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Post by Mubashir on Feb 5, 2023 19:55:45 GMT -5
Mubashir descended the steps of the storm drain outside the castle. After an invitation to an underground auction arrived at his snowstep, he didn't expect it to be literal. Luckily, fresh rain had swept most malodorous entities from within, and the place was surprisingly clean. With a short phrase, the inky blackness of the channel became slightly clearer, and he could make out a tunnel leading out apparently directly under the Keep itself!
"Sseemss like quite the ssecurity flaw..." He mutters, before making his way down. The echoes of his soggy steps eventually came to a halt as about two hundred meters down, a doorway built into the side of the drain became apparent. Under closer inspection, the symbol on the handle matched the one on the letter he had been sent, and there was even firelight coming from under the doorframe! This had to be it. Knocking thrice, the eyeslit opened. Once his card had been presented, several latches released, and the portal to this mystery auction party allowed him inside.
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Post by Lady Kamille Verlithax on Feb 13, 2023 19:11:17 GMT -5
It was so much easier to spot everything from up there... The winds sometimes disturbed her flight, but that was only because she wasn't good enough to read them. Mischief, on the other hand, flew gracefully before her, softly gliding through the night. She tried to follow him, trying to see with her mind what was instinctive for him. It was only recently she learned how to turn into a raven, so she spent a lot of time following Mischief around, trying to get used to that new shape...
Also, that granted her an unexpected advantage. Her feathery cloak and persona of the Witch of Moonglade was starting to get easily recognizable. She couldn't just prance anywhere without the risk of being recognized - specially places where the presence of the Mage's Guild was not welcome. The raven couple was much less suspicious, right?
Her small blue eyes spotted something in the distance, and she cawed to get Mischief's attention before diving. The entrance of the place should be around here, somewhere... Ah! Maybe this person should know where to go... She could get a ride up there! Flying was much more taxing than she expected...
A confusion of fluttering wings caught the strange man, and while one of the ravens just flew past him, another one remained quite close: the soft weight to his shoulder would indicate one of the birds landed there. Just like that. Without a warning, without even knowing the man. She hoped she would take her where she thought he would. She was tired, and would use the ride to rest her wings for a moment.
The interior was much more luxurious than she would've expected, looking much more like a gala, instead of a black market of sorts. She glanced all around, trying to take everything in, while at the same time trying to recognize any faces down there. Some people would even wear masks, which was... a smart idea. Only then she remembered to take a good look at her ride for the night, sticking her beak into his face as she glanced over to him. Handsome, goatee, pointy ears... Yep, she didn't know him. No mask so... Possibly not one of the regulars? Interesting.
For now, she remained perched up on his shoulder, without making a sound, as if he could forget of her existance if she remained quiet. That didn't last long.
"Quite an interesting choice of a familiar, if I may say, my lord..." One of the servers shot the commentary, offering him a drink from his tray.
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Post by Mubashir on Feb 15, 2023 10:35:08 GMT -5
Wow! Was that what this was? A raven! So neat. He grabbed a bubbly wine and responded cheerfully.
"Well thank you ssir! I guess what they ssay iss true, that the familiar choossess itss masster well." A slight eyebrow raise was the most reaction that the man could give, his professional demeanor overpowering his judgement of the man complimenting himself.
"Right you are... Please, if you are participating in the auction, you must collect your card over at the desk. The main items should be beginning shortly. Best of luck, sir.""Ah thank you thank you." He took a sip, and looked at his friendly new bird that sat upon his shoulder. The slightest thought crossed his mind of Kaslan, the undead serpent sleeping within his turban, and his reaction to a competing familiar, but the thought quickly went away with excitement. "What do you ssay birdie? Sshall we go do auction sstuff? What do I call you... how about ahhh...Tair? Yess, that sshall ssuit you well Tair." Approaching the desk, a moon-elf sat dressed in a very well-pressed black suit and tie, and greeted him upon arrival. She sat next to a large safe with a one-way dropper for putting things within.
