Home 25: Still making mortgage payments

[Recaiden]

So Benedict isn't anything out of the family mold, huh?

"Maybe you can soften them. You know, file them down?"

Miri follows them upstairs, amused by Arron's difficulty with the clothes he has so far.

[Murkus]

[Karaoke Party]

As if Div could get any more flushed. Div snuggles up against Batu and goes back to the table with his friends. He doesn't meet the crowd's eyes much, not even while they cheer. He is happy to scurry away.

"I-I'm just glad we had you here for it, Jim! You carried us a little..."

[Earl of Purple]

Benedict's Manse

Benedict is a chip off the old block, yeah.

Upstairs, Benedict leads them to a study. It's got a big desk, a chair and several bookshelves. These are filled mostly with notebooks and journals, with some strange artefacts and books Benedict inherited from their ancestors. Amongst the most notable are a gilded skull inlaid with ebony and silver, glowing with a soft light; an oak wand carved to resemble a centipede; an onyx chess bishop with a snarling face; an ancient bronze sword with a bare tang and verdigrised runes etched into the blade; and a taxidermy of a snake with a head at each end.

"I'm not sure that will work." Arron reaches up and pulls one of the teeth out. It's quite brittle and fell out easily, without pain. It's also already been replaced.

"Arron, once your clothes arrive and you have changed, you may go. I no longer need your presence in my basement. Miri, you may stay as long as you wish. You still interest me." And since it would appear Benedict is soon to have solved- at least temporarily- his ageing issue, they can invest in other interests as they wish.

[Recaiden]

Up they go!

When Arron takes one of his own teeth out, Miri winces and looks away.
"Well, maybe not." Perhaps he could just take his teeth out and keep them from growing in until he needs them, maybe by-
Maybe she's not going to think about this any longer.

Instead, Miri wonders why she's in this study in particular.
"Uh, thank you." It's great to have a place to stay! It's not great for that place to be dependent on the whims of a powerful, amoral wizard! "I'm pretty interested in figuring things out too."
Following her earlier interest, she takes a closer look at the centipede wand. What does it look like it does, magically speaking.

[Earl of Purple]

Benedict's Manse

The wand is only vaguely a wand. It's a length of enchanted wood activated by a command word, but that command word turns the wand from figurine to actual centipede. Another command word turns it back into its current form- or the next sunrise, if nobody is left that knows how to deactivate it. It's not under the command of the person who activated it, just a random giant centipede that probably isn't very happy.

"Um, where do you want me to go to? Anywhere, or..." Arron asks, a little nervous. The skeleton bearing his clothes has arrived, and handed them over. A pair of worn trainers, the left one held together by duct tape; a pair of jeans, quite new-looking and in condition, though that seems to be because Sara has repaired them at some point; an off-white t-shirt and a big black hoody with 'Vault R' emblazoned upon the back. Also a gun belt, though no gun or holster.
"Away, Arron. I do not wish to see you again. I would advise you to avoid Skyside, but I think that is a lesson you have learnt already, yes?" Benedict stares at Arron until the former slave nods and turns to depart. Benedict won't stop him, but Miri might.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Fort Aegis]

Sildin nods.
"Yes, ah, well. We're prepared to offer you the entirety of the fortress itself, as well as your own wing of our tunnels. Really, ah, you would have control of all of the business parts of the warren as well as your own. But not infringe on ours, and we would be the ones staffing the business except in cases of absolute non-negotiable need. All that would be yours in exchange for your ah, initial investment. And for future profits well, since we would be all of your staff we were thinking between you and us ah....forty-sixty? the kobold seems absolutely terrified of making monetary demands of a dragon.
Spako eyes Sylvess, and does his best to look non-threatening to the mayor. He isn't sure it's working.

[Fort Aegis]

Sylvess scratches his chin with a claw. He's not supposed to just say yes, right? Negotiations require some actual negotiation.

...this is another one of the many things he is not good at. But he's going to try. And try not to look like a big scary dragon while he's doing so.

So, he slowly reaches into his satchel, digs around, then pulls out a glimmering, golden, circular shield. Its surface is encrusted with an array of large, clean-cut jewels, and it serves as quite an effective indicator of Sylvess' wealth. The shield is for-sure worth quite a lot of coin.

