Character Mansion

[Outside]

"Good," said Mai, nodding. "I'd hate for you to be uncomfortable here. As for back in your own world, well..." She shrugged. "It's better than nothing, and at least some people accept you."

Then she realized something and stopped. "Wait, you said the dwarfs were the first people to see you like that. So when that... happened, were you away from people or something? Or were they just the first people to get a good look at you?"

"Ah," said Xavier. "That sort of history." He unconsciously scratched the scales beneath his missing eye. "I'm a bit more well-acquainted with that than I'd like to be." And you probably are, too, but let's not get into that.

"Although..." he said, thinking, "you could also try something like humanitarian efforts. Still a risk of getting shot, but a lot less, and you're pretty clearly doing some good." He snorted and flapped his wings once. "Yeah, like that's something I'll ever do."

[Outside]

Bianca gave Aseyu a calculating look and smiled innocently. "Yes, I've heard."

Then she turned back to Tamara. "Well, it's fairly simple, actually. You try to touch me with the stick, and I try to block you, and you block me when I try to touch you with the stick." She smiled and went over to her. "Come on. Try to hit me."

Bianca is somewhere between 4.5 and 5.0 feet tall. That might come in handy later. I don't know.

edited 9th Jun '13 3:22:10 PM by LeungBaiFang

[Outside]

Samira gave Xavier a nod of understanding. He obviously didn't want to dwell on details. So she said, "humanitarian work... I'm a bit old for a lot of it, to be honest, and too much of an academic. Besides, there's..." she frowned. "Have you met Kokabiel? Usually take the form of a vulture? Varies between unfailingly polite and utterly condescending depending on its opinions?"

Aseyu, meanwhile, took notice of Bianca's reaction, seeing through the innocent smile. Suela, I know that smile. Hate it. Looks like she's one of those sorts... cleverer than she seems, maybe. Nowhere near as clever as she thinks she is, definitely. Eh, well, I'll get back to prodding her later. She sighed, but decided not to dwell on it, instead turning to Anne. "A shame," she said, "that you were cursed so.. But," she tilted her head, "as you can see, some of us understand: beauty is more than the merely physical."

edited 9th Jun '13 9:29:15 PM by KillerClowns

[Wine Cellar]

"Oh, where to start?" Claire shook her head. "I will say that we have a great deal in common, more than anyone here likely knows, and I don't just mean our appreciation of mathematics... And I can tell you that my career actually involved a great deal less actual research than one might guess, at least in terms of AI..." She paused, seeming to take a moment to consider. "But I think that's all I'll say for now."

[Outside]

Tamara was still a little confused about the whole 'duelling' thing. Her mother had always scolded her whenever she'd hit things with a stick, never mind people. Nevertheless, Bianca was inviting her to try, so she figured she might as well oblige. With some considerable uncertainty, she halfheartedly swung her stick at Bianca's side.

Outside

"I always assumed that no one else saw me like this, but after the curse took hold, I was more focused on getting to a secluded place before someone saw me and decided to cut my head off or something," Anne replied, "but now that I think about it, I wouldn't be surprised if someone else saw me like this before the dwarfs did. The dwarfs were definitely the first people who viewed me like this for more than a few seconds, though." She grimaced again. "This is starting to go into 'painful to recount' territory, so I think I'd like to leave it at that."

Then Aseyu, who Anne thought was talking to Bianca, suddenly decided that she was worth talking to. It was true that the two of them had never spoken outside of their initial meeting, and Anne didn't really have much to go on her outside of what Samira told her a while back, but something about what she said just reinforced Samira's earlier words. For now, Anne just shoved her suspicions to the side and shrugged.

"Well, okay then," she said, before promptly returning her attention to Mai.

