Nikolai nods to Alexi and smiles as he approaches his Shadowhunter companions. "Yes, breakfast sounds wonderful. I didn't have much time to eat before rushing over." He takes the staff and looks it over briefly, nodding to Caio in appreciation. "Thank you, Caio. I'm quite interested to look it over myself. Let us get somewhere quieter and talk. I'll need about 10 minutes to examine the staff closer."
Ling saunters back inside, with everyone in tow. In the entrance hall, she hooks her arm into Alaris' and says: "Lets give those two and their staff some privacy and raid the kitchen, what do you think?" As she drags Alaris off, she shouts over her shoulder: "We'll be in the library once you're done checking out Caio's rod, have fun!" She giggles and heads for the kitchen.
Having successfully cleared the kitchen of any leftover pastries and croissants, Ling and Alaris have set themselves in the library. Lounging in the old-fashioned armchair by the "aquatic creatures" section, Ling waits for Caio and Nikolai to arrive as she munches on her third croissant this morning. Between bites, she asks Alaris: "So I've been thinking. Since mundanes were murdered, the mundane police might have some information in their files that we could use. Maybe a little stealth mission to see what they've got? The werewolves have already shared what they know, so unless we want to go to the Council, that only leaves the blood suckers to ask..." She takes another bite, "mmamd wou wnow how I pheel about those."
Caio plops down and grabs a pastry as well. "I mean, we know where they're hiding. Why don't we just go ask them themselves? The cops are incompetent and the vampires... well we know how you feel about them." he says before taking a massive bite of flaky bread and sugar.
Ling, mouth full of croissant, gives Caio an incredulous look. She swallows and asks: "You want to go and confront a group of WARLOCKS? With what backup?" With a grin, she adds, "I know I'm good, but I'm not THAT good. I mean, if Nikolai turned on us, I think we'd be kinda screwed, you know. And any more than two..." She is silent for a while as she ponders the idea. "I've never fought a warlock, only beside them. Have you?"
"Can Nikolai do some computer wizardry and find out what the police have learned?"
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Eshuvenniel Kazander Ravid,Valor Bard and Acolyte of the Goddess of Luck Caradoc Langham, Halfling Rogue - Lost Magics - Epic of Pre-made Proportions! I'm not looking for heaven or hell... just someone to listen to stories I tell...
"I... well no I haven't. I'm just saying I don't think the cops or vampires would be much help." he turns to Nikolai. "What about a double agent tactic? Nikolai could give us a direct in."
While the others discuss their options, Nikolai lays out the staff onto the table in front of him. He removes the tarot deck from the leather shoulder-holster and spreads the cards around the staff in an oblong circle, slowly and methodically. First he removes the Suit of Swords; placing the Ace, Page, and King. Then comes the Eight of Pentacle. And lastly comes the Major Arcana; The Magician, The High Priestess, The Hermit, The Tower... and lastly The Chariot. As he places each card down, face-up his fingertip linger upon them and it almost seems as if the images upon the cards shift and move with a purpose just briefly. Once the array is complete, he places his hand upon the staff and his eyes change to their natural pale white as if he had no pupils or iris. Nikolai stares ahead for a few moments as the images upon the cards shift once more and the staff glows briefly. Its hard to tell, but it seems as is he was not even breathing.
The glow dissipates and the cards become inert once more as Nikolai takes a deep breath through his nostrils and the color appears in his eyes again. He looks at the others with a bemused smile. "This staff is... interesting. You can use it to create any sort of avian noise you wish a few times per day. So, what have you decided?"
Ling rolls her eyes at Nikolai: "A bird staff? Make it your new alarm clock. And get with it! Can you do any... computer magic stuff to find out what the police know?" When she hears Caio's suggestion, her eyes light up: "Scratch that, I love the idea of a double agent! Do you think that would work? You going in and seeing what you can find out at the cemetery, warlock to warlock? Caio's right, the vampires probably won't be very helpful." Ling leans back and stretches, patting some croissant crumbs of her clothes. "Going into the police station all glamoured up should also work. I'm not great with mundane computers though."
Nikolai laughs at Ling's eyeroll as he takes a croissant and munches on it thoughtfully. "That's not a bad idea. Although I think it's pretty well known that I'm working with The Clave. We will need to come up with a good reason to make them believe me to be coming over to their side in this instance." He rubs his chin as he ponders. "Perhaps we could bring Alexi in on this. Have the werewolves begin spreading rumors that they located information that the Bastards have an insider working within The Clave that seems to point towards me. We can feint some sort of falling out between us, which would possibly give me the credence to seek them out. Possibly for protection."
