The Fire and The Black: Daemonfold [IC]

[Man on Fire]

"Seems an odd way to make money, you know?" Ilvaria continues her casual way of asking questions. "If you're a mage, couldn't you just go to a school or hire yourself to help people? Feels like a much smarter idea than, you know, being part of bandits that hunt innocent folk for a Deamon."

[3SecondCultist]

"It's not different from what now? I'm sorry, but I'm a little bit book dumb on the subject of magic. Please, enlighten me with your abundance of rhetoric and witticisms! When one travels on the road with only Solys as a companion, one tends to carry out imaginary conversations. Have you nothing more to offer about your role in all of this, Jerrick Overni?"

Genuinely curious, Marius leans forward to hear the young noble scion's reply.

[Hazuki]

Hardcheese noses the prisoner's cheek.

[PersonMan]

"Not me," Elirientaru replies as Ilvaria speaks of alternate employment options. "Can I drink?" She asks, giving Hardcheese a brief look that seems like a poor compromise between sour and neutral.

Jerrick sighs. "Than summoning other things. It's the same principle," he says, brows furrowing as he glares at the ground near his shoes. "And no. I've said everything I'll say. I'm not...repeating it."

Spoiler: Jack

Show

Jack can tell that Jerrick's mood took a plunge as soon as the words "your role in all this" were spoken.

[Archmage1]

Jack pauses, and looks at the amount of water in his prepared cup. After a few moments, he nods to Elirientaru. "Certainly. This might be a bit awkward, but since we can't really trust you untied..." He approaches her, holding the cup, clearly prepared to tilt it so she could drink from it when she was ready.

Sounds like Jerrick's getting grilled, and isn't liking it. Tough luck for him, since this is apparently all his fault, eithe rby accident, or plan.

[Man on Fire]

"Why are you saying "not me?"" Ilvaria for the first time looks concerned. "Anyone can help people, if they choose to. Why couldn't you?" She looks now not only concerned but also slighty confused, looks at Elirientaru less like a bandit who helped imprison her and more like someone whom she is trying to crack down.

[PersonMan]

Elirientaru doesn't seem to mind the awkward say she drinks, drinking one, then another full mouthful of water before nodding. As Ilvaria speaks, she's silent. "Fancy schools don't want me, and all I can do is fight, with my spells."

[Archmage1]

And... that, I think, has whetted her appetite for water, so time for another question. Removing the slowly refilling tool of water, Jack asks another question, his voice gently encouraging. "What can you tell us about the leader of the Parchment Eaters?"

[3SecondCultist]

"Fair enough! I’m hardly an expert on these things, myself. My own magic runs closer to prestidigitation and parlour tricks." Marius’ smile is a cat perched on a windowsill, languid and patient. With a practiced grace, the mercenary unstops one of his strange iron vials and takes a sip.

Smacking his lips noisily, Marius considers Jerrick openly for another moment. "Ah, now that is perfection. Would you care for a taste? This is a sealord vintage, purchased at a choice discount."

[Man on Fire]

"Who told you you can only use that magic for crime?" Ilvaria asks, still concerned about the mage's story. "there are so many good uses for this kind of abbilities. You could join city gurds, become a bodyguard, enlist to army, scare away the bandits." She starts speaking passonatelly. "Think of fire. Fire isn't good or bad. It can burn a house. It can burn your skin. But it can also warm you and your family during the winter. It can cook your meals. When forests burn, sometimes people burn away few trees way ahead of the fire, so that it has nowhere to spread." Her eyes seem to themselves light with fire as she is saying those words. "Power is not good or bad. It is your choice how you use it."

[3SecondCultist]

Marius turns. It's not so much that he didn't notice the drow before - her beautiful features definitely made an impression at their first meeting - but this time it's her words that keep the man's attention. He smiles and nods in her direction perhaps a moment longer than is necessary.

"Truly, I could not have said it better myself. Magic is a tool, like any other."

[PersonMan]

Jerrick shakes his head, grimacing and waving away the offered vial. "Not to be rude, but sealords are trash. Except the Kintargan one."

Elirientaru frowns. "Jerrick, or Orv?" She asks Jack, before Ilvaria begins her speech. "I'm not a guard," she mutters. "I'd rather not spend my day patrolling streets for a few coins, too."

As Marius adds his voice to Ilvaria's, Jerrick shrugs. "Sure, but if you've got a sword, and you don't have the temperament to be a guard...Your options are limited," he says. "Especially if you have expensive tastes."

[Archmage1]

Jack shrugs, the unwieldy cup still refilling from the rain. His smile seems to be rather... predatory, as he senses the chance to get to the meat of things. "Both, of course, dear Elirientaru."

[PersonMan]

Elirientaru shrugs. "Jerrick's some washed-up noble who failed the Academae and was scared ****less of Orv. Orv is a nasty thing with tentacles for arms that likes magic and killing. And eating souls, when it gets the chance."

Off to the side, Jerrick frowns, clearly not pleased by Elirientaru's description of him but saying nothing.

[Archmage1]

Jack nods thoughtfully, but senses something amiss. She referred to Jerrick and Orv as leaders, not just Orv. And this doesn't match with that. "Why did you consider Jerrick one of the leaders, then? And how often does Orv visit the camps?"

[Man on Fire]

"Do you really think a life where a "nasty thing with tentacles" comes to visit you regularly is much better than patrolling the streets or being an adventurer?" Ilvaria asks, indicating that no, she isn't giving up on this subject.

