Trouble Brewing [Violet's Intro Thread - Open]

"Yes, we have plenty of space," she said. "If that is what you require. And really, expenses aren't an issue right now."

Frau Hoffstadher straightened up in her seat and looked at Violet and Tourmaline firmly.

"You said there's a witch hunter involved?" she said. "That sounds rather dangerous."

"I can deal with him if you'd like," Liseran said matter-of-factly as to which Frau Hoffstadher firmly shook her head.

"Liseran, the position you're in is delicate enough. We can't have you chasing around witch hunters."

"But--"

"Remember," Frau Hoffstadher said firmly. "I am not your mentor, Liseran. I am very careful. Your situation is too good of a resource to waste if things go awry."

Liseran was about to speak but ducked her head. She gave a polite bow.

"Yes, Frau Hoffstadher. You're too right."

The dowager returned her attention to Violet and Tourmaline.

"If you are in need of shelter, we can definitely provide it. Granted, I'd like to know a bit more about this witch hunter so our allies can keep guard. If he's after you, he'll be a threat to us too if he discovers our Haven. We need to proceed with extra caution. Now, Fraulein Fletcher, have a seat. There's biscuits and teas if any of you are famished. And please tell me more about this hunter fellow."

Violet waved her hand. "Bah, he's a fraud. He finds Walpurgis struggling with money, then gives them half of the reward he gets for turning them in. No, no, he told..." She glanced at Tourmaline. "Greg's killer where to find Tourmaline."

Tourmaline stood, nervous. "He was an Incantus. My uncle was making a deal with him, when he turned on him. He was, for some reason, pretending to be much weaker than he actually was. After turning on us, he killed my uncle, leveled our land, and would have killed me if I hadn't gotten extraordinarily lucky."

Violet took a seat, pouring herself some tea. "He's a nasty piece of work. I met him, once, when I went to Tourmaline's one night. He nearly killed me because I wasn't Walpurgi. I'm going to warm my tea a bit more with magic, nobody freak out." A few red Cartic marks appeared, and sank into her tea, which began steaming profusely.

Tourmaline started pacing. "Well, this is why I learned Sealing magic..."

Violet paused in stirring her tea. "You did what now?"


"I'm a fully-fledged Cartic Mage, Vi. I guess we haven't seen each other since then, huh... Well yeah,yeah, I've got Sealing, Healing, Enchanting... Stuff like that. Nothing destructive. You know me. We can discuss it later, though," she said, glancing at their hosts.

"I apologize for conversing only with each other. We haven't seen each other in years, and all." Tourmaline recalled something. "Speaking of which, how did you find me? I think our hosts would also like to know, so they can set up defenses against it."

Violet flushed. "It was ridiculously illegal. Can I have everyone's word that you guys won't like, turn me in or anything? This could get me executed."

Tourmaline swore to her terms, and waited for Liseran and the older woman to do the same.

"No, please don't apologize. We're glad to hear it all," she said. "And, please. Of course we'll keep our word. We're not exactly legal ourselves, are we, Liseran?"

Liseran nodded.

"And there's no harm as using it as blackmail against you if you turn on us," Liseran said sweetly.

"Liseran!"

Liseran adjusted her bow.

"You said it yourself that we have to proceed with caution," Liseran said plainly. "Now, I am quite curious as well. Do not worry, we won't tell so long as you don't tell anyone about us."

Violet shrugged. "I'm cool with those conditions. As I said, I have no intention of betraying you."

Violet began explaining her process, as Tourmaline got more and more horrified. "It began as a simple tracking potion: something that could sense the person better than you, something of the person's that let the potion know who you're looking for. I knew it'd have to be stronger than any previously made ones, though, so I thought: what has long been considered the most constant thing of a person?"

"I settled on Anima, and memory. I also put in a couple of sensory ingredients, to have all my bases covered. I had some of Tourmaline's old clothes-- one of her favorite shirts from when she was a kid, I remember she wore it all the time. I extracted the Anima that was attached to the shirt, and placed it in an enchanted container. It wasn't enough for the potion, though. So I exchanged the dead bodies of the animals I'd killed for other ingredients to replicate the Anima, make a pseudo-Anima of Tourmaline."

"In addition to this, I sought out a Bad Wolf. After allowing it to replicate my memories of Tourmaline, I killed it, and ground the head up. Finally, I started the spell. Making an Anima took an incredible amount of magic. I had seven mediums, and cast it at a Lei source, such that the rate in from the source was equal to the rate into the spell. It took me a few years to come up with that equation."

"I've never had that much magic flow through me, and I hope never to again. It was intoxicating. I felt like a god."

She coughed uncomfortably. "Uhm, anyway, if you cast some shields preventing non-manifested or contained Anima from entering the area, I think that'd do the trick."

Frau Hoffstadher patiently waited for her to finish, albeit she had no real interest in learning about the potion.

"You don't have to worry. I doubt a person can track you here just like that," she said. "And we're more than able in both Cartic and Cantic magic."

Liseran glanced at Tourmaline as she mentioned her skills. Granted, Liseran had already had seen the skill she had been interested in when they initially met, but she wanted to see what ability she had it to. It seemed to her that she could expand it, after all. However, she did not speak. Not yet.

"We'll be more than happy to take you both in. You'll have to pay a bit for the partitioned room and I'll have to make an appeal for it, but I'm sure it won't be too hard. Violet, we'll give you the tour soon enough or perhaps even Tourmaline can go with us next time. Do you two have a physical description for the person after you? So Hans can keep his eyes on?"

