Zi'da 723
Balthazar's expression remained the same but he seemed to shift his weight where he was. Why was he thinking so hard? Chip. Chip was a good name. It was also what happened to glass if you dropped it from a small height but a good name all the same. Balthazar glanced towards Winston for a moment. The small friend was always a reprieve from whatever else was happening in the mage's mind.
Kisaik asked Winston about the rainbow crackers he was sampling and Balthazar didn't think much of it until the tunawa mentioned ephemera. The Mountain King's prisoner. The memory flashed in and out of Balthazar's mind quickly. He looked towards the crackers with a grin trying to hide his own thoughts and picked one up. He wanted to test his magic on it. He wanted to see if his newest spark could sense the ephemera. Heck, he wanted to find the note of ephemera in the cookie using Attunement. However, he did not. This was not the time or place to play with magic. It was the time and place to enjoy the people around him. To that end, he watched for Winston's reaction to Kisaik's words before moving forward.
All was well until Kisaik did what any reasonable and well mannered, but ill-informed ally would have done. Kisaik asked Balthazar about Elisabeth.
He didn't realize he spoke about Elisabeth in the past tense until Kisaik mentioned it and when he did, Balthazar's heard plummeted from his chest. Past tense. As if he would never see her again. As if he didn't have his people on constant lookout for anyone even vaguely matching her description. As if he wouldn't make the darkest trade to put her in the world instead of himself. Kisaik had asked a question that would have sent Balthazar into a spiral in any other occasion.
Well, 'would have' is generous.
The question did send Balthazar's mind into a dark and downward spiral but he had great discipline and the presence of mind to maintain his composure. He spiraled into the depths of the Beneath and emerged again within two trills. Two trills. That was far more than an acceptable pause given the news Balthazar had to convey. Asking a paperboy what happened to Elisabeth was one thing, asking her husband forced him to relive every moment every single time it came up. Worse, he could never forget the best and the worst of how he'd been toward her. He could never forget how much he wished he had been better. Maybe if he was there the whole time- by her side at every moment for any thing, maybe she'd still be there. Wait, he was spiraling again.
So Kisaik's question stalled Balthazar's response for an entire three trills before the mage seemed to return to his body. "In the time since the pirates attacked, much has happened and very little of it was pleasant. Elisabeth is missing. She was last seen in Hopetoun. Despite my resources and powers, I've been unable to find any clue to help me discover where she is now." He didn't mention that he had been told it seemed even the immortals themselves couldn't find her. He didn't want to include that. Maybe it wasn't true or accurate. Maybe they were lying or he'd interpreted it poorly. Maybe she was doing something for them that would make it all worth it. "I'd-" His voice broke and he had to rebuild it for a moment "I'd prefer to leave it at that but I understand if you have questions. You worked with her. I heard good things. I wouldn't deprive you of any answers I'd have wanted." He could handle it. He would suffer through it, but he'd handle it.
Unfortunately no amount of internal strife would stop the spirits from playing their little games around everyone who'd come to the gathering. Crow, Balthazar's bonded diri of Death, had stopped whatever small distractions it had allowed itself. It sensed the potential rising in Balthazar and began to watch the mage carefully. It was always vigilant for any danger that might harm the mage but now it watched because it worried the spirits might tip him in the wrong direction.
Balthazar silently took one of the crackers that Winston said would help to improve mood and ate it whole. He chewed it quickly and quietly. He'd picked it up before Winston began reorganizing as well. That might have told Winston all he needed to know about Balthazar's mindset given he'd been fairly consistent about not eating around people in the past.
One spirit sat itself on the table to protest Sir Chip's actions and there was a moment in Balthazar's mind where he immediately considered immolating the interloper. However that was before he heard the spirits demand and remembered the jovial setting he was in. Instead of igniting the spirit, Balthazar smiled and turned his head towards the accused Kisaik. "Troonatic?" Balthazar repeated the charge, entirely unfamiliar with the word. However Kisaik asked Winston about another unfamiliar thing that the Grand Poobah had requested so Balthazar turned to Redly, prepared to ask the spirit for clarification. Who else would have known?
Winston spoke his advice to Kisaik in a soft tone but very little could escape Balthazar's perception.
"Make et amusing"
Balthazar pulled himself up by his bootstraps (figuratively) and freed himself from the darker recesses of his thoughts to process what had just happened. A spirit had come down and accused Kisaik of something during a time that was meant to be dedicated to Kisaik receiving a gift. Balthazar was the patron saint of bad etiquette, but even he knew that the spirit was being outlandish. What a Yari attitude. Balthazar liked the spirit a little more now. However, as custom, such an attitude had to be challenged and Balthazar would not sit back and wait for the receiver of his gift to defend themselves. To pull himself out of his own dark thoughts, Balthazar forcefully commit himself to the ridiculousness transpiring with the spirits.
He sat forward, pretending to be offended, and gave the accusatory spirit and hard look. "Troonatic? Troonatic! How dare you!" He was more focused on the lie than the acting. It wasn't a performance, it was a gag. He was trying to scare one spirit for the entertainment of them all. In fairness, the spirit asked for it. "Chip is no lulling troonatic! He's ergomatic! Innovative. Original. Fun."
Balthazar paused and gave the spirit another hard stare, but it didn't last long enough for the spirit to gather it's thoughts. In a single sentence, Balthazar threw all of his practice behind his message. "Grand Poobah, it is you who have insulted us. You have interrupted this annual celebration and now, in recompense, you must perform sixty and one Blimeywheels for us." Balthazar spoke the sentence with a childlike grin. He didn't know what a Blimeywheel was. All he knew was that it sounded like the sort of thing the spirits would have had an event for.
Capstones In Use
- For A Few Words Less: Balthazar has always had a habit of choosing to strike first and strike hard in combat which has slowly bled into his social habits. Rather than learn to speak endless volumes to persuade people to act according to his will, he has learned how to effectively target and attack the arguments and stances of others to convince them that his idea is best while using remarkably few words. While using this ability Balthazar comes across as far more convincing by slowly dismantling the opposing arguments of those around him rather than reinforcing his own idea. The longer someone of lesser social skill attempts to debate an issue with him, the more effective Balthazar's persuasion becomes as the vice of Balthazar's 'logic' tightens around the debate.
This ability is focused on NPC and will not impact how a PC perceives Balthazar, but it should be taken into consideration.
- Also Balthazar is guessing that Troonatic means boring and using that to try and turn the tables on the spirit.
This ability is focused on NPC and will not impact how a PC perceives Balthazar, but it should be taken into consideration.
- Also Balthazar is guessing that Troonatic means boring and using that to try and turn the tables on the spirit.
