Of Rogues and Guardians

A roleplay transcript by Calliope, Lyrena, Tashiel & Gisele

Lyrena Auberan had gone on a late afternoon patrol session in the Shambles, after reports that not one, but two muggings had occurred on the walkways yesterday. The Blood elf was in uniform, complete with her recognizable white Guardian cape, and for the time being, she seemed to be alone - aside from the few Guardians doing their own routes in different places of the shantytown. As Lyrena reached the blacksmith, the Dame Commander made a brief stop there, and went inside to trade some words with tradesman, something regarding materials and resupplying the barracks. After that, Lyrena stepped out of the open building, and headed towards the little market area just outside. Spotting a familiar human face, and a familiar elven silhouette on the other side, Lyrena slowed her gait. She considered whether to even stop and acknowledge the pair or just carry on with her business, and ultimately, as she caught Gisele's eyes in her own, the Dame Commander nodded in greeting towards both Gisele, and the ginger elf beside her. "I remember you.", Lyrena said to Gisele in a vaguely cordial manner. "Been keeping safe?" After that, she turned her attention towards Calliope, who she fully recognized from yesterday. "Calliope, was it?", she asked with a tilted head, scanning the elf head to toe before meeting her gaze again. "I hope yesterday did not leave you frightened or shamed. These things, they happen near the barracks sometimes.", the Blood elf explained. "I did not mean to act so crudely with you."

"I just hope there isn't a lot to do today. Would love to get off work early," Gisele said to Flower, her gaze surveying the area before them as they stepped down from the elevated walkway to enter the little center market. A brow lifted, but she said nothing to her companion about what her gaze took in. A couple more steps down and she gave Lyrena a nod. "Dame Commander, how are you faring? It's been a while since we last saw one another." Her expression was one of thoughtfulness as she seemed to recollect when they last met. "Bathhhouse, I think it was. Your spirits seemed low that day. I hope you are faring better today." She offered her friendliest smile to the blood elf.

Calliope Imbeau walked along with Gisele, listening to her talk about work, but her mind was elsewhere. As they entered the market area and she looked up to see the one she had encountered near the barracks yesterday, she stopped still and her eyebrows raised. She listened to Lyrena's explanation, and Gisele's return greeting before replying. "Yes, Calliope is correct. Why would I be shamed? I did nothing to cause shame on myself." she spoke without a hint of her usual smile. "And, yes. You were quite rude." She turned quickly to Gisele and added. "This is the one from yesterday I was telling you about ."

Tashiel having herself perched up on the tents of one of the stands after having followed the pair around for a little while, hoping to see what they might do, herself being a bit shy still, although she did recognize the one with red hair, a bit unsure of her name. She crawled down from the side of the buildings, making sure to keep out of sight as the patrols would likely be able to spot her, shouldn't she be careful enough to avoid them. Upon reaching the walkways she kept to the shadows, darting from barrel to barrel, box to box until she found herself on top of one of the stands, overlooking the supposed market, using the shadows to her advantage, she would most likely remain unseen for some time, unless she herself chose to make her presence known. Amongst the voices, there was one that she recognized, the Dame commander, the one who had captured her beforehand, the brute, she would keep wary of their presence even more than the other two, knowing what they were capable of, if given the space to set their actions in motion. She steadied herself, remaining low and out of sight, curious about what might unfold down below her.

Lyrena Auberan nodded towards Gisele as she mentioned their last place of meeting. "The bathhouse.", Lyrena repeated in confirmation. "And the Wayward King." As she spoke with Gisele, the Blood elf couldn't help but notice the big knives the human had strapped to her thighs. "Still delivering food? I sense you have the skills for something far more.", Lyrena complimented, though her tone remained somewhat stern. "I am… Well now. Better.", she replied to that later question. No verbal thanks for the concern followed, instead Lyrena showed it on her face, as her elven features softened a bit upon her response, and the faintest nod followed. "I was on duty. And I had to deal with what I saw with haste.", Lyrena explained to Calliope, after she had mentioned her behavior that day. "What you saw, rather. You have an impressive sight. A whole barracks didn't spot that woman before you did.", she said to Calliope, encouragingly. "Either way, you have my apologies. But next time, please do not stand so close to suspects the Guardians are interrogating.", she added at the end - her tone certainly much softer than yesterday - like a friendly tip, rather than a crude order. For now, Lyrena herself hadn't noticed the encroaching rogue on the tarp beside the group - the very same Tashiel that Calliope had spotted on the walls above the barracks.