Tourmaline shrugged. "Er, just a general looking Incantus?" She thought they all looked mostly the same, or rather, never looked the same, as they were shape shifters. "As far as I know, that's the only thing looking for me. He never told us his name. Or, he never told me his name."

Violet spoke up. "I'm not personally worried about anyone finding me, or Tourmaline-- I devised the spell, so I naturally protected myself against it. I meant, if you folks want people like me to stop showing up, then those would be my suggestions." As she spoke, she pulled a small flask out of her pocket, unscrewed the lid, and took a sip.

"To end the spell that was tracking Tourmaline, as it seems I've found her," she explained.

Liseran wrinkled her nose.

"You underestimate an Incantus' power," she said bluntly. "Immune using a temporary spell or potion wouldn't be enough, though it may trick a few inept humans."

"Now, now, Liseran," Frau Hoffstadher said calmly. "I'm sure we can put a little trust in Violet's abilities. She did find tourmaline, didn't she?"

Liseran merely glanced to the side.

"I suppose it is no use asking for an Incantu's image as they shapeshift. But if he has a preferred form (like some who like to turn into specific animals) it can help us," she said. "Anyhow, you both can stay here. For now, you two will have to take up one of the guest rooms until we can get living arrangements done. Liseran?"

Liseran perked her head.

"Yes, Frau Hoffstadher?"

"We'll talk about that favor I asked a bit later," she said.

The plump woman pushed herself up from her seat and smoothed out her dress.

"I hope you two will find it nice here in Himmel. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask Liseran. I must go and speak to the others about your settlement here."

As Frau Hoffstadher passed, Liseran gave a small curtsy and then looked at the two new people. She did not smile.

"Is there anything else you'd like to ask about before I show you your room? I'm afraid the single rooms are taken, but there's a room with twin beds you can both stay in for the night. You two will have dinner in the mess hall temporarily, too."

Tourmaline said, "I didn't like hanging around when he was about, so I'm not sure if he has a preferred form. Whenever I saw him, though, he looked like a great big raven. Mind you, that was only a couple of times."

She was also interested in this "favor" that Liseran owed, but was polite enough to keep quiet about it. However, upon Liseran's offer of answering questions, she did ask, "Am I allowed in the Arcaneum whenever?"

"Oh, does your Arcaneum have an alchemy lab? I'd like to make a few quick things."

"You can access the Arcaneum during it's open hours whenever you'd like, yes," she said. "However, you'll need permission to use the alchemy lab as it's been known to...blow up when not used appropriately. It's simple enough, you just need to fill a form, state the things you're making and you should be good to go so long as it isn't anything too dangerous. There are a supply of ingredients there, but we would strongly suggest you try to attain yours when we can since our alchemy garden is out of order."

Liseran unclasped her cloak and hooked it up on a rack.

"It's good you two are reunited and have made it here safely. I'll show you to the guest room so you two can refresh yourselves. There's a bath at the end of the hall. If you're going to heat it using magic, I plead you try not to burn or stain the tub when you do."

Liseran would beckon them to follow her up the stairs. There were a few rooms, all that were closed. A bit of talking could be heard behind the wall, some laughter. One room was ajar and showed a dainty bedroom with bright red curtains, carpeted floors and two single beds. There was a long desk with two seats and a few empty bookshelves, a wardrobe and a chest.

"You're free to use the things in this room for now," she said. "Just make sure whatever you store, you remember to pick up as someone might find them and not return them. Also please keep tidy, but I'm sure you're both more than capable of that."

Liseran started turning around.

"I have some urgent business with Frau Hoffstadher, but if you need anything, don't hesitate to look for me downstairs. Oh, and Miss Cardona, I hope you don't mind, but I'd like to speak to you personally some time when we're both free with regards to your Sealing magic. Good day to you both."

With that, Liseran marched down the stairs again and left the two to their own devices.

Tourmaline, after Liseran had left, felt suddenly very itchy. She was nervous about being alone with Violet. "So, um..."

"You're a Cartic Mage now?"

Tourmaline brightened up, happy to have something to talk about. "Yes! It's so much fun! It... Really helped me with the loss of my Cantus. It was rough. I thought about ending it a few times, but I started picking up some marks along the road, so..."

Violet felt sympathy for her. She remembered what it felt like to lose earth, and that had been just one aspect of her magic-- not its totality. "What do you specialize in?"

"Oh!" Tourmaline pulled her pin out of her hair, and then broke it apart, transforming it into two daggers.

"Not ba--" Tourmaline had just turned it into a bow. "You have... Two transfiguration spells on that object? How'd you manage that?"

"I embedded the marks of the dagger on the clip, then I had a secondary transfiguration spell that made the marks work into a bow transfiguration, and once again to get the clip." Tourmaline turned it into a clip again, and handed it to Violet.

"I didn't know you could do that... Though to be fair, I only took beginner Transfiguration classes."

"Yeah, mark transfiguration was pretty standard fare for the higher level classes."

Silence fell between them again. "Well, uh... I'm gonna go bathe, it's been a few hours, and I'm starting to get antsy."

"And I think I'll head to the Arcaneum, check out what they've got there... See you in a bit?"

"Alright."

They went their separate ways once again, though this time, it would only be for a few hours.

[Exit]