[Wine Cellar]

Kokabiel laughed again, a metallic chuckle. <So, possible similarities between you and myself. A penchant for sarcasm when dealing with stupidity? Improbable, and too minor for you to note. An age measured in geological epochs? Quite possible, though not what I'd wager on. An undesired connection to an unspeakable being from beyond time and space? Extremely unlikely. Synthetic origin?> A holographic perch manifested, and Kokabiel flew up to perch on it so it could look Claire directly in the eyes without looking ridiculous. <Hmm...>

[Outside]

Aseyu made a show of feigning wounded pride. "'Well okay then.' Really? I realize I'm no poet, but 'well okay then?'" She sighed. "My dear lady, your callous dismissal wounds me."

Samira just sighed and rolled her eyes. She'd interfere if Aseyu grew too tiresome.

[Outside]

"Errrnnnggg..." mumbled Xavier as he chewed on a lip, thinking. "...no, I don't think so. I might've run into him... it... before, but I can't really remember if I did. It's probably best for you to just assume I haven't."

"Oh, sorry," said Mai. "Didn't know. So, um... Are the dwarfs good companionship? Well, more specifically, I mean, there's a difference between living with them because no one else would take you in, and living with them because they're actually good company. Although..." She frowned. "I'm kind of guessing it started as the first in a way and evolved into the second."

She did her best to ignore Aseyu.

edited 9th Jun '13 7:55:24 PM by TeraChimera

Outside

Anne simply rolled her eyes in response to Aseyu. She'd met people like this before; the sorts who liked to over-dramatize everything. From her experience, the best way to deal with them was simply not to give them the attention they sought.

To Mai, she said, "They're pleasant people, yes. You'd be about right in assuming that our relationship went in that kinda pattern - what pretty much happened was that they found me out in their garden, and decided to house me out of sympathy. As it turned out, there was plenty to do around their home so I could earn my keep, and it kinda grew from there."

[North Guest Bedroom]

"May I suggest that you at least leave something on? There's no need to not wear something like a shirt," Andrew said with a joking tone in his voice.

[Dining Hall]

"I guess that makes sense," Jonathan said as he ate more food. Now he was thinking about getting a nice big steak. "Where we live, not a lot of mages have political power. People don't really like us, see."

[North Guest Bedroom]

Ozzy rolled his eyes while he finished and swallowed the last bit of the first steak sandwich, after which he said in a very dry tone, "I'll try to restrain myself, though you shouldn't have to worry; if there is a single thing you can count on me for, it's that I'm wearing at least three shirts at any given time." He began to stand up, then stopped and shrugged, saying in a faux sincere voice, "Still... they say that stripping naked and walking around can be quite the release. Then again, I don't know if they mention whether other people should present when you do it."

He gave Andrew an impish smile, then stood up and said, "Well, if you haven't got any objections, lets head back down there." he picked up the second sandwich and the still cool bottle of beer, "I've still got a beer and a sandwich left, but that can serve as my dinner... if Sven and Hilda still want to do dinner. Otherwise, I can just nibble here and there." He then grabbed the empty milk carton and sandwich wrap, then walked to the door that lead back to the balcony, stopping before exiting. Shifting his food and drink to one arm, he used the other to pull his mask, wrapping the cloth back over his muzzle, then he tugged his hood forward a bit, and turned to Andrew. "All right, are you ready?"

A few moments later, he said, "Oh, and Andrew? Thanks again. Thank you dearly." And with one last look of sincerity, Ozzy waited for the man so they could leave, and rejoin the two downstairs.

edited 10th Jun '13 12:10:23 AM by Ryuhza

[Outside]

Despite herself, Samira couldn't help but smirk at Aseyu's failure to gain traction, and the look of frustration on her face.

"Bleh," Aseyu said, "you guys are no fun."

Samira rolled her eyes, then turned to Xavier. "Kokabiel is our family's guardian... well, guardian demon, sort of. My husband's ancestor freed it, and now it protects us." Then she frowned. "Thing is, it has a deadly definition of 'protect'. If I did humanitarian work... well, it'd probably spend its time looking for people it thought deserved to die. And killing them. Horribly. I'd soon have a cursed reputation with that creature's twisted sense of justice following me around."

