RP:Not An Entirely Cold Trail

Summary: Khitti, Kailani, and Penelope meet in Khitti's apartment to discuss Emilia's disappearance and determine which area to send another search party to.

The Herzegler Apartment, Above the Ginger Snapped Bakery, Cenril

Khitti || Peppermint tea was prepared as Khitti waited for the two members of the Healer’s Guild to arrive. Once they got inside the bakery--which, likely to Kailani’s dismay, was a bit busy--Victoria, the shop’s head waitress, showed them the way through, which was behind the counter, into the kitchen, and up a staircase near the backdoor. When they did show up, Khitti’d show them in to the living room, where the teapot and its accompanying mugs sat. “Sorry, if it’s a little cramped. This… really didn’t seem like something that should be talked about in public. Too many people with eyes and ears, and if she really was kidnapped, then that could likely make things worse.” The apartment wasn’t small by any means, but when Khitti was worrying about -something-, places always felt small and cramped to her. Like she was in a damned dragon’s cave all over again. The redhead sighed and lowered herself down onto one of the armchairs, leaving the sofa and another armchair to the other two, with the coffee table in between it all. Khitti poured a mug of tea for herself, leaving the other two to fend for themselves if they wished for a drink.

Penelope ventured her way back to Cenril. Sketches were up and in place in most taverns and corner streets. Edith had sent word to the others. Emilia was gone. The healer woke up early morning in order to venture her way to the bakery in Cenril. The place that the girl spent most of her early days in when she was naive. She stares outside the building for quite some time, although she had searched for Emilia’s tracks the other day, she did not have time to process, especially after Linken’s son came to visit. Aeric. The teenager had brought her Linken’s journal and it reflected the days she was young and worked as a simple baker. The Ardelian was thankful the place had been in good hands and rebuilt. Khitti. She was here for Khitti. Eventually, she finally makes her way inside to find Victoria where she leads the healer to Khitti’s abode. “Hi, Khitti,” Penelope greets with a cool and small smile, but the times were dense to Emilia’s disappearance. She is led inside, she sits in the other armchair. “No need to worry. It’s understandable. I agree. Ears are everywhere, and well, it’s better to be careful for Emilia’s safety,” she knew. Kidnapping was… well, Penelope had experienced it once. Long ago when she worked as a baker. The girl leans over for the tea automatically to calm her travelled nerves.

Kailani :: One day someone is going to invite Kailani to a meeting, and they will go "maybe the druid will appreciate hosting this meeting outside...!" But today is not that day and so Khitti is correct in her assumptions. Kailani is already dismayed to be present within what she views to be a rather superfluous city. That dismay briefly intensified at how busy Khitti's shop was, but that feeling faded once she was ushered back into Khitti's apartment area. Khitti takes an armchair, Penelope takes an armchair, and for a change the druid follows the social cues provided. Rather than planting her tush on the ground, it finds its way onto the couch instead. No, don't get too excited. This is not going to become the norm. Kailani was already starting to feel convinced that she was developing a case of the hives from all of this socializing she was doing as of late. All in all, the druid holds the same appearance that she normally does. She still is not dressing for comfort, even if they are sitting in an apartment, Kailani still wears her armor. The only change is that she seems to have picked up a nasty looking bite mark to the neck. Khitti could probably tell straight away that whatever bit Kailani was not a vampire. Both would be able to tell that the wound has already been tended to, so no need to fuss. Are we surprised when Kailani is predominantly silent? She greets Khitti and Penelope with a nod, a qiuck, "Hello." And then mainly let's the two women discuss. She'll chime in with what she has to say in good time.

Khitti empathized with Kailani and her hives. While Khitti wasn’t quite as much of a hermit as the druid, she was still not quite the people person either. She would also definitely appreciate an outdoors meeting! But, unfortunately, today was not the day for that. “So, as I’m sure the guild is already aware, the last time I saw Emilia was here. We discussed a few things, mainly the subject of me building her a new hand via my shadow magic. After that though? She went about her own business when I needed to get back to the Tranquility.” Khitti sighed again and rubbed her eyes with one hand, while the other occupied itself with holding her tea. “I do not know how people, like the ones that I know, manage to get themselves kidnapped and there hardly be a trail. It’s like these kidnappers excel in secreting away the strange and unusual.” Khitti herself was amongst those strange and unusual, but she doesn’t mention it. “What has happened since then? Penelope, you mentioned that there has been one search party already here in Cenril.” The redhead first looked at Penelope, then over at Kailani, in case the blue-haired woman had any input as well. Now is when she just so happened to see that vicious-looking bite mark, and concern is made evident on her features. “What the hell happened, Kailani?”

