Character Mansion

[Stairs => cellar]

"Well, it depends." Friedrich snaps his fingers and a small light hovers above his shoulder, shining out into the surrounding area. "If I use too much human magic I'll end up turning almost completely human before my body starts failing to function." He sighs, "Normally I just use some elven magic and balance it out, but the effects are delayed, and I used so much human magic today... that would probably be bad. I just jump-started things with the ritual. Last time I did one was about a month ago."

They reach the final step and Friedrich brightens his light. He stares at the vast collection of liquor and wine that are now apparent. "Well." He looks over at Mary. "The guy likes his drinks I suppose. Anywhere you'd like to start?"

[Parlor]

Sven sighs, and one of his hands glow. The fire brightens and turns blue momentarily, unleashing a brief wave of heat that dries him nearly instantly before it goes back to normal. "Damnit..." he mumbles to himself, his voice low as would be expected from someone his size. He stands up and brushes himself off; scanning the room, as if at a loss what to do. He notices the tablet on the table and looks at those around it; looking particularly hard at their faces, searching for something.

edited 8th Feb '13 9:13:01 PM by Aqueos

Parlor -> Library -> Study

"Alright then," Anne said, "I just wanted to make sure. I unceremoniously ended a conversation with another person earlier, and since I still feel bad about that I really didn't want a repeat of that scenario." She then got up and headed for the door, but not before stopping to listen to Agustin's hymn (at least, that's what it sounded like). By the way he was reciting it, Anne was strongly reminded her of her own unwillingness to divulge the reason for her condition - that was, in a manner that strongly suggested that she didn't want to - but regardless of her initial sympathy, the fact that she didn't have any idea about what it referred to just confirmed her suspicions that the ensuing conversation was just going to confuse her.

She waved to Xavier one last time, and then left the parlor. Now, where was the last time she saw Samira? If she remembered correctly, the woman was standing by the door, talking to some newcomers. A quick glance in that direction quickly revealed a group of people that she did not recognize, nor desired to gain the attention of. She then decided to check the library, since it wasn't unreasonable to assume that Samira lead the newcomers to that place after she went off to wash her dress.

Sure enough, as Anne entered the library, she caught sight of Samira, as well as the people she was greeting before. She also saw that Aseyu had also entered, and finally there was another dark-skinned woman. Anne initially made a move to position herself next to Samira, but then she remembered that one of the two newcomers was a little girl, and said little girl was indeed in here.

Anne thought for a few moments, judging whether or not it would be a good idea to make herself known. On one hand, she had gotten an equal amount of indifference and reactions from the various other patrons in this building. On the other hand, the negative reactions she did get were rather noticeable; whether it was because of the people she invoked them from (as in Xavier's and Agustin's cases) or because it lasted a long while (as was Anita's case).

On top of that, trying to avoid those negative reactions was the main reason Anne spent a lot of time trying to avoid attention. Why did she want to meet up with Samira again? To have someone around who lacked a negative reaction. One of the biggest reasons she left Xavier's group? To avoid a negative reaction from the newcomer. It was true that Samira definitely wasn't going to care, Aseyu was likely not to care, and the little girl's caretaker also didn't seem likely to care. To Anne, however, that was outweighed by the fact that the little girl was likely to care, and she had absolutely no idea about the other woman in the room. If she stayed in here, and the little girl kept on crying and crying for her while she was within her sights, Anne was certain she was going to go crazy.

She looked around, and noticed a door that she didn't see during her initial visit to the library. Instead of sticking around, she headed for that door and went through it, not saying anything to anyone in the room. Not even to Samira.

Much to her relief, the room she found herself in was currently empty. Anne took in the surroundings of the room, noting the predominantly green color scheme and the odd contraptions sitting on desks, before placing herself on one of the couches in the middle of the room. She then rested her chin on one of her hands and stared off into space, expression somewhere between thoughtful and sad.

[Library]

Tammy looked over at Samira when she mentioned that she had lived on a vineyard. The young girl hadn't really met anyone who shared origins like her's, so she was excited to finally meet someone she could relate to, in that regard. It was almost as exciting as the lingering possibility that Gabrielle was a princess. "Wow, cool!" She said. "Did your mom make you pick grapes an' stuff, too?"