Gisele Valentein tsked a sigh. "Oh I see," she said to Flower and cleared her throat lightly, her smile broadening and causing those dimples of hers to deepen. "Ah, yes!" she exclaimed in mock surprise. "The Wayward King. I do remember those days fondly," she said, her eyes slightly narrowing as she gave a lazy, little shrug. "No, I have actually moved on from there. I work for Master An'Dorel now." She turned then to look upon her colleague for the briefest of moments, not responding to Lyrena's mention of her skills, and then returned her gaze to the blonde before her. "I completely understand. You must be terribly busy with all that work. So many crimes lately." She tsked again, her smile thinning. "I really wish something would be done about it. Your team must be stretched horribly thin, yes? I don't blame you for being a Grumpy Gus, in any case."

“As I recall, I approached the scared Elf girl long before you did. You came up to her after I did. So, when precisely was this interrogation begun? Am I to assume that anytime I see a Guardian I must clear the way for them? And does any of that excuse your tone with me?” Calliope crossed her arms as she spoke to Lyrena, a slight smirk on her lips. Turning to Silver with a smile erasing the smirk, she almost giggled out, “And, she broke my basket handle when she shoved me away!” She added to this a curt nod of her head.

Tashiel decided she would want to catch a better look of the other pair, disregarding the Dame commander and thus she began to climb down from the tarp, attempting to do so as quietly and stealthily as possible and so taking her sweet time with it. Before she descended the tarp she looked towards where she would go, seeing about what would be the most ample and secure spot to continue her survey from, making sure it would be well hidden enough with an escape route should push come to shove and she had to bolt. After some time of deciding, she made her way down behind herself, scurrying down along the fence and lowering herself to the deck just below the market the rest of them stood upon, lifting up the tarp by just a little bit, it would allow her to peek up at them, not only hearing but having a visual confirmation of who said what and most importantly, what they looked like.

Lyrena Auberan peered back to Gisele as the human reminisced on her bartending days. "Speaking of that,", Lyrena suddenly chimed in, as if she remembered something. "When last we met, I meant to ask, the woman Selma who worked at the Wayward King around the same time as you, did you know her well? Like you might have heard, she has been missing for weeks. No one at the tavern has been helpful." After hearing out Gisele, Lyrena returned her attention to the ginger elf, who continued to recall yesterday's incident, and her displeasure. The Blood elf didn't look like she was going to humor any more of the ranting, but her long brows perked as Calliope mentioned getting shoved, and her basket breaking. "I did not shove you.", the Dame Commander firmly corrected, her eyes trailing Calliope's own, studying her expression. "Do not lie." Her tone quickly became colder, and harder, just as it had been yesterday. Her undying stare broke off from the ginger elf - as a few abrupt noises just made the Blood elf's long ears twitch. Something on the other side of the sword stall? Lyrena peered there for a few moments but her gaze didn't linger, attributing it to the planks just being creaky.

"Oh," she said throatily, followed by a frown that tugged downward at the corners of her lips. "She shoved you?" Gisele queried of her companion, then slid her gaze between the two. She swept a quick but practiced gaze toward the sound, her face not giving anything away as she looked to the blood elf commander again. "Mmm, I only knew Selma well enough to know she did not do any work while I was around. She stopped showing up which I assumed was because she knew I would handle things," she said matter-of-factly. "The girl did not like to work but she did like to ride the laps of the male patrons." Both brows lifted as Lyrena curtly corrected Flower. Her quick smile returned in an attempt to change the subject, "You know, Dame Commander, we all see how your team struggles to keep up with the daily demands here. If I can be of any assistance, I would be more than happy to lend it whenever you have the need."

Calliope Imbeau stared at Lyrena with a bemused smile on her lips, listening to her disagree with her account. “This is my story and I will tell it how I wish. Perhaps you should consider that before dealing so ham-handedly with fine upstanding, hardworking, citizens such as Gisele and I.” After a moment’s pause, she added, “And I didn’t interfere with your interrogation, as you call it. You interfered with my greeting of a fellow citizen. Who is telling the truth now?” Her smile indicated she thought she had made a fair point. She stared a moment more then nodded her head. “But, since Gisele is so gracious in dealing with you, I will offer the same and forget all about the unfortunate occurrence. I accept your apology.” The noise that she noticed had momentarily captured all of their attentions caused her to softly giggle. She realized it was caused by the same Elf she saw yesterday and was the subject of her gripe with Lyrena. She only caught a glimpse of her scurrying down behind the tent. She turned her attention back with a smile, saying nothing.

