“Ayyyahhhhh, this is enough,” a bored whine seemed to pierce through a surprising amount of noise in the busy district. Jumping off the back of a basilisk, the peculiarly dressed woman reached into her bag and handed the owner a coin.
Dressed in a floral pattern kimono, her dress with indicative of the country of Songen. Standing at roughly five-feet, six inches, she was of average height. Her hair was a stark black, long enough to reach the center of the back. The woman’s bangs were low, almost all but covering her eyes. That being said, she hardly noticed any lack of vision. She spun a white umbrella around her right wrist as she began to dig around her pockets for something.
Izumi Mori looked up with a slightly confused glance. Truth be told this was her first time in the Opifex District seeing as she had only arrived in Terminus a week ago. That being said, her first goal was to develop a reputation as a bounty hunter. Years of training in Songen had driven that point home. For a brief moment, she looked over the image on the wanted flyer. Her first target was... a girl? Well, either way the girl was important enough for a government bounty.
According to the bounty, she was reported to frequently visit the Fraternitas lodge. According to the driver it was a close walk from her current location. Izumi popped open her parasol, blocking out the sun which was starting to stress her skin. With almost lethargic steps, the hunter began to walk up the street. She gazed in all directions, slowly building a mental map of the surroundings.
It was a subdued atmosphere that accompanied the laicar's lazy trip. The architecture was extensively bricked, a sure tell for laicar engineering; though the thatch roofs indicated that such improvements were made to what was once a primarily enlilian district. The skies were muddy, a dreary overcast seeming to echo the sentiments of the city in the wake of Astra Non Obligant's self-declared revolution.
Very few forms scattered about the streets, most confining themselves to their homes. There, the third to last building on the left, feeding out into a public park more often used for sparring; the Fraternitas lodge. It was one of many, perhaps most noticeable for being amongst the larger of the two dozen or so lodges scattered about Terminus. Its old cedar-and-oak walls were strong, four great pillars of stone holding up the corners in a hint of laicar architecture mingling with enlil ingenuity.
Perhaps most eye-catching was the domed roof, a smooth stone that could only have been velen in design. Its thick wooden door was ajar, half-open to allow the cool wintry breeze to soothe the stuffy air inside.
The target - perhaps one of two - was nowhere to be seen on the street.
Aisha sat scowling whilst eating the apple. She never liked it when things disrupted the status quo of Terminus; it always made her work more difficult to carry out. The young laicar woman was not a fan of bounty hunting due to some of the work she did. However since the assassination attempt she had heard nothing from her mysterious employer and that meant money was tight, making the bounty notice that Lex placed on her desk earlier that day look almost as delicious as eating something nice for a change.
Scanning the area once again she spotted the bounty hunter from Songen. She remembers back to the tales of the city state from her days roaming in the caravans. The wonder of those stories made her question why anyone would leave willingly. Taking another bite out of the apple Ai decided to follow the Songen bounty hunter for leads. After all her efforts so far had not got her any closer to the bounty than the paper it was written on.
Izumi stopped in front of the lodge, placing her hand on her hip. She closed her parasol, reading the sign in front of the lodge once again. She was unsurprised that the district was dead, the very air hung with a sense of community anxiety. Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, these manner of events tended to provide her the most work.
It took her a moment to remove the perpetual frown on her face. Personally she found the distinctive style of Songen architecture to be much more appealing than the lodges in the district. They seemed to lack a certain... elegance... However, that was an opinion the kimono-clad woman would keep to herself.
The hunter tapped against the ajar with her parasol, opening it slowly and stepping in. “Ayyahhh!” she announced in a shockingly excited tone of voice, “I can’t believe I am actually here!” With a stupidly wide grin on her face she excitedly stepped into the lodge.
Inside, the atmosphere was hushed, a scarce few heads turning to face the dramatic woman. There was little cause for celebration in the two-story lodge, separated as it was. In front of Izumi, a wide array of tables were ready for eager drinkers, the barkeep near the rear-left of the room tending to his counter-top and glasses. Past him, a simple pair of stairs led up to the second floor of the public purview. Craning her neck backwards, two large peg-boards seemed to be permanently rooted onto a balcony, large titles scrawled across various scraps of paper.
To the rear-right of the room, a simple wooden door sat with a clear sign adorning it: members only.
Sniffing - perhaps at the air, or at the unfamiliar face - the proprietor of the lodge stepped out onto the balcony, observing with stern eyes. Lyon's burly frame was only accented by the scruff of a beard that he scratched at habitually, a bristly oaken affair that contrasted on his pale skin. He was a long-time son of Hiemis, and a scowl seemed permanently fixed on the man's face.
