You leave west limping carefully
Event Ballroom
[Comfortably cool]
The grandeur of the ballroom seems even more expansive with the
uncarpeted, polished wooden floor. Accentuating the walls, tall lengths of
red banners contribute to the warm colors, blending pleasantly with the
rich hue of the woodwork. The centerpiece of the room comes in the form of
a massive stage, dominating the entire western area. The carefully cleaned
platform provides luxurious space for dance or performance. Running
parallel to the north and south walls, elegantly skirted banquet tables
stretch across the majority of the wall space. Chairs strategically placed
nearby offer rest for those desiring it. In the northwest corner, tucked
beside the lifted stage, a set of chairs await musicians and their music.
Crystalline chandeliers hang from the ceiling with delicately tapered gold
candles casting a gentle illumination over the area below. A single
archway serves as the entrance and exit to the event room, with a single
banner hanging from the keystone embroidered with the sigil of Lithmore.
(Ballroom staff is at the ready for taking coats, cloaks and canes from
guests of the event. Some refreshments sit for the taking on the banquet
table, and plentiful wooden chairs have been arranged theatre-style to face
a plain gray-draped table at the north end of the spacious room.
On the wall behind the auction table drapes a banner proudly marked with
the Scales of Justice. )
[ Exits: east ]
A neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a blue ribbon is marked with a tag reading: SEVEN. (northern edge)
A neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a blue ribbon is marked with a tag reading: SIX. (northern edge)
A neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a pink ribbon is marked with a tag reading: FIVE. (northern edge)
A neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a blue ribbon is marked with a tag reading: FOUR. (northern edge)
A neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a pink ribbon is marked with a tag reading: THREE. (northern edge)
A neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a pink ribbon is marked with a tag reading: TWO. (northern edge)
A neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a blue ribbon is marked with a tag reading: ONE. (northern edge)
A banquet table laden with food and decorated with a rose-patterned cloth. (southeastern corner)
A table covered with glittering glasses sparkles here. (southeastern corner)
Beronica Destral is here. [App: 3]
Katarina ab Brayston is newly arrived, looking to Lei expectantly. [App: 3]
Lei stands in armor at the action table, arranging a mess of baskets. [App: 1]
A tall, muscular but lithe woman with a long black braid has arrived.
Ariel has arrived.
Beronica Destral gives a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a pink ribbon to Lei.
Lei opens a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a pink ribbon.
Katarina ab Brayston returns Lei's salute as she moves further in, nodding a couple of times before looking to each of the baskets curiously now, with a smaller crowd present than is to come in the near future.
"Thanks," is Lei's unceremonious grunt for Beronica Destral. The basket is taken, its cover pulled off, and contents given short perusal before she sets the basket to the end of the table, right in place beside number seven.
[Action: Katarina ab Brayston is casually perusing the room and its offerings.]
Lei drops a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a pink ribbon.
Ariel comes strolling into the ballroom, a crooked grin on his lips as he surveys the array of baskets. "Eight choices!" he lightly enthuses, tapping his cane thoughtfully against the ground. "Perhaps I should have been nine, hmmm? But I may be too rich for the blood of bidders."
Beth arrives from the east
Beth slows to a halt.
Beronica Destral rolls her eyes at Ariel. "Maybe, maybe not," she replies to Ariel. "It is all about how much they feel you are worth."
"Hello!" Beth chirps cheerfully, carrying a large basket in hand. "What do I do with this basket? I wonder if Lloyd's coming... he said he'd buy it."
A random passerby replies to a bit of gossip, "Damnedest thing I ever saw, I was travelling from far south. Saw some crows picking at some bodies. From the looks of them, they were bandits, could see some masks on some of the faces. There was also some broken wagon wheels. Wonder what happened there? ". [Rumor #27]
Lei is standing on attendance at the table, just now turning to cast a clammy eye over Ariel's arrival.
Katarina ab Brayston turns about on a heel as Ariel speaks up. "Baron le Orban," she greets with a touch of warmth, polite and slight curtsy offered his way. "I doubt your basket would have cost to much... Miss op le Marke, hello."
[Action: Lei stands at the auction table, looking ready to accept any late contributions.]
"Oh, Marquessa, so I'm not worth much?" Laughing, Ariel bends into a sweeping bow. "Oh, now I must beg to differ. In fact, I'm tempted to go put a basket together right now simply to prove you wrong... but I see more offerings than bidders, at the moment, so perhaps I'll keep my pride to myself." [Ariel]
"Hello!" Beth chirps over with a beam, bobbing a curtsey to Katarina ab Brayston and Ariel, waving over before she scampers up to lei, ofering out her basket. "I give this to you?"
look in basket (basket 8)
a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a pink ribbon holds:
( 2)a delicate eating chocolate in the shape of a rose
( 2)an olive-glazed clay mug of fragrant black Farin coffee
a tiny pouch of dried tea leaves
( 2)a plate of fine Tubori dumplings encasing slices of herring
( 2)a fresh leek salad accompanied by a mix of cabbage and peas
( 2)a glass of grape juice etched with vines
a tall bottle of red wine with a leaf sketched on the label
a thick winebottle with a penned label
a star-shaped periwinkle forget-me-not
a long-stemmed, creamy yellow rose
look in 2.basket (basket 7)
a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a blue ribbon holds:
a discount voucher for Stone Mountain Crafts
a charming silver writing box with hand-painted wood panels
a white carrier dove in a simple cage
( 5)an envelope made from crisp, white vellum
( 5)a full sheet of fine, white vellum
look in 3.basket (basket 6)
a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a blue ribbon holds:
( 2)a fresh, gourmet apple pie
( 4)a bottle of Apple Pyre brandy
( 3)a week's worth of traveler's rations
( 2)a clump of coamjar
look in 4.basket (basket 5)
a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a pink ribbon holds:
a swashbuckling pirate toy mounted on a pair of strings
a leathery green crocodile doll with a crooked-tooth smile
a thin book stamped with a cauldron bubbling on a fire
a book entitled Erra Pater
a sturdy dark red leather book with the title "Virtues" in gilt letters
a rectangular ribbon-tied box of various gourmet chocolates
a toy of wooden duelists painted as Avonna and Savir
a delicate blue egg with golden filigree cagework and the painted face of the queen
a delicate red egg with golden filigree cagework and painted with the face of the king
a delicious egg of red velvet cake with a hard candy shell
a striking white chocolate figure with a severe look
look in 5.basket (basket four)
a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a blue ribbon holds:
( 6)a miniature croissant, flaky on the outside but soft inside
a crimson-petalled leather rose blooming atop a rolled stem
a pair of elegant fur-trimmed gloves in smooth dark leather
( 2)a sealed clay jar holding a hearty, wine-based venison stew
a round loaf of crusty nine-grain bread, baked golden-brown
a block of soft chocolate fudge, flavored by sprigs of mint
an open-faced plum crumble tart, drizzled with honey swirls
( 2)a round clay jar filled by honeyed apple and strawberry jam
( 2)a round clay jar filled with honeyed pear and raspberry jam
a small sealed jar of soft, spreadable herbed goat's cheese
a warm, comfortable blanket sewn from thick grey wolf pelts
( 2)a dark green bottle filled with sweet but heady spiced mead
look in 6.basket (basket three)
a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a pink ribbon holds:
a set of matching polished brass bells in all various sizes
the ghost jester mask
a feather embellished paper mache masquarade mask
a long-stemmed, soft white rose
a long-stemmed, soft pink rose
a long-stemmed, deep red rose
a long-stemmed, creamy yellow rose
a lightweight silken scarf wrapping loosely around the neck
a proper set of linen gloves, buttoning closed at the wrist
some delicate, suede riding gloves with delicate embroidery
look in 7.basket (basket two)
a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a pink ribbon holds:
A Training Voucher
a rectangular ribbon-tied box of various gourmet chocolates
a lopsided round brown coconut, husk covered in coarse hair
a loose cord bracelet dangling a bathhouse membership charm
a round, waxed wooden token, for a massage at the bathhouse
a square-bodied bottle of sweet, Mont Innes red apple cider
a slender night-dark bottle of 357 Sunset Barony red shiraz
a slender clear glass bottle of 357 Zadossa sauvignon blanc
a small black glass bottle of 357 sweet Vavardi red malmsey
look in 8.basket (basket one)
a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a blue ribbon holds:
a venerable and beautifully-detailed viol made from cypress
a timeworn lute with a spruce soundboard and cypress bridge
an antiquated lap harp made from the wood of a cypress tree
Beth gives a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a pink ribbon to Lei.
Lei stiffly bends herself -- head and shoulders -- in Ariel's nearby direction. "We're happy to have you in attendance, Baron," her clipped tones greet the man after she's straightened up, hand extended to receive Beth's basket. "Name?" curtly requires of the woman.
Katarina ab Brayston moves at a slow pace on across the room to Ariel, "That is not what I meant. I simply meant that the right bidder would be willing to spend the proper amount of coin for it."
"Elizabethany op le Marke," Beth chirps in explanation to Lei. "Or just Beth."
A chocolate brown skinned tone male arrives from the east
A chocolate brown skinned tone male slows to a halt.
Lei makes a note in a paper tablet at the edge of the auction table, then places that basket in order with the others. A short nod compresses her jowls for Beth, and she scans the ballroom, tightening eyes.
Katarina ab Brayston summons a messenger and pays them to make a delivery.
Beronica Destral turns from her perusal of the table offerings to offer a chocolate brown skinned tone male a small bow of the head. "Good evening, sir."
Lei drops a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a pink ribbon.
"The -proper- amount being hundreds of gold," Ariel deadpans to Katarina ab Brayston as he paces the length of the tables, peeking in baskets. "Oh, what do I want... so difficult to decide..." [Ariel]
A chocolate brown skinned tone male slips to inside the door as he places his arms behind his back and slips his hands in the opposite sleeve to conceal them. Idly letting his eyes wander over each person gathered and dipping his head in return to Beronica Destral, "Evening Miss."
[Action: Beronica Destral is standing beside banquet.]
Safir Mara'aye arrives from the east
Safir Mara'aye slows to a halt.
Gavin ab Harkness arrives from the east
A lean, sandy-haired Tubori guardsman has arrived.
Gavin ab Harkness slows to a halt.
"You could get my basket!" Beth chirps cheerfully over to Ariel, hopping along to peek into various baskets.
Aios arrives from the east
Aios slows to a halt.
Action set to:
Ariel is browsing the selection of baskets.
"Then you think quiet highly of yourself," Katarina ab Brayston perhaps teases of Ariel before looking about the room and surveying the others who are present. "Lord ab Harkness," She makes note of the man almost immediately, curtsying deeply for the man. [Katarina ab Brayston]
[Action: a chocolate brown skinned tone male is standing near the door with his hands behind his back with each hand up the opposite sleeve to conceal them.]
A town crier runs through the area, rining a bell and calling. "Reeve Basket Auction occurring in the Town Hall Event Ballroom! Part of the events for Golden Week! All welcome!"
Safir Mara'aye walks in just before Gavin ab Harkness, which might have given the indication they walked in together. Although, given that she turns slightly to bow and let Gavin ab Harkness pass her with his guard, that assumption is probably unlikely.
Looking close to death - fatigue etched upon his eyes, crows' feet ravenously dancing at their edges, and with a slow, shambling walk Gavin ab Harkness enters the event hall and immediately nears Lei. "Sully send word to you?" he asks, seemingly skipping pretense. He lifts a hand to his brow, wiping it slowly, the pads of his fingers tucking sooty hair beneath a bandanna.
[Action: Gavin ab Harkness stands near the auction table, conversing with Lei.]
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes arrives from the east
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes slows to a halt.
A wiry Lithmorran man with chestnut brown hair arrives from the east with shoulders slouched and head bowed.
A wiry Lithmorran man with chestnut brown hair slows to a halt.
"Why thank you, Proconsul, I'm happy to be here; happy as a clam, really," Ariel flippantly tells Lei, still browsing through the baskets. "Of course, Marquessa, -someone- has to think highly of me..." [Ariel]
Lloyd le Tarrow arrives from the east, a blue cotton cloak bearing the Crossed Swords on a Chalice swaying behind him as he moves.
A golden-furred hunting dog with a bushy tail has arrived.
Lloyd le Tarrow slows to a halt.
Lei tap-taps a boot, stretching shoulders under her armor to clasp hands together behind her back. And then Gavin ab Harkness is abreast of her. "Did," minces a short word, and her head bows a long, stiff gesture of deference. "I'm game," spells out the side of her mouth to the man. "You can bank I'm game for that."
A chocolate brown skinned tone male lets his eyes lock on Gavin ab Harkness as the man enters and strides across the room before shifting to the others that pass through the doors.
A wiry Lithmorran man with chestnut brown hair ambles in behind a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes, hands in his pockets and looking rather tired but nevertheless alert and interested in the activities of the ballroom.
Safir Mara'aye straightens up, only to bow generally to the other various notables in the room, before trying to mix in with the rest of the crowd.
Katarina ab Brayston stops using a carefully molded leather helm, with cheek and nose guards.
[Action: Safir Mara'aye is walking around, looking at baskets.]
"Lloyd, you made it!" Beth beams happily over to Lloyd le Tarrow. "I made a basket, like I said I would," she chirps, hopping over to his side. "Are you going to win it?" She grins brightly.
Aios starts to eye the flock of wicker baskets, but his attention is soon drawn to a chocolate brown skinned tone male. "War's over, I guess? Ain't that some news," he murmurs, but to no one in particular.
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes does a half-walkinghalf-shambling step into the ballroom, looking worse for the wear but still walking. Bandages cover almost every inch of his upper body, but that doesn't seem to deter him from offering everyone a slightly forced but beaming smile "Did we miss t'party?!"
Nodding gingerly towards Lei after receipting for that message, he slants a speculative look towards Katarina ab Brayston, in particular, and then Lloyd le Tarrow as the latter enters. "Well, no need to mention it now. Maybe after the auction," he remarks, exhaling loudly, lungs deflating as his eyes droop towards the floor. Enterprising fingers lift a festive container from layers of dark leather wrappings bearing the seal of a puma, and he takes a long draught from its contents. [Gavin ab Harkness]
Gavin ab Harkness drinks whiskey from a lidded ceramic flagon, bearing a festive evergreen wreath.
Lloyd le Tarrow walks into the Ballroom, nose twitching as a golden-furred hunting dog with a bushy tail bounds in after him. "Sorry, m'lord!" Cries agnes in exasperation as she reaches for the dog's collor. "I tried to keep him out..." Lloyd le Tarrow shrugs his shoulders indifferently, his focus drawing somewhere else entirely. "Beth," The man greets to Beth, a smile on his face. "I wouldn't have missed it for all the silver in the world."
A chocolate brown skinned tone male glances towards Aios, "Is it over? Just a dead advisor." is all he simply says.
Beronica Destral carefully tracks each person as they enter the ballroom, as if she is giving each of them an assessment.
A golden-furred hunting dog with a bushy tail begins to move east.
A golden-furred hunting dog with a bushy tail pads east.
"What are all of you lot talking about?" Ariel abruptly requests of a chocolate brown skinned tone male, swiveling his gaze away from the baskets and toward the man. "Dead advisors?" [Ariel]
Some thick tongue runs a roam over the front of Lei's teeth, her flinty eyes shot out to assess the growing crowd. "Hoy," calls aloud a rough bark to climb over the din of chattering gossip and hellos. "Any last entries? We're about the start the bidding."
Aios claims to Ariel, "Oh, I just ain't seen Daravi sort wanderin' 'round open as y' please in 'bout... well, ever. So figgered if ain't no one up in arms 'bout 'im, then must be th' war's over."
Beronica Destral gets a thin crystal wineglass with subtle fiery engravings from a banquet table laden with food.
look chocolate
A chocolate brown skinned tone male is standing near the door with his hands behind his back with each hand up the opposite sleeve to conceal them.
Chocolate brown skin covers this man who stands over six feet tall with a medium build. His black hair is kept cut close to the scalp and light stubble covers over his face. Slender eyebrows sit above his light brown eyes while large lips hide his mostly white teeth. Despite the light stubble on his face his laugh lines are still visible.
He is taller than Ariel by a hand.
A chocolate brown skinned tone male is using:
<used as a light> a roughly dipped tallow candle with a thick twine wick(lit)
<worn on head> a tightly tied green silky turban
<worn around neck> a pendant made of malachite on a silver chain
<worn over shoulder> a thick leather satchel with an artistic design covering it
<worn on arms> loose flowing silk sleeves that extend to mid-hand
<worn on hands> a pair of snug leather gloves with silver studs
<worn on torso> loose fitting, high collared silk tunic
<worn about waist> a loose silk sash tied at the hip
<worn on legs> a pair of billowing pantaloons with a snug fit at the waist
<worn on feet> a pair of dark leather shoes with a silver clasp
Adelaide dul Courdelay arrives from the east
Adelaide dul Courdelay slows to a halt.
Beronica Destral drinks Tubori wine from a thin crystal wineglass with subtle fiery engravings.
A wiry Lithmorran man with chestnut brown hair starts to move towards the south.
Beth places an exuberant peck of a kiss on Lloyd le Tarrow's cheek, beaming brightly. "Well, it's good to see you! Has everything been all good with the knights too? You've been busy."
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes makes a slow circuit along the line of baskets, giving each a cursory but intrigued glance before making his way towards the banquet table.
"Daravi sort?" Both of Ariel's dark brows arch sharply. Crisply, he asks of Aios, "Clearly I am behind. Who is this Daravi in the city, where, and why?" [Ariel]
A wiry Lithmorran man with chestnut brown hair gets an elegant crystal snifter of brandy from a banquet table laden with food.
"Last entries?" Lei calls again, voice a hefty bellow.
Katarina ab Brayston moves away from the sides of the room to take up a seat before pausing and shooting a look to Aios at the mention of Daravi.
Lei sneezes loudly.
A wiry Lithmorran man with chestnut brown hair meanders over to the table, appearing to steer clear of the crowd and mind his own business. Once he reaches the table, he looks left and right, shrugs, then helps himself to a snifter of brandy, which looks a bit high class in comparison to the man himself.
"Lord bless y', Proconsul," Aios tells Lei, distracted briefly from the conversation he inadvertently started. [Aios]
A chocolate brown skinned tone male lets out a heartly chuckle at the words exchanged between Ariel and Aios, "Now now lets not disturb the auction."
"I'll speak with him," Gavin ab Harkness relates to Ariel now, lifting his flagon and drawing another punch of whiskey from its contents. "Who's the one from the Sultanate? Want to talk to you, afterwards," he claims, eyes scanning the crowd; they pass over Aios, settling there, and then land upon a chocolate brown skinned tone male. "Come sit with me."
Ariel's gaze shifts to a chocolate brown skinned tone male as he speaks, and the man limps a few paces from the table toward him. "You could be Farin. Or you could... not, hmmm?" Glancing to Gavin ab Harkness, he relents with a quick inclination of his head.
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes nudges a wiry Lithmorran man with chestnut brown hair "The one with the wolf blanket looks good. What y'think?"
Beronica Destral shakes her head as she listens to Aios and Ariel. She takes a sip from a thin crystal wineglass with subtle fiery engravings as she looks on to the gathering.
Beronica Destral drinks Tubori wine from a thin crystal wineglass with subtle fiery engravings.
"Right." After the sneeze, which Lei sends with gusto behind her shoulder and just over several of the low-numbered baskets, the reeve unhooks her mace and raps its ugly head to the table. "Order!" she expels in loud voice. "Order up, if you ain't mind."
Safir Mara'aye peers into a few more of the baskets, mostly keeping to herself. She walks over towards the table of food and drinks, nodding absently over to Beronica Destral.
remember chocolate Daravi
From here on you will remember a chocolate brown skinned tone male as Daravi.
[Action: Lei auctions baskets from the front of the room.]
"I'd like to attend that discussion, or at the very least have of my own with you, Mister.." Katarina ab Brayston infroms Daravi and Gavin ab Harkness with a crisp edge to her voice before turning to Lei as she calls for order. [Katarina ab Brayston]
A wiry Lithmorran man with chestnut brown hair smirks to himself, as if from some secret joke. "I dunno, Harper. How bad y'wanna go on a date with a Reeve with a twig n'berries?" He asks a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes, voice low as he glances at various individuals in the crowd. Upon the call to 'order' he nods toward a seat and ambles over, to rest his legs.
[Action: Aios eyes the baskets up for auction.]
Beronica Destral gives Safir Mara'aye a bit of a smile before turning her attention to Lei as order is called for.
[Action: a wiry Lithmorran man with chestnut brown hair is seated somewhere near the door.]
Ariel finds himself a seat, still frowning faintly in pensive attention as he eases himself into a chair with the aid of his cane. He nods firm confirmation to Katarina ab Brayston's words.
Daravi dips his head towards Gavin ab Harkness in understanding and mouths "As you wish" before turning his attention to Lei and focusing on her.
Safir Mara'aye gets a light pear and walnut cake soaked in honey from a banquet table laden with food.
"First off:" Lei tugs a sharp snuff up her nose, bobbling chin as her gaze zig-zags the gathering of faces and bodies. "Thanks, from the Reeves Lithmore, an' from the Crown by extension, for attending, bidding, an' supporting the Queen's charity."
That settles it, "Skye y'could have told me it was from a man, abyss man!" a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes shakes his head in shock as he glares almost playfully at his friend. [a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes]
look in basket (basket nine):
a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a pink ribbon holds:
( 28)a fruit treat wrapped in blue cloth and bright ribbon curls
a brown ceramic bottle of high-quality Tubori rum
( 2)a shaved coconut cup
a diverse, exotic fruit salad held inside a watermelon rind
( 2)a warm loaf of crusty brown bread
( 3)a square block of hard, intensely-flavorful aged cheddar
( 4)a ripe, sweet pink-red apple
a sweet loaf of apple, raisin and honey bread
( 2)a tough roast porkchop topped with an over-large garnish
( 2)a lump of pale golden butter
an elongated brown bottle of sweet red Tubori wine
[Action: Gavin ab Harkness is seated in one of the theatre-style wooden chairs; he slouches forward, with boots pressed flat on the ground.]
[Action: Katarina ab Brayston is seated towards the middle, attention paid to Lei.]
A wiry Lithmorran man with chestnut brown hair approaches a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes, closing the distance.
A wiry Lithmorran man with chestnut brown hair is near.
