With the capture of Verandi Farley and several high-ranking Trossach members, the British wizarding world has finally caught a break. The rate of rogue werewolf attacks have started dropping at a steady rate and, hopefully, things will stay that way. The Ministry is starting to loosen some restrictions, like not arresting werewolves standing on the street for loitering, however there’s still an obvious power imbalance between wizardfolk and werewolves.
The Cotswolds pack are continuing to advocate for the rights of werewolves and petitioning to change the legislation that has been set in motion by the current Minister for Magic, whilst the remaining Trossachs members are trying to stay out of the spotlight and keep a low profile… for now.
Whilst the British wizarding world seems to have calmed down, the same cannot be said for over in Northern Europe where a rebellion of magical creatures has risen. The state of things has gotten so bad that the European Ministry has enacted protocols to protect those under eighteen whilst their adult witches and wizards fight to keep control of their countries.
Students from Durmstrang have been sent to Hogwarts to keep them safe and those not old enough to attend school have been sent to live with relatives or designated British Ministry officials outside of Europe for the time being.
Will the low rates of werewolf attacks in Britain continue? How long will Durmstrang students stay at Hogwarts? Will the creatures usurp the wizardfolk in Northern Europe? Only time will tell.
SEPTEMBER 2019 It's been a very long, eventful summer in the wizarding world. A baby was stolen, several high ranking Trossach members were imprisoned, and werewolf attacks have drastically dropped as a result. What will happen now school has returned?
MAY 2019 An attempt to capture the beta of the Trossachs has been launched. Were the Aurors successful in their mission? Go read more here!
Post by PERSEPHONE LANGDON on Dec 13, 2019 7:36:56 GMT
take what you can give nothing back
Persie wasn't always in port. She actually tried to avoid it when she could. The temptation to just float off the shore of Greece was maddening. She should have just stayed there. She couldn't, though. She had taken on responsibilities and she couldn't find it in her to abandon the people who had come to depend on her. She had money and a boat and the means to make some things right in the shitty world she was stuck in so she planned to do it as long as she could.
Being in her line of work did come with some unwanted attention, of course. She'd tried to tell the man asking her to smuggle drugs that she didn't do that, but he didn't seem to understand the concept of no. The idea of a woman telling him no as well probably was something he was unaccustomed to so she had to take unladylike measures to get him off her boat.
It was slightly annoying that he kept demanding to speak to 'the captain'. It wasn't an accident that people knew her as 'Percy' rather than 'Persephone'. Given that, most people assumed the captain was a man rather than...well...a young woman. It was better that way. It gave her a more authentic feel for her clientele.
When she head someone boarding Hades she heaved a sigh and turned down the music she'd been listening to. She stepped out of her cabin and onto the deck. "Trespassing's illegal, you know. Unless you've got business with the captain you better piss off." Persie didn't think she was a rude person by nature, but she had to be at times, otherwise the men in the business would walk all over her.
Maybe this was a bad idea. Jēkabs wasn't the kind of person who dabbled in the black market. The most illegal thing he'd ever done in his entire life was pirate movies. Honestly, he had no idea how to go about this--all he had to go on was that this person travelled around and could get him access to things that might be hard to get in Britain, like potion ingredients.
But being nervous was for a time before his brother was bitten. Before their Quidditch dreams ended. Before the moon of all things had become a threat to his life. That meant Jēkabs had to get out of his comfort zone, and that was how he found himself outside of London, at what seemed to be a port of some kind but didn't look anything like the huge cargo zones he was used to. With tentative steps, he boarded the boat, peering at its deck for some sign of the captain he was supposed to be looking for.
The only sign of motion beyond the soft rocking of the river was a young woman, and he had to take a guess that she was who he was supposed to be talking to. Please be the right person.Don't send me to Azkaban or anything, he thought. "Uh, yeah. That's what I came here for. Business, I mean," he said. "To check on getting some stuff that I need."
Post by PERSEPHONE LANGDON on Dec 14, 2019 8:15:12 GMT
take what you can give nothing back
Persephone raised an eyebrow at the stranger. She knew all her clients and he wasn't one of them. She could read people pretty well and he was nervous. He was trying to hide it, but she could tell. There was a tension in his brow and that was all she needed to see to know that he probably wasn't looking to traffic drugs, which was the most common thing she came across. Once she'd been asked to traffic people. She didn't consider herself a snitch, but she'd been careful in reporting those people to the authorities. Still, just because he was nervous didn't mean he was the type she'd do business with.
