
Rubicon River Hold - Courtyard
Behind the imposing ivory limestone pillars of the great gates, the courtyard of Rubicon River hold has been laid out on a grand scale. The imposing hold structure that has been carved out of the ivory limestone bluff. Perfectly plumb for a length of no less than one hundred weaver lengths, stone has been removed and recycled into nearly hundred foot high fluted ionic columns that hold up a wide roof, topped by terra cotta roofing tiles. Above this, bronze shutters cover latticed windows in case of poor weather or attack. The courtyard floor is expertly set red stone of the sweeping expanse, bordered in a simple geometric path pattern in the ivory stone as an accent. The stones are worn smooth with use and age. To the north and south of this, similarly laid paths lead away from the striking facade, to the west and up the stairs, lay the great bronze doors of the of the hold proper.
The normal peace and quiet that Rubicon River might expect on a beautiful winter morning is nowhere to be found today! Well, the winter morning part is, but everybody and their mother seems to be up and about and amassing in the courtyard. There is yelling. A few tears. Maybe even someone passing out snacks. But most importantly, there's one man at the center of it all who is desparately trying to get his way anybody else. "Look, it's not what it seems!" Wilko tries to convince the rather burly holder that is leading the charge as the lanky ginger tries to back himself further away only for his foot to hit a wall. The quick look down and back to the mass of folks says it all. CRAP.
Nessalyn is sans Tineangrath (TOO BAD FOR YOU, WILKO) when she arrives alongside a bluerider, landing in the courtyard with a loud WHUMPH. "You've got to work on those landings," she grumbles as she slides down, rubbing her backside once she hits the ground. A brow lifts as she eyes the gathered crowd, which certainly isn't here for her benefit. "What have we got here?" she demands, elbowing her way past people. She may be tiny, but she has very pointy elbows and she's not afraid to use them. "Look, if you're going to commit a mob killing, try not to do it so publicly! No one's going to cover for your ass if we can all see it happening." After one particularly vicious jab to a man's midsection, she makes it close enough to see the source of all this trouble. "You! Why are you about to be trampled to death?"
Wilko jumps to the side to narrowly avoid a pebble that is tossed by a child while still trying to hold off that big burly dude with just outstretched arm and an attempt at a smiel. It's not working. At all. But both men turn towards arriving dragon like a savior. The burly man speaks first, after giving a brutal snort at the mention of mob killing. "Only one doing any killing 'round here is him. HE KILLED MY MOMMA!" While Wilko is going to take the distraction to skedaddle over towards Nessalyn, arms now outstretched to her. "Ma'am, beautiful ma'am. There's seemed to be some horrible misunderstanding. I was just trying to get my runner to leave…"
"Oh, has someone been getting stabby?" Nessalyn mimes repeated knife blows with a pleasant smile in a way that's likely meant to be unsettling. She doesn't seem particularly concerned for the man's loss, but she does shift her focus sharply to Wilko as he makes the mistake of approaching her that way. "Personal space, it's a thing," she snaps, making a shooing motion with her hand. "And if you wanted to flatter me, something other than my looks would've been a good start, so I'm not putting very high bets on your intelligence. What did you do to Burly's momma?"
Somewhere, there's been a woman sobbing and she looks nearly as burly as the deceased's son. "She turned BLUUUUUEEE And got all these spots and bumps and it was horrible!" Every other word punctuated with some lip quivering or more sobbing. Wilko will back off as soon as Nessa shoos, slowly putting his hands down where folks can still see them in case anybody gets jumpy. Jumpier. He shots a glance at the bluerider, the probably-rider (and maybe SAVIOR-NESSA) and Burly. "I'm just as confused at you. You're right, I'm a simple man. And I sell simple teas that do a body good. And that's ALL I sell." At least here anyways.
Oh no, sobbing woman. Nessalyn's kryptonite! The goldrider looks blatantly disgusted by the display, her lip curling in an uncomfortable sneer as the woman goes on and on. "Sometimes people do just turn blue." She's not very good at placating, clearly. Instead of focusing on Wobblelips McSnottynose over there, she turns back to Wilko. Sure, she's not particularly moved by the emotional displays, but her Bullshit-O-Meter is still going crazy. "According to these people, they did someone's body pretty bad. What, exactly, did you tell these people that your teas would do for them?"
Ms. Wobblylips will be content to lay her head on Mr. Burly's shoulder. Maybe crying even more since SOMEONE doesn't appreciate her first rate waterworks. Wilko meanwhile has to try not to laugh at the people just turning blue cause this is very serious. Luckily, he keeps the very serious face and gives a shrug towards he last question. "What any honest merchant would tell them. I told them the truth! I sell only the finest herbal teas. Stuff that will make you sleep like a baby. And not the kind of sleep that's been going around when you walk, but you don't wake up." The last is said in a stage whisper with a hand shielding his face from some of the crowd.
At least the crying isn't directed toward her any more, which makes it moderately more tolerable. Nessalyn does her best to tune Burly and Wobblylips out, keeping her skeptical gaze on the man who's causing all this commotion and making a short trip to Rubicon River Hold MODERATELY more interesting. Her blueriding companion? He looks very uncomfortable with the whole affair, unsure whether he's meant to be protecting the goldrider from this potential mob or just staying far, far away. "No, it sounds like you're just selling them the kind of tea that makes you sleep and not wake up, without all the benefits of a little bit of exercise. Now tell me, if I gave these 'herbal teas' to the Weyr's healers to analyze, what would they come back with?"
Wilko tries to take a step back as he's called out a bit, but there's the damn wall again. The mob for the meanwhile seems to be hanging on every word, and interjecting their own. Mostly calls about being murderer and a scoundrel. Wilko offers half a smile with a guess of "Herbs and spices?" a look at both riders and the louder jeering and someone hurling another rock at him, this one hitting his shoulder. "Lavender. It's mostly lavender. Do you want to take me there and check yourself? Trust me, I AM innocent."
See, the trick to not being cornered by a mob is to always keep to the open fields, like the innocent little lamb you're pretending to be! Nessalyn arches a disdainful brow, eyeing Wilko like he might be something particularly pungent stuck to the sole of her shoe. "HEY," she bellows when that rock hits him in the shoulder. "ALL STONINGS WILL BE SCHEDULED." It's not because she's particularly worried about Wilko's safety, but she is potentially in the line of fire and she prefers her brains inside her skull. "Isn't lavender a purple-blue sort of color? That's not looking good for you, buddy." Her blueriding companion is hailed with a wave of her arm. "Hey, you! Come take this man into custody, and make sure he has some of this so-called tea on him. I think being locked up for a few days might teach him how to talk to people without making them feel like they need to bathe."
Wilko might have some words to defend his own hygiene (he's not that greasy), but there are some teens eyeing a patch of rubble now that SOMEONE has planted the idea of stonings. "I'll be back for my runner, and you better not harm her. I've got rights, you know! And I didn't kill your sharding mother!" That is yelled to Mr. Burly who starts yelling back but that Bluerider is probably reconsidering most of his life choices as he grabs both Wilko and Nessalyn and makes way towards his lifemate and the EXIT.