the old man sees someone leaving and waves to them goodbye.[/quote]
The woman in lavender notices an old man waiving to her as she steps out the door. She turns, and waves back, a little heartened that a stranger has noticed her despite the failure of her attempts to radiate her normal charm.[/quote]
Dirae Erinyes will swirl by them, leaving a wave and a flask of special herbal tea in their wake. What pocket did they pulle that out from? No matter.
the old man sees someone leaving and waves to them goodbye.[/quote]
The woman in lavender notices an old man waiving to her as she steps out the door. She turns, and waves back, a little heartened that a stranger has noticed her despite the failure of her attempts to radiate her normal charm.[/quote]
Dirae Erinyes will swirl by them, leaving a wave and a flask of special herbal tea in their wake. What pocket did they pulle that out from? No matter.[/quote]
C. halts in the doorway, staring at the flask Dirae has somehow, magically, left in her hand. What is it? She loosens the lid a moment, sniffs. It smells of mint, and just a bit of mushroom. But she hasn’t survived this long in Fallen London by being overly cautious about what she drinks, and Dirae’s gesture strikes her as friendly. "Thank you!" she calls–but Dirae is long gone. With another sigh, but in much better spirits, she steps through, looking for transport home. She is in no mood tonight for walking.
[quote=the old man][quote=Preacher Tzara]]
"…We began with the river when we set the fires…"-whispered the good Preacher,somber- "A fine song,even if its variations are…puzzling. Anyway,this ball feels empty in a certain way,hum? Like, there are not so many guests around. And still we have not managed to defeat Oscar!".
The octopus seems to deflate a bit, and they seem equally reluctant to take the last of the old man’s chips.
But they perk up when the Preacher challenges him, and their long eye narrows as they deal out the cards for the next hand.
“now” the old man says abruptly, "we’re all wallowing in our sorrow, let us dance. The old man brings out a drum from somewhere in the folds of his cloths, and begins to beat it handing a smaller one to Oscar.
"I think that attempting to defeat dear Oscar is an exercise in both patience and futility so I have to agree with you, my friend" he stands, straightening his mask "and I have not danced at all since the beginning of this ball. If you’ll excuse me then…" he nods to his erstwhile opponents and…
…walks toward the lady that had been standing nearby for quite some time now, inconspicuously observing the games and the conversations.
"I haven’t had the pleasure of making your acquaintance yet miss" he says with a curt bow "Thanos Black, at your service. Would you care to dance?"
[quote=Shadowcthuhlu]
Evensong forces a shift of the board with an upside down Jack - an assassin. As they reshuffle, Evensong responds. "We did meet her, at a salon. That was back when my spouse was an author, not a correspondent. As for the Kaiser, it would be impossible not to hear about his recent conflict with his mother. what do you think on the matter?"[/quote]
The Spidery Marchioness responds with a hand of five commoners, the art depicting them wielding a pitchfork and a torch. That hand couldn’t ever beat anyone, but it lets her draw a new hand and use that instead.
"Well I’m of two minds when it comes to it. On one hand, I’m a loyal English citizen. So anything that increases our Empire’s power should be good. But it also isn’t proper. The Shadow is a Queen Mother. She shouldn’t be the power behind the throne, so the noble in me is glad the Kaiser is claiming his birthright. That is of course if the Kaiser only has an uneven arm. This is the modern world, an Emperor doesn’t need to be able to fight himself. This isn’t the Middle Ages. If the rumours regarding his madness are true, then the Queen Mother should be the de facto regent. At least that would keep a proper royal in charge, not like how the Iron Chancellor used to run things. Although he did do a pretty damn good job of it."
The Marchioness’ new hand was five kings. "Now those are quite a lot of crown-less kings," she said with a sly smile as she collected her winnings.
the old man carries on beating the tune “come come all must join the dance”
The Spidery Marchioness responds with a hand of five commoners, the art depicting them wielding a pitchfork and a torch. That hand couldn’t ever beat anyone, but it lets her draw a new hand and use that instead.
"Well I’m of two minds when it comes to it. On one hand, I’m a loyal English citizen. So anything that increases our Empire’s power should be good. But it also isn’t proper. The Shadow is a Queen Mother. She shouldn’t be the power behind the throne, so the noble in me is glad the Kaiser is claiming his birthright. That is of course if the Kaiser only has an uneven arm. This is the modern world, an Emperor doesn’t need to be able to fight himself. This isn’t the Middle Ages. If the rumours regarding his madness are true, then the Queen Mother should be the de facto regent. At least that would keep a proper royal in charge, not like how the Iron Chancellor used to run things. Although he did do a pretty damn good job of it."
