Home 25: Still making mortgage payments

[Halae]

[Kathy's Shop]

"I can work with something that has a steady beat," Fayyaad says, taking off his coat. "Even if it would take some improvisation. This is easier with some dances than others."

[Kathy's Shop]

After a bit of filtering through different songs, Kathy finally settles on one and sets it to playing. After a moment a steady beat echoes from the walls and the holographic screen Kathy was using fades away, "There we are."

[Deathkeeper]

[Fort Aegis]

All the miscellaneous items left behind by the kobolds are sent flying by the huge wave of water sent out by Sylvess. The pool is surprisingly deep so Sylvess doesn't injure his ankles jumping in.
Spako looks very dignified as he raises his snout and drops daintily into the pool, paddling over to Sylvess like the very classy Bronze Wizard and Royal Runemaster that he is.
"Well, you could certainly get used to living here, couldn't you? Do you think your friend Sam would like it?" he asks. He has no problem with Sylvess indulging himself. It's not like anyone is looking.

[Karaoke Night

The couple might find Jim inserting himself between them, arms around their shoulders in a friendly but firm grip. Can't have anyone backing out now, can they?
"Hiding low looking right to left
If you see us coming I think it's best
To move away do you hear what I say
From under my breath"
They will quickly learn that Jim is a performer. And while they're on stage, he's going to expect them to perform with him, even if he has to lead them around with his arms.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Fort Aegis]

Sylvess spreads his wings out and floats lazily upon the water with a very contented smile upon his face.

When was the last time they took a day to just enjoy themselves?

Well...not that long ago to be fair, they have been seeing plenty of each other, but still, clearly too long ago.

"Yessss, we'd need a room for Sam and one for Lucy. But there's plenty of space. Spruce up the fort a bit, make it look less fort-y, maybe open up a few more rooms-" He pauses and opens an eye, fixing it on Spako. "Make it a proooper resort, maybe? I-I think it could be done, don't you? People could book themselves in for a-a few days a-and reeeeally rechaaarge." He stretches, splashes, awkwardly readjusts himself and snorts at the treacherous water. "I-I had a friend called Vixie who was really good at this sort of thing. She could turn a profit out of anything. W-well, she wasn't the only one, b-but she was particularly good at playing hostess a-and running this sort of business. She'd know how to fix this place up right. So if she can do it, so can I!"

[Deathkeeper]

[Fort Aegis]

Spako drifts on the water, less animated but enjoying himself no less.
”I think it could be done, yes. But remember that the kobolds live here. The more we expand the resort the more we would be pushing them out. Unless they plan on digging more into the mountain. We should save room for them is all. Honestly they did a half decent job starting the process....” he looks around at the carved wooden separators. Not a bad start at all.

[Morty]

[Kathy's Shop]

Fayyaad's foot starts tapping to the beat of the music and his tail sways to it.

"I think I remember a dance that will work with this. It's simple and can be performed alone or with two people. Even in a group. It's a sort of... spontaneous party dance."

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Fort Aegis]

Sylvess closes his eyes and rolls over onto his back. "Oh, there's pleeenty of space around here. I-I'm sure the kobolds can keep digging a-and make themselves a whole little colony in these tunnels around My Fort." He lets out a soft growl.

And then pauses, and tilts his head round to look at Spako, one eye lazily re-opening. "I-I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me. I think I'm feeling- um, I-I think I remember reading this thing saying that even a very old a-and wise dragon could become very teritorial from time to time. Uh, particularly when they're, um-" His words devolve into awkward stammers for a moment, and he paddles over a little closer to Spako. "P-p-particularly when they're...when they're carrying."

[Deathkeeper]

Fort Aegis

Spako raises an ear-fin. He doesn’t actually spend enough time around dragons to notice them getting territorial. Cleo is a very unusual dragon. And kobolds usually just protect the eggs as a community...
”Oh right. Well. Speaking of...should we ask them if we can...handle that here? It would certainly be a good place to keep eggs for a while. We’d just have to make sure we can trust them with them.” The whole place is a natural incubator after all.
And after they’re done they can go for a swim and feel better.

