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THE BOUQUET ESTATE - LATE AFTERNOON
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Teis had mostly spent her day talking with Enver, though the time for talk is over. The time right now is laze on the balcony time! Work has more or less ground to a halt, though the assortment of potted plants on her balcony do provide her with something to idly practice her nature magic on, as well as make her balcony look pretty with various flowers and creeping vines.
Nesseth walks up to the door leading to Teis' room, having been directed there by Jax as usual and knocks. He's carrying a small book of some sort in his hand, amidst the rest of his gear. What with everything that's been going on as of late, he's been a bit more careful about traveling outside of his guard uniform, even within the town's walls.
Teis' eyes idly glaze over Nesseth as he walks up the path into the estate. Despite expecting the knock on her door the half or so minute later, Teis still groans to herself momentarily, stretching herself out and arcing her back for a moment before getting up. She leaves the balcony, back into her room, and answers the door.
Nesseth smiles as the door opens, dipping into a bit of a bow. "Afternoon, Teis. Sorry for bothering you, but I had to stop by because I've got a couple of things to ask, if you've got time."
Teis brings a hand up to cover a yawn, the other remaining on the door handle. "Sure... I've got time. Long questions?." Teis asks.
Nesseth shakes his head. "Not really. One's about maybe helping with my goggles, and the other's about this book I've got in my hand."
Teis rubs her mouth with the back of her wrist post-yawn, shaking herself a bit awake briefly and reaching a hand out for the book. "Start with the book, I suppose."
Nesseth hands the book over to Teis without much prompting. "It's one of two books that the guards will be using to communicate with the temporary outpost we've got set up at Dorri's observatory. Anyone can write in it, but... as I understand it, only folks that can do magic can wipe it clean for more messages."
Narrator: Lacking her lenses, Teis does her best to feel out the innate magic of the book instead as she looks it over each side. "... Feels normal." She muses, opening the book up to inspect it's writings. It takes her a few moments, but eventually, she realises. "Hm. This seems to have all the information you'd need to do this yourself. Did you just need help understanding it, or... ?" Teis questions.
Nesseth tilts his head. "Oh, that's just the instruction book for it...? Huh, guess I just... well, then again I don't know magic in general, so..." He trails off, then clears his throat, "Uh, actually, I was hoping that you might be able to function as the mage on this end of things, monitoring things, writing down reports that get sent, things like that."
Teis: "What, like... Forever?" Teis questions, looking up from the book. "Pretty sure Della'd want to charge for my services... And I'd probably get pretty bored too. Guard doesn't really... Seem like a fulfilling career. I mean, for me. Obviously you seem to enjoy it."
Nesseth shakes his head. "No, not forever, but just long enough until this whole thing with the caravan attacks and such is past. The main reason for this is so we have advance warning of anything happening out to the north and a ways east and west. The Guard will compensate you for the time and effort, of course."
Teis: "Oh. Like, you're... Drafting me? A state of emergency? What's happening, anyway? I heard that... People died." Teis mutters. "Got Enver staying with us... Don't want him to die. I mean, if it prevents others from dying, I'm in. . "
Nesseth shrugs a bit. "Not really a draft, but still a request for assistance. It's not so dire for a state of emergency yet, but yes, this is in response to the recent caravan attack." He nods, "We're trying to get people outside of the walls to come inside, just in case, so if Enver's been living outside, I'm glad he's here."
Teis nods. "Then yeah. Count me in. At least until everything seems to be fine?" Teis replies, glancing away momentarily. "... After, like... What happened with Melia... " She closes her eyes, shuddering. "... I don't want to be responsible for more deaths."
Nesseth nods. "Yeah, I understand. This is more to help prevent more deaths, though. The sooner we can spot dangers, the sooner we can respond, hence the outpost up at Dorri's observatory."
Teis shakes herself out of her brief funk, looking back at Nesseth. "That makes sense. Guess the view from there'd be pretty good, right? Enver and I were planning on going at some point... But... I digress. Leave the book with me, I'll figure it out. The other thing, then?"