"Reckon you've all had a look at the items on display?" Lei questions out, her speech its standard clipped mess of northern accent and coarse twang. She gestures with her mace to the baskets.
Adelaide dul Courdelay slips in late, intentionally finding a place of to one side from where she can observe. A smile on her face, she discreetly draws a ledger from her bag.
A wiry lithmorran man with chestnut brown hair whispers to a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes, 'That's what the blue ribbon means, mate.'
[Action: Adelaide dul Courdelay stands to one side, watching the auction and, apparently, taking notes.]
"I'd better go see what was up with Lloyd..." Beth comments, furrowing up her brow and slipping out.
Beth begins to move east.
Beth crosses the center of the room.
Aios surreptitiously checks his belt pouch, aiming a private frown at the contents.
Beth leaves east
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes drops his gaze to dirty and blood stained boots at his feet. "Should have guessed."
Maxwell Wattkil arrives from the east moving quickly
Maxwell Wattkil slows to a halt.
"For the fun of the thing," Lei sends out to her audience, left eye pinching a squint, "Winner of the basket wins a meal with the basket's maker. If you got a basket up here, an' you ain't keen on keepin' clam about it's yours, speak up an' say so. Otherwise, it's anonymous."
Maxwell Wattkil quickly slips on in, rolling his shoulder, before he casts a small wave about, before slipping out to stand nearby Lei, a bit guardishly, mayhaps.
A wiry Lithmorran man with chestnut brown hair clasps a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes gingerly on the shoulder, attempting to avoid a wound, then tries to catch Aios' attention with a friendly, two-fingered salute in the air with his other hand.
"Any questions?" Lei bumps her mace to armored leg, picking up a hairy brow.
Katarina ab Brayston grins faintly at the mention of speaking up about baskets, before seeing Maxwell Wattkil wander in. She nods his way subtly before looking to Lei once more.
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes has lost link.
"Yeah, which one's yers?" Aios hollers at the mistress of ceremonies. [Aios]
Ariel chuckles under his breath at Aios's question to Lei, his grin broadening crookedly as he sits back. Arms crossed over his chest, he waits for the bidding to start.
"Keep yer order," Lei grunts out to that unruly voice, chin up, "or you'll be ejected from proceedings."
Loken Baggs Ronthe arrives from the east
Loken Baggs Ronthe slows to a halt.
Action set to:
Ariel is sitting watching the bidding.
Gavin ab Harkness glances sidelong towards Daravi now, then waves him over with a beckoning hand, patting the seat beside him. It's empty. That done, he slants a look towards Lei and lifts a quizzical brow. "I'm sure Cellan would want everyone to know that the proceeds are going towards something charitable, I think," he adds. "And, on my own behalf, I offer thanks for holding this during Golden Week, and making this entire festival, along with the troubadours, a success."
Safir Mara'aye eats a light pear and walnut cake soaked in honey.
As he enters, Loken Baggs Ronthe opts to keep near the entrance merely observing. A nearby ballroom staff points him towards the refreshments, to which he silently lifts a hand and shakes his head. [Loken Baggs Ronthe]
[Action: Loken Baggs Ronthe lingers behind the bulk of the going-ons nearby the entrance to the ballroom]
Aios idly rubs at his chin with the back of a hand.
Daravi silently makes his way over to Gavin ab Harkness and takes a seat next to the man, keeping quiet and focused on Lei.
Due attention is spent on Gavin ab Harkness's added notes, and Lei points her weapon to his seat, repeating high and aloud for anyone who couldn't quite hear it: "S'right. As I said before- Proceeds are up for the Queen's charity. And, ah, I'll note: coin from winning bids'll be collected after the event."
A wiry Lithmorran man with chestnut brown hair checks his person briefly, looking for spare change hidden in his pockets and pouches.
Lowers himself into a seat, a grimace and a groan taking their turns before he finally finds himself in a comfortable position. "There's a basket with a massage and lots of wine. Now that sounds promising." a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes says in a hushed tone to a wiry Lithmorran man with chestnut brown hair. [a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes]
Lei glances Maxwell Wattkil a look, now, and bumps a short knock of fist to her breastplate. After that, she addresses the crowd again. "Bidding begins with basket number one, clearly marked, here on this auction table-- unless," and she pauses, scouring an eye over the crowd, "unless there's special request on another one for starting."
[Action: Daravi is seated next to Gavin ab Harkness with his hands up the opposite sleeve and placed in his lap.]
look in 9.basket (basket one: currently up for bidding)
a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a blue ribbon holds:
a venerable and beautifully-detailed viol made from cypress
a timeworn lute with a spruce soundboard and cypress bridge
an antiquated lap harp made from the wood of a cypress tree
Loken Baggs Ronthe begins to count their money.
Loken Baggs Ronthe wrinkles his nose as he grips his coin purse, which sounds all but nearly empty through the lack of abundant jingling. Exhaling a sigh, he blows air through the right corner of slightly pursed lips.
Lei grunts, plodding over to snag up the basket marked with its large-lettered 'ONE'. "Right, folks. This one's got some musical bard instruments. A few of 'em."
Lei holds up the harp, first. "How 'bout a bid? Eh?"
"40 silver.. I gots forty on the instrument one!" a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes calls out. [a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes]
"Hundred for the basket," Ariel laconically calls in a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes's wake, faint smile playing over his lips. "I -want- those instruments." [Ariel]
"Hundred-fifty silver," Katarina ab Brayston offers gamely, flashing Ariel a smile. [Katarina ab Brayston]
"We got a hundred silver, folks. Anyone wanna beat out the Baron Savir?" Lei shows the lute, now.
Maxwell Wattkil remains quiet, rolling at his shoulder, squinting.
"Hunnerd fifty!" Lei nods at Katarina ab Brayston.
"Two hundred!" Ariel shouts, his grin only broadening as he winks Katarina ab Brayston's way. [Ariel]
"Two hundred," grunts Lei, lips thickening.
Katarina ab Brayston laughs very softly, amused. "Two hundred fifty." Mischief glinting in her blue eyes.
"two... fifty!" a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes replies, looking slightly worried. [a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes]
"two... seventyfive!" a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes replies, looking slightly worried. [a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes]
Beronica Destral carefully considers the instruments as they were pulled from the basket. "Three Hundred!" she calls out.
"I see what you bloody folks are after!" Ariel shakes a fist in mid-air, gleam of mischief bright in his eyes. "I apologize to the woodworker who is going to have to deal with dinner with me, but I -will- have that viol. Five hundred!" [Ariel]
From somewhere near the back of the room comes a small groan. [a wiry Lithmorran man with chestnut brown hair]
Lei coughs a noise, eyes tight with eager interest. "FIVE gold crowns!"
"Five hundred and one!" a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes retorts in defiance! [a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes]
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes begins to count their money.
Beronica Destral snorts lightly at Ariel. "I could make one that is far better than that," she informs the baron.
Lei stabs a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes a dull look.
Katarina ab Brayston laughs very softly again, leaning back into her seat as she watches with interest.
A wiry lithmorran man with chestnut brown hair whispers to a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes, 'Can you even play the viol, mate?'
"You are fu- playing with me, sir." Ariel shoots a dark look a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes's way. "Six hundred." [Ariel]
"I'll take bids in crowns from here," makes up a new rule. "Six crowns, Baron Savir." [Lei]
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes whispers to a wiry Lithmorran man with chestnut brown hair, 'No.... but it's fun to piss nobles off'
Daravi glances around between each of the bidders and offering a small nod, before turning his attention to Gavin ab Harkness and then Lei.
Safir Mara'aye clears her throat after Ariel's last shout to a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes, continuing to eat a light pear and walnut cake soaked in honey and in no way interested in the basket.
"No thanks... he can have's it now." a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes leans back in his chair, quite pleased with himself. [a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes]
A wiry lithmorran man with chestnut brown hair whispers to a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes, 'Until you're publically flogged, sure, mate...'
"Marquessa?" Lei eyeballs Katarina ab Brayston.
"Seven crown," Beronica Destral calls out to Lei. She gives Ariel a slight smirk. [Beronica Destral]
Katarina ab Brayston shakes her head as Lei queries of her a bid. Smiling to the woman before looking surprised over to Beronica Destral.
Lei licks her lips, popping stare back to Ariel.
"I should let you have it and make you be on the hook for seven crown." Ariel shoots a narrow-eyed stare Beronica Destral's way. "...But I won't. Eight." [Ariel]
"Eight! Going once.." Lei shows some yellow teeth.
"A master can tell master work," Beronica Destral replies back to Ariel. "Nine!" she calls over to Lei. [Beronica Destral]
Beronica Destral has returned from IAW.
"S'at th' master work y' put down a moment ago?" Aios wonders innocently of Beronica Destral. [Aios]
Lei tongues those teeth again, bloating a look of satisfaction. "Ten, Baron?"
"Ten," Ariel sighs mildly, leaning back in his chair. "But I'm beginning to lose interest... surely I could commission similar pieces at half the price... you must -really- like this woodworker, aye, Mistress Destral?" [Ariel]
"I can still make better," Beronica Destral replies to Aios before offering Ariel a small shrug and a wolfish smile. [Beronica Destral]
"Ten. Once. Going Twice." [Lei]
"That is very rude," Ariel murmurs to Beronica Destral, arching a dark brow her way. "Show some manners, Prime?" [Ariel]
"If only I had th' need for any o' that. I'd bid just to piss 'em off." Maxwell Wattkil idly mentions aside to Lei, perhaps a bit amusedly. [Maxwell Wattkil]
"Sold!" calls Lei, pointing a finger at Ariel. "For ten crowns, to Baron Savir. Step up, Lord, an' claim your basket.
Loken Baggs Ronthe tongues his cheek in a moment of thought as he eyes the other baskets. A hand reaches underneath to stroke at the hair lining his cheeks and chin underneath his helmet. Soon, he begins for where the majority of the commotion goes on. "Question, if I may?" he calls out once the auction's all done, the inquiry directed towards Lei.
Beronica Destral bows her head towards Ariel in acceptance of the mild reprimand. "My apologies, my lord."
"Bloody swells, y'know what we could do with ten crowns mate?" a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes asks Skye, a lower whistle proceeding his words as he shakes his head. [a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes]
"On to basket number two," Lei pronounces, ready to hand Ariel the one in her arms. She does knock Loken Baggs Ronthe a peer though. "Speak up."
"Price is indeed high," Gavin ab Harkness calls out, and slants a look over his shoulder towards a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes and his chatty companion. "But, now the baron's got less, and the reeves'll distribute it out as charity. The poor get richer; the rich get dinner. Well, a dinner date."
"Beats me. I never had that much in my life if I put it all together," a wiry Lithmorran man with chestnut brown hair mumbles to a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes, suddenly looking somewhat dejected. [a wiry Lithmorran man with chestnut brown hair]
Ariel uses his cane to lever himself out of his chair, limping gamely up the aisle to Lei. "Spending money, one of the few joys left to a married cripple with a child and a second on the way. Glorious. Take it from my account."
Lei puts an antiquated lap harp made from the wood of a cypress tree in a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a blue ribbon.
Lei puts a timeworn lute with a spruce soundboard and cypress bridge in a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a blue ribbon.
Lei puts a venerable and beautifully-detailed viol made from cypress in a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a blue ribbon.
After Ariel speaks, Loken Baggs Ronthe seems to resign, shaking his head at Lei. "Seems my question's been answered. Thanks anyhow." [Loken Baggs Ronthe]
A random passerby replies to a bit of gossip, "So I was out roughin' it in the wilderness west of the city, lookin' fer good wood to hew to make some stuck up gentryman a nice set of chairs, and what do you know - I seen a Daravi encampment out in the woods with soldiers and everything! Oh, aye! The tents were worn, but they looked like they mighta been fancy once. There was some crest on the flaps, nothin' I recognize, but with the soldiers about, I didn't stick around for a good look. Do the authorities even know that there's a whole little camp of them Daravi right outside of the city? I thought the Knights were supposed to do patrols or somethin'. ". [Rumor #28]
Daravi eye's drift over Gavin ab Harkness as he stands up and then wanders around the room again.
Ariel happily accepts his basket, peering into it with a broad, appreciative grin. "Someone's going to spend a dinner being serenaded by me on the instruments they made!" he calls to the room at large, trundling back to his seat.
As the first sale concludes, Gavin ab Harkness turns towards Daravi and asks him in a low voice - meaning only those dead-set on eavesdropping might overhear. "The name Qadriyya. Does that ring a bell? I just want a yes or no," he tells him.
Lei cuts Ariel a curt nod while delivering the basket into his possession, then strikes over to lug up the next. "Aright!" (8.basket, folks.) "This one's mostly wine. Any wine-drinkers?"
Looking perhaps a bit paler than before, a wiry Lithmorran man with chestnut brown hair loosens his collar a bit, then taps a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes lightly on the man's good shoulder. "I'm gonna go get some fresh air and head to work, mate. Catch y'later, eh?" He mumbles over, before rising to his feet and slinking toward the door. [a wiry Lithmorran man with chestnut brown hair]
A wiry Lithmorran man with chestnut brown hair begins to move east.
A wiry Lithmorran man with chestnut brown hair leaves east with shoulders slouched and head bowed.
"Aye, aye!" Aios chants at the drinker question. [Aios]
look in 9.basket (basket 2, on auction right now):
a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a pink ribbon holds:
A Training Voucher
a rectangular ribbon-tied box of various gourmet chocolates
a lopsided round brown coconut, husk covered in coarse hair
a loose cord bracelet dangling a bathhouse membership charm
a round, waxed wooden token, for a massage at the bathhouse
a square-bodied bottle of sweet, Mont Innes red apple cider
a slender night-dark bottle of 357 Sunset Barony red shiraz
a slender clear glass bottle of 357 Zadossa sauvignon blanc
a small black glass bottle of 357 sweet Vavardi red malmsey
"Now yer talking!" a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes damn near yells out, the effort causing him to double over with a wracking cough. [a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes]
Beth arrives from the east
Beth slows to a halt.
"Chocolate. Coconut. Massage. Starting at a crown!" [Lei]
"Crown and 20..." a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes raises his hand. [a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes]
"No" Daravi states as he doesnt take his eyes off Lei half listening to what the woman is saying. [Daravi]
Katarina ab Brayston strokes a strand of hair behind her er as she watches the group and their bidding. Eyes flicking between Lei and Maxwell Wattkil.
Aios grunts, "One fifty."
"Can I get two?" Lei holds up the basket, wine bottles poking out the top.
"Two crowns," Ariel lazily bids, despite an expression of decided distraction; he's still investigating his new instruments. [Ariel]
Beth sneaks back in, peering curiously around. She whispers to whoever is closest, "Did I miss many of them?"
"Going once!" [Lei]
"Two crowns to the Baron! Twice!" [Lei]
"Really? Come on people, I don't even want it," Ariel sighs, glancing around the room. [Ariel]
"Oy, I ain't got all that t' go up 'gainst th' good Doctor," Aios admits, but at the last moment says, "Three?" [Aios]
"Three from the peg leg!" Lei shifts up her stance. "Once! And twice!"
"Sold, to the peg leg!" [Lei]
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair arrives from the east
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair slows to a halt.
Aios leans into a graceless bow in Ariel's direction, making his way toward Lei to accept the basket.
Lei nods at Aios, beckoning his approach. "Names'll be officially gave up later, after auction's over."
Lei gets a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a pink ribbon.
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair enters into the ballroom, bowing to those appropriate to bow to, nodding to most everyone else.
Aios approaches Lei, closing the distance.
Aios is near.
Lei gives a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a pink ribbon to Aios.
Beronica Destral smiles over to an extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair as he arrives to the scene and waves him over next to her.
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair smiles to Beronica Destral, moving to stand next to her.
[Action: an extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair is standing next to ber.]
Aios lumbers back into the crowd, peering closer at the contents of his newly won basket.
"Basket three!" Lei carries on, pointing to the bundle. "Roses an' masks an' things!"
Katarina ab Brayston looks over to Aios before letting her attention filter back to Lei.
look in 8.basket (basket 3; currently on auction)
a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a pink ribbon holds:
a set of matching polished brass bells in all various sizes
the ghost jester mask
a feather embellished paper mache masquarade mask
a long-stemmed, soft white rose
a long-stemmed, soft pink rose
a long-stemmed, deep red rose
a long-stemmed, creamy yellow rose
a lightweight silken scarf wrapping loosely around the neck
a proper set of linen gloves, buttoning closed at the wrist
some delicate, suede riding gloves with delicate embroidery
Daravi keeping his voice low as he speaks directing it to Gavin ab Harkness, "What's the importance of such?"
Beronica Destral drinks Tubori wine from a thin crystal wineglass with subtle fiery engravings.
"I'll take a crown for starters!" [Lei]
"Sounds like a good time!" a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes offers a toothy grin "I'll go a crown" [a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes]
"I think this one is likely -very- worth bidding on," Ariel hints, glancing around the room with a quirked brow. "Particularly if you like a laugh." [Ariel]
Maxwell Wattkil states, "...Uh. Two gold, I s'pose."
"Three crowns?" Lei fishes, scanning.
"Your exiled princess. I've an interest in her. Apparently you don't know much," Gavin ab Harkness demurs, again speaking quietly to Daravi, though the recurrence of bidding catches his attention. So does another drink from his flagon of ale. "Five!" he calls out, and it's quite obvious he's got no clue which basket is at issue.
Maxwell Wattkil begins to count their money.
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes begins to count their money.
"Five and ten!" a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes retorts. [a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes]
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair looks around, trying to peek into some of the baskets, trying to see which to bid on.
"Five from the consort!" Lei clears up her throat. "Do I hear six?"
"...Six?" Maxwell Wattkil helplessly offers, shoulders raising and falling, though his eyes go towards Lei. [Maxwell Wattkil]
"Six it is. I hear seven?" Lei knocks her mace to table.
Gavin ab Harkness drinks whiskey from a lidded ceramic flagon, bearing a festive evergreen wreath.
"Aw feck it.... seven!" a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes appears slightly paler than before. [a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes]
"Seven!" Lei sends a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes a dirty look.
Daravi watches intently as he keep the conversation at a low voice, "Or that it is exiled and it doesnt matter."
You get a venerable and beautifully-detailed viol made from cypress from a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a blue ribbon.
"I have no idea which one we're even on," Gavin ab Harkness admits with a whiskey-scented exhale, Daravi the unfortunate beneficiary of his murmuring. "Ten, and we can move along," he wonders, nodding at Lei.
"Seven and half!" a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes yells back at Lei! [a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes]
Ariel leans back in his chair, plucking the strings of his viol absentmindedly; he seems to be tuning it, adjusting the pegs to knock the strings back. "Come on, Harkness, let somebody who wants it win it!" he shouts.
"Ten, from the consort!" Lei calls aloud. "Going once!"
"Twice!" [Lei]
Beronica Destral looks over to Gavin ab Harkness and just chuckles as she takes a drink from a thin crystal wineglass with subtle fiery engravings.
"And sold!" [Lei]
Beronica Destral drinks Tubori wine from a thin crystal wineglass with subtle fiery engravings.
Lei gets a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a pink ribbon.
Katarina ab Brayston gets a bottle of Apple Pyre brandy from an embroidered, and reinforced shoulder-bag of dusky muslin.
Katarina ab Brayston drinks brandy from a bottle of Apple Pyre brandy.
Lei picks up the basket, nodding to Gavin ab Harkness. "An' movin' on.." she drawls, "to basket four!"
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair pulls out his pad, ' Have I missed much?' he asks of Beronica Destral as he displays the page to her.
look in 7.basket (basket 4, on auction right now:)
a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a blue ribbon holds:
( 6)a miniature croissant, flaky on the outside but soft inside
a crimson-petalled leather rose blooming atop a rolled stem
a pair of elegant fur-trimmed gloves in smooth dark leather
( 2)a sealed clay jar holding a hearty, wine-based venison stew
a round loaf of crusty nine-grain bread, baked golden-brown
a block of soft chocolate fudge, flavored by sprigs of mint
an open-faced plum crumble tart, drizzled with honey swirls
( 2)a round clay jar filled by honeyed apple and strawberry jam
( 2)a round clay jar filled with honeyed pear and raspberry jam
a small sealed jar of soft, spreadable herbed goat's cheese
a warm, comfortable blanket sewn from thick grey wolf pelts
( 2)a dark green bottle filled with sweet but heady spiced mead
Gavin ab Harkness stands from his seat, then ventures another swig of whiskey: his breath is hot and peaty, and he approaches Lei, drawing out a single coin from the purse attached to a twice-wrapped leather belt with a sword and dagger sheath. He presses it into her palm, then takes the basket, looking into container with a modicum of curiosity.
Katarina ab Brayston slips a bottle of Apple Pyre brandy from satchel, opening it and taking a drink before resting it back within the garmet. Legs cross at the knee.
Gavin ab Harkness approaches Lei, closing the distance.
Gavin ab Harkness is near.
Gavin ab Harkness gives Lei some coins.
Beronica Destral glances over to read the pad briefly then shakes her head at an extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair. "Only three of the nine baskets sold so far," she tells him before looking back front.
"Jams an' baked goods! All sorta tasties!" Lei grunts Gavin ab Harkness a nod, pocketing his payment.
"Three crown.. enough foreplay, let's get to the deed already." a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes mutters. [a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes]
Lei gives a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a pink ribbon to Gavin ab Harkness.
Lei whispers to Gavin ab Harkness, 'That's the globe jester's.'
Gavin ab harkness whispers to Lei, 'The frak do I do with one of those, Lei?'
Katarina ab Brayston looks to Lei, curiously as she considers the basket. "Five gold."
Gavin ab Harkness returns to his seat, sending Lei a faint grin.
"I'll take a crown for the baked goods and jellies!" Lei calls out, lips twitching a thin smirk after Gavin ab Harkness's retreating figure.
Aios tells you, "I have a pink one in my arms. Is that the one with eggs and the OOC event items in it? That was my other guess, other than the one I bought. Which was wrong."
"Err. Six gold!" [Lei]
"Looks like quite a picnic. But I don't really want to go on a romantic picnic with a man," Ariel mildly observes, keeping out of the bidding. [Ariel]
Beronica Destral looks over at a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes as she arches an eyebrow. "Seven crowns," she calls out her bid.
"You only wish to serenade him, my lord?" Adelaide dul Courdelay calls over a question to Ariel. [Adelaide dul Courdelay]
"Fine.. eight crown, it better be good food." a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes shrugs. [a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes]
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair chuckles silently to Beronica Destral as she bids.
