Steel Sky (Adelle/Mind Flayer)

[Guan Yu]

"Of course, if one doesn't mind being limited to this castle once you commit. Most of human donators are like that."

Kathia would visibly acknowledge Adelle being there once talked to more directly, but would quickly turn her head and gaze to the side as she took some more wine from the bottle still in her hand. "I don't know what you're talking about, it's nothing like that."

 

[Mind Flayer]

Adelle smirked a bit and leaned down and gave another peck to Kathia, this time on the lips. Though it wasn't some deep passionate kiss, mind you, and more of a simple almost chaste little kiss. "Maybe after I'm done, we could hang out a bit, depending on what happens. But for now, I must meet with the lord of the castle, as far as I know anyway," Adelle would say to Kathia before she walked out, doing her best to walk like a proper lady, though with so little practice and training at it, she knew it would be difficult, but she tried it anyway as she went in search of Amela, whom she assumed would be nearby.

 

[Guan Yu]

Kathia didn't object to being kissed like it went, but she did get an incredulous look on her face as it happened. But that would be about it as Adelle walked off to attend the business she was there for.

In the hall, the newly introduced silence was eerie, the sound of the organs now stopped as it sounded like the master of the castle had finished his performance. Amela was not to be found in the vicinity, but the butler who had initially brought Adelle into the castle was waiting back at the door that went into the main hall.

 

[Mind Flayer]

Looking around, Amela was surprisingly nowhere to be found. But the butler that had drove the carriage to pick her up was. "Excuse me, good sir. Could you tell me where to find Amela, please? I uh... I'm ready and presentable for the lord of the castle now, so... w-well you know," Adelle called out to the butler.

 

[Guan Yu]

"They are waiting to see you now." the butler would reply as he pushed the door open and slid back through it, keeping his back to the door and using himself as a stop to keep the door from closing. "At the table, I'm sure you can see once you get here." he would go on as both of his hands would move to guide towards the same direction, the one where she had come from previously after the brief encounter with Amela.

 

[Mind Flayer]

"Okay, thank you very much," Adelle said politely to the butler, and walked on in, and gave him a nod as she did to let him know that she could find her way from there, thanks to his help.

She would head on in, unsure what to expect at this point. But she was doing her best to be brave and not trip in her slippers, or anything like that to really embarrass herself. It was hard for her not to fidget some with her hands, as she walked, smoothing her outfit down some at one point, or gently pushing her hair back behind her shoulders at another.

 

[Guan Yu]

The man would let Adelle in, nothing in his look suggesting that he was judging or testing her. While he had the same unearthly paleness as the vampires did, this man was highly unlikely to be one. No, he seemed more like a zombie, one that was completely in the same full mental as a human. Once she was in, the man would close the door and follow in her trail.

The main hall had changed little aside from the quiet inside, a small yet ornate round table now pretty much in the middle of the vast chamber. And there was both the master and Amela, seated at this oddly intimate table. Now that the distance was slowly getting closed, Adelle could see the master as well, and expectations were likely both filled and averted. The man looked almost like he was pulled straight from a movie, a dashing but simultaneously very stereotypical-looking, pale-skinned lord of the night in his fine black and red attire. And yet his mere presence suggested that his power and charisma was vast and ancient, not something one wanted to get on the wrong side of.

The discussion between him and Amela was rather casual though, the two of them apparently being of somewhat differing opinion on if the whole thing on having the guest semi-forcibly get dressed like a house member was really necessary, Amela finding it so while her beloved did not fully agree. He did find common ground in it not being the most proper thing to have Adelle there naked either, and the whole lack of third parties with unpredictable natures seemed good to him as well. Once he took note of Adelle being close, he would get up from his chair and sweep his arm forward to make a courtly bow at her. "Here you are. Welcome to the castle. I... am the master of this castle and the lord of our little court here. And that would be how most address me, but I won't be expecting such formality from you, so... just call me Ragvald, as is my name." the lord would speak once they were all at the table, giving the busty girl some time to say what she wanted as introductions before telling her to have a seat, the butler taking Adelle's chair back to let her seat herself as the lord did so too.

