Finding the Chapter

[Yumyumcrow]

Lina's burst of exceptional speed excites the heady air. Dust erupts from her footfalls as she dashes from her room, across the landing and down the stairs. All sense of secrecy fled as floorboards creaked and dust motes stirred sluggishly in the languid air.

The giant, perhaps surprised, perhaps caught unaware, can only make a warning yell. The sound of his ponderous weight crashing through the building follows in Lina's wake. Like a slow moving train he jogs across the upper floor to the stairs. He is huge. His face is stern and expressionless; and in that countenance alone is a tonne of danger.

It is almost comical when a tangled blonde head pops over what remains of the banisters, staring down with abject curiosity.

"This is our place. Find somewhere else. Better for you." She would have had a melodious voice, if her cadence was not so flat and expressionless.

[Aaron van Valen]

The message Lina had whispered to Aaron earlier only now sinks in. They're other supernaturals? The Lord had heard rumors but never in fact encountered some - for as far as he knows. However, now is not the time to dig through his memories. They're already here.

He sees the giant appearance look down upon them, and all Aaron can do is try to maintain his confident posture. He hardly notices the little woman. His mind and all his cravings are focused on the ebony skinned man. Aaron tries to come up with the several ways to approach this. He considers a whole variety of commands, just when Lina is already taking control of the situation.

Yes... I am Todd. He was not necessarily the best actor, but his Dragon friend was lying so well, he'd almost actually believe her. 'Evening, folks.'

The story unfolds, and all Aaron can add is that there are more than just rumors. 'And I think I can safely confirm that definitely something is going on here. The whole place is vibrating with energy.'

[Yumyumcrow]

The lie was perfect, fitting the moment like a glove. Yet the strange pair seemed almost singularly unmoved.

The giant simply stared, his posture not changing, even as he folded his massive arms.

"I get no measure," he grunted sternly. His voice was deep. Primal. Stormy. "I don't like this". His deep dark eyes flicked up to the little blonde woman, the closest he came to recognising the implicit threat of Lina's web.

"Who?" The woman replied, her face wrinkling in confusion. Her confusion grew as Aaron Todd spoke up. "Of course there is!" She looked toward the giant for confirmation.

The giant was still staring at the pair. He still had not moved. Not a muscle. "Why do you want to help us?"Now at last his countenance shifted: his eyes shrank to cat-like slits and he leaned (or was loomed) forward. Menacing in the shadows.

"We can't stop now. I'm this close." The woman was looking back and forth from her lofty position.

[Aaron van Valen]

Aaron tries to think of what these "people" could be. They get no measure? Are they measuring Lina and him?Of course, for whatever they're doing there are two dead bodies standing of front of them. Probably unnerving. But it allows everyone to talk more freely.

Although - Aaron is not sure if the giant man likes what he's (not) feeling or seeing. With his uncanny eyes. So the Lord wants to be cautious in this situation, but he also really needs answers.

She is close to what?

'May I ask, what have you been doing that requires you to be here? Are you performing a certain ritual? We don't mean to interrupt, but perhaps this location is no longer the most suitable.'

He tries to keep his posture relaxed, to make them feel like they really are here to help.

[Yumyumcrow]

There was a flash of recognition from the giant - a widening and narrowing of his eyes - that told Lina had words had struck a chord.

"Regular folks burn what they don't understand. Us. This place. Each other..." A ghoulish smile, frightening in its intensity, briefly crossed his face. Bare moments later, his scowl returned with a vengeance.

"Why do you care so much? What is in it for you?". Suspicion dripped from his voice.

"Waiting. Communing. Little John! We cannot leave yet. We are so close I can feel it. Soon I can commune... But I can't have distractions! Are you Alchemists?" The woman's lank hair swayed as her head jerked one way, and then the other. Her returned, heavily, to Aaron: a child inspecting a new toy; or a large bug in their back yard.

The giant looked up at his companion peering over the banister. He looked back at the pair of Kindred.

"Well. Are you? Alchemists?" He said, wearily.

[Aaron van Valen]

'They do,' Aaron says, while straightening his back. While he could barely be as imposing as the giant man, he could at least show his strong will.

What's in it for me? I want this place for my own. It is as simple as that. And the Lord would get this Nest.

He is glad when the woman speaks and seems to give a straightforward answer to his question. He feels like he just communed, in some way, with whatever she wants to commune with. But the more interesting term is Alchemist. There are all sorts of alchemy in this world. Human alchemy he knows best from its heydays in Europe during the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance. But he realizes many ideas date back millennia and originate from all over the world.

Besides, he suspects these creatures, as he feels like calling them now, are not referring to any kind of alchemy he might know. 'In a sense, we are. I've had friends who practiced alchemy. Not in a classic way, studying base metals, but more concerned with the human body. All its different solid and fluid components even, and how these can be changed.' The Great Work. 'Furthermore, I've considered expanding my studies to create elixirs. Nothing like the mythological Elixir of Life, though. But all-together probably nothing like what you are implying?' Aaron is speaking mostly directly to the woman. He wonders how communing with with some seemingly-sentient energy, perhaps some sort of ghost or spirit, could be considered part of alchemy.

'Is the... "being" in the basement helping you with your pursuits? Because I certainly feel like it could aid mine.' Adding some more honesty to the conversation would hopefully make the man less suspicious. 'So believe me, we both don't want tourist buses here. Let them stay in the saloons downtown.'

[Yumyumcrow]

"Then it makes sense why they are here Little John. They have sensed the Fire too. Do you have a place of work?" The woman sounded curious. She did not respond to Aaron's other question, her head instead tilting at an angle as she continued to regard him with open curiosity.

"We don't know what came before. We are passing through. When Tess has finished her work." Little John continued to glower, still defensive. "We heard of this place from the others. They may have been here when the Fire came. Or maybe not. We got the story from them."

The giant looked up at Tess, waiting for something more. When the woman appeared not to notice, he let his gaze be drawn back to the Kindred.

"So. What can you do?" He asked grudgingly.