[Murkus]

[Karaoke Party]

"That's the point, honey. Everyone comes here ready to embarrass themselves. So we're in good company." Batu isn't quite as confident as he pretends he is, but he seems determined to power through it like a snow-plough. He steps up to the stage and their selected song starts playing. He holds Div's hand firmly and begins, with enough gusto to drown our his nervousness:


"Tonight there's gonna be a jailbreak

Somewhere in this town

See me and the boys we don't like it

So were getting up and going down..."

[Karaoke Night

The couple might find Jim inserting himself between them, arms around their shoulders in a friendly but firm grip. Can't have anyone backing out now, can they?
"Hiding low looking right to left
If you see us coming I think it's best
To move away do you hear what I say
From under my breath"
They will quickly learn that Jim is a performer. And while they're on stage, he's going to expect them to perform with him, even if he has to lead them around with his arms.

[Karaoke Night]

Div adds his own high, quavery voice to the song. He seems a little comforted by the other lads, smiling at them with sidelong glances. He stammers a little when he looks out at the people, but once he gets started he's actually pretty good. Of course, the lyrics of the song don't fit a guy like him at all, so he punctuates the last of the third verse with a giggle.

"Tonight there's gonna be a jailbreak
Somewhere in the town
Tonight there's gonna be a jailbreak
So don't you be around

Ooh, don't you be around"

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Cass' Tower]

Time passes as Cass and Electra spend the afternoon and evening cuddling. The latter, for her part, is dealing with a massive headache, but seems otherwise physically ok, and she cooks supper for Cass, a strange sort of home-style cooking, chicken in gravy with vegetables and biscuits, somewhat similar to a pot pie, but with the filing on the outside, slathered over the biscuits. Despite the odd nature of the cuisine, it's surprisingly good. When it's finally time to use the staff Cass had brought out earlier, she looks a bit worried.

"So uh, how does this work?"

[Earl of Purple]

Benedict's Manse

Despite the opulence of the carriage, Benedict's home isn't quite as impressive as one would expect. It primarily consists of a seven-storey round tower with a flat, crenellated roof, all made from rough, black basalt. Built around it is a red brick two-storey cottage, with several large windows and fancy brickwork and arches. A flint stone barn standing off to one side has been refurbished into a coach house. The house is built on a cliff-edged headland overlooking the sea, and there's the greyish-white ribs of an immense leviathan set into the ground like immense posts marking the edge of the estate. Just inside the border is a small graveyard, with three worn marble headstones and a marble mausoleum bound with heavy bronze chains. Ten skeletons carrying spears and wearing black robes march about the estate on patrol, saluting the carriage as it passes.

The coach pulls up first of all outside the cottage-and-tower, where the coachman will help both Miri and Benedict to disembark. "Welcome to my home. It's not much, but it's mine." Benedict smiles, looking at the house with fondness. "Whilst you are here, I must warn you that the cliff isn't entirely stable. Stay away from the edge. Also, avoid my grandfather's mausoleum, especially if it calls your name. If it does, let me know immediately. There are certain ritual rooms in the tower that are locked; please don't try to enter them. The ritual arrays are sensitive, and your presence could disrupt things in strange and unusual ways."

[Recaiden]

"It's not much? I've never had any place as big as this!" Miri has to comment.

She waves to the skeletons as they approach.
"No cliffs, no mausoleum, no ritual rooms. Okay."
Pointing at the giant bone markers, she asks "What did these come from?"

[Earl of Purple]

Benedict's Manse

"There were several other towers and outbuildings on this estate a few hundred years ago. The cliffs are crumbling, and they've all ended in the sea. Those are from a leviathan. A dead one. It washed up when I was about seven, after a bad storm." So really, it is quite small compared to what Benedict's family is used to.

"I have several guest bedrooms. Would you prefer a tower room or one in the manor? Tower has the better view, but the manor has more modern amenities." So it depends on if Miri wants to look at the ocean or use a flushing toilet.

