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 Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2008 8:06 pm
"You want me to be level with you? As you wish, male." She spat on the ground then smacked him smartly across the face with an open heavy hand.
"Now, I may be without eyes, but that damn well doesn't mean I can't see. And I damn well won't take crap from a male who hides behind a safety blanket!"
She itched to tear the cloak off of his head, but held herself back, only touching the cloak's edge as though she knew what he was hiding.
"If you don't want your secret revealed, you'd better be a little more forthcoming with the head cleric of the House Fi'reth 'ul. If you wish for some compensation for your troubles, you'll get it. Now, if you'd like to discuss the job and what your compensation will be further, it's time we find a more secret spot for the discussion, understood?" She asked, moving to touch her sword's hilt in a menacingly way.
Now it was true that she wasn't an expert with the sword, but she knew several maneuvers that would make it appear that she was a master. She normally didn't resort to using it, but when she needed to use a bluff, it was a great tool to use. Most times males would back down at the sight of it, since it was well worn and appeared to have been made so by her hand. If a male didn't back down, she would use one of the maneuvers that she had learned from the males of her House, who were quite the warriors.
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Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2008 8:33 pm
Mikaril bit his lip as he felt the smack and the resulting sting it left on his cheek, unwilling to cry out or acknowledge that it had hurt. He squashed the juvenile urge to declare that his hood was no security blanket, but he had more difficulty refraining from demanding that she take her claw off of his hood.
He still wasn't entirely convinced that this female who saw without eyes was a head cleric (surely she would have been able to return her eyes or SOMETHING if she were), and if she was that powerful why would she need a common thief's help? But it didn't take any special feat to just pull back his hood and reveal his.........A thought suddenly occured to him, and almost caused him to laugh aloud. He felt like such an idiot. The solution was right in front of him; he could still protect himself should the impertinent female try anything.
His confindence suddenly bolstered, he forced himself to look into Imordana's eyeholes. "And what makes you so sure I HAVE a secret, Miss Head Cleric?" He noted the movement down near the sword, and responded by moving to brush his fingers lightly over his own dagger.
"In case you aren't aware of it, you're being clear, but not level. I'm willing to take a job, but when things don't add up, it's a matter of basic survival to question." He wasn't sure of the extent of the female's skill with the blade, but he could always use his backup idea and make a swift exit if things got ugly.
((He's not making it easy, is he? XD))
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Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2008 8:46 pm
(((NO HE ISN'T! GOSH DARNIT! GRRR))))
"All right." Imordana replied, her frustration mounting at this male's disregard for his own apparent safety. "If you really want to know I'll tell you. My Matron has placed a bond spell on me and she's dying. In order to pay for the things I need to cure her I have to get money from the House's treasury. She's gone mad and posted guards as well as spells to keep people out of it. If money goes missing, she will automatically assume it's me, because she's paranoid out the a**. I need you," here she poked him in the stomach with her finger and then went on. "To make it look like an outside job. Otherwise she will use the damn bond spell against me. I doubt you know the pain and suffering a mad woman will impose on a person. I will double your asking price, I'll help you negate any spell that I can, just help me."
Imordana really hated asking for help, and usually didn't resort to it unless the person was deemed of little or no threat to her. And Mikaril seemed to be of no real threat, or he would have already struck at her and went on his merry way to pillage once more. Perhaps...being outright level, since that's what he had asked for would get him to actually assent to assisting her with her problem.
"And if you must know, Lloth deemed that I lose my eyes but keep my sight. I've tried many different ways to restore my eyes, but Lloth doesn't seem to want me to have eyes. Perhaps it's her way of letting me know I still haven't regain her full favor. And while, my full powers as a cleric haven't been restored, Lloth has let me keep some of them. Some of the more...inventive and resourceful ones."
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Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2008 9:16 pm
As Mikaril listened, his eyes grew wider and wider, and when she had finished, he sighed and smiled. "See, that wasn't so hard, was it? It makes a lot more sense now, and I at least have an idea of what I'm up against." He still had no way of knowing whether or not this outlandish story was true, but he thought that it seemed just a little too crazy to be a fabrication; sometimes the truth could be a whole lot stranger than any tall tale.
