Character Mansion

[Entry Hall]

"Don't worry, it's just as much my fault. I didn't introduce myself when you walked in and then I just played along."

"But before we start anew I have to tell you that those answers weren't entirely true. Sirius Cybernetics Corporation didn't create me, infact there is no such company. we tought that using the real name was an unnecessary risk, especially when there is someone hiding under the bed. Those names I told you, Annemarie Schrödinger and Simon Amethyst, it is their real name and they did create a part of me, but they aren't human as you must have assumed."

Oracle gracefully drops to the floor. "But we still know very little about each other. We are still wondering what we should share and what should be kept secret."

"There is magic in your world?"

edited 5th Feb '13 5:09:45 PM by m8e

[Smoking Room]

Thomas was relieved he didn't commit any crimes, although the more he heard his story, the more he felt sorry for him. He wished he could find some more encouraging words.

"I doubt that you're a burden, Markus." he said, "At the very least, it's nice to know that you're alive and unaffected. And I'm sure you'll recover your memory soon."

[Entry Hall]

Mary's eyes widened in complete shock and amazement. For a full minute, she was completely silent. Then, she cleared her throat.

"I...um..." she stammered, "Th-that..."

[Entry Hall-Second Floor]

Abeiyuwa smiled. "If your able to do something like that, and no other mage can, you have an amazing gift. Mi o selere rara."

[Entry Hall]

Kokabiel nodded, and then a thoughtful frown came to her face. "Your... playing along was somewhat risky, I should point out. You should have made your intelligence clear immediately and demanded I treat you with the appropriate respect. I would have done so. However, in my ignorance, I gave serious consideration to simply using my abilities to break into your mind and extract the data directly. This would have been utterly harmless to a simple AI, but given your sentience, you would have found it excruciating and likely suffered permanent neural damage."

She shook her head and adjusted her wings. The humanoid frame was not meant to support such things, she mused. But it was too effective a symbol to reject. "Obviously, I would have attempted to minimize the damage upon realizing my mistake, but that would have been little comfort. I have too much on my hands already: my former title is a testament to that." She paused, then apologetically added, "that was a rather blatant attempt to get you to ask about my past and permit me to bore you with my regrets, wasn't it? I really have spent too much time among the organics..."

Finally going to Oracle's question, Kokabiel said, "saying there is magic in my world is only partially correct. There is magic outside my world, and it enters through wounds in it. Infects my world, you could say. And quite thoroughly infects me."

edited 5th Feb '13 5:53:04 PM by KillerClowns

Smoking Room

Markus nodded respectfully toward Thomas, "Your words are kind and I thank you for the sentiment."

Markus yawned, "I'm still wondering how all of it happened," he leaned forward and put his hand to his chin, "The town doctor claimed that it started with a couple local fisherman coming back in their fishing trawler sick. Apparently one is still alive, but he can't be found," He tapped his chin with his finger, "Just can't figure out where it started."

Library

Gabrielle smiled at Tammy, and then smoothed her skirts. "Thank you. I like your blouse."

Second Floor Entry Hall

"Oh, um, thanks." Jonathan said. "It's not much, cuz I'm just a middling mage loser. But I guess it's kinda cool."

One of the biggest differences I see in Jonathan and Cain is that Jonathan so casually shows off his luck ability to Abeiyuwa, while in Dig Site, the closest time that Cain's true powers were revealed was when Crescent Raptor mentioned he "smelled like decay."

edited 7th Feb '13 5:52:09 PM by Tehpillowstar

[Dining room]

Mai opened her mouth to ask something, then thought better of it and said, "Never mind. I doubt that sort of thing works in my universe, but then I wouldn't know, and there are probably subtly different laws between yours and mine for that sort of thing." Her memory with Aseyu still stood out vividly. "Plus, I'm getting a little bored with discussing this. Not your fault," she added, "but this just isn't a topic that sparks my interest."

The machine came back with her water. Mai accepted it gratefully, but made a slight face as she drunk it. "Tastes excellent," she muttered to herself, "but a bit warm." She tapped the glass with a claw and ice cubes instantly formed out of the water. She took another sip and nodded to herself. "Much better."