Penelope :: As Kailani enters, Penelope nods in greeting. She was beginning to realize Kailani’s hermit habit which the healer would respect, but she cannot help but stare at the bite that was tended to on her neck. The woman sucks in her cheeks to hold her tongue, for the attention might just make the blue-haired druid overwhelmed. Yes, Penelope would hold her tongue, for the two were still strangers. Khitti then takes away her attention as she talks about how people get in these situations. “I don’t know…” She trails before lifting the tea mug to her lips. “Yes, Leo, one of Emilia’s triplets was able to seek her track, but only of Thamalys’ blood. Thamalys is Emilia’s brother. If Leo has the scent, he could see her tracks which was how we knew she was last seen on the beach after she had stopped here at the bakery.” The healer then halts as Khitti points out the obvious. Kailani’s bite. Slowly, the healer places the mug down on the table in front of them where the tea settles. Penelope could not lie, she was nosy too, she was just glad Khitti had the decency to say something.

Kailani would have been more than content to offer up a single-word answer to sate the curiosity of both of the women, but how she acquired this most recent injury was directly related to their current topic at hand. The druid speaks a fairly elaborate answer. "In addition to the efforts that you both have described, there was recently a search undertaken in Rynvale. The belief was that if Emilia was tracked to the coast of Cenril last...?" She looks to Penelope to confirm that Kailani is understanding correctly, as she was pretty sure that she was referencing the search that Penelope was on. "But one of Emilia's children was distracted by a mermaid. He was taken into the waters by the mermaid but we were able to save him." While Kailani does not clearly spell it out, she was injured during this affair. "Evidently the mermaid was trying to kidnap the child on purpose. She claimed that a child should be with it's mother...At first." Blue brows furrow together as she recalls and explains the moment to Khitti and Penelope. "But I am not sure that her intentions were so pure. She later said that she wanted to return Emilia to the ocean depths because Emilia stole her relic. But that they were not able to because a man got to her first. She tried to convince us that we should...speak with the loon at the shipwreck, but I cannot make heads or tails of if what the mermaid said can actually be trusted or not."

Khitti set her mug down after taking a drink, listening to the two as they spoke. She had thought to respond to Penelope first… until Kailani mentioned the mermaids. Khitti literally facepalmed. “For frak’s sake. If whoever led that little trip had waited, I likely would’ve gone with you all. I know one of the mermaids that dwells in the waters between here and Rynvale. And besides that, I’d been intending on having our own search party in that area anyway.” There’s an exasperated shake of her head before she continued, “I highly doubt Emilia’s been taken by the mermaids. I’m quite sure they don’t have an appetite for ice genasi. Did any of the mermaids look like this?” Khitti held out her left arm, showing off the forearm sleeve tattoo that Meri had done for her a few years ago. In it, a mermaid with vivid purple hair and an orange tail sat on a flat rock beneath the sea. “I swear to the gods, if Nemona was in there, I’m gonna beat her tailfin from here to Chartsend.” Khitti wasn’t keen on having to fight with Nemona again, but if she had attacked one of her guildmembers? Well, at the very least, Khitti’d have to have a stern talk with her. “I imagine, with what your neck looks like, that the others didn’t fare so well either. Did the search even take place then?” Her attention finally returned to the other healer, the redhead doing her best to hide her displeasure with the mermaid debacle. “And, I’m well aware of who Thamalys is. He’s certainly an odd individual.”

Penelope listens carefully to Kailani’s words that add up to why Penelope, and crew, ended up at the Cenril sea. Perhaps the mermaid was telling the truth that a man claimed her first, but maybe not. Penelope sort of lingers to see Khitti’s response to it on before she fed into any input. For once, she was holding her thoughts. Callum had said that Khitti was good at these types of scenarios, unfortunately, for now the healer’s trust was within the red head. And, well this was the best idea for the woman’s distaste in what Kailani had to say. Mermaids. Penelope never encountered one. She lets the two converse, but she remains attentive as she is. “So, I’m guessing Rynvale is out of the picture right now,” she finally comments. The Ardelian finally looks at Khitti and her head slowly slights a bit where she agrees. “He’s not the most warming, but he does care of his sister, at least.” Time to sip the tea.

Kailani :: The druid was not the talkative sort, so she was not going to address every single point that Khitti and Penelope might have raised. She only addresses the ones that she feels like are important. It did not help that the commentary made about Thamalys made Kailani feel slightly self-conscious. She had only met the avian the once, and the half-half hermit with oddly colored hair is not usually one to judge. It does make her wonder what Khitti and Penelope think of her. I mean. She was a half-elf. Some people were indifferent about that, other's were not. She was definitely odd. It could easily be said that she was definitely not a warm person either. Kailani frowns, but forces herself to go on to explain, "Emilia clearly has not been taken by the mermaids, but it is clear that they have a vendetta against her. She took a relic from them." Kailani does not have the answers as to what relic Emilia might have taken, or where she might have gotten it from. To ease Khitti's concern on if the mermaid(s) encountered might have been Nemona or not, Kailani examines the tattoo and then shakes her head. "I cannot account for every mermaid in the water. None were killed. The one I dealt with up close had hair that was blue." The druid continues to frown, it's an expression she'd retain until she actually left the city of Cenril. "Rynvale was not given a proper search. It is possible that there is something to be gained by following the clue to speak with the old loon by the shipwreck. But which shipwreck and where?" Kailani shrugs. "While we determine the answer to that question, I would suggest giving Rynvale a proper search. Just in case we are being lied to. It would be naive to not cover the options in both directions, given what has been presented to us so far." Cue more frowny faces from Kailani.