[PersonMan]

"Orv didn't visit. At least, far as I could tell," Elirientaru says. "It stuck around in the big tent. And it's because he was giving orders. If you're a sailor, and your captain answers to a sea monster, they're still both your bosses, aren't they?" She asks with a smirk, before turning to Ilvaria. "Well, it wasn't great, but until today no one stabbed me, so there's that."

[Archmage1]

Jack's pleasant facade remains, as he listens to Eilrientaru's explanation. So, he gave orders. But what sort? It doesn't really matter, I suppose, but I do prefer finishing things I started, so... last question, I hope. Well, ok, last two questions. "What sort of orders did he give, and do you know about any other Parchment Eaters in the vicinity?"

[Man on Fire]

"Yes, and look where it got you. Not to be inconsiderate, but it feels to me that it stopped paying out at some point, you know?" Ilvaria continues pushing Elirientaru. "I mean, let's be honest. Both you and I will one day run out of luck with our professions and die. That's how things are. Next time either of us loses a fight it might not be against people who merely wants to capture us. But do you really want to go knowing if anyone remembers you, it will be as a badit?"

[PersonMan]

Eilrientaru explains Jerrick's role as being the one giving orders, though Orv's interests were clearly the central factor in most. She doesn't give Ilvaria more than a shrug and some vague murmuring about not being remembered either way, her appetite for discussion with the drow seemingly gone.

Not long after Eilrientaru falls into silence, Jerrick clears his throat. "So," he says. "Where are...that is, what's...our goal, for, where to go tomorrow?" He asks, looking between Ilvaria, Jack, and the other three, clearly expecting three sides to emerge.

[Archmage1]

Jack frowns, but offers Eilrientaru more water, as he considers things. Hm... sounds consistent with Jerrick's story, but it definitely paints Jerrick as a fool. I suppose it doesn't really matter to me either way. However, regarding where we're going... with any luck, Ilvaria will stop complaining about Orv, since the newcomers seem to be reasonably competent. She can convince them. And they were looking for Jerrick, so if I can get in on that reward? After he finishes watering the prisoner, he speaks up. "Well, as far as that goes... is Jerrick's father offering a reward for his return?"

[Hazuki]

"To the people he hired, yes." Solys answers Jack. This mission has her at the end of her tether. "I'm sure he'd buy you a loaf of bread for keeping his son's hair tidy for all of an hour."

[Archmage1]

Jack offers Solys one of his trademarked grins. "I'm sure he'd be willing to reward those who helped return Jerrick. And I suspect you might find my skills to be useful, should you encounter further difficulties."

[Hazuki]

"We've traveled across half of Korvosa and taken down a bandit camp to find Jerrick. You have...ran away from that bandit camp.." Solys tells Jack, unimpressed with his grin. "So, you're not getting a cut of our earnings. If you really want something, I can offer you a punch in the face."

[Archmage1]

Jack's broad grin remains intact, despite Solys's disagreement. "We arranged a stealthy departure from the camp for Jerrick, yes. That way, there was no risk that the bandits would kill him in retaliation for betraying them." His smile fades a little as he considers how Solys would be looking at it. "Of course, we succeeded, making it very hard to compare experiences."

[Man on Fire]

"I couldn't care less about the money. But we're not taking Jerrick back to Korvosa." Ilvaria says with firm conviction in her voice. "He is pursued by Orv, a daemon who preys on mages and collects secrets. One good thing Jerrick did was to lead him out of the city with a magic academy. We cannot allow Orv to get back, he might easily hide and continue hunting mages until he'll grow too powerful to be dealth with. The consequences could be unimaginable. If you want to put all those lives at risk just for a few coins...." She gives Solys a challening look, while grasping her spear firmly. "....let's just say that would be extremely unwise."

[Hazuki]

Solys puts a finger to her temple as she listens to the equally annoying arguments from the two people. "No money for you." She tells Jack, then addresses Ilvaria. "See, see here, it's - it's, you go to a baker to learn how to bake. You go to a smith to learn about smithing. You go to a mage to learn about...weird ****. The Academy will know what to do, you'll learn how to stab a daemon, Jerrick's father gets him back, and I get to be done with this." She says, glancing up, seeing Ilvaria gripping her spear, and snorting. "What are you going to do, run away at me?"

[Man on Fire]

As Solys finishes speaking, she finds Ilvaria's spear pointed at her throat.
"I don't like bullies. Do not think that just because you are big I will let you treat everyone around you like trash." She looks Solys in the eye with full defiance. "And maybe we would be mroe willing to listen to you if you actually thought of anything but the coins. Which you clearly don't. She puts her spear back and calms down. "We can find other places to inform us on Orv, a temple for example. We might even figure out why it leached to Jerrick in the first place, isntead of staying in the city." She gives Jerrick himself a look. "Except if there is something you would like to share with us, of course."

[3SecondCultist]

With a sigh, Marius draws his own blade to point it at the drow in response to her own show of aggression. The man’s expression is a mixture of caution and boredom.

"Not that she needs me to come to her defense, but I’m with Solys here. Sorry love - you’re gorgeous, but I signed on for a job, and I intend to see it through. So how about you put away the steel so I can put away mine?"

[Hazuki]

Solys raises an eyebrow when Ilvaria points a spear at her, and nods with what Marius says. "I'm just sitting here and talking. You're the one waving your stick around." She doesn't know what Marius' comment on Ilvaria's looks has to do with anything, but she appreciate shim having her back anyway. She'd challenge the woman's assumptions about her motivations, but she doesn't really care.