Roleplay

Majkku sat on a seat the was close to the door, as an extra precaution. He hoped that nothing would happen, but you can never be too cautious. How does she know who we are? Majkku thought. I’m guessing she sent the notes, but there was no mention of our name in it. Does she— He took a shaking breath in. Does she know that I’m not human? The sparrow, who he dubbed Kairo after she brought him countless gears and springs from who knows where, chirped quietly and nuzzled his hand. She’s going to be the downfall of me one day. Majkku thought. Most humans didn’t tame birds, at least not that he knew of. Then again, most people didn’t know of fu dogs. “H-H-How...” Majkku started shuddering as soon as he started speaking, it was embarrassing “H-How do y-you k-know w-who we a-a-are?” He finally got out. Introductions could wait, how did this strange girl find out about them?

Another person sidled up to the group at some point, slipping through the open doorway and acting as though he'd been there all along. Jarin took in his pale hair and complexion, startled; his eyes didn't miss much, trained by the high stakes of Harvesting. He was surprised to have missed the man's entrance.

The young woman led them to a sitting room with a perfect set of six chairs pre-positioned. Another woman sipping from a fine teacup was already seated; the young lady sat neatly next to her.

"I think we should start with introductions," she said. "I know who you all are, of course, but it will be less awkward if you introduce yourselves. My name is Aiki Velna, and this is Lydia."

Jarin absorbed this with little surprise - she had to know who they were to send the notes out, obviously. The idea was still somewhat unsettling. Hat girl sat on the very edge of one seat and began aggressively staring into Mistress Velna's eyes, not even speaking. Jarin felt his brows rise.

The boy sat close to the door and seemed to have some kind of breakdown. Keeping an eye on this, he took a seat. The guy's bird chirped and cheered him enough that he was able to stammer out a question.

“H-H-How...H-How do y-you k-know w-who we a-a-are?”

It wouldn't have occurred to Jarin to ask; his was a name in many mouths. Being found and offered compensation for some kind of work wasn't unusual to him. Though for someone who didn't make a point to network that way, he could see how it could be alarming. The better question in his mind would have been: What's the reward, and what will you have me do for it?

Ah, well. He held his silence, mildly curious. Maybe Mistress Velna would reveal some information about these people.

Thankfully, no one mentioned Vanir’s late arrival; in fact, he wondered if a couple of them had even noticed that he was a newcomer. If they didn’t, well, that would save him the embarrassment of admitting he was late and explaining his reasoning. Then again, even if they did ask, he probably only would have responded with a short word or two. There was rarely any need to waste time on explanations, although for some reason the general population didn’t seem to understand that.

Vanir silently followed the stranger through the manor, noting the subtle opulence that surrounded him. He’d never been anywhere this sophisticated before. Soon enough, they came upon a formal sitting room with chairs already prepared, and a woman waiting for them. She introduced herself as a Velna, which he had expected. Now that he had confirmation that she was a resident of this household, if not the head, he reasoned that she wouldn’t want her own dignity stained by a filthy farm boy, so he decided to sit directly opposite from her to be as far apart as possible.

The thing that caught him off guard about this place wasn’t the strangers around him, or the luxurious decorations. It was the chairs. Vanir was barely able to keep his expression impassive as he sat down on his chosen seat. It surprised him just how comfortable it was. He was used to sitting on hay bales, or leaning precariously on a wooden stool and hoping that it wouldn’t crack under his weight. If the rich were separated from the poor down to the level of what chair they purchased, he somehow felt even more motivated to move away from the farm and discover what all he’d missed his entire life.

The thought of moving away from his home snapped him back to his present reality right as Black Hair stammered out some form of response. While he hadn’t exactly been paying close attention, he was pretty sure that the woman had asked for introductions, and yet he hadn’t heard a single soul say their name. Perhaps they all had a no-nonsense attitude like himself, but he found himself doubting that Black Hair did. If he could stutter out a question on how she knew who he was, couldn’t he at least say his own name?

