Chapter 5: Pleased to Meet You

Verrian watches dispassionately as the guards separate the children of the family in front of her from their parents. She's spent a good deal of time on the road to Hara meditating and doing the necessary work to restore her emotional restraint. She can't afford any losses of control like what happened back at the retreat.Verrian steps forward and clears her throat. She appears to be intimidated by all the guards and their willingness to suggest that violence is just around the corner.

"T-Talva. Talva Galvin. I'm here to find work. A-and shelter."

Well, I was never much good at tests, but I don't see no harm in it.

The scribe records the name and business in his ledger, and waves Verrian through the gate without so much as looking up. He holds up a white flag similar to the red flag he'd raised when the family of four went through, waves it a couple of times and says, "Go through."

scribble scribble

"Next!"

The grey-robed man steps forward and stares into Wil's eyes from an almost uncomfortably close distance. There's a faint odor of... cloves maybe? Something sour... or maybe astringent... on his breath. From this distance, Wil can see that the man's pupils are surprisingly dilated. With the amount of daylight in the room, it should be causing him pain, but there's no evidence it's doing so.

As the man straightens up, his head jerks to the right spasmodically. "Something there. Strange. Learned, not born? Granted, not ingrained? Strong but far away," he mumbles, not looking at Ildemu or anyone else in particular. He could be talking to himself, for all he pays attention to his surroundings. "This one passes."

Verrian blinks, at first not comprehending that he is waving her through. Then she stammers her thanks and hurries through the gate.

Once inside, she looks around to orient herself, comparing what she sees to the description of the city that Coreene and Swan had given her and Wil. She begins to look for a place where she can safety use the whitestone disk to contact the rest of the group.

The square is mostly abandoned, save for the groups of people -- growing in number -- over by where the guards took the family. Probably not the most discreet place to pull out a magical disk. There are a number of streets leading away from the square, some more populated than others, and plenty of buildings that look to be empty. Any would likely be a good place to do a little clandestine communication.

Verrian heads away from the place where the guards are corralling people and away from the main square. When she judges that no one's attention seems to be on her, she slips into an empty building. After looking around to ensure that no one is present, she takes out the disk and activates it to contact the one Coreene has.

"It's me," she says, distinctly but quietly. "The line was very slow, but I've finally arrived inside. Our friend was removed from the line and taken in by the guards. I haven't had a chance to look for him yet."

Coreene's eyes light up when she feels the disk activate, pulling it out quickly to respond. "Thank goodness you're alright. I hope that Wil isn't in any danger. What happened to get him singled out? Did they sense the blood?" She asks, trying to keep the worry out of her voice with little success.

"Let's stick to 'our friend,' okay? No names," Verrian says gently. "I wasn't close enough to hear the conversation, but I didn't see anyone detecting magic. They sent a guard and scribe down the line, asking people about their business in the city. I gather our friend's answer to that question triggered a security protocol of some sort. It all looked amicable enough. They skipped him through the line and escorted him through the gate."

Ember dives at the disc, narrowly missing a crash with Coreene.

What are things like in the town? Can you tell if that's the only gate?

Verrian smiles at the eagerness she can hear in Ember's voice. "Things are... grim. They're scrutinizing everyone very harshly, and they seem to be..." There's only a minute hesitation before she continues. "They're separating children from their parents. I don't know why. The answers people give to their questions sometimes trigger further scrutiny, and they wave a red flag to indicate to the other guards how those people should be dealt with.

"As for whether there's another gate, I haven't had time to look. As soon as they finally let me through, I found a safe place to call you. I also haven't seen our 'eyes in the sky' yet, so I don't know exactly where our friend has been taken."

But they're not scanning magic at the gate. That's good news. At least, they aren't making a scene at the gate.

Kids too?
You don't need to convince me.
Just do it -
Slowly.

"Uelt.....Uh....Snaggletooth figures we'll......sleep for a bit. And then maybe take a walk tonight.....under the stars."

Code? Necessary? Meh? She's just relieved to hear that at least one of them is alive.

"Sounds good. Just be careful - things are pretty serious. And keep an eye out for an alternative entrance."

Oh, I'll say things are serious.

She blushes, realizing she's accidentally implied that she and Swan are dating.

I mean....not serious like "serious" serious, serious like serious and.....Aaaaaargh just keep us posted. Please.

Verrian, having not been privy to the joking on the Discord, frowns in bewilderment. "Um...yes, of course I will."

Once the call to the others has ended, Verrian turns her efforts to her appearance. The non-mundane parts of her disguise have ended, and she wants to create a different look anyway. She rubs off the dirt she'd smeared on her face, neck, and hands and selects a foundation makeup that darkens her complexion just enough to even out the Naucan markings. Without very close scrutiny - or her losing her emotional control - no one will even notice the markings.

Once her skin has been dealt with, she applies a dollop of a dark creme to her hair and brushes it through. When she's done, her flame-red hair has been subdued to a dark auburn. It's enough of a change that no one who isn't expecting to see her would immediately recognize her by her hair.

She puts on a fresh set of clothes, then works at creating a less makeshift means of securing and hiding the rapier under her cloak. The whole time in line, she'd been convinced it was going to fall out just before she walked through the gate.

She leaves the empty building a new woman, for all intents and purposes. Her plan, assuming that Pip doesn't manage to show up to guide her to Wil's location, is to find someone on the street who might be able to tell her where the guards would have taken someone they pulled out of the line.

Ildemu straightens ever so slightly in his chair. There's a sudden palpable tension in the air. The guards become more alert, certainly.

"You don't sound certain," he says to the man in the grey robe. "Do we keep him or do we not?"

"Keep him. If we're."

There's a long pause, a few seconds at least, before the man continues as if there was no pause at all, his head jerking again as he speaks. "wrong it won't hurt him.

Verrian quickly takes stock of the people available to her and decides that the safest bet is a beggar man sitting on a street that's fairly well-walked by Hara residents but not graced by an especially heavy guard presence. The beggar is an older man, enough older that Verrian thinks she might be able to exploit a fatherly concern, and though he's dirty and ragged, his eyes are active and sharp.

She's been making several passes up and down the street, looking frazzled, worried, and frightened, trying to give the impression that she's more or less making laps around the main square and surrounding area. Each time, she's increased her air of anxiety, until finally, she slumps down onto a curb, about ten feet from the beggar. Her head is down and her shoulders shudder occasionally as she seems to be weeping soundlessly.

After a moment, she fishes a handkerchief from a pocket and dabs at her eyes, sniffing. She appears to notice the beggar watching her, and gives an automatic nod of acknowledgment. She appears about to speak to him, then wilts again and looks away.

Well Mr. Crow, if you please, while I like the sound of "won't hurt him", I am not sure I understand what was meant by "keep him". I have done nothing wrong, I don't deserve to he kept. I think maybe I should be going.

Wil stands and makes like he is going to leave.