Shaking her head and grumbling a little, Alyssia sits down at her writing desk.

‘What’s wrong, Mistress?’ comes the near chirp from Orchid.

‘Oh, Adriwyn needs letters written. Again. I’m going to have to start charging her if this keeps up.’

‘Oh! That could be fun… oh. She’s taken now.’ The sylvari sighs.

‘Indeed, she is, dearie.’

‘Maybe she should get Val to write her letters. I think she’s bored!’

The priestess laughs, nodding. ‘Indeed, Valeria is nearly getting stir-crazy, I think. Be she doesn’t have one of these earrings, and who knows whether those two will ever hit it off well enough for that to happen. I expect much awkwardness between them for quite some time.’

Orchid sighs with a slow nod. ‘I see. That’s… too bad. But you’re right. I think Val is almost afraid to meet Adri.’

Alyssia nods again as she sets up her paper, ink, and quill. ‘Quite so, dearie, even though she really shouldn’t be.’ She starts writing.

Dear Lady Luxelen,

I hope this letter finds you doing well. I have been asked to write to you on Adriwyn’s behalf, as she is not in a place where that’s easy for her to do right now. Her enemy, the former Baron Nicholi Valdis, is dead. This was by summary judgment on the part of the Shining Blade, with Adriwyn as the appointed executioner. I’m told it was a rather neatly done decapitation – if she does say so herself.

This means that the known threats to her life from his hired assassins should also be over. She has a little tidying up to do in the Ascalon Settlement, including clearing out some mesmeric traps in the Valdis estate, but she should be returning to Olivia’s Refuge soon. She will likely be commuting in and out for a while, chasing down documentation of her lineage. The ghosts in the graveyard at the Settlement have confirmed that she is the rightful Countess Jardin, but their testimony is hard to produce in a petition to the Crown.

She sends her kind regards, and she should be in touch in person again soon.

Yours,
Acting as Adriwyn’s secretary (and she owes me!)
Alyssia Dore

She looks it over, sands the page, and sets out an envelope while waiting for it to dry enough. ‘Orchid, do be a dear and run down to the market? We need some sugar and flour.’

‘Of course, Mistress!’ The sylvari nods happily and bounces off, barely getting the door closed behind her without slamming it.

Shaking her head with amusement, the Grenthite priestess addresses the envelope, inserts the letter, seals it up, and heads out herself to the post.

(( @luxelen ))

(( The story resumes with the just-toppled Baron Valdis face-down in the dirt along the edge of the old graveyard in the Ascalon Settlement. ))

Mirex ceases her attacks as Adri has the Baron at sword points, and pushes aside her weariness for now to keep a strong grip on all the magic in her control, taking the time to retrieve her crystalline rod to help ease the load a bit as she comes to join Adri and the redheaded man, standing before him. “Baron Valdis.”

It hadn’t been obvious from the other side of the wall, but she’s sliced the tendons in the back of his knees. That’s what both broke his concentration and felled him. It wouldn’t be obvious yet in this light, but for the help in sensing things from the ghosts.

The guards aren’t sure whether to try to intervene or not – nor on whose side. It seems they’re having some amount of argument over that. Some of them decide to try helping the fallen sniper in order to avoid feeling too useless. Their exclamations seem to indicate that he’s in a pretty bad way from what they can tell.

The Baron doesn’t just take Adri at her word, of course, but his attempts to blast her have to be purely mental from his current situation, and she just leans a little more on her swords, not even grunting.

Mirex lets her clothes shimmer and shift into her Shining Blade uniform. “I am Exemplar Mirex Eskara of the Shining Blade,” she announces loud enough for the guards that were still considering helping to hear, “and you are now in my custody, Baron Valdis, as is your assassin. Any further attempts to attack me or Lady Jardin would be ill advised, my Lord.”

The guards react to that more than the Baron does. He’s clearly still trying to think of a way out, but they stand down, aside from the ones trying to figure out whether there’s anything they can do for the sniper. Finally, one of them recognises him, and nearly spits. ‘It’s Reg! Who cares if he dies here!’

Adri bends a little, keeping her blades firmly in position, apparently trying to see something.

After hearing from the girls, Mirex wasn’t as dedicated to keeping the man alive as she had been before when she’d spoken with Sam, so she doesn’t argue with the sentiment. She eyes the Baron, maybe trying to see what had Adri’s attention. “Do you have anything to say for yourself, my lord?” she asks the as yet uncommunicative man.

He growls a little, then spits some blood to the side. ‘You’ll never hold me!’ His hand moves swiftly, but not quite swiftly enough to reach its target as Adri pins it in place by stabbing through it. She leaves that sword in place and produces another from over her shoulder.

‘Bloodstone in his pouch, Gran says. – Oh, and I think you’re rather wrong on your assessment of your ability to get out of this, cousin.’

“Cousin huh…?” she murmurs as she kneels to find his belt pouch and take it off his person. She peeks inside to see the stone, but doesn’t touch it, having been briefed on what had happened in the Fen. This connected to the ghosts, and with so much magic coursing through her, she prudently dropped it at her feet once she was sure of the contents, already feeling its pull. “So…you have been supporting the mantle then. Tsk, tsk.”

‘He’s still going to be dangerous to transport. Conscious, at least. Though getting rid of his jewelry will help. That’s where most of his warding is. Maybe all of it that’s not cast.’

The Baron is mostly hissing in angry pain at this point. Being hamstrung and having a sword pinning your hand to the ground will do that.

Some of the soldiers were still trying to do something for Reg, but they finally step back, shaking their heads. ‘I think he’s too busted up to move.’ The one who spoke looked over to Mirex. ‘Begging your pardon, ma’am – but I think his back is broken, maybe even his neck.’

“Leave him where he lies then. Put him out of his misery if you wish, soldier, or don’t.” Mirex replies in that calm, commanding tone of a Shining Blade, so different from her usually sunny and emotional disposition.

“We’ll see.” She replies to Adri next, and begins removing the baron’s jewelry. Earrings, rings, bracelets. What little resistance he offered was met with having the pieces ripped out and yanked off regardless of the pain or damage caused.

“I don’t suppose you’d like to just tell me if there are any records to prove Adriwyn’s lineage, my lord? It’d save us both a lot of trouble.”

‘I wouldn’t know,’ he growls. Every once in a while he tries to twitch, but Adri’s attention doesn’t waver, and her earlier ability to apport with him, plus where she has her blades, keeps him in line.

One of the soldiers can just be heard muttering, ‘I’d do to him what he did to my sister’s dog, but it would poison the well.’

After shushing his compatriot, the earlier spokesman comments, ‘Maybe a better medic could do something for him, ma’am. I’m inclined to leave him be for now.’

“As I said, leave him, or kill him. I’ll tend to him once we’re done here.” She nods to the soldiers and focuses on the Baron now as she checks him over again for any remaining warding trinkets. “I think you do know. You went through a lot of trouble to destroy the noble Houses here. And this bloodstone in your pocket makes it clear to me why you did it, traitor. So why don’t you tell me the truth. We’re both mesmers. Insanity is the worst fear we have. But that’s what I’ll do to you. I’ll turn your brain into scrambled eggs and leave you just enough of yourself to know you were once a person and not a drooling mental patient. And then I’ll leave you to rot in a ward for the rest of your life.”

Most of the soldiers disperse, returning to their posts or the barracks. Of the few remaining, two are probably just gawkers, and one looks like he’s waiting for a chance to ask something.

The Baron growls more and tries to blink away, more or less daring Adri to kill him. Both she and her ancestor stick with him, and he finds himself gibbering in fear, as well as bleeding from the wound in his hand now. It seems the elder countess was not amused.

