Iohan casts a wary eye over the dim tavern, filled with sailors on leave, and waits for Helder to come back with their food, and hopefully with some information.
Helder places two platters of roast fowl and two tankards of beer down on the table unceremoniously, and seats himself with the air of a person who firmly deserves their coming repast. He lifts his own mug and stares at the fluid critically.
Iohan glances drily at the mug, and carefully moves it slightly away from his plate. He bows his head briefly over the food.
Helder waits, one eyebrow raised, for Iohan to finish, but does not bow his own head.
Iohan raises it again and begins to eat.
Iohan "So. Did you learn anything?"
Helder "No." He takes a sip of his beer. "None of this tavern's fine patrons have told me anything of use."
Iohan sighs.
Iohan "We must find her. The sooner we do, the more likely she can be saved."
Iohan "Have you any ideas of where else we might look?"
Helder sits for a moment, lost in thought.
Iohan looks up, giving Helder a piercing gaze, and puts his hand heavily on Helder's wrist as he attempts to eat. "You can trust me, Helder. I have only your best interests in mind."
Helder flinches as he sips at his beer. "That is a terrifying statement, coming from you."
Iohan "Do you find virtue so terrifying?"
Helder puts his beer down and looks at Iohan. "It is not a matter that is... foremost in my daily thoughts."
Iohan "Perhaps that is your problem." Iohan puts his other hand over Helder's beer, holding it down and continuing to stare into Helder's eyes.
Helder coughs with nervousness. "Um...." He lets his eyes trail off. "Oh, I... thought of someplace we might want to look," he says, trying to change the subject.
Iohan "Oh yes?"
Helder "Oh, well," he looks back and forth, "we have not ventured into the Wrack."
Iohan "The Wrack? I have never heard of such a place."
Helder "Oh, really? I, uh, thought they taught you all about these things." He swallows, though he has not had a drink.
Helder "It's... just outside the town."
Iohan "You must tell me all about it...on the way there."
Iohan lifts his hands, finally, from Helder's, and returns to his meal.
Helder nods a little nervously, and finishes his beer quickly.
Amestris The Wrack is a twisted and terrible scar on the edge of town, and over the years only those too poor to leave have stayed nearby. Amestris, who squats there just like Velena, comes looking for her early one afternoon.
Amestris She's usually looking for wine, this time of day.
Velena "Alms?" Her voice is soft and plaintive. "Alms for the ppor?" She is dressed in rags that she has tied into a rather prettier dress than she ought to have been able to. "A little wine to ease the chill?"
Amestris folds herself down to sit next to Velena, uninvited and possibly unwanted. With wild iron-gray hair, sharp features, and piercing eyes, she's not pretty enough to draw sympathy, and she tends to slip into ranting and drive away the marks.
Amestris "Any luck today?" she says hopefully, by which she means booze.
Velena looks over at Amestris with a slight frown, and then smiles
Velena "No luck yet, dear, but the night is still young."
Amestris "Bad moon tonight," she offers as if Velena had asked. "Maybe lose one or two of those scrap-picking types in the ruins. Wouldn't happen if they listened to me."
Velena "Ah... yes... I'm sure."
Amestris Laughing a bit, she adds, "I know where the real priceless things are buried in there. Too damn old to get them, though."
Amestris "Are you all right, girl? You look tired." Amestris peers at Velena.
Velena looks up, suddenly a little more interested "buried?"
Velena pulls her ragged cloak tighter about her think shoulders. "I'm fine."
Amestris "Oh, yes. All kinds of things down there in broken bones of the city. Secrets, lies, gold, bodies." She laughs again. "Dreams, regrets, wasted chances."
Velena "Have yo ubeen down there?"
Amestris nods, clutching her own robe about her as a breeze snakes past them. "I know the paths, but I can't make the trip alone anymore."
Amestris "You, though..."
Velena looks suspicious. "It sounds dangerous."
Amestris "Maybe a little." She shrugs offhandedly. "Shame to sit out here in the cold, though, when there's a prince's ransom down there in the ruins."
Amestris Casting a sharp glance sideways at Velena, she adds, "It's not like any of you believe my stories about the magic, either."
Velena rises and paces back and forth a little, looking down at Amestris. The woman was a little crazy but... with the money, she could bribe the officers... "What do you get out of it?"
Amestris "My share, of course."
Velena "How much?"
Amestris "Half," she says promptly.