Tashiel settled herself up close against the railing, still peeking through a crack that shes made with the tarp, giving her but a tiny glimpse into the interaction between the three, being wary about not making too much noise as she had just scaled down from the tarp. She did however make a bit of sound when doing so and it seems that most of them, if not all picked up on it, causing for her heart to beat faster, sweat starting to break out over her body, worried she might be caught, again. She had reached behind to her backpack, pulling out a small note along with a pen, adding any important notes of what they were saying that could perhaps be of use to her later, or just for common knowledge about the city and its inhabitants. Noticing however how the lights began to glow and her otherwise shadowed out hiding spot was now starting to light up, she decided to move a bit closer towards the foundations of the market port, allowing for her to quickly jump into the water if need be, if they were to come upon her hiding spot.

Lyrena Auberan hadn't acknowledged the first time Gisele made mention of the Guardians' recent struggles to keep the city safe, but as the human brunette brought the subject up again, Lyrena's stare latched to her visage now instead. She huffed through her nose, bottling in frustrations behind her unmoving expression. "We are stretched thin.", the Blood elf rigidly confirmed Gisele's earlier point, for now disregarding the subject of Selma's disappearance. "Can you?", Lyrena asked with a tilted head, taking a step towards Gisele as the human offered her help, in a likely sarcastic fashion. Her gaze fell to the woman's daggers again, this time, her eyes deliberately staying there for longer, before she met Gisele's eyes again. "Keep Master An'Dorel safe.", she merely retorted while briefly leaning more closely towards Gisele, almost invading her personal space. Lyrena's voice again subtly prodding at the subject of Gisele's skill in combat. The Dame Commander peered back to Calliope, who continued to remain abrasive. The pair of women could tell the Blood elf's patience was wearing thin. Lyrena momentarily peered back to Gisele once it was revealed that her and Calliope knew one another on a first name basis, perhaps even better. "Remain fine, upstanding citizens, then.", Lyrena said at the end, almost interrupting Calliope's last words, relating to her accepting her earlier apology. "And remain safe. There were two muggings in the area last night.", Lyrena said as she prepared to take her leave, and pass the two friends by, taking towards the wooden stairs to her right. "But I am sure you wouldn't know anything about that.", she added at the end. The Dame Commander spared maybe another glimpse towards the sword stall as both Calliope and Gisele seemed to notice the odd sounds too, but for now, the elven warrior didn't investigate. She continued on her way, her steps rougher and angrier than before.

Gisele Valentein bit her lower lip to suppress a little smirk and possibly failed to do so while she listened on to Flower's words. She nodded her head at her friend. "There! Now we can all be friends. The Dame Commander has apologized for her rough handedness. Oh but," she said, then halted her words as she heard Lyrena's confirmation and leaned in toward her a bit too, as if she would move closer still to the blood elf. "I don't work for him in that capacity, but I will do my best." She watched the commander head up the steps to the elevated walkway. "Oh my," she said to Flower this time. "I fear I have upset her again. I keep doing that. Or perhaps you did. Maybe she doesn't favor either one of us." She shrugged, watching Lyrena's braided hair bounce, her cape flowing behind her as she strode off. "Whatever has made her mad, I wonder."

Calliope Imbeau watched as Lyrena stomped off, in an apparent huff. As she pounded up the steps, Calliope called out to her flowing cape, “Oh, do be careful out there!” She immediately turned back to face Silver, unable to suppress a giggle as she leaned in close to her. In feigned concern, she said giggling. “Why I just couldn’t say! She did seem to be in a bit of a huff. Perhaps, it is just a bad day for her!” Her laughter then erupted loud enough to carry across the water and echo off the buildings.

Tashiel finished her scribbling, placing the note pack into a container that would be waterproof, at least enough so it would allow her the escape she wanted, without notice and no attention towards herself. She crawled over towards the ledge of the docks, slowly sinking herself down towards the water and began floating away, avoiding any unnecessary movements as they would otherwise create a bunch of noise despite being useful for speed and distance. She would grab along the wooden foundation to propel herself forward, now going under from where the Dame commander stood, giving her a right peek up towards all of that 'armor' as she floated on by, to safety. Swooooosh

Gisele Valentein snorted softly, taking Calliope by the arm gently to walk with her toward the Healing Hall. "You are hilarious. Until we meet again, Dame Commander!" She taunted, but the gorgeous blood elf was out of earshot. "And… I know you noticed the other disturbance too. Let's let Pete and Mik know. They'll be interested."