Argent Wings Take Flight (Hell's Rebels AP)

Game Master Sensen

Ginetta closed the door to her tiny dressing room and leaned back against it in relief. While she absolutely adored her time on stage, the mingling with the audience afterwards always left her drained. She understood the need for it, particularly now that she had a patron. A light smile appeared on her face at the thought of Lady Jhaltera - now there was someone she could spend some time in conversation with. The smile vanished. That would be fine until she got to know the real Ginetta rather than the bubbly bit of fluff she showed to those of whom she needed financial and moral support.

She sighed and stepped towards the chest containing her personal things. Lifting the lid, she shifted aside various dresses until she uncovered a worn long box. Opening the box revealed an ivory mask among other things. The border of the mask was traced with carvings of flowers - roses. A gift from a friend that she hoped to see again some day. The memories the mask brought filled her heart with warmth. Her face hardened. There was no rule that said that she couldn't relive those memories ... just this once.

Twenty minutes later and a leather-clad figure appeared on the shadow-covered roof of the small theater. Green eyes gazed out at the lantern-lit streets of the city below through the carved mask. She'd just take a little time and wander around, she told herself. The clothes still fit and the pommel of the rapier was still comfortable in her hand. As her gaze followed one of the closer streets, she perked up. There was Lady Jhaltera, herself. Maybe she'd just follow along the lone woman for a little bit. It'd been a long time since she'd played 'Shadow'. A frown crossed her face under the mask. She wasn't going to be the only one following the young noblewoman; Two figures slipped from an alley behind her quarry. Rarely would such as those have benevolent motives.

Rose leaped across to the neighboring building to follow along, making nary a sound.

'That went well,' Adolina thought happily as the cool night air brushed the heat away from her cheeks. Ginetta hadn't had the largest role, but she sang beautifully and Charlus Hayden-Savage had been most impressed. 'Now that he's seen her, it'll be that much easier to bring her to mind for his next show,' she mused with a slight smile. 'Perfect.'

Buoyed up on the satisfaction of a night well done (and three more glasses of champagne than she was accustomed to), Adolina waved her driver away and set off down the street on foot. The night was pleasantly cool and walking would take a fraction of the time the carriage would, especially if she cut through the smaller streets along the edge of the Greens and used the servants gate rather than the long loop around to the main entrance that the carriage would have to take.

Unbidden, the aria from the night's performance sprang to mind and Adolina began to hum to herself, spreading her arms out to her sides and twirling as though she was the one on stage, receiving the rapturous applause of an audience. She'd faint with fright before it ever happened but here and now, under the stars, it is a pleasant dream.

It surprised Rose that the noblewoman would be so daring as to walk these streets alone at night. Didn't she have a driver or an escort? The men - as she could see now that both of Adolina's 'admirers' were male - increased their pace just as the woman began to ... twirl? And was she humming Potrebbe Venire? While flattered that her performance left that much of an impression on Lady Jhaltera, Rose couldn't help feel that at home in a warm bath would be a much more appropriate place for such a performance. Checking her blade in its scabbard she moved across the rooftops to the other side of the lane, closing the distance between herself and the trio.

A few moments later and the curtain began to lift on this private performance.

"Don't she sing nice?" one of the men commented in a voice raised with the intention of Adolina hearing it. The other laughed, playing along. "Maybe she dances as well? We should ask her. Hey! No need to walk away. We just want to know if you dance?"

While Rose heard the comments, she was more concerned with the third shadowy figure she noticed farther up the lane. Was this some innocent bystander or was this the net for the intended prey to be driven into?

Surprise sent a jolt of ice down Adolina's spine, but even as she turned her mind kicked into action. 'Two men. They want to be heard. So they expect me to flee.' That's exactly what she wants to do, but getting caught alone in the streets is one thing, running headlong into a trap is another, and a trap it surely has to be. 'They wouldn't give up surprise if they didn't have another plan.'

With that rather grim thought Adolina stiffened her spine as best she could and faced her pursuers head-on, planting her feet on the street. 'This is where a hero would say something clever. Scare them away with confidence,' she mused grimly. All she had was a decorative knife in a sheathe on her belt, more an accessory than a real weapon.

"I h-h-have no q-quarrel with you," she said, managing to keep the treacherous stutter to a minimum. "G-good night gentlemen."

The third figure moved as Rose watched, its movements meant to be unnoticed. So not an innocent bystander after all, she concluded. Fair enough. Time to even the odds. A moment's tugging pulled the heavy clay top off of a nearby roof stovepipe. Leaning out over the edge, she gauged her timing carefully before loosing her burden to fall upon the newcomer.

With a heavy thud followed by the clattering of clay shards upon the cobbles, the third member of the show collapsed into a heap on the dirty street. Hoping she remembered how to do it correctly, Rose grabbed the drainpipe clinging to the wall below her and let gravity bring her sliding down to land with nary a stumble, right behind Adolina.

"You heard the Lady," she declared to the gaping thugs, "We have no quarrel with you. Off you go." She made a shooing gesture with her hands, foregoing the very visible blade at her hip.

It only took a moment for the men to gather themselves, but when they did they rudely chose to ignore Rose's command. Their faces hardened and their fists clinched. "Would you look at that? There's one for each of us," one of them said before giving his friend a crude grin. "You get the one with the mask, though."