[Ashen Lilies]

Spoiler: Previously, on Home:

Show

[Cass' Tower]

Cass slips the ring on, whispering the activation spell, and the doll jerks to life, shimmering as it takes the form of a tiny human man in a jacket and tights. Cass smiles slightly, as the tiny man starts dancing a little ballet across the tabletop, leaping and pirouetting with a dainty gracefulness.

[Cass' Tower]

Electra smiles a bit as the doll comes to life, not seeming surprised that the doll takes a male form. Cass is much better at magic that she is; trust her to figure out how to do things with it she wasn't told it could do.

"I didn't know you could dance ballet!" She says, her appreciative smile growing as she watches. She has to shove a few more racy thoughts aside to get out something appropriate. "You're very good!"

[Cass' Tower]

"Oh, I don't, actually," Cass says. "This is based on something I watched while meeting with an informant. I was curious to see if it could... but I guess it's not that much different from the dancing I do know. Or fighting."

Mid-pirouette, the dancing figure changes again, his shirt loosening and his moves becoming more grounded and aggressive than the ballet, though no less graceful. Electra might catch that it's become something of a fencer, though of course one without weapons, striking out with an imaginary small sword and dagger in a different, deadly dance.

[Cass' Tower]

Electra chuckles, and wraps her arms around Cass's shoulders, giving her a peck on the cheek.

"You're amazing, you know that?" She grins as the figure continues fighting an imaginary foe. "Now, that's a dance I'm more familiar with."

[Cass' Tower]

Cass blushes deeply as Electra kisses her.
"Thanks," she says, snaking her arm around Electra's waist and turning her head to face her. "You're great too."

[Cass' Tower]

Now it's Electra's turn to blush, but she leans into Cass when the sorceress snakes her arm around her waist.

"Nah, I'm not that great. I'm just me."

[Cass' Tower]

"Well, 'just you'," Cass begins, leaning in to give Electra's lips the soft brush of her own. "Thank you for the gift."

[Cass' Tower]

Electra closes her eyes briefly as Cass's lips brush her own, and smiles, meeting Cass's eyes with her deep blue ones. She's still blushing, but less, now.

"You're welcome. I'm glad you like it." She pulls Cass in for a slightly longer kiss, before moving away slightly. "I hope I didn't interrupt you in the middle of anything."

[Cass' Tower]

Cass returns the kiss enthusiastically, humming a little. She leans back on the table after Electra pulls away, seeming a touch flustered.
"You're not an interruption..." she says, pulling the ring off her finger. "Would you, uh... like something to drink? Stay for a snack?"

[Cass' Tower]

"I'm glad. Something to drink would be good," Electra says. She seems a bit more relaxed than Cass, having calmed down from her earlier embarassment over Cass' familiar.

[Cass' Tower]

Cass nods, and turns quickly towards the kitchen, getting about halfway before stopping short.
"Uh... water? juice? tea? coffee? wine? something stronger?"

[Cass' Tower]

"Tea would be good, I think," Electra says, as there's a rumble of thunder from outside. She looks startled for a moment, then chuckles. "I was wondering when it might start to rain."

[Cass' Tower]

Cass nods, filling up a kettle from the sink as she glances out the window at the rain.
"You were expecting it to rain?" She asks, putting the kettle on the stove and turning it all the way up to high. While that starts to heat up, she opens up a cupboard, grabbing a can of masala chai as well as an extremely fancy looking silver teapot, taking space beside an equally fancy gold inlaid porcelain teapot, though she passes over the matching tea sets in favor of a pair of plain off-white ceramic mugs.

[Cass' Tower]

Electra nods as she watches Cass.
"Uh huh. It's been looking threatening all morning, I-" she cuts off abruptly, mouth hanging open for a moment, as her eyes glow. Then she suddenly snaps them shut, doubling over in an instant, head in her hands, a low moan of agony escaping from between them.

[Cass' Tower]

"Are you okay?" Cass asks, alarmed. She puts the mugs quickly down on the counter, and rushes over, crouching in front of Electra and placing her hands over hers.

[Cass' Tower]

Electra doesn't respond for a few moments, overwhelmed by whatever she's sensing. She manages to shake her head slightly after Cass' question registers, but it takes her another few moments before she's able to speak.