Mirex blinks after them, and because she’d removed all the wards she could find, she gives him a taste of an Illusion of Pain, making his receptors fire at random between sensations of bee stings and burning and acid. She got a bit creative when she got annoyed.

“Don’t do that, my lord. You can’t escape us. And there are things I will know from you, one way or another, before you die.”

He snarls, once he regains enough control, glaring at each of the two living opponents, finally fixing on Adriwyn. ‘How did you do that? You’re no necromancer!’ He’s basically growling again, though given his pain that’s probably understandable.

There’s a short pause as Adrielle steps slightly apart, still with her hand on her descendant’s shoulder, and her appearance becomes more solid-seeming again. They speak in unison, Adriwyn growling back at him in mockery, and the ghost using that sepulchral echoing effect, ‘I am Countess Jardin.’ The living Jardin then adds, in an overly sugary tone, ‘And, as a traitor, you probably won’t be a Baron for much longer.’

“No indeed.” She beamed at Adri as she claimed her title to the Baron.

<I adore you right now, my Countess> She just couldn’t not let her lover know how proud and pleased she was.

“Last chance, Baron. Tell me what I want to know, or I’m coming in to get it.”

Adri’s smile can’t really be seen, but it comes through in her thoughts. <Why thank you, darlin’! Though trying to have ghosts testify probably won’t work for getting me official.>

The Baron just hisses more, glowering, and looks like he might try something again – until Adri pokes his face with the toe of her boot. It didn’t look all that violent, but he spasms before hissing more.

‘Lovely little nerve fascia just at that spot. Barely needs any pressure at all, and the pain’s not even illusory. And since I don’t have to do real damage to make that happen, I can keep it up a very long time, and you’ll find it really hard to concentrate on using any abilities.’

<Don’t worry, I’m not killing him yet.>

“You had your chance.” She shrugs at the man on the ground, and then takes his head in her hands firmly. With so much power surging through her, her eyes take on a faint purple glow as she bings her domination magic to bear on the Baron’s mind to begin sifting through it for information. Memories, images, whatever might come, while she speaks aloud to guide his mind to what she wanted.

“Now, are there any documents or records of Adri’s lineage?”

Adri finally stands back a little as it becomes clear to her that Mirex has him locked down now. She directs her thoughts toward Alexandria, trying not to distract the mesmer. <Hullo, love. While any live snake still has fangs, as they say, both the Baron and Reg are neutralised for now. Mirex has started interrogating Valdis; the sniper is probably about to expire from a broken neck. Just in case you’d been up worrying over us.>

The Baron squirms and fights, and he is strong, but he can’t compete with all the ghosts. Yet, even so, while there are flashes of hints, places that are probably in the estate, there are also hints that he had also been puzzling over the cryptic obituary, and he might not know of authoritative documents.

Mirex starts using her long time experience and skills as a Shining Blade interrogator at that point. Each little flash she found she’d latch onto and force into clarity, despite using such force being damaging to the subject. First were the places in the estate. Then his puzzlement over the obituary. Lastly, she asked another question to redirect his focus.

“Are you White Mantle?”

He manages to bark a laugh at that. ‘You would be, if you were smart!’ The reactions in his mind make it clear that he most certainly is, and his most recent trip had been to and from one of their “damage control” camps near the remains of the Fen.

“Too bad for you, I’m not,” she replies. “Why did you destroy the Jardins and the Cardiffs?”

Mirex continues to sift through his mind, ripping it apart while she sought each piece of information hat presented itself, while twisting it toward truthfulness in his verbal responses.

‘They had resources we needed… and they weren’t believers!’ By which he meant they weren’t Mantle, of course. ‘Where are you getting this kind of power!?’

“From the people you murdered,” she replied. “Your own kin, it would seem. Tell me again about the records of the families and Adriwyn’s lineage.” She’d asked the question already but his first thoughts hadn’t been clear enough, and as her hold on his mind grew she went back over old territory to be sure he hid nothing from her.

Records of the various families he knew, though he barely had any knowledge of just who Adriwyn’s parents might have been. It seems there had been some pregnancies hidden from him toward the end. The remaining difficulties were with the damage being done by his resistance, on the one hand, and his unconscious familiarity with the estates on the other – nothing connected the desks and cabinets to how to get to them. The vignettes of memory were clear enough for later identification, but there was no travel map.

The waiting soldier steps forward, thinking that Adri looks a bit less focussed now. ‘Um, Countess?’

Both the living one and the ghost reply, ‘Yes?’ This takes the soldier rather aback, at which the ghost laughs. ‘Sorry, lad. I’m too used to the courtesy, especially from other dwellers in the Mists. For the living, that title is hers.’

Adri keeps some attention on the Baron, just in case, but nods to the soldier, eyeing his uniform and insignia. ‘Yes, sergeant?’

Alexandria had been worrying about her two lovers and her response even via only the mental connection conveyed her relief. <Thank the Six, just make sure Mirex doesn’t get too carried away. She doesn’t like to admit it, but she can be as emotionally driven as me and might try to kill someone who hurt you. Also take care of her once she’s done, interrogations always drain her. I love you both.>

<I’m being good!> Mirex protests.

Mirex makes mental notes of the places in the manor to search for, even if she couldnt glean precise routes. They’d just take the place apart, since she’d know what to look for from his memories.

“These slaves you’ve been selling. Where are you getting them from, and where do you send them?”

<I’ll watch out for her, love – though right now her worst risk is overexposure to magical energies from our helpful ghosts. This Baron has made a lot of enemies of his victims, and they’re all trying to help.>

‘Refuse… trash…’ He was still managing to fight against having to speak, but he’d mostly been acquiring unskilled labour and “research” sacrifices for the Mantle, and doing so only sometimes by kidnapping and domination. Frequently, the destitute and downtrodden were lured by the promise of money to send home from “new mines”. Of course, the families never saw money, and the Mantle kept sacrificing their slaves. A few really did get sold on the cheap to centaur along the way to ease the paths of the caravans to the out of the way locations for getting air-lifted.

The sergeant composed himself again after being addressed by the ghost, looking at Adriwyn. ‘Countess, do we… should we be looking inside the house for… um….’ he trailed off, not really knowing how to ask.

‘Well, Valeria and Victoria are safe in the Reach, getting help recovering from what this slime-mould did to them. But I suppose there might be some servants or such inside who should be told. On the other hand, someome like him with so much to hide… I’d be very careful of traps. Mesmer traps. But they’ll only be on places he didn’t want traversed. Use your discretion in any searching.’

He nods, salutes, about-faces and heads to start organising at least some sort of search, taking the gawkers with him.

Mirex sighs softly in mild relief about where the Baron was getting his slaves. All places that would dry up with him gone.

“Sergeant! Focus on evacuating any people inside! Don’t go digging about please!” She called after the man, then smiled apologetically at Adri, “Sorry about that, love, but those traps you mentioned could be set to destroy documents and things we might find useful in identifying you.”

At last, Mirex takes her hands away from the Baron’s head and severes the connection of her mind to his, “I think I got all the useful bits. He’s all yours now, my love. Lady Adrielle…thank you. And all the Aunties…thank you for your help. Consider yourselves avenged.” She relaxes her grip on all that magic, pushing it away and feeling that weariness sinking into her now.

‘Oh, I figured his discretion would be to avoid risk to his personnel from the traps, love. He doesn’t seem the stupid type.’

She turns her attention to the Baron. ‘And now… you know, “Nicky”, I’d been entertaining a lot of visions of inflicting such pains on you as you’ve caused me – but you’d die before I finished. Then I thought of slow vivisection and flaying, taking care to keep you alive as long as possible. But guess what, cousin?’ She had him pinned with her blades again as she spoke, and she waited for his response, if he made any.

