietly removes himself from the vicinity and returns to his former cushion. All casual-like.
Lyme turns as Paenitia goes down, stepping to block the auctioneer's line of sight to Akorinil. Oops!
All eyes, now, are on the unlikely duo of Paenitia and Akorinil. Seyardu's friend is distracted both by them and the sith's presence. Fallon had a lot of eyes on him, but those eyes have now turned elsewhere, because the guards have a job to do, and protecting the bidders is it. Everything is getting a bit too chaotic.
The auctioneer blinks his eyes and Farland has a hand over his face and then raises his hand up to bid again while Akorinil is being distracted. It's all coming together nicely.
And that's when Farland wins the bidding as a result, more by default than anything else.
GAME: Fallon rolls will: (13)+3: 16 GAME: Seyardu rolls will: (17)+6: 23 GAME: Lyme rolls will: (19)+6: 25 GAME: Aryia rolls Will: (16)+4: 20 GAME: Paenitia rolls will+1: (12)+4+1: 17
The audience doesn't notice -- the rest of the audience, that is, but you do. What was a scrollcase full of scrolls for 'You're Enchanted to Meet Me' is now a wand.
And Farland is taking the wand, at this time, totally seemingly oblivious to the fact that he is taking a wand and not a set of scrolls.
What just happened?
Meanwhile, Akorinil is sort of bemusedly trying very hard to disentangle herself from Paenitia. It's not working so well. Too much hair and determination.
Fallon points accusingly at the 'wand'. "That's NOT scrolls!" Just in case everyone else is gonna try to tell him he didn't see what he saw again.
Sister Paenitia Snapdragon del Haranna, Knight of the Pillar, Paladina of Tarien and Mad Dog of Isobar is a small revolutionary of a windy and sun-baked land, with a name that is much taller than she is. Presence, she has, poise, no.
She has successfully entangled herself with the wig, and is using Akoniril as support, as one of her shoes is shattered and the other too heavy for her to move without leverage.
She says simply, "Yes."
She's not trying too hard to disentangle, perhaps she's still making it worse.
Tropical fish slowly stop flopping around on the floor.
Aryia gives a soft sigh, though she rubs her eyes at the scrolls looking like something else. Regardless of what it was now, the wand, scrolls, whatever, were in the right hands.
"Please excuse me, but thank you very much for your time and assistance." The silver sith-makar says after the commotion, waving to the man and turning back to her group. She stops once she sees the thing transferred over.
"I am confused. Was that not a scroll we were looking for? It looks like a wand to me, and we came for the scrolls. I am not sure what is going on, but we should make no one leaves with the other purchases already made. Something strange is going on, and it may not be unrelated to what Fallon was saying earlier."
Farland gives Fallon a weird look. "What are you on about? Did I get stuck with the crazier than usual adventurer?" he asks. "We've been over this. The Wand of Selkrath is why we're here."
Wait, what?! Wan't it an enchantment document?!
Akorinil gently tries to disentangle herself. "I wouldn't worry," she murmurs, "It'll still do what it needs to do. Now, if you don't *mind*..." She tries to unwrap wig-hair.
Paenitia is well and truly entangled. Fortunately, it's mostly a wig, her own dark curls are safe. The confused conversation around her draws her attention, she stares at Fallon, "Yes, it was scrolls. You say it the same as before, the decanter that you think was a sword?"
She turns her Crying Woman's mask towards Akoniril's face, "You have something to do with this?"
She is actually attempting to free the wig also. She's not good at it, and is standing on one leg so her balance is an issue. She's also trying to avoid placing her hands on Akoniril's skin, which is a challenge all in it's self. The dark elf is showing a lot of it, and where she isn't, that's not a good spot for hands.
The decanter which was very definitely a decanter.
"So I am very confused now. If it is alright, I will cut your wig free." Seyardu offers, though she was still confused. "You were speaking of these scrolls as the thing we needed, but now are saying it was always this wand. Were we coming for scrolls on enchantments, or the wand to begin with? Is it possible the scrolls were another thing sold today, or is the wand what we needed to begin with? Some more explanation would be greatly appreciated."
Fallon looks from Farland, to Seyardu, and at last to Paen. At least -this- time they believe him. "Yes, it was a sword and not a decanter. Someone is pulling our leg with magic. Illusions, is my guess. And they're making off with what we -really- came here for." He returns his gaze to Farland, now a hint suspiciously. "You really can't tell? You think we're all deluded?"
Between everyone, Aryia's brain was frying. From the confusing magic at play and the sweltering heat. But most importantly, Farland looked pleased. And if their contact was pleased, that means they were one step closer to being done.
