driftfleet | 004 // the house of sin

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004 // the house of sin

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.

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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.))

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[Things can't be too bad if they have a chess set and some decent wine. Cullen spends his days in the city or around the edges of the villa. It's hard for him to relax in this strange but weirdly familiar place (Dirkwall, really?), but he's glad for the company he has. Even if it's somewhat... odd. Timelines give him headaches.]

There's some unpleasant whisperings about you. But I'm sure you're well aware of that.

[Don't mind the idle chit-chat as Cullen sets up the game.]

There is unpleasant whispering everywhere I go.

[Dorian waves a hand dismissively.]

If not Tevinter, then Orlais, or Ferelden...If I cared about such things, I'd have barely survived this far.

Really? I never heard much in Skyhold. Aside from what I assume is normal for a mage from Tevinter. [It's not said in cruelty--it's just a fact. Cullen doesn't seem bothered by it, at any rate, and that is what we call progress.]

Though with all of these timelines, anything is possible. [Which does bring up a thought. Cullen momentarily leans back in his seat.] I'm almost afraid to ask about our Inquisitor. They worried about you being a bad influence on her, to my recollection.

[Strange and admittedly problematic in many ways, this planet is still the best one so far, in Jove's opinion. It doesn't look terrible different from what she's seen in Thedas, and once Dorian finds a place for them to stay, it really does feel like a very long vacation in the Emerald Graves or somewhere similar.

It's soothing, after the sterile feeling of space. The three moons had been nice enough, but this? It's not even hard to pretend she's home when she stands with her back to the villa and looks out into the forest.

During the day she spends almost all her time outdoors, exploring the woods and gathering seeds and plants, catching fish in the streams and being generally elfy. She relishes the feeling of the grass and the dirt between her toes and it will be abundantly clear to anyone this is exactly where she wants to be and she's happier here than she has been since her arrival.

At night Jove heads indoors to gather in the communal areas of the villa, sharing food and drink and stories with anyone who happens to approach. She'll stay up far too late and only tumbles into bed once everyone else has settled in for the night.

All in all it's a pretty great setup, so good job there Dorian]

(ooc: I'm up for just about anything in the world, so throw anything at me, current OR new cr!)

[Cullen picks a room as secluded as he can find. Trauma was a silly thing--regardless of worlds or timelines, it could still follow. He imagined that there was some timeline in which he never experienced the horrors of Kinloch, and that he grew up to be a man that didn't toss and turn in his sheets and plead for the demons to leave him alone or end his misery. If only.

He retires late after a day of exploring or sparring or conversing, but even exhaustion doesn't always keep the nightmares at bay. There were a number of reasons why he stayed in a drafty loft in Skyhold when there were other places to sleep. But the main reason was solitude.

People were less likely to hear his muffled cries from his tower. He still had some dignity left--but that might change, here.]

[The room Jove chose for herself was the one just beside Dorian's, but there had been no actual purposeful attempt to avoid the room Cullen set himself up in. If anything, she's been just as friendly, just as open with him as she had ever been. It's Cullen that isolates himself and she assumes it's because he's embarrassed, so she says nothing about it.

It would have gone on that way likely forever if it hadn't been for her passing by his door on her way back to her room after a quest for a glass of water. It's late at night, there are no other sounds in the villa, and the sounds of him in distress are easily heard once she stops to listen to them. For a moment she hesitates, but there's no question about how this will end.

When she knocks and calls his name and he does't answer, Jove sighs and pushes the door open to lean inside. He still doesn't respond, even as she creeps closer, and finally Jove reaches out to put a hand on his shoulder as gently as she can.]

Cullen, wake up.

Does that mean you did things kind of against the guidelines that were set?

[The touch to his shoulder has him waking with a start, a cool layer of sweat on his skin. The pulling, tearing, ripping--it's all too vivid, and for a moment it looks like he might not be seeing Jove.

But then he blinks and his eyes focus on her face, and he looks like he wants to dive into that volcano, body tense.]

Jove. I'm--forgive me.

They were, perhaps, a slight stretching of the situation. Mildly. It's hardly as if my elven friends are wandering about with their ears out.

[She shakes her head, giving his shoulder a light squeeze. Propriety would have her taking that hand away after that, but she doesn't. Not when he's so shaken.]

There's nothing to forgive. Are you alright now?

[No, he's never alright after waking up from a nightmare, but he swallows back the burn of bile as he nods.]

Yes. I'm fine. It's just a bad dream, that's all.

I hate to tell you this, but you aren't a very convincing liar.

[She should absolutely go now, tell him she hopes he'll sleep better the rest of the night. That's what she should do, but instead she finds herself sitting on the edge of the bed.]

