Jace RT - Mind Control 1

As soon as the man looked up at Barrin, he felt less irritated and more uneasy.

It was Barrin's experience that most people in the market rarely made eye contact and talked behind a wall of feigned decorum—like Barrin himself did—but this cloaked stranger looked directly at him with eyes that held him like a vise. Barrin did not have the vocabulary to describe what he felt, so the streams of emotions and thoughts were relegated to something that landed between confusion and fear.

"Yes," the stranger said. "That stone. Do you know anything about the markings on it?"

Barrin intended to tell the young man to go take a long walk down a short street when he found himself talking all about the history of the stone, not leaving out a single detail of the family speculation about its origins and possible meanings. Barrin even told the man about his great uncle Estovar's theory that it was put there by the Azorius soon after the signing of the first Guildpact. Of course, Uncle Estovar was as crazy as an Izzet magister, but that didn't stop Barrin from sharing that bit of family lore. He felt compelled to leave nothing out and after a good while, Barrin had disgorged the entire known history of the stone to the stranger, who listened with calm intent.

BARRIN'S TALL TALE