T - Jenn, Nako, Xenon, Bee, Lucca

[The Jenn]

Clean and full, the Queen retired to her quarters for the evening. The odd little vial knocked against her leg as she walked and she tucked it away in her luggage with her other toiletries where it would be protected until someone could get a better look at it. An appraisal might be in order.

She would have given much for another body to spend the night with her. Even her daughter would have been welcome, much as she wished the girl wasn't underfoot. She would have to trust Mikael to make sure that the girl remained in good stead until morning, at which point they would finally be able to go and meet the dignitary who invited them to this oddly remote-seeming inn.

But morning was a long time in coming and she would have a difficult time finding sleep. The bed, though large and grand, was not overly comfortable to her. Bipedal sleep eased the discomfort somewhat, but only to a certain degree. Everything seemed to squeak. Just enough moonlight passed through the curtains to be annoying. Just... just little things.

[carcinoGeneticist]

The sudden appearance of something at her feet made Sophie almost stumble, and then pause. Her eyes widened slightly as she stared down at the object. How strange... It was almost pretty! She indicated to Lyr that she should stop as well, then picked up the odd little mask and turned it over in her paws.

"It just... appeared there," she said, looking from the object to the Canine and back again. It was a delicate sort of thing, pretty and light and not at all designed for someone as manly as Sophie herself was. That was what her sister would say, at any rate. It was something for a Lady. She frowned at it. For once, she was inclined to agree, even if it meant that she would have to give the pretty thing up. She looked over Lyr with a thoughtful eye, then extended the prize to her with a small smile (and the faintest hint of a blush). "I bet it would look pretty on you."

After that little adventure, there was really nothing of note about the place. A meal that was tasty, though not quite as tasty as what she was used to, and a bed that was comfy - but far too loud. Sophie could not find sleep, much as she tried. But that could easily be attributed to excitement. After all, she was someplace new, and she'd made a friend! A real friend. That was noteworthy.

[Lucca]

After dinner, Graeme found himself in a slightly better mood, and he returned to his room to attempt sleep in preparation for the early day the next morning. As he was getting into bed, he noticed something on top of the dresser. Curiously, he took down the cloth-wrapped object and uncovered it. "Hello...what is this?" he muttered to himself, and let out a cry of surprise as the lamp lit at his touch, illuminating the surrounding area in the oddest way he'd ever seen. It was almost as if he'd taken off his spectacles, but he could still feel them on the edge of his bill.

"Well now, tha's...interesting," he mumbled to himself (he didn't know why he was talking to himself so much today, but it was probably due to the strangeness of not having anyone else around while in such posh surroundings) and covered the lamp carefully with the cloth again. The bed swirled back into view and the room became distinct again, and Graeme realized with a start that the objects closer to him had been almost invisible while the lamp was lit. Very interesting indeed. He tucked the object away into his bag and got in bed.

Sleep came only fitfully, and at some point in the wee hours of the morning he gave up entirely, dressed, and wandered down to the lobby to find a magazine to read. Hopefully they'd have some business-related one, but he -was- in the Selkie Lakes, so it was likely.

[Nathalia]

Nat says: Let me know who puts on that mask.

((The next morning a tall, thin man; a Selkie Galapagos Hawk, stopped in and rang the front desk, looking for them all.
A representative of the Mayor, he tells them they have half an hour before he departs to take them to the Mayor.
The ride is 20 minutes and they will be dropped off outside of a normal-looking and lavish mansion with fully aware attendants and serving staff.

Once there, they'll be led up the stairs outside of a set of large office doors and told to please wait just a moment, the Mayor will be with them shortly.))


~Nathalia

[Bee]

Lyr's mouth froze in a rounded little oh of surprise. It had been quite some time since anyone had given her a present. It was on the tip of her tongue to refuse it, that it would be rude to accept it, that Sophie was the one who found it, but--it was awfully pretty, and it wasn't like it was a priceless jewel or anything, and the simple act of being offered something made her feel warm and happy. She gently took the little wooden mask from Sophie's hands.

"Thank you," she said, beaming. "It is pretty!"

She tried it on when they were back in the room, sneaking a small glance in the lavatory mirror.

The gift turned out to be the high point of the adventure. Back in bed, she could not stay asleep, slipping fitfully in and out of a slumber that was never deep or restful. She woke the next morning feeling listless and cold.

[The Jenn]

Wakened by a call from the front desk, Donnie took a moment to ruffle herself in the mirror. Then she turned human, took a brush to her stubborn hair, and made her way downstairs. 'Tromped' would have been a harsh description, but possibly true. Her sleep had been far from restful. Nevertheless, she greeted the Mayor's representative politely and waited to hear his message with all the good graces she could muster so soon after waking from such a long night.

"Thank you very much. I trust that the hotel staff will inform my retinue." She glanced at the person manning the front desk meaningfully as she said this. "We will be returning to this hotel at a later date, I trust? Good. And have you already eaten this morning? Very well. I think that I will do the same before meeting you here. Half an hour, sir."