Hiding his annoyance, Vanir cleared his throat to try and draw attention away from the boy with fluffy hair and towards himself. “You may call me Vanir,” he said clearly, his accent shining through. He turned his head to look at Aiki. Although he hadn’t needed to use them at the farm, he did have manners, and now seemed to be the time to put them to good use. “Forgive my directness, Madam, but if possible, I would suggest that we save introductions for later, and simply get to the point now. I am eager to know what it is you called us here for, as I’m sure everyone else in this room is as well.” He was tempted to give Black Hair a look to keep him from interrupting and asking any more questions, but he kept his face neutral and looked straight at the woman across from him.

Aiki smiled.
"In answer to your question, Majkku," she said pointedly, "Do you think I wouldn't do my research before sending for you all? I wouldn't contact just anyone. As to why you are here, I have a job for you to do. Lydia, if you please?"
Lydia waved her hand, and created an illusion that depicted two objects. One was a thick, well-made spellbook with a turquoise gem embedded in the cover, and the other was a gold necklace with a ruby pendant.
"These are the objects I would like you to acquire. They are currently in the possession of a Mister Davian Whiteridge. He is an avid collector of all things magical, and you should be able to, with enough convincing, get him to relinquish his claim to these objects. And, if all else fails, you can always steal them. But I think that between the four of you there's enough magic to at least get him interested. Now, do you have any other questions?"

"Are we allowed to-if the situation calls for it-get violent?"
There was an odd gleam in Wolfgang's red eyes. she smiled wolfishly, showing off too many teeth.

Majkku panicked when Aiki said his name. I don’t think anyone but the people in my village knew my name, unless if I slipped up when I was younger... He thought, beginning to tremble unconsciously. The illusion with the objects appeared, what they were looking for. At the mention of magic Majkku’s heart stopped for a second. I-I don’t think I’ve used magic outside the village... He thought, turning pale. How does she know? What does her assistant know? How does she know everything! "Are we allowed to-if the situation calls for it-get violent?" the girl with the cap said, smiling. All this did was make Majkku even more pale. As for more questions, Majkku’s mind raced with them. Did Aiki have magic? Why did you call for us specifically? Is there a chance we could die? How long will this take? What is so important about these items? Majkku day on silence for a minuet, trying to collect his thoughts. He finally picked a question, “I-Is...” he trailed off, almost not wanting to ask it, but he knew he should. “I-Is there a c-chance we could d-die?”

Sneaky Guy cleared his throat and introduced himself as Vanir. He politely but firmly directed the conversation to the subject of why they'd been called to the Manor, his rich, accented voice easily breezing past Bird Boy's question. Mistress Velna smiled. Jarin got the feeling she'd been waiting for the both of them to ask exactly that.

"In answer to your question, Majkku," she said pointedly, "Do you think I wouldn't do my research before sending for you all? I wouldn't contact just anyone. As to why you are here, I have a job for you to do. Lydia, if you please?"

Bird Boy - Majkku, apparently - got that nervous look on his face again. He started shaking lightly. Beside Mistress Velna, Lydia casually revealed that she carried magic with a wave of her hand. Jarin watched with interest as two expensive-looking objects materialized in the air: one was an old but sturdy-seeming blue book with a turquoise gem embedded in the cover; the other a solid, heavy-looking gold necklace with a ruby pendant.

Mistress Velna explained the relevance of the items and who currently possessed them. Jarin blinked slowly, sifting through everything she’d said. The mention of Whiteridge made him grimace lightly - the two of them had what could be called an unfortunate history - though her clear approval of theft relaxed him slightly. Some clients had very specific ideas on how things needed to be done; it was gratifying to be relieved of that pressure.

More importantly, though…“I think between the four of you there’s enough magic,” she'd said. Jarin surveyed the three others with new regard. If everyone in this room but him possessed magic, with the possible exception of Mistress Velna herself, the situation he found himself in was much more dangerous than Jarin had anticipated.

"Are we allowed to—if the situation calls for it—get violent?" Hat Girl asked.

Her lips parted around a sharp, eager-looking smile. Jarin studied the anticipatory glint of her strange red eyes and made a note to keep an eye on her. He'd never appreciated bloodlust in a person.

Majkku tried to speak, breaking Jarin from his thoughts. The words died in his throat and he tried again. Eventually he was able to ask, “I-Is there a c-chance we could d-die?”

