Spice: Good thought on the comic relief, I sometimes forget how my writing tends to drift towards the dark/depressing side.
Everyone: Great posts! I love everyone's characters and am looking forward to the coming adventure!
-BTW, if I ever introduce any NPCs (Rich, the taverns occupants, etc) feel free to do with them as you wish. If I have a specific plan in mind for any of them I'll post it here to let everyone know.
Oh yes and one thing I realize is a downside of posting so late at night is I tend to forget things. As I was writing the starting post I began to explore Liri's character in my own mind and flesh out some things. I wasn't thinking about the fact that there might be other witnesses to the murder, and I forgot to explain these things aloud so I'll do so now.
Liri's magic would, by Spirit's of the Earth's magical system, be classified as a 'Glamour,' one which she is not consciously aware of or in control of.
Witnessing the murder, the shock of it rattled her subconscious in a way that caused her glamour to momentarily slip - this is why the man addressed her as 'maam' at first instead of 'sir' or 'boy.' So any third parties to the events in question would have seen something like this:
A furtive looking stranger slips out of the tavern and makes his way between buildings, apparently trying to avoid being seen.
Another young man follows him out the door a few moments later and begins searching for him without success, that is until the screaming is heard from the alley.
By this time the victim is mostly turned to ashes but the boy runs around the corner just in time to see the last of him turn to dust.
She backs up against the wall, clearly emotionally reeling from what she had seen, and for a moment seems to shift in appearance to that of a young woman of about the same age -dressed in the same clothing as they aren't a part of her glamour- with smooth features and darker blond hair, unusual gold-colored eyes and light skin.
Then a man who had come from further down the road, also drawn by the screaming, sees her and asks what is going on. At the interruption the girl shakes her head and shifts immediately back into the appearance of the similar-looking but not male youngster she had been before.
The man stops, not sure what he has just seen, and notices the smoldering pile of ash across from her. He seems uncertain how to react, and the young boy runs away -eventually stopping to calm himself and then making his way back to the inn.
-Now how clearly our 'Gambler' would have seen all of this from his vantage point is entirely up to you. Perhaps he was too far away to discern it, or perhaps not.
Anyway just clarifying that. Sorry I had not before.
