Anita flinched back as Oracle stretched taller than Yuki, then shrunk back to its original size, and scuttled up the wall to cling to the ceiling.
It said that it had invites, along with another person-or spider-named Tora. She had only been here for a few minutes and she had more questions than answers.
"I feel like Alice in Wonderland." She muttered quietly, shaking her head.
Something...
Last Post for tonight
-Entry Hall-
Yuki was amazed at Oracle. "Wow... How DO you do that, sweetie?" Yuki said in amazement...
edited 28th Jan '13 3:36:40 PM by DiurnalBrocolli
Just floating around...
Okay, reigning her POV in more.
[Smoking Room]
After a minute of wandering around the first floor to get a feel of the place, Vivi entered a old-fashioned, yet atmospheric room whiffing of cigarette smoke. A larger crowd made out of an motley of folks sat around the coffee table. The coffee table sported a rebellious blue. Her kind of coffee table.
She whirled around to one of the cabinet, where boxes of exotic tobacco packed the shelves. She opened the lower cabinet, and found some fine hooch and wine.
"Well, ain't this the joint?" She swiped a bottle and a glass and took an empty chair by the coffee table. "What are y'all up too? Knocking yourselves out?"
Razzin-Frazzin Robot
[Entry Hall->Kitchen->Wine Cellar]
Franklin, feeling parched, headed over to the kitchen for a drink. He noticed a staircase in the floor leading down.
Despite finding a basement in the kitchen absurd, he went down the steps to check it out.
Turning on the lights he found a massive collection of various wines and beers.
"Oh my god, this is already the best room in the house!"
edited 28th Jan '13 7:25:48 PM by BiggerBen
[Smoking Room]
Aseyu looked over at Vivi with a smirk and said, "knocking ourselves out? Not exactly, but... a fine choice of words." She then nodded at Thomas and John, but said nothing.
Back to the important matter. Mai. Y'know, she thought to herself, though she bit her tongue, if this didn't work, I'd have been dead long ago. Forgoing the fancier knifehands and chops one might expect, she threw a boxer's jab at Mai's upper chest. (Normally, squishier targets were preferred, for obvious reasons, but Aseyu didn't want to severely injure Mai.) As her fist approached Mai, Aseyu began to fill it with raw antimagic — undetectable to scientific equipment, but visible to the magically sensitive as energy arcing through her nerves, tracing their fractal patterns and outright erasing magical energy in shameless defiance of thermodynamics.
The energy was a small part of Aseyu's very spirit, torn off and warped to suppress any alien energies it encountered. Unfortunately for Mai, her energies were technically as alien to Aseyu's spirit as those of the Eyes and Teeth. So the energy arced into Mai's body upon impact and did its best to obliterate every connection between Mai's nervous system and the arcane realm they could find.
May change — could end up chatting with Tera about mechanics...
[Library]
Samira laughed bitterly. "Magic," she said. "I don't know about you guys, but aside from a talking vulture that mostly insults me, magic has, on multiple occasions, tried to kill me, my family, and a number of my friends." She groaned. "I know other worlds have less... ugly forms of magic running around, but where I come from, most all of the worst stories have it about right. Squamous horrors and diabolical pacts and everything."
edited 28th Jan '13 6:01:45 PM by KillerClowns
Library
Anne was expecting some sort of comment about her current lifestyle, but things changed as soon as Markus brought up magic. Anne didn't even need to hear Samira's reply to know that this was going to be yet another conversation about something she didn't know anything about. Well, okay, that was sort of a lie.
She frowned. "I'm not that familiar with magic at all. Was never taught anything since it wasn't considered important to my occupation." The next words out of her mouth were spoken rather firmly. "I do know it exists in my world, but anything beyond that? I either don't know, or I don't want to talk about it."
Judging by the expression on her face and the slightly pained tone of voice in which she delivered those last few words, the subject apparently held some sort of painful memories for her. It didn't stay that way for long - in another second, her face went back to its usual, neutral expression.
