The Amell Legacy: Transgressions

[Varric]

Varric shrugs a little as he watches Lightsong fuss over Bells, who still has not let go of the scholar in training. ''Some would object to of the joining of same and same. Or perhaps simply not approve of the knight for their student. This is evidently not you.''

[Helene Dakesh]

Helene hesitates, then. "This one is... not a great judge of what is appropriate. Does it concern you?"

[Varric]

''Nah. Not every union needs to be reproductive. Scholar needs goodness, knight needs wisdom. Both need joy, family. Good for each other.''

[Helene Dakesh]

Helene is silent for a long moment, fiddling with her robes. Finally, she gets up the courage to ask, "What do you need?"

[Varric]

Varric chokes a little, eyes darting to look at Helene for a split second. ''Umm. Pardon?''

[Helene Dakesh]

She flushes, then, looking away. "Nevermind. This one apologizes."

[Varric]

Varric hesitates, not sure how to react. Finally, he nods. ''No offense taken, Seeker.'' Over the trip, Varric has started calling Helene simply Seeker, just as Lightsong is Shiney and Marian Tabby for her curiosity. 

[GamesMaster]

They head for the gates; processing takes longer than they're all strictly comfortable with, but Marian -- Bells -- only gets the same cursory attention they all get. Then they're through, into the city proper, and the rest of the day is taken up with the usual town-entering concerns: accommodations, unpacking, finding a place to dine and eating. Marian and Helene take rooms at the Temple of Received Wisdom, Lightsong at the Temple of Living Waters, and Varric at the Gilder Goose, an inn not far from Temple Street in the district known as Coalside. 

They get settled. They begin to pick up the threads of their lives. They try to focus on the present, and not think overmuch about things best left in the past.

[Shisou]

It's been twelve evenings since Bethany saw Her, but she can't forget the sight: a young woman, silhouetted against the moonlight, her scandalously short skirt flaring around her knees, her hair flying back in the wind. She looked like freedom itself, darting across rooftops like even gravity couldn't stop her. Bethany had given chase, but had been unable to catch up. She'd only been able to ask about the girl, finding out her name:

The Midnight Princess, Soushi-hime.



She only appeared at night, and only when people were in trouble. She would appear out of nowhere, often backlit by the moon, and stop muggers, pickpockets, and other baddies from harming pure, innocent young ladies. It seemed to be her mission in particular to rescue women, to stop bad things from happening to them. If a young lady was particularly kind or beautiful, she might get a coveted prize: a sketch of a rose silhouetted against the moon, Shiori's calling card.

There was only one way to be sure of meeting her.

[Bethany]

Bethany smoothes down her tight, tight, tight cotton skirt, with just enough flare at the bottom to let her walk at more than an awkward shuffle. Wish I could get away with silk, feels nicer, but very out of place. No, my favorite tight weave cotton skirt, this low cut blouse and an undercorest is my best bet. Plus my new sexy eel skin pumps of course. The heel on these makes my legs just pop. And I need that. Stupid legs. Nice ass, good tits, good face, short legs. Oh, my hair! Humming, she twists her hair into a braid threading in her special ribbon and then fixing it in place with a pair of carved ivory hair pins. Perfect. 

Stepping out of the small, single room flat she secretly rents in upper Coal, Bethany gives herself a quick test spin, then nods. Makeup is already done. My best knickers on, freshly washed, trimmed and cleaned... ''Perfect. This is totally going to work.''

''This is a terrible idea, mon coeur adorable,'' the empty air murmurs in elven a few feet to her back and left.

''What? No it isn't! This is a brilliant idea. Seriously brilliant. I look like the finest piece of ass in all of Coalside right now- you're invisible, you don't count. No way I walk from one end to the other without some lowlife trying to get a taste.''

''...do you need to brush up on your elven? I do not think you are using that word correctly.''