[Dining Room]

Esa shrugged and said, "well, without mages my people would still be enslaved by the Elasane. They didn't have mages of their own, see, tended to torture them to death under accusations of trafficking with eldritch spirits and such." She shook her head. "I don't suppose it's quite as bad as that in your world, but there's something about magic that seems to bring out the worse in a certain kind of jealous spirit."

[Dining Room —> Outside]

Koyel put in, "I'm full. Pleasure seeing you well, Mama Esa, but I'm figuring some fresh air would do me good. You coming?"

"No, no," Esa said, "I might join you later, but for now, I think I'm quite happy talking with this young woman and stealing her food."

"Have it your way," Koyel said. With that, he headed out, spying the camprfire and inviting himself to sit with the group. His eyes immediately fell on Aseyu, whom he offered a sharp bow with his right fist at his chest. "Fancy meeting yet another Uelane here! Koyel ul'Netho, Third Desert Guard, at your service."

Samira held her breath as Aseyu returned the bow in the same manner. But whatever she thought of the man and his Magocracy uniform, she hid it well enough. "Likewise," Aseyu said. "I think we're outnumbered by talking reptiles in this world between worlds." Then, to Xavier and Mai, "no offense meant." Back to Koyel. "Aseyu ul'Valmoth Orniya."

Koyel's eyes widened at the last word, and he seemed somewhat humbled. "Out here? Spirits, an unexpected honor. Mind my Mama Esa inside, though, she might not see you the same way."

edited 10th Jun '13 4:56:19 AM by KillerClowns

[Outside]

"Handy," said Mai, nodding. "You've got somewhere where people accept you and you're not restricted or anything. Been living with them long?" Almost as soon as Mai said that, she realized that it might be a bit personal, but let it go. Anne seemed fairly secure with herself and would tell her if the topic was getting uncomfortable.

Still ignoring Aseyu.

"Ah," said Xavier. "Yeah, I can see how that would be a bad idea. Kind of hard to do humanitarian work if people around you, especially those who oppose you, start dying mysteriously. One way or another." He flared his wings for a moment.

He reached behind him, picked up the still-burning torch, and stuck it in the ground in front of him. "Still," he said, holding his hands out to the fire, "that's only if you want to leave a mark on the world. I don't know about you, but I'm boring and not that ambitious. I'm fine with staying in Michigan and teaching archaeology."

[Wine Cellar]

"Well," Said Claire, looking away. "More in common than I think anyone here suspects, but perhaps slightly less than I had implied..." Then she met Kokabiel's eyes with her own. Hers were clear, brown and unremarkable. In fact, they were an exceptionally typical pair of eyes for a human female of her apparent demographic, though Kokabiel might not notice something so minor. "I said I wouldn't volunteer anything more, at least for now." Continued Claire, calm as ever. "But you are, of course, free to guess." She smiled.

Outside

"I...kinda lost track of the time between now and when I first moved in with them," Anne replied, "Not much happens out on the woods, at least in the time I've been there. If I had to guess, I'd say...probably somewhere around a year?" She looked up briefly, face contorted with thought. Yeah, that sounded about right.

[Wine Cellar]

Kokabiel tilted its head, studying Claire. But it didn't notice Claire as being unusually ordinary — it had enough trouble telling humans apart as it was. Then it said, <if you do not wish to tell me, I shall not waste our time with guessing games. Any other matters you wish to discuss?>

[Outside]

Samira warily glanced at Koyel again. She didn't like uniforms in general, and Magocracy uniforms were naturally a special bane. He seemed more like a deluded but well-meaning fool than a threat, but she still was visibly uncomfortable as she unconsciously scooted away from him, and closer to Xavier's massive shadow. Then she said, "teaching leaves a mark of its own on the world. Maybe I won't educate the next great hero of peace, but I can certainly try."