He cleared his throat. "I may not know much about madness, but I do know some of pain and suffering. I'll help you." That was all he would say at this point, seeing as despite all the conversation that had just passed between them, they hadn't really made any progress toward a safer place to discuss the robbery of a House.
"We need to find someplace isolated to hammer out the finer details; I don't trust most of the public gathering places. How about we find a cave near the outskirts? The only things hearing us there would be elementals, and in the unlikely event any drow found us, we could always.....make something up." He felt a delicate flush creep into his face; he really couldn't stand his society in general's passion for, well, passion.
He assumed a meek posture and gestured for Imordana to lead. He couldn't help but grin as he thought that way back when he had first decided to become a thief, he would have had no need to playact being meek. He supposed that being a thief and taking so many risks had done something to him.
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Posted: Thu Sep 25, 2008 11:19 am
Imordana's face narrowed at the condescending tone he replied with.
"See, that wasn't so hard was it? It makes a lot more sense now, and I at least have an idea of what I'm up against."
She itched to smack him again, but held herself back until he was done with saying exactly what she had been saying before. Males were odd at times, it was as if they had to think it was their idea or they wouldn't go along with it. This aspect of a male's reasoning got on Imordana's nerves the most. Half the time she wished she could strangle them whenever they reinterated something she had already said. It was enough to cause any female to have murderous thoughts.
When the male suddenly sympathized with her and assented to helping, Imordana was struck by a strange thought. Perhaps males were the way they were, suspicious and weary of females and those in higher positions because they were dwelt with so harshly. She pondered this for a moment. It was something to think about, and perhaps figure out a different way in which to deal with them.
"I agree, public places are too noisy as well as too open. I know of a cave where we can discuss the finer details of the job." She replied, noticing a flush coming over the male's face. "I doubt any other drow will find us where we'll be, but in any likely hood that we are, don't worry about that. I'll take care of it.
Imordana took the male's cue and turned to lead him out of the alleyway. She led him through several back streets, over walls, through abandoned buildings and then outside the city of Brundag, and out into the rocky landscapes surrounding the city. After traversing over the rocky, loose ground, slipping several times on the sliding rocks, she spotted the tell tale sign of her marker among some larger rocks. She made her way over to the marker, which was invisible to anyone but her, and walked right through the rocks and into the hidden cave that she had cast an illusion on to prevent intruders to her secret lair.
Inside her secret lair, she lit several candles and prepared a small fire in which to warm water for tea. Then she took a precursory glance over her meager collection of spell books, cleric items, and the spell bottles which lined the top enclave which she used as a bookshelf. Not really anything that might draw the thief's attentions away from what they would discuss, which was good. She didn't need his attention wavering from what the decisions that they would be making. She pulled out her scrying bowl, and readied it in preparation for when Dra'nahfiel might contact her.
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Posted: Thu Sep 25, 2008 9:25 pm
Mikaril had found himself growing more and more uncomfortable as they had entered the outskirts and begun to make their way through he surrounding terrain. He wasn't sure if this counted as inside the city to his sister's tracking spell, but he knew from the way he felt that he was pushing it. Pain was an extra ingredient that his sister loved putting into her spells; if it could hurt in any way, she would make it so. Right now he could feel the spell prickling him like he had drow on all sides of him poking him with needles.
Hoping his sister was letting her vigilance down just this once, he tried his best to ignore the feeling and look around the cave. It reminded him a lot of his own lair, save that his had trinkets instead of spell bottles. And a few......other things. He found himself missing it anew; with his family always knowing how close he was, it had become so much harder to escape to. Came from having it right under their collective noses.
He squinted at the pinpoints of light from the candles and focused on Imordana and her scrying bowl. He remembered a time when he had filched a scrying bowl; one of his most daring attempts at filching a chaotic item, especially since it had been before he had acquired his satchel. Despite it being one of the lowest houses in the city, he had narrowly missed several nasty spells and he still had a mark just below his elbow where a lowly soldier had gotten lucky; he had never known until then just how white bones were.
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Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 11:15 am
"Is that tracking spell bothering you?" Imordana asked, not looking up from what she was doing.
