RP:Uncovering the Mysteries of Runology
This is a Mage's Guild RP.
Summary: Apprentice Quintessa invites a dangerous smuggler named Airon to the Mage's Library to study runes before the go outside for a more direct form of research. Windows are broken, shenanigans ensue. Even Arcane Steward Odhranos can't resist throwing a runic sphere that explodes into fire. Who could?
Mage's Library
As you stand here, towers of bookshelves completely surround you. Most of them look to be magical in nature, but there are books of more mundane subjects in the library. Some are for spell research, some are about the history of spell casting and magic, while others are just lists of spell uses and objects. The cases are of a dark oak or pine, and glow a little at the ends, where runes have been placed to protect these sources of information from aging and decay. There are tables all over the room, with people of quite a few races sitting and studying. You notice a small door behind the rows of shelves to the north, and as someone opens and enters the room you see that it is the dormitory for those who stay here and study. To the east are two massive doors with designs carved into them, a golden dragon on each door.
Quintessa had sent out a letter summoning Airon hours ago, inviting her to the Mage's Library in Xalious like she had promised about a week ago. She had meant to have Lanlan come as well, the higher ranking mage far more proficient in runology than the hex blade was, but nobody had seen him for some time. She wasn't worried about it though, word around the tower was that the mages would soon be conscripted to finish the war in the west and Lanlan probably took the opportunity to run and hide. Typical illusionist. No matter, all the information that Quintessa needed was in these books, and she went about the room gathering them while she waited for Airon to show up. Reserving a table for the pair, the changeling had already built her own tower, this on made of books, all on the subject of symbolism and runology. She was confident that she could impart the knowledge that the elven smuggler needed to make better bombs. With a book already in one hand, the hex blade reads over a book written in Draconic while she transcribes the runes with her other. She used to think this was a boring subject but lately she had a change of heart.
Airon woke up with a bit of a headache. Was it the drinking or did she need a cigarillo already? She had to bet it was the idea of going so far in land and into the mage library that was weighing on her mind. She was delighted at being able to see the Darlking again, but stuffy mages? Ew. She swung a leg over the bed and knocks into her boots, causing them to topple to the floor. "Fire from Aramoth's breath, where the hells is my pants and belt?" She curses under her breath as she thumps around on the boat, trying to collect her things. She finds her sword first, but no pelt. And were her pants hanging from the ceiling? She shakes her head and snatches them down, straps her boots in place and then sees her belt. Good. Strapping it and the sword to her waist, she makes her way out into the blaring white light of the sun, squinting and cursing at it for being so bright. Cenril is quiet this morning as she makes her way down the dock and into the heart of the city, training her mind on crossing the bridge and heading further west. Cenril disappears behind her as well as Kelay, and she gets close to the library she decides now is a good time for a cigarillo. So she stops, lights one up and then just blows her way through the front door. Being a woman of almost 6' 4" with her boots and a cigarillo between her teeth, she isn't surprised that some of the hunched over mage's have almost dropped what they are doing. "You can't smoke in here!" One of them shouts, rushing over to try and wave her out. Ignoring him, she steps around him and heads towards the library calling out, "Darkling! Come out, come out before I set this fool's hair on fire." The last bit said in jest as she looks down at the man and casually winks at him before blowing a bit of smoke in his face.
Quintessa was already aware of the change of the energy in the room before she heard the voice of the mage that dare try to tell Airon what to do, and thusly had put her work temporarily down to defuse things before he ended up with a head of fire. The changeling steps from the nearby shadows directly behind him, her chilling aura creeping up his spine as she parts her lips to speak. "Hengsun," She said, speaking his name and the young elf turns slowly to look at her, "Are you bothering my friend?" Terrified, Hengsun shakes his head quickly. "Good, now go get a bottle of absinth, a bowl of sugar cubes, and two glasses for us before I remember to send that letter to your parents explaining how their little boy is a rune thief that should have been EXPELLED ages ago." Not willing to test if the hex blade was bluffing, Hengsun flees from the library to collect the things that she demanded. "Finally," she says, rolling her mismatched eyes before smiling at Airon. "Good to see you made it, " she says, leading her back to her table as the rest of the mages murmur and whisper about the pair. "Take a seat," she offers, sitting down herself before gesturing to her books, "I've already transcribed a few things that I think you might be interested in if you want to look at them." She sides over a piece of parchment, written on it a complex series of runes and symbols that could produce shocking results. "You said you wanted a storm in a ball? Well, I think I might be on the right track."
