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 Posted: Tue Nov 16, 2010 11:46 pm
Her lips widened into a smile as she heard his chuckle, freeing herself completely from the fedora. This man was interesting to her, and she was actually quite content as she started pulling on the string, undoing the knot from her neck. He was different than the big people who had taken her from her home, both in appearence and in attitude. He also had a really big house she couldnt wait to explore. Her own attention turned to Apep as he slithred out. At first she started to tke a step back, but at Matasoga's words she stopped and instead walked forward, reaching out to pet the snake, which was big in her book. "Are there more like him here? Hey! He feels kinda like you!" She told him with suprise, flying up and reaching to touch his face.
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Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 12:04 am
"I don't think so," he said. "New faces come and go, but we're the only two members of what is loosely termed 'scaleykind.'"
It usually applied more to reptiles and reptilian humanoids, but it sometimes extended to dragons and dragon-blooded creatures, as well.
"Would you like that tour now?" he asked once more.
Meanwhile, Sergius had made his way across the great hall and taken the elevator to the third floor, where the bedrooms and personal quarters were located. He held the package that he had, by now, walked to the door of the servants quarters, ready to present it to Akima as he had been instructed. He knocked on the door and waited for a reply.
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Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 12:14 am
As he spoke she took the twine he had wrapped her new things in and tied one of his fingers with it. At the mention of the tour again she stood and holding the opposite end of the twine, flew up till she sat on his fedora.
"Lets go!" She pointed towards the staircase.
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Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 12:24 am
[[Sorry I'm behind. I'd have posted sooner, but school you know. Anyway, I hope I play Sergius right.]]  [[Akima]] Akima frowned down at the bed, her skin casting a pale tint to the blankets. They were rumpled, askew, and not nearly as straight as she intended them to be. With a shrug, she supposed that the bed was now marked as hers. She was just cautiously exiting the room and turned when Sergius stood before her. She blinked, the light still sensitive on her eyes that were temporarily damaged. She greets him as cautiously as she had exited the room. "Hello Sergius." She glances at the object in his hand, and if she hadn't been exploring his intentions with her mind, she would've already known that it was for her justr by his basic demeanor. "Akima." He acknoledges her, handing her the scroll. Akima accepts it, and watches him make his exit. She frowns, beginning on opening it quietly, her eyes adjusting well now. Her skin however, remained slightly red and sensitive to the touch, irritating Akima enough to consider taking off the ridiculous clothing causing the issue. She still didn't see the point of clothing. It still got in the way, and it still seemed to slow her down when she ran through the grounds at night, but every other being on Earth wore them, so she tolerated it. With a quick thought, she wondered if she could get away with wearing that soft sheet that was on her bed. She looked up to ask Sergius about this, but he was gone, and Akima didn't bother to follow him. Now she focuses on the parcel that was clearly from Matasoga.
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Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 12:51 am
He smiled again, and walked towards the door that lead to the staircase and elevator. He pressed the button and the elevator arrived quickly, as there were only three floors.
((The following is reposted from page 16))
Matasoga quietly listened to her quiet song, but in no time they reached the third floor. Each room, floor to ceiling, was about 15 feet high, though still there weren't so many for the elevator to travel and it was quite quick.
"Down that hallway," Matasoga began, pointing back "Is the servant's quarters. The servant's quarters can be found here on all three floors. None of those places are for the slaves
"All of the rooms on this floor are sleeping quarters. This room," he said, gesturing in the opposite direction of the servant's quarters, "is known as the barracks, though it's unlikely to look like anything that anyone would associate with the term."
He opened a door to a typical Victorian-looking room, except the only furniture was fainting couches with a satin sheet on each, a few end tables with a very dim lamp on each.
"Some of the Disciples are very busy," Matasoga explained. "I seek to accommodate them. Here those members that have less time to contribute leisurely can simply stop in, contribute what they like, for as long as they like, and stop here to take a nap to stay fresh and alert before returning to their business."
He closed the door and lead her onward, speaking as he walked.
"Each of the eleven Apostles has a room here and there is a twelfth ready for when another one earns his or her position among them."
He decided not to explain the ranking system just then, but he decided that she would be helped by knowing what the term "Apostle" meant, as it applied here. "The Apostles, in short, are those who have done the most for myself and the guild in order to help it succeed. The rooms that they have been given here are not only my way of saying thanks, but also something that makes it easier for them to make extended stays here, thus making it more convenient for them to offer further contributions."
He lead her easily through the five-foot wide winding hallways, before coming to another door.
"That leads to my private quarters. You needn't worry about it, as no one enters there except one or two trusted valet or attendant. I've..." he began with only a measured hint of hesitation "Suffered a series of personal and public betrayals. The traitors have, of course, been dealt with, but I find that discretion and caution is often the most wise course of action."
He turned on his heel, then and lead her to their final stop on this floor, this time opening the door and leading her in. "These will be your quarters. The rooms are divided and your area is all your own. The other two slaves have their own sections."