What scattered patrons occupied the building either raised their glasses in modest appreciation, or simply opted for another drink. One, a decidedly sour-looking man with a vibrant ginger beard stretching to his chest, nursed an armful of mugs and a table all to himself.
Aisha was not happy with the idea of following a stranger into an unknown building alone, but without any other leads she had no choice. As she entered she realised there was a bar and had no hesitating to go order a drink immediately. She even placed the exa on the table before the barkeep even started pouring, and half of the drink was gone before the class even made contact with the bar. It was not the most inconspicuous entrance however it was not unusual for bars throughout Terminus to be visited by enthusiastic patrons.
Ai decided to keep the Songen bounty hunter in the corner of her eye, it would be problematic if she lost track of them. Glancing down at her drink she thought about how lucky she was to have a friend looking out for her. she wondered how he would react if she told him about what had really been going on. Turning to face the members only room she felt the weight of her pistol under her jacket, dispelling her contemplations in order to focus on the job.
Izumi choked down the bile that was creeping up her esophagus as she continued to feign interest. Taking a breath in, she fiddled around in her bag for exa. As she dug, quick glances were shot around the room. The patrons seemed common enough, and none visibly appeared to be the target. Then again, that was to be expected. Her eyes lingered on the member's only door, as she mentally marked it down.
Walking over to the bar, another forced smile appeared on her face. "I'll have... that with that and that!" the woman exclaimed in a chipper voice. A bastardized of absinthe, peach liqueur, and the most peculiar blue liquid was mixed together. The taste was similar to cotton candy drenched in liquor. That being said, she choked it down easily enough.
Rushing into bounties often caused trouble, spooking a target or putting her in a bad position. The Songen hunter's training tended to decry impulsivity. "You know I was almost worried! I travelled from really far away to see this place. Totally jealous! It's all tea rooms this, floral arrangements that back home," rapidly explained Izumi in a chipper tone of voice to the barkeep. Glancing around the room once again, she took stock the position of the furniture and appended her mental map.
"I'd expect this place to be a ghost town though. There's literally no one in the streets, you know."
** Tablet posting = color is failing. I'll change this later
The barkeep muttered something unintelligible under his breath, before shaking himself. Raising his shoulders as though to brace them, a sly grin crept across the velen's face, full of razor-hooked teeth. His words were somewhat drawled, but they carried in the near-silent atmosphere of the lodge. "Suppose you picked a rather inconvenient time to come visiting then, Miss. People are a bit on edge."
A harsh laugh barked from where the bearded gentleman sat, nursing another fresh drink of his own. Painting a sloppy grin across his face, the drunk casually eyed up the Songen woman. "On edge, he says. As if it weren't that halfie's fault. Trouble only started with Keydis when she showed up!"
The barkeep's grin fell, his unseen brow furrowing across a wide forehead. Wiping at his nose with a free hand, the man was slow to retort. "You don't know that."
"I know trouble when I see it, Larus, and ain't nothing come from that girl since she started hanging around her." The man spat back venomously.
Offering a consoling grin to the man, and an apologetic one to the new patron, the barkeep - Larus - gave a plaintive nod to the laicar. "Trouble on the homefront, you know how it can be."
the sound of the exa jingling as the bounty hunter fished for them had piqued her interest. As the barkeep attempted to quell things in the bar she got fired up.
"There are troubles all round. Distrust is slowly choking the life out this city," she stated trying to edge her way into the conversation,
"At least there is still plenty of business in pubs and bars. People haven't lost their heads just yet," Ai jested, hoping to tease some information out of the bright eyed bounty hunter and the ever so cautious bartender.
She felt a little rusty at this sort of thing, she usually convinced people to pony up much more menial information whilst Lex lifted money from their pocket. However this was not drunks at two or three in the morning. The people of Songen were not the sort of people to take kindly to being played for a fool, neither were bartenders now she thought about it. She was going to have to play this game very carefully.
“Clearly you haven’t ever visited Songen. That was downright cordial!” Izumi replied in a hushed tone so that only Larus could hear. She paused for a moment, taking a drink before continuing her original train of thought. The bounty hunter looked towards the newcomer who rather trigger happy with money.
“Quite the tip for a drink,” the floral dressed woman said with a laugh referring to the surprisingly obvious jingle of exa, “With that sort of money, I think you’re at the wrong sort of bar!” With a grin on her face, Izumi added the girl to the mental image she was building.
