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Post by Tatalia on Jan 6, 2024 2:40:04 GMT -5
If Tatalia was honest with herself, she wasn't really sure what to expect from the upcoming heist.
It wasn't the heist that had Tatalia worried, to be clear. She was incredibly confident about the heist. It was very much her wheelhouse, her specialty, her area of expertise to steal things the rich and powerful thought was valuable. Heck, she'd been doing that sort of thing since she was seven! Maybe a little earlier, even, depending on whether you counted silverware and toys. If a wealthy snob had something they didn't deserve, or if some prejudiced noble needed to be taught a lesson in humility, Tatalia was the woman to dispense some poetic justice.
So, no. Tatalia wasn't worried about the heist. She'd planned out the heist from beginning to end, had studied the structure as thoroughly as she could and had even listened in on the conversations of the staff from afar1 to make sure she was up to date on the goings on at the estate, to know who else would be attending the party, and to get an idea of just where their target was. And Tatalia had resupplied specifically for the job, too! A few new potions, a couple cantrips she mostly understood how to cast from an old spellbook, and replacement equipment for her kit. She'd even taken the time to attach her goggles to a protective mask! No, every precaution had been taken. She was prepared for anything!
Well... No. She was prepared for anything except her partner in crime.
Astrid was supposed to meet Tatalia at the park just across the street from the manse. She'd been tasked with getting disguises arranged for the pair, and Tatalia had no doubt she was up to the task. But she wasn't worried about that. No, she had seen Astrid in action; she trusted that if things went south the half-dwarf would be able to crush literally anyone that got uppity. What Tatalia was worried about was just... just the social dynamics between herself and the child!
Astrid had used a word before. It still haunted Tatalia to think about it...
Auntie. Auntie. Auntie. Auntie.
The goblin shivered at the memory. She didn't like being called "Auntie." Not only did it make her sound old, but it was a terrible colloquialism! She wished she had said she preferred "Aunt," but that would've been dishonest, too! Because the truth was that they weren't really family! And Tatalia certainly didn't like the settled down, fuddy-duddy vibes that "Auntie" gave. Stars, she did not! It was bad enough that becoming the owner of a school had led to children calling her "Missus" or "ma'am." She wasn't either of those, either! It sounded so... so... pedestrian!
Nevertheless, Tatalia had certain duties as a best friend, and sometimes that meant showing a prospective young ne'er-do-well the criminal ropes. That, or... maybe it was just a really obtuse way to get someone to babysit.
Tatalia huffed. She sat down on the edge of the fountain and waited. It wasn't really babysitting since the child clearly knew enough about violence to make a pirate blush. She spoke a rather lot like a pirate, too. Or... at the least, her accent was about as incomprehensible to Tatalia as it could be. Maybe it was just another language? Tatalia decided to cast a Fluency spell on herself just in case, speaking the words of the cantrip she had memorized back during childhood. The familiar sense of magic trickling from her mouth up to her mind and ears made her shiver a second time that night. It was a useful spell. It was too bad she knew so few.
Tatalia glanced up at the star-filled sky, heaving out a sigh that left a cloud of heat in front of her. It was a chilly night. She hoped that whatever disguises Astrid had cooked up had some proper insulation.
1. Earring of Secrets
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Post by Lady Astrid Stormstone on Jan 7, 2024 21:51:40 GMT -5
As made apparent to her by the recent jailbreak in Thorock, Astrid is not very good at heists. She’s much more of a smash-and-grab type of criminal, but even “criminal” sounds a bit too harsh for her. The only times she’s broken into places were either people who wouldn’t notice all their silverware missing, trying to rescue a do-gooder from prison, or that time she broke into Morrigan’s wagon to menace them in their dreams – which, for the record, she does not regret.
Regardless, Astrid is not worried about the heist. In this case, some creatures poached from their homes need to be returned home, and while she is technically a monster hunter by trade and association with the WEF, she abhors poachers for profit. On top of that, supposedly the cute little guys are being held in gross Sol City warehouses? That’s like… the worst place to be in all of Charon, and Astrid’s been to a lot of places in Charon.