"Nine! I'll take nine!" Lei is looking relatively pleased with herself by now, chest puffing a bit underneath her armor.
Katarina ab Brayston chuckles softly as she looks between Adelaide dul Courdelay and Ariel. Clearly staying out of the bidding now.
"I'm a performer by nature, you know? I'd serenade a sign post if it were capable of saying 'good show, m'lord' afterward," Ariel flippantly calls toward Adelaide dul Courdelay. [Ariel]
"Ten!" Beronica Destral calls out to Lei before shooting a smile to an extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair. [Beronica Destral]
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes gets a delicate porcelain cup from a banquet table laden with food.
Maxwell Wattkil merely squints at said basket, raising and lowering his shoulders.
Beronica Destral drinks Tubori wine from a thin crystal wineglass with subtle fiery engravings.
Beronica Destral discards a thin crystal wineglass with subtle fiery engravings as empty.
Daravi rolls his shoulders back and adjusts himself in his seat, still sitting up straight and tall.
"Ten from the doc! Can I get eleven?" Lei's beady eyes whip over the audience.
"Ain' no food worth that, I'm out." a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes replies setting back in his chair. [a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes]
"Goin' once!" [Lei]
"An' twice!" [Lei]
Beth giggles back over at Ariel's words. "But what if it just seemed like it meant it?" she wonders.
"Sold to the Doc Prime!" Lei picks up the basket. It looks heavy.
Baskets of Justice
Beronica Destral approaches Lei, closing the distance.
Beronica Destral is near.
Lei gets a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a blue ribbon.
Beronica Destral chuckles a little as she makes her way forward to accept the basket. "Can you please credit me for this?" she asks while accepting it.
"If it were a signpost that said 'Good Show M'lord' I would definitely serenade it," Ariel solemnly confirms to Beth, mirth bright in his eyes. [Ariel]
Lei holds it in readiness for Beronica Destral's collection, already eying the next item. "Books, toys an' chocolate! Basket number five! Can I get a crown? Right," nods, voice lowered, to the woman.
look in 6.basket(basket 5, on auction now:)
a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a pink ribbon holds:
a swashbuckling pirate toy mounted on a pair of strings
a leathery green crocodile doll with a crooked-tooth smile
a thin book stamped with a cauldron bubbling on a fire
a book entitled Erra Pater
a sturdy dark red leather book with the title "Virtues" in gilt letters
a rectangular ribbon-tied box of various gourmet chocolates
a toy of wooden duelists painted as Avonna and Savir
a delicate blue egg with golden filigree cagework and the painted face of the queen
a delicate red egg with golden filigree cagework and painted with the face of the king
a delicious egg of red velvet cake with a hard candy shell
a striking white chocolate figure with a severe look
Lei gives a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a blue ribbon to Beronica Destral.
"One crown," Aios mutters casually. [Aios]
Maxwell Wattkil begins to count their money.
Beth nods very seriously back to Ariel. But then she pauses and points out, "But if it was a sign that said 'Good Show M'lord!' it would say that anyway no matter what you did."
Beronica Destral starts to move towards the south.
"...Two crowns." Maxwell Wattkil mumbles, squinting at the basket. [Maxwell Wattkil]
"That's alright, I never claimed that I required a -discriminating- audience." Ariel's shrug to Beth is utterly flippant. [Ariel]
Lei tongues her teeth, jabbing eyes to Maxwell Wattkil, then to the basket. Her focus makes fast return to the crowd, voice booming out: "Can I get THREE crowns?"
"Two fifty," Aios counters, casting a sidelong glance at Maxwell Wattkil. [Aios]
"Four hundred," Katarina ab Brayston remarks off handedly to Lei, gaze perusing between the duo of reeves and the baskets. [Katarina ab Brayston]
"Five hundred?" [Lei]
"five crowns... let's make it fun." a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes calls out [a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes].
"Well, then, you should be okay!" Beth chirps back to Ariel with a quite serious nod.
"I really wish I was wealthy." Maxwell Wattkil grunts to himself, before idly mentioning, "Five fifty." [Maxwell Wattkil]
Maxwell Wattkil begins to count their money.
"Six crowns," Loken Baggs Ronthe decidedly says after some thought, ticking his chin upwards in Lei's direction. [Loken Baggs Ronthe]
"Son of a--" Aios grunts, "Eight crowns." [Aios]
Maxwell Wattkil begins to count their money.
"Know a way you're gonna get wealthy, Max," Gavin ab Harkness calls out, glancing behind his shoulder to Maxwell Wattkil. "We're talking after the auction's up."
Lei grunts a little, sizing Aios up with a slitted peer. "Nine, folks?" She looks at Maxwell Wattkil.
"If there's someone who desperately wants this one but doesn't have the money, I'll spot them if they give me some sort of amusing reason!" Ariel cups a hand around his mouth to let that call carry through the room. He's grinning, widely. [Ariel]
"I- Alright." Maxwell Wattkil offers towards Gavin ab Harkness, brows raising a tad towards the fellow, before he turns a gaze back to Lei. "Nine fifty." [Maxwell Wattkil]
"Can I take in TEN, and fifty?" Lei's voice checks to a monotone, dragging over the assembly.
"Twelve, an' I'll be workin' fer th' Baron th' rest o' m' life," Aios bids. [Aios]
Maxwell Wattkil begins to count their money.
"Twelve," grumbles Lei. "I'll take thirteen!"
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes states, "11 crown"
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes trails off, "ER.... thriteen"
Maxwell Wattkil asks of a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes, "D' you even -have- that kinda money?"
Ariel cackles loudly at Aios's words, clapping his hands together. "Sure you will, fellow! Bid away!" he encourages.
Lei grits teeth together, jabbing a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes another dirty glance. "FOURTEEN?"
"...Uh." Maxwell Wattkil mumbles, scratching at his neck. "...Eh." [Maxwell Wattkil]
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes declaims, "Fine.. take it!"
Aios claims to Lei, "Aye, fourteen."
"Once," Lei grunts, pausing for a length.
Maxwell Wattkil begins to count their money.
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes begins to count their money.
Maxwell Wattkil wonders, "...Hell, kin I ask who's basket it is, if I'm gonna be riskin' so much money, at least?"
"It's my damn basket, Wattkil," Lei grouses at Maxwell Wattkil, not being very quiet about it.
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes begins to count their money.
"Ha!" Aios hoots, clearing his throat in a piss-poor attempt to cover the shout. [Aios]
"...Thirteen." Maxwell Wattkil grunts at Lei, now. [Maxwell Wattkil]
Maxwell Wattkil begins to count their money.
Katarina ab Brayston claims, "Fourteen is the present bid, Reeve Watkill." She pauses a moment, "I believe."
"It's at fourteen," Lei flips Maxwell Wattkil in a mutter. "Try to keep up, eh?" She ups her chin. "Can I get.. FIFTEEN?"
Aios claims to Maxwell Wattkil, "Why y' gotta do me like that? I said I'd stop callin' y' Scales, even. Y' see 'er every day awready."
Maxwell Wattkil says to Katarina ab Brayston, "'n I thought t'was twelve."
Ariel watches all of this with a wide, merry grin, taking zero effort to conceal his amusement.
Maxwell Wattkil begins to count their money.
Gavin ab Harkness drinks whiskey from a lidded ceramic flagon, bearing a festive evergreen wreath.
Maxwell Wattkil begins to count their money.
"Fourteen once," Lei grumps, begrudgingly.
Katarina ab Brayston says, "Fifteen.. Mm, yes."
"What, this is for Lei? It's Lei's basket?" Gavin ab Harkness wonders aloud now, his eyes flashing as they settle upon Lei. "How about we have a date, and we end up bashing those faces in like we planned? So long as there's liquor in the basket, that might sort out right pleasant for all involved."
"I don't have any more money." Maxwell Wattkil sighs lightly, slapping his face a bit. [Maxwell Wattkil]
"That ain't a bid - was 'at a bid?" Aios wonders cautiously of Katarina ab Brayston. [Aios]
"It's fourteen TWICE," Lei rings out.
"It was, I did call fifteen gold, Proconsul," Katarina ab Brayston speaks a bit louder to Aios and Lei. [Katarina ab Brayston]
Daravi slips his hands from within his sleeves and folds his arms over his chest while crossing his feet at the ankles and tucking them under the chair.
"Speak up," Lei chides Katarina ab Brayston with a curt scowl. "Fifteen once!"
Aios tightens the grip on his current basket, shooting a tentative gaze at the one currently up for auction. "Y'ain't pullin' m' leg on credit, m'Lord?" he asks Ariel, "Ain't got but one good one."
Lei slams Maxwell Wattkil a sharp look.
"I'm not. I could buy this basket twenty times over. Have fun, butcher," Ariel sing-songs to Aios, waving a hand airily. [Ariel]
"Aaaan' fifteen TWICE." [Lei]
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes begins to count their money.
Aios declaims to Lei, "Sixteen!"
Lei smacks a mail-clad palm to her forehead, then shakes it off and shuffles her stance, regrouping. "I got seventeen?"
Katarina ab Brayston leans back in her seat, grinning over to Ariel and Aios before looking to Lei. "Seventeen.", she remarks casually.
"Quite a popular Proconsul you are," Loken Baggs Ronthe comments with a slight cant of his head amidst the growing bids. [Loken Baggs Ronthe]
"It's eighteen to the bidder," Lei sounds out, popping Katarina ab Brayston a suspicious look.
Aios folds his arms over his chest, asking Katarina ab Brayston, "Whatcha got against me, eh? If I sold y' somethin' bad, I ain't mean it..."
Beronica Destral simply chuckles as she continues to watch the proceedings of the bidding.
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes "'ey buthcer... I'll help yer bet. I'll go eighteen.. and the basket it yours."
"Eighteen once," cuts Lei's clipped speech.
"I have nothing against you, I do not even know you but soon enough I will if you take up the dinner that comes with the basket you already purchased." Katarina ab Brayston informs Aios with a small smirk. [Katarina ab Brayston]
"It's eighteen twice," Lei scowls at a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes.
Katarina ab Brayston says, "Two thousand silver."
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair writes on his pad, ' She does seem rather popular, you'd think she'd be happier given the price.' he shows the pad to Beronica Destral.
Lei snaps Katarina ab Brayston a stymied face, and tugs off her gloves. "We're at twenty crowns!"
Lei stops using a pair of polished chainmail gloves lined in supple leather.
Adelaide dul Courdelay might be overheard mumbling to herself, "Nothing rhymes with 'butcher'."
"Butcher... y'want to split the price? I can do that." a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes replies, looking slightly worried. [a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes]
"Twenty once!" [Lei]
Safir Mara'aye has left the game.
"Lord almighty," Aios mutters, tipping a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes a grateful nod before telling Lei, "Twenty four. Breakin' th' poor awready t' feed th' poorer." [Aios]
"I'm richer than you," Ariel sing-songs Katarina ab Brayston's way. "Go on, butcher, I like the thought of you and the Proconsul at dinner together." [Ariel]
"Twenny an' four!" A funny sort of look is breaking over Lei's features, right about now.
Katarina ab Brayston laughs softly, leaning over Ariel's direction no matter how far away he may be. "True as that may be, I cannot help my amusement at ensuring the man pays a proper price for his dinner with the Lady Proconsul."
"Damned orphans'll be feedin' their great grandkids on account o' this one basket," Aios grumbles, not too far beneath his breath. [Aios]
Maxwell Wattkil begins to count their money.
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes takes a good long drink from the glass of rum in hand before tipping a dark teal leather hat with a black-pinned, up-turned brim to Aios "Happy to help another businessman."
"I'll take twenny an' five? Or it's once to the peg leg." Lei pops those words off like drum raps, brows hunkering down.
"Haven't you bid it -more- than far enough?" Ariel scoffs to Katarina ab Brayston. "Unless you're dying for a dinner with the Lady Proconsul yourself, let the poor butcher indulge his romantic dreams." [Ariel]
Aios says to Katarina ab Brayston, "Big laugh, this dinner might as well cost me th' shop, m' arms, an' m' good leg. Ain't no other way I'll be able t' pay this off."
Beronica Destral nods a little to an extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair. "I believe there are some who wish to see her happy," she replies to him.
"She and I do have the most unique conversations," Katarina ab Brayston assures Ariel with a wink. "I am finished. I think the price somewhat suitable given the man will have to work for it." [Katarina ab Brayston]
"I got other baskets to sell, folks," Lei complains, pointing at Aios. "Twice to peg leg!"
Beronica Destral gets a delicate porcelain cup from a banquet table laden with food.
Beronica Destral drinks tea from a delicate porcelain cup.
"An' sold to the man in the wooden leg, for twennnnty fouuur gold coins!" announces Lei, just faintly cross-eyed as she plods over to collect the basket.
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair claps, chuckling silently as the basket is finally sold off.
Lei gets a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a pink ribbon.
Lei closes a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a pink ribbon.
Aios exhales heavily, mopping his wet brow with the back of a hand before approaching to collect his second (and presumably final) basket for the evening.
Lei chews her jaw, handing off the basket. "Reckon we'll be in touch," mutters, but that's all she's got for the man before advancing to the next item.
Lei gives a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a pink ribbon to Aios.
"How much will I need to contribute? Let's figure out the depth of your debt now..." Ariel turns that grin of his to Aios, eyes bright with mischievous mirth. [Ariel
"Y'can take half out of my account Reeve, and half outta his if ya don' mind" a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes offers before shooting Aios a wry grin. [a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes]
"Aye," Aios returns, managing to scrounge up a lopsided grin for Lei before making his way to the back of the room to find a seat. [Aios]
Aios states to a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes, "Don't break yerself on account o' me, I ain't even got that half m'self, awready gonna be in debt o'er it."
"Number six!" Lei points to that basket. "Apple pie, folks! Apple pie!"
[Action: Aios occupies a seat toward the back of the room. He appears to be sweating profusely.]
"Hundred silver for the pie basket, Proconsul," Katarina ab Brayston is soon to call to Lei. [Katarina ab Brayston]
"An' brandy, and some herb!" Lei pokes her nose into the thing. "That mugwort?" cracks a low-brow jape, but she knocks Katarina ab Brayston a nod. "Can I get two crowns?"
"Oooh, apple pie," Beth considers, peeking over into the basket. "That looks good... Two crowns!"
Katarina ab Brayston smiles as another bid comes in, nodding to Lei, "Three."
"I'll take three," Lei calls.
"Four." [Lei]
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes claims, "Five"
Maxwell Wattkil merely stands idle, gaze travelling towards a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes.
"Six?" Beady eyes roam the crowd. [Lei]
"Six," Katarina ab Brayston offers to the bidding, with another dip of her head. Lips a thin line as she thinks to herself. [Katarina ab Brayston]
Beth glances over towards the entry briefly, looking momentarily uncertain before she decides at a defiant chirp, "Seven!"
"I jus' ain' in the winning streak tonight." This said to a bright green Tubori parrot, with pearlescent red feathers as a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes backs out of the bidding. [a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes]
"I'll bid ten on it," Lei grunts, hairy brows twitching.
Katarina ab Brayston chuckles softly, looking down a moment. "Twelve."
"Fifteen 'gainst your ten, Marquessa," Lei firmly stands.
Katarina ab Brayston inclines her chin a fraction. "Twenty."
Daravi reaches up and scratches the side of his head just below the edge of turban.
"Oooh, Marquessa. If I weren't already on the hook for probably thirty-odd gold I'd take this chance to mess with you," Ariel deadpans over to Katarina ab Brayston, shaking his head, "but I'll be kind." [Ariel]
Daravi reaches up and scratches the side of his head just below the edge of a tightly tied green silky turban.
Katarina ab Brayston looks over to Ariel, flashing him a mild smile before looking back to Maxwell Wattkil and Lei.
Beth swings her look over betwene Katarina ab Brayston and Lei, maintaining her quiet with a giggle now.
Lei grits teeth, then sends out to Katarina ab Brayston with a sneer: "I know what you're about, but I'm up for it. "Twenty an' two."
Katarina ab Brayston cannot help the grin that creeps to her expression at Lei's words, letting forth a faint laugh as she rises from her seat. "Twenty-three."
"Twenny an' five." Lei's face is blotching over with some red.
Maxwell Wattkil merely watches, staringly, at the pair.
"Holy moly." Maxwell Wattkil lightly mentions, gaze flicking from Lei to Katarina ab Brayston. [Maxwell Wattkil]
"I wouldn't recommend making this enemy." It's said quietly, a side murmur from Ariel to Katarina ab Brayston. "Let this one go." [Ariel]
Lei whispers to Maxwell Wattkil, 'Shaddup, Watt.'
A bright green Tubori parrot, with pearlescent red feathers squaks out a series of slurred tubori words, before a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes rubs two fingers under its wing affectionately. "S'alright Prank, calm down."
Beronica Destral calmly takes a sip from a delicate porcelain cup. She cracks a small smile as she watches the heat over the latest basket.
Katarina ab Brayston bows her head to Lei, the words which follow sincere. "I tip my hat to you, Proconsul. I suppose I can spare my cook one night to share dinner with you."
Daravi drinks milk from a tall glass bottle filled with creamy, fresh milk.
A random passerby replies to a bit of gossip, "I hear that the Charali Tavern Wench, or doxy, whatever she is, was threatening to kill that poor Mister Harrick! My friend that is a doctor that learned Charali, and he said that she was ready to do it right there in the middle of her operation! Savages! Why can't they be more like that new Grand Magnate, he is half Charali, and doing good for Lithmore! Keeping it safe, and promoting wealth, for -all! - ". [Rumor #1]
"Cook?" That word deepens the flush on Lei's face. Beet-red, she jars Maxwell Wattkil an eye-bulging stare.
Ariel's lips twitch in barely repressed mirth as he watches the show, stifling a momentary grin behind a casual gesture of one hand.
"W- What?" Maxwell Wattkil responds to Lei now. "I- I cook for her." He looks ready to bolt, the usually confident cool fellow quite stammerish. [Maxwell Wattkil]
Katarina ab Brayston seems to thuroughly enjoy herself, flashing Ariel a small smile as she casually makes her way to the banquet table for a drink.
"You mucking what?" The twitch on Ariel's face is nothing compared to the reflexive stutter of Lei's stubby fingers at her side.
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair watches the interactions between the people, canting his head in curiousity.
"I- I like cooking." Maxwell Wattkil murmurs, obviously a bit spooked. [Maxwell Wattkil]
Daravi smirks as he watches on the proceedings, unfolding his arms and resting his hands in his lap.
Katarina ab Brayston gets an elegant crystal snifter of brandy from a banquet table laden with food.
"Oh, I couldn't pay enough for this performance," Ariel murmurs under his voice, reaching up to pass a hand over his eyes. [Ariel]
Lei approaches Maxwell Wattkil, closing the distance.
Lei is near.
Lei bares her teeth, eyes all slitted down to meager little lines -- gaze daggered at Maxwell Wattkil. "Why I oughta.." hisses off, and her right arm cocks back. Bam. A fist pops at the other reeve's face. [Dual Attack]
Lei powerfully hits Maxwell Wattkil's head, grazing a stately chainmail coif lined in a layer of supple leather! It appears to be in good condition.
Maxwell Wattkil looks lightly wounded.
Beth widens her eyes with a half-hop backwards. "Because he cooks for her?" she murmurs confusedly to herself.
"Hey... hey no fightin' this is all in ..." Too late... the fights done started, a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes leans forward in his seat. "I got two gold on the Proconusl... two gold!" [a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes]
"He must be a rather good cook," Loken Baggs Ronthe says, barely phased by how quickly this escalated. [Loken Baggs Ronthe]
At the strike, Maxwell Wattkil just flops backward, the hit to the noggin laying him out flat with one meaty 'chunk'. [Maxwell Wattkil]
"Hey, Proconsul," Ariel calls laconically, though the sudden, intent focus in his eyes is nowhere near so relaxed as his tone as he rises to his feet. "I suggest you contain your anger about your subordinate's... second job." [Ariel]
Aios rises from his seat at hearing the thud of glove on coif. "Ain't no one gonna take th' other side o' -that- bet," he supposes to a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes with a laugh.
Katarina ab Brayston glances to Lei and Maxwell Wattkil as he takes the hit. "You can come see the kitchens if you do not believe him, Lei- Proconsul. I assure you it is all quite legit."
"Wonder how the dessert is," Gavin ab Harkness murmurs quietly, watching Maxwell Wattkil laid out flat; he takes another drink of whiskey. "And so much for Max."
Daravi starts to get up from his seat as he looks at Gavin ab Harkness, "Some Proconsul Lithmore has. Il be at my encampment when your ready to speak." slowly heading for the door.
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair sighs silently, rolling his eyes as the scuffle starts, shaking his head, though the touches of a smile inches in at the edges of his mouth.
Adelaide dul Courdelay appears to be choking on something. Nope... nope. Just clearing her throat loudly. It wasn't a laugh.
Beronica Destral blinks a little at the violence that just happened before giving a sigh. "Must we?" she mutters before taking a sip from a delicate porcelain cup.
Beronica Destral drinks tea from a delicate porcelain cup.
"I'm good." Maxwell Wattkil exclaims, the man lying on the ground helplessly. [Disengage]
Maxwell Wattkil fails to disengage immediately.
Gavin ab Harkness nods gingerly towards Daravi. "Expect me soon," he tells him. "Bring suns and fair winds."
Lei staggers back a step, rubbing the knuckles that have just kissed Maxwell Wattkil's jaw. She snorts, eyes dark, and shifts around to face the audience again. Her arm waves, voice roaring. "Order! ORDER! Order in the cou- ballroom!" [Disengage]
Lei fails to disengage immediately.
Maxwell Wattkil disengages from combat.
Lei disengages from combat.
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair cants his head to Lei, then writes, ' Why is she calling order, if she was the one being disorderly?' he asks on the pad, showing it to Beronica Destral.
"You're the only one -out- of order, Proconsul. Which you would do best to recover immediately," Ariel crisply remarks, making his way toward Maxwell Wattkil with the aid of his cane. "Continue the auction. Wattkil, I want to see if you're alright." [Ariel]
"Order m'ass... ain' no orde when the -proconsul- starts the fight." a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes mutters before shootting Aios a lopsided and bandaged grin. "So... he went down quick." [a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes]
"I will explain later," Beronica Destral tells an extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair as she notes Ariel assisting Maxwell Wattkil. [Beronica Destral]
Crimson color has reached the tips of Lei's ears as she pulls herself together, bristling with better-contained ire. "Where were we," grunts to.. nobody, really, and she refuses Maxwell Wattkil another look.
