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The Easterners should hear this! Hopefully Woohoo is encouraging Mr Guildmaster Tolzias to embarrass himself, and then they won’t want to work for him! The pixie launches herself from Donralaiz’s shoulder, flies through the crowd and glides past Limmiri. “Persuade them to…” she whispers and then loops to make a second pass. “…listen to Woohoo.”
Whatever he said… he sounded as though he didn’t want to keep saying it. How well is this argument going?
Tririesk perches invisibly on Donralaiz’s free shoulder.
Judging by Woohoo’oosh’s diction, Trisiesk guesses that the owl is starting something. Tririesk flies closer and waits to see if she can make supporting mischief.
Tririesk has demonstrated immense patience by listening all the way through this incomprehensible conversation, but it’s now time for further mischief. She pokes Limmiri to remind them about Tolzias, then looks around to find the next place to go. She stares at the dark blue curtains hanging from the ceiling at this end of the hall. Is there a wall just behind them? Or something else?
Tririesk follows Limmiri to a quieter corner of the ballroom. “I need your help again,” the pixie whispers. “To find the Easterners. Could you ask around? I know Donral's spell only helps with comprehending, but can you remember their word for ‘Easterner’ yet?”
The still-invisible pixie flies near Donralaiz, pokes Limmiri and tugs the mephit’s ear.
Following an owl, Tririesk flies into the ballroom.
“I’m going to be encouraging Easterners not to join! If there are Easterners. But there’s someone called Balvayar who may be likely to say condescending things about Tolzias, and I think Tolzias deserves that after the insulting things he said about us. That’s only justice, don’t you think? Also, anything we can do to stop the evening running smoothly will help with the thwarting. Have you got all that?”
“To tell you what Limmiri helped me overhear from Mr Guildmaster Tolzias!” the pixie replies brightly. “So you can act accordingly…” she adds in a doom-laden voice. “He’s very impolite, so he deserves more mischief than even a pixie can deliver in an evening. He described you as a weird-looking pet bird and Limmiri as an ice-bat-homunculus thing and Donral as a transparent swindler!”
“Cute little hovering clockwork contraption,” Tririesk whispers once the Guild member is out of earshot. “Just decorative, or does it do something other than follow you around?”
Meanwhile, Tririesk has been flying around the corridors until she manages to catch sight of Woohoo’oosh, following one of the Guild members. The pixie swoops close. “Woohoo?” she whispers, trying to imitate the owl’s own voice.
“Did he really say best Easterners?… I don’t think I like people ranking other people in that way. Thinking about it more deeply, I definitely don’t like it. I now hereby declare that no Easteners of any sort will be joining Guildmaster Tolzias. If I have my way. If I have one of my many ways. Maybe.” The invisible pixie flies away to begin looking for the place where everyone’s gathering for the Guild ball.
The pixie hasn’t forgotten that Tolzias is owed some thwarting, and he’s helpfully listed three potentially thwartable desires. This is an important tactical decision, and so Tririesk ponders the question of how to target her mischief for almost ten seconds.
Tririesk barely manages to wait until Tolzias is out of sight and presumably out of earshot. “That sounded like a rather exceptional rant. Translation, please!”
“Not only on you. You could cast it on Limmiri and they could sneak around corridors with me while you’re choosing a jacket. I think Woohoo must be hoarding spells today, or he would have cast some comprehending on himself.”
“A spell please!” replies the pixie, not bothering to whisper. “For the comprehension of languages! These people are probably going to say lots of interesting things while they’re sure you’re busy getting dressed.”
Hovering, the invisible pixie watches as Donralaiz is shown to a room and given so many clothes that he needs both hands to hold all the coat-hangers. Hmm… I assume he’s not expected to wear all of those at once. Though it would be an interesting sight if he is. Tririesk glides into the room, twisting in the air at the last moment so her wings aren’t trapped as the door is closed behind Donralaiz and Limmiri. “Hello!” No need to let that loudest, deepest voice go to waste!
