Era Victoria IC

Paper Shadow wrote:Dahlia takes offense. "I don't have to put up with this, you know," Dahlia barks back to Smooth Talker while Chirurgeon is searching the body...

'Humour and snark are my go to defence mechanisms.' Smooth Talker shrugged. 'To be honest: why would I want to set a trap for you?'
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History check to see if there are any other similar named persons in Leadon: 20 + 9 = 29 (crit)

"Battery." Chirurgeon frowns. "I'm sure that, in this situation, Dahlia's particular talents may come into handy."

"And Dahlia, please don't take this offensively but you need to loosen up a little. It was just harmless snark, nothing more."

"They might," Battery admitted. "But if he doesn't want to be here, who am I to keep him here? All I'm saying is, if Dahlia can't loosen up he should go."

"Don't you find it odd though?" retorts Dahlia, "A writer wants to write about you, for who knows what reason, but instead of just doing it, he goes and finds you, invites you into his home, asks questions basically confirming you're the real deal, and when he asks us to leave, there's an assassin waiting at the door."

"Which makes it my problem," Battery says with a growl. "Not yours. If you don't want to be involved then leave. If you do, then stop complaining and find something helpful to do."

"Please, can we not do this now?" Chirurgeon says, putting himself between the two. "Battery, Dahlia is just trying to help. And his concerns aren't entirely unwarranted. Dahlia, I can understand your concerns, but frankly if this was an attempt on the Battery's life, the minotaur should have brought in an army."

"Dahlia, your knowledge of natural products and their uses outstrip maybe even mine, and Battery, you're basically a walking siege engine and a living legend besides. I'd rather we utilize those talents, and get through this mess together... rather than be mauled by mind controlled puppets masterminded by some asshole unicorn that we haven't even seen before. Leave your love-hate-mostly-hate relationship squabbles until after the crazy wackjob is put six feet under, please."

He huffs, grabs his hip flask, takes a swig, and stows it back under his cloak, glaring at the two, then turning to glance at Smooth Talker to gauge his reaction to this mess of a 'team' before saying, "...Sorry, that was way out of line. I apologize for that. But you're both professionals, and I'd rather we approach this issue as professionals. So, set the argument aside until afterwards? Please?"

Oirik was tired. He never understood why he always meets someone who doesn't stand longer than 4 minutes of this clever torture strategy.

"OK... So you want to cooperate. Good for you! "

Oirik looked deep in the barkeeper's eyes. He knew that there was only moment before the barkeeper would lose his mind and piss himself.

"But!!! I have a warning for you! You tried to kill me... I will never forget it! Tell me everything you know about this contract! Don't even try to lie... I can still make you scream from pain and misery! Have I made myself clear? “ - Oirik explained the entire situation talking to him through gritted teeth. He was angry as hell but he tried to not attract too much attention.

"Another thing... I can use my magical trick to make any traces dissappear... Don't try to call guards and do anything stupid as that! I can even make YOU the criminal by fabricating some proofs. "

He almost granted barkeeper to state his opinion... But he interrupted him for the last time

"By the way... Change your garlic bread recipe. It was disgusting!"

He waited for the barkeeper's reply. He was very patient.

Dahlia looks down and shuffles his legs slowly on the spot as he gets politely scolded. After a while, he looks up and replies "Okay, fine, let's get this loony unicorn then. How long have we got until this pony wakes up?"

"Somewhere between 'awhile' and 'whenever the doctor wants' is my guess," Battery suggested, resting a claw around the pony's neck.

"I can't say for sure, since it varies by physique and a multitude other minute factors. But it won't be for a while, so we have a little time." Chirurgeon sighs. "Whoever cursed this pony is good - the curse is embedded in his skull and I doubt we'll be able to break the curse willy nilly. We need a plan."

"Can the unicorn on the other end tell what's happening?" Battery asked. "If we can talk to him, through this guy-" he gestured at the pony he was holding - "-then we might be able to fish some information from him. Like who he is, what he's trying to pull, and what kind of resources does he have backing this up?"

"Knowingly, he wouldn't," Battery admitted. "But we may be able to put some pieces together based on what he does tell us."

Smooth Talker watched the banter between the three friends (he surmised them to be that at least) as they went back and forth on what to do with the unconscious pony on his sofa. They seemed to know what they were doing so Smooth Talker allowed his thoughts to wander on other aspects of the mystery that was unfolding in his living room.

'The messenger pony mentioned that he delivered a letter by mistake to my address, did he not?' He asked more to confirm it to himself rather than asking for confirmation. Realizing he was still holding the envelope in his hand, he took another look at it.

'S.Talker. One would assume that's me.' Smooth Talker collected his thoughts in order to expand on the subject. 'Unless there is another S. Talker out there that I got mixed up with. But I wouldn't know any...'

Entrenched in pensive thoughts, Smooth Talker almost automatically walked over to his book wall. It was still modest, in his eyes at least, and the collector in him kept on periodically adding more books but it was his pride and joy. Smooth Talker trailed his finger across several spines until him found the book he sought.

'You don't suppose that messenger pony meant to deliver the letter to this fellow, do you?' He asked as he held up a thick book. Written on the cover was the title "The Haythrop Dictionary of Philosophy, by Professor Sharp Talker."

Dahlia looks blankly at Smooth Talker. "Did you miss the part where we said the pony was mind controlled? I'm gonna take a guess here and say that it was meant for you."

Paper Shadow wrote:Dahlia looks blankly at Smooth Talker. "Did you miss the part where we said the pony was mind controlled? I'm gonna take a guess here and say that it was meant for you."

'If that pony or whoever is controlling him wanted to kill me, don't you think he would have tried to do so when he delivered the letter the first time with no witnesses around instead of coming back an hour or two later while I have company over?' Smooth Talker replied.

