2017-03-29: The Moon and the Stars and Chauncey
- Log: The Moon and the Stars and Chauncey
- Cast: Sephilia Lampbright, Talise Gianfair, Lynnai Albrek
- Where: Starfall Saloon
- Date: March 29, 2017
- Summary: Talise, Lynnai and Sephilia relax and discuss their origins - and the nature of magic in Lunar and Filgaia.
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.
Sephilia and Ida's last expedition--okay, Ida's expedition with Sephy having tagged along because she missed exploring--turned out quite well, and the girl is flush with cash. Or was, anyway, before she bought a rather large amount of fabrics, threads, extra needles, and other assorted sewing supplies to replenish her sewing kit and fuel a number of projects. She's also set aside a chunk of the money for living expenses, but the big thing she wants...well...
"Hey Talise, what kind of instruments do you know how to play? Could you teach me if I got something that's not a lute?" Sephy asks. The girl is working on stitching something new--it's not Chauncey, who's been fully repaired, but Sephilia has been surprisingly reticent to let anyone see what it is just yet. Particularly Talise. "It's a surprise" is all she'll tell her if asked.
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
Surprisingly, Talise hasn't been going out on as many expeditions as she used to. She left the last one to Ida and Sephilia and otherwise kept her head down, though those coming back to the village may notice that she's somehow come into some new clothes - a pair of light tan leather pants, some knee-high brown boots with crisscrossing laces, a nice white blouse (which she wears with one extra button left undone at the neck), a purple sash about the waist, and her seafarer's longcoat. She's started to look more Filgaian.
In fact, except for the lack of corset top, she's starting to look a bit like Lynnai.
Propped up at her usual table, she's been singing songs for the crowd again and accumulating a decent take of gella. She tilts her head towards Sephilia and smiles easily. "I know a couple of the kind you can carry easily - pipes, lute, ocarina, some of the other wind instruments like that. Nothing that's huge - like, I can't play the piano."
Lifting her ale, she takes a long swig. "Mm. Why, what'cha thinkin' of getting?"
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.
"Pipes might be fun," Sephy says. "You can't sing while you play them but I'm never going to be as good as you are. Maybe I could accompany you on the pipes?" She looks up from her sewing and grins.
<Pose Tracker> Lynnai Albrek has posed.
Lynnai has been doing some work. Actual scholarly work, for a change. It's a surprise to everybody! Mostly it's cataloguing some of the Metal Demon information she's gotten and cross-referencing it with other books. Getting access to the Adlehyde library was a boon; even if it didn't tell her everything she wanted to know, every little bit helps.
She's still been around a fair bit, of course, with the Ancient Culture Exhibition coming up. And right now she's 'around' in a much more local place. Specifically, here.
Lynnai admits, "I don't really play myself. I couldn't tell you much about them." She knows a bit, for cultural reasons, but she wouldn't call herself an expert.
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
It's not as much of a surprise to Talise because she got the idea early on that Lynnai was a lot smarter than she was. It's almost embarrassing. She's been sneaking peeks over Lynnai's shoulder sometimes and asking her to explain simple things in simpler terms in the hopes of coming across like less of an imbecile when the group does venture out.
"Maybe you should!" she agrees with a smile for Sephilia. "There's a lot of things we could teach you. There are even other types of stringed instruments that are a lot like the lute. I'm sure someone in Adlehyde sells them."
Lifting her eyes towards Lyn again, she smiles crookedly. "You know a lot about other things, though. I've seen the books you go through. Sometimes I'm amazed at how much you know."
The smile grows self-effacing. "Not gonna lie, sometimes being here makes me feel like an idiot. We don't have anything on Lunar like the technology you guys seem to have here - I think we just haven't caught up yet."
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.
Sephy nods eagerly in agreement with Talise. "Yeah! I'd never seen a train before yesterday! An' wow, Filgaian dragons are really different. Well, except Odjn, who's nice and cute and kind of looks like I would have expected. Not...like a big..." She gestures.
