WEEK 3

[strangerpeople]

WEEK 3

[Well. Good morning, Strangers. When you wake up, you will realize two things.

The first is that something has changed with your memories. One of them is different from when you recall it being before. Clearer, more coherent, more...correct, somehow.

Could it have been an effect of what happened with the trial? You don't know. What you do know is that the staircase outside of the bedrooms has also changed-the way is no longer blocked. There is a new floor above to explore, now.

What do you do, now? Will you eat anything that had been offered by the Stewards, if you'd managed to snag some of it during the trial? Will you continue to dive into the mystery of this place? And if you do-how much more will it cost you?

There is, unfortunately, only one way to find out.


There are twelve strangers in this place.]

((OoC: Please remember to do activity check!))

Comments

[relieable]

[okay, so when he asked about bringing people back to life, he must have asked the wrong question. maybe Ambrosine doesn't bring souls back, but she's still making dead bodies move again, and that was what Osomatsu was concerned about.

he stares for a moment, his expression in a mix between horror and fascination. he should nip this conversation in the bud right now, but... he's so curious]

...So, that's your job? You get paid to do that?

[necroyalty]

I am the queen; nobody pays me unless you count the usual means of taxation. But the necromantic traditions of Groa date back centuries.

I'd inherited a particularly ugly war from my father that I was intent on ending, and I saw an opportunity.

Once the soul has departed, the body is a mere object. If you can take it to its fullest potential, the lives that can be spared...

[ It's a train of thought that is both absolutely terrifying and brilliantly utilitarian. ]

[15unknowns]

Hah! [He claps at that, just once but heartily, and now DEFINITELY entertained. Also her smile when she talks about this is really cute.] Causing chaos throughout the bourgeoisie. Now that's a reputation to be proud of!

Re: library

[necroyalty]

...good morning to you, Emma.

[ Can't a woman carry two staves, geez ]

[necroyalty]

...hello.

[ After that last conversation where she outed herself as a necromancer in front of everyone, she's on edge. ]

[necroyalty]

[ Alright, let's try to summon...

A twenty-sided die. ]

[relieable]

[he doesn't mean to offend! but damn. that part about a body being an object...

Osomatsu realizes that they probably won't see eye to eye on this matter. but at least he knows more about her, now. she's intriguing, in a morbid sort of way]

...I... Sorry. I didn't know you were a queen.

[must've missed that somewhere]

I don't... magic isn't something I'm used to, all right? Especially not this kinda magic. I think you must be a great ruler if you were able to end a war that wasn't even yours. I'm just tryin' to understand you better.

[whiterosefoes]

Pardon?

[Is that some figure of speech she failed to learn while in medieval land before... You'd think she'd notice a missing tongue. Then again it's not like she kissed her??? Squinting now.]

[relieable]

[yyyyyeah that was intense. Osomatsu sits up straighter, nodding his head to her]

Hey...

[you do not address a queen with a simple 'Hey.' so he adds]

Your Majesty?

[hopeless]

i did my best to address everything but time passed so... here I am...

[joinhands]

[In the moment before Emma averts her gaze, Krone appears sincerely floored. For how long is hard to tell; it's gone by the time the girl looks back, that's for certain.]

...I know I was too harsh in the heat of the moment, but if I left you feeling that way, I have even more to regret.

There's nothing wrong with caring about people—even if you just met them. I just can't stand still as if... Anyone who truly wanted to help would drop everything to fulfill any given order. That can lead to a lot of unpleasant outcomes. Whether I'm the one treated that way or anyone else.

...but... Well, we have a good chance of not needing to worry about that type of situation anymore, right?

[She dredges up a pleasant smile.]

We're doing a good job at resisting this substance dependency - which is a common physical technique, I think you're on to something. Enough time has passed that it does seem unlikely they're going to change the appearance of our bodies and make it more difficult for us to be seen at home.

[hexposition]

[Well, a woman is more than welcome to carry as many staves as she wants. The question is whether that winged one is the one Ambrosine got from the rotator with the gold hook at the end, because that staff happens to be Emma's.]

I admit I haven't really been up here much yet... have you found most of the books to be a language you can understand?

IT'S OKAY... life (finds a way) happens

[hexposition]

[Emma flashes Krone as much of a smile as she can manage – it isn't much, but it's something.]

...hopefully, we won't need to worry.

[She shakes her head a little.]

I think we would have noticed something with that by now, yes. It's not like we've got anyone else to look at while we're here, and we should at least all be familiar with our own bodies.

Internal changes... those are far more worrying, to me. Even if they changed my shape, should I make it back, I need Celine – my familiar – to be able to recognize my mana signature. It's not impossible for someone to create a perfect facsimile of my body, but my mana, that would be more difficult. But if they did something to change that...

Well. The people I want to make it back to, they have plenty of reason not to trust me as it is. If that happens, I might never get the chance to so much as apologize to them, too.

[necroyalty]

How very kind of you.

Have a seat.

[necroyalty]

It is not as if my title matters much here. There are certain things that I suppose one can never understand if you've never experienced it yourself.

The fact that you are trying places you far above the sort of men who don't even put forth the effort.

[relieable]

[ah, praise! that makes Osomatsu smile a bit. he's been meeting so many magic folk here, and his interactions with Krone, especially, have taught him to be more aware of others. he sighs]

I still don't think I understand it. But that's okay. I have no beef with you. [she hasn't hurt anyone yet]

[relieable]

[he does take a seat]

You doin' okay? [he noticed her pounding the table, sounding frustrated]

[joinhands]

You have a loving family that's looking for you! [Krone accepts his hand in hers, phalanges rattling around the thing like bones in a crypt.] Don't think of yourself as some failure they would just throw away! [She claps her hand firmly over his shoulder, keeping him right here where he is.] You really think those telegrams they're sending talk about you like that?!

[yonosoymaria]

[He leans his head to the side, pressing his cheek to the hand he isn't holding, just for a moment.]

You're right, he wouldn't have worried if... but I can't go back to him, Krone. He's safer without me. If I can get word to them, if I can explain that I'm not dead... I can, at least, see Father again, but...

[He laughs, a little sadly now. Holding her hand gives him something to hold on to, at least, while it feels like the world's flipped on its head and makes even less sense.]

We fought, and he told me to leave, that he'd leave... then I was here. I don't understand why he's so worried. Or still there, not back in Texas, even if he didn't mean any of it. The important thing is he's alive.

[necroyalty]

...for the most part, yes. It's a far cry from the libraries I've grown accustomed to, but... I'll have to make do.

[necroyalty]

...not as I'd hoped. Tell me, have you had the pleasure of imbibing one of these... [ she gestures with a look of mild fatigue ]libations yet?

[relieable]

[imbibing? libations?]

Uh... are you asking if I've drank any of these?