The other side of Black (IC)

[BelGareth]

The Other Side of Black

The mists had come early today, much like most days recently. It curled and twisted around the streets, like a hungry monster looking for prey. But most of you know better, most of you know what the mists are, that it's not a monster, that mistwraiths do not seek out prey in the dark cold embrace of the night....just that...its mist.

Tonight was like any other night recently, the town guard was on edge, especially with the rumors flying about of the steel eyed inquisitors, nervousness abounded with the night guard, and not a one patrolmen left his post early, waiting eagerly for their relief.

A ball was even being held this night, at the Gavilan estate, a medium sized house, but one that liked to hold them, so as to maintain the normalcy of the nobilitas culture.

The ballroom was a lavish affair, sparkling crystals hang from the ceiling, and glittered in the mirrored chandeliers, causing a monochromatic rainbow to reflect upon the guests.

It was a normal ball so far, normal food, and normal attendance.

The rest of the city was in doors. Most of the city at least. But everyone heard the noise.

bruuuuuuUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

It reverberated through the city like a shivering gong hit by a giant.

Another wailed throughout the city.

bruuuuuuUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

And then another...

bruuuuuuUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

[dmarks]

Thadeus

Thadeus had always had mixed feelings about balls, even before the fall of the Lord Ruler, for he had hated watching the nobles prance around in front of him, whilst he had craved the opportunity to lord his power over them. However he felt, they had always been good sources of information, and it was that need that brought him to the Gavilan estate that evening.

He had cleaned up his face, so his tattoos were once more visible, though his two vials of steel were kept hidden beneath his dark robes. He had arrived late and barely entered the ballroom when he heard the noise. His glass shook in front of him, and when the noise came again he placed his hand on top to keep the liquid from spilling out. He also used the opportunity to empty one of his vials into the glass and took a healthy swig, the two types of alcohol mixing unpleasantly in his mouth. Sensing the power within him, Thadeus glanced around the ballroom to see if he could detect the source of the noise.

[Rainefalling]

Kaylin's partner, Lord Defoe, was loud and pretentious for belonging to such a minor house. But, House Defoe produced much of the wheat supplying Taladriel, and with the recent upheaval, House Laremos has a vested interest in securing steady shipments. "Really, Lady Laremos, you must trust me when I say that I had no intention of slighting your noble house. You know how restless the city has been over the last few weeks." Lord Defoe was apologizing for having missed his lunch appointment three days ago at Keep Laremos - Kaylin having cornered him and let him know just how keenly her father had been to meet with him. "I can assure you, I will be there tomorrow at 10'clock shar-"

The room shook as a gong-like noise wailed through the room. Kaylin blinked and looked around as several members of the orchestra paused, causing a few dancers to miss their steps. Another deep sound reverberated through the room, and then a third, and then it was still. The maestro urged his orchestra back into order, and the music resumed, and within a few moments the room had returned to normal, albeit that the hum of conversation had increased throughout the room. Kaylin looked to the windows, then to the doors, searching for anything amiss with a confused expression on her face. Then, finding nothing, she returned to her conversation. "My apologies, Lord Defoe. Please continue." She said, inclining her head slightly as she spoke.

Lord Defoe interpreted the confused look on her face as one of skepticism, and sighed dramatically. "Really, Lady Laremos. You wound my honor by your skepticism. Here, will this suffice you?" With a sharp wave of his hand, he signaled for a nearby obligator holding a drink to come to him. "Obligator, I am in need of a witness, if you please." (That's you, Thadeus.)

[3SecondCultist]

Vandilus

The man on the rooftop knelt in pain, clutching his ears as his eardrums threatened to explode. The ringing emanated throughout the whole city, a peal of doom for Taladriel. It was all Vandilus could do not to cry out in pain, as he regretfully stopped burning his tin. Darkness swept in, as his formerly enhanced vision left him. Next was the sounds, slowly coalescing from his usual far-reaching spectrum to a faint buzz. Then his hands stopped bracing the inside of his leather gloves, as they began to lose their feeling.

Lord Ruler, that was painful! Reminding himself that he no longer had to take the former authority's name, the nobleman wondered idly what name he should swear by. The pain from his heightened hearing was fading away now, leaving only a reverberating echo. From his promontory, Vandilus looked down and through the glass windows at the partygoers below. He had clambered over the city's rooftops without being seen - he hoped - in order to observe the ball. Even without his tin, Vandilus was confident that he would spot his mark among the crowd.