Sephilia's encounter with a dragon fossil isn't actually something she likes to dwell on, since it coincides with her meeting Agatha, though, so she quickly changes the subject. "I'm not sure how you can get so much out of those books you read," she adds, impressed--though a bit begrudgingly. "I always thought books were boring. Except Dad's journals, because he had all kinds of cool notes from his exploring and stuff. Did you know I started keeping a journal, Lynnai?" She rummages through her satchel and pulls it out to show the older woman proudly.
<Pose Tracker> Lynnai Albrek has posed.
Lynnai Albrek has actually explained some things to Talise. She even promised her a long explanation of the Metal Demon Wars - as much as anyone knows about them, anyway - though it hasn't materialized yet. Maybe this week.
Lyn smiles at that. "I try," she says. "There's a lot /to/ know, but sometimes I think we've forgotten more about the past than we'll ever learn again. Still, someone has to try to remember. There's important things there, after all. You're the same way - you just tell them in stories, instead of in books. It's the same idea, isn't it? To learn from what happened in the past?"
She has no book today, so she rests her hands on the table. "Technology's a strange thing. We used to have more of it. Look at some of the exhibits at the Exhibition if you don't believe me. Maybe some of it was lost for a reason... or maybe not, and it was just destroyed in the cataclysms. We don't know. But what I /have/ seen, Talise, is that you have different sorcery than we seem to, so there's that."
Lynnai leans over to look at the journal. Well, the cover; she doesn't open it unless invited. "I didn't," she says, "but it's a good idea. It helps you remember your adventures more clearly."
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
"Yeah! And I'd never seen steam ships," Talise confesses with a widening smile, scratching at the back of her neck. "For me a ship is something with sails and oars. At least, the ship I grew up on was a sailing ship - just a big old caravel type of thing."
She lets her breath out and leans back in her seat, downing another mouthful of ale. The explanations she's gotten from Lynnai have helped but she still feels clueless sometimes. "I think it's more daunting for Sephy and me because in a very real way we're learning about an entirely different world," she admits. "I'm amazed we even understand each other! I guess somehow Lunar people and Filgaia people have similar languages."
Frowning thoughtfully, she curls her hands around her mug of liquor, leaning to prop her elbows on the table. "Different sorcery, huh. In what way? I know back home, things like symbology are unknown - we have the Magic Guild of Vane, but that's kind of vanished over time, and now there's Neo-Vane with Borgan the Black Wizard."
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.
Sephilia does indeed invite Lynnai to open the journal. The first couple pages are a rough map of Filgaia, with some obvious corrections having been made since the original drawing--it's not actually terribly inaccurate, though it's awful vague in a few places and most accurate around Adelhyde and the surrounding environs.
The following pages include quick details of the places Sephy's been and the things she's done since her arrival, including some sketches of discoveries. The train, for example, has a pretty detailed drawing, but the really interesting one appears to be a drawing of a Dragon Fossil. There's also a drawing of an older man and woman, from appearances related to Sephilia--they are indeed labelled "Dad" and "Mom". Apparently the girl is homesick.
Probably less of interest is that Sephy's started jotting down what she can remember of a recipe for meat pies, but there's a lot of blank spaces in the recipe.
<Pose Tracker> Lynnai Albrek has posed.
Well, if she's allowed, Lynnai does look. She smiles at the map, but is more interested at what comes later. Maybe not the meat pies. But the rest of it. "That's exactly what you should be doing," she says. "I write some of the same things in mine." Pause. "Not the recipe, though. I'm not a great cook."
She nods to Talise. "That's true. I'd probably feel just as lost if I went to Lunar," Lynnai agrees. Which she's actually intending to do at one point, if only to find Sara and bring her home. And make sure Sephy and Talise get home, too. The portraits of her parents drive /that/ in pretty clearly.
"You have - well - things like Chauncey," Lynnai says. "He's no ARM. But yet he moves. Whatever Lucia was doing to the engine. Sorcery without symbols, like mine." Lynnai doesn't know the proper term so she's kind of guessing. "Perhaps you personally don't, but you described it to me, along with the Seraphim." She says that word carefully, because she's not used to it. "We have nothing like that."