"Have you any questions?" he asked.
((I was planning on playing Sergius, but it's alright. That's more or less how he would have acted, and it's really not important.))
The package Akima opened contained a large black umbrella, a whetstone, and a letter. The letter was from Matasoga, the letters in his usual measured script.
"Akima," it read.
"This is an umbrella that should protect you from the sun, as it looked like you very quickly developed a rather severe burn while you were out, though you out for a short time. If I was correct and the sun was the cause, this should allow you to move about more freely.
"It is not only an umbrella, however. The trigger releases the shaft which conceals a rapier blade. It is only sharp at the tip, and perhaps a less than ideal weapon, but it should sharpen well and hold a killing edge, which is what the stone is for.
"This may be no substitute for your own blades, which you and I can talk about retrieving them after I have gotten the new slave oriented with her new home. Even after you get your old blades back, this can acceptably be carried in many more places, if you are discreet about it.
"Your master,
"-Matasoga"
There was less grandiosity in his signature than usual, though she'd not realize it having never seen it before.
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Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 1:09 am
[[Awe! The Avi faery is damn adorable! Heh anyway, she can't read the languages here on Earth. Just to speak, she probes minds for the right words. This is only a heads up for my post. No worries and no need to take note.]] [[Akima]] Akima frowns at the objects, and looks towards the note. She recognized a few words that she had seen imagined in the minds of people that came into her curious range, but the actual communication was lost to her. She assumes that it is meant to be a picture drawn for her, but she didn't understand the scribble type technique. Looking towards the other objects, Akima sits down and begins to fiddle with them. The large black cylindrical object was first under her examination, and as she did so, it opened up suddenly enough to take her off guard. She jumps slightly, eyes wide, but she didn't drop it, because it didn't seem to cause any harm to her. In fact, the gust of air that it blew into her face felt nice against her sensitive skin. Holding it above her by the stem, Akima reaches up inside of it to touch the metal buttresses and the material that spread out in a dome over her head. Akima sets it down, open, beside her and picks up the stone. She doesn't immediately recognize the stone, and it was cool against her fingertips. A moment of though, and Akima was up on her feet. She held the note in one hand, the umbrella in the other, and dropped the whetstone within the cradle of the umbrella. She found Matasoga and the foreign presence actually only a turn of the hallway away and made her way to them, swinging the umbrella and enjoying herself as she watched the whetstone bounce around.
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Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 1:29 am
((Isn't she just? I love her.))
He held up a finger to hold Leiko's questions.
"Ah, hello, Akima," he said. "I see that you got my package."
She saw how she was using the objects so he said, "You... Saw the letter, right?"
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Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 2:02 am
[[Akima]] Akima doesn't answer him at first, her mind touched the small girl's mind in a careful look through of who she was, and related information that Akima was quite accustomed in taking the liberty to do. The girl may have felt a soft, almost feathery touch inside of her head, and probably experience typical light-headedness. Her black eye flicker to matasoga, contemplation in her thoughtful expression. Akima responds carefully, the note in her left hand, which she brings into view. "This? Well, I'm not sure what to make of it. It's a very interesting piece." She says. Matasoga asked about it, so he must've been the one who drew it for her right? She remains tentative with her response, hoping that her taste in art wouldn't hurt his feelings. "It's a bit too systematic I suppose."
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Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 2:25 am
((I'd like to give Necro a chance to respond, before we continue.))
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Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 2:44 am
[[I expected as much, and agree. =] ]]
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Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 8:16 am
((My apologies for not responding more quickly))
He could almost feel her excitment, it was that strong. The twine she had wrapped on his finger somehow managed to stay in her hand, though multiple times she almost let it go to zip off and explore.
"Disciples? They're your friends right? And why do you have a servant quaters if you only have one servant?" She asked, only remembering seeing that one man.
Leiko frowned as she felt something weird, which she quickly connected to the new one who had appeared. She flew off of Matasoga's hat, to the end of the strings length so she could look at the writing too. Looking up at the girl she spoke.
"You cant read either? But you can do something weird with peoples heads. What was that you did? Matasoga, did you find her like you did me? whats your name?"
Leiko kept flying between the two, unsure which had her attention more.
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Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 9:35 am
Leiko kept flying between the two, unsure which had her attention more.
Matasoga felt deeply bemused by both of his slaves. It was with a slight smile on his lips that he spun his finger in tiny circles, thus shortening the string and reeling little Leiko in like a fish.
"You know," he said when she was close. "Your playfulness is pretty infectious. It's awfully hard to be sad when your around."
He mussed her hair softly with a single finger and allowed the smile to part his lips, slightly.
He liked nearly everything about this enchanting little creature. Her playfulness, the way that she seemed to like being tied to him, the wonder with which she encountered everything... With his mood of late, he would have really expected that these things would wear him out, even though he normally liked them. Somehow, though, something about her made it so that it never wore out its charm.