Mirex scoots back a bit, and finds she has to sit down on the ground as she feels slightly dizzy. With the magic coursing through her, it all felt so easy, and she felt so alive. With it back to her normal levels, she felt tired and almost empty as she watched Adri have her revenge.

Baron Valdis snarls at her. ‘Do your worst, bitch! You’re no better than me!’

She laughs. ‘If I actually did my worst, you might be right. But there’s a fundamental, moral difference between us. It might not seem like much, but it’s significant. And you have no clue what it is, and won’t understand it even if I tell. Perhaps I shouldn’t even try to explain it to you. Especially since you really are too dangerous to keep as a live captive, even for the Blade.’

Mirex smiles softly. “I suppose we should follow the formalities. Nicholi Valdis. By the grace and authority of Her Majesty, Queen Jennah of Kryta, I hereby strip you of your title and the privileges they grant. You are found guilty of murder, slave trading, and treason. The penalty for your crimes is death, to which I now condemn you. Countess Jardin, I grant you leave to carry out his sentence by any means you deem fit.” Mirex’s voice was tired, but she made the formal pronouncement without faltering.

The former Baron snarls, but is stopped from doing anything more by the damage to his mind, and Adri’s sword points.

‘Oh, you did ask how she got so much power. You made a lot of vengeful enemies, Nicholi, and they stuck around. This graveyard is full of ghosts who’ve been waiting for this day. And then there’s my own ancestor. Gran was one of the Ascended, and when your friends were such idiots as to blow up their bloodstone, the explosion fed her a lot of power before Lazarus managed to contain your order’s folly.

‘And that difference between us, cousin? You think not doing my worst is a sign of weakness. But not giving in to that, and leaving it to my fantasies, and instead doing my best – that is my claim to moral superiority. And while you don’t recognise it as such, many others do. Sure, I may see you in the Mists some day, but for now, good-bye.’ WIth that, her swords come up just long enough for each to swing cross-body, and any further reply from him in his few remaining seconds of consciousness is lost to the consequences of decapitation.

Mirex manages a brief chaos shield protect from blood spatter as the Baron’s head rolls, “Well done my love,” she compliments Adri, favoring her with a wan smile. That little bit of magic for the shield though was the straw that broke the dolyak’s back. With that smile on her face her eyes roll back and her illusory clothes shimmer and fade as she falls back to  pass out on the ground. Alive, but spent.

Adri shakes the gore off her swords, flinging it aside in practiced moves, and sheathes them, then moves over to Mirex. ‘You would have to be so tall… this is going to be a little…’ she stops, watching her ancestor lift her lover instead.

‘Um. Right. Thank you.’ She leads the way to her “borrowed” tent, and Adrielle’s ghost places her inside. ‘How much energy do you have left? And how much more help are Claire and Jaine willing to be?’

‘I have quite a bit, and I can help them with that, so they’re rather willing. We expect Valdis to try to haunt, though his moral crimes may prevent that. But until we’re sure, nobody’s leaving, at least.’

‘Then, while Mirex recovers, perhaps some checking of the traps in the estates would be in order? Do they think they can find and disarm traps without setting them off?’

Adrielle looks off to the side, communing with the other ghosts for a moment. ‘The risk of setting them off instead is too high, we think, granddaughter. I’m sorry, but we don’t want to cost you what documentation there might be.’

‘Right.’ She sighs heavily, but she’d almost expected that answer. ‘Then I’ll just watch over Mirex until she’s feeling like moving again, and we’ll see. And after that, I can at least have my little visit with Jocasta.’

The elder countess nods with a knowing chuckle. ‘Yes, do see to her. And make sure to pick me up again for your meeting with Jocasta, hmm? You’re the only sufficiently close blood relation for me to leave my grave-site with, and I would very much like to talk with her – rather than yelling across the plots – myself.’

Adri nods with a soft giggle. ‘I will, Gran!’ She undoes the easy and most spikey bits of her armour and crawls into the tent with Mirex, checking to see whether she needed covering. <One Baron down, and if Mirex hadn’t rolled up with exhaustion – well, Reg is likely to expire from neglect. I almost feel bad about that, but she’s higher on my patient list.>

<I told you so, -you could almost hear her sigh-, just watch over her and keep her from using her powers for a little while. Should I send a message to a medic? I mean, if the Baron is down then I’m guessing it’s more or less safe now.> Sitting on the beach back at Olivia’s Refuge, Alexandria fell back and let out a loud sigh of relief knowing that the threat that had loomed over Adriwyn since they had met was now gone.

<{a giggle} I’m a medic, love. And Reg… has a broken spine, in that spot that makes it arguable whether to say “back” or “neck”. We’ll be fine. Just need to let Mirex sleep. Ghost energy isn’t that easy to take in, and I think she cut it off a little soon – which is a better choice than using it too long.>

<I’m not there, I don’t know how much energy you expended either sweetie. Is there anything you do need now? Not sure if there’s a plan that extended past dealing with that asshole or not.>

Mirex slept a dreamless sleep, oblivious to the conversation, or being carried by a ghost, which likely would have unnerved her a bit. So she slept with the knoweedge Adri was at last safe.

<I’m… well, Aly said I’d been starting to… “eat” mist energy? Gran’s been feeding me that. I’m fine. We’ll talk to Jocasta once Mirex recovers enough, and see about exploring the estates afterward, trying to disarm the ex-Baron’s traps rather than letting them blow up any documents he has. After that, if we have good enough papers, or can find them from other information, we’ll see about my title. There’s also the not so minor matter of Valeria and Victoria.>

Grateful that she was alone on the beach, she stared up at the starry sky, and sighed loudly before returning her thought. <You two aren’t going to be back for a while, are you? Sifting through traps isn’t going to be easy, and figuring out what to do with the other Valdis’, they are his relatives right? But, that’s going to take some time as well.>

<We’ll be able to commute soon, love. I don’t want to leave you without someone to hold at night for too long. And the Valdis lasses… are victims only, so far as we can tell. They need help, but otherwise what we do with them will be to debrief them and set them free. Unless someone interferes at a higher level, Mirex’s pronouncement of the loss of title to Nicholi as part of his judgment for treason was personal, and not full attainder, so Valeria should be a Baroness now. Of course, her uncle’s business was the Mantle, which may make it difficult for her to manage a proper income, but that’s something to be dealt with when we have more idea of what resources the estates have.>

<Hopefully things will work out for those girls, especially if they are just victims in all of this. Though once word gets out about the Baron, the Valdis name is likely to be worth less than a handful of arid soil. Just move carefully with all those traps  around and once you do find the documents make sure to check if they’re trapped as well. You’d be amazed at what you can hide in a little bit of ink. Sorry… fretting a little. Just be safe, both of you.>

<Oh, we’ll be very careful, love. We know what sort of snake he was, and especially that was a “labour recruiter” for the Mantle. I’d bet on trapped documents! Particularly since he was also an enchanter, like me.>

<You should try to get some rest while Mirex is resting up too. That way you’re both in peak condition for searching since this guy was supposedly so powerful. Just promise me you’ll keep me posted on your progress.>

<I’ll be resting, love. I’m already lying down. Gran will keep watch over us until sunrise. And I will keep you posted! Leaving you to worry over us when we can talk this way… well, I know better. Love you!>

<I love you too Adriwyn, and if you can somehow hear me, I love you too Mirex.>

<I think she’s too far out of it right now, love.>

<Doesn’t mean I can’t try to be romantic, gosh. Now as for my sleeping issue, I think maybe I’ll go visit Renita and Cam Cam. Maybe I can convince them to let me rock little Amelia to sleep in my arms and I’ll catch some sleep too -giggle->

<{smiles and giggles} That sounds like a plan, love! Catch you when there’s more news!> She settles down with Mirex and drifts off to sleep.

