Legend of Ransera

The Golden Peacock Theater
25th of Frost, Year 121 Steel

On the coast, during a certain queen's reign, a man celebrated the completion of his twenty-first year and the end of his apprenticeship to a gentlemanly band of pirates. The pirates' maid appeared and revealed that, as his nursemaid long ago, she made a mistake through being hard of hearing: mishearing his father's instructions, she apprenticed him to a pirate, instead of to a ship's pilot.

He had never seen any woman other than his nursemaid, and he believed her to be beautiful. The pirates knew better and suggested that he take her with him when he returned to civilization. He announced that, although it pained him, so strong was his sense of duty that, once free from his apprenticeship, he would be forced to devote himself to the pirates' extermination. He also pointed out that they were not successful pirates: since they were all orphans, they allowed their prey to go free if they too were orphans. He noted that word of this had got about, so captured ships' companies routinely claimed to be orphans. He invited the pirates to give up piracy and go with him, so that he need not destroy them, but the Pirate King said that, contrasted with respectability, piracy was comparatively honest. The pirates departed, leaving the young man and his maid. He saw a group of beautiful young girls approaching the pirate lair, and realized that his maid had misled him about her appearance. Sending her away, he hid before the girls arrived.

The girls burst exuberantly upon the secluded spot. He revealed himself, startling them. He appealed to them to help him reform. The girls were fascinated by him, but all rejected him, except one. She responded to his plea, chiding her sisters for their lack of charity. She offered him her pity, and the two quickly fell in love. The other girls discussed whether to eavesdrop or to leave the new couple alone, although they stole glances at the affectionate couple.

He warned the young ladies that his old associates would soon return, but before they could flee, the pirates arrived and captured the girls, intending to marry them. His new love interest warned the pirates that the girls' father was a high-ranking military officer, who soon arrived and introduced himself. He appealed to the pirates not to take his daughters, leaving him to face his old age alone. Having heard of the famous pirates, he pretended that he was an orphan to elicit their sympathy. The soft-hearted pirates released the girls, making him and his daughters honorary members of their band.

Aurin, having watched some of the pick-up rehearsals, knew how the first act ended, and so he pushed off from the wall at the back of the auditorium to sneak out early and hit the bar before the rush of the audience. It was a comic opera, a bit silly for his tastes, but the swordplay was interesting to watch, at least. He had left tickets for Carina and Imogen at will call and noted that they had been picked up, so he supposed he might see them if he stayed near the alcohol, even if Carina would probably go to the bathroom to snort something.

Aurin could only smirk when Carina's tell-tale eyes came into view, followed by her remark. He didn't disagree, but Imogen had wanted pirates and this was the only pirate show he knew about at the moment.

"Everyone's a critic," he said, rolling his eyes, but he shrugged and nodded before taking a sip of his dark spirits. "It's times like these I almost wish I was back at the Velvet Cabaret. At least there you have a decent chance of the aria being spiced up with some tits, eh? If Imogen hates it too, we can always head next door for other entertainments. They stock a few things that will let your imagination dictate the hallucinations if you mix them just right."

His smirk widened into a Cheshire grin. At least there, Carina could nurse her high while Imogen sampled the drinks and he could continue to develop relationships with them outside of the theater proper; the most important business took place outside the office. He had known that already when he began to work for Madame Lunaria, its truth underscored by the scores of nobles and merchants who used the cabaret to transact business, both legitimate and of questionable legality.

"Where is Ms. Ward anyway?" He glanced over her shoulder, but the Orkhan woman would have stood out. She wouldn't be the only Orkhan in the audience, but they were much easier to track through the crowd. She had a similar air about her, one that Aurin's intuition read as secrets, and that sort of thing always piqued his interest. He wasn't necessarily attempting to screw them over, but he did want to figure them out.

Once Carina performed her casual pirouette, his eyebrow rose: Imogen and the box. His interest was piqued. When he had caught someone attempting to open the thing, he had put a stop to that, but he could only tell so much about what was inside via his Semblance trick. He immediately followed Carina, wending his way through the shoals of a crowd with practiced ease. She was a squirrelly one to trail, however, so he didn't hear what she had said before he caught up with her and the Orkhan woman, who now had The Box.

His smile was sincere enough. The ladies were entertaining and he knew they weren't in Kalzasi for long; best to take advantage of their company while it was available.

"There she is. You know, if you bring luggage with you, next time, I can just lock it in my office for you so you don't have to worry about it." The theater had security, but it wasn't considered a high-risk sort of a place. It was hardly the Central Bank of Kalzasi. Soon he hoped to have a hiding hole more secure than even that place, not because he worried about his gold, but because there were more precious things than gold and one did want one's assets as liquid as possible.

"Getting out of here with the pirate's booty while the getting's good?" he asked, nodding to her chest, though he didn't seem particularly interested in it. The fact that she had retrieved it at intermission made it likely that she didn't plan to stay for the rest of the show, however. He wouldn't mind cutting out of there either. If he wanted to, he could easily watch it the next night it was performed. Tickets for himself weren't really a thing he had to worry about anymore.