An Extended Family (IC)

[Dycize]

"Bandits? I did not meet any on the way, thank the Keeper. Although thinking about it, it's quite possible there may be some in the neighborhood. A noble just died and its family is moving near, after all."
She said after Lucien talked about his travel experience.

She kept munching while listening to her kins, cracking a smile at Cassandra's reaction to the food. At least someone seemed to really enjoy it.

But then Ashley mentionned accidental mind reading and only one word filled her mind. "Spellcasters." And the mood had finally started to get better but no, more magic!
She watched Lucien do his thing, looking unimpressed and hoping it would get over with quickly. Magic in the food, really? And then judging by Ashley's reaction, it was over. At least no one was blinded this time.
But, also judging by Ashley's reaction... Something didn't go well, did it?

Mirandelle moved closer to Ashley. With her left hand, she grabbed a glass, and with her right, she started lifting the bottle of wine up by its neck to avoid having Ashley spill it over her cup, and to, hopefully, snap her out of it.
"I'd gladly take some wine to go with this wonderful food."
She then whispered quickly to Ashley.
"I don't know what happened with that spell, but we'll talk about it later if you want."
Then turned back towards her siblings.
"Anyone else wants some?"

[Yael]

"I'm fine without any wine, thanks." Says while picks something different from the table to serve herself. "On the topic, I am cappable of doing some spellcasting, too. Nothing too fancy or attractive, but cappable still. I would like to let you guys know, for trust I think..."

[Quellian-dyrae]

"It...it's fine. Don't worry about it. Probably nothing," Ashley said while she poured the wine.

She nodded a few times to herself as she said so. Really, it was kind of silly. The thoughts she had heard from Lucien were so at odds with how he actually was...they almost couldn't have been real. And how would Art have put magic on the food? She was right there with him the whole time and hadn't seen any spellcasting. Besides, which was more likely? That Art had accidentally enchanted the food with mind reading of all things and Lucien was masking some sort of deep inner darkness, or that her brain, over-imaginative by nature and no doubt over-stimulated by the emotional rollercoaster of the day's events had played some sort of trick on itself?

The more she thought about it, the more convinced she became that she had just imagined the whole thing. (The fact that Lucien actually had identified and dispelled something on the food was casually dismissed as evidence. Maybe he was humoring her. No one could prove otherwise.)

"I guess magic probably runs in the family, huh?" she speculated when Cassandra mentioned she was also capable of it, happily accepting her incredibly convincing logic about the mind reading and eagerly taking the opportunity to move onto a new subject. (And thereby conveniently avoiding any need to examine her conclusions further). "Must be a fey thing, I guess?"

[DoctorGlock]

'Aye, magic comes as naturally to the Fae as does breathing, many say they are magic themselves... though I thought Lord Roderic was pure human?' Lucien said, pausing to grab a handful of chips. 'My, these are phenomenal, how did you do this?'

He speaks lightly, but anyone watching closely notes that his other hand is clutching at the armrest in a white-knuckled deathgrip. What the hell was that!? Why would I even think that!? Gods above, it's been getting worse since I left Silverhold...

'I'd love some wine, personally. What is it, a good red? But I digress... some of you are considerably better versed in family history than I. Not surprising since I'm, well, a complete stranger,' he adds sheepishly. 'But I am rather curious to know about our sire's Faen legacy, since I think it is rather important given recent events.'

[Qwertystop]

Silently turning down the wine, "Arthur" replies "I don't know... I don't think I've got much in the way of magic, but everyone
e
_l
__s
___e
is acting odd all of a sudden, so who..."

Stops.
Wait, was that out loud?

And mutters "...sorry. Don't mean to insult.", failing to cover his flush by eating another chip.

[Quellian-dyrae]

"I mean, I don't know much about it, myself. Just that there's fey blood on this side of the family. Mmm...I want to say our grandmother? But I'm not quite sure," Ashley said.

"Sure you do!" she added when Art said he didn't have much in the way of magic. "You shapeshifted earlier, remember? Unless it was just an illusion, I guess. Oh, and you teleported! I mean, it wasn't a big teleport, but still. That's way more magic than I can do. Most of mine is simple stuff. Illusions and emotions, stuff like that. And floating things. I'm good at floating things!"