(( The story resumes in the air over the Ascalon Settlement, as Adriwyn has just jumped off the converted Aetherblade airship named the Spectral Current. ))

<Incoming, darlin’. Just dropped from the ship, and circling around.>

<All right, love. Head for the purple glow.>

Above, Adri sees nothing of the ship she just jumped off of, now that she is past the glamour shield. Below, she spies the torches and watch fires of the Settlement, along with a single, small, apparent purple torch glowing in a dark part of town; the graveyard. <All right. Position spotted. I’ll be coming around the bluff side, and lots of stealth magic.> She circles around and spills some air, then catches the wind again as she turns about, making her approach almost for the big tree at the edge of the graveyard, using its branches for additional obfuscation.

<I see you.> Mirex catches the movement in the dark, and starts toward the cliff side, ducking under the cover of the tree, taking her little glowing orb of purple light with her, but keeping the open spaces clear for Adri to land without hitting her or a headstone, hopefully.

Adri’s landing is soft and right under the darker spot by that tree. It’s really hard to see her, even when she moves, with the starts and night sky essentially being displayed by her armour – though of course there’s still some distortion, even with the illusions that help. <Hullo, love. That was a nice little glide.>

<What on earth are you wearing, my dearest? I can barely see you.> Mirex moves toward the distortion that was Adri, although she couldn’t make enough sense of it to feel comfortable trying to touch her. Wouldn’t be very nice to poke her shorter lover in the eye by accident or try and pick her nose or something.

<I wanted to be really hard to see – and to hit. Just in case. So I did some crafting.> A brief pause was followed by her voice, kept low. ‘I don’t hear anyone else about, though. I could probably remove the helm for now.’

“There’s no one here but the ghosts, beloved. And I would greatly appreciate you removing the helmet at least, Adri. I have something for you.” Mirex speaks in that low voice people tended towards when it was dark outside, but did not seem worried about being cautious.

She undoes the chin-strap and removes her helm, then starts stowing her glider – which mostly means making sure it folds itself up properly, since it does that. ‘Alex sent something for you, too, love.’

As soon as Mirex sees Adri’s head, she moves in close, whether it hindered the packing of the glider or not, and glued her lips to Adri’s in a fierce kiss, trapping her face between her hands.

Adri giggles softly, letting the wings do their thing. She’ll just have to check that the automated system got it right later. She carefully wraps her arms around Mirex, making sure not to get pointy armour bits where it might hurt.

As long as her lips stayed locked with Adri’s, the red head didn’t care about pointy bits or where they went. It isn’t until she feels breathless and flushed that Mirex finally releases Adri’s mouth from her own, “I missed you, so, and am so glad you’re hear.”

She flashes a grin. ‘I think I can tell that, love.’ She gives her a quick kiss back, then comments, ‘Oh, and there’s this for you, from Alex.’ She presses herself up to her lover’s face and kisses her soundly some more.

Mirex hums happily into the kiss, her hands tangling in Adri’s hair as she enjoyed the gift. She giggles, definitely breathless now, when it is finally done, “My…well then… I’ve a tent I stole over here. We..can stay there until it’s time.” She giggles again and kisses Adri again while running fingers through her hair.

She smiles slyly. ‘All right, then. Lead on.’

Mirex giggles with a last press of he rlips, before groping for Adri’s hand to lead the way to the tent she’d set up nearby, half hidden under the shadow of the tree behind some of the taller headstones and part of the half wall. It was low, and would need to be crawled into, but it was concealed at least.

Adri pauses as they get nearer to that spot, looking around. ‘What’s that…? Someone… some presence, at least….’

“Hm? Oh, that’s probably Auntie Dree. I set up behind her headstone. I haven’t been able to hear her since Tori left, but I try to say hello at least. Hello Auntie Dree.” She said to the headstone and the air around it.

Adri moves closer to that headstone, still behind it, and freezes in place, standing up bolt straight. ‘You! You’re Countess Adrielle Jardin!’

At her exclamation, the spirit coalesced from mist into a reasonable facsimile of being present. ‘Indeed I am. And you – I’m afraid I’ve lost track of the generations, but you’re something like my great-great-great-grand-daughter, and the current Countess Jardin.’ The elder countess manages a dry chuckle, which sounds very strange coming from a mist-form. ‘As empty as that title has become.’

Mirex blinks in surprise as Lady Adrielle’s ghost manifested, and she inclined her head as she came to stand beside Adri, “My Lady,” she greets the apparition.

‘Hello again, Mirex,’ answers the spirit.

Adri looks between them. ‘So, fine, this must be part of what Aly was being so secretive about, but… “Auntie Dree”? Huh?’

Mirex giggled, “An affectation from Victoria. The ghosts here are all her ‘aunties’ as she calls them. Lady Adrielle doesn’t seem to mind, at least not from Tori. You’ll have to forgive my slips, my Lady. Tori’s very endearing.”

‘That she is,’ the ghost affirms, nodding. ‘And your ancestor… hmm. I’m not detecting any blood relation here, though I rather expected to. But I don’t mind. Not after getting to used to Victoria. And thanks the inter-marriages between the Houses – rather necessary by some standards to keep the bloodlines going and all – the poor dear is a relative.’

Adri blinks, slowly putting it together as her ancestor speaks, but she keeps quiet for now.

Mirex blinks in surprise as well, “Wait you can tell that I’m…” she chews her lip a moment, “You’re right. I’m a ward of House Eskara, and have been adopted into the family and taken their name. My birth name was D’rillion, which is Krytan from my…father. I…don’t know my Mother’s maiden name.” She glances at Adri, “ I…suspected that Adri would be related to Tori and Valeria…the closeness of the three families made that almost inevitable, really. How close are they related though?”

‘I’m a necromancer. Or was. At least in part. And on this side of the veil, with that for your magic… tracing blood-lines is easier than you’d think. Those Valdis girls and our Adri here are second cousins, through the Cardiffs.’

“Do you detect any of my family’s old ancestor in Adri, by chance? I know you and I spoke of it before, but with her here, and you seeming to have more of your power back….” she prompts while eyeing the ghost thoughtfully. Sure, she’d appeared like this once before, but it seemed much easier this time for the ancient woman. Maybe something to do with the proximity of a blood relative.

‘There’s something there, but it may be only from before. There could have been something from the Valdis side of things, but I can’t be sure.’

Adriwyn tilts her head, pondering that a bit. ‘Mmm. From gutter-snipe to a huge family, complete with an overseeing matriarch.’ She smiles a bit, hoping the ghost doesn’t take offence.

Mirex giggles, “At least we know where you come from now, my darling.” She is careful of Adri’s armor as she nuzzles at her lover’s neck and gives her jaw a kiss before returning her attention to the ghost.

‘As to that,’ the ghost muses, watching the two with a smile. ‘Jocasta knows more of your, hrm, more recent ancestry, grand-daughter, and I’m sure she’d love to see you again.’

Adri looks up at the ghost, nodding. ‘All right.’ She turns a smile on Mirex as well, before looking again to see whether her ancestor was doing something like pointing.

“She’s over there, love.” Mirex points to indicate where she knew Jocasta’s headstone to be. With a parting nod and warm smile to Lady Adrielle, Mirex guided Adri toward where she’d pointed, “Sister Jocasta? As promised, Adri is here.”

It turns out that the ghost of the elder countess manages to stick with her descendant. ‘Hrm. She can hear you fine, of course, but manifesting enough so that you can hear her… – What’s that, Jaine?’

Adrwyn had started to say something to Jocasta (or at least her presumed location), but she stops and turns, looking at Adrielle.

