Post by wintersonata on Sept 16, 2007 19:26:33 GMT -5
The guard at Ulbrecht's Eastern Gate stifled a yawn. The shadows on the ground before him told him that it was mid-afternoon, and he'd been at his post since sunrise. To make things even more tiring, the flood of visitors to the city had been a ceaseless stream today. Winter was approaching, and often those who lived in the small villages around the capital would spend the snowy season in the city for added protection. Raiders in the wildlands had become especially common lately, and the guard puffed out his chest in pride at knowing that people felt safer within city walls because he was doing his duty.
The clip-clop of a horse's hooves reached his ears, and he looked up in interest. Approaching slowly on a pure white horse was a beautiful young noblewoman swathed in thick furs and a dark velvet cloak. On the hand that protruded from the cloak, the guard could see at least one heavy jeweled ring on each finger, and more of the same sort at the woman's ears, neck, and even adorning her dark brown hair. She gave the guard and the men patrolling the gatetop above a wide, charming smile. The guard gulped.
"G-g-g-good day, my lady," he stuttered. He was far more used to speaking with commoners than nobles, and the woman before him had a face that seemed to enchant him. "May I see your visa, please?"
The woman pulled her passbook from one of the myriad folds in her satiny cloak, handing it to him as she said, "Busy day?" She spoke Common, but her voice was softly accented with the sound of some far away place.
The guard nodded dreamily, his eyes on the golden circlet above the woman's blue-gray eyes. He barely glanced at the caricature of the face on the passbook as he stamped one of the empty pages with Ulbrecht's seal. The woman tucked a wayward curl of hair behind one pink ear as she continued casually, "I would have thought there would be more guards at Marmosia's capital."
"We've lent some of our force to Handel," the guard explained. "To catch er, um... someone." The guards atop the gate hushed him, whispering fiercely in Marmosian, "That's confidential!" But they waved and grinned at the noblewoman nevertheless as she glanced at them.
The guard tipped his hat to her as he bid her good day again, and she smiled obligingly. As she passed, her eyes fell upon a scroll that was tacked up on the wall of the guard's post box. It showed a young woman with light curly hair and eyes narrowed as she scowled (it could be only be inferred from the black-and-white poster that her hair was blonde, and her eyes were a stormy sort of blue-gray). The text below the caricature declared that a Ms. Maja deLuselle was wanted by the city of Handel for interrogation reguarding the murders of over two hundred people by incineration, six of whom were her parents and grandparents. She was to be treated as highly dangerous, since she possessed powers of illusionment and was able to alter her features in disguise.
**When will they understand,** thought Maja deLuselle in exasperation, **it's not -my- features I'm altering, it's -you- I'm enchanting?** But of course she said nothing, since the gatetop guards had turned around to watch her enter the town.
It was difficult to maintain the spell as she made her way towards the city's public stables, because she had to enchant anyone and everyone for whom she was within even glancing distance. Also, Maja had been spending most of her time in the wildlands, lodging with folks who spoke very little Common and had no cares about the goings-on of Marmosia's larger cities. It had been quite some time since she'd had to enchant this many people at once. But she managed, willing those around her to see dark brown hair, lush furs, and golden jewelry, when in reality Maja was walking amongst them with her own light blonde hair, old and battered coat, and no jewelry whatsoever.
When she had left Evana, the white horse, in one of the stable's empty stalls with some fresh hay and a trough of water, she began to walk around the city. She planned to spend the winter here; she would rather risk being seen in her true form (there were always counterspells for that sort of thing, and hardly anyone looked at those posters anyway, right?) than risk the hungry and heavily armed raiders that preyed upon small towns in Marmosia's wilderness. And if she was going to be here a while, she had better know her surroundings.
So Maja deLuselle, masquerading for all intensive purposes as the noblewoman Mercedes de la Luna, began her exploration of Ulbrecht.
The clip-clop of a horse's hooves reached his ears, and he looked up in interest. Approaching slowly on a pure white horse was a beautiful young noblewoman swathed in thick furs and a dark velvet cloak. On the hand that protruded from the cloak, the guard could see at least one heavy jeweled ring on each finger, and more of the same sort at the woman's ears, neck, and even adorning her dark brown hair. She gave the guard and the men patrolling the gatetop above a wide, charming smile. The guard gulped.
"G-g-g-good day, my lady," he stuttered. He was far more used to speaking with commoners than nobles, and the woman before him had a face that seemed to enchant him. "May I see your visa, please?"
The woman pulled her passbook from one of the myriad folds in her satiny cloak, handing it to him as she said, "Busy day?" She spoke Common, but her voice was softly accented with the sound of some far away place.
The guard nodded dreamily, his eyes on the golden circlet above the woman's blue-gray eyes. He barely glanced at the caricature of the face on the passbook as he stamped one of the empty pages with Ulbrecht's seal. The woman tucked a wayward curl of hair behind one pink ear as she continued casually, "I would have thought there would be more guards at Marmosia's capital."
"We've lent some of our force to Handel," the guard explained. "To catch er, um... someone." The guards atop the gate hushed him, whispering fiercely in Marmosian, "That's confidential!" But they waved and grinned at the noblewoman nevertheless as she glanced at them.
The guard tipped his hat to her as he bid her good day again, and she smiled obligingly. As she passed, her eyes fell upon a scroll that was tacked up on the wall of the guard's post box. It showed a young woman with light curly hair and eyes narrowed as she scowled (it could be only be inferred from the black-and-white poster that her hair was blonde, and her eyes were a stormy sort of blue-gray). The text below the caricature declared that a Ms. Maja deLuselle was wanted by the city of Handel for interrogation reguarding the murders of over two hundred people by incineration, six of whom were her parents and grandparents. She was to be treated as highly dangerous, since she possessed powers of illusionment and was able to alter her features in disguise.
**When will they understand,** thought Maja deLuselle in exasperation, **it's not -my- features I'm altering, it's -you- I'm enchanting?** But of course she said nothing, since the gatetop guards had turned around to watch her enter the town.
It was difficult to maintain the spell as she made her way towards the city's public stables, because she had to enchant anyone and everyone for whom she was within even glancing distance. Also, Maja had been spending most of her time in the wildlands, lodging with folks who spoke very little Common and had no cares about the goings-on of Marmosia's larger cities. It had been quite some time since she'd had to enchant this many people at once. But she managed, willing those around her to see dark brown hair, lush furs, and golden jewelry, when in reality Maja was walking amongst them with her own light blonde hair, old and battered coat, and no jewelry whatsoever.
When she had left Evana, the white horse, in one of the stable's empty stalls with some fresh hay and a trough of water, she began to walk around the city. She planned to spend the winter here; she would rather risk being seen in her true form (there were always counterspells for that sort of thing, and hardly anyone looked at those posters anyway, right?) than risk the hungry and heavily armed raiders that preyed upon small towns in Marmosia's wilderness. And if she was going to be here a while, she had better know her surroundings.
So Maja deLuselle, masquerading for all intensive purposes as the noblewoman Mercedes de la Luna, began her exploration of Ulbrecht.