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Gracious Conversationalist
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 Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 6:28 pm
This is the PRP Contracting/ Essence Spark Pickup RP for Phantom of the Pyre
Location: Life Essentials shop
Weather: Pleasantly sunny spring day
Graficcha/EssentialShrimp will RP Miss Longway, Misha & Banning
Pyre will RP Elst
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Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 6:46 pm
[[For the original prompt response, go to the post labeled [8] Here. This is meant to be happening before anything else I have rp'd took place.]] Elst approached the nondescript storefront for the second time in as many days. He'd received another letter this morning, this time stating that his essentic was ready for pickup. It also requested that he should stop by at three that very afternoon. The hours seemed to drag by as he waited. After an hour-long session of sunbathing to calm his nerves, he'd finally arrived, three o' clock dead on. "Here we go..." He pushed open the door, entering the familiar store.
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Gracious Conversationalist
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Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 6:54 pm
Just as Elst entered, Misha slipped past him, yapping a little 'excuse me!' as he passed. A moment later the door to the Staff room banged close, and it was as if the Essentic had never appeared in the first place.
Only a moment later did the door open again, and miss Longway came peeking out into the hall, left to right, then she smiled languidly when she recognised Elst. "Why hello there, welcome back."
She stepped out into the narrow hallway, holding a steaming mug of coffee by its porcelain ear, and closed the door behind her carefully. "Follow me, sir."
She took him into the Lobby, where he'd dealt with Banning [[ oho oho, this is so out of protocol ]] last time. "If you wait here for a moment, I'll fetch master DeLonghy. He will see to it that your Contract gets sealed and that you receive your Spark." she let him know, excused herself, and took a dash up a flight of stairs in the corner of the lavish room, up to the upper floor where Banning's private office was located.
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Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 7:17 pm
Elst moved to the side, smiling, as the swift Essentic sped past him, thinking of how he would soon be the caretaker of such a thing. To him, though, thing wasn't the right word.
To think, I'll have another life in my hands shortly. All I've been responsible for before were my plants, and now there's this...
He saw Longway approach.
"Oh, hello Miss Longway, good to be here again, I must say."
He nodded quickly to her proposal, and followed her into the lobby, watching her exit to find Banning. He stood silently, emerged in thought.
I certainly hope I can get this right, this is far more important than some flower I raise or anything like that... I can't believe this is actually happening, though, it's almost unreal...
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Gracious Conversationalist
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Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 7:35 pm
Soon enough Longway came downstairs again, gave Elst an encouraging wink -why, she quite liked the guy- and snuck away into the Staff room. Only a few paces behind her, Banning followed suit, a much more dignified presence here, like some sort of god descending from his heavenly throne to deal with the mortals.
"Sit down, dear Elst." he suddenly smiled, rather slyly, and motioned at the sitting corner around their low onyx table. With him he carried a stack of old-looking documents, which he laid out on it once the other man had taken his seat.
"You are mere minutes away from receiving a fully viable Essentic from us, functional into the finest details. I assume you know what you wish it to be by now? Its Purpose I mean?" he asked him, in a slightly too friendly manner that hid a chill beneath his amiable expression. In the meantime he had sat down a well, on the other side of the table, and had started to fuss with his documents calmly.
"Sign this, if you please." sliding over an ornate pen and one of the slips of paper, a Contract, Banning eyed him like a hawk. You better not try to turn back now if you know what's good for you. The Contract itself was of no legal power, but it wa sa token, and to Banning, a very meaningful one. More of an omerta vow than a receipt you get upon purchasing a new washing machine, really.
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Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 7:50 pm
Elst smiled back at Longway as she brought Banning in. The man, he had to admit, bore a powerful presence. He sat down across from him at the table.
It's really happening...
"Oh, yes, its purpose. Well, I run a Nursery, you see, and I seek both an assistant and a companion. I ended up deciding that some proficiency in magic would be quite nice as well, which is why I made the choice I made. All I would really require magic-wise is that it can tend to the plants in exemplary fashion. Water casting, enhancing the growth of foliage, that sort of scope. And a contract? Alright, let me read it, here..."
He picked up the pen, scanning through the lines upon the document, and upon deciding that all boded well, placed upon it his signature.