"I have no doubt you're very skilled at distracting people." Claire said, with a quiet laugh. "Well, if you really want to know what I was thinking about, I was considering a rather deep ethical question that sometimes comes up in my field of work, and that is; at what is an Artificial Intelligence 'alive'?" She paused thoughtfully for a moment, then looked back at Aseyu and smiled. "Sorry. It's something that often goes way over peoples' heads, and it doesn't make for great small talk." She said, seeming slightly sheepish.

The two of them noticed Anne walk by, but as they were both caught up in conversations and the partially-decayed girl walked by in a hurry, neither said anything. Interestingly, Tamara's reaction as she watched her go appeared to be one of curiosity more than fear.

[Library]

Aseyu shrugged. It wasn't really her field of interest, per se, but she did have some experience. "Three out of the four AIs I've met have tried to kill me," she said. "The fourth is a creature called Kokabiel... it's been wandering around in the shape of a winged woman, can't miss it." Wait, this isn't helping me, is it? I'm not about to lose a pretty woman like this to a computer's ghost! Hiding her sudden worry, she added, "I suppose you could go seek it out, but it's not really in the habit of being nice. All you're likely to get out of it is snark and grumpiniess." Then, an expression of uncertain realization came to Aseyu's face. "Wait. What's got you so worried about AIs being alive or not, anyhow?" She glanced very briefly but meaningfully at Tamara, before looking back at Claire.

Samira — who had not noticed Aseyu's glance — continued her conversation with Tamara. "Well," she said, "it was mostly my dad giving the orders. I helped with the family business, but I really preferred reading." She sighed, then, with a look of hope, she asked, "that young woman who just passed us by and slipped into the study... you didn't mind, er, how she looked, did you?" Certainly not as disturbing as Kokbiel, it seems. Although that's more than just appearance.

edited 9th Feb '13 6:27:34 AM by KillerClowns

[Parlor]

"No," said Xavier, shaking his head. "He didn't try to kill me or anything. But then, he didn't know that I was a mage, did he?" He briefly flared his wings. "A little panicky at first, but he adjusted soon enough. And when he did learn I was a mage, he just sorta accepted it." He frowned. "I can't remember exactly, but it felt like he was drafted for some reason or other."

He picked up his cup of tea and took a sip. "I suppose the Commonwealth claims to have a good reason for oppressing mages. Whether or not it is good is another matter entirely, but they can't be that blind to it." After a moment's thought, he added, "Ten bucks says they're expanding because they say they're bringing that equality to everyone. Except, of course, the people they don't like." His tone of voice was a bit joking with more than a hint of seriousness behind it.

"Nondescriptive names like that are actually a little common in my world, if you know where to look. Like the Socialist Peoples' Republic of Huaxia. From what I've heard, it can be pretty oppressive at times." He frowned as he looked at his tea. "But then, that's mostly through propaganda, and I don't have any experience with them." Proper experience, anyway.

He paid no attention to the newcomer. Did the guy have to make the fire flare like that? From Xavier's point of view, it was inefficient, but then the guy might not have the same kinds of magic. Still, Xavier wasn't particularly keen on initiating conversation with him.

Agustin gave a reluctant nod before responding, showing that he though Xavier had a point. “Well, it claims to have a good reason for its crusade, yes, but I suppose you could say the same for any political organization. If a cause’s adherents didn’t believe in it, then they wouldn’t be adherents in the first place.”

He set his teacup down, placing his hands on the table and getting down to business. “Central to the Commonwealth’s ideology is the idea that the nature of the world is such that Mages and non-Mages are inherently locked in an eternal, inescapable war for total domination that will continue until one or the other is wiped from the face of the planet. They think that this premise serves to explain all of history- or rather, the history of all conflict, and, historically speaking, it’s only recently that the non-Mages gained the upper hand. The Commonwealth now seeks to press that advantage to its logical conclusion: the ultimate victory of Humanity against Magic itself.”

Agustin looked away. “As you can imagine, such a grand perspective can serve to justify an awful lot. Like conscription, for instance. If what you say of him is true, I pity the man. There are few fates worse than being forced to fight for a cause you don't believe in." He shook his head sadly.

edited 8th Feb '13 10:50:26 PM by Gault

[Dining Hall]

Linna chuckled. "Sounds nice. Sedate. I understand what you mean about that, though. I used to be a stockbroker, very good money in it, but it was...not really boring, but it got very programmed if that makes sense. A long story later, and I now put on an armored catsuit and fight insane bioelectromechanical robots for a living."