With what little investigative skills Astrid possesses, she learns that the Skittermaus are being auctioned off to people with too much money to spend, and that will simply not do. Why do rich people have to ruin things? She finds herself more and more incredulous at the things people will do with their money, and while she has come into nobility somehow through her deeds, Astrid cannot fathom doing such things with her coin. Really, they could be building shelters for the homeless or taking in people less fortunate.
So, no, she doesn’t feel bad about stealing from them.
However, Astrid hasn’t a clue why Tatalia decided that Astrid needs to be the one setting up their disguises. Astrid’s idea of disguises have been the following: wearing owl pajamas, disguising herself as a fellblood lawyer, and turning into a draconynh with a potion. Granted, they mostly worked, but if they’re going to be dealing with rich folks, then there’s a better way to enter: be herself.
See, it turns out that nobles often have special signet rings to indicate their status – something Astrid did not know about because she forgot to check the post for many, many weeks, and the darn package just got lost under all of her other things in her workshop. So when she found it, Cantio had to explain what it is, and when Tatalia mentioned this mission, Astrid thought that maybe they could use it. They’re totally going to use it.
A chilly night in Sol City doesn’t affect Astrid much. As much time as she spent on the streets in Sky Peak, a place that tends to stay on the cooler side of the weather, being fully clothed at all is simply just comfortable. The most surprising thing about young miss Stormstone on this evening is her garb: a beautifully crafted blue dress with soft yellow and brilliant red accents. The quality of the stitching would make any noblewoman’s seamstress blush. Each sleeve billows out from the shoulder to the elbows before the fabric fits snug to the forearm. Her high collar is buttoned perfectly, and the little gremlin half-dwarf, whose hair is usually kept in two bushy pigtails, is fastened into a neat crown braid.
Cantio clearly had a hand in her appearance.
With a bag slung across her shoulder, Astrid approaches Tatalia sitting on the fountain. Her steps are not nearly as loud and clunky as their first encounter in the forest because this time Astrid walks without the heavy boots of her armor. Instead, her armor is tucked neatly inside of her storage pendant. Something about her dress suggests that it’s designed in a way that she could wear her armor at the same time and remain unimpeded.
“Hiya, Tatalia!” Astrid says chipperly. Her journey to Sol City was certainly a short one with the use of her Elsewhere Juice. “Hope ya weren’t waitin’ too long. Da had ta make sure me hair was perfect.”
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Post by Tatalia on Jan 8, 2024 5:40:41 GMT -5
Tatalia was more than a little surprised when she saw Astrid arrive in an absolutely luxurious garb. The little kid apparently had tons of money to spare. Just seeing how she was dressed gave her a terrible flashback to her days of having to clean the room of Baron Armelane's "sweet little princess." The wicked little fiend had dresses, dresses, and more dresses, each fancier than the last, and Tatalia had dared to try one on once. She still remembered how nice the dress felt to wear... and also how furious that blackheart in princess' clothing had been. The poor goblin still could remember the tornado of shoes that had been thrown her way...
Suffice it to say that seeing Astrid in similar clothes brought about a soupy mixture of thoughts whose ingredients included jealousy, trauma, and constant reminders that Astrid was her best friend's daughter and that the sound of her dress was not the frilly froufrou that sounded the approach of her childhood nemesis.
"Ohhh! Yes, I see he did an excellent job!" Tatalia cried with an oh-so-sincere smile,1 definitely not holding back a pained expression at all. It really was an excellent job, though. "Why, look at the stitchwork! That is exquisite. I believe that Lady Jonastein, esteemed author of the Fullness of Fabrics, would say it is reminiscent of the popular modern Sol City technique with a blend of some sturdier and more reliable aspects from the Frost Gale dwarves, particularly around the joints..."
Okay, so Tatalia, the dauntless dungeon delver, was a bit of a clothes nerd. So what? She had good reasons to know! She could blame her education, dangit! She had an excuse!
"It would be a shame to see it get damaged should any sort of combat break out," Tatalia mused, raising an eyebrow at Astrid. "Please try not to tear it! That dress is probably worth more than some people's homes.
"But I wasn't waiting too long. We still have plenty of time to rescue those little critters from the grasp of noble tyranny!" declared Tatalia with a broad grin, rubbing her hands together. "So! You're dressed up as a noble - a wonderful disguise, by the way! Ah, what did you get for my disguise?"