"But if you want to talk about it, then I won't stop you. Just don't expect to hear much from me."
edited 28th Jan '13 6:17:28 PM by Yomegami
Icon by Civvi the Civilian!
They/Them
[Library]
Markus cringed at how Samira described the magic of her world. He put the book that he held back on the shelf. Turning back to continue, he looked at his gloved hand before focusing on the conversation, "I don't know about anyone else, but magic in my world has since been largely blank to me. I mean, I know what it is, but I don't remember where I know it from," He rubbed his head, "It's like being able to jump to grab an apple from a tree, but it seems impossible to catch, even if you are able to grab it," He paused, "The apple being a metaphor for my memory."
edited 28th Jan '13 6:27:52 PM by DarkbloodCarnagefang
Note to self: Pick less edgy username next time.
Laugh and grow dank!
Agustin jumped up in surprise, knocking his knee against the bottom of the table in his haste to get up and rattling the china. A fair bit of the tea in both cups spilled out on to the table. With a rasp of steel on steel, Agustin’s saber was out of its scabbard and in his hand. Turning to face the assailant, he held his sword out in front of himself, its tip facing the Elf, his right foot forward and ready to lead the rest of his body in a lightning strike. But, as the stranger made no aggressive moves, he hesitated.
“I was just. Heading out.” Came the Elf’s halting speech, his voice surprisingly deep. “I’ll just… uh find somewhere else. Or something.”
A few seconds of awkward silence passed as the intruder attempted to shuffle along the wall to the door, evidently weary of Agustin’s sword point. After a few moments more of consideration, Agustin gave his weapon a flourish and returned it to its spot on his belt. He resettled himself in his chair, brushed himself off and narrowed his eyes at Friedrich. He then turned to Xavier and waited for him to finish speaking before saying, head tilted in Friedrich’s direction, “You seem incredibly calm given the situation.”
Then, he turned back to Friedrich, clearly annoyed at both being interrupted and having his ostensibly private conversation intruded on. It was simply terrible manners. “I can tell you what I’d do.” His voice was calm, almost quiet, but his tone was dark and condescension positively dripped from every syllable. “If what you say is accurate, what I would do is hire an assassin too stupid to outwit and betray the person that hired them. The kind of assassin who would, for instance, admit he was an assassin while in the presence of a military officer."
Agustin was drumming his fingers on the tabletop now, his other hand still resting on the baskethilt of his saber. "Considering assassins are supposed to be covert operatives, and you are outright admitting you are one within swords-reach of a professional soldier with multiple decorations, I'd say your idea of what an assassin is is somewhat lacking."
edited 28th Jan '13 6:35:07 PM by Gault
yey
[Smoking room]
As soon as Mai felt the antimagic gathering in Aseyu's fist, she knew she had miscalculated. But even if she had time to react, there wouldn't have been any backing out. The punch hit hard, but not too hard; Aseyu knew what she was doing, in more ways than one. When it connected, something — hagramhera? — began running up and down her body, ripping her magic from her.
Mai stumbled back a step, partially from the force of the punch, partially from surprise of a sudden lack of magic, and partially from other sensations; her sense of touch kept on disappearing and coming back in random parts of her body and the floor began tilting slightly. It was disorienting and slightly disturbing.
She did her best not to let it show, though, and stood up as straight as she could, grinning. "Yep, that'll do it," she said. On a whim, she held out a hand and attempted to pull together vanarhsera'en to conjure fire. Bizarrely, it began to work for an instant before the antimagic stripped it away again, leaving her with a tingling in her hand. "That'll definitely do it," she said again, nodding.
Mai took a seat and waited for the room to stop spinning. "Not bad," she said, somewhat grudgingly. "You'd make a fortune in my world with that."
[Parlor]
Xavier briefly flared his wings. "I've been in these sorts of things before," he said to Agustin. "You get used to the oddest things."