Khitti made no more comment on the avian. His oddness had only been in how overprotective he was of Emilia, though he’d used the cover story of wanting to join the genasi in Khitti’s expedition to the Shadow Plane, in an attempt to keep an eye on the former Healer’s Guild leader, Sabrina. His demeanor had been somewhat off-putting, but it was something Khitti could understand--she was, after all, quite the vicious mama bear. Kailani would get a nod of agreement from the redhead, “I think that’s a good idea. And I think keeping to the coast there is best. My husband is a ship captain that transports cargo. If Emilia had been taken to the docks, there likely would’ve been some amount of whispering around there that he would’ve heard.” She tapped her chin idly, her attention settling on the table, “I suppose she might be further inland by now, depending on who took her, but... it’s definitely best to start closest to the water first and make our way north eventually later on. I’m somewhat aware of this shipwreck, though I’ve never been there before. But, it’s as good a lead as any, so we might as well start there.”

Penelope maintains her own collective cool. Thamalys was not warming, but many people were like that. Penelope had to maintain the day-by-day cool for patients to get by. Be the bright, so when she crosses someone less shiny, it’s hard to come by her normal daily lifestyle. It’s off-putting. Fake shiny. Was not everyone fake shiny these days? Perhaps not. Penelope fell closely in her own bubble. Penelope would nod her head slowly. Right, not naïve, like the healer was. Y’all, it was a work in progress on this healer’s naivety. “Good point,” is all she could muster until she could process the other information. Cenril had been a blur to her for years. Now, it was one of the towns on almost top priority to search in. If Rynvale was another place to search, Penelope would have to pack extra, for there was another herb await on her own personal voyage. Search for Emilia clues and then break off in order to find what she needs. Her gaze then moves to Khiiti’s. “So, let me get this straight. Shipwreck on the Cenril side of the sea? If we don’t find anything, we reach Rynvale?” She was just trying to piece it together. “And if that’s the case, when do we start? I’d imagine more eyes the better.”

Kailani :: Shipwrecks were not something that the druid spent much time learning about. It would require more of an interest in the things that societies are prone to creating. She would leave Penelope, Khitti, and the rest to figure out the details of where this shipwreck might be and who this 'loon' might be. The druid was also going to leave Khitti to provide the answers to Penelope's questions. The druid was getting tired of talking and her patience for remaining confined within four walls was quickly fading. The woman was eager to get back out of Cenril. It is at this point that the druid rises from her seat, intent on departing but not moving at a pace quick enough that she'd miss any parting remarks from Penelope and Khitti. "I will go to Rynvale and linger in the area." Which is to say that Kailani is trying to make herself easily accessible for any upcoming searches.

Khitti nodded to Kailani, giving her the opportunity to leave if she wished. Khitti too ached to leave the apartment, even if she was the damn thing’s owner, so that she could take a much needed walk, either around the city, or perhaps she’d make her way to Vailkrin for the evening. “We’ll contact you soon,” she said, before fixing her attention on Penelope, “There’s many shipwrecks, but if this is the one I’m thinking of, it’s near the mermaid cove in Rynvale. I had my wedding around in that area and had been warned that there could be trouble.” There -had- been trouble, but it hadn’t been the sea-faring sort. “I’ll have my assistant, Camina, scout out the rest of the island, with a few others from my guild, just to be safe.” She hesitated a moment, but ultimately continued, “I would say that Kailani and I should be capable enough to take on anything that might come our way, when we go to see this ‘old loon’, but with her having been injured so recently…” Khitti sighed. “It’s probably best to alert your guild as to our plans, on the off chance that there might be something else we run into. And if I have to build a wall of ice and fire to keep people from getting snatched by mermaids, I’ll do it.

Penelope :: As the blue-haired druid stands, Penelope nods. “Thank you for your share,” she takes a beat. “Let’s just hope Emilia is not that far, however,” she tries a feigning smile. Obviously unreachable at the situation at hand. A nod will suffice. Khitti then coincides at the moment Penelope wishes that the ice genasi not be in Rynvale. Penelope will be packing her bags then. A small sigh is released. “Okay,” she keeps nodding along to make herself sure of the situation. “I will get in contact with Edith. Have her spread word in order for the others to know. I know of a man, Kyori, who may want to tag along to search for Emilia, as well. I’m sure he can help.” The woman then rises. “So Rynvale it is.” The thought of mermaids is unpleasant and the twisted face the healer has says it all. “Well, as long as we can get another clue, anything to find Emilia, count me in.”