RP:When Along came a Widow-Maker

This is a Rogue's Guild RP.

Location: The Jolly Roger, Rynvale

Summary: After finding his fellow lycan and friend hydrating at the Jolly Roger, Leo and Mahri are paid a surprise visit from the Countess of the Dark Forest, Quintessa. The discussion revolves around the happenings in Frostmaw and at the Xalious Tree.

The Jolly Roger

Mahri doesn’t have very many places she considers home. The JR is one of them so here she’ll sit with a glass and bottle for company. It’s whiskey since for some reason that’s what’s stocked behind the unmanned bar. Swirling the amber drink in the glass, the she-wolf tosses it back then pours two more fingers. At least it’s the good stuff and goes down warm and smooth. Silver-grey eyes drift towards the door on the off chance someone might walk through.

Leoxander finished off his smoke as he opened one of the unlocked metal doors, already aware of who was inside due to their lycanthrope senses. Before he could cross the threshold into the remodeled warehouse, two long limbed creatures bounded in, the pup with one eye sounding the alarm with the strangest sound between an immature roar and a bark, resulting in the pirate’s stern tone from the entryway. “Grim! Shut yer bloody beak.” Oversized ears from the pair raised and swiveled toward Leo’s reprimand and the half assed glare in blue eyes, veiled by the mess of blonde Mahri had fixed to be a little closer to even, but still off. He left the door open for some of that Rynvale shoreside air of the late afternoon wafting in and approached the other alpha, dressed in the usual distressed leather and boots with an untucked undershirt tank for the heat of the day. That lucky one with the stains and tears in it, fabric thin enough that his torso tattoos, including the newest ink on his ribs, vaguely bled through. "...Rough day?" Asked of her, not that needed an excuse to get into their cups.

Mahri eyed the strange looking pet that Leo had acquired, she was sure because of Mouse rather than any need for one. A grin half cocked the corner of her mouth before she held a hand out for a smell test. “Rough day? Not really. Just thinking, mostly.” If she passed inspection by snuffling nose, the one-eyed pup would get a scratch behind an ear. Once her eyes focus again on Leo, she’d note the shadow of ink on his ribs and quirk a brow curiously. “New ink?” Even as she asks, she’s rolling the sleeve up to show off the “family tree” Lita had done for her. “Me, too.” Once he got a look, she’d just leave the sleeve where it is and roll up the other to match. The breeze coming in felt nice.

Pets, plural, not that he used the word. The twin pups were growing into their lanky frames slowly but surely but they were, admittedly, bizarre looking creatures that seemed like a cross between wolf, fox, and antelope without horns, but ironically were none of those things. What they definitely were would be troublemakers, and while one with both eyes intact lingered to sniff cautiously at Mahri, familiar with lycan scent but not hers, the other already had front paws on one of the crates of tattooing supplies that were loaded up and waiting by the doors to investigate for something to chew on. Chee, the sellout of the two, had quickly found a new pair of legs to hover under since Loravelle wasn’t around and sat beside the silver-eyed woman’s choice of seat. “Yeah. An’ not surprisingly, Mouse wants more. Guess her first round didn’t phase her much.” A calloused touch held Mahri’s wrist a moment to inspect the design before he leaned to reach for a glass to pour himself a few shots worth from the bottle she opened. “I lost a bet tryin’ to show her some hand to hand an’ now I got a damn rabbit due somewhere. I’ma make her do it.” A faint smirk revealed before he tilted the glass back to drain it in a swallow.

Mahri , once that wrist is released, reaches down to smooth her hand over Chee’s head between the ears. They were strange looking animals but she wasn’t going to judge. “She strikes me as the type to enjoy caring for others so I’m not surprised you’re going to end up with a Menagerie.” She didn’t for a second not believe this to be true. Mouse had Leo wrapped so tightly around her little finger, it was cute and sort of funny. That smirk is returned as well as her own partaking of the drink followed by a refill of both glasses. “Need some ideas where it can go? I have a few” There might be a lean back and glance towards the blonde’s posterior with a quirked brow.

