Character Mansion

[Entry Hall]

If the cherubim's eyes were open, it would have blinked.

It craned its neck to 'look' at Lance, "What is a name?"

It straightened its neck again, "From what I have learned, it is the means that humans and other intelligent species use to distinguish one from the other. It is like they have a need to keep themselves separate from one another. I will admit that it gives them a good sense of self."

It craned its neck to look at Lance with its closed eyes again, "In any instance, I have been referred to as 'Joarkiel' in the past, so if you wish to call me that, it is acceptable."

edited 4th Apr '13 12:29:31 AM by DarkbloodCarnagefang

[Balcony]

"Well it's a fine pleasure to meet you Hilda, a fine pleasure indeed. I ask because, while I know you've only recently arrived, I'm curious to know if you or Lance are informed of how one might... get in touch with the person holding thisss... party? Get together? Whatever it is. You know, the one who sent the invitation. See..." Ozzy leaned back against the banister, "I've been trying to find this person for most of the night— when I haven't been in... poorer states— but he, or she, it, whoever, has proven very elusive— extraordinarily elusive for someone holding such an—if you'll forgive me—interstellar event. I haven't spoken to many people here about it, but the ones I have spoken to don't seem to know a thing about the host. Some of them don't even think the host is here, can you imagine?"

He laughed and shook his head, then looked Hilda over and sighed. "You haven't heard anything, have you?"

[Southern Bedroom]

Koyel laughed and said, "yeah, might as well get to know ya. We've really done this whole relationship thing the wrong way 'round, ain't we?" He smiled a bittersweet smile. "If I seemed a bit eager, well... 'case you ain't guessed, I got someone to get off my mind. Congrats, by the way, it worked, so it ain't nothing you've gotta worry about. What's done is done, ain't no purpose dwelling on the past."

"Anyhow, one thing's clear — whatever it is you do, it damn well involves being a tough bastard." He frowned, studying Sven. "Here's hoping you ain't a soldier — it'd be a damn shame to end up on the wrong side of a war with ya, end up having to shoot ya."

[Garden]

Samira tapped her chin, looking Claire over. "Something you don't appear to be," she said, utterly deadpan. Then, more seriously, "could be nothing major. Although you might have some cybernetics in you. I certainly don't mind that." She frowned. "Okay, I might, a little — I don't know, something about replacing flesh and blood with metal and plastic makes me uncomfortable, but it's your body, and it's not my place to judge what you do with it. Especially not if it's for something medical." She tilted her head, continuing to try and figure Claire out. "Still, could be more. God only knows."

Garden

"Well, nothing in particular stands out..." Anne began, then glanced at Tamara briefly and shrugged. "Well, I can't think of anything better to look out, so that sounds good to me."

She frowned for a few moments, trying to think of something better to talk about. She supposed that Xavier might not have caught her conversation with Bianca and therefore might not know who Grimhilde was, but considering that he was in the same room as her for who-knows-how-long he had to know at least what she looked like. Plus, he seemed to understand well enough anyway. For lack of a better option, Anne kept her mouth shut and waited for one of the other two to come up with something.

Ulrich stepped into the kitchen just as Grimhilde exited the cellar. "Ah, your Majesty!" he said, bowing.

Grimhilde stopped and gave him a confused glance. "Ulrich? What are you doing here?" she asked, "You're supposed to be back in Theoland ensuring that your subordinates are keeping the kingdom running."

"Aye. I am here because I have news to report. The King of Gaulbion wants to discuss an alliance." Ulrich responded.

Grimhilde sighed and cradled her forehead with her hand. "And why didn't you or the other advisors tell him that I was currently not available?"

"With all due respect, your Majesty, this is an important matter that we are not fit to handle. I advise that you return to Theoland quickly; I doubt Gaulbion has the patience to wait for you." Ulrich's face remained completely calm and didn't change expression once as he relayed his information.

"I admit that my stay here has been...less than satisfactory, but I still have business to take care of before we leave. First and foremost, we need to locate the owner of this house to ensure that he had prepared for me."

Ulrich nodded. "As you wish, your Majesty."

With that, the two walked out into the Entry Hall.

edited 4th Apr '13 12:44:18 PM by Yomegami

[Garden]

"You're making a lot of assumptions based on essentially no evidence, you know." Said Claire. "A passing statement, a common expression, and suddenly I'm a cyborg?" She smiled. "Well, you may be partially right about that, at least... But suppose I did have cybernetic implants, and suppose they were quite extensive, too..." The smile faded away. "Would that change anything?"