"I-I would like to, um, make a-a counter-offer." Sylvess says, trying to sound like a serious business-dragon, but hesitantly glancing across at Spako as he speaks, very much unsure what Spako is going to think of this. "I-I will happily invest a considerable sum in this place. E-enough to make it the finest spa the Nexus has ever seen. B-but in exchange, I-I would like 50/50 u-until such time as I have recovered my investment, then it can shift to 60/40, o-or maybe further depending on how healthy the profits are. I-in addition, we'll need to clear out a-an egg chamber for the two of us i-in cose proximity to the hot springs to keep the eggs warm, a-and we'll need at least one kobold to act as an attendant for us while we're laying, a-and while the eggs are incubating."

[Ashen Lilies]

[Cass' Dreamshard]

Cass opens her eyes as well, having seen the vision from Electra's point of view, acting as a conduit to project it onto the screen for Wenomir. She doesn't let go of Electra's hand, though.

"Thanks for doing that," she murmurs.

[Recaiden]

An unfriendly wondrous figurine, then. If you just had some way to talk to bugs...

Gosh, those are in worse shape than the shirt. Less revealing overall, though.
Miri has a suggestion.
"Actually, Benedict, do you mind if I keep him around for a little while? The mutation is interesting, and I could ask about things I remember without needing to bother you."
He could be put in the blue room then, or just a corner of Miri's.

[Deathkeeper]

[Fort Aegis]

Sylvess scratches his chin with a claw. He's not supposed to just say yes, right? Negotiations require some actual negotiation.

...this is another one of the many things he is not good at. But he's going to try. And try not to look like a big scary dragon while he's doing so.

So, he slowly reaches into his satchel, digs around, then pulls out a glimmering, golden, circular shield. Its surface is encrusted with an array of large, clean-cut jewels, and it serves as quite an effective indicator of Sylvess' wealth. The shield is for-sure worth quite a lot of coin.

"I-I would like to, um, make a-a counter-offer." Sylvess says, trying to sound like a serious business-dragon, but hesitantly glancing across at Spako as he speaks, very much unsure what Spako is going to think of this. "I-I will happily invest a considerable sum in this place. E-enough to make it the finest spa the Nexus has ever seen. B-but in exchange, I-I would like 50/50 u-until such time as I have recovered my investment, then it can shift to 60/40, o-or maybe further depending on how healthy the profits are. I-in addition, we'll need to clear out a-an egg chamber for the two of us i-in close proximity to the hot springs to keep the eggs warm, a-and we'll need at least one kobold to act as an attendant for us while we're laying, a-and while the eggs are incubating."

[Fort Aegis]

The kobold's eyes go wide as he looks at the shield, marveling at the great treasure.
"Oh, of course. We can easily get a chamber excavated and get an attendant for you. And surely we can accept-" "fifty-five forty-five." Spako says simply, eyeing both of them.
"We would be happy accepting forty-five. We are, after all, two compared to your community, benefactor or not." Spako explains pleasantly. It seems he's playing good-cop. Who would have thought that the ex-kobold will get defensive for the sake of kobolds?

[Karaoke Party]

As if Div could get any more flushed. Div snuggles up against Batu and goes back to the table with his friends. He doesn't meet the crowd's eyes much, not even while they cheer. He is happy to scurry away.

"I-I'm just glad we had you here for it, Jim! You carried us a little..."

[Karaoke Party]

Jim opens an eye slyly at them.
"You think so? Eh, maybe a little. You guys just don't know how to perform. You can sing just fine." he says nonchalantly, adding a shrug for effect.

[Morty]

[Karaoke Party]

"I guess we do. This was more fun than I expected it'd be." Batu grins. "For once, I stopped... thinking. And wondering if I should be doing what I'm doing."

[Cass' Dreamshard]

Wenomir stares at the mirror with a blank, focused expression.

"This matches a report we received from a person outside Vigil some time ago. A military base in the mountains."

[Earl of Purple]

Benedict's Manse

Or you could do what Benedict's great-grandfather did with it, and throw it at a witch hunter investigating mysterious disappearances amongst the local villages.