"Y' blame 'im? 'At's some triangle t' be caught up in--" Aios starts to reply to a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes, but after a glance at the two baskets in his own hand, he falls silent. [Aios]
Daravi gives a small shake of his head as he walks straight and tall out of the ballroom, panto shuffling as he moves.
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair nods to Beronica Destral, looking to see what's up for bid next.
Daravi gives a small shake of his head as he walks straight and tall out of the ballroom, a pair of billowing pantaloons with a snug fit at the waist shuffling as he moves.
Katarina ab Brayston returns to her seat, skirt making a soft sound acrossed the ballroom floor. She then returns attention toward Lei and the baskets.
Daravi begins to move east.
Daravi leaves east
With a quick roll, Maxwell Wattkil moves to slip upward back into a stand. "I'm fine." He mentions. "Jus' caught me off guard, bein' punched in the face." [Maxwell Wattkil]
"Basket number SEVEN," Lei bellows, bright red.
look in 4.basket (basket 7, currently on auction)
a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a blue ribbon holds:
a discount voucher for Stone Mountain Crafts
a charming silver writing box with hand-painted wood panels
a white carrier dove in a simple cage
( 5)an envelope made from crisp, white vellum
( 5)a full sheet of fine, white vellum
[Action: Aios stands toward the back of the room.]
A bright green Tubori parrot, with pearlescent red feathers ruffles its wings out, hopping from side to side on a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes's shoulder. [a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes]
Katarina ab Brayston looks to a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes and his parrot for a short moment and then back to Lei as she announces the next auction.
"Stationary an' envelopes!" resounds high and loud, though there's some wooden element to Lei's call. "Voucher for the smith's! I'll take two crown!"
Katarina ab Brayston states to Lei, "Two."
Lei looks past Katarina ab Brayston, refusing eye contact. "I'll take three!"
Maxwell Wattkil begins to count their money.
"With your stitches... you don't feel any indication any of them broke in the fall?" Ariel quietly checks with Maxwell Wattkil, glancing to Lei but mostly keeping his attention on the large Reeve. [Ariel]
Beth chirps happily after, putting in for herself, "Four!"
"Five for number seven!" Lei declares.
Katarina ab Brayston takes a drink of her brandy, swallowing before calling after Elza, "Five gold."
"Nah." Maxwell Wattkil responds to Ariel, rubbing at his hauberk a bit. "I'll be okay. I got punched in the head, after all. Nothin' in there, obviously, t' hurt." [Maxwell Wattkil]
"Six, anyone?" [Lei]
Lei looks all around.
"Once, at five gold!" [Lei]
"Obviously," Ariel tells Maxwell Wattkil, with a completely deadpan expression. "...you might want to do something about that." [Ariel]
"Okay, six!" Beth adds with a decisive nod to herself, giggling again.
"Twice, five gold!" Lei grits teeth between hollers.
Katarina ab Brayston smiles as Beth bids once more, attention focused on the auction only. "Seven."
Lei blinks, squinting Beth a distracted glance. She wipes under her nose. "Eight?"
"Eight to the bidder!" Lei grouses high and loud.
"Seven going once!" [Lei]
"I'm a professional chef 'n brewer. How can I be stupid?" Maxwell Wattkil responds to Ariel, shaking his head a bit, grin on his face. "Thanks, though." [Maxwell Wattkil]
"An' Seven going twice!" [Lei]
Katarina ab Brayston drinks brandy from an elegant crystal snifter of brandy.
Beronica Destral looks over to an extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair and says, "Let me know if you want to bid on a basket. I will call it out for you."
"That's seven gold," Lei grumps, picking up the basket. She still doesn't look at Katarina ab Brayston.
Lei gets a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a blue ribbon.
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair nods to Beronica Destral, gesturing to a particular basket that has yet to be called yet.
Katarina ab Brayston rises, moving to Lei in order to accept the basket she's just won. Finally.
"I don't particularly know -how-, but I can't argue with the evidence. Don't give her another reason to punch you in the head," Ariel lightly suggests to Maxwell Wattkil, turning to wander his way back toward his chair again. [Ariel]
"Do they have a basket that comes with a pretty gal and a nice bottle of rum?" a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes asks over to Aios before putting his hand over parrots head "Shush Prank... you'll get us in trouble wit' all that squawkin'." [a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes]
Gavin ab Harkness drinks whiskey from a lidded ceramic flagon, bearing a festive evergreen wreath.
"Still don't know -why- she actually punched me." Maxwell Wattkil admits towards Ariel, as he slowly moves to try and move back up next to Lei. [Maxwell Wattkil]
"An' we got another basket of baked goods an' wine," Lei announces, handing Katarina ab Brayston her winnings. "Number EIGHT. I'll take two gold crowns!"
Lei gives a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a blue ribbon to Katarina ab Brayston.
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair raises two fingers to Lei.
Aios wonders to a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes, "Mebbe, mighta gone out awready though. Two pink baskets left though, y' fancy a bid on Eight er Nine?"
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair looks to Beronica Destral, nodding to her.
"The tall chap," points two of Lei's fingers to an extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair. She sidesteps, lumbering to add an extra space of distance between herself Maxwell Wattkil. "That's two. I'll take three!"
Katarina ab Brayston returns to her seat, seemingly content with her present basket as she leans back. Cheeks still retain a soft flush as she considers the wares within before attention falls to Lei. Whom she watches with no problem.
"... so, how about we do a little swap, here?" Gavin ab Harkness wonders, glancing towards the empty seat beside him that's filled with a pink-ribboned basket. "I'll trade mine for number eight: porkchop's looking kind of good." He peeks into his own basket; there's a jingling of bells. "Any takers?"
"Eeeh." Maxwell Wattkil mumbles, before offering, lightly, "Three?" He peers up to Lei. [Maxwell Wattkil]
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair raises four fingers to Lei.
look in 3.basket (basket 8, the basket on offer:)
a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a pink ribbon holds:
( 2)a delicate eating chocolate in the shape of a rose
( 2)an olive-glazed clay mug of fragrant black Farin coffee
a tiny pouch of dried tea leaves
( 2)a plate of fine Tubori dumplings encasing slices of herring
( 2)a fresh leek salad accompanied by a mix of cabbage and peas
( 2)a glass of grape juice etched with vines
a tall bottle of red wine with a leaf sketched on the label
a thick winebottle with a penned label
a star-shaped periwinkle forget-me-not
a long-stemmed, creamy yellow rose
"Four," Lei calls out, nodding to an extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair.
Gavin ab Harkness gets a set of matching polished brass bells in all various sizes from a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a pink ribbon.
Gavin ab Harkness flips a set of matching polished brass bells in all various sizes into the air, and catches it as it begins its descent.
Beronica Destral looks over to Gavin ab Harkness and states, "The one with porkchops is number nine."
Aios claims to a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes, "Looks like th' final basket has some rum, now thatcha mention. No guarantee on th' other condition."
"You could use a dinner with the jester," Ariel calls to Gavin ab Harkness. "It'd be good for your spirits, you know." [Ariel]
"Can I have FIVE?" Lei wipes at her mouth after the yell, shifting in her boots to resettle weight.
"Four once!" [Lei]
"You can have dinner with pork chops, too. In fact, there's a direct correlation," Gavin ab Harkness tells Ariel gamely.
"We're at number EIGHT. Going TWICE, for FOUR!" [Lei]
"Yes, but pork chops won't be nearly as funny as the jester. Trust me; you'll find it enjoyable," Ariel promises Gavin ab Harkness, his grin curling crookedly. [Ariel]
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes declares, "Six!"
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair raises seven fingers to Lei.
"Sold!" Lei points to an extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair, still fidgeting her stance. She hefts up the basket.
Lei grunts, spending distracted eyes on the burden in her arms. "An' we'll move on to the final basket."
"I guess," Maxwell Wattkil sighs lightly, expression shifting a bit. "...Ain't gonna be gettin' any neat baskets." [Maxwell Wattkil]
You stop using a carved ivory cane, topped with a silver-veined quartz orb.
You hold a venerable and beautifully-detailed viol made from cypress in your hand.
"Proconsul, you missed the bid of Mister Harper," Beronica Destral calls out to Lei. [Beronica Destral]
Lei jerks an extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair a glance and beckoning nod before hearing Beronica Destral. "Eh?"
Ariel plays a sad little chord Maxwell Wattkil's way on his shiny new viol, his face an expert moue of discontent.
He appears to be a grandmaster at the strings.
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair nods as Beronica Destral informs Lei of the missed bid.
"...What even-" Maxwell Wattkil peers at Ariel now, giving him a solid stare now, though it's obviously full of jest. [Maxwell Wattkil]
"Well speak up," Lei reprimands the room at large. "It's bloody muckin' loud in here. Who's Harper?" [Lei]
"Bard," Ariel shrugs, indicating himself with the bow and an easy little grin in the wake of the pout. [Ariel]
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes clears his throat and raises his hand "I is!"
Beronica Destral points towards a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes. "He called out a bid of Six after your second call."
"Six, then, to Harper." Lei shows her teeth -- pocked, yellowed things, and peers over the gathering. "Seven? I'll take seven."
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair raises seven fingers.
"I'd offer t' sell y' this Brayston basket," Aios tells Maxwell Wattkil, "But I reckon it might be bad fer yer health." [Aios]
"I got seven. I'll take EIGHT CROWNS." Lei raps knuckles on the table. Not her recently used ones.
"Aye, in terms of 'starting to make good decisions', I'd think buying the Marquessa's baskets would not be your first step. Apologies, Marquessa," Ariel asides to Katarina ab Brayston. "But, you know. Clearly he's claimed." [Ariel]
"Seven ONCE!" Lei jabs Ariel a sour look.
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes exclaims, "EIGHT EIGHT DAMN YE!"
"An' seven TWICE CALLED!" [Lei]
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair holds up ten fingers to Lei.
"EIGHT. I'LL TAKE NINE." Lei may or may not be getting louder to obscure the noise of Ariel's conversation with Maxwell Wattkil. "TEN. I'M LOOKIN' FOR ELEVEN." [Lei]
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes growls out, "Fine eleven... feck! Looks I get to sell the damned Nest!"
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair holds both hands out, making the number ten, then closes one, leaving five remaining.
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes gives an extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair an extremely rude gesture before muttering something almost unintelligible in Tubori.
"THE SAILOR CALLS ELEVEN. GIMME A TWELVE!" Lei's voice is getting hoarse, but it keeps up at its newly acquired volume. "THAT'S FIFTEEN. I WANT SIXTEEN!"
Katarina ab Brayston smiles over to Ariel and Maxwell Wattkil. "Clearly, Baron le Orban. It is fine though, I can go out to dinner with the Butcher as you call him.", her smile is then extended to Aios.
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes begins to count their money.
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair flashes a good-natured smile to a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes, then returning his attention to Lei.
Aios lifts a meaty hand in a simple wave to Katarina ab Brayston in response to her smile.
"FIFTEEN. ONCE." [Lei]
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair begins to count their money.
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes "Let him have it... I ain' goin' broke for a date.. I got mouths t'feed." he calls out.
"Tha' Butcher got a dinner with both the Proconsul and Kat." Maxwell Wattkil mumbles lightly. "...They're gonna break 'is neck, I bet." [Maxwell Wattkil]
"IT'S TWICE." [Lei]
"AN' IT'S SOLD." Lei slams a heavy fist to the nearly empty table, jolting its wooden frame. "..Someone got a drink?" mutters aside -- the other side of her, that doesn't have Maxwell Wattkil there.
Lei gets a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a pink ribbon.
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair smiles moving toward Lei and accepting the basket.
Lei beckons an extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair, throat rattling a clearing. Basket hands over, and a nod goes to number NINE. "FOLKS! Last basket!"
Beth perks up a bit, glancing over at the basket. She holds back most of a grin, sitting quietly as her eyes look around surreptitiously.
Lei gives a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a pink ribbon to an extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair.
"Pork chops!" Gavin ab Harkness calls out, nodding approvingly.
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair gets a long-stemmed, creamy yellow rose from a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a pink ribbon.
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair holds a long-stemmed, creamy yellow rose in his hand.
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair smiles, pulling out the yellow rose, apparently what drew him to the basket.
Maxwell Wattkil begins to count their money.
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes leans forward, fingers knitting together as he tries his best to see what's in the last basket.
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair begins to count their money.
"That's the Prime's," Lei does divulge for an extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair before he's too far escaped down the aisle, then she's back to auctioneering. "MORE TASTY GOODS, FOLKS! I'LL TAKE A CROWN!"
Beronica Destral smiles up to an extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair. "It looks like they provided supper already with that one," she comments.
"...Four." Maxwell Wattkil mentions towards Lei, lightly, squinting at the basket. [Maxwell Wattkil]
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair nods to Beronica Destral, then as Lei says whose basket it was, he smiles even more to Beronica Destral.
A silent sidelong glance is cast in a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes's direction. Loken Baggs Ronthe purses his lips in thought as he folds his arms across his chest. "Fifteen crowns," he says as his starting bid in Lei's direction. (and fixed) [Loken Baggs Ronthe]
Maxwell Wattkil begins to count their money.
Ariel seems content to sit back and let folks bid away now, still sounding the occasional chord on his new viol to test its sound. His nod is distinctly approving.
'Five... I got five in" a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes calls out. [a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes]
Edward Darson arrives from the east
Edward Darson slows to a halt.
Ohh, the look Lei gives Maxwell Wattkil. It could wilt Dav himself, probably. "WE'RE AT FIFTEEN CROWNS," she announces -- or yells, to the masses.
"I just want a freakin' basket." Maxwell Wattkil grunts to himself, shaking his head. [Maxwell Wattkil]
"CAN I GET SIXTEEN." [Lei]
"But no, y'all filthy rich." Maxwell Wattkil sighs lightly, knuckling an eye, though he moves towards Gavin ab Harkness, slowly. [Maxwell Wattkil]
Edward Darson enters in from the east, cloak about him as he focuses on Lei for a moment, taking a breath that he lets out slowly as his eyes flit about the room. He lifts a brow at the prices being mentioned.
A fresh-faced man with long sandy blond hair arrives from the east
A gentlemanly valet has arrived.
A fresh-faced man with long sandy blond hair slows to a halt.
Beth peeks curiously around the room, eyes sparkling.
"Actually, I'm very -clean- and rich. Money lets me afford a giant bath," Ariel cheerfully clarifies to Maxwell Wattkil, airily waving his bow in his direction. [Ariel]
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair moves the basket he won aside a moment, frowning slightly, then writing on his pad to Beronica Destral, ' I may have underpayed.' he passes it to her with slow nod.
Red-rimmed, Lei's eyes scan the ballroom. "LAST BASKET," she calls out, fist clenching, and unclenching at her side. "LAST CHANCE FOR A MUCKING BASKET, YOU LOT!"
A fresh-faced man with long sandy blond hair furrows his brow in thought, mentally planning.
A fresh-faced man with long sandy blond hair begins to move east.
A fresh-faced man with long sandy blond hair leaves east accompanied by a gentlemanly valet.
A gentlemanly valet leaves east.
"I'LL TAKE SIX-" Hack. Lei's voice cracks and breaks, devolving into a thick, choking cough.
Katarina ab Brayston laughs softly at Ariel's words in response to Maxwell Wattkil before looking to Lei. "Someone get the proconsul a drink, please?"
"Seven... seven feckin hard earned crowns!" a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes shouts out to Lei [a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes]
Ariel leans over toward Adelaide dul Courdelay's seat, lightly commenting to her, "I truly hope that you're writing a song about this night so that it can live on in infamy and rhyme for all of time."
Edward Darson begins to count their money.
"We're at -sixteen-," Lei expels after pulling some control over that poorly managed paroxysm, wiping at her eyes.
Edward Darson gives a bit of a frown at Lei's hacking, pursing his lips and looking to the floor before leaning on the eastern doorframe. He looks to Katarina ab Brayston, as she speaks up, smile flickering across his features for a moment as he listens to her talk.
Beronica Destral chuckles as she reads the note, "I only paid ten crowns for the one I got. So you are alright."
"That is my intention, my lord," Adelaide dul Courdelay murmurs a reply, smiling over her book. "Though, I am past due on several pieces now, and missed my chance for promotion." [Adelaide dul Courdelay]
Maxwell Wattkil reaches forward to try and give Lei a firm swat on the back, trying to help clear the woman's throat.
Katarina ab Brayston moves to snatch a snifter of brandy from the tables, approaching Lei and offering it to the woman slowly, though a brow is arched as she stands to the opposite side that Maxwell Wattkil is.
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair smiles to Beronica Destral, chuckling, though no sound comes out, just his teeth showing in a smile and his chest jostling a bit.
"Can't rush art," Ariel announces with a light, flippant shrug, twisting back around and relaxing into his chair. [Ariel]
Lei stiffens up, showing Maxwell Wattkil a tightened fist when he gets too close. "Steer clear, you mucker, 'less you're lookin' for another knock to the jaw."
"Hit me all ya bloody want." Maxwell Wattkil grunts at Lei, lowly. "You need somethin' t' drink? You alright?" [Maxwell Wattkil]
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair writes on his pad, ' Where do we pay for the basket? I'll need to stop by the bank to do so. Didn't feel comfortable carrying that much with me.' he finishes, showing the pad to Beronica Destral.
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes pets a bright green Tubori parrot, with pearlescent red feathers, before shaking his head in disbelief. "Too feckin' rich for my blood, oh well. Was fun anyway."
"Seriously though," Ariel calls to Aios, "how much of -my- money do you need to finance your ambitious victory? I don't know how much I've ended up on the hook for." [Ariel]
Lei tersely grabs the drink from Katarina ab Brayston's hand, jabbing her a slitted glance as the rough move spills some of its contents onto the other woman's sleeve. She knocks back the liquor, wipes her mouth, and calls to the crowd: "FIFTEEN ONCE!"
Katarina ab Brayston gives an elegant crystal snifter of brandy to Lei.
Lei drinks brandy from an elegant crystal snifter of brandy.
"The proconsul said that they will accept payments after all the baskets are sold," Beronica Destral informs an extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair. "If anything, they can probably credit your account for you."
Maxwell Wattkil begins to count their money.
"After th' Proconsul's basket I ferget m'self how much th' other'n cost," Aios admits sheepishly. "Think I might be on fer twenty seven? Twenty eight total? An' I can't get damn near that on m' own, tell y' that much." [Aios]
"FIFTEEN TWICE!" [Lei]
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes begins to count their money.
Beth looks about hopefully, squirming in her seat.
Edward Darson looks over to an extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair, giving a smallish sort of grin as he rubs at his chin. "Ahm certain summat could be worked out." He states, reassuringly. "Ent ah bad thing, bein' in debt tae tha Reeves."
"An' sold," Lei drops her volume, nodding and pointing off to Loken Baggs Ronthe.
Katarina ab Brayston seems to not mind as the muslin sleeves of her armored outfit. She soon retreats from Lei taking a sip of her own brandy while sitting.
Katarina ab Brayston drinks brandy from an elegant crystal snifter of brandy.
"The more of mine you need, the more payback in some shape or form I'll ask for... yet to be determined. Your call." Ariel's smile is light and easy, a gleam in his eye. [Ariel]
He doesn't move once the auction's been called. "The basket is yours," Loken Baggs Ronthe calls out to a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes instead, "Under one condition. You give Lord ab Harkness his much longed for porkchops." His attention flitting to Maxwell Wattkil, he offers consolingly, at least verbally rather than through his tone, "I'd offer the basket to you, but I'd rather not be held accountable for whatever head injuries that might occur as a result." To Lei he calls out, "Take it from my account, please." His attention turns once more to a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes, his head canting slightly to the side, "Are we in agreement?" [Loken Baggs Ronthe]
"How 'bout I pay tha' twenty eight gold," Maxwell Wattkil offers towards Aios, idly, "Fer both baskets 'n dinners, 'n erase ya debt for ya?" [Maxwell Wattkil]
Lei sniffs a noise up her nostrils, then announces to the room at large: "Payments, all payment's will be took by levy. Thanks, all, for attending." She peers to an extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair though, and raises a hand. "I'll take your name, mister."
"Hope y' like venison," Aios suggests to Ariel before turning a broad grin Maxwell Wattkil's way. "Don't you go tryna play hero, now't I seen th' trouble y' gotcher self into. That well's much deeper'n twenty, from th' looks o' it." [Aios]
Maxwell Wattkil begins to count their money.
A random passerby replies to a bit of gossip, "Way I heard it, one of the orderlies sent to the Globe that the heroes from the Orphanage rescue could use some entertainment. She were the only one that could bother to get off her lazy behind and do some charity work. And t'was charity - she ain't a take a dime, other than laughter from folk. Even then, she was tellin' folk she weren't in the guild right now, though she has been in the past, and it weren't official no how, but she were friends with some of the wounded, who she were trying to cheer up. Troubadours are a bigger fool than she is, if they don't scoop her back up and get her on the dock, so she can actually start doing some paying work again. ". [Rumor #2]
"Twenty eight gold fer th' charity. Ya ain't owe nobody nothin'." Maxwell Wattkil offers towards Aios. " [Maxwell Wattkil]
"No mo' debt for you. Trouble fer me. Everyone gets t' laugh their lungs out." Maxwell Wattkil tacks on. [Maxwell Wattkil]
Lei gets a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a blue ribbon.
"When the auction's done," Gavin ab Harkness calls out now, glancing around towards the crowd, "all nobles, reeves and knights are meant to stay. Others, you're free to go."
Lei closes a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a blue ribbon.
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair nods to Lei, writing on his pad, ' Victyr dul Bellatos, tailor from Vavard and current apprentice to Master Seamstress Brienne ab Catan, owner and operator of Vellum and Velvet.' he finishes, passing the pad to Lei.
Katarina ab Brayston runs a hand along the calf of her leggings as she sits and listens to everyone present and their conversations. She arches a brow, gaze flicking to Gavin ab Harkness curiously.
"I -love- venison," Ariel informs Aios, his smile deepening. "Prepare to kill a few dozen deer, and we'll be good." At Gavin ab Harkness's call he groans, half-heartedly, and sprawls back. [Ariel]
Lei gives an extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair's pad a look, notes something in her own paper on the table, and nods a dismissal. She pops eyes off to Gavin ab Harkness's seat, features hard and chilly.
