Tauer [M:150:160:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=540&page=1#18960][b]While the Light's away, the Shadows will play.[/b]
Serenity caught on what she assumed was a natural shyness and not so much disgust toward herself. She hoped. The girl really did remind her of Tallia.
She read the gesture and replied, "I used to live in Wistvale for some time almost seven years ago, before I moved back to my original home in Highever. For the moment I'm visiting and thought to take part in this lovely gala."
Immediately after her response, Serenity thought it best to return mingling with others. She felt she was bothering the two and didn't want to make an awkward atmosphere with her presence.
"Forgive me if I intruded, it was a pleasure meeting you," she nodded to both Neko and Tauer before starting to walk away to another part of the room.
::Neko let out a sigh. This was definatly not her place. She was trying to fit in but it seemed she may have accidently come off as distant, and she didn't want that. She reached out to take the woman by the arm to stop her, but thought better of it at the last minute. She knew what her natural reaction to being grabbed would have been, and it wasn't pleasant. Instead she settled for waving to try and get her attention and motion for her to join them with a smile.
She came here to meet people afterall, and even from the limited interactions they had had, this woman intrigued her. Perhaps she could give her some background on how Wistvale came to be, and the world outside its walls. Who knows, she may even have known her uncle. His history here intrigued her most of all, as she was still trying to figure out if he really was her version of Uncle Gray, or something else. ::
Silent as a shadow on padded feet...
Orp Boon [M:83:616:][D3v:http://www.rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=406&page=1#374]"Is that family heirloom for sale?"[0:Gone fishing.][1:The store is open!]
As Serenity began to walk away from the two, she saw someone in front of her gesture to something behind her. When she turned around, there was the girl waving to her.
It only took her a moment to hypothesize at which point she covered her mouth with a look of embarrassment. She took back her few steps that she had taken away from Neko and Tauer.
"I'm sorry, can you not speak?" she had a tinge of red on her cheeks when she asked.
::Neko felt a little flush herself, and tried her best not to find something interesting in the tile floor to look at. What was it about this party that made her feel so exposed? Not for the first time tonight she regretted leaving home in such a rush that she forgot the gauntlets her aunt had given her...and possibly her armor... At least then perhaps the familiar weight would have given her some small comfort here, flarb what anyone else thought of it...
Pushing those thoughts aside, she put a hand to her throat and shook her head no in response to the woman's question. What had she been thinking when she decided to come here to meet people, when she can't even talk to them.
Oh well, no sense dwelling on the past and besides, it was too late to back out now. She might as well try to make the best of it. ::
"Oh gods, I'm terribly sorry." she said while chuckling at herself out of embarrassment, "You must think I'm awful."
She especially felt bad for not learning the language of hands during all her time in Highever.
At the moment she was just thinking of what to say next that wouldn't be offensive or considered so. More than that, how to carry on a conversation.
"Is there a certain...way you communicate with other? I hope that's not rude to ask."
Serenity was sure Neko had a special way of talking to others if she was at a party like this to begin with.
Tauer [M:150:160:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=540&page=1#18960][b]While the Light's away, the Shadows will play.[/b]
Tauer chuckled a little to himself. Watching these two women flushing with embarrassment was somewhat amusing. But he knew how difficult it must be for his feline friend. Trying to communicate with just your hands wasn't easy and the demon didn't want to mention the dark magic that Neko and he were gifted with.
::She wasn't sure how to answer the woman's question. Sure there were the gauntlets, forgotten in her rush to get here. There was the hood her uncle gave her, but it was a secret still as she was not officially a member of the Vanguard. There was even her magick, but she was cautious enough not to display it here with so many wandering eyes. Even if they were alone she doubted she would have exposed that secret just yet as they had only just met. Tauer had been different as he had shown his Gift to her first... She could write, but lacked the tools to do so at the gala.