Mirex cants her head as she regards Adrielle as well, and listens to the side of he conversation they could hear.

‘Claire has the Baron in sight. She thinks he’s coming in the south gate.’

Mirex frowns, her expression going serious. “Then we need to prepare. It seems you were right on time, darling. Family reunions and our own will have to wait now. My Lady Adrielle, would you please have the ghosts prepare? I haven’t quite figured out how to lure the baron here yet, but we should make ourselves ready all the same.” She pecks Adri’s cheek almost regretfully, and then makes her way back to her makeshift camp to grab the crystal rod she used to construct her greatsword with when she needed a physical focus to augment her power. She would take no chances and use every advantage.

Adriwyn nods, smiling a bit at the kiss, and donning her helm again while Mirex gets her focus.

Adrielle’s spirit concentrates, keeping her hand on her living relative’s shoulder, and Jaine and Claire become hazily visible. ‘Oh, my…! My dear child, how did you come by this magic of yours? This is lovely! We can boost you as well as Mirex. This will be fun. Tiring, but fun.’

Adri blinks in surprise (thought that’s hard to see with the glamour on her helm), and turns to look up/behind at her ancestor. ‘I… which magic do you mean?’

Mirex returns with the crystalline rod, “Adri seems to have always been able to dabble in little bits of different magic. Very unusual. Is it something else, My Lady?” she asked Adrielle, after smiling in greeting at Jaine and Claire.

‘Your connection to Mist magic, my dear. We can boost you through that easily.’ She nods toward Mirex. Whether the fainter ghosts responded to the redhead’s greeting is really hard to tell.

“So Adri’s conection to the Mists is what lets her cross the boundries and use spells from different schools?” Mirex mused aloud, “Alex will be intrigued by that. At any rate. I don’t wish you all to tire yourselves out. Hopefully I can neutralize the Baron enough that Adri won’t need augmenting as well. How should we go about luring him here, though?”

‘Let him see me here,’ was Adri’s response. ‘By illusion I mean – I don’t have a death-wish. No matter the truth of your suspicion that he felt you freeing Valeria, he’ll probably check his house. I mean, this whole thing seems to be about his greed. Power-mad more than money-mad, sure, but it’s still greed.’

“Hm…that could work. If we catch him before he goes to the house, we might catch him by surprise.” Mirex suits action to words, and her expression grows distant as she summons up her strength and uses her mind to seek out the Baron near the south gate.

One of the ghosts moves closer to Mirex and moves as though to touch her, offering to link her perceptions to the redhead’s, pointing past her as well, trying to hint that she has him in her sights already.

The tall and small Adris wait grimly, and the other “visible” ghost moves to link up in a chain to aid Mirex.

Mirex follows the direction the ghost indicates, reaching your to the ghost and opening her mind to her and the other spirits, which made her zero right in on the Baron.

She looks briefly for a convenient place to construct her illusion, then creates Adri in her old favored red and orange leathers behind a wagon, and has her run from cover into the center of town.

Jaine and Claire link up with Mirex, giving her not only their perception, which helps her spot the living, but also a deeper reservoir of power.

Adrielle seems to be overlapping the living Adri now, and isn’t quite so visible as herself.

The Baron hisses as he sees Mirex’s illusion, and throws a glamour over himself for concealment, which the connection to the ghosts makes futile against Mirex at the moment. He moves along the darker areas, unlimbering what are probably his foci. He seems to be without an escort as he stalks the illusory Adri.

Mirex guides the illusory Adri through the town, leading the Baron toward the graveyard. Drawing on the older knowledge of the ghosts, she sets up a illusory veil at the entrance that would strip enchantments from any that passed through. She then guided the illusory Adri right for that barrier.

The Baron follows along, still covered in his glamour, and when he thinks he’s spotted the destination, he sprints for his house, with one last quick look before ducking inside.

Mirex lets the illusory Adri dispel once the BAron is out of sight, and brings her mind back to he rown body and her companions, “Well… now we wait.” She comments. She smiles at the ghosts around her, and moves out into the clear path up the middle from the entrance, “Let me make sure he’s contained before you reveal yourself, Adri. I don’t want him to take his first shots at you.”

<All right, love.> She’s not even taking a on chance sounds, now that it’s this close to the line. Adri also nods, for the sake of the ghosts who might not “overheard” that.

It’s not long before Jaine points out two glamoured figures emerging onto a balcony that gives them at least some view of the graveyard. One is, with the mist-born senses of the ghosts, easily identified as the Baron. The other is another man, apparently limping badly. He starts setting up something that, because it’s not living, the ghosts can’t help identify. The Baron has his hand high on the other man’s back while he works, and no words are exhanged.

Mirex eyes the pair <That must be Reg. The Baron must be setting him up with some kind of weapon.> She watches through the ghosts as the Baron has Reg set up whatever it was, and takes extra note of the fact that the Baron was touching Reg, likely compelling him and controlling him.

<Aye. Not sure if it’s a rifle or another mini-ballista, but the movements pretty much limit the choices. Hmm. Touch. Silent communication? Wonder if he’s “talking” without making noise, or something.>

After a bit more time, and both of the men looking as though they were scanning the dark graveyard, the Baron steps back and blinks to the ground, and starts slowly making his way forward.

<I’d say more likely he’s implanting orders into Reg’s mind. As soon as the Baron is almost here, I’ll hit Reg’s position.>

MIrex eyed the Baron through the ghosts’ vision, getting a lay of the man, while inverting the weaves of her strip enchantment barrier. Lastly, she cloaked herself so that the man would not see her or anyone about in the graveyard, trusting Adri’s camouflage and her ultimate ancestor to keep her hidden. Judging by how Adrielle was overlayed on Adri now, she figured it was a safe bet that they were harnessing Adri’s mist connection.

<Pity I’d really prefer not to leave either in a position to explain which it is.> Her “tone” was definitely not in keeping with the word choice. She had shifted position to gain additional cover from headstones as she kept her own watch.

Whatever the man still on the balcony was up to, he seemed almost ready. The sturdy redhead, still englamoured, was coming up alongside in the shadows.

Mirex waited until the Baron was close along the wall, then tossed the crystialline rod away from her, and drew upon the full well of her combined power to channel  a massive quantity of chaos energy into the rod, which formed into a focal greatsword pointed right at the balcony. The Spatial Surge that erupted from it was similar to what Mirex had used against Reg before, only far more powerful, and strong enough to obliterate a sizable portion of the balcony at the very least, perhaps more depending on how much the ghosts pitched in. She’d thrown the focus away from her and Adri so that neither could be pinpointed as the exact source of the blast that lit up the town in a sudden purple flash.

<That’s all right, I didn’t need to be able to see anyway.> Adri’s sardonically amused comment came just as the blast did indeed light up the upper section they were in brilliantly, with traces bringing out details down below as well, should anyone have been looking. The balcony is now smoking rubble, and combined noises of the blast and the collapsed masonry and steel are bringing some guards to investigate, though they get a little cautious as they realise they’re not exactly equipped for such things.

The Baron hunkers down in the long grasses. If he’d made any noise, it was drowned out by the falling rubble and body. It’s hard to tell whether the sniper is still alive, even for the ghosts.

Alive or not, he was out of commission for the moment. The Crystalline rod compresses back into itself once the blast ends and hits the dirt with a faint tinkling thump, and all is quiet again as the after image of the bright blast fades. Mirex doesn’t move. Doesn’t call out. She gives no sign of what had just happened and from where or by whom. <Sorry about that, darling. Still getting used to all the extra help.>

<I had warning, love – barely. Only little blotches because my eyes weren’t shaded enough, but they were closed. It’ll do. I go by shadow and air more than sight in the dark, anyway.> She was also giving no clue, watching the Baron’s position out of the side of her eye, probably with her ancestor’s help.