Aios huffs an amused grunt at Maxwell Wattkil. "I don't like owin'," he admits, "But seein' 'at whallop was worth it. Figger it'll be two interesting conversations at th' least. Looks like 'at's m' cue t' leave," he adds, with a glance at Gavin ab Harkness upon his announcement.
Aios states to Ariel, "Thanks again, m'Lord. Be seein' y' soon, I figger."
"If you ain't figured whose basket you took, gimme a talk-to," Lei remembers to call out. "Auction's over."
"Not booting folks, Draiski," Gavin ab Harkness tells Aios. "In fact, you might want to hear this; you're just not contrived to stay if you've business elsewhere, like setting up your dates." He affords the one-legged man a faint grin, then drenches his throat with another helping of whiskey.
Gavin ab Harkness drinks whiskey from a lidded ceramic flagon, bearing a festive evergreen wreath.
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair turns from Lei, then facing Beronica Destral, ' So, where shall the meal take place?' he queries to her on the pad.
Aios mouths a silent ahh of understanding, nodding to Gavin ab Harkness. "S'pose it's time fer a drink, then," he decides, eyeing the tables.
"Well, all done now, I guess," Beth considers, glancing around and wrinkling up her forehead. She glances curiously over at Gavin ab Harkness's words.
Beronica Destral is near.
Lei gets a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a blue ribbon.
Beronica Destral chuckles a little as she makes her way forward to accept the basket. "Can you please credit me for this?" she asks while accepting it.
"If it were a signpost that said 'Good Show M'lord' I would definitely serenade it," Ariel solemnly confirms to Beth, mirth bright in his eyes. [Ariel]
Lei holds it in readiness for Beronica Destral's collection, already eying the next item. "Books, toys an' chocolate! Basket number five! Can I get a crown? Right," nods, voice lowered, to the woman.
look in 6.basket(basket 5, on auction now:)
a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a pink ribbon holds:
a swashbuckling pirate toy mounted on a pair of strings
a leathery green crocodile doll with a crooked-tooth smile
a thin book stamped with a cauldron bubbling on a fire
a book entitled Erra Pater
a sturdy dark red leather book with the title "Virtues" in gilt letters
a rectangular ribbon-tied box of various gourmet chocolates
a toy of wooden duelists painted as Avonna and Savir
a delicate blue egg with golden filigree cagework and the painted face of the queen
a delicate red egg with golden filigree cagework and painted with the face of the king
a delicious egg of red velvet cake with a hard candy shell
a striking white chocolate figure with a severe look
Lei gives a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a blue ribbon to Beronica Destral.
"One crown," Aios mutters casually. [Aios]
Maxwell Wattkil begins to count their money.
Beth nods very seriously back to Ariel. But then she pauses and points out, "But if it was a sign that said 'Good Show M'lord!' it would say that anyway no matter what you did."
Beronica Destral starts to move towards the south.
"...Two crowns." Maxwell Wattkil mumbles, squinting at the basket. [Maxwell Wattkil]
"That's alright, I never claimed that I required a -discriminating- audience." Ariel's shrug to Beth is utterly flippant. [Ariel]
Lei tongues her teeth, jabbing eyes to Maxwell Wattkil, then to the basket. Her focus makes fast return to the crowd, voice booming out: "Can I get THREE crowns?"
"Two fifty," Aios counters, casting a sidelong glance at Maxwell Wattkil. [Aios]
"Four hundred," Katarina ab Brayston remarks off handedly to Lei, gaze perusing between the duo of reeves and the baskets. [Katarina ab Brayston]
"Five hundred?" [Lei]
"five crowns... let's make it fun." a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes calls out [a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes].
"Well, then, you should be okay!" Beth chirps back to Ariel with a quite serious nod.
"I really wish I was wealthy." Maxwell Wattkil grunts to himself, before idly mentioning, "Five fifty." [Maxwell Wattkil]
Maxwell Wattkil begins to count their money.
"Six crowns," Loken Baggs Ronthe decidedly says after some thought, ticking his chin upwards in Lei's direction. [Loken Baggs Ronthe]
"Son of a--" Aios grunts, "Eight crowns." [Aios]
Maxwell Wattkil begins to count their money.
"Know a way you're gonna get wealthy, Max," Gavin ab Harkness calls out, glancing behind his shoulder to Maxwell Wattkil. "We're talking after the auction's up."
Lei grunts a little, sizing Aios up with a slitted peer. "Nine, folks?" She looks at Maxwell Wattkil.
"If there's someone who desperately wants this one but doesn't have the money, I'll spot them if they give me some sort of amusing reason!" Ariel cups a hand around his mouth to let that call carry through the room. He's grinning, widely. [Ariel]
"I- Alright." Maxwell Wattkil offers towards Gavin ab Harkness, brows raising a tad towards the fellow, before he turns a gaze back to Lei. "Nine fifty." [Maxwell Wattkil]
"Can I take in TEN, and fifty?" Lei's voice checks to a monotone, dragging over the assembly.
"Twelve, an' I'll be workin' fer th' Baron th' rest o' m' life," Aios bids. [Aios]
Maxwell Wattkil begins to count their money.
"Twelve," grumbles Lei. "I'll take thirteen!"
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes states, "11 crown"
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes trails off, "ER.... thriteen"
Maxwell Wattkil asks of a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes, "D' you even -have- that kinda money?"
Ariel cackles loudly at Aios's words, clapping his hands together. "Sure you will, fellow! Bid away!" he encourages.
Lei grits teeth together, jabbing a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes another dirty glance. "FOURTEEN?"
"...Uh." Maxwell Wattkil mumbles, scratching at his neck. "...Eh." [Maxwell Wattkil]
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes declaims, "Fine.. take it!"
Aios claims to Lei, "Aye, fourteen."
"Once," Lei grunts, pausing for a length.
Maxwell Wattkil begins to count their money.
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes begins to count their money.
Maxwell Wattkil wonders, "...Hell, kin I ask who's basket it is, if I'm gonna be riskin' so much money, at least?"
"It's my damn basket, Wattkil," Lei grouses at Maxwell Wattkil, not being very quiet about it.
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes begins to count their money.
"Ha!" Aios hoots, clearing his throat in a piss-poor attempt to cover the shout. [Aios]
"...Thirteen." Maxwell Wattkil grunts at Lei, now. [Maxwell Wattkil]
Maxwell Wattkil begins to count their money.
Katarina ab Brayston claims, "Fourteen is the present bid, Reeve Watkill." She pauses a moment, "I believe."
"It's at fourteen," Lei flips Maxwell Wattkil in a mutter. "Try to keep up, eh?" She ups her chin. "Can I get.. FIFTEEN?"
Aios claims to Maxwell Wattkil, "Why y' gotta do me like that? I said I'd stop callin' y' Scales, even. Y' see 'er every day awready."
Maxwell Wattkil says to Katarina ab Brayston, "'n I thought t'was twelve."
Ariel watches all of this with a wide, merry grin, taking zero effort to conceal his amusement.
Maxwell Wattkil begins to count their money.
Gavin ab Harkness drinks whiskey from a lidded ceramic flagon, bearing a festive evergreen wreath.
Maxwell Wattkil begins to count their money.
"Fourteen once," Lei grumps, begrudgingly.
Katarina ab Brayston says, "Fifteen.. Mm, yes."
"What, this is for Lei? It's Lei's basket?" Gavin ab Harkness wonders aloud now, his eyes flashing as they settle upon Lei. "How about we have a date, and we end up bashing those faces in like we planned? So long as there's liquor in the basket, that might sort out right pleasant for all involved."
"I don't have any more money." Maxwell Wattkil sighs lightly, slapping his face a bit. [Maxwell Wattkil]
"That ain't a bid - was 'at a bid?" Aios wonders cautiously of Katarina ab Brayston. [Aios]
"It's fourteen TWICE," Lei rings out.
"It was, I did call fifteen gold, Proconsul," Katarina ab Brayston speaks a bit louder to Aios and Lei. [Katarina ab Brayston]
Daravi slips his hands from within his sleeves and folds his arms over his chest while crossing his feet at the ankles and tucking them under the chair.
"Speak up," Lei chides Katarina ab Brayston with a curt scowl. "Fifteen once!"
Aios tightens the grip on his current basket, shooting a tentative gaze at the one currently up for auction. "Y'ain't pullin' m' leg on credit, m'Lord?" he asks Ariel, "Ain't got but one good one."
Lei slams Maxwell Wattkil a sharp look.
"I'm not. I could buy this basket twenty times over. Have fun, butcher," Ariel sing-songs to Aios, waving a hand airily. [Ariel]
"Aaaan' fifteen TWICE." [Lei]
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes begins to count their money.
Aios declaims to Lei, "Sixteen!"
Lei smacks a mail-clad palm to her forehead, then shakes it off and shuffles her stance, regrouping. "I got seventeen?"
Katarina ab Brayston leans back in her seat, grinning over to Ariel and Aios before looking to Lei. "Seventeen.", she remarks casually.
"Quite a popular Proconsul you are," Loken Baggs Ronthe comments with a slight cant of his head amidst the growing bids. [Loken Baggs Ronthe]
"It's eighteen to the bidder," Lei sounds out, popping Katarina ab Brayston a suspicious look.
Aios folds his arms over his chest, asking Katarina ab Brayston, "Whatcha got against me, eh? If I sold y' somethin' bad, I ain't mean it..."
Beronica Destral simply chuckles as she continues to watch the proceedings of the bidding.
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes "'ey buthcer... I'll help yer bet. I'll go eighteen.. and the basket it yours."
"Eighteen once," cuts Lei's clipped speech.
"I have nothing against you, I do not even know you but soon enough I will if you take up the dinner that comes with the basket you already purchased." Katarina ab Brayston informs Aios with a small smirk. [Katarina ab Brayston]
"It's eighteen twice," Lei scowls at a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes.
Katarina ab Brayston says, "Two thousand silver."
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair writes on his pad, ' She does seem rather popular, you'd think she'd be happier given the price.' he shows the pad to Beronica Destral.
Lei snaps Katarina ab Brayston a stymied face, and tugs off her gloves. "We're at twenty crowns!"
Lei stops using a pair of polished chainmail gloves lined in supple leather.
Adelaide dul Courdelay might be overheard mumbling to herself, "Nothing rhymes with 'butcher'."
"Butcher... y'want to split the price? I can do that." a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes replies, looking slightly worried. [a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes]
"Twenty once!" [Lei]
Safir Mara'aye has left the game.
"Lord almighty," Aios mutters, tipping a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes a grateful nod before telling Lei, "Twenty four. Breakin' th' poor awready t' feed th' poorer." [Aios]
"I'm richer than you," Ariel sing-songs Katarina ab Brayston's way. "Go on, butcher, I like the thought of you and the Proconsul at dinner together." [Ariel]
"Twenny an' four!" A funny sort of look is breaking over Lei's features, right about now.
Katarina ab Brayston laughs softly, leaning over Ariel's direction no matter how far away he may be. "True as that may be, I cannot help my amusement at ensuring the man pays a proper price for his dinner with the Lady Proconsul."
"Damned orphans'll be feedin' their great grandkids on account o' this one basket," Aios grumbles, not too far beneath his breath. [Aios]
Maxwell Wattkil begins to count their money.
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes takes a good long drink from the glass of rum in hand before tipping a dark teal leather hat with a black-pinned, up-turned brim to Aios "Happy to help another businessman."
"I'll take twenny an' five? Or it's once to the peg leg." Lei pops those words off like drum raps, brows hunkering down.
"Haven't you bid it -more- than far enough?" Ariel scoffs to Katarina ab Brayston. "Unless you're dying for a dinner with the Lady Proconsul yourself, let the poor butcher indulge his romantic dreams." [Ariel]
Aios says to Katarina ab Brayston, "Big laugh, this dinner might as well cost me th' shop, m' arms, an' m' good leg. Ain't no other way I'll be able t' pay this off."
Beronica Destral nods a little to an extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair. "I believe there are some who wish to see her happy," she replies to him.
"She and I do have the most unique conversations," Katarina ab Brayston assures Ariel with a wink. "I am finished. I think the price somewhat suitable given the man will have to work for it." [Katarina ab Brayston]
"I got other baskets to sell, folks," Lei complains, pointing at Aios. "Twice to peg leg!"
Beronica Destral gets a delicate porcelain cup from a banquet table laden with food.
Beronica Destral drinks tea from a delicate porcelain cup.
"An' sold to the man in the wooden leg, for twennnnty fouuur gold coins!" announces Lei, just faintly cross-eyed as she plods over to collect the basket.
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair claps, chuckling silently as the basket is finally sold off.
Lei gets a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a pink ribbon.
Lei closes a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a pink ribbon.
Aios exhales heavily, mopping his wet brow with the back of a hand before approaching to collect his second (and presumably final) basket for the evening.
Lei chews her jaw, handing off the basket. "Reckon we'll be in touch," mutters, but that's all she's got for the man before advancing to the next item.
Lei gives a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a pink ribbon to Aios.
"How much will I need to contribute? Let's figure out the depth of your debt now..." Ariel turns that grin of his to Aios, eyes bright with mischievous mirth. [Ariel
"Y'can take half out of my account Reeve, and half outta his if ya don' mind" a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes offers before shooting Aios a wry grin. [a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes]
"Aye," Aios returns, managing to scrounge up a lopsided grin for Lei before making his way to the back of the room to find a seat. [Aios]
Aios states to a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes, "Don't break yerself on account o' me, I ain't even got that half m'self, awready gonna be in debt o'er it."
"Number six!" Lei points to that basket. "Apple pie, folks! Apple pie!"
[Action: Aios occupies a seat toward the back of the room. He appears to be sweating profusely.]
"Hundred silver for the pie basket, Proconsul," Katarina ab Brayston is soon to call to Lei. [Katarina ab Brayston]
"An' brandy, and some herb!" Lei pokes her nose into the thing. "That mugwort?" cracks a low-brow jape, but she knocks Katarina ab Brayston a nod. "Can I get two crowns?"
"Oooh, apple pie," Beth considers, peeking over into the basket. "That looks good... Two crowns!"
Katarina ab Brayston smiles as another bid comes in, nodding to Lei, "Three."
"I'll take three," Lei calls.
"Four." [Lei]
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes claims, "Five"
Maxwell Wattkil merely stands idle, gaze travelling towards a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes.
"Six?" Beady eyes roam the crowd. [Lei]
"Six," Katarina ab Brayston offers to the bidding, with another dip of her head. Lips a thin line as she thinks to herself. [Katarina ab Brayston]
Beth glances over towards the entry briefly, looking momentarily uncertain before she decides at a defiant chirp, "Seven!"
"I jus' ain' in the winning streak tonight." This said to a bright green Tubori parrot, with pearlescent red feathers as a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes backs out of the bidding. [a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes]
"I'll bid ten on it," Lei grunts, hairy brows twitching.
Katarina ab Brayston chuckles softly, looking down a moment. "Twelve."
"Fifteen 'gainst your ten, Marquessa," Lei firmly stands.
Katarina ab Brayston inclines her chin a fraction. "Twenty."
Daravi reaches up and scratches the side of his head just below the edge of turban.
"Oooh, Marquessa. If I weren't already on the hook for probably thirty-odd gold I'd take this chance to mess with you," Ariel deadpans over to Katarina ab Brayston, shaking his head, "but I'll be kind." [Ariel]
Daravi reaches up and scratches the side of his head just below the edge of a tightly tied green silky turban.
Katarina ab Brayston looks over to Ariel, flashing him a mild smile before looking back to Maxwell Wattkil and Lei.
Beth swings her look over betwene Katarina ab Brayston and Lei, maintaining her quiet with a giggle now.
Lei grits teeth, then sends out to Katarina ab Brayston with a sneer: "I know what you're about, but I'm up for it. "Twenty an' two."
Katarina ab Brayston cannot help the grin that creeps to her expression at Lei's words, letting forth a faint laugh as she rises from her seat. "Twenty-three."
"Twenny an' five." Lei's face is blotching over with some red.
Maxwell Wattkil merely watches, staringly, at the pair.
"Holy moly." Maxwell Wattkil lightly mentions, gaze flicking from Lei to Katarina ab Brayston. [Maxwell Wattkil]
"I wouldn't recommend making this enemy." It's said quietly, a side murmur from Ariel to Katarina ab Brayston. "Let this one go." [Ariel]
Lei whispers to Maxwell Wattkil, 'Shaddup, Watt.'
A bright green Tubori parrot, with pearlescent red feathers squaks out a series of slurred tubori words, before a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes rubs two fingers under its wing affectionately. "S'alright Prank, calm down."
Beronica Destral calmly takes a sip from a delicate porcelain cup. She cracks a small smile as she watches the heat over the latest basket.
Katarina ab Brayston bows her head to Lei, the words which follow sincere. "I tip my hat to you, Proconsul. I suppose I can spare my cook one night to share dinner with you."
Daravi drinks milk from a tall glass bottle filled with creamy, fresh milk.
A random passerby replies to a bit of gossip, "I hear that the Charali Tavern Wench, or doxy, whatever she is, was threatening to kill that poor Mister Harrick! My friend that is a doctor that learned Charali, and he said that she was ready to do it right there in the middle of her operation! Savages! Why can't they be more like that new Grand Magnate, he is half Charali, and doing good for Lithmore! Keeping it safe, and promoting wealth, for -all! - ". [Rumor #1]
"Cook?" That word deepens the flush on Lei's face. Beet-red, she jars Maxwell Wattkil an eye-bulging stare.
Ariel's lips twitch in barely repressed mirth as he watches the show, stifling a momentary grin behind a casual gesture of one hand.
"W- What?" Maxwell Wattkil responds to Lei now. "I- I cook for her." He looks ready to bolt, the usually confident cool fellow quite stammerish. [Maxwell Wattkil]
Katarina ab Brayston seems to thuroughly enjoy herself, flashing Ariel a small smile as she casually makes her way to the banquet table for a drink.
"You mucking what?" The twitch on Ariel's face is nothing compared to the reflexive stutter of Lei's stubby fingers at her side.
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair watches the interactions between the people, canting his head in curiousity.
"I- I like cooking." Maxwell Wattkil murmurs, obviously a bit spooked. [Maxwell Wattkil]
Daravi smirks as he watches on the proceedings, unfolding his arms and resting his hands in his lap.
Katarina ab Brayston gets an elegant crystal snifter of brandy from a banquet table laden with food.
"Oh, I couldn't pay enough for this performance," Ariel murmurs under his voice, reaching up to pass a hand over his eyes. [Ariel]
Lei approaches Maxwell Wattkil, closing the distance.
Lei is near.
Lei bares her teeth, eyes all slitted down to meager little lines -- gaze daggered at Maxwell Wattkil. "Why I oughta.." hisses off, and her right arm cocks back. Bam. A fist pops at the other reeve's face. [Dual Attack]
Lei powerfully hits Maxwell Wattkil's head, grazing a stately chainmail coif lined in a layer of supple leather! It appears to be in good condition.
Maxwell Wattkil looks lightly wounded.
Beth widens her eyes with a half-hop backwards. "Because he cooks for her?" she murmurs confusedly to herself.
"Hey... hey no fightin' this is all in ..." Too late... the fights done started, a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes leans forward in his seat. "I got two gold on the Proconusl... two gold!" [a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes]
"He must be a rather good cook," Loken Baggs Ronthe says, barely phased by how quickly this escalated. [Loken Baggs Ronthe]
At the strike, Maxwell Wattkil just flops backward, the hit to the noggin laying him out flat with one meaty 'chunk'. [Maxwell Wattkil]
"Hey, Proconsul," Ariel calls laconically, though the sudden, intent focus in his eyes is nowhere near so relaxed as his tone as he rises to his feet. "I suggest you contain your anger about your subordinate's... second job." [Ariel]
Aios rises from his seat at hearing the thud of glove on coif. "Ain't no one gonna take th' other side o' -that- bet," he supposes to a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes with a laugh.
Katarina ab Brayston glances to Lei and Maxwell Wattkil as he takes the hit. "You can come see the kitchens if you do not believe him, Lei- Proconsul. I assure you it is all quite legit."
"Wonder how the dessert is," Gavin ab Harkness murmurs quietly, watching Maxwell Wattkil laid out flat; he takes another drink of whiskey. "And so much for Max."
Daravi starts to get up from his seat as he looks at Gavin ab Harkness, "Some Proconsul Lithmore has. Il be at my encampment when your ready to speak." slowly heading for the door.
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair sighs silently, rolling his eyes as the scuffle starts, shaking his head, though the touches of a smile inches in at the edges of his mouth.
Adelaide dul Courdelay appears to be choking on something. Nope... nope. Just clearing her throat loudly. It wasn't a laugh.
Beronica Destral blinks a little at the violence that just happened before giving a sigh. "Must we?" she mutters before taking a sip from a delicate porcelain cup.
Beronica Destral drinks tea from a delicate porcelain cup.
"I'm good." Maxwell Wattkil exclaims, the man lying on the ground helplessly. [Disengage]
Maxwell Wattkil fails to disengage immediately.
Gavin ab Harkness nods gingerly towards Daravi. "Expect me soon," he tells him. "Bring suns and fair winds."
Lei staggers back a step, rubbing the knuckles that have just kissed Maxwell Wattkil's jaw. She snorts, eyes dark, and shifts around to face the audience again. Her arm waves, voice roaring. "Order! ORDER! Order in the cou- ballroom!" [Disengage]
Lei fails to disengage immediately.
Maxwell Wattkil disengages from combat.
Lei disengages from combat.
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair cants his head to Lei, then writes, ' Why is she calling order, if she was the one being disorderly?' he asks on the pad, showing it to Beronica Destral.
"You're the only one -out- of order, Proconsul. Which you would do best to recover immediately," Ariel crisply remarks, making his way toward Maxwell Wattkil with the aid of his cane. "Continue the auction. Wattkil, I want to see if you're alright." [Ariel]
"Order m'ass... ain' no orde when the -proconsul- starts the fight." a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes mutters before shootting Aios a lopsided and bandaged grin. "So... he went down quick." [a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes]
"I will explain later," Beronica Destral tells an extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair as she notes Ariel assisting Maxwell Wattkil. [Beronica Destral]
Crimson color has reached the tips of Lei's ears as she pulls herself together, bristling with better-contained ire. "Where were we," grunts to.. nobody, really, and she refuses Maxwell Wattkil another look.