Quintessa drifts in like a forlorn shadow, her business in Rynvale or how she got here a mystery. She should be in Vailkrin, organizing the next match in the Blood Bowl, not drifting around the port city stinking of clove cigarettes and milk of the poppy. The changeling had visited the Jolly Roger before, but for what reason the changeling can’t remember, her recollection remaining locked behind the haze of intoxication that clouds her mind. Dressed in her typical dark clothes and her hair a tangled mess, she allows her mismatched eyes to scan the area, ignoring any weird looks she might receive as she meanders in the direction of the bar. Seated, Quintessa absentmindedly stares at the bottles, unsure which one she wanted to drink. For now she stares in silence, in her own little world unaware of who might be watching her…

Leo perched on the stool beside her with one boot on the floorboards and the other propped on a rung, refilling his glass to take the second tumbler a bit slower since his stomach had that familiar burn of whiskey coating. “Don’ give her any ideas…” He murmured about that time she blatantly but jokingly checked out his back half. Rather than deafen Mahri with the sharp whistle he usually issued to get the mongrels’ attention, he watched to make certain there was nothing appealing for the little wild beast going through the boxed supplies. “We found ‘em up north a ways. Noticed there ain’t much for predator or prey, lately. Might have to find somethin’ else to bribe that ugly lot in Gamorg before they wipe the island clean. S’the only thing I figger could be pickin’ the wildlife off. Though…” He paused there with his own thoughts, studying the contents of his glass. “Somethin’s up with Vhys…” Before he could say more, Quintessa’s dark clad form was framed by the door, and she was just about the last person the pirate had expected an appearance from. His steeled gaze followed her to the seat she chose and he glanced at Mahri, as if she might explain why the hexblade was there. “You lost..?” He didn’t mean to be rude, it just came so naturally. That glass was tilted back to finish off his second helping.

Mahri eyed the beasts, not quite sure exactly what they are, but found them somehow endearing anyway. With her hand still on the Chee’s head, he gets ear scratches and a bit down the neck as well. “Vhys…?” she’s about to question, but is distracted by the entrance of the changeling. “Tessa?” comes on the heels of Leo’s question. She knew the younger woman, obviously. Worry furrows her brow as she leans towards the bar to get a better look. “Are you alright?” She’s not going to play bartender tonight so she slides the still half full bottle of whiskey towards Quintessa.

Quintessa blinks upon hearing Leoxander address her, her blue and hazel eyes flickering over to gaze at him. “Huh…?” She has to think about what he asked her again, taking a moment before she finds an answer for him. “No I… I’m hiding. Sorta. Keeping a low profile, y’know?” The hexblade glances over her shoulder. “You don’t mind, right?” She looks past Leo, at Mahri, and the sight of the woman brings a smile to her face. “Hey, Mah, long time no see. Glad to know you’re still kicking around.” Quintessa’s mismatched eyes return to the bottles on the wall, a question on the tip of her tongue. “What are we drinking?” She asks, hinting that she wanted a glass but happy with the bottle that slides into her grasp. “Am I alright? For the time being…” She punctuates this statement by taking a long swig of the whiskey, shaking her head as she exhales the burning sensation that escapes her throat, the bottle already heading back to Mahri’s hands.

Leo shifted a look between Mahri and Quintessa, falling quiet since the former had better chances of an explanation than he did. He hadn’t really spoken to her since they were stabbing holes in each other. Confusion etched between his brows and narrowed his eyes, but not in a glare; that would be reserved to quiet ‘Jee’ when the adolescent pup did that rough short-roar at the new stranger. “Knock it off, Grim.” About then the bit of overheard conversation between Khitt and Meri at the Blood Bowl came to mind and he stood reluctantly, moving behind the bar to dredge up a cut glass from behind it, sliding it a short distance across the counter to ‘Tessa so she could pour herself a drink.

Mahri apparently had forgotten her manners. "Leo, Tessa. Tessa, Leo" she introduced the two in a rather informal manner. She didn't believe for a second that Tessa was alright, even for the time being but she wouldn't say anything about it. "Yes, it has been a while. Anything new?"

Quintessa watches Leoxander despite him not saying a word. He didn’t need to, his expression told her everything she needed to know even if she wasn’t aware Leo had heard the conversation between Khitt and Meri. As the man rises she freezes, only relaxing when he slid the cut glass to her. It finds her hand, her intention to fill it the moment the whiskey came back to her. Completely ignoring the pups, she attention returns to Mahri, a smirk growing on her face. “Oh, we’ve met,” She says, glancing at Leoxander before looking back to Mahri, uncertain how to answer her question. To buy herself time she pours a drink and takes a sip, thinking carefully as she parts her lips to tell her what was new. “Lots of things. Frostmaw has been destroyed… but that wasn’t my fault. What happened to the Xalious Tree though? Yeah, that one's on me…” She takes another drink, not pacing herself at all. “And then I was stuck in the Chaos realm but… I’m free now. Well, as free as a woman in my position can be…” Quintessa spoke so cryptically it was uncertain if she was doing this on purpose or if it was because of the mind-altering substances she was currently indulging.