He turned to Friedrich. "And, once they've told people that they're an assassin, assassins also don't tell people their names, who they're working for, or even sit around to chat about these matters. And they don't dress conspicuously, either." He glanced toward the ceiling. "Or teleport into an unguarded, unscouted room." He looked back at Friedrich. "Exactly what makes you think your idea of an assassin is any good?"
Xavier did his best to ignore the surprised looks people were giving him. If they wanted to talk to him, they could come up and do it, not linger in the background waiting for him to notice them. He had grown tired of that sort of thing thirty years ago, and he definitely wasn't going to let it get to him today. Nope. Definitely not. No way in hell.
...Who, exactly, was he trying to kid with that?
[Smoking Room]
Aseyu laughed as she slouched into a nearby couch. "That, boys and girls, is how you make a mage's day really terrible." She sighed with satisfaction, then added, "magic would be useless if we could ever figure out a way to throw that stuff around without physical contact."
Finally turning her attention properly to the newcomers, Aseyu said, "I'm Aseyu ul'Valmoth vash'Suela, and my lovely assistant there is Mai Xing. Give her a hand, for so kindly allowing me to demonstrate how one deals with cocky mages, and why one should never make assumptions about rules in trans-dimensional realms. So," she looked between John, Thomas, and Vivi, "you three plan to introduce yourselves?"
[Library]
"Magic," Samira said, flatly. She pointed to herself. "Nearly killed by it." She pointed to Anne. "Doesn't know much about it." Although it's probably involved in your condition. Then to Markus. "Has only fragmented memories of it." She looked between her two companions. "So I don't think any of us qualify as experts." She tapped her foot. With wry irony — and none of the bitterness one might normally expect, Samira mused, "how'd the three of us who look like Hell all end up in the same room?"
[Smoking Room]
Vivi lowered her wine glass from her mouth and crossed her legs, raising her sitting height. "Vivi of Chicago. I don't give my last name to folks outta town."
She scanned the room. Already, that burst of light she saw in front of her made her suspicious about the exact nature of the place. Letting loose trivial tibbets while holding her cards close was of her best interest.
She smiled, leaned back into her chair, and took another sip. "It's been a long time since I had wine. Should I ask whatever Prohibition extends toward these parts?"
[Parlor]
Aseyu shook her head and said, "nope. Liquor yourself up as much as you like — although I'll have to pass." There was a grim edge to her voice that suggested it was not a matter she would tolerate being pressed on. She pointed out the door and said, "I smelled a wine cellar over that way. Saw a chubby, bearded guy heading down there. Host won't mind if we help ourselves, I gather." Then, she realized. "Prohibition, huh? What year was it last you checked?"
Library
"Well, I came here to get away from the crowd," Anne started, "And then you came in here, from...somewhere. You kinda vanished out in the hall there." She then looked at Markus. "Then he hobbled in here for some odd reason."
She shrugged. "Long story short: coincidence."
Icon by Civvi the Civilian!
[Parlor]
Friedrich takes a step back and raises an eyebrow, "So you're telling me you had no idea I was either a spy or assassin when I phase shifted through the ceiling."
He runs his hand through his hair, "I mean seriously, considering how much you obviously know about magic to monkey around with physiology as you have with just about half the people in this building; you'd think you'd know that no one in their right mind would learn that spell. If you're so offended, shouldn't you have just, you know, stabbed me already? Burned me into next week? I mean I thought we were gonna have a deal over here, I swear it was like you were asking for a waiter or something."
He sighs, "And I thought this might have been a dream for a moment there, but really, since when does my mind ruin the only hot dude with a mustache." His brow crinkles, "Where the hell am I anyway? Are you some of those cultists or something? If you need more crystal I know a source."
edited 28th Jan '13 7:51:40 PM by Aqueos
Bet you didn't see that coming
[Smoking Room]
"1927. *" Vivi enjoyed another sip and pondered the thought. That meant that either she was in a tangle like one of those books, or she was dead. She preferred the first choice.
