The Shadow Carnevale (RP)

Albeart uses his giant maw to bite a leg of the chair in front of there fortune teller's table. With a slight snarl, he pulls it back and walks closer to the table to where the seat used to be. He leaves the rest up to Lille.

Lille glances around the room, taking care to look mostly behind the witch and to the side, without turning away from her. When she doesn’t find any words to read, she gives up on the woman’s puzzling line of thought. She lowers her staff as Albeart settles down to sit; still regarding the woman suspiciously, but willing to talk.

"What rules do you have to work with?" The woman’s statement gives her another idea. "Another worker here said that... deeds or things unlived or mislived could hold people here," she explains, to Albeart but also to the witch. "What deeds or regrets are holding you?"

Albeart looks up at Lille "It's just a dream, right?" He tells her "It doesn't really matter what happens. As soon as we wake up, it will all be back to normal." Then he looks at the deck of cards. "I say go for it."

"Okay..." Lille agrees, as puzzled as ever. She draws her knife and leans forward to slice the deck with it.

Ezmaray decides she should check inside the tent to make sure that Albeart and Lille are alright. Cautiously she steps down onto the ground in the entryway to peer inside. Gravity, she notes, still barely seems to acknowledge her existence.

Seeing the relatively peaceful scene within the tent, Ezme lightly prances forward, resting Daryl next to Albeart. As she nears, she briefly notes Lille attempting to chop something on the table with her blade and the scowling expression of a lady in black, who curses the girl and gestures her away.

Ezme leans in toward the bear who she sees attempting to perch awkwardly on a chair, suggesting into his fluffy, round ear: "Maybe next time, try putting heavy dude in armor on your back before suddenly hauling it?" She cocks her head at the unconscious knight, her expression both smirking and sincere.

Her eyes glide back over to the woman in black, pausing briefly over what appears to be odd cards on the table before her. She shakes her head dismissively and turns back to Albeart and Lille. "Only more distractions. I am following your suspicious shadow cords to see where they lead. Time to find dream boss and put end to this." She turns to leave.

Lille is surprised by the clean slice, and pauses to think about Ezme’s differing opinion. She knows her way around in the woods. But Albert seems to know about this game. She weighs her choices a moment longer, but there’s some kind of draw that compels her to stay. For some reason, this is *important*.

"I will stay and see what this is," she tells Ezme. "Albeart can roar if there’s trouble. We can meet back here when you find out about the.. shadow cords." Lille regards Daryl for a moment then adds, "Perhaps you should take Roald, wherever he is."

Then she turns back to the table, and looks curiously over the card pieces that are up. "Who’s turn is it? How is this game played?" she asks the fortune teller.

Roald keeps sweeping the tracks left by Daryl's feet dragging over the sandy soil. Now and then he stops, and suspiciously looks around to make sure no one is following... There never is.
Everyone is minding their business... Or are they...?
best check again
Finally he reaches the fortune teller's tent, walks in head down concentrated on the tracks until he swipes the dust of off Daryl's feet and simultaneously bumps into Ezme who is on her way out.
''HEY! WATCH IT!
Roald lifts his head and takes in the scene... Wondering what he was doing just a few seconds ago. Albert's staff is in his hand, resting with one end on Daryl. He scratches the back of his head. The last thing he remembers is Ezme flying away... Did he really see that?
''errrr. What are you doing ? Is this a good time to play cards? Shouldn't we be searching for Albeart's body?''

Albeart look apologetically at Ezme. "Sorry. I saw the witch and I just made a run for it." He tells her. "Please leave him with me. I will keep him safe." Some translation from Lille may be required to get the message accross, but the fact that Albeart puts a leg over Daryl in a defensive gesture could have been enough.

Then as soon as she came in, she's leaving again. "What are shadow cords?" He asks after she turns around. "Could they lead to my body?" Nothing is making sense in this world. It's impossible for Albert to think logically about things. Perhaps he should just give up and go with what's offered. Right now that appears to be the witch's card game.

He's happy to see Roald come in as well. "Lille is trying this game, Roald." He tells him. "The witch says she has information. That she's trying to help us. I don't know how much of it is true though. But then again... Is anything true right now?" All this dream world stuff is making his head spin. Hopefully Lille can figure out something during the game. He decides to keep a close eye on the cards, to make sure the witch isn't trying to do anything shifty.

Lille translates Albeart’s words to the others, seeming pleased to be useful. As she turns back to the cards, a sudden thought strikes her. "Oh! Is this a betting game? I didn’t bring any money," she says apologetically to the fortune teller. "But I could learn how to play," she offers, hoping to soothe the strange woman. To Albeart, she explains, "We didn’t have any cards, but Jordash told me that some people at the inn would play betting games with cards. He went into town to trade furs sometimes, and usually went to the inn for a drink and the news."

She leans over to examine the cards, resting her staff on the ground for balance. "He said that... different pictures and numbers were worth different amounts." She speaks slowly, working to dredge up the proper memory. "And that... in some games, different groups of cards were worth more than others. I seem to have a lot of these stars," she offers brightly, pointing to the pentacles. "Is that good? Or are they your cards?" She gives the fortune teller a small smile, hoping that her enthusiasm to learn and play the game will make up for breaking whatever other rules she seems to be running afoul of.

Lille’s brow furrows at the woman’s ‘advice’. "Is that a good move?" she asks Albeart. "Do you know this game?" She glances at the woman, hoping to get a hint from her expression.

Unconcerned about the mysterious lady's interest, Ezmaray nods at Lille, then turns to Albert. "I do not know if these shadow cords lead to your body, but they are connected to your heads, and I suspect they lead to the one responsible for all this. I will see where they lead and demand answers." With that, she pulls out her...

Shit. Still no hunting knife.

With that, she grabs ineffectively at her hip where her knife should have been, frowns and shakes her head, then strides to the opening of the tent... bumping directly into Roald.

Out of nowhere a voice cries, "HEY, WATCH IT!" Was that Theo's voice??

Ezmaray looks around with confusion, seeking the invisible speaker while Roald takes in the scene and has his exchange with Albert.

Shaking it off, she turns back to Roald, saying quietly to him after Albeart offers his explanation: "I think they are getting sucked into dream and dream logic. You and I -- we must stay focused. Come with me to follow shadow cords to the Source. I would like to meet architect behind all this."