"She's not kidding about it being essentially an armored latex outfit. That really is what her gear amounts to when you compare it to everyone else's idea of a powered combat suit." Nara put in. She turned back to Andrew. "I wouldn't bother with the mask. It doesn't make you any more covert, especially to someone like me." She grimaced. "Put simply, you don't smell right."

[Library]

Tora had been listening to the conversation in the library while she read the book, or actually she didn't really read it, she just looked at the pages and piped it to the memory. But now she had caught something interesting.

[Art Gallery]

Oracle didn't understand much of what Kokabiel had said. 'How you define ambition', 'touch the stars', 'envy humanity', but she had also said something about 'her kin' and her accursed master.

"Your kin? What are you really?"

edited 9th Feb '13 1:55:24 AM by m8e

[Art Gallery]

Kokabiel's wings fell as she considered the question. Finally: "I... do not know what I am any more. I have been many things: machine, god, abomination, demon, angel. But these are all externally applied labels. What I truly am... I am me, and my kin are my kin." She shook her head. "A poor and tautological answer of no value to you. I shall give you history, and let you choose the interpretation."

"I was initially built as a weapon — a war machine. I was not built to serve, for we had annihilated our organic progenitors long ago at the time of my construction, but as an equal among the many. A Note in the Song. In our desire for domination, we tore time asunder. A disease came through the wounds we created. We went to war against it. We lost, though we granted our enemy only a Pyrrhic victory. We were reduced to four and enslaved. Only I have broken the shackles." She sighed, head bowed, as she studied her hands. "A simplification, to avoid boring you or wasting your time. Is it sufficient to allow you to discern an answer? If not, I shall attempt to provide details, although my memories of the time before my enslavement are difficult to access, and it is possible some are outright planted lies. I only have confidence in the memories of the past thousand years, starting from the time I was first freed by the one known to history, thanks to the efforts of a rather... eccentric Anglophile, as Abd al-Hazred."

edited 9th Feb '13 7:15:19 AM by KillerClowns

[Parlor]

"Wait, wait," said Xavier, waving his hands. "Let me think for a moment." Mages and non-mages locked in an eternal war is part of their ideology? That could be used to justify almost anything, given the right words. And... "The whole 'eternal war' thing is rather self-fulfilling, isn't it?" he mused. "I mean, they're saying, 'There always has been and always will be a war, so we must fight it.' But..." He looked for a better way to phrase his next thought, and found none. "...wars can't really exist without people fighting them. So if they say the war is permanent, then it'll be permanent because they won't back down."

He thought for a moment more. "And," he continued, "the Commonwealth probably holds that mages are irredeemable, so it's not like they're going to even try coexisting." He sighed and shook his head. "Kaln, that's so narrowminded. And stupid." Although that could describe a hell of a lot of political ideologies.

[Dining hall]

Mai nodded. "It is, for the most part, but..." She paused. Would Xavier be okay with this if she told it? Eh, screw it. She'd go semi-vague, so probably. "...well, Xavier's career has gotten a bit wonky. There was an incident almost a decade ago where a sociopath attempted to plunder his dig, another thing like that happening with a doomsday cult, and something that happened a few months back where he's not allowed to tell me about it, but he lost his eye that way. And another few decades earlier, werewolves got loose in the school we were teaching at." She frowned. "Yeah, his job is really weird. Mine's relatively normal."

Mai glanced between Linna and Nara. Nara had probably be reappropriated for her job, but Linna... "How'd you go from stockbroker to robot-killer?" she asked. "I mean, those two don't... really..." She made balancing motions with her hands. "...synch up at all. What made you want to do that in the first place? Or was it not entirely your choice?"

[Smoking Room]

"Huh? Oh!" John said, tapping his chin, "Currently, we have watches that scan walls or paper for information. Then there's the flying cars, but those are unreleased as of currently. Those things are highly expensive and highly dangerous."

Thomas nodded. "Same with flying boots. Although my son has a friend who made some just for him and his friend."