 

[Mind Flayer]

Adelle was rather taken aback by just how handsome the lord of the castle looked, and she could feel her cheeks getting a little pink. they were in the middle of a conversation, and it sounded like it was about her, though she wondered what precisely had sparked said conversation. When the man stood up and gave her the courtly bow, Adelle gulped and tried to remember what she'd read long ago about how to properly curtsy, and did one the best she knew how, gently lifting both sides of her skirt slightly, as she did so, and bowing her head slightly too to show respect to the man, Ragvald, he introduced himself as.

"Lord Ragvald. You're too kind. This is.. by far more than I deserve, for simply doing what was the right thing to do. But you have my thanks for it. I'm not going to lie, I kind of feel almost like a princess, being this fancied up, h-heh," Adelle replied in a kind tone as she moved to take her seat.

 

[Guan Yu]

The usage of the title did make Ragvald sigh a bit, but he made no mention of it, going into talk of his matters at hand instead. "The ones who do me favors get favors in kind, even if they do it completely unwittingly. I do imagine you are still somewhat unsure why I had the invite delivered? That was because of you and my sister meeting, and you did offer her some help with her needs and desires. And it did seem that this was part of what made her return here, she had been out for a period of time. For that I wanted to thank you." he would mention this, something that the butler had mentioned before. "Of course I can't control what my dear sister does, but it is still preferable having her here rather than out there. Her servant did almost get killed during that trip."

At this point, the butler would share out fine glasses and pour out a half glass to each of the three there, the red liquid looking like your usual red wine. "And not just that, I did get a mention from Liliana that you could be an asset. She rarely fails to judge correctly, that woman. How do I know her? You can probably imagine."

 

[Mind Flayer]

"I won't use the lord part again. I just wanted to try and be proper to my very gracious and kind host is all. But yes, I am kinda surprised, and... unsure, why the invitation was extended to me. And you are very welcome, Ragvald. I did what I did because... well, to put it bluntly, because I would hope that someone would have done the same for me, were I in her position. So... yeah," Adelle replied with a bit of a shrug at the end of it.

"Oh, you know Liliana? Now that I didn't expect, in all honesty. As for how... well, yeah I kind of figured," Adelle said as she reached out and picked up her wine glass to take a sip, and get a feel for the taste. "Mmm... this is good wine," she'd add, having nowhere near as good table manners as Ragvald and the residents of the castle likely had, as she then proceeded to drink down about half of the wine before setting the glass down.

"And ooh, an asset. Makes me kinda special, hmhm," Adelle giggled after setting her wine glass back down.

 

[Guan Yu]

"She has all kinds of clients, and sometimes they ask for... unusual stuff. There are some women who want a gentleman of a certain type and... that's when I might go and help her out." Ragvald would reveal that he had worked for Liliana's multi-planar enterprise of pleasures, probably out of curiosity or a change of pace. Just how far did her reach go, one could wonder. Amela would give him a dirty look as this was said, the whole thing not being entirely pleasing to her by the looks of it.

"So, as far as all that is concerned, I give you free roam to the castle for a day. Whatever you might want during that time, it will be provided, within reason. Stay the night, mingle with anyone you feel like, maybe find something in that socializing. We have a few... peculiar people here, but they shouldn't be a threat to you. I would advice against going near our head priest of the old faith, he might do something unpredictable if he takes a dislike to your presence, and he is the only real threat to my dominion over the court here with many of the other vampires quietly supporting him." the lord would go on to explain what he was giving to Adelle for her unwitting services. It seemed fitting but could turn out to be far more valuable than a single night's visit at the face of it.

"The other matter is something not that important in the grand scheme of things, merely something of a personal indulgence I'd like to enjoy. While us vampires mostly sustain ourselves on blood, it doesn't mean that we don't enjoy food and drink as humans do. My cook, who goes out more than the other members of the court, has heard of a chef of legendary capability being somewhere out there. I would like to have this person come around to my court and provide us a feast of legend at least once. I have a few other outside people looking for this person, and I'd like you to keep an eye out for any indication where this person might be, and invite them here if you actually meet them."

 

[Mind Flayer]

"Well, I kind of figured something akin to that. And... what might your head priest do exactly?" Adelle replied, even as she noticed Amela's look she gave him, while at the same time wondering just what that old priest might try and do to her if she had the unfortunate luck to run into him, as she asked Ragvald and Amela both, out of curiosity.