The Marchioness’ new hand was five kings. "Now those are quite a lot of crown-less kings," she said with a sly smile as she collected her winnings.[/quote]
Evnesong eyes her hand. Two Queens and three daggers. Best to not use them to attack the kings directly. She skits the side the board, waiting for the next play. "I have to admit, surface politics is like watching a cricket match. Neathborn, I see myself as a loyal Londoner, but it’s hard to extend that to England. As for royalty, I only know the ones down here. As you said, a bunch of crown-less kings."
The good Preacher ups a brow. he then ups the other. He does not speak until he has manage to wrestle both to their normal position.
-"There must be casualties in love,war and the mazurka! Alright then! Let us dance!"- he says,and grips his cigar firmly with his mouth and then,taking care not to break the contraptions of his mask,begins what could only be called a secular dance,that would get him excommunicated if only a bishop would see him.
The old man marches around the card tables beating the drum, getting young stags up and dancing, there is a confused majesty to them all up at once with no one to dance. Those few that do dance do so haltingly, the old man carries on the irresistible march.
(OoC: I’m terribly sorry for having been so inactive, quite a few attention requiring things going on. I’ll try to stay as active as I can in this thread.)
Honeyaddict watched as more and more people sat at the game tables and focused his attention again on the wines that were stalled out on the tables at the sides. Tasting as many as he could by tasting a mouthful at a time. He figured out which one he liked most and sat himself down on a chair to the side to observe the comings and goings of the lovely Ball whilst enjoying a good glass of wine.
[quote=Shadowcthuhlu]
Evnesong eyes her hand. Two Queens and three daggers. Best to not use them to attack the kings directly. She skits the side the board, waiting for the next play. "I have to admit, surface politics is like watching a cricket match. Neathborn, I see myself as a loyal Londoner, but it’s hard to extend that to England. As for royalty, I only know the ones down here. As you said, a bunch of crown-less kings."[/quote]
The Marchioness drew her next hand. Things got the most interesting in Vestiture when there were multiple cards out on the playing field at once. The first few round usually devolved into back and forth, but once there could be continuity between rounds, well that’s when it became more tactics and less luck.
"I’m one of those crownless kings you mentioned," the Marchioness replied, keeping a few thoughts for being tactical as she seemed to chat as casually as this was over a cup of coffee at Caligula’s. "But even though I’m Surface born, I empathize with your position. It does seem quite like a game, well more than it always has for Players when you’re trying to piece things together from down here. And it’s not like it once was, where a tip on the scales here or there would spark a war on the other side of the world and now the prices at the market change. Although I suppose that could still happen…" The Spider Marchioness shakes her head, banishing a thought.
The Marchioness plays four advisers, keeping her remaining card in her hand. She pairs two advisers to a King, leaving three undefended. "Still, it all does seem so frivolous."
[quote=AbsolxGuardian]
The Marchioness drew her next hand. Things got the most interesting in Vestiture when there were multiple cards out on the playing field at once. The first few round usually devolved into back and forth, but once there could be continuity between rounds, well that’s when it became more tactics and less luck.
"I’m one of those crownless kings you mentioned," the Marchioness replied, keeping a few thoughts for being tactical as she seemed to chat as casually as this was over a cup of coffee at Caligula’s. "But even though I’m Surface born, I empathize with your position. It does seem quite like a game, well more than it always has for Players when you’re trying to piece things together from down here. And it’s not like it once was, where a tip on the scales here or there would spark a war on the other side of the world and now the prices at the market change. Although I suppose that could still happen…" The Spider Marchioness shakes her head, banishing a thought.
The Marchioness plays four advisers, keeping her remaining card in her hand. She pairs two advisers to a King, leaving three undefended. "Still, it all does seem so frivolous."[/quote]
Evensong presses on the advisers with a jester and a heretic priest. Unconventional and risky. "If the surface also sems petty to you, have you ever worked on the elder continents? You might find the stakes higher there." Evensong draws a prince - a tiger wearing gilded fez.
[quote=Shadowcthuhlu]
Evensong presses on the advisers with a jester and a heretic priest. Unconventional and risky. "If the surface also sems petty to you, have you ever worked on the elder continents? You might find the stakes higher there." Evensong draws a prince - a tiger wearing gilded fez.[/quote]
the old man leans in as he continues marching. "If your playing kingdom rules." He places down an unpredictable enemy in the middle of the table.
[quote=the old man][quote=Shadowcthuhlu]
Evensong presses on the advisers with a jester and a heretic priest. Unconventional and risky. "If the surface also sems petty to you, have you ever worked on the elder continents? You might find the stakes higher there." Evensong draws a prince - a tiger wearing gilded fez.[/quote]
the old man leans in as he continues marching. "If your playing kingdom rules." He places down an unpredictable enemy in the middle of the table.[/quote]
When Evensong played the jester and heretic priest, the Marchioness allowed a small amount of approval to show through her poker face. She discarded two of her advisers, each from different kings, and put all of the adviser cards face down, mixing in Evensong’s cards. That way if she were to try to activate one of the advisers abilities, she may end up harmed instead.