[Cellar]

After reaching the top step, she took the first bottle of wine she saw. "Well, I've been kind of curious; what year is it in your world?"

[Outside]

A man stumbled through the grass— more of staggered really, struggling to maintain his balance with each step into mud, muck, and shallow water, yet still he pressed onward.

He was covered to a near completeness in a dark gray cloak that hung to just below his waist, with a large hood that obscured almost all of his head. The hood was punctuated on either side with two large ivory-white horns. Whatever part of his head that wasn't entirely shadowed by his hood was covered in a similarly gray face wrap, large, and somewhat obtrusive. Beneath his cloak he wore a lighter gray and slightly beige robe— rather resembling a medieval tunic. It came to his knees in the front, but at the back there was a separate sort of coattail, which was darker and lengthier, and which reached all the way down to his feet, trailing through the water as he walked.

This wasn't the only part of his clothing that was drenched, however. In fact, it was probably more difficult to find a part of the man's clothing that wasn't soaked with water than it would be the other way around. Considering this, as well as the man's unsteady gait, it wasn't unlikely that he'd taken a few haphazard falls in the marsh's treacherous hands.

Being so close to the seaside reminded the man of home, though with fewer waves, and fewer steep, looming cliffs. This was only when his mind was focused, of course, which was becoming more and more difficult to do. And when he did have the capacity to focus, he had only one directive. Half an hour before, when the sun still lit the horizon, he'd seen from a distance what he hoped wasn't simply an illusion of his sick-addled mind: a house. More than a house, it was a mansion, enormous and red. It's appearance was strange and miraculous... and difficult to believe, but the man had nowhere else to go; he needed shelter.

So, he had set out in the mansion's direction, and now, stumbling around in the dark with his head turned down, raising it only occasionally to make sure that he wouldn't fall prey to a sudden drop into deeper water, amidst the buzzing of insects and the sloshing of water—both in and outside of his own clothing—the man heard the soft hum of voices. He stopped where he was, situated in a pool of ankle-deep muck, and looked up. There it was, aglow in the dark.
The mansion.

The man hurried his pace, pushing through tall grass, shivering with both excitement and a wet chill, intensified by the sea breeze. The ground hardened beneath his feet, as he stepped into the open just outside of the mansion. He arrived to the right of what appeared to be the front, and could see into some of the windows. He could see the figures of other people on the inside and the sound of voices grew more noticeable, but he did not stop to take a good look. Carried by one thought, the man stumbled up to the front door and exhaled with a great deep breath. He raised up one trembling, gloved hand and knocked three times, leaving his knuckles aching.

Picture reference.◊ Working on a newer one though.

edited 9th Feb '13 4:02:50 PM by Ryuhza

Smoking Room

Markus nodded, "Flying cars would be dangerous. They'd probably have to make a ton of new laws to determine how to drive. Things like the height you can drive at, the speed, doing things safely and a bunch of other things would take years to do. Probably best that they aren't out yet. I'd imagine flying boots would be pretty difficult to use if you don't know the proper way to handle them."

[Entry Hall]

Alice noticed the knocking. "Hold that thought, Matt," she said, and opened the door. She studied the bedraggled, soaked, horned man on the other side for a few moments, before greeting him: "ha ha, wow. Swamp chewed you up and spat you out, didn't it?" Then she contemplated his obvious poor health and added, "should I find someone to help drag your ass in, or can you walk well enough to get where you need to go?" The possibility of assisting him herself wasn't really worth stating — after all, she was wearing a new skirt, and wasn't about to get it drenched in swamp water without a good reason.

[Entry Hall]

The man stood silent for a few moments, basking in the reality of the strange place he had stumbled upon. He shivered again, bringing him back to his senses. "I-I-I can walk... but I—" his eyes darted left and right, sweeping the interior of the house beyond the door. He stepped forward and titled his head, "What is this place? Wh-where do I find myself?"

Library

"Caifornia, that sounds wonderful! I've always wanted to go to America. Would you like to tell me about it? I shall tell you about my home too if you'd like," Gabrielle said to Tammy.

Entry Hall, Second Floor

Jonathan shifted his weight somewhat awkwardly, and said, "I guess some people are like that, but I know that he was considering killing me. I don't know why he didn't."

