Home 25: Still making mortgage payments

[Recaiden]

Miri closes the book and returns it to the shelf partway through.
See, this is why people shouldn't live so long. You end up poisoning towns just out of curiosity! Just the idea makes her a little mad.

Better try another section of the library. Maybe the one with weird historical widgets? And is there anything to write with around here?

She's pretty sure weeding is part of gardening, but she doesn't say so.
"Yeah, okay, that doesn't sound too bad."

[Earl of Purple]

Benedict's Manse

If it helps, Benedict would not be able to sell their heart & mercy for eternal life. Because she has no mercy already.

Miri will find in each library a writing-desk, complete with paper and fountain pens. Both high-quality and fancy, though the pens are a little more old fashioned. Or there's books! Lots of books on history and mythology, plus several holy books and narratives on them as well. Most in history & geography are in English; most detail various facets about the island of Great Britain, the Scilly Isles, Ireland, the Orkneys, the Hebrides, the Isle of Mann, the Channel Isles, Brittany, Scandinavia and Normandy.

[Recaiden]

That does help, certainly. But she might have other saleable assets that a silly rakshasa could trade time for.

"Do you know where any of these places are?" She asks of Sara, going through the geographies. None of them look even a bit familiar.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Fort Aegis]

Sylvess nods. Chief. That makes sense. "W-well I think we're probably ready to discuss things then. I-if you don't mind, um, showing us the way?"

Sylvess is good at this, isn't he? Really selling the part of a big serious important dragon.

[Earl of Purple]

Benedict's Manse

Well, Miri should recognise England, at least. The new wand Benedict got was allegedly owned by a prior King of England.

"Yes. The house was on Saint Agnes in the Isles of Scilly until about five years ago, which is part of the Kingdom of England. The English at that time revolted against the monarchy and aristocrats in general. Many in Benedict's social group were forced to flee or were killed, but the Beaulieu family was feared by the locals so she had some time for preparations. She moved the whole estate to the Nexus. I don't know how; I was told to stay in a warded room in the basement." She doesn't know much more about the local geography than that, though a basic map can be assembled using that knowledge- the Isles of Scilly are off the south-westernmost point of England, and Brittany and Normandy are not far from England's southern coast, though closest in the south east. Scandinavia can't be placed using the books, however.

[Recaiden]

That was a while ago, when she was still cold and hungry. Miri can't be expected to remember details like that.

"All of this is in another world, then?" That's cool, meeting people from imaginary worlds like Great Britain, but it's not very useful to her today.
And poor Sara, lost in this world, just like her. Living on this little (relatively big, but still small overall) estate the whole while.

So instead she starts writing out the alphabet for Sara.
"So these are the most important letters..."

[Earl of Purple]

Benedict's Manse

"I think so? Another land, at least." Sara doesn't know much more than that, either. She looks at the letters, and bites her lip as she starts to learn. Or at least be taught.

[Halae]

[Kathy's Shop]

"Alright, so the two-person version of this dance starts out slow, then becomes quicker later. I've seen it performed at gatherings, where people would try to impress others in twos or threes." He has taken off his shoes by now, as well as his coat and jacket, leaving him in his shirt. He's definitely more slim and toned than muscular. "Take my hand and follow my movements." He'll lead her in a slow circular motion, getting closer and farther, jumping back and forth and switching places by passing under their joined hands. It shouldn't be too difficult to follow for now.

[Kathy's Shop]

Kathy will follow along ably. She's good at observing movement and working with it - it's part of what makes her a good fighter, and here she's proving that knowing your footwork in a fight means you likely know what you're doing on the dance floor. She keeps up with the rhythm and with Fayyaad, though if there's a part where they have to get any closer than this, she'll likely hesitate, mostly because it'd mean her voluminous chest would be right up against Fayyaad's.

[Morty]

[Kathy's Shop]

Fayyaad is encouraged by Kathy's good ability to follow him and introduces quicker, more complicated moves into the dance. Some of them do eventually bring the dancers quite close together, but when he sees that Kathy is hesitant to press up against him, he will avoid such proximity. After some time, he'll stop the dance and step back, wiping his brow.

"You're doing quite well so far. You have a practised grace."