Arron is pulling the trousers on first. The shirt and jumper that comes with are better than what he's wearing at the moment, but this way he has a bit more modesty. "Um, if it's all the same to you, I'd... really rather not be here." Even if he has to go without a gun, he'd much prefer to be as far from Benedict as possible.

"If you can convince him to stay, you may keep him. So long as he stays out of my way and doesn't disturb the skeletons." Benedict waves at Arron, who might be persuaded but really would like to get out of here.

[Recaiden]

"If it was all the same, I wouldn't even ask."
Miri eyes Arron as he's getting dressed. If he's always looking to get away, he won't be much use, huh?
"I guess you don't know much of anything about the world anyway. Good luck out there." He is dismissed, and Miri turns back to Benedict.

"So, what are we doing in this room in particular?"

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Fort Aegis]

The kobold's eyes go wide as he looks at the shield, marveling at the great treasure.
"Oh, of course. We can easily get a chamber excavated and get an attendant for you. And surely we can accept-" "fifty-five forty-five." Spako says simply, eyeing both of them.
"We would be happy accepting forty-five. We are, after all, two compared to your community, benefactor or not." Spako explains pleasantly. It seems he's playing good-cop. Who would have thought that the ex-kobold will get defensive for the sake of kobolds?

[Fort Aegis]

Sylvess' mouth sort of locks half-open in surprise as he stares blankly at Spako.

He had not been expecting that.

Was 50/50 really so unfair? How much of a difference does five percent make? It's hard not to take this a little personally, if this is going to be his lair, then-

No. No no. Not his lair. Their lair. And the kobolds' home too. And if five percent isn't that big a difference then this has to be Spako teaching him a lesson, right?

He lowers his head and looks shamefacedly up at Spako. "O-of course. That's fine. Th-thank you, Spako, for reminding me not to be greedy."

[Earl of Purple]

Benedict's Manse

"Well, I mean, what do you want me for? Just... Stick around, look at my teeth some? No weird magic stuff to do to me?" Arron wants to get away from Benedict, but he's starting to think that maybe leaving Miri here alone with him- well, alone besides his servant, at least- might not be the best idea.

"Because it has a comfortable chair in it, and records of an ancestor's experiments in mnemomancy. I have never explored that type of magic, and thought they may be of some use. My great-great-grandfather's younger brother, I think he was. He was barricaded into his bedroom after returning from a trip to the Levant and Transylvania. He'd stolen memories from people he shouldn't have, and couldn't handle the consequences." Benedict pulls two books from the shelf behind the desk, scanning the shelves briefly before adding another volume. "That one might not be much help. It was written by my direct ancestor, who didn't practice memory-magic, but had to deal with the aftermath." It's also the only book written in a cohesive handwriting; the other two, written by the mnemomancer directly, has handwriting that varies from a spiky, aggressive style to a loose and elegant style, and the author appears to have switched between the two quickly and easily. They also appear to have been fluent in English, Old German, Latin and Hebrew, and wrote in Glagolitic script occasionally too.

[Recaiden]

"I don't do weird magic stuff." Miri says, a bit defensive. She is of course completely wrong on that count. But she's not doing any weird magic on purpose! "I'm just curious about it."
"Besides, you're nearly the only remotely normal person around."

She returns attention to Benedict. "Mnemomancy can copy memories from one person to ... somewhere else, then? So you could remember them even if I couldn't? Is that the idea?" Just speculating here; the tale about the author of those books is not encouraging. "Or do you think memory magic is how I got this way?"

[Deathkeeper]

[Fort Aegis]

The mayor looks extremely awkward as he stares between the two dragons.
"Uh, I find that ah, perfectly acceptable-" "Great, why don't you go get some paper and we can draw up an agreement, yes?" asks Spako. The kobold nods and scurries off.
Spako wastes no time in wrapping a wing around Sylvess.
"I'm sorry, Sylvess. I had an impulse reaction. Was it too much? I mean, they're- well you know. He wasn't even going to haggle! And they're living in rocks and don't have clothes and I just couldn't- like-well-I guess I'm biased and just want them to have what I didn't, you know? Besides we want them to like us if they're going to be around the hatchlings for the foreseeable future and I'm sorry I couldn't figure out how to steer it without being super blunt about it." he's going to be rambling for a bit if Sylvess doesn't stop him.