Leoxander chuffed a breath like a short laugh when Mahri introduced him to his former ‘apprentice’, but that had lasted all of a bell or two. He unintentionally answered with the same two words at about the exact same time. “We’ve met…” Naturally he was curious who or what the woman might be hiding from, but the fact she’d chosen that island made some sense since it wasn’t as heavily populated as the cities on the mainland. Leaving the she-wolf to pose those questions, Leo shamelessly lingering in on their conversation for any information he might catch. It was his pub (and as far as he was concerned, his territory), afterall. Taking out the wooden box he’d come into possession of from a certain book keeper, an herb-laced cigarette was placed between his lips and he murmured around it, holding it there while he sought out a box of matches. “Sounds like you sure know how to leave yer mark.” She'd left a few on him a turn of six seasons ago.

Mahri 's eyes narrowed slightly and she looked between the two then pressed her lips together to listen to Quintessa. Alarm sent a chill down her spine when she heard about Frostmaw. She wasn't exactly fond of the area, but her bonded dragon, Sora, had gone back to her homeland a while ago now. She could have followed that mental path to the dragon but didn't want the distraction. Was Mahri so out of touch with what was going on she didn't know about the Xalious tree? Apparantly so. Even that she had not noticed her friend had gone missing for a time was cause for a stab of guilt that the she-wolf swallowed down with a shot from the returned bottle of whiskey. "We'll talk about it another time, yeah?" she suggested before jutting her chin towards Leoxander with a question, "Got another?"

Quintessa licks her lips, the sight of Leo’s cigarette causing the changeling to reach for her own from her silver case. The silver wasn’t for either lycan though, they need not worry. Placing the black cig between her lips she lights it with a snap of her fingers before offering the flame dancing on her fingertips to Leoxander to light his own. It was up to him if he accepted, however. “Yeah, I tend to make an impression,” she says sarcastically, allowing the smoke to drift from her nostrils. “Rarely is it ever a good one, though. They’ll probably have me hanged if the Mage’s Guild catches me.” She would also offer Mahri a light if she needed it. “Of course we can talk later, although you’ll probably get much more information out of Kasyr. He led the charge against the thing that attacked Frostmaw Village, but I’d be careful around him now; I turned him back into a vampire.”

Leoxander slid the wooden case Mahri’s way, and while she went about collecting one he struck a match to light his own, motioning with his jaw for her to take that generosity to assist the other. It wasn’t that he assumed she’d come there to start a fight, but he still had a bit of a trust issue - particularly since their short history was stained with blood. His fellow lycan snipping the thread of information wasn’t what he was hoping to hear, as he’d only caught bits and pieces about the destruction from either part of the land. As long as it didn’t spread onto those eastern shores. Still, he had allies and future family to protect, and knowing was half that battle. Little to no compassion for her bounty, but safe to say the pirate had been wanted for the noose a time or two before.“You know what that ‘thing’ was? I ain’t in the mood to have one’ovem poppin’ up over here an’ wreckin’ the place.”

Mahri took both the wooden case and the offered light, taking a deep drag and exhaling thoughtfully. She'd kept the changeling's neck out of a noose before, but if the Mage's Guild was looking for her, there'd be nothing the lycan could do to get her out of that one. Leo's question brought Mahri's attention back, along with Chee's nudge because she had stopped petting. Glancing at the pup, she obliged while listening for Quintessa's answer. But also, now Kasyr was a vampire again? Oof. Okay, back to current-ish events. "Yes, what was it? Was it destroyed as well?"

Quintessa nods at Leoxander enthusiastically. “Oh yes, I know exactly what that thing was, it was Xicotl, a primal earth elemental or something similar, perhaps hundreds of thousands of years old. I was the head researcher for the Warrior’s Guild and I uncovered so much about it…” She takes a long drag from her cigarette. “But if the reports are to be believed, they killed it in Frostmaw where it surfaced. You might still be able to find pieces, I don’t know. What I -do- know is we won’t see this one popping up for at least another 1000 years even if it did survive. As for other potentially world-ending monsters out there… Well, take your pick really. My entire life has been one giant calamity followed by another. I bet you next a massive serpent will rise from the sea to devour all of us before the year’s end.”

Leoxander placed a dark marble ashtray on the counter before he filled his glass from the rapidly draining bottle of whiskey for a third time, taking another toke of the hemp rolled cigarette and pinching it between thumb and forefinger, smoke hinted with his words until he exhaled the rest. “Aren’t you jus’ Miss Optimistic.” For once he was relieved that Loravelle wasn’t present, because the last thing either of them needed was another tally on her list of fear. “Anyone know what triggered it?” A mental note was made that he might have to track Kasyr down for a talk. Not to betray Quintessa’s little visit, though if the bounty had enough zeros tacked on, he might have to revisit the temptation and weigh his options between rogues and riches.

