07.14f: The Golden Path

The goings on of courts
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ShadowOfPreservation
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Re: 07.14f: The Golden Path

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With a final discerning glance about the room* Lyra seems to finally relax somewhat and turns to properly greet the new arrival. Having already been identified twice, she skips repeating her name and simply walks up to the man, her expression and demeanor losing their remaining tension in the process.

"Pleased to meet you, Jaeger," Lyra says as she offers a clawed hand in greeting. "I'm afraid there may be much more than just names to learn in the coming days but I'll certainly do my best to assist you and answer any questions you may have to the best of my ability."
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* I'm assuming Dworkin is a bit less on edge at this point and she takes that as somewhat of confirmation that the danger is passed.
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Re: 07.14f: The Golden Path

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"Oh yeah? Issat so? Well, pleased to meet ya both." Jaeger glances between the pair, taking the hand offered to him with the hand not currently fiddling with a pipe. The male took a final drag, letting out a long and- finally- relaxed breath before twirling the pipe in his hand to tap the ashes out. At the exact apex of its rotation the pipe sprang outwards, expanding instantly into (of all things) a crossbow. Anyone watching Jaeger at this moment would realize very quickly that this is not the normal course of events, as even despite his new Amberite status he nearly drops the thing rather unceremoniously.

"Holy shit. What the hell?!" He holds the crossbow up and examines it intently, running fingers along the surface and tracing out the designs which, interestingly, are all expansions of what were on the surface of the pipe. He stares transfixed for several moments before finally deciding to twirl it in his hand again. The transformation seemingly reverses as expected, reverting to a long kiseru, then back to crossbow, then back to kiseru. This continues for a few moments before being punctuated with a sound almost inhumanly joyous.

"Are you fucking KIDDING ME? This is AMAZING. What the FUCK is THIS? How is it even- why the fu- Oh, I give up trying to understand ANYTHING at this point, but fuck it- this is AWESOME."
Me? I'm dishonest, and a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest. Honestly. It's the honest ones you want to watch out for, because you can never predict when they're going to do something incredibly... stupid.
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Re: 07.14f: The Golden Path

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Alys watches with obvious amusement - though it's probably clear she's also ready to intervene if she thinks Jaeger is about to shoot anyone.*

"Secondary empowerment," she comments, as if those two words should explain everything. "Which seems to be relatively rare for the Pattern; this is only the second example I am aware of."**

Specifically to Jaeger, she adds, "You should give it a name, if it does not already have one."

_____
* Including himself, in the foot, if it comes to that. Fortunately, no such intervention is required.
** Edit, because I forgot that Cameron's hammer had a similar origin.
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Re: 07.14f: The Golden Path

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While Lyra is momentarily taken aback by Jaeger's pipe to crossbow transformation, his enthusiasm further melts her tension and she smiles warmly. "Awesome is a good word for it. And that trick there is just the beginning of all of the amazing things about being an Amberite." To accentuate the point, her form shifts into her half-drow persona, still armored in black steel. "It's a pretty spectacular place but not without its dangers and complexities; all things I can enlighten you about when you're ready." Though focusing on Jaeger, her attention never fully leaves Harrune's endeavor.
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Re: 07.14f: The Golden Path

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"Schattenjäger. It's name was Schattenjäger," He speaks the words carefully with a mind for his pronunciation. The weapon is somehow so much different than he remembers it begin. It feels more powerful, and its radiating something almost palpable. "It was my namesake when I became a Hunter. I joined up with a band of Hunters and Rogues, and fought against monsters for the last few years of my life. In fact...that's what I was doing before all this insanity. I was hunting an Owlbear, of all things, that had been terrorizing a village." He pauses to look up from the weapon and, for the first time since arriving, really take in his surroundings. It's all so foreign to him, and the situation really begins to dawn on him.

"...when I walked that pattern in the cave, it stole something from me- didn't it? My mind, or something like that. But," He looks back at the pattern and Harrune's ghostly form. "I got it all back. At least, I'm fairly sure I did...more than that, though. You moved faster than anyone I've ever seen in my life, yet I could track the motion clearly. I tore an Owlbear to shreads without breaking a sweat. A weapon that I've had for years feels terribly foreign with a power I've never felt before..."