"S-something.....is here. Something bad....really bad."

She doesn't straighten up right away, but when she does, and pulls her hands away from her face, she's gone several shades paler.

"I..." She seems to be struggling for words for the moment.

[Cass' Tower]

Cass stays close, feeling a little helpless. She murmurs a quick spell under her breath, checking her tower's wards to see if they've been compromised in any way, or if there's any energy or magic in the area that she isn't familiar with. She'll check to see if there's any sort of outside force acting on Electra as well - she'd love to run a more general diagnostic on Electra as well, but it probably wouldn't work on a synthetic person.
"I'm here."

[Cass' Tower]

The wards all check out fine, and there doesn't seem to be any external force acting on Electra. Whatever this is, clearly it's something the Reploid woman is sensing from her own systems. Electra, for her part, manages to take Cass' hand and gives it a gentle squeeze.

"T-thanks. I-....I've only ever had visions once before, but....this...this was different somehow. Hundreds....maybe, thousands? Of new machines.....being guided by....something very powerful...and intent on conquest and exploitation." She leans back against the sofa, not letting Cass' hand go, but closes her eyes, shielding them with her other hand.

"How much credence do you think the boss would give to a vision like this? Or Wenomir?"

[Cass' Tower]

Cass frowns, not trusting her wards.
"Rahvi." She says, softly but firmly, her voice stern. The cat appears, manifesting in a swirl of flame, his head cocked to one side questioningly.
"Scout," commands Cass, staring down the demon. "Check to see if we are alone out here."
Her familiar nods, then disappears in another swirl of flame, reappearing outside in the form of a circling crow.

Security being taken care of, she turns back to Electra, stroking her hand tenderly.
"I'm... not sure about the boss. He'd believe you, I think, but what could he do? It might be best to warn Vigil."

[Cass' Tower]

Electra takes a few deep breaths. She wasn't planning on having any sort of other company other than Cass today, and she's not really sure she wants to talk to Wenomir, but....he's probably the best choice, he has an army after all. She nods shakily.

"Do you have a discreet way to contact them? I...I'd rather not transmit this on conventional comm channels....From what I was sensing, they...well, they have technology at least comparable to...home. My home dimension."

[Cass' Tower]

"I have the commander's personal cell... and other methods, if that's not discreet enough, but it will take longer."
Cass doesn't comment on the part about the technology, though she obviously looks troubled. Technology of that kind isn't really that common in the Nexus outside of the cities. Particularly Skyside.

[Cass' Tower]

"Use the other method, if you can. Cell signals are easy to subvert," Electra says. She looks like she's about to start crying. She just wanted a nice day with Cass, was that too much to ask?

"I-I'm sorry."

[Cass' Tower]

"Please. You couldn't have expected this. But it's important that we get this to the right people, now."

She pulls herself up onto the couch, wrapping her arms around Electra.

Before long, the water in the kettle starts to boil, the squeal of escaping steam seeming to herald the return of Cass' "familiar", which appears in the middle of the floor, a bedraggled, wet, and thorougly disgruntled looking crow.

"Nothing around. Unless you count the cows," says the demon, acidly. Cass sighs.
"Thank you. In my study, there's a staff made out of blackened wood. The one with fey magic. Can you retrieve it?"

There's a pop, and the crow seemingly blinks in place, disappearing and reappearing in quick succession, except this time with a staff made out of two twisted pieces of blackened wood wrapped around each other, ending in what looks uncomfortably like a hand. The crow deposits the staff unceremoniously on the floor.
"Anything else?" It asks, sounding bitter.
"Yes... can you finish the tea?"
The crow scowls, and in yet another puff of flame, appears in human form; a handsome, older man with dark skin and hair streaked with grey, wearing a dour brown robe of sackcloth, with the rather ostentatious touch of an oversized yoke weighing down his neck. The demon wanders over to the kitchen, clattering everything it can along the way as it finishes the tea in as noisy a way as it possibly can.
Cass sighs again, letting Electra go to pick the staff up off the ground.
"With this, I can speak to Wenomir directly in his dreams. I'll need to wait until he falls asleep to do that, though," she explains.

[Cass' Tower]

Electra leans into Cass when the sorceress puts her arm around her, and is reluctant to let her go when she goes to pick up the staff. Even still, Cass' presence seems to have a steadying effect on her. She ignores Rahvi's changes, instead trying to gather her wits enough to figure out what to do now. Were there not more pressing matters, she would be asking all sorts of questions, but instead she simply nods when Cass explains that she needs to wait for Wenomir to fall asleep.

"Can it let you know when he's asleep? Or do you just have to try it and see?"

[Cass' Tower]

"I know what time he goes to sleep," says Cass, simply.

[Cass' Tower]

Electra nods, still looking a little unsteady.

"I'm sorry if this puts you into a bad spot with him," she says quietly. "Maybe it would be better to just go to VIGIL?"

[Cass' Tower]

Cass shakes her head. "It'll be fine. And it's probably best for me not to go to VIGIL in person yet... It'd be a distraction."
Cass hugs Electra again, as her familiar returns, placing two filled mugs of perfectly brewed masala chai (with milk, and sweetened with maple syrup) on the coffee table.
"Thank you, Rahvi," Cass murmurs. "You can go." The demon departs.

[Cass' Tower]

Electra puts her arm around Cass once more, leaning against her. She nods at Rahvi when he brings the tea.

"Thank you," she says quietly, before taking a sip from one of the mugs. The tea seems to steady her a bit, and once Rahvi departs, she finally has the presence of mind to think about what he said earlier, about "mortals".

"This is excellent tea." She pauses for a moment, squeezing Cass just slightly. "He's different from the familiars I've read about. You must've done something amazing to get one so capable."

[Cass' Tower]

Cass tenses up as soon as Electra brings up the topic of familiars, her grip around Electra getting slightly tighter.
"...No, I didn't. I was reckless and arrogant." She says, nervous.

[Cass' Tower]

Electra raises an eyebrow quizzically. She's not alarmed, just curious now, and she gives Cass a reassuring squeeze of her own, clearly seeing the nervousness on Cass' face.

"So, it was an accident, then? Are you ok? I mean, you seem fine to me, but...are you?"

[Cass' Tower]

"No..." Cass says. "I sought him out. Not as a familiar, just too ask questions... But I was too reckless. I made a mistake, and nearly died because of it."
Cass makes a noise, which might be a sardonic laugh, or might be a sob. "So maybe the accident is that I'm still alive. But. I got badly hurt."

[Cass' Tower]

Electra pulls Cass close and sweeps her other arm around the sorceress' shoulders, squeezing her tight and rocking her back and forth gently, thankful that the outcome wasn't different. And where was she? Off working, or looking for a gift, or tending to her own place, when she could've been here? Probably should've been here. To help, to...do something. She shakes her head vigorously. No sense in regretting it now.

"If that's an accident, then it's the best one you could've had, and one I'm glad of. But if you were so badly hurt, how did you manage by yourself? Did someone else help you?"

[Cass' Tower]

Cass buries her face into Electra's shoulders, taking a few deep, shuddering breaths. "...Y-yes. Another demon intervened. And now... I'm bound to them now."

[Cass' Tower]

Electra just holds Cass tightly while worry swirls in her mind. She fights down the fear that wells up, the nasty memory of the imps that almost kidnapped her when she first arrived in the Nexus. Her body was able to stave them off, but only just barely, and she really doesn't know enough magic to be able to help in any sort of mystical manner. But clearly, that isn't what Cass needs right now.

"Shhh, it's okay. You're still here, and that's what's important to me. We'll find a way to fix it. I know I'm not much good with magic, but if there's something I can do to help, I will." She thinks for a moment, rubbing Cass' back gently, soothingly. "Maybe Astrana can help. Maybe Wenomir or somebody at VIGIL. I've heard there's a library somewhere in the Nexus that has information on all kinds of things. We can go there and search and see if there's something that might help."