Tririesk (who managed, when the door was first opened, to sneak into the carriage and find a not particularly comfortable seat in a small wire rack above the passengers’ heads) now looks down and pays attention to whatever Donralaiz is about to say.
Before making up her mind, Tririesk spends a bit more time looking at the copper-skinned, pale-haired woman, who’s standing still and watching the scene without showing much emotion. If she escapes, we’ll be suspects, Tririesk concludes with perhaps uncharacteristic forethought. For no particularly good reason except that Tolzias probably already suspects us of lots of things. Besides, she might turn out to be as annoying as he is. Let’s wait and see. The pixie looks back towards Tolzias. But you can still expect some sizeable thwarting soon, Guildmaster.
Tririesk’s opinion of this man named Tolzias has been falling steadily. He has some authority (though I bet that “local Guildmaster” isn’t quite as impressive as he’d like us to think) and he’s throwing his weight around. I reckon a little bit of being thwarted will do him some good…
Tririesk stays very still. There are no jangling noises from the place where the invisible pixie watches. None whatsoever.
Still invisible, Tririesk flies close to Woohoo’oosh. “What is Donral saying?” she whispers.
This looks potentially awkward.
Tririesk then stealthily flies out of the workshop and around to the other side of the building, to see who’s paying a visit.
The books and scrolls are almost certainly very dull indeed. But Donral may be able to find something useful in there. Besides: Mischief.
Meanwhile, Tririesk stealthily flies past them. She has plans to explore the building as much as possible while keeping an eye on what's happening outside.
“You’ll see me a bit later,” Tririesk says to Donralaiz, and disappears. She glides through the gate as quietly as she can.
“How dangerous can these people be? They can’t even keep their fog in order.”
“And that the people there wear pointy-heeled boots!” The pixie frowns for a few moments. “Or the beings there have appendages ending in shapes that are very much like pointy-heeled boots!”
“These footprints are newer than the ones I saw before - someone’s stepped through twice? Or maybe two different people? But it would have to be two different people with the same sized feet and the same taste in pointy-heeled boots…”
“You’ll need to do the talking. Woohoo’oosh and I will follow but we’ll stay out of sight unless you can’t convince the Envoy of your helpless devotion to her and we need a new plan in a hurry. Let’s go!”
“And we certainly have some existing weather at the moment. I have it! You need to find that Envoy again, the one you liked. Tell her you know a ritual that can calm the storms down a bit. If she tries to persuade you to use it to increase the strength of one of the storm lines instead… then that confirms my theory! Probably.”
The pixie jumps down from the bed and walks unsteadily in circles over the floorboards. She holds her fingertips pressed against her forehead and she frowns deeply. “Let me think, let me think. There’s a plan here somewhere, I can sense it. Let’s see… If I’m guessing correctly, those storms are a competition. A display of strength from the two sides. Ysvellei has taught you rituals for changing the weather in the Wood, hasn’t she?”
“I doubt these Envoys will listen to rational debate. What if… what if we can persuade them that one side has already won?”
“Yes! Of course! Two storms!” says the pixie. “One for each of the two Courts they don’t have. You were there for the start of a really really big argument. An argument with lightning, and you didn’t even notice.”
“It was just such a wonderfully thorough and detailed description! Though I do think you could have been paying some of that attention to the tone of voice of the other Envoys when they talked about the Courtless Realm. Would anyone really call their homeland that? Sounds very… negative to me.”
Tririesk interrupts with lots of questions. She’s particularly interested in the Envoys and especially Viorellys. Especially Viorellys. “…and what did you say she was wearing again?”
Tririesk takes two sips, makes exaggerated faces, sits up straight and opens her eyes widely. “What happened? What have you discovered? We were searching for you but got caught in a really wild storm. Do you know why the paths have gone all-” She waves her hands in swirly patterns. “Tell us all!”
“Mmph… Donral…aiz? Is that you?” The pixie’s eyelids open briefly, then sink again. “Ysvellei asked us to find you…”
“Donralaiz! Hello!” shouts the pixie happily as she tries to grab onto the material of Donralaiz’s sleeve. |