"They do owe us for saving their skins, several times."
"I like that plan, but it might take a while... and I don't want to be sitting around twiddling my thumbs. Or worse, be given cleaning duties or something." She scowls at the thought. "How about you get in contact with Alexi and we check out the police station anyway, in the meantime?" She looks at Alaris and Caio, excited to be doing an undercover mission herself. "One of us could distract them and the others sneak in with invisibility runes? Or we all try to sneak in behind someone?"
"I'm no computer whiz either, but I guess it's worth a shot. I could go in, make a distraction and then run out. No way they could catch me." Caio says, clearly not thrilled with the prospect but going along with it.
"I can be awfully distracting... but I'm definitely not as fast as Caio, and I can be sneaky when I need to be. Let's do it!"
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Eshuvenniel Kazander Ravid,Valor Bard and Acolyte of the Goddess of Luck Caradoc Langham, Halfling Rogue - Lost Magics - Epic of Pre-made Proportions! I'm not looking for heaven or hell... just someone to listen to stories I tell...
The headquarters for the police in St. Petersburg is located in the Frunzensky district, a predominantly mundane area in the south-end of the city, not directly claimed by any of the various factions of the shadow world. It's about an hour's journey on the metro, and by the time the shadowhunters have got themselves out the door and on a train it's already late in the morning. Any commuters are long gone and the metro is relatively empty.
As the mismatched foursome lounge about the cheap plastic seats, trying to avoid shards of broken glass, they notice a group of gothic-clothed youths watching them with dark eyes.
Nikolai turns and openly watches them, displaying no concern as he does. After a moment, he offers a disarming smile and a friendly wave. One thing he'd learned is that folks trying to be intimidating sometimes couldn't figure out how to react to a friendly wave... It messed with their OODA loop and made for a fun time!
Ling looks a little closer at the group, Shit. Vampires. When Nikolai waves at them, she sinks a little further into her seat, as if trying to hide behind him. Displaying none of her usual bravado, she pretends to busy herself with her phone, despite the lack of reception down in the metro. She continues to watch the group out of the corner of her eye and tries to say as nonchalantly as possible: "Do you always have to make friends with random people on the metro, Nikolai?"
In unison, the watchers return Nikolai's smile, each of them cracking a broad grin that reveals pearly white fangs that glisten in the fluorescent light of the metro. One of them leans forward and murmurs something to another. He tilts his head and looks at Ling with curiosity.
"So far from home, little nephilim?" He croons in a sing-song voice. "Are you sure you can last until you get home?"
Caio gives an incredulous look at the boy, not understanding or caring what the seemingly pointed jab meant. "So far from the strip mall where you bought those tacky clothes little bat. Watch your mouth." he spits back
Eshuvenniel Kazander Ravid,Valor Bard and Acolyte of the Goddess of Luck Caradoc Langham, Halfling Rogue - Lost Magics - Epic of Pre-made Proportions! I'm not looking for heaven or hell... just someone to listen to stories I tell...
Nikolai recognises this vampire and recalls a name mentioned to him by acquaintances. Valentin. A rather unfortunate name in the shadow world, depending on who you associate with. Relatively new in the St. Petersburg downworlder scene, Valentin has been making something of a name for himself. He sounds like a troublemaker.
"Oh?" he says, opening his mouth in mock shock and placing a hand on his chest as he stands. "You don't like my clothes?" the vampire asks, with a flourish of his trench coat.
Nikolai nods to Alexi and smiles as he approaches his Shadowhunter companions. "Yes, breakfast sounds wonderful. I didn't have much time to eat before rushing over." He takes the staff and looks it over briefly, nodding to Caio in appreciation. "Thank you, Caio. I'm quite interested to look it over myself. Let us get somewhere quieter and talk. I'll need about 10 minutes to examine the staff closer."
Valaith "Rimehand" Kalukavi - Chronicles of Arden
Ling saunters back inside, with everyone in tow. In the entrance hall, she hooks her arm into Alaris' and says: "Lets give those two and their staff some privacy and raid the kitchen, what do you think?" As she drags Alaris off, she shouts over her shoulder: "We'll be in the library once you're done checking out Caio's rod, have fun!" She giggles and heads for the kitchen.