[Halae]

[Kathy's Shop]

"Footwork's a part of fighting, but it doesn't have to be just for fighting," Kathy says with a smile, stepping back to wipe her own brow. She'll head over to the kitchenette in the corner of the room and pull open the fridge. A short bit of looking and she'll pull out a jug of milk, an unlabeled can of... something, and a pair of glasses from the cupboard, "You want anything? I've got some wine, milk, water, and orange juice," Kathy pours herself a tall glass of milk, but before she starts drinking it, she'll unseal the can and pour its blue contents into the glass to blend with the milk, discoloring it slightly.

[Morty]

[Kathy's Shop]

"I have heard some say that one shouldn't give a sword to someone who can't dance. It seems it applies to war-machines as well. And some wine would be appreciated," Fayyaad says. Then he can't help but wonder about this... blue drink Kathy adds to her milk. "I've never seen milk drunk this way."

[Halae]

[Kathy's Shop]

"Hmm?" It takes Kathy a second to register what Fayyaad means about that, as she's grabbing wine for him, "Oh, the blue stuff. It's medicine; Technically speaking I don't need it, but it reduces painful buildup around my cybernetics. Think of it like... having arthritis, I guess. I just drink a little of the blue stuff every day and it cleans up my body to keep it from being painful. Teeechnically, I could just replace my implants with ones that don't cause gunk buildups, but it'd basically mean peeling myself open to take the old ones out and put the new ones in. I probably should at some point, but I just haven't had much reason for it, especially when the medicine still works and is relatively easy to make."

Kathy will pour Fayyaad some wine, and then bring his glass over to him, "Here."

[Recaiden]

[Benedict's Manse]

"I think so? Another land, at least." Sara doesn't know much more than that, either. She looks at the letters, and bites her lip as she starts to learn. Or at least be taught.

"Hmm, okay. Benedict should get some new books, then." she idly observes.

Hopefully Sara will learn some of it. It's not easy, learning to read. The letters are twisty and arranged nonsensically. And being older only makes it more difficult.
Miri is patient enough to continue trying to teach letters for quite a while.
Presumably at some point Benedict will...actually she doesn't know what the occultist is going to want with her.

[Earl of Purple]

Benedict's Manse

Sara's quite determined to read, but she's never even had lessons before. This is totally new for her, and it shows. She's not learning very quickly at all- and it's frustrating her quite a lot.

It'll be a few hours before a skeleton with polished bones and dark red glass spheres set into the eyesockets. It looks at Miri and Sara and waves, before motioning them to follow. If Miri does, Sara takes a position behind her and they're lead to a chamber in the Tower itself, with a ritual circle in the centre of the room drawn in blood on the bare stone. The chamber is lit by three glowing glass spheres suspended in the air above silver bowls etched with strange symbols.

Benedict stands to one side, having changed into plain white robes embroidered with complex knotwork and a verdigrised bronze circlet about her head. "Ah, Miri. And Sara, too. That is... unexpected, but perhaps not surprising. I have done a little research, and I may have a way to help you recover your memory. I can't promise it will work, however. Are you interested?"

[Morty]

[Kathy's Shop]

Fayyaad can't help but see a flaw in the reasoning. What if the medicine stops working? Then again, replacing those arms can't be easy, pleasant or cheap. He presumes Kathy knows what she's doing.

"Thank you," he says, taking the wine and tasting it. "I understand, I think. Replacing those limbs must be an undertaking."

[Recaiden]

"Don't worry. Reading takes a lot of practice." Miri makes up, having no idea how she learned to read. "Just focus on the vowels, and-oh, a skeleton."
Wow, look at those cool eyes it has!
Okay, seems the lesson is over.
Miri leaves the books and papers and follows the skeleton out and up into the tower. Where the sight makes her think, at first, that escaping would have been a good idea.
"Of course I'm interested. How does it work? What decides whether it fails or not?"
She peers at the spheres and circles to try to make out what magic is in them.

[Earl of Purple]

Benedict's Manse

Benedict's robes are enchanted to help channel magic away from Benedict, keeping her safe from anything that might go wrong here. The bowls are keeping the spheres aloft, magic interfering with gravity so that it pushes rather than pulls. The spheres hang where the effect ends and normal gravity reasserts itself. The spheres contain stored magic, glowing as a side-effect and as a sign of how much magic remains within the sphere. The circlet around Benedict's head enables her to see magic.

