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Post by Cody D'Avalon on Sept 29, 2023 17:48:44 GMT
Cody is confused by Lorelei's reply, "Hyper-focused? On me? If she's speaking, then everyone's gonna be focused on her."
Maybe Lorelei is so used to it that she doesn't see it as odd.
"Besides, I'm sorry but I would rather that it had been a happy little family reunion. Something a little more casual, you know... A 'Hey, I'm on my way to Amber and I thought it might be nice if I just popped in to say hi while I'm in the neighbourhood.' Type situation."
"I mean, when I met up with Brian on your doorstep; He gave me the impression that things were pretty casual around here. Him having an open invitation to just drop in any time."
"But, then again, I had no inkling of the animosity I'd be facing."
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Post by Cody D'Avalon on Oct 1, 2023 4:25:16 GMT
Cody gives a bit of a blush, "Look at me whine..."
"Let's change the subject. Both you and Brian mention a Dionisia. From his description, I'm pretty sure I know her. An emaciated little waif of a girl. Pale with white hair. Pretty, though. Very gentle and kind."
"She was, apparently, dumped in a Convent as an infant by her parents where she was endentured."
"Terrible situation. Those Nuns tortured her her whole life but she still managed to be sweet and kind."
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Post by Lorelei on Oct 2, 2023 0:04:13 GMT
"Yes, Brian turned a casual visit into an official visit and the resulting circus with everything except the dancing monkeys..."
"The Queen seldom speaks officially, so when she does the recipient comes under intense scrutiny. Speaking casually, the court is not involved, and events flow smoother..."
"Whine?" Lorelei asks. Seeing that they are on the stairs between checkpoints, she turns and pins him to the wall for several minutes, kissing him in a manner and with an intensity he is unlikely to have ever experience before. "Now you can whine all you want if you can get past the blushing....," she says with a slight huskiness to her voice.
"This is Dionisia," Lorelei says, showing him an image captures in her compact. "I said to her that I would talk to my brother on her behalf, but have been unable to do so to date." .
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Post by Cody D'Avalon on Oct 2, 2023 6:01:04 GMT
Sublimation!!! The ice cold shock of Lorelei's forceful kiss instantly skips that median point and becomes steam. Sublimation!!!
Cody had held back the desperate advances of Anna Lee. Inappropriate.
This was different. Eyes deer-in-the-headlights wide for a moment Cody is almost paralyzed.
As long as it's just a kiss, where's the harm?
Cody relaxes a bit and allows himself to enjoy the moment. Tentatively reciprocating. Remembering the dance like movements in the grotto. They had fenced so sensually. Remembering...
"Just don't tell my other girlfriends." Cody shudders with false bravado as she breaks the lip-lock.
Back at the business at hand, Cody looks at the image of Dionisia. "Oh, wow! She looks fantastic. So much healthier and happier than she was in the Convent. I'd heard whispering that a couple of girls had escaped and a group of Nuns had gone out to round them up. Quite a few didn't come back..."
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Post by Lorelei on Oct 2, 2023 6:53:47 GMT
When Cody asks "Just don't tell my other girlfriends," Lorelei replies in a husky tone, "Next time invite them along."
"When I first met her, she had been summoned from that convent by a group of questionable competence, where her group and mine reached a pocket-shadow atop a snow-covered mountain at the same time. It was the scene of a multi-faction battle. A group of their top-tier militant fanatic nuns arrived shortly thereafter and tried to take Dio after she had aided us... Only one nun escaped, barely... I've tried to look out for Dio but she has set off on her own. I met her again on my return to Amber this last time, but I suspect she has already headed out again...," Lorelei concludes. .
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Post by Cody D'Avalon on Oct 2, 2023 16:26:53 GMT
Cody ignores Lorelei's polyamorous flirt and is surprised by her accounting of Dionisia. "Dionisia was summoned?! Like, a bunch of Occultists snatched her out of the Convent and... and... Did whatever they do? That's fantastic! I mean, I wish I had thought of that."
Cody feels the cool metal of the locket on his chest which contains various tokens. Like the coin Lorelei gave him in the Kraken's Grotto; and a lock of Dionisia's hair.
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Post by Lorelei on Oct 6, 2023 18:15:25 GMT
"At least you would have had sense enough not to get your group dead in a series of senseless battles."
Clearing the next set of stairs brings them to the top floor of the tower housing the royal suites. Lorelei enters the door to hers. Even from the doorway Cody can see that very little has changed. Inside, off of the sitting room, through one of the open doorways, he can see her bedchamber. Through another doorway he can tell there is an air-filled room devoted to magical stuff. A couple of other doors remain closed. Overstuffed cushions cover every sitting surface and a large window with a window-seat looks out over the city through an ornate grill...
Lorelei goes over and opens a desk drawer, take a few things out and placing them in her belt pouch, before returning to him. She hands him a compact, much like the one he saw her use earlier, on a chain. "I can reach you through this," she says. "Just open it when you hear the signaling note..." .
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Post by Cody D'Avalon on Oct 7, 2023 3:38:58 GMT
Cody tries to patch together Lorelei's story with what Brian had told him. The details didn't really matter but he was happy that Dionisia had escaped the Convent and even more excited that, "Dionisia is here? I mean there in Amber? Now?" And a number of those evil Nuns died in the process... Not quite understanding that Dionisia would want to leave Amber.
Cody takes the compact and inspects it. Popping it open and snapping it shut a few times. "Nice. Some sort of Trump device?" Cody says in a teasing way.
