Blackburn's Crossing Chapter 3: A Ball to Die for

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Blackburn Manor: Kitchen

Grimdosh goes about cleaning as the man continues to walk, after he is done speaking he looks slowly over to the man. "Grimdosh," he says simply before wiping down some of the dishes and putting them away. "I gave them breakfast already, you are a bit of a.... sleepy head."

Grimdosh starts to walk off then stops at Attimer once more and hands him another piece before opening the door to continue his duties. He's about to go in search of tables as Leone walks in past him. "Morning." Then he starts to move off to find those tables.

Ballroom:

James smiles back and waves as she leaves the room. He decides it's time to go about town and get a few things going for the party.
 
Willow's Heart:

"The Shadowman does not often show outside of the Shadowlands, only for important events that shift the Fates," she says while waiting just a bit longer before standing up with her spear. She looks curiously at Bernard's hand offered out towards her but does nothing with it. "You know the Lost One?" She suddenly seems much more excited.
 
Ludwig is eating at quite a rapid pace, not having eaten proper the day before because of his sudden shift of workplace. Listening to Grimdosh while he chews on the bits of bread and meat, Ludwig nods in understanding with his mouth full. He takes a big gulp of water and washes it all down before replying to Grimdosh's last statement. "Well... I... Yes.. You could call it being a sleepy head." He looks up at him for a bit before grasping the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes. "I have trouble sleeping, that's all."

As Léone walks in, Ludwig's gaze flies from his plate and locks on straight at Attimer and Léone. "Certainly, I haven't been outside yet but the sight through the window shows promise for today. I was thinking about taking a little stroll into the city, see what kind of possibilities it might provide." He puts both the knife and fork next to eachother on the plate, signalling that he's done. "Apparently I've overslept, might have been up too late tonight preparing capsules for today. Alas, that's my own mistake to make.. Anyhow, how about your morning? You seem to have a buzz in your step." He eyes Léone with a slight smile on his face.
 
Marsh House:

Lina goes at the request of Merris to go check on Peri who was in the middle of what now looked more like a jungle of flowers. She zips through while her mother thinks about what she's going to have to do with all these flowers, there was no one to sell them all too. It wasn't even the right season for selling some of these flowers.

Lina comes to a stop poking Peri in the noise as she becomes invisible and then laughs flying around. "What did you do? All the flowers came out again when they're petals are usually falling off by now," says Lina flying around and sniffing one.

Meanwhile at the front door of the Marsh's house there is a firm knock, Merris opens the door and is surprised to see James. He smiles politely before inquiring about flowers for the ball in three days. "Yes, I think I could fullfil that order Mr. Blackburn."

"Please call me James, my father was Mr. Blackburn," he says nodding to Emilia who he sees in the background. "I'm sorry for your loss Emilia, Jeremiah's funeral was beautiful. I'm glad everyone got back in time to attend it. I best get going before Peri shows up, I'm afraid I may have frightened your daughter yesterday and it was not my intention. Please let her know she does not need to attend if my presence would set off one of her.... fits."
 
Arissa did not want to go outside looking the way she did, but she was also terrified to be alone. She shakily stands to her feet, refusing to meet Bernard’s gaze as she did so. “Bernard... I am so, so sorry for the sadness my mistake had caused you. Please, do not lose your Light on my behalf.” She glances once more in the small mirror on the ground, pausing briefly before speaking again. “I cannot be seen like this, but I... I cannot be alone right now. I promise, I will be by your side.” Arissa raises a hand, once again utilizing her invisibility spell. She then pauses. “I need to get changed... a little privacy?” She quickly ushers them out of the room, and the door opens a few minutes later. Bernard feels a tight grip on his left hand. “I am ready whenever you are.” Arissa says, feeling anything but ready.
 
Peri startles at the sudden poke to her nose her eyes opening and growing wide at the overgrown beauty around her. Bringing her hand up she rubs the tickles on her nose remaining seated as she looks around at all the rejuvenated and overgrown flowers.

The recently familiar voice Peri follows seeing a flower dip and then the voice move. “I..I don’t know what happened, I was just invoking some words of vitality and calm Papa taught me.” Reaching our she bends a stem to lower the flower to her nose breathing in the scent.

“Lina?” Peri sighs continuing anyway, “Thank you for making sure Momma isn’t lonely.” Resting her arms on her knees she smiled again at all the flowers. “I made such a mess, but I hope she enjoys them a little longer.” Putting out a finger, “It was really nice meeting you, I’m sorry we got off on the wrong foot, Bear is just protective of us and Papa’s loss has hit him really hard.” Peri didn’t want to reveal too much but she was sure Lina would understand that grief.
 
