Mustering up all the courage that she could have Tana tugged on The green skinned man, "I-If i-it m-makes.. a-any d-d-dif-f-ference at all.. I-I d-don't even..k-know..w-who m-my p-parents..are.."
Nexus spent the day working on things that they would need to pull this shirade off. Snider went off to work off his guy on the indisde, and since he was out of her hair, she could work with the person she wanted to..
She got outfits for the sexy Wizard. He was the only other Elvin fellow there , so he would have to do for her brother although in her head.. she could not think of him as such. THere was just something about a wizard that got her juices flowing. she smiled at the pun.
It took a few day but she managed to convince everyone that a sublte way was the best way to go about things. The HUmans could be dressed in cloaks and considered servants.
When Snider came back with the invitation then They decided to put their plan into action. Arriving or rather appearing to arrive at the capitol's gate's The Baron Evenwood and his sister and thier entourage, made their way towartds the castle.
When makeing it to the castle's gate the gurads there called the entourage to a halt, "HO there .. what business have you at the castle. "
A beautifully dressed elvin woman a top a horse, looked down as though the guard were a some spec of dirt she didnt wish to see. "Auroloc , dear brother would you show these, people our invitation, apparently they are unawayre of the guests that will soon be arriving, "
A the guard coughed and said, "I'm sorry my lady it is out of great precaution that we ask for these invitations, if not then how oculd we protect our soverign.?" After looking at the invitation, and handing it back tot eh Baron on the other white stead, they were ushered in.
A visor arrived shortly to take them to their rooms in the castle, and then said, "dinner will be at approximately nine, the King will be most honored should you come, I will have your servants set up in the servants quarters, their is a connecting door, betweent he Lady adn Baron's room. If you would like that locvked we can have it arranged.
Nexus smiled, and then replied, " I believe its simply a matter of courtously which as sibling I assure we we can do without a problem.. Now if you would be so kind as to leave we can rest our journey here was a long one.. "
The Visor shut the door and showed the baron to the next room. Happily waitnig a few moments she changed into a more relaxing outfit, and knocked on the connecting door.
Micaelae sighed."I guess you wouldn't know what i could do.Ah well I guess i must show you.Feel free to work any disenchatnmetns or counter illusions you wish."He said to the assembled personage and had Lucia stand forward.
He concentrated and spun hsi hands over her getnly,murmuring softly to himself.Her form started to shift,ignoring all sorts of counters or dispells,despite the other two illusionists(Cecilia and Ambrasia)could do.
In a few moments her form had shifted to that of a beautiful,if nondescript elven woman.
"That solves our problem of getting most of us in"he murmered as he waved a hand,a soft blur in his own illusions showing rot for a moment.
"And i did not mean assaulting the castle in force.I meant once inside,my illusions and whatever allies i Cannot create such powerful illusions on will attack,the diversion allowing us to slip away with only minor detection.DOn't worry,my illusions will seem real enough,and be solid enough,not all illusions are harmless."
At the display of such powerful magic, the ogre politely clapped his hands at such a complicated display. He wondered why this was performed for him only though, surely others would love to see this.
They had already gone inside the castle. All of the others, apart from the wizard and Nexus, his 'sister,' were servants of one form or another. Only Tork had stayed behind, unable to go inside. There would be other times for his feats though.
Outside, the ogre gave a grunt to the four left behind, and began to eat some chicken, followed by some grog. Best to catch up on other endeavors while the tricksters occupied themselves.
Inside the castle, Goven had spent quite a bit of time wandering around, gathering up information. The elves, although not exactly natural gossipers, were widely renowned for their abundance of knowledge. And, from time to time, these two groups of information crossed paths, so through various means, Goven began to learn a great deal of the people and its land.
"Yes, yes..."
It wasn't until he had gathered some supplies of his own that he finally made it to his room. He stood there, over the stick he had been preparing, watching it as if it were a sleeping baby.
"Soon," He purred, as he opened a small bag, containing what looked like gold dust, "Soon."
He sprinkled it over, and the fine golden powder seeped every so gently into the wood.
He heard the knock, and asked them to come in.
"Ah, my dear Nexus," He said, folding the bag up, and letting the staff soak in its magics for awhile longer.
"How does my 'sister' fare in these lands, good I take it?"
He welcomed her, warmly, almost resenting that they had to keep up this facade of brother and sister. He very much wanted to do things to this ideal picture of an elf that were very unsibling-like.
"I have been having some fun of my own in this kingdom. It seems our uninvited guests will be arriving soon. On a ship, it seems some of them have friends in very high places."
This did displease him. He would have rather have one single day alone, and this trinket would be in his own posession. The elven king might need to be reminded of his power in a subtle way, or perhaps even a nice bought of drinking potion.