She tips Cass' chin up to look the sorceress in the eyes, her expression one of fierce determination.
"I'm not going to let you fight this alone. Even if I have to travel to wherever this demon is and beat it up, I won't let it have you." She probably doesn't realize just how difficult something like that actually would be, but from the look in her eyes, the difficulty doesn't seem to matter to her. "I'm here, no matter what."

[Cass' Tower]

Time passes as Cass and Electra spend the afternoon and evening cuddling. The latter, for her part, is dealing with a massive headache, but seems otherwise physically ok, and she cooks supper for Cass, a strange sort of home-style cooking, chicken in gravy with vegetables and biscuits, somewhat similar to a pot pie, but with the filing on the outside, slathered over the biscuits. Despite the odd nature of the cuisine, it's surprisingly good. When it's finally time to use the staff Cass had brought out earlier, she looks a bit worried.

"So uh, how does this work?"

[Cass Tower]

Cass certainly enjoys the food, and seems happy to spend the rest of the evening cuddling with her girlfriend.

Cass holds the rod in front of her. "We just... go to sleep," she says, running a finger along the darkened wood. "And I'll appear in a dream-shard of my construction. From there, I can pull Wenomir out of-"
She cuts off, looking at Electra hesitantly. "Electra... do you dream?"

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Cass Tower]

Electra nods.

"Yeah, I do. They're a little weird sometimes, but....that's dreams, right?" She asks with a slight chuckle, before asking a bit more serious of a question. "So it's kind of like lucid dreaming, then?"

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Fort Aegis]

"I-I guess? It seems like a pretty good place for it. If I just spent like a day digging out a new cavern somewhere in here a-and, um..." Sylvess pauses and sighs. "Sorry. I'm letting myself get carried away a bit. B-but I guess I like this place, so, um, yes? We should- we should e-enjoy our bath a-and then go sit down with them a-and talk about what we need a-and what we can offer and...stuff." Does that make sense? Hopefully that makes sense.

[Deathkeeper]

[Fort Aegis]

Spako floats over to Sylvess and puts his wing around as much of him as he can.
"Planning is good. Don't apologize. Let's just enjoy it for now.
I hope you don't mind being wet for a while, though, because I don't think they're going to have towels big enough for us." he snickers.

[Ashen Lilies]

[Cass' Tower]

Cass looks sheepish.
"I didn't, when I..." she trails off, blushing a little more. "Sorry. Anyway, it is a little like that. Once I enter my dreamshard, I'll be able to reach into the dreams of you and Wenomir and pull you there. We'll be able to talk safely there, without anyone else listening in."

[Morty]

[Karaoke Party]

The fact that one of them knows what he's doing seems to lift Batu's spirits and lead him onwards.

"Tonight there's gonna be trouble

Some of us won't survive

See the boys and me mean business

Bustin' out dead or alive"

He's actually swaying to the music and giving it his all, despite his untrained singing voice. The timid hobgoblin does have some hidden depths.

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Cass' Tower]

"It's ok, you didn't know," Electra says, giving Cass a gentle squeeze. "That's a neat spell, though. So we just need to fall asleep, then?"

[Recaiden]

"There were several other towers and outbuildings on this estate a few hundred years ago. The cliffs are crumbling, and they've all ended in the sea. Those are from a leviathan. A dead one. It washed up when I was about seven, after a bad storm." So really, it is quite small compared to what Benedict's family is used to.

"I have several guest bedrooms. Would you prefer a tower room or one in the manor? Tower has the better view, but the manor has more modern amenities." So it depends on if Miri wants to look at the ocean or use a flushing toilet.

"Uh-huh. How long does the rest of the place have before it's swept away? It's amazing to think of the sea, doing that."
Miri looks over the buildings.
"The manor, then."

[Ashen Lilies]

[Cass' Tower]

Cass nods. "That's pretty much it," she says. "We just sleep, and then I'll come get you."

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Cass' Tower]

Electra smiles, as fatigue seems to flood her face.

"That, that sounds really nice." She leans her head against Cass' shoulder, and closes her eyes. "I think I might fall asleep just like this."

[Ashen Lilies]

[Cass' Tower -> Cass' Dreamshard]

Cass smiles drowsily, giving Electra a gentle squeeze.
"Works for me," she murmurs, closing her eyes.