Do you have nightmares often?

[It's hard to lie when everything from the sheen on his skin to the tired pull under his eyes says he's not alright. His heart is still pounding far too fast for his liking. But he sighs, letting himself sink back into his pillows, hand coming to rest over his eyes.

She shouldn't have to deal with this. With him.]

Not often. [But often enough. He sighs. How much did she know?] But without lyrium, they're worse.

[with a newly-growing restlessness brewing inside his chest preventing him from keeping still, Tek is out and about.

and originally, he had followed the invitation because he'd been all too curious to see exactly which rules were supposedly being tested out here... but wandering through the villa in the evening, he's surprised to spot an unexpectedly familiar face, and that instantly becomes more interesting. at least for now.

and just like he'd done at the gala, he wanders up from the side, a little out of nowhere.]

...Well, don't you seem right at home here.

...Was your mustache especially villainous or anything?

I might have gone a bit far with the Evil Magister laugh. I'm not even licensed for that yet.

[Fenris has avoided people, as he is won't to do. He's a lot more...restless than usual, though. He hates everything about this planet, it eats at him and he needs to find a way to make it stop.

For now, he's just taken on his usual mercenary work, but unlike usual, he's been saving his money, instead of spending it on booze. Once he gets a sword...well, then things will be different.

People in the house might catch him late at night, eating in the kitchen before slinking off to his room to sleep. Maybe, if they're lucky. ]

Jove!

[Anyone else might not have gotten a warning-- it's fun to see them jump if they don't hear him coming-- but she's not one of the ones he'd take by surprise. Arhen slips easily down from his perch in a nearby tree to join her, clearly just as pleased with this place as she is; his eyes are brighter than they've been in a while, smile thoroughly content. He hadn't been anywhere to be found around the villa that first night, and it's not hard to guess that he'd spent it in the forest instead.]

I was wondering how soon I'd find you out here.

[she thinks, for a moment. perhaps with more seriousness than is warranted. until...]

Oh my god, did you trick everyone into thinking you're an evil, all-powerful mage?

Evil? I did not aim to give that impression, not exactly. All-powerful...that would be a stretch. All I did was a bit of rudimentary magic. They can think what they will.

I suppose that is true for any Inquisitor, that others thought the evil Magister from Tevinter was there to corrupt them.

[He crossed one leg over the other, gesturing a bit as he speaks.]

Jove is my dearest friend, but I know that our...situations complicated matters. That she was Dalish, and kept company with a Vint.

Dorian, I am 90% sure they're going to go with "evil"...

[it's so bad, but... she can't help but stifle a giggle into her hand.]

[When Jove was exploring the woods, Allen was actually still at the edge of the city running errands. He was perfectly content with staying on his ship with his crew and even more importantly- his cook, so the offer to stay at the Villa had been dismissed. Nor did he think he would even have reason to go near that part of the world]

[That is, until the peaceful afternoon got shattered with an ear-piercing scream.]

[It took him by complete surprise, the volume of the scream and how it felt like it clawed at his blood. Covering his ears didn't seem to have any effect on the volume, nor did it look like anyone else in the street was reacting - as if they couldn't hear it at all. Which meant...]

[He could feel it even through the illusion. The curse of his eye activated, and desperately looking for the source of that screaming. It had been so long since he's experienced this- any souls he did sense in the fleet hadn't been suffering. Sometimes sad, sometimes so old they could no longer remember who they were before- but never in pain. Not like this. None of them had this level of terror]

[The moment his eye pinpoints the source- he feels his stomach twist nauseously. It's nothing more than a fragment, not even a whole soul anymore. Someone went and ripped a soul apart here. Like an Akuma would.]

[His previous errand forgotten, he breaks into a run towards the source. He barely shouts apologies as he moves through crowds. His pace only picks up once he's past the city limit and it opens into the forest- his illusion shutting off as it's only getting in his way.]

[He's not sure what he was expecting when he finally comes upon the clearing where the source was coming from. It wasn't someone like Jove though]

- What?

You're- you're not an undead or an akuma. Why...why do you have that soul?

[Brb trying to work out this one. She's probably got a comment before he gets over this stunned surprise.]

Oh no, whatever shall I do?

[He chuckles.]

I've been called worse than an "evil mage", Krista. Being considered that was a normal day for me, outside of Tevinter. I'll manage to live with myself.

You were quite close to my recollection, as well. At least that much is the same.

[Oh, he wants to ask. He so desperately wants to ask, but instead he just pours himself some wine.]

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004 // the house of sin

ACTION FOR DORIAN around 3/12ish

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OPEN ; some nebulous time after people have settled in

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Broadcast | Video

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Open, first few days

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