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 Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 11:47 am
Quote: --and moreover...! Inside, the house is dim and musty and much quieter than the marketplace outside. Motes of dust hover in the beams of light filtering in between the curtains over the windows. There is some furniture, but all of it is toppled and broken. Along the wall to your right is a staircase covered with a length of carpet that had to have been expensive when it was new. The bird went in through the second-story window, and you can hear it knocking about up the stairs. If you can reach the stairs without tripping, the only thing underfoot from there is an age and a half of dust. The second floor is a bit cleaner, in the sense that all of the furniture is pushed up against the walls, leaving the middles of each room clear. The only motion is on top of a dresser - the clockwork is there, battering against the wall and systematically upsetting all of the bottles and implements on top of the bureau. And then something else moves - a masked figure, robed in white, who sees you and draws a small knife. Letters appear from the cultist, perhaps looking familiar: "I don't want to hurt anyone if I don't have to. I just want to see the bird."
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Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2012 6:29 am
He'd paused at the initial noises behind him, but settled as soon as he saw that the two stupid girls had finally caught up. Another coloured one - a Book Child, he assumed, was on their side.
He was highly unimpressed by the emergence of the cultist, getting in the way of his seeing the clockwork. So, the idiot facing four people would threaten them with a tiny blade? Two could play at that game! A swift motion and he too, produced Talulah's ceremonial knife from his bag, wielding it warningly. Vlad wasn't a fighter, but he could well start now.
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Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2012 3:20 pm
For a moment it looked like Talulah would do an about face and simply march back down the stairs. A blank look had settled over his face as the cultist drew his knife. But everything was different this time. She had Estra and brave Vlad. This time she wasn’t chasing a man down the street in the deep night, hoping to stop someone’s death.
“I’ll get the bird.” She announced. Tali touched Estra’s arm softly with her fingertips. “Make sure it doesn’t get past me and escape.” Ignoring the cultist, she circled around towards where the bird was still battering itself against the wall. She trusted Vlad would keep her safe.
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Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2012 1:30 pm
When they'd first congregated on the second storey, all Estra could think was it was such a relief they had found Vlad again - he need never know they'd lost him partway. The relief was, naturally, quickly elbowed out by shock. Estra was very good at forgetting things she didn't want to remember, and the sudden appearance of the masked, robed figure - knife to boot! - frightened her anew. But then Vlad drew out Tali's dagger, and that was alright, then, wasn't it? Vlad would take care of the stranger, and he wouldn't do anything bad with Tali's dagger. So when Tali gave the instruction, Estra obeyed. A darting look around the room - oh! Was that the window they'd seen it go through? Quickly, she ran over and shut it with a neat little clap before rounding the dresser Tali had gone to, "I'll help catch it if it flies."
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Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2012 1:46 pm
Vlad could see the girls securing the clockwork out of the corner of his eye - good, they were more useful than he'd thought. Encouraged by this home side advantage, he tipped the knife and moved closer to the cultist. "Now," he snapped, brandishing the blade, "I want answers! What's going on?!" An expressive swipe that gestured to the fluttering creature, and his hand returned to its former position. "The bird, the cage, the killing, all of it. Because I am entirely willing to hurt someone whether or not I have to, and there's only one someone here handy to hurt."
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Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2012 6:18 pm
The masked face turned to regard the three of them, though naturally hid the cultist's reaction. Her own knifepoint lowered just a little for a moment as she recognized the dagger that the crow-child pulled on her, though, and she shook her head.
"I can't believe you kept that. What did you hope to prove with it?" she asked. "Especially now that you're pulling it on me. Not enough blood for you?" Her stance shifted, though she remained ready, and kept a close eye on the three Book Children. "And I doubt you are quite willing to hurt anyone. It ... really is not as wonderful or as easy as you seem to think."
With her unarmed hand, she gestured towards the bird. "You're after that, not me, and that thing's programming has it trapped in here. It doesn't think there's a building here, so there's no need to worry about it escaping." The clockwork seemed quite intent on bonking itself into the wall, as though trying to find a way through. Aside from the obstacle of the fluttering wings, it would not be difficult to grab it.