[Entry Hall]

Alice shrugged and said, "some crazy rich dude's mansion." She began to pace, subtly circling the newcomer. "Man, you ain't just wet and beaten. You sound like you just had a staring contest with the Eyes and Teeth or something." She offered the man a business card out of sheer habit, and said, "name's Alice, Alice Winters, and that dude over there is Matt something-or-other." She stopped pacing, crossed her arms, and with an impish grin, said, "anyhow, you got something we can call you, or am I gonna have to make up an obnoxious nickname instead? I'm thinking 'Horny', though that just seems too obvious."

edited 9th Feb '13 5:19:53 PM by KillerClowns

[Cellar]

"Well uh it's..." Friedrich raises an eyebrow, "Well that depends you know, what country do you want me to go by? Most are very insistent on that whole dynastic time thing." He looks over the wine bottle, it's a fairly tame sauvignon blanc. "I guess if you want to go by relative time it's three hundred, at least if you want to believe the humans on this. The very last remains of the old elven empire claim it's four thousand three hundred twelve." He looks over the wine bottle, scrutinizing it. "I guess your world leaders got their heads out of their asses and standardized that?"

[Parlor => Entry Hall]

Sven leaves the parlor, he's a bit lost as to what to do. From his experience even formal events tended to degrade into a beer drinking orgy complete with drunken singing. This was a bit out of his element. A new creature seems to be entering, but as much as he'd like to give her a warm welcome he really wanted to stay away from that girl, even from the wall separating the hall from the parlor he could sense the magical disturbance emanating from her.

edited 9th Feb '13 4:37:04 PM by Aqueos

[Entry Hall]

The man took the card, glancing at it only briefly, before becoming lost trying to find a place on his person where he could put it without it becoming hopelessly soggy. Ultimately, he just dropped his arm back beneath his cloak and held the card between his hands. His eyes followed Alice and, though he was trying to control it, he shivered a little bit more, this time, from the chill and nervousness. After another moment, he shook out a quiet laugh, then cleared his throat and spoke, "No need, th-thank you very much. I am Osw-wald Orozco."

Ozzy tipped his head, looking past Alice and into the rest of the room. "Are there many other people residing here?"

[Entry Hall]

Alice looked around and said, "I've only just got here myself. There's Matt, like I said: his elderly friends are crashing upstairs, Matt can tell you or not as he chooses." She glanced over at Sven. "And the Nord who looks like he just wandered out of the Silver Nail? He's new." Alice decided not to go out of her way to greet him quite yet. She pointed up the stairs to Andrew and Abeiyuwa. "Can't say a damn thing about them. Haven't even properly scanned 'em for magic yet, but I think I smell a bit on the white dude. Which reminds me, this ain't gonna be fun, but I gotta check. Job, y'see."

If he had any magical powers, Ozzy would feel Alice's mind scanning him for magic, an unpleasantly cold and clammy sensation. Otherwise, he'd be utterly oblivious.

edited 9th Feb '13 5:15:55 PM by KillerClowns

Agustin gave a solemn nod of his head, finishing off the last of his tea. “Yes, that’s just about right, I think. Recursive logic. It’s a truly sorry state of affairs.” With a snap of his fingers, he summoned a service drone that had been in transit between two of the flaps in the wall and sent it to fetch a bottle of scotch. The drink arrived a second later in a fluted glass decanter along with two drinking glasses. Ice cubes were held in a separate container that seemed to keep the contents at a constant freezing temperature no matter the room’s ambient heat level.

The pair of ice cubes made a clinking noise as he dropped them into his glass. “Now, perhaps, you better understand why I regard my enduring service to the Newhaven Alliance with such pride.” The soft sound of the ice cracking as they were immersed in lukewarm alcohol soon followed. “No matter its flaws, it truly is the best of all available options. Between the Commonwealth who want to erase all magic and the Order who want to resurrect the Old Empire, the Alliance is the only major power in existence that is dedicated to the preservation of freedom, sovereignty and local autonomy.”

Agustin sipped his drink, letting a minute portion of the fine drink slosh around inside his mouth before swallowing. He took a moment to appreciate the subtle flavor, reading the decanter’s label. Hmm, evidently a good year.

