ElfCollaborator

 "Let's get down to business. What's your proposition? Surely you didn't come all the way out to a den of thieves to congratulate us on our good work."

Lenore lifts an eyebrow behind her mask. Her eyes are on Arthur. She figured it'd be something like that. Hiding his identity, barely any intel on him, trying to keep distant from everyone else; Lenore figured he was either a noble on the run or a con like her trying to hide his identity from prying eyes, and there was no way he was a con. At least, a good one. She just hadn't pegged him as a literal prince.  ".....you know, for an organisation that really wants to take on the nobility, we seem to have an awful lot of them here. Maybe you're not alone in wanting a change in the system, milady."

Lenore, her face now concealed by a featureless, white, porcelain mask after Kane's order to mask up, simply stares between Albert, the Queen and the others. A smirk is very concealed behind her mask, however.  "So. What is it you want with our group? Shall we get it over with so your....companion....can rest?"

 "As much as I hate to admit it, he's got a point. I don't like this whole situation. I don't know all the facts and I've been blindsided today too many times; maybe she's not the Queen, maybe she's got an ambush or maybe she's got a whole load of other things ready to bite us in the backside the moment we look away. As it is, I'm debating taking my stuff and getting out of here. Justine, normally I'm inclined to trust you but....I think there's something more going on here and I'm not sure I can trust your judgement here, You neither, Baldur and Lizaveta. Especially you, Baldur; you're not our boss and getting yourself into more hot water isn't going to help you or us." She turns to Kane.  "Your call. Are we trusting the Queen of Ceda?

I'll take Kane, obviously, and I'll take Lysander and Reiko if their players accept.

Lenore stares directly at Justine. Then at Arthur. Then at Baldur.  ".....so. We have the royals of Ceda at our door. Justine, I don't know what you two have going but I'm not about to get into it because you don't NEED me to tell you why we can't just instantly trust her. Baldur's being helpful, again. Kane....between Lysander and this, please tell me we aren't expecting any MORE surprises."

Lenore, who'd been with Kane, silently mulling.....something over, looks over at Arthur. Already, as soon as she figured they were busted, escape scenarios had been running through her mind. How fast could she bug out and leave the mansion? She had a few disguises she could put on already and one or two false identities she had, just in case she needed to leave Virtuous quickly and disappear. Escape wasn't going to be easy, and she hoped it wasn't going to be necessary.  "I hope you're right and you haven't just exposed us to the world."

Take It Easy on Walmond. Empi has a 5% chance to resist statuses due to Fairy Dust. Take It Easy: Removes all ailments from the target and blocks a single status on the target until Empi's next turn.

V26

"A strong breeze starts to blow! It carries us out to sea with hope of fame and pride! And glorious all will be that with sword in hand will die!" I-23, perform Aidan and Bea

A small smirk lights up Lenore's face as she stands up, walking towards Lysander, hips sashaying as she does until she's right in front of him, hand on hip, finger on her chin. "You should know, most people aren't inclined to believe a promise based on the honor of a confessed thief and scoundrel." She plucks the stolen Faberge egg from the table, studying it carefully, her smirk still present. "This egg used to be part of the collection of one of the many kings of Perus; it was among his prized possessions, so the locals say. He was....infamous....for trying to invoke the right of the lord on any girl who took his fancy, on pain of death for the family, among your usual crimes of onerous taxes and assorted crookery. This egg, along with most of his possessions and wealth, went missing over the course of two weeks, about a year ago. The pieces of art he owned were all replaced with forgeries and the coin disappeared into the streets like rainwater in the sun. He's now wandering the streets of his fief penniless, and his manor's better for it. Or....well, that's what I've heard." She rolls the egg in her hand, her smirk taking something of a nostalgic bent. "Long as you keep your eyes off the goods and on the prize, and as long as you're good with Kane, I think you're good in my book." Lenore strolls back to her seat, pocketing the egg, sitting down and studying Lysander with curious, searching eyes.

 "I'll rephrase. We got cons, soldiers, merchants, sellswords and all sorts here; everyone's plenty good at what we do. Why you specifically? You talk the talk about wanting to make the world a better place. How were you even doing that before you showed up here?"

Oh. He was that guy? Lenore had heard whispers among her fellow grifters, hustlers and mountebanks about this guy, back when she worked Perus, before she met Kane. He prowled her stomping grounds, engaging in high profile thievery to improve the world, the works. A lot like Kane, really, only with a one man operation. Lenore never understood the point of some squarely identifiable alias to be known by, of course; it sounded cool, and made sure that whoever you went after knew who you were, but Lenore wasn't the type. She worked from the shadows, reinvented herself with fake names and false faces, made sure to never leave a trail of anything but frustrated men, emptied coffers and richer peasants. With a finder's fee, of course; Lenore needed to eat, after all. An alias, a cool title, stuff like that; Lenore wasn't a fan. It was too easy to track someone down even with just an alias; after all, an aggrieved official, no matter how powerful he was, couldn't strike back against a ghost. But enough about his methods; to each his own. Long as you didn't get caught, a take was a take, whether or not you got it by fancy magic tricks or forging a painting. His motives, however were respectable....as far as he claimed, anyway. Lenore had lived in the world of grifters long enough to know that you didn't really know anyone except if they let their guard down around you. She needed to poke at him a little, see what he was really about. He could talk big and act flashy, but a good hustler did that anyway. She folds her arms and cocks an eyebrow at him.  "You and everyone else here are here to make the world better. What makes you so good you can waltz in here, rob us blind and welcome you with open arms?"