Truthfully, the reason Tatalia had asked Astrid to get the disguises was that she just didn't have much money at the moment, what with having been stuck in a forest for over a year. She hadn't been willing to admit it, though, she'd told Astrid it was a "test of your creative abilities." It was bullocks, but so was the amount of wealth Cantio had apparently stumbled into. Tatalia couldn't help but be a little bit of a cheapskate in light of such finances. She needed her own funds to build a school and pay for her archaeological expeditions, after all!
"If you didn't bring one, I can get one myself," the goblin added off-handedly, glancing toward the large manor where the nobles would be bidding on abudcted Skittermauses. "Though the less people we have to knock unconscious, the better. The best heist is the one where nobody ever knows you're there until long after your target is gone. I could easily get an outfit off some halfling or gnome, but each risk we take increases our chances of being discovered.
"Anyway! How well do you remember the plan?" Tatalia asked, popping her back with a long stretch and then glancing back over toward Astrid. "Repeat it back to me if you don't mind! I want to make sure we're both clear on all the details."
1. Smooth Talking
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Post by Lady Astrid Stormstone on Jan 9, 2024 18:51:32 GMT -5
While Tatalia fawns over the handiwork and craft of the dress, Astrid smiles proudly. Cantio made her this dress, and it’s really one of her favorite nice pieces of clothing to wear. (To be fair, anything Cantio makes for her is one of her favorites of whatever that is.) “I can see why ya an’ da are friends,” Astrid says. “He’s real good at makin’ clothes. I try ta bring him books when I find ‘em, but I don’t know the first thin’ about this kinda stitch work. Well, I know a bit, but more workin’ with leathers, which ain’t the same. Metal’s more what I prefer.” She’s a smith. It’s hard to snap metal, but delicate threads? That’s another story.
“Don’t worry about it, it’s sturdy,” she reassures the concerned goblin. “It’s made fer fightin’ in, an’ I’ve already fought someone in it. Fits perfectly with me armor! Look!” Touching her wolf head pendant strung around her neck, her full mismatched armor fit appears on her person.[1] True to her word, nothing interferes with the way the armor sits on her person. In fact, it looks quite comfortable, all things considered. Touching the pendant again, the armor vanishes into thin air.
’Dressed as a noble?’ Oh, Tatalia must not know. That makes sense. “Well, aye, this is me dress fer wearin’ ta court. I ain’t just dressed the part, I am the part! While I was thinkin’ through the plan, I figured that I’m a bit too clunky ta be good at sneakin’ in without bein’ noticed. Sure, I got lots a’ ways, but they’re a bit flashy. So, I had a thought: why don’t we go in like we do belong? Then I can just have a Replicant stick around at the auction while the two of us break the critters out! Our hands are clean!” Of course, she considered that Tatalia might not have access to the same kind of magic, but there isn’t anything Astrid can really do about that with her current equipment loadout, so she figures they’ll just work things out.
“Anyway, I got some options fer disguises, but I think the best one is where the both of us look like we fit in.” Reaching into her bag, Astrid pulls out a similarly made dress in colors that Cantio thought would accent Tatalia and her personality well, while also accounting for the type of work that Tatalia likes to do – things Astrid doesn’t know a lot about exactly, but the kid’s persistence that form and function can mesh together nicely helped make sure that Cantio didn’t go buck wild with all the intricacies. It’s why the bard’s “hippo boots” are significantly less clunky than their first iteration.
“Courtesy a’ da, an’ a welcome back gift just fer ya!”
1. Armor storing pendant
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Post by Tatalia on Jan 10, 2024 9:57:46 GMT -5
“Courtesy a’ da, an’ a welcome back gift just fer ya!”
Astrid said those words with sincerity and cheer, and Tatalia fell silent in their wake. Carefully, she reached out and held the dress aloft. With slow and measured movements, the goblin turned it over in her hands, brushed her fingers across the fabric, and tested the seams with little tugs. It seemed she was giving it a thorough once over, making sure everything was in order. But in truth, Tatalia was just... floored.