"As for information," the cultist went on. "I'm willing to talk if you're willing to listen. And that means putting down the knife, unless you want the police to find you in here with a cultist knife. Since you seem intent on getting involved with this cult, there are some things I can tell you." She looked wary, and her blade was still bare, but she did not look ready to attack by any means.
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Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2012 10:08 am
"Not enough blood for you?" Vlad retorted, pointedly aiming his blade at the cultist's own. He was not at all impressed that a criminal was patronising him when she was the one in an illegal cult pulling a knife on three Book Children - two of them barely intelligent enough to be people, even. He was momentarily distracted by the thought of programming clockwork...how was that done? - no, this was not the time to quibble, especially at the offer to learn what was going on. "Unless you want police to find you, a cultist, threatening innocent people with a knife, you'd best put your knife down, too.
Besides, this knife is hers." He ended in low tones and a smirk, his head nodding towards Talulah.
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Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 3:15 pm
Talulah’s hands closed around the clockwork bird, pressing the fluttering wings down and holding it tightly. She held it against her chest and turned, smiling at Estra in triumph.
The situation did not seem as bad as it had before. Tali could feel it. Knives were still out, but they did not seem as deadly today as they had that night. After just a moment with this strange person, she felt that everything would be fine.
“It is mine.” She said, after Vlad had nodded towards her. “And I think you should give it back now.” Tali smiled. “And them we can all talk.”
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Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2012 7:29 pm
A stream of laugher escaped the masked figure's lips.
"You threaten to hurt me and then accuse me of bloodlust? And you are too cowardly to claim the knife you hold as your own." She paused a moment, then shook her head. "No, what is past is past for me. My wrongs are my own to right, not your concern. But I will say, if you wish to bring down this cult, I have information for you."
She straightens her arms, flicking the folds out of one trailing sleeve, then crosses them across her chest. "So you will listen. Or you will stab me while decrying the bloodshed of the cult, make yourself a hypocrite, and gain nothing but stains on your hands."
The impassive white mask turned to regard the goldfish girl, and the City Person added, "This one is smart. Listen to her, listen to me, and we can all get to the bottom of this.
"Let me see the bird, please."
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Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2012 10:48 pm
"Stop! Don't give the bird over!"
Tiberius yelled out. He was surprised to find that there were already people inside the house, other book children and an odd figure in white. A familiar white figure, one that he distinctly remembered.
"Before we hand over the bird, tell us why you want it."
He'd have to apologize for barging into the situation all of a sudden later, but now the most important thing was to deal with the situation at hand. If the white-figure wanted the bird, then it must be of some importance. Why was it important? Why should they give it back. Why should they trust her words?
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Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2012 6:24 pm
Vlad was about to have an aneurysm from the fact that someone who threatened them accused him of threatening and accusing her irrationally, down to the fact that indeed the knife he held wasn't his anyway. He was unconvinced by any of the words, promises and demands bandied about the place. But when Talulah was described as...
as smart.
His brain shut down through sheer apoplexy. He folded his arms, knife still in hand, and only barely noticed the sudden appearance of another Book Child dramatically making his entrance. What he did register, however, is that the situation was still stuck at the same stupid point it was before, and it wasn't worth paying attention until someone made some real sense.
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Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 11:19 pm
Talulah looked confused when Tiberius burst in, stopping her forward motion to present the mysterious person the bird.
“She just… wants to see it…” The goldfish said eventually, opening her hands up to reveal as much of the bird as possible without it fluttering out of her grip. Vlad seemed to have gone strangely quiet and the newcomer wanted answers.
Tali looked at Estra, as if the answer to this conundrum would be written on her friend’s face. Apparently there was something there that made sense because she gave a little smile.
“Nobody is going to stab anyone.” She shook her head firmly. “Here.” Stepping forward, she offered up the mechanical bird.
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Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2012 1:50 pm
She had jumped at Tiberius' exclamation and fretted at Vlad's sudden silence (though at least he wasn't waving the dagger around anymore, which must be good?), but when Tali stepped forward and unfolded her hand, she was at peace. Tali had a way with people that she - and certainly Vlad - never had. This masked stranger would become a friend or something close enough to that soon enough if Tali was on the case. She watched the proceedings, now without fear: Tali said nobody was going to stab anyone, and in Tali she trusted.
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