Perspective Shift [Vyn] [Parsley's King Quest]

[Kari Muffin]

The squirrel had decided quite sometime ago that he wanted to become a member of the Court of Spades. When he had heard about the Tulgey Queen he had decided to take the leap. Of course he had gotten mildly distracted with a project and that leap came a couple of months later than he intended.

He had sent a letter ahead a week ago, however, and he had made the proper appointment. After buying several watches and clocks he was more than prepared to make it to the appointment on time.

And now he was several minutes early. He stood on his haunches in front of the door, red eyes staring at the door. Was this the right thing to do? Was he actually cut out to be a noble in the Court of Spades?

If two of his sisters could be titled members of the Court of Clubs, he could handle this. The squirrel knocked on the door firmly and waited for his invitation in.

[Vyn]

Wulfram was in his office, verifying and signing (or rejecting) documents as he waited for his appointment. Although he knew that it was his job as a Queen to have Kings, there was always a sense of wariness at putting his trust in others. His only consolation in all of this was that he would get to torture any potential candidates to the best of his abilities...

Well, that is until Malachior had shown up. "That is your potential King?" The Corvie slammed his hands on the desk, a sneer upon his lips. "He is the one with Acerbic's twin!" The Tove appeared upon command, coiling around his neck and hissing in reflection of his summoner's discontent. Malachior motioned to the horrific scarring as his eyes narrowed into slits behind his spectacles. "The one that did this to him!"

"Really," the crow tilted his head with that strange smile of his -- sweetly sadistic (and Wulfram was glad to see it still made Malachior's skin crawl after all these years) "you're just mad because he can get in your head, Old Man." He chuckled. "Perhaps that can be of help to us though? Such things must happen for a reason -- two spades so many generations apart with twin toves." Malachior was about to protest but Wulfram dropped the friendliness from his voice entirely and allowed the cold, steely edge to cut his friend short. "You'll stay for his meeting."

The Buck flinched and unsummoned Acerbic as he turned away from the Tulgey Queen. "Of course."

Parsley's knock came shortly after Wulfram finished his last paper. Wonderful timing. Wulfram liked that. "Come in." Malachior sighed to himself and slowly closed the book he'd been pretending to be interested in as he waited for Wulfram's guest to enter.

[Kari Muffin]

Parsley entered shortly after being invited. He didn't expect to see the familiar face with the Tulgey Queen. His ears pulled back slightly as he paused at the door. Was he going to have to deal with that man and the Queen he was applying to Kingship under?

He swallowed as he walked forward and bowed, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Your Majesty." Why did he get such an awfully intimidating feeling from the Tulgey? He normally wasn't that nervous around the region. They were all a little "off" but it was almost like being home again.

He should probably address the other matter in the room. He didn't want to but it would only be polite. Really if he was more open minded he could potentially learn a thing or two from the other Corvie. "And it's a pleasure to see you again Mr. Malachior."

[Vyn]

Wulfram's expression would be kept perfectly neutral, the only telling hint to his mood being the half-smirk that rested on his lips. He was terribly intrigued to see how this would all work out, especially with Malachior being so resistant to this whole concept of change.

"It's good to finally meet you face to face, Parsley." He inclined his head to the greeting before shooting Malachior a dark grin. "I heff heard a lot about you."

The older King rolled his eyes at the Tulgey, adjusting his glasses before looking back to Parsley. "A pleasure, Parsley. Looking forward to potentially working with you." Lies, of course. But Wulfram was probably right. Work would do him good and Parsley's youth may drag him out of his current old man funk despite his protests otherwise.

Good. Wulfram watched both Corvies carefully before motioning to the chair before him. "Come, sit. Let us get straight to zhe matter at hand. I've been told about the bond your toves share, that you can communicate vith each other through zhem. I vould like to test the strength und extent of this ability during your King's Quest. More importantly," Wulfram met Parsley's red eyes with his own, "your records show you vere born in Tulgey. Is this correct?"

[Kari Muffin]

Parsley could feel his nerves bundling up as he took a proper seat in front of the Queen. The man was an overall shade of terrifying, which he had honestly hoped the rumors had lied about. Meeting the man in person was far different from letters.

He brushed aside all of his worries to focus on the task at hand. He was going to become a noble for the sake of his research and his suit. He could have enough funds to work on his projects and could bring glory to the suit of Spades. And if he didn't do anything spectacular in the name of his suit he would at least be well fed and not have to sell music boxes to make a living.

So... he had heard about the little incident. Wonderful. It made a small part of the squirrel want to sink into oblivion. He was going to have to work with the stick in the mud, wasn't he?

"Yes, I was born in Tulgey, your Majesty." Would his quest have something to do with the region?