She considers, looking at Sephy for a moment. "Sephilia," she asks, thoughtfully, "do /you/ know sorcery? To fix Chauncey, perhaps?"
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
"Oh wow, you're really good at that," Talise murmurs approvingly as she leans over to look at the journal and the drawings within. She brings her hand down to give Sephilia's shoulder a firm, fond squeeze. "I really like that picture of the train."
The drawing of dad and mom brings a wistful smile to her face. She closes her eyes for a few seconds.
"I can probably help you with a couple recipes," she says agreeably, before flashing Lynnai a light smile. "And hey, you've got to find Sara, so I've assumed I'll be doing for you once we get to Lunar what you've done for me here. I appreciate how much help you've given me, even though I'm sure there are smarter students than me!" She laughs softly. It's a surprisingly self-conscious sound, for her; around these two, she'll let her guard down and not be too shy about admitting when she feels less than sure of herself.
Lips moued, she tilts her head to one side. "...Yeah, I'm not sure /how/ Chauncey works. I mean, I think my knives are based on symbology, so that's easy. Chauncey magic I just don't know."
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.
Sephilia nods proudly. "Lemina said he's definitely magic. And she let me join her magic guild! I'm part of the Magic Guild of Vane! But, mostly fixing Chauncey is sewing." Which she's still doing, glancing at Talise occasionally as though to make sure she's not spying on what Sephy's working on. It's a secret!
"My Dad taught me how to do maps and sketches and stuff. I've been able to map dungeons out since I was seven!"
Maybe she shouldn't be proud of that?!
"Chauncey works through the power of FRIENDSHIP." Sephy nods seriously. "As near as I can tell anyway."
<Pose Tracker> Lynnai Albrek has posed.
Lynnai smiles. "I wouldn't know. I've never had a student. I /was/ a student, not that long ago. But - yes. I expect I'll need your help, and I appreciate you offering."
"As for your knives, it's not impossible," Lynnai replies to Talise, "but I'd be surprised. Symbolic items tend to have..." She considers how to put this. "They degrade over time if the effects are powerful, unless combined with active Symbology use. My coat, for instance - I did some work with it, but if you put it on it wouldn't do very much. When I use it, though - I can use it as an assist to glide. It's /possible/ to make a completely independent Symbologic item - just difficult - and so you see more used as focuses, in my experience."
She has to admit, as an addition, "I don't think I could make a set of Symbolic knives that worked reliably for very long in any hands but my own. It really is complex. Of course, with what I've seen of Lunarian sorcery, they have other ways to do things; they might be related, or might not." Lyn gestures at Sephilia. "As an example, I have absolutely no idea how Chauncey works. I've looked at him every time we've been together and I can't figure it out. She does. And you're in a magic guild..."
"I should talk to this magician, then." Lynnai puts 'talk to Lemina' on her mental to-do list. Then she adds 'find out who Lemina is' above that.
Sephilia does get a grin from Lynnai. "I didn't learn until I was older than that," she says, "but my aunt taught me. My family sent me to school near her and I'm afraid she was a bad influence."
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
"Well, Chauncey is the friendliest fox I know," Talise says agreeably. She gives Sephy a curious look but doesn't pry into what she's working on.
Smiling, she pushes one hand up through her hair. "My dad taught me how to write and map and such... I always wonder what happened to him. Or if he'd be proud of me." The smile takes on a sad air as she looks off towards a window. Finally, she sighs and takes another swig of her ale, as if to wash away old thoughts.
As Lynnai speaks of the degradation of symbols, the tall woman looks up with a slow, thoughtful nod. "Huh... so it must not be symbology, then, since I don't have symbols. Unless Piet knew a lot more about symbology than he let on and for some reason enchanted knives that lasted a long time. But I think magic does work differently? A lot of the ones who supposedly used it were people like the Priesthood of Althena and other wizards who focused her power directly. Maybe it's just Althena helping out."
