<div class="floatright">(https://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/2/28/Vampire_Sorceress.jpg)</div><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;">The Lady Persephone, of the Noble House of Morte (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=863069)</span><br/>HP: 35 | AC: 19 | Fort: +4 | Ref: +8 | Will: +7<br/><hr/><br/>One of the upstairs rooms at the Salty Aboleth had been reserved in advance, earlier that day.  It was paid for in good coin by a somewhat pale-looking gentleman, who had requested that some luggage be brought up to the room and that the key be reserved for a young woman with red hair named Persephone who would be making her appearance later that evening.  The luggage had been the usual sundries one might expect from a well-off female guest, an assortment of books, some minor odds and ends, a small trunk that was undoubtedly packed to the brim with various articles of clothing...  And one, much larger trunk that was almost coffin-like in shape, and most certainly contained a large assortment of clothing.  The pale gentleman had stayed behind while the luggage was being moved up to the room to make certain that nobody tried to open or steal anything, but once it was safely locked away upstairs, he very quickly took his leave, not even stopping for a quick drink before he hit the road.<br/><br/>Had anyone been watching over the luggage as night fell, they would quickly be able to deduce the reason for this behavior, as a red-haired young woman unlocked the latch on the trunk from the inside and gently eased back the lid, sitting up and letting out an exaggerated yawn while she stretched and worked out the kinks from her long journey.  With the lid opened, the large trunk bore even more of a resemblance to a coffin, as the insides were padded with fine red silk, and there was even a comfortable down-feather pillow sewn into the lining.<br/><br/>The young woman in the trunk was, of course, the Persephone for whom the room had been reserved, and once she had taken the time to stretch and take stock of her surroundings and possessions, she started making preparations to make a proper entrance into the tavern below.  First would have to come clothing and makeup for a suitable disguise, of course.  It would probably be best to pick some slightly-worn set of traveler's clothing, something with pants and a tunic, and likely a cloak, considering the cold and damp conditions outside.  She could strap her finely-crafted rapier onto her belt as well, of course, since the cold iron blade would help her look more intimidating if she needed to scare off any unruly sailors.  Add on a little blush to keep her from looking quite so unnaturally pale...  And her disguise was complete.<br/><br/>Next would come the more magical side of her preparations.  She would have to spend a little time in the relative quiet of her room meditating, drawing together every ounce of the power in her body and making it ready for use, and there was at least one spell that she was going to have to borrow from the family pool, as well...  Though, that would come later.  Once she was ready, her next move was to head over to the window, to look around outside and see if there was anyone else around within sight.  That was unlikely, of course, and it was especially unlikely that she would be spotted in the fog, but it didn't hurt to look.<br/><br/>It was a pity the family had to send her to such a dingy, dreary little place, though.  It was nearly lifeless, and with such ugly scenery.  Certainly not a good candidate for her eventual retirement plans, even if the constant traffic would make feeding easy.  Hopefully, she would be able to wrap up her business here quickly and move onto bigger and better things, rather than end up dying the messy death that she was sure the family was expecting.<br/><br/>Making it down to ground level was easy, especially in this weather.  She had merely to will it, and her body dissolved into mist, after which point it would be easy to drift down to the ground below her.  Turning back to a solid mass, she would then make her way around the side of the building to the tavern's entrance, and take a moment to prepare herself before she made her way in.<br/><br/>Accessing the family spellpool was fairly easy, so long as she could take a few seconds to do nothing but quiet her mind.  She just had to trace a path back along the arcane bond that all the family's arcane spellcasters shared, touch upon that central pool of shared knowledge, request the spell she wanted, and then accept the energy flowing into her...  And voila, some of the formless arcane power that she had at her fingertips was twisted and shaped into a single casting of<em>Detect Undead</em>, ready to be put to use.  She could hold the shape for seven minutes, but in this case, she cast the spell immediately, and then stepped into the tavern.<br/><br/>It was time to take a look around, and see if any of the family's enemies was hiding amongst the crowd...<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Mechanics</div><div class="spoiler_body">Disguise checks are made secretly, so I believe you'll have to be the one to roll for it, Ulth.  Persephone isn't using any magic in her disguise, so her current modifier on the skill is +13.<br/><br/>As a 1st-level Divination spell, Detect Undead would register as a Faint ongoing spell effect to Vivianne's Detect Magic spell.  Persephone can keep the spell going for up to 7 minutes, so long as she concentrates on it, so unless something interrupts that concentration, she should be able to sweep the entire tavern crowd with the spell.</div></div>