As the Spidery Marchioness was drawing her own hand, the old man, who had been annoying everyone in the card room with his drumming and insistence to dance, placed down a beast card in the middle of the table. It wasn’t even drawn from the deck, but something he had on him! But she supposed those were kingdom rules, and Evensong’s tiger prince already established that’s what they were doing.
She sighed. The Spidery Marchioness played a Monster Hunter and armed them with a dagger. So much for taking out Evensong’s prince. She used those two cards to take out the beast and discarded all three. She placed the beast in its own pile, although she didn’t really want to return it.
The Marchioness plays her remaining cards. She crowns the king she knows doesn’t have any enemy advisers, and then marries him to a Queen card. With all this behind him, her Knight card can take out one of Evensong’s Queens.
She turns back to her opponent. "I haven’t had the- well I’m not sure if it’s a pleasure- to see the Elder Continent. I have heard it’s quite the place. Port Carnelian alone is a microcosm of all the powers of the Neath. The Presberyate seems quite the place. They have to rule over somewhere more chaotic and life-full than Her Enduring Majesty, and they’ve been doing it for hundreds of years. I wish I could take notes on their College and give them to the Mayor as a guide. I captain my own ship, so I’ve heard zailor tales of how SOUTH rips metal from a ship’s hull, but they say a lot of things that aren’t true. Any matter, I’m not one of those zee-captains that zail off in the direction of the unknown, gambling they’ll meet a friendly port in time."
the old man stops drumming allowing the echos to fade out, he smiles and finally taking a approach more dignified for his age and status, falls into a heap on a couch on the side of the ball room his eyes alight with joy and a smile as wide as a devil with a saints soul on him.
edited by the old man on 1/18/2020
[quote=AbsolxGuardian]
When Evensong played the jester and heretic priest, the Marchioness allowed a small amount of approval to show through her poker face. She discarded two of her advisers, each from different kings, and put all of the adviser cards face down, mixing in Evensong’s cards. That way if she were to try to activate one of the advisers abilities, she may end up harmed instead.
As the Spidery Marchioness was drawing her own hand, the old man, who had been annoying everyone in the card room with his drumming and insistence to dance, placed down a beast card in the middle of the table. It wasn’t even drawn from the deck, but something he had on him! But she supposed those were kingdom rules, and Evensong’s tiger prince already established that’s what they were doing.
She sighed. The Spidery Marchioness played a Monster Hunter and armed them with a dagger. So much for taking out Evensong’s prince. She used those two cards to take out the beast and discarded all three. She placed the beast in its own pile, although she didn’t really want to return it.
The Marchioness plays her remaining cards. She crowns the king she knows doesn’t have any enemy advisers, and then marries him to a Queen card. With all this behind him, her Knight card can take out one of Evensong’s Queens.
She turns back to her opponent. "I haven’t had the- well I’m not sure if it’s a pleasure- to see the Elder Continent. I have heard it’s quite the place. Port Carnelian alone is a microcosm of all the powers of the Neath. The Presberyate seems quite the place. They have to rule over somewhere more chaotic and life-full than Her Enduring Majesty, and they’ve been doing it for hundreds of years. I wish I could take notes on their College and give them to the Mayor as a guide. I captain my own ship, so I’ve heard zailor tales of how SOUTH rips metal from a ship’s hull, but they say a lot of things that aren’t true. Any matter, I’m not one of those zee-captains that zail off in the direction of the unknown, gambling they’ll meet a friendly port in time."[/quote]
Evensong, face still placid, plays a double move. First she attacked the king and Queen… The Queen with a lover, the king with past glories. She then crowns one of her khans, defended by horseman. "All stories that zailors tell have truth. Often ones that would be a shock to them, but truth none of the less. I’ve spent my far time at zee - my spouse has a submarine that stayed too long at Polythreme. I’m sure you have heard it signing at the docks. I really wish the drownies and zailors would stop competing to teach it the worst songs they know." Evnesong frowns. "I’m not sure I would called the Elder continent a pleasure but it has fond place in my heart. However, I would take the presyberate’s boosts with a grain of zalt. Ruling for hundreds of years or just for a day can be equally easy here. Time is not the same here as the surface. I’ve learned a bit of how time works there."
the old man stands up the fire gone from his eyes, the grin absent, looking once more like a moderately mild mannered tomb colonist. He swears discreetly and often, those listening intently hear the words parabola and irrigo, featured heavily.
Oscar, who had been using several arms to scoop his winnings into Six’s fedora, is surprised to find a hand drum suddenly shoved into a free tentacle. He looks at the instrument quizzically, but then begins to haltingly mimic the old man’s energetic drumming. Sadly, the cardsharp cephalopod is far better at running a table than carrying a rhythm, and gives up on his haphazard rapping at the drum when the old man collapses upon a couch.
With the poker game over and his winnