Prepare for the #LodanRespawn2024 Existing characters may choose to be displace from/have memories of different timelines, thereby allowing returning members the option to retcon their whole character. These changes are the result of the "Unnatural Fog" plot device that is running between now and the Respawn. The plot is simple: no matter where your character is, that place is shrouded in a thick fog that suspends time, but not thoughts or memories, so even if they're repeating the same day over and over again, they continue to remember, so each time feels like a new day. For those retconning OCs; this is where new versions of themselves have the opportunity to replace the old versions. Official lore and tree updates will be announced asap
Post by Edelweiss Fjäril on Aug 16, 2015 0:34:30 GMT
Open to Stephen Leland The afternoon was cloudy and slightly chilly that day, anouncing rain for within a couple hours. A good day to stay indoors if you were lucky. Edelweiss wasn't exactly at home, but the Theater was indoors and warm enough for her tastes. She was just taking her time sitting on the couch of one of the reserved resting rooms on the fancier part of the building, a steaming cup of tea in her hands while she waited. A tray with the remaining teacups of that set and the tea pot was settled on the low table in front of her, and a grey, unbeliably fluffy cat was curled up on the cushion next to her, sleeping.
She was waiting for Stephen to arrive, although it was a couple minutes earlier than the time still. She had made sure to tell him with plenty of time that there were important things she needed to discuss, and sent an informant to call him over half an hour prior just in case so she'd know if he has any trouble leaving home, but they really needed to talk.
It was more than about time she put those topics on the table.
"All power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men." - John Dalberg-Acton
Post by Stephen Leland on Aug 16, 2015 6:01:34 GMT
There were few phrases that struck fear in a certain eye-patched noble. I have bad news, I'm sorry we're out, and tell your father to stop flirting with my wife/daughter/sister/etc were the a few of them. We need to talk was probably the most feared of them all. So imagine his hesitation when his friend and guild leader requested to speak with him out of the blue. There were a lot of things that he could get in trouble for but exactly what she wanted to talk about was unknown to him. It seemed most unfortunate to him that he was greatly lacking in the knowledge of matters involving his social life.
Clearing his throat, he opened the doors to the resting area and walked in, nervously twirling an umbrella around. "You wished to speak with me," he asked right away, skipping the formalities and wanting to hear the bad news as soon as possible.
Post by Edelweiss Fjäril on Aug 16, 2015 15:55:19 GMT
"Yes I did. Good afternoon, Stephen." She greeted, then gestured for him to sit down as well, be it across from her or on the other side of her couch. There was a lot she had to discuss with him, and it would be uncomfortable to remain standing the whole time through it.
"Relax, not all of what I summoned you for are bad news. I'll start with the more serious matters first so we can get them solved and over with quick and then pass onto the lighter topics, does that sound good?"
"All power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men." - John Dalberg-Acton
Post by Stephen Leland on Aug 17, 2015 3:29:47 GMT
He seated himself than propped the umbrella on the arm of the chair. Stephannie's presents was greatly appreciated by the noble when he noticed her. Reaching over, he gave her luxurious fur a light ruffle before taking a cup of tea for himself. "Alright. What are these pressing matters that you wish to speak about?," he steeled himself, preparing for what may come.
Post by Edelweiss Fjäril on Aug 17, 2015 4:01:49 GMT
"Hmm, first topic, inter-guild diplomatic relations." Edelweiss took a sip of her own tea. Stephannie woke up at being ruffled, but other than meowing in a way that sounded more like yawning she didn't do much. "You're aware CAEsAL has a considerable amount of Anders and halfbreeds with Ander prevalence, right? For quite a while I've been thinking of contacting the Magicae Incolendium and see if I could convince them to train some of our members so that they could master their magic skills more easily, rather than secretly on their own, and recently I finally found a good contact, and called him over to discuss that."
Another tea sip. "He seemed quite pleased seeing our dorms and the kids in there, and everything was going great. Ikuze was also there, so I introduced the two of them; she then proceeded to randomly insult his face, threaten his nether regions, called him a creep and used magic to control his speech for a short moment - exactly in that order." The teacup made a very soft 'tink' noise as she rested it on the saucer. "He walked out and I passed the next hour apologizing and trying to make sure he'd not drop negociations. I managed to, but only by a hair. It was the only contact to MI I had too, Stephen, so I must ask you to talk to your girlfriend about never doing that again." Ever.