"Y' blame 'im? 'At's some triangle t' be caught up in--" Aios starts to reply to a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes, but after a glance at the two baskets in his own hand, he falls silent. [Aios]
Daravi gives a small shake of his head as he walks straight and tall out of the ballroom, panto shuffling as he moves.
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair nods to Beronica Destral, looking to see what's up for bid next.
Daravi gives a small shake of his head as he walks straight and tall out of the ballroom, a pair of billowing pantaloons with a snug fit at the waist shuffling as he moves.
Katarina ab Brayston returns to her seat, skirt making a soft sound acrossed the ballroom floor. She then returns attention toward Lei and the baskets.
Daravi begins to move east.
Daravi leaves east
With a quick roll, Maxwell Wattkil moves to slip upward back into a stand. "I'm fine." He mentions. "Jus' caught me off guard, bein' punched in the face." [Maxwell Wattkil]
"Basket number SEVEN," Lei bellows, bright red.
look in 4.basket (basket 7, currently on auction)
a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a blue ribbon holds:
a discount voucher for Stone Mountain Crafts
a charming silver writing box with hand-painted wood panels
a white carrier dove in a simple cage
( 5)an envelope made from crisp, white vellum
( 5)a full sheet of fine, white vellum
[Action: Aios stands toward the back of the room.]
A bright green Tubori parrot, with pearlescent red feathers ruffles its wings out, hopping from side to side on a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes's shoulder. [a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes]
Katarina ab Brayston looks to a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes and his parrot for a short moment and then back to Lei as she announces the next auction.
"Stationary an' envelopes!" resounds high and loud, though there's some wooden element to Lei's call. "Voucher for the smith's! I'll take two crown!"
Katarina ab Brayston states to Lei, "Two."
Lei looks past Katarina ab Brayston, refusing eye contact. "I'll take three!"
Maxwell Wattkil begins to count their money.
"With your stitches... you don't feel any indication any of them broke in the fall?" Ariel quietly checks with Maxwell Wattkil, glancing to Lei but mostly keeping his attention on the large Reeve. [Ariel]
Beth chirps happily after, putting in for herself, "Four!"
"Five for number seven!" Lei declares.
Katarina ab Brayston takes a drink of her brandy, swallowing before calling after Elza, "Five gold."
"Nah." Maxwell Wattkil responds to Ariel, rubbing at his hauberk a bit. "I'll be okay. I got punched in the head, after all. Nothin' in there, obviously, t' hurt." [Maxwell Wattkil]
"Six, anyone?" [Lei]
Lei looks all around.
"Once, at five gold!" [Lei]
"Obviously," Ariel tells Maxwell Wattkil, with a completely deadpan expression. "...you might want to do something about that." [Ariel]
"Okay, six!" Beth adds with a decisive nod to herself, giggling again.
"Twice, five gold!" Lei grits teeth between hollers.
Katarina ab Brayston smiles as Beth bids once more, attention focused on the auction only. "Seven."
Lei blinks, squinting Beth a distracted glance. She wipes under her nose. "Eight?"
"Eight to the bidder!" Lei grouses high and loud.
"Seven going once!" [Lei]
"I'm a professional chef 'n brewer. How can I be stupid?" Maxwell Wattkil responds to Ariel, shaking his head a bit, grin on his face. "Thanks, though." [Maxwell Wattkil]
"An' Seven going twice!" [Lei]
Katarina ab Brayston drinks brandy from an elegant crystal snifter of brandy.
Beronica Destral looks over to an extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair and says, "Let me know if you want to bid on a basket. I will call it out for you."
"That's seven gold," Lei grumps, picking up the basket. She still doesn't look at Katarina ab Brayston.
Lei gets a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a blue ribbon.
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair nods to Beronica Destral, gesturing to a particular basket that has yet to be called yet.
Katarina ab Brayston rises, moving to Lei in order to accept the basket she's just won. Finally.
"I don't particularly know -how-, but I can't argue with the evidence. Don't give her another reason to punch you in the head," Ariel lightly suggests to Maxwell Wattkil, turning to wander his way back toward his chair again. [Ariel]
"Do they have a basket that comes with a pretty gal and a nice bottle of rum?" a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes asks over to Aios before putting his hand over parrots head "Shush Prank... you'll get us in trouble wit' all that squawkin'." [a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes]
Gavin ab Harkness drinks whiskey from a lidded ceramic flagon, bearing a festive evergreen wreath.
"Still don't know -why- she actually punched me." Maxwell Wattkil admits towards Ariel, as he slowly moves to try and move back up next to Lei. [Maxwell Wattkil]
"An' we got another basket of baked goods an' wine," Lei announces, handing Katarina ab Brayston her winnings. "Number EIGHT. I'll take two gold crowns!"
Lei gives a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a blue ribbon to Katarina ab Brayston.
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair raises two fingers to Lei.
Aios wonders to a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes, "Mebbe, mighta gone out awready though. Two pink baskets left though, y' fancy a bid on Eight er Nine?"
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair looks to Beronica Destral, nodding to her.
"The tall chap," points two of Lei's fingers to an extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair. She sidesteps, lumbering to add an extra space of distance between herself Maxwell Wattkil. "That's two. I'll take three!"
Katarina ab Brayston returns to her seat, seemingly content with her present basket as she leans back. Cheeks still retain a soft flush as she considers the wares within before attention falls to Lei. Whom she watches with no problem.
"... so, how about we do a little swap, here?" Gavin ab Harkness wonders, glancing towards the empty seat beside him that's filled with a pink-ribboned basket. "I'll trade mine for number eight: porkchop's looking kind of good." He peeks into his own basket; there's a jingling of bells. "Any takers?"
"Eeeh." Maxwell Wattkil mumbles, before offering, lightly, "Three?" He peers up to Lei. [Maxwell Wattkil]
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair raises four fingers to Lei.
look in 3.basket (basket 8, the basket on offer:)
a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a pink ribbon holds:
( 2)a delicate eating chocolate in the shape of a rose
( 2)an olive-glazed clay mug of fragrant black Farin coffee
a tiny pouch of dried tea leaves
( 2)a plate of fine Tubori dumplings encasing slices of herring
( 2)a fresh leek salad accompanied by a mix of cabbage and peas
( 2)a glass of grape juice etched with vines
a tall bottle of red wine with a leaf sketched on the label
a thick winebottle with a penned label
a star-shaped periwinkle forget-me-not
a long-stemmed, creamy yellow rose
"Four," Lei calls out, nodding to an extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair.
Gavin ab Harkness gets a set of matching polished brass bells in all various sizes from a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a pink ribbon.
Gavin ab Harkness flips a set of matching polished brass bells in all various sizes into the air, and catches it as it begins its descent.
Beronica Destral looks over to Gavin ab Harkness and states, "The one with porkchops is number nine."
Aios claims to a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes, "Looks like th' final basket has some rum, now thatcha mention. No guarantee on th' other condition."
"You could use a dinner with the jester," Ariel calls to Gavin ab Harkness. "It'd be good for your spirits, you know." [Ariel]
"Can I have FIVE?" Lei wipes at her mouth after the yell, shifting in her boots to resettle weight.
"Four once!" [Lei]
"You can have dinner with pork chops, too. In fact, there's a direct correlation," Gavin ab Harkness tells Ariel gamely.
"We're at number EIGHT. Going TWICE, for FOUR!" [Lei]
"Yes, but pork chops won't be nearly as funny as the jester. Trust me; you'll find it enjoyable," Ariel promises Gavin ab Harkness, his grin curling crookedly. [Ariel]
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes declares, "Six!"
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair raises seven fingers to Lei.
"Sold!" Lei points to an extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair, still fidgeting her stance. She hefts up the basket.
Lei grunts, spending distracted eyes on the burden in her arms. "An' we'll move on to the final basket."
"I guess," Maxwell Wattkil sighs lightly, expression shifting a bit. "...Ain't gonna be gettin' any neat baskets." [Maxwell Wattkil]
You stop using a carved ivory cane, topped with a silver-veined quartz orb.
You hold a venerable and beautifully-detailed viol made from cypress in your hand.
"Proconsul, you missed the bid of Mister Harper," Beronica Destral calls out to Lei. [Beronica Destral]
Lei jerks an extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair a glance and beckoning nod before hearing Beronica Destral. "Eh?"
Ariel plays a sad little chord Maxwell Wattkil's way on his shiny new viol, his face an expert moue of discontent.
He appears to be a grandmaster at the strings.
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair nods as Beronica Destral informs Lei of the missed bid.
"...What even-" Maxwell Wattkil peers at Ariel now, giving him a solid stare now, though it's obviously full of jest. [Maxwell Wattkil]
"Well speak up," Lei reprimands the room at large. "It's bloody muckin' loud in here. Who's Harper?" [Lei]
"Bard," Ariel shrugs, indicating himself with the bow and an easy little grin in the wake of the pout. [Ariel]
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes clears his throat and raises his hand "I is!"
Beronica Destral points towards a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes. "He called out a bid of Six after your second call."
"Six, then, to Harper." Lei shows her teeth -- pocked, yellowed things, and peers over the gathering. "Seven? I'll take seven."
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair raises seven fingers.
"I'd offer t' sell y' this Brayston basket," Aios tells Maxwell Wattkil, "But I reckon it might be bad fer yer health." [Aios]
"I got seven. I'll take EIGHT CROWNS." Lei raps knuckles on the table. Not her recently used ones.
"Aye, in terms of 'starting to make good decisions', I'd think buying the Marquessa's baskets would not be your first step. Apologies, Marquessa," Ariel asides to Katarina ab Brayston. "But, you know. Clearly he's claimed." [Ariel]
"Seven ONCE!" Lei jabs Ariel a sour look.
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes exclaims, "EIGHT EIGHT DAMN YE!"
"An' seven TWICE CALLED!" [Lei]
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair holds up ten fingers to Lei.
"EIGHT. I'LL TAKE NINE." Lei may or may not be getting louder to obscure the noise of Ariel's conversation with Maxwell Wattkil. "TEN. I'M LOOKIN' FOR ELEVEN." [Lei]
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes growls out, "Fine eleven... feck! Looks I get to sell the damned Nest!"
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair holds both hands out, making the number ten, then closes one, leaving five remaining.
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes gives an extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair an extremely rude gesture before muttering something almost unintelligible in Tubori.
"THE SAILOR CALLS ELEVEN. GIMME A TWELVE!" Lei's voice is getting hoarse, but it keeps up at its newly acquired volume. "THAT'S FIFTEEN. I WANT SIXTEEN!"
Katarina ab Brayston smiles over to Ariel and Maxwell Wattkil. "Clearly, Baron le Orban. It is fine though, I can go out to dinner with the Butcher as you call him.", her smile is then extended to Aios.
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes begins to count their money.
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair flashes a good-natured smile to a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes, then returning his attention to Lei.
Aios lifts a meaty hand in a simple wave to Katarina ab Brayston in response to her smile.
"FIFTEEN. ONCE." [Lei]
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair begins to count their money.
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes "Let him have it... I ain' goin' broke for a date.. I got mouths t'feed." he calls out.
"Tha' Butcher got a dinner with both the Proconsul and Kat." Maxwell Wattkil mumbles lightly. "...They're gonna break 'is neck, I bet." [Maxwell Wattkil]
"IT'S TWICE." [Lei]
"AN' IT'S SOLD." Lei slams a heavy fist to the nearly empty table, jolting its wooden frame. "..Someone got a drink?" mutters aside -- the other side of her, that doesn't have Maxwell Wattkil there.
Lei gets a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a pink ribbon.
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair smiles moving toward Lei and accepting the basket.
Lei beckons an extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair, throat rattling a clearing. Basket hands over, and a nod goes to number NINE. "FOLKS! Last basket!"
Beth perks up a bit, glancing over at the basket. She holds back most of a grin, sitting quietly as her eyes look around surreptitiously.
Lei gives a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a pink ribbon to an extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair.
"Pork chops!" Gavin ab Harkness calls out, nodding approvingly.
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair gets a long-stemmed, creamy yellow rose from a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a pink ribbon.
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair holds a long-stemmed, creamy yellow rose in his hand.
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair smiles, pulling out the yellow rose, apparently what drew him to the basket.
Maxwell Wattkil begins to count their money.
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes leans forward, fingers knitting together as he tries his best to see what's in the last basket.
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair begins to count their money.
"That's the Prime's," Lei does divulge for an extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair before he's too far escaped down the aisle, then she's back to auctioneering. "MORE TASTY GOODS, FOLKS! I'LL TAKE A CROWN!"
Beronica Destral smiles up to an extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair. "It looks like they provided supper already with that one," she comments.
"...Four." Maxwell Wattkil mentions towards Lei, lightly, squinting at the basket. [Maxwell Wattkil]
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair nods to Beronica Destral, then as Lei says whose basket it was, he smiles even more to Beronica Destral.
A silent sidelong glance is cast in a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes's direction. Loken Baggs Ronthe purses his lips in thought as he folds his arms across his chest. "Fifteen crowns," he says as his starting bid in Lei's direction. (and fixed) [Loken Baggs Ronthe]
Maxwell Wattkil begins to count their money.
Ariel seems content to sit back and let folks bid away now, still sounding the occasional chord on his new viol to test its sound. His nod is distinctly approving.
'Five... I got five in" a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes calls out. [a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes]
Edward Darson arrives from the east
Edward Darson slows to a halt.
Ohh, the look Lei gives Maxwell Wattkil. It could wilt Dav himself, probably. "WE'RE AT FIFTEEN CROWNS," she announces -- or yells, to the masses.
"I just want a freakin' basket." Maxwell Wattkil grunts to himself, shaking his head. [Maxwell Wattkil]
"CAN I GET SIXTEEN." [Lei]
"But no, y'all filthy rich." Maxwell Wattkil sighs lightly, knuckling an eye, though he moves towards Gavin ab Harkness, slowly. [Maxwell Wattkil]
Edward Darson enters in from the east, cloak about him as he focuses on Lei for a moment, taking a breath that he lets out slowly as his eyes flit about the room. He lifts a brow at the prices being mentioned.
A fresh-faced man with long sandy blond hair arrives from the east
A gentlemanly valet has arrived.
A fresh-faced man with long sandy blond hair slows to a halt.
Beth peeks curiously around the room, eyes sparkling.
"Actually, I'm very -clean- and rich. Money lets me afford a giant bath," Ariel cheerfully clarifies to Maxwell Wattkil, airily waving his bow in his direction. [Ariel]
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair moves the basket he won aside a moment, frowning slightly, then writing on his pad to Beronica Destral, ' I may have underpayed.' he passes it to her with slow nod.
Red-rimmed, Lei's eyes scan the ballroom. "LAST BASKET," she calls out, fist clenching, and unclenching at her side. "LAST CHANCE FOR A MUCKING BASKET, YOU LOT!"
A fresh-faced man with long sandy blond hair furrows his brow in thought, mentally planning.
A fresh-faced man with long sandy blond hair begins to move east.
A fresh-faced man with long sandy blond hair leaves east accompanied by a gentlemanly valet.
A gentlemanly valet leaves east.
"I'LL TAKE SIX-" Hack. Lei's voice cracks and breaks, devolving into a thick, choking cough.
Katarina ab Brayston laughs softly at Ariel's words in response to Maxwell Wattkil before looking to Lei. "Someone get the proconsul a drink, please?"
"Seven... seven feckin hard earned crowns!" a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes shouts out to Lei [a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes]
Ariel leans over toward Adelaide dul Courdelay's seat, lightly commenting to her, "I truly hope that you're writing a song about this night so that it can live on in infamy and rhyme for all of time."
Edward Darson begins to count their money.
"We're at -sixteen-," Lei expels after pulling some control over that poorly managed paroxysm, wiping at her eyes.
Edward Darson gives a bit of a frown at Lei's hacking, pursing his lips and looking to the floor before leaning on the eastern doorframe. He looks to Katarina ab Brayston, as she speaks up, smile flickering across his features for a moment as he listens to her talk.
Beronica Destral chuckles as she reads the note, "I only paid ten crowns for the one I got. So you are alright."
"That is my intention, my lord," Adelaide dul Courdelay murmurs a reply, smiling over her book. "Though, I am past due on several pieces now, and missed my chance for promotion." [Adelaide dul Courdelay]
Maxwell Wattkil reaches forward to try and give Lei a firm swat on the back, trying to help clear the woman's throat.
Katarina ab Brayston moves to snatch a snifter of brandy from the tables, approaching Lei and offering it to the woman slowly, though a brow is arched as she stands to the opposite side that Maxwell Wattkil is.
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair smiles to Beronica Destral, chuckling, though no sound comes out, just his teeth showing in a smile and his chest jostling a bit.
"Can't rush art," Ariel announces with a light, flippant shrug, twisting back around and relaxing into his chair. [Ariel]
Lei stiffens up, showing Maxwell Wattkil a tightened fist when he gets too close. "Steer clear, you mucker, 'less you're lookin' for another knock to the jaw."
"Hit me all ya bloody want." Maxwell Wattkil grunts at Lei, lowly. "You need somethin' t' drink? You alright?" [Maxwell Wattkil]
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair writes on his pad, ' Where do we pay for the basket? I'll need to stop by the bank to do so. Didn't feel comfortable carrying that much with me.' he finishes, showing the pad to Beronica Destral.
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes pets a bright green Tubori parrot, with pearlescent red feathers, before shaking his head in disbelief. "Too feckin' rich for my blood, oh well. Was fun anyway."
"Seriously though," Ariel calls to Aios, "how much of -my- money do you need to finance your ambitious victory? I don't know how much I've ended up on the hook for." [Ariel]
Lei tersely grabs the drink from Katarina ab Brayston's hand, jabbing her a slitted glance as the rough move spills some of its contents onto the other woman's sleeve. She knocks back the liquor, wipes her mouth, and calls to the crowd: "FIFTEEN ONCE!"
Katarina ab Brayston gives an elegant crystal snifter of brandy to Lei.
Lei drinks brandy from an elegant crystal snifter of brandy.
"The proconsul said that they will accept payments after all the baskets are sold," Beronica Destral informs an extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair. "If anything, they can probably credit your account for you."
Maxwell Wattkil begins to count their money.
"After th' Proconsul's basket I ferget m'self how much th' other'n cost," Aios admits sheepishly. "Think I might be on fer twenty seven? Twenty eight total? An' I can't get damn near that on m' own, tell y' that much." [Aios]
"FIFTEEN TWICE!" [Lei]
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes begins to count their money.
Beth looks about hopefully, squirming in her seat.
Edward Darson looks over to an extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair, giving a smallish sort of grin as he rubs at his chin. "Ahm certain summat could be worked out." He states, reassuringly. "Ent ah bad thing, bein' in debt tae tha Reeves."
"An' sold," Lei drops her volume, nodding and pointing off to Loken Baggs Ronthe.
Katarina ab Brayston seems to not mind as the muslin sleeves of her armored outfit. She soon retreats from Lei taking a sip of her own brandy while sitting.
Katarina ab Brayston drinks brandy from an elegant crystal snifter of brandy.
"The more of mine you need, the more payback in some shape or form I'll ask for... yet to be determined. Your call." Ariel's smile is light and easy, a gleam in his eye. [Ariel]
He doesn't move once the auction's been called. "The basket is yours," Loken Baggs Ronthe calls out to a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes instead, "Under one condition. You give Lord ab Harkness his much longed for porkchops." His attention flitting to Maxwell Wattkil, he offers consolingly, at least verbally rather than through his tone, "I'd offer the basket to you, but I'd rather not be held accountable for whatever head injuries that might occur as a result." To Lei he calls out, "Take it from my account, please." His attention turns once more to a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes, his head canting slightly to the side, "Are we in agreement?" [Loken Baggs Ronthe]
"How 'bout I pay tha' twenty eight gold," Maxwell Wattkil offers towards Aios, idly, "Fer both baskets 'n dinners, 'n erase ya debt for ya?" [Maxwell Wattkil]
Lei sniffs a noise up her nostrils, then announces to the room at large: "Payments, all payment's will be took by levy. Thanks, all, for attending." She peers to an extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair though, and raises a hand. "I'll take your name, mister."
"Hope y' like venison," Aios suggests to Ariel before turning a broad grin Maxwell Wattkil's way. "Don't you go tryna play hero, now't I seen th' trouble y' gotcher self into. That well's much deeper'n twenty, from th' looks o' it." [Aios]
Maxwell Wattkil begins to count their money.
A random passerby replies to a bit of gossip, "Way I heard it, one of the orderlies sent to the Globe that the heroes from the Orphanage rescue could use some entertainment. She were the only one that could bother to get off her lazy behind and do some charity work. And t'was charity - she ain't a take a dime, other than laughter from folk. Even then, she was tellin' folk she weren't in the guild right now, though she has been in the past, and it weren't official no how, but she were friends with some of the wounded, who she were trying to cheer up. Troubadours are a bigger fool than she is, if they don't scoop her back up and get her on the dock, so she can actually start doing some paying work again. ". [Rumor #2]
"Twenty eight gold fer th' charity. Ya ain't owe nobody nothin'." Maxwell Wattkil offers towards Aios. " [Maxwell Wattkil]
"No mo' debt for you. Trouble fer me. Everyone gets t' laugh their lungs out." Maxwell Wattkil tacks on. [Maxwell Wattkil]
Lei gets a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a blue ribbon.
"When the auction's done," Gavin ab Harkness calls out now, glancing around towards the crowd, "all nobles, reeves and knights are meant to stay. Others, you're free to go."
Lei closes a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a blue ribbon.
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair nods to Lei, writing on his pad, ' Victyr dul Bellatos, tailor from Vavard and current apprentice to Master Seamstress Brienne ab Catan, owner and operator of Vellum and Velvet.' he finishes, passing the pad to Lei.
Katarina ab Brayston runs a hand along the calf of her leggings as she sits and listens to everyone present and their conversations. She arches a brow, gaze flicking to Gavin ab Harkness curiously.
"I -love- venison," Ariel informs Aios, his smile deepening. "Prepare to kill a few dozen deer, and we'll be good." At Gavin ab Harkness's call he groans, half-heartedly, and sprawls back. [Ariel]
Lei gives an extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair's pad a look, notes something in her own paper on the table, and nods a dismissal. She pops eyes off to Gavin ab Harkness's seat, features hard and chilly.
Aios huffs an amused grunt at Maxwell Wattkil. "I don't like owin'," he admits, "But seein' 'at whallop was worth it. Figger it'll be two interesting conversations at th' least. Looks like 'at's m' cue t' leave," he adds, with a glance at Gavin ab Harkness upon his announcement.
