Feytower - Stables (Ka'Ri, Thimblewick)

The summons said the 7th of Eleint, but didn't say where to show up for admission. This is problematic, as the Feytower is a sprawling castle construct: half-university, half-home for most of the city's magical population and (in some cases) their families and children as well.

Well, "problematic" for Ka'Ri, anyway, who quickly becomes hopelessly lost after dodging down a side path to avoid being seen by one of her former marks. She wanders for a bit, but each path she takes seems to drive her further from anything resembling a main entrance.

When she hears voices after what feels like an eternity of ducking through hedgerows and outdoor statuary, she veers in their direction in relief. People. But when she sees the stables, she's not quite sure this was a good idea. Mounts of every possible shape and breed gust their nostrils at the scent of her, and something which looks like a lion crossed with an enormous bird gives her a look at though measuring up how yummy her liver would be.

Nearby, a little gnome is arguing with a human several times her size--and seems to be winning by default since the baffled stablehand can't keep up. Ka'Ri can't catch it all, but it's something about Laerdya Siannodel and being late to see her because the geese were being mean and Jarek had to stay with them and then she was hungry along the way so she brought breakfast and no, she didn't bring enough for everyone but she brought enough for a dozen and is that going to be enough or does she need to get more.

Unsure what this could be about but recognizing the name of her contact, Ka'Ri approaches and hopes she looks like she knows what she's doing.

"Um... hello," Ka'Ri begins, trying to catch the attention of the gnome with a small wave unsure of how much to intervene.

Internal Thoughts:

"I'm sorry to bother you, but I'm afraid I'm terribly lost and I was wondering if you could help."

Why did everyone give her such a hard time about Bustifer? Sure, he was larger than most of the creatures in the stables, and yes the phrase "lion bird" is inherently terrifying, but he was a real sweetheart, really! And she was late! How was there still a stable hand here who had never seen a riding chimera? They weren't that rare! Her family couldn't be the only people running around on them! And even if they were, they should be a common enough sight that the stables at the feytower of all places should be used to them! But no, this again. He looks like he might eat the horses. Apparently "No he doesn't like horse flesh" is not as compelling an argument as Thimb had hoped.

She was in the middle of explaining that she was running late when a new voice entered the fray. She glanced between the owner of the new voice to the stable hand, unsure which were being addressed.

"Maybe?" she said, not the most helpful, but Thimb had made enough deliveries to the feytower to know it better than most civilians. Plus the classes she occasionally snuck out to take (not that her parents had minded her taking them, it was just something she had gotten into her head they would disapprove of when she was younger as teens sometimes do).

"Where is it you're trying to go? Maybe one of us can," and if the stable hand was distracted then maybe she could just slip off to go to this meeting she was likely already late to- assuming she didn't need to get more breakfast. She had yet to be given a straight answer on that one.

Ka'Ri sighed in relief. Maybe wasn't no. Perhaps there was still something to be salvaged before her reputation was no longer enough to precede her.

She glances really quick, double checking her mind to make sure the gnome didn't look like someone she had recently lightened of excess gold and once satisfied, affixed a nervous grin to her face.

"I am afraid I am-" Ka'Ri glances up to the sky and winces. How did she let it get this late in the day? Blasted Feytower and its inconveniently similar-looking twisting passageways. This was why she refused all targets in the neighborhood. There was only so much you could do when you were used to navigating by the sky and stars and feel of the air. "I am catastrophically late to a meeting with Laerdya Siannodel so I would greatly appreciate any help finding her."

"Oh!" said Thimb brightening. Hammish, her familiar, who had been sitting patiently and boredly next to her perked up at the enthusiasm in her voice, "Me too! Well," she continued, barely stopping for breath, "I think I am, anyways. I wasn't actually given a time so for all I know I'm early- unless you were given a time?" she cocked her head to the side, her curls bouncing as they did.

"Ah! You already said you were late and here I am chattering on," she turned to the stable hand, "I promise he's a sweetheart, just- keep your hands away from his mouth," she turned back to her new friend with a bright smile, "Right! Shall we? It's this way- I think?" she paused and frowned, "I'm pretty sure it's this way. Anyways! On wards!" she did not wait for a response before setting off with great purpose, pausing, glancing around, and changing direction entirely, but not loosing that sense of certainty. Hammish, currently a sort of griffin, trotted happily behind her purring.

