A Little Exploring
Entropy Judge
Recurring Bouts of Misanthropy
[X] Refuse to let their mind-reader in.
-[X] Politely but firmly.
[X] Scout your surroundings... just wander around. No magic needed.
"Well, yes. It would only be a brief, directed search ...." Verossa trails off again as you shake your head. You don't know him, or whether any of them are trustworthy, and you're not sure you would let them look at your thoughts even if you did trust them.
"No. I'm sorry, but I will not allow you to read my mind." You bow your head the tiniest bit, and while Schach is frowning, Verossa's face has cleared a bit.
"That's quite alright," he says as he picks up the box. He grimaces at the torn side and shakes his head. "Well, hopefully I'll be seeing you again shortly, Miss Scarlet - probably not tomorrow, but perhaps the next day. It seems you made quite an impression at the Simulator. Have a good time," he says, smiling as he leaves. You feel much better - even if you don't really like being pushed away like this, at least Vita hasn't done it to forget about you, and she's really trying to get you a Device! You giggle softly and spin in place, arms crossed over your chest. Then you remember Schach is still there, and stop spinning.
"Hey, what were you doing before?" She blinks, apparently confused by the question.
"Ah, you mean before I came to see you?" You nod. "Well, I was teaching some of the Initiates. Would you be interested in joining us?" You shake your head; she must be talking about prayers and stuff like that, and maybe how to serve other people - she did bring that tea set, after all, and she didn't do a terrible job, even if she couldn't compare to Sakuya. You'd rather do something else.
"Ah! Hey, can I go outside? Or look around here?" You put on a pleading face, and she looks away for a moment.
"Well, we don't intend for you to feel locked up, so ... yes, I suppose if you wish you may explore a little, although some areas are restricted, and I do hope you will recognize them when you encounter them?" You sigh - she probably means thing like locked doors and guards, and those usually mean fun and interesting things! - and nod. She sighs, then looks a little concerned. "Alright. Do you need a guide? I can take you, or have someone else do it if you'd prefer that." You shake your head.
"No, I'll be fine. If there's anything specific I want to ask, I'll just ask someone nearby!" You giggle, then look outside again. "Oh! And I'll try to keep away from crowded areas, okay?" You jingle your wings, and she smiles.
"That would help, thank you. Just one more thing - you are supposed to be here for the time being, so will you promise you won't try to leave?" You make a face; it's not like you would know where to go, anyway!
"I promise; for now, at least, I'll stay here." She bows and glances at the tea set; you nod and she takes it with her when she leaves. You giggle again; now you have a completely new environment to explore! Even if you did agree to those silly rules ... mainly because you're pretty sure that Vita would be upset if you did anything fun around them. You're going to have to teach her the proper way to behave at some point. You stretch and take out your parasol; you don't think you'll need it, since it looks pretty late, but you like carrying Laevateinn, and this is pretty close - and you can keep your wings from being observed once you get outside, too. That should make everyone happy!
The hallway is quiet when you step outside your room; in fact, a quick check reveals that none of the rooms seem to be occupied. Either they don't get many guests, or they cleared out this hall just for you. It's certainly a very nice area; it's not quite as fancy as what's present in the mansion, but the quality is very similar. Of course, once you've seen one room, you've seen pretty much all of them; a few have some extra things in them, like the machines in your room, but there's not a whole lot of change. Even the colors in the rooms are all nearly identical, which is a little strange to look at.
You decide to go outside first, then see what the rest of the building is like, and you open up your parasol right after stepping outside. You notice a couple slits running through it that weren't there before - probably sustained when Vita was attacked. You add that to your mental list of checks and balances for that person and his organization. Looking around, you find yourself on a large, well-kept yard, with smooth paved walkways going straight in some places and winding in others; you walk along one winding path that takes you close to the trees and - you think - eventually passes near what seems to be a curtain wall.
The trees, of course, are trees - they're made of wood, they burn easily, and you could probably rip up any of the ones here with ease. The wall, when you reach it, gives you a few things to think about. It's made of a smooth brown stone, and it certainly does seem to be a curtain wall ... which makes no sense to you, because when you look around from the top of the wall, you can see higher terrain around the castle. Within throwing distance for you, or a bowshot for a human. This strikes you as not only strange - you can't see very far if there are mountains in the way, after all - but very stupid, since the point of a wall is to keep things out, and some of the high ground is close enough to let someone in. Then you turn to look at the castle itself ... which is part castle, part mansion, and part cathedral. It seems to be mostly built of the same brown stone as the wall, and it certainly seems solidly built for the most part, which is why you call it a castle. That, and it's really big ... which is part of why you call it a cathedral, but also because it has the sculpted architecture you associate with such buildings. And mansion because some parts are obviously intended to be habitations, and while some are new additions, some seem to have been part of the structure from the beginning. Maybe whoever built it was touched in the head?
