melodiesoflife | (no subject)

Characters: Lady Ashelia...and you!
Where: At a dive bar/pub in one of the rougher districts of Aqures Ixen.
When: Post-Night of the Thirteen Moogles, pre-trip to Aqures Ixen.
Summary: After recent events, the Lady Ashe decides to see what she can find out the old fashioned way: people watching at a table in a dingy bar with a bad reputation.

Ashelia sat at the bar, sipping slowly on a flagon of ale. She blended in with the crowd well, despite the fact that she was one of very few women in the establishment. Her hair was tucked under her red mage hat, shoulders bared in a red peasant blouse, a welcome change from her usual white ones. She wore tight-fitted leather pants, the knee-high boots with what looked like uncomfortably high stilettos completing her look. A red sword belt hung loosely around her waist; she had opted for an epee this evening. She was confident in her ability to out-finesse any of the drunken curs in the establishment should they not take kindly to her rebuffs.

She narrowed her eyes as she took another sip of her ale. Dreadful stuff. But she wasn't about to be picky just then. There was every possibility she could hear something, or talk to someone that could give her a lead in how the Empire had infiltrated the city - or continued to, as the case may be. With the spies' ability to teleport, Ashelia didn't think it could have been that hard.

But the seeds. They had been using Baltoro's Seeds for the ceremony that fateful night. A large quantity of them, from the looks of things. Yeul had told her it was all connected, and the queen had a feeling she was starting to see just how that might be.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The new person to enter the bar is obviously one of the new heroes, still dressed in his archer's gear (all black, for some odd reason), but minus his weapon. Hey, the very helpful young woman he met when he first got here told Jack that it made him look like an assassin, so he'll roll with it, when venturing into one of the less-nice parts of the city.

Captain Jack Harkness has just discovered that he is functionally mortal again, and so now it's time to test out if other side effects of his unique status have disappeared: can he get drunk again for the first time in centuries? He goes to the bar and ends up with a glass of some amber liquid, whiskey, scotch, local equivalent? Who cares? He picks up the glass, but pauses, and stares at it for a solid minute. He turns it back and forth in his hand, contemplating every facet of the glass, as if making absolutely certain that he wants to start down this road.

Ashelia can't help but notice Jack's reaction to the glass. The man is surely another Hero by his garb, but she didn't recognize him. Merlose did say something about more Heroes arriving. It's getting out of hand. Hopefully her upcoming trip would reveal something about the Crystal of Fire - perhaps, how to stop more and more people from being ripped from their homes to participate in this mess.

As it stood, there was a very perplexed man in front of her. "Not the highest quality, but I can assure you, 'tis not dangerous."

Jack raises his head from the glass to- hel-lo. He gives Ashe a quick once-over, but his eyes pause at the hat on her head and rapier on her side, instead of more fetching details. "Afraid I might not be the best judge of quality anymore. It's been a while."

But he sets the glass back down untouched, in favor of focusing on new company. "Captain Jack Harkness." He forces a slight smile onto his face, then nods towards Ashe's hat. "Seen a couple of people with those hats. They stand out a bit."

Ashelia nods back at Jack cordially. "Just so. It is a red mage hat; astute of you to notice so soon, though not all red mages are in our company." She doesn't want to mention the word 'Hero' in this particular establishment.

"Well met, Captain. I am the Lady Ashelia B'nargin Dalmasca," she replies in hushed tones. Then, at a normal volume, "Here, I go by Ashe. What brings you to such a house of ill repute so early in your stay?"

"Nice to meet you, then, Ashe. Don't suppose my commission counts for much, here, but I'd like to keep it, anyway." Jack certainly understands the need for discretion, although he would love to ask more specific questions that he can't here.

"It's a- long story," Jack explains slowly, his head tilts to the side as he decides what he can and can't say. He raises the glass. "The easy answer is that it's been far too long since I've had the time or ability or freedom to settle in with a drink, so, cheers."

She's right, it's not the best quality, but the slight new taste of what, to him, is alien alcohol, is welcomed as he slowly drains about a third of the glass. It'll take some time to see if it's doing him any good, though. He clinks the glass back down to the bar, and looks at it for another second, before turning back to Ashe.

"I would say that it all sounds crazy, but, after being picked up from one world and teleported completely to another one, I get the feeling there's little that you wouldn't believe, either?"

"Fair enough." Ashe raises her glass with Jack's and takes a rather dignified sip of her awful beer. "They do say seeing is believing, and here we are." Ashe gestures to the other patrons. "Though the...stories are another matter entirely. I have been here for more than three months. I've seen little more to support those particular theories than the belief in the prophecies by the inhabitants of Crystallis."

Oh ho? Jack's found someone still skeptical, even after having been brought to this world and seeing this place? Maybe he's talking to exactly the person he needs to be, then. "Okay. No questioning the 'world-jumping' thing. And things don't work the same way here. Magic? Doesn't exist in my world. But as you say, seeing is believing."

"At this point, it's all a question of what it is that we're actually seeing. And what we're not seeing. Why are we here, and why won't people be more straight-forward about this calamity we're supposed to prevent?"

"What have you seen? And what haven't you seen that you've needed to?" These seem like the important questions.

"The people of Aqures Ixen are not the most well-informed," Ashe states matter-of-factly. "I myself have spent weeks in the libraries, combing for information. Nothing tangible exists, just stories, legends."

The queen shakes her head slowly. "Although, one week ago...last month, there was a sickness. It swept through our ranks, killing some, debilitating all. Just before the end of the month, there was a ritual. Those who had died were brought back through some dark sorcery, their minds enslaved. They kept their purpose vague, but they insisted we had been tricked, that everything we'd been lead to believe until now was false. That the Calamity would lead Crystallis to salvation." Ashe sighed lightly. "It was a grueling battle. All that to say...there are those that believe strongly enough to make it true. Magic is a guileful beast, duplicitous by nature. There is no way to know for true at the moment."

Ashe looked squarely at Jack, jaw set in her way. "I intend to find out."