Airon quite blatantly shoots all of the whispering mages a threatening look before making a silent gesture that she is watching all of them. All. Of. Them. So get back to your books and dusts before she decides a stink bomb is the best idea for having fun today. Grinning like a cat that has caught a canary, she follows Quintessa into the library and back to the table that she had earlier procured. "You were right about them being a nosey bunch. Don't they know not to get between a nicotine addict and her morning cigarillo," she says as she places said cigarillo between her lips, takes a good long breath before putting it out in the silver case. She tucks the rest of it away as she keeps an eye out for that wormy mage and said drinks, quite thirsty for a treat before she delves into the academics. She takes a seat, but not in a chair. Instead, the ornery woman plops sits herself on the edge of the table and plucks one of the books off the table and begins flipping through it. "Tell me whatcha got. Is it going to be a big booming storm? Huge rain? Or maybe some lightening?" She turns towards Quin and casually slides down to take a look at the detailed notes. Despite her smuggler appearance, the high elf is quite educated. Admiral academy is to blame for that, but she won't just let that be known. "Good, good. I like where this is going but--" she spots the mage again and dons a sharp grin. "Aye, stuffy boy, put the glasses there and be gone with ya self. Don't need you learnin' what I am concocting before hand." She makes a waving off gesture as the mage huffs and leaves the tray with an audible clack of tray and table meeting.
Quintessa waves away Airon's concerns, "Eh, they won't bother you now that they know you're with me. They're outright terrified of me." Her mismatched eyes of blue and hazel flicker to Hengsun and then back to Airon, "Thank you, Hengsun, now leave us." The hex blade watches with curiosity as the elf reads over the runes and she can't hide her surprise. "Wait a moment, you can read runes?" The more and more time she spent around the smuggler, the more curious she became. "You're not just some criminal, are you? Spill it, where did you get your education?" She reaches for to prepare the absinth while she waits for her reply, placing a sugar cube on metal ring above each of the glasses. "I've sat here for the last hour and half and have done nothing but transcribe runes you probably already know how to read." Quintessa's slender digits pour the absinth over the sugar cubes slowly, letting it melt completely before removing the rings. She hands Airon a glass before sipping her own and points down to tap a book next to her. "This one. In 'Storm Magic Evocations and Runes' there a couple of chapters on lighting and thunder runes. We could use them in tandem to not only zap your target but also stun them. It's like a one-two punch." She would leave out the part about learning this from a spar she was in the other day where this exact thing happened to her.
Airon chuckles; always nice to see a lady in control of things. She flips through a few more pages of the text before she looks up at the hexblade with a sharp grin on her lips. She tilts her head to the side as she winks at the changling. “All girls have their secrets, darkling. For now, I am just a criminal.” She rolls onto her back as she lofts the book above her and flips a couple more pages, making note especially of the runes that Quin has pointed out. So many good ideas, so many possibilities with these. She sits up and hands the book back over as she adds, “I like the idea of having both in there. Two punches means twice as likely to make sure your target stays down,” she says, leaning towards one of the other books and flipping through a couple of pages quickly. “If you had a special sphere to throw at someone, what would you have in it? Acid? Poisonous gas?” Both sounded really good to the smuggler; Acid could rot wood if it were strong enough. This thought makes the high elf look over at the changling for a moment, considering a few options before promptly asking, “Got any issues with being on the ocean? I was thinking about having a bit of extra magic on the ship in my next job across the pond. Ya know how them elves are, magic slinging and always watching for you to step out of line. I’ve got an illusionist, granted he doesn’t ride with the crew, but I think someone else with a few spells to sling might be good to have around.”
