Dancing Fox Inn 97: Roman Numerals Are Stupid

[Shadowcaller]

Oh boy, this was fun. "She got purple skin, a tail, horns and enough padding to take a bear standing on top of her without being crushed." The druid makes a cupping motion underneath her own chest as to show just how much. "I mean, what else should I have believed? All she was missing was wings and a hooves." A beat. "And a whip I guess. Point is, even if she isn't a succubus I'm pretty sure she's closely related to them. Didn't you also say she was involved in a lust cult at one point?" Anika raises her eyebrows, giving Wenomir a curious look. "Honestly, Jezebel seems like Ce-Command's total opposite, doesn't she?"

Anika looks to Cass. "Yeah, there's quite a story here. Though I guess it would be up to Wen if we should tell you." It was a bit unfair to put Wenomir in this situation as after all those clues it would be pretty impossible to not tell Cass at this point. But if she was Wen's girlfriend she totally had the right to know, right?

[Ashen Lilies]

There's a sudden clunk and a hasty swear (in drow) as Cass drops her wine glass in shock, spilling wine all over the table and causing a light stain to bloom up her sleeve.

"Ugh, sorry, I'll fix this, I'm listening" says Cass, descending into several more exhaled curses, alternating between drow and common as she twists the fingers of her hand in a complex pattern and the wine glass rights itself suddenly, the spilled wine dutifully siphoning itself off the table (and out of her shirt) and falling back into the wine glass with a lazy 'plip'.

"Cessie Mithar is with Jezebel? Of the Masks?" She says incredulously, once the spill has been cleaned up and Wenomir and Anika are done explaining. "We're talking about the same Mithar, right? She hasn't been cloned or doppelgangered?"

She breathes out a slow, wondering oath. Fortunately, also in drow.

"I can't even believe Mithar even likes women, much less..." she trails off, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly and staring at the table, her head slightly tilted as if listening to something. "Well, she likes who she likes I guess. I can hardly- hm. Okay."

She colors slightly, and looks back up between Anika and Wenomir.

"Uh... tell me what?"

[Morty]

Wenomir turns to look at Cass when she knocks the glass over, but she seems to have it well in hand, so an explanation is in order instead.

"I think Anika is referring to an incident in which we discovered that Cessie and Jezebel are dating. Which was awkard enough for everone involved that I would rather not go into it." He sounds very firm on the subject. "As far as I know, Jezebel was born a human, then became a demon through some sorcerous means, then became a minor goddess somehow. Now I think she's a human with some traces of her old nature. It's not easy to keep track of. But I really don't think she and Cessie are actually opposites. Maybe they used to be. But they're both..." he waves his hand vaguely. "Noble. As in, born into nobility. So they're all about being dignified and doing things the proper way."

[Shadowcaller]

"Dating? Preeeetty sure it was a bit more than that." Anika insists and then leans a bit closer to Cass to 'whispers'. "Which is why it was so awkward."
Her attention quickly goes back to Wenomir however. "Noble, huh? I'm pretty sure my grandmother is that. Dunno what that makes me though. Mom doesn't really consider her..." She suddenly covers her mouth. "Whoops! Sorry, she doesn't like me to tell people that." A beat. "Anyway..." She turns to Cass once more. "So that's a little bit of what Wenomir and I've been up to, accidentally walking in on people. Not our proudest moment." The druid chuckles. "But what about you? Bet you have been up to all sort of cool things as well. The mages I know always were."

[Ashen Lilies]

Cass looks from Wenomir to Anika, then back to Wenomir.

"You guys walked in on-? Where were they-?"

Cass rubs the back of her neck with her hand again, suddenly looking like she just walked in on what they were describing herself. By Lolth, this is an uncomfortable conversation.

"Oh- uh... cool things. I've been doing... mercenary stuff?"

Cass isn't sure what qualifies as 'cool things'.

[Morty]

A look of utter mortification blooms on Wenomir's face. He was trying very hard not to spell this out. His mind races desperately in search of a change of topic.

"I've been teaching Cassandra some sword-fighting. There's a sword I used to own that... used to resist magic but now channels it, after being hit with a truckload of it. I'm curious what she could do with it."

[Shadowcaller]

Whoops, judging by their reaction she had talked too much again.
She gives them a sheepish smile but she knew that excusing herself or apologizing would only make it even more awkward. So as usual the only way through was forward. Let's just not never mention that topic again.

She looks to Wenomir and then to Cass again. "Oh, really? That is cool. I've heard of mages being able to use swords and it certainly beats those unwieldy staffs or tiny letter openers as far as weapon goes. Can you like, channel magic with it? Like set it on fire and throw out some sword-based fireballs?"

[Ashen Lilies]

"I could... probably do that, if I wanted to," says Cass, nodding. "It's definitely something I haven't tried yet. Maybe I will the next time I have someone handy with a fire extinguisher to help out."

