[The Laboratory] Can't Shield from Sickness

by **Matthew** on January 8th, 2014, 1:02 pm

"The story... yes." Matthew didn't shift his weight to turn and face Wrenmae, merely kept his head comfortably turned in that direction. His eyes became distant as he recalled the stories, all spoken at various times during different lectures and classes at the University. What was the point of Wrenmae bringing up the way things used to be? Was it something the wizard aspired to see now? The harlot could certainly see the allure. The world was a better place back then, at least by word of mouth. Being able to access wisdom of any sort at a whim, being able to travel between cities without the fear of the Wildlands... apparently the towers had once been portals that a man could step through and be whisked away to another city in the blink of an eye. That was a whole different story though, one that Matthew wasn't exactly familar with. Returning to Wrenmae's thoughts, Matthew once again furrowed his brow at the very next words. "Sunberth?" Such an odd choice. "...or perhaps that is the point..." Matthew mused, words slipping out softly as his lips betrayed his thoughts. "It could be just the talk of an insane spellcaster, yes. Insanity in people is so very rare, but when it comes to leading a movement or ruling some sort of kingdom... insanity is almost the standard." There were many types of insanity though, some more dangerous than others. He had yet to see many of its forms. If Wrenmae was truly mad, it was quite interesting that he seemed to move in the midst of society so well. Then again, Matthew certainly wasn't the best judge on what moved well in society.

As for the next question, Matthew quickly responded. "I am not sure how long. I feel like a mastery of the subject is soon to come, and then I will move on to another. Perhaps I will become a hairdresser, or perhaps I will study math. Maybe I will invest in animal husbandry, or look into creating a business of some sort. Maybe I will toss a coin and let it decide for me. Whatever it is, hopefully that will be absorbed and mastered, and then on to the next thing."

For the first time in awhile, the harlot moved, his steps slow and graceful. He approached the table that Wrenmae sat upon, standing in front of a blank space on the table. Reaching down, he paused for a moment and then drew a very rough outline of the city in the dust, snapping his fingers in the air soon after to discard any lingering grime on them. "Sunberth, you say? How much of this plan can be told? I like problems. I like solving problems." It was obvious in the brief intelligent shine deep within his eyes. If everything was a book, then there were quite a few mysteries. The harlot enjoyed nothing more than the satisfaction of solving these mysteries. "I understand if it is private, however." He truly did. If it was a grand plan, something that Wrenmae was betting quite a bit on, then he wouldn't be offended if none of it wanted to be shared. At the same time, he was curious if the man had ran his thoughts past someone else. What better way to polish a plan then to have several eyes wander over it? He supposed it would be bad if it was the wrong set of eyes. Hopefully he wasn't the wrong set of eyes. He didn't think he was.

"To be more specific, from what I recall, Sunberth is a den of chaos. It seems like it would be difficult to carry out any sort of goal there, unless it was very well planned. No room for error. Hard, but not impossible." His eyes grew distant again, the wheels turning behind them. A good puzzle was one of the few things that made him feel genuine delight, even he almost immediately suffocated it.

by **Wrenmae** on January 9th, 2014, 3:06 am

He liked that look, the distant stare of gears churning and twisting. The harlot was thinking and had proven himself far more adept at thinking than his profession might lend one to believe. Wasn't that the trick of it though? By trivializing pleasure and sex to an occupation, one invariably began ascribing qualities of the act upon the actors...passionate, thoughtless, hungry, admittedly he'd been one just moments before. But what if that was just an illusion, one crafted by no harlot in particular but painted onto them without complaint.

It made gathering information easier.

It made everything easier...an underestimated opponent was an opponent who triumphed.

"A den of chaos, yes," He smiled, bringing a leg up onto the table and holding a knee with one hand, "But what does that mean?"

He snapped his fingers, drawing Matthew's eyes. "I chose Sunberth for a reason, tell me what it is. I could have gone to Zeltiva, to Ravok, to Nyka, or even stayed here...but I chose Sunberth as where I want to begin this endeavor. Yes, it is a den of chaos, yes, it might be difficult...but can you tell me why Sunberth is the most probably place to begin a movement like that?"

Dangling the question in front of Matthew, he bounced it on the end of his tone. It would be curious to see if the harlot could guess why Wren had chosen Sunberth to begin his little revolution, of all other places in Sylira or even greater Mizahar. Much of the language in the encounter had shifted, becoming more friendly and teasing than stiff and prying. Mercurial, it was a word Wrenmae liked to think described his adaption to new situations. No doubt the harlot was also accustomed to changing swiftly depending on the situation.

