Flight of Fancy: IC (Mature) {Currently Closed}

[Mel Dragonkitty]

When the wolf's watch chimed and he left for the theater Mel looked at her own watch. While it wasn't late she was tired. She had spent the entire day checking the anti-cheating charms on the gaming equipment and really wasn't in the mood to look at the equipment any longer.

A few minutes later Mel was on the observation deck, sipping lemonade, and relaxing in a soft chair while watching a gorgeous multi-hued sunset.

[Tipod]

"Yes, well--" Terry's eyes furrowed again. If he didn't have his winning hand of 21 to be happy about he'd be intensely irritated by the lapine sitting next to him.

Actually, he still was rather annoyed by this person.

"Please, no physical contact. I stand." He couldn't remember the signal for standing. Just as well, that blabbermouthed rabbit had practically blurted his hand out anyway. It really didn't matter at this point, but Terry was far from amused by this person's seemingly friendly demeanor.

[Kafzeil]

Kafzeil followed the pantress, nodding attentively and chuckling a fair bit. "Don't worry, i'm fairly used to that feeling myself.I find having a sense of humour about these sorts of things helps."

He followed her, smiling back. "Thank you. Though I will admit I'm more a stout man myself."

He looked into the casino doing a quick scan for Eden...and there she was. Seems she was getting...friendly with that demoness he saw before.

"Better order an extra pint..."he muttered to himself, just barely aloud for Aisha to hear.

He sat down with her at about the same time, almost in unison. He adjusted his hat, scarf, and quickly spread his wings, checked them, then folded them neatly behind him.

"Actually, I think I saw her. She's consorting with that demons from before." He turned to the bartender. "Imperial Stout. A Pint." Before looking back at Aisha. "It's going to be a long trip."

[justacritic]

Meanwhile behind the curtain Hobbies began the process of setting up for the next act in the play. The fennec cast out his hand and magical strings streamed out from his fingers yet again. This time the strings attached to several puppets dressed in finery that while fine was not of the same apparent quality of the queen's. Also the backstage crew were taking away the scenery of the outside and the castle wall. They replaced it all with replica antique furniture befitting a lady's solar and to top it all off was a backdrop of a stone wall.

   The curtain opened again and Hobbies took a deep breath then picked up on the story. The young wolf girl moved in such a way to give the impression of motion and effort. She performed all the duties of a lady in waiting and pleased the queen to no end. However not every one was happy with this wolf girl. Being guided from the strings on Hobbies fingers were other women in the employ of the queen. They began to sing in the theatrical fashion, which meant that no one else in the story noticed that the women sang of their hatred, disgust, and pettiness of the heroine.

   The women decided on a clever plan to disgrace the wolf girl. This group went to the queen and began to flatter the vixen. Each maid praised thoughtfulness, cleverness, and generosity of the queen to take in this hard working wolf girl in her employ. Then they mentioned that they overheard the heroine boast that she could spin a whole room of straw into yarn in one night. Now the queen  was well known for her love of skill in housekeeping. So she decided to see this talent for herself. The vixen called up the wolf girl and said by the special mechanisms that she had heard that the wolf girl could spin an entire room of straw into yarn. She wanted to see this marvel and told the wolf girl to do so. Yet the queen told the wolf girl that she shouldn't worry if she couldn't do it in one night and if she needed more time.

   Unfortunately the wolf girl had never spun in her entire life in the forest. She couldn't very well tell the queen this fact. For in the posture of the vixen said that the queen whole heartily believed that the heroine could do it. There was naught to do but to attempt the task and thus the curtain closed again for the next act.     

[Tapewolf]

Oh, I know this one, Jakob thought.  You don't live a thousand years without seeing some traditional children's stories.  Or causing some to be written.

Yeah, some Creature takes pity on her and helps her out in exchange for a favour.  But then she welches on the deal, pisses off the helper who then gets angry and vengeful, she bitches about it for a bit and then contrives some way of defeating or usually murdering the guy who tried to help her out.  The details varied, but the idea was usually the same.

