Welcome to Gaia! ::

MAtasoga watched Leiko work and then take full size. He continued watching as she returned to the desk. He knew that he'd have to look, as well. He finished off the contents of the chalice and resigned himself to the pain of remembering that which was no more.
He took a seat close at her side and watched as she thumbed through the pages of pictures. He only barely stopped himself from gasping when he saw her picture, slipping his hand wordlessly into hers, without thinking. He seemed almost to not even notice that he had done it, as he took another deep drink.
Leiko would see nothing that held such impact for her. The pages were full of people with smiling faces, interrupted only by Matasoga striking a pose and modeling his holiday outfit, but it was so often followed by a photo of someone else grabbing his coattails or doing something similarly good natured and silly. Matasoga always appeared to be laughing in these pictures, taking it in stride and enjoying it just as much as the prankster.
Most everyone was in costume and the pictures were exclusively in the guild-yard or the guild house and most of the people in them were wearing most seasonable outfits. Windows with snow on the ground or frost on the window often featured people in red, white and (more rarely green) and times when leaves were on the ground, black and orange outfits abound. It was, after all, a holiday outfit.
Matasoga was often seen being affectionate with most of the girls in his pictures, but there was one with whom he seemed less withheld, never going so far as to kiss her (except in one picture under mistletoe) but his posture seemed easier, his smile broader, and though you couldn't see it so much, something about the images made you sure that the hugs were just a little tighter, a little warmer, and probably lasted just a bit longer.

Matasoga felt some modicum of comfort at the little arm that found its way across his back,though with all such soft and warm comforts came the empty pangs of recollection, for they are precisely the sort of things that she was always so wont to provide. Have I allowed her to ruin even affection, for me? he thought as a wave of angry frustration began, though it quickly fell away, melting once again into melancholy.
He allowed lovely little Leiko to lead him, stopping only at the tray, but not long. He picked up the chalice of mead and downed it, not even tasting it. He thought regretfully to himself this isn't how mead was meant to be enjoyed, as he replaced the chalice and allowed himself to be lead from the room.
Sergius was not far down the hall. He generally liked to be on the same floor as Matasoga, but never in the same room, unless he was called, thus granting Matasoga a level of convenience and privacy. This is why, among all of his followers, it was Sergius that was given the job of butler and valet.
As Matasoga approached him, allowing himself to be lead, he said to him, "See to the tray." Even had Sergius not been on the same floor he would know from Matasoga's tone, expression, or even his posture (which was normally almost rigid but was now worn and rather droopy) that he was in the Room of Recollection. He was, after all, a gifted butler. The tray would be in the sink, awaiting washing, in under five minutes.
Matasoga allowed the mead to kick in, insofar as so small an amount as two chalices would affect him. It did indeed take the edge off of his pain and allowed him to once again take the lead and guide the tour as he should have been. He immediately composed himself, pushing from his mind that which he had lost.
He gave Leiko a small smile. It was a curiously sad expression, still, but coupled with the reassuring little squeeze that he gave her hand, it said, rather clearly I'm alright now and, true enough, he was as alright as could be hoped for, all things considered.

((Reposted from the intro))
At the end of the hall is another door. It leads to the Archives. There is the sound of something dripping in a distant corner and the faintest sound of scratching probably coming from a vent. Only the faintest hint of mildew is detectable, with old, yellowing paper being significantly stronger. In the room, which is faintly illuminated in a pale, yellow light coming from a bare bulb in the center of the ceiling as candles and torches would create too much of a fire hazard. Dominating this room are many shelves filled with folders and a few cardboard boxes, all with a coat of dust on their surfaces. Inside are transcripts of many of the conversations that have occurred there, as well as records of various other guild matters.
A side door leads to a closet-like room containing shelves with other documents that are more pertinent, important, and likely to be needed.

Matasoga introduced the room as "The Archives," before saying "If you want you can have a look around, but you probably won't be spending much time around here.
Matasoga deliberately kept his eyes from a certain box. He was confident that she wouldn't find the trapdoor. He was quite sure that it wasn't safe down there and even if it were, it was one of the secrets of the house that no one really needed to know about, though he was fairly certain that Akima had found it and he had let Sergius in on it as well, for he was on a need-to-know basis.
"The only other room on this level is my wine cellar and it's not accessible by the stairs we came down. A trap door from the pantry is the only way to access it, and you don't need to go there, anyway," he said.
"Any questions?" he asked.

