The Dresden Files RP- "Edge Town"

Jarl looked at his compatriots for a moment before coughing awkwardly.

"Well. Don't I feel like the Johnny-come-lately." He turned toward the innkeeper and bowed his head. With a very small smile on his face he went over to her and took something out of his pocket.

"I don't know how fond you are of foreign idols," Jarl said, opening his palm to reveal a silver Thorshammer necklace. "But this was a gift from my mother. A memory from home. I assume it would be a fitting offering for Vesta, as guardian of hearth and home, and keeper of the Fire of Rome."

edited 18th May '15 9:21:41 AM by math792d

The woman smiles- and it radiates with warmth. The fires crackle a little hotter in the room as it fills with familiar scents- ink and paper pressed together between leather covers, cooked elk and fresh mead, cinnamon overlain smoky oak and ash woods, sunflower seeds baked in the noon day sun, kitchen fires heavy with thyme, laurel, chives, black pepper- boiling and baking all at once.

The woman bowed her head slightly, producing keys. "Down the stairs- first three rooms on your right. I hope you feel at home."

edited 18th May '15 3:39:46 PM by LMage

M breathed in deep and his eyes became heavy with relaxation. They were shut and he was home. His throat tingled with the temptation to blurt out Our House by Madness. His fingers were twitching with the need to get back to work. The oak he had recently acquired, the mahogany he was carving into tablets, they were suddenly on his mind. It was a relief, to see he was in his workshop, working his fingers raw as he sang to his creations, carving and spell weaving into the night by scented candlelight.....

And even when he opened his eyes, the feeling was still there, he practically forgot that his teammates dragged him into a bar room brawl and got his face bleeding. It was so familiar. Too familiar. Too... Good. One might say the experience was... Spiritual. The fires, the idols, the fact they were in Rome....

He turned a dreamy eye to the proprietress and said in a friendly voice "Um, excuse me, ma'am, I do not believe we caught your name. How do we address our hestess-, Hostess, miss...?"

edited 18th May '15 5:04:49 PM by MousaThe14

Annette pressed her lips into a thin frown. Ah, the thin line we walk between an innocent suggestion and something more. Then again, were the hotel rates better or worse in Rome? Urgh. She didn't have time for technical crud and paranoia when all sorts of magical bad things could be coming to kill them.

...no time for paranoia, huh?

"Well, w-we can check some of the, um, l-local rates, I suppose. But still. C-car first."

"You seem to be implying getting to know a new arms dealer can't be considered pleasure, sister mine."

Even so, Alex gave a small sigh, mind settling into business. He made his way upstairs, signaling that Venari was free to follow, then went to check the file on Rigoletto.

[1]

Ayda nodded decisively. "I assume you know the way? If you only remember the general area, I can probably help navigate, or at least get directions."

edited 18th May '15 7:43:59 PM by Tojin

Tim sighed and gave Jarl a sidelong glance, thinking Showoff. One day he's going to do that to a god or demon who does not like their presence all but announced..., before addressing their host in natural and flawless Latin, the Latin of someone who still practiced it more often than not as Language and not a linguistic exercise.

"We thank you for your hospitality, honored one."

She looked between Tim, M, and Jarl with a profound kindness. "You are sweet- all three of you, in different ways. You may call me Tarpeia." Her eyes didn't have the sparkle that Godly being usually got when making some kind of pun about their names- instead their was a flash of sadness. "I enjoy a station of great privilege- walking among the people of Roma, giving refuge and home to wanderers who have neither. My brothers and sisters think me odd for this inclination, but I recall what they forgot: Rome's beating heart was it's hearth, and Greece's before it. And I would rather provide a hearth warm and open, then huddle around a dying flame and recall the glory of days gone by."

Venari laughed but followed.

The inside of the apartment was a two-floor loft, the bottom connected to the top by spiraling metal platform staircase. The bottom level consisted of a modernly equipped kitchen knock and living space complete with flatscreen, the upper level where doors- presumably leading to bedrooms and the study.

Everything was, naturally, gradients of white.

The door the study was a ajar, the file, as Leliana had said, sitting on the desk. Rigoletto was a mortal born of practitioner parents. He made a pretty coin selling arms and ammo to the parties in town- both magical and non-magical and on every side of every given ile. He had no qualms about selling to White Court and Red, Denarian and Vatican, in the same day- and for the most part his neutrality was respected, if only because it would be more inconvenient to kill him then to let him supply the other guy too, especially because it would just mean that both sides of a given conflict would have to find someone else.