And dammit, it's usually a 'Cubi who's the villain. he thought miserably, before suddenly remembering that the artiste was 'Cubi too.  I wonder who it will be this time?  Fae?  Or some rival clan?

[Paladin Sheppard]

Pal sighed in a good natured fashion "Lasses let me buy a drink to make up for disappointing ye both...And maybe, when I am recharged after a few days on this thing I'll take ye up on some higher stakes." He held up his hands in a gesture of appeasement and a wink.


*******

"Why thank you Vladim" The Devil said with a impish grin, and turned to the barman. "I'll have a extra large plate of Nachos with extra cheese. Hmm...And some bacon please!" She was just about to bounce away when she span around "Oh and I need something new to drink recommend anything good that I can sip at for a while?" She hopped up on to one of the stools to await the Barman's reply, spinning around a little.

[justacritic]

 Behind the curtain crew went scurrying to shift the scene to the appearance of an inner chamber in a castle. Imitation stone walls were moved into place, the illusion of a rush covered floor was laid down. A spinning wheel was placed into the middle of the stage and a spotlight centered on the tool. Lastly piles and piles of straw were the final piece to complete the picture of the room.

   The curtain opened yet again and the wolf girl and the queen were in the room. The stone wall had a window and the lighting was altered to make it seem like a glorious sunset was just outside the castle. The queen directed the wolf to the piles of straw and Hobbies worked hard to portray the queen as honest and not spiteful. The vixen puppet exited the stage and now the incubus directed the wolf to walk back and forth in the manner of bewilderment. She picked up the straw rubbing it back and forth between her "fingers". The girl went to the spinning wheel touching and poking it, almost overturning the device and balancing it back into place. All the while she was singing of her bafflement of the spinning wheel and despair at her task. Still she changed her tune to one of resolve and as the lighting in the window changed from sunset to night she span and sung about spinning. Now here was an interesting bit of stage trickery, while it appeared that the straw was loose in piles, they were actually bespelled via string to attach to each other in one long strand. Another line of this straw string was separately fed into the spinning wheel and out of sight of most patrons another different thread was being wound around the spindle. When at last the darkness of night was out of the window the wolf girl stopped and plucked out her first work. It gleamed in the light, which shouldn't have happened with normal linen thread. Instead "Gold," the puppet spoke "golden thread, what use is there for me to spin golden thread! My lady was told that I could spin linen" In despair and some hasty estimating and spellcasting on part of Hobbies the spool of golden thread was tossed into the lap of one of the audience. Now that spool was not stage tinsel and paint but actual golden thread, not pure but close enough to have the feel and texture of actual thread and gold. The incubus knew he wouldn't be getting that back but it was a nice piece of publicity and might impress this collection of patrons.
   
   Then the puppet turned to engage in some melodramatic weeping. Just then thanks to a blank white paper representing the moon and a spotlight behind it being a ray of moonlight, what appeared to be another woman puppet suddenly entered onto the stage. The wolf noticed this intruder, she seemed to be feline, lion perhaps and possessed antenna and butterfly wings marking her as one of the Fae. The Fae asked what was the matter of the girl and the wolf replied that her mistress was told that she could spin straw into linen thread in one night. The Fae chuckled and told the wolf that she could solve the maiden's problem but in exchange the wolf girl had to call her "aunt" on the happiest day of her life.

   The wolf maiden agreed and the Fae pulled a stool from what appeared to be under her skirts and took a piece of straw. Then she began to push the spinning wheel's petal and spin all while calling the straw to fly, fly and be spun. The straw connected by spell and thread came flying into the spinning wheel and spool after spool of linen yarn and thread filled the floor as the moon traveled across the window. When dawn approached the Fae had finished the task and told the girl to remember her promise and left. The queen and the ladies in waiting came in from the opposite side and the maids were shocked that the girl could do the task. The queen was very pleased and praised the girl. The maids conferred and then came up with another plot. They hinted that a girl that could spin such fine thread and yarn should be equally as able to weave them into fine cloth. The queen agreed and sent the women to collect the spools but took the wolf girl with her so that she could rest encouraging her and stating her belief that the wolf girl could finish her spinning as the curtain fell for the next act.