Besides, Heaven didn't come after death, at least in her opinion.
"'Though I don't want to plaster myself." Even though she actually couldn't get drunk. A benefit of her people. She grinned. "But I wouldn't mind hustling some bootleg outta' here, if the host don't mind—hey, where is the host?"
edited 28th Jan '13 8:09:18 PM by chihuahua0
[Parlor]
"It's amazing," Xavier said with a completely straight face, "how many more logical explanations there are for that sort of thing." Not that many, admittedly, but still more than you would expect. "And after all, what sort of spy or assassin would make such a stupid mistake like that?"
The rest didn't make that much sense to Xavier. Unless... He stood up and walked over to Friedrich. "Now, listen," he said, "consider what you're seeing and experiencing. We didn't attack you on sight. No one here looks normal to you. And did you miss that I'm a..." He began pointing at his face, emphasizing each word with a jab. "Six. And. A. Half. Foot. Tall. Silver. Lizard. With. Wings." He flared them.
"Hate to break it to you, Friedrich, but you're not in Kansas anymore. You're in over your head. You're a fish out of water. You're out of your depth. You are, to put it simply, not in your own universe anymore. Nothing you see here can be judged according to principles you know." Xavier stopped to see how he would take that. This should be interesting.
[Smoking room]
Prohibition? That liquor thing from the 1920s? Mai wasn't particularly good with semi-recent American history. Oh, specifically 1927. That was interesting. Time travel in addition to cross-universality. Maybe this wouldn't be that bad, as long as there was enough sanity to go around.
Her numbness was still there, but growing less frequent, and the room wasn't tilting as much. Magic was still just out of reach. Aseyu had said it would only be five minutes, right? Mai really hoped that she hadn't been lying for whatever reason; otherwise, among other things, she'd be out of a job. A tenured job, at that.
edited 28th Jan '13 8:37:10 PM by TeraChimera
Laugh and grow dank!
Agustin's only reaction to Friedrich's words was to lock him in a stare, lips pressed tightly together and turned to a scowl, wondering silently to himself just what to make of this unbelievable man. Given that Xavier seemed to be taking the initiative, he decided to simply sit back and watch for now, and chime in as necessary.
yey[Parlor]
Friedrich stares at Xavier for a few moments, his expression frozen.
"Well shit."
He looks at Agustin and then back at Xavier, then at the tea, "Were you two? Or are you? Going?" He looks at the ceiling." Uh? Well you ummm..." His cheeks redden. "Do I get my lecture on stupidity now?"
edited 28th Jan '13 10:48:19 PM by Aqueos
Bet you didn't see that coming
[Entry Hall] (Hanging from balcony)
Alice in Wonderland = Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Novel, 1865, England, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson(Lewis Carroll))
The ~1.5 meter humanoid in green with a tail of hair from its head had just made an Earth reference, an novel first published in 1865. That humanoid looked like a female human, smelled like a female human, sounded like a female human, but did she think and behave like a human? Just asking straight out if someone thinks like a human wasn't a good method to answer that question.
Yuki had asked another question but it was unclear what she asked and who she asked. Oracle had informed Yuki that Oracles name was Oracle. Yuki had asked a Sweetie.
Oracle pointed at Anita with leg #1 and asked, "Sweetie? Did you fall down a rabbit hole like Alice?".
Numbering the legs. Left side = 1,3,5,7 from the front. Right = 2,4,6,8
edited 29th Jan '13 5:27:14 AM by m8e
They/Them
Library
Markus turned toward Anne, "As far as I know, I found myself here after walking through a mire, trying to escape from some zombies," He shrugged, "It's harder to run, but they get stuck easier."
He looked up and mused before turning to Samira, "You mentioned something about 'Squamous horrors,' what did you mean by that?"
Note to self: Pick less edgy username next time.