Having successfully cleared the kitchen of any leftover pastries and croissants, Ling and Alaris have set themselves in the library. Lounging in the old-fashioned armchair by the "aquatic creatures" section, Ling waits for Caio and Nikolai to arrive as she munches on her third croissant this morning. Between bites, she asks Alaris: "So I've been thinking. Since mundanes were murdered, the mundane police might have some information in their files that we could use. Maybe a little stealth mission to see what they've got? The werewolves have already shared what they know, so unless we want to go to the Council, that only leaves the blood suckers to ask..." She takes another bite, "mmamd wou wnow how I pheel about those."
Caio plops down and grabs a pastry as well. "I mean, we know where they're hiding. Why don't we just go ask them themselves? The cops are incompetent and the vampires... well we know how you feel about them." he says before taking a massive bite of flaky bread and sugar.
Chronicles of Arden: Sheercleft - Vark Galestone | Half-Orc | Storm Sorcerer
Chronicles of Arden: Hunters - Caio Cypherien | Shadar-Kai | Inquisitor Ranger
Ling, mouth full of croissant, gives Caio an incredulous look. She swallows and asks: "You want to go and confront a group of WARLOCKS? With what backup?" With a grin, she adds, "I know I'm good, but I'm not THAT good. I mean, if Nikolai turned on us, I think we'd be kinda screwed, you know. And any more than two..." She is silent for a while as she ponders the idea. "I've never fought a warlock, only beside them. Have you?"
"Can Nikolai do some computer wizardry and find out what the police have learned?"
Eshuvenniel Kazander Ravid, Valor Bard and Acolyte of the Goddess of Luck
Caradoc Langham, Halfling Rogue - Lost Magics - Epic of Pre-made Proportions!
I'm not looking for heaven or hell... just someone to listen to stories I tell...
"I... well no I haven't. I'm just saying I don't think the cops or vampires would be much help." he turns to Nikolai. "What about a double agent tactic? Nikolai could give us a direct in."
Chronicles of Arden: Sheercleft - Vark Galestone | Half-Orc | Storm Sorcerer
Chronicles of Arden: Hunters - Caio Cypherien | Shadar-Kai | Inquisitor Ranger
While the others discuss their options, Nikolai lays out the staff onto the table in front of him. He removes the tarot deck from the leather shoulder-holster and spreads the cards around the staff in an oblong circle, slowly and methodically. First he removes the Suit of Swords; placing the Ace, Page, and King. Then comes the Eight of Pentacle. And lastly comes the Major Arcana; The Magician, The High Priestess, The Hermit, The Tower... and lastly The Chariot. As he places each card down, face-up his fingertip linger upon them and it almost seems as if the images upon the cards shift and move with a purpose just briefly. Once the array is complete, he places his hand upon the staff and his eyes change to their natural pale white as if he had no pupils or iris. Nikolai stares ahead for a few moments as the images upon the cards shift once more and the staff glows briefly. Its hard to tell, but it seems as is he was not even breathing.
The glow dissipates and the cards become inert once more as Nikolai takes a deep breath through his nostrils and the color appears in his eyes again. He looks at the others with a bemused smile. "This staff is... interesting. You can use it to create any sort of avian noise you wish a few times per day. So, what have you decided?"
Valaith "Rimehand" Kalukavi - Chronicles of Arden
Ling rolls her eyes at Nikolai: "A bird staff? Make it your new alarm clock. And get with it! Can you do any... computer magic stuff to find out what the police know?" When she hears Caio's suggestion, her eyes light up: "Scratch that, I love the idea of a double agent! Do you think that would work? You going in and seeing what you can find out at the cemetery, warlock to warlock? Caio's right, the vampires probably won't be very helpful." Ling leans back and stretches, patting some croissant crumbs of her clothes. "Going into the police station all glamoured up should also work. I'm not great with mundane computers though."
Nikolai laughs at Ling's eyeroll as he takes a croissant and munches on it thoughtfully. "That's not a bad idea. Although I think it's pretty well known that I'm working with The Clave. We will need to come up with a good reason to make them believe me to be coming over to their side in this instance." He rubs his chin as he ponders. "Perhaps we could bring Alexi in on this. Have the werewolves begin spreading rumors that they located information that the Bastards have an insider working within The Clave that seems to point towards me. We can feint some sort of falling out between us, which would possibly give me the credence to seek them out. Possibly for protection."
"They do owe us for saving their skins, several times."
Valaith "Rimehand" Kalukavi - Chronicles of Arden
"I like that plan, but it might take a while... and I don't want to be sitting around twiddling my thumbs. Or worse, be given cleaning duties or something." She scowls at the thought. "How about you get in contact with Alexi and we check out the police station anyway, in the meantime?" She looks at Alaris and Caio, excited to be doing an undercover mission herself. "One of us could distract them and the others sneak in with invisibility runes? Or we all try to sneak in behind someone?"
