Smoke and Mirrors (PM for entry)

[Gligar]

Sleeves were stacked.

Potions in the satchel.

Mask was on.

"It's time," Roland said to himself. Crouched behind a tree a ways off, the fake mage was about to rip Ilragorn a new one. The morning chill still hadn't dissipated, and fog still hung heavily around the village's perimeter. Concealment was a charlatan's best friend.

Roland – or, rather, Livritas the Luminous – stepped out from behind the tree, leaning on his cane to create the illusion of frailty. Villagers, already starting to work despite the morning fog, stopped and stared at the wizard walking amidst them. Roland gave as genial a smile as he could to a lumberjack, who returned it with a nod. Then the wizard cleared his throat.

"Lo, citizens of Ilragorn. LIVRITAS THE LUMINOUS is here!" he shouted, raising his arms in a dramatic gesture. "The wandering wizard, here to work great wonders amongst you!" At this speech, some villagers raised their heads, briefly acknowledging the wizard's presence before returning to their businesses.

Irritated, Livritas flung out his hands. From under each of his sleeves, a smokestick jumped out just slightly out of eyesight. As quickly as he could, he snapped his fingers, creating a small spark at their tips – the smokesticks caught fire, then disappeared back. Rainbow-colored smoke began to billow from underneath his sleeves – another snap of his fingers and it caught fire, creating a blaze that surged upwards without so much as searing his robe.

That caught people's attention.

Livritas smiled. "Now tell me, villagers," he shouted once again, "what can I do for you?"

[SanctifiedSavage]

When Yin was wandering around, she generally stuck to her cat form. It was easier, she was less out of the way, and she drew even less attention. For whatever reason, a cluster of tails tended to draw the eye. It was also easier to feed herself when she was a small cat that could pounce on the stray mouse or bug that wandered near her.

Villages were nice though. People tended to be friendly to her. She'd get a random pet or a scrap tossed her way. Larger cities tended to see her and other cats as vermin, or at least something to be ignored.

She'd picked a spot near the outskirts of the village, along a knee high wall that had become overgrown with vine and moss, to eat the mouse she'd caught. Idly, she watched the comings and goings of the people in the village. Nothing particularly catching her attention until someone very much not villager-like made their way in.

Curiously snagged her and Ayami left the remains of the mouse where she'd been to trot after the interesting newcomer. He didn't seem to be garnering much attention, at least not initially, but she sat off to the side to watch. Bright gold eyes were rapt as he continued to declare his intentions, but it wasn't until he sprouted fire that she was delighted. It wasn't that Tuyet needed a wonder, or had a particular request, but she was excited and he seemed like fun.

What more could she ask for? Darting behind another low wall, momentarily out of sight, she turned into her human self. It happened quick, in the span of a blink. Where a cat had once been, a small girl with red hair, perky cat ears, and a cluster of tails was now on her hands and knees. Thankfully, she had enchanted clothes that shifted with her.

Tuyet stood up, brushed off her knees, and skipped toward the delightful wizard. When she moved, her tails entwined to appear as one, fluffy one behind her. When the wizard asked what he could do, there were a couple of villagers who shouted the obvious. "Make it rain" or "make it sunny for the next week!" Weather related, given their farming nature.

Yin, being of a different mind, asked instead, "Can you turn anything into a fish?" Then, to clarify, she held up a stick. As though that made sense. Stick into fish.

@Gligar

[Gligar]

As he listened to the villagers' requests, Livritas nodded. Now, obviously he couldn't do any of the things they set out to tell him, but they didn't know that. That's why he had the skills of a con artist, one who'd done this thousands of times before. Well, maybe not thousands of times, but you got the idea.

That's when an odd, catlike girl stepped forward and asked him a question. "Can you turn anything into a fish?" she said.

(He couldn't.)

"Of course I can, but what's the point of doing that?" Livritas said. "It expends far too much of my arcane energies to do so. It'd be easier and cheaper to simply get a real one yourself."

[SanctifiedSavage]

Tuyet was quite disappointed when he said he could, but that he wouldn't. A fish would've been delightful right then. Or a handful of fish. A basket?! So she pouted prettily and held onto her stick as though it might very well still turn into a fish.

Others around were still asking for grand things. For their animals to produce more, to have more money, for their daughter to become prettier, for the wedding in a week to be blessed. Large, lovely, and grand things. Her ears twisted this way and that, taking it all in but she didn't look away from the fancy mage in his fancy clothes.

She couldn't do any magic. Nor did she consider her shapeshifting magic at all. That was just a thing she could do. So anything he might be able to produce, even if it wasn't her fish-stick, would be amazing to her. Since it seemed he was taking suggestions from around, her tail swayed to and fro – a slow wag – before she suggested, then, "Can you turn into a cat?" Maybe he could too?

@Gligar

[Gligar]

Livritas listened to the villagers' demands with a smile on his face. Yes, he could easily fool these villagers into thinking that he had magic powers - a wave of the hand here, a zap there, and leave the rest to fate. He just needed to be selective about which requests he took and which he ignored; by the time they found out the truth, it would be too late.

Then the strange cat-girl spoke again, this time asking if he could turn into a cat. Now that was a trick he had no way of reproducing. "I'm afraid not, my sweet. That was my worst area in wizard school," he said, with a defeated expression.

[SanctifiedSavage]

Yin pouted once more and actually sat where she was. She'd very much wanted to see someone else turn into a cat for once. Be that as it was, the dramatic pout didn't last long before she had her ears pricked forward and her fluffy tail swaying with echoed excitement of those around. She did want to see what real magic was. What he could do. Given that she wasn't a caster of it herself, she would wait to see what a real one could do.

Maybe, if she followed him for a bit, Yin would be able to learn something herself. Given that she had no idea how any of this worked, it seemed like a solid plan to her.

[Gligar]

It was at that point that Livritas realized that the cat-girl was...rather cute, in a strange way. He wouldn't be opposed to trying to get her attention. Foolish teenage boys were foolish, what else was new? But even he was aware that he'd get very little in the way of attention if he kept up the old-man facade.

A villager reached out to him and snapped him back to reality. Livritas shook his head, then listened to the villager's request for a more bountiful harvest. He fished inside his satchel for a "potion" - really, just some colored water - and handed it to the villager. "It'll work in a week," he said. "That'll be fifteen copper pieces, please."

[SanctifiedSavage]

Ayami watched the exchange of the potion with a sense of curious wonder. Could something as small really fix a harvest? She took a deep breath, like she might be able to smell the magic, but... No, nothing. Of course she wouldn't be able to smell magic.

She scrunched her face and looked back to the wizard. Maybe she'd get to see something else. Or! Perking up once more, she asked him, "What is your favorite thing to do?" Maybe then she could learn it? Or just see how it was done? It was certainly her hope, anyways.

There were still other mundane requests about the farm work around. Or animal care or marriage arrangements. Things that farmers from a farming village would ask for. Only a couple asked for things that might be outlandish. 'Could he summon a dragon?' The question was asked with nervous laughter and some disdain. 'Could he turn someone into a pig?' A bit more laughter and teasing with that one. 'Could he make some flowers for one man's wife?' promptly followed by some 'oohs' and 'aaahs'.