Roleplay

Majkku nodded in agreement with Wolfgang. “I-It has b-been a l-long d-day, I-I would l-like to s-sleep as w-well.” He was starting to get dizzy, as the journey had taken almost a day of walking. He was worried about the objects being cursed, but that would be something to worry about tomorrow. He sleepily walked towards the door, waiting to get into the other room.

Lydia passed him a pencil and paper with a nod; Jarin thanked her, quietly, and set himself to sketching the layout of both floors in as exacting detail as he could manage.

He listened carefully to her answers as he worked. The first, he was grateful to be updated on. Whiteridge wasn't quite so paranoid last time they had...encountered one another...but in retrospect, that might actually be because of him. Jarin certainly hadn't heard of anyone breaking into Whiteridge's collection before he himself had done it.

The second answer he could have expected, though Lydia had shut Majkku down much more gently than she could have. It had taken Jarin, once young and stubborn and surprisingly hotheaded, a very long time to realize when, how, and about what he should question his employers.

He flicked a glance at the kid. He seemed too anxious to be stubborn or hotheaded, and his questions were at least intelligent, if better left in his head. He might not have to get it beaten into him even once -- but hell, Jarin would keep an eye out anyway. Whatever. They'd be staying in close quarters. It's not like it'd take a lot of effort to realize someone was going at the kid.

Just as Jarin was going to raise the question he'd been chewing on since before they'd walked in, Lydia spoke again. "He might be open to a trade for an exciting enough magical demonstration. Likely not for both, but we might be able to handle that. Just an idea."

"Is that all or can I go to bed?" Wolfgang grunted, looking agitated. He eyed her as she uncrossed her arms, but she didn't seem injured; just weirdly, worryingly uncomfortable. It was not a look he appreciated seeing on notably violent people.

Majkku nodded.

“I-It has b-been a l-long d-day, I-I would l-like to s-sleep as w-well," he stuttered, making a sleepy go for the door.

Jarin said, sharply, "Wait," but quickly evened his tone.

"Sorry. I'm tired too. But we should at least quickly discuss our individual strengths and weaknesses. All the information we know about each other has been," he paused just slightly, "piecemeal. If that's alright with everyone?"

He didn't look directly at Wolfgang, afraid in some way that eye contact on top of preventing her escape would launch her off the deep end. Instead he shifted his gaze toward the wall, where Vanir had set his back against upon entering the room.

To his own surprise, Vanir actually wasn’t that tired, but to be completely fair his horse had done almost all of today’s work for him. He personally had hardly used his own two feet. The other members of his group seemed to disagree, with everyone but Lydia mentioning their exhaustion. Ideally, this was a one time event and he wouldn’t have to deal with everyone else being tired and incompetent on a regular basis. You can’t trick people into doing your work for you if they’re taking a nap.

Jarin’s latest suggestion was a bit curious to him. He had every intention of discovering everyone’s strengths and weaknesses, but he reasoned that the best way to do that would be to sit back in silence. Ask them upfront, and they had every opportunity to lie through their teeth. Regardless, he found the chestnut haired man’s straightforwardness admirable, even if not entirely practical. He decided to humor his request, especially considering that he didn’t have anything to hide, but he doubted everyone else would give him the same treatment.

“I see no problem with that,” he replied to Jarin, looking down at him from his position on the wall. Everyone else was seated, making Vanir the tallest in the room, and he was not going to ignore the opportunity to speak to someone without craning his neck. “I am a farmer, so I know how to handle livestock and other animals. I am also agile and good with a bow. If you need any weaknesses, I offer my callous personality.” When he finished, he regarded the rest of the group with his usual neutral expression. He didn’t even mention whether or not he was magical, leaving the others to wonder if he was hiding it or if he truly was as mundane as he made himself out to be.

Lydia nodded to Wolfang and Majkku, saying
"I agree with Jarin, but if you're all really tired we can do this in the morning. It's up to you. My magic is basically that I can create illusions. I'm also quite skilled with knives, and moderately well-versed in magic lore."