Aios states to Ariel, "Thanks again, m'Lord. Be seein' y' soon, I figger."
"If you ain't figured whose basket you took, gimme a talk-to," Lei remembers to call out. "Auction's over."
"Not booting folks, Draiski," Gavin ab Harkness tells Aios. "In fact, you might want to hear this; you're just not contrived to stay if you've business elsewhere, like setting up your dates." He affords the one-legged man a faint grin, then drenches his throat with another helping of whiskey.
Gavin ab Harkness drinks whiskey from a lidded ceramic flagon, bearing a festive evergreen wreath.
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair turns from Lei, then facing Beronica Destral, ' So, where shall the meal take place?' he queries to her on the pad.
Aios mouths a silent ahh of understanding, nodding to Gavin ab Harkness. "S'pose it's time fer a drink, then," he decides, eyeing the tables.
"Well, all done now, I guess," Beth considers, glancing around and wrinkling up her forehead. She glances curiously over at Gavin ab Harkness's words.
A wiry Lithmorran man with chestnut brown hair arrives from the east with shoulders slouched and head bowed.
A wiry Lithmorran man with chestnut brown hair slows to a halt.
[Action: Lei stands by the empty auction table, looking more than her usual bitter self.]
Adelaide dul Courdelay tucks her book away though, like many others, she seems in no rush to leave after Gavin ab Harkness's announcement.
Maxwell Wattkil levels his attention back towards Gavin ab Harkness, puffing out a soft sigh as the man slowly tries to find a way to settle on down, maybe tryin' to grab a drink.
Aios gets a handled ample glass from a table glittering with glasses.
[Action: Maxwell Wattkil is in a seat here, looking dour.]
Edward Darson looks over to the table, at Aios speaks, meandering his way over and getting a glass full of whatever alcohol is in there, looking into it for a moment before downing it quickly.
Maxwell Wattkil gets a thin crystal wineglass with subtle fiery engravings from a banquet table laden with food.
Edward Darson gets a thin crystal wineglass with subtle fiery engravings from a banquet table laden with food.
Edward Darson drinks Tubori wine from a thin crystal wineglass with subtle fiery engravings.
Aios drinks weak honey drink from a handled ample glass.
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair gets a thin crystal wineglass with subtle fiery engravings from a banquet table laden with food.
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair gets a glass of wine from the table, gesturing back at it and offering Beronica Destral a questioning look.
"Porkchops... he can have the porkchops, I'm a fish man m'self" a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes replies before pushing up, painfully to his feet. "Think a good shot of rum in in order.. what ya say Plank?" At this a bright green Tubori parrot, with pearlescent red feathers squawks loudly. [a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes]
A wiry Lithmorran man with chestnut brown hair slinks back in and heads for the banquet table to grab whatever's left.
A wiry Lithmorran man with chestnut brown hair gets a light pear and walnut cake soaked in honey from a banquet table laden with food.
Beronica Destral reads the pad before looking back to an extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair. "In a few days?" she offers to him while making her way towards Lei. "I need to inquire as to whose basket I purchased, Proconsul."
"Oh, you will," Ariel lightly promises Aios. He seems content to sit back and wait for the place to empty, sporadically plucking his viol's strings. "Proconsul, who am I taking to dinner?" [Ariel]
A wiry Lithmorran man with chestnut brown hair gets a handled ample glass from a table glittering with glasses.
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair drinks Tubori wine from a thin crystal wineglass with subtle fiery engravings.
Loken Baggs Ronthe gestures a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes towards Lei. "Enjoy yourself then, friendn," he urges the man, stepping towards Gavin ab Harkness once all's said and done. As he nears, he presses a fist against his chest. "Lord ab Harkness," he greets.
Loken Baggs Ronthe approaches Gavin ab Harkness, closing the distance.
Loken Baggs Ronthe is near.
"You took Noah Reed's," Lei reveals to Beronica Destral, stony eyes smacking to Ariel, next. "An' yours was Aodhan Skye's, whoever the muck that is."
The late-come questions directed towards Lei spur Gavin ab Harkness forward, and he rises, his armor, ancient and battered and strapped like a clamshell around his shoulders protesting as he clambers to his feet. On the way, he returns Loken Baggs Ronthe's salute, his fist thumping against a chain hauberk covered with a grey and white woolen tabard, and he nears the Proconsul's side. But for now, he's quiet.
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes nods a few times, a wry grin playing across the ruined skin of his face. "I plan to, and thank y'mate. Was beginnin' t'think I wouldn't get a win out of all this."
A wiry Lithmorran man with chestnut brown hair is halfway into a bite of a light pear and walnut cake soaked in honey when he coughs noisily beside a table glittering with glasses.
[Action: Gavin ab Harkness stands here near Lei, looking unimaginably tired. The crows' feet around his eyes scratch down his cheeks.]
[Action: a wiry Lithmorran man with chestnut brown hair is loitering beside 2.table.]
Aios lifts a handled ample glass in a wiry Lithmorran man with chestnut brown hair's direction. "Gotcher self a date, seems," he comments unnecessarily.
Beronica Destral arches her eyebrow and looks over to a wiry Lithmorran man with chestnut brown hair. "Those are remarkably well made, Mister Skye. It looks like you do show a liking to the craft."
"Who's Aodhan... ah?" Ariel glances toward a wiry Lithmorran man with chestnut brown hair at Aios's toast. "A little skinny," he deadpans, "but I suppose you're reasonably tall, at least. Do you like -music-, Master Skye?" [Ariel]
remember wiry Aodhan Skye
From here on you will remember a wiry Lithmorran man with chestnut brown hair as Aodhan Skye.
Katarina ab Brayston shifts in her seat to more face Lei and Gavin ab Harkness, feet tucking to the side of her chair. Once more she brings an elegant crystal snifter of brandy up for a sip.
look skye
Aodhan Skye is loitering beside a table glittering with glasses.
Though a few inches taller than average, this Lithmorran man is
otherwise common in appearance. A full head of straight, chestnut brown
hair frames his jaw in a careless fashion, situated around a stern brow,
hazel eyes, and a stubborn, humorless mouth. These features are divided by
an offset nose and belong to an angular, tanned face that has seen more sun
than it probably ought. The lower half is covered in a sparse, uneven
layer of reddish-brown stubble. Though not overly gaunt, his build is
definitely on the lean side, composed primarily of acute angles and taut
lines. When he speaks, he does so with a strong northwestern accent,
placing his origins somewhere in either Sartez or Zadossa County.
Ariel is a hand taller than he is.
Aodhan Skye is using:
<worn on head> a bistre-colored felt workman's cap with an adjustable brim
<worn around neck> a woman's pendant of wooden beads, polished by wear and age
<worn over shoulder> a many-pocketed messenger's satchel worked in plain leather
<worn, left wrist> a small ball of common wax, hung from a frayed bit of twine
<worn on hands> a set of fitted leather gloves fastened with wooden buttons
<wielded, right> a dagger (sheathed on the hip)
<wielded, left> a weighty blunt woodcutter's axe, handle wrapped in leather (hanging from the hip)
<worn on torso> an off-white linen workman's shirt, buttoned below the neck
<worn about body> an oiled leather cloak lined with a thin layer of grey wool
<worn about waist> a tooled leather belt, fitted with numerous loops and frogs
<worn on legs> some plain, bistre-colored linen breeches faded at the knee
<worn on feet> a pair of worn traveler's boots crafted from tooled leather
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes asks, "'ey Proconsul... what'd I win? An' who it be with?"
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair smirks, writing on his pad again, ' I'm thinking the park, seems I recall there being an offer to got there before.' passing the note to Beronica Destral again.
Aodhan Skye shoots Aios a look as he yanks a bistre-colored felt workman's cap with an adjustable brim lower down over his face. When Beronica Destral and then Ariel both address him, he stands there opening and closing his mouth uncertainly for several seconds before he lowers himself into a stiff bow. "Er... I didn't make 'em, the instruments. Got a good deal on some old ones and just fixed 'em up, like," he mumbles.
Lei knocks her chin upward. "Collect, eh? I ain't gonna sit here an' baby-watch it." She's addressing a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes. "That one-" she checks the one lone basket remaining on the table, then her tablet. "Elizabethany le Marke."
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes gets a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a pink ribbon.
Aios drinks weak honey drink from a handled ample glass.
Beronica Destral grins over to an extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair and gives him a nod. "As long as the weather is favorable for this time of the year," she tells him. "But if you will excuse me, I do need to get home."
"Where do you want to go to dinner?" Ariel lightly asks of Aodhan Skye. "You look... hungry." [Ariel]
"Lord ab Harkness... y'want the chops now, or should I send em to ya?" a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes calls out as he begins rummaging through the contents of the basket. "Rum... wine! Hey... not a bad win!" [a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes]
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair nods to Beronica Destral, offering her an arm to walk her assist in walking her home.
Gavin ab Harkness glances Lei's way. "When you're done, Lei, and I don't want to step on your toes, do that 'order, order' thing for me, would you?"
Lei taps a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes's shoulder, then tips a nod indicative of Gavin ab Harkness -- whose standing at her other shoulder.
Edward Darson gives a bit of a grin, as he looks down to his drink, downing it and walking out the door as everyone speaks among themselves, slinking out without saying much.
"So you got mine, I guess!" Beth chirps cheerfully over to a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes with a beam. "Well, we were needing to talk anyways, huh? And we can have a nice date and tell Lloyd that's just what happens when he can't stay and win my basket himself." She nods very seriously to a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes.
Edward Darson furrows his brow in thought, mentally planning.
Edward Darson begins to move east.
Edward Darson leaves east.
Aodhan Skye might be hungry, the way he's shoving a light pear and walnut cake soaked in honey into his mouth. Or maybe it's just a ploy to get out of talking. After a few moments, he swallows, though he doesn't seem to have figured anything out in that brief interim, either. "Uh... I get to choose?"
"Oh... it be you! Now m'night just got alot better it did!" a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes smiles brightly at Beth before holding out his unijured arm. "What Lloyd don' know can't hurt him, yeah?" [a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes]
Beronica Destral places her hand on an extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair's arm. "Thank you, Mister Bellatos," she says to the taller man. "Shall we go?"
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair nods to Beronica Destral, starting to lead her out of the ballroom.
"Sure, what the hell. I'll take you anywhere and buy you a full course out of the goodness of my bored little heart," Ariel promises Aodhan Skye, laying a hand over his chest with fingers dramatically splayed. [Ariel]
"THAT'S IT, FOLKS!" Lei booms out through the room after sucking down a hefty lungful of air. "The DUKE'S got the floor." With blue-ribboned basket on her arm, she crosses it with her other over breastplate, then taps a boot.
Beronica Destral furrows her brow in thought, mentally planning.
Beronica Destral begins to move east.
Beronica Destral crosses the center of the room.
Beronica Destral leaves east leaning heavily on a carved willow tree cane wrapped with its draping branches
"Everyone goin' fer their dinners right now?" Aios wonders, surveying the crowd. "Th' abyss am I s'posed t' do then with two baskets?" He starts to approach one of his intended dinner partners, but halts at Lei's shout, focusing on Gavin ab Harkness instead. [Aios]
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair crosses the center of the room.
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair leaves east walking straight-backed with his hands clasped behind his back.
Gavin ab Harkness drinks whiskey from a lidded ceramic flagon, bearing a festive evergreen wreath.
"Well, I told him I was putting a basket up!" Beth hops over to a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes's side. "When did you want to do the dinner?"
Aodhan Skye tries to catch a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes' attention with something that looks like a thumbs-up.
"Are ya free now Miss Bardess, if so, we can meander over to the Nest. Got a nice dinner room there, or... heck. Ladie's choice. You pick the place." a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes angles the basket hunder his good arm, a bright green Tubori parrot, with pearlescent red feathers peering over at Beth as he moves closer. "Easy Plank she don' know ya yet." [a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes]
[Action: Lei , looking particularly sour, stands with Gavin ab Harkness by the empty auction table. A basket hangs from her arm.]
Katarina ab Brayston lets her gaze fall on those still lingering, brow arching slightly as she awaits.
"Two things," Gavin ab Harkness remarks from across the rim of the flagon he holds - a cheery, Yule-like thing, artful wreaths decorate its circumference, but the undeniable smell of whiskey descends like a haze around both him and Lei. He turns towards the crowd. "First, Roldan and I explored the sewers yesterday. We found slavers: they had a pit of men, women, and children chained up. This was a concerted operation, with dozens of guards -- otherwise, I would've emptied their stomachs. Proconsul and I need help in ending this." He pauses then, for another drink. "Also, henceforth, the county of Awan Ride is a haven for escaped slaves. If they come from places like Farin, they'll find sanctuary there; slavers that reach my borders will be turned away with force."
Gavin ab Harkness drinks whiskey from a lidded ceramic flagon, bearing a festive evergreen wreath.
"Sure, I can do now!" sef assures a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes, hesitating momentarily at the parrot. "Hello," she greets it uncertainly, holding out an arm for a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes. "And the Nest is just fine, anyway, really!" [Beth]
"Ey Butcher... looks like we both got a win yeah?!" This called out as a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes begins his shuffle towards the door, a happy whistle heard as he escorts Beth out of the hall. "He don' bite, just a pain really. But I had him since he pretty much hatched... he's like family really." [a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes]
Lei appears to be privy to this revelation of Gavin ab Harkness's. Her face remains set and unmoving, eyes fastened to some hanging on the wall past the man.
Aios sets down his drink, appearance somber at Gavin ab Harkness's announcement. "Hm? Oh, mm," he grunts agreeably to a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes, lifting a hand in a wave of farewell to a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes and Beth.
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes furrows his brow in thought, mentally planning.
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes begins to move east.
Ariel is suddenly and completely distracted. He bolts to his feet, staring at Gavin ab Harkness with wide eyes that burn intensely. "Slavery?" he asks, flatly. "Here, in Lithmore, itself? In the Arien-cursed sewers?" A muscle twitches in his cheek.
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes leaves east
Beth leaves east
Loken Baggs Ronthe's lips curl into a vague sneer at Gavin ab Harkness's announcement. "You have my services if need be, my Lord," he tells the man. "Have the other Knights been informed of this?"
Grinning faintly, Aodhan Skye scratches his cheek as he watches the Tubori sailor walk the bardess from the ballroom. He seems about to respond to Ariel but then he seems to have lost his chance, so he goes back to eating a light pear and walnut cake soaked in honey. [Aodhan Skye]
"Welp," Maxwell Wattkil grunts, as the man moves to slip up from his seat with a 'hup'. "Where do we start? I'm ready to go." He quickly assures. [Maxwell Wattkil]
Aodhan Skye gets the following from a banquet table laden with food:
( 3)a light pear and walnut cake soaked in honey
Aodhan Skye puts the following into a many-pocketed messenger's satchel worked in plain leather:
( 4)a light pear and walnut cake soaked in honey
Aodhan Skye pilfers a few more cakes from a banquet table laden with food, then sniffs at a handled ample glass before taking a sip.
Aodhan Skye drinks weak honey drink from a handled ample glass.
"My sword is ready to serve when you've need of it," Katarina ab Brayston assures Gavin ab Harkness as she leans forward onto the edge of her chair, one arm draping over the back of the one infront of her. [Katarina ab Brayston]
"It's so," Gavin ab Harkness confirms to Ariel. "Not BCG, either. They're not so vile, not even in the worst of times." The hand not holding the flagon of whiskey reaches the bridge of his nose, and there it massages, the pads of his fingers rubbing the soft flesh around his eyes. "And, when I said 'dozens of guards' and 'Roldan and I,' as in Sir Argider de Roldan didn't tackle this head-on, I meant it: this isn't a once-off, motley crew kind of thing. We frak this up, everyone, and people die; we dawdle, and they're sent to be toys for Farins, or whoever."
"You have the entirety of my resources." It's simply said, Ariel faintly pale as he sinks back into his seat. He exhales, slowly and steadily, and looks back toward Aodhan Skye with a vaguely expectant expression. [Ariel]
Lei grits her yellow teeth, now jib-jabbing eyes around those stalwart souls that have loitered behind the cheerful auction crowd. Jaw works, and her brows snug harshly together.
Not about to distract a nobleman from his pursuits, Aodhan Skye quietly slips food into a many-pocketed messenger's satchel worked in plain leather until Ariel's gaze finds him again. "So, uh, I could eat, but I'm sure I don't have anythin' interestin' to say to ah, a Baron? You'd be real bored, m'lord. Maybe I could just ask y'for a small favor sometime instead?" He suggests. [Aodhan Skye]
Katarina ab Brayston dangles withing her hand the snifter of brandy as she listens to everyone, jaw working a few times as she resumes her silence. Gaze narrowed in thought.
"Shouldn't -I- be the one to decide if I want the dinner or not? I mean, I bought your time," Ariel points out to Aodhan Skye, tone bland. He seems to have almost recovered his aplomb in the wake of Gavin ab Harkness's revelation, but a slight pallor lingers in his complexion. [Ariel]
Aodhan Skye just shrugs at Ariel, as if the latter had just pointed out the audience. "Guess I'll be on m'way, then. Got work what needs doin'."
"I need a few things, then, in the interim," Gavin ab Harkness states quietly. His eyes shift towards Lei, towards whom he affords a friendly-enough smile. "A plan. Work with Ronthe," he murmurs, indicating Loken Baggs Ronthe. "You've whatever resources I, or the county of Awan Ride, or the barony of Savir can produce. But, I'm speaking personally here." Apparently, this is a point of contention. And then, since Adelaide dul Courdelay's still around, he sweeps his gaze towards her. "And, Miss Adelaide, since you're around: if you could spread my message of safe haven so that it reaches the slave-holding duchies, you'd have my personal thanks, and whatever compensation you'd need. No one better than troubadours to send messages along."
"As you wish, Your Grace," Adelaide dul Courdelay inclines her head to Gavin ab Harkness and while there's a brief wash of uncertainty across her features, it clears quickly. [Adelaide dul Courdelay]
"Ronthe." Lei recognizes Loken Baggs Ronthe with a sharp peer, cutting a short, jowl-compressing nod. Tongue probes teeth, and her eyes knock back to Gavin ab Harkness. "De Reymes ain't up for much these days;" sounds with some dirty triumph -- not much. Just a little. "I'm up, willing and ready for the task."
Aodhan Skye drops a handled ample glass.
At Gavin ab Harkness's suggestion, Loken Baggs Ronthe tips a nod Lei's way. "Might we have a general layout of the sewers? More specifically, where they're currently stationed at?" he wonders to the former, running his thumb along the top of his belt for a moment before his hand comes at rest on his side. [Loken Baggs Ronthe]
"Very well, then. I'll be in touch; write you on the subject." Ariel waves an idle hand to Aodhan Skye, turning his focus back to Gavin ab Harkness. "I've had some extensive anti-slavery policies in Savir for some time, but... there are -still- whispers of a market going through our lands, no matter how hard I try to crack down." Exhaling slowly, he looks to Loken Baggs Ronthe. [Ariel]
Unobtrusively, a fresh-faced guardsman wearing reeve markings sidles up to Lei and drops a few lowered words down to her ear. The woman exhales a noise of air from flaring nostrils, then addresses Loken Baggs Ronthe, Ariel and Gavin ab Harkness. "Keep me apprised of the updates to plan," requests in her standard brittle tones. "I'm required out." She bows head and shoulders.
Considering himself excused, Aodhan Skye seems all too happy to be on his way, clearly uncomfortable surrounded by Lithmore's important and well-to-do. [Aodhan Skye]
Aodhan Skye begins to move east.
Aodhan Skye leaves east with shoulders slouched and head bowed.
Aios retrieves his glass, taking a slow sip while the plans are discussed.
Aios drinks weak honey drink from a handled ample glass.
"Roldan did the mapping," Gavin ab Harkness tells Loken Baggs Ronthe with a faint nod. "We both had the initial bit of exploration; he'll doubtless want to be involved with this." With that, he peers into the flagon he'd brought into the auction, then takes another slow sip from its contents. "Everyone," he remarks now, "thank you for your time. I appreciate it, sincerely."
"Of course." Maxwell Wattkil offers towards Gavin ab Harkness, offering a soft bob of the head. "Anything we can possibly do, I'm sure we'll all accomplish and come through." [Maxwell Wattkil]
Katarina ab Brayston rises from her seat, striding over to pop a lean to the banquet table. Just a touch mind you, don't want to have it collapse over under her weight. She listens to Gavin ab Harkness and the others with great attention as they speak.
Stiffly pulling back after deference has been offered the greats - or most of them, Lei skulks away from the table and rounds her way off toward the exit.
Loken Baggs Ronthe nods his head slowly in acceptance of Gavin ab Harkness's answer then, pressing a fist against his chest. "Then I will contact Sir de Roldan as soon as I'm able to." Turning as Lei leaves he says, "When I receive the map, I'll come find you, Proconsul." His fist drops to his side as he takes a step back. "Dav keep you all."
"Include me as well, Ronthe. Lord bless," Ariel bids, wearing a faint and pensive frown. [Ariel]
Lei begins to move east.
Lei leaves east.
"Aye, as you wish," Loken Baggs Ronthe says with an incline of his head in Ariel's direction, setting off quite a few paces away from the leaving woman. [Loken Baggs Ronthe]
Loken Baggs Ronthe begins to move east.
Loken Baggs Ronthe crosses the center of the room.
Loken Baggs Ronthe leaves east.
Aios drinks weak honey drink from a handled ample glass.
Aios tries another gulp from his glass, but ultimately sets it down with a few sips left, heaving a sigh before beginning a slow plod toward the door.
"Thanks again," Gavin ab Harkness states quietly, and as the Proconsul departs, he moves to leave as well, a dead-set expression upon his face, one that bespeaks resolve sapped, undeniably, by fatigue. On his way out, he pauses to glance at Adelaide dul Courdelay. "Do you have a minute?" he wonders. "I wanted to talk about what I meant. I don't think I was all that clear."
Aios begins to move east.
Aios leaves east
With a whisper of rustling skirts, Adelaide dul Courdelay gathers herself to follow after Gavin ab Harkness. "My time is yours," she replies, with a deep nod. [Adelaide dul Courdelay]
Maxwell Wattkil doesnt' quite depart, sorta leaning against the table, gaze on Gavin ab Harkness, though his attention shoots towards Katarina ab Brayston.