"We should go," Aryia gestures on the sly to the few that could understand her. <Handspeech>
"Yes, I need the help." Paenitia tells Seyardu, "the wig, she is twelve feet long."
Farland squints at Fallon. "...no," he offers after a moment, "but this wand is why I was here. Griva and I spent hours going over it and --"
Akorinil clears her throat, then pushes up to get away from Paenitia finally, finally getting free. Finally.
"No, n-o. I did not. Excuse me. I *did* warn you, Farland, that strange things were going to --" SHe gets hair in her mouth, sighs, spits it out.
"All right. We're pausing the auction until the crowd is under control!"
Akorinil clears her throat. Sensing opportunity, "Let's take a moment, everyone, shall we?"
Seyardu took a dagger out of a pocket hidden by the waves of feathers, and quickly sliced through the wig until it was a much, much shorter hairstyle. "Very well then, but I distinctly heard talk about something called 'You're enchanted to meet me, specifically from you, Farland.' I hate to say it, but this moment is probably for the best." She says, letting out a sigh and taking off her hat to fan the scarred mul nearby. "Something is not right here."
"You told us we were here for the scrolls. You know, the ones from that famous enchanter? The ones titled like a bad romance novel? You gave us a whole explanation about it," Fallon explains to Farland, trying -- likely in vain -- to jog his memory. "You told us nothing about a wand." He seems to finally give Akorinil additional notice, now that she's interjected herself into the conversation. "I take it you two are friends?"
"Absolutely not," chime in Farland and Akorinil at exactly the same time at the question of their friendship.
"She is the High Priestess of Taara," Paenitia adds, "She have no friends, only Pawns and useful idiots."
At that, the over dressed mul heavily frowns and furrows her brows.
The Dark Lucht stares back at the shadow elf through her Crying Woman's mask. Her own expressions obscured by the stylized weeping. "This is not true? So sorry, you would describe him how then?"
She's also kind of wobbly, standing on one stilted shoes, and her fish are upset.
Fallon raises his brows as they reject the notion at the same time. They raise even further at Paenitia's revelation. "Oh really?" His attention fixates on Akorinil. "What -is- your relation to each other, then? You're clearly acquainted..."
"*The* High Priest? You do me too much honor. I am but her humble servant, and one hardly in favor of the establishment at the moment -- but then, well... you don't need to kmnow about all *that*."
Akorinilk is finally, finally free and then brushes herself off. "Let's step outside the acution tent, shall we?" She glances towards Farland, then smiles, and steps outside.
Farland makes a disgusted soudn in the back of his throat. "I *knew* she was going to be a pain in the ass."
Aryia takes relief in being fanned off for a few moments before standing up, the clothes sticking to the seat before being fully upright. She offers to help the Dark Lucht down from her pedestal, a heavy frown and glare being kept on the Taara preistess underneath Aryia's wide brimmed hood.
Paenitia undoes her shoe, and with Aryia's help manages to work her foot out. After which she drops to the ground, and her broken shoe is easier to remove. There is broken glass and fish to worry about as well. She nods to Aryia, "Much thanks."
On the ground, she still have the parapet dress, which makes it look like she's in the middle of a round table with battlements. The towertop helps. She picks up the good boot and broken boot. This costume will be hard to save.
Fallon sighs. "Alright. Outside we go, I guess." Interrogating them inside doesn't seem to be working.
"There is a lot to speak about, it seems. We can step outside. Though a few should stay in here, to make sure no one is running off. In case they start up suddenly, or soemone takes off with a previous purchase." The sith-makar replies as quiet as possible. "If your dress is too awkward to move in, you can sit on my shoulders paenitia. Or you could borrow my dagger yourself, and make it short enough to walk in."
Farland grunts.
He steps outside the tent and into the desert heat of Veyshan's lands and he lets out a sigh.
"Well then," he begins, "let's hear it."
Akorinil clears her throat. "Farland, you *know* what I'm talking about. You and Griva both know what's going on, even if you can't see it right this moment because no one *can*."
"Thank you friend dragon, I will be fine. I will be the little defensive pillbox emplacement." Paenitia says. She seems ready to go outside though, and does.
Aryia goes outside with the others, catching the conversation and crossing her arms over her corset.
Fallon folds his arms over his chest and grunts. "Well, don't keep the rest of us in suspense."
Fallon has, of course, followed after them.
Lyme strides out, keeping the hat on in the heat but loosening the collar of his shirt. He reflects light, though, like a beacon. Glory. His head swivels around to focus on Akorinil, and raises a prompting eyebrow.