Quintessa gives Airon an impish smile, "All right, then. Keep your secrets." It doesn't matter to the hex blade, so long as the elf could deliver. As it happens, that's what smugglers were suppose to be good at. Pale digits idly swirl her green drink around before draining it completely. "What would I choose?" The changeling gingerly places the glass on the table before placing a finger on her lip thoughtfully. "Hmm, that's a really tough question. You see the brilliance of storing spells into rune is that it frees you up to prepare ahead of time. Sometimes acid would be preferable over poison, simply because acid is universal while many creatures and races have varying resistances to poison... But I like where this is going. Imagine fighting a lycan and you throw a sphere that explodes into silver dust or vampire blood mist. Honestly, the applications of this tech is only limited by own imagination." Mismatched eyes snap up away from Quintessa's glass as Airon asks how she feels about the ocean. "Oh, I'm fine with it," she lies, "I cross the ocean all the time." If three trips to Rynvale and back counted as 'all the time'. Still, the prospect of having a job certainly interested her. "Once we clean up the rest of the Razurath I'll have lots of free time to join you and your crew."
Airon likes where this conversation is going--always be prepared for any sort of enemies. She makes a mental note to get some silver dust and possible vampire blood for future testing in the glass globes. Airon plucks one from the satchel on her hip and holds it between her index and middle finger, showing how small the globes can be made. “See here,” she says, tracing her fingers along the outside of the globe. “This is the rune spell I use to keep things contained in the glass. I etch the runs across the entire line of the two halves and when they get put together, the inside spell activates as well as the holding spell on the outside. So the spell inside is primed to go, all it takes is shattering the glass and rupturing the holding spell to let the spell out.” She holds the globe up to one of the lights, allowing the changling to see the flickering fire spell within that keeps trying to free itself but continues to get rebuffed by the runes on the outside. “Here, take a couple of the fire ones for your Razurath problem.” She plucks a couple more out of her pocket and holds them out to Quintessa. “I will make a few of these storm ones to try out. I usually test a new spell at the abandoned castle in Cenril; no one cares about its structural integrity.” As for the possibility of adding Quin to the crew, the smuggler lights up, even donning a rather sharp grin. “Aye, I’ll hold ya to that darkling. There is money to be made in smuggling right now. Merchants and nobles alike are willing to pay a crew for either taking out a rival or protecting against a rival.”
Quintessa reaches out with her slender fingers to pluck the rune-spheres from Arion and she turns one over in her hand, eyes of blue and hazel squinting to make out the tiny runes. "I see!" The hex blade had never thought to employ such a tricky tactic before. The Mage's Guild, while experimental at their core, often times forced stale, standardized methods of teaching that did not mesh well with the more creative and talented members of the guild. "It's too bad you lived the life you have. You would have made a prolific spellcaster." Quintessa cannot help but smile thinking about what she was going to do with these bombs in the assault on Venturil. When the conversation slips back to smuggling her emotions as still mixed about it. She would put up with almost anything if the coin was good enough. "I'd be careful around that castle," she warns, "The Matron of the Drow put a powerful curse in the area and I'd have to see a business partner killed on accident." A cruel smirk grows on her face, "So what you're saying is we have an opportunity to take our pick of jobs? Merchants, nobles, makes no difference to me so long as the gold is good."
Airon shrugs casually as if what life she has lived so far has been alright. There are a few things though she wants to change, or at least get a hold of in due time. “This place is far to stuffy for me. Could you imagine the havoc I’d have caused as a child or a teen here? The tower might not even still be standing if that had been the case,” she says, rolling once more onto her back as she props up her feet on the top of a nearby chair. To think of it, she had almost burned down the spellcasting building at school in Rynvale; that is a different tale in it of itself. As for the castle, she furrows her brows, quite confused as to what the drow could possibly want with a run down castle in Cenril. “A curse in Cenril? Or just that castle? Seems kind of rude of her to do so given that that is not her city to do whatever she wants with.” That is the thing that irks her about anyone born to a title, they think they can do and take whatever they want without thought to the rest of the people. Her lips fold into a frown; nobles just all needed to be gotten rid of. Instead of dwelling on the past, she decides to segway right into the topic of work. “I prefer working for the independent merchants honestly. They get taxed very heavily by the government of Rynvale. I think it is because the nobles involved in trade don’t want any sort of rivals.”
