004 // the house of sin

[serpentis]

Who: Dorian and assorted guests
Broadcast: Fleet-wide, 3/10
Action: In a villa practically in the forest (THE HOUSE OF SIN)
When: Broadcast- 3/10 // Action- 3/9-3/31? Until we leave.

Broadcast:

[The broadcast goes out on 3/10, and Dorian smirks a bit into the feed.]

I believe I've secured lodging for myself, with room enough for several others. If you need a place to stay, do let me know. It's a quaint little villa a bit outside of town. ...please don't mind the suspicious glances, I assure you, I've done nothing entirely against the guidelines that were set.

---------

Action:

[Dorian has secured a villa, but the residents of Mor don't seem too keen on having an evil mage for a neighbor. As the month goes on, more and more villagers will show up to stand at the gates of the villa and threaten to come in after the "evil wizard".

Maybe he shouldn't have gone so overboard with the whole "contacting the spirits of the dead" thing.]

((OOC: Mingle post for the House of Sin. We'll pretend there are enough rooms in here for everyone! Even if you character only drops by to rest their feet a bit, everyone is welcome to visit and stay the night if they want.))

Comments

[wolfuncaged]

[Fenris is quiet, watching her, trying to decide if she's telling the truth or not. Had he come here straight from Thedas, he realises, he would have killed her on the spot.

But he hasn't. His time in Exsilium has at least taught him to understand that people are different. And not every supernatural creature is out to kill or posses you.]

I suppose that isn't the worst case scenario.

[Just quietly moves a bishop.] Check.

[ladiesss]

What--? Wait a minute!

[s-she sits up, looking down at the board. she was gonna go easy on him, but he wasn't supposed to actually be good at this.]

You jerk... [she looks over the board, frowning, before she decides to move a rook into the Bishop's path. that'll keep her king safe for just a little bit.] Un-check. Your go.

[wolfuncaged]

[Fenris gives a soft hum of amusement. ]

Do not blame me, for your leaving your king unguarded.

[He moves another knight. ]

[ladiesss]

[she gives him a dead-eyed stare. moves her other rook to capture one of his pieces, perhaps a little passive-aggressively. a little.]

Here for twenty minutes, and I'm already getting sassed.

[wolfuncaged]

[He moves a pawn this time, still avoiding capturing any of her pieces.]

To be fair, you brought it upon yourself.

[ladiesss]

Ugh...

[but she's not really mad. they've kind of established he doesn't plan on murdering her, and she's... actually going to have to use that troublesome intellect of hers. she stares at the board for a little longer than usual before she decides to move a knight, taking another piece.]

I guess I better start taking this seriously, then.

[wolfuncaged]

[Nope, no murdering here. Not yet, anyway. If she ever poses a threat, the game changes. He moves a knight.]

If you feel that will help.

[ladiesss]

I do feel that will help. Thank you.

[she will simmer down and... play the game in silence for a while, probably. moving one of those many pawns forward.]

[wolfuncaged]

[Fenris welcomes the silence, it's easier than speaking. It gives him time to think, plan his moves. For the first time, he takes one of her pieces, a rook. ]

[ladiesss]

[oooh. she's zeroing in on trying to get his knight, so she chooses to move a bishop well within his ranks. not enough for a check, but she might start wreaking havoc.]

[wolfuncaged]

You play like a mage fights.

[With his tone, it's hard to tell if that's a compliment or just an observation. He doesn't seem to be paying attention to the bishop, instead, he moves a rook. ]

Distanced, designed to create the maximum amount of damage to a large area.

[ladiesss]

[she glances up at him, trying to decide if that's a good thing or a bad thing. she takes a pawn like it's nothing, still safe.]

Yeah, well. It works if you've got something to back it up.

[the same could be said of any offensive magic, she thinks...]

[wolfuncaged]

True, but mages need to remain on the outskirts of the battlefield, getting in the middle of things can lead to...complications for them.

[He moves his knight, it almost looks like a sacrifice. Her rook could take it easily. ]

[ladiesss]

[oh, it's obviously a trap. her first instinct is to ignore it, not take the knight. ...but what if he knows that she's clever enough to not take the knight? and is counting on it? and that knight is just going to wreak havoc while she's off doing other things with her bishop? hm...

...fuck it, she ignores it to go capture another piece with her bishop. she's going for his queen next.]

Well, mages suck.

[wolfuncaged]

[The knight was such a distraction. He moves a rook, it takes down one of HER knights. Steadily, his pieces are closing in on hers. ]

Something we can both agree on.

[ladiesss]

Check.

[she really quickly moves her pawn to match. just a little guy. he snuck in. Fenris can get around it, but it'll keep him from moving his other pieces for a turn.]

Can you tell me what mages where you're from do, exactly? Since the ones I'm used to mostly just seem to rip holes in space-time and kidnap fairies for science.

[wolfuncaged]

[He carefully moves his queen away. Squinting at the board. ]

Has Dorian spoken much to you about the Fade? To understand mages, at first you need to understand that.

[ladiesss]

I actually had Steph--anie tell me a little bit about it.

[she doesn't know what Fenris may or may not know her as, so... she... tacked the second part of her name on at the last minute, yes.]

It sounds like a... magical layer of reality on top of ours, where spirits live?

[wolfuncaged]

Ah. The Warden.

Yes, that is right. Mages are linked to the Fade, it is where they get their magic from. Unfortunately, demons are also in the Fade, and as such, they can cross over into a mage, should they be able to tempt the mage into agreeing.

[ladiesss]

What? Oh my god, no.

[she looks super-not-impressed, smushing her face against her hand as she leans on her arm.]

Don't make deals with demons. That's like, magic rule number two.

Fenris Friendship +10

[wolfuncaged]

Precisely.

Some mages are weak, however, and take the offer. Many of them live in Circles, institutions to teach them how to use their magic, to protect them from themselves and others. Some see it as a prison, and so they become desperate.

[A pause, he touches his king on the board, thoughtfully, but doesn't move it.]

And then there are the mages of Tevinter.

[ladiesss]

Oh. [she make a pistol finger at him. boom.] Those guys are assholes. Right?

[she's pretty sure Dorian said that, at least. well, not in those words. but still.]

[wolfuncaged]

[At least he understands the gesture, and huffs, a touch amused. ]

Yes. They are. The rest of Thedas keeps its mages under careful watch, but there- those who are given the title of magister rule all. Usually with the worst kinds of magics possible. It is a nest of vipers, and Dorian is lucky to be away from it.

[How easily it could have been, for him to end up one of them. If he had not fought so hard for the right to be himself... Fenris is silent for a moment, before stretching out an arm. ]

It was a magister who did this to me.

[ladiesss]

[her lips press into a thin line while she glances over the lines along his arm... she'd wondered why someone full of a magical substance (that they seem perfectly happy to use) could also hate magic so much. it makes more sense if it wasn't his choice to begin with.

so Fenris was another mage experiment? probably. she can sense the flow of magic through his physical body; effectively designed to work seamlessly in a human form? it's beautiful craftsmanship with a lot of horrifying implications.

between Dorian telling her about his father's blood magic and this... she sinks down against the table a little more.]

That's... pretty fucked up.

omg dw I replied to this

[wolfuncaged]

[Fenris is silent for a moment, his brow furrowing as the memories he tries to keep at bay come creeping back. It's been a long time since they were forced onto him, but he remembers the agony like it was yesterday. ]

Yes, but I was a slave. It did not matter to him how I felt about the ordeal. He wanted a living weapon, so he made one. He cared only for the power I would bring him.