[Tapewolf]

Jakob absorbed the play, somewhat pleased to see that the helper in the story was Fae.  It made a lot of sense, they often did little acts of apparent kindness like this, and it was often done to further some weird scheme of their own, incomprehensible to the more mortal races.

The gold wire trick was neat for a non-magic environment, though a little tacky... gold being ridiculously easy to create.

Though I'm not so taken with the musical numbers, he thought.

The play left him wondering what would happen next in this particular variant of the story - presumably the next Fae wish would be a harder bargain.

[Inumo]

The bluejay call the lion whistled was surprising, at first from the call in general and then from the content. Holding back a small laugh, Xyrtia said as she walked up, "Careful. Around my tribe... ke... fight you." She pantomimed a popular leg-whip-throat-strike combo in her tribe, before turning her attention towards the gryphon.

[VAE]

Vladim lifted a paw, looking the bartender's way.
"And a large pork pie for me, then." 
The lynx turned to the tasmanian devil.
"So, Ephrael... To rehash an old cliche, what's a girl like you doing on a dirigible like this? Busy with work, or just enjoying a cruise?"

[SquirrelWizard]

Evan crossed his arms as he listened to the moose, "Fair enough, I'll hear you out. What I do afterwards depends on what I hear." He glanced back behind him to make sure the corridor was still empty. "I'd like to know who is really after me. The only dragoness I know big on power, but short on attention span. I doubt she even remembers me enough to hold a vendetta."

[Corgatha Taldorthar]

The Slavehold

A few of the other prisoners join the impromptu martial-arts lesson, and the sounds of sparring and shouted instructions permeate the hole. The exertion, combined with the fear that's still palpable in the air, causes most of the people in the hold to sweat heavily, and the smell is becoming ever more rancid, as moisture and feces and little bits of feathers and fur go flying through the air.


The theater
A small gryphon A, wings folded, scurries two and fro between the seats,  with only his obsequious manner, mouthed (but silent) apologies, and his dirigible's livery keeping him from a cuff on the ear by some of the more irascible patrons. Eventually, he finds his target, and slips a small card into Jakob  Pettersohn's hand.

The Casino.
After hearing Morden's stand, the dealer turns over his face down card, an ace. He hands chips over to the winners and takes them from the losers. "Place your bets"

Morden smiles, and puts down another 50's worth of chips.


A lithe, attractive rabbit waitress with pale cream-colored fur heads to the roulette table and passes cards to Baseel and Aleyna, before doubling back and pressing one into Terry's fist.


The hallway.

The moose smiles, all wolf in that expression, and smirks out his tale as he leans against the wall. "Your blade, you liberated from a dragon's hoard. A countess, I believe. A vain, foolish forgetul creature, as you say, but she is related by marriage to the Icewing clan of dragons far to the north. I do believe that blade is part of a dowry, in fact. And there is an Icewing here. Oh, she's supposedly to check on the charms, that someone has been cheating at the games. But this is an anti-magic field, yes? What would a wide-eyed young dragon, proficient in magic, be doing to find a cheater, unless they thought someone would do the impossible to find divinations to break through the barrier, and not someone who just knows how to palm a card.


No, that explanation is a front and a cover, and there is only one reason I can think of for an Icewing to be here, now, on the same flight as you.


But, there is other trouble aboard.  There are evil men aboard, using the coverof the magic damper to hide an illegal trafficking operation, moving slaves from place to place. I need to expose them, and I need every hand I can get on my side to do so. Are you with me or not?"

[Tapewolf]

Jakob was surprised when he took the card, and then dismayed.  Oh shit... It must be a wireless telegraph... Lord Daryil needs me to wire him some bail money again.