[Earl of Purple]

Benedict's Manse

"Yes, mnemomancy is all about interacting with memories. Copying them from one mind to another, wiping them completely, tweaking or adjusting memories, and particularly advanced practitioners have claimed to be able to remember the future, though the method they claim to use is an unusual one. They claim to be able to send a memory back in time. Unfortunately, it has serious downsides. Mnemomancers are far more likely to go insane as a result of their abilities, forgetting who they are amongst all the memories they have taken from others. My decease relative compounded that by seeking powerful entities with long experience and advanced knowledge, plundering their minds wherever he could. In Transylvania, he found a sleeping vampire and took six decades of its mind. In the Levant, he found an abandoned temple with a forgotten sibyl, asked a question and took from her the memory of his visit. Then he asked her another question. When he heard the Patriarch of Alexandria was dying, he broke into the priest's room and stole three decades of research into apotheosis. By the time he was forty, he had stuffed his brain with enough memories for five life times." So really, it was bad choices and using the magic to advance the traditional Beaulieu virtues of greed and curiosity.

"Oh, many of the advanced methods to delve into your past are denied to me- my own methods and practices require a very rigid mental process, and after fifty years of work I cannot let it be undermined by doubt or confusion introduced from accessing another's mind. But that doesn't mean they are denied to you. In fact, they would be much, much easier, as they are accessing your own memories, and not those of someone else. Less chance of going insane due to multiple contradictory pasts." Benedict nods and has another look for books, in case there's another around that might be useful.

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Cass' Dreamshard]

Electra squeezes Cass's hand, and gives her an appreciative glance, though her expression remains mostly stoic.

"I should clarify, the number of systems I've picked up aren't all necessarily Reploids. If they follow the standard for Mavs in my old world, a good chunk of the systems I'm picking up are probably mechaniloids; non-sentient robots. It might only be a thousand or so actual Reploids." Electra raises an eyebrow at Wenomir. "But who knows what else they might have. Vehicles? Aircraft? Magic? I mean, I can teach you and your people how to fight Reploids and mechaniloids, but I can't help with the more supernatural end of things."

[Recaiden]

"Just wait outside the room, Arron." Maybe he listens, maybe he doesn't.

Miri steps up to get a closer look at the books.
"I would learn this magic, and then I could know...but I, I'm not an occultist or anything. How long would it take before I got started?" And even if there are no vampires or ancient priests involved, what if her own memories drive her mad!?

[Earl of Purple]

Benedict's Manse

Arron nods and leaves.

"Neither was he. This isn't occultism; this is something different. More focused, not as broad but far deeper. I don't know how long it would take. Probably months. It took me a long time to reliably draw even the simplest occult sigil. This... I do not know. I read the books when I was young, in hope there might be clues to artefacts or knowledge that would help me now, but couldn't decipher much of use to me. I did design a symbol that removes memory, but it is short lived and the memory loss covers a minute at best." Great for some things, but extremely limited and nowhere near as impressive as the efforts of a true mnemomancer. "But it might be easier, as the memories you wish to access are your own. So long as they still exist and haven't been removed or destroyed, at least." Which would imply that Miri has already met a mnemomancer.

"I wouldn't be able to teach you, however. I should have some of the books the author of those journals used when he was learning, somewhere. My family has been collecting knowledge for a very long time, and we rarely throw anything away." If knowledge translated to political power, the Beaulieus would be dukes at least. Too many have sought apotheosis, or immortality to properly and reliably leverage the combined weight of their knowledge, and they've hoarded it rather than shared it so haven't even been able to spread it around that much.

[Recaiden]

Miri nods along at the explanation.
"Completely different, then. Why don't I get started reading these?"
She picks up the first book and leafs through the pages to get an idea of what it's like.
It might not help, if her soul is as empty of memories as he said...but mnemomancy seems like a useful thing, and it's really the best lead so far.
"Just a matter of finding the knowledge, right?"