[Dycize]

"Our legacy..."
Mirandelle drank her wine, thinking.
Magic comes naturally... She did have one trick. Only one. And they thought she was a failure for not inheriting her mother's magical abilities. Oh if they knew back in the village that not only that, but she may also have fey blood from "that human buffoon". It's like a cruel joke. All this inherent magic... And barely anything to show for it. Her trick wasn't even very effective. And now more than half her family can cast spells in one way or another, all better than her. Even what Ashley called "simple stuff".

Mirandelle remained silent, listening to her siblings, although her expression seemed to have become a tad gloomier. At least now they seemed more relaxed.

[Qwertystop]

What? Teleporting? Shapeshifting? I just got in front of her in a costume! Skipped the setup a bit, since she was about to leave. Is that "magic" now?"

Art's tone is somewhere between bafflement, sarcasm, and indignance, no matter how uninteligibly those combine.

"Next you'll be saying it was "magic" when I lost track of the words asking if we wanted to chat!"

[DoctorGlock]

'Well they certainly aren't normal everyday abilities,' Lucien answers. 'But they come so naturally to us that in your case you have never even thought of it anymore than you would putting one foot in front of the next.' He pauses for a moment to phrase his next line. How much would the asking the reveal? No more than someone in your head... I wonder what she heard...? 'What is it like when you use your blood-gifts? I mean, was magic always like that to you? You never had to study or learn anything?' He pauses again before looking at Art. 'And where are you from that either everyone uses magic so or no one has enough to provide reference?'

[Quellian-dyrae]

"Yeah the um...the 'skipping the setup' part, I think, is where it can be said to cross the line into magic," Ashley said with an amused grin. She had to give Art some respect, though. Magic "came naturally" to her, sure, but it didn't come so naturally that she hadn't recognized it as magical!

[Qwertystop]

So much confusion, so much nonsense, and now a direct question. Will his newfound siblings know more than he?

"What do you mean, 'what is it like'? I just do it. What is it like for you to blink" - Art has not done so since he began to respond - "or swallow a gulp of that wine?"

"What is it like when you grow
your nails

an eye

a beard

an arm?"

"What sort of place are you from, that walking to a place rather than being there is not just polite, but necessary? That a simple little costume is 'shapeshifting'? That some people can fill the air with a blinding powder? That cold iron is made into knives - weapons of the horrible stuff- and yet can be held without causing a rash that must be warped away?"

He pauses to take a deep breath.

"I am from a small town just south of here, Millburn, and I can assure you that nothing about it is anywhere near as odd as how you lot are acting."

Spoiler: Anyone who knows the area

Show

If you know the area, you probably know of the place he's talking about. There is indeed nothing particularly noteworthy there, certainly nothing like Art.

['Neath the Moon]

"Ah, my Lord, I did not expect to see you here. You needn't have come directly, I was perfectly alright with seeing you in your study." She was suddenly quite courteous, a marked changed from her demeanor back in the crypts. In a way, apart from the endless deceit and decadence, dealing with landed aristocracy was actually easier than interacting with the common folk. Less posturing, for one.

"Please, make yourself comfortable." She drew two chairs from the small table and waited for the elderly lord to take his seat.

The earl smiles, and takes the offered seat. He begins speaking, and removes the first sheet of paper from the stack, 'You should know, I am aware of your particular circumstances. This is a letter from your school's High Wizard, who I knew back when we were both students. It's in reply to the letter I sent him, explaining my request for your leave of absence.'

He hands you the letter, which reads:

Donovan, it's been a long time. I'm sorry for your loss. The student you are asking about, Corina d'Mentha; she's your granddaughter, isn't she? You have the same eyes, the same attitude, and the same work ethic; let your copious amounts of natural talent do the work, while the rest of us struggle to get ahead. If you had stuck to wizardry, you could easily be sitting where I am, or maybe even made it to the head of the Guild.