"All power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men." - John Dalberg-Acton
Post by Stephen Leland on Aug 17, 2015 7:07:33 GMT
Nodding here and there, he listened to her story with mild interest until it got to the part where Ikuze insulted a member of MI. Stephen blinked in bewilderment at this news and waited to Edel was done to cut in, "She did what???" He wanted to not believe it but somehow he this was something she was capable of.
Post by Edelweiss Fjäril on Aug 17, 2015 7:16:51 GMT
"She randomly insulted his face, threatened his nether regions, called him a creep and used magic to control his speech for a short moment - exactly in that order. Oh, there were also a couple subtler hints of calling him a pedophile." Edelweiss repeated, counting on her fingers and speaking more slowly this time to help the information sink better into Stephen's mind. "So please talk to her about it. It was largely uncalled for."
"All power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men." - John Dalberg-Acton
Post by Stephen Leland on Aug 17, 2015 21:18:30 GMT
The noble set his cup down and put his head in his hands, "Queens, why would she do that?! Is she trying to get out guild black listed by MI?!" He certainly would have a great long conversation with her. This behavior was completely unacceptable and not charming in the slightest. It reflected badly on him as well, something he would not forgive her for a good while. Letting out a haggard sigh, he looked up again, a displeased look in his eye, "What else? I sincerely hope this is the worst of it..."
Post by Edelweiss Fjäril on Aug 18, 2015 4:25:04 GMT
Edelweiss sighed. "I sincerely don't know." She replied in response to Stephen's question of why would Ikuze do that, but a bit of a smile grew on her lips at him hoping that had been the worst of it.
"It is, I did say I'd start with the most serious topic first. After that mess (but not thanks to it), I managed to meet their leader personally. MI will help training CAEsAL Anders how to use magic, but in exchange we'll use some of our work routes to help them with a few hidden transport tasks. I'll inform you better once we get a more precise notion of when, where and what we'll be assisting them with." She nodded.
"Second topic isn't as much of a pressing matter, but it's important still: you forgot to tell Max CAEsAL has dorms for our workers after her initiation trial, which means until recently she was still sleeping on the streets. Now, Stephen, it's not like I don't undertand why you could forget that detail - you live elsewhere in a comfortable house and never needed to use the dorms nor be there for anything that was personally important, so it's normal that you'd forget. But you're my second-in-command, and those small things deeply affect the other workers' lives. So I'll be teaching you about the guild's history and geography some, for you not keep skipping important details again. Alright?" Now with that 'alright' she wanted to ask if he understood why she was asking that of him, but she also hoped he knew those 'lessons' wouldn't be optional. Max had stayed living on the streets for almost 9 months due to him having forgotten about the dorms, that wasn't something she could afford being repeated again.
Post by Stephen Leland on Aug 19, 2015 19:43:28 GMT
It was good news to hear that Edelweiss was able to work things out in the end; he expected no less from his great leader. She was someone he idolized and truly cared about as a dear friend so any inconvenience set on her worried him deeply. He vowed to work harder from now on to help lighten the tremendous responsibility it took to run a guild as large as this.
So he was dismayed to find out he had inconvenience her by unintentionally neglecting a member of the guild. Guilt flickered across his face as she went on. She did not blame him but he had still let her down, which was painful in it of itself. "I apologize, I shall try to be more sensitive to others needs hence forth. When would you be available to teach me? I would like these lessons to start as soon as possible," he replied evenly, straightening in his chair and grabbed the cup of tea to take a swig from, hoping to wash down the disappointment in himself that was rising in his throat. He made a mental not to personally apologize to Max and somehow to try and make it up to her.
Post by Edelweiss Fjäril on Aug 19, 2015 20:09:55 GMT
"We can even start today if you'd like. And then schedule the next ones for other afternoons or morning in the near future. I'd also like to have you learn some basic street skills, so it'll be easier getting the other workers to stop underestimating you as just 'some prissy noble' and listen to you when you talk." Seeing his reaction made Edelweiss smile a little. That was why she didn't really understand why Stephen didn't have many more friends; he looked grumpy and snarky, yes, but never acted the part around her. Just level-headed, and always so agreeable. Any complains she might have could be solved by just calmly talking it out. It was refreshing to be near him.
