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[gypsy_merrique]

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The emotional upheaval that had become familiar to Merrique finally began to dissipate a bit. This was a positive note, though it did nothing to help quell the murmur of the memories that lurked in the darker recesses of her mind.

Merrique went through her days in a perfunctory routine. Waking in the gloom, followed by a long walk, then back to the Den to make sure all was clean and managed. It was boring as could be to Merri, but at least the long walks in the pre-dawn gloom felt like wandering.

It was during one such walk that Merri encountered the drow. Merri had just closed her bank vault and turned to go, nearly walking into the silken-haired man. She did not recognize him as anybody who'd been to any of the Umbran events and thought to herself that he must be visiting. When she lifted her gaze to meet his, and offer an apology for invading his personal space, she noticed the fine lines at the corners of his eyes and saw an immense intelligence there. There was the distinct but faint crackling of energy that occasionally told Merri she was in the presence of a highly magical creature--a form of clairvoyance that was so random as to not really be considered a talent.

The drow dismissed Merri's apologies with kindly words of acknowledgment. A brief conversation ensued and the man said he had been away from the lands for quite some time; he was hoping to run into a family member he'd not seen for years. Merri found it strange, and commented thus, that his name was Ravnos--a distinctly gypsy name. Apparently the drow's stepfather was a human gypsy. In the end Merrique showed the stranger the way to the Den, lest he stay at the public house near the bank. After showing him the various rooms available, he took up residence in the green-themed room; Merrique brought him provisions to help make his stay as comfortable as could be.

Throughout the following days, the two had plenty of engaging conversation. It was nice to talk to somebody who had at least a working understanding of the gypsy's magic. For Merrique, it was particularly nice to have such pointed distraction from the things that had been troubling her. The drow took Merri on interesting little sojourns when she had free time. The pair often spoke of magic and gypsies and dreams, both figurative and literal.

Upon their most recent meeting, Merrique and Ravnos walked to the Den from the city proper. She wished to change her clothes before heading out to the Lost Lands for yet another outing. Merrique bid him entry via the downstairs door near the stables and he followed her in. It must have been the lingering reluctance to enter her own room that caught the drow's attention. He asked Merri what was wrong--but she could not tell him, could she? He was not Umbran and she could not tell him of the recent disturbing events that had resulted in injury and death to the family that was Umbra. Merri assured him that all was well and went into her room to change. As quickly as she could she tugged off the tunic that she was wearing and pulled on what some people would doubtless call a 'proper' dress.

When Merrique came out of her room, she was in a hurry to get away from the place that outsiders with bad intent left their threat. She hurried around the drow and toward the wine cellar so she could gain access to the stairs. After what she now called the "Note and Dagger Incident" in her mind, Merri had felt violated and resentful that some malicious being (or worse, beings) desecrated the first space that was ever truly just hers.

What Merri did not notice in her rush was the ebony-skinned man remaining behind, near her door. She did not see him tapping it several times, nor hear his murmured words as the ward was placed at the portal to her private space.

When the two met in the tavern upstairs, he did not tell her that he noticed her dismay, the change in her demeanor before she had gone into that room. He failed to mention that he made it so that going through that door would become a great chore for anybody with bad intent--that it would cause apprehension and aversion to such persons.

The journey of the day began in Delucia and spanned the Lost Lands, then ended in Nujelm.
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. . . But the dark is very trustworthy.
It's always as dark as you thought it was.
And you don't have to work at staying there.
All you have to do is survive it.
And I've been doing that forever.
from the novel "Dark Debts" by Karen Hall