[Garden]

Samira took a few moments to consider it genuinely. "No," she said. "I don't think it would change much. But I just can't shake the feeling there's something you're eager to tell someone here, even if you can't admit it to yourself." Then she shook her head. "Or perhaps not. Maybe I'm just a nosy old woman. It happens sometimes — I worry about someone who's doing just fine and end up getting on their nerves instead. Sorry if I offended... we can talk about something else if you'd prefer." She smiled, welcoming but apologetic, and said, "just keep in mind, I'm a retired high school teacher, not a scientist."

edited 4th Apr '13 7:29:08 PM by KillerClowns

[Garden]

"Sure," said Xavier, flaring his wings a bit. "That sounds good." He reached out towards the fire, using magic to shield himself from the heat, and picked up a log that was burning on one end. Besides doubling as a torch, it was radiating enough heat to keep him from nodding off.

He glanced from his torch to the fire and said, mostly to himself, "We should probably extinguish this or something." Extending a hand, he murmured, "Midrad." At once the flames died down, leaving only a wisp of smoke and a little leftover heat.

That settled, Xavier pushed himself to his feet, still holding the torch, and held out a hand to Anne to help her up.

[Entry Hall]

As Frank was debating on using the stairs, the old man from earlier walked out of the kitchen with a regally-dressed women.

"Hey there." he said to Ulrich. "Seems like you've found who you were looking for. Probably should of specified which stairs to use, cause frankly, I find basement stairs in the kitchen to be downright silly."

edited 4th Apr '13 8:15:02 PM by BiggerBen

Anatoly smiled coolly. "Thank you. Say- what were these pressures, exactly?"

[Parlor]

"It was born of the last global conflict, infancy and coming of age in the most powerful two countries in the world scrambling for any advantage that would have made a war between them not suicidal for both." Linna said. "There was a lot of pressure. Eventually, it resulted in the orbital weapons treaties when all the race accomplished was invalidating most previous weapons in their arsenals."

[Balcony]

"Nope, afraid I haven't." She cocks her head slightly to the side, "What exactly interests you so much about them? I know they threw together all of this..." she gestures to the room in general, "But anyone with such resources probably has something better to do. Maybe they're out playing polo or something. I don't know." She sighs, "They built a house in a swamp. They're either a bit crazy, have a lot of money, or even more power. Still though... you do have to wonder..." She looks at Ozzie keen for a response.

[Entry]

"Well... um.... Joarkiel," Lance is even more confused than when he started talking, "I'm sure we can um... come to some sort of... have some sort of uhhh... conversation?" He bites his lip, "Perhaps you could.... discuss your race? I haven't heard of cherubim before." He stops speaking for a moment, then jerkily restarts his speech to elaborate, "They're not in any folklore or fiction, of elvish or human origin."

[South Guest Bedroom]

"Tough bastard huh?" Sven laughs gently, "I like that. Still though if you must know," he traces a pattern in the comforter with his finger, "Used to be a mercenary. I was more of a medic than anything though. Wasn't too big on taking orders," he shifts his upper torso upwards and half shrugs, "A hell of a lot better at the getting drunk though." he tilts his head as well, "And you know buggering the superiors. That too."

He looks up at the ceiling, "Current thing though? I don't even know how I got it really. Was just roaming around on the money from the last campaign I got stuck in and needed some more and got hired to guard some even, don't even remember what." He shakes his head, "Some idiot tries to attack some random elf, I stop him, and poof, turns out said elf is a finance minister and needs a bodyguard." He sighs, "Of course said elf also apparently likes me, so there went my getaway for the evening."

[Entry Hall]

Joarkiel craned its neck toward Lance, studying him with closed eyes.

He straightened its neck to continue, "Assuming that you are not one of the many elves from Arcadia, then an explanation would be required."

The cherubim straightened itself more as it explained, "The cherubim were created long ago by the gods of Arcadia, along with the Seraphim. Both races worked together to found the first of the twenty-five cities of Arcadia, the Holy City Caanan." The cherubim looked toward Lance, "That's about it."