Some of the milling guards get brave enough to approach the ruined balcony, though they seem more interested in figuring out where the Baron is and whether they should knock, at least at first.

The Baron is still lying low. Perhaps his eyes hadn’t been closed.

Mirex waits, and then begins to muster her powers again. This time, her intent is to attack the Baron’s mind in an attempt to cut him off from the majority of his powers to give Adri a fighting chance against him. With the ghosts’ help, she could attempt this at long range, despite how taxing it would be. She begins to ready a half dozen spells at once. A Mirror of Disenchantment. Energy Drain, Arcane Larceny. These she weaves into a Web of Disruption, and takes the web of spells to hold them over the Baron’s head like a spider dangling from her web. And then she strikes fast and hard, stabbing into his mind to attempt to drape her complex web of spells over his brain to cut him off from much of his power, and make using whatever he had left incredibly painful to use.

The Baron’s hunched position in the grasses did him no favours for stability under the onslaught. He toppled onto his rear, even as he sent clones looking for targets, though he did seem to be reeling a bit, based on their relatively undirected casting. Not that it wasn’t dangerous, but their tactics weren’t up to standards. He manages some sort of shielding on himself again, trying to stagger to his feet.

Mirex grimaces under her stealth glamour, and takes the energy surge and Mind Wrack spells she’d held in reserve to bombard his shield about his mind, and tries again to lay her web of distortions and mirror of disenchantment over his mind, while hitting him with arcane larceny again to disable his clone summoning abilities.

He nearly falls again, but gets a decoy up and starts to replace his other clones, the new ones coming over the wall. He’s advancing some as well, but mostly keeping behind them in an effort to avoid taking more direct hits.

<Mists! He has wards like mine! So much for slow vivisection… you get one, maybe two more shots, and I’m going to see how well he digests orichalcum and mithril when it’s inserted from the back.>

<Work your way around him, love. Two or three more shots is about all I can do using this many spells at once. Try not to kill him, though.>

Mirex assaults the decoy with another Mind Wrack, while changing up the Web of Distortion for an Illusion of Pain as she attacks the Baron again. She lets her stealth glamour dispel, and uses the freed up power for an illusory wave to launch his clones back over the wall, while making herself visible to him to distract him.

He staggers a bit again, but he manages to shatter the clones before they get pushed too far, with more offensive ones charging in to replace them. The ghosts seem to manage to absorb most of the effects of the shattering, which makes him swear in frustration even as he tries to get a nullifying field up – an effort which gets interrupted by the sweep of blades on the part of twisting darkness behind him. He drops to his knees and then topples forward, trying to blink out of her range, but she apports along with him, her shadow-blade pointed at the base of his brain stem, poking into his skin, with her more starry blade at the middle of his back.

‘Even think about anything more offensive, and even if I don’t just end you here and now, I will let you enjoy the paralysis that so nearly was my fate. My shielding is better than yours, mate.’

(( The story resumes in the old graveyard of the Ascalon Settlement. ))

Mirex waited until her companions had left, leaving her alone in the graveyard with nothing but the ghosts she couldn’t hear. Exhaustion was setting in, even with just maintaining her clothes, so she used her familiarity among the residence to pilfer the barracks for a tent and clothes. Better to stay in the graveyard form here on until things were over. She didn’t fancy waking up on her trundle bed alone with the Baron.

Using the small crystalline earpiece she always wore, she communed with Cris to have him make the arrangements to get Adri out to the Settlement, by airship in some fashion, he assured her. With that done, she pitched her tent where it could be best hidden by headstones, and settled in for the night.

<Adri…? I love you…> she sent the thought out as she closed her eyes to wait.

<And I love you, darlin’! Aly tells me they’re halfway to the Lionbridge waypoint, and she’s got Tori helping make more minions to scout the bridge.>

<Hm. I’m glad to hear that. I told Cris to come and send you to me. I’ve missed you so, darling.> She thought sleepily.

<And we’ve missed you here! But you sound/feel like you need sleep, love. I’ll be there… well, as soon as Cris drops me off, or at least has the Current do so. Anything in particular I need to bring?>

<Mmm…. weapons would be good. And kisses. Weapons to kill the Baron, and kisses for me> She giggles as she lets the illusions of he clothes fade, tucked under a stolen blanket.

<Easily done, darlin’! Sleep well, but not too well, if you know what I mean. See you soon!>

<See you soon, Adri> she let herself drift off after warding her mind, just in case.

It wasn’t more then a day before Cris was knocking at the door of the place Alex and Adri were staying in the Refuge, the tall man wearing his usual black leathers and coat. It was mid-afternoon.

Adri answers the door, looking only slightly disheveled. ‘Well, hullo there! Coming in, or do I grab my kit and run?’

“We have a few moments, my Lady, but we can’t dally long. Nas is prepping her ship right now to get you there once night has fallen,” Cris replies as he steps inside to take a look around, having never actually been in the dwelling before. “Is Alex here?”

“Yes I’m here,” popping her head out from around the corner of the small sideroom on the right side of the small house, she smiles. Stepping out, the simple teal sundress she wore rustles with the slight breeze that blew in from outside. “I hear you’re coming to take Adri away from me,” she says with a pout, closing the distance between them to give her brother a hug.

He smiles fondly as he embraces Alex. “Just for a short time, little sister. Mirex made the request. I’m just being a good commander and helping her with the op the way she wants to run it. Shouldn’t be too long.”

‘The only real worry there would be if the Baron is away too long, but Aly’s been visiting with the Valdis ladies, and they know of no reason why he’d be gone more than three days – most of which is already up.’

“Indeed, I received word that the Valdis girls had been brought in. They’ll be kept safe along with the assassin Sam Ingrems until this is taken care of. Be careful out there, His partner, this Reg, is still at large.”

“I know, I know,” waving her hand dismissively, there was only a slight hint of annoyance in her tone. Grumbling, she walks over to Adriwyn and hugs her tightly, giving her a kiss. “You be safe, okay?” Looking into the younger woman’s eyes, she fusses with a few loose hairs before giving her another kiss. “Give that to Mirex for me when you see her, and tell her I love her and I’ll be waiting for both of you to come back.”

Adri smiles, enough for once to bring out dimples, and kisses Alex back. ‘I will, love! – And yes, Exemplar, I know Reg is still to be assumed at large. That’s why what time Alex could spare I’ve been working on my camouflage.’

“Hm, very good, then” He waits patiently for the lovers to say their farewells and to be sure Adri had all the gear she needed. He crosses his arms more for something to do with them then any hurry to get going.

“I got a letter from Naxxa too Crissy. So once Adri is back safe, we can have lunch and I should have some new data to go over with you all.” Grinning, she moves over to the chair closest to a shelf filled with leather binders containing reports and invoices. Looking at Adriwyn, she smiles fondly, glad that she had chosen to sit away from her lover so she didn’t try to keep her here. “All three of you better come back in one piece, and with good news, got it?”

