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"Husband. I doubt that a being such as an imp would appreciate love, but more of a pact of convenience. A mephit on the other hand... I don't know enough about their race but our liaison had kind words to say about Malini specifically. She seems genuine. This is all unexpected. Never the less, we have a mission we agreed to do. Milton should be able to revise the plan to accomplish our goals."
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Milton appears impressed as he switches to speaking in Infernal, "I should congratulate you on your nuptials. To be married to a devil seems a very lucky thing."
"My apologies, I assumed you would speak the language, given it is your mate's mother tongue. Might I meet your husband? As an Asmodean, I would find it quite an honor to speak with an imp!"
"Might I meet your husband? As an Asmodean, I would find it quite an honor to speak with an imp"
Her eyes flare wider for a moment, she seems shocked that so many of her customers are shocked. "Well, of course. You are probably not from the outer planes originally. Yes, we are 'alloyed in life and essence,' This is an ingan idiom for marriage, but she doesn't respond to the infernal.
"No. No he is out on errands at the moment."
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Do I interpret then that she likely doesn't speak or understand Infernal?
"Please pay them no mind. Many from the prime plane have very stodgy ideas regarding relationships. I am interested though in understanding how an imp might have come unbound and thus free to enter into a marriage contract with you?"
"I do not speak my husband's tongue," she states. "Originally he was supposed to be a familiar, however we have fallen in love and are now inseparable."
"What can I help you with, as it its not that?" she smiles.
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"That's a very amazing love story, but you said he was your familiar? How can you be sure his love is real and not a sham? The master-familiar relationship is a very special thing, and imps can be very tricky and persuasive when they want to be. I find the concept to be divinely inspired, to be sure."
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Unexpectedly and seemingly to get a better view of an item, Sai removes her mask and hangs it upon the belt hook around her back. Wordlessly, she looks directly into Awen's eyes for a brief moment,
Awen nods at her and peers around, looking for Fendel who is already occupied with the stairs. He looks back to Sai and shrugs.. not willing quite yet to blow everything with a mid day sneak through the windows.
Just as he is considering the feasibility of this, his keen ears catch something that he is sure that he misunderstood.. horribly misunderstood. His jaw drops as the rest of the party confirms his fears, and the woman reiterates her claim. He looks silently at Sai in shock. HUSBAND!!!??? The shock and disgust is so great, you could bowl him over with a feather right about now..
He leaves the rest of the conversation to Milton, confident now that simply stuffing the creature in a bag would set off more of a fight than he was willing for at this moment.
"He came to me as a familiar, but not my familiar. I do not doubt my husband," she says. "He has never given me reason to, Hopefully cutting out any further conversation on her personal life, she gestures to the pot she was working on earlier. "If there is nothing I can help you with, I should get back to my potion. Please ask if you need anything else."
EDIT: Seems legit Sai.
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Wow.. Sorry I have been quiet. I have been trying to keep up but its not working..
-Posted with Wayfinder
"I told you: we are in love. The rest is none of your business. You presume too much. Please leave."
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Awen finally steps into the conversation. "What my... friend... here is hinting around about is this. There is a contract that was signed between someone and the mage your "husband" was a familiar for. This person is seeking to have your husband returned to them. This contract granted temporary use from one individual to the other for a short period of time. Now.. we are not entirely heartless, nor are we anything more than glorified errand er.. people. Please, perhaps we can work something out if we were to all speak clearly and plainly.. and especially if we could learn more details about your husbands history. I am not particularly inclined to follow orders explicitly, if you catch my meaning.. I know there has to be a way to work this out to everyones favor!" The normally quiet Awen is surprised at himself to hear the words flooding out of his mouth, but the time for obfuscation has clearly passed. He stands straight, waiting for the womans response.
