The Dresden Files RP- "Edge Town"

"I need to restructure my life so I can spend more times reading resumes and less time punching lycanthropes."

"You can probably put a Craigslist ad for that."

"Hey, you didn't have to spend any time punching out the last batch. Improvement!" Terry was leaning against the car, having accepted that the answer to his question was "stand around bantering all day."

"Let's be honest with ourselves, Terrence. At one point or another, we'll be punching those lycans out. The Brotherhood doesn't screw around."

"But yeah, let's get going." Jarl got behind the wheel again.

Leon unbuckled his sword belt and put it back into the car before sliding back into the passenger seat and reopening the ectomancy book and resuming his reading. He figured they'd be done bantering soon enough and they'd be on their way once more.

Tim just shrugged, put his hat back on the back set and sat himself behind the wheel too.

"Hobey ho, let's go," Terry muttered as he settled into his rightful place in the driver's seat.

M sighed and put his things back in the vehicle and took up the passenger seat beside Tim. He then proceeded to exhale deeply and laid his head on the passenger side of the dashboard.

Anne settled into her chair and sipped at her bottled water. This wasn't a happy subject to breech, but seeing as there was already one thing after Annette and her son that Ayda knew about, it made sense for the turn-about to be in the open as well. Right?

"So..." she started, meekly, and looked at Ayda over her glasses, "Do y-you have people after y-you now, too? Because, um, well I c-can't shoot fire or m-make earthquakes h-happen, but...I've b-been good at throwing w-wrenches in more powerful f-folks' plans b-before."

Annette dared a small smile that was somewhere between nervous and cocky. It looked a bit odd. "I c-can watch your back, since you're w-watching mine?"

edited 14th May '15 11:17:02 AM by KeiranGold

Ayda took a seat as well, across from Anne. "Kinda? I'm after him as well, so it gets pretty circular at times. But mutual back-watching sounds good to me." Ayda smiled sincerely.

"Heh...n-nothing is ever s-simple with people in th-the magical community, is it?" Annette chuckled softly and placed a hand on David's shoulder, giving it a small squeeze, "I'd be h-happy to help you, dear."

Rome

The view from the train is spectacular.

Ayda, Anne, and David- the last with his face pressed up against the glass in more than a little awe- watch as the city line approached. Spider webbing out from a single center and into the countryside, the building not glittering but illuminated in the later afternoon sun.

There wasn't a distinct line- where the city began and the countryside stopped, instead the flicking rustic houses grew thicker and thicker, the roads cleaner and more cared for, stone and marble appearing in flashes- not gaudy and opulent, but well worn and aged. And as the buildings grew thicker so did the people- in larger throngs at first and then in scattered groups running through cobble stone streets as the train pulled deeper and deeper into the city. There was beauty- art- at every turn, full of history, culture, life.

It was easy- even with the most minor sensitivity, to feel the power in the air: the concept the idea of Rome- seat of Empires, once the beating heart of the west, would have been enough, but layers upon layers of history- of spirits and gods and creatures- calling this place home, pulling together into one space and compacting it beside the thousands of souls pressing up against one another?

Life. The city was alive.

The horn blasted as the train pulled into the station- letting the three of them off and into hoard of a crowd waiting to board and disembark twenty trains going forty places.

Via Vento- Roughly The Same Time

Alex- to the horror of the nearby pedestrians- pulled up to the curb beside a beautiful white building at the corner of two bustling streets. Four stories with a steppeled roof, even little boxes with flowers hanging from the windows- they were in the thick of town- a stone's throw from similar buildings, as well as shop fronts. There where no vendors in sights though- at least not in this part of town.

With only slightly less terror, did the Porch pull up behind Alex's car- Leliane hopping out and tossing him a set of keys. "We're the top two floors- so sayth Jess. According to her, it's a pretty penny but nothing that's a terrible strain on us."

Magia Riposo- Much Later That Night

In the end they had to give up the cars somewhere half way into the city and go on foot- it had been hours of walking, a great deal of angry Italian and one fist fight, turned bar fight, turned brawl- which left Leon with a black eye, Tim with taped glasses, and M with a split lip- before they found what they were looking for.