Rose sighed and turned to Adolina. "It's your choice, m'Lady. Would you like them running or bleeding?" With a sing of steel, her rapier was in her left hand and the tip gestured between the two men.

'Now!' Adolina didn't waste time responding with words. This other woman's startling appearance had changed the balance of the conflict and the best way to capitalise is action. A sharp flick of her wrist sent her jeweled knife flashing down the street at the leaders face. An instinctive flinch saved him from any real damage but it bought Adolina precious seconds to scurry back to the now unconscious third man and search frantically for a proper weapon. Hopefully the strange woman could deal with both men long enough for her to get back in support...

By the time Adolina turned around with an appropriated weighted sap, the two men were on the ground. One in a fetal position with his hands clutching his groin and groaning. The other was staring very intently at the tip of the masked woman's rapier which hovered about an inch away from his nose.

"Well done, m'Lady," her rescuer declared, her own eyes not leaving the target of her veiled threat. "Now you will apologize to the nice lady and assist your companions to seek medical aid," she continued, directing her words towards the one man cognizant enough heed them. He nodded very slowly. The blade slipped in close and there was a curse from the man as it drew blood from his cheek. "I said apologize," the masked woman repeated, her light-hearted tone vanishing.

"I'm sorry m-m-m'Lady," he sputtered. "We never meant no harm. We were just ..."

The blade flicked again, drawing blood from his other cheek.

"Lies will gain you nothing but further pain," Rose snapped.

"I'm sorry m'Lady," the thug says in a more contrite voice. "We won't bother you again."

Rose glanced up as if checking with Adolina to see whether the professed apology was sufficient.

Adolina drew on all her aristocratic breeding to hold her nose up high and dismiss the men without even speaking to them. "Begone," she said simply and stepped pointedly to one side while the men departed.

"My thanks," she said gratefully to her rescuer, once the men had disappeared. "I can offer g-gold in reward. I certainly owe you something."

'And seeing you again wouldn't be a hardship,' a small part of her mind remarked. Confident and capable women have always held a fascination for her and this woman, with her flashing sword, confidence and fiery red hair was extremely fascinating.

"Gold? Nay My Lady," the woman replied with a grin. "It's enough for me to know that one such as yourself faces no threat from ruffians intent to impinge upon her honor." Her green eyes sparkled in the lamp light from behind her carved mask.

"I cannot say whether you'll see me again or not. Who knows what fate has laid in our path. But I would be happy to safeguard you further and escort you to your destination." The statement is clearly a question.

"T-take this at least," Adolina replied, tugging the simple gold signet ring from her finger. "P-p-lease. Take it and come to my door. Show it and I'll help you, no q-q-questions asked. Like you helped me."

She waited, unblinking until the other woman came closer and swept the ring from her palm with swift fingers. The ghost of her touch lingered a moment longer and Adolina found herself staring into those deep green eyes a little too readily.

Rose's gloved hand stowed the ring into a pocket in the dark gray sash tied around her waist. "I will keep it safe and secret," she answered as she claimed Adolina's right arm in her own. "Now let's get you home before it gets too late. We wouldn't want anyone to worry about you." As they moved along the lane, she continued the conversation.

"So what was that you were humming?" she questioned with a sideways grin. "I recognize it, but can't place it."

Wings, check. 3 dire bat tails, check. Extraordinarily impractical hairstyle, check. Hooveshoes, yes, I have pretty normal feet actually, check. Stockings with stones on them that drip occassional jam, because actually using fire here would set both myself and the rehearsal room on fire, check. Someone doing a pretty credible impersonation of the demonlord Nocticula says out loud.

OK boys, lift me up!

A couple of wires click as the tiefling women is lifted in the air

Pffffff how am I supposed to sing an Aria while these wires are messing with my air supply? Well I can try She muses as she begins singing in a Soprano voice

Raise your blades
For the lady of the Dark
Demon with the skill to kill
and the all-conquering heart

urrrrkkk As she tries to draw breath, some of the wires lifting her bind a bit too tightly around her mid section

Are you trying to sing "kitchen" in Abyssal Lucy? If so you are missing one z at the end.
A white haired woman asks with a smile

I am mostly trying to breathe Shensen the somewhat strung Tiefling retorts

Get into character as a demonlord so you dont have to breathe any more the woman says with a chuckle

A more realistic approach is some pseudo see through armor so the wires dont semi choke me, or simply a fly spell The tiefling, still dangling in the air, thinks

Fly spell? And then some joker in the audience dispells it, nah The other woman says

Did you run the libretto past that "Subject matter expert" you spoke off? Tambry or something like that? the tiefling asks a bit quieter.

Yeah, but she didnt quite know much, the topic of the play is faaaaar in the past. the white haired woman answers

According to a subject matter expert I contacted, the entire plot doesnt quite work because in actuality, Desna curbstomped Aolar like a litte trollop, razed her citadel, farted in specifically Lamashtus general direction, wrote "Hunting hiccups honey?" useing the corpses of demons she killed and then swaggered off to Elysium, daring the Abyss to do something about her.
Lucy says in a somewhat lowered tone as Shensen approaches her

But there isnt any useable drama in that, no heroic journey, no overcomeing difficult trials, no real threat... nah, I am sticking with Desna the plucky little underling and her merry band of misfit heroes, far more inspirational too. With a friendly shake of her head, Shensen replies, also in a more conspirational tone

Yes boss Lucy answers