Quintessa snickers at this. In her short time here she had already snuck baby dragons in the tower, frozen the second level floors, and summoned an ice wall so large it shook the entire building. "Especially with us both here," The hex blade gives a friendly wink the woman, knowing that he had found a kindred soul within her. A shrug is offered in response to the elf's questions about Gevurah's curse. "I think someone pissed her off so she smashed his castle and cursed the rubble. You'll definitely feel like something is wrong and it will start to kill you in a few minuets... So just, I dunno, don't stick around if you start to feel sick or you start bleeding from your eyeballs." Definitely the second part. Upon hearing about the situation in Rynvale the changeling smirks. "So, the nobles there need to be knocked down a peg? I'm always on board with disrupting their posh lifestyles. In fact, there are some people I should introduce you too..." Quintessa's eyes flicker to the left and to the right, making sure nobody heard that. "But not here. That's an issue for another time."
Airon cackles at the thought of both of them stuck in this tower as young mages. “We would wreck this place and cause a wide spread appearance of gray hairs.” The high-elf shakes her head as she recalls a thought. “I definitely made a few of my tutors go prematurely white in Rynvale--bastards deserved it.” She nods her head, clearly taking note to watch out for the curse and maybe start looking for a new place to lob her spells at instead. She doesn’t want to get too far out of Cenril, but that might be something she has to get used to eventually. With the topic turning towards the nobles, the high elf gives a sharp ‘ha!’ before turning her head to look at the changling as she says, “Hell’s fire do they. Them and the monarchy need to be taken down a few notches and shown they ain’t got s***e when it comes to their titles.” She huffs as she digs up her cigarillo case and pulls one out, pops it in her mouth and lights it. After a good, deep inhale she nods in response to meeting a group. It would not surprise her if there are a few groups who might want a smuggler on their team; well good, she needs more allies. “Some other time then. Now, what do you say to taking this party to something less likely to catch easily on fire,” she asks as she blows a large cloud of smoke. “Don’t wanna have the whole tower comin’ down on my arse.”
Quintessa nods her head, analyzing the reaction Airon had to her suggestion of introducing her to other likeminded people. She seems to approve. "Yes, least I get in anymore trouble for smoke damage done to books." The changeling stretches her arms above her head, her midriff exposed for a moment before she stands. "We can blow things up in the courtyard. It's where I do my katas and nobody seems to care when I destroy things." She laughs at this, "Honestly, the Spell Blade Corp is becoming notorious for the amount of property damage we cause. Kasyr just makes it worse, to tell you the truth..." She begins to walk away from the table, her pale digits reaching for her own cigarette case. "Don't worry about the books," Quintessa says, "Take whatever ones you want with us, I'll make Hengsun clean the rest up later." Hengsun looks up from a nearby table with a devastated look on his face. Would his torture ever end? "Come on, it's just this way," the hex blade says, placing a clove cigarettes between her lips before exiting the library.
Village Path
This path begins just outside of the town and leads straight to the Mage Tower. The tower is smaller than the watchtower to the south, and much odder. It appears that this tower is made completely of pure water. The windows seem to shine like glass, and probably are, but the tower is solid water, holding the other pieces by magic. From here the door looks to be made of wood, and there are no hinges you can see, but rather melded straight into the walls of the tower. The magic to create this place must have been enormous but the benefits well worth it. An impenetrable tower, unbreakable except for the man made entrances, it would be the perfect place to make a stand. And you do not doubt that the wood is also magically endowed, such a little magical effort compared to the great tower of liquid. To the west is a rustic looking library that is connected to the Mage Tower, but is made out of ordinary materials, though well fashioned, which seems to hold many books to help in magic learning. To the east is a rough cliff, and to the south is the main part of town.
