Answered Summons

Answered Summons

Postby Kestrel » Fri Aug 22, 2014 11:13 am

The woman, the Lady Verreaux, was deeply embroiled in conversation should Niall happen upon her.

The letters had been sent, though there was little word of their success. The halfbreed had turned her down - and perhaps that was not such a bad outcome, given his tendency to do harm to young women in the middle of the Dagger's lawn. Magic whisperings aside, it was bad form.

Egris did not know any of those you might answer her polite summons, so should Niall slip inside, her eyes would lift as they did to regard anyone who entered. They would return, soon enough to the dwarf sitting at her side.

The grizzled man growled something about patrols and his Lady nodded absently while moving a pawn on her chess board. The dwarf barely paid it any mind at all, so it was unlikely that he was her opponent. The chair opposite her was empty.
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Re: Answered Summons

Postby Jirai » Fri Aug 22, 2014 11:52 am

Niall was not very good at asking for directions. Returning from the dead had a deleterious effect on her already poor social skills. Fortunately, the Lady Verreaux was not exactly a secret, was she? Listening had proven sufficient to grant Niall an idea of where to go and what to look for. So this day found the scarred young woman stepping into the room, brown eyes sweeping dispassionately over those inside. Without any hesitation, she strode across the room, dropping to sit in the chair opposite the woman without being invited. Tattooed hands lifted a pawn, toying with the game piece as the young woman regarded the Lady silently.

Conversation had never been her strong suit.
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Re: Answered Summons

Postby Kestrel » Fri Aug 22, 2014 12:44 pm

The door opened and a woman clad in tattoos stalked into the tavern. Besides the ink on her skin, that was not wholly an unexpected occurrence. People drifted in the whole day through. When she slipped into the chair opposite the Kestrel, now that was a surprise. Not that she was stranger to company, but Niall's demeanor suggested that she belonged in said seat.

Lips curled in amusement as the pawn was selected and regarded with little interest. Egris' gaze never left the pointed gaze of the other woman, but she nodded towards the piece in her hand. It was, after all, her turn.

The pieces were arranged upon their black and white battlefield. They waited for her guiding hand to lead onyx against the kingdom of marble.

Her dwarven second leaned over to mutter something into her ear, but Egris nodded as if she already knew.

"Niall," she greeted the stranger warmly, but with caution.
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Re: Answered Summons

Postby Jirai » Fri Aug 22, 2014 1:15 pm

“Kestrel.” It was a naming, not a greeting. Names were important things, and the Lady had used hers first. That Niall chose to use this name, rather than the Lady's given name was deliberate. The scarred woman spun the small piece around, tattooed fingers running up and down the carved bit of onyx.

“What, exactly, do you want of me?” The letter had been a curious thing, enough to pique her interest, else she would not be here. Niall did not get many letters, for several very obvious reasons. This Kestrel had ignored those reasons – or, perhaps, did not know of them. Either way, it was interesting.

Fingers flicked out, releasing the pawn in a precise motion aimed to send it barreling into the carefully arrayed white pieces with no regard for rules.
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Re: Answered Summons

Postby Kestrel » Sat Aug 23, 2014 12:39 am

Burnie once waxed poetical about her names and what they all meant. When Niall spoke her title, it told much about her and Egris was quick to smile in response. Niall toyed with the figure, but the Lady's gaze never strayed from the other's face. She steepled fingers in front of her mouth and waited.

Niall did not disappointed as she tossed her lone onyx piece at the marble army with gusto. The heavy pieces did not flee far, but the action decimated their ranks. A moment's pause before Egris laughed aloud, not bothering to hide her delight. "Well," she offered, with glittering eyes, "that is one method."

The woman leaned forward to regard the other from across the forgotten game. "I want to fill my ranks with those who strike me as good matches. My men are my family and not just anyone will be accepted to protect them. I am protective, you see," she mused, a smile touching briefly upon her lips.

The dwarf watched them both, silent as the grave, but his eyes gleamed.