"The Disciples are almost always friends of mine," he said. "There have been some that just come to roleplay, but I think that was only one person.
"I have far more than one servant. In fact there is at least one servant's quarters room that sleeps six servants on every floor. I need many cooks, valets, butlers, maids, manservants, clerks, and other servants to keep this place running smoothly," he said. The truth was that he could probably do quite well without the slaves, though he liked the master and slave dynamic and the slaves available in the market place were always so much more fascinating and exotic than his servants and followers, which were largely human. Besides that, he treated them kindly, kept them in the very lap of luxury, and gave them little work to do. In a sense, his purchasing them was almost a humanitarian mission, as they lived far better than many of those who were free.
"Most of them work for little to no money and some are actually quite good and experienced," which was true. Some of them could easily be passable adventurers in their own right, if they wanted to, though many of them seemed to find a certain charisma, to Matsoga, as well as admiration for his personal power and wealth that were drawn to him to follow, apart from his Disciples.
"Yes, Leiko, I found her in the marketplace, just like you. I think that I shall teach you both to read, forthwith," he said. It was unconscionable to him that any adult should be illiterate and indeed the vast majority of the pleasures available in his estate were the sole province of the literate.
"In the meantime," he said to Akima, who seemed to have missed the purpose of his gifts, "This is to act as a shade from the sun, which I believe may have harmed you. It can keep the rain off of you as well, but it's purpose it to be held by this part" he said, indicating the handle "and you stay in the mobile shadow that it creates."
"Your burn was caused by the sun, was it not? It looks a bit like what happens to humans that were over exposed, except that it happened to you at a much accelerated rate," he said, explaining his reasoning.
"Furthermore," he said "the umbrella serves an additional function."
He pressed the trigger and the shaft ejected, revealing a long, rapier blade.
"If you haven't learned the elegant and aristocratic combat known as fencing, or rather you are more proficient with edged blades rather than tipped then you can uses the stone and run it over the flat side of that sword in order to form a point," he explained.
"Speaking of weapons, I want to speak with you, when my tour is concluded about the blades that you had before being enslaved. I'll meet you in your quarters then, if you like," he said.
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Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 8:57 pm
[[Akima]] Akima raised an eyebrow towards the small creature and her questions. She didn't respond to her, unsure of whether to swat her away, or merely answer her questions. Matasoga responded before Akima, and she looked towards him, her expression reflecting her curiousity to Matasoga's unusual display of affection. As Matasoga engrossed in being mushy, Akima's eyes flickered away in order to suppress a comical response that she would have said to one of her brothers in a similar situation. As he spoke tuned out his description about the servants, having already been there and done that on her own, until he spoke of teaching them to read. Her mind focuses on her eyes, which were attentive on the two. She nods acknowledgement as he began to speak directly to her, and while he continued, she looked down at the items he was currently explaining to her. Akima became engrossed in the- as Matasoga had said- elegance of the blade he had just popped from the umbrella stem, and a flicker of serious interest flickered through her basic expression of common interest. This weapon was foreign to her, and her curiousity to figure out it's strengths and weaknesses became intense. Akima looks back up when he mentions her own hidden blades, which were far superior than the ones she had taken from one of the shops on her way back from the cages. "You know where they are?" She reproaches. Her demeanor may have been hopeful if she didn't already have a pessimistic view that some inexperienced fool had them now on some sort of display case. She bitterly had the image of this fool bragging about how fine and dangerous they were, and his fool friends gushing over them, in hypocritical, uptight speech that her mother often attempted to instill in her. Her mother changed the description, but the meaning remained the same in Akima's opinion.
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Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2010 5:33 am
She squeaked as he shortened the twine's length until finally she left it go and sat on the twine covered hand. Sticknig out her tongue at him she tied the other end in a tiny knot, on he could easily cut through but couldnt easily undo.
Sitting from her spot she looked up at him in suprise. "You will? How fun!" She cried and giggled, watching the two play with the big blade Matasoga had gotten earlier.
She turned a bright red as her stomach growled, a little too audible for her liking. "Umm..Mister Matasoga...can we tour the kitchen?" She asked, voice embarassed.
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Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2010 5:49 am
To Akima, Matasoga replied in a more strongly reproachful "No," as he was most unwilling to be spoken to in such a way by one of his slaves.
He stopped then, however, before making further attempt to cow her. Could it be that she was jealous of the affection that he was showing to Leiko? It seemed unlikely, but then again she was exceptionally difficult to read. Perhaps he should take better care.
His voice softened, but remained firm. "But if you keep control of your tone and patience then I may see fit to locate them," he said, evenly.
With his middle finger, he pushed the little coil of twine from his index finger, so that little Leiko could flit about freely, again.
He turned back to her and said, "Of course, dear."
He turned back towards the elevator, his hand still palm up so that she could be seated comfortably on it, if she liked. "What is your favorite food?" he asked, wondering if it was indeed cherries.
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