Magia Riposo- a basement tavern with a neon sign above the stairwell entrance. It had a distinct 1920s feel- hardwood floors, glass chandelier, jazz band, but it didn't escape anyone's notice that there where exactly 12 hearths throughout the place- each set with a small statuette to one of the 12 olympians, and each with mantles heavy with flowers, candles, and jewels. A clear scent of burnt food rolled out of each hearth- but it wasn't...crisp and sharp. It was warm. Comforting. Homey.

A sharp looking woman in a flapper dress with a lone feather held to her head by a headband- she wore rich reds and long dark hair. She smiled as the group entered- warm and homey. A single glance over them and she spoke in English. "Can I help you nice folks?"

edited 17th May '15 1:22:41 PM by LMage

Tim sighed and then answered in fluent Italian. "Something to eat would be greatly appreciated, for starters." He looked at Leon and then added. "And if my young associate here tries to talk about football kindly warn me to so I can stop him before it escalates again."

Ayda stretched and took a deep breath, glad to be out of the train car, with its recycled air and noisy couple in the compartment behind them who had been talking (near-shouting, in fact) the entire trip about nothing in particular. She turned to Anne and handed her another note. "Welcome to Roma! You needed to find someone here, right?"

Jarl gave each of the twelve Olympian-flavored hearths a serious side-eye. As much as the place was homey and comfortable, the inescapable fact that this was a city dedicated to them made him very, very uncomfortable.

Though it did give him some solace that he'd managed to find a purple SPQR t-shirt. Sarcasm in absentia was still sarcasm. "If you have rooms available, that would also be appreciated," he added to Tim's commentary, also in Italian.

Leon rubbed his slightly sore jaw as he looked around. Despite having just gotten out of a bar fight he looked quite relaxed. Apparently, beating up on drunks was a great stress reliever. At least for him. As Tim and Jarl talked with the tavern owner, he was guessing, Leon was looking around to see who or what else was in this place. Though, since it was accorded neutral territory, he hopefully wouldn't have to worry about suddenly being attacked while here.

"You two are lucky I'm not paranoid, or giving Italian answers to an English question would have me mighty suspicious," said Terry. He hoped Tim wasn't still sore over the barfight. It had been a mild enough brawl, no broken-bottle shivs or anything.

"Savages...." M moaned as he dabbed at his lip with another paper towel. He has basically been muttering the word from the time they left the bar to their arrival at the tavern "I am working with savages..." He took a good look around their location's homey appearance, vaguely comforted by the fires and the idols; reminded him of some of the summoning exercises he did with his Grandfather.

Annette nodded as she read over the note. "My car, f-firstly. I'd like to have m-more than one potion on me," she handed the paper back to Ayda and glanced over the crowd, "Th-then we sh-should start heading t-towards Florence to f-find...or...w-well," she grimaced, "...l-look for my friend, wh-wherever he is."

Alexander hopped out of the car, popping the trunk and pulling out an unadorned, hard-shelled black case sealed with a combination lock. Everything else, the porters could get, but it was always unwise to let hired help handle the weaponry.

He flashed Venari a bright, cheerful grin, feeling inexplicably better to be back in a city. There was something-the crowds, the energy, the roil and seethe of emotions surrounding him intrinsic to metropolises, and he hadn't realized how much he missed it.

"Shall we get settled in, then go find a nightclub? Somewhere exciting-full of life, and danger. We've time before the exhibition, I believe."

Venari smiled. "A few days, at least."

Lelaine snorted. "Before you run off brother mine- business before pleasure. Jessy had the specs and a meeting time set up for that arms dealer- Rigoletto." She stretched a bit before heading in. "File's on the desk- meet and greet is tonight."

David's hand tightened around Anne's a little more. "Hey mom..." He kicked the heel of one shoe with the toe of the other. "Do you think we could stay? Just a few days. Caleb- he wont be there and the point of coming this far was to see the city..." He trailed off, still not looking up.