She turned back towards Larus once again asking a quieter tone so that the barkeep could hear the clearest, “I was told that the attitudes towards spurii in Terminus leaned more towards pity than actual distaste.” She raised her voice slightly in so that the drunk could more easily hear, “Though from what I’ve read about Fraternitas, she must be quite special to be known here!â
Sniffing idly at the air, the velen offered a motley shrug to the Songen woman. "Regulars tend to get a reputation, and she just up and started coming one day. Hung around the little one, Lysistrata.
"As for business... ah, I don't care much about business. People don't come here to get drunk... not usually, anyways. This is for celebrating, or mourning." He explained to the newly arrived girl. Offering a sigh, he cast a wary gaze at the 'Members Only' door. "All said though, you'll be wanting to get soon... not many happy souls around."
The bearded man, returning to his drink, merely snorted as he took another liberal draught.
“Its pretty much everything I have with work drying up,” Ai giggled. Noticing the barkeeps glance. Piquing her curiosity, she silently pondered what was behind the door.
“What sort of membership does a bar procure when it is so lacking in happy souls? It would strike me as rather odd that people would unite in their misery,” the redhead enquired, hoping to tease some more information for the barman. She had a theory on who was on the other side of the door, and she hoped that is she was right the Songen woman did not cotton on.
“When we’re at our lowest points,” Izumi started with a rather pleased look on her face, “we seek kindred souls.” On that rather cryptic note, the bounty hunter took a moment to synthesize what she had heard. The ire the drunkard had for her, the references to her hanging out Keydis... the kimono-clad woman was sure she had come to the right place to find Annora.
The woman took another drink, before looking back up towards the barkeep. “Though, from the stories I’ve heard, not everyone is granted membership here. Its prestige precedes itself, you know. If this girl just showed up one day and caused such a decisive disagreement in The Lodge, how was she given membership?”
"Huh, what?" Larus blinked owlishly, attention suddenly undivided on the pair of women. All at once, his expression slipped into a distrustful frown. "She doesn't... and I think it's time you both left."
Abandoning the mug on the counter, the velen crossed his imposing arms across his chest, rag still in hand. The warrior across the way gave a low growl in response, jabbing a thick finger at the barkeep. "Oh come off it, they're just trying to do what's good on their own."
Turning his stern gaze to the bearded man, the ginger cowed slightly under Larus' scrutinizing glare. Grumbling mutinously to himself, the man gave one parting shot to the pair of bounty hunters. "Huh, as if she'd last around here anyway. I've half a mind to turn her in myself, pretty face or not..!"
Larus snorted, trying to hide that he half-believed the veteran would do it.
Atop the balcony still, Lyon watched the proceedings with a dour scowl. His silence remained, and he resolved to stay out of things. Keydis had gotten herself into this mess, and her companion was much the same. Wasn't much point in bailing them out, even if...
Bam-crash!
The 'Member's Only' door slammed open, and a none-too-happy velen stomped out. Bearing a skin-tight wetsuit, the lanky aquatic cast only a parting glance to the group before disappearing outside, dripping water across the floorboards and out the door.
There was a short pause as Ai absorbed what had transpired.
“Someone must’ve got dealt a bad hand,” she jested, hoping that the barkeep would abandon his demand to leave. There was now little of her drink left, being more foam than drink. This is a curious bar, was the Songen woman on to something?
“Merchants pay through their noses to get into Songen. Didn’t think anyone would leave if given the choice?” she enquired, following up her hunch. Information gathering was a slow game, but it was one that Ai had learned the patience to play. It had on many accounts saved her from various calamities. Her family might even be proud that she inherited some of the guile they were known for had she not been a bastard.
The bounty hunter waited for a moment, watching the disgruntled velen leave in a fuss. “I suppose you’re right. I would really work on updating the atmosphere in here,” Izumi explained, “It’s far too gloomy for business.” She placed another tip on the bar before abruptly getting up from her seat.
In a contrast from her entrance, she left with very little fuss albeit much quicker. Her information inside hinted that Annora was in fact well known in this area. While the barkeep seemed like a bit too much of an upstanding fellow to lead Izumi directly to her, and the drunk was too... drunk, perhaps a new avenue had opened up.
“I agree that the ambiance in there lacking, but not enough to leave in such a fuss!” Izumi chipperly explained while catching up with the velen.
