video / seelie / mid-august

[flashcraft]

[The young man that shows up on the lockets this time has an angular face and coppery skin, dark hair littered with braids, and a thoughtful expression as he methodically strips the leaves from a cut branch, setting them in a neat pile beside him. He's seated outside somewhere, but it's hard to say where with only the tree he's seated against as a backdrop.]

Does the queen ever actually make an appearance? It seems strange that she should steal complete strangers from their homes and expect them to fight for her without ever once even addressing them. I can't imagine many people would throw themselves into a war for a queen who is herself conspicuously absent.

[And yet apparently people are, judging by all those he'd seen around the training grounds and preparing arms. It certainly prompts further thinking on the subject. But reconsideration requires evidence that reconsideration is worthwhile, so for the time being his jaw is stubbornly set. Still, he isn't looking for a fight, so his tone is mild and trader-like.]

I don't plan on playing soldier myself, whatever the royal command, and if the queen has a problem with that then she can show herself and speak with me about it. But I have some skill with making flash, and I could use the practice. So if anyone is interested in a charmed trinket or two, let me know. We can work out a trade.

[He frowns over the thought. But nothing else seems worth saying here, so he just nods. For a moment he looks like he's about to close the locket, but then he pauses for a last comment as a thought occurs to him.]

Does anyone know who made these lockets? I'd like to meet them.

Comments

compass, video;

[babbylon]

[Oh... hello, beautiful. Gilgamesh always makes a point of addressing the new recruits—or at least the pretty ones. The rest he just lets lesser folk deal with. But he looks and he sounds exotic compared to most he meets here, and so his attention's immediately drawn.

Did he ask a question? Eh, whatever.]

You are new to this realm? I suppose you must find this all overwhelming.

[Gilgamesh flashes an innocent smile at his compass. As innocent of one that a fox might wear, anyway.]

Your name. I would have it.

[flashcraft]

[It's either that smile or the failure to answer any of his actual questions that seems to set him on edge. That, or maybe it's just him being ever the cautious one. Someone has to be.]

I'm getting used to it. It's easier with something to focus on.

[And almost pointedly, he strips away the last leaf and deftly wraps the small pile in a swatch of fabric before taking up the now bare branch and a small carving knife.]

My name is Fire Dancer.

[babbylon]

"Fire Dancer"?

[Well, that was... ominous. Gilgamesh doesn't question it, though. He's been here much longer, but the Drabwurld always seems to get stranger and stranger by the day. He couldn't even answer where the lockets came from; he'd never looked into it himself.

But he can backtrack and give him another answer. An important one.]

Good to meet you, Fire Dancer. I am called Gilgamesh. [He omits the "King of Heroes" for now.] The Queen makes time for her subjects at the opening of each month, during the public audience. You may speak with her then, if you so desire, but no sooner.

[flashcraft]

Gilgamesh.

[Just an odd a name, as far as he's concerned. But he saw some shit during the welcoming feast. Strange flatlander names don't really warrant much more than a practice repetition and a nod of greeting.

He appears to ease just slightly upon being given an actual helpful answer though, shoulders relaxing just a little an fingers tapping thoughtfully against the side of his knife.]

And will she actually speak with me?

[He knows it's not necessarily the way of queens to give just anyone who wants one an audience. Raisa's an outlier and shouldn't be counted. For all his insistence upon it, he wouldn't really be surprised if the queen refused to see him.

But still, it seems like the least that could be done for a bunch of people you just effectively kidnapped.]

[babbylon]

Indeed. Mine is the name of a great Hero, in a land far away from this one.

[Which is why Gilgamesh doesn't mind a bit of awkwardness. He's finally used to not being recognized on sight now, and this newcomer seemed earnest enough. He can do his good deed for the day in the promise of a far more interesting evening.]

And the great Queen, Solais, attends all who approach her. You will not be forgotten; I can promise this personally, as she has always been frank and forthright in addressing my own concerns.

[Maybe a little too much. He does feel some small amount of regret that he may not call himself Seelie much longer, if only because of that rose.]

If I might be so bold, what is the nature of your inquiry? You need not waste words if it is simply asking after your summoning. I have that answer.

video;

[depicted]

[Oh hey! It's this guy! Dorian will talk to him again.]

Is flash the term for, ah, 'charmed trinkets,' as you put it?

video;

[flashcraft]

[Oh. The smoking guy from the feast. Dancer offers a nod of recognition in wya of greeting.]

Flash are what we call any Clanmade magical objects. Amulets, talismans, "charmed trinkets", and more.

[depicted]

What would you seek that you'd trade them for? Oh, and as for the lockets, no idea. But if you're interested in someone whohas a gift for making similar things, Hermione Granger is the one to go to.

[flashcraft]

I'm open to bartering. But right now I'm most interested in supplies and materials to set myself up somewhere.

[But his interest is definitely piqued, yeah. Dancer sits up a little straighter, stilling his hands on the branch.]