"Good evening sir, may I have your name, as well as your collateral for the Auction?""Ah, I am Mubashir the Magnificent, and what do you mean collateral?""Collateral sir, something of value that you leave with us, that is returned upon completion of any transactions made at the Auction tonight""Oh...Okay I ssuppose. I have this cool silver sword you can put in there?" Mubashir untied the sword from the back of his robes, and placed it on the desk. It was old, sand-worn, and silvered, with a golden hilt that glowed in the profuse light of the underground area. "Wonderful, thank you. Here is your card, fill it with any purchases you'd like to make. Do enjoy the event, and if I may, you have quite the pretty raven there."
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Post by Lady Kamille Verlithax on Feb 20, 2023 19:55:31 GMT -5
It was no wonder Mischief was so tempted by the glitter of gold and silver - it was like her small beetle eyes would take a small glint of treasury and make it much bigger in her mind. But unlike her own familiar, she resisted the temptation as she posed as someone else's familiar. Ha!.... What a curious story she would have to tell after that night....
And speak of the devil, it was easy to spot Mischief across the room, blending in that secret society of smugglers and dealers as well as a fish trying to climb a tree. Unlike herself, quietly perched up on the man's shoulder, the other raven was acting up as usual, stealing small bites of snacks directly from people's hands.
If she could roll her eyes she would, but then the man started talking to her. She tilted her head, curiously, before starting to dance up and down as if in agreement about his remark that they should be seeing the stuff at the auction. When he mentioned the name he intended on giving her, however, she let out a low, unsatisfied croak, picking at his clothes to express her discontentment.
Either way, at the very least she got his name. Mubashir? That name was familiar... She took a good look at the sword Mubashir left as collateral on the front desk. At the very least she would do him the favor of trying to restore his goods should this night turn sour...
Neatly perched up his shoulder, she looked around. They were in the middle of a large room where people talked amongst themselves in soft tones, most quite well dressed, and a few going the extra step to hide their identities with masks and - she could feel it - with magic and magical items. Not unlike what she was doing here. If that was all the security that place could offer, perhaps it would be easier than she expected...
But, just in case, she would try and bring Mubashir along, yeah? To do the talking. His accent was curious and she wanted to hear more of it, but then something else caught her attention: several corridors spread outside from the main room, but she did notice a very discrete passageway behind a stone statue when a woman dissappeared behind it. A secret place inside a secret place, huh? The chances of finding what she wanted there were high, she assumed...
With her black beak, she pecked softly at Mubashir's ear to get his attention.
"CAW!"
Then soflty flew over to the statue, hoping he would understand she was trying to indicate the way to him. Behind the statue, that was itself in a side nook of the room, a hole on the ground gave way to a spiral stair that led downstairs, into the darkness.
A secret within a secret.
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Post by Mubashir on Feb 22, 2023 6:59:51 GMT -5
"Auhww! Tair, pleasse!" He groaned quietly, slightly annoyed his new pet had already begun trying to eat him. Oh, wait no, it just wanted to go hang out on the statue. It wasn't like the party was that interesting, a bunch of old rich saps gabbing about with each other about which plots of land or fancy Arid Mesa artifacts they had come into recently. Mubashir blithly sauntered over to where the bird stood perched. It looked awfully familiar... Ah! Sarahbah the Earth Domain Architect. Known for his great works during the Age of Solemnity, having rebuilt several impressive temples throughout Zeinav. Mubashir knew his works well, he had been the architect behind his old city out in the desert. But there was always one fatal flaw with Sarahbahs works... Mubashir looked behind the statue where Tair seemed most interested in and saw it. Each one of his works had a hole in the rear of them! In the temples, it was excellent. It allowed the priests to enter and exit discreetly avoiding the crowds. In the city walls, it was a disaster, enemies would just walk around the gate and enter! Dont get me started on the statues!
Regardless, he peered down the hole much to the relief of the bird beside him. "Iss thiss where you wissh to go Tair? Sso it sshall be! You truly never know when adventure will sstrike do you." He hissed quietly. His eyes glowed a dim gold as the enchantment slowly adjusted them to the dim light. Could birds see in the dark? Mubashir wept, for he did not know. Regardless, he would hope the bird would stay nearby as to not get lost. Kaslan could not get lost, for he was still asleep luckily. Mubashir came to a sudden halt at the bottom of the stone-cut spiral staircase, having heard the echoing footsteps coming from around the end of the hallway before them. Creeping foreward on his tip toes, with arms tucked like a mantis, he approached the dim light of a lantern from the corner.
Looking past it, he could see clearly. Two women, dressed similarly to the attendant at the table, standing suspiciously above an ornate coffin holding two cups. What was this, a speak easy? In a secret society? It seemed a little redundant to say the least.
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Post by Lady Kamille Verlithax on Mar 1, 2023 4:45:51 GMT -5
As if to answer for his fears, as soon as Mubashir asked her about the way she wanted to go, the raven landed on his shoulder and started to dance up and down again.
"CAW! Adventure!" she parroted back at him, while neatly perched up his shoulder.
Truth be told, she couldn't be certain where that would lead, but if these people were really trying to be discrete, she assumed they would restrict even more the amount of people that would be able to see even bid for the corpses.
Luckly, her suggestion was right....... And now what? Kamille - or Tair - flew softly and directly to the coffin, inspecting up and close with the same kind of shameless curiosity she has seen before in Mischief. And maybe not unlike what she herself did sometimes, if she was gonna be honest...
It was an ornate coffing, with magical runes etched all along the top and sides. It didn't take long for her to realize it was magic-blocking runes, probably doing the double function of protecting the coffin from magic and avoiding any residue of magic that had lingered on the body to... act up.
In a minute or so, one of the women standing close to the casket shooed her away, making her fly off and back to Mubashir's shoulder. The other woman looked directly Mubashir.
"Good evening, Sir. Would you like to participate in this bidding? It will start shortly, in a matter of fifteen minutes. There's still time."
Tair was looking around curiously, trying to think of a plan to get the coffin out. Her only idea so far was to change back to her half-elven form, take out Sir Prize and Mis Fortune and have the two gargoyles carry the coffin outside. That would make a huge mess, and she would need quite a distraction. And a place to safely turn back without looking too suspicious. Maybe Mubashir could help her with that? She couldn't be sure what his intentions on going there were, but she was certain she could handle it afterwards.
One step at a time.
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Post by Mubashir on Mar 1, 2023 15:28:17 GMT -5
"Of coursse! I would be delighted." He said, brushing his robes straight as his new TALKING FAMILIAR landed back on his shoulder. Holy cow how cool was this, just wait until Sumaita and The Duke heard about it. They would surely be enthused, to the maximum. Mubashir took a seat in one of the empty pews as the ladies continued about their prep work. "Tair! you could talk?!" He whispered. Tair had only said adventure, but they were so enthusiastic about it. "Thiss iss very exsciting." Mubashir squirmed with anticipation of the main event in his chair, one of the attendants came over and handed him a number painted on a small black sign. She smiled at his slight confusion, but apparently had experience with the more esoteric guests.
"This is used to signal your acceptance of a bid. Raise it if you still want to buy the casket at the price being offered. Good luck!" "Casket?" He looked at the ornately warded stone box. Whispering to Tair, he shudders, saying "Eugh, I think i've had enough of caskets for a lifetime. Or several. But, it does look like it holds something interesting.... You know what. If you'd like it Tair, we'll get it. A gift to my new bird friend. I mean, familiar!" The attendant moved to the rear of the room, pulling a small chain that hung in the corner. This mechanism opened a secret passage between the main hall and the auction area, allowing guests to filter in. Each gave a rather impressed look at the Zeinavan man and his beautiful familiar, apparently so in the know as to already have a good seat for the item. He handed Tair the light paper number paddle.