A harsh snarl erupted from the velen's throat without a glance back at the woman, before seeming to realize what language he was speaking in. Clearing his throat, he gave one scalding glance at the Songen woman and delivered - in heavily accented Common - three words. "Go fuck yourself."
With that, he accelerated his pace, aiming to put as much distance between himself and the none-too-subtle woman as possible.
Back in the bar, Larus sighed. "Pay no mind, Miss. There's some strange goings on in these days.
"Will say though, you're not the first two to drop by here. One mention of coin and they all come runnin'." Shaking his head, the barkeep quickly poured another glass as the drunken warrior seemed to near the end of his own drinks.
Near the far end of the street - behind Izumi - another figure stole glances around an alleyway. Features obscured by a cloak, it was the dark olive color of the garment that might've given away her passing identity.
The well traveled woman was disappointed that the Songen bounty hunter did not wish to talk. Though this was something she should have expected. The bartender’s comment however was much more intriguing. Ai pondered how to approach this with tact,
“Well its as I said earlier: money is tight. I’m guessing that means that means that anyone with so much as a pocket knife have been asking around then? I can see why that would be annoying after a while,” she enquired whilst tapped the table, indicating she wanted a refill.
Fixated on the conversation Ai payed no serious attention woman in the cloak since she was so wrapped up in her pride at this game on intrigue she had started. It was a foolish mistake but the young lady had a way of being lucky when her attention failed her.
She stepped back, gesturing surprise at the sudden outburst. “Seems like someone’s in a bad mood. Fine then, be soaking wet all by yourself!” Izumi replied in a teasing tone of voice. This seemed like a quickly approaching dead end. Angry people tended to come in two types. Some were all too eager to rant at what had made them upset, while others preferred to fume. The velen appeared to be part of the latter.
The kimono-clad woman opened her parasol once more, glancing around the area in front of the lodge. Had she made the wrong decision in approaching the lodge to begin with? If Annora had even checked the bounties, she would have been aware that hunters were on her trail.
Movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention. It differed from the others, who seemed to be complacent in following their daily routine. It was more measured and referring back to the mental map she had constructed earlier that day, in a peculiar location. However, the Songen hunter realized she also looked rather peculiar, dressed in a kimono in Terminus.
Attention was dangerous after all.
Turning away from the velen, she quickly ducked into an alleyway between two nearby buildings. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out a small pouch of bigatium pulveris. Light appeared to surround her fingertips, as she quickly drew a complex symbol in thin air. The pulveris lit up, the flecks of silver floating within the light.
The rune faded from the air, as she felt a rush of energy surround her. From her point of view, she looked exactly the same as before. However, to an outsider her form was radically different. Peculiarly enough, it appeared to be the exact same as the barkeep just inside the lodge.
She stepped out of the alley. The black-haired woman looked down the street, the olive-clad figure hadn’t moved during her spellcasting. With little fanfare, Izumi (or Larus) walked briskly towards the suspicious individual.
Things
Incognito
Basic - Disguises the caster as a target they are familiar with. It cannot disguise their scent or voice, however.
Annora's measured movements were matched only by the tight grip she kept on Vallum, the longsword's dull black sheath disguised in the folds of her cloak. On her back was a peculiar absence of the axe Keydis had made her, Trunco. Steel didn't do well underwater, so she had left the well-kept sword at the Atheneaum Narratus. Though it was much to the chagrin of Atticus, the bookstore's proprietor, he had been one of the first to hear tell of the recently placed bounty.
Having been all but shooed out of the store with her - quite possibly last - purchase from him, she quickly patted down the rucksack attached to her hip. Confident that the brown saddlebag still held the tomes on a pair of particularly useful skills were secured, she kept a wary watch on the street as she stole down it.
Her aqua blue eyes widened - first in shock, then in confusion - as the form of Larus approached her. The barkeep had never abandoned his post in all the time she'd known him, and Annora unconsciously felt herself tense. Either something was wrong, or things had begun to unravel already.
Mind racing, Annora pulled her hood lower across her face. She winced slightly as she revealed her webbed hands, the membrane filling the gap between her fingers up to her first knuckle. Mumbling to herself, she dared not raise her voice, even as the all-too-serious visage of the velenite barkeep neared her.
"Feel the energy, all arriving together. It dances at night... by the wings of Aquila, Breaking Palm," Annora intoned swiftly. A moment later, she felt the raw magical energy beginning to swarm to her hands. A warm tingle shot through her fingertips and up to her wrists, almost washing through to her elbows. It felt like the warmth of the sun, and she clenched her unoccupied hand, pulling it close to her waist.
