Homontel, and beyond

[Templar771]

Cit was enjoying their new lodgings in the castle. The room was nice. There was a double bed, a large desk with an lamp, inkwell and some paper and a wardrobe with drawers in the bottom. Felix was curled up asleep on the bed.

Cit unpacked his bag. He took a out a pair of tight fitting dark grey cotton pants and a hooded top of the same nature. He folded them neatly on the bed.

He then picked up the bag and put it on the desk. He took off his wrist blade and set it on the desk. He reached into his bag and pulled out a medium sized black bag. He opened it and pulled out a small roll of tools and more blades. He then began dismantling, cleaning and fixing the wrist blade.

[Sareth]

[OOC]Sorry, sleep schedule shot, last week of work, getting ready for finals, getting ready for a trip, AND getting ready for my first semester of grad school... I've been a little distracted. heh.[/OOC]

The first thing Lillith did once she was ensconced in a room alone (and not in a cell for the apostate) was a cleansing. It was a ceremony similar to the one she had done on the hilltop (in fact, the hill top ceremony had been an adaptation of a standard cleansing.) She hoped that it wouldn't bother her hosts too much, but the fact that it was being done in private made it seem safe enough.

That done, she attended to her second priority.

Being a castle, the room was cozy enough, but it lacked something very desirable. It had a bed, it had a table, it had cabinets, desks, a lovely window looking out at a courtyard, a wallhanging (with Luminosita chastising the unbelievers, much to Lillith's chagrin), a rug...

But no private bath.

Lillith itched in all kinds of places, some mentionable, some not. She could feel the dirt and grit rubbing into her skin. Her hair was stringy, her nose offended by the air about her... She desperately wanted to get clean.

Stepping out into the hall (after assuring her hair was covering her ears properly) Lillith looked for someone to assist her.

[Templar771]

(OOC: Sorry bout lack of response, been busy preparing 4 exam that r 2+1/2 weeks away I will try to be as regular as I can with post but I may be a little unresponsive over the next month or 2.

[Drannin]

(OOC: Work has been very, very stressful the last three days. Been too wiped out to post.)

Argus looked around his room for a moment before his eyes fell upon the most crucial part, in his esteemed opinion.

A bed. A fluffy bed. Not a bedroll. Or lumpy country mattress. A COMFORTABLE-looking bed. It was as good as gold, to Argus. But much softer.

Argus fell face-first on the pillows and was asleep instantly.

Sadly, this meant that he had left Harker unattended.

[Graybeard]

A uniformed girl who couldn't have been more than 18 was on the scene quickly, almost unsettlingly quickly. "May I help you, my lady? Ah ... third door on the right," she gestured to Lillith, her face blandly neutral.

[OOC: Should we fast-forward the Provatiel scene to next morning, or do people really want to hear what happens to Rose and Miguel? Or is there an adventure to be had yet this evening? Let me know and I'll write the appropriate hook. Meanwhile: /OOC]

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"Well, that was a waste of time," Brother Farley said as he and Kristi exited the warp gate in Kiyoka. "Except for the time spent with you, of course." Was this the time to give her what he'd picked up in the shop? He thought not; the setting wasn't particularly romantic, to be sure.

"Not very exciting," his girlfriend agreed, then smiled. "Or at least the inspection wasn't very exciting." Farley blushed ... She continued, "I need to get back to my barracks and check in. I -- wait a minute." Her crystal ball was glowing and emitting the beeping noise indicating an incoming call.

"Kristi, it's Hildebrandt," the voice at the other end said breathlessly (visual images were blocked). "Professor Damyo was just found dead in the laboratory with the ... object of inspection. I don't know details, but I'll get back to you. Out." The ball went dark without the man waiting for a reply.

Kristi and Farley looked at each other, the color draining from their faces. Maybe things hadn't been as unexciting as they'd thought...

[Sareth]

[OOC]I could go either way. I await the decision of the judges.[/OOC]

[Templar771]

(OOC: I'm dont mind which way this goes)

[Graybeard]

[OOC: OK, here's a bit of middle ground that people can work with if they choose, while we basically move forward to next morning.]

It was quite late, and the waning moon was up, by the time Sister Rose and Brother Miguel returned to their quarters.

"That was odd," Rose said as they walked down the hall toward their respective rooms, and Miguel nodded agreement. Resonant snoring was echoing from Argus' room, but they could hear other noises suggesting that Harker might be awake and up to something -- something that Argus would find embarrassing, probably. Soft mumbling was coming from Lillith's room; either she was talking in her sleep or performing one of the strange rituals of her animistic religion, whatever it was. Sasha's and Cit's rooms were silent.

"It was certainly the only code-word-level briefing I've ever given that was introduced with a prayer," Miguel said. "And I certainly never gave a TS briefing in a Millenarian temple before." Before they started, Lieutenant Bindiel, or Brother Elgin or whatever he was called, had delivered a soaring, silver-tongued plea to Luminosita to hear His servants, reward their humble efforts at service with success, and so on. It all sounded more than slightly theatric to a pair of members of the Reformed branch, whose private rites and rituals tended to be direct and utilitarian. However, they had to admit: the man had some charisma. By the time he finished, they were about ready not just to do a complete dump on what they'd seen, but to march with him to go restore the blasted Centoriel to the ways of righteousness. And all of this from a mere Lieutenant, if one who seemed ... precocious ... in the ways of his denomination as well as those of the army.

"Well, tomorrow is another day," Rose said. "Let's get a decent night's sleep before we have to face it." They slipped into their respective rooms, and both were asleep within minutes.

[OOC: Incidentally, I have heard a secret-level briefing that started with a prayer ... and it was one of the weirdest experiences of my life.]

[Drannin]

Slowly, Argus came to wakefulness. He was thirsty. He needed a bathroom and a bath. And a change of clothes. Booze would also be lovely, but Argus chose to ignore that little drive. Alcohol had wrecked him enough, thank you kindly. Rolling over, Argus sat up...

And saw why one did not leave Harker unattended. EVER.

Though, in the familiar's defense, the mural he had chipped into the wall of the room was very well done. It was polished. Artful. Informative. Anatomically correct. Pornographic.

"Just somethin' nice to wake up to, Boss!" Harker said happily. "Wanna be alone for a few minutes with it?"

"HARKER!!!"

[Graybeard]

"HARKER!!"

Sister Rose heard Argus' shout as she walked by the room on the way to the morning showers, wondered briefly what had caused the outburst, quickly decided she didn't want to know. Probably just as well that the church doesn't let us have familiars.

Brother Miguel was waiting when Rose got down to breakfast, looking considerably fresher than she'd seen him in quite a while. Truthfully, the good night's sleep had done her some good too. She felt sufficiently refreshed to expend a little mana to modify her appearance just a fraction, hoping that a slightly more, well, conservative look would place people in this strange hotel-castle-military base more at ease talking to her. It seemed to work; at least the young woman working on the serving line as they queued up for cafeteria-style breakfast smiled engagingly enough at her.

"Good morning, ma'am," the girl said. "My husband, Brother Elgin, has been called out of town, but he sends his best wishes and hopes that you slept well last night."

Brother Elgin was the same man as Lieutenant Bindiel, Rose recalled as she smiled back. "Very well, thank you. Did he tell you about our interest in this marvelous castle? He said you were a native of Provatiel and might be able to tell us more about it."

The girl blushed slightly and smiled again. "Oh, no, that's Sister Marilee, his eldest wife. She'll be here later after she takes care of our children. I'm just his third wife, and I don't know things like that, being from Ramanzel and all."

Now that caught Rose's attention, for more reasons than one...