"Here, whatever number you think iss besst. I dont really know how much thesse thingss cosst anywayss"
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Post by Lady Kamille Verlithax on Mar 13, 2023 12:19:06 GMT -5
Mubashir's remark about having his fill of caskets was an interesting one, and Kamille would certainly have wanted to dig in his story in other circumstances. But right now she was Tair, and Tair....
"Cawww! Nice casket!"
Tair took the number paddle in her beak, more than a bit confused. Well, not that she had the intention of actually paying for the casket, anyway....
The lady before the casket waited for all other patrons to adjust themselves in their seats, before indicating the casket with her well manicured hand.
"Tonight we are proud to announce the remains of the Great Magus Tandriel of Frost Gale, renown mage of the Sixth Ring that met his fate during the Collapse. It is said Tandriel fought against the Academy when it rose against the Gods, and though he met his end when fighting against his peers, his talents and powers were recognized and respected enough to warrant him a place between his former colleagues. We'll start the bidding at 100 thousand solars. We have 100, do we have 125? 150 anyone? 150 to the lady on the back. 175? 175 it is. 200 someone?"
"SQUACK!"
"AYE! Hey, watch it!"
It was all happening so fast, Tair seemed a bit too excited when she rose the paddle with their bid, and ended up flinging it into the face of another patron a few seats away. It caused a small commotion for a few moments, but the bidding went on despite of it. Tair looked around, now without the paddle, searching for something to create a distraction.
Once again, Tair flew off from Mubashir's shoulder, landing on a piece of curtain hanging to separate that part of the auction. The raven started to mess with it, trying to untie it from its support, so to bring the lower part of it near a brazier to set it on fire. She hoped that would be enough of a distraction.
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Post by Mubashir on Mar 18, 2023 16:29:35 GMT -5
It all happened so fast! Mubashir leapt immediately to soothe the bepaddled woman, his silly new bird having assaulted her with the wooden equivalent of a very small frying pan. And to think Great Magus Tandriel was watching all of this happen from only a few feet away. As he was being shooed away from the Capitol Womans forehead the flames began to become apparent to the rest of the room. Tair fluttered about the brazier and curtain as it quickly erupted, sending smoke and fire across the ceiling. The underground room quickly fell into panic, with auctioneers and staff all consumed with trying to put out the flames. This situation had quickly fell to the hells in a handbasket, so it was time to call in the backup. “Tair, you naughty bird. Now we musst sskip the auction entirely and ssimply take the coffin. Takess all the fun of it, I mean. I wass planning on doing thiss if I losst, but sstill.” He waved his arms in wild ways, summoning a large portal of dark wispy smoke in front of the coffin. A large monstrous man appeared, his gut bulbous and heavily tattooed. A large cross with the words “The Duke”. “Duke, grab that wrinkly man, we’re getting out of here. Alsso, the birdss with uss”
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Post by Lady Kamille Verlithax on Mar 25, 2023 6:42:47 GMT -5
Whatever it was that she expected from her "partner", she certainly didn't think his intentions were aligned - more or less - with hers. The panicking room was quickly thrown into chaos, as the fire started to spread and a few patrons and the staff trying to put out the flames at the same time Tair was coming back to Mubashir. It surprised her that she didn't need to convince him to steal the casket... Wait, did he belong to the guild as well, maybe?! That would explain a lot... As chaos broke, Mubashir summoned forth a large man to help grab the casket, surprising her once more. Looks like he knew how to handle things for himself! That was good, all she needed to do was to guide him out and... The sound of chainmail and armor pierced through the screams and general confusion. Guards. Of course the place would have guards. They were coming from another corridor to the side, behind the casket; there were about six of them running towards the room in a straight line, since the corridor was too narrow for them to walk side by side. Tair