She hadn't felt the spell before when he had been inside the city but now that they were out in the outskirts, she could feel it as it started acting up. Imordana had never heard of a drow who could feel the tracking spell of before, it had been new to here when she had first experienced it. She supposed it was some odd side affect of one of the multiple spells she had tried to use to restore her eyes. She had been pretty desperate those first couple of months after she had lost her eyes and hadn't really put much thought or foresight in what might happen from the spells she was using at the time. However, it had come in handy to know when other people had enchantments or spells on them, so that she had a way of bargaining with them.
"We may as well get to business and figure out all the details, so you don't have to deal with the tracking spell any longer than is necessary. Now, what type of tea are you partial to? I've got a green one, a sort of blueish gray one that tastes sweet, and some tangy spicy tea." She said, eyeing several jars off to the side of where the water had come to a boil over her small fire. "Tea helps me plan out jobs better, it helps with focusing and getting every little detail planned. Especially when there may be complications...though I doubt that there will be, what with Gir'bran'ur watching the treasury tonight. He's easily enough distracted. Oh and don't you worry about that, I'll deal with him. All you'll have to do is get in and grab the money that I'll be 'paying' you as well as the money I need for my problem."
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Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 6:35 pm
Mikaril shrugged at the question, not really wanting to say anything on the subject. It was bothering him alright, but he saw no real reason to disclose it. Even if the female could do something about it, which he doubted despite her finesse with spells, Haellara would know if her spell was negated and that would mean the worst trouble the next time he returned home.
He blinked as he was offered tea and found himself faced with a dilemma. He usually never took anything a potential client offered, especially drink, knowing full well what a little poison or something equally hideous would do. Then again, to refuse the female would indicate an insult, and he was a very long way from forgetting his becoming one with the stone around him. He pondered, and putting what little he knew about teas to use. "I think I'll try the green, but a small cup; I don't drink it often and I wish to remain vigilant if I'm to pull a successful heist." That, he added silently, and the mild taste of green tea would have a hard time hiding any foreign substance should she choose for whatever reason to slip any inside his cup. One can never be too careful with females.
That decided, he assumed a thoughtful expression. "Physical sneakthievery is easy enough; it's the spells that worry me a touch. I have the means to negate or bypass simple ones, but if this matron is as paranoid as you say, it's possible she might have increased the defences. Do you know if she has since then? Also, how much treasure were you planning on 'borrowing'? I may have to commandeer something other than my satchel if it's much more than a handful of coins."
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Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 6:58 pm
"Nice choice," Imordana said as she measured the green tea leaves into the kettle and left them to set. The green tea had been her first choice because though it was mild, it also had enough kick to get the wheels in her head turning, but not too much that it would keep her up for the rest of the day. Some of the other teas, of which she stayed away from tended to give her awful headaches as well. And that wouldn't do.
"I imagine her spells are a bit on the strange side, seeing as her condition has reduced her to spouting tirades of invasions from the Boneyard and the deeper caverns of the Underdark. I've already figured out how to tweak some of them so you'll be able to get in, it's just the getting out that needs working. I'll have to figure them out before I have you go in, otherwise it wouldn't be pretty. I'm guessing..." Here she paused screwing her face up trying to figure out a sum that she might need. "at least a pouch or two. I did say I would double your asking price. Come to think about it, you never mentioned a price." She moved back to the kettle, fished out the leaves, and poured two mugs of tea, immediately handing him one of them, while taking a sip out of her own. She stood there sipping her tea waiting for him to name is price. She didn't really care what price he asked for, seeing as the House's treasury had more than enough to spare. She really wanted to know so she would get a feel for how good a thief he was. If his price was high, then she knew he wasn't as amateurish as he looked, and if his price was low, well then she'd have more work to do than she thought. She hoped it was the former. Hopefully this thief was competent enough to not need too much of her help, otherwise she may have to go fishing for another thief and do something with this one. Though...since he was from one of the city's top House's she would probably have to rely on a spell to wipe his memory of ever meeting her instead of disposing of him in her normal manner.