Nesseth takes a moment to pull his goggles off of his forehead and hands them to Teis. "Well, in light of all this stuff that's been going on, I was wondering if you might be able to figure out ways to... I dunno, enhance these? They're linked with my crossbow, and generally help sharpen my aim further than normal."
Teis takes the goggles gently in her other hand, taking a moment to appraise any magical ability the goggles might have as she looks them over, feeling the innate hum from the magical part of the magitech inside. "I... Maybe? If there's any particular magic you have in mind, I could put some enchants or runes into them, I suppose."
Teis: "But... If it's physical tinkering you've got in mind, Della says we don't really have the supplies to spare right now... And if you needed fast results you'd be better off asking either Jennica or Maybelline anyway."
Nesseth seems a bit clueless as he shrugs. "Er... I'm honestly not sure, Teis. I'm just looking for general improvements for them, so... kind of shopping around for ideas. Figured you or May would be the ones to see about this, first." He tilts his head, "Jennica?"
Teis nods. "Yeah, Jennica deals in... Stuff like this. Little baubles, objects and magic combined. Not quite magitech? I don't know, ask her. But I've been working with her lately on a product Della wants to bring to market. But... I don't know. She's... Weird, about what she wants to work on." Teis skews her lip. "I'm not like, a master enchanter, but there's... Some basic things I learned that wouldn't hurt to throw on, but they'd probably be better on your crossbow? Actually, probably better on your ammunition... "
Nesseth hums, shaking his head after a moment of consideration. "Considering how often my ammunition gets rotated... that might be a bit too cumbersome to really do on the regular. Still, thanks for the info, Teis. I'll go and chat with May and Jennica, see if they've got ideas." He points at the book, "So... yeah, that shouldn't be too big of a job. Just write down whatever pops up and send it to us. Once a day is fine if it's not urgent, but immediately if it's something of note."
Teis: "Fair enough." Teis nods. "I don't really have much weaponizable magic anyway... About the best I could do is imbue the arrow with a bit of fire or ice. Or, I guess crossbows use bolts? Actually, there's also the anti-magic wards from when I did Tarbin's thing... You remember? That'd probably suck for magically inclined folk... You know, assuming the arr-err, bolt, doesn't suck enough as it is... "
Nesseth chuckles a bit. "Well, I've got some good variety for bolts already, so... yeah, I'm more looking for something to sharpen my accuracy further, if anything. Standard, piercing, slicing... explosive... I've got a bunch of options for bolts."
Teis nods. "Yeah. Sounds like modern warfare's kind of already figured that job far better than I could then. I don't think there's anything I could do for your accuracy either." Teis hums. "... Maybe I should ask Elizabeth about that, if things are... Dangerous around here. I'd like to be able to defend myself, Enver and Della at least a little bit if it comes to that... "
Nesseth hums. "Never a bad idea to learn a little bit about self-defense, just in case. I'm afraid I can't offer much outside of hunting and tracking advice and how to shoot straight, though. You'd probably be better off learning self-defense from folks down at the guard training grounds. Or Elizabeth, if you want to learn more magical means."
Teis nods. "Yeah. It'll be easier for me to learn more spells than it would be to master a blade or anything like that. That and I'm, well. Not very big. Sounds like we're good though, yes?"
Nesseth hums again, nodding as he slips his goggles back onto his forehead. "Yeah, I think we're just about good, here. Thanks for helping us with the observatory things, Teis. I'll put in a note at the barracks, so once we get the other end set up, you'll start getting paid."
Teis: "Yeah, that's fair. Um, let Della know? She's the one that handles the finances... Just, like. Um. She's a bit of a scary businesswoman? Wait, no. Maybe don't... Maybe it's best I just talk to her about it. Nevermind, forget I said anything, bye Nesseth!" Teis smiles, waving slightly.
Nesseth smiles in turn as he goes to take his leave with a wave of his own. "Alright, Teis, I'll let you tell Rondelethia about it. Miiiiight be for the best, since I, uh... didn't exactly get off on the right foot with her the first time. Anyway, thanks again, Teis. Take care."
Narrator: With that, Teis closes the door, headed to her desk to set about reading the book thoroughly.