Truthfully, Tatalia had never owned a dress. Or, at least, she'd never owned a nice dress. She'd worn dresses, of course, but they were never hers, and they were never anything befitting some noble's gala. And once she became an adventurer, well... She needed clothes that were for adventuring, and dresses generally didn't fit that category very well!
But there it was: a dress. And it wasn't just any dress, but her dress. Cantio had made it for her, and Astrid had presumably bullied him into it. And it was...
"Thoughtful," said the goblin aloud.
Tatalia cast a true smile of her own, sharp teeth shining, and finally looked up from the fabric towards the child that actually dwarfed her in size. The thief bowed.
"This was quite thoughtful of you," the goblin repeated as she rose back to her full and unimpressive height. "Truly. And it will make a good disguise at that! I'll go and prepare myself. Excuse me!"
And with that, the goblin disappeared off into the darkness, her brain quietly moving Astrid from the "vaguely reminiscent of a childhood arch nemesis" bin and into the "precious little lamb that must be protected" box.
Tentatively. She was tentatively in that box. Tatalia still had a feeling that if the heist went sideways she'd be forced to blame Astrid. She'd seen how the girl dealt with her problems.
Nevertheless, the goblin reemerged from whatever dark crevice she'd decided to slink into to change. She returned clad in a truly immaculate combination of form and function: a sleeveless collared dress made of dyed purple leather with bronze buttons rolling up the middle. Underneath she wore a fancifully designed white shirt, its sleeves puffy with ruffled cuffs and bronze bangles worn over one sleeve. (They were meant to be worn on both sleeves, but Tatalia had decided against that for some reason.) Her legs had room to move and breathe; her waist was bound with a striped sash woven with beads; and the goblin had plenty of places to conceal dangerous things like her dagger, her potions, her lockpicks, and her pouches of explosive nonsense. Oh, and Tatalia had an earring - singular earring, yes - but that hadn't been part of the outfit Astrid had delivered...
The outfit wasn't exactly typical noblewoman fare, to be fair. The outfit was, however, very reminiscent of a swashbuckler's finery.
"Well! I'd say we're about as prepared as we can be," Tatalia decided cheerily. "What do you say we make our way up to the estate? You take the lead! And if anyone asks, I'm your, lady-in-waiting! That should prevent any uncomfortable questions like 'who on Charon let a goblin be a noble?'
"Oh! And, ah... I think we'll both be able to leave someone behind to pretend to be us later," the goblin added with a wry grin. "They'll never know we were gone!"
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Post by Lady Astrid Stormstone on Jan 10, 2024 20:32:43 GMT -5
The moment Tatalia skitters away out of sight, Astrid digs into her bag, shuffling the alternative plan outfits and fabrics – servant garb and street urchin clothes for the both of them if they need it – until she finally uncovers the small stone with a face carved into it that she uses to call Cantio long-distance.[1] Before she arrived to the meeting spot with their werespider-goblin friend, she’d said a quick goodbye then stashed the magical rock.
"Da? Da, ya there?” she calls in an excited but hushed whisper. “She liked it! I'd say she loved it, but I think she was tryna hold in it a bit. Called it 'exquisite an' ‘thoughtful!’ Told ya it'd be perfect!"
“No idea!” Astrid replies with cheery ignorance. “I’ll definitely–”
Hearing Tatalia’s short-gaited footsteps approaching, Astrid turns back to the stone and says, “Ope, she’s comin’ back now. I’ll tell ya how it looks later! Which, ya know how it looks. It’s incredible! We’ll be safe! Love ya, bye!” Then she shoves the fist-sized stone back into her bag and covers it up by instead searching for the signet ring that sat lonely in a box under unsorted mail for months. It’s a fine piece of jewelry, the center embossed with a lightning bolt striking a hammer on an anvil, but not particularly Astrid’s style given her lifestyle. She considers that maybe she’ll rework it into something else she can wear without losing.
Slipping this onto her finger, she looks Tatalia up and down and jokingly whistles at her. “That looks great on ya! Hope it’s comfy. Let me know if it needs any fixin’ an’ I’ll get da ta help out with that.” She considers that they will probably make a getaway through a door to her house using her special key if it comes down to it. Actually, this has always been something Astrid has thought about for this mission, and she gave Cantio a warning that a bunch of little Marsh Flats creatures might call their living room home for a couple of days. Spicy Pawsage can keep them rounded up.