[Balcony]

Ozzy looked away, remaining silent for a long moment. When he finally looked back to speak, his forehead was creased with uncertainty. "Ah- um- you see, my presence here came about under different circumstances, and... I need to sort all that out with the owner of this place. It's important." he shrugged, "At least, I thought it was important. If the host is not actually here then... I guess I won't be needing to talk to them. But that's a hard sell. Even if the host is supremely rich or powerful and has something better to do, I can't help but wonder why they would hold a party that they have no interest in? There wasn't some sort of fee, was there?" He began to list off on the fingers of one gloved hand, "If the host: isn't present, hasn't made his her or it's identity known to several of the guests for some sort of publicity, isn't getting some sort of reimbursement, and indeed doesn't seem to be getting anything from this at all— save for a potentially messier mansion... then what's the point?"

He laughed in an exasperated sort of way and threw up his arms, "What- what's the point?" he shook his head, laughing some more, then held up a hand, "I'm not of course denying the chance that they did this out of the goodness of their own heart, but..." he glanced over the banister again at the strange fellows below, "...given the..." Ozzy struggled for a word as he watched the baffling multi-headed beast below "...p-people, who... who have shown up, and the nature of these sorts of events in general, that seems more than a little unlikely."

He looked back at Hilda, and let out his breath, "What I'm trying to say is, I think the host is here. Somewhere. And hopefully, someone knows where. If the host isn't here, then my best three guesses as to the purpose of this event are... please don't laugh: there are hidden cameras and microphones scattered around the house collecting footage of our interactions for who knows what, or, the host is hosting this event for a friend or associate or something who requested it, and maybe they're around somewhere, or, this event is secretly being run by a group of psychopathic cultists who've rounded us up to be sacrificed to their evil idol as a mixed fruit basket." Ozzy sounded close to laughing himself. "Honestly, all three ideas are messy, I hope none of them come true. And if that's the case, then I guess I'll have to ask around some more."

[South Guest Bedroom]

Koyel snickered and said, "I was about to ask how you stayed in a merc company if you couldn't take orders, 'til you mentioned the buggering superiors." He laughed, then more seriously said, "s'pose that works, 'til you get a superior who's more interested in you taking orders than a good night's buggery. I've seen worse soldiers in my time." He frowned. "Usually get eaten by sandlurkers, but some are like you... damn canny when the chips are down."

"Anyhow," he said, sitting up against the bed's headboard, "it's pretty damn obvious why that poor bastard likes you, especially if he's seen you without your pants, but..." he shook his head. "I dunno. He seems a bit soft, y'know? Ain't sure he'd ever find a husband where I'm from... but my sister did, so might be hope for him yet. Here's hoping for both your sakes he gets over you 'fore he does something even stupider."

Garden

Anne was hesitant to take Xavier's hand, partially because she thought the sensation of holding scaly dragon hand would be awkward for her, as holding skeletal hand would be for him, and partially because she was fully capable of getting herself up. A few seconds later, she recognized it for the friendly gesture that it was (she still remembered Samira making a similar gesture to her earlier) and accepted it.

Afterwards, she thought for a few moments. "So, um, Xavier," she said, trying to stir up some form of conversation, "you said you were a teacher of some sort?"

"Aye," Ulrich responded, but otherwise said nothing more.

"Hello again....Franklin Higgins, was it?" Grimhilde said, "Unfortunately, I cannot stay and chat this time. I've important matters to take care of...." she trailed off upon noticing the extremely unusual being that stood some distance away.

Ulrich followed her gaze, eventually beholding the being himself. The difference between his completely unfazed expression and Grimhilde's completely flabbergasted expression was rather amusing to behold.

"I believe that is an angel, your Majesty," he said, after examining it for a few seconds. "To be specific, I believe that it is an ophan, judging by the wheel behind its back."

"Whatever it is, dealing with it is your territory."

Ulrich nodded. "But it does not seem interested in us, and I do not think it holds any relevance in our search. I advise that we check the second floor, your Majesty. If our host is here at all, that is where I suspect he would be."

"Well then, come and we shall look."

edited 6th Apr '13 1:06:02 PM by Yomegami

[Garden]

"Yeah," said Xavier, nodding. He began heading towards the waterfall. "Arcanoarchaeology. It's basically archaeology with a focus on magic. Examining what's left of magic in an area, inferring how a civilization used magic, investigating possibly cursed artifacts, that sort of thing."

He paused for a moment, then added, "For the most part, though, it's boring in most people's eyes. Say, taking a look at the remnants of an enchantment in a sword to see if it was magically kept sharp, rather than seeing if it would set people on fire. But me? I like seeing how different cultures used magic and how they lived. Just because it's not flashy doesn't mean it's not interesting."

