Anyone who gets a post in accepting Rulania’s offer, or if they do not wish to make a full length post about it just lets me know they’re going to accept it, inbetween my posts will get added into my next responses. I’ll get something out either tonight or tomorrow reacting to those who do. Those who do not might get interactions from Ralek or Weasel or such on the NPC side, as Weasel will ultimately refuse to dance with her himself. As always feel free to interact otherwise.
I’m all for it! I dig the vibe so far for everyone’s characters and enjoy the things that bring out confrontations and conflicts a lot— that kind of behavior makes for organic interactions and everything is flowing good on my end. I enjoy seeing thoughts and introspections a lot, and in this scenario it helps affirm my power distribution decisions.
At David's consenting line of questions, Rulania skips over to him and extends her hand to him. Her smile curves her lips upwards in a confident manner as she curtsies in a semi-formal fashion, raising her skirt lightly with her other hand.
"Tis my honor then, sirrah, thy hand in mine and take care to mind mine feet as I guideth thee in the dance."
And presuming his further consent, she guides him in a simple dance. The only contact of their bodies being the singular hand, the dance a spinning and childish thing where they twirl about each other by contact with their palms. She guides the motions, starting with simple long twirls, but soon creates a singular elaborate pattern—then she begins to sing, as if the words could no longer be contained within her. Sheer joy bubbling forth from her lips as they perform this slow pattern of twirls.
Her lips move in a strange fashion, the words flowing out from her not in her own voice. Instead, David's voice fills the area round him. His Song. The tapping of a keyboard forms the undercurrent and beat, the echoing of dot-matrix printer patterns become a chorus, the wafting of old wind chimes a refrain, and the sudden striking of a gong bringing the song to a crescendo; his voice flows in an ethereal way around him, and through His Song he glimpses—and indeed, grasps—a part of himself that he may not have understood was missing.
@Conscripts You may add the following to your character sheet
Through others we become ourselves. Imitation is not merely the sincerest form of flattery; it is the sincerest form of learning. Let your observations and rote carry you forth. Let your paths be many. Let your horizons be broad. Let the wonders of others amaze you— but most importantly of all, let them inspire you. You are so much more than the sum of your parts, and you, uniquely, can see what makes others great as well.
David may, by touching someone else, copy an ability bestowed by the realm of Yo'Bikur for a short period of time. Eventually, he will be able to do so for longer periods of time, or potentially copy more than one power at once, but for now his limitation is 'One' 'For a short time' 'By Touch'. You may flavor your imitation of another's power however you wish to appropriately fit your tin-man form, or you may embrace the other person's own fantastic qualities with your imitation.
Rulania sighs, a soft glow emanating from within her veins. The colors of the aurora above the palace visible within her flesh, flowing through her and to coalescing at the hand touching David. As her lips close and the song stops, she breaks the contact with David and steps back a step.
"There, thou'rt made whole for a time. My own song is bridging thy bond; twill form in its own time by thy own accord with Yo'Bikur. Ralek, endear thyself to mine heart?" She turns her eyes upon her brother; he chuckles and offers his hand to David.
"Here you go." He says casually. "Give it a try."
If he touches Ralek, he discerns that the prince possesses a mighty, yet simple, ability. Ralek can manifest setting-appropriate weaponry—such as spears, swords, bows, arrows, axes, daggers, etc.—in the air around him. The prince, despite his casual attitude and relaxed demeanor, is never unarmed nor unprepared for sudden danger.
I’ll go ahead and get a response out to Conscripts within a day or so, since everyone else’s reaction to the event perhaps hinges on what happens to him.
Valmial landed heavily upon his feet. The magic that had transported them to this place echoed around him, the blinding radiance gleaming in his eyes. He held the threads of the Radiant Gate within a clawed hand, unseen to all but those gifted with the sight of the arcane such as he, and slowly ran his claws over those chords of power. He trailed them, saw the dwindling gate in his mind's eye...
He severed the threads with the clenching of his fist. No turning back.
"Burn the boats." He murmured to himself, citing an ancient orcish war record. As the threads of magic snapped and his vision peered through to the reality around him, he clutched at his staff in a mighty grip. His other hand rose, as it often had in recent days, to caress at the scarred mass of repairing scales on the underside of his jaw where the assassin's dagger had failed to inflict an end to mortality upon him. He caresses his jaw and chin like a bearded sage might have.
Even before Naenia's trailing words, before he himself even gazed at his surroundings, Valmial was gazing at the sky. By the time Naenia's introduction trailed to its end, Valmial was knelt low upon one knee, his injured leg carefully curled whilst his dominant knee held his weight. The long Starspire sceptre in his hands had been twisted, revealing the long telescoping lens it concealed. His gaze swept across the sky, more concerned with the firmament than with the township around him.
This was his expertise. The others could attend to the architecture, horticulture, speculation, and cartography of this ordeal. The sweeping of the lens sent his gaze excrutiatingly far into that black void above them, as he sought out even a dwindled inkling of a star's light. He gazed heavensward to the instinctual places of the constellations, to the well calculated lunar shadow, to the deep nebulae known only to those of the Starspire.
"Valmial Hippokrates." his voice rumbled from his lips as a baritone cut with razor's teeth. "Ne'er have I had opportunity to come myself, fair lady Blackwell, and if you have any inclination of pathfinding I will follow. The heavenly guidance I would have relied upon for position and measurement will not be of any assistance."
Presuming a lack of interesting occurances in the inky void of the sky, Valmial twists the staff closed and rises back to his feet with a few lumbering steps and finally takes in his surroundings and companions with more than his prior cursory interest. If no other decisive action is taken, his attention is drawn to the Portcullis and he directs his initial surveilance to this path and its troublesome warning.
The Pinkertons are a curious stain of US history that has greatly benefited from a lack of publicity. Detectives, gunslingers, union busters, and now functionally a mercenary company.
I'm not holding to any particular posting orders or anything like that. I'm always checking here and will gladly respond to people relatively quickly for things like questions or dialogue or otherwise moving around now that I've opened up the sandbox. As always, if anyone is going to be delayed or otherwise need a chance to post just let us/me know :)