Gods, she really didn't want to lose another spell in dealing with this thief! He was beginning to become too much trouble for her. Inwardly she sighed, wishing and hoping that Lloth wasn't against this "partnership" and wouldn't come against her mission or it would all be for nothing. She really didn't want to lose more body parts or fall further in disfavor with the goddess.
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Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 7:36 pm
Mikaril liked the feel of the tea as it warmed him; the mild taste reassured him that it was just plain tea, and it seemed to take his mind off of the nagging feeling of body-wide pins and needles that he was experiencing. But when Imordana mentioned a fee, his face became slightly grim and he set his cup down carefully.
"I know I didn't mention a price; I guess it was because I still wasn't sure if I was even going to do the job, so why bother? But now that I know...." He cleared his throat and leaned in slightly. "I do have a high standard to meet, because my matron likes to see what I bring into the treasure room. However, she doesn't know nor does she need to know that this is an unorthodox job and requires a higher fee. Half the double fee I should like in gold; I'm guessing by your estimate that would be around a pouch. But the other half, I want something else. I have a liking for unusual items, things that one usually doesn't find down here, be they trinkets or," he gestured to the still-warm pot, "delicacies. Is there anything in that treasure room of yours that would fit that description?"
He couldn't help but feel a little odd asking all of this; like asking the potential victim what all he had that would appeal to him so that he might steal it. True, his conspirator was hardly the would-be victim of this plan, but it still felt weird. Between the feelings of the spell, the tea, and the general emotion, he felt as though he was 'feeling' enough for a House.
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Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 8:45 pm
Imordana blinked. This was getting a bit weird, not to mention highly unusual.
"Well...uh..I really don't know. I can't have you taking just anything...my Matron would go ballistic if any of her "items" went missing. Other than her "items" I have no idea if any of the treasures in the House Treasury would be to your liking or not. I suppose...no you wouldn't be interested in that. Surely not." Imordana said instantly disregarding the thought that had popped into her mind the moment it did.
No one would be wanting the eyes of a fallen cleric. Surely. That would just be..revolting. At least to her. You see, after her eyes had been ripped out of her face, they had supposedly burned. Yet, Imordana could have sworn that she had heard whispering between the priestess and her Matron. And she was pretty sure that the priestess had handed over her eyes to d'Maorda as part of some bargain. Not to mention the fact that after having lost her eyes, even when d'Maorda discovered she could see despite not having eyes, she had never been allowed back in the Treasury Room. Imordana suspected that her eyes had been hidden in there amongst the treasures as a sort of prize or trophy. Which made her believe that even back then, d'Maorda had been going mad and had planned everything that had caused Imordana to fall from favor with Lloth.
It was a bit too crazy and far fetched even for her to believe. She shook her head a bit roughly, and then turned her gaze back on Mikaril with a new resolve.
"If you can find my eyes, you can have them. Though, I suppose that's probably not very unusual to you. I suppose if you had them bronzed or covered in gold, they would make an unusual item which you could sell for something."
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Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 8:20 pm
Mikaril just shrugged, as if to silently say Well, I never guaranteed an easy payment, when he cocked his head slightly at the mention of a something that he surely wouldn't be interested in. He knew that his tastes were....different from your usual drow's. Sure, he liked glitter and power, but some things he would pick over that just because it appealed to him more. He liked things that glowed, for instance, and anything that resembled a flower (unlikely as it was to find such a thing in a drow House's treasury), but of course trinkets and crystals had their appeal.
But nothing could have prepared him for what Imordana had proposed. He managed to hide the look of revulsion that threatened to appear on his face. He wasn't a ghoul, not even a gourmet cook; he couldn't do anything with a pair of eyes, even though they had to have been endowed with some sort of magic, to remain in a treasure room and not rot away. Then again, he pondered, magical eyes would be of use to somebody, even if it wasn't him, and who knows what sort of price they might fetch. At the very least he might trade them for something more to his liking.
He focused on Imordana and managed a crooked smile. "I suppose that might work; it's a bit creepy, but you do have a point with selling them off. Are you certain you don't mind me running off with them?"