Ka'Ri stared in mute horror for a split second before shrugging her shoulders and matching her pace. A lead was better than no lead and if she was interpreting the overly friendly gnome correctly, it sounded like she had at least more familiarity with the famous elf than her.

At the very least, staying with her meant she wouldn't likely be the last one to arrive entirely which meant whatever anger Laerdya could have would be blunted or at the very least split and she found it very unlikely someone could long have room to stay mad at the energetic gnome beside her.

Ka'Ri watched as she changed directions another time and decided to test the waters that some light conversation wouldn't overly distract her new friend. "So, I'm afraid we haven't had time to introduce yourselves. What might your name be?"

Perception roll for any changes in pathfinding or behavior from Thimb::

Roll for survival?

Thimb after her initial confusion seemed to know where she was going, which was good, because Hamish would have never let her down if she got lost already. "Oh!" she said, "how rude of me. I'm sorry, right, I'm Thimblewick Riptide, but everyone just calls me Thimb, or Thumb if they have a particularly dull sense of humor. Yes I'm short even for a gnome ha," she said dryly with a roll of her eyes. "Oh, and that's Hamish," she said pointing to the bizarre creature that trotted cheerfully behind them, "despite what they claim they are in fact my familiar," she shot him a glance and they ever so innocently turned their head upside down like an owl. She met this with the 'I'm watching you gesture'

"He's mostly harmless, just a bit of a brat," she paused, "lot of a brat," she corrected. "That doesn't sound grammatically correct. Hm. Large brat? That makes more sense, doesn't it?" she realized she was rambling again, "Oh! I didn't catch your name!"

"Ka'Ri Af Osprem, she of the sea," Ka'Ri responds keeping an eye out to make sure no sudden dawning comes across Thimb's face. By her best guess, she seemed to know where she was going, so she let herself relax a little bit and just follow along making sure to keep her eyes peeled for unfortunately familiar faces.

She also watches Hamish as they morphed and trotted behind them. "They're very unique for a familiar. Karl just has a big gull. I like it."

Internal Thoughts::

"Ah, yeah," she laughed and Hamish looked slightly offended, "well you are," she shot back to him gently, "in a good way," she added on to reassure their ego. Hamish's feather's deflated a little. "I'm a Chimera rancher by trade," she said as if that was a reasonable thing to be, "and so when I first summoned them, I was aiming for an owl. But I didn't have proper owl feathers or any of the other components, I had the parts that came off of chimeras, because, well, that's kind of the whole point of being a chimera rancher, innit? Anyways, it turns out that summoning a familiar is, as far as I've found, the only time when chimera components have any impact as opposed to using parts from the animals themselves, and, well..."

She trailed off and gestured to Hamish, who's feathers puffed proudly this time. "What ever magic that's supposed to dictate their form seems a bit... looser? Than it should be, and they spend a lot of time hanging out with chimeras, so... They don't see a need to stick to any given form, although that one," she said jerking a thumb at them, "is a favorite. When they want something they go for this owl, fox, cat hybrid because people lose their mind it's so cute. Usually they're just after food though, which is strange," she said with a frown, "I don't think they actually need to eat, just like to."

If a glance was spared to Hamish, they nodded at that statement. No one was asking, but they particularly liked roasted duck.

"Anyways," she prattled on happily, "you said you're from the sea? That mean you're a sailor? That sounds exciting, I've never been on a big boat before! Oh," she frowned, "I guess you're stuck in port right now with the quarantine going on? That must be tough."

Ka'Ri maintains a steady face, not betraying the maelstrom of emotions that simple question stirs for her. "It is what it is, but thank you for asking. Part of sailing life is adapting to what the sea tosses your way. I imagine it is similar in your line of work."

Perception >= 23:

"Anyways, chimera ranching, that sounds exciting and a topic I am sadly quite ignorant about. Would you like to tell me some of the basics? How do you determine which species a chimera shows?"

((OOC: Shouldn't that be deception? Just affects if I can even attempt the role or not))

(OOC, I was thinking sleight of hand fit better, but yeah, let's go with deception, so that you have a chance. :) With Deception, you need a Perception of 19)

Thimb frowned. She had only just met this woman, asking her about why she was crying when she was trying to hide it was... rude, right? She glanced at Hamish who was temporarily distracted by a shiny rock. Figures.

