Anticipation rising (Moore)

[Anastasia]

You head back to your room. You find Finnegan waiting just outside of it, hood drawn and Val resting against the wall. "Moore." He greets you with a raise of his hand, a lazy half-wave.

[Nephrite]

"Oh, hello." Moore nods to them both. "What can I do for you?"

[Anastasia]

"You're a damned good bard," Finnegan says, "Figured I'd offer to buy you a drink. You're the types that make my job easier."

[Nephrite]

"Come now, you wouldn't both be here if this was just to pat me on the back." Moore says with a wry smile. "However, let's discuss what it is you're here to talk about over something to eat."

[Anastasia]

Cresea's shop full of people. You get a table in the back, away from all the noise. Finnegan goes for a glass of wine and nothing else. "Getting to know the people who I fight with is the point," he says after a good sip of it, his hood pushed back. His elven ears point up and back as he looks at you keenly. "If we fight together, we'll be trusting each other with our lives."

[Nephrite]

Whoops, I thought you'd meant Finnegan and Vel. Tee hee.

Moore orders some pastries and a tart juice to balance the meal.

"All right, well, what would you like to know?" Moore asks with a smile. "Or where would you like me to start?"

[Anastasia]

No, Val's the name of his spear.

"You start. I've never met a bard that's bad about talking about himself," Finnegan invites.

[Nephrite]

"Hah!" Moore laughs at that. "All right. I'd always been a little different -- even when I was back in Arborea. The regular life of pranking people and giggling all the time just didn't really do it for me. I found a great deal of joy and harmony from helping other people and found out rather quickly that it was pretty lucrative, too. Just a few words of encouragement and you could turn a dwarf into the most charming person you've ever met! I mean, not that dwarves aren't charming, but... you know what I mean."

Moore takes a break to eat a pastry. "Basically, I learned pretty quickly that I both liked to help people and I excelled at it, so it sort of became my thing."

[Anastasia]

"Hah," Finnegan returns dryly, "The stereotypes are there for a reason with dwarves. So this is your natural talent, your calling?"

[Nephrite]

Moore nods. "Yes, I think that's a safe way to put it. I recently discovered a unique -- well, I guess it's not that unique, but, details." He waves his hand and rolls his eyes like details aren't even remotely important. "I've recently come to better control some powers over fate and destiny that seem to be able to further enhance the abilities of individuals."

[Anastasia]

"Like the Duke of Destiny?" Finnegan adds back with a scowl. "Used to much better ends."

[Nephrite]

"Much smaller scale than that -- but yes, same idea. I'm sure if I pursue it to its fullest, I could rival Taelfagn..." Moore trails off for a bit as he looks down, then he takes a resolute breath. "That's a road that is long away. For right now, I revel in being able to counter his plans by sheer persistence and helping my allies more than he helps his."

[Anastasia]

"All we can do in a war like this." Finnegan says, drinking. "Ugly sort of war, since you're fighting against plots and plants and schemes. Tough to get a clean battle against the bastards who matter."

[Nephrite]

"I've found that doing things unexpectedly seems to cause them a great deal of trouble." Moore says. "They can't predict every outcome, it seems -- which makes sense, you can't be omniscient even if you wanted to be, really. But you're right, it's not easy since you have to think several steps ahead... and sometimes even backwards to predict what's going on."

[Anastasia]

"You can, I  knew a wizard who managed it." Finnegan reflects, sloshing what's left of his wine in his glass. "He knew everything that was going on in ten miles, but he didn't have enough mental augmentation to handle it. Within 5 seconds he'd destroyed his mind. It was a long time ago, anyway. Even if you manage it, that's just the present and not the past or the future."