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Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2008 7:37 pm
Imordana was a bit surprised when Mikaril's face stayed blank at her mention of taking her eyes. She was further amazed when he actually smiled roguishly at her. This male was certainly different than any other she had encountered in her young life. She stared at him for a few moments, thinking over what he had said.
"No I don't mind. I'm used to not having eyes now. Besides I only suspect that my Matron hide the eyes in the treasury, they may not even be there. If they are and you can find them, you're free to have them. If they aren't then I'll just have to figure something else out to give you. Wait, I do have armor that belonged to one of my dead brothers, you can have that if you'd rather. I'll even throw in some magical wards on it if you'd like." She offered, taking a long drink from her mug, placing the mug forcefully on the table after she emptied it.
"Would that be satisfactory to you?" She asked this, casting a glance over at the seer's bowl to see if Dra'nafiel had contacted her yet.
The water was still much to her irritation. Perhaps his research was taking longer than normal, which mystified her. Dra' always was quick in his research especially when he was doing it for her. She supposed he might have come up against some unseen delay, like his master making him do something for him. That was unfortunate. Pretty soon, he would be finishing his schooling and would be free from the master he served. Though..when that happened his time would be spent serving his House and his Matron, and not have any time for her at all. It was another annoyance to Imordana. She itched to somehow take Dra' away from his House, though she knew he would never leave alive. His Matron would only give him up in death and Imordana wasn't prepared to kill of Matron Ka'ikura just yet.
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Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2008 8:38 pm
Mikaril smiled again and slowly shook his head. "Thanks for the offer, but believe it or not, armor's not really my thing. I have a set already that is quite functional, albeit a little bulky, but it's only asset is protection; not really something a thief could use most effectively." His thoughts drifted to his room, where his dark teal armor lay quietly in a closet, hopefully undisturbed by anyone planning mischief. He had kept the armor in spite of it being a prompt for him to rise to the warrior's calling, though he sometimes wished he had something more flexible and light for thievery. Still, there had been times when he had been grateful to have it; feeling arrows and poison darts pinging off of the strong metal, or in the case of his most recent adventure out of Undrek'Thoz, feeling the iron grip of the fingers of a hired muscle when without the armor it would have surely and painfully doubled the amount of bones in his shoulder.
He chewed his bottom lip thoughtfully, and came to a conclusion. "How about this: if I see your eyes, fine, though come to think of it, if I take them, the theft might inadvertantly point to you, since no ordinary thief would know to take magical eyes. But if I don't see them, I'll just content myself with a trinket or two; something an ordinary thief would be more prone to take. That seems the wiser course for us both." He silently wondered if he would have enough time to give the treasure room a proper look; there was bound to be something that would catch his eye there, besides eyes.
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Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2008 9:26 pm
Imordana frowned at his assessment.
"You're right I hadn't thought about that. But the only way she'd know is if she actually survives the disease," She paused to look over at the scrying bowl almost pointedly. "hopefully Dra' will figure that out before too much longer. I suppose that would be the smartest thing...though be careful, there are some items that are triggers to traps. The best way to avoid that is to disregard anything too shiney and prominent in the room, go for items that need shining or are hidden inside of boxes."
She paused for a moment to think over what she might do to get him inside the House and distract Gir'branur from his guard duties. Getting him in wouldn't be hard she surmised since the ward spells around her room had weakened considerably. She'd be able to lower them enough so that he wouldn't trigger them and no one would be any wiser to his presence. Then there was a distraction for Gir'branur. He was an eager, almost zealous warrior and wouldn't leave his post unless he got a proposition to his liking.
Fortunately for her, she had noticed the way his eyes followed a certain House servant whenever she came into a room. All she would have to do is pay the servant or entice her into distracting Gir'branur from his guard duties. She supposed he'd spend at least ten to fifteen minutes with the girl and that would be plenty of time for Mikaril to get in and out of the treasure room without being seen or discovered.
"Okay here's the plan. You'll be coming in my bedroom window, at some late hour tonight and I'll show you the way to the treasure room, take down the wards and hopefully you can do your deed in ten to fifteen minutes. I'll have a servant girl distract Gir'branur from his duties. That will be enough time for you to do what you need to right? Tonight's not too early for you is it?"
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