Thanking the gryphon, he unthinkingly cast a light spell to read the note in the gloom of the theatre, and then uttered a muffled curse when he remembered the countermagical field.  Torn between watching the play and reading the note which could well be urgent, he concealed his wings with a painful effort and slipped away towards the toilets as smoothly and politely as he could.

If it can wait, I'll slip back in and deal with it after the play, he thought.  If it can't, I'll apologise to Hobbies and ask how the story ended.  

Backwings reappearing when he was sure no-one was around to see, Jakob turned the card to the light and began to read.

[Aisha deCabre]

"And, we're done."

Jake smirked after he finally announced the end of the martial arts lesson, having heard many a long and grateful groan behind him.  He turned to view his students, and was quite pleased to find that more than a few had actually come to take him up on lessons.  On a few of their flushed and exhausted faces, he could see a new fervor, a large and positive impact on their energies.  Most of the others though weren't cut out for such physical exertion and had fallen to their knees, breathing hard.  The Gryphon knight hummed and closed his eyes.  I hate to be so tough.  But it's necessary to see just what these guys are made of.

He was confident, at least, that they had grasped all of the concepts shown to them.  At least he knew that Xyrtia and Kenyan would make great use of the moves, should they need them.  Mateo had decided for the moment to stay out of things and sit alone, no doubt still trying to process everything that's happened.

"Catch your breath then, everybody," Jake said.  "Those of you who still want to practice, we'll do some more drills when we're ready."  He scratched the side of his head with uncertainty.  "Probably after everyone gets some sleep...I just wish I knew how to tell time here."

That's when Wallard walked up.  "Y'can't.  Best y'can do is guess.  They feed us twice a day, so, first one's breakfast and second one's dinner.  N'fact, they should be on their way right now."  His eyes narrowed.  "Jus' don't get carried away with them lessons, kinsman.  There ain't always enough food t' go around, and we don't wanna burn lots o' energy.  Some a' these guys're already close to heart attacks, looks l--HEY!" he suddenly turned around to address someone.  "You!  Quit flingin' th' dung around, yer gonna make it worse in here than it already is...!"

Jake laughed and rolled his eyes, then sat down to nurse his sore, weighted wings.  It was true, he thought...that much exercise probably was going to do more harm than good if they were going to really be stuck on that ship for who knew how long.  He would have to tone down the next lesson to just a few simple holds and light sparring.

I wish you were here to tell me how I'm doing, Master Episticus, the Gryphon sighed.  I felt like I was half-assing, there.  Also, I hope they clean this place every so often.  The smell alone might waft up and tell the rest of he ship that there is indeed a slave hold here.

Not a few more minutes later, the door opened, and out flew another bag of food that landed in a giant heap of spilled leftovers from the kitchen, among other half-fresh things.

"Dinner on th' dot," Wallard muttered as he next race for food began.

*     *     *

As she sipped at her drink, seemingly lost in the atmosphere of loud machines and the loud milling crowds, Aisha followed Kafzeil's gesture to the general direction of his demon friend.  She had to hide a grimace when she saw them at the table, the easily-recognizable demonic horns decorating players at the card table.  "Huh," she snorted, "I suppose she can take her time, then."

This may take a while for me to get used to, the bounty hunter sighed with her eyes closed.  Remember, it's all a part of the plan.  Just for the chance to free these slaves.

Once she finished her ale, she ordered another from the barkeep, as well as a turkey sandwich to tide her over for dinner.  Out of one of the high-set porthole windows, night was falling.

"Definitely a long trip," she answered the ferret.  "But one tends to lose track of time on a vacation like this.  That's the secret to making it go faster."  The panther took another gulp, and wondered where the moose from before was.  Hopefully they'd have more allies soon than just the three of them.

*     *     *

Whew.  Amazing I've made it this long.  Hell, I'm still amazed I made it on the ship at all!  This was too easy.

