07.01m: The Seventh Winter (Not a Jolly Elf)

[Wyvern]

Alys flips quickly through her own deck, then shuffles it, cuts, and flips over the top card - revealing her own card*. "Not quite what I expected," she comments, and starts to examine the card in more detail.
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* Those with at least mid-ranked psyche may note that she hesitates at a couple of the cards on her initial flip-through; those with similar ranks in warfare may note that she palmed one of the cards as she shuffled, and is actually taking a careful look at a different card entirely - though she's holding it in such a way as to conceal exactly which card it is.
And anyone with even chaos rank warfare will probably realize that the shuffle was entirely show; the cards may be in a different order now, but Alys knows exactly where each of them is.

((OOC: And, regarding Asai's previous post: The point there is that, not only did Ossian not get ruler, he didn't even get a face card! And Darnell did; asking Darnell about the responsibilities of Page is just rubbing Ossian's nose in this set of facts - without even directing a comment at him, let alone giving him anything he could take offense at. And, of course, it's delivered as a totally innocent question, so Ossian can't even be certain that Asai was deliberately tweaking his nose.))

[Joshua]

Darnell will shrug. "It's basically what I've been doing. Being useful is all I need. Plus it's useful being underestimated."

Ossian will put his trump away, and shrug. "So, good to know the rumors ended up being true this time."

[Veyska]

"So where did you hear those rumors, Ossian? Trump seems to have been a popular discussion topic lately but I'd heard no mentions of it being handed out en masse, nor of such definitive ramifications of its gifting..."

[Joshua]

Ossian will speak in a relatively flat monotone. "Darnell spoke of Dworkin locking himself in his lab. That only happens when he's working on something. And I got Quin to admit it had something to do with trump. That jester knew, he knew all of this, and he let out just enough..."

[Wyvern]

Alys blinks in surprise, and then looks annoyed, reaching up to re-tie the rose that had somehow* slipped loose from three different knots at once... a fraction of a second too late, as the thing leaps at Ossian - apparently considering him a more likely source of fertilizer.

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* Given that it's been restrained there for most of the meal, a casual observer is likely to assume that this was deliberate. Those immediate to the impact, however - as well as one other who knows quite well who they are - might realize it's more just a consequence of Alys attempting to make a trump call and not quite having enough concentration to manage both.

[Joshua]

Ossian flashes his rapier, skewering the deadly flower in the middle of the blossom and two or three times on the stem before pinning it to the floor. "Sorry. But I think we have enough dangerous things around here without cultivating attack plants we know nothing about." He almost growls, but is a bit too refined. "Surely you understand the dangers. It could have planted seeds under your skin. It still might have. Or in Rogbar, and you don't seem the least bit phased by it." He glances down at the vine, which is still trying to twitch, thorns flailing in what looks like death throws. "Now... If you'll excuse me. I'm going to go grab my spear and make sure that this hasn't dropped clones of itself in the walkway."

One of the servants was just about to offer the next course. "No salad for me, thanks." He will say to the stunned servant.

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* Despite appearances, Ossian is rather grateful for the distraction. This may or may not be obvious. More a function of one's background I would think.

[Wyvern]

"Exactly,"* answers Alys. "Still, if you insist..." She picks up the remains of the flower, careful to gather any bits that might have been separated by Ossian's sword, and cups it in her hands. It smolders sullenly for a bit, still twitching; Alys glares at it, and there's a flare of white light, followed only by ashes.**

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* "Exactly" was in response to "you don't seem the least bit phased by it". Which is true. She's not.
** Except that Asai will find, tucked in under the edge of her salad plate, a few suspicious seeds. Their arrival must have involved some impressive sleight of hand - Ossian doesn't seem aware that they're there, and they're certainly not visible from where he's at...

[Veyska]

In a rather acid tone of voice, Asai comments, "If you're that paranoid about being attacked by ambulatory corsages, I'll make a magical lodestone for you to use while you get your spear. I'll even make it out of something pointy for better skewering."

*****

Once Ossian has left, Asai shifts her tableware around clear a small space directly in front of her, empty save for one fork*. A ribbon is produced from somewhere under her harness and used to carefully bind a small amount of the late rose's ash to the stem of the fork, between the head and where a normal person would hold it. This done, she mutters a few** words under her breath and jabs the fork with one finger. There is a brief shimmer of faintly red light and for a moment nothing further happens. Then the fork twitches, pauses for a moment, and spins until it is pointing tines-first at the remaining ash a few inches away. A few pokes of the fork confirm the shift wasn't a once-off, and then Asai settles back in her chair. "Sloppy, but it should suffice for the moment."

Hopping to her feet, she deftly scoops the remaining ash into a napkin. "I'll be back in a few minutes, once I've disposed of this elsewhere. Better safe than sorry, and might as well turn a few roses growing elsewhere into figurative cannibals and use this ash as fertilizer." With that, she pulls out a card from her trump deck, stares at it for a moment, and then vanishes in a spray of iridescent sparks.

(*Ossian's, of course, he's not using it now is he?)
(**I think Wyvern and I decided on three.)

[Wyvern]

Alys watches Asai work - and then, when she's gone, comments to Darnell, "Create tracking device from ashes and salad fork? That's an awfully specific spell to have racked... one might almost think it had somehow been staged."

[Joshua]

"If one had to prepare the entire spell, yes. But she has other ways of getting such things resolved." Darnell will observe. "Dworkin knows a lot of shortcuts. I never felt the need to learn." Darnell will observe his fork a little. "I suppose they could have been prepared."