"It works by enabling me to see your soul and enable me to manipulate it. I will then be able to assess your soul, and if there's any damage to it I should be able to repair it. If not, I can disassemble it slightly and put it back together again. Some say memories are encoded into the structure of our brains; I believe otherwise. Memories shape our personality, and our personality shapes our soul. So, by shaping your soul slightly, I can reverse the process and recover memories currently lost. I have performed this ritual thrice before. Twice I have failed. The first failure, I accidentally released the bindings between soul and body. The second failure fought against my efforts, and instead of retrieving memories more were lost. The risks, therefore, are quite high. But I know what I did when I unshackled the soul, and how to avoid doing that accidentally. It might also fail if the damage to your soul is too extensive for me to repair, or if something happens that I can't foresee." So it's risky, but Benedict's unlikely to kill Miri. At least, not accidentally.

[Recaiden]

That all sounds a little alarming but also a bit over Miri's head. If Benedict says that's how memories work, well, Miri doesn't really know about that.

She considers for a moment, and then nods.
"I just need to not struggle and stay in my body. Sounds easy. Even if the memories are bad, I guess. Go ahead."
Miri will follow any ritual instructions Benedict gives, unless they're really quite worrisome.

[Earl of Purple]

Benedict's Manse

"Sara, leave us. Go cook some supper. Miri, stand in the centre of the circle and turn around. Close your eyes, focus your breathing. You know how to meditate? That's what I want you to do." Sara leaves, and if Miri obeys, Benedict starts to chant and draw complex symbols, one with each hand. His right hand is drawing in white lines and his left hand in black ones.

Miri might feel as though her blood has turned to ice, before turning to fire. It's painful, and she might want to start fighting. That is probably not a good idea.

[Recaiden]

"Bye Sara."
Miri steps forward into the circle as instructed, closes her eyes, turns about. "Actually, no, I can't say that I do know how to meditate."
Is it just focusing on her breathing? That she can probably do.

Though her breathing gets a bit uneven as the temperature seems to wildly shift, she stays the course.

[Deathkeeper]

[Fort Aegis]

Sylvess nods. Chief. That makes sense. "W-well I think we're probably ready to discuss things then. I-if you don't mind, um, showing us the way?"

Sylvess is good at this, isn't he? Really selling the part of a big serious important dragon.

[Fort Aegis]

The attendants nod and leads Sylvess deep into the tunnels under the castle.
Which is really a lot less menacing than it sounds. Once out of the areas the kobolds tried to make into a business, the place has a structured, almost town-like feel, with signs, dwellings with little wooden doors (also carved) and lots of little dim lanterns, since the kobolds need very little light to see. It's cozy, but likely very cramped for our wide heroes. Eventually they come to a warren with a large door. The attendants knock and out comes a portly old kobold with black scales, who very nearly jumps out of his skin when he see his guests.
"Oh dear! Oh dear. You didn't tell me- ahem. Welcome, honored dragons. I ah, I'm afraid my abode won't be able to fit you. Perhaps we can find an unoccupied place to speak. I'm mayor Sildin." He says, bowing low.
"Yeah! Big one said he wants to make a deal Chief Sildin." says the bath attendant excitedly. "That's mayor- oh sod it let's just go." Sildin groans and leads them to a little cul-de-sac outside the main area.
"Now, they said you had business to discuss?"

[Earl of Purple]

Benedict's Manse

Well, focused breathing is probably good enough.

Now her soul is visible, the lights around the room dim as Benedict uses the magic stored within to fuel what he is doing. He'll look for any damage that may have caused the memory loss, and manipulate it with drawn black lines, pulling wounds closed, stretching it to cover areas where it should be, and so on. If he can't see any damage, he'll start to peel layers off the edge of the soul, keeping them attached so they don't dissipate until he's keep deep inside, then start to repair it.

Whatever he does, Miri should get hot flushes, before feeling cold; goosebumps should rise, and she might feel her heartbeat increase or slow down. It may also be accompanied by surges of emotion.

[UncleWolf]

[Sam's Place]

Sam nods, putting down the food from the cart he'd been munching on.
"You told me you had some information on my former roommate back on Halloween. I'd like that from you. And I know that advice is free from you but information isn't."
Sam really does wish they could just be friends instead of this weird thing where Dorry has to encourage him to get in over his head. He knows she's more benevolent than plenty of other beings doing the same thing. But it always nags at him.

