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 Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2017 11:25 am
Quote: Backdated to follow x; Dec 11 2016
They stood upon the stony beach, where river rock betrayed the presence of tributaries long ago. Behind them, still waters no longer churned bones up to the surface. Ahead lay solid ground, where once cultivated terrariums dotted the long paths about the campus. The rest of the area looked long dead, lacking trees of any sort as compared to the surrounding marshland. All that remained for viable landmarks were each of the six buildings, and yet none but the Observatory remained close enough for bare sight. The fog proved too thick at this time of year to allow for further sight than fifty feet.
"I wish I could say 'welcome', but it's not quite the type of place for that." He glanced to Ida to survey her reaction to the stark place. If she found it wanting, or uninviting, the reaction would not surprise him - he was no more appreciated here than she. "I always feel like a tour guide whenever I bring someone here. Like… This is some sort of archaeological dig that got turned into a museum. It's a strange feeling, especially when it's a workable facility. Seems a little disrespectful to treat it like a defunct site for gawking at ancient history." He took the first steps ahead, as he knew how and where to suss out the initial paths. Slowly, the desolate campus looked more orderly and the paths procured a few more flagstones with each visit. His heel clocked against one as he took the lead.
"I tend to ramble when I'm nervous, so forgive me if I start to bore you. There are a few things you might want to know about my ancestor before you speak with him. Blaine seems outwardly like a very dispassionate man. He is smart to have been able to run this place, and to have basically created artificial life out of a magical construct. But, he is cowardly and opportunistic. He wants what's best for him after spending a thousand years in isolation. I'm not saying pity the man by any means, but… It might be best to play to these wants." He snorted at himself.
Scholomance drew up to the grand entrance of the observatory, where the Scholomance eye sared down at them from the great gable. A surfeit of glowing symbols rained downward from the pointed archivolt, and at the bottom of the cascading array of complicated architecture stood the two thick doors barring passage. In the center remained a small indentation for a signet ring, and all throughout the portal ran several fluted glass tubes that raced to unseen areas.
"In any case, here we are." He folded his arm behind his back. "The floor's yours, Ida."
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Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2017 2:34 pm
In all honesty... landing on Scholomance was like being plunged into the start of an old horror movie, or some grim-dark other with dark buildings looming out of the oppressive fog and silence. It was just a little surreal, but at the same time... as she turned to look about herself with interest, eyes catching on empty planters and broken cobbles, water lying still and flat... it was not without its own sad charm. Maybe she was weird for thinking that, but it wasn't so much unlike it's knight, when you viewed it the right way.
Dark and foreboding maybe. Dangerous, even. But it was still a place of power for Order. It still served a purpose, it still sheltered a code piece, and it was worthy of being cared for. She could still love it, for that.
"I don't mind it being a tour." She said as he turned to start up the path, her heels scraping the stone as she moved to catch up. "But, maybe I'm weird, I tend to feel more like I'm introducing people to my planet when I bring them. Kinda like introducing friends to your parents. They've got their own... presences, I believe. They're very much alive, even if its not a traditional sort of life. I respect that, and your bond to it, so I hope it feels less disrespectful to have me here... And don't worry about rambling. I don't mind."
Ida offered a reassuring smile, should he happen to look back, and moved along easily behind him. She was a bright spot of warm color in the place, but it made her seem out of place.
Blaine didn't seem like a typical ancestor, but then, she hadn't exactly met any to really judge by. She would have assumed they acted like mentors, that they wanted to help the new knight of their wonder, but maybe that was wishful thinking. They had been people like them, once, and were still human, even dead. That meant they all had their own failings.
"I will keep that in mind and be as charming as I can be. How should I greet him? I've never... talked to an ancestor before, actually. Do they... manifest, like a ghost or something?" Considering what she was trying to do here; convince Blaine, a spirit with an apparent grudge against his protege, to ease up and allow Scholomance inside the wonder he was tasked to protect... she really wasn't sure what kind of a difference she could make. But... now was not the time to indulge in her insecurities. She was a stronger person than she had been, and she didn't want to worry Scholomance with her own doubts.
The entrance loomed before them and she slowed to a stop when the knight did, following the stark lines upwards over symbols and tubings with a new sort of wonder for the unusual beauty of the architecture. Ida blinked when Scholomance spoke and she colored, pulling her mind back to her task.
Do I knock or just... call out? I don't even know how this works...
She stepped forward slowly, eyes tracing across the walls, and on impulse, offered the stately doors a bow from the waist.
"Blaine?" She called out as she rose again. "Knight of Scholomance. Are you here?"
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Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2017 7:31 pm
Scholomance's eyes flickered downward at her question. He studied the amalgam of dirt caked on the very bottom of the door, and wondered how best to explain the unique type of ghost to someone who never met one previously. It proved a dilemma, certainly - especially with so few cultural bases with which to explain them. That, and how would he similarly articulate the abnormality of his particular ancestor?
"Sometimes they're that sort of incorporeal you might see on ghost shows. Sometimes he's as solid as you and I. Sometimes he's not detectable at all, but for a disembodied voice. I expect the nature of his manifestation is up to him." But saying so felt like a slim answer to a more complicated question. "I've always greeted him as Blaine, and he seemed fine enough with a first name basis. No one else I brought incurred any trouble by calling him that, either. But, having no experience with ghosts or with an ancestor open enough to explain how their incorporeality affects them on a psychological level, I'm afraid I can't give much further insight. It's not very helpful of me, I'm sorry. Blaine and I just haven't had that kind of … Viable relationship." And a relationship it was, in the loose categorical term.