"Arissa, we will fix this." He grabs the two letters and ushers Ialay out of the room.

When Arissa takes his hand, Bernard can feel her trepidation. "All will be fine. Let's find Kallisto, then perhaps one of the minds at the manor has a cosmetic fix until we can fix this." He leads the two ladies off into the town in search of Kallisto.
 
Marsh House:

"I'm always around," says Lina taking a petal and wrapping it around her head like a bonnet. She flies to Peri's finger and crosses her arms. "That's no reason to call people names. Especially horrible names, though I guess trying to turn him into a puppy wasn't nice either..."

Lina then easily gets distracted chasing a bee that has come to check on the flowers. James up front of the house bids Merris and Emilia farewell before stopping on the way out of the house getting through the brush, and looks around the neighbors yards who are in equal confusion. He shakes his head as he walks to his next destination.
 
Willow's Heart:

"Ka-lli-st-o," says Ialay slowly before repeating the word. "I know this name. Banished by the Great Hunter, she wanders the Forest as a Bear, do you think she is the Lost One?"

Ialay looks at the door and then Bernard. "Why does she change behind the Moving Wall? Have we offended the Angel of Shadow?" As Ialay asks this someone walks down the hallway squeezing past you guys and giving both of you an odd look. He continues downstairs however without another word.
 
Peri giggles at her antics, “He would have made a cute puppy, I think.” Her eyes follow Lina and the plump bumblebee. “Did you see my friend Hyde? When he visited? Does he know you are here? He is like you a companion to but to my friend Yelcan.” Peri reaches out to a bright open rose and plucks it. Pulling the petals she counts them as she eats them the sweet tartness satisfying.

Peri heart was calmed in the wonderland of flowers she felt closer to her father than she ever had. She was still saddened by the losses in the past days, but the devastation to her soul the losses had caused seemed to be healing she could feel it even though she hid from the familiar voice that visited her mother.
 
Marsh House:

"The Tiny Dragon? He is not like me, I come from somewhere else but have heard of the place he comes from," she says as she lays on a leaf kicking her feet up behind her watching the bee investigate a flower and then fly off. Afterwards she flies back down to Peri. "Where I'm from they are muuuuuch bigger than him. They are also much grumpier."
 
Peri picks off another petal and offers it to Lina, “I see,” Peri chuckles imagining a miffed Hyde, “Is it nice your world? Better than this one? Has Momma been there?” The simple companionship of Lina she could understand how her mother was so joyful.

Peri eats another petal her stomach not reviling her as much as it had been. Then she looks around realizing how difficult it was going to be to get out of the jungle.
 
Léone nods curtly at Ludwig. "It does seem like a nice day for once. Perhaps I can show you around town, little as I know about it myself. I didn't have any plans in particular aside from take a well-deserved rest."

She chuckles, petting Attimer again."Good on you for preparing. I actually ended up waking up earlier than usual, refining some notes on spells I hadn't quite perfected before." She nods in approval, looking him up and down. "Though you seem less attuned to the arcane and more to...science, I presume. That's respectable."

As he mentions the buzz in her step, her eyes light up for a moment. She smiles slightly in return, thinking back to the ballroom scene and the letters she'd considered writing up. "Oh, it's nothing. Though it seems James will be quite busy today, preparing for the ball that he apparently decided to host out of thin air. Maybe we'll see him buzzing around town." As she says that, she glances down and slowly tucks her necklace back into her clothes. "I'm sure you're invited too, new as you are to the area."

Attimer slowly and politely flies out of her grasp and pecks at some more of Grimdosh's cooking, happy to eat actual food for once as opposed to rations and frog legs.
 
Bernard takes a moment to think on the answer, "She fits the description. I've lived here my whole life, she was brought here as an infant. She knows the ancient tongue though does not remember why and she knows nothing of her family. She is most definitely lost and foreign as much as she is in the town, she is not of the town."

He seems surprised by Ialay's next question, but answers in the best way he could, "Arissa is a beautiful, but modest woman. She does not flaunt her beauty nor invite rumours of indecency. She was not raised like you and has her own customs which bind her." He smiles, trying to remain friendly and agreeable and feeling that he'd done his best to respond to her questions.

