Open Chronicles Back in The Big City - Alliria!

[Jirou]

He chuckled when he walked in, knowing it was silly. "There's some habits that are hard to break I suppose." He closed the door softly behind him and set his things on one of the free beds. He sat upon it himself and physically waved away the worries that Ashieron carried. "I don't think many here are too dangerous. Their focus changed to werewolves almost instantaneously. Sad too. Werewolves are certainly intelligent creatures. Shame to kill one for no other reason than coin, but I don't know the details nor should I involve myself. Either way you need the rest more than I." He smiled warmly down at his friend who'd posted on the floor.

Jirou tapped his chin with a shake of his head. "Not until she either manifests in you or out of you. The latter preferred. My exorcism ability is strange. I have no magic, really. So it's all tangible exorcism. Something formless is impossible for me to deal with. But even spirits I can grasp with my bare hands." He rose an eyebrow.

"Though I can tell how foul her mouth is. Quite tactless for something considered almighty."

 

[Ashieron]

"Yeah, it is not fun. I don't even like it when she has those words coming out of my mouth." Ash smiles, "Get some sleep Jirou. I'll be here probably just living my best life." He chuckles whipping blood off of his face. "I'll probably end up crashing eventually for an hour or so."

He looks out the window, "Half of me just wants to disappear right now but that does not solve anything." Scooting over to his bag he opens it and pulls out a charm, it was made of stone and engraved with some runes and a bead hanging in the center. "This could probably be useful." He tosses it to Jirou, "Its a sort of magic containing stone, meant to steal and seal off magic. I'm thinking we can use it for Devil's things." He says not caring if she did not like the thought of it. "Like maybe seal her in there. I'll still have her around magic wise but then no one will have to worry about getting caught in such a curse I have. And I will just end up going down with her in the end then." There was a bit of happiness in the elf's eyes. He has been working on it for the whole trip, slowly etching in ancient elvish and ancient runes of dark magic. He'd look ay the stone for a second before shaking his head, "But it's just a hope."

 

[Jirou]

Jirou didn't speak. The weight of the situation readjusted and the fun they'd had had far from cancelled out the tribulations to come. He removed his hat and set it on the bed with a heavy sigh and his eyes pointed towards the ground. Jirou would never say it out loud but Ash's plan was infinitely easier than Jirou's. If they put the devil in the stone it would remain bound to Ash and it escaping would no longer be an issue they'd worry about.

But it would seal Ash's fate. It's death would mean Ashieron's death. The ronin did not want that.

He was really growing fond of Ash. And he knew now more than ever his true nature. He was free spirited and giving. Selfless and exuberant. Not anyone deserving of a fate he'd been handed. Jirou knew better than anyone how cruel fate was. He reached into his sack and removed his bottle of sake and two glasses. Damn. Almost out too. It would be a hefty and expensive trip to get another one. That didn't bother him.

He stood up and moved in front of Ash. He took a seat on the ground as well and set the beverage and cups down. As he poured he laughed seemingly out of the blue. "Did you know, and forgive me this is terrible, but did you know that mermaids actually have to learn how to draw men in?" He slid a full glass of the rice wine over to Ashieron. "So I was tasked with dealing with a rumored man-killer that had taken refuge in a lake. I know your thought is the first I had, how the hell did it even get there? It doesn't really pertain but still thought provoking. Anyways. I get to the bank of the lake and immediately here this enticing 'hello there' from the left. Turn around and see the mermaid staring at me, bearing her chest and twirling her hair. I gripped my sword and turned to face her. When our eyes locked it grew incredibly clear that she had no idea what to do." He chuckled once more.

"I kid you not, verbatim, she looked at me and said:

'I'd rather you put your trouser sword in me'"

He continued his boisterous laughter as he tried to sip his drink. Once he finished he took his sip. "Turns out she'd been exiled from the reef she was lingering in and a water mage brought her to the lake. She ate fish, actually. A bit odd but if she wasn't killing civilians I found no reason to bother her." He smiled at Ash and spoke softly.

"That devil is going to die. Alone. You are going to live. Happily. I will make sure that this is the only way the story ends."

 

[Ashieron]

Ash shakes his head, “Thats the thing, it wont lead to me dying.” He stands up, stumbles a bit and goes to his back, summons a charcoal pencil and starts drawing diagrams upon diagrams. Many half circles, many what would seem like scribbles to someone not prolific in magic would know their meaning. Then he’d start writing in elvish before he’d start laughing and scribles it out before writing in common.

“One day Im gonna teach you ancient elvish.” He says as he continues on his diagrams. After a few minutes he places them in a circle on the floor. Numbers were on the corner of each paper. “So the way I got the runes set up is that,” He points at the first one, “It only affects Devil. Not me, so she is the one who is tied to me.” He goes into detail on how the charm would essentially put Devil in a sort of a coma, yet letting him keep on using its magic. At the same time keeping their lives separated, and to such a point Ash could destroy the charm and Devil as the same time if need be. Without being affected by weather it dies or not. ‘After all, Elves do not live forever, no matter how young I may seem to you, in reality we only live to roughly 700 give or take some change. Funny thing is there is a huge age difference between us.” He chuckles. “So in doing this, long story short. I will still be able to live a normal life, and we can hide the charm away somewhere for those rough situations. If it gets crushed or whatever, she goes bye bye.” He scratches out his actually incredibly detailed image of Devil.