Sam's Place

As if reading Sam's emotions and thoughts, the Broker gives a bit of a frown as she sets her glass and fork aside, apparently done with her food. "I did, yes. Likely far more information than you expect though I'm not sure you'll like knowing how I know it all. This information will cost you, yes, exactly because she's your friend and I know this is important to you. Even if I were to consider myself your friend Sam, there are certain Rules in place for entities like me that prevent me from just giving this over for free. I have incredible amounts of power at my disposal, but reality itself bends to prevent its free abuse. Typically, this sort of thing would require a sacrifice of greater value. Instead, I'll just ask a question." She leans forward, looking incredibly serious.

"Just how much is your friend's life and sanity worth to you?"

[Deathkeeper]

[Sam's Place]

Sam returns the gesture, leaning forward as he meets Dorry's gaze. He knows Dorry is a being of power, and she makes deals he wouldn't normally be comfortable with. He's had his own fingers in at least one of them.
"Quite a bit, Dorry. Quite a bit." he says resolutely.
"That is why I am prepared to have this conversation."

[Recaiden]

Miri has her eyes closed, so she certainly isn't seeing any souls.
Her soul looks perfectly fine. No real damage. No superficial damage. You see, this soul has only been around for a very short time. Less than a year, surely. Less than a month, possibly. It's more innocent than most babies. It seems to attach to her body in five places, or five ways, which might be more than the usual. But see, most of the memories Miri has, she inherited from someone else.

She starts shaking, hands clenched together.
This is so unfair, meteors, amnesia, a weird world with slavery still going on and monsters everywhere.
At least Benedict is trying to help.

[Earl of Purple]

Benedict's Manse

Benedict restores the soul to the state she found it in- or as close as she can get; Miri may still gain phantom memories as a result of this operation- and cancels the magic. The autonomic responses Miri's been having should cease and her body return to normal now, though it may take a few seconds or a minute.

"That is... very odd. Your soul is... strange. It looks like none other I have worked with." This is the fourth time she has performed this particular type of ritual. She's not done it on anyone under thirty-five. "It looked... Unformed, shapeless. It's... almost as though you had the soul of a child, one with no memories or experiences to shape it." It can't be a baby's soul, can it? She can talk, that requires learning and it takes a while. "I have finished, now. Any memories I have dislodged should return to you... at some point in the next twelve hours or so. I hope you are tired, as I think sleep would help expedite the process. Dreams are shaped by memory, so any that I have managed to recover should appear or be referenced in your dreams." But there's probably time for supper first, if Miri would prefer.

[Recaiden]

Miri subsides into shivering, and then asks the obvious question.
"But I do have a soul, right? It's not missing?"

She's still here, and not dead, or a spirit or anything? She glances around to make sure her body isn't lying somewhere nearby without her in it. Okay, good.
"Uh, today's been pretty long, but are we not going to eat? Didn't Sara go to cook? Or was that actually a really long time?"

[UncleWolf]

Sam's Place

"And would you kill for her?" Dorry asks seriously, raising an eyebrow before holding up her hand to stop him from answering. "A great deal of my problems would be resolved easier and quicker if I were the kind to resort to violence. But you know how this goes, Sam. You make your offer of payment and then I make my own. So, again, what is she worth?"

[Deathkeeper]

[Sam's Place]

Sam doesn't answer Dorry's first question. He's never actually killed anyone, and he doesn't plan on starting. There was the time- well, it didn't work and that wasn't even really him.
Shaking the thoughts from his head, Sam takes out a beautiful pendant on an impossibly fine chain, cold to the touch and shaped like a silver-blue snowflake.
"A token from the Winter Court of the Fae, specifically from Princess Nuara herself for services rendered. One favor from a member of her court, no questions asked. Maybe it's a bit late in the season to use it now, but I know what someone like you could do with this at the right time." Sam isn't really one to really grasp faerie dealings. Hence why he's never himself resorted to using this. That and he was always sure it would be something of interest to Dorry.

[UncleWolf]

Sam's Place

"What are the circumstances that you obtained such a favor?" Dorry asks, actually slightly impressed as she looks over the amulet without taking it. "If you are able to tell me of course."