Airon doesn’t argue with the idea of taking in some fresh air nor a place where she can set off some spheres if she feels the need. So, she gets up from where she had been languidly stretched out across the table, gathers up a couple of the books and follows the changling out and passed the poor mage. The smuggler throws a wicked grin and a wink at him as she waves the books she is taking at him before promptly exiting the tower. Once outside, the elf takes in a deep breath of the mountain air; not the ocean air, but good enough. “I like the sound of this Kasyr fella. Anyone who likes a bit of chaos has gotta be a good time to be around, aye? Part of the reason I like being around you,” she says as she takes in another drag of her cigarillo before looking out over the courtyard. There were definitely a few scorch marks here and there. “Why don’t you give one of those fire spheres a go? Aim away anything you don’t want to catch fire or explode. They are really feisty and like to gobble up things pretty quickly.”
Airon shouted, "Odhranos is soooo weird!"
Odhranos appeared from the north.
Odhranos said, "ooc: Get off my lawn, you kids!"
Odhranos stomps back to bed grumpily
Odhranos exited to the north.
Airon shouted, "We are making a bonfire out of your books!"
Odhranos shouted, "I'll fill your clothes with sand!"
Quintessa lights her cigarette with a snap of her fingers, her cantrip igniting for a second before quickly fading away. "Master Kasyr is pretty amazing," the odd girl says with a smirk, "His wanted posters used to be all over Cenril. I still have a couple of them stashed around..." She takes a slow drag from her cig, smoke drifting around her cloaked form. "Chaos is useful," she admits, letting the smoke in her lungs escape through her nose. "It has a way of uplifting people. Chaos is a levitation spell." Pale fingers lift a single sphere up as her mismatched eyes scan the area for a target. "Do I just...?" She makes a throwing motion, but continues to look for a suitable location. A slow grin goes on Quintessa's face as she spots an old tree, bent and twisted from an infestation of weevils. "I've always hated this tree..." the changeling utters before she lets the glass capsule fly towards the wooden target. The moment the sphere shatters, the spell erupts, consuming the gnarled tree in an explosion bright flames. The hex blade's eyes shine with grim amusement as she imagines using this on a group of live targets. "Beautiful." She whispers, watching the tree fall apart during its immolation. "It's beautiful..."
Quntessa shouted, "*A loud explosion can be heard coming from the direction of the Mage's Tower*"
Odhranos shouted, "NOOOO, MY BOOKS!"
Airon shouted, "Bring it on, you stuffy old man!"
Airon makes a mental note to find this Kasyr guy. Wanted posters? Good choice in allies. There might be a few wanted posters for her in Rynvale. The smuggler finds a nearby stump to sit down on that is out of range of the old tree about to go up in flames. She flips through a few pages of the book while she watches the changling line up the shot. When the glass shatters and the fire explodes from it, she just quirks a brow at it; been close enough to the bombs not to be surprised anymore. A sly grin touches her lips as she turns her honey gaze to the changling and says, “Oh wait til you try a few of the other ones. Those fire ones are great, but I have a smoke one, acid bombs and then there is the gas ones to knock people out.” She digs into the satchel and produces one that has some sort of gray smoke swirling around inside of it. “It won’t do any damage, but it will confuse the hell out of someone.” She eyeballs one of the open windows on the side of the tower, grins at the changling before lobbing the glass ball through the window. A few seconds go by before a poof! sound echoes down and a bunch of smoke comes flying out of the window, followed by the sound of shouting and coughing.
Airon shouted, "*lobs a smoke bomb through his window*"
Odhranos shouted, "*A veritable torrent of sand erupts from the window, like some turned on a sand-hose*"
Quintessa watches in silence as Airon lines up the shot for Odhranos' window and then -smash- the glass was broken and the room filled with smoke. The changeling tries to contain her laughter but after a couple of seconds her loud chortle echoes through the streets of Xalious. When the sand begins to spill forth from the window she almost falls to her knees in laugher. Luckily, the tree she caught on fire had been reduced to a smoldering pile of embers without spreading to anything. Literally burning down the Mage's Tower probably would get her in trouble. "He's going to be so angry," she tells Airon humorously, "But these things can happen when dealing with the volatile forces of the elements."