So many ideas, but each of them took time to perform. Time... that now they apparenlty did not have.
"Well, we have tonight then, and the banquet. Do you have a plan yet... you know, I would follow you anywhere."
he gave her a heartening smile.
Micaelae mastered his patience.It would take long for his...unsavory companions to trust him it seemed.He sighed and fixed his illusion,intructing the ogre,AMbrasia,and the two sisters caredully before dissapearing in a swirl of his cloak,coming upon teh castle slowly,calling out cheerfulyl to passerbys,every inch the good elf.
This was too easy,he thought to himself as a shiver went through him,the tingling of aincent magic that pulsed out from the castle threatening to ruin his illusion,He reinforced it angrily,and it held wihtout his direct control.He would have to strengthen it yet again later,once he was inside the castle,but he could easily hold the illusion up for the night,of that he was sure.
Yrismir looked at the girl, and stared at her for a long moment. "It's okay. Neither did I. It's easier if you realize who you are for yourself and live life to the fullest."
He grunted, and pulled out the scroll. He looked it over, and then gave the girl a small smile before leaving the room. He began casting the spell, heading abovedeck as he did so.
As soon as Yrismir Finished casting hte spell Tenora's voice sounded in his ears before he saw her floating there in front of him, "So what has my son been wanting that he has summoned me while he is wstill walking?? Hmm??"
My whip flew around me, the heat and cracking oddly comforting to me. All of this- being chosen by the Gods as a good savior was rather strange, even for my listing of past jobs.
Least it wasn't as slimy as transporting and guarding that royal merschman had been. I shuddered a bit at the memory, my whip flaring all the higher for it.
I watched Yris come on deck out of the corner of my eye and a smile touched my lips.
I willed my whip to go out and walked over to him, coiling it in my fingers. Heat still swirled around me, as it always did after I used my whip. Was great in the winter.
Tenora looked down at her son and smiled.. "you have the ...seven?? and a ...girl ?? hmm?? Well did you find the rest of the pieces then .. oh wait.. that's right you must still have no idea what use the girl is to you now hmm??? Trust me we didnt either.. it was all so confusing when we did it as well.. at least you have me to help you out... well.. hmm where are you headed?" Tenora asked as she looked down to see a girl with vibrant lavernder hair... a familiar looking lavender hair.. the illusion of Tenora smiled and saw the warmth that came from the girl.. she didnt say anything.. but she was happy to see that her nudging had brought her along and she followed her curiousity.
Tenora looked at Cali smiled and said, "Hello my dear I'm glad to see that you have grown up so well."
Tenora then looked at Yrismir still waiting on him to tell her where they were going she knew of course but it was not her place to to tell them exactly what to do just give them very annoying hints and nudge them in the right direction like her mentor before her had done.
She knew that this was goingot make them extremely mad at her like she was at her mentor, but it could not be helped, they would thank her in the end just as Tenora had thanked hers.
If not for him, they would not have made it in the end.
Nexus looked up and down at Goven, his long winded comment just made her smile, Really there wasnt anything she couldnt get a man to do.
She walked up to him and hugged him really tight, and then spoke Loudly so as to anyone hearing her would hear it, " i am so glad you brought me here brother I hope that our ourting will become more frequent now that we are here at the capitol, what do you think the King is like?"
as she Stepped away from him and continued her conversation she began to tug on her buttons of her nightgown and said, " i do not think I will be able to amek it for dinner this evening I am too tired to do anything as such, so I will just ahave a servant bring me soemthing up stairs if that is all right with you dear brother?"
THen she winked at him and stepped through the door and turned her head over one shoulder as the nightgown slipped over it leaving it bare,and then tilted her head in a silent invitation for the evening.
"perhaps you will come see how I fare before retireing this eve?"
Snider snooped around the castle and made his connections once more, he knew once the ball was going to be sent into motion it wouldnt matter when he entered into the castle the guards would be too busy dealing with drunken elves falling all over tehmselves. If there was one thing that elves were partial for it was a great party. Something from their blood lines being similair to fae.
Snider just made sure he had a room near the castle. As he eyes the wench serivng him diner and iviting him for perhaps the evening he slid a few coind and a room number. at least he would be satisfied when he woke up the next morning, He wouldnt have a need so bad for that other wench that was roaming around his head.
Yrismir looked over at Cali, and motioned towards the illusion dramatically. "May I present her Highness, the Wise One, Ruler of the Nuetral Zone, Preserver of the Peace, and Protector of her People. At least, an illusion of her. Or a ghost. Not sure at the moment."
He faced Tenora head-on. "We're going to,...the Elf Kingdom." He sighed. "I don't suppose that would be a bad place to go, would it Mother?" Knowing his luck, she'd probably say they were going exactly to the right spot.