[Entry Hall]

Well this....leaves more questions than answers

Lance frowns, "You have active deities? I don't doubt the possibility but at least where I come from we either don't have any or they're too busy doing other things to notice us." He looks back up at the cherubim and almost instantly regrets what he's said, "That's not to say that's a good thing or ummm anything I..." he laughs nervously, "Just getting a little ahead of myself here."

[Balcony]

Hilda raises an eyebrow, "That's a lot of effort for a bunch of sacrifices, considering this person seems to have set up inter-dimensional teleports, a mansion in a terrible location, and," she gestures towards some of the drones, "Automatons. I think they could probably just have seized all of us and thrown the lot into their hypothetical sacrificial pot."

"Maybe..." she taps one of her fingers against her side, "they're one of those new psychoanalyists. Got sick of only being able to have their little limited pool and decided to get some new people in. I'll admit free booze and paid fare really does help. Perhaps they're scribbling away madly right now." She smirks, "The guests are on to me evacuate!" She pauses and looks around, "And that was a terrible joke."

[South Guest Bedroom]

"Eh, he was drunk at the time. If anything he'll probably just try to forget it all happened." Sven sighs, "Give him a pile of numbers and he's good, give him another dude and he's a hot mess. Hopefully he'll do something instead of crying for a week but I wouldn't bet on that." He taps one of his gingers against the comforter, "One of this friends'll probably knock some sense into him."

[Entry Hall]

Joarkiel remained unmoving, "We have seven gods of Arcadia. The creator of my species, The Great Celestial, who shines so bright that she must wrap herself in a robe made from a piece of the universe, is the most worshipped god."

He held his blade up, "It was she who blessed me with this blade, The Feller of the Injustice, a blade which can cut down any doer of evil." He put the blade down, straightening himself again.

[South Guest Bedroom]

Koyel muttered, "well, a mess we can agree on. But..." he shook his head. "Eh, never mind."

He absent-mindedly drummed his leg. What'd me and Loxina talk about afterwards? Well, Sven certainly isn't interested in building a future with me — different worlds and all — so that's off the table. It was either that, or we talked about whatever bullshit the boys in Xayushu had us doing for them. Might be why she broke up with me, I suppose. But...

"So," he said, "before you became bodyguard to that tiny little numbers guy, what sorta folks you usually work for? Mercs where I come from usually work for merchant caravans of questionable legality, breaking troublesome customers' legs for brothels, or putting a messy end to some family feud. Ringing any bells?"

[Garden]

"I'm sorry if I seem a bit secretive," Said Claire, seeming somewhat melancholy. "It's just something I've gotten used to, I guess..." She paused for a moment. "Anyway, yes, I think I'd like to talk about something else." She said, watching Tamara get up and start walking with Anne and Xavier. "What's your impression of Tammy?" Said Claire, looking over at Samira. "I know you said you taught high school, not elementary, but you do have a daughter, and altogether, that's far more kids than I usually interact with." She looked back at Tamara. "We only met quite recently, after all... Oh, and I should go with them. Wherever they're going..."

The young girl led the way, promptly trotting over where she had been poking the mushroom earlier. She looked around for a moment, trying to hear the sounds of the waterfall over Anne and Xavier's conversation. Actually, the latter of the two seemed to know where he was going without her help, but Tamara wanted to lead, so lead she did. "Can you fly?" She asked Xavier, during a pause in his chat with Anne. "What's flying like? With wings, I mean? Is it fun? And what's having wings like? Are they heavy?" She asked, unintentionally bombarding him with questions. She was just curious; he was the first dragon-like individual she'd ever met, after all.

[Balcony]

"Psychoanalysts!" Ozzy laughed very strangely and stiffly, as though he didn't know what he was laughing about. "Yes, maybe. Wouldn't that be something?" Again, he sounded uncertain as he spoke, and when he was finished it seemed as though he didn't know what to say next.

After an awkward moment, Ozzy turned his head and forced a cough into his balled fist, ignoring the fact that his mask would prevent the cough from getting anywhere beyond... his mask. "So, Hilda," he said, turning to face her again, and regaining his stride for the time being, "what brings you up top? Was there something I could help you with, or were we just socializing, hmm?"