Odhranos shouted, "*A chorus of coughing soon follows, as Odh hangs half out the window, trying to get some air*"
Odhranos shouted, "Quintessa! Please keep your guest under control, she just fumigated Administrator Brenwyn!"
Quintessa shouted at Odhranos, "Sorry Steward Kerrigan! Um, it was a wild spell."
Quintessa shouted, "We're doing important research on runology! I promise!"
Airon joins in with her cackle of glee even after the sand comes pouring out of the window. She keeps laughing until she almost falls off of the stump she has been sitting on. With the sudden sand, she grabs a couple more fire spheres and acid spheres out of her pouch and lobs them at the walls of sand. Each explodes either causing the sand to turn to blow glass or melt into piles of goo on the ground. Airon towards the window and shouts, “Come on old man, picking on women down here!?” She turns towards the changling and winks; not that either of them couldn’t hold their own against a grumpy, stuffy mage. “That was amazing. I love shaking the stuffy trees.”
Airon shouted, "Come on old man, you're picking on women down here with that sand!"
Odhranos shouted at Quintessa, "Then I'll expect a report on your findings on my desk by this evening!"
Airon shouted, "Tests are for nerds!"
Airon shouted, "And boring people who aren't getting laid."
Odhranos shouted, "Right! That is it! I am coming down there! Quintessa, you better have an exceptional excuse for this disturbance! *Odhranos goes to shut the window, before remembering that it was shattered, which only causes him to grumble more as he disappears into the depths of the room*"
Quintessa inches away from the wall of sand as Airon begins to lob more bombs at it. Was she actually going to get in trouble for this? Oh well. She places her cigarette back in her mouth and smokes in silence for a moment, her mismatched eyes staring up in the Steward's direction as she ponders what she would write down. She was already planning on making a report, now she had somebody to show it to. With curiosity, the changeling observes the way the fire shifts the sand to glass. These fire spheres could be useful in the Nameless Desert... "It's not hard to torment the higher ups," Quintessa says, flicking her ashes away, "I just imagine what I'll be like when I'm up there in the offices. You think it'll change me?" She had heard wind of promotions being thought of, but didn't know if she was trusted enough to progress to the next rank.
Odhranos appeared from the north.
Airon grins around the cigarillo in her mouth as she shouts more things up at the mage before turning her attention to Quintessa and shrugs. “I can’t help it Darkling; people like that make me want to be more troublesome for them. I have an issue with authority figures and all that jazz.” She reaches into her satchel and produces a small bottle of alcohol of some sort and switches between the cigarillo and rum while she flips through a couple more pages of the book until she lands on something interesting. “How about some ice bombs? Could you imagine making giant spikes of ice suddenly erupt from the spot you toss it at?” She puts the cigarillo between her teeth so she can hold up the book and point with the hand with the liquor bottle in it at the passage about ice runes. “I like the idea of making instant stabby things.” She catches the sound of the incoming mage and looks to Quintess with a raised brow in quiet question. Should she behave?
Quintessa continues to stare in the direction of the tower, lost in thoughts about her report when she turns back to Airon and crosses the distance between them. "Here," she says, pointing to a passage in the book before blowing a cloud of smoke above their heads, "I've been advancing my studies of ice magic ever since Kasyr told me to study Satoshi's styles. I could make defensive spells, offensive spells. Cones, spikes, walls, domes, shields, you name it. I even froze over Black Pond during a spar with Kasyr, so I'm certain I could make ice bombs." She steps away when she sees Steward Odhranos making his way over to the pair and she give him a bow of her head before she tries to explain herself. "Hi there, um, sorry about the smoke?"