"Does it matter?" Battery asked. "He tried to kill us. I'd kinda like to know why."

"It does raise some questions, though. Could I take a look at that?" Chirurgeon points to the envelope and letter. "I might have seen something similar before... just need to jog my memory."

History: 17! + 14 = 31. Identifying the seal, and looking for anymore traces of the sender.

Terrestial wrote:Chrome felt a bit uneasy about the situation's development. He couldn't say that out of the many courses of action, this was one he didn't expect. Still, he felt a bit out of place here, as he was hardly officially invited. That is, if not to count Stargazer's words just now as a legitimate enough pass for him to be here. There was some pragmatic reasoning to his stay though, which he was aware of and agreed with. In case the unicorns found the mechanism lacking in any area, the mechanic responsible would be at hand. As much as half a thousand was certainly worth spending some extra time outside of the schedule. There was a bit of pressure in this darkened room, filled with peculiar individuals that the earth pony could not help but feel though. As instructed, he found himself a seat, preferably at the back of the audience, as to not obscure the view for those gathered here specifically for the purpose of listening to Stargazer. At the time of "Chanteuse", warning him he might be swept into attending the conference, he had severe doubts he'd be interested in staying. However, with the one of a kind assemblance of characters present, he found himself actually quite curious as to what will it be about..

“Stargazer” raises up the orrery and activates it sending it into motion while the projector casts points of light throughout the entire room. The unicorn then circles around matching pace with the orrery twelve times muttering to himself as his gaze passes across the stars and planets. Abruptly he stops and addresses the room,

“ The signs are  portentous to the highest degree. If nothing is done then nothing shall be done. The acts of the coming year hold many ill outcomes but they also hold a scant few grand opportunities. The house of the fifth planet aligns with the debt of the moon, the masters of the system fall dragged down by their own depravity, this has already been set in motion. The Brave Mountain emerges long before the norm to align with the house of the fourth planet, a warrior returns from his place of hiding to shape the future if he wills it or not. The Stars of Honesty and Vagul the Imprisoned both intersect the houses of the first and seventh planetes, A trator shall be revealed from the number of the righteous.” Stargazer stops in thought as a wave of muttering fills the room.  

“Throughout the year Peace Eternal holds alignment with the Sun, either the death of the triumph of one true Queen,” Immediately the room becomes silent again as Stargazer continues. “ As Spring comes so does the Young Adventurer into the house of the sixth planet, those that do not yet know their destinies will be met with a realization. The Golden Hind usurps the ascendancy of the Lord's Gate, One that has risen from nothing shall be confronted with crisis and be tempted. At the peaks of summer Malus the Monstrous aligns with second planet, the streets shall be red with the blood of innocents should the foul be given their way. More and more becomes obscured an uncertain… Autumn sees the convergence of the Two Rival Knights the Noble Guardian and the Dark Attacker, the pivotal moment shall occur in which the path is chosen. When winter returns so shall…” “Stargazer” trails off wobbles for a moment before toppling over. A tall unicorn rushes to his side casting medical spells.

“I-I have no idea what’s wrong but, he’s still alive...”

Chrome suddenly hears J.J. whisper in his ear, "We are going to have a talk outside. Follow."    

Chemistrychem wrote:Oirik was tired. He never understood why he always meets someone who doesn't stand longer than 4 minutes of this clever torture strategy.

"OK... So you want to cooperate. Good for you! "

Oirik looked deep in the barkeeper's eyes. He knew that there was only moment before the barkeeper would lose his mind and piss himself.

"But!!! I have a warning for you! You tried to kill me... I will never forget it! Tell me everything you know about this contract! Don't even try to lie... I can still make you scream from pain and misery! Have I made myself clear? “ - Oirik explained the entire situation talking to him through gritted teeth. He was angry as hell but he tried to not attract too much attention.

"Another thing... I can use my magical trick to make any traces dissappear... Don't try to call guards and do anything stupid as that! I can even make YOU the criminal by fabricating some proofs. "

He almost granted barkeeper to state his opinion... But he interrupted him for the last time

"By the way... Change your garlic bread recipe. It was disgusting!"

He waited for the barkeeper's reply. He was very patient.

The barkeeper whimpers for a moment before answering, “I... err think that it ‘ame from high up in Lion’s Den um... either their boss Gage or a vice boss Gap, Jau, or Gale, I don’t know what they look like, just their names. T-that's all I know I swears it! I won't talk ‘bout a thing!

AleneShazam wrote:"It does raise some questions, though. Could I take a look at that?" Chirurgeon points to the envelope and letter. "I might have seen something similar before... just need to jog my memory."

History: 17! + 14 = 31. Identifying the seal, and looking for anymore traces of the sender.

It takes Chirurgeon a bit of thinking but he manages to identify the seal as one used by the Lord Regent just not to the current vacant office but rather one that was active almost three hundred years ago. While examining the envelope a single seed drops out, Chirurgeon instantly recognizes it as coming from a opium poppy plant.

Battery's eyes followed the seed as it went to the floor - and something in his eye shifted.

He got up to the couch and lumbered over, stooping down to look at it. His claw reached out and delicately picked it up.

"Doc," he said quietly. "Do I want to pop this in my mouth?" he asked. "Because the nose says I really want to pop this in my mouth..."

"Battery." Chirurgeon looks at the drake, his voice calm but stern. "Please put that down."

Battery nodded a little, putting it back down on the floor. "Whatever you say," he said, returning to the couch, sparing an occasional glance towards the seed here and there.

Dahlia peers at the seed. "Is that what I think it is?" He bends his head down to get a better look. "It is. Hello there little one, what are you doing here? Trying to give a Death Breath an interesting experience?"