Cass doesn't particularly favor fire magic in general, and using a channel as powerful as the sword is to summon fireballs sounds... risky enough to overpower even Cass' reckless tendencies.

She smiles. "Staves and rods are traditional, but I can't say I've ever tried to use a letter opener as a weapon or a focus. It seems a little on the nose. What about you? What are your.. uh... skills."

[Morty]

"We're still sort of experimenting with the sword." Wenomir is quite glad to be talking about sword instead of Cessie's sex life. "It's not like it became this way on purpose, so we need to be careful about putting magic through it. If I hadn't given it to Cassandra, it might have waited for Cora to become old enough to get it."

[Shadowcaller]

Anika gives Cass a thoughtful look. "Could you set fire to my staff then?" A beat. "I mean, with magic fire and all. The kind that doesn't, uh..." Suddenly it occurred to Anika that she had no idea how fire magic worked. Did mages really need a fire extinguisher (which she assumed was a blanket or something) to remove their own fire? The magic fire she had seen always seemed to disappear after it hit the enemy.

"...actually, nevermind. I was thinking of shaman's I think. They always have their weapons under some element so it must be different magic." There were so many types that it was easy to confuse them!

"Though I didn't mean actual letter openers. Just, y'know, pinky-knives." Anika indicates with her hands the length what would be a normal-sized dagger for a human which isn't very large to her.
Wenomir might have heard her use the word "pinky" before. It seems to be a term covering all the 'pink' races such as humans and dwarves. Apparently she never met the most diverse set of these people.

"But as for me, I can turn into all sort of things like a bear, a falcon, a shark, an anaconda... oh, and I can heal people and shoot these magic beams. Can't summon any fire or ice though." She almost sounds disappointed of this fact despite all the other things she can apparently do.

[Ashen Lilies]

Anika must be so glad to meet another person with an approximately normal skin tone. Even if Cass is paler than the typical kal'dorei.

"Oh, you mean like this?" Says Cass, leaning forward and giving her hand a subtle flourish, as an object appears in her hand. It's shaped like a large, slightly curved throwing knife, though instead of metal it appears to be made out of shifting, multi-faceted planes of mirrorlike blue magic, which seem to move to catch the light as she turns her hand slightly.

Pbbt. Show off.
I said shut up.

Cass opens her hand, and the knife winks out of existence, leaving behind only a few stray motes of blue light hovering lazily in the air.

"I could try putting some magic fire on your staff. Not quickly, though. Unless it's a staff that you don't like very much. I have a friend who can conjure and control fire, so I enchanted his staff to shoot sparks and produce smoke."

Cass nods, looking interested when Anika describes her abilities.
"Healing magic is complicated stuff! I've tried researching it... I can just about manage to heal a bruise. So you're kind of... a nature mage, then?"

[Morty]

Wenomir has little to add on the subject of magic, so he simply sits back, glad that they've changed the subject to something not awkward and that the two women are getting along well.

[Shadowcaller]

The druid's eyes widens as soon as she sees the dagger appear only to then dart around as it disappears again as if it Cass simply had done away with it through some sleight of hand trick.
"Wow!" She exclaims once she seems to realize its completely gone. "Never seen a mage do something like that before. Most of them just conjure water and bread." Which was also awesome but didn't look nearly as cool.

Anika then nods thoughtfully. "Huh, so you're a enchanter too? That makes sense. In that case, you should totally enchant my staff." A beat. "The slow way that is, I don't want this one getting destroyed, but that should be pretty hard to do. Not even I managed to do it in all the years I owned it." She opens up a pouch hanging from her belt and pulls out a staff that's far longer than should be able to fit inside of it and hands it over to Cass.

It's a staff with bears.

"Enchant it with the coolest thing you can think of and I'll pay you whatever you want." She claims with a smile. "But I'm not really a nature mage. I just don't know that many spells. It's more of my sisters thing and every druid like her. I'm more of a nature... paladin or something. I beat people over and then I heal them. It's not that complicated as long you understand the body a bit."

[Ashen Lilies]

"Yeah, okay," says Cass, nodding and taking the staff.

She gives it an appraising glance. "It's a nice staff - weren't you saying something about these being unwieldy, though?"

[Shadowcaller]

Anika chuckles. "Nah, this beauty is fit for fighting compared to those other staffs. Feel how light it is?" She gestures at the staff. "Despite that it's super-tough, I've been trying to carve my initials into it for years without any success. See, most staffs are made to channel magic and look really cool with glow-y lights and all that. But while this one is pretty magical and, let's be honest, cool too it was made with fighting in mind."

[Morty]

"I could carve something into it with the Answer," Wenomir says, then pauses. "...but I don't think it'd appreciate that. And it can't turn into a knife yet. I'll have to ask Kal to teach me." It hasn't occurred to him yet that Cass doesn't know what the Answer is.