A well-dressed white rat wandered among the various dignitaries, barely noticed due to his small stature, and he certainly preferred it that way.  Though he looked bored, he was focused on the crowd, waiting to spot any familiar, famous faces amongst them...and to get his mind off of the slight strain that came from maintaining his shapeshifted form.  He hoped that soon enough he'd be able to find a place to rest and let his disguise down before moving on with his assigned job.

My boss ain't gonna be happy if I have a meltdown, the 'Cubi paparazzi thought, his fingers curled around a camera in his pocket.  J.B. Skee always gets his story, and these people are ripe for scandal.

*     *     *

On the observation deck, the sun slowly melted into a horizon of clouds and the tall, imposing mountains that could be seen far away on another direction.  One could tell that the grand airship was moving, but it didn't feel that way, for very few people ever suffered airsickness while standing about with a great view of the ever-shifting outside.  The stars winked on one by one and two by two.

From where Mel sat, though, she felt a rumble, and heard a roar from somewhere below.  Everyone knew the territorial cries of the Gryphon C, the Collosus Gryphons otherwise.  But the ship was well-defended against the gargantuan beasts anyway...that's what the brochure said.  Nothing to worry about.

In a patch of cloud below, still lit by the last of the sun, a giant, fleeting shadow escaped the corner of a few observers' eyes and disappeared beneath the ship without another sound.

[Tapewolf]

Jakob turned the card to the light and glanced over it.  Nice cardstock, he thought.

The Captain of the Flame of Freedom cordially invites Lord Pettersohn to dine with him at 7:30. Please meet at 7:00 in Private Lounge A for pre-dinner cocktails.

Jakob gave a sigh of relief.  Daryil hasn't got himself jailed again, he thought.  And... this dinner thing is after the play, I should be able to make it and still have time to change.

The thought of attending such a function unnerved him a little, though.  If that mental Demon lady is anything to go by, my diplomacy-fu is still pretty weak.  And technically I'm nouveau-riche... I bet that'll rankle the Captain.  Oh well, better to go and regret it than to make him think I'm spurning him.

Resolving to give the matter some thought during the play, he carefully pocketed the ornate card and headed back into the theatre.

[Tipod]

Terry immediately skimmed the invitation. "...I'm sorry, ma'am, but my gastronomic faculties aren't exactly up to par with--" Though by the time he piped up, she was already off. But you couldn't take these sorts of things at face value; what exactly did the captain want to see him for? A personalized invite didn't just get handed out to every single passenger. And his demonic benefactors knew better than to comp him things like dinner parties and meetings with fancy creatures. He'd be happier just staying in his cabin.

That paranoid part of his brain realized that in this world, ignoring requests from powerful and important people meant terrible things in your future. What would the captain want someone like him for? Help tighten the screws on the bridge?

"...I have to go. Sorry." The golem took what remained of his chips and stood, sauntering uneasily from the table. It wasn't time for cocktails yet, but it wouldn't hurt to figure out where the lounge was ahead of time. And maybe ask some hanger-on or servant what this captain's deal was.

[justacritic]

The curtain rose again but this time the room was filled with spools of yarn. The wolf maiden and the audience could plainly see the giant loom in the middle of the chamber. Above in the fake window the moon was rising and shining its pale false moonlight. The lady hesitantly took a spool of thread and began to weave as best as she could all the while trying to encourage herself. It took tangles and several double backs but at last she finished one sheet of fabric and burst into tears. The cloth that she had woven was see through and that did not mean that the cloth was so thin that one could look through it but that to the audience's eyes there was cloth being held by the wolf girl with the image on it being what was behind the cloth. "Who would ever wear clothes of this fabric?" she cried and misery befell her for it was certain the rest of her work would be like this. The queen and her maids would come in to a room that looked empty. Another beam of moonlight shone stage right and in came another Fae puppet.