"It was getting really difficult to navigate through the Abyss with the Puffer, so I pulled out and found myself on the edge of the Golden Circle near a back-water fishing village. I think it's a Rebma outpost. A town named Gary, or some-such. I asked for directions to Rebma and found the Rebma Embassy there. The place was kind of gloomy and the Ambassador was really cranky. I asked for them to send a message ahead to let you know that I was on my way but they said that messages weren't going through because of narrowed bandwidth. She was somewhat hostile towards me. But, I guess that might have something to do with M, now that I think of it. Anyway, I offered to help them clean up but she wouldn't take it. Then she threatened to execute the guards for talking to me."
"Anyway, I found one of the locals there that was willing to pilot us through the Golden Circle and here I am."
"And it seems you are all having mirror troubles."
"So, is this thing safe?"
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Post by Lorelei on Oct 7, 2023 7:46:02 GMT
"It is a sample of Rebma's mirror magic. Those who utilize the power can communicate through any reflective surface. It can even be for transportation if the mirror is large enough or the item small enough by those with greater control of the power," Lorelei says just before touching the surface of her mirror and making the one Cody is holding emit a crystal ringing sound. Should he look into his, he finds himself looking out through hers.
"Some sorcerer has found a way to use the mirrors and has attacked the castle through them. These are too small for him to do more than loose a couple of fingers, maybe a hand if he is slender and very determine... Access to the larger mirrors is mostly restricted until he is properly dealt with..."
"Dionisia was suppose to confine herself to a certain part of Castle Amber under Maeve's watch, but now she and a few of the other cousins are nowhere to be found..." .
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Post by Cody D'Avalon on Oct 7, 2023 22:29:08 GMT
Cody pops open his gift and sees Lorelei. Deadpan, he answers, "Coms up. You have connected with Cody D'Avalon. Sorry, I can't speak right now. I'm in the middle of a reunion. Please leave a message after the tone and I will most certainly reciprocate contact. Out. Mmmmmmmbeeep." Cody grins and looks up from the small mirror to look into Lorelei's eyes.
"So, is this only one-way or can I ping you too?"
"Or ping other mirrors, or just yours?"
"You know... Eugenia would love one of these."
Hearing of Dionisia's situation, "Oh, that makes sense. She spent her life as a prisoner. If she had freedom in Amber, she would probably stick around, but if she was being kept captive in any way, she'd bolt now that she's tasted freedom. I just hope that the Sisters aren't still after her."
"And... Who's Maeve? Fiona insinuated that I might be lusting for her and on my way here to rendezvous with her. Or you."
"I met a Maeve in the Courts. She was clawing through the Seminary Library stacks. But she's a Helgram. We had a long discussion about creation but she never mentioned anything about any Amber connection. Humph."
"Not like I concealed my lineage."
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Post by Lorelei on Oct 8, 2023 3:10:02 GMT
Lorelei eyes Cody from one end to the other and back, then looks to her bed chamber and back to Cody. "Do you plan to disappoint her?" she asks as she caresses his cheek. There is just a hint of a smile to indicate that she is just messing with him... he hopes...
"Maeve is Llewella's daughter, and her father is from the Courts. I have not tried to look deeper, feeling that if she wanted me to know she would tell me," Lorelei enlightens him. She even shows him an image of Maeve in her compact's mirror.
"The mirrors only respond to a Mirror Wright, that is one who wields Rebma's mirror magic which technically is a power in its own right, capable of much more than you have currently seen. One must know exactly where a mirror is, or be intimately familiar with its power signature, as its crafter would be, in order to reach the mirror. A sufficiently skilled sorcerer with the right spells could simulate one aspect of the power with each casting... I have a few extra compacts with me now, so that is not out of the (Eugenia's) realm of possibilities..." .
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Post by Cody D'Avalon on Oct 8, 2023 3:33:39 GMT
Cody blushes and laughs, "Maybe Autie Fi is projecting and she's the one that wants a piece of me..." Then Cody makes a gagging sound and sticks out his tongue.
Cody looks at the image of Maeve, "Yup. That's the one. Hmmm. Well she'll be surprised when I show up on her doorstep here."
Thinking about his crew. "Reggie isn't going to want to leave Rebma anytime soon. Now that he's in fish heaven. And he's not going to leave the Puffer until the brood is hatched and healthy. As much as Eugenia teases him, she's his big sister, not just creche-mates. So she's going to want to stay and take care of him. So, if she is kept busy with the Mirror Wrighting, it will keep her out of trouble."
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Post by Lorelei on Oct 16, 2023 6:49:21 GMT
"I'll let the guild know that she is interested in becoming a Mirror Wright. My word is enough to gain her a chance, but she will still have to earn a position upon her own merits," Lorelei informs Cody.
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Post by Cody D'Avalon on Oct 17, 2023 4:39:39 GMT
Cody nods, "I appreciate that. With Eugenia and Reggie squared away, I need to make sure the rest of my crew is taken care of. I think Jessup will want to accompany me to Amber, but I'm not sure about Deeks. He's the fellow from Ghera. I don't want to just cut him loose here..."
"Anyway, I'll think of something for him."
"So, tell me about Regent Florimel. Does she despise M-unit too?"
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Post by Lorelei on Oct 19, 2023 6:30:21 GMT
"I attended her Regency Ball and had one other encounter with her since," Lorelei answers. "We do not get along."
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