[Earl of Purple]

Benedict's Manse

"That would be recommended, yes." Benedict picks the books up and hands them over. "Indeed. I will be reaching out, as well. See if anyone I know is aware of a mnemomancer or other practitioner who could help recover your memories." He might have to call in some favours, but that's something he can work with.

[Recaiden]

"That would be great news."
Miri takes the stack of books with some effort, and heads out the door and for the blue guest room, where she'll set the books down with a sigh.

If Arron is still around, she'll tell him to follow, and eventually say,
"Firstly, you could leave now, but I think you'd be better off in this world if you had someone else along to watch out for you, and the other way 'round too. But I need to stay here until I get more of my memory back. And you heard Benedict, there's tons of useful information around this manor."
"Secondly, if I hadn't been around, something terrible would have happened to you as a prisoner, so you're welcome."
"Thirdly, it's pretty awkward kissing someone through prison bars. You should at least have another try at it before you go." As long as he's careful of the teeth.

If he has already made his escape, she'll just get right to studying mnemomancy, reading as much as possible even if it doesn't make any sense yet.

[Earl of Purple]

Benedict's Manse

"I could at least do with a gun. I don't think Benedict has any plan on giving me one." He didn't have one when Benedict bought him; that had been confiscated, along with many other things. "I'm more than happy to help, if you need an extra pair of eyes, but... I didn't even know magic and stuff was real before I visited this town called Chapel." That's where Arron was acquired by the Guild, and shortly after sold to Benedict.

Then, with the comment about kissing, Arron blushes and stammers. "Um, ah. Right, yes. Um, is... is that an open offer? I'd like to get a bit more used to my teeth..." But Arron sounds a little unsure, like he's thinking if he backs out now he'll never have the guts again.

[Ashen Lilies]

[Cass' Dreamshard]

"Vigil might not have the army to fight these intruders, but other places, like Inside and Skyside, will," Wren suggests, earning a sharp glance from Cass, who squeezes Electra's hand in turn.

"If your people can gather information about their goals and vulnerabilities, it may be enough for others to act," he muses. Wenomir will find his voice to be similar in tone and cadence to Cass', though a little more measured and less anxious.

[Morty]

[Cass' Dreamshard]

Wren's suggestion doesn't seem to appreciably improve Wenomir's mood or attitude. But he does need to acknowledge its validity.

"I hate dealing with armies," he says to no one in particular. "If they have so many robots, sapient or otherwise, other weapons and infrastructure are a safe assumption. Either way, running support for people who can actually match their numbers is our best and possibly only option."

[Recaiden]

"Yeah, I wish I had my...uh, it's a ...nevermind." Something vaguely gunlike, she definitely recalls that much!
"Now, I'm better at noticing magic than most people, but that's a world away from actually doing it. Having you looking over it too can only help."

Then as Arron gets to stammering, Miri nods, shameless.
"It is an open offer, as long as you're not just making excuses. "

[UncleWolf]

[Sam's Place]

Sam does not look comfortable with those instructions.
"I will wait until morning if you think I should wait at all. You didn't make it sound like I had much time to spare. So...unless you think it should be longer, that's the plan."
Vigil is...well it's better than being in the clutches of bad guys. He doesn't know what he'd do if he was told he had to go find some gang hideout in Skyside for her. Or storm AMEN. If that happened he'd probably be asking Vigil to do it.

Sam's Place

Dorry gives a shrug. "Your choice, though I wasn't meaning to delay you. I just recommended being cautious." She leans forward, tail swaying behind her. "Anything else you wish for?" She asks. Perhaps it was a bit rude, but she did have to stick to some formalities and rules in the dealmaking.

[Deathkeeper]

[Sam's Place]

Sam shakes his head, suddenly tired.
"No, Dorry, I'm good. Lucy's going to pick a place soon, I've got fancy magics, and I need to find that date on my own, much as I'd like it to be something I could get help with.
Oh but uh. Your Mark. Did you put it in the same place as mine? You make it sound like she- like she..." like something might be seriously wrong with her and Sam might need a foolproof way of making sure he has the right person.

[Murkus]

[Karaoke Party]

The smiling Div looks from Jim to Batu. "It sounds like you need to drink more," he tells his boyfriend. It certainly helps him stop thinking. He utters an uncouth laugh. "Maybe we all do!"