Destiny's Tears- First Interlude

[Thanee]

Melody

“It is *definitely* a fake. Ok, no news for you, I guess. The big question here is, how can someone who does not know how it feels for you imitate that feel so accurately?”

Melody then turns to Alire. “Yes, you are alive. Tell us what happened!”

Rystil:
[SBLOCK]While Alire talks, Melody takes a closer look to the Crazan Arris fake, maybe it's at least worth something from the material used to produce it, since it doesn't seem to be conjured.[/SBLOCK]

 

[Rystil Arden]

"Well, Erila followed Zaryl back to his home, and then I surfaced, changed clothes, ambushed him, and took the Jewel, but...She wouldn't let me kill him--a terrible shame, really. Anyway, thanks to her foolishness, he broke free and unleashed a devastating swarm of crystals, and I barely managed to duck around a corner, go Invisible, and stagger over here."

Melody:
[SBLOCK]
*Melody's appraisal indicates that this is still a fairly valuable ruby, though she can't put a price on it, and in fact, it seems completely identical, and indeed indistinguishable, from the jewel from last night, right down to the intricacies of the facets.*
[/SBLOCK]

 

[Thanee]

Melody

“Ah, right. As I understood it, you, well or Erila, were/was *with* your father - that's Zaril, I suppose - when you or he stole the gem from the Mojiin. Anyways, where is your father now?”

Rystil:
[SBLOCK]Melody also turns her concentration (the Detect Magic) on Alire...[/SBLOCK]

 

[Rystil Arden]

"Actually, no. I only found out that he got the jewel later. I have no idea where he is now--I hope he hasn't been able to track me, but he always did focus too much on powerful magic to bother with divinations of the sort that would help with that."

Melody:
[SBLOCK]
Alire has only the magic items she had on her last night, no more and no less.
[/SBLOCK]

 

[Thanee]

Melody

“Come, let's continue the talk, while we walk. When and where did this here happen?”

The first part is obviously meant for everyone.

Once the group is some distance away from any onlookers...

Everyone who follows:
[SBLOCK]“Alire, tell us in all detail, what happened since you changed into Erila last night from your perspective! When did you leave Glamour's compound? And Abdiel, could you detail a little more what happened, when... Zaril... forced you to hand over the gem?”

Melody also changes her clothing with a few arcane syllables and gestures, her gorgeous white gown turns into simple and comfortable black travel cloth.

Rystil:
[SBLOCK]And the fake-gem vanishes inside a pocket in the inside of her tunic, which is then completely sealed, so it is not accessible from the outside and close to her skin, so she can feel the content with it, while to the outside it is covered with a thicker layer of cloth to straighten the small bulk and thus conceal it. She still carries the papers in the same way as before.[/SBLOCK][/SBLOCK]

 

[Rystil Arden]

*As those who follow Melody begin to walk away, a handsome and well-dressed blond-haired man comes out to look at the commotion concernedly, and a breathtakingly gorgeous woman with hazelnut-brown hair and bright green eyes comes out towards Molpe with a smile, giving the Limnad a big hug.*

Melody:
[SBLOCK]
You recognise the man as Discovery.
[/SBLOCK]

Molpe:
[SBLOCK]
The man is Discovery, and the woman is Karya.

As Karya embraces Molpe in a hug she gushes, "Wow, sister, that was wonderful! You did such a very great job!"
[/SBLOCK]

 

[Rystil Arden]

Those who follow with Melody:
[SBLOCK]
"Well, the others can tell you just as well as I, since they were there. We woke up and left, only to find a guard patrol with Zaryl there, praising Zykovian for finding the Jewel and ready to collect the bounty--they said that a female friend of ours had clued them in, and it seemed like it might be you from a description, actually. Well, with more guards just a shout away, being in the Noble's Ward and all, we had no choice but to surrender, and by switching her eyes back to amethyst, Erila was able to avoid being captured by pretending to be 'Daddy's little girl' who was helping Zykovian find the Jewel. So she followed him back until I could get a chance to switch in and get the Jewel."
[/SBLOCK]

 

[Thanee]

Melody

Whoever is there:
[SBLOCK]“Aha, ok, then I must have misinterpreted something you said earlier, I thought you havn't been there, which came off a bit weird. Anyways, it starts to make some sense now, someone must have observed us in Glamour's compound the whole time, because otherwise they shouldn't have known that I left you there. Maybe this weird bodyguard? I went straight to the Laughing Sail Inn, by the way, you can check that with Amity, the bartender. The only way I could have tipped someone off would be, if they had been there already in the first place, which would make it kinda superfluous to do so. Your father must have known or even planned to have the gem delivered here to Eldiz by the nymph, unknown to her, of course, but since he cannot locate it and the nymph vanished on her little tour through the city... though, how hard can it be to locate her... really... well... in any case, he kept following the Mojiin, which could locate the gem for him and waited for an opportunity to get it from them. Then he must have switched the gems and lay a spell on the fake gem, that it emits the same aura as the real Crazan Arris, something he must have planned from the beginning, and let you run off with the fake one, so he has time to vanish. We can try to find his trail, but for some reason I doubt, that we will. This was all planned from the beginning to be like this and you played right into his hands. Damnit, I should have taken the Crazan with me, when I left Glamour's compound yesterday, then we would still have it now. Noone would have guessed, that you had given it away at that point. Unfortunately, you probably wouldn't have done so and it's not possible to get it away from you without you noticing, so that point is moot, anyways. Whatever, we must try, maybe the Crazan's aura is still noticeable, although I guess that part has been planned for as well, it's probably shielded from your senses somehow now, though I do not know if that is even possible. It has a pretty strong aura. Chances are good, that Zaryl will leave as quickly as possible, so I would head to the docks. What do you think?”[/SBLOCK]

 

[Rystil Arden]

Those who are there:
[SBLOCK]
"Hmmm....I don't think that makes any sense. Zaryl had the jewel legally in his possession here in Eldiz before Molpe even got here--some adventurers recovered it for him, I think. Then it was stolen from him just before he could leave with it--presumably by Molpe, originally. If this whole thing with the theft and eventual recovery hadn't happened, he would already be on Arris with the jewel, so why would he set this up? Besides, I swear I didn't see him switch it..."
[/SBLOCK]

 

[Thanee]

Melody

Yes, that group:
[SBLOCK]“How legal his possession was, the Mojiin can surely determine, but the real gem was here yesterday, and it was not the one you had brought to us, unless it was a really good fake, which could fool all senses and magics we employed yesterday, which is quite possible all things considered. So, either he had the fake-Crazan from the beginning, it was a very good fake until the magic ran out for sure, or he has switched it at some point from last night to this moment.”[/SBLOCK]