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Post by Dante on Nov 8, 2022 14:29:02 GMT
He looks at her in mild surprise, thank goodness for gold being seemingly universally exchangeable...
"Oh, kind of a living journal. I make sketches of places that I've seen, helps me to remember them and consider if I want to visit it again someday."
Were she skillful or knowledgeable of such things, she would sense that these are the beginnings of Trump sketches.
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Post by Admin on Nov 10, 2022 5:10:52 GMT
She takes the book and turns the pages admiring the illustrations.
"I like your use of bold lines on this one," she says. "A more fanciful picture of Amber castle than most people draw."
"By the way, it is common for the gentleman to introduce himself to the lady when meeting."
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Post by Dante on Nov 10, 2022 14:36:03 GMT
He tenses a bit defensively when she takes the book but restrains himself with a sigh and rubbing the bridge of his nose "Hmmm yeah speaking of manners, it's usually considered polite to ask someone their permission before taking what's theirs..." He then sighs and shakes his head, clearly fatigued by this conversation already, "Dante Frost...and you would be...?"
Then blinks as something she had previously said gets his attention, "And what was that about Amber castle? Is that what this place is called...? I've only ever heard it described in myths and stories...and...other places."
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Post by Admin on Nov 13, 2022 18:03:27 GMT
"Anna Mae.
"You weren't exactly hiding your notebook, yes? And I've never met an artist who didn't want people admiring his work.
"Amber is no myth; it's as real as I am. And it wouldn't be too difficult to get to if the weather was more cooperative. Too bad, and we are all stuck here until conditions change."
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Post by Dante on Nov 14, 2022 13:13:26 GMT
He sighs again and gives the ghost of a smile "well no I wasn't hiding it exactly, though I'm not that kind of artist...I don't make works meant to be shown to others but as a kind of...thought exercise, to help me memorize places, people, emotions...It's complicated"
He blink in surprise "I knew it was real...you've seen it?" but then chuckles tiredly "of course, one step forward 2 steps back. A historian's curse...Is this weather common for this time of year here? How long has it been going on for?"
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Post by Admin on Nov 15, 2022 8:16:44 GMT
"No, not common this time of year. Started months ago and no one knows how long it will last," she says distractedly while continuing to look through the book.
"Look, more from Amber and these are too accurate to be from stories and legends. I recognize this place from outside Jidrash."
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Post by Dante on Nov 15, 2022 16:06:47 GMT
That concerns him. Especially since he detected no obvious sign that the weather was being caused by mystical means...perhaps it was being masked in some way? Uhg he chided himself for his lacking of mystical studies...
His attention being brought back to her looking through his sketchbook, "I am very good at translating written word into imagery it would seem. The places you see there...Jidrash you called it? This place was described at what was believed to be a burial site for some sort of honored dead. Information on it was sketchy since there wasn't anyone left who could go into any sort of detail. Downside of studying ancient places, a lot of it is guesswork..."
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Post by Admin on Nov 16, 2022 6:04:02 GMT
#s://i~ibb~co/qMBZm3j/Anna-Mae~jpg She is obviously unconvinced by Dante's explanation. "I could see you drawing something vaguely or approximately like the real place, but I've been to all of these places and your images are spot-on aside for some surreal touches in a few places. But you've never been to Amber...Ever been to Trir'na nog'th? Or Rebma?
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Post by Dante on Nov 16, 2022 13:50:46 GMT
Dante looks confused and a bit incredulous "then maybe I'm just very lucky...I'm sorry but are you suggesting that I'm lying to you? I take my work very seriously...Yes I may have heard of Amber but hearing of a place is very different than seeing it for yourself. The castle in that portrait? That's from the realm I came from" He thinks hard though on the question, "Trir'na nog'th...no never been there, but I have read considerable about it; some cultures from where I came from called it the 'Ghost City', I guess, some kind of afterlife or echo of the living world...and Rebma? Aside from it being a palindrome of Amber? I'm afraid I've not heard of it...is it a place...apposed to Amber like some kind of diametric or polar opposite?"
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Post by Admin on Nov 17, 2022 23:36:28 GMT
#s://i~ibb~co/qMBZm3j/Anna-Mae~jpg "No, not a liar just mysterious. What is this place you come from? There is nothing like this-" she points to his painting of Amber "- in Kashfa, Begma, Eregnor, or other connected lands, so where are you from and how did you get here, and how did you think to create this?"
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Post by Dante on Nov 18, 2022 3:44:25 GMT
"Well I see that I've piqued your curiosity...I'm from a place called the Nexus, a realm in, Shadow? that has interconnections with several of its neighboring shadows...this place" he taps the picture of the crystal recreation of Amber, "was in one of those worlds part of the Nexus. As for how I got here, with difficulty. Trial and error using these" he taps the armored case on his belt, a case sized enough to hold his Trump cards. "As for how I thought to create them...well, that would take a while to explain..."
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Post by Admin on Nov 18, 2022 5:09:33 GMT
#s://i~ibb~co/qMBZm3j/Anna-Mae~jpg "Trump cards they are called here. Or just Tarots if you wish to generalize. Said to be invented by the great wizard Dworkin who passed his secrets down to only a chosen few. One should not be able to learn the art on his own. No matter the length of the tale, you should tell me. After buying another round."
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Post by Dante on Nov 18, 2022 13:21:02 GMT
He chuckles and sighs, "sure, why not...fortunately gold coins seem to be universal." he then draws a card from his pack, one of a pile of said treasures. He will concentrate upon it and collect a handful from within, leaving one out for another round of drinks and pocketing the rest.
"Well...to begin with, my career isn't that of an artist, I just always had an eye for detail and being able to translate that onto another medium. So I suppose in a way that makes me a kind of artist...huh..." Then shrugs as he continues, "Deep beneath this castle in a level that I call the 'catacombs' were pictograph murals lining a massive chamber. Now initially I believed that these pictographs spoke of mythical occurrences or parables, but after nearly a year working with translation and study I discovered that they were in fact historical. One in particular caught my attention. A depiction of an old man, hunched and hump-backed, drawing an image upon a small object which he gifts to a ragged looking man with scars upon his face around his eyes. The man then looked upon the image presented, and found himself someplace else. Now initially I had thought that it was a metaphor for transcendence or moving on to the next life but then it occurred to me that, what if it was literal? So I began to experiment; drawing things that I had perfect recall of...places, objects, I avoided drawing people for I didn't know necessarily what it would do if it worked, or if something went wrong. It took years, but eventually I succeeded, with this one" he then draws another card, this one depicting a desert landscape with a high sun, and a massive crescent shaped canyon carved into the earth in the distance.
"So, once I figured that out I started drawing places that I saw in my dreams...eventually I made my way here. Where I found a charming and lovely young lady." He finishes with a pleasant smile, "now, mind telling me something of yourself or is this a one way interrogation?" he says playfully.
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Post by Admin on Nov 20, 2022 6:04:26 GMT
#s://i~ibb~co/qMBZm3j/Anna-Mae~jpg "Interesting story. And a supposedly impossible occurrence - no, I'm not calling you a liar, just that you may not know everything that is going on about you. Can you hand me the deck? Don't worry - I won't look inside.
"Anna Mae Wong at your service. In service of Amber, to be precise, but since I can't get there or back so can't report to them or them to me, I'm a free agent until our world returns to normal."
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Post by Dante on Nov 20, 2022 16:05:07 GMT
Dante sighs "and it seems that I'm just as stuck for the moment. Very well miss Mae Wong" he will disconnect the metal metal case and slide out the full deck and hand it to her.
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