He takes a moment to glance over the letter addressed to him from James Blackburn, the information there in might be useful later. Then leads both the women out to the city and toward the church.
 
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Making her way once more across town Kallisto was busy with her thoughts as she caught sight of something shiny and sparkly infront of her. Expecting it to be Arissa she was surprised to not recognize the person who was trailing behind Bernard.

The younger woman in the dress seemed to be looking everywhere at once as they approached, and Bernard seemed to have one hand off to the side as if he was holding something. Still keen to finish her errands for the day Kallisto gave him a small nod, "Hello Bernard ... found yet another new person? Seems to favor fancy dress like Arissa does."
 
Ludwig stands up, doing his small ritual of patting his pockets. When he gets to the pocket in his jacket, he pulls out a small metal case that's attached to his jacket with a small metal chain. Flipping open the lid, he inspects it's contents briefly before closing it again, shoving it back into the pocket. "It's not incredibly late to wake up... Sleepyhead, my arse."

Looking back at Léone, Ludwig taps his pocket absentmindly as he speaks, "I'd much appreciate the effort! Some knowledge is better than none, though there's always room to learn more. Didn't you sleep well last night? Already feeling like you need a rest just after sleeping is most likely an deficiency in nutrients... or you're just really bored. Either way, I can fix that."

As she talks about preparation, Ludwig's face shows a growing grin. "Yes, refinement of notes and skills are very important tasks to do daily, for we can only attain perfection after perseverance." His grin slightly shrinks at the mention of spells and the arcane but rises quickly again. "A very detailed observation, if I may say so. I'm indeed not a devout follower of magics, if I'm being completely honest. Though I am more of a man of medicine rather than science, but with the two of them intertwined deeply, you could say I'm a bit of both."

Finished with his last sentence, Ludwig reaches into a patch that's sewed onto his jacket, taking out a decently sized syringe. "Remind me if I told you before, but I am a physician - or doctor, for a living. Which chimes in to me being obviously interested in anything medical or science related, like this concoction I whipped up last night." He gestures towards the plate that he left on the table, still some scraps of meat left on it. "Now watch, this reaction is so.. unique." He's letting out a small chuckle as he applies slight pressure on the syringe, causing the tiniest droplet to fall onto a piece of meat, immediately causing it to rot. "It happens so quick!"

Putting the syringe back into his pouch, he lightly taps his face with both hands to regain his focus. "Anyhow, it would be a great opportunity to get familiar with the town and it's people at the ball, I might just show up!" Quickly tapping the pocket the syringe came from, Ludwig feels more at ease. "Lead the way, Léone. I'm curious to see the difference between this place and my stay back at Garmonn."
 
"Kallisto, this is Ialay. She's not from around here, but you might be the one she's looking for. Is there somewhere we can speak?" Bernard quickly adds, "The four of us have some things to discuss, and Ialay does look lovely in Arissa's dress." He lifts the hand holding Arissa's and winks, hoping Kallisto will remember Arissa's spell and put the pieces together.
 
Glancing between Bernard's hand and the dress Ialay was wearing Kallisto slowly nodded, "...okay? I ... can maybe still be allowed into the room I shared with Tara, if the acolytes haven't started using it."

She picked at her beads for a moment in thought before sighing and leading the others back towards the church. "Uhm ... why was Ialay looking for me?"
 
Marsh House:

"In someways it's nice, other ways it isn't. Your mother was the first one to come see me in a long time," says Tina before she starts to lounge in a flower as if it were a seat. "We haven't been there in a long time either. I wonder what Mr. Frog is up to there."

Church of Ezra:

Things seem to be business as usual safe for the fact that the usual figure heads of the Hathoways aren't anywhere to be seen. Acolytes take prayers, offer holy symbols, and bless people on their journey's they are about to embark on. The only odd thing in the Church today is an Elven man praying with an Amulet of a different faith. None of the Acolytes seem to be bothering him as he silently goes about his prayers. The Blonde Elf seems to have simply come there to pray. Meanwhile Ialay walks keeping up with you, and using her spear as a walking stick. The sight of which draws some curious glances, specifically because of the unique combination and that she is with Bernard. She glares at everyone that looks at her trying to intimidate any who meet her eyes which is not many.

As Kallisto approaches there is a familiarity of features between the two, and Ialay first tries to remain on guard from the large woman approaching, before looking closely. "You are the size of a Bear are you not? Are you the Daughter of Blood? The One which I seek named the Lost Ones foretold to us by the Bones?" she says looking curiously at Kallisto.
 