“Lady in waitin’, huh?” Astrid repeats to make sure she doesn’t forget. “Alright, if that’s what suits ya, it suits me. An’ if they don’t want a goblin bein’ a noble, then maybe they should eat rocks. Plenty a’ folks don’t like that I’m a noble, so stickin’ it to ‘em makes it fun.”
When Tatalia mentions also being able to leave someone behind, Astrid’s smile turns into a bright but somewhat devious grin. “Oh, I think this is gonna be a lot a’ fun.”
It’s some fair distance to the location of the local gala-auction event, and it’s a bit surprisingly easy to find given the mass of out-of-place carriages parked along the nearby streets. Nobles are really not very subtle, but why should they be when they help make the rules? For a moment Astrid wonders if they’re going in here completely by the wrong method and decides that it doesn’t really matter. The important thing here is confidence. That’s what’s going to make them fit in.
Approaching the door, which is flanked by a pair of very burly mercenary men, Astrid announces their purpose in the most pompous voice that she can, which falls extremely flat given her accent and lack of training in mannerisms. “Excuse me, good fellows, but my lady-in-waitin’ here and I are here for the–” She presses her hand to her chest like a properly scandalized noble woman, making her ring obvious to them (or at least she hopes it does). “–well, you know what we’re here for.”
1. Talking heads
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Post by Tatalia on Jan 11, 2024 5:22:40 GMT -5
The faux noble accent didn't wholly persuade the guards. Noble though Astrid was, she possessed neither noble mien nor demeanor.
"Have you any actual proof of your title, little miss?" replied one of the guardsmen, the feather on his cap gleaming in the torchlight as he leaned forward to inspect Astrid's signet ring. "How do I know you didn't just steal this from a real noble, young lady?"
"How...! How DARE YOU?!"
Those words carried across the grounds before the manner, even echoing inside the estate as Tatalia stared in furious shock at the guardsmen towering over her. She stamped her heeled foot upon the ground, crossed her arms over her chest, turned so that her right side faced him, and raised her eyebrow so fiercely that the sky seemed to shudder at the act. She might not have had a single ounce of noble blood in her, but nobody that saw her imperious posture would dared have said as much to her face at that moment.1
"Do you have any idea who you just insulted?!" Tatalia demanded, her earring swaying as she gestured sharply toward Astrid. "My lady is one of the most esteemed women of the realm, and you have the audacity - you have the childish gall! - to insult her and her family by daring, DARING to even dream of denying her entry!?"
"I err-" The guardsman stammered, clearly a bit taken aback by the fact that someone so small - let alone a goblin of all things - was giving him a very public dressing down.
"Who is your captain? Who hired you?! I will speak with them at once!"
"That's really n-not necessary, miss-"
"Not necessary? Not necessary?! I'll have you hanging from the gallows for this, you boorish boar! Someone, seize this brute of a man!"
Tatalia was about to pontificate further, but as she was making such a scene, the other guard quickly opened the door to let the pair through.
The goblin let out a few more indignant demands for bloodshed and imprisonment, but was ushered gently into the gala along with her young charge. As soon as they were out of eyesight of the guards, Tatalia flashed the world's most crooked, shit eating grin over at Astrid, breaking character long enough to revel in her accomplishment.
"Method acting is truly remarkable, wouldn't you say, dear Astrid?" the goblin asked the child, her yellow eyes glowing with mischief. "I daresay I'm a natural at it. You were right, though. This is going to be an incredible amount of fun!"
Of course, Tatalia wouldn't have been able to act the part so well if she wasn't intimately familiar with noble chicanery. All she really did was mimic Amelia Armalane's shrill and demanding voice.
The interior of the manor was an absolutely beautiful scene. Nobles dressed in the finest fineries waxed poetically of wine, traded tawdry talk with each other, and stared at the artwork hanging from the white walls of the hall speaking witless wisdom. It seemed everyone had an opinion about everything, but always in an ever-so-polite and haughty manner, and Tatalia was getting awful chills just staring at the scene. It reminded her too much of the Baron's parties, only he liked to mix things up by leading brazen hunts across the plains. Then again, Tatalia wasn't sure having a small army of courtiers and hunting hounds dispatch your prey still counted as a hunt. She reasoned it was just a childish bloodsport at that point.