"Before that though, there's just one more topic to discuss. I think this one you might actually enjoy." She moved to fetch something that had been left at her feet, between the table and the couch, and placed it on the tabletop in front of Stephen. It was a basket, cushioned inside and containing a set of seven tiny fluffy balls sleeping within. "Stephannie had these kittens a month ago. At this size still all's fine, but they'll grow and there isn't space enough at my place for that many cats. Would you like to keep them?"
"All power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men." - John Dalberg-Acton
Post by Stephen Leland on Aug 22, 2015 3:20:36 GMT
"Today would be perfect. I am available for a few hours today.... Do they truly view me that manner?" His frown deepened, "I wish I could say I am surprised but I am not." Sighing, he shook his head and tried to ignore the sour taste in his mouth. His eyebrows raise slightly at the mention of a topic he might enjoy; some pleasant news would be nice after all that.
Upon seeing the fluffy little angels his eyes widened and a smile lit his features. "As much as I would love to take them all, I fear my father would have my head. I can probably keep two but I shall find owners for the rest," he turned to address Stephannie with a flicker of amusement in his eyes "I assure you that only the best of Lodan shall have the privilege of raising your kin." This news certainly helped brighten his day some. "Thank you Edelweiss," he finished with a content smile.
Post by Edelweiss Fjäril on Aug 22, 2015 4:01:25 GMT
Hearing the 'do they truly view me that manner' question, Edelweiss raised an eyebrow. "Stephen, we run a really large guild in which half the members don't know about the other half. And there wasn't something like an election through popular vote for the role of my second-in-command. I picked you personally, which means of course quite a few people (mainly the newer members) have no idea what you're capable of - other assassins look at you by face value and see someone who had everything easy the whole life, and the entertainers have literally no idea what you work with. 'What does that guy even do here? Paperwork? Look there the little rich secretary'." She shook her head. "That doesn't mean they're right, of course. I picked you because you can do and does do your job very well and I don't have to worry so much what should happen in case I need to be absent for a while. But that also means you have to earn their respect, rather than it instantly coming with the position." She shrugged and took another sip of her tea. "It takes time, though there are tricks to make it quicker. But don't let it bother you. I got called 'oh crap it's the dratted ginger stick again' till around an year after CAEsAL was founded, and heavens know they do listen to me now."
"I could always stick a little note in that basket stating it was a gift, so your father couldn't place the blame on you. But I suppose finding other owners works too." The redhead lass chuckled. She had thought about offering the kittens to Zona as well, but she figured Stephen would give them more attention. "You're welcome. Their names are already on the tags... unless you're going to rename them." Said tags read as 'Casper', 'Damien', 'Lacie', 'Ophelia', 'Eleonore', 'Zeiva' and 'Allison'.
Post by Stephen Leland on Aug 25, 2015 5:42:07 GMT
She was right of course; he had to work to earn their respect. It was hard though. He had little patients when it came to troublesome characters and it annoyed him to no end when people ignored his commands. Of course he would try and work on it but it would be no easy task. A small smile flickered on her face upon hearing the ginger comment. It never occurred to him before but she had to climb the ladder like him, probably with more obstacles than he was facing now. She really was an inspiration. "It will be a long and grueling task but I shall work for their respect. If you have faith in me, I am sure I will be able to at least get one member to resepect this 'little rich secretary," he finished by quoting her with a grin.
He reached into the basket and picked up one of the kittens and set her in his lap than read the tag attached to her. "Allison... I rather like that name. I think i shall leave the names the way they are." He pampered the small fuzzball in his lap as he spoke, eyes glued to the adorable creature. "Anything else you wish to speak to me about? Or shall we start our tour after a tea break?"
Post by Edelweiss Fjäril on Aug 26, 2015 5:31:14 GMT
Hearing that he liked Allison's name, Edelweiss couldn't help but chuckle. All those little kittens names were the names of her workers with slight tweaks to fit, and Allison's had came from... well, Addison, so it was rather funny how of all of them Stephen had chosen her because of the name.
"We might have a tour later, but I was intending for us to start these lessons with just some talking and reading, if you have no oppositions to that. Mainly since it's still raining so hard outside." She watched him pampering the kitty for a couple seconds like if it was his beloved firstborn, before speaking again: "Starting with: do you know how CAEsAL originated?"
"All power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men." - John Dalberg-Acton
Stats Distribution and Imbued Weapon Effects
Shoutbox
Welcome to the Shoutbox - If You Have Discord, Ask to Join the Discord Server