   "What was the matter that a fair lady cries under moonlight?" The Fae asked. The wolf girl told her story and the Fae spoke that she would help "in return for calling me Aunt on the happiest day of your life." The wolf girl agreed and the Fae wove the yarn swiftly till the floor was covered in layers of fabric. The sun was rising outside the window and the Fae quickly exited while the queen and her wicked maids came in. Again the company was shocked at the sight. Yet as the queen praised the wolf girl the maids tried to disgrace her as before. This time they suggested a fine weaver such as her could easily sew them together into fine shirts. The wolf girl by now was quite fed up with this and retorted she'll do it in one day. The queen wished for the wolf girl to rest but the wolf graciously denied the offer. Now the queen and her party left and the girl went to sew together a shirt. The sun quickly rose and fell out the window as the girl labored. As the moon rose again she had finished her first shirt but the girl commented that maybe she better trim it. She took out some scissors to cut some of the shirt's fabric, and promptly snapped the scissors apart on the shirt.

        The wolf girl stared in horror for a second, then took out a knife from a sewing kit on the floor. That broke as well so the maiden took from the kit a sword, then an axe, a halberd, a great sword, and the medieval equivalent of a chainsaw. All these implements shattered when pitted against the maiden's shirt. The wolf girl began to cry, for who would wear a shirt that could not be tailored to one's measurements?

   Another Fae puppet appeared as if from nowhere and yet again asked for what reason the wolf girl was crying. For the third time the wolf girl told her story and the Fae agreed to help her in exchange for one thing "Call me Aunt on the happiest day of your life." The wolf girl agreed and the Fae sewed together those shirts swift and folded. Dawn approached out the window and the Fae vanished again. The queen and her maids entered and was struck with awe at the number of fine shirts in the room. She, the queen declared she had never seen a better housekeeper in all her life and desired for the maiden to wed her son. The girl agreed to the fury of the wicked maids and the wolf girl was led away as the curtain fell for the last and final act.  

[Tapewolf]

The happiest day of your life, Jakob thought.  His mind had gone blank with small-talk for the dinner, so he considered the play instead.

This variant on the old story was new to him, but it looked like the wedding was to be the locus, though, Jakob thought, not all weddings are happy occasions.  There are forced marriages in certain cultures, and then you have stuff like King Edwyg the Sinful.  What did he do...?  Married once, divorced her, married again, beheaded her when they wouldn't let him divorce again.  After that they all died in mysterious accidents until the King himself 'fell down the stairs'.  Not terribly happy weddings after the first death, it has to be said.
Besides, don't they say school is the happiest time of your life..?

The maiden had apparently pledged to address three Fae as her 'aunts', and given the Fae that presumably meant more than just a shout-out.  Probably blood ties of some kind, which would be very awkward.  Though, the Fae never seem to talk about marrying mortals, he thought suddenly.  Should be interesting to see how it's resolved.

[Angel]

If Kenyan had been embarrassed by getting the call to Xyrtia wrong, he didn't let it show. His exhaustion was a different story. He walked over to the nearest wall and slumped down, idly licking some sweat out of his fur before rubbing his legs. His thin muscles burned from the work he'd just done, but it felt wonderful compared to the last few days of being chained in place and led around. Apparently, after spending every day of his life running to protect his family from a bloodthirsty Crocodile, his body was unused to rest. He felt more normal now than he had since he'd been caught in the woods, and more determined than ever to succeed at the training.

Thinking about his old life made him wonder how his family was doing now. His brothers and sisters were no doubt worried, and he hoped Su'kedu was reassuring them. But how safe were they without him? Were they well-protected against Kray-Zee? Had he perhaps decided to attack the Beings who wandered into the forest first, rather than realizing Kenyan was gone and seeking revenge on him through his family? The brief surge of hope he felt at that thought disgusted him. He quelled it – but not before the memory of a gravelly laugh echoed in his head.

You're actually hoping I leave a bunch of rats and weasels alone to attack real people? The inner voice was rough and sadistically amused, and Kenyan could almost hear sharp teeth grinding together in a grin. That's real cute, Toothpick. For all the shit you gave me, you really are a selfish little bastard.