[Ashen Lilies]

"Okay, I'll see what I can come up with," says Cass, eyeing the staff with interest. "I'll accept the opportunity to study the staff's current enchantments as a down payment."

She glances back to Wenomir.

"Uh... what answer?" She asks, seeming a little confused. If she has any reaction to Kal's name, she shows no sign of it.

[Shadowcaller]

"Go ahead and check, Cass. I mean, I already know but it's probably all this magic jargon included that I don't get." Anika smiles, seemingly glad that her weapon is getting some interest. Sure, it might not be as impressive as Blanche's guns or Wenomir's sword but it had some power in it.
Speaking of which. "It's his shapeshifting weapon-thingy." The druid tries to gesture at Wenomir's belt. "Which honestly makes it more of a question when you think about it. Like 'what is it now?'"

[Morty]

Wenomir blinks, then slaps his forehead lightly.

"Sorry, I forgot you don't know it yet. Remember the axe and sword you've seen me it? They're two different shapes of the same weapon. It can be a longsword, axe or greatsword. It's usually a longsword for me, but when I found it, it was a dagger. It's the Answer to the Riddle of Steel, so it doesn't have a true shape. I hope I can make it take more shapes if I study other weapons."

[Ashen Lilies]

Cass blinks, surprised.

"But those looked just like ordinary-" Cass cuts off, frowning. "The Answer, huh?" She says, peering at Wenomir suspiciously.

Bit of an overdramatic name, if you ask me.

"I... didn't know your Riddle had an answer..."

[Shadowcaller]

Anika puts her finger on her chin and raises an eyebrow. "I didn't even know he had a riddle. Pretty sure they're supposed to have answers though. Why else would you make them?" If a guardian at a temple asked you a riddle with no answer it would be pretty unfair!

[Morty]

Now you've done it, Cass. Wenomir's about to talk about the fine points of philosophy pertaining to swinging weapons around.

"It does appear as a normal weapon, yes," he says. "Warriors can see that it's more than it seems. Someone who also follows the Riddle might recognize it for what it really is. As for whether the Riddle has an answer..." He drums his fingers on the table. "I used to think it doesn't, but when I went on a quest to find it, I was asked about my answer. I gave one and the guardian was satisfied. My answer was not taking the easy road even though I'd had many opportunities to do so." He turns to look at Anika and clarifies: "'The Riddle of Steel' is a martial philosophy I've followed for some time. As far as I know, I'm the only adherent here in the Nexus, but I'm trying to impart it to my students as best I can."

[Ashen Lilies]

"I... see." Says Cass, trying to stay focused and let her eyes not glaze over. Being honest, she doesn't rally understand all of Wenomir's martial philosophy crap... but it seems to keep him motivated and feeds into his skills somehow. If anything, she seems a bit more dejected to learn that Wenomir apparently has a powerful artifact that she won't be able to understand or study - not without learning all of that weird mumbo jumbo, anyway. A damn inconvenience.

"How are your other students? Treating you well?"

[Shadowcaller]

"You should show the Answer to Cass!" Anika remarks, not really looking at the mage as Wenomir is speaking. "Maybe she's like a savant in the riddle or something. People say I was a savant when it came to shapeshifting so it could happen!" The druid insists. "But, uh, speaking of students. Does Cora see the answer for what it is? She's pretty hardcore for a little girl."

[Morty]

"I don't actually know." Wenomir's expression turns pensive. "Maybe I should try to find out, though. Her devotion to being the best sword girl there is should certainly count for something." He smiles. "I do my best to direct her boundless energy. As for my other students, Mia has been training with me for some time now. She's made a lot of progress but I think she still lacks some self-confidence. I need to work on that. And Koshal is all a teacher could ask for. He's going to be a great warrior someday." He looks to Anika again. "Have you met Cora? She is a bit of a force of nature."

[Ashen Lilies]

"Cora... she's one of Cessie Mithar's children, isn't she? Hers and... Harnetta's," says Cass, suddenly looking rather pensive herself. She nibbles her lip anxiously, deep in thought. "How old is she, again?"

[Shadowcaller]

"I think she's about 7?" Anika fills in. "I've been playing with her. She reminds me a bit of myself when I was that young. I was less into swords though."

[Morty]

"I think she's eight by now," Wenomir clarifies. "But yes, she's one of Cessie and Harnetta's children. I can imagine you being like her when you were a child. She's certainly not very similar to Cessie, unless she was very different back then. And let me guess, being able to turn into a bear winds kids over easily."

[Ashen Lilies]

Cass nods, but doesn't say anything further at the moment, just listening to the two of them speak with an thoughtful, anxious expression.

[Shadowcaller]

"My personality wins them over." Anika claims with a smile. "The bear-shaping is just a bonus. But magic is generally the trick in my experience." She turns to Cass. "Oh! I bet they'd love you, Cass! You must have some really cool stuff to show them. Like that magic you showed me. They'd love that sort of thing."