RP:Interruption

Synopsis: Gevurah retrieves Jalynfein from Arcania and leads him into the tunnels to discuss a secret topic away from drow ears. Unbeknownst to them, Angwe's creepy-crawly spies have tailed them, and before Gevurah and Jalynfein can enter a secluded area to converse in secret, Angwe interrupts them. The First Daughters exchange tense dialogue. Jalynfein is frustrated.

Down-Sloping Tunnel

Gevurah steps into Arcania is full priestess regalia. She greets Master Trivacea politely, but does not stop to make small talk even with him. Any social skills she may possess are the result of accident rather than cultivation. Red eyes scan the gathered mages for Jalynfein.

Jalynfein had been passing through the entry when the High Priestess made her entrance. Halting in his tracks the necromancer watches her speak to the master and politely looks downwards when her eyes begin to roam the crowd.

Gevurah spies Jalynfein’s downcast gaze approvingly. She crosses close enough so that she doesn’t have to shout. “You.” She points at the elder boy of House Orbb Quar'Valsharess. “I may have need of you. Follow me.” She leads him to the street outside, and due west. When they reach the street, they are joined by one of Gevurah’s assassins. He stands behind the priestess and necromancer. It is unclear whether or not the entire entourage of assassins lurks in the shadows.

Jalynfein merely nods and follows the priestess, as the exit Arcania the mage's head raises, his eyes sweeping their surroundings as they walk. When the assassin emerges from the darkness he stiffens slightly, "How might I be of service First Daughter?" he asks.

Gevurah leads Jalynfein well past the city limit. “In due time,” is her only response. Her gait slows as they near House Stavret, the estate itself not yet in view. She looks to her assassin, who searches several points in the darkness before nodding to the priestess. Maybe they aren’t alone. She waves a hand towards the north cavelets and signs to Jalynfein, “After you.”

Jalynfein inclines his head, knowing that if he were to do anything to upset the female his life would be forfeit. "As you wish." with that the necromancer slips into the cavelets, moving with the natural dexterity born in all drow.

Underfoot, a skitter, not so much audible as perceived by scant motion across stone, the tops of footwear, a plump and many-legged intrusion. Their mistress is unseen altogether, even her magic is indiscernible, cloak-within-cloak. Her familiars travels lightly, and by their limited perception Angwe tracks the D'Artes child and her own brother to the edge of the city. Little spiders scuttle away, climbing tunnel walls. Opting to reveal herself at last, the first daughter of House Orbb Quar’Valsharess appears in slow gradients, like a silent, monochromatic dream. She is lovely, with the hard loveliness of centuries, and her red gaze drifts languidly from Gevurah to Jalynfein, as if they are two disobedient children, caught amid an act of mischief.

Somehow Gevurah’s entourage of assassins which were ensuring she is not followed have failed to notice Angwe and her familiars. Someone will have to be punished for this failure, Gevurah’s hand already itches over her snake-headed whip, but for now the scheming D’Artes (a redundancy) will have to deal with her rotten luck. “Had you made your presence known sooner, I’d have greeted you more properly.” It is unclear of what exactly a proper greeting would consist, for Gevurah does nothing in that vain. Poor Jalynfein, in the cavelet and beyond, is forgotten. Perhaps he’d be more relevant if he wasn’t so tediously male. “If you have a purpose, I suggest you speak it now.”

Angwe 's smile is the arc of a well-cut throat. She looks upon Gevurah as one might a recalcitrant servant, sniffing faintly, and signs with practised elegance the gestures which indicate that she has come for her lesser male sibling. She reaches for no visible weapon, yet manages to emit an air of peril equivalent to it.

Jalynfein notices the absence of the priestess and decides to poke his head out, spotting his sister he curses. A brief focus on his House Insignia before he steps out of the cavelet and off to the side, he wouldn't want to miss this.

Gevurah’s assassin follows Jalynfein out of the cave in smooth movements that abruptly stutter at the sight of Angwe, though the source of his anxiety is closer to his person. He skirts Gevurah, her whip and glare, and feverishly signals into the darkness commands for readiness, performed desperately in a manner analogous to how connotation colors the spoken word. The strain of bowstrings reflects both the entourage’s readiness and anxiety. All of Angwe’s posturing to establish herself as above Gevurah does little to erode the fact that Gevurah’s station in the city exceeds the Orbb Qaur’Valsharess first daughter, particularly in this era of patriarchy and Vakmatharas where the fourth house grows increasingly irrelevant. This fact founds Gevurah’s confidence and narrow glare, the color and shape of molten steel in a blade’s mold. She signs to Angwe that her brother is hers to claim; take him and be gone.

Jalynfein narrows his eyes and returns his sister's look.

Angwe exudes a blatant air of serenity, permeated with a subtler – yet oh, so, noticeable – hint of humor, while she observes the flustered assassins, on whose piwafwi here and there still crawl a few of Angwe’s tiny spies. She does see Gevurahs signing in the periphery of her vision as she once again turns her chilly glare on Jalynfein, but does not respond to it at all. ~Out walking, brother?~ say her hands, the undertone of the motion so polite as to be at odds entirely with the glint of annoyance in her eyes. ~Pleasant. I shall walk with you.~ She then turns to Gevurah, dipping her head in a motion of respect for one of a higher station, though it also seems the kind of gesture one gives a spoiled child to avoid it tantrumming and requiring a dagger in its heart. ~By your leave. Of course.~

Jalynfein bows his head to his sister, ~It would be a pleasure dear sister.~ His motions are smooth and fluid, slightly relieved that this did not get more dire than was necessary. Turning to the D'Artes priestess he bows, "Forgive mistress, I know how much you wished for my aide." he says, "It saddens me to know how my house will lose from not being able to provide assistance." Turning to his sister a sad smile on his face, "Shall we." With that he moves to her side, sighing, just loud enough for her to hear, "A brilliant opportunity lost."

Angwe stares at her sibling as if she thinks him an abject idiot, and returns her gaze to Gevurah.

Gevurah cannot suppress a grin at both Jalynfein’s bold, but incredibly stupid, talkback, and the fact that Jalynfein will likely be whipped brutally for daring to undermine his better. To his better, Gevurah mirrors feigned cordiality. “Of course. I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Her syrupy tone repurposes words with double meanings that double down on the current hierarchy and elevate the speaker. She does not relieve Angwe from her sight until forced to by the geography of the Underdark. Then she looks to her entourage who signal the Orbb Quar’Valsharess drow trajectory until the siblings are beyond their sight as well.

Angwe watched them go, turning to her brother after, ~Go on then, scuttle after them~ her hands flash an undercurrent of his future reward for speaking to her as he had, and it is not pleasant, ~I will require you, later, however.~

Jalynfein nods to his sister, wary of the coming punishment, but willing to suffer it for the sake of his family. Turning he disappears into the darkness to return to the first daughter.