Malini is distraught at the thought of losing Vassago, "I beg you, please do not take my beloved from me." Explanations that Vassago was only on loan are met with appeals to your compassion, "That obligation ended long ago and we are now “alloyed in life and essence,” an Ignan idiom for marriage. She adds bitterly that Qalkami doesn’t care about the imp at all, certainly intending just to "use the imp to perform evil."
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Awen persists with the anguished woman. "And that is the reason that I am trying to work something out with you and Vassago. If we knew more about the situation, we could finagle a way to satisfy Qualkami while you two retain your "alloyed" state. You have said that he is out. Is there perhaps any way that we can speak with him as well to help get this sorted out? It would be much easier if had first hand knowledge of the situation."
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Fendel shakes his head at Milton, Oh how the mighty have fallen! I thought this would be right up his alley. I realize now the poor bastard has never loved anyone but himself. He never stood a chance! Well, time for some damage control. Let's see if Awen has an actual play here or if he just tossed all his cards on the table.
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Fendel shakes his head at Milton, Oh how the mighty have fallen! I thought this would be right up his alley. I realize now the poor bastard has never loved anyone but himself. He never stood a chance! Well, time for some damage control. Let's see if Awen has an actual play here or if he just tossed all his cards on the table.
"You will help me finagle a way to satisfy the efreet and let me stay with my love?"
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Nivik, after listening to the proceedings, comes closer to the group discussion. I could care less who is satisfied or not, but I would think my esteemed colleagues here can figure out a way to get you out of your contract, finagled or otherwise. Perhaps a "buy-out", I think it might be called? If you have value, surely gold could do something here. Maybe a percentage of the store's profits?
"Or you can make a forgery and destroy the original." The imp looks at the faces around him. "What? We totally could."
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Sai moves over after catching the subtle hints for guidance and casts the spell on the detective, "May the All Seeing Eye guide you in your search for knowledge."
Then she leans in close and whispers to Fendel, "Keep your eyes sharp. If it was easy, devils would be thwarted regularly by skilled forgers. This is not just a contract, it is a magical binding document and likely will require magic in addition to well crafted linguistics and beautiful inks and parchment. Use your special discernment to see any hidden details that a naked eye might not."
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The investigator sidles up to his companion and whispers quietly so only the tiefling can hear, "Milton, you have made your steadfast belief in the "Cooperate" aspect of the Society's mission very clear. Is this really the time and place for a lesson? On a plane where allies and resources are limited to the team you are now antagonizing? This would be the time to show them up, not watch them twist in the wind. I know you would enjoy witnessing their listless and laughable efforts, but the nature of this mission requires the best we can offer. Besides, I have never known you to shrink from a challenge. I ask that you reconsider your position given these circumstances."
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"I agree, a forgery wouldn't be a long-term solution. But wouldn't 'recreating' the original just be a forgery? I think we should all go back to Qalkami-- all of us--" Adeah adds, looking pointedly at the imp, "and renegotiate. If it was as simple as forging a new contract, we could just destroy the original and be done with it."
-Posted with Wayfinder
"Right. Right. Right. That's what I said," Vagasso says. "once Qalkami accepts a forgery, you can destroy the original."
Sai is correct in that both recreating and destroying a contract will require magic and other significant efforts.
The two will not risk having the contract stolen, but are willing to let one of you upstairs to take a look at it.
Vassago has survived centuries of service to Qalkami and her ancestors following his indefinite assignment to them by a barbed devil named Lorypheal. At first Vassago served both the efreet and the devil loyally, doing the former’s bidding while performing espionage for the latter. Once it became clear that his service would never result in freedom or promotion, the imp’s efforts flagged, and the efreet began leasing him to others as currency.
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Milton responds to Fendel, "I hear you. I really do. However, there is more to this than just the one mission. These others either need to make good and demonstrate they can accomplish these missions, or they need to understand when they are outmatched in a situation and let their betters handle it. Either solution will provide for a stronger Society in the long run."