Seyardu is worried about the conversation outside, but also worried about anything happening inside. It seems someone tried to confuse them, and them heading out seemed like a chance for them to take advantage of that confusion. So she would stay and watch, hopefully seeing anything that might happen. It was never a guarantee with her.
"You can't be serious. It doesn't work like that," replies Farland, shaking his head.
"And yet? The shaggy haired fellow over there specifically recalls a sword instead of a decanter and all of this raises the question as to why they could notice what you could not."
Farland grimaces.
"I don't like what that implies. Have any of you been near a .. Shard of Animus?" he asks.
Aryia does not trust the priestess. No way, no how. Though it is hard to see her face, she does have a look of complete incomprehension written all over it. She's heard of it in name, but not a clue what it is. She just knows people would kill one another to have it.
Lyme's brow furrows, suddenly uncertain.
Fallon frowns at the question posed to them. "I'm vaguely familiar with what they are, but I haven't been near one," he answers. "Why? Does being near one mess with your head?"
"No I have not been near the pieces of the dead god." Paenitia says confidently. Not near anything that self-identified or was identified as such.
The little Lucht however, does spends time in the Temple district and is unaware that there is one there, inside a particular temple. If passing by outside counts as 'near', then she has been.
Akorinil starts to laugh, of course, shaking her head.
Farland looks steamed. Increasingly so.
"You've never even been near one!"
More steamed.
"Having been in their presence can shelter one to some extent. To some extent, we suppose, anyway."
Farland scowls at the shadow elf. A sigh is let out. "That would explain why THAT one was protected but not the others."
Apparently, Fallon was near a dead god.
At this point, Aryia was growing a little frustrated. Perhaps the heat was getting to her and fraying her normal social anxieties. "What's the big deal about a dead god anyways? They're dead. Tough shit." <Handspeech>
Fallon blinks. "None of us have been near a shard, and -all- of us saw through the last illusion," he points out. "While that's a nice theory, I don't see how it applies here."
Lyme's arms fold across his chest. "Do tell. I'm curious."
Paenitia is fussing with her boots, and what's left of her wig. She has her arms crossed over the front of her princess dress, "I have much curiosity too."
"You say it like having one of the fundamental building blocks of the universe killed and broken into a thousand pieces across the world won't have disastrous consequences." Farland remarks to Aryia. "I assure you, it's the rest of us dealing with tough shit because oF HER Goddess."
Farland glares venomously at Akorinil.
"Given the problem, I'm not going to say this is HER fault. It seems to me Navos is the one falling down on the job."
"... which raises the point as to why YOU know what's going on, Akorinil. You've been near a shard."
"Or Taara shelters her own, dear. Either way, the problem isn't a thief. The problem is time."
"Go on," Lyme prompts, lifting his chin and the plouufy hat-feather too.
Paenitia stares out from her Crying Woman's mask, with the exagerated unhappy expression and the tear beside one eye. She keeps her arms crossed, as she looks even more silly in he disproportionate dress.
"I think I see why they have no friends, my friends."
She sounds confused, and somewhat happy for being so, "And so, the universe make more sense. It made by Ultra Nobles who do the finger pointing and blaming, like all rulers who shoudl be torn down."
Fallon frowns again. "Time, not a dastardly wizard thief, is what is changing a sword into a decanter?" This was just getting more confusing, somehow.
"Don't patronize me, I didn't have bedtime stories growing up to tell these basic things," Aryia signs cooly before glaring at her own kin. "Regardless, I didn't know Taara did that. And now I do, as that sounds like something she would do." <Handspeech>
"Watch yourself, you know not what you speak of," says Akorinil, with care and surprising gentleness, looking at the Dark Lucht.
Farland gives Aryia a curious look but then accepts her rebuke with a curt nod of his head. He turns to Fallon.
"Residual energy. On you, around you. Sheltering you and those you've spent time with. Makes sense. It was no illusion. Time shifted before our eyes. Which is an immense problem. But something like that doesn't happen for no reason. It means there's something causing a localized disturbance in time."
Lyme's brow furrows. "Time shifted?" Shit, as they say, just got real.
"Maybe I just have -really- good eyes and memory. I've told you I haven't been near a shard," Fallon reiterates. That's right, the rest of you are just blind! "But that -does- sound quite dangerous. Is the object causing the disturbance nearby, then?"
"I know Tarien is laughing." Paenitia says jovially, contrasting her sad mask, waving a hand in the air. "He send me, an honourable knight, to solve your problem. One where time change and reality change."