[Dining Hall]

Linna shrugged. "It's a boring subject by now to us too." She paused a moment. "If you'll forgive me, you don't seem entirely happy to be here. Has something gone wrong or is it just turning out poorly?"

Nara, meanwhile, was eating whatever the robot had brought her, which seemed to be mainly crunchy, and keeping an eye on the other person in the room.

The edges of Agustin’s mouth twitched up in a wry smile, and his demeanor suddenly became altogether more wolfish. Now that the subject had been broached, he was free to pounce. “Yes- what transpired here...” He gave a short laugh that sounded almost like a growl. “Actually, I very much doubt that will be necessary. I suspect you already know full well what went on in this room.”

He stood and slowly walked around to her side of the table, palm resting lightly in the hilt of his saber. When he reached her, Agustin draped an arm around the back of her chair, kneeling down so that he was speaking uncomfortably close to Linza’s ear.

“In fact, you demonstrate a positively uncanny level of knowledge given the fact that we’ve only just met, though I don’t think you intended to reveal as much.” His voice was calm, but held an unmistakable edge of menace. He gently pushed against the back of her chair, causing deliberately little discomfort but sliding it closer to the table, pinning her lightly against it such that she could not easily get up.

“Let me see if I recall.” His voice had taken on a faux-contemplative tone, as if he was reciting items off a to-do list. “You entered the parlor carrying that tray which I’ve no doubt is poisoned with something- you’ll notice that neither Xavier nor I have taken anything we had not prepared ourselves, but that’s rather beside the point- because you had it in hand the first time you entered the room. As in, before you could have possibly known that the two of us were here taking tea. Unless of course, you’d been spying on us through means unknown, but that would be most impolite, wouldn’t you agree?” The corners of his mouth twitched subtly up once more, almost as if he were enjoying this.

“If memory serves, you were even dumb enough to tell me you noticed us having tea. And that’s not the end of it either. The very next thing you told us was that you found interest in matters military. Quite a feat, since again, it would’ve been impossible for you to have known what we were discussing unless you were eavesdropping on us.” Abruptly, his tone turned curt and cold as ice. “I think I’ve indulged you long enough. Now, you will tell me what you’re doing here, who you work for and why you’ve been spying on us. So many questions- fortunate for us that we’re in no rush, hmm?"

edited 5th Feb '13 8:29:10 PM by Gault

[Dining hall]

Mai looked at her glass for a moment, shrugged, and took another sip. "Can't really say," she said. "I didn't exactly want to come here in the first place, but a friend of mine kind of... roped me in, I guess."

She took another sip. "Had someone temporarily punch the magic out of me already, and then there's meeting up with someone who's more-or-less a basilisk..." She shrugged. "I don't know. It might just be me not handling this stuff well. I'm totally new to this, while my colleague, Xavier, claims to have done it several times already." She looked back at her glass and set it on the table, waiting for the ice to cool it off a bit more. "Maybe it's just me."

[Parlor]

Xavier blinked at Agustin and Linza. He had noticed some of those signs, but missed out on others. He felt a little stupid, but then he wasn't supposed to notice those things, was he? I'm an arcanoarchaeologist. There's probably something wrong with me noticing as much as I do already.

His eyes began roving around the room, and he flinched in surprise when he saw- Xavier got a closer look at her. No, she seemed too non-cadaverish and non-devouring-of-brains to be a zombie. Definitely some kind of undead, though. He gave her a small wave. "Hey," he said with a small smile. "Don't mind us. Just discussing assassinations." How long has she been here, waiting for us to notice her? "I'm Xavier, by the way. Xavier Sunyo."

edited 5th Feb '13 8:41:38 PM by TeraChimera

[Parlor]

Linza smiles cordially and begins to glow purple. She ignores Xavier, he is irrelevant to the task at hand.

"Oh Agustin, I thought we were going to get along so well. I do applaud your deduction, but I think you should have learned your lesson already; stab first ask later. Though I'll admit, you aren't quite right. These goodies were prepared by the very kitchen of this place, had you eaten them you would have been fine. Now, here's our little problem, you think you're the big scary dragon." She holds up her sandwich.

