Royal Flush (Reena & Mint)

Fernand's purple eyes take in the pieces of clay, and he picks up a few that still retain some hint of bird shape. "An excellent shot, if I read events accurately. Please, tell me what happened."

Mint reflexively stands at attention while making her report.

"My cousin and I were talking. A clay bird landed on the windowsill then tooki flight. I strung my crossbow, knocked a bolt, and shot it then retrieved what pieces I could from the courtyard. I could find the rest, but not quickly as they fell quite a bit further."

"Fascinating," says Fernand. "Not entirely unknown to me--in that I've seen such sorcery more than once in the past. This would apparently be rather subtle. My thanks Lady Mintabilia Brandsdotor. We shall be leaving very soon. May I suggest you be ready within ten minutes? I feel a more pressing need to be going."

Mint nods agreeing with Fernand's desire for haste.

"I'm ready now."

Her pack slung across her back, Mint does in fact look ready for almost anything. Her crossbow remains strung although once more attached to her quiver.

"We've been ready and waiting for some time now." Reena says while finishing off another bottle and adding it to the row of empties on the table.

"Did you feel any residual coldness or other non-clay effect when you gathered the pieces, Mint? That could have been another creation of the Valentine hunter. Hopefully your sharp-shooting will make him consider leaving us alone."

"I felt no coldness cousin, but then again I'm too cautious to touch even a shattered magical spy with bare skin."

Mint offers the pieces of clay bird to Reena for analysis.

"Our mysterious opposition will likely either retreat or escalate. Either option will show us something of their character."

Mint smiles and shrugs.

"I take fun where I find it."

"As to the apple, that would depend on how good Fernand is."

"You mean 'how still he can stand'?" she says with a smile for Fernand.

Reena then takes the time to look over the clay fragment in her hands. Hoping to find some resemblance to the creature she fought earlier or some indication to the nature of it's creation.

Where's the fun in shooting at a still target.Mint thinks.

"I can hit most things at 100 paces. In all fairness I should admit that I don't actually spend much time shooting at things that aren't moving."

As Reena examines the clay bird, Mint will also pay it more attention, albeit from a slight distance. Does the bird appear to have been made by the same person who created the clay cat that Mint has met?

Mint feels an attempt at trump contact.

Mint says "I'm getting a Trump call."

She steps away from Reena and places her back to a wall before answering.

"Lamiaceae, it's Fergus. Is it convenient to talk?"

Reena watches Mint get in position and take the Trump call.

Always on guard, she is. Reena thinks. Maybe she's sending out another report. Commenting on the quality of Fernand's liquor cabinet. This might take a while.

Reena takes out her own Trump deck , shuffles the cards, and deals out a hand of solitaire to pass the time.

Fergus wrote:"Lamiaceae, it's Fergus. Is it convenient to talk?"

"I have at least a few minutes. What do you need?"

The smile on Mint's face and slight relaxation of her posture suggest that this is a friendly contact.

Fergus smiles but keeps his voice low as he continues.

"I must keep my voice down as I'm on an enemy submersible at the moment. I've been listening in to the cultists talking and have learnt a couple of interesting things you should know. First of all Isobel had a map in a boat she owned with the shadow of Iv marked on it as well as one called Wone. It didn't register to me immediately, until just after I heard Iv mentioned again by the cultists, that Iv is your home Shadow. The cultists were talking about the otherthrow of a Vicerine in Iv, though I confess I only caught part of the conversation. Also they were talking about sending more spies out to hunt for members of the family, so be careful."

Fergus reaches down and draws something up in front of him.

"One final thing, the family have created some trumps of me. This is a spare if you need to contact me."

With that Fergus passes the card through the link.

Mint scrunches her forehead at the news.

Those watching see her reach forward and pluck a card out of thin air.

"Thank you for the information, the warning, and the card. I have already shattered one clay bird today. I'm going to be out of touch again for a bit, but I will call when I can."

"Lamiaceae, there are two groups watching us. One uses the clay birds, though I confess I do not know who they are. The other is called the Oracle group on the Nexus, who are the ones I am investigating, and they use monocles that link to a Sphinx like construct. Anyway I wish you luck in your travels Cousin. Till later"

With that Fergus breaks the link.

Mint adds the card to her trump deck and then stretches. Her body language shows a bit of impatience as she waits for Fernand to get ready to depart.

Reena looks up from her game over to Mint after the Trump call is complete. She raises a questioning eyebrow about the call but also a slight nod of her head in warning towards Fernand.