Anyway, I don't buy your claim that Donny Jr. was her godfather. I've still got some contacts in the nobility, and your family was never that close to hers. Then there were those rumours of a hushed-up duel, a while back. Your son and Comgen d'Mentha, not long after the Lord d'Mentha had been away for trade, and his wife at home... You needn't worry, though. I'm not the sort to spread rumours, especially about an old friend's dead son, and most especially when it might disgrace a student of mine. I'll write it up as a special case; independent study with a magical researcher. You owe me one, though.

~Lori Carollus, High Wizard of the Starfall Polymagica

P.S. Make sure she spends some time in your marvelous library while she's with you. Maybe you can get her to study. Nobody else seems to be able to.
P.P.S. Don't try to fool an old wizard, Don. Our memory just gets better over time.

'As you can see, Lori's a bit sharper than I had remembered. When we were students, he always seemed oblivious to just about everything but his books. He's as honest as they come, though; I can assure you he'll keep this a secret.'

[Quellian-dyrae]

"Oh yeah, I know of Millburn," Ashley said brightly, giving a sage nod.

"...No one teleports in Millburn... You're from Millburn? You'd think someone with your abilities would kinda stand out in Millburn.

Are we acting odd? I...don't think we're acting odd. Are you okay, Art? It's been a pretty crazy day." (Probably was a good thing he didn't take any wine.)

[DoctorGlock]

Lucien raises an eyebrow, amber eyes wide and incredulous. 'A whole village full of shapeshifting teleporters sounds like something I may have heard of, even though I am unfamiliar with the area. They certainly are not any natural human skills... or any race I know of,' he adds, pointedly looking at Art. 'Magic comes effortlessly to me... but I still needed to learn it first. I remember being taught how to...' he trails off.

Being taught under the light of the aurora beneath unfamiliar stars, she stood, crowned with glistening ice with starlight woven into her hair... 'reach out, weave the rays, they respond to your will and your blood,' she instructed, a crooning whisper. She was pale as an icy lake with slit-pupil amber irises set into eyes as black as the void between stars. That inhuman hum again, her song, with words he did not understand... he reached out and grasped a ray of moonlight in his hand, folding it into a cloak of shadows...

Lucien snapped back. Oh bugger, was that out loud? 'Whatever, I suppose it isn't the most pressing issue right now. We are being hunted. We need a plan to lure the puca out, expose it, and kill it.'

That last part was said with a cold finality very out of place with Lucien's prior demeanor.

[Dycize]

Mirandelle kept listening.
She caught the name of Millburn, which sounded familiar. Ah, right, small town in the south. Nothing much of interest there. Aside from Arthur maybe?
Then more magic talk. But did Arthur just talk about growing an arm or an eye just like a beard or nails? He's an odd one, for sure.

"Yeah, there's still that issue of killer-fae out for our blood. I can help out with hitting it with a blunt instruement I guess."
She paused.
"Don't mind the strange question, but do those things have a particular smell?"

[Quellian-dyrae]

Down to business then. Probably wise. But how do they lure these things out?

"It would help if we knew how they were tracking us. Like, if they just know who were are and have to find us normally, we might be able to stage an ambush. If they're able to like...track us by our blood or something, though, that's trickier. But they probably can't, or at least not very well, since Dad was able to successfully fake being dead. They probably don't want to fight a whole bunch of people, so they'll wait for someone to be isolated. Hmm..."

"Pretty much the whole family is here. And it took effort to get us here, so even if the tracking isn't supernatural in nature, we have to assume they know we're here. They probably don't want to make a full-fledged assault on the house, because it's defended by guards with cold iron weapons. Their best move is to have as much of their force as they can whelm in the area, and wait for people to leave. Tail them in ones and twos, wait for them to get far enough away that help isn't coming, ambush them, kill them."

"They probably have a fair-sized force. A gathering like this puts all their targets in one place, they'd need to have enough people on hand to capitalize on it. If like everyone left at kinda the same time and they only had enough people on hand to go after one or two of them it'd be a huge waste of an opportunity. So what we want to do is lure out as many of them as possible, so..."

"What if we went out tomorrow? We could have a picnic!" (Food wasn't the solution to all problems. But there were few that it couldn't at least help with.) "Get a few of their targets out of the house, away from the guards...enough that they have to send a good portion of their force, not enough that they can risk sending their entire force and leave no one watching the house. But when they attack us, we're ready for them! Maybe we can even capture one and force it to tell us where the rest of their guys are and who's behind this and why they want to hurt our family."