Lenore lifts an eyebrow, eyeing the egg. She figured it was missing already, and was about to alert Kane. After all, she was pretty sure she was the only con in the house, and she wasn't about to lose people's trust by stealing things unless they sincerely irritated her. She was here to work, not show off, unless they needed something stolen. Not anymore, it seemed. She seems more bemused than angry.  "You know, stealing from the thieves to impress 'em really only works in books. You wanna impress me, you're going to have to try a little harder, darling."

"That SMARTS!" I'm Not a Doctor on Empi. Empi has a 5% chance to resist statuses due to Fairy Dust. I'm Not a Doctor: Heals 6d4+Syn (12) on a single target.

Lenore thinks for a minute, before shaking her head at her roommate.  "I prefer to work, occupy my hands. Idle hands do the devil's work, so they say, and it keeps me focused."

Lenore smiles.  "A meditator, huh? Alright, I can respect that. I'll clear the room if you need it."

 "Then we should be good. Anything you want to lay down?"

Lenore looks at the new girl; Reiko, she figured. One of the recruits from the prison break. She seemed....a little volatile, but a little was nothing in comparison to straight-up punching each other in the face, something that still grated at Lenore.  "You must be....Reiko, then. A pleasure to meet you properly. Well.....I've got a few ground rules. Keep to your side of the room unless you ask permission to come over my side, don't root through my stuff, take it or borrow it without my permission, and if you by any chance recognise anything I have in my possession, don't ask any questions as to how I got it. The answer will either be 'you don't want to know' or 'you really don't want to know'."

Lenore looks over what they have, glancing over at Kane occasionally.  "Decent stew, huh? Well, beggars can't be choosers. Is this all we have? I'll see if I can't spice this up a little."

Lenore strolls forward to join Kane and Ferdiad over the ingredients. "Why don't you let me have a look? I'm not too bad at cooking myself."

"I forgot how homely your place was, what with us being out all the time. It's not the Slug and Leaf Inn, but it's not a dump either. You making us dinner?" Lenore leans against a shelf behind Kane and Ferdiad.

"And I didn't come here to work with a bunch of grown adults resorting to screaming at each other and hitting each other like children, but we make do with what we got. Let Phoenix handle him, it's his responsibility. Sometimes you have to take a few hits before you win big. Don't waste your time on small fry. If you do that, you'll waste your energy going after the little minnows instead of the big fishes out there."

Lenore promotes to Thief. HP +2 SKL +2 LUK +1 SPD +3 CON +2 MOV +1 New Preferred Stats: SPD, LUK New Personal Skill: Your Lying Eyes: When facing Thieves and their promotions, +2 damage. New Class Skills: Steal: If the Thief has a higher Speed compared to their opponent, they can use their action to attempt to steal any unequipped item, from weapons to items. In the case of a tie, Luck stats are compared, failing on another tie. The Thief must have an open inventory slot, or else the steal won’t work. If the targeted item is a weapon, it cannot be currently equipped. If all conditions are met, that item is instantly added to the stealing character’s inventory, and they contribute 5 EXP. Some items can be locked to inventory, preventing it from being stolen. Footpad After a successful Lockpick or Steal action, the Thief can use their remaining MOV as if they had Canto. New Weapon Prefs: Knife (C), Hidden (D) +5% STR

Lenore, for her part, manages to remain completely calm. For the moment. Good grief. She'd signed on to Virtuous in the hopes of working with the world's greatest thieves. For her, it was a dream come true, at least she'd hoped; Virtuous had pulled off some insane heists, showed promise, and she was hoping to work with the most audacious, most skilled thieves on the entire continent. One last con, one last big, final con, doing what Lenore Snicket did best; steal from the rich, give to the poor, before Lenore took her collective finder's fees and reinvented herself. And Kane seemed to provide; he seemed good enough, seemed exactly the kind of person Lenore would recruit for a big con. Justine, she could see her and Justine working together too, even if she was a little flighty. Cecily, probably a package deal with Justine. Fey too; after all, merchants were just legal swindlers around here, exactly the type of person Lenore would take on as a fence after finishing up. But the others....the others needed a little work. Lizaveta was too green; Lenore liked her well enough, but she was too naive, too new to this. She wasn't made for thievery. Shin? Dirty guy, needed a wash, probably figure himself out. Not quite cut out for thievery either. Not a bad guy, but not a con. And then Baldur....Baldur needed to pull his head out from his ass, before Lenore did it for him. In Lenore's world, all thieves had to rely on is that the other person wouldn't stab them in the back, before they split the take, said goodbye and walked away. No honor among thieves and all that. That's why Lenore curated her collaborators; she picked people who she could befriend, who didn't seem the type to split unless absolutely necessary, unless the con had gone horrifically, drastically wrong. And Kane, for all his skills, was terrible at this. She takes a deep breath, and keeps her voice to a whisper. "Phoenix....you really know how to pick 'em, huh?" "I'll check on Scarlet. Your team, your responsibility to handle their behaviour. It shouldn't be mine or Minstrel's. I'm not mad, Phoenix, but.....Virtuous needs to get itself together if we want to keep going. It can't go on like this." She strolls over to Lizaveta. Again, she held no personal grudge against the girl, but she wasn't ready for this. "Don't stress yourself over him. It's not worth it."