“Oh, i’ll be back once Adri is safely aboard, Alex.” Cris clarifies, “Whenever you are ready, my Lady”

‘Aye, aye, darlin’!’ She giggles and apports over to the corner, picking up her kit. As she lugs it out of the shadows, it resolves into something eye-twistingly dark that’s hard to look at, though it wasn’t so odd seeming in the shadows a moment before. It looks too large for her, until it becomes evident that it’s her armour as well as her weaponry, and a pack. ‘Ready enough now, m’lord. Even the Current has some flight time, and I can put this on while under way.’ She turns to blow another kiss at Alex, then turns for the door. <And after already chewing Mirex out, you can be sure I’ll be in touch, love!>

<I said I was sorry!>

<Take care of our Adri and yourself, Mirex. I’m sending a present for you along with her, but I want you to know that I love you, and I miss you.>

<{impression of a giggle} Yep! I just don’t plan on being chewed out myself for the same thing! And now you know I’ve had my boarding call.>

Cris nods once, “Very well, let’s be off then” he turns to lead the way from the house, and the trek back up to the main level of the Refuge, “Nastya will remain in the area for a short time, in case things go ill and you need to get out quickly. If you two succeed, though, you’ll be free to find your way back here as you see fit. Unless you convince Nas, of course.”

‘We’ll see how that goes. I’ll only be so happy about traversing open spaces in the Arch again unless we also account for Reg.’

<I love and miss you too, Alex. I’m waiting in the graveyard, Adri. I can’t wait to see you.>

“Very wise. If Reg is not disposed off during this encounter, then have Mirex alert me and I’ll send pick up.”

<Good! Because that’s where I’m best suited for landing. And Aly says I’ll get a nice surprise there, but she’s being a tight-lipped so-and-so about it.> ‘Will do, m’lord.’

Mirex doesn’t say more, while Cris leads Adri to the docks, where the scarlet hull of the Spectral Current waited. On the ship’s deck at the end of the gangway, a tall woman in a red leather coat that was just this side of too snug waited, wearing a broad brim hat.

“Ah, so you’re the one. The one what’s as was relaying the orders during our little outing int he Fen,” the woman drawls, shooting Cris a brief, reproving look.

The Blade seems unfazed, though, staying on the landward side of the gang way, “Good luck, my lady Jardin.”

‘Aye, that would be me.’ She nods to the captain, then waves with a free pinkie to Cris. ‘Thank you, m’lord – though I’m trying to minimise the actual luck required.’ She turns back, pausing at the edge of gangplank. ‘Permission to come aboard?’

Nastya smirks, with a nod of approval, “Permission granted. Welcome aboard the Spectral Current. I’m Captain Nastya.”

‘Thank you, Captain. I’m Adri – with longer titles and names you’ve heard, but only so relevant for being on a mission.’ She steps aboard so as not to further delay things.

Nastya gives her a look over, up and down, “You’re cute. I see why Mir likes you. Just Nastya will do for me, Adri. Not one for formality like some folk.” She shoots a last look, a mix of affection and annoyance, at Cris before turning to head across the deck. “Gron! Cast off!”

The ship becomes a bustle of shouts and movement as the crew of pirates surge to life, under the bellows of the first mate, Gron Skyclaw, a massive black charr with one empty eye socket.

Among the crew of Norn, Charr, and Asura are a couple Sylvari, and one human. At first glance it almost looks like Cristian has stowed away aboard ship, if not for the fact that he still stands on the dock as the ship begins to lift away into the air.

She looks about, waiting for a pause in which she wouldn’t be distracting the captain too much. ‘Got an out of the way spot I can gear up, Nastya? I need to be wearing this stuff by the time I’m dropped off.’ She notes all the people she sees, just because she does that, but she doesn’t stare at anyone.

“Aye, you can use my cabin,” the pirate replies, “This way. Ozz! Keep a watch!” She calls to a slightly crazed looking Asura sitting up by the captain’s chair.

“Keep watch…keep watch..What do you think I do up here? Huh!? I built this RADAR, and none of the rest of you…”

Nastya motions Adri to follow her as the elderly Asura seems to be launching into a well practiced rant, heading down into the belly of the ship to the gunnery deck. “Don’t mind him. Ozz is always going on about something, but he’s a crack pot old genius, even for an Asura.” She laughs as she leads the way to the prow, where there wasa hatch opening to another narrow stair deeper into the ship, and another door. Through the hatch was a spacious cabin, the far walls made of windows nestled right underneath the spear-like nose of the open air deck above. “I know you won’t be aboard long, but make yourself comfortable. Bath is in there, if you need it.” She indicates one side door to the left of the hatch they came in through.

‘Thank you! Though I took care of that a bit ago, when we went swimming.’ She chuckles softly, and starts getting into her armour. She doesn’t look at it while doing so, which is probably a requirement at this point, given how much it wants to be blending into any bit of shadow or other darkness that falls across it.

Nastya crosses her arms, perching a hip against the ling, dark oak desk strewn with charts that was set just in front of the windows. “That’s some curious armor there. Hard to look at. Some kind of shadow magic on it?” she asks curiously.

‘Shadow mixed with illusion. I have a really hard time doing illusions without shadow getting into them, and this time that’s for the best.’ She appears to have had practice getting into her armour. She’s making fairly short work of it.

“Huh. Never heard of someone that can mix em like that. I’m impressed.” She nods thoughtfully as she watches Adri get her armor on, sashaying across her cabin to offer help with the last couple pieces. “So you and Mir, huh?” The pirate looks Adri over again with perhaps a hint of interest amid her curiousity.

Adri offers a ‘Thanks!’ for the assistance. ‘And for this mission, yes. Otherwise, that’s Mirex, Alexandria, and me.’ She smiles, for despite the minefield the topic can be, calling them to mind even as she’s focussing on “mission” makes her happy.

“Aye, so I heard. Haven’t talked to Mir much since she was here with me. Seems she’s got a bit of a type” she teases, “I bet you get it a lot that you and Alex could be sisters. Don’t think I mentioned that when we spoke at the house that one time.”

‘Aye. Or a lot of comments about “twins”.’ She chuckles softly, attaching her weaponry with the various belts and snaffles she’d brought along for the purpose, carefully doing it all by feel because she’d enchanted all of it for her night/shadow camouflage. ‘It’s mostly amusing – at least so far.’

“I bet it’ll get annoying before long.” She laughs as she tightens a last strap for Adri. “What is it about the two of them that’s got you so interested? I can definitely see the appeal of you, my dear, but Alex and Mirex are rather different flavors. You just like variety, or something about them?”

‘There’s… hnh.’ She checks her gear, re-doing a cinch on one of the gauntlets, then checking her pouches and strapping them on as she ponders and resumes answering. ‘I suppose some amount of variety has always been part of things for me, but it’s not for the variety. It’s… well, they go together, at least by history, besides both making me feel that right kind of special and loved.’

Nastya absently traces a finger over Adri’s armored pauldron, unbothered by the strange magic that coated it, “Yea, I heard about that. Alex broke Mirex’s heart once before. Kinda surprised they’re back together now.” She smiles with a small giggle. “You’re sweet. I wonder if she feels special like she makes you feel. Nothing wrong with having more then one as does that for ya. Been a few girls in my time that meant something. One man, too.”

‘I … probably have broken too many hearts in my time. But I’m pretty determined to learn from my mistakes, and not to fuck up this time. Well, not in a big way that ruins everything, anyway – no getting over being human and making mistakes, after all.’

“Aye, ain’t that the truth.” The buxom pirate laughed. “Well, if you’re ever looking to make a little mistake, you come look me up, beautiful.” She flashes a grin and a wink as she sways toward the hatch back out into the companionway.

However, the hatch has a knock at it and opens a bit before Nastya reaches it. “Mother, we’re just about there.” It was the white haired youth Adri might have spied earlier, a young, less scarred dopplganger of the imposing Blade.

Adri nods to herself, filing away that she’s now seen that particular offspring, but not giving an excess of notice. Checking her gear over and settling her glider pack into place, she steps forward. ‘Didn’t much seem to matter to ask before, but is this a set-down or a jump?’

“All right, Crysti, we’re on our way,” she assured the teen. “Jump. I’d have you use the teleporters, but they’re a little loud and flashy for this. Best to just have you fly in yourself, Adri.” She flashed a winning smile over her shoulder and followed her son from the cabin to lead the way back up on deck.