And assuming no further complaint, she'll first off to sleep... only to appear in her study again.

Or rather, a room that looks a good deal like, but is not *quite* her study. It's a lot smaller for one, lacking several of the bookshelves, instead mostly being a circle of armchairs and cozy cushions ringing a warm fireplace. There aren't any stairs up or down out of the study, and the windows are much larger, taking up most of the walls - and rather than looking out over fields and farmland, as in real life, look out over a serene lake, giving the room the impression of being right on the water. Sleeping on the writing desk is a cream-and-coffee colored cat, and on a perch adjacent to it snoozes a small brown songbird.
Cass, still holding the staff, steps out of the dreamshard and into the space between dreams, where she finds Electra's dream rather quickly, given that they fell asleep in each others' arms. In Electra's dream, whatever it is she's currently dreaming, a magpie will appear, and spirit her into Cassandra's dreamshard.

[Earl of Purple]

Benedict's Manse

"Hard to be sure. Probably about seventy years, give or take. Except the tower. That... One of my ancestors enchanted it to fly, and whilst it's been anchored for several centuries now, it remembers the journey so making it fly again would be easier than the first time." Benedict walks to the front door and opens it, revealing a large, open double-height greeting room, with the tower making the far wall, with the plain and unadorned heavy, rivet-studded door to the tower in the centre. There's a staircase on each side of the room, up to a mezzanine floor. Several interesting items provide decoration in this chamber; a stone statue of a winged, reptilian humanoid in armour, poised as though it should be holding something like a sword or axe, with a steel sword lodged in the figure's torso. The trunk of a white-barked tree, carved with a face. An iron Romanesque helmet on a podium. A glass dome with several taxidermied faeries underneath and a leather boot.

"The bedrooms are up there. The kitchens through there, and my study is that way. If you can't find me there, I'll be in the tower. Send my coachman to find me if you can't." Benedict points out as he speaks.

[Recaiden]

"Is there anyone else here that's alive?" Just curious
Miri stands in the doorway and marvels at the height of the cottage.
Then she manages to head inside and marvel at all the weird things as she looks at their appearances and any magic that's probably in them.
She waves to the statue, the trunk, and the fairies. But doesn't touch anything.
And eventually, she'll make her way to the bedrooms.

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Cass' Tower -> Cass' Dreamshard]

Electra's dream is easy to find, and inside, the magpie will find Electra in a similar room to Cass' dreamshard, though hers looks out on a frozen mountain rather than a lake. She's reclining in the chair and playing an idle melody on a guitar, humming along. Notably, the cat and bird are missing, but when she hums along with the guitar, there's a second voice along with her own, similar, but higher, clearly a soprano, with a cheerfulness to its tone that's foreign to the way Electra usually speaks or sings. If the magpie looks closely before spiriting Electra off, she might notice three spectral figures reclining in the other chairs, but Electra looks to the magpie when it enters, and gets up, offering her hand to make it easier to spirit her back to Cass' dreamshard.

Once she's in Cass's dreamshard, she'll give the sorceress a quick peck on the cheek and a hug.

"Thanks for doing this. Is there anything I can do to help?"

[Earl of Purple]

Benedict's Manse

"In the house? Myself, you, and the cook. I have two guests in the basement currently, they should still be alive. Technically the manservant, too. Demons are stronger when bound inside a living host, rather than a dead one." Benedict has never trusted an undead cook. The manservant might also not count, as he no longer needs to worry about eating, sleeping or any other mortal concern.

They're mostly curiosities, though the statue was alive- it's an artificial creature that was designed to self-petrify when it died, to hinder its killer. Normally they crumble to dust after a few minutes, to recover the weapons afterwards, but this one has had that aspect of the magic suppressed. The leather boot is half of a pair of boots cursed to force the wearer to dance; the other one is missing. The Roman helmet is under the effect of several enchantments designed to preserve it and prevent it rusting, but won't affect the helmet's performance in battle.