[Oneris]

The earl smiles, and takes the offered seat. He begins speaking, and removes the first sheet of paper from the stack, 'You should know, I am aware of your particular circumstances. This is a letter from your school's High Wizard, who I knew back when we were both students. It's in reply to the letter I sent him, explaining my request for your leave of absence.'

'As you can see, Lori's a bit sharper than I had remembered. When we were students, he always seemed oblivious to just about everything but his books. He's as honest as they come, though; I can assure you he'll keep this a secret.'

As she read the letter, expressions of shock, worry, horror, confusion, and finally relief played across her face like the display of a slot machine, the payout a cascade of questions.
"You knew the High Wizard? Wait– he knows me? And he thinks I'm– well, I did on occasion suspect– was it so obvious? But wait, if you told him I was a goddaughter, then who sent– wait, Godfather? Oh, I must have misread– then what about the letters I forged– well, at least my grades are safe..."

She blinked.
"So it's true then. I'm not the d'Mentha heiress. I'm not even their daughter." A shiver of dread crossed her face imperceptibly. Then the real heir is–... The thought was banished with a flippant shake of her head. Now was not the time to dwell on the past. Keeping up appearances and all.
"I guess, in a way, this would be a step up. I had always despised the other d'Menthas."
...
...
...
"Sorry about the explosive runes. That was inappropriate."

[Qwertystop]

Millburn? Like them? What?

No, they're right. Deal with the assassins first. But some of this is still important.

"Yes, the assassins are priority. I'd say what I can do to help, but... I can do quite a lot of things. Don't know what's worth mentioning and what's still normal, with how strange everything's gotten. What do we need? Maybe I can fill in there..."

"I count two of us with magic - three ifwhen Corina joins us. Mirandelle can... bludgeon?"

"One thing does come to mind that I'm almost sure isn't universal - I can make decoys//fakes//falsepersons//distractions. I know some people don't..."

"Oh, I blurred again there, didn't I. Sorry, I'm just nervous, with all this mess//reunion//death//killers/////..."

He trails off with the day-in-a-nonsound.

"Sor
_._r
_._y."

[Quellian-dyrae]

"It...it's okay. Don't worry about it," Ashley said with...strained cheeriness.

It was...just barely possible that Art might have been completely insane. (Can't say for sure. More evidence was clearly required.)

[DoctorGlock]

'We don't have enough information,' mused Lucien. 'The whole family is here, but I doubt we will be facing a full scale assault... that implies a degree of leadership and coordination that shouldn't be possible... the Seelie and Unseelie courts are dead. We must be dealing with a rogue agent, or a cabal of rogue agents with an unknown agenda. We need to learn more from family closer to Roderick since his connection to whatever remains of the Unseelie court likely holds the why, which might help answer the how. We should pool our talents however. No one should travel alone, if we split to search groups of two. The enemy is a natural shapeshifter, but cannot conceal their eyes... so one person in the group can get a good look while the other makes sure our little friends aren't about to get the drop on us.

But if they are hunting the bloodline, then with all of us here, the enemy should be in these halls as we speak.'

He stood up from the table. 'I'll take the first group and talk to our uncle with the iron. Who is with me?'

A cold thought rises up from the back of Lucien's mind and breaks across his lips. The tone is ever so subtly different, a mirthless certainty that wasn't there before as something cold flickered through his amber eyes.

'Winter revels in fear and paranoia, and they have set the terms of this little game. We are playing in their Court now.'

With that he turns to leave.

[Dycize]

"And I'm not sure if a grand picnic right after the death of a family member is a right idea."
She takes a pause and looks at the food she's holding, then looks back up.
"But Lucien is right. We have to face hunters, not soldiers. If they had a solid force around, we would have probably died on our way here..."
She watches Lucien stand up.
"I'm with you. But maybe we should do this tomorrow? The hour is running late, and Lord Roderick told us we could discuss such matters tomorrow..."
The conversation pace is going to require to get used to in this family...

[DoctorGlock]

Lucien's returning grin is most unwholesome.

