RP log: meet Elise Bauckmann
This is a log of an RP session between zombie-dog and myself over AIM. IM RP is fun! Everyone should do it.
It was Sunday morning, and the 8th Street Bazaar was in full swing. Independent farmers, craftsmen and representatives of companies hawked their wares, each one trying to shout over the others. There were quieter spots, but those were mostly occupied by the bustling crowds. It was a chaotic scene that ended no more than a block away but ran as intensely as any other scene in the city within the bounds of the bazaar.
Elise Bauckmann was agitated. She didn't like visiting the Bazaar, and she avoided it whenever possible. She was rather small, even for an eighteen-year-old human, and the Forcebolt at her hip might as well have been a sign reading “Easy Prey”. Unfortunately, no one else was available to run this errand, so she hurried on, glancing around at the stalls, in search of her destination.
The boothkeepers hounded her from both sides as she walked, persistent and loud. It was not unlike walking through a kind of gauntlet, but rather than being beaten with sticks one was beaten with sales pitches. The path seemed interminable, but slowly the end of the road approached. While she managed not to flinch every time one of the vendors yelled in her direction, Elise couldn't help a nervous flick of her eyes in the direction of each new loud noise.
“Elven farming collective and turn right…” she muttered to herself, following memorized directions until she found herself approaching the stall she was looking for, from the Elven Artificers' Guild. The stall owner likely would not recognize her, but her ident pin that showed her association with the Murphy Atelier was-check and make sure, now-fastened at her right breast, so she took a deep breath and approached the stall.
The man at the booth was a black-haired elf, not making the loud sales pitches as other booth owners. He simply allowed his wares-what few they were-to display themselves, and stood mutely as a testament to their quality and availability. As Elise approached, he looked at her and raised one eyebrow. It was not a look of contempt or expectation, but merely of questioning: a sort of “may I help you, miss?” condensed to a single gesture.
Elise gave the man a fleeting smile in response to his expression as she walked up, beginning, “Hi, I'm El-” before shaking her head, swallowing nervously, and starting again: “I mean, I'm from…”
Trailing off, she glanced down towards the pin on her chest, sighed, and tried a third time. “My master sent me for some heaven-aligned ether crystals.” Her eyes swept across the counter and alighted on a box displaying some crystals of various sizes and shapes. “Are those…?”
“Mmm,” the boothkeeper said, and reached into the case. He ran his hand over the crystals as he talked. “All of the above, those are. Are you Elsa's?” Elise was having trouble determining whether the man was asking her a required question or simply making conversation.
She nodded. “Yes, she took me as her apprentice three months ago, after I… well, I mean, I'm sorry, that's not important,” she said, making a face as though berating herself for wasting this man's time. “She needs them for the collector array on the roof of the shop.”
The man looked a little amused. “Yes, very non-individualistic of you,” he said as his fingers seemed to find the appropriate crystal. He pried it from its place carefully, carefully avoiding let it touch the other crystals. “Elsa's wet dream, even. You haven't spent much time with Nora, have you? Where's she been, then?”
Elise's expression registered confusion at the elf's statements, her face flushing with what she was sure was a lewd suggestion, if she could only figure out what it meant. “Well, no,” she replied, “not that much… I mean, she helps out a lot, and… I don't know? She usually runs errands like this, but she's doing something else right now, I think…”
The elf met her gaze, and Elise couldn't help but find it chilling. Not in an intense, sexy way, but in a calculating, I-know-when-you-are-going-to-die way. “You'd do well to spend some time with Nora,” he said, pulling out the crystal and wrapping it in cloth. “She may be subservient by the laws of her creation, but few creatures alive have a stronger personal will than she. Once you see her have a real fight with Elsa, you might understand.” He held out the cloth-wrapped crystal to her. “Don't drop this,” he added.
“Thank you,” Elise said, taking the package from him, gasping involuntarily as her fingers brushed his and she could feel the rush of old, strong magic coursing behind his skin. She clutched the crystal to her chest and returned his gaze, unable for the moment to tear herself away. “And… thank you. I- I will spend some more time with her,” she stammered.
He regarded her dispassionately for a few moments, then leaned toward her. “Speak to Nora,” he said quietly. “You are an apprentice, not a familiar. If you act like prey…” he straightened, then smiled slightly. “Elsa will prey on you. Do not trifle with old mages. They will devour you.”
Elise gulped and then nodded, trying to force a smile but failing, the effort instead making her look more scared than ever. “Thank you, sir. I will.” She backed up half a step and glanced around, her eyes widening in panic as she realized that the strange conversation had driven her carefully-memorized directions out of her head.
“Left to the end of the bazaar,” the elf's voice said behind her. “Right on Wyrth and walk until you get to the Rail station.”
Elise turned and shot a grateful smile at him, then began the walk back to the atelier, her thoughts whirling around the elf's words, paying only enough attention to her route to make sure not to trip over her own feet.
[Note: We first met Nora during a routine checkup.]