Odhranos threw the doors of the Mage's Tower open wide and stomped down the steps with a furious scowl on his face. A faint stink of woodsmoke wafts from the mage, and small wisps of smoke still drift out of the folds of his robes as he strides towards the two women. "I sincerely hope you have a good reason for not only breaking my window, but disturbing my interview with the Administrator. You're lucky I apologised on your behalf, or you'd be looking at some serious repercussions. As it stands, you still might." Odhranos rears to his full height, grey and gold eyes staring sternly at Quintessa. "As for you!" He announces, turning to face Airon with a fierce scowl. "I would very much like to know the name of someone who throws smoke bombs through people's windows for "research purposes". I'd ever so much love to know who taught you such a wonderful means of study." While giving his lecture, the sand that had fountained from the window begins to lift from the ground and spiral around the mage, storing itself away in the cage by his hip.
Airon watches as the mage approaches the women and starts throwing words around about repercussions and other rule sounding things. The high elf shuts the book she has been reading and smoking over and sticks it under her arm as she gets off of her stump and makes her way over to the mage. She stands at over six feet tall in her high heeled boots, so she almost meets the man eye to eye as she says around her cigarillo, “Don’t you being pissy with her. I did it, not her. Don’t be so uptight.” As for the means of study, the woman crooks a brow as she plucks the cigarillo from between her teeth, blows out the smoke and asks, “I’m not sure if you are serious about wanting to know or not, but you ain’t gettin’ the goods sir. Not unless you promise to be nice to the darkling.” She even makes a show of rolling one of the tiny glass globes between her fingers before making it disappear. She takes another puff on the cigarillo before dropping it on the ground and stomping it out as she adds, “I might let you throw it too.”
Quintessa at least looks like she's apologetic, she's even about to part her lips to speak when Airon does it for her. Mismatched eyes flicker back and forth and she muses to herself how rare it is to be the shortest person in the room. Quintessa takes this opportunity to finish her clove cigarettes before flicking it in the direction of the burnt down tree. "It's okay," the changeling says, trying to convince them both to loosen up. "Look," The hex blade holds up a small globe for him to see. The sphere basically consisted of two runed hemispheres placed together to capture the essence of the spell. "I'm researching these devices. The design is simple enough that I can make dozens of these. I'm only limited by the spells I have access to." A pale finger traces along the edges. "Right now the runes simply contain the spell, but with a bit of research I'm sure I can apply other runes to custom tailor certain effects instead of just raw elemental force." Quintessa hopes distracting the Arcane Steward with actual magical discovery and research will derail is anger at her. Airon, on the other hand, could handle herself. After all, nothing the hex blade could do would control the smuggler.
Odhranos bridles at Airon's tone, about to launch into another tirade before Quintessa presents the small device. Torn between lambasting the smoke-bomb lobbing visitor and taking a look at this new fascinating piece of magic, the mage takes a moment to settle himself, letting out a breath as the fight leaves him. "I apologize, Quintessa, I was just surprised, I don't mean to be upset with you." The mage turns to face Airon and his brows furrow briefly as he spots the book under her arm, before he continues; "Xalious knows, I should be used to misfired spells at this point; I was simply in the midst of a fascinating interview, and I was angry that it was disturbed. Administrator Brenwyn is so rarely free, I had spent a month trying to organise intervening him." Odhranos raises his hands in a placating gesture. "But that is no reason to lose my temper with you." His temperament cooled, the mage bends at the waist to bring his eyes close to the small sphere in Quintessa's hand, squinting slightly to make out the runes on its surface. "Hmm, fascinating. Where did you procure such a thing?"
Airon clears her throat as she crosses her arms across her chest. “Aye, it is my creation. A bit of glass blowing, a bit of knowledge of runes and bam you got a spell in a bottle. Lob it in a tight spot, get out of trouble, all that good stuff.” She corks the alcohol bottle that has been in her hand this whole time and puts it back in her satchel before she pulls the silver case out and pops another cigarillo between her lips and lights it, all while still holding onto that book. “Go ahead and throw it. It’ll make you feel better, Sir Stuffy. Toss it, listen to it break and explode.” She goes back to her stump and plops down and starts flipping through the pages once more while she lets the mages talk. A sharp grin crosses her lips as she breathes in another puff as she flips a page, cigarilloe between her fingers.