Adri nods with a brief but sincere smile, following along. ‘Good. I like gliding, and this stuff is perfect for a night drop. Echoes the stars when seen from below.’

“Too bad I’m gunna be on top tonight then,” she teases as they make their way back up. It wasn’t full dark yet, but the sun was definitely set, the lights of the Settlement inview ahead and below. To their eyes, the ship was all there. But to those on the ground, they’d see nothing. Only the sharpest eyes might detect the faint, occasional shimmer from the glamour shield.

Adri chortles as she gets her hair up out of the way, making it into extra padding for her helm which she gets into place. ‘Gloaming rather than night isn’t ideal, but I can just make a wide sweep and come into the graveyard low. That’ll give me time to talk to the ravens to make sure of my approach.’

“Hey, we can circle a bit if you’d rather wait. I don’t mind.” She leads the way out onto the open air part of the deck, the ship moving at a brisk pace at a fair altitude that would put them over the Settlement in another couple minutes.

‘I’d appreciate it. The darker it gets, the better for me. The shadows help me see at night, anyway. Well, “see” might be the wrong word, but it’ll do.’

Nastya arches a curious brow, but complies. “All right. Crysti, have Gron take us a little higher into a holding pattern for the next hour or two. Should be long enough to give our guest time.”

“Aye, Cap’n.” The boy salutes and strides back into the ship, leaving Nastya and Adri alone on the deck at the rail.

‘Thank you.’ She looks around and takes a deep breath, smiling some more. ‘I really like flying. Almost was crew on an airship – lookout. But the ship didn’t come back.’ She sighs, losing the smile for a bit.

“Ah…flew with the Pact, eh?” The pirate prompts curiously as she leans against the rail in a pose that threatened to burst some seams.

‘Oh, I was a gunner for the Pact, during the final push on Zhaitan, but I don’t count that as being proper crew. No, this was… well, the captain of that ship probably ran afoul of pirates. She’d had run-ins before, I understand. Don’t know for sure – it wasn’t just the ship that didn’t come back, after all.’ She appreciates the view, though it might not show much with her melancholy remembering.

“Whole crew went with her, eh? That’s a shame, but if it were my boat…well, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Captain always goes down with her ship. Ya did a nice job handling me ‘n’ mine though. Out there in the Fen. Reminded me o’ the Battle o’ Lion’s Arch against Scarlett’s vultures. I liked you as Admiral better, though. My ship didn’t need to get floated to safety after getting shot full o’ holes.”

Adri nods, listening, then smiles with a dry chuckle at the end. ‘Thank you, and, aye. Avoiding that is always good. None too fond of “shot full o’ holes” m’self. Unless I’m the one shooting, anyway.’

Nastya laughs heartily, “Now there’s the truth of it. Not much I like better then poking holes in other people’s hulls. Say, if you’re a gunner, I might be able to use you, you know. I’ve always got a couple spots open for some useful hands. And you’ve got the experience. And we don’t ever touch the ground unless we have to.”

‘I’ll keep it in mind, but… well, my jewelry business was doing nicely before I started having to duck assassins. Though flying… tempting. I’d have to talk that over with Alex and Mirex, anyway, though – and I’ve a mission to think about. I’ll lose focus if I think too hard about that offer just now – but thank you.’

Nastya shrugs, which made the threat of popped seams all the more imminent and more interesting, “Suit yourself. I’m planning on making my way in the Refuge, if you’re gunna be staying there a while. Think it over.” She winks at Adri and falls quite for the time being, while the ship’s engines hum as they circle above Ascalon Settlement.

<We’re circling over the area of the Settlement now. I’m not sure what fuels this thing, but I hope it’s cheap. Still, I’m glad Nastya’s holding for me to jump after dark.> Adri returns the smile, then takes up her own scan of the landscape below, making sure she knows where the potential obstacles and watch-points are.

<Alright, darling. As far as I can tell, the baron hasn’t returned yet. Let me know when you’re on the way down.>

The ship slips higher above the town, making a slow, lazy sort of spiral as it circles, and they watch the sky slowly darken. A sort of peace comes over the ship as they wait, the crew ready at a moment’s notice, but unconcerned. Crysian even comes back out on the deck to join his mother, who only had a couple inches on him in height still. She drapes an arm about his shoulders and hugged him to her side.

“What will you do when you are free again, Adri?” she asks at last into the night breeze.

Adri blinks, then shakes her head. ‘I’m torn on some things, and some of that will depend on just how it all turns out. The guy behind the assassination attempts on me knows more about who I am than I do. By ancestry, I suppose I mean. And I’m not sure whether I want to do anything about that ancestry. I may just let fate decide that – depending on whether there’s any documentation found to prove anything. But otherwise? I’d like to go back to making jewelry for people, and just have a bit of relative peace for a while.’ She shrugs with a quiet chuckle. ‘And then I’ll get restless and crave a bit of adventure again, I’m sure.’

Nastya giggles a bit, “You can always find adventure up here,” she replies with an inviting wink, “There’s something to be said for a lil down time too, though. I think it’s nice you want to just ply your trade. I can respect that. We’ve gotta make our ways, we independent girls. I hope you learn what you want to know though, about yourself. If you’re some big noble woman, will that change your plan at all?”

‘Oh, that’s why he wants me dead. I am one. But proving it might be another matter – and thanks to the history of this problem between Houses, I wasn’t raised to it. So that’s part of why I’m not sure I want to do anything about it.’

Nastya shrugs as she toys with her son’s hair until he complains and she giggles, “Well, I guess that’ll be your call. Between Cristian and Mir, they can teach you all the social graces. I don’t think it matters if you were raised all hoity toity though. Might even make a better noble since you weren’t. Never know.”

A grin and a chuckle greet that last. ‘Oh, aye. That kind of thinking is the only reason I haven’t just said I don’t want to deal with it. Maybe not being a Reach-bound fop would be good for something.’

“Well, you seem like the reliable sort, just from the little bit we’ve spoken now. Beautiful and dependable. Sounds like the makings of the sort of noble Lady I could get into.” Another sly wink came from the pirate, and Crysian snorts an amused sound that earns him some hair tossling.

“Keep yer opinions to yourself, Mister Eskara. Captain can do ‘n’ say what she likes.”

“Yes ma’am,” the youth replies primely while smoothing his hair back.

Adri chuckles, grinning and shaking her head with amusement. ‘I do try. Sometimes better than others, of course.’ She looks again to see whether it’s dark enough for her landing.

“Trying’s all you can do, Adri.” Nastya looks out into the darkening night. “This look dark enough to you, Lady?” she asks, jutting her chin at the stars coming out.

‘Aye, it is. To both.’ She squares up and re-checks her straps. ‘Stars make it all work.’ She looks about ready to just vault over the side.

Nastya certainly wasn’t objecting to that, but she produces a small device with a belt clip. “Here, take this. In case your glider doesnt fire. Don’t want you splattering the ground. You’d make a pretty mess, but I’m betting there’s better and prettier messes you’d make without falling five thousand feet.” She grins and winks again as she hands the item over.

She chuckles, taking it and attaching it to her sword belt. ‘I’m guessing this is how Cris keeps making his way back aboard?’

“Aye. It’s the sort of beacon the Aetherblades used so the teleporters could lock on to em. Handy to have considering all the Aether tech we got onboard. Good luck to ya down there, Adri.”

‘Thank you, Nastya. Fair winds to you!’ She gives a cheery wave to both of them with a flash of smile, then is suddenly all “mission” serious again as she vaults over the side, dropping clear of the ship before easing her glider out into her slipstream and starting her descent.