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

Open | Latter part of the month

[lord_wizard]

a - arriving

[Felix takes a few days to wander into the villa. It's an old habit, when he can afford it, to not to appear too eager to respond to a casual summons. It's also equally true that his complete lack of a sense of direction got him lost to the point that he ended up back at the inn he'd been staying in. Several times.

He does eventually find the place and makes his way inside, trying not to look as impressed and slightly envious as he is. It would have been a small sacrifice to his pride for accommodations like this.]

b - most evenings

[It doesn't take Felix long to decide this is a far better option than spending all that coin on an inn room. He feels oddly out of place with the place populated by people he's not actually met and are allegedly the associates of a necromancer he still has mixed feelings about.

That doesn't quite stop him from sprawling about the place in somewhat cat-like fashion as if he'd always been there, most often sitting in the common room with a drink, reading a book, playing solitaire with his new deck of cards, or poking about in the kitchen.

Old Paradisa habits die hard.]

Evening

[wolfuncaged]

[Fenris returns late, after yet another long bout of questing. This time, however, he's finally earned his prize. He carries a greatsword, which he looks at appreciatively as he wanders into the kitchen. Then notices Felix. ]

Ah, Felix. I see Dorian convinced you here, also. Are you staying?

[lord_wizard]

[He takes note of the sword with mild interest but he shows no apprehension at seeing the elf with a weapon, and goes back to setting out the bit of cheese he'd discovered in the pantry]

For the time being, yes. [Which will probably be until they leave the planet, but still...]

[He nods at the weapon] I see you've been busy.

[wolfuncaged]

[He props the sword up on the table, smiling faintly. Good sword. ]

I have been working to get it. I have not felt right without one.

[At least he doesn't seem overly interested in cleaving Felix up, that's nice. ]

[lord_wizard]

[He's generally aware of when he might have it coming, and he doesn't think Fenris would be upset at him invading what the elf might perceive to be his territory. Though it's nice to see that more or less confirmed]

You didn't arrive with one on you?

[wolfuncaged]

No. Atroma robbed us of all our weapons. I do not know where my Blade of Mercy is at the moment.

[He's not like Varric, he's not especially attached to his weapon, but it was a gift, and he is rather irritated for it having been taken from him.]

[lord_wizard]

Mm. That would explain why so many people are doing so much work since we landed. I don't imagine there will be as many opportunities for those sorts of weapons.

[He's lucky both that magic isn't something so easily taken away and that his rings didn't qualify as a weapon. Probably because he didn't precisely need them.]

[wolfuncaged]

No, I haven't seen any yet. I have an armory, on the ship [the ship, not his ship; he feels no affection towards it or his crewmates] but it is mostly guns and the like. Nothing I am particularly skilled with,

[lord_wizard]

[It's clear neither of them are fond of their ship or they would't be hiding out here. More so in Felix's case. Dorian's methods are still suspect to him, but not so much that he cannot be quelled by a real bed]

I have no affinity for either. Just as well my ship lacks such a thing.

[wolfuncaged]

I don't know. You do not have means to protect yourselves.

[Not that he...has any real ability with the selection of guns Atroma has given him, but still.]

[lord_wizard]

From what is the question. So far I've seen no indication we're actually meant to fight anything, not that I'm entirely fool enough to think we'll be safe for long.

[He pauses to find a knife for his food and gestures with it with a wry smile, mostly looking at the counter]

A weapon wouldn't do me much good even if we did. A few people have tried to teach me to use a sword. I wouldn't exactly rate their efforts as successful.

[wolfuncaged]

At least in the Initiative we had a clear enemy.

[He hates not having someone specific to swing his blade at.]

Perhaps you would be better suited to a bow. Or daggers.

[lord_wizard]

[He laughs lightly as he slices cheese, though it's aimed entirely at himself]

I have a hard time imagining myself with either. I'm afraid I'd have the same difficulty no matter the type of weapon.

[wolfuncaged]

It is simple enough for anyone to learn.

Though I suppose you would be more comfortable with a staff.

[lord_wizard]

[He wasn't anyone, though. He was an awkward, skinny boy under the skin of a gentile man. The suggestion makes him smile in wry amusement.]

I think you have the wrong idea. Wizards where I come from do not fight. On the whole we are sedentary, scholarly creatures by nature and design. Nor have I heard of anyone using staves as foci, which I assume would be where the affinity for them as a weapon would come in.

[wolfuncaged]

It is fairly regular, in Thedas. [He gives a shrug. ] The mages in the circles tend to be as you are, but that does not mean they are incapable of offensive spells, when they need to.

[lord_wizard]

Offensive spellcasting and physical fighting are different matters entirely.

[He pauses to search for something to drink]

And in any case, that sort of thing has been relegated to heresy for nearly two hundred years in Marathat.

[wolfuncaged]

True.

Sounds like they have the right idea on such things.

[lord_wizard]

They had good intentions, though in some cases they may have over-corrected.

[He's still a Cabaline at heart, despite the new ideas he's encountered and incorporated over the years, so it's a slightly reluctant admission.

He comes back with a wine bottle and places it on the counter between them.]

Do you want some?

a)

[serpentis]

[Dorian is, as usual, swanning about the villa with a book in his hand, and he nearly runs Felix over. He pauses, glancing up from the book, and he smiles softly.]

Ah, I see you've made it. Good to see you, Felix. Welcome.

[He gives him a bow, holding out the book and gesturing grandly with it.]

[lord_wizard]

[The bow quickly smooths away the slight flash of annoyance at the near collision.]

Thank you for the invitation. I may have to congratulate you on your resourcefulness. [Gesturing at the villa]

[serpentis]

Ah, thank you. It seems a local landed merchant was more than happy to appease the wizard that just recently appeared. Curious, isn't it?

[And he shrugs softly, vaguely, as if he didn't terrify someone into letting him borrow his second manor. He waves a gold-ringed hand, nails painted black to match his robes, and he smiles.]

The books on magic here are rudimentary at best, unfortunately.

[lord_wizard]

Hardly surprising when they prefer lies and sleight of hand to the real thing.

[He's also not terribly thrilled with the idea that Dorian is perpetuating fear to get his foot in the door, but he's distracted from the complaint by the sight of real furniture and the glint of black coming from the mage's fingers. His eyes track Dorian's gesturing with a guarded frown]

Aren't you concerned with garnering far too much attention?

[serpentis]

I garner attention wherever I go.

[Stated as simple fact. What he had learned in Tevinter was that it was much easier to hide when eyes were on him than to be honest. If people were watching him, that meant he knew for how perform, what to do.]

It would be poor timing to start being concerned now.

[lord_wizard]

[Felix knows that mindset of course. He was a performer in the same manner, and he often struck a delicate balance between fitting in and being as outrageously offensive as possible at the same time. Of course, the problem with garnering attention was that it eventually made you a target]

As someone similarly afflicted, I might point out that it's more a matter of being concerned with whose attention you've garnered. In this case, superstitious peasant who might go crawling to the guards.