“Mr. Frog?” Per tilts her head and chuckles, “I knew a Leopold. He was a toad I found on the river bank. Jack and I followed him for a little while until he got too far in the swamp we weren’t supposed to go to far then.”

Stretching her legs out before her she wiggles her toes and contemplated how she wished to proceed with her day. The sun warming the green house she debated curling up as a fox and taking a nap. Happiness could return could it not.
 
As they entered the chapel Bernard spotted the young acolyte who had come by the room that morning handing out holy symbols. He accepted one and simply stated, "I will be using the room that Tara was lodging in for a while. When my friends and I are done we will discuss what to do about the church vacancy." He smiles and nods, leading the others through the halls to Tara room and locking the door once they were inside.

"Feel free to use your favored tongue here Ialay." He looks to Kallisto who he owed an explaination. "Arissa brought Ialay to the Willow's Heart this morning, she is from beyond the totems, deep in the swamp. She seeks someone she calls 'The Lost One', they're quite fond of titles. You seem to match the description of a young outsider of unknown origin with knowledge of Sylvan. She believes - her tribe believes - you will defeat The Great Serpent or The Undying One and provide some measure of safety."

He paused and shuffled uncomfortably. "I know you haven't always fit in and you don't entirely feel comfortable here. This might be a part of your past. An opportunity to learn where you came from. I'd like to help you in whatever way I can. Even if you are not this lost one, it is at least a possibility you can say you have explored. It's a chance to find your family." He smiled, trying to disarm Kallisto but worried that if they were wrong it might make things worse rather than better.
 
When Ialay began her string of questions, at first Kallisto didn't pay much attention -- some people often made sure to point out how large she was, but when she heard "daughter of blood" she stumbled slightly, recalling the last time she had heard it. "I... don't know?" She continued to pick at her beads as they made their way to the church, returning to the room she had last heard a similar title.

Placing a hand on the mattress, the bedding had been repaired from where she had torn it in her pain, she listened to Bernard as he spoke at length in Sylvan. Occasionally she glanced to where she thought Arissa might be, judging by Bernard's hand still being in the same position, wondering if she understood anything that was being said.

She gave a low growl of a sigh as she placed her head in her hands, eventually speaking: "This ... is a lot. Defeating some ... serpent? Something called an Undying One? Doesn't that mean the task is already impossible?"

Kallisto pulled off her beaded bracers, twisting the threads between her fingers, "I already said ... it's been so long, what does where I come from matter?" She looked over towards Ialay, "I would like to help, I just ... I don't know if it's something I -- can actually do or manage. Or if I'm even this ... 'Lost One' truly."
 
Léone nods at Ludwig, intrigued at his words. Watching carefully as he pulls out his syringe, she looks surprised yet mildly impressed. "Ah...you seem like you know quite a bit. I think you'll fit right in." She shrugs, flashing a half-smile. "I'd direct you to James, but something tells me you won't be getting any science out of him for the next few days. Perhaps after this whole courtship deal is over with." She begins to head out the door, Attimer perched neatly on her shoulder as she gestured for Ludwig to follow. "Shall we? Lots of time in the day."

Once they were outside, she took a deep breath and exhaled as they looked across the river and into the rest of town. "Well, there's quite a bit around town. The docks, the inns, the shops, most whatever you can think of. Church as well - don't know if you enjoy that, but it's a popular thing here nonetheless. I don't imagine you were looking for anything in particular but I suppose we can walk and talk. Do tell if anything seems of interest to you."
 
Church of Ezra:

"The Shaman has foreseen in the Casting of Bones that the Lost One would save the Children of Blood. I did not know you would be of our number... I would ask my Birth Mother if she had lost anyone before me, but It only brought her the Rain from Within so I do not ask..." She says watching Kallisto intently. "The Angel of Shadow and Son of Father Swamp has lead me to you. It cannot be coincidence these things. Lost Sister, will you save us?"

Her last line came out more as a plea than a question.
 
Arissa silently followed Bernard through town, hardly paying attention as she was thinking. As Kallisto approached them, Arissa wanted to protest as Bernard acknowledged her presence, but instead opted to remain silent, all out of fight. She followed them into the church, and over to the room, not really paying much mind to what was being said, but she noticed Kallisto seeming to be staring at her. She briefly whispered to Bernard in Celestial, “I am still here.” And then she released her grip on him, and went off to sit in the corner of the room.
 
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