"You'll just force the pretty little damsel to do whatever you want her to do mmhmm? I see a small problem with this plan."

She throws the sandwich up in the air and incinerates it, a flash of electricity issuing from her palm.

"I do not think you are in the position to be making threats. To be so naive to think I could not have just killed you from the doorway where you stood. Now I'll admit I have no interest in staining the carpet, but I do have interest in keeping Friedrich alive."

She holds up her fan and idly waves it again.

"In fact I'm curious, what type of man do you want after all? You do seem awfully tense. Loosen up. Seriously..."

She smiles a wide grin. "Hunk."

edited 5th Feb '13 9:01:22 PM by Aqueos

Parlor

Anne wasn't expecting anyone at the other table to notice her. In fact, she kinda didn't want them to notice her, considering that she was only planning on staying until her dress dried and then going off to find Samira again. So she was rather surprised when one of the dragon actually looked right at her and had a reaction.

Do I seriously look terrifying enough to scare dragons? she thought upon seeing the dragon's initial response, That seriously cannot bode well. As it turned out, however, that response was just that - an initial response. Shortly afterwards, he became a little more friendly, introducing himself as Xavier.

Anne responded with her usual nod of greeting. "I'm Anne. I'm sorry if I interrupted you or something; I just needed something to do while waiting for my dress to dry off." She checked it while speaking at the same time. Still damp. "I don't know a whole lot about that subject anyway, so I don't think I could add much."

She noted that everyone she'd met thus far was willing to say what their surname was, while she herself hadn't yet. She figured she was slightly worried about someone recognizing it, but given the wide variety of people here, none of whom looked as if they came from her world, she doubted it would have been an issue. She hadn't told it to Samira, Anita, or Yuki, however, and as such she didn't feel willing to tell it to Xavier.

[Entry hall]

Friedrich takes out the mirror again and sighs. "Went a bit too far, but I suppose it'll do." He puts it back on his belt. "I just had to use that to make sure I didn't get too human, things get wacky if that happens. An elven body can only take so much of it you know."

He looks over his shoulder, "Is it me or did you just hear something in the parlor again."

He looks back and finally notices her expression. "I hope I didn't scare you too much."

edited 5th Feb '13 9:57:39 PM by Aqueos

[Entry Hall]

"Then our worlds must be far apart. Which means that we can share much."

"Could we talk somewhere else? Somewhere where you don't need to sit on the floor and where we could talk more freely."

edited 6th Feb '13 4:31:58 AM by m8e

[Entry Hall]

"Certainly," Kokabiel said. She closed her eyes, and a wave of weak magic echoed outward. Then she waved a hand, and a map of the Mansion appeared in shimmering white, with rooms labeled and everybody save for the undead and the mechanical marked in blue. "The Art Gallery should suffice. I have always held a healthy respect for the creative abilities of humanity. Something my arrogant kin lack, for all their efforts at imitation."

You can assume Kokabiel will go with Oracle to the Art Gallery if she heads that way. And point of clarification, wetware counts as living and detectable. Kokabiel's current body does not.

edited 6th Feb '13 6:24:21 AM by KillerClowns

[Dining Hall]

"Basilisk. That's...you know if that was what I was usually compared to, I'd be a far more pleasant person. Instead of a vibrator."

Linna winced at Nara's comment. "NR. You promised your best behavior. I think I might be in the same boat as you are, Mai." She paused briefly. "Your name isn't...nearly as exotic as your appearance, by the way. If I'm prying, please stop me."

"Sorry." Nara addressed that comment to the other present in the room, rather than Linna, and Linna sighed.

[Entry Hall -> Art Gallery]

Oracle took a good look at the projected map and the positions of the blue dots. It was quite clear that both of them saw it, but she thought it was best to not comment on it right at that moment as there where other people in the hall.

"The art gallery it is."

Oracle moved to the gallery but slowed down an let Kokabiel pass her so she wouldn't have to open the door. Oracle didn't like these manual doors and preferred that someone else opened them for her, it was quicker anyway.

"About those dots, they showed living things didn't they?"