She laughs, "Blink! I might be a succubus instead! I still will have the head empty of ideas and a strong desire to smack things with my warhammer."
"You have. 'Renew the Pact," says Farland to Fallon after a moment.
"Mmmn. Yes. That pact," says Akorinil, sweetly.
She gives Paenitia a weird look before shrugging. "Couldn't tell you. But it might be one of the items that was already bought. Or not."
"It will give off a unique magical signature, and I know just who we can ask for help. Toodles, Akorinil."
Aryia looks more than pleased to get away from the Taara advocate as she gets ready to go. And get the hell out of this dress.
Lyme looks almost reluctant to get out of his get up. It's life changing, the style!
"Well, it might have -said- that, but I didn't go near it," Fallon clarifies. "Everyone who did -died-." Regardless, the details don't seem to matter. "Then Seyardu has the right idea, doesn't she? We can't let the other bidders leave, lest they have the item in their possession."
"If the original item was important, and it change, why it not still important now?" Paenitia asks, looking around, "How the relevance move? Wait, this I think unimportant. It is the buying and selling of things still."
She turns to face Farland, "We go back in and look around the building, or we go change then look around the city?"
Lyme pauses. "Well, if the time changed, then the relative importance of things would change too." He nods. "We're here. We should get to searching." A pause. "How the hell will we know the magical signature, though?"
"I have *no* clue," says Farland, "but that's okay! We'll ask Navos. Well, Navos and his priests..."
Akorinil sighs. Loudly.
Farland adds, "...!but you are right. We need to keep people here if we can..."
OOC
Original Paenitia
<OOC> Paenitia says, "in-joke. Original Paenitia was a tiefling cleric that upgraded to Succubus in 3.0."
<OOC> Whirlpool says, "Ah xD"
<OOC> Aryia says, "lol"
<OOC> Aryia and nods!
<OOC> Paenitia says, "-would you betray your party for wings- -um.... yes-"
<OOC> Paenitia says, "such fun!"
<OOC> Seyardu :P
SFW pic of original Paenitia
https://d.furaffinity.net/art/jonfreeman/1485580334/1485580334.jonfreeman_paenita.jpg
Don't be Passive Aggressive
<OOC> Paenitia says, "lets a few more poses go by"
<OOC> Paenitia says, "well my plan was to tackle her to the floor"
<OOC> Whirlpool says, "I think you're a bit small for that. :)"
<OOC> Whirlpool says, "At least with how its described. :)"
<OOC> Paenitia says, "I had 3 foot platform shoes"
<OOC> Paenitia says, "so I should be 6'"
<OOC> Whirlpool says, "Yeah, but you only weigh 34 lbs. XD"
<OOC> Whirlpool says, "It would be a bit more violent to tackle to her the ground which is why I didn't quite get that :)"
<OOC> Seyardu says, "I'm not sure what is going on with the other guy Seyardu is distracting"
<OOC> Whirlpool says, "Give me a moment, Seyardu :)"
<OOC> Lyme grins. I mean, ever had a 2 year old try to tackle you? :D
<OOC> Lyme says, "Even on 3 foot stilts?"
<OOC> Paenitia says, "Pae and Aryia wrestled Thurid to the ground, with actual dice rolls in a little PvP, but I guess nothing happened, I didn't ask for a CMB, and it would fail anyhow. and I'm on the ground and she's not. I'll pose accordingly."
[WhirlChan] Lyme says, "Weird game physics is weird."
[WhirlChan] Paenitia says, "it was kicking a lot of the back of the kneeds"
<OOC> Whirlpool says, "Pae, politely, chill."
<OOC> Whirlpool says, "That kind of passive/aggression isn't warranted."
<OOC> Whirlpool says, "You're leaning on her, you have her tangled up and distracted."
<OOC> Whirlpool says, "I didn't think you'd take her to the ground. I didn't quite get that was your intent, and didn't think of it because I didn't presume it likely."
<OOC> Paenitia nods
<OOC> Whirlpool posing.
Later...
<OOC> Whirlpool says, "I am taking my dad to the hospital."
<OOC> Whirlpool says, "He just suddenly got a bit of delirium."
<OOC> Whirlpool will be able to continue a bit more, as this is not a serious and is a thing we deal with.
You paged Whirlpool with 'sorry about earlier then.'
Whirlpool pages: Well, you should be sorry about earlier anyway. XD
Whirlpool pages: It's fine!
Whirlpool pages: Those things happen. :)
You paged Whirlpool with 'I have a very long explanation of why I greatly dislike the term 'passive aggressive' but will not burden you with that, you've got enough going on.'