Runelords 48.0 - In Which Social Situations are Handled Poorly

Eamon stood outside the door in the Transmutation wing, listening to Lucretia and her mysterious conversational partner. Eventually, he heard them move into a further room, so he took the chance to sneak in. He found himself in an arcane lab, complete with a large, packed bookshelf. Taking a few books that seemed to stand out to him, he also grabbed a two-pronged metal staff from the wall, with the knowledge that Lucretia needed some sort of tuning fork. Hearing Lucretia exclaim from an ancillary room that she 'had what she needed now', Eamon swiftly turned and dashed for the exit, making his way to the central room.
Luna had been standing at attention, gun at the ready for when Lucretia returned. She tensed at the sound of someone approaching, but managed to hold her fire when she realized it was Eamon. Bluntly, she told him to take a position near the edge of the entryway, so that they could ambush Lucretia before she could leave. Though Eamon did not much appreciate her derogatory tone, he did as she asked, informing her that apparently Lucretia had what she came for and could be on her way. A few tense moments passed, but there was no sign of Lucretia. Realizing that perhaps she would make herself invisible, Luna set up an Alarm spell to trigger if anyone walked down the Transmutation hallway.
A noise caught their attention: from behind them, Koume came into the central hall. Seeing Luna and Eamon with weapons raised, she subtly increased her walking pace to a run. The two glanced at each other and silently decided to let her go, watching as she jumped through the portal. Luna mentioned casually after she disappeared that the drake that Virgil had let free would probably deal with her. The two continued to wait for the lamia.
Concurrently, at the top level of the party, Virgil surveyed the room as his recent dance partner, Sheep, explained that the party's host was Mistress Devine but that she very rarely stepped out. When she did, she would oversee from her spot, which she indicated as the impressive chair at the center that seemed to draw everyone's subtle gaze. However, she had three daughters who were usually seen here entertaining, and it was them who needed to be impressed to be invited into the back rooms. As she finished speaking, the sister Lilith stepped back out into the hall, seeming rather perturbed.
Meanwhile, as Khyrralien was just in the middle of his pleasurable encounter, the two sisters pulled back, leaving him exposed and dissatisfied. He looked up to see that another woman had entered: a stately woman who seemed to have goat-like legs like a satyr. She introduced herself as Mistress Devine before questioning Khyr about his motives and intentions. The pair had a back-and-forth discussion where Khyr could feel himself being magically manipulated to various degrees at different points. Mistress Devine was a forceful woman who wanted concrete information about the newcomers to the forge, as well as pledged loyalty to her master Magelord Varherin, and disallowed Khyr from straying to other topics. Eventually, the mistress offered Khyr the opportunity to join Varherin's ranks as a member of the Devine family: from what she alluded, a collective of spies and manipulators who worked across Materia. He gladly accepted, gaining the surname Devine himself. With some open threats as to what terrible things would happen if he betrayed the family's interests, the Mistress left. Meanwhile, the two sisters had lain back and were playing with each other. They teased and goaded Khyr, who responded in turn and was eventually welcomed back into their embraces. One of the ladies pulled out a rather impressive-looking mace that apparently had a vibration function and grinned at Khyr as she alluded to where he was about to take it.
As this was happening, Virgil stuck up a conversation with the somewhat ill-tempered Lilith. Virgil's direct attitude was not exactly endearing to her and the information he brought was old news after Khyrralien's report. Further, he would not even entertain the notion of siding with the Magelord of Enchantment, staunchly declaring himself an unaligned mercenary. She revealed that yes, his aelurian friend had been invited into the back, but she saw no use in entertaining him: a man who had no tact, no social finesse, and was just as likely to fight against Magelord Varherin as not. When it became obvious that she was not going to give him what he wanted and was about ready to have him dismissed, Virgil managed to successfully Suggest that she take him into the back. As Sheep watched with incredulity, Virgil bid her farewell and was escorted to the back by Lilith. Stepping into the restricted rooms, Virgil quickly saw Khyrralien engaged in carnal acts with the other two demon-like women. He greeted him as the Suggestion wore off of Lilith, leaving her visibly enraged. Virgil had just enough time to tell Khyr that his mission was to get as much arcanic source material as possible in order to foil Karzoug and disable Zara before he had to teleport away, preventing Lilith from murdering him on the spot. Khyrralien was on-board with both ideas, particularly the second, but immediately returned to the task at hand.
Virgil's Dimension Door took him to the central fountain of the Runeforge. Almost immediately, he remembered that he had left all of his belongings at the coat check and tore off to reclaim them before the doormen could be informed of his banishment. Sweet-talking the doorman, who didn't understand how he could have left without taking the door only to come back using the door, Virgil indeed reclaimed his bag, tipping both the coat check attendant and the doorman once more for their help. He was informed, after asking, that his outfit and mask need not be returned as no one should ever wear something to a party that another has been seen in. With that, Virgil was graciously bid the doorman good day and took his leave.
Returning to the central hallway, Eamon was eager to share knowledge with Virgil and the two exchanged information about what they had each seen and done since splitting ways. Virgil, lacking tact, spelled out for Eamon Luna's intentions to kill Lucretia for the undying bones she sought. Though Luna angrily justified her actions, she did not deny them and further admitted that someone else in the Runeforge would necessarily have to die if not her. Eamon was deeply offended and moved away from his position at the door, much to Luna's annoyance. The two men moved away to chat more privately, leaving Luna to fume and wait. With Khyrralien in the best position to acquire Enchantment material, and with Abjuration apparently unguarded and unattended, the only remaining material they needed was from Illusion. Virgil decided that he would go alone; Eamon would be better served keeping an eye on Luna and hopefully preventing her from doing something she'd regret later, or from biting off more than she could chew. Eamon accepted this but gave Virgil his medusa mask, which would help him see through illusions. Virgil thanked him and gave him the shrike mask from the party that he had still been wearing in exchange, which Eamon tied around the back of his head.Category:Rise of the Runelords