TEST DRIVE MEME #5

[fairyfoes]

TEST DRIVE MEME

Considering apping to EACHDRAIDH? Why not give the setting a test run here! OPTIONAL SCENARIOS 01. ARRIVING IN THE DRABWURLD. The Seelie and Unseelie courts welcome you with mirthful revelry and hearty food. After you have been briefed on your purpose here, you will find an endless feast and a night filled with entertainment to placate your concerns. Mingle with new arrivals, sneak down the castle halls and make sure your eyes are always on your glass; fairies and imps have no bias when it comes to tricks! 02. THE STATION. Looking for a little slice of home? The Station gives you all that and more. Take advantage of the wifi, have a cup of fairy-brewed coffee (the one they didn't spit in) or sit back and relax on the patio. You can even move your things into one of the available rooms! 03. WILDCARD. Your own scenario! Explore the Drabwurld or simply take advantage of your Locket!

Comments

[empireofrats]

[Sound advice that she wishes she had taken earlier. Now she is left to lift the parchment and quill up, not knowing exactly what to do with the predicament.

Don't give up. That's what Corvo would probably tell her. He always knew how to make things better.

She looks up at Gabranth, and it's almost like his face gives her a hint. The beaked end of the quill lifts into her sight, then she quickly begins searching the surroundings like before. One of the tables has what she needs.] This way! I have an idea.

[The parchment and quill are moved together in one hold, and she uses the freed appendage to take Gabranth by the hand and begin leading him over to one of the tables littered with food. There, she clears her a small space for the parchment to lay.

The magic: she dips the quill into some nearby jam. It is thick enough and opaque enough to provide a good source of ink... if a little messy. The pictures begins and ends--after some time--looking like a crude, single, jammy version of this.]

[judicatus]

What—

[ But she tugs him along before he can find the proper words to object. He thinks to question her, but by the time he finds the words for that, her aim becomes clear, and he can do little more than watch. ]

I see...

[ Of course; only a child could bear such ingenuity. He takes a careful look at the jammy illustration once it's finished, committing its strange shapes to memory as best he can. ]

[empireofrats]

[She seems proud of her artistic jamistry. It is finely crafted evidence of innovation.] It does look scary, but I promise he isn't mean. [Though he may possibly be part of the Unseelie. This doesn't even cross her mind. She's not exactly ignorant to Corvo's more extreme ways, but he doesn't seem bloodthristy when he returns. He doesn't seem frigid.

So she is comforted, and Corvo remains her idol.] If you see him, you'll tell me, right?

[judicatus]

[ If he is a member of the Unseelie... Well. While he certainly has a keen eye for court politics, he can hardly be bothered to strictly adhere to any allegiances apart from those he's sworn to Archadia and House Solidor.

So, he gives her a nod. ]

You have my word.

[empireofrats]

[The promise makes her smile, and she looks relieved if only slightly. Corvo may not be here, but if Corvo happens to be here, she has one additional person that can let her know.

Carefully, she rolls up the parchment, then hands it to Gabranth. Nevermind that it will probably smear, and carrying around a parchment of jam isn't the more hygienic thing in the world.

The point is what Gabranth is going to do when it is offered.] This royal writ will help you remember what he looks like. [The way she tries to make her voice sound very official is evidence she is trying her best to, well, be official.]

What's your name, Judge Magister?

[judicatus]

[ Some small part of him can't help but be charmed by the so-very-official nature of it all. Not that he has no intention of taking her request seriously, but...well, he's going to have to figure out something to do with the jammy parchment. For now, though, he (carefully) takes it in hand. ]

Gabranth. [ He pauses, considering her earlier declarations. ] Have I correctly assumed that you are an heiress of royal blood?

[ He can only assume as much, after all, from the way she'd called herself Empress Emily and the stately air she attempts to maintain. Of course, the possibility remains that she's merely pretending at such things, or that she's already assumed the throne — but the fairies do seem inclined to drawing in shardbearers of royal descent, in regards to the former, and she seems rather young for the latter.

Then again, she can't be much younger than Larsa... ]

now I want Emily and Larsa cr

[empireofrats]

Gabranth. [She says it so she will remember it. She won't forget. Judge Magister Gabranth, the man in the knightly armor.

The question sweeps any sort of mirth from her face. She doesn't look angry, or even upset, but perhaps... sad. Her eyes lower, followed by her head, and she scans the floor at their feet a few moments without speaking.] It's complicated.

My mother was Empress. She... [A short, but deep sigh.] She died. Someone murdered her. That's... why Corvo has to hide his face. Some people said he killed her, but he didn't. I was there when it happened. He was trying to help us. It wasn't him at all.

I would be Empress, but the murderer took me and gave me to the Pendletons. [She twirls the quill between both hands, frowning, not meeting Gabranth's eyes.] They kept me at the Golden Cat until Corvo came to get me. Corvo's friends were going to make me Empress, but it was a lie. They weren't good people at all, and they tricked us. They took me away again, but then I followed the fairies here.

[A pause.] I hope Corvo is okay.

wehhhhh that would be so cute

[judicatus]

[ That answer is rather different from what he was expecting.

Pendletons, Golden Cat... Neither of these names carry any significance for him, but the turns of the story they adorn are all too familiar to him. Were he a different sort of man — had he led a different sort of life, made different choices in his past — he might wish that a child so young should never have to witness such bloodshed.

But he is no man but himself — pitiless hound of the Solidors, and kingslayer of Dalmasca to boot — and so he knows too well that this is merely an inevitable toll for a life born in royalty.

Even so, he can't very easily set aside the regret that twinges at him for spoiling her good spirits. ]

My question stirred deeper waters than what I'd intended to tread. [ He bows his head. ] I can only apologize for such thoughtlessness.

[empireofrats]

[A moment or two passes, and then she lifts her head again. Gabranth's apology doesn't go unappreciated. She puts the quill down on the table, and then reaches out with both hands to take one of Gabranth's in her own, an attempt to gain his attention.] It's okay.

I will just work harder. [The formalities of being an Empress bore her to tears; the history, the etiquette, the rules. But taking on the mantle her mother wore, becoming a good Empress isn't something she takes so lightly.] I'll be strong, like Corvo, when I get back to Dunwall. I'll learn to fight, [A great future passion of hers.] and I'll go seafaring myself, and I'll help the people with the plague and try to find a cure. Maybe there's a cure here.

[Lightly, she squeezes his hand.] Thank you for helping me, Judge Magister Gabranth.