[Vyn]

Wulfram's smirk never faded. He looked perpetually like the cat that ate the canary... and was ready to eat you next. When Parsley confirmed his question, that smirk finally evolved into a grin and his eyes narrowed ever so slightly in what may have been pleasure, or perhaps something darker. It was always a little hard to be sure which was which when Wulfram was concerned.

"Goot. Zhen you should haff no problem vith zhis task." His gaze flicked to Malachior, just briefly enough to see the man's discomfort, and then back to Parsley. "I haff an item I need you to fetch from an associate in Zhe Tulgey. Due to your unique... bond... vith Malachior, it vill be between you two to discuss zhe finer points ov vhat is necessary in retrievink it." He leaned down to retrieve a map of Tulgey from the drawer and quickly jotted down the coordinates. "Zhis is the meeting point. Return to me vith the item and you'll have the position. Simple, yes?"


Malachior remained determinedly silent through Wulfram's explanation. He wasn't fond of Tulgey and was utterly grateful that he wasn't going to have to actually step foot in that place with the Squirrel. (How unfortunate for a Corvie to grow up in such a land!)

[Kari Muffin]

There was something intimidating about this Queen and the faces he made. Though he had a friend who had their human form and his parents had periodically used their human forms around him he had never really paid attention to facial expressions. He never paid attention to anyone's facial expressions and found himself particularly useless in this moment.

His ears twitched a bit as the man spoke to him about his designated task. Going back to the Wood and retrieving an item. If this had been any other realm it probably would have been easier, however, it was the Wood and things were probably going to be difficult. Hopefully the item was located around where he lived. Even if the locals didn't like him, they respected his crazy Tulgey sister.

He took the map from the Queen when it was offered and eyed the coordinates. He wasn't as lucky as he hoped, but he could make due. "Yes, Your Majesty," he responded with a slight bow. His eyes wandered over to Malachior. This was going to be fun wasn't it?

"I suppose we should take our leave to discuss the plan? Unless, your Majesty, has any other information I need to know."

[Vyn]

Both Corvies looked so very uncomfortable. It may have been for two separate reasons entirely but it nevertheless made him quite happy. "Nothing that you two can't figure out on your own." Wulfram leaned back once more and waved a hand to dismiss them. "Best of luck, Parsley." He'd certainly need it. The few associates Wulfram did keep in The Wood may have been a bit more open-minded than most, but they certainly weren't the nicest strangers one would encounter in this vast world.


Malachior rose and inclined his head to Wulfram. It pained him to bow to a man that he could still remember as a snot-nosed brat just out of The Wood but he would simply have to suck it up for formality's sake. He motioned for Parsley to step outside and was just about to close the door when a cheerfully snide voice rose up behind him. In Tulgey, of course.

You too, boss. Have fun.

The old buck shut the door behind him without responding, clutching the bridge of his nose briefly before turning his attention down to Parsley. "Let's walk and talk, shall we?" He was already eager to put space between himself and Wulfram lest the sadistic Tulgey think of something worse to throw at them. "Since you were raised in The Wood I'm sure you have no lack of experience dealing with the individuals there, but I should nevertheless warn you that Wulfram's associate is probably just as asinine as he is. Just keep your guard up, be straight forward, and you should be fine." He paused, glancing down at Parsley. "You should probably keep that in mind when dealing with Wulfram as well."

[Kari Muffin]

Parsley did his best to look calm and controlled, though he could feel a bit of worry seep into the back of his mind. When they had exited the room he eyed the older Corvie and nodded in agreement about walking and talking.

His words were far from reassuring, though he couldn't really expect anything less when dealing with Tulgey Woods. "I will keep that in mind. However, I would like to know how... magically capable you think his associate is. I'm not particularly skilled at battle magic, and all the Tulgies I knew were capable of doing a good deal of damage in a fight. How likely is it that Mr. Wulfram is sending me to a dangerous companion?"

It was probably a hundred percent chance that the Tulgey he was going to meet was extremely dangerous, he just wanted a bit of confirmation before walking to his death.

[Vyn]

Malachior frowned deeply at the boy's words. He hadn't immediately considered that but Wulfram was not one to mince things. If he wanted to be sure he had an apt King... A heavy sigh escaped him as he found himself massaging the bridge of his nose once more. The bloody Tulgey would be the death of him.

"I'm afraid it's very likely, but I would like to believe Wulfram has no intent of maiming a potential King. Just keep your wits about you, I believe this man is more of a trickster than anything but it won't be of any harm to be prepared for something worse."

Blast it all, Wulfram, why couldn't you just be sane? Malachior had offered him plenty of suggestions for more logical Quests and here he was sending a boy to deal with his mad accomplices.

By now they were stepping outside the palace doors and Malachior stopped. "If you need it, transportation has been provided for you. You have as much time as you need as well, but Wulfram is fond of promptness."