''No, see, if I get in trouble, then...'' Beth sighs deeply, a goofy look on her face. ''She'll come and save me. Then I can thank her. Offer to get her some wine or tea, talk a while... Find out her name... thank her properly.''

''And if she does not appear..?'' Despite the question, the speaker knows the answer already if the resignation in his voice is any indication.

''Then you save me. And I thank you properly tomorrow afternoon when Mother is out doing calls.'' She tosses a wink over her shoulder and gives an extra sway in her next few steps to make her meaning entirely spelled out. 

I have created a monster. ''This shall end in tears, I know it,'' he mutters to himself in auran. Despite this, he follows silently after his only real friend, fully intending that she come to no harm. Even from herself...

[Shisou]

The Midnight Princess Soushi-hime watches from the shadows as yet another foolish girl goes cruising for trouble in the wrong part of town. They get younger every week, she thinks, frowning slightly. What does she have to prove? Is this a gang initiation or?

"Tell her to go home, Carbonne," murmurs the princess, to the small, moss-green lizard perched on her shoulder. 

"I'm not your manservant," xe grumbles, shaking xemself a little. 

"Please. Before she gets hurt."

Xe snorts. "Let her. It'll teach  her a thing or two. Kids these days. When I was a youngster, we listened to our elders. didn't go out cruising for trouble."

Which is why you ended up a toad in my backyard and not a mighty dragon soaring through the skies, she is wise enough not to say. Instead she murmurs, "Please. For me?"

"Well. I suppose if you've the sense to learn to lean on me instead of always doing it the hard way," xe mumbles, and then xe is gone, leaping from Soushihime's shoulder to run along the gutter. As the girl walks below a street lamp, xe leaps onto the pole, crouching on the crossbeam that holds the enchanted stone away from the support beam. 

Go home, girl. Stay safe. The creature screws up xir face, letting the crimson gemstone in xir head glow with a swirling, hypnotic pattern as xe tries to cast on Bethany.



[roll a d6: 2]
It... doesn't quite go as planned. Bethany doesn't find herself compelled to go home; on the contrary, she becomes aware of a presence in the shadows, watching her, even as she becomes keenly aware what a dumb idea this was. 

[Bethany]

Bethany jumps a little, eyes widening as she spots the figure. ''H-hello?'' Trembling, she takes a step back, hand reaching to cover the leftmost pouch on her thin woven cord belt. Zev, if that's you trying to teach me a lesson, Imma paddle your arse blue tomorrow...

[Shisou]

Carbonne. That doesn't look like going home!

Soushi-hime smooths the exasperation from her face, casting quickly under her breath. Her voice, therefore, comes from the carbuncle squatting on the lamp-post instead of her form: "Go home, girl. This is no place for a child such as yourself."

[Bethany]

That's her! I know it! Crap, there's no danger to be rescued from though. Hrrrm... ''W-who are you? What do you want?'' she calls out, putting a tremble into her voice as she peers at her. 

[Shisou]

Crap. I thought for sure that would work.

Soushi-hime steps out from the shadows then, her long, raven locks falling to her waist, held back by the tiara her amulet helpfully provides. Her red skirt is still pinned in place, covering as little as it does before the white stockings take over, held up by her garter belt; her blouse is white with red trimmings and a big red bow right over her chain shirt, as if to tempt people to aim for the armored bit and not her face. Her violet eyes are the most striking feature, big and deep the way her alter-ego's never quite manage to seem -- mostly due to the lack of spectacles, though careful examination over the years have revealed a slight shift in color, in clarity. She never has to buy the red lipstick that appears when she shifts forms, thankfully, as a deep crimson color like this would probably set her back several copper, if not a silver piece. Nor did she have to buy the black knee-high boots her simple slippers become, making her seem taller, more imposing. 

Gods but she loved being alive. 

"I am the Midnight Princess, Soushi-hime, Protector of the Innocent and Defender of Women. And you, miss, are in the wrong neighborhood. Go home."