Wren waited for his answer. In the next few words, the pleasure merchant would prove whether he was worth the time to speak to.

by **Matthew** on January 9th, 2014, 2:44 pm

The harlot paused for a brief moment, studying Wrenmae's fingers. Tilting his head at the object that had drawn his attention, he slowly moved his eyes from the fingers to the eyes, once again delving into Wrenmae's stare. There were a few brief ticks of silence, and then Matthew closed his eyes. His fingers fell to the dusty table and started to move, making fast little drawings in the dirt-coated wood. His lips moved, murmuring words under his breath, all of them somewhat associated but not complete phrases.

Chaos is the key word, but every place has chaos. They all share that quality. Do not focus on why they are similar, and discard things that they share. Define why Sunberth is different, and why that difference was the deciding factor.

A castle wall was drawn, a floating boat, a dark sun, and a sharp dagger. All crudely drawn in the dim room, on the dirty table... but drawn well enough to realize what they were. Syliras, Zeltiva, Ravok, and Sunberth. Those would be the test group.

Magic. Wizard. Chaos. Something great. Physical might. Warrior. Order. Something pathetic. Poor, rich, ruled, rebellious. Ocean, university, walls, Knights, Rhysol, chaos. Chaos. Order.

Order in Chaos.

His hands suddenly fell and his eyes opened, the blue intense. His lips parted, and words spilled out, carefully but quickly spoken. "All of them have some form of Chaos, but what is the most chaotic one? Going by pure word of mouth, either Ravok or Sunberth. However, the amount of Chaos is not what matters. What really matters is the amount of Order that is there to control the Chaos, the groups in place to set the rules. Ravok, the Black Sun. Syliras, the Knights. Zeltiva, the University. Sunberth..." Matthew spread his arms, shrugging his shoulders. "...nothing. They have an attempt at Order, but with multiple groups fighting for it, than even that is Chaos. If you yourself are Chaos, then you will fit right in, able to carry out your plan no matter how depraved it might be. If you are Order, then you will find a place to conquer, since no one currently holds that throne. Or, a mix of both, making Sunberth an ideal place. Sunberth has no assembled force to stop you, no one to truly rise against magic, no rules in place to prevent anything, which allows you to do anything." He crossed his arms again, tilting his head once more, expression curious. He could be completely wrong, and funny enough, Matthew had always been the sort to be okay with that. If he was wrong, then that meant there was still something for him to learn.

by **Wrenmae** on January 22nd, 2014, 8:50 pm

Snapping his fingers, Wren grinned and nodded along with the end of Matthew's answer. Not a bad logical journey. Bringing his hands together, Wren clapped thrice before falling silent.

"Well reasoned," He told the harlot with undisguised admiration, "You have quite the mind." Outside, the clank of plate armor drew Wren to the boarded windows, peeking beneath them to the passage of a Knight calmly striding past the building. He didn't spare a second look at the workshop, but that had no bearing on whether he would double back to check it. Wren had clapped just earlier, and it might have been loud enough to cascade from boarded windows to the outside air.

Turning on Matthew, Wren considered his options. Portrayed in the way his eyes darted from the slanting rays of daylight to Matthew, and back again, the weight of a choice seemed obvious. Worrying at his bottom lip, Wren finally snapped his eyes back to Matthew's.

"My sister and I are leaving Syliras toward the end of the season. Syliras is too stifling for our purposes. You are, of course, welcome to join us in our journey to Sunberth. It's hardly a place for civilized folk, but it's a small boat ride away from Sahova, where a fount of knowledge is contained within the walls...and much more skilled instructors in the magical arts. The journey will be taxing, no doubt, but if you feel as ready as I to leave the city...meet us at the gates on the first of Winter ready to travel."

The sound of clanking armor returned and Wren smashed a smile into a thin line of concentration. "Apologies for cutting our meeting short, but my aim is to avoid Knight scrutiny...as should yours."

With that he opened the door and slipped out into the daylight, strafing toward an ally and scuttling down the passage towards another.

Moves and counters.

And perhaps...a new ally.

by **Vanari** on February 11th, 2014, 8:19 pm

Matthew

Intelligence	+5 XP
Auristics	+1 XP
Logic	+2 XP
Rhetoric	+4 XP
Interrogation	+2 XP
Socialization	+2 XP
Observation	+1 XP

Lores :

Wrennia Da Pooh

Auristics	+1 XP
Storytelling	+1 XP
Intelligence	+3 XP
Persuasion	+1 XP
Socialization	+1 XP
Philosophy	+1 XP
Interrogation	+3 XP

Lores :

Notes :

Closed [The Laboratory] Can't Shield from Sickness