Koyel, meanwhile, took some time to examine the non-Uelane. He recognized Xavier, and nodded politely at him. Mai was new, and he wondered what she was, but let her be. He paid the one-armed woman and the girl little heed for now. And then he spotted Anne. His eyes widened. He stepped back instinctively and nervously asked, "what in Amu's name happened to you?!"

Aseyu shook her head and said, "don't worry, just a little trouble with rogue magic. She's not contagious or anything. And quite a pleasant young woman as well. I'm hoping to get to know her better." She gave Anne a small smile.

[Outside]

Bianca easily blocked Tamara's stick with her own. "You'll have to try harder than that. Pretend I'm a big scary monster. Put some feeling into it."

[Outside]

"Ah," said Mai. "You've been like this a wh-"

Then she flinched at Koyel's sudden outburst. She slowly turned to face him not quite glaring; okay, Anne was a sight, but did he really need to blurt that out like that? Just as Mai was about to say a few choice words to him, Aseyu stepped in. Just as well, probably.

Mai softened her gaze, said casually, "What she said," and gestured towards Aseyu.

"I suppose," Xavier said to Samira. "Archaeology is hardly something that'll change the world, but it's something."

He gave a nod to Koyel as the latter left the mansion, then the tip of his tail twitched in surprise as Samira scooted a bit closer to him. He glanced at her, then back to Koyel. Maybe... "Um, you want to go inside?" Xavier asked, nodding towards the door to the mansion. "It's kind of cold out here for me-" Didn't I say that downstairs in the garden? "-although I'd be okay if you wanted to stay out here."

Outside

By now, Anne had gotten enough reactions to her appearance that all Koyel's did was make her sigh. She turned to him and was about to explain when Aseyu helpfully explained for her.

"'Rogue magic' is an interesting way of putting it," she said, "But I don't think that's the most apt way to say 'cursed.' Anyway...I'm not dead, I'm not contagious, and I'm used to getting reactions like that."

She then turned back to Mai. "The curse took effect about a day before I met the dwarfs, so that's about right."

[Outside]

Samira glanced between Koyel, Aseyu, and Bianca, then shook her head. "No," she said, "I think it's best if I stay out here." She wasn't really worried about Aseyu and Koyel. They were both Uelane, and she suspected — hoped — Koyel's only sin was believing propaganda. It didn't help her gut reaction, but it was enough she'd be willing to sit outside with him.

But he clearly held Aseyu's profession as a courtesan in high regard, and if the conversation slipped that way, best she was around to prevent any incidents. If Bianca tried to pretend she wasn't appalled by Aseyu's profession, it was clear Aseyu was perfectly able to see right through Bianca, and Samira worried Aseyu would go straight for the throat with barbed tongue. Koyel might take Bianca at face value, but if Bianca played too much the proper lady, she'd only inspire suspicion. Or perhaps Samira could just...

Aseyu turned to Anne. "Mind if I have a seat beside you?" she asked, politely, a subtle grin playing at the edge of her face.

...nope. Aseyu would be staying for a while, Samira reckoned.

Koyel turned to Anne, offered a Uelane salute and a bow, and said, "ah, sorry I, uh... I mean, I've seen my Mama Layi come in bloodied on account of boars, raptors, beasties like that. So I shouldn't be flinching like that. Was rude of me. Sorry."

Samira finally turned to Xavier. "And I wouldn't say archaelogy wouldn't change the world. It's helped tell a lot of stories that would otherwise be forgotten... or would have remained buried." Then, with a wry smile, she added, "then again, history teacher speaking. I might be prejudiced in your favor."

edited 14th Jun '13 6:02:38 AM by KillerClowns

[Outside]

"Yeah," said Mai to Anne. "I kind of thought you met up with them pretty quickly."

She'll probably want to talk to either Aseyu or... that other guy, thought Mai, so she slid to one side a little to give them some more room. She eyed Koyel carefully, although it was free of any hostility; his apology seemed sincere enough, and now that she thought about it, she was kind of surprised she hadn't done anything similar when she first saw Anne. Maybe interuniversality or whatever was wearing off on her.