So that left her with only her signs. It was a language Father had taught her from his world. A way to speak with your hands. It had been modified some over the years as she picked up signs from those that had passed through her homeland, so it was now somewhat muddied from its original state, but still understandable to those that knew the language. Not unlike differing dialects of a spoken language.
She nodded and with a smile, gave a few gestures in this language. She was not sure if the woman, or anyone else for that matter, would understand but she wanted to at least show herself as being capable. And not for the first time she considered the thought of teaching her signs to others. Perhaps Naradel. and with a sideways glance in his direction Perhaps Tauer...
(Hello. My name is Neko. It is a pleasure to meet you.) ::
Orp Boon [M:83:616:][D3v:http://www.rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=406&page=1#374]"Is that family heirloom for sale?"[0:Gone fishing.][1:The store is open!]
Angeline makes her way back to the top of the stairs and addresses the crowd.
"The first course will begin shortly! Will my honored guests please make their way up with me to my table?"
All the guests that Angeline whispered to begin to swim through the throng of people towards Angeline who opens the doors at the top of the stairs and enters a room behind them.
As the guests enter the room behind the doors, they are surprised by the extravagance of this dining room. A large table covered in a white silken tablecloth tied in blue bows at the corners is overflowing with food. The room is lit with fancy lanterns on the walls and a chandelier about the table.
The guests take their seats. Angeline takes the head of the table. There appears to be no assigned seats so Neko, Tauer and Serenity can take a seat next to any guest they please.
The other guests are introduced:
The overweight woman in her forties is Ms. Rose Smith, the florist on Main Street. She seems to have come on some hard times. Some people whisper about how she needed some loans and couldn't get them.
The man in the striped blue suit is Mr. Zechius, one of the local tax collectors. No one seems to want to sit with him.
The woman with her dark hair in dreads is Mrs. Giver, the head of a charity fund in Wistvale. People whisper that she's always looking for money for some new cause.
The drunk dwarf is a member of a travelling performance troop looking to expand the area they travel too. He doesn't remember his own name but someone says his name is Tank.
The family of three, the man in the sharp suit, his very attractive wife and the young male are Mr. and Mrs. Venger and their son Kyle. No one wants to sit with them, even moreso than Mr. Zechius the tax collector. Mr. Venger takes the end of the table opposite Angeline. Angeline gives the family and strange look, somewhere between contempt and invitation. She mentions that "maybe this event will help bring our rivalry to an end." Someone whispers that the Vengers are Angeline's neighbors and they have always been rivals. They compete over who has the best house, who throws the best parties, who has the more affluent friend.
The elderly woman is Old Lady Crone. She lives in Uptown all by herself. Her husband died a long time ago and her only daughter Sarah killed herself after being dumped by Kyle Venger. Old Lady Crone spits on the ground near Mr. and Mrs. Venger and walks to the other side of the table near Angeline to sit.
When the elderly butler arrives with a tray of covered silver platters, Angeline springs to her feet.
"This event is threefold: Not only is it the Annual Gala, it is a celebration of the halt of the Body Stealer and...
the 80th birthday of my most trusted butler, Jeeves!"
She hugs him and he receives a rousing chorus of the traditional birthday song a round of applause.
As the silver platter covers are removed with a SHHHIIINNGG the roasted phoenix eggs are revealed underneath. Angeline motions to everyone.
::Neko was gaping as she entered the room. She knew the woman was well off, but had not expected anything of this extent. She wondered for a moment what Tilik would have thought of this place. No doubt he would have tried to pocket a few items while he was here, and she smiles at the thought. It takes her a moment to realize she had slowed to a halt in the doorway and was blocking the entrance.
Closing her mouth and shaking her head to get back on track, she sees the white hair of Tauer ahead of her and quickens her pace to catch up to him. When he sits, she takes the chair beside him, not caring who else joins them. She wasn't about to give up the having someone she knew close to her.