With a deep, thoughtful sigh, Ariel plants his cane and levers himself to his feet, glancing around the room. A bow to Katarina ab Brayston, a second one to Gavin ab Harkness, and with no word he limps toward the exit. [Ariel]
Katarina ab Brayston curtsies too the noblemen before making her own departure quietly from the group as a whole as well. A soft hmm escaping her, "'scuse me, need to deposit this basket at home. Lord Bless."
A wiry Lithmorran man with chestnut brown hair slows to a halt.
[Action: Lei stands by the empty auction table, looking more than her usual bitter self.]
Adelaide dul Courdelay tucks her book away though, like many others, she seems in no rush to leave after Gavin ab Harkness's announcement.
Maxwell Wattkil levels his attention back towards Gavin ab Harkness, puffing out a soft sigh as the man slowly tries to find a way to settle on down, maybe tryin' to grab a drink.
Aios gets a handled ample glass from a table glittering with glasses.
[Action: Maxwell Wattkil is in a seat here, looking dour.]
Edward Darson looks over to the table, at Aios speaks, meandering his way over and getting a glass full of whatever alcohol is in there, looking into it for a moment before downing it quickly.
Maxwell Wattkil gets a thin crystal wineglass with subtle fiery engravings from a banquet table laden with food.
Edward Darson gets a thin crystal wineglass with subtle fiery engravings from a banquet table laden with food.
Edward Darson drinks Tubori wine from a thin crystal wineglass with subtle fiery engravings.
Aios drinks weak honey drink from a handled ample glass.
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair gets a thin crystal wineglass with subtle fiery engravings from a banquet table laden with food.
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair gets a glass of wine from the table, gesturing back at it and offering Beronica Destral a questioning look.
"Porkchops... he can have the porkchops, I'm a fish man m'self" a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes replies before pushing up, painfully to his feet. "Think a good shot of rum in in order.. what ya say Plank?" At this a bright green Tubori parrot, with pearlescent red feathers squawks loudly. [a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes]
A wiry Lithmorran man with chestnut brown hair slinks back in and heads for the banquet table to grab whatever's left.
A wiry Lithmorran man with chestnut brown hair gets a light pear and walnut cake soaked in honey from a banquet table laden with food.
Beronica Destral reads the pad before looking back to an extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair. "In a few days?" she offers to him while making her way towards Lei. "I need to inquire as to whose basket I purchased, Proconsul."
"Oh, you will," Ariel lightly promises Aios. He seems content to sit back and wait for the place to empty, sporadically plucking his viol's strings. "Proconsul, who am I taking to dinner?" [Ariel]
A wiry Lithmorran man with chestnut brown hair gets a handled ample glass from a table glittering with glasses.
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair drinks Tubori wine from a thin crystal wineglass with subtle fiery engravings.
Loken Baggs Ronthe gestures a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes towards Lei. "Enjoy yourself then, friendn," he urges the man, stepping towards Gavin ab Harkness once all's said and done. As he nears, he presses a fist against his chest. "Lord ab Harkness," he greets.
Loken Baggs Ronthe approaches Gavin ab Harkness, closing the distance.
Loken Baggs Ronthe is near.
"You took Noah Reed's," Lei reveals to Beronica Destral, stony eyes smacking to Ariel, next. "An' yours was Aodhan Skye's, whoever the muck that is."
The late-come questions directed towards Lei spur Gavin ab Harkness forward, and he rises, his armor, ancient and battered and strapped like a clamshell around his shoulders protesting as he clambers to his feet. On the way, he returns Loken Baggs Ronthe's salute, his fist thumping against a chain hauberk covered with a grey and white woolen tabard, and he nears the Proconsul's side. But for now, he's quiet.
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes nods a few times, a wry grin playing across the ruined skin of his face. "I plan to, and thank y'mate. Was beginnin' t'think I wouldn't get a win out of all this."
A wiry Lithmorran man with chestnut brown hair is halfway into a bite of a light pear and walnut cake soaked in honey when he coughs noisily beside a table glittering with glasses.
[Action: Gavin ab Harkness stands here near Lei, looking unimaginably tired. The crows' feet around his eyes scratch down his cheeks.]
[Action: a wiry Lithmorran man with chestnut brown hair is loitering beside 2.table.]
Aios lifts a handled ample glass in a wiry Lithmorran man with chestnut brown hair's direction. "Gotcher self a date, seems," he comments unnecessarily.
Beronica Destral arches her eyebrow and looks over to a wiry Lithmorran man with chestnut brown hair. "Those are remarkably well made, Mister Skye. It looks like you do show a liking to the craft."
"Who's Aodhan... ah?" Ariel glances toward a wiry Lithmorran man with chestnut brown hair at Aios's toast. "A little skinny," he deadpans, "but I suppose you're reasonably tall, at least. Do you like -music-, Master Skye?" [Ariel]
remember wiry Aodhan Skye
From here on you will remember a wiry Lithmorran man with chestnut brown hair as Aodhan Skye.
Katarina ab Brayston shifts in her seat to more face Lei and Gavin ab Harkness, feet tucking to the side of her chair. Once more she brings an elegant crystal snifter of brandy up for a sip.
look skye
Aodhan Skye is loitering beside a table glittering with glasses.
Though a few inches taller than average, this Lithmorran man is
otherwise common in appearance. A full head of straight, chestnut brown
hair frames his jaw in a careless fashion, situated around a stern brow,
hazel eyes, and a stubborn, humorless mouth. These features are divided by
an offset nose and belong to an angular, tanned face that has seen more sun
than it probably ought. The lower half is covered in a sparse, uneven
layer of reddish-brown stubble. Though not overly gaunt, his build is
definitely on the lean side, composed primarily of acute angles and taut
lines. When he speaks, he does so with a strong northwestern accent,
placing his origins somewhere in either Sartez or Zadossa County.
Ariel is a hand taller than he is.
Aodhan Skye is using:
<worn on head> a bistre-colored felt workman's cap with an adjustable brim
<worn around neck> a woman's pendant of wooden beads, polished by wear and age
<worn over shoulder> a many-pocketed messenger's satchel worked in plain leather
<worn, left wrist> a small ball of common wax, hung from a frayed bit of twine
<worn on hands> a set of fitted leather gloves fastened with wooden buttons
<wielded, right> a dagger (sheathed on the hip)
<wielded, left> a weighty blunt woodcutter's axe, handle wrapped in leather (hanging from the hip)
<worn on torso> an off-white linen workman's shirt, buttoned below the neck
<worn about body> an oiled leather cloak lined with a thin layer of grey wool
<worn about waist> a tooled leather belt, fitted with numerous loops and frogs
<worn on legs> some plain, bistre-colored linen breeches faded at the knee
<worn on feet> a pair of worn traveler's boots crafted from tooled leather
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes asks, "'ey Proconsul... what'd I win? An' who it be with?"
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair smirks, writing on his pad again, ' I'm thinking the park, seems I recall there being an offer to got there before.' passing the note to Beronica Destral again.
Aodhan Skye shoots Aios a look as he yanks a bistre-colored felt workman's cap with an adjustable brim lower down over his face. When Beronica Destral and then Ariel both address him, he stands there opening and closing his mouth uncertainly for several seconds before he lowers himself into a stiff bow. "Er... I didn't make 'em, the instruments. Got a good deal on some old ones and just fixed 'em up, like," he mumbles.
Lei knocks her chin upward. "Collect, eh? I ain't gonna sit here an' baby-watch it." She's addressing a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes. "That one-" she checks the one lone basket remaining on the table, then her tablet. "Elizabethany le Marke."
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes gets a neatly woven, deep wicker basket tied with a pink ribbon.
Aios drinks weak honey drink from a handled ample glass.
Beronica Destral grins over to an extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair and gives him a nod. "As long as the weather is favorable for this time of the year," she tells him. "But if you will excuse me, I do need to get home."
"Where do you want to go to dinner?" Ariel lightly asks of Aodhan Skye. "You look... hungry." [Ariel]
"Lord ab Harkness... y'want the chops now, or should I send em to ya?" a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes calls out as he begins rummaging through the contents of the basket. "Rum... wine! Hey... not a bad win!" [a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes]
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair nods to Beronica Destral, offering her an arm to walk her assist in walking her home.
Gavin ab Harkness glances Lei's way. "When you're done, Lei, and I don't want to step on your toes, do that 'order, order' thing for me, would you?"
Lei taps a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes's shoulder, then tips a nod indicative of Gavin ab Harkness -- whose standing at her other shoulder.
Edward Darson gives a bit of a grin, as he looks down to his drink, downing it and walking out the door as everyone speaks among themselves, slinking out without saying much.
"So you got mine, I guess!" Beth chirps cheerfully over to a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes with a beam. "Well, we were needing to talk anyways, huh? And we can have a nice date and tell Lloyd that's just what happens when he can't stay and win my basket himself." She nods very seriously to a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes.
Edward Darson furrows his brow in thought, mentally planning.
Edward Darson begins to move east.
Edward Darson leaves east.
Aodhan Skye might be hungry, the way he's shoving a light pear and walnut cake soaked in honey into his mouth. Or maybe it's just a ploy to get out of talking. After a few moments, he swallows, though he doesn't seem to have figured anything out in that brief interim, either. "Uh... I get to choose?"
"Oh... it be you! Now m'night just got alot better it did!" a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes smiles brightly at Beth before holding out his unijured arm. "What Lloyd don' know can't hurt him, yeah?" [a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes]
Beronica Destral places her hand on an extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair's arm. "Thank you, Mister Bellatos," she says to the taller man. "Shall we go?"
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair nods to Beronica Destral, starting to lead her out of the ballroom.
"Sure, what the hell. I'll take you anywhere and buy you a full course out of the goodness of my bored little heart," Ariel promises Aodhan Skye, laying a hand over his chest with fingers dramatically splayed. [Ariel]
"THAT'S IT, FOLKS!" Lei booms out through the room after sucking down a hefty lungful of air. "The DUKE'S got the floor." With blue-ribboned basket on her arm, she crosses it with her other over breastplate, then taps a boot.
Beronica Destral furrows her brow in thought, mentally planning.
Beronica Destral begins to move east.
Beronica Destral crosses the center of the room.
Beronica Destral leaves east leaning heavily on a carved willow tree cane wrapped with its draping branches
"Everyone goin' fer their dinners right now?" Aios wonders, surveying the crowd. "Th' abyss am I s'posed t' do then with two baskets?" He starts to approach one of his intended dinner partners, but halts at Lei's shout, focusing on Gavin ab Harkness instead. [Aios]
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair crosses the center of the room.
An extremely tall vavardian male with auburn hair leaves east walking straight-backed with his hands clasped behind his back.
Gavin ab Harkness drinks whiskey from a lidded ceramic flagon, bearing a festive evergreen wreath.
"Well, I told him I was putting a basket up!" Beth hops over to a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes's side. "When did you want to do the dinner?"
Aodhan Skye tries to catch a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes' attention with something that looks like a thumbs-up.
"Are ya free now Miss Bardess, if so, we can meander over to the Nest. Got a nice dinner room there, or... heck. Ladie's choice. You pick the place." a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes angles the basket hunder his good arm, a bright green Tubori parrot, with pearlescent red feathers peering over at Beth as he moves closer. "Easy Plank she don' know ya yet." [a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes]
[Action: Lei , looking particularly sour, stands with Gavin ab Harkness by the empty auction table. A basket hangs from her arm.]
Katarina ab Brayston lets her gaze fall on those still lingering, brow arching slightly as she awaits.
"Two things," Gavin ab Harkness remarks from across the rim of the flagon he holds - a cheery, Yule-like thing, artful wreaths decorate its circumference, but the undeniable smell of whiskey descends like a haze around both him and Lei. He turns towards the crowd. "First, Roldan and I explored the sewers yesterday. We found slavers: they had a pit of men, women, and children chained up. This was a concerted operation, with dozens of guards -- otherwise, I would've emptied their stomachs. Proconsul and I need help in ending this." He pauses then, for another drink. "Also, henceforth, the county of Awan Ride is a haven for escaped slaves. If they come from places like Farin, they'll find sanctuary there; slavers that reach my borders will be turned away with force."
Gavin ab Harkness drinks whiskey from a lidded ceramic flagon, bearing a festive evergreen wreath.
"Sure, I can do now!" sef assures a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes, hesitating momentarily at the parrot. "Hello," she greets it uncertainly, holding out an arm for a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes. "And the Nest is just fine, anyway, really!" [Beth]
"Ey Butcher... looks like we both got a win yeah?!" This called out as a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes begins his shuffle towards the door, a happy whistle heard as he escorts Beth out of the hall. "He don' bite, just a pain really. But I had him since he pretty much hatched... he's like family really." [a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes]
Lei appears to be privy to this revelation of Gavin ab Harkness's. Her face remains set and unmoving, eyes fastened to some hanging on the wall past the man.
Aios sets down his drink, appearance somber at Gavin ab Harkness's announcement. "Hm? Oh, mm," he grunts agreeably to a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes, lifting a hand in a wave of farewell to a lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes and Beth.
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes furrows his brow in thought, mentally planning.
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes begins to move east.
Ariel is suddenly and completely distracted. He bolts to his feet, staring at Gavin ab Harkness with wide eyes that burn intensely. "Slavery?" he asks, flatly. "Here, in Lithmore, itself? In the Arien-cursed sewers?" A muscle twitches in his cheek.
A lithe fellow with copper hair and sea-blue eyes leaves east
Beth leaves east
Loken Baggs Ronthe's lips curl into a vague sneer at Gavin ab Harkness's announcement. "You have my services if need be, my Lord," he tells the man. "Have the other Knights been informed of this?"
Grinning faintly, Aodhan Skye scratches his cheek as he watches the Tubori sailor walk the bardess from the ballroom. He seems about to respond to Ariel but then he seems to have lost his chance, so he goes back to eating a light pear and walnut cake soaked in honey. [Aodhan Skye]
"Welp," Maxwell Wattkil grunts, as the man moves to slip up from his seat with a 'hup'. "Where do we start? I'm ready to go." He quickly assures. [Maxwell Wattkil]
Aodhan Skye gets the following from a banquet table laden with food:
( 3)a light pear and walnut cake soaked in honey
Aodhan Skye puts the following into a many-pocketed messenger's satchel worked in plain leather:
( 4)a light pear and walnut cake soaked in honey
Aodhan Skye pilfers a few more cakes from a banquet table laden with food, then sniffs at a handled ample glass before taking a sip.
Aodhan Skye drinks weak honey drink from a handled ample glass.
"My sword is ready to serve when you've need of it," Katarina ab Brayston assures Gavin ab Harkness as she leans forward onto the edge of her chair, one arm draping over the back of the one infront of her. [Katarina ab Brayston]
"It's so," Gavin ab Harkness confirms to Ariel. "Not BCG, either. They're not so vile, not even in the worst of times." The hand not holding the flagon of whiskey reaches the bridge of his nose, and there it massages, the pads of his fingers rubbing the soft flesh around his eyes. "And, when I said 'dozens of guards' and 'Roldan and I,' as in Sir Argider de Roldan didn't tackle this head-on, I meant it: this isn't a once-off, motley crew kind of thing. We frak this up, everyone, and people die; we dawdle, and they're sent to be toys for Farins, or whoever."
"You have the entirety of my resources." It's simply said, Ariel faintly pale as he sinks back into his seat. He exhales, slowly and steadily, and looks back toward Aodhan Skye with a vaguely expectant expression. [Ariel]
Lei grits her yellow teeth, now jib-jabbing eyes around those stalwart souls that have loitered behind the cheerful auction crowd. Jaw works, and her brows snug harshly together.
Not about to distract a nobleman from his pursuits, Aodhan Skye quietly slips food into a many-pocketed messenger's satchel worked in plain leather until Ariel's gaze finds him again. "So, uh, I could eat, but I'm sure I don't have anythin' interestin' to say to ah, a Baron? You'd be real bored, m'lord. Maybe I could just ask y'for a small favor sometime instead?" He suggests. [Aodhan Skye]
Katarina ab Brayston dangles withing her hand the snifter of brandy as she listens to everyone, jaw working a few times as she resumes her silence. Gaze narrowed in thought.
"Shouldn't -I- be the one to decide if I want the dinner or not? I mean, I bought your time," Ariel points out to Aodhan Skye, tone bland. He seems to have almost recovered his aplomb in the wake of Gavin ab Harkness's revelation, but a slight pallor lingers in his complexion. [Ariel]
Aodhan Skye just shrugs at Ariel, as if the latter had just pointed out the audience. "Guess I'll be on m'way, then. Got work what needs doin'."
"I need a few things, then, in the interim," Gavin ab Harkness states quietly. His eyes shift towards Lei, towards whom he affords a friendly-enough smile. "A plan. Work with Ronthe," he murmurs, indicating Loken Baggs Ronthe. "You've whatever resources I, or the county of Awan Ride, or the barony of Savir can produce. But, I'm speaking personally here." Apparently, this is a point of contention. And then, since Adelaide dul Courdelay's still around, he sweeps his gaze towards her. "And, Miss Adelaide, since you're around: if you could spread my message of safe haven so that it reaches the slave-holding duchies, you'd have my personal thanks, and whatever compensation you'd need. No one better than troubadours to send messages along."
"As you wish, Your Grace," Adelaide dul Courdelay inclines her head to Gavin ab Harkness and while there's a brief wash of uncertainty across her features, it clears quickly. [Adelaide dul Courdelay]
"Ronthe." Lei recognizes Loken Baggs Ronthe with a sharp peer, cutting a short, jowl-compressing nod. Tongue probes teeth, and her eyes knock back to Gavin ab Harkness. "De Reymes ain't up for much these days;" sounds with some dirty triumph -- not much. Just a little. "I'm up, willing and ready for the task."
Aodhan Skye drops a handled ample glass.
At Gavin ab Harkness's suggestion, Loken Baggs Ronthe tips a nod Lei's way. "Might we have a general layout of the sewers? More specifically, where they're currently stationed at?" he wonders to the former, running his thumb along the top of his belt for a moment before his hand comes at rest on his side. [Loken Baggs Ronthe]
"Very well, then. I'll be in touch; write you on the subject." Ariel waves an idle hand to Aodhan Skye, turning his focus back to Gavin ab Harkness. "I've had some extensive anti-slavery policies in Savir for some time, but... there are -still- whispers of a market going through our lands, no matter how hard I try to crack down." Exhaling slowly, he looks to Loken Baggs Ronthe. [Ariel]
Unobtrusively, a fresh-faced guardsman wearing reeve markings sidles up to Lei and drops a few lowered words down to her ear. The woman exhales a noise of air from flaring nostrils, then addresses Loken Baggs Ronthe, Ariel and Gavin ab Harkness. "Keep me apprised of the updates to plan," requests in her standard brittle tones. "I'm required out." She bows head and shoulders.
Considering himself excused, Aodhan Skye seems all too happy to be on his way, clearly uncomfortable surrounded by Lithmore's important and well-to-do. [Aodhan Skye]
Aodhan Skye begins to move east.
Aodhan Skye leaves east with shoulders slouched and head bowed.
Aios retrieves his glass, taking a slow sip while the plans are discussed.
Aios drinks weak honey drink from a handled ample glass.
"Roldan did the mapping," Gavin ab Harkness tells Loken Baggs Ronthe with a faint nod. "We both had the initial bit of exploration; he'll doubtless want to be involved with this." With that, he peers into the flagon he'd brought into the auction, then takes another slow sip from its contents. "Everyone," he remarks now, "thank you for your time. I appreciate it, sincerely."
"Of course." Maxwell Wattkil offers towards Gavin ab Harkness, offering a soft bob of the head. "Anything we can possibly do, I'm sure we'll all accomplish and come through." [Maxwell Wattkil]
Katarina ab Brayston rises from her seat, striding over to pop a lean to the banquet table. Just a touch mind you, don't want to have it collapse over under her weight. She listens to Gavin ab Harkness and the others with great attention as they speak.
Stiffly pulling back after deference has been offered the greats - or most of them, Lei skulks away from the table and rounds her way off toward the exit.
Loken Baggs Ronthe nods his head slowly in acceptance of Gavin ab Harkness's answer then, pressing a fist against his chest. "Then I will contact Sir de Roldan as soon as I'm able to." Turning as Lei leaves he says, "When I receive the map, I'll come find you, Proconsul." His fist drops to his side as he takes a step back. "Dav keep you all."
"Include me as well, Ronthe. Lord bless," Ariel bids, wearing a faint and pensive frown. [Ariel]
Lei begins to move east.
Lei leaves east.
"Aye, as you wish," Loken Baggs Ronthe says with an incline of his head in Ariel's direction, setting off quite a few paces away from the leaving woman. [Loken Baggs Ronthe]
Loken Baggs Ronthe begins to move east.
Loken Baggs Ronthe crosses the center of the room.
Loken Baggs Ronthe leaves east.
Aios drinks weak honey drink from a handled ample glass.
Aios tries another gulp from his glass, but ultimately sets it down with a few sips left, heaving a sigh before beginning a slow plod toward the door.
"Thanks again," Gavin ab Harkness states quietly, and as the Proconsul departs, he moves to leave as well, a dead-set expression upon his face, one that bespeaks resolve sapped, undeniably, by fatigue. On his way out, he pauses to glance at Adelaide dul Courdelay. "Do you have a minute?" he wonders. "I wanted to talk about what I meant. I don't think I was all that clear."
Aios begins to move east.
Aios leaves east
With a whisper of rustling skirts, Adelaide dul Courdelay gathers herself to follow after Gavin ab Harkness. "My time is yours," she replies, with a deep nod. [Adelaide dul Courdelay]
Maxwell Wattkil doesnt' quite depart, sorta leaning against the table, gaze on Gavin ab Harkness, though his attention shoots towards Katarina ab Brayston.
With a deep, thoughtful sigh, Ariel plants his cane and levers himself to his feet, glancing around the room. A bow to Katarina ab Brayston, a second one to Gavin ab Harkness, and with no word he limps toward the exit. [Ariel]
Katarina ab Brayston curtsies too the noblemen before making her own departure quietly from the group as a whole as well. A soft hmm escaping her, "'scuse me, need to deposit this basket at home. Lord Bless."
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Applesauce
- Posts: 291
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I wouldn't be so sure. Could be misdirection.Empheba wrote:Awesome! Thanks for posting this, so sad I missed it ...
... and that the person buying my basket didn't really want it. -sniff-
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Empheba
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