"Yeah, probably," said Xavier, grinning a little. "And I guess archaeology might be more important to chimeras — my species — than to humans. A long time ago, as in about fifteen millennia, we nearly destroyed ourselves in kind of the magical equivalent of a nuclear holocaust. Set culture and knowledge back who knows how long. We still haven't completely recovered."

He moved a bit closer to the fire. "How much still remains from that period, and the condition it's in, varies. I've dug up a few cities where the foundations were all that was left, and encountered weapons as deadly as the day they were made. It's usually pretty rare, but pretty much anything from then is useful in some way. So..." He briefly flared his wings. "That's something, I guess."

[Outside]

"Oh, um... Oh." Said Tamara, still quite uncertain about this whole 'duelling' thing. Still, she decided to give it a chance and follow Bianca's advice. She took a deep breath, raised the stick over and behind her head, and swung a vertical slash with as much force as she could muster. Which, in the grand scheme of things, this was not actually a lot of force, considering her youth and short stature. But it was a lot for her. "HII-YAHH!" She exclaimed, shutting her eyes tightly as she went through with the swing.

[Wine Cellar]

"Very well." Said Claire, sounding neither particularly relieved nor disappointed. "I believe we've covered the topics I had in mind... Although, I believe you did mention a certain unscrupulous organization, a moment ago."

edited 14th Jun '13 4:27:33 PM by Blackfire667

[Wine Cellar]

Kokabiel nodded. <Western Amalgamated Agricultural. If you find yourself in many of these transdimensional places, you'll encounter one of their lackeys soon enough. Not especially evil — only one of their employees has ever skinned someone alive and made a top hat from their flesh, and the victim had done worse to a number of children.> It paused here, curious to see if this would merit a reaction.

[Outside]

Samira considered. "Maybe this is a terrible metaphor," she said, "but for you, archaelogy is like... if we'd lost, say, the knowledge of nuclear power, but there was a chance we might find them in some old ruin. Something like that?" She sighed. "So much is lost in senseless wars. Can you imagine how the world might have been if the Great Library of Alexandria had never been burned? And I'm sure that's nothing compared to this armageddon your people suffered."

For the time being, Aseyu had nothing to say, still waiting on Anne, and Koyel just watched Bianca and Tamara spar.

Outside

Well, apparently Anne's response to her earlier comment didn't deter Aseyu. Anne wasn't so sure what to think of being the woman's current object of interest, especially considering that she still had no reason to doubt Samira's earlier description.

She just shrugged again. "If you want," she replied. Then she gave Mai a questioning sort of glance.

[Mansion]

Aseyu took a seat beside Anne and then, seeming to note something in her expression, said, "so, Samira talk much about me?" She glanced at Samira, and added, "I hope you haven't been telling tales about little old me."

Samira gave no reply.

[Outside]

Xavier frowned and cocked his head. "Actually," he said, "that's not a bad analogy. A good chunk of it's complicated, powerful, valuable stuff that's incredibly dangerous if mishandled, has a lot of potential applications, and there are nutcases who want to use the stuff for its destructive capabilities, and not just directly as a weapon." He tapped the scales under his eyepatch. "Long story short, lost this to a doomsday cultist."

He pulled his wings a bit tighter to himself. "Records from that time are rare, but from what we can gather, it was like... not just the destruction of the Library, but combined with the fall of the Roman Empire and the Black Death. Then human civilization became more prevalent, and xenophobia threw sakoku into the mix." Xavier snorted. "The problems you can solve by sucking in your gut and simply talking things out..."

"You don't need any stories told about you," said Mai to Aseyu. "You're pretty much self-explanatory." ...Wait, what if she takes that as a compliment in some way? Crap. Well, too late now.

Mai noticed Anne's look, turned to her, paused for a moment, then said, "...I thought they might want to talk to you." Mai waved a hand toward Aseyu and Koyel. "So I gave them some room. Or are you thinking of something else?"