Quintessa slides closer to flick her ashes, bringing the glass of whiskey with her. “Yeah, well, it’s better to expect the worst and hope for the best, right? At least this way come New Year’s Day I can sit back and say ‘well at least a snake didn’t eat us’,” she jokes in response to his comment about her being optimistic before continuing to provide all the information on Xicotl she could remember. “It was hungry,” she begins, “Every 1000 years there is a ‘feast’ and Xicotl turns all the prey into mindless thralls. Six generations of thralls we fought through. Six civilizations have been destroyed by this thing in the past 6000 years, can you believe it?” Quintessa stands to half take off her cloak, showing off the long, smooth scar that stretched from her elbow down to bisect her palm. “One of the more powerful ones sliced my arm in half- it still hasn’t healed right.” She flexes and moves her fingers around, but her wrist seems to be completely shattered. “No matter, I could still out-fight most of Lytherdel one handed.” She flashes a grin of all sharp teeth, a hint of Quintessa’s old, prideful self rising to the surface. Putting her cloak back on, the changeling lifts her glass to finish what was left. “Thanks for the drink,” she says, pushing the empty glass away from herself. “And the company.” She gives Leoxander a serious look, “Y’know, I keep myself pretty informed about everything that happens in the world. If you ever have some questions that need answered I’m not hard to get a hold of… You are welcome at my castle any time you want.”

Leo couldn’t argue with her first statement. That was pretty much how people in their category of sin and tragedy had to live, day to day. Her information was a bit daunting but he’d take in every word, nonetheless. “Haven’t lived that long, but it ain’t that hard to believe.” And didn’t expect to live as long as some of the other denizens of Lithrydel had. He’d probably look older for what he’d been through if he hadn’t been bitten some near decade ago, but his appearance still marked him somewhere in his thirties. Even in his time, he’d seen wave after wave of demigods and plagues and now, primals, deciding to show up to tick a lot of people off. Taking a drink of whiskey while she recalled a detail from her own experience and vaguely recognizing that shark-tooth grin, he observed her over the rim, tilted it back to finish it off, and set it on the counter with a soft thunk. “I’ll keep that in mind…” His low tone answered her invitation and a little of the suspicion that hinted in his eyes since her arrival ebbed away, but not all. “Guess I’ll see ya’ at the next fight.”

Lita is in a good mood as she breezes through the front door of the Jolly Roger. "Leo!" She calls out, fixin' to wake the dead with all her shouting, uncaring for any conversations she might be interrupting therein. She lifts a finger to point accusingly across the room at the pirate and pads barefoot towards the bar, slapping the palm of her hand atop it. One of Cal's clove cigarettes is tucked behind her ear and she moves it from betwixt raven curls to rest between her lips, dark eyes scanning the bar for a match before giving the pirate a why-the-hell-is-there-never-a-light look in frustration before the kretek is tucked between her fingers again. "Duel this Sunday." She says finally. "Sunday." As if he might not have heard her a second before. She's both excited and terrified. She adores Mahri to pieces, she'd found a kindred soul in her. Woman also scares the sprites out of her on a good day. As if just realizing that Tessa is present at all, Lita glances sideways at her, blinking slowly.

Leoxander just finished off his third glass when Lita arrived, immediately noticing the volume and dare he think… joy(?) in her tone. An eyebrow raised at her approach but she couldn’t quite fool him with that entrance since he’d known her quite a while now. Once again, Jee or ‘Grim’ as Leo seemed to call him, barked that horrible roar-bark until the pup caught just a look from the pirate and planted his butt to the floorboards in feigned innocence. Chee was bound to have attempted to follow Mahri, whether she was still around or had snuck off in her departure like the rogue she was, but he couldn’t leave his brother and his ‘dad’. “I’ma take a shot in the dark an’ bet you mean you an’ Mah since I ain’t on the roster. That’ll be a helluva show.”

Quintessa noticed the hint of suspicion in his eyes but she didn't point it out. She was used to those looks every time she was this generous with invitations to her demesne. She puts the butt of her cigarette out on the ashtray and parts her lips to speak yet again. “You’ll definitely see me there, and…” She looks over her shoulder once more, “If you see Khitti, do not tell her you saw me, in fact-” She picks up her cigarette butt and places it in her pocket. “I was never here.” With a cheeky smirk and wink, the hexblade takes a step back, the runes on her boots activating to manifest a deep purple portal right under her feet. “See you soon, Captain.” And with that the spooky woman gives a flirtatious wave to Lita and disappears into her portal, the hole closing and vanishing with a loud ‘pop’ as she exits.