'Certainly, we can hunt them at night when they have the advantage... or they can come upon us in our sleep... and night is the best time to question our fine family, who may be withholding information, because it is much harder to maintain a convincing lie half asleep.'

[Quellian-dyrae]

Ashley looked back and forth between the two, nodding occasionally. She didn't have any experience with this sort of thing, but what they said made sense. "But, they wouldn't hide anything about this, right? I mean, it would put everyone in danger, and, and, besides, they're our family. We should trust them, we don't have to interrogate anyone."

"And we're probably safe here tonight, right? I mean, there are guards, and they have those...weapons."

[Dycize]

Mirandelle frowns, then rubs her forehead. Why do all have to be so...
"I would also like to think that the very estate of a noble family is safe from the creatures it specifically outfitted itself against, Ashley. But apparently Lucien doesn't think so and would rather put everyone's potential loyalties in question."
She turns her head back to Lucien.
"If that is all the trust you can show us now, fine. See you tomorrow, unless we die in our sleep."
"Trust". Lucien may have been right, that information was withheld. But what if it was not? What does he intend to do if his demands are met back with "No"? Bickering would lead nowhere... Even if the current situation was starting to look quite like it.

[DoctorGlock]

Trust... his siblings were right... what the hell was I thinking!? I'm supposed to be better than this! Lucien thought. 'You are right... I don't know what came over me. I extend my formal apologies for the insult.' he said. 'Perhaps with clear and well slept heads some reason can prevail.' With a little bow, Lucien swept out of the room, looking for the chapel.

The moment he was sure no one was watching and he was alone he almost collapsed. Heart pounding he slumped against a pew. 'Gods above, it's getting stronger. Don't let it take me, father!' It was barely a whisper, with none of the certainty his voice held before. Not the voice of a competent arcanist. Certainly not the cold will of a Sidhe scion. Just the whimper of a terrified child.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Ashley gave a light laugh at the formality of the apology. "Good night, brother," she called gently after him as he left. "Sleep well!"

[Qwertystop]

"Why would they lie? Either they misinform potential aid, or there isn't a threat to them - but if there is no threat, why bring us at all? Too much falls apart, and it would be quite rude besides."

Art makes a face (the normal way) at the idea, then exits.

"Good night, siblings//claim what sleep we can//and may the nightmares flee your beds."

If nothing interrupts, upon reaching his room, Art skips through the door - (nobody here thinks it's rude... so liberating!) and goes to sleep.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Everyone hears their own name instead of "siblings" (same as before, double-slash italics to indicate Whispers).

[Dycize]

"Harder to maintain a convincing lie half-asleep" he was saying, and now he was himself feeling the need to clear his head.Funny how those things go, don't they?
"Rest well, Lucien. And you too, Arthur. But with that said..."
She stands up again, and stretches her arms over her head.
"Mmmh.. . I'll be going to sleep too, all this talking and eating and drinking..."
And thinking.
"...Gets tiring after a while and today was eventful, so, Ashley, Cassandra, see you tomorrow, I'll be in my room."
With that said, she turned to the guards, asking them where her room was located.
And unless something else happens, she goes there to sleep.

[Quellian-dyrae]

"Good night you guys," Ashley said as they headed off as well, before looking to Cassandra and shrugging. "I...guess it would be smart to go to bed too, huh? Sweet dreams, sister," she said with a smile, before following along to find a room and get some rest.

[Yael]

"E-eh... I agree with trusting each other, we just met, and we are the focus of this... Hunt, let's call it. " She grabs her dish and responds to Ashley. "I'll help to clean the table, I don't want to be of any trouble, when I finish helping here, I'll go to bed. In any case, have sweet dreams, sister." Cassandra do feel a giggle inside her stomach whenever she hears the word, brother and sister, especially when aimed to her, because the feeling of a "family" is what she always dreamed for. "You guys, too! Have sweet dreams!" She finally tells to Mirandelle, Arthur, and Lucien, before they could leave the dinner.

I'll help, then. She thinks as she cleans the table, after everyone left. Aiding whoever's job was to clean the dinner.

Spoiler: OoC

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If nothing happens from the time lapse when Cassandra started helping to clean the table, she goes to find a room to sleep.