The grand hall was well appointed, that much was clear. The floors were tiled in checkered shades of gold and black, and the walls were of the purest white with golden accents. Similarly, gold chandeliers swayed from the ceiling, lit by candles of both black and white, and... goodness, but it seemed those were the only three colors the host seemed to like, wasn't it? Even the tables in a gold hued wood, and the guards that watched over the hall here and there wore uniforms of black and white with golden lions emblazoned on their tunics. It was a truly color coordinated party even if the guests came dressed in just about every shade imaginable.
"So," Tatalia mused quietly, her grin fading into a false smile as she surveyed the landscape, "our target should be up the stairs in the back and down a couple second story halls. They're supposed to bring the critters out some time around midnight. We'll need to find a place to do our magic unnoticed. A washroom, perhaps? A closet...?"
1. Smooth Talking
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Post by Lady Astrid Stormstone on Jan 21, 2024 14:34:26 GMT -5
Astrid is not unused to people questioning her or her position, and while her terrible accent fails, she is not unprepared to flash her signet to get her wherever she needs. But, to her surprise, Tatalia pulls out the most convincing, Karenish voice Astrid has ever heard. She would think Tatalia herself was raised by the snotty people of Sol City if she didn’t know any better.
It takes every ounce of control Astrid has not to laugh at the utter shock of the guards. It’s not often that Astrid is on the other end of this kind of verbal berating. She has something to learn here.
The moment the two of them get inside, Astrid can’t contain her stifled snorts any further and lets it out, broken in twain by Tatalia’s grin. “Aye! That was incredible!” she says through uncontrollable giggles. “I-I would a’ thought ya were part a’ the noble circles if I didn’t know ya at all! Hoo, ya have ta teach me that!”
They have to get themselves together quickly to avoid drawing much more attention to themselves since that’s exactly what they don’t want tonight. Of course, a horned non-fellblood child and her goblin partner at a party of finery and wine don’t exactly blend in. That becomes painfully apparent as Astrid takes in their surroundings, but if there’s one thing she’s had to get used to, it’s making sure people know that she is where she belongs. It would serve them poorly to underestimate her. Maybe, if they play their cards right, they can get some information about who is at this party and deliver it to the proper authorities to see them fined or jailed for their unscrupulous activities.
“We should mingle around fer a bit before slidin’ away,” Astrid says. “It’d be weird ta disappear ta the washroom as soon as we got here. Besides…” Her eyes lock on a long banquet table full of fanciful hors d'oeuvres. “Fancy folks got fancy foods.”
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Post by Tatalia on Jan 22, 2024 1:54:41 GMT -5
"Oh, me? Part of noble circles? Never in my life!" remarked Tatalia with a laugh.1
Quietly, the goblin made a mental note to be more careful with her mannerisms in the future. She'd worked very hard to redefine herself as a bold adventurer, and the rogue didn't want it to become too well known what the sordid truth of her origins were. She especially didn't want to give a literal child ample ammunition to mock her later. No, Tatalia had to be cool. No, Tatalia was cool, very cool in fact! Tatalia was so very cool that she definitely wouldn't get called "auntie" again and be verbally transformed into a hunchbacked crone in a flowery skirt and sun hat.
Focus! Tatalia chided herself as a shiver ran down her spine. Focus on the mission!
"Well, if we're going to mingle, we should make our mingling worth our while," mused Tatalia, reaching for the single earring she wore. The goblin carefully plucked it off her ear when nobody was looking.2
"Put this on," the clever scoundrel urged, passing the bejeweled earring to her comrade in skullduggery in such a manner that even someone actively watching the pair wouldn't have seen the item's transfer.3 "Focus on the conversations between nobles. It will let you glean information that would otherwise have remained hidden, and from considerable distances as well. Focus on trying to pick up any rumors about our target... or anything else that seems particularly salacious. Information has value, after all!