She nodded at the hawk before turning smartly and heading towards the dining area. Breakfast would be necessary to get her going after a night like that. Tea as well, if they had anything worth drinking. Hopefully they would. Also, she hoped to see her daughter and Mikael join her for breakfast at the very least. She didn't want either of their stomachs growling when they met with the Selkie delegation.

What a miserable sort of morning. She could just see the gray sky through one of the dining room windows.

[Lucca]

As it so happened, by the time the Selkie Hawk got there, Graeme was not only already awake, but was already at breakfast, having read through several magazines and grown tired of the activity. He had been nursing a cup of substandard tea when the call came through, and he got up and walked the few steps into the lobby to greet the man genially. It was nice to see, at least, that SOMEone was actually well put-together around this place. He nodded at the message, and was just about to leave and go back to the dining room when he saw the Queen come down the stairs and...well. Apparently she'd had just a bad night of it as he had, if not worse, from the look on her face.

"Good morning, Your Majesty," he said to her politely, as they were going to the same place, both in the near future and in the carriage in half an hour, and he didn't wish for any awkwardness to be between them. He resumed his own table in the dining room and went back to his fairly sad (and now rather cold) tea. The Duck had half a mind to march into the kitchen and demand that they let him brew his own tea, but he didn't want to start the morning off on the wrong foot, so to speak. Besides, he'd actually had far worse.

[The Jenn]

When Donnie finished her meal and returned to her room, she noted with pleasure that her attendant had already tidied what few things she bothered to unpack in the suite. While she was eating? Probably. She picked a quick book for browsing during the ride. It noted several local intricacies of Selkie culture and interaction. Hah. Her attendant again. Nothing she had packed, but amusing nonetheless, and possibly useful.

She returned to the lobby and waited for the rest of her party to arrive, guard included. When she received confirmation from the man at the front desk that he had spoken to each of them and they were either eating or preparing, she nodded and moved out to the carriages. They looked quite official and hopefully quite comfortable. Large enough for a full party of visitors, that was for certain. Only one of them, too. They would likely be sharing space with the businessman, McDuck. At least it seemed to have the appropriate seating...

[Nako]

Ugh. What a night. He'd gotten cobwebs in his fur from digging around in the attic. He'd eventually found a glue type substance to reinforce his mask with.. but in the end, it really didn't help the eerie feeling in the back of his mind. He'd slept briefly, but eventually had to drag himself out of bed, an oilstain on his bed from sweating in the night. Ugh. That meant he reeked as well.

Disgusting… Embarrassed by his own proclivity for smelling and dripping like something out of a swamp, he ripped the bed covers off of the mattress, patting the material gently to see how badly it had soaked in. Well, nothing he could do about that. He snarled, throwing the soiled cloth in a heap in a bare corner.

Tired… So damned tired. He grumbled to himself as he made his way to the bathroom. It wasn't until he was there that he realized he'd left his soaps behind. He'd have to use whatever smelled best.. what he could smell through his mask, anyways. He'd open several containers, sticking them up close to his mask filter and inhaling deeply. What was that… Lavender? Cherry Blossom? Who knows. He caught himself before he picked up a soap with a warning label that it was from the Yarrow. Phew. Talk about a near miss! Anaphylactic shock was the last thing he needed this morning.

Once clean, he dragged himself back to his room, looking through his mostly packed bags to make sure everything was where it should be… which it wasn't.

A comb was missing. Ugh… of all the things! He checked every drawer, scouring the floor in case it'd gotten kicked. Maybe under the bed? Behind the toilet? Under the mattress?? Okay, now he was just getting desperate.

Well, despite whether he found it or not, he'd eventually have to eat breakfast, or at least find his way to the lobby.

[Nathalia]

((Lyr went to bed feeling fine last night, no complaints and no issues as far as she could see or feel. The mask is very pretty, sliding on and off without issue. Phew, sometimes people have trouble with magical masks...sticking.
When she woke up in the morning, however, she felt very cramped and her insides hurt as though she'd eaten a bad meal. The carriage ride was uncomfortable and her stomach was upset the whole way.
Upon arrival at the gates, something odd begins to happen...

Her entire body trembles, shudders, and then freezes.
As roots and branches explode all over her body, the ones along her spine twisting up into an artfully constructed tree and the other twining out of the way of her legs and all throughout her thin form.
Small fruits blossom from the branches...but very few of them, only one right now, actually.
The leaves are a delicate, pale green and look quite fetching against the dark, dark wood and her pale coat.

However...this is certainly odd.
To say the least. She must drink twice as much water as she did before now because the tree also needs to be fed.))

((Mikael seems to have found somehting in his rush out the door!))

Small Mouse Doll: Huh...odd, this little doll looks like a Selkie Mouse, all dolled up in a dress. Looks old and well loved too, shame for someone to have lost it. Once a week, they will now find themselves able to cause another SD ranked Jack or lower or any Rabbits to lose control of a limb of their choice (the head is not a limb). This SD is then able to control it for a full 10 seconds, though it will not take out eyes or kill the owner of the limb.