"The clientele served by Hades is...selective. No one gets to the captain without getting by me first. It's cold as hell so let's go in. I'll pour you a drink. If you're a gentleman you might be able to walk onto the dock so mind your manners. Anyway, come on."
Persephone's boat was massive all over, but that became more clear below deck. Everything was lavish and pristine, save for the paintings that were scattered around the mid level. There was another level below where she kept the cargo. There were a few extra bedrooms down there as well. "Careful around those. They're still drying." She moved over to the bar and pulled out a few glasses. "It's customary to do business over drinks." She poured him a glass of sparkling sangria over a handful of pomegranate seeds. She handed him the drink, briefly explaining, "The whole Greek underworld theme goes pretty deep here. Plus pomegranates are delicious." She gestured for him to sit at the dining room table, which was long and made of mahogany. "Now, what brings you to Hades today?"
Selective. What was that supposed to mean? Because Jēkabs, for all that he was a professional Quidditch player now, still tended to think of himself as that nervous Muggleborn kid starting school in a new country, who had to go hug his brother every time he missed home. Who exploded his potions and botched his transfigurations. Nobody was going to pick him for anything selective that didn't involve throwing a ball into a hoop. Still, she invited him to come forward, and so he followed her into the boat, ducking to get through the door and below deck.
With his height and what he had judged the size of the boat to be, he had been expecting to have to crawl around inside it, but as he entered, he found he could not only easily stand up, but that there were rooms upon rooms inside. Of course it was magical. He should've expected that, shouldn't he? With careful steps, not wanting to trip over his own feet as the boat moved gently on the water, he sat down and watched her pour something fizzy and red out for them both.
"Thank you," he said as he accepted the drink, holding the glass carefully and inspecting the seeds inside. He'd never been really good at mythology stuff, but he was pretty sure he remembered pomegranates being tasty. Taking a sip, he considered his words before speaking, before deciding to just cut to the chase. "I need the ingredients for Wolfsbane Potion. It's impossible to find everything in the regular shops, I've tried." Even when they had the right things, they never had them all at the same time, or they were still too expensive for him to afford. "I wanted to know if you had any connections."
Post by PERSEPHONE LANGDON on Jan 3, 2020 19:15:15 GMT
take what you can give nothing back
He seemed nervous. That was a good sign, at least as far as Persie was concerned. Most underworld workers valued confidence and bravado, but in her experience people who swung their dicks around tended to be the most unpleasant of business partners. She had expected him to be a bit more...peacock-y than he was. Persephone didn't say, but she knew who he was and expected he'd be more of a snob.
When he admitted to what he needed, Persie stopped mid-sip and fixed him with a steely stare. It was highly unlikely that he was a wolf too. He wouldn't be employed if he was, or he'd have to be quite good at hiding it, which seemed even less likely. She was sizing him up. She took another long drink, almost emptying her glass before standing up and circling the table, slowly, gazing down at him.
"Now, Jekabs, I appreciate your candor. You being upfront is refreshing, in a way, but you're not telling me the whole story. Why on earth would you need wolfsbane potion?" She took a seat on the table beside him, still leering down at him. Did she know that she probably didn't have to be so...aggressive with him? Yes, of course she knew, but it was so much fun.
Jēkabs was not, in general, used to being stared down on. But then again, people didn't usually sit on tables around him. Maybe that was because his kitchen table at home was always too messy for anyone besides the cat to be sitting on it--but that wasn't really something this woman needed to know, was it? For her, he needed to look like he knew what he was doing.
He took another drink while he considered what to say. How much was safe to reveal? It wasn't entirely a secret that Jānis was a werewolf, because how could it be? He'd been kicked off the team; he disappeared every month; if you wanted to keep track you could do it easily. But it wasn't exactly freely spread news. In this political climate, it was better to leave a little bit of uncertainty. You never knew if the next knock on your door could be the wrong person, could be an Auror or a hit wizard.
Maybe Jēkabs was being paranoid, he thought, but the truth was that he would do whatever it took to keep his family safe.
"Not for myself. I don't need it. I'm getting it for someone. Or, well, I'm trying to get it. For someone who's very important to me--I want him to have an easier time of things." He had no idea how much the woman knew about him beyond his name, or if she followed Quidditch closely enough to be able to put the pieces together or not.