[Garden]

Samira nodded, understanding and feeling rather rude for having pried so much into Claire's life. "Tamara," Samira muttered to herself. "Keep in mind, my Rachel didn't exactly have a normal childhood, due to... well, the things I've already described. But..." she looked over at Tamara, tapping her chin thoughtful. "Open-minded," she said. "Intelligent. And.. brave. Perhaps dangerously so — it's admirable that she welcomed young Anne there with open arms, but what sort of ill-intentioned stranger might she seek to befriend? Or..." she raised a finger, "perhaps she's just an extremely good judge of character. I don't know her well enough to say which, but I'd advise keeping an eye on her either way. Just in case."

Garden

"So you're looking at past magic, pretty much?" Anne responded. She didn't quite grasp what exactly Xavier meant by "archeology" - it was yet another new word for her, as the practice it referred do didn't exist in her world. "I think it sounds rather interesting, but that's coming from someone who never got the chance to study it properly. My only real experience with it...well...." She trailed off and frowned. "I can only hope that magic's not as bad as that made it out to be."

Grimhilde and Ulrich ascended the stairs and stepped out onto the second floor. A brief look around revealed no one who looked as if they might have been the owner; only a woman and a heavily clothed, horned man.

"I suspect that the owner is not here, either," Ulrich said, "In fact, I suspect that he is not here in this building at all. Surely, with someone of your stature he would have wasted no time in greeting you personally."

"Or perhaps he just leaves that duty up to his servants," Grimhilde responded. "As rude as it might appear, I can't say I blame him. Guests can be a chore to deal with sometimes."

Ulrich's gaze focused on the two people sharing the floor with them. "I advise that we ask them, your Majesty. Perhaps they know something, or at least would be willing to assist us in our search."

Grimhilde frowned. "The last time I tried that, I got into a political debate with a drunkard. What makes you think that we shall not have a repeat of that here?" She looked towards Ulrich with an expression that seemed to be asking him to come up with a better idea.

"One incident rarely makes a statement about the rest, your Majesty. I believe we will get much farther if we take the route I suggested." Ulrich's voice was adamant when he said this, indicating that it took more than mere scrutiny to get him to change his mind. It was why Grimhilde continued to work with him, after all (besides having a long history together).

Grimhilde scowled and sighed, before making herself look presentable before walking up to the woman and man. "I apologize for the interruption, but I wish to ask you something. I am Queen Grimhilde of Theoland, and I wish to know if either of you have any information about our mysterious host."

[Entry hall]

"Sounds..." Lance looks up at the blade, "noble." You'd think they could come up with a less generic name for such a thing... He looks around for a few moments as if to look for something to say, "Your gods are very.... direct. There's some muddling of how the elves were created, magic made flesh or something, as opposed to humans...." he frowns for a moment before he perks up with realization, "Flesh given magic. Something about the diety of the universe wishing for true balance. As for any proof?" He shrugs, "We have a book maybe written only 3000 or so years ago, supposedly of verbal truths.

[Balcony]

Well either he has no idea what a psychoanalyst is, or one had a field day with him. Given his clothes... I'd better not ask. "I believe we were socializing actually." Hilda looks at Ozzie, "I don't think I have a problem that need's to be fixed unless you're up for some.... but no really, I only kid." and that was a bad one too "The invitation did imply some sort of social event." She raises a hand palm up at wait level, "Did you get here by some other means?"

[South Guest Bedroom]

"Actually," Sven raises an eyebrow, "You'd be wrong on just about all accounts. There are more savory ways of hiring security and now shipping's often done by either steamboat or train anyway. The rest you'll want an assassin to do, they're not picky with work at all." He sighs, "Nah, I get to fight wars for kings and despots and stupid councils of representatives. Things are a bit... unstable right now." He begins counting on his fingers, one for each event, "Minor prince killed, the border dispute up north turned into a bloodbath, one of our maids turned out to be a spy, a major city had a failed coup... you get the idea."

[Balcony]

"Well... well I, uh..." Ozzy hesitated, "truth be told, I kind of stumbled here in poor shape. I— ah—" he cut himself off and looked past Hilda, to the two other guests who had just appeared at the top of the stairs, slightly jerking his head to the side in case Hilda hadn't noticed.

One of the two stair dwellers was the old man he had seen earlier, talking with the pig down below. With him was a beautiful dark-haired woman, who looked as though she might be royalty. When she did indeed announce herself as royalty—a queen, no less—Ozzy's eyes widened slightly and he hastily straightened his posture. He suddenly became very aware of his protruding horns and his rather scruffy attire. "Your Royal Majesty," he said, bowing quickly and speaking in the most sonorous voice he could muster, "as it so happens, our aims are identical; I've been conducting my own search for the host's whereabouts for the past hour or so."