[Library]

Tora had waited for an answer for a while, but now she finaly decided that the silence was a good enough answer. She walked to the the closest bookcase, grabbed a book somewhere from the middle and got seated again.

edited 6th Feb '13 10:33:12 AM by m8e

[Parlor]

"No, you didn't interrupt me," said Xavier, shaking his head. "Honestly, I'm not all that interested in that topic, either. I don't know why I brought it up in the first place. It's not like it's the kind of thing that I encounter frequently or anything. So..." He briefly flared his wings.

He coughed. "Um..." Didn't I do something like this way back when? "If you want, I can pull the water from your clothes with magic, dry you off that way." He paused, then added, "But if you don't want me to, that's fine." Why do I always get like this in these sorts of situations?

What, exactly, was with Linza? For a so-called assassin, she really liked bragging, showing what she could do to a potential enemy, and proclaiming her status. Xavier paid her no attention. Her pride was incredibly annoying.

[Dining hall]

"That's fine," said Mai, waving a hand vaguely. "I guess it's too much to ask for some more of my own kind to be here, but..." She shrugged. "Long story short, I'm a chimera. Inspiration for dragon myths in my own. Xavier's a chimera, too, but he's an Occidental, and I'm an Oriental, so we look a bit different. Mainly, he's got wings."

She picked up her water again and took a deeper drink. "Don't know if you want to know anything else, but it doesn't really matter to me either way. I'll probably have to get used to this sort of thing again."

[Smoking Room]

Thomas was taken aback by that. "Oh my...the water wasn't poisoned, was it?"

[Entry hall-Second Floor]

"Aw, don't be so down on yourself, Jonathan." Abeiyuwa said, "Mase iyonu. I'm sure you'll be great with a little more practice." She smiled, "I'm not a mage myself, but I hope I can be a little helpful."

[Entry Hall]

Shaking out of her shock, Mary decided to speak again. "Oh. No, you didn't scare me at all. I just never seen anything like that at all. Then again, magic doesn't exist in my timeline."

He mentioned the Parlor, and she looked back. "I'm guessing someone else went in. Don't worry; I haven't seen Augustin walk out yet."

[Library]

"Thanks!" Said Tammy. "So, um, your dress is really fancy." She remarked, curiously. "Were you going somewhere, or something?" Big, hopeful eyes looked up at Gabrielle, filled with youthful enthusiasm. Are you princess?? She thought, eagerly. O.M.G, I hope she's a princess! Ordinarily, she would not have thought that anyone she would ever be meeting would be any kind of royalty. But she was a clever girl, and between the clockwork robots, odd mansion and Gabrielle's dress she was able to figure out that she wasn't anywhere 'normal' anymore, so she got her hopes up. Waaaayyy up, because - clever or not - she was still only eight years old.

Smoking Room

Markus shook his head, "As far as I know, it wasn't something in the water or the food or the air. The town doctor told me that it apparently started when people just literally dropped dead in the streets with their corpses reanimating and attacking people. It went downhill from there."

Feeling better.

[Art Gallery]

"As far as I can tell," Kokabiel said, "they represent organic minds. Or minds designed after organic ones." She shrugged. "I confess I'm not sure which. Magic tends to resist scientific inquiry — there's a mental hospital, very good at keeping secrets, with an entire wing that demonstrates this fact." She sat, as she considered the paintings, some unspoken thought on her mind. But she kept it hidden for now. "It's fair to assume," she said, "you're wetware based, yes? And if you're wondering why I didn't show up — I'm not doing any of my neural processing in this body. Merely manipulating it remotely."

[Wine Cellar]

Aseyu said, "so, Vivi, what do you... fuck, where did she get off to?" Not finding Vivi anywhere, she sighed. "And she seemed like so much fun." She sighed. "Well, so much for plan A." Then she turned to Franklin. "You hellbent on staying down here? I was gonna grab a bottle of something for my friend. She needs all the help she can get loosening up. Wanna come and socialize with the rest of us, or are this bottles all the sociability you need?"

[Library]

Samira looked up at Tora. "Oh," she said, "hello. Didn't see you there." She gave her a polite nod, and said, "Samira Hosseini, and these people are Claire, Tamara, and Gabrielle." She pointed to each in turn as she named them. "You and your friends care to introduce yourselves?"

