DeLylles Lies

[Carly Jr'ana]

First Cycle of Spring, Month of Immanis in Era II of the Celestine Mandate
Era XIV Post Fractum
Paradigm: Twelve New Constellations Discovered

Sometimes when one was in need of money they did things they wouldn't normally do, one occasion those things agreed with the individual and they adopted them as a life style. Today was that sort of day for Carly Jr'ana, a naturally predatory animal unlike most other elves, Carly had spent much of her life hunting fish with her bare hands and teeth. People were much more cunning then fish, but they also lacked the constant flighty attitude. While one might feel the hair prickle on their neck they ignored it, when in truth they should have run as fast as their legs would take them, to the nearest horse, and beat that horse until it collapsed. Then, rolling from their dying mount dug a burrow in the earth and learn to hibernate till the next season.

Today Carly's prey was Antonious DeLylles, but rather then hurt him physically which she was not very well suited to, she simply had to sniff out his secrets. To any other person a task that had one method; ask questions. To an ikomancer however, information had a habit of dropping into ones lap. However, in order for a Sigil to such an effect to be any use she would have to make Antonious known to her in one manner or another. A sane man might have snooped around his residences, perhaps ingratiated themselves with servants or workmen. Carly was neither man, nor in the conventional sense sane. No, she was like a man convinced he was invincible, walking in the path of a raging bull and knowing harm could not lay its touch on him. But even more so, she was under the impression that Antonious had his eye on power beyond his current means, and possessing a fancy new title within the Imperium Carly wished to present herself to his residence.

How to present one self? A letter of course!

From Carly Jr'ana Vampyler
Imperial Ikos Magus Councillor

To His excellency Antonious DeLylles

Vedui sir,
It is with pleasure I contact you seeking friendship and guidance in this city. Your name has been passed to me as one of influence and affluence in the capital, and as a newcomer to this city and my lofty new position I would wish to make your acquintance as to drink in your advice, wisdom, and contacts of grandeur; and perhaps offer magical boons of my own.

It has come to my attention that my cousins daughter is within the capital lately but I have yet to locate her place of residence. I believe she married some official or other.

I look foward to a quick and delightful reply, you may contact me at the Crown Inn and Tavern,

respectfully,
Carly Jr'ana Vampyler

Perfect, but would the man take the bait? Surely something as juicy as the ear of a councillor on the new mage council would seem like a tempting prize. And if the man was as powerhungry as Kevin had made him out to be, then he would surely leap at such a chance. If not that, then the ear of someone related to the thane and governor of Prime would be enough. If all that failed, she could simply resort to snooping around the servants quarters.

[Shorty]

Three days later-

The footman of the House de Lylles bore a letter for Carly and he arrived at the Crown to deliver it. In and out, he spent no longer than he needed to and rushed out after giving the letter to the staff.

That night it got to Carly. It was a blank envelope sealed by some melted wax stamped with the crest of House de Lylles- the star and the falcon.

Ms Vamplyer
c/o Crown Inn and Tavern

From :
Archduke Antonious de Lylles,
Lord Protector of Aelyria Prime

Serale,
If it is directions you seek perhaps I can be of service. A missing relative is a terrible thing indeed.

You may call upon me at the Villa Arguendo Sub Rosa tomorrow afternoon. Identify yourself and your purpose and you will be let through.

Regards,
Archduke Antonious de Lylles

OOC: feel free to fast forward to arriving at the Villa in your next post.

[Carly Jr'ana]

Carly raised an eyebrow at the mans title, an Archduke? She was not truely sure of what an Archduke was, but it sounded rather impressive and powerful. Clearly there was a reason she had been sent to gather information on the man, and not the clean and squeeky kind. But could an Archduke commit a crime? Was he not above the law. Perhaps.

Putting the thoughts aside for another brighetning Carly dressed herself in her green set of clothing, Circlet and hat placed upon her head, doll held firmly under one arm, chalk and charcoal hidden in her pockets. She made her way to the Villa, looking it over for a minute or two before entering. Bigger on the inside then the out, or that was how it appeared to the little elf.

The disembodied voice made her jump upon entering the antechamber. She cast a look at each of the two doors that faced her before replying. "I am the Ikos Magus Councilor Carly Jr'ana Vampyler and I am here to visit Archduke Antonious de Lylles on a matter of family and the Empire." That should do it she thought as she waited for a response.

[Shorty]

A deep, disembodied voice sprang forth from amongst the walls.

"Take the right door." It announced simply.

It was unlocked and Carly would pass through a short, dark tunnel before she would enter a well-lit and gilded parlor. Everything looked expensive- the two silk upholstered sofas, the deep red table in the middle of the room. The tapestries, the books, everything seemed of the hightest craftsmenship and looked extremely expensive.