The woman shrugged, barely looking up from her glass cleaning. "This hearth and home are always open to any weary travelers in need- for a small fee." She rattled off a number- fairly reasonable all things considered. "Also it's courtesy and wise to leave an offering for one of the Olympians- we lack a lares and instead depend upon the divine protection of the dell'Olimpo. Any small token will suffice- to any given patron."

edited 17th May '15 8:36:19 PM by LMage

Leon looked around at the little altars to the twelve Olympians due to the woman's statement about offerings to the gods. He had never been a particularly religious child, having been far more focused on video games and martial arts then church. So, part of him was reluctant to offer anything resembling worship to a god at this point, especially since it was pretty firmly planted in his mind, thanks to the Norse deities that gods were dicks.

Still, the young warden headed towards the altar to Vulcan. Some might have associated his knack for violence as a man more willing to offer tokens to Mars, but Leon had always felt that the thing that divided him from other Wardens was his urge to create and tinker and otherwise craft new things even if said new things weren't always too practical for his job. So, he dug one of his few entirely handcrafted items of gear out. One of his lightning darts. A lot of his gear was simply heavily modified and enchanted from stuff he got off the shelf or from other people, but the lightning darts were one of the few things that he actually made from scratch, only buying the raw materials to mold.

He stared at the small enchanted throwing blade, really really hoping that he wouldn't end up in a situation where he needed just one more of his lightning darts, before placing it gently before the altar to the Roman god of the Forge. He bowed his head respectfully, but didn't really do much else, not really having any idea about the proper method to offer things to the Roman gods or otherwise show respect towards them.

edited 17th May '15 10:15:25 PM by Kosjurake

Terrence thought about going to the altar for Artemis - make that Diana - who he expected would look kindly upon a werewolf. Or perhaps Apollo - make that Apollo - because he could damn sure use a friend in the medicine business. But no. Right now Mercury was the only choice.

He dropped to his knees in front of the hearth and put his hands together. Hey. I hope I'm not bothering you. I'm far from home and on business that may not be of the strictest legality, and it is said you smile on such people. I know I'm affiliated with a different franchise, as it were, but I only signed up for the benefits. It's nothing personal. I've long been a fan of yours, since before I had any idea you might be real, and I'd jump ship to your group in a heartbeat if I thought it would get me away from Loki. Fuck Loki. Fuck him so much.

Since it looks like I'm stuck with this debt to him to work off, I think I'll need a touch of your famously quick wits to get out of this with life and conscience intact. As a token of my great respect, I leave you this hat. It's hardly the most expensive thing I own, not even the most expensive piece of clothing, but I'm fond of it and I picked it up because it looks like Mat Cauthon's. He seems like your sort of guy. Odin symbolism and all. Besides, you seem to be a chapeau man. That covers everything, I think. Have a good one.

He set the hat down and gave it an affectionate pat before returning to the table.

Tim looked at the altars, then looked at his...friends with him...and put an offering before Athena's....or rather Minervas I am going to need every ounce of wisdom these coming days. Any help would be greatly appreciated. He thought. And if only because you want to put one into Loki's eye.

edited 18th May '15 12:02:21 AM by 3of4

"Grazie, ma'am," M said with a slight bow as he doffed his goggles. "Don't mind if I do." He wearily hobbled towards the hearths, stepping past each one with a brief nod. He always learned to respect the personal gods of all practitioners. Heck, as a Loa, even Ntikuma was technically a sort of God. Vodun was riddled with them, sustained by the belief and respect of families or even individuals, so long as they saw gods in all aspects of life, every object, every action, every person.

It was this understanding from Vodun that allowed M to pay some sort of respect to the Pantheon of idols. Even if they weren't directly tied to the god they represented, in a small way the belief made the idols their own gods and with that they hold a little power.

He ended up right beside Leon at the hearth of Vulcan and he looked it straight in the eyes.

"Hephaestus, if you don't mind me calling you that. I always preferred it to Vulcan. With the volcano there is too much anger, too much fire, too much destruction. But when I hear Hephaestus I see a a smithy and a craftsman, and that is the what puts me in your eternal stronghold as mortal whose mettle is tempered with metal. Take care," then M put down the duffle and dug around in it until he pulled out a small red box with with a big yellow letter "I" on it. He opened it to reveal a pair of bracelets made from cheap rubies.

"Take it," he said as he tossed one of the bracelets into the fire as he put the other back in his bag. "I'm sure you'll appreciate a Wristlink of Red Inferno."