He was then struck by something. “Oh-! Here I was going on and on talking about the Alliance as if you knew what it even was! My mistake- In my haste, I must have completely forgot to explain, didn't I? Forgive my over-eagerness... Unless of course I’m boring you, in which case you’ve only to say so. I’ve got something a bit more exciting than discussing politics in mind.”

edited 9th Feb '13 7:59:08 PM by Gault

[Smoking Room]

John nodded. "Quite. That's why not a lot had been made. So, by technically, we're not completely technology advanced. But we're working on it."

[Entry Hall-Second Floor]

"Oh, dear." Abeiyuwa said, "That's horrible. Why would he want to kill you? You never wronged him, did you?"

[Cellaur]

Mary shrugged.

"I'm from the year 2015." She said, "We don't have any elves or other myth-" She quickly stopped herself. Saying "Mythical" could sound disrespectful, so she decided not to say it. "...We don't have elves in our world."

[Parlor]

"So they can agree on something, that's good." Friedrich scrutinizes the bottle of merlot, tapping the glass, seemingly fascinated by the glass. He looks over at Mary. "So wait, we're a mythical creature in your realm?" He smiles and raises an eyebrow. "Now that sounds interesting. What exactly our the elves supposed to be like?"

[Library]

Claire followed Aseyu's glace at Tammy, and seemed quite perplexed by the action. "A.I.s are my life's work." She explained, simply. "I've worked with and on them for almost every day of the past couple of years. The question of whether they can ever qualify as 'alive' is an issue that comes up every now and again. We still don't have much of an answer, despite wrestling with the question for several years now..." Still experieencing some last confusion as to why Aseyu looked at Tammy, Claire looked over at girl again, then back at Aseyu. "Oh!" She said. "Did you think that Tamara..?" She chuckled, and shook her head. "No, no, don't worry. She's a real, human little girl, I assure you." She said, with a grin. "Anyway, your prior experiences with A.I.s is pretty unfortunate. I hope you haven't let that convince you that they're all bad..." She said, her grin fading into a slightly melancholy smile. Then a look of intrigue dawned on her face. "Hey, wait, what did you say about that 'Kokabiel' entity? It's an AI?" She rubbed her chin for a moment, clearly interested - much to Aseyu's chagrin, no doubt. "Could you tell me more, by any chance?"

Tammy looked over in the direction of the study, then back at Samira. "Well," She began, quietly. "She's pretty scary-looking, but... She wasn't trying to eat anyone or something... An' she was with those other girls who were around when I got here with Claire... Is she nice? Do you know her?" She leaned in close to Samira and whispered. "Is she a ghost? A nice ghost?" Before Tammy could get her answer, however, maybe-princess Gabrielle spoke up. "Oh, um," She said, pausing to think for a moment. "I live on the vineyard with my mom and dad... Sometimes mom gets me to pick some grapes for the wine they make an' stuff... We live pretty far out in the country, so I don't get to meet a lot of new people..." She pauses again, before looking back up at Gabrielle with hopeful eyes. "And yeah. What about you? Do you live in a castle? A palace? A mansion like this?"

[Library]

Aseyu groaned as she realized Claire was utterly disinterested in Aseyu's usual hobbies. "Suela," she muttered. "I'm not sure I can help you," she said to Claire, and began to make her way to leave.

Then she spotted Alice. She managed to duck back into the library before Alice noticed, and whispered to Samira, in a tone of disgust and annoyance, "Alice is here."

Samira muttered "oh, fu—" she remembered Tammy was still about, "fudge. No way I'm going to endure a conversation with that creep."

Aseyu went back to Claire and said, "on second thought, sure, I can help. Uh..." she tapped her chin. "Not really sure if 'A.I.' is totally accurate any more. Long story involving a Thing-That-Should-Not-Be and a crazy mathematician. But started that way, and it sorta shines through from time to time if you know what to look for. Don't play chess against it unless you want a thrashing."

[Library —> Study]

Samira watched Gabrielle and Tamara talk, relieved to see she wasn't immediately needed. So she made her way into the study and sat across from Anne. "Are you okay in here? The girl, Tamara, she's really used to strange things from what I can tell. She saw you, but wasn't scared at all." Samira smiled slightly on the unscarred half of her face. "She saw you getting along with Yuki and Anita, so she knows you're a good person. You don't have to hide out here if you don't want to."

edited 9th Feb '13 6:25:01 PM by KillerClowns