He was mostly also used by lower-tier members of given powers, who couldn't easily afford the smuggling in of guns and weapons.

"It's one of th-those 'park here for a d-day' deals. Hang on, I g-grabbed a map for a r-reason," Annette slipped her free hand into her tote bag and rummaged about it for a little while. Clinking test tubes and a grumbled word of German later and she produced a folded up map that looked like it had been printed from a computer.

And judging by the fact that it was printed on five separate pages when it could have fit on one, the computer hadn't been having a good day. Blame the magic.

"Th-there are too many ch-churches on this map," Anne mumbled and flipped through the pages, looking for where she'd marked.

"Ms. Tarpeia, that's a very honorable path," M said with a friendly nod. "It's definitely valuable work. Thank you again for your hospitality. If there's anything we can do for you, just let us know."

"A very noble path indeed. An open hearth and a warm fire is always a welcome sight." He smiled and opened his sports bag, fetching out one of the arrows he'd carved himself, lowering it down so Tjalfe could snatch it. The wolf promptly placed it in front of the shrine to Diana before returning to Jarl's side with an enthusiastic bark.

"Though it seems not all of us agree."

edited 19th May '15 9:47:59 AM by math792d

"I assume you wish to bunk with Katherine?" Tim asked Jarl with a raised eyebrow in an, almost, neutral face.

Alexander finishes his scan on the file, then waves Lilaine over to plan.

"Rigoletto sounds like a bottom-feeder. He's in the know, which is unusual, but it also means he's both aware of how small he is compared to everything. However, that might only make him more arrogant. He's got powerful backers-and they all have an interest in his neutrality, and safety. That's likely made him consider himself untouchable."

He adjusts his glasses, and started to pace.

"The best case is he's a neutral professional. However, it is equally possible he's a petty tyrant who enjoys flexing whatever limited authority he has. Hopefully, he at least has a code."

Stopping, he turned back to the desk.

"Let's prepare a bribe-some expensive wine, perhaps, and hope Jesse hasn't omitted anything important, like him being asexual, or not drinking."

edited 19th May '15 11:38:15 AM by DrTentacles

"Well, that's up to Katelyn, isn't it?" The corners of Jarl's mouth tugged upward in a smile.

"Well, describing you spending the night in the same bed as 'Katelyn' is confusing to me, so give me some adjustment time." Tim said with a and you know why look.

Little nordic wanker couldn't get a girlfriend with another name, could he. Wouldn't be surprised if it was done on purpose.

"I know how it is, old age dulling the mind to the point where you can only attach one name to one face."

Tim turned to Katelyn. "I can only advise you to enjoy his company until his inevitable exitus by Katana."

"Now children," Terry said in his best elementary-school-teacher voice, "remember to be on your best behavior while we're at Auntie Tarpeia's."

He took one of the keys, bowing his head respectfully as he did so. "Thank you for your hospitality. It is an honor to be your guest." With that he went to get his stuff settled into one of the rooms. Let the others work out who was sharing with who.

Katelyn rolled her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose- only momentarily looking up from where she had left an offering at the feet of the statuette depicting Mars- a silver talisman of some kind.

Tarpeia just smiled fondly and knowingly and went back to cleaning glasses.

Lelaine sprawled out in the chair in front of Alex's desk, shrugging lightly. "I'm sure there is some Cabernet Sauvignon in the cellar."

Venari watched with interest, leaning up against the frame of the door.

Anne's parking structure wasn't to far from their current location: Stazione Termini. It was a few streets away according to her map, and while this was hardly the nicest area of Rome it still seemed...relatively safe.

"Come on Mr. Jarl, Herr Von Hochberg," M steadily said as he stepped in between the two. "Haven't we had enough fighting for one day? My leg can still feel that chair you couldn't aim to save your life from the earlier brawl. And I can hold a grudge. Mercilessly." M was trying to sound threatening but it did not carry as well due to exhaustion and lingering feelings of being home.

Jarl shook his head and smiled. "It's not like that. He's the esteemed gentleman of science and rules, I'm the reckless warrior sage with chronic authority problems. This is pretty much how we get along all the time."

"I am getting to old for this..." Tim sighed.

"I've tried telling them to stop sublimating their passion into hostility, but to no avail," Terry said in passing.

"Oddly you only say that when Kat is not around."

Jarl turned towards M. "Not the Kat in the room. The other Kat."