Quintessa hands Odhranos the glass sphere, "Yes, throw it. For science!" The strange girl isn't phased by the mage's frustration and she smiles at him when he apologizes. She'll still be sure to drop off her research paper later. To Airon she gives a wink as if to say, 'Good thinking letting him throw one,' and she backs away from the man to give him space. "He's a little straight-laced, but the Arcane Steward here is actually one of the few men in the guild who don't look down on me for being a... well... unnaturally talented young woman. He can actually help us. He's probably just as good with runes as Lanlan."
Odhranos is somewhat hesitant as the small sphere is placed in his hand, given that it expressly designed to be a weaponised form of magic. However, the mage’s intrigue overcomes his concern, and a grin spreads across his face. “I should really be concerned that the apprentices under my care already know how to manipulate me, but just this once, I’ll let you away with it.” The mage laughs as he swept his free hand through the air. An spiral of sand whisks out of his cage and flies into the air, forming into a circular discus that arcs through the air. A second ball of sand pools in the mages palm around the glass sphere, before forming a javelin of stone, with the runic sphere at its tip. “This better not make a mess!” Odhranos grunts as he hurls the javelin into the air towards the target disc. When the two collide, the sphere erupts with a loud crack, causing a gout of flame to explode from the point of impact, flash-melting the sand into a large gloopy blob of molten rock, which plummeted from the air and landed on the grass, burning a hole in the dirt with a loud hiss. Odhranos was about to throw his hands up and cheer with joy at the display of magic power from such a tiny object, when a shout from his office cut him short. “Steward Kerrigan! How long does it take to admonish an apprentice! I am still waiting to conclude this interview!” The irritated call of Administrator Brenwyn from the shattered window causes Odhranos to cut short his cry of excitement and he turns to the pair with an startled look on his face. “Bugger.” His only comment as he turns to head back to the tower. “Ehm… Quintessa… if you wouldn’t mind, could you take care of that little… molten stone issue, and I can tell Brenwyn you have been sufficiently admonished? On top of that, let’s say I owe you that drink and we can call it quits, sound like a plan?” The mage winks conspiratively before hurrying towards the tower, closing the heavy wooden doors behind him.
Odhranos exited to the north.
Airon glances at the mage as he gets yelled at and grins around her cigarillo. Obviously throwing a glass globe always makes people happy, but it is a funny turn of events. Shaking her head, she flips a few more pages before she closes the book once more, finishes off her cigarillo and stands up. She turns to the changling with a slight grin as she says, “I need to get back to my ship. Been gone too long from the ocean and it is starting to make me antsy.” She walks over to Quintessa and produces a couple more spheres to replace the couple that got used. “Here ya go. Use them well on your next fight aye? Come find me after so we can talk some more shop where there aren’t law abiding ears around.” She glances towards the mage tower before turning back to the changling and winking. “Take care darkling,” she says as she makes her way back towards Kelay.
Quintessa gives Odhranos a sheepish smile when he speaks of the changeling manipulating him, but the smile turns genuine when she sees the results of the magic explosion. "Nicely done!" she says, encouraging him before administrator Brenwyn ruins their fun. "Back to it then?" she asks, a cheeky smile on her face, "Don't worry, I'll clean up this mess and finish up my report. I'll speak to you soon!" The hex blade wiggles her pale fingers after him before she smirks at Airon. "See? I can handle things around here." She reaches out to take the extra bombs and grins in delight. "Excellent. These will serve me well." Quintessa tucks them safely into her cloak before wiggling her fingers after the elven smuggler as well. "So long. When I see you next I'll have a supply list of things I'll need to begin production. We'll have a near endless supply of these if you can keep bringing me raw resources." With that, the changeling turns back around to clean up the molten rock. "Now how am I...? Ah, I know. HENGSUN! Get out here!"