You walk along the wall, admiring the view of both the landscape and the building until you come to the front of the estate. And you can tell it's the front because not only is there a large crowd of people in the courtyard, but there are large doors into the building ... and a large road leading out. You want very little more than you want Schach right in front of you right now, because you don't like being tricked. She tricked you into thinking you wouldn't be able to find out where Vita was, and then she made you promise not to leave! You grind the handle of your parasol in your grip, then turn and kick the crenellation beside you, shattering it. You take a few steps and kick the next one - more to get rid of the now-extraneous shoe than because you want to break more of the wall. You glare out into the stony plain the road carves through until you feel a little calmer, then turn back to the building. You could go in the front way ... but there are still a lot of people there, and you're definitely not in the mood to deal with them politely. Looking around, you see some open windows. Perfect.
You walk back so you won't be completely obvious, then fly onto the roof and walk to the nearest window and drop in. You smile at the startled blonde woman sitting at her desk, then put your parasol away. While she's still trying to figure out who you are and what you're doing there, you hover up and pat her on the head, smile very toothily, and head toward the door when she recoils, paling. You nod to the butler outside the door, who also seems shocked by your sudden appearance, and head down the hallway.
It's rather strange - every time you find a building that seems to be much larger than it needs to be, it turns out to be true. Just like the mansion, this building has lots and lots of the same room over and over. Sure, it has some rooms that are simply very large - you found the cafeteria, for example - but there are other rooms that only had slight changes, like who was in them or what color the flowers were. Eventually you find Schach - she's actually outside with a group of people, and she seems to be leading them in combat drills. She turns to look at you as you glare reproachfully at her.
"Miss Scarlet! Is there something I can help you with?"
What do you do?
[ ] Ask if you can spar with her.
- [ ] Hold back.
- [ ] Don't hold back, but don't try to kill her.
- [ ] Try to kill her.
[ ] Ask her ...
- [ ] Who the blonde woman was.
- [ ] Who the woman in all the pictures is - the one with mismatched eyes.
- [ ] If she knows where the road goes.
[ ] "No, just looking around."
- [ ] Continue exploring.
- [ ] Something else?
-[X] Politely but firmly.
[X] Scout your surroundings... just wander around. No magic needed.
"Well, yes. It would only be a brief, directed search ...." Verossa trails off again as you shake your head. You don't know him, or whether any of them are trustworthy, and you're not sure you would let them look at your thoughts even if you did trust them.
"No. I'm sorry, but I will not allow you to read my mind." You bow your head the tiniest bit, and while Schach is frowning, Verossa's face has cleared a bit.
"That's quite alright," he says as he picks up the box. He grimaces at the torn side and shakes his head. "Well, hopefully I'll be seeing you again shortly, Miss Scarlet - probably not tomorrow, but perhaps the next day. It seems you made quite an impression at the Simulator. Have a good time," he says, smiling as he leaves. You feel much better - even if you don't really like being pushed away like this, at least Vita hasn't done it to forget about you, and she's really trying to get you a Device! You giggle softly and spin in place, arms crossed over your chest. Then you remember Schach is still there, and stop spinning.
"Hey, what were you doing before?" She blinks, apparently confused by the question.
"Ah, you mean before I came to see you?" You nod. "Well, I was teaching some of the Initiates. Would you be interested in joining us?" You shake your head; she must be talking about prayers and stuff like that, and maybe how to serve other people - she did bring that tea set, after all, and she didn't do a terrible job, even if she couldn't compare to Sakuya. You'd rather do something else.
"Ah! Hey, can I go outside? Or look around here?" You put on a pleading face, and she looks away for a moment.
"Well, we don't intend for you to feel locked up, so ... yes, I suppose if you wish you may explore a little, although some areas are restricted, and I do hope you will recognize them when you encounter them?" You sigh - she probably means thing like locked doors and guards, and those usually mean fun and interesting things! - and nod. She sighs, then looks a little concerned. "Alright. Do you need a guide? I can take you, or have someone else do it if you'd prefer that." You shake your head.
"No, I'll be fine. If there's anything specific I want to ask, I'll just ask someone nearby!" You giggle, then look outside again. "Oh! And I'll try to keep away from crowded areas, okay?" You jingle your wings, and she smiles.
"That would help, thank you. Just one more thing - you are supposed to be here for the time being, so will you promise you won't try to leave?" You make a face; it's not like you would know where to go, anyway!