Hermione Granger? Where can I find them?

[depicted]

She's a Marchioness of the Citadel, so your best bet is heading there. You can get there quick through a fairy ring.

As for set-up, if you're interested in business, Hermione may also be one to go to. She has a hand in some crafting work.

[That Dorian also has a hand in. Welp.]

[vengeance_driven]

[When Niko gets to talking about war, he has many, many feelings about it. And those feelings sometimes come stumbling out over themselves in broken English. For a man who speaks it as his third language, he does pretty well. But the more something means to him, the more he sometimes trips over his own words.] You say this as if it is not the first time that you heard of a "draft". Humans have been doing that to each other since very old times. It does not take mystical fairy things for someone to say, "You represent us, now it is for you to fight."

But yes, I can see how that charm things can do good.

[flashcraft]

[Dancer frowns, but it's about the content of what's being said, now the broken way it's being delivered.]

I know the concept of a draft. But it's only drafting if it's your own people you're putting into service. This is press-ganging.

[vengeance_driven]

Maybe it is something of both. It seems that we have always been a part of one side or the other, it is our own bad luck that we don't know it until we show up here.

My world has nothing like charms, or any of those things. Just guns and machines.

[flashcraft]

I don't like the idea that these things were decided without my knowing about it.

[He frowns, and then the frown deepens with that added statement.]

"Guns"?

[vengeance_driven]

That much is very true. But in my world, that is a common fault among humans in power as well.

"Guns". Ah.....

Let you poke holes in people from very far away. Like bows an arrows, but smaller, more range, and the arrows are tiny little metal shards that go right through skin.

It is an unfortunate skill but one I am good at. And that I am actually sad is not here.

[commandertoolbelt]

[ Ha. Flash. Is that what they're calling bling these days? ]

What kind of stuff can you make?

[flashcraft]

[Good to see someone getting straight down to business. He sets aside his branch and tugs out from under his collar a series of necklaces -- an amulet of jasper and jade, a little charm carved out of wood, a pendant of beaten copper inscribed with what looks like a rune.]

Like these. I've experimented with other kinds of jewelry and armor as well, recently. And I can imbue them with all sorts of effects, though I've only gotten to try some so far -- wards and spells for protection, amulets for charmcasting, that kind of thing.

[commandertoolbelt]

[ He waits and watches in silence, taking it all in with a certain amount of skepticism. Magic, then - similar to the kind he and the dwarves use in the forges, maybe, but with different materials. It doesn’t sound like anything he can’t do on his own. ]

Is it all rune-based? And what’s charmcasting, exactly?

[flashcraft]

Charmcasting is jinxflinging. Wizard-work. Magic.

[Hard to shake the slang when you've grown up with it, even if it's much less harsh coming out of his mouth than it would be from any other Clan. But he certainly seems more relaxed and open now that you got him going.]

But flashcraftihg isn't all about the runes. It's every part of the art -- the materials, the design, rune-use, the earth magic one puts into it. [He holds up the little beaten copper charm.] A piece like this is easily produced, but only as potent as the quality of the metal and the crafter himself. Works like my amulet, though... [holding up the jade and jasper piece, carved in the image of a solitary hunter,] ...This is a far more potent piece, for the quality of the stone and the craftswoman, but as well as for the workmanship of the carving and the choice of imagery.

[commandertoolbelt]

[ Leo nods along at the explanation. For all that magic as a whole still tends to annoy him, this is in line with everything he’s been learning with the dwarves. ]

I’ve only worked with stones and metals, but I can do a lot of the same thing. I don’t use runes to do it, though. [ His head tilts, eyes on the pieces Hayden shows off. ] And they’re usually bigger things, [ he admits, a tinge of wry amusement in his voice. ] So it’s mostly just defensive magic?

[chilledout]

... Do you know how the lockets work? I always thought lockets were nothing more than jewelry.

[Bobby doesn't really have much commentary to share on the other stuff. Hadn't the queen asked them to prepare? Hadn't she just lost her king? He thinks it's probably best to just not touch it. Maybe Larsa would come along and speak sense with his pretty accent.]

[flashcraft]

I have theories. But I've never seen pieces like these before. It's amazing.

[For someone so careful, he's got a real sincerity about this. He can't manage to be so close-lipped about such beautiful, skilled work.]

[chilledout]

How can you—[have theories. No, Bobby. You have scientist friends. You know better.

He catches himself after a beat.]

Uh, actually, what do you think they do?

[flashcraft]

[He gives Bobby a look through the locket, eyebrows arched very slightly and expression flat. He's the master of subtle sassface.]

Well, it's obvious what they do. The question is how. There isn't really any spell I know of from home that lets people talk at a distance like this. But if something like that exists here, then it would just be a matter of working the charm into the pieces.

[chilledout]

Hey, I know what it is! [Bobby chirps after just a moment.] Do you know about technology? What if they put alllll the technology into our lockets, making it impossible to have computers and TV? How's that sound?