Tenora smiled at her son, " I do believe that is exactly where you should be heading, Cali .. is that what you are calling your self these days, well I am glad to know your at least with my son.. he needs to have someone keep him in check,.. at one time he tried to keep ME in check.." The illusion of the woman covered her mouth and giggled, " Can you believe it? his own mother.. although at the time he had no idea I was his mother... but never you mind, havent you figured out that you've summoned the spirit of me.. I am not a ghost because I am not dead.. I jsut left this world..hense the reason why you recieved a summoning spell, no matter what place I am in, you can call me from there , and I can come. Give Tildiir my best and then she winked at Cali. Im sure you will have much to talk about.." She turned towards her son and then asked, "is There anything else you wished to learn today?"
Yrismir rolled his eyes ather comment that he hadn't known it was here. Early on he'd gotten used to her ability to change how she looked, and he always knew. But it was easier to let her have her little beliefs than to argue about things.
"Yeah, you mind telling me what we should do when we get there? Or should we just fumble along, hope we run into the evil side, and just try not to get the crap beat out of us as we try to run off with whatever they have,...again?"
The image of Tenora put her hands on her hips and then lectured Yrismir on his behavior, "I'll have you know you dont talk to your mother that way, and if you really want to know you'll be asking Tildiir for the item, its his families heirloom. Hopefully the evil side wont be there and if they are just ignore them there are more important things then to try and tangle with them, your concern is to appear as though you are just visiting and then talk to Tildiir about the heirloom in private when you know talking to him about it will be safe."
Goven had never dealt with the art of subletly, not as well as the elves, and certainly not as well as women. He imagined they took secret lessons in the forest, practicing even the smallest guestures until they confused and frustrated the hell out of every man who ever had a crush.
This wasn't one of those times however, and Goven's fine embroidered clothing shed off his skin like old leaves falling from the tree.
"I must make sure you are well, my sister. I believe I shall stay by your side... make sure you do not get worse."
There might have been warning signs coming up in his head, something to at least stop him and think a moment. He knew nothing of this woman but her beauty, and of course she was the epitamy of evil, if she were on this course with him.
"We're all damned anyway," He sealed his fate, closing the door behind him, looking at her in such simple and awe inspiring beauty.
"What a way to be damned... my pet," He rushed over to her, taking her in his hands, and kissing her deeply, the feel of her skin like warm fire against his.
The two sisters strained for a few moments,then with a snap in the air around them reality changed and they looked like two ordinary,though one of them a bit more voloptuos elven women.
Cecilia turned and smiled at the plainer looking guise of her sister."so normal looking,you think you wont be recognized?its better to hide in pure sight"Lucia only rolled her eyes with a sigh and headed towards the castle,followed a few minutes later by her sister.
"you know Lord Micaelae saved us,we are in his debt sister,and i for one will try to get this artifact or whatever he wants."Lucia snapped at her sister,their images fading to become shadows as they flitted past lazy,party eager guards,regaining their elven disguises once in the hallways.the illusions would do to keep them from being found out so easily.
"I still think he is just a tired fool,who liked us because of our bodies,and the only resaon he hasnt raped us is because he's found out we have Some power"Cecilia shot abck,then stopped stunned as a loud Smack filled the air,Lucia's hand stinging as she slapped her sister.
"Don't you Dare speak ill of our Lord Cecilia,or promise you I will be...unpleasant"She practically shook in anger before turning,stalking down the hallways again.A few moments later Cecilia meekly and quietly followed.
I was starting to see why Yris was a triffle vexed with this... woman.
I spoke up. "Your Ladyship, "I said for lack of a better title, "Isn't Yris wanted for killing someone in the elvin kingdom? How's he going to get a private audience with the king if they're trying to kill him? Just curious."
Tenora simply laughed at her. "My dear child .. you do realize that the woman was not well liked and besides saving royalty superseeds any murder in self defense..."
"Oh, that makes sense then. I wasn't fully aware of the situation." I bowed respectfully. "Thank you, your Ladyship. If the two of you will excuse me, I'm going to clean up a bit."
I took my leave and was happy for it. For some reason, talking ghosty-representations of people were just not on my list of "Need to see today" things. Rather eerie she was.
Intriguing though, I had to admit as I cleaned up and changed into an outfit provided by the wardrobe in the room. Nifty box- produced whatever the asker wanted in the right size and everything. Mental note- ask Ramus how he got this and if there are any more out there.
A few hours later Nexus rolled on top of her Lover Goven and asked him, "I hope there's more , I do enjoy getting seconds. " she smiled and trailed a small delicate finger down his chest, and then She let herself discover the man all over again.
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Snider smiled as he looked at teh broken woman on his bed. He so loved to enjoy using them. Smilng he went to sleep next to the tied up scared woman.