Wolfgang, realizing it was her turn, tensed. A fiery blue shimmer rippled through her white hair without her noticing, and she ran her tongue over her teeth, detecting that they were getting sharper. Her glamor was definitely fraying, she needed to get out of here.
"No," she stated in a growlyer voice, starting to edge towards the door.

Majkku was jolted awake when Jarin asked about strengths and weaknesses. N-Not now. Not ever! If I open my mouth, they may figure out that I'm not human... As he was panicking Wolfgang growled "No" and edged towards the door. "C-Can I a-answer that i-in the m-morning? I-I'm t-to t-tired to t-think." It was half true, Majkku was extremely tired but he could have easily answered the question. One wrong move and I could reveal my biggest secret. Majkku stayed where he was, only he moved away from Wolfgang as she came towards the door.

“I see no problem with that,” Vanir said, face smooth. “I am a farmer, so I know how to handle livestock and other animals. I am also agile and good with a bow. If you need any weaknesses, I offer my callous personality.”

Jarin nodded, tucking that information away, though he did note Vanir hadn't mentioned having or lacking magic. His placid demeanor made him the hardest of the group to read, outside of maybe Lydia, so there was no telling either way.

Lydia spoke next. "I agree with Jarin, but if you're all really tired we can do this in the morning. It's up to you. My magic is basically that I can create illusions. I'm also quite skilled with knives, and moderately well-versed in magic lore."

Jarin nodded to her as well. A proficiency with knives indicated that she wouldn't have to be guarded in a fight, which he appreciated; he'd worked with magic users in the past who'd never bothered to learn any kind of self defense. It was a hassle.

He hadn't planned on looking at Wolfgang directly, but a strange shimmer in his peripheral jerked his gaze to her. What looked like blue fire rippled through her white hair. Jarin felt his lips part in surprise, but quickly schooled his expression.

She tongued over her teeth and said, roughly, "No."

Majkku shifted away from her as she edged closer to the door, putting in his own hesitant answer. "C-Can I a-answer that i-in the m-morning? I-I'm t-to t-tired to t-think."

Which was rather the point - too tired to think was also too tired to lie. Ah, well, he hadn't been expecting miracles; they didn't know one another, after all. Asking upfront had at least been worth a shot. If they proved similarly resistant tomorrow he'd have figure something out, but it was enough, for now, that Vanir and Lydia had chosen to volunteer some information.

"Alright," Jarin said, "we can discuss it then. Please keep in mind that the more information we know about one another's abilities, the better we can make plans."

He turned to Lydia. "Did you happen to glance into our other room? If not, that might be the one with three beds."

Thus far, Wolfgang was the only one hat Vanir was suspecting of witchcraft (save for Lydia, who made no effort to hide it), so he watched her with interest to see what her answer would be. A simple “no” wasn’t too surprising to him. However, what caught him off guard was the slight shimmer in her hair. It was unlike anything he had ever seen; the closest thing he could compare it to was the flickering blue at the base of a fire. Curious, he continued to observe her in case she did anything else of interest, but nothing happened. As he studied her, he could hear Majkku’s familiar stuttering in the background, but he ignored it. Again, he thought his time would be better spent observing than asking upfront, and that boy in particular didn’t strike him as a threat.

When Jarin spoke up again, Vanir turned to him with a frown. “Excuse me,” he began, looking directly at the man with chestnut hair, “but I don’t believe you said anything about yourself. Some of us have been kind enough to answer your questions, so if you don’t mind, could you perhaps return the favor?” While he wasn’t expecting anyone to be entirely truthful in this discussion, he at least wanted to hear what lies the more suspicious strangers came up with, and it seemed awfully hypocritical of Jarin to ask for their secrets and then not give any of his own. Vanir should have expected as much, but he could at least try to glean some information from the man.

Lydia tilted her head to the side.
"You know, that's entirely possible. I'll go check."
She stepped across the hall and unlocked the door to the other room. There, sure enough, was three beds.
She returned just in time to catch the tail end of Vanir's comment.
"There's three beds on the other side, she said, leaning on the doorframe."

"Oh, so this should be our room," Wolf said to Lydia. The look in her eyes said you had BETTER room with me so I can sleep without them knowing about it