Matasoga nodded.
"Like I said, you probably won't need to be here very often, if at all," he said. "So don't worry about that."
He lead her back to the elevator. He had meant to start at the top and work their way down but plans had changed when she wanted to get some food, which eventually lead them down here. So they had explored all of the third floor and basement, and the main area of the first floor. He pressed the button for the second floor, deciding that they could work their way out from the elevator.
((I'd normally leave you a chance to post here, but I'm hoping to get through the tour a little faster, so rather than stop here or pause at each room, I'm just going to run through them more quickly and we'll do reactions when we conclude with this floor and then finish up on the ground floor.))
((Reposted from the first page.))


This floor is mostly a walkway along the walls that look down into the main discussion and sitting room. Situated above the kitchen, the pantry, and the art gallery are the Writing, Philosophy, and Role-playing rooms.

Above the kitchen is the roleplaying room. It is cozier than the other rooms, but hardly what anyone might call cramped. A small trapdoor in the corner opens up to lead to the kitchen, an addition eventually made due to popular demand.
It contains a set of several large, oak tables large enough to seat many. Around each table are many dark wooden chairs with red velvet cushions built into them. Book shelves line the walls, all of them filled with countless rule books (many dog-eared and well-loved) of various RPs. The only floorspace along the walls that don't house a bookcase house tables covered in colored dice pouches, character miniatures, folded grids, or stacks of notebooks, character sheets sticking partially out.

Above the pantry is the Writing Room. It is a little smaller than the Role-Playing Room.
This room is a bit more well-lit than most of the others. It contains several dusty type-writers but mostly for ambiance on relatively long tables. There are also outlets and ports that make it convenient to type on a laptop, provided by room's users.
A fairly narrow bookshelf against the wall contains both a few books on writing in general, a few books on finding a publisher, a few reference books, and some of the books considered to be the exemplars of each genre of the bottom shelf. The other shelf contains notebooks filled by the members, containing their stories, poems, and other written works.
There is a dry-erase board intended for brain-storming and long tables, with piles of notebooks on either end, with similar cushioned chairs much like the one found elsewhere in the building. Coasters on the table and food-wrappers in the trash can make it clear that food and drink are readily allowed in the room.

Above the Art Gallery is the Philosophy room. In fact, it shares space with the second floor of the art gallery. It provides a potentially much-needed rest area once one has finished touring it, though it was made for discussing philosophy, religion and other such matters.
This room is more simple and unadorned than most with the typical dark wooden walls. The floors are bare but a large, simple, darkly-colored rug rests on the floor beneath the sole table in the center of the room. Lighting is primarily built into the ceiling and notably more modern than in most of the other rooms. The simplistic design was likely intended to serve the utilitarian purpose for which they were intended and not distract at all from the conversations.
Overstuffed chairs and couches surround it. In the corner is a bookshelf containing a handful of philosophical books, mostly for reference purposes. A fireplace with a bare, brick mantle provides warmth in the winter and a small amount of additional light.

He lead her briskly through the rooms, each of which were balconies. Beyond this area were the servant's quarters, behind the elevator, the restrooms and the staircases, identical in layout to the first floor.

Leiko followed quickly after him, taking only quick glances around. She was more intent of following him than finding everything to be found in the rooms. Honestly the fairy perfered her smaller form, but she was waiting before she took her perferred form again.
Her free hand reached out and played with the loose twine still attached to him, wondering just how big this place was.

Leiko cheered up by the time they got back to the beginning. Deciding that now she was back in a familiar room she could change she did, gonig back to her tiny form so she could sit on his shoulder.
Swinging her heels, the force no more than a gentle tap on his coat she thought about what she had seen. "Well its fun for someplace notoutside. Theres no plants though.." She told him, her bottom lip coming out in a pout as she remembered he said there would be palnts to care for. She couldnt go outside to those! it was too cold for her!

She shuddered at the thought of the torch, she disliked fire with a passion. So the tohught of carrying one seemed very unpleasant.
Looking up at him she shook her head and frowned. "Can I stay with you? Ill help! I promise I wont get in the way...." She hugged his neck again, her body shifting in a way so her wing tips came up tobrush the front of his face.

She moved so she could look him in the face. "Really? i can go with you?" She asked him with huge eyes. She zipped around him in circles with appy giggles before settling in his lapel again.
"Yep! I love taking care of plants. Its what I do!" She told him, a proud tone in her voice.

A random thought popped into her head and she vocied it, mouthing out the word a few times before speaking to him. "Cravat. Why do you wear it? No one else does that Ive seen."