With her further approach, the door lit with blue smoke buffeting through the tubing. Scholomance learned to recognize the glow as a recognition that someone approached - an indication that one could call on the power of the door to let themselves beyond the threshold. Unfortunately, neither of them sported a ring to quite fit the shape of its depression.
Scholomance stayed behind, hand folded behind his back, and listened for Blaine's response. He did not wait long.
A falter sounded from the other side of the door. Curiously, Blaine's voice penetrated well enough that the door formed no great barrier to their communication. "I recognize that voice." Another pause, and Scholomance felt his hackles raise. "Ida?" Blaine continued. "Is that you? It's been so long; I'm afraid I fell out of touch. As I am certain you experienced yourself, these past years have been long and strange in their course.
"It warms me so to hear a familiar voice. Do come in. And Scholomance, I must ask you to wait outside. I apologize."
Isn't that something? Quietly, Scholomance cocked a brow at her. The offer alone confirmed a curious fact about Blaine - that he recognized Ida at all suggested an interesting shift in memory. Scholomance knew he never brought her here previously; who was it really that Blaine remembered?
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Posted: Mon Mar 06, 2017 9:46 am
Incorporeal… very much like a ghost, it seemed. She’d never met a ghost, really, but it seemed the best route to go here would probably be just to… treat him like any other man, with respect and sensitivity. She’d find out soon enough if he’d respond well to that. She was not always as good at communicating as she wished to be.
The young woman started as she approached the door, sudden motion and shift in color drawing her attention upwards. It wasn’t an attack though… just a strange flow of what looked like smoke through the door’s tubing. It case a blue highlight on everything around her, edging stone and highlighting her clothes. It was… strangely beautiful, in its industrial, alchemical way. A far cry from what she had ever seen before.
She didn’t know what she had expected to happen after her greeting, but to hear her name come from behind the door… left her standing dumbfounded, her fingers curled into loose fists at her waist as she stared at the flowing smoke. He knew her by the sound of her voice? That was, frankly, impossible. She’d never been here before, and she’d certainly never met the former knight of Scholomance. As far as she knew, knight ancestors never left their wonders, so she couldn’t have run into him on earth. Years huh? Scholomance hadn’t been a knight all that long, even… and the last she knew of ancestors being alive was back in the Silver millennium.
Was that how he knew her? It raised a whole host of questions about how her past self had known this knight, and how similar they were that he recognized just her voice, after a thousand years.
To her surprise, it took no effort at all to receive an invitation to come in. She didn’t even ask for it. Her eyes slid side-long to Scholomance for a hint on what to do before the returned to the door and the ghost hiding behind it.
“I… would be pleased, to come in, Blaine, but… you descendant has been a very gracious host, bringing me here. It was very kind of him. I’m afraid I don’t understand why he needs to wait outside. Did something happen? Can I help?” It was a bit of a stretch, attempting to use her good will to trade for some leniency, but it seemed the best of the options that included such wonderful ideas as; yelling at him, begging him, or nagging him about his duty.
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Posted: Fri Mar 10, 2017 7:40 am
Apart from the indignant middle finger brandished vigorously at the door, Scholomance remained mostly quiet through the exchange. He knew his standing with Blaine reached toxic enough levels that interjecting his own thoughts and opinions into their conversation promised ill tidings. Even when Ida shot him sidelong glances or silent pleas for ideas on how to proceed, Scholomance felt hesitant in guiding her. Perhaps doing so left him looking rude, especially when leaving someone who never met an ancestor to deal with an old ghost without assistance. Perhaps he was rude. Still, Ida conjured good fortune for herself, and Scholomance found no reason to jeopardize that with his own opinions.
"I…" The old knight hesitated only a moment. "Would prefer we discuss such matters inside, Ida. Forgive me for my insistence. Please, come inside. The fog grows thick on Scholomance this time of year, and we both know the danger of that." The mechanical lock for the door clicked, and the brilliant smoke rushed through its tubing before the door parted for her entry.
The view inside commanded awe with enormous ceilings latticed with deep, gothic arches. Columns crept downwards in intricate stonework toward the marble floors, where a dozen stark white lights flared to life on magic alone. Several ornate wooden study tables suggested an independent research area framed by built-in bookshelves surrounding the circular scene. At the far end, a short set of stairs led to a reception area, then split upward to feature a grand staircase. Ida stood farthest from the desk at her vantage point in the entrance. The spired lights offered a delineated pathway across previously battered and broken marble to pass the desks and meet with the ghostly figure at the reception.
Scholomance recognized the lot of it at once, and he wanted to barge in himself to spit in Blaine's face. He wanted to deliver on his promise to track his ancestor's starseed down and crush the damnable thing underfoot. Still, he swallowed his wants, and stood aside for Ida to enter.
"Go ahead," he urged. "Maybe you can work out a deal from the inside. For as long as I've been on Scholomance, which is a good handful of times, I've never found any danger in loitering outside. I'm not sure what he's talking about…" Or if Blaine spoke of the same timeline. He never met Ida, Scholomance knew, though he somehow recognized her. Were there other Idas? Would Blaine explain where and how he made the connection, when he himself had perished a thousand years prior? Taking her to Scholomance was an attempt to find solutions, not more questions. Here they were, regardless.
There wasn't much need of asking her to yell for help if she felt endangered; Ida was an eternal senshi for longer than Scholomance had ever known knighthood. He would be the one running to her for assistance in such matters, so he kept his mouth shut and gestured for her to join Blaine inside.
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