Velena "Too much, I'll be taking all the risk."
Amestris "I'll come too--I just can't cross the gaps without a bit of help, or carry everything out myself."
Velena frowns thoughtfully. "Tell me more about this so-called magic"
Amestris "Oh, you're a believer now?" she laughs.
Velena "No," she says defensively, "But there might be some truth in there somewhere."
Amestris "I was one of them, once--I knew the secret names and the houses of the lower air, not like those children in the wizard's order these days."
Velena looks skeptical, but smiles, "whatever you say."
Velena "Well is there any of your magic that would help?"
Amestris "Yes, but we'll need something from the school--something one of those damn wizards has owned. Then I can make a charm to hide us from demon eyes."
Velena scowls, "Those wizards can't be trusted with anything. What is it that you need for this charm?"
Amestris "Something personal--a favorite pin, a book, maybe. A signet ring or a staff, something with real resonance, would be even better." She looks at Velena as if a little skeptical of her abilities. "Sure you're up for this?
Velena pulls herself up stiffly, "Of course. I wasn't always a beggar you know," she huffs.
Amestris "Oh?" A little bit of doubt, a little bit of curiosity in Amestris' tone.
Velena sniffs. "Before those wizards did something to my dear departed husband."
Amestris nods. "Just remember to think of that, and the rest will be easy."
Iohan and Helder arrive at the rotted, decaying former mansion that lies at the edge of the Wrack. The front hallway having collapsed, they look around for someone who might be able to show them the way in. Fortunately, beggars are in no short supply...
Velena speaks up, as the rich people pass "Alms for the poor?"
Iohan glances at her, then at Helder.
Helder fixes up his uniform with one hand, then tosses a few tiny coins offhandedly to her. "We're looking for someone."
Velena catches them and tucks them away, looking Helder up and down speculatively. "Thank you sir, very kind of you. Who are you looking for, sir?"
Helder positions his body such that Iohan can move in to the conversation.
Iohan "We seek a woman named Amestris."
Iohan "She has...taken something of ours."
Velena sniffs, "Aren't you from the Academy?"
Iohan "You have heard of us?"
Velena nods at them, "Very generous, the Academy." She smiles bitterly. "They've done /so much/ for my family."
Helder "They provide the hope of a better, more learned life. Whether you choose to take advantage of it is your own choice."
Iohan glances thoughtfully at the two of them.
Velena clenches her fists, "Yes. Of course. And are there any classes open that I could take?"
Iohan "What happened to your family?"
Velena "There was a...tragic accident. Involving magic."
Helder "Don't they all," Helder says, under his breath.
Iohan "Coincidentally, the theft Amestris has committed is likely to lead to another tragic accident involving magic, unless we can stop her in time."
Velena "What sort of accident?"
Iohan "The intentional sort."
Iohan "We have come to save her from the inevitable consequences of her actions."
Velena "How very kind of you."
Iohan "Virtue is its own reward." Iohan's eyes glitter.
Iohan "Will you help us?"
Velena finds herself rather discomfited by Iohan's stare. "I'm not sure what I could do to help."
Helder "I think I know what you could do."
Velena eyes Helder.
Velena rattles her cup and stands, looking sideways at Helder and smiling prettily, "I'll tell you what you want to know if you tell me what I want to know."
Iohan raises an eyebrow and fades back.
Helder starts to reach for his pocket again, when...
Velena takes a step forward, and then suddenly she drops the cup and grabs him by the front of the robe, pulling him forward and thrusting a knife partway into his side. "Or you could just tell me what you did to Githani," she hisses, "you bastard."
Helder squeals like a stuck pig.
Velena "I've barely touched you, now tell me what I need to know before I /do/ stab you."
Helder "I... have no idea what you're talking about!"
Iohan "Excuse me."
Iohan "Helder did nothing to Githani."
Iohan "That is my job."
Velena turns to glare at Iohan, "What do you mean?"
Iohan "It is my humble responsibility to guide those students who are lost back to the way. Occasionally, in this journey, they...fall behind."
Iohan "Githani was one such."
Helder grips his side, breathing heavily.
Velena "What are you talking about? He wasn't guided back anywhere, he disappeared!"
Iohan "My guidance sometimes takes...unpleasant forms."
Iohan calmly reaches into his pouch and produces a diamond-edged skinning knife. "You will learn what I mean. You have assaulted my ward, and I fear I must instruct you."
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