[Wine Cellar]

"I suppose I'll come back upstairs." Frank said as he got up from his chair. "On a side note, do you know where I can find a gramophone here? I've always wanted to see one o' them old-timey doodads. Plus, It'll give me a chance to tell one of my famous Accordian Stories."

edited 6th Feb '13 4:28:41 PM by BiggerBen

[Wine Cellar —> Library]

Aseyu shrugged noncommittally and said, "can't say I've seen one around, but I'll mention if I do." She studied the bottles, before deciding to take a bottle of the white wine produced on the Mansion grounds. "Shall we?" Aseyu said, before heading off.

She recalled she'd seen Samira disappear into the library, and was pleased to find she was still there. "Hey, Sammy!" she said.

"Aseyu," Samira said, greeting her friend with a slight smile. "Having fun?" Samira noticed that Aseyu's clothes were pretty much as they'd been before, suggesting she'd not had much luck.

"It's been fun," Aseyu replied. "Got a volunteer to test my skills on. The platonic ones, but it was still nice to see the look on her face."

Samira nodded. "Alright... that woman in the labcoat is Claire. Her young friend is Tamara, or Tammy. The lady in that dress is Gabrielle. Those other two," she nodded at Leo and Tora, "haven't quite gotten to introducing themselves yet."

Aseyu took a seat and said, "Aseyu ul'Valmoth vash'Suela, at your service." Then she handed Samira the wine bottle she'd picked out and said, "you should find an excuse to try it. Probably won't have an opportunity again."

Samira took the bottle gratefully, but saw no reason to hurry to open it yet.

edited 6th Feb '13 4:32:06 PM by KillerClowns

[Wine Cellar->Dining Room]

"Better take one for the road." Frank said as he picked up one of the wine bottles and put it in his overcoat before heading upstairs to the kitchen.

"All that disgusting amount of alcohol has put me in the mood for a disgusting amount of food."

Frank headed into the dining room and sat down, noticing the other occupants of the room.

"Hey, you guys, how's it going? By the way, alcohol's in the basement."

Was going to wait — well, technically did. Expected more life.

[Outside —> Entry Hall]

Yet another traveler found their way to the Mansion. She was a small, pallid woman with greasy, matted dark brown hair down to her shoulders, slight enough to be mistaken at a distance for a girl in her early teens. But upon examination, her age was obvious: the lines on her face made it clear she was somewhere in her thirties, even if though size, posture, and demeanor made her disturbingly infantile.

She was wearing a knee-length pleated skirt over a pair of jeans, and a white windbreaker with spring green stripes running down the sleeves. On the chest of the windbreaker was a green hummingbird, in the minimalistic style of a modern corporate logo. A number of business cards were stuffed into the jacket's left pocket. They bore the same hummingbird logo, identified the woman as as "Alice Winters, Chief Security Coordinator, Western Amalgamated Agricultural," and gave an address in San Jose, California and an office number.

Alice was singing to herself, with the voice of an unpolished but significant natural talent, accomponied by the surprisingly musical rhythm of a butterfly knife she toyed with in her right hand. (A weapon more stylish than pragmatic, but she enjoyed the simple, nostalgic feel of having a few shivs on her person.) "Gon' build that city on a hill..." She glanced up at the mansion, and instinctively scanning it for security weaknesses, possible points of illicit entry and escape. She had no dishonest intent, but old habits died hard, and it helped to keep the mind sharp. "Gon' build that city on a hill." She grinned, a wicked little smirk, as she made her way up to the mansion. She had a good feeling about this day. "Some day those tears are gonna spill..."

She pocketed her knife, and walked up to the mansion on that note, switching from singing to humming as she opened the door and confidently entered. To nobody in particular, she said "'Sup?" She also casually extended her senses outward, feeling for magic.

Those able to detect such things will notice that Alice possesses the same Anti-Magic abilities as Aseyu, albeit significantly more powerful, and has no telepathic presence. She's also undergone some Bio-Augmentation — nothing that would be obvious. I'll give the rundown if there's a character who notices and scans her or whatever.

edited 6th Feb '13 6:38:07 PM by KillerClowns