A laugh bubbles from her. "Man. It would've been nice to go to school."
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.
"I think your Dad would be super proud of you, Talise!" Sephy says. Then, she lets out a pleased cheer. "I'm finished! Talise, hold your hands out and close your eyes!" If Talise obliges, the girl deposits the thing she's been working on firmly into Talise's hands.
It's a doll...of Talise!
<Pose Tracker> Lynnai Albrek has posed.
Lynnai purposefully does not interrupt Talise's thoughts.
"My parents sent me to Krosse in the hopes that I would settle down. I had no interest in joining the family business," Lynnai says, matter-of-factly, "and I made that very clear. I had other things I wanted to do. But it didn't work out for them after I met my aunt, studied history, and became apprenticed to a Symbologist." Lynnai doesn't talk much about her family, but Talise (and probably Sephy, honestly) know that she they live in Adlehyde and are apparently wealthy, but Lynnai only goes to visit them occasionally. This may explain some things.
"And honestly, it would surprise me if things did /not/ work differently on Lunar," Lynnai adds, with a laugh. "You've had forever to discover your own things. But your type of magic doesn't match mine, and I haven't seen all of what it can do. Althena again, though..." Most of what she knows about Althena comes from Talise herself or, later, Lucia. It's not a lot.
Lynnai half-rises from her seat to crane her neck around so she can see the doll. Before Talise, in fact, if she closed her eyes as asked. She smiles to Sephy, but doesn't break the surprise.
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
"I hope he would be. Both of them." Talise's smile takes on that hint of obscure sadness again, and she gives her head a slow shake.
As Lynnai explains, the tall woman with the cheekstripes nods. "My parents were crew on a ship called the Lunabelle... a privateer ship. My mom was a Beastwoman pirate and my dad was a con artist. Then one day when I was ten, they told me to wait at the harbour with Uncle Piet and they sailed off with the Lunabelle to go after a dangerous treasure." She presses her lips together.
"They never came back," she says.
Then Sephilia hands her something - she closes her eyes and smiles. "I'm closin' 'em," she says.
When she does open them again, she lays eyes on the doll. Her eyes grow wide and her cheeks turn a brilliant shade of pink. "S-Sephy," she says, stunned and at a loss for words, but she's smiling.
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.
Sephilia smiles shyly. "I'm making them for my best friends here," she says simply.
<Pose Tracker> Lynnai Albrek has posed.
"...ah." Lynnai sounds awkward after Talise's revelation. "I'm... sorry to hear that." She really does sound it, although perhaps a little awkward to - well, that's how Lynnai is sometimes."
But the doll goes a long way to smooth over awkwardness. "It's very nice," she says, and means that too.
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
Talise can't help but reach out and pull Sephilia into a big hug, the doll still clutched into her hand. She's just beaming now. "I'm honoured. You're a hell of a person, Sephilia. Thank you so much."
Finally letting Sephilia go, the tall woman's still blushing. She smiles lopsidedly, scratching at her cheek. "So who're you making next?" she asks the girl.
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.
Sephy taps her nose as she thinks. It's pretty easy to guess that she must have picked up that habit from her Dad. "I was thinking Ida next, but I don't know how much she'd like a doll. I'm just worried about what Zed's going to think of his when I make it for him. Or! I could make one of Odjn, and of Riese! There's so many good ones--and yours, too, Lynnai, of course!"
<Pose Tracker> Lynnai Albrek has posed.
Lynnai only knows about half these people.
"You don't need to make one for me," she objects, though it's not a very firm objection and is at least partially out of politeness' sake. "Zed would probably... think it was funny. I don't know about Ida, and I don't know the others."
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
"I think Ida would appreciate it," Talise says with a crooked smile. "She may be a scholar, but she's also very kind, and I think she's got a big heart, too. I can't see her /not/ appreciating it."
She makes a little face. "I doubt Zed would know what to do with it... but I think Riese would like it. Actually she's the one who helped me pick out this outfit."