"I promise; for now, at least, I'll stay here." She bows and glances at the tea set; you nod and she takes it with her when she leaves. You giggle again; now you have a completely new environment to explore! Even if you did agree to those silly rules ... mainly because you're pretty sure that Vita would be upset if you did anything fun around them. You're going to have to teach her the proper way to behave at some point. You stretch and take out your parasol; you don't think you'll need it, since it looks pretty late, but you like carrying Laevateinn, and this is pretty close - and you can keep your wings from being observed once you get outside, too. That should make everyone happy!
The hallway is quiet when you step outside your room; in fact, a quick check reveals that none of the rooms seem to be occupied. Either they don't get many guests, or they cleared out this hall just for you. It's certainly a very nice area; it's not quite as fancy as what's present in the mansion, but the quality is very similar. Of course, once you've seen one room, you've seen pretty much all of them; a few have some extra things in them, like the machines in your room, but there's not a whole lot of change. Even the colors in the rooms are all nearly identical, which is a little strange to look at.
You decide to go outside first, then see what the rest of the building is like, and you open up your parasol right after stepping outside. You notice a couple slits running through it that weren't there before - probably sustained when Vita was attacked. You add that to your mental list of checks and balances for that person and his organization. Looking around, you find yourself on a large, well-kept yard, with smooth paved walkways going straight in some places and winding in others; you walk along one winding path that takes you close to the trees and - you think - eventually passes near what seems to be a curtain wall.
The trees, of course, are trees - they're made of wood, they burn easily, and you could probably rip up any of the ones here with ease. The wall, when you reach it, gives you a few things to think about. It's made of a smooth brown stone, and it certainly does seem to be a curtain wall ... which makes no sense to you, because when you look around from the top of the wall, you can see higher terrain around the castle. Within throwing distance for you, or a bowshot for a human. This strikes you as not only strange - you can't see very far if there are mountains in the way, after all - but very stupid, since the point of a wall is to keep things out, and some of the high ground is close enough to let someone in. Then you turn to look at the castle itself ... which is part castle, part mansion, and part cathedral. It seems to be mostly built of the same brown stone as the wall, and it certainly seems solidly built for the most part, which is why you call it a castle. That, and it's really big ... which is part of why you call it a cathedral, but also because it has the sculpted architecture you associate with such buildings. And mansion because some parts are obviously intended to be habitations, and while some are new additions, some seem to have been part of the structure from the beginning. Maybe whoever built it was touched in the head?
You walk along the wall, admiring the view of both the landscape and the building until you come to the front of the estate. And you can tell it's the front because not only is there a large crowd of people in the courtyard, but there are large doors into the building ... and a large road leading out. You want very little more than you want Schach right in front of you right now, because you don't like being tricked. She tricked you into thinking you wouldn't be able to find out where Vita was, and then she made you promise not to leave! You grind the handle of your parasol in your grip, then turn and kick the crenellation beside you, shattering it. You take a few steps and kick the next one - more to get rid of the now-extraneous shoe than because you want to break more of the wall. You glare out into the stony plain the road carves through until you feel a little calmer, then turn back to the building. You could go in the front way ... but there are still a lot of people there, and you're definitely not in the mood to deal with them politely. Looking around, you see some open windows. Perfect.
You walk back so you won't be completely obvious, then fly onto the roof and walk to the nearest window and drop in. You smile at the startled blonde woman sitting at her desk, then put your parasol away. While she's still trying to figure out who you are and what you're doing there, you hover up and pat her on the head, smile very toothily, and head toward the door when she recoils, paling. You nod to the butler outside the door, who also seems shocked by your sudden appearance, and head down the hallway.
It's rather strange - every time you find a building that seems to be much larger than it needs to be, it turns out to be true. Just like the mansion, this building has lots and lots of the same room over and over. Sure, it has some rooms that are simply very large - you found the cafeteria, for example - but there are other rooms that only had slight changes, like who was in them or what color the flowers were. Eventually you find Schach - she's actually outside with a group of people, and she seems to be leading them in combat drills. She turns to look at you as you glare reproachfully at her.
"Miss Scarlet! Is there something I can help you with?"
What do you do?
[ ] Ask if you can spar with her.
- [ ] Hold back.
- [ ] Don't hold back, but don't try to kill her.
- [ ] Try to kill her.
[ ] Ask her ...
- [ ] Who the blonde woman was.
- [ ] Who the woman in all the pictures is - the one with mismatched eyes.
- [ ] If she knows where the road goes.
[ ] "No, just looking around."
- [ ] Continue exploring.
- [ ] Something else?