"We can safely mingle for twenty to thirty minutes," the little thief murmured, "but not much longer than that." The goblin glanced away from the child that dwarfed her to survey the room. "Give me a signal when you're ready to meet up. Say that you've become ill or that you're overheating or something. Until then, no breaking character."
With a dramatic wave of a hand in front of her face, the goblin's eagerly conspiratorial expression changed to a truly haughty and imperious one, the sort that would make the most steely nerved warriors flinch at the sight of. With a thin frown set upon her face, the goblin strode across the ballroom to the banquet table nearby and traced her finger along the edge of the table, a look of thinly veiled disdain etched upon her green face as she regarded each individual food item. It took her a terrifyingly long time to finally choose hors d'oeuvres that suited her suddenly delicate palette. She even cast Astrid a couple judgmental looks when she dared to even look at the wrong food items. She made for a truly frightening lady-in-waiting.
And Tatalia's intimidating mien wasn't reserved for Astrid alone. She reached out and grabbed a passing waiter by the arm, making some demand for a very specific type of wine from a very specific year, then also asking if this lord or that lady were in attendance. And she injected herself into a couple of conversations with brief, poignant interjections, seeming to have opinions on all manner of things ranging from the latest fashion trends to political upheaval in the wake of Vulcedreus to the deterioration of traditional values in Charon. It was... stifling to be around her.
But Tatalia was quietly listening. She listened in on different conversations with practiced hearing honed in the wilderness of Charon, and was making a mental dossier of people that she needed to investigate later.4 And it really was quite the dossier...
1. Smooth Talking; 2. Earring of Secrets; 3. Quick Palm; 4. Tracker Extraordinaire
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Post by Lady Astrid Stormstone on Feb 4, 2024 1:19:39 GMT -5
There’s something odd about Tatalia’s laugh and insistence that for a moment makes Astrid wonder if she touched a nerve, but she has no reason to disbelieve the goblin, so she laughs alongside her instead. It’s just the quick denial that makes her wonder, but hey, Tatalia is great at information gathering, and she’s probably had to do something similar to this break in tonight. It’s all working out!
Astrid looks at the earring in her hand, which somehow just… ended up there?? Then Tatalia explains what it’s all about, and so without questioning her, the half-dwarf slots it into her ear in place of her less fanciful, simple silver hoop on her right ear. Admittedly, Astrid’s been thinking about the appetizer table the moment she saw it, so she has to focus specifically on Tatalia’s instructions before nodding in understanding. The question is, how in character does she really need to be? She’s earned her noble title, so she can just be herself as long as she doesn’t draw too much attention. Besides, who’s going to think much of a pre-teen indulging themselves.
No, the bigger problem here is going to be controlling the urge to totally deck someone for being terrible, and this earring is probably going to make her hear awful, terrible things. But this isn’t the time or place. This requires tact, and information gathering is the type of tact. She’ll take the information back to the people who will do something proper with it. This can’t turn into another situation where Astrid ends up in a courtroom talking about the terrible things a mob has done. These are Sol City’s finest, after all.
Guh.
Before scurrying away, Astrid offers her “lady in waiting” a poor excuse for a curtsy then turns on her heel with a devilish smile. To the buffet she goes where she does her best to take her time in serving herself what she thinks are normal sized portions (They are not.) then stands aside snacking on them as primly as she can whilst also keeping an ear out for anything interesting. In all honesty, Astrid did see Tatalia shoot her a look, but she didn’t exactly understand what for. Food is food, and who is she to turn down something new and tasty?
Right, listening out for things. It takes no time at all for Astrid to be distracted by Tatalia’s antics. She is so… over the top. Sure, lots of nobles are stuck up and hard to deal with, but if the point of them being here is the blend in, then why is she going out of her way to make herself more obvious than she already is? In all honesty, Astrid takes a lot of joy in watching her harass the nobility here. They deserve it, and it’ll give those butt-sniffing, ring-kissing jerkwads something to talk about later.
Now, if Astrid recalls correctly, the plan is to excuse herself to the washroom, which… She actually has to go. Looking around, she finds a butler and asks for the washroom and heads in that direction to do her business. Within a few minutes, Astrid is back in her place, waiting for Tatalia to be ready to make a move.
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