"But," she leaned back in her chair, "that should be obvious. Less so, is what you want. Coin, I can spare, but I doubt that is what called you here. Family, that will come with time. A purpose, surely. The real question is: what do you want, Niall?"
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Re: Answered Summons

Postby Jirai » Sat Aug 23, 2014 1:58 am

Niall and Burnie never agreed on much. It is quite likely that the topic of the Lady’s names would be no different. Niall watched the other woman without blinking. The dwarf was not ignored, no, but neither did she break off her gaze from the Kestrel.

“And I strike you as a good match. Or not you, perhaps, but someone.” The Lady hadn’t recognized her immediately, Niall hadn’t missed that. And Niall was an extremely recognizable person, between the scars and the tattoos. “I do not strike most people as ‘a good match.’”

She leaned back in her chair as the Kestrel asked the difficult question. What did Niall want?

She did not answer immediately.
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Re: Answered Summons

Postby Kestrel » Sat Aug 23, 2014 12:48 pm

Her lips curled with amusement. There were no other women in her company. Niall would be a welcome change. They seemed similar enough, at least, to perhaps become friendly, if not outright friends.

"You are correct in your assumption. The men reported that you might be a good fit. I have confidence in their opinions, even if I had not met you before today. And," here she grinned widely. "- even if I heard many unflattering things." Niall was often portrayed unfairly in other's tales. She was an easy target, it seemed. Something the Lady was no stranger to.

The dwarf shifted uncomfortably when she mentioned her mens' reports. Perhaps it had been he who had recommended the spellweaver.

The Kestrel leaned back to wait. Niall would answer, in time.
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Re: Answered Summons

Postby Jirai » Sat Aug 23, 2014 1:29 pm

“I do not know your people, to know what might be a good fit.” Niall mused. And if Niall is, indeed, a good fit? Perhaps she should feel sorry for them. The tattooed woman wasn't, however, one to feel sorry for anyone.

“I have not been paying attention to what has been happening here.” The scarred woman continued, her tone somewhat modulated. A first test, at least, had been passed. “I was… gone. And then I was distant, and then I was gone again. I was about to leave again when I got your letter. It was never about Myrken, anyway, though it could have been.”

“I want… a place.”
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Re: Answered Summons

Postby Kestrel » Sat Aug 23, 2014 1:37 pm

"Well, apparently you make an impression, distant or not," she replied, reaching out to correct the fallen pieces. She put them all neatly in their places again, her gaze focused on the task at hand. "Myrken had been unkind to many, I've found. It is a harsh place that is filled with pain," lamented carefully, casting a glance over at her mostly-silent companion and ghosting eyes over her expression.

"Though not entirely. I've seen much good here. Enough to catch my interest and make me want to stay. Though that remains to be seen. I serve His Majesty, first and foremost, and war brews at the borders," she remarked, nodding towards Thessilane. Somehow, she doubted that Niall would object to that fate.

She smiled, when Niall gave voice to her desire. "And that is certainly something I can give you, Niall."

Her hand was offered, expression warm. She wondered if the cautious woman would accept the gesture.
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Re: Answered Summons

Postby Jirai » Sat Aug 23, 2014 1:54 pm

The woman lined up the pieces that Niall had knocked aside. Meanwhile, dark eyes flicked towards the dwarf, and then back to the woman.

“Myrken,” she said coldly, “Is nothing compared to what I have seen. War is not a worry.” Leaving Myrken for war in Thessilane would be a good thing, in fact. “I serve no one.”

“But I am protective, as you said.”

The Kestrel’s hand was offered, regarded by the tattooed woman. And then, in a sign that Myrken had, in fact, changed Niall, she offered her hand out in turn to meet Kestrel’s.
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Re: Answered Summons

Postby Kestrel » Sat Aug 23, 2014 2:01 pm

The dwarf was staring at Niall, when she hazarded a glance at him. He nodded sharply at her, likely in respect, before taking a deep draw on his pipe and making it glow.

War is not a worry.

The Lady smiled. "Somehow, I doubted that it would be."

The Kestrel's handshake was firm. Her smile was pleased.

Her company was one more.
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