Dismissing this concern - the answer was yes, obviously, as it always was on jobs with high rewards - Jarin decided to cast a line and see what information he could fish up. He faced the Mistress of the Manor and broke his silence as politely as he knew how.

"Mistress Velna, I don't mean to question you, but wouldn't be better to give this task to a single experienced person? Four seems...excessive. Especially if all that's required is getting two items."

Vanir watched, satisfied, as Aiki moved away from introductions and focused on the reason they were all here. The way she said Majkku and directed it at Black Hair led him to believe that it was his name, so he took mental note of it. Now he knew Aiki, Lydia, and Majkku. He could ask the others for their names later as well, but maybe if he just waited they would be revealed.

While he was watching the two women the entire time, his interest spiked when Lydia created two seamless illusions. He may have subconsciously shifted forward slightly, but he quickly shifted to the side as well to make it look like he was just adjusting his seating position. For as much as he’d read about it in books, he’d never seen magic with his own eyes. Innate magic, which is what he assumed the girl was using, was said to be incredibly rare. His gaze switched from watching her to studying her illusions, barely keeping his awe hidden.

Something that struck Vanir as odd was how Lydia said that she was sure they could get this “Davian” to listen. Magic? He’d just been staring at her own illusions in concealed wonder, and now she just drops the fact that someone else, maybe even everyone else in this room had magic as well? White Hair gave no visible reaction to this fact, other than suddenly grinning wolfishly and asking a strange question. It was possible that she wasn’t surprised by magic users because she was one herself, and he made sure to remember that.

Majkku and Chestnut Hair, on the other hand, were harder to read. The former seemed to become impossibly pale, his freckles serving as a striking contrast to show how white his skin had blanched. He was clearly afraid, although Vanir couldn’t tell if it was because he was a secret magic user or because he was now scared of everyone else in the group. It also could have been both, but Vanir didn’t want to jump to conclusions. Chestnut Hair also gave some form of reaction, if only by scanning the rest of the group. Vanir couldn’t help but notice how similar it was to the way he observed every new situation himself. It was a little unnerving to see that fact reflected in someone else. Since his reaction was based purely on watching others and not revealing anything about himself, he couldn’t rule him out as another magic user. Not yet.

This time, all three of them asked new questions, and Vanir barely contained his disappointment. They were getting nowhere. While the first and last questions actually raised good points that he had admittedly thought to himself, he couldn’t help but think that the inquiry on the mission’s danger was a little stupid. “Yes, there is a chance we could die,” he told Majkku bluntly. “There’s always a chance we could die. My horse could have thrown me off his back and smashed my skull in on the way here. This entire mission could be a trap to lure us in and kill us, for whatever reason. I could pull out my bow and shoot an arrow into your throat, if I so desired. The threat of imminent demise isn’t exactly a new development.”

Despite how callously he disregarded Majkku’s question, he fell silent afterwards instead of responding to the others as well. The first one he probably could have answered on his own - technically, you’re allowed to do anything as long as you don’t get caught, especially if you received specific instructions to steal if necessary - but he refrained from doing so in order to hear Aiki’s take. Chestnut Hair’s question, contrastingly, was something that he was honestly drawing a blank on. Curious as to how the head of their little operation would respond, Vanir settled back into his chair and made no further comments, returning his attention to memorizing every detail about the illusions.

"Wolfgang, for your question, yes, if you must you can use force. As for why I chose four people instead of just one, I tried to account for skills that could be useful for any course of action. All four of you, along with Lydia as well, should be able to acquire these items through any means. And while there are only two of them, they are very dear to me and I would like to be sure they will make it back in one piece," Aiki responded.
"I will be able to provide you with anything you may need, as long as it's not too outrageous."

Wolf looked back around at her supposed companions. They didn't look particularly impressive, except maybe the shifty-looking man with long braided hair. She could tell by their scent that only two of them were human; one smelled too earthy and furry to not be. She couldn't identify what he was, though. there was a hint of wet dog, but none of the brimstone and ash that other hellhounds would have. She shook it off and decided to wait and see. This human guise was getting itchy, and she was beginning to hate keeping it up.
"Well, you all know my name now, then. As she said, I'm Wolfgang. Yes, I know that's a man's name. No, I am not a man. No, i will not elaborate on that."