seekity seeking

[montalis]

WHO: Luca Montalis + Ilias Fabria
WHAT: Luca creeping on whatever Kostos is up to with Ilias
WHEN: Some time before the Casimir plot wraps up idk
WHERE: Ilias's garden label of dead ppl magic
NOTES: nah

[ investigating the truth behind ser norrington's comments had been simple enough - some misspoken words, miscommunicated, and spread further. the man has his senses in tact. but wren had brought up kostos and anders as well, in what seemed like suspicion, as luca's never half-assed his work. not in this field. you can't, as a seeker. you wouldn't be in the order if that was something you could be satisfied with. so he goes to do some digging.

were he the kind of man to feel any kind of attachment to the casual bar time fling, he might feel a little bad for digging into the mage's books, dragging out journal and ledgers and skimming through for anything out of the ordinary. but he's not, so it's all the same. sorry, kostos, you're very pretty, but he loves his job too much. a few pages of one ledger in particular catches his eye, and luca copies it onto another page, before putting the books back where they belong, and slipping away as silently as he'd come. unfortunately, only the large sums of coin exchanged stands out to him, and the items they'd been spent on are still a mystery. he knows the name for the project - Berenike - but it only takes him so far before he needs the other pieces of the puzzle. that is where ilias comes in. what he knows of kostos is that he's a nevarran necromancer, one of two in the gallows, and the other often tends to be seen in his company. though, contention does tend to be in the air around then each of those times. but that could come to be of benefit.

what he knows is this other nevarran necromancer will be his best source for translating the items on this ledger page. that's how luca ends up in the herb garden, dressed in the robes of the inquisition bookkeepers, a satchel of books across his shoulder, a writing board in his hand, and a quill at the ready. peering around the lab space, he puts on show of polite withholding, careful not to touch things, or go further into the space than he's invited, as he calls out. ]

Serah, if I could beg a moment of your time. [ luca raises a hand from the entrance to the lab. ] I've been tasked with running audits for each of the Inquisition's research labs, but I'm afraid I lack the intimate knowledge of necromancy to accurate complete this one.

Comments

[montalis]

[ a bright smile tugs at his lips, and Luca bows his head in gratitude, shuffling his way inside with a gait so different from the typical casual slouch of him. ]

Many thanks, Serah. I will try to be quick, I know you must be very busy.

[ setting out the page he’d copied down from one of Kostos’ ledgers in front of Ilias on his research table, he stands at the man’s shoulder, pointing the feathered tip of his quill to indicate the section in question. ]

It’s these here. There seems to be a great sum of these items acquired, and I can’t say I know enough about the project to tell if they’ve a passable need for such a quantity. [ a pause, voice going a bit softer, more meek. ] Not to cast doubt upon your colleague’s motives, but, I am an auditor, and it is my job.