A Literary Encounter

[Tauer]

A balding man of average human height, wearing a musty brown suit, dark-rimmed spectacles and a bright red bow tie, stepped out of one of Wistvale's many libraries, carrying a book under one arm. But this was not a book belonging to the library, this was the man's personal tome.

Once out in the street, he looked around in all directions as if wondering which way to go. Then his eyes fell upon YOU. He waved, rather fervently, as if he was an old friend from school. But you have no idea who the flarb this guy is.



((This will be a relatively short interaction for ONE player only. First to post wins the cookie!))

[Aegil]

Aegils eyes narrowed at the perculiar man who waved her over in such a friendly manner, suspicion edged in her gaze. Still, with a minor nudge from Spectre, and a few cautious glances around, she hobbled forward in the slight limp she always procured. "Yes...?" her voice came out in a slow soft hiss, almost hesitant. ((cookie!))

[Tauer]

Noticing Aegil's slight limp, the balding man with the specs and red bow tie walked over to meet her half way.

"Miss Aegil! Such a pleasure to meet you." He said, with a wide smile that revealed almost perfectly white teeth. "How are you?"

[Aegil]

Aegils suspicion deepened. "Who are you" she snapped coldly. She didn't like the thought of strangers knowing her by name, it entertained too many questions, aroused too many uncertenties.

[Tauer]

The man didn't seemed phased by Aegil's icy demeanor, instead he gave himself a slight facepalm and chuckled.

"Oh, of course! Apologies, apologies. My name is Phillip P. Pippleswick from the Literary Experts Guild." He tapped a small, round badge that was pinned to his jacket. On the badge was the acronym L.E.G. "I've come about the book."

He looked at Aegil, expectantly.

[Aegil]

Her face remained blank. She had no idea what this perculiar man was talking about. "Book...?" then her eyes narrowed a fraction. No... the only book she had known with such intimacy, and she had burned the wretched thing long ago. "I have no idea what you are talking about..."

[Tauer]

"Hmm..."

The Man from L.E.G. took the book from under his arm and began flicking through it's pages.

"AHA! Here it is. '101 Ways to Cook With Dragonrot' by A. A. Gee was checked out 31 days ago by a one Miss Aegil." He closed the book with a satisfied expression. "So there you have it."

[Aegil]

Aegil looked bewildered, which was an unusual expression for her. "I assure you mr. Pappleswack" she narrowed her eyes slightly. "I have not even opened a piece of literature aside from this in a great many years.." she held up her notebook wrapped in twine. "And I have little interest in such trivial things as.. cooking."

[Tauer]

"Pippleswick." He corrected. The man's face was beginning to turn a bright shade of red that almost matched his bow tie. His tone also changed, reflecting his growing frustration. "Madam, I do not wish to brand you dishonest, but my book informs me that you did indeed check it out. If you have misplaced the book, or if it was damaged or stolen, then all you have to do is pay the fine and this mess will all be sorted out."

[Aegil]

Aegils shadow twitched in reflection of her iritation. "Well it sounds an awful lot like you are accusing me of just that!" she hissed, fingers tightening around the staff and her posture changing. She straightened, and gave the image of a really peeved woman rather then an aged and crippled one. "I will pay no such fine as your book is quite obviously incorrect!"

[Tauer]

Phillip P. Pippleswick was clearly struggling to maintain his composure. A bead of sweat ran down the side of his face.

"Madam, I will only ask you one more time. Return the book or pay the 1000 gold fine. Otherwise you leave me no choice."

[Aegil]

Aegil rolled her eyes and pulled the hood of her cloak down. "You are quite daft. I have not a single fleck of gold to give, especially over a mistake that is of your fault, not mine. I will not tell YOU again. I. Do. Not. Have. Your. Book. Nor. Have. I. Ever" she accented each word with a step in his direction until the last word was hissed in his face. With that she spun on her heel, muttering about what a big waste of time this all was.

[Tauer]

The balding Mr. Pippleswick withdrew a handkerchief from his jacket pocket and patted the sweat from his brow. This was all just getting too much for the man from L.E.G.

"Madam, you leave me no choice." He said, as Aegil turned away. "As a Gold Class member of the Literary Experts Guild, held in highest esteem amongst his peers, I hereby ban you for life from all Houses of Literature certified by L.E.G. You have been black-listed! Never again shall you be allowed to step foot inside one of our establishments.

Oh, and one more thing."

Phillip P. Pippleswick loosened his bow tie a little. It was getting a bit tight. He placed his book, open, on the ground and began muttering words under his breath. Moments later, something leapt from the pages...

A three-headed hound, the size of a large dog, moved towards Aegil as if stalking prey. Flames built up at the back of it's throats, ready to spit fire. Locals passing by screamed and fled as soon as they saw the beast.

"I did warn you."

[Aegil]

Aegil spun on her heel, exhaspirated... until she saw the giant... dog? She froze, eyes widening a fraction. "oh you have got to be...are you INSANE!?" she stepped back a bit in shock. "Dogs...its always BLOODY DOGS!" she threw her hands up. "And for once its for something we didnt do!" her shadow curled close to her feet but she hesitated. Shadow magic was extreamly... unpopular to say the least. But... she had an idea. Her shadow stretched steathily to connect with the dogs, and then through that a thin one crawled up, and tapped the middle head on the side steathily as if to distract it and make it look like it was the neighboring head that did this. It was far from a gentle tap either. Quickly she let go of the shadow and stepped back, hoping this would work and preparing to defend herself if it didn't.

[Tauer]

"Madam, I will have you know that I am quite in control of my mental faculties, thank you very much." Mr. Pippleswick retrieved his book from the ground, closed it and returned it to the warm comfort of his armpit. "Now, if you will excuse me, I have other people to track down." And with that, the balding man from L.E.G turned on his heels and walked away.

Meanwhile, Aegil's shadow antics seemed to be doing the trick, or at least partially. The middle head snapped, threateningly, at the left head for it's apparent disloyalty. The head on the right, however, was about to spit a ball of flames at the grey-clad woman when it was jerked violently by the discontent between the other two. The fire went wide and struck a barrel situated outside one of the stores.