There's three spare bedrooms. All richly appointed with four-poster beds, large (empty) wardrobes, a vanity, a desk and chair and an en suite bathroom and toilet. One is decorated in red, with a theme of flesh and internal organs; there's an anatomical painting over the wardrobe, the posts are carved to resemble muscles, the door handles are bones, and so on. One is decorated in green, with a forest theme; the frills on the bedding are shaped like leaves, there's a potted fern by the window, the painting is of a tiger stalking a woman washing clothes in a forest pool, all the furniture is unpainted and deeply polished to show the grain and the lights are shaped like flowers. The third bedroom is decorated in blue, with a nautical theme. The painting is of a whale hunt, the furniture has all been salvaged from ships, the bed's curtains are cut to resemble sails, a withered mummified Jenny Hanniver 'mermaid' sits in a glass case on the vanity and the door handles are shells. Each room has a bookshelf covered in books on relevant subjects- the Red Room covers medicine, anatomy, religion and death; the Green Room covers survival, botany, biology, ethnology, and geography; and the Blue Room covers shipwrights, meteorology, oceanography, ichthyology, piracy and navigation.

[Recaiden]

Guests who should be alive? In the basement? That doesn't sound great. Maybe she should start worrying.

Where does Benedict go?
Oh! Look at all these. The red room is pretty, and the green room is too, if a little weird, and then!
The blue room!
Miri jumps into the bed and lays down, stretching her arms out. So comfy. "Ah." She hasn't seen such a comfy bed in...ever.

After a couple minutes, she hops up and heads to the bathroom, where she'll be washing up for...quite a while. Benedict has towels, hopefully?

[Ashen Lilies]

[Cass' Dreamshard]

"No, that's okay. You can just wait here while I look for Wenomir," says Cass, briefly in elven form to receive the hug and the kiss. She's dressed in a slightly more formal outfit than what she was wearing while awake - a beige, high-collared jacket with golden embroidery on the front, with a slashed brown cape. Electra might find her own clothes to be a lot more... mutable here, depending on how strong her focus is. She'll find her outfit liable to change with her moods. Cass herself seems a little anxious, which may be the emotion to which her more formal attire is owed.
"It might take me a while to find his dream. I've never tried before. I... *think* I can do it. We'll see."

She gives Electra a nervous smile, and then takes a step out of the dreamshard into nothing. Electra will be given the faintest, dreamlike impression of her becoming a magpie again (though she doesn't *physically* turn into one) as she enters the place between dreams, leaving Electra alone in the dreamshard with the cat and the songbird.

Or... not alone? The songbird is gone, and in one of the armchairs is sitting a dark elf with legs crossed, holding the stem of a glass of red wine in his delicate fingers. Electra will find the elf to be remarkably, even uncannily resembling of Cass. Almost identical, in fact, with the same elegant features and silvery eyes, though this elf seems unmistakably male, and his white hair is tied back into a short ponytail, rather than worn loose as Cass does. He's dressed in a loose white shirt, high-waisted black pants, and glossy thigh-high boots. He examines the glass of wine with a look of intense speculation on his face, appearing as though he hasn't noticed Electra at all, though that'd be a little farfetched, given the intimacy of the room and the fact that Electra and Cass were just talking right in front of him.

[Earl of Purple]

Benedict's Manse

Benedict's gone to the kitchens, alert the cook as to the nature and presence of Miri, and then to the study to examine the wand properly.

And Miri hasn't been taken to the basement, so she likely doesn't have to worry about becoming that kind of guest. Probably not impossible; if she wants to meet them, maybe she could ask Benedict to take her?

There are towels in the bathroom. They're quite musty, haven't been used or switched for a while, but they're fluffy, new and effective. When she leaves the bathroom, there's a lady in her thirties wearing a simple green dress and a plain steel chain about her neck in the room. She's got pale skin, like she doesn't get enough sun, pale brown hair and wide green eyes. She's carrying some clothes folded over her arm and a fine silver plate with some soft-looking sandwiches on it. "Oh! Hello. I'm Sara, the cook. I've brought some clothes for you, and sandwiches. Benedict didn't know when you'd last eaten, so I thought you might be hungry. Supper's a few hours away, yet. Benedict usually eats shortly after sundown."