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Awen, now that things have taken a more positive tone steps back as the others step forward. Once Milton begins to balk at being upstarted, Awen turns cool eyes to the Tiefling. "It was obvious that you were about to get us kicked out of here with your tidy little prancing. All I did was appeal to her emotions.. while you were dancing all about like a lawyer before the court. Admittedly, that is your strong point, but sometimes a more direct route is needed. As for "Making good or letting our betters handle it", I believe that today has shown exactly that. In places of contract and law, you know more than I do. In places of the heart or feelings, Others may have to step up. That is what a team does, Milton. Not simply follow after the self proclaimed leader like trained pups. That is what makes the Society strong: Diversity, and each working to his own strengths. As you said yourself: You will let me handle the husbandry, and you will handle the contracts and law. Are you backing down from your word now that I have proven my worth? Or are you going to step up and hold your end of the deal. Taunt or not, that was a verbal contract, and now I am calling you on it."
Awen ends his little speech with a solid glare straight through Milton. He crosses his arms as he waits for the response, daring him to break his own contractual agreement..
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Impassive as always, Sai takes a step forward, laying a hand gently upon the heavily armored barrister's arm, "You see everything through a different lense than the rest of us. It isn't wrong, just different. Don't let that difference divide us when it should only make us make us that much stronger, together."
She then takes a step back, not wanting to make Milton feel crowded upon. "This is the moment when we either become a team or break apart."
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Milton gives Awen an indignant look, "my apologies, Pathfinder Awen. I was having a private conversation with Fendel, into which you have intruded. This is not surprising. Barging into my conversations appears to be a habit for you. Despite the fact that your expertise in Animal Husbandry had no role in the discussions whatsoever. In doing so, you have derailed my approach, and you proceeded to move things along in a direction, and at a pace, of your choosing. You have selected this path, and it would seem that we will all now walk it with you." Milton shakes his head briefly and continues, "It is now incumbent upon you to lead us down the road you selected. I have no experience in forging documents, that activity is illegal in almost all societies, not that I would expect you to know this, and so I am informing you of such. If you are intent upon forging a document, I wish you luck, but as I am not a priest of Desna, you will find that my sentiment provides you no aid in your unlawful endeavor. Perhaps you should look around and find a fellow miscreant to aid you in this activity. I shall attempt to avert my attention as you do so. I trust that my ignoring your efforts will be deemed cooperation enough, since I would have been glad to simply have had you ignore and not obstruct my own efforts, on more than one occasion. Finally, please refrain from informing me of this, or any future planned illegal activities that you may partake of. I require at least plausible deniability in the event that you will need to prevail upon my legal services in your defense, in the likely event that you are brought up on charges for your illicit behavior."
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"Are we sure Malini and the demonling are the only married ones around here?" Adeah asks in an amused tone. "Quit bickering and just fight already, isn't that how you men resolve things? Husband," she says to Awen, "no animals. Lawyer," she adds to Milton, "no pool boys." She glances slyly at Fendel.
-Posted with Wayfinder
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Berating himself for believing this would go any differently, Fendel tries to get the team back on course. "Didn't you say or they need to understand when they are outmatched in a situation and let their betters handle it.
literally thirty seconds ago? To which, Awen replied
Making good or letting our betters handle it", I believe that today has shown exactly that. In places of contract and law, you know more than I do. As you said yourself: You will let me handle the husbandry, and you will handle the contracts and law.
"It would seem your conditions have been met. No one asked you to commit a crime, we asked you to look at the contract for legal recourse, loopholes and strategy. To put it simply counselor, can you do the job, or not? Your hesitation, or refusal, to act puts us at potential risk. Should Qalkami become aware of the time we have spent here, she may become suspicious of the outcome. We do not have time for bruised egos. Hold a grudge later, do the job now."
Turning to Adeah, "Madam, it is unfortunate you would categorize yourself as an 'animal'. That said, please stop exacerbating this volatile situation."