He rests his head in his hand, “Only issue is I have no idea if it’ll work.” He gives a huff feeling his eyes get heavy as he starts to nod off again.

 

[Jirou]

Perhaps Jirou had jumped to conclusions, but in truth he knew nothing about how magic worked. He watched intently as Ashieron explained his plot. It seemed to make sense, not that he would have any idea if it did or not. Ash spoke with conviction so his gut told him to trust his wizardly friend. He hadn't really considered the fact that Ash had lived more than five times as long as Jirou. He may even continue to live post Jirou's death. A fact that honestly lifted a weight. He didn't want to watch more good souls perish.

"So she would be more so an extension of yourself rather than affecting your core. That seems like a much more reasonable outcome. Imprisonment seems a safer route than destruction anyhow."

Jirou sighed when Ash finished however. There was always a factor of probability in these situations. He finished his sake and climbed back to his bed, moving his belongings to underneath it. "Well I suppose that's why my presence is required, no? If that spell fails then all that may be left is a sword to cleave her head."

 

[Ashieron]

By the time Jirou finsihed the word, “core” Ash was already fast asleep curled up in a tight little elf burrito of sorts. Keeping his fluffy blanket tightly around him hugging it like it is a sort of stuffed animal. His hair wrapping around his neck by accident and his bangs all over the place. A slight and soft snore coming from him as he slept. It wouldnt be until the very late morning he would rise again, hopefully.

 

[Szesh]

Szesh listened carefully to the herbalist’s advice. The potion seemed simple enough, at least in her opinion, which was good. Depending on the rarity of the ingredients, it may not be too expensive. He took the vial of quicksilver and turned it gently in his fingers. The liquid metal was mesmerizing, shimmering and viscous in the light. It gleamed brighter than his own scales. Still, he was hesitant to imbibe anything so toxic, especially when the expert was unsure of it herself.

”My thanks.”

He turned his large head to Jirou as he spoke. The man was not wrong, of course, werewolves were physical creatures much like any other. With care, and a little luck, Szesh would not need to use the poultices that Ailsa would make. All the same, he would rather have unused potions than untreated wounds. Perhaps regular weaponry would suffice, but why not use every advantage available? Still, he nodded in acknowledgment of the advice.

As for negotiations, Szesh doubted the bounty terms would allow for that.

”I shall wait,” he continued, to Ailsa. ”How much for your services?”

 

[Ailsa de Paor]

"Pretty isn't it? Yet for all its beauty, I've yet to find many uses for it - a shame really." Her words were bittersweet, she took her defeat at the hands of this silvery liquid personally adamant that one day she would indeed uncover its mysteries. As the Draconian's attention shifted onto Jirou, hers too drifted away from him and, instead, she focused intently on her own herbal pouch and satchel.

The contents of Ailsa's stashes was largely an eclectic mix of components, herbs and common reagents, thankfully for Szesh the two main ingredients she required fell into both these categories. The first, wolfsbane, was a potent and wicked poison, however, prepared correctly it could be employed to great effect to achieve many different benefits. The silver shavings, like the mercury she'd given him, were a mystery to her. She had discovered that, for some unknown reason, wounds dressed with trace amounts of it seemed less likely to fester and inflame.

Withdrawing the necessary ingredients from her stores, a few other nameless additives and a blackened pestle and mortar she began the process. Carefully she began grinding the wolfsbane, adding it in small doses alongside the nameless other herbs she had chosen. Her movements were precise, her attention unwavering, and while this recipe was quite simple on the face of it all, Ailsa strived for excellence and settled for nothing less.

"My services? Oh." She paused her preparation as she spoke, almost as if she had forgotten the wider world around her. "I have no need for coin, but a favour will suffice. Don't worry, nothing sinister will be required on your part I assure you." Her warm smile returned as she spoke and, after a brief pause, she continued her preparation of the salve.

 

[Szesh]

Szesh would have preferred to pay with gold or goods. He did not like leaving things open-ended. The sort of people he usually dealt with were quick to take advantage, and if terms were not discussed outright one party was likely to be swindled.

But Ailsa seemed honest enough. She had given him the quicksilver before asking payment, after all, and Szesh knew it was not the easiest item to come by. While he was uncomfortable not knowing just what would be asked of him, he put those thoughts aside for now.

Their company gone, Szesh took a seat at her table. Though he did not understand the craft he was interested in her work. The deliberate way she ground the leaves, the careful measurements of this and that. It was not something he would take joy in himself, but he could appreciate the skill required.

 

[Ailsa de Paor]

Ailsa was oblivious to the onlooker, at first, her thoughts and focus were paid solely towards the concoction she was brewing before her. As she progressed through the motions, she began to withdraw small vials of suspicious and alien liquids and, carefully, she decanted single drops from each and began stirring it in her mortar.

"Interesting fact, by the end of the night I will have supplied you two poisons!" She smiled, carrying about her measurements, her grinding, her decanting and, at one point, her tasting. It wasn't until an uncomfortable silence had passed that she realised what she had said and paused. "Apologies, I said that in jest. Wolfsbane is a potent toxic, usually, but not when prepared as so." She smiled, then sighed, sometimes she wished she thought before she spoke.

"If you could do me a separate favour from the one owed... and perhaps distract Stout when he makes an appearance? We have a troubled past with my potions and... his inn." As she spoke, she glanced nervously back at the bar, praying that he would not catch her.