[drack]

Lord Highleaf was well on his way to becoming a high lord, but by all accounts it would take him two more years to do so. He'd risen quickly, but been very careful not to rise too fast. He didn't want anyone thinking that much of him. He'd come to understand that the most important thing in life was timing. Today he wore a stunning doublet of patterned red, blue, and green with precious gems sewn into the fabric amid turquoise and lavender embroidery. His leggings were similar with slightly off colors, and his tall boots were of a simple but bold royal purple with red trim nd a faint plum embroydery. His hair was long and dark, sucking in light as eagerly as pitch, and his flawless skin was clean shaven. When he smiled his whole face would light up and his eyes would shine like twin sapphires instantly drawing in flirtatious gazes from the surrounding noblewomen, but for the moment he wasn't smiling. Instead he sat in a sitting area off to the side of the ballroom with several other young nobles, mostly below his station.

He'd recently hired some metallurgists to serve as merchants, to mix allomantic metals to the proper specifications, and from then he'd managed to figure out who most allomancers among the nobility were as well as make some underground connections. He'd been quite proud of how he'd managed it all without the direct guidance of the shadows, but still they whispered to him, telling him of some he'd never have guessed. He loitered with this crowd tonight for one simple reason. One of them was a coppercloud who bought in bulk, frightful that one day another noble might exploit him into any number of ad deals. Lord Highleaf, for his part, had encouraged the other lord in his paranoia. Thus he sat with the group, listening with an absentminded disinterest and contributing only occasionally to the conversation.

His reputation however wasn't growing quite as slowly as he'd wished. True, none doubted the pace of his ascendancy through the ranks of nobles, and perhaps that brought only passing attention of high nobles looking to play for the long game, but not everyone played the game above board. They couldn't pin anything on him, but perhaps that was why they suspected... They didn't suspect it all, not even a tenth, but if their suspicions were right it would paint him as a master of such political maneuverings, and such suspicions alone could draw the eye of a higher house to one such as him.

He sat with straight posture in his chair, but even so the over-fluffed pillows were beginning to envelop him. in the back of his head he slowly counted down. 31, 30, 29... He had to be careful not to react before, to do so would be to tip his hand, so instead he chuclked dryly at the boasting of a younger lord of a lesser house. "Careful, he'll be surpassing us all tomorrow, and how would we ever earn favor back then?" Several of the others chuckled at his sarcastic jab, but it seemed to have done its job as the lesser noble blushed slightly, his ego somewhat deflated. 14, 13... He wanted to sink back further into the pillows, to avoid discomfort, but he'd trained recently to face pain head on. The big skaa he'd hired to train him in weaponcraft had showed him that avoiding pain only makes it worse when the next blow falls, and they had told him that any good weapons master would teach him the same. Killing the skaa for his insolence would have been a mistake, but that didn't mean the young lord didn't enjoy considering it from time to time... 2, 1. The noise was loud, but sinking back into the cousins muted it to a gentle hum. He exchanged astonished glances with the other young lords, feigning ignorance. Flaring a bit of metal he made sure the future was still as it had been, then he pushed the conversation back on track, waiting... that was all there was to do for the moment.

[GameOfChampions]

Tybern swirls his wine as he sits at his table, he had spent all night moving to the various groups of gossips at the ball. They were never particularly hard to spot, usually surrounded by younger nobles with the gossip usually in the center holding their attention with large gestures and their stories. He sees one of the gossips across the room talking to a group and watches the, he could never be sure but he always suspected that some of them were soothers or rioters.

Tonight had been a bust, all Tybern had been trying to do was find some info on his house, House Izenry, to see how they were handling their leaders death and his own disappearance. 'Hmm well the lack of info and the fact that no one from the house showed up tonight might mean they're still disorganized.'

Then Tybern's thoughts were interrupted as he heard the massive noise reverberate through the ballroom and set his teeth on edge. He started to worry a bit, since he was already on edge, so he quickly downs his wine, felling the grit of the Zinc dust he had put in it. He always brought two vials with him, one normal alcoholic solution one and the other mixed with honey instead. He would pour the honey with Zinc dust into his empty wine glass where it would stick to the bottom allowing him to mix it up with his pinky whenever he needed some more metal. If anyone saw he just told them he liked to sweeten his wine and would riot their trust slightly.

With his metals restored he casually walked around the dance floor making his way closer to the front of the hall in case he needed to get out quick.

[GreyStormcrow]

Pins sat right outside the ball, in an access corridor, enjoying a swig of stolen wine. He didn't honestly like the stuff, but he wasn't going to just let it go to waste. Not after all the trouble he'd gone to get into this event, even on the peripherals.
And then the sound hit, and the mug slipped from suddenly nerveless fingers.
He shook his head, trying to shake the echoes from his brain, and peeked back out into the ballroom. "Is this a regular thing, this noise? I usually remember those..."