"I'm no computer whiz either, but I guess it's worth a shot. I could go in, make a distraction and then run out. No way they could catch me." Caio says, clearly not thrilled with the prospect but going along with it.
Chronicles of Arden: Sheercleft - Vark Galestone | Half-Orc | Storm Sorcerer
Chronicles of Arden: Hunters - Caio Cypherien | Shadar-Kai | Inquisitor Ranger
"I can be awfully distracting... but I'm definitely not as fast as Caio, and I can be sneaky when I need to be. Let's do it!"
Eshuvenniel Kazander Ravid, Valor Bard and Acolyte of the Goddess of Luck
Caradoc Langham, Halfling Rogue - Lost Magics - Epic of Pre-made Proportions!
I'm not looking for heaven or hell... just someone to listen to stories I tell...
The headquarters for the police in St. Petersburg is located in the Frunzensky district, a predominantly mundane area in the south-end of the city, not directly claimed by any of the various factions of the shadow world. It's about an hour's journey on the metro, and by the time the shadowhunters have got themselves out the door and on a train it's already late in the morning. Any commuters are long gone and the metro is relatively empty.
As the mismatched foursome lounge about the cheap plastic seats, trying to avoid shards of broken glass, they notice a group of gothic-clothed youths watching them with dark eyes.
The Chronicles of Arden: Sheercleft - DM for Aiden, Bründir, Jex, Thurston, Valaith and Vark
The Chronicles of Arden: Hunters - DM for Alaris, Astrid, Caio and Shiva
Nikolai turns and openly watches them, displaying no concern as he does. After a moment, he offers a disarming smile and a friendly wave. One thing he'd learned is that folks trying to be intimidating sometimes couldn't figure out how to react to a friendly wave... It messed with their OODA loop and made for a fun time!
Valaith "Rimehand" Kalukavi - Chronicles of Arden
Ling looks a little closer at the group, Shit. Vampires. When Nikolai waves at them, she sinks a little further into her seat, as if trying to hide behind him. Displaying none of her usual bravado, she pretends to busy herself with her phone, despite the lack of reception down in the metro. She continues to watch the group out of the corner of her eye and tries to say as nonchalantly as possible: "Do you always have to make friends with random people on the metro, Nikolai?"
In unison, the watchers return Nikolai's smile, each of them cracking a broad grin that reveals pearly white fangs that glisten in the fluorescent light of the metro. One of them leans forward and murmurs something to another. He tilts his head and looks at Ling with curiosity.
"So far from home, little nephilim?" He croons in a sing-song voice. "Are you sure you can last until you get home?"
The rest of his friends cackle hysterically.
The Chronicles of Arden: Sheercleft - DM for Aiden, Bründir, Jex, Thurston, Valaith and Vark
The Chronicles of Arden: Hunters - DM for Alaris, Astrid, Caio and Shiva
Caio gives an incredulous look at the boy, not understanding or caring what the seemingly pointed jab meant. "So far from the strip mall where you bought those tacky clothes little bat. Watch your mouth." he spits back
Chronicles of Arden: Sheercleft - Vark Galestone | Half-Orc | Storm Sorcerer
Chronicles of Arden: Hunters - Caio Cypherien | Shadar-Kai | Inquisitor Ranger
Alaris yawns.
Eshuvenniel Kazander Ravid, Valor Bard and Acolyte of the Goddess of Luck
Caradoc Langham, Halfling Rogue - Lost Magics - Epic of Pre-made Proportions!
I'm not looking for heaven or hell... just someone to listen to stories I tell...
Nikolai recognises this vampire and recalls a name mentioned to him by acquaintances. Valentin. A rather unfortunate name in the shadow world, depending on who you associate with. Relatively new in the St. Petersburg downworlder scene, Valentin has been making something of a name for himself. He sounds like a troublemaker.
"Oh?" he says, opening his mouth in mock shock and placing a hand on his chest as he stands. "You don't like my clothes?" the vampire asks, with a flourish of his trench coat.
"Not enough gimp-chic for you, angel boy?"
Valentin's cronies s****** amongst themselves behind him.
The Chronicles of Arden: Sheercleft - DM for Aiden, Bründir, Jex, Thurston, Valaith and Vark
The Chronicles of Arden: Hunters - DM for Alaris, Astrid, Caio and Shiva