He looks over at Lyra, there's a sort of cautiousness to him that's a byproduct of how out of his element he is. He phrases the question carefully and points to Alys' deck of cards.

"What's an Amberite, and why is my likeness in that deck? When I finished the walk, I saw a castle and all manner of weird things- I was welcomed like a royal and in the blinking of an eye I returned here. What manner of madness is all this?"
Me? I'm dishonest, and a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest. Honestly. It's the honest ones you want to watch out for, because you can never predict when they're going to do something incredibly... stupid.
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Re: 07.14f: The Golden Path

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"Where we are now is the Court of Ht'gon An-rit. It's one of 4 courts that collectively form this area known as Amber. And while there are many people that live here, the term Amberite is used specifically for anyone that's come to this place and walked the Pattern. This place...think of it as the template that all other possible realities are based on. Everyone here is from a different place; a different world, each with it's own rules of nature and magic. But each of those places only exists because of Amber. It is the Sun shining light to all other possibilities. I know that sounds strange and hard to believe but its true. Amberites are, for lack of a better description, more real. They can manipulate the very essence that everything is made from. As a result, they...we...are essentially royalty. But we're all quite aware of the responsibilities that comes hand in hand with the benefits."
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Re: 07.14f: The Golden Path

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"The decks," Alys continues Lyra's explanation, "Are tools created by Dworkin; presumably he will give you one - it may already be in your quarters here. They allow for communication, rapid travel... and potentially mental assault, so when you do get a deck, please be careful not to misplace it."
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Re: 07.14f: The Golden Path

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"Great, so it's a whole lot of magic-stuff." Jaeger let out a slightly exaggerated sigh. None of this was in his paygrade by even the remotest stretch, yet here he was. All this talk of realities being more real than others was making his head spin. He wasn't the type of person to contemplate things so trivially existential at all, so what was he doing here in the first place? What string of luck had brought him here, and did he need more of it or less?

"Wait, royalty?" The penny dropped rather suddenly on that one. Jaeger was left staring in an odd mix of amusement and shock at the very concept. "Oh, no. You've got to be kidding. Me? A prince of-" The male shut his mouth at exactly that syllable. The sentence would have been 'prince of thieves' but, again, not something to say out loud. He did definitely appreciate the juxtaposition of those terms, though. Doubly so now that they applied to him of all people.

"Great, more magic-stuff on top of magic-stuff. So the decks of cards are all the nobles here? That's like having a giant target painted on you all the time." He turns his attention to Dworkin, the supposed provider of these massive double-edged swords. For the first time, Jaeger eyes him with a very pronounced scrutiny. "Why would you make something like that? Foist this massive weakness on everybody, and make sure every noble has a copy of it?"
Me? I'm dishonest, and a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest. Honestly. It's the honest ones you want to watch out for, because you can never predict when they're going to do something incredibly... stupid.
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Re: 07.14f: The Golden Path

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"Oh, no," Alys comments, "Just the royalty. Every noble would be a bit of a disaster."
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Re: 07.14f: The Golden Path

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Jaeger turns his attention momentarily back to Alys, his response to her cuts through the his thoughts on the heart of the whole mess. "Lady Alys, this thing existing is a bit of a disaster. There being more than one copy of it is asking for a shitshow. The fact that a group of people numbering larger than three have constant, uninterrupted access to this magical tool is literally and without a doubt how apocalypses happen."

With that said, he returns his attention to Dworkin, repeating the question with a bit more pointedness. "Why the hell would you construct the exact kind of tool that could lay waste to an entire kingdom in the wrong hands, and then hand a copy off to everybody who 'qualifies' as royalty here? Do you realize you're asking for an apocalyptic shitshow? Because you are."
Me? I'm dishonest, and a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest. Honestly. It's the honest ones you want to watch out for, because you can never predict when they're going to do something incredibly... stupid.
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