In the middle of the room a cardtable dwelt surrounded by chair. A middle aged man, stout and broadshouldered, sat down waiting for Carly to enter. His hair was close cropped and slightly graying. There was a bottle of wine, water, some bread and cheese sitting on the table. The man stood and bowed.

"Serale, Magus Councillor." He said in a grave tone. "I am Baron Gaius Tibernius, the Archduke should be entering shortly... please have a seat and help yourself to any refreshments you desire."

A minute later the door opened again and a young nobleman walked in. He was thin and handsome, dressed in a silk frockcoat. He wore a pleasant smile upon his face and he nodded at seeing the mage. His blue eyes studied Carly before beginning.

"I am the Archduke." He introduced himself and bowed. "Shall we begin this meeting? What is it that you desire from me?"

[Carly Jr'ana]

Carly turned the handle and passed through the tunnel, wondering if it was the same door everytime, or what fate awaited those who took the other door. Perhaps a large tiger would leap out and devour the perpetraitor. The odd thing about the room though, was that it was mostly just a parlor and the building was so much larger then these two rooms and a tiger, there must be a great deal of magic in these walls for such a thing to occur.

She gave a glance around the room, taking in the grandeur and elegance of it all. She stepped closer to the man within the room, bowing her head in greeting towards him and then again in response to his offer. She moved towards the table and picked up a piece of cheese, placing her doll within one of the chairs before nibbling at the cheese and turning to survey the bookshelves.

Upon the entrance of the nobleman, she turned to face him and gave a small curtsy being careful to nod her head in welcome. The man was certainly vain, no welcome for the girl simply asserting who he was and why he was here. "And I am the first Ikos Magus Councillor, Archduke. It is a pleasure to make your acquintance." Gliding towards the table she placed her little blue hands on the back of the chair that held her doll. "I desire from you Archduke, above all, guidance. I am new to this city, this Empire, the twisted games you all play within the halls of nobility. I can twist fate within my fingers, but I have no idea how to twist the hearts and minds of the Senate to our needs.

So, help me and I can help you in any way you'd see fit. An alliance of sorts, if you will."

[Shorty]

"Yes, an alliance, of course..." The young Archduke smiled. "I am never one to turn down a friend." His eyes slid over to the other nobleman, Tibernius. The man lifted his eyebrows as if to say, 'why not?'.

Why was this Magus Councillor here, what were her motivations? There was also something that Carly did not know- the Archduke was not a young man at all.

And the chair was strange. Carly would notice what had happned after it was too late. Perhaps she tried to shift in her seat, but found her skin glued to the chair. Suddenly she would figure out what was going on in a rush... Carly was immobilized, frozen to the seat by the enchanted chair. It was imbued with the sorcery spell immobilize.

CRUNCH!

Tibernius swivled in his seat and cracked Carly in the jaw with a big meaty right hook. And a left hit her face and knocked carly back, the chair gripping her like glue.

The younger man stood, his face twisting in a satisfactory grin. He leaned over her and said very carefully.

"Who is Kevin Lastroge? Tell me the truth, what is it he paying you to do? What are designs have you against the Lord Protector? Tell us and you leave here with only a black eye."

Gaius Tibernius stood up, took off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves. He cracked his knuckles and paced around like a lion ready for a scrap.

[Carly Jr'ana]

Carly smiled pleasantly as the Archduke accepted her proposal, about to move around and sit on the chair itself to continue the conversation she found her hands were somehow attached to the chair as if by magic. She snarled inside the privacy of her own head, the white hallways of her mind suddenly dripping the angry red ink that pulsed within her veins. Of course the man had magic, one simply had to look at this place to know that. But for the chair to already be imbued meant they had at least suspected her as an agent of their enemies.

She blinked, dazed, her jaw felt suddenly numb and then her face started jetting off pain signals to the brain. Tears sprang into existence in Carly's eyes as she dealt with the pain, Carly bared her teeth in a very predatory way to the archduke now. "I would think if you were capable of knowing the mans name you would also know he is a middle man and that he is paying me to snoop out the dirt on you." She said this all because she really didn't want to have anything more then a bruised jaw, and because the man should probably have known that already if he was capable of knowing who Kevin was.

What Carly did next though went contradictory to blurting out everything she knew, and she did it because she was vindictive. As Gaius paced back around to her she swivelled on the spot, hands still glued to the chair and swung out one of her blessed boots, the boots she had blessed with the unusual property of absolutely devasting a mans groin. Assuming she was succesful she would then scrape the chair around and attempt to hit the man in the side with it, she didn't have the physical strength to do any harm with it but if the chair was imbued with some sort of glueing spell then the stupid little noble man would be glued just as well as she was.

[Shorty]

"Thank you for being forthright, but understand that we think you know more...." The 'archduke' began to say before stopping.

Carly in the meantime was launching her assault on Gauis Tibernius and his loin. Gaius approached, just in time to catch a blessed boot in his groin. The man's face turned red as he fell to the ground, clutching at his mid section. The tiny Ikos mage then swung the chair around and hit Gaius with the side to the chair. His left side became glued to the chair and the to of them fell again to the ground.

Bound together, she could feel his hot breath and realized he smelled vaguely of garlic. However, Gaius had a larger range of motion and with a wince on his face brought up his right fist. He brought it down with a vicious strike to Carly's head.

And again.
And once again.

Carly was blacking out...

And one more hit for good measure.

"Get me off this chair!" Carly heard Gaius rumble as everything turned to black.

----------------------------------------

Cold Water splashed her face.

She awoke in a cellar, or perhaps a dungeon. One thing was for certain, she was chained upon the wall huddled in a heap in the corner of the cold, damp concrete room. There were two chains- on binding her hands and the other binding her feet. They were bolted to the ground and although she could move around a little bit, it was not much.

She was dirty and bloody, her boots were removed.

Across the room, holding a candle was the 'archduke'.

"My, aren't we a feisty one? Tell me, did you really think you would walk right in and find out all these secrets you were paid to find out?" The young man smiled. "Did you think we are that incompetent?"

[Carly Jr'ana]

Carly smirked at the muted feeling of boot of squishy flesh, but mostly at the expression on the man's face as he collapsed. It was so much more satisfying though when she swung the chair and it stuck to him, her standing, him lying. The trouble with this position though was that she still couldn't use her hands, she really did have to get around to creating that anti magic item. Then she felt stars again, they twinkled round her head and gave off a strange garlicky aroma, flashing around as she was struck repeatedly. Thankfully the stars were dimming now and Carly was slumping fowards, falling asleep.

She was dreaming happily of kicking a certain noble man in the crotch when she was rudely awakened by a wet slap to the face, opening her eyes she realised she had just been splashed with water. She also realised she was screwed, she kicked her legs and flailed her arms testing the bonds, someone had stolen her footwear for some strange reason.

She looked up to see the young archduke with his candle, gloating rather terribly. If she were the villain of this piece she would gloat much more dramatically she thought, but she wasn't, she was the heroine. Smirking across the space at the man she wiggled her fingers around, her echolocation seeking out something to draw a few runes with, blood? Some of the dirt perhaps? Something she could easily scrawl on the chair with.

"Actually, to be frank, yes. I was under the impression most nobility were inbred and quite self involved, I would say you were quite incompetent if someone already know's you are up to something." She shook her bonds again, angrily yet with that same cool demeanour on her face, inky black eyes starring across the expanse without the hint of a blink. "So, are you going to tell me how you knew about Kevin?"

[Shorty]

"A combination of your arrogance and my spies..." The door had opened and a few forms stood in the doorway. One held the torch- it was Gaius Tibernius the nobleman that Carly had gotten to know earlier. The other was a cloaked and hooded figure in military boots. The last was the speaker, a thin and graceful figure who's face gradually came into focus. His face was sharp and angular, his hair cropped short. He wore an air of superiority.

"I..." He smiled. "Am the Archduke de Lylles, not my friend Faustus here." His face froze.

"Check her out." He instructed the hooded figure.

It was a mage, a master mystic who kept themself hidden from the young Ikomancer.

He cast Immobilize, freezing the young girl. Next he delved into her mind with Reveal and searched for all that Carly knew about this Kevin Lastroge.

"You see," de Lylles relished the stage. "We knew that this K. Lastroge offered a bounty. We also knew that you replied to that bounty since we have a resource in the crown inn. Then you wrote me asking me to meet. Am I so careless not to expect the worse?"

"She knows little, nothing about his motivations." The male voice of the mage reported. "Only how to contact him."

"Make sure she remembers none of this." The archduke began to leave. "Faustus, Gaius?" He motioned for them to follow.

"Hold a second, excellency..." Gaius stepped forward and kicked Carly in the face. He spat on her and walked out satisfied.

The Master Mystic infused a polarising essence into the psionic matrix of Carly's mind. She rapidly lost her memories....the villa, the bounty, Kevin Lastroge, all fled from her mind.

Memory Wipe would make sure she would not remember any of it, and soon she blacked out.

OOC: Carly, I'm going to link you to the next step in the story. I'll create a new thread and get you in on it. Feel free to finish up from your perspective, I'll even give you some XP-

Carly- +1 toughness, unfortunately you lose your boots.