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You’ve done more than enough masquerading for one day… and if this broad knows Volkir you assume she has a similar amount of patience for goofballs like you!
Volkir, you begin, he-
A dainty, but still plenty painful claw rakes across your face and sends you reeling across the lecture hall! To his credit Obber tries to grab your robe in his beak, but the toppled-over lectern is the cherry on the pie that sends you falling to the ground in an academic heap!
OW!
“Sorry, force of habit.” A gaggle of unseen hands help you back to your feet front and center before the mage. “That name brings out a bit of a reaction in me, you see.”
Volkir? <span class="mu-i">ACKPTH!</span>
“If you truly know him then you’d understand.” Lis’tet explains as she helps you back up again, “So let’s start over, shall we? <span class="mu-i">How</span> do you know that name?”
He’s a friend, you begin as you clutch at your sore cheek! Well, not a <span class="mu-i">friend</span> friend, but he’s… look, it’s a long story, but he’s helping you out… and he told you to look her up if you needed help in Umberal, so…
You punctuate your sentence with an uncertain shrug. The Professor answers with a dismissive sigh.
“That <span class="mu-i">does</span> sound like him, yes… zero contact for years, and when he <span class="mu-i">DOES</span> reappear it’s to foist some damning responsibility on someone…” Her eyes flicker as she gives you an appraising glance. “I assume you have proof?”
What, of meeting Vol-err, <span class="mu-i">him?</span> Rummaging around in your pocket, you retrieve <span class="mu-s">VOLKIR’S TOKEN</span> and pass it off to the Professor! This, uh… belongs to him, you explain meekly as she gives it a once-over! Oh, but you’ll need it back, so, um… th-thank you–
“Where did you get this?” She interrupts with a fresh sharpness in her voice! “Hm?”
You shoot a pleading glance at Obber, who answers with a befuddled ‘click’!
…H-his old apartment?
Lis’tat’s eyes flicker as she weighs your words. “... My office. Now.”
A-are you in trouble? A fresh glare puts your round of questioning to rest. Crud…
A few minutes later you find yourself sitting in a plush chair stuffed with something between wool and pond weeds with Obber sitting in your lap like a beaked pomeranian. You’re in an office, that much is certain–much bigger than Toppel’s was and a bit kinder on the senses as well.
The same bourbon-scented smoke lingers all over the room, and somewhere on the desk dominating the office there’s a faint trickle of water over a humming object. Some kind of fountain? Lis’tat stands across from you pacing back and forth behind her desk as she mulls over your words.
“So,” She begins in a wary tone, “The Archmage has taken an interest in you.” It’s neither a question nor a declaration, but you nod anyway. “Grave tidings indeed.”
Yea, you sigh, you’re not exactly pleased about it! Which is why, well…
>CONTD.