"I was quite overjoyed when I first discovered the letter, as you likely could have seen from how I'd acted when we first met. It was as if a prayer had been answered, almost, as this provides me with precisely what I'd been waiting for. Oh, pardon me, I'm rambling. If you wish a quicker statement of purpose, all that needs to be said is 'Floramancer'."
He placed the pen back upon the table, and slid the Contract back towards the omnipotent-appearing man across from him.
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Gracious Conversationalist
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Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 8:24 pm
Ah, plapper plapper, yes, he got it. Of course Banning knew his circumstances, he's selected the man himself.
Obviously it'd take some time before people would start to remember how Infusion worked, the procedure that gave the Essentic its purpose. Not that it was very complicated... At least signing the Contract had gone without a hitch.
Banning took the paper back, checked it over briefly, then with great care rolled it up, and sealed it wth a little ribbon-latch that was pre-fixed on the back of it.
"This will do." That was all he said for now, and he stood up, with a few hefty paces strode towards the back of the room and took yet another exit, an insuspicious-looking brown door against the beige black-lined walls.
Less than five minutes later, he returned, the document safely stired somewhere in that back room, and out he brought a little box.
The size of two hands, soberly decorated but polished to an alluring black sheen, it was. The noble sat down again, placed the box on the table, and clicked the lid open. He the turned it into Elst's direction, and shoved it towards him a notch.
On a polster of velvet, the Spark softly reverbed. A deep-vivid green stone emitting a strange warmth, and that wispy purple... ectoplasm almost issueing forth from its core in vague tendrils.
"A Magicker Spark of the purest Essence. It is yours now, Elst. Now it is up to you to imbue it with Purpose. Pick it up, hold it in your hand. And WANT it to be. Want it to become what you wish of it. Expect it, think it, it will know, it will register. It will acknowledge none other than you as its Owner, and no other Purpose as its life task."
Banning intructed him with carefully pronounced words, leaving no room for misinterpretation. Hold it in your hand, and WILL it to become a Floramancer. No matter what you call it, it will be what Elst wished it to be.
He would know when the Spark had accepted him as its Master, it was a rather uncanny feeling, hard to describe, but equally hard to miss.
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Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2009 7:06 pm
Elst watched as the man left with the scroll, and his eyes fixated on the box as he returned. Upon the box's opening his pupils dilated just ever so slightly, and he strained to hold his breath from quickening.
"Oh, a-alright. It looks so ethereal..."
Doing as he was instructed, he held the rather odd-looking stone. The instant it was cradled in his palm, he felt a faint connection, pouring his will into the stone as best he could. He envisioned all he had in planning for the Essentic, imagining the entire Nursery, the plants, the bees…everything. He shuddered slightly as an unimaginably bizarre sensation echoed though him. He could’ve sworn he’d a slight fleck of green in the smoky hues of purple that were currently flowing onto his palm as well, but for only a fleeting moment. He was at a rather large loss for words as his mind raced with a storm of ideas and thoughts about the Essentic.
“…the purpose is there… But I, um, wanted to show my thanks, if you don’t mind, I brought something…”
His other hand not leaving the Essentic for even one moment, his right moved towards his overcoat. From one of its deep pockets, he withdrew a terracotta pot, covered with a protective plastic dome. He removed the dome to reveal a single, fragile-looking flower, royal violet in color that appeared to be an orchid.
Uh, here, it’s a very rare breed of orchid that I grow; I don’t believe it has any specific common name… A token of thanks, if you will.”
He moved his hand closer to the desk, and outstretched it slightly so Banning could take the pot if he wished.
Thank you… So much for this, I still have trouble believing that I now am the owner of an Essentic…”
He grew quiet as his gaze was once more drawn by the stone in his left hand.
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Gracious Conversationalist
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Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2009 7:39 pm
Banning was quite amused by the man's wonder. Yes, they were quite a sight, these 'pretty rocks'... That faint proof of at least that much positive feelings faded away rather quickly though.
With a hard gaze, like a gold lance, he observed the half-plant imbue the Spark with its purpose. What was going through the noble's head was anyone's guess, and asking him head-on would most certainly yield no result. Only perhaps the lasting label of 'meddling fool', but nothing informative.
At least the procedure didn't take long, and by the time Elst had unveiled his gift, Banning had already slipped back into a more mellow mood.