Trying to pretend she hadn't noticed (and failing) the single tear, Thimb with a touch of forced enthusiasm (although this was a topic she had no end of enthusiasm about) started into a speech about how that was actually a very complicated process and what her (pending) specialty was in. You see they change with seasons, moons, or moods with wild variation from one to the next so when breeding you didn't just consider their current form, but all previous ones and- aw heck. "Ok-I-know-we-just-met-and-so-maybe-this-is-inappropriate-but-are-you-okay-do-you-wanna-talk-about-it?"

Dang it. There were supposed to be pauses between words, weren't there? She looked up to the other woman, her face plain to read. It was a genuine offer, but she was fairly certain she had just broken some sort of etiquette by asking.

Well, fuck, Ka'Ri thought, so much for Plan A, masquerading as something other than a complete walking disaster.

She stood shell-shocked for a good couple of seconds as she panickedly sorted through her thoughts trying to figure out which form of honest would play the best before just sighing heavily and sagging her shoulders.

Fuck it, I'm clearly off my game and we're about to be teammates anyways. Plus Karl has always been on me about the importance of letting certain emotions out instead of bottling all the time.

"My fami- the cre-" Ka'Ri sighed again. Opening up to people was really really hard. She didn't know how extroverts did it so easily. "Many members of my family, what you might call my crewmates, got sick with the plague when we landed. We don't leave people behind so if this Laerdys lady can't find the cure for it, I don't know if the Osprem will sail again. It's been... it's been really tough."

Ka'Ri can't help the tears flowing out and once one falls, several more follow and she's desperately trying to choke them back, wiping her eyes with ever more increasing frustration.

"I'm really sorry. We've only just met, you don't need this right now."

Suddenly a thought popped in her head and her eyes widen in fright.

"P-please don't tell Laerdys I broke down. I swear I'm very good at my job. You'll see."

Thimb dug around in her pockets until she managed to procure a handkerchief that smelled vaguely of cinnamon, and offered it to Ka'Ri with what she hoped was a gentle smile. "Family comes in lots of shapes, doesn't make you love them any less," said Thimb, trying to be sympathetic. "I've been real lucky, none of mine have been hit by the plague- although my twin and I did get gouged to death by a chimera recently," she pulled a face, trying to make this a funny story, adding on "we got better."

Seeing her half joke maybe didn't quite land she continued a bit more sincerely. "I think they'll find a cure, never happened before that they didn't, right? So, odds are in our favor that they will again! And I won't tell, neither will Hamish- right Hamish?" she glanced over at them, but they had fallen behind due to being fixated on the shiny rock they had found. "See? I'm sorry, I'm not great at this comfort thing- I have muffins?" she opened the basket on her arm, filled with various breakfast pastries, "would muffins help? Ma says food helps everything."

"I'm terribly sorry to hear that. I actually died right before we made landfall as well. I suppose that's the price of dangerous work. But the rewards of the open sky are worth it, aren't they?"

Ka'Ri spares a whistful glance as she reburies her emotions and resets herself, letting her eyes flicker frequently to the offered muffin.

Content Warning: Disordered Eating?:

"Thank you very much. You are very kind, Thimb," Ka'Ri says with a steady calmness

Content Warning: Disordered Eating?:

"You are also much better at this comforting thing than you think," she says with complete and utter sincerity.

Thimb smiled, "I'm glad I can help. I mostly deal with animals, well, beasts, technically. I mean chimeras are like animals, just, a whole bunch of them at once," she paused, passing the basket to her floating mage hand and pulling a muffin out herself so Ka'Ri wouldn't be eating alone.

"Hm, my brother and I both died, you died... Do you have any idea what this meeting is about? We were just told we had been asked for- Jarek, my twin, he had to stay behind to finish dealing with... an incident," she said pulling a face. She felt guilty leaving him to deal with it without her, but... he was the stronger (and taller) one and better suited to putting cranky chimeras back into their pens than she was at the end of the day. "I wonder if our whole not staying dead thing has anything to do with it?" she mused, biting into her own muffin and then making a happy noise to realize she had grabbed an apple cinnamon one.

Ka'Ri considered Thimb's words carefully. "Perhaps. It might be worth checking in with whatever others are joining us to see if they've been resurrected as well."