Kenyan would have growled at his own imagination if not for the arrival of food. He patiently waited for the younger, thinner ones to go first, then went to get some more fruit and water. He stepped over a few people to return to his former spot and press his ear to the wall again, the one behind which he had heard shuffling little feet. Perhaps now was the time to try real contact.

[Boog]

Jeremiah dipped a hand into his pocket, silencing the alarm on his watch. His shift was up, he'd taken his players for all he could for now... Time to grab lunch.

"Ladies and gentle-men, you have been grand company." He signaled to another dealer with a free moment (judging by his table, the rather attractive rat girl seemed like the best option) and ducked out with a practiced, overdone flourish. "My associate should be able to see you through to the next game." Surruptitiously slipping the cards he'd removed from the deck under the table on the appropriate shelf, he made his exit.

Running in the casino was discouraged, but Jeremiah kept up a brisk pace. He tried adjusting his collar; this thing was uncomfortable as hell. The sooner he got downstairs the sooner he could get out of this monkeysuit.

I swear they put the employee stairs at the opposite end from the tables on purpose.

[Kafzeil]

The demonic rabbit chortled, noticing one of the ship's dealers leaves.  She looked at Pal and winked. "I'll take you up on that offer. Just gimme a shout~" She turned to Aleyna, standing up. "Sorry to leave so soon, but I'll take a rain-check on that offer."She winked, following after the amphibian. "I have some business to tend to."

She followed the dealer, walking at a fairly brisk pace.

*******

the ferret nodded, slouching at the bar next to Aisha as he took a gulp of his own drink. "I'll try to follow you advice. Not exactly sure this sort of ordeal is my idea of a good time but--" He looked at his glass. He wasn't airsick yet.

"...I think I'll survive. I've had worse." He chuckled, scanning around the room for any more eccentric characters, or someone else who stuck out in some way.

[justacritic]

   The curtain opened for the final time as the final act was in place. The wolf maiden was bedecked in wedding splendor. Another puppet which was the fox prince was seated at a large banquet table. The queen and her wicked handmaidens were there. Also some spare puppets were seated as guests and there were one or two guard puppets. The guests were flattering the queen and the prince did have an expression of contentment on his face. The wolf girl wasn't particularly unpleasant to look at and the prince thought he would get along with his new wife. It was as good a match as a royal could get. Then came in a woman, the same puppet that appeared on the first night, however this time she had a nose that was three ells long. An ell was a unit for measuring cloth, approximately 45 inches, in short one long nose. The prince was about to call the guards to throw out this woman when the wolf girl stood up went over to the fae embraced and called her auntie. The new bride sat the fae down in a seat of honor and served her personally.
   Then in came another fae puppet, now the characters in the story didn't know they were fae because the normal fae features were missing from the women. This time the fae puppet had a horribly hunched back so much that when she held her head up straight, her gaze turned to the ground. Again the bride rose greeted the woman as aunt and honored her.
   Lastly to the amazement of all came the third woman. She possessed eyes as large as tea saucers. Again she was greeted as aunt and given respect. However the prince was filled with wonder and curiosity on how such unusual looking woman were his bride's relations. When the bride was talking to the queen he discreetly asked the three women's relation to his wife.
   The three women chuckled and stated once they too were as beautiful as his bride. The first said that her relentless looking over her work on the spinning wheel stretched out her nose to impossible lengths. Then the second puppet told of how her back was bent poring over her loom making cloth. The last woman spoke about the conditions that she had to sew in. Poor smoky light reddened her eyes and squinting caused them to enlarge to the size they were now. The prince horrified by this stood up and made a declaration that his wife never had to spin, weave, or sew ever again. And the wolf girl's secret stayed safe until she had to use her unusual talents to save her kingdom but that was another story. The curtain closed for the final time as the three fae women glared at the handmaidens as the play was over. A voice-over then stated the fate of the wicked maids, an unfortunate accident concerning a coconut cart and a coach full of tar. Hobbies wiped the sweat off his brow as the performance was finished.