When the course was presented, she was curious as she had never had a dish like this before. But having had to endure Jenkins' cooking, she supposed it couldn't be any worse. ::
Silent as a shadow on padded feet...
Tauer [M:150:160:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=540&page=1#18960][b]While the Light's away, the Shadows will play.[/b]
Upon entering the elaborate dining room, Tauer couldn't help but be transported back to the castle in Broodberg. The Van der Hal family home had a room very much like this one; his father Verin would sit at the head of the table, his mother to the King's right, his brother Merik opposite their mother, and Tauer, himself, would be seated next to his big brother. The memory brought along with it a wave of sadness. The demon prince would probably never see his family ever again. There would be no more happy family meals.
Tauer turned to find Neko standing awestruck in the doorway. He couldn't help but smile, the sadness subsiding. The demon guided his feline friend to a pair of seats somewhere in the middle of the long table, pulling out a chair for her before seating himself. Witnessing some of the odd and contemptuous behavior between several of the other diners, Tauer wondered why their host would bring such people together.
The self-exiled prince gave his applause along with everyone else at the announcement of the butler turning eighty, but couldn't help wondering why Angeline hadn't released the poor man from his duties and let him enjoy retirement. Tauer's concerns soon disappeared at the sight of the phoenix eggs - these were a rare delicacy, indeed!
Serenity was perhaps the least awed by the wondrous sight that beheld everyone, having gotten used to elaborate and rich parties in Highever. Nevertheless she was appreciative of the effort the host put out, and it showed on her genuine smile.
There was a strange air around the table as the Lieutenant's guests began to gather around. Serenity heard little gossip while she was mingling out in the lobby, not wanting stray comments to influence her attitude toward the other guests, preferring to know them for herself. If she were to be offended or put off, it'd be best done whilst getting to know someone.
Most of the seats nearest Angeline were filling up before Serenity could reach the table. She noticed that no one sat near Mr. Zechius and decided to take a seat next to him. The noble greeted him with a slight nod of the head as she took her seat.
Serenity joined in the applause when Angeline announced that part of the festivities were for her butler, thinking to herself how wonderful it was of the Lieutenant to put this much consideration for her personal staff.
To her surprise, Serenity didn't expect phoenix eggs to be one of the courses. House Ashen of Highever consider the magical beast sacred, and would find it offensive to consume it's eggs. Obviously Highever was far away, and so were the Ashens, but the Lady Howle still didn't feel quite right to just partake of the eggs, even though they were already prepared for consumption.
However, she thought it worse to offend her gracious host and set her feelings aside this one time.
Orp Boon [M:83:616:][D3v:http://www.rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=406&page=1#374]"Is that family heirloom for sale?"[0:Gone fishing.][1:The store is open!]
The 80 year old butler and a few other butlers began to serve the table and each plate had a phoenix egg placed on it. The outside was a golden brown and as the guests began to pierce the shells with their spoons the inside was revealed to be a gooey yellow substance.
Mrs. Rose Smith nearly spit her first bite out.
"Oh my, this is spicy!"
Kyle Venger stabbed at his egg with a fork. His parents seemed to sit awkwardly. Mr. Venger spoke up above the crowd.
"The phoenix eggs are a nice touch, Lieutenant. How much did you pay for them to be poached? 40,000 a piece? You do know they are endangered, right?"
Angeline took the insults with a stoic face.
"All these eggs were stillborn. They were given to us from the Far East in exchange for some much needed food and supplies after a flood. They had a particularly bad monsoon season this year. And I will remind you, Mr. Venger that you are here as a guest."
Mr. Venger looked very unsure. He seemed on edge as he looked down the table at each guest. Everyone except Tank seemed annoyed at Mr. Venger's attempt to insult Angeline. Even his wife looked at him with a bit of contempt. He looked back at Angeline and then put his head down and concentrated on his food.
Last Edit: Oct 20, 2012 2:09:36 GMT -5 by Orp Boon