"I can most definitely do that. I actually just met an older Asian man who runs a noodle shop near my residence, who cooks some fantastic Asian cuisine. I would have to talk to him, mind you, and he is a friend, as his is daughter. She was the one I helped rescue a couple of days ago when I explored one of those weird fleshy dungeons, and stuff," Adelle would go on to say when Ragvald mentioned he was looking for good chefs and whatnot.

"And I'm not overly frightened by many beings at this point. Having had the fortune, or misfortune in some cases, to run into a variety of different people in my adventures. Ranging from arachne not unlike Sharron, and that one wasn't a pleasant experience, but Sharron meanwhile was a Very pleasant one. To these big... hulking bastards from the wastelands. To goblins and orcs in the forest below, among other things. So you don't need to worry about little old me getting terrified of anyone around here... I hope anyway, heh," Adelle would add as a bit of an afterthought as she sipped some more of her wine.

 

[Guan Yu]

"Use you for a blood ritual, kill you on the spot for some imagined slight, you can probably imagine. He really doesn't respect humans in the slightest."

"Hmm... while I don't think that man is who I'm looking for, he could provide a good clue towards this legend of cuisine. One of the few things they know about them is that they don't usually deal with higher status people, instead providing for and teaching the common folk and the life-beaten." Ragvald would agree that Kei's grand dad might be a good start to finding the person in question. The mention of the Other Realm dungeons made him react again, and he would have something more to talk about once it did.

"Speaking of those places... another thing I am always on the lookout for is related to them, tangentially. There is a little-know myth telling that the rulers of that plane attempted a full-on invasion of this material world of ours in the past. And they apparently did but did not get farther than the entry point as their forces and most of the leaders were killed by a group of five immensely powerful women that the people who know of this refer to as The Myth. None of their real names or full descriptions are known in the circles I've discussed this with, but they have titles that vaguely describe what they are. The Daughter of the Depths, who was some sort of aquatic princess I believe. The Inevitable, who was described to be some sort of natural force incarnate, such was her unstoppable nature in battle. The Sun-Blessed, someone wielding the light and life-giving warmth of the sun. The Timewalker, who could traverse the tides of time. And finally, The Insider, who was one of the Outer Plane herself and could provide her friends with critical information in addition to her battle presence in the end."

"If you somehow can get any of these five, or even all of them, to come and have a talk with me, I'll reward you handsomely. Having a discussion with someone like them would surely be an experience to value."

 

[Mind Flayer]

"Oh my... well in that case I will be certain to be mindful of him and stuff then," Adelle replied, figuring it was something like that, but regardless it did still take her by a bit of surprise to hear just how harshly he might judge her. "And I'll ask the chef I mentioned, the next time I see him if he knows any amazingly good chefs for you," she added, before finishing her glass of wine, letting him speak more of the Other Realm while she did.

She listened to him, and idly wondered who the five immensely powerful women might have been. "Hmm, I have been working with some ladies who are quite strong, though I doubt that they are the five mentioned in "The Myth" though. I mean... surely they aren't. Now speaking of the other place though. I... actually went there myself, not long ago. Like, Actually there. There was this one younger... princess is the only way I think I could describe her, who took me there to... I guess you could say, study me? Interrogate me? I'm unsure what her exact reasoning was. But she didn't want to kill me, or anything like that. We talked, and stuff, and she gave me a bit of an... improvement, I guess you could say. So that if I was ever trapped in the other realm for whatever reason, I could not only survive, but keep my sanity intact. She told me her name, Nimi'nis. But I just called her Nimi. She was actually rather nice, to be completely honest with you. Her mother on the other hand though... no. Nimi seemed to not want to invade our world here, or at least, almost seemed to want to find a way to coexist. She honestly, and truly, seemed more curious about us, than anything," Adelle would tell Ragvald after he had finished, wondering if Lacrimosa, and the others, might be the five from the myth he mentioned.

 

[Guan Yu]

After hearing out what Adelle had to say, Ragvald had noticeably gotten a little excited about a possible connection to this secretive group of protectors. "Yes, she attuned you to the plane. And she doesn't lie, I have lost a few agents who tried to go into that place without any protection. They came back as gibbering wrecks of madness after only brief exposure, if they somehow did even come back."