Ka'Ri hadn't even considered the possibility that resurrections were being blocked by the plague as well. She let a flicker of evil grin fall across her face as she imagined the noble classes content to let things spread in the slum as long as they could thinking could just chain resurrections together despairing at the realization they were in the same rotted boat as everyone else. Then she felt a great guilt for thinking it. Apparently some of her old training from her youth had held.

"Speaking of which," she muttered quickly to distract herself, "do you know anything about the job? All I know is it's secret and it pays well, so if you've got any other details..."

"Ah," Thimb flushed a little, "I maybe got distracted by the whole 'Laerdya Siannodel knows who you are and asked for you' part with excited noises that... I forgot to ask more than that?" the phrase lilted up at the end into a question with embarrassment. Hamish gave his wizardess a look of mild judgement, but had managed to get their beak around the shiny rock and so was still pretty content over all.

"It's a big deal for someone like me to be known by someone like her!" Thimb continued, embarrassed and defensive of her getting carried away by being star struck. "Zazzels did say we could get ice cream after, though, so, that's something to look forward to," she added on, now trying to think of details she had gotten from the conversation, her tone shifting back to being light and carefree. "Pretty sure that has nothing to do with the job, but, I mean, I wasn't even sure when I was supposed to turn up. For all I know I'm real early!" her gaze shifted to the sun, "probably not though..."

Ka'Ri nodded along. "Then I suppose we'll find out together."

She continues to walk for awhile in quiet and idle conversation before an idea hits her.

"Um, given your... enthusiasm for our new employer, can you tell me a bit more about Laerdys? I'm afraid all I have to go on is word of mouth which is notoriously unreliable."

"Uh, well," Thimb turned a lovely shade of pink that reached up to the tips of her pointed ears, "I know her more for her work than, well, for her," she confessed, further embarrassed by how star struck she had been. "Oh!" she said, perking up, "I have sold her spell components before! Nice lady, never complained about our, er, rotating, stock," she said brightly. "Well, maybe not nice? That implies, you know, a warmth? She was polite, though! Seemed kind of..." Thimb made a series of incomprehensible hand gestures, "you know?" She was too used to being around her twin for her own good sometimes.

"Ah," Ka'Ri said masking her confusion as best she could. "I suppose it's best we find out together what she's like and thank you again for all your assistance today. I wouldn't have been able to do this without you."

Ka'Ri follows Thimb engaging in idle conversation all the way, leaving open the possibility of being asked anything herself but also not making a show of openly offering. As she went along she thought more and more about the odd coincidence Thimb had noticed and prepared herself to project her most professional self when meeting her new "not warm, but polite" boss.

"I mean, we haven't really done anything yet, but we're gonna, and I think you might be stuck with me, so," Thimb smiled and it lit up her whole face, "I'm glad I can be helpful."

They chatted a bit, and Thimb marveled once again at how freaking big this tower was. I mean sure it was basically a smaller city within a larger city but still they really should have maps and signage around. She only knew where she was going because every time she had walked by that office she got a little thrill like the god damn nerd she was.

"So," she began not realizing she was about to waltz into another emotional landmine, "if you're a sailor are you... from anywhere or is it like in the story books how the open sea is your home?" she asked, tilting her head to the side, not unlike how Hamish did. It was unclear which of them picked the habit up from which. Hamish was strutting behind them as they chatted, holding his shiny rock high and proudly for anyone who might care to gaze upon its majesty.

Ka'Ri smiled down at Thimb kindly. "I suppose it's a bit like that yeah. Our true home is the Osprem, that's our boat. And that's the reason for my surname. All of the crew share it because we are all of the Osprem, you see."

A flash passed her face before she continued, "but I have a feeling that's not all you mean and you are curious about where I was born and spent the majority of my childhood. Is that right?"

"Uh," Thimb shrugged, "I was actually just going for a socially acceptable 'trying to get to know you' question? I mean, I guess that's what I meant? But... I hadn't really thought about it? I mean I'm curious about you? You seem nice and I like you," such an open book this gnome.

"And I think Hamish does, too," Hamish was still preoccupied with his new found treasure, a slightly shiny rock.

"But if you have some sort of secret exciting childhood like you escaped a wizard's tower because you were some sort of experiment to make a super solider who could fly and shoot energy beams from their eyes!" she got a little too excited with her own version of events and caught herself, clearing her throat and resuming an entirely and obviously false air of demureness, "Well, I get if you don't wanna talk about that."