[Tapewolf]

Jakob applauded politely as the play ended.  The puppetry was very good, the story... well, it works as a warm-up but he probably wants to go for something a bit more high-brow next.

The incubus glanced at his pocketwatch - if he was lucky, there was just about enough time to have a quick word with Hobbies backstage, before quickly dressing for the dinner, so he made his way there.

[Inumo]

It had been a long time since Xyrtia had done anything physical, and it showed in the way her muscles simply started giving out as she tried, and failed, to match the gryphon's stances towards the end. She took a moment to stretch before taking a more regularly-sized portion of food, which is to say, a somewhat small portion by most people's standards. With the exercise, she knew it would be important to stay nourished.

[justacritic]

Hobbies slumped his shoulders as the curtain came down "Well that was a difficult two and a half hours." The fennec incubus packed up the puppets for the night. When he turned around he spotted Lord Jakob walking towards him "Hello Lord Jakob, how may I help you?"

[Tapewolf]

"Hello Hobbies," Jakob said, "I've been invited to dine with the Captain, so I will have to change soon, but I wanted to see how you felt after tonight's performance.
"Personally I thought the puppetry was very well done.  I do wonder whether a more classical work might be a better thing going forwards.  What you did was a fine opening act, though it had the feel of a children's tale, no offence intended," he finished.

"Anyway, I hope to catch more of your work as the cruise goes on," he added, with a flourish.

[justacritic]

"Well" Hobbies gave a sidelong glance "A lot of the classical pieces usually insult at least one race. It really won't do to start a riot or a grudge here." The incubus' eyes looked thoughtful "though there is that comedy play that manages to insult every race on Furrae." The fennec continued to maintain his puppets. "I'll try to follow your advice and select classical pieces then, enjoy your meal Lord Jakob"

[Tapewolf]

"I hadn't thought of that aspect," Jakob admitted.  "Surely there must be something, a political thriller where race is unimportant.  How about the Tragedie of St. Beth, or perhaps Rourke, Prince of Feldspar?  Failing that, if Demons are usually pretty thick-skinned... they seem to play the villain in the talkies, after all. They're used to it and it's often more well-deserved than.. us," he added, glancing around covertly.
"You can always fall back on a comedy if that doesn't work."

Jakob looked troubled for a moment.  "I wonder, should I forget this whole Angel thing?  Am I being paranoid about it?  Should I go to the captain's dinner with my headwings?  It's just... once I reveal them, the genie isn't going back in the bottle, not on this flight, anyway."

[justacritic]

The fennec looked surprised "You're a incubus?" He calmed down after this shock, it was common for most of the cubi clans to go in disguise. "Well it depends on what you really want. Our clan almost never disguises ourselves. That almost always throws people off with their thinking that cubi are the race of deception. Truth is stranger than fiction and people respect that, though we can't go everywhere because of that habit. I do think that you should let your headwings out. I've done too may mystery plays that always has the cubi do it with their perfect disguises. Nobody suspects a cubi who has come out, even fact they'll defend the cubi most likely because they think nobody could be that stupid to reveal an advantage like that. That and we're on a boat, nine to ten a crime is going to happen and there be investigators and all that trouble. It'll look pretty bad too because you are an envoy. Letting others know you're a cubi should be the best route but then again it is your choice my lord." The fennec had packed up his puppets into a dimensional scroll and hesitated "I know this might be prying and you have a dinner to get to but we've heard rumors" The fennec said his next words in a whisper "Really my lord? An entire warehouse of never wilting roses?"   

[Tapewolf]

"I thought you had figured that out," Jakob said, a little taken aback.  "I told you I was fairly high in Daryil clan.  And thank you, yes, I do know the risks.  That's why I'm considering throwing away my disguise in front of the Captain on the first day, rather than run the risk of being forcibly exposed later if something bad does happen."

"And yes, it's true about the roses," the wolf added, with a faintly dreamy expression.