She was caught off guard by Oracle calling her 'sweetie', which is what Yuki had called her, but the question made her think.
Had Anita fallen down some sort of rabbit hole? That would make sense. How she had just showed up in some place so different than where she was. But you think she would remember falling down a rabbit hole? Maybe this was like one of those movies where it turned out she had died and all of this was just her getting ready to be beamed up to Heaven… Or Hell.
She realized she hadn't answered Oracle's question yet.
"I'm not sure" she looked from Oracle to Yuki, "but would you both like to help me find out?"
Afro Master
[Roof]
"Wooo! This is crazy!"
-Stop getting distracted. Give me a survey, but don't put up a projection, you might be noticed.-
"Oh, uh, right."\\
A young man who seemed to be in his early twenties or so, with dark skin and black hair, dressed all in black, with a hood over his head, had crawled up the west wing of the large mansion. He was speaking to his M.C.A.I. (mission control artificial intelligence).\\\\
"Kay, so, I just saw a cute girl in snazzy colors walk through the front entrance. She was followed by a spider-lookin' thingy. Might have been hired by a rival employer, but it doesn't look like any spy-bot I've ever seen."
-Keep it under surveillance.-
"No problem. Next, another cute girl walked in. She was kinda 'plain cute', ya know."
-No, I don't know. Stop being a perv.-
"Awww, don't be jelly, there's plenty of me to go around! Anyway,after that, I saw a giant pig walking in on its hindquarters. I've decided to give him the codename Dionysus. Oink oink. Seems that's all-"
The man in black heard a small 'thunk' to his left. A bulky figure in hunter-type wear appeared over the edge of the roof. The man grumbled a little, but didn't seem to notice him. He then phased through the roof, presumably to the room below.
"Whoa, I just saw a man with some really archaic equipment. He just appeared on the roof, then, like, teleported into the building!"
-A potential hostile. Keep watch on him as well.-
"Man, this is ridiculous."
The man in black slipped through a window, making sure to choose the side farthest away from where the other man entered.
edited 29th Jan '13 9:27:25 AM by cexadono
School Uniform is the new Black My comic:http://melancholygoround.thecomicseries.com/ dA: http://curatorexatrum.deviantart.com
[Entry Hall -> Balcony -> Room to Bathroom/Master Bedroom]
There had been a small but sudden change in atmospheric pressure, and a corresponding change in temperature and air movement. Just like when someone opened the door, but this time the air didn't move from the door and into the parlor. It moved downwards from the second floor. An window on the second floor must have been opened and then closed. This had to be checked out.
"Busy," Oracle answered Anita.
Oracle climbed back up to the second floor and walked into the master hallway. She then tapped on the bathroom door and asked, "Anyone in there?".
Can we get names for the two nameless rooms on the second floor?
edited 29th Jan '13 11:28:23 AM by m8e
Something...
-Entry Hall-
Seeing Oracle leave, Yuki turned towards Anita. "Sure, I'll help you out, hon!" Yuki said towards Anita.
Just floating around...
[Entry Hall-Parlor]
It seemed that Jonathan didn't hear her question, Abeiyuwa figured. Oh well. More people were coming in, and it was making feel a little wary.
"Mary," she said, getting her friend's attention, "Um...is it alright if we head into another room?"
Mary nodded. "Sure thing. We'll catch up with John and Thomas later."
Heading straight to the Parlor, they noticed there were more people there too-including Johnathan and...a dragon?
Both women held back a gasp. Instead, they sat on one of the couches in silence, unsure what to say or do next.
[Study-Smoking Room]
After a few moments, both men decided to find another room. It was starting to get boring being by themselves.
They managed to walk into the smoking room, already recognizing Aseyu from earlier. The moment they walked in, however, they smelt smoke. John covered his nose with his tie.
"Now how long has that been there?" He muttered under his breath. I just hope Thomas isn't planning on staying here for long.