Well, this was most unexpected. With the eye of a casual coinesseur, he was able to make a rough estimate of the rarity and herbologic value of the plant he was offered. Feeling unusually helpful -at any other time he would have had Elst fumble to put the pot down on the table-, he reached over, carefully placed his slinder fingers around the burned clay and relieved him of the weight. It was nothing like him to get into even this grade of 'intimacy' with someone, his hands belonged with nobody else's, not even in their remote area, if not to shake hands.
To be perfectly, honest, he was quite touched. Not to tears or even to smiling, but when he said to Elst he appreciated the gesture, his words were genuine. For a reason beyond his comprehension, this had just made him take another look at the man, call it a second first impression. When before, Banning would have probably forgotten his face within the next hour, now it would stick with him in a lasting image.
"You will do a fine job with it, I'm sure, mister Elst." he nodded after thanking him. "It should start stirring very soon, do not be surprised when you find the Essence to be emerged at the most illogical of times. They have no sense." was that... a small chuckle?
"You may want to keep this for future reference." he reached into his stack of papers from before again, and slid out a handy pamphlet from between the documents. "In here you will find -almost- everything you will need to know about Essentic development and Influence gaining, as wel as our contact information. No doubt it will be of use to you once your Essentic manifests properly." he explained, and handed it over to Elst.
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Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2009 8:46 pm
His hands parted with the pot, not having wanted to set it on the elegant table between them, fearing the clay could scratch it. Hearing the thanks, Elst smiled slightly, his eyes parting with the hazy stone for a moment.
“It is truly the least I could do, when presented with a precious wonder such as this. It needs a bit of water say, once every other day, and likes shade. I’m glad I found someone I can trust with it as well; it is one of the only two I have ever managed to find in my life. They self-fertilize, but unfortunately do so excruciatingly slowly. And yes, I hope I can manage to raise this Spark right, I’ll certainly care for it as best I can.”
He looked down, and took the pamphlet, scanning it with his eyes slightly. He realized the time.
“Oh, this’ll definitely be useful; it’ll be nice to know what I’m raising here. And… I’m afraid I must leave soon if there is nothing further I should know, there’s something I must check back at the nursery, terribly sorry.”
He was in a way rather sad to leave despite his eagerness to bring the Spark home, as he somehow felt it rude to depart abrubtly.
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Gracious Conversationalist
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Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2009 9:07 pm
No need to worry about the table, clay couldn't scratch the onyx any more than sneezing at a tree would make it crumble to woodchips.
The odd observation that occurred to Banning at that moment made him smile. He had just handed out the fist Spark, had the firs Contract signed. And here he was, nodding to his customer's instructions on how to ensure the orchid's long lifespan. Somehow he knew he would make sure Longway looked after this plant, and he would give it a nice spot in his Office.
"I'm sure you will, mister Elst." No, he expected no great trouble from this man.
"No problem at all, we are both men of our business, I daresay. I wish you the best of luck with your new acquisition."
Usually he would've expressed the wish to see him again, but in this case, meeting each other again would most likely signify trouble rather then a joyous occasion. They would surely meet again someday, but not anytime soon, if things didn't go haywire.
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Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2009 9:58 pm
"Your confidence means more to me than I can say, Master DeLonghy. I will try my hardest not to disappoint."
He stood after a shaking of hands, and headed towards the exit, but just before leaving, he had a quick last remark.
"And I suppose you should know, that Orchid is dormant right now; it produces a rather pleasant aroma in the morning. If there are any problems with it, simply notify me by any form, be it mail or whatnot. Fare thee well for now, however."
With a final nod and grin, Elst navigated his way out of the shop, bidding adieu to Longway as he passed her by. He left for his Nursery, the Spark cradled in his hand, hidden in his overcoat pocket along with a few rose petals that had fallen in while he'd gardened earlier.
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Gracious Conversationalist
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Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2009 10:11 pm
Banning nooded at him with a soothing-patronising smile, shook his hand and left him to make his way outside.
"I will keep it in mind. Thank you very much."
Longway returned his goodbye politely, in a decidedly good mood, and accompanied him at least as far as the door.
And that was it. Their first Spark was out the door, cast into the world almost recklessly, after the extreme care it had received ever since its creation. What it would bring nobody knew, but it would be worth taking this risk for to see.
Good luck, good fortune.
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