"That does have similarities to what little we know of The Insider in particular. Otherplaner not wanting to mix our planes and willing to go against her kin in a big way to aid our plane. If you ever meet her again, try to find a good moment and ask her about it, she might not be willing to share if she doesn't trust you enough. She and the other Myths might be trying to keep knowledge of themselves hidden so they can stay that way in case of some possible future crisis."

"If she is who we think here, I will be surprised she was the one we find first, given how she lives in the Otherplane. Her, The Daughter of the Depths and The Timewalker would be the harder ones if I had to guess. The Daughter probably lives in some abyssal ocean community no one knows about in the past or present, and The Timewalker could be exploring some far-off version of our current time, if her abilities are that deep."

 

[Mind Flayer]

"Heh... well that's basically what Nimi told me would happen to me, if I went outside of her room without said protection. At least, after a while anyway," Adelle replied with a nod, as that was basically what Nimi'nis had indeed told her. "As for her being "The Insider", I couldn't say for certain. But I will most likely meet her again. And she seemed to trust me somewhat, I guess. Else she wouldn't have done what she did for me, in making me capable of, you know, being able to survive and navigate my way around in her realm," she added with a shrug.

"And I will also say that I've run into this one lady with... some rather futuristic tech, as well. I've not learned her name, and she seemed to be a bit... hostile. So I'm not entirely sure," Adelle told him after a few moments, getting another glass of wine for herself, as she described the woman who was trying to keep certain technology from falling into the wrong hands, and who had tried to stop her once or twice, as she recalled.

 

[Guan Yu]

"That sounds like someone working for the sky city. They just hope to keep the rest of the world out, by any means necessary it seems."

With that being said, it appeared that Ragvald had gotten the meat of the discussion done, the talks going to a more casual direction as he told Adelle to enjoy her stay. "If you have something specific you want to ask from myself personally, don't leave it hanging." he would tell her as he got up from his chair, but not walking off just yet, Amela following suit.

 

[Mind Flayer]

"Yeah, I figured she was. But thought I'd mention her just in case. Let's see... I've also met Rose, who is... well, I named her that, since she didn't have a name. If you were by chance keeping tabs on me when I was in the forest below, she was one of the ones with me. Taio being the other one. A-Anyway, she's like... for lack of a better term, a bio weapon, I believe. Not sure if that really changes anything or not. But she's really nice, and is very clearly not human. I mean she's like... a couple of feet or more taller than I am," Adelle replied as she sat there finishing her second glass of wine off.

"As for anything to ask from you, um... hmm. I can't think of anything right off really. But if I can, I'll find some way of letting you know. Although, if you've got anything that a poor mere little human like me could use to make me able to... I dunno... be able to fight opponents much stronger than myself, either an item, or training, or something like that, I'd be more than willing to push myself to whatever limits I have to. There's this woman, you see, who is like... super strong, and she used to be a friend of the girls I told you about, but now she's an enemy, and is working for Miguel, the one who is now kind of trying to take over the city and stuff. I'd just... you know, like to be able to stand up to her the next time she gets close to me. She goes by the name of Margaret, and she has this super killer aura that... well, to put it bluntly, something in me told me to run," Adelle would go on to say after a few moments, standing up with him, and looking a bit determined.

 

[Guan Yu]

When asked about the possibility to increase her power in some manner, Ragvald would think about it a bit. "Well... I don't think I can just train you like that, it takes time and effort to learn properly. Trust me, I have learned many things during my time. But... I could give you something from my collection to help you. And of course there is the possibility of ascending your humanity via one of my low ranking court members, since I can't do it personally, since it would bind you to me. A lesser blood doesn't dominate like I do, so it would leave you with most of your old self still there. But that is something I would not accept too lightly as it WILL affect your life in many ways."

 

[Mind Flayer]

"Oh certainly. I figured it would take time. But that would be helpful, if I could try it," Adelle replied and perked up a bit at the prospect. "And I think I'll pass on the latter thing there. For now at least. If it'll change a lot, might be best not to do it without strongly considering my options and stuff," she added and would follow him, if she needed to, or wait for him to return if that was also the case.