jumped - or flew - at the opportunity to stop them. Mischief also got the cue and both ravens flew directly towards the guards faces, cawing and trying to peck and claw at their faces. It really bothered the guards for a moment, until one of them managed to hit Tair with the wave of a hand, throwing her back into the shadows of the corridor they came from. The last man of the line of guards, however, slowed down as he realized that the figure of the bird grew in size, even if still covered in black feathers. He suddenly stopped on his tracks, as now there was an elven woman staring back at him where the bird once fell, looking a tad bit less confused than himself! "OY! WHO ARE YOU?! YO-"
BOOOOOOOM!The tunnel exploded in flames, as the last guards of the line were rudely thrown into the main auction room by a giant ball of fire [1] that just added to the chaos. With about half of the guards in flames, the first ones on the line looked suddenly shaken. There was a giant monstrosity before them trying to grab the casket, and whatever it was that just burped a giant ball of fire back there. They certainly weren't being paid enough for this... [1]Massive Fireball
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Post by Mubashir on Mar 25, 2023 21:31:34 GMT -5
The explosion was one of many signs that it was indeed, time to go. Another heart beat sent black blood coursing through his body, the muscles in his legs fueled and ready to go. Duke on the other hand, was having a bit of trouble. Two guards with halberds harrassed the massive man as the last with a sword warily pointed it at Mubashir. Where had Tair gone? He hoped she were ok, there was another bird flying around so maybe she had gotten married. Regardless, he raised his arms to the guard like the vampires of yore, and cast a most twisted magic. Fog began billowing out from under him, encompassing the still burning room(Bog Fog). Any of the denizens remaining who had not been scared away by the fire or concussed by the explosion now cowered in the mist. This was his chance to escape, A piercing whistle penetrated the fog as he made his move. Duke would know what to do. Dashing forth, he aimed for the still smoking hallway the presumably led out, out to freedom. Not a moment later, he ran into a broken, smoldering, wooden pole. It penetrated his chest quite deeply, due to his monstrous speed. Looking down, he knew the worst had happened. Directly to the left ventricle of his heart, no worse fate for a vampire. His hands began to crumble to ash as he let out one final gasp. “Farewell, Tair. I love you more than any of my thralls” “Awww…” Duke moaned, idly swatting a coffin in the mist at two guards. And then he was gone.
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Post by Lady Kamille Verlithax on Mar 26, 2023 4:49:57 GMT -5
Before turning back into Tair - she was kinda liking that! - Kamille got out both of her rooks and threw them on the ground, so that Sir Prize and Miss Fortune could help Mubashir and his Duke to quickly lead the casket out of the auction. With a quick set of orders, the two now 6ft tall stone gargoyles barreled down the corridor and into the main auction room, quickly helping the Duke with the casket and waving away the guards that were harrassing him as if they were flies. The ones they didn't stomp, at least.
The fog was very confusing, and the gargoyles almost ran over the casket, barely able to stop in time. Tair flew out and around the room, trying to find Mubashir to lead them all out of this wretched place.
"CAWWWWWW! Mubashiiiiiiiiiiir! MUBASHIT!"
It didn't take long for her to spot him, and she flew over just in time to see him being pierced by the wooden pole! She was ready to step down and try to help him but... WAIT A MINUTE! WHY WAS HE DYING!? SHE JUST MET HIM! HE COULDN'T DIE JUST LIKE THAT!
Wait, was Mubashir a vampire?! That came as a surprise too... Their alliance was short lived, but for a night she was his familiar, right?
Tair landed on his shoulder to give him a final peck at his ear, as her farewell.
"CAW! Love you too, Mubashir!"
And then he was gone.
This night was much weirder than she expected.............
And she was eager for it to end. With the two gargoyles in toe, Tair guided them - and the Great Magus Tandriel in his fancy casket - out of the auction in this weird procession worthy of the great legend that he was in life.
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