[dmarks]

Thadeus

The obligator glanced imperiously at Lord Defoe, evidently surprised that anyone could be so foolish as to shrug off such a powerful, unknown disturbance.

Thadeus approached the pair with a look of disdain: he felt the steel in his gut, but didn't yet burn it, preparing instead for what was to come.

"Lord Defoe: I am here. Obligator Mark of the Canton of Inquisition. I will bear witness." He intoned the phrase with a hint of sarcasm in his voice, for his patience with these petty squabblings was growing thin.

[Rainefalling]

Kaylin

Kaylin suppressed a smile as she heard the sarcasm in the obligator's voice, though the barest hint of a wry smile peaked through her lips. The ostentatious Lord Defoe did not seem to notice. "Ah, yes. Obligator, I hereby promise that I shall attend Lord Laremos' lunch party tomorrow at 10 a.m." The clink of a few coins sounded in the obligator's palm as Lord Defoe sealed the witness. Defoe bowed slightly to Kaylin, then said, "I trust that this guarantee should be sufficient. I have other matters to attend to this evening, my lady, but I shall enjoy meeting you again tomorrow morning." Kaylin curtsied as Lord Defoe spun on his heels and left the two of them, her ruby-colored dress swaying as she did so. She was dressed in a red court dress with white accents and patterns, cut in the latest style with thin straps and her shoulders bare. Small sapphire earrings, with larger sapphires woven through her hair, served as a counterpoint to her brilliant red dress in the courtly fashion.

"You seem rather assertive for one of your order, Obligator Mark." She said as Defoe swept away, but before the obligator had fully turned away. However, Kaylin's voice was appreciative, and not at all judgmental. "I mean no offense, but I wondered if perhaps you might know the source of that sonorous disturbance a few moments ago? It sounded like it came from that direction - don't the Cantons of Inquisition and Finance headquarter in that part of the city?" She pointed out of an intricate stained glass window as she spoke, her fingers indicating the direction she spoke of. "Perhaps the Cantons had something to do with that sound?" Her voice was light, as was the usual tone for the gossip of the court, but a hint of curiosity and readiness underlay her tone.

[3SecondCultist]

Vandilus

The hunter's eyes swept the ranks of the elite at tonight's gathering, but they didn't give him the results he wanted. Damn it, where is my father? He had a score to settle tonight. The bruises from where the pair of thugs - not Thugs, due to his family's continued ignorance of his Allomantic power - no doubt hired by the good Lord Khade were still visible beneath his cloak and tunic. Not to mention extremely painful, especially when burning his metal. By the mists, I'm putting an arrow through his eye tonight. He didn't care if a hundred people were watching; in any case, they should know that Vandilus Khade did not suffer such an insult lightly. Perhaps they would leave him alone after that. The servants he had shaken down had told him that Lord Khade would be in attendance tonight. So why can't I find him? Perhaps he could burn tin, just for another minute? He looked down at his hand, which was already halfway towards the concealed bandolier of vials strapped across his vest. Vandilus all but shook his head in the darkness.

No. Tonight, no more Allomancy. He'd be done with his father's whims, and he'd do it without magic. He'd use his eyes, use the bow with which he had been practicing for months. He'd do it with his hands if he had to. But - magic or no - Ozoreus Khade was not leaving this place alive. If he was spotted among the crowd, he knew that his father would make his pretenses and try to flee. No... better to use an intermediary. Scanning the room yielded no results; one of the downsides of turning one's thumb up at Taladriel's noble caste was not being able to tell one apart from the next. He'd need to find somebody beneath notice, someone he could use and then discard. Clambering from his would-be sniper's nest, the Tineye made his way down from the main roof to an open window leading into one of the access corridors.

There, he spotted a lone figure sitting apart from the action. A skaa, by the looks of his ash-stained coat and wide brimmed hat. He was not quite Vandilus' size - especially given the new muscle weight he'd put on in his upper torso and shoulders recently - but he would have to do. With a single bound, the hunter leaped through the window, rolled, and fell into a three-point landing. It would have been a lot more graceful if he hadn't landed on one of his bruises, and cried out mid landing. Oh well. Righting himself without too much effort, Vandilus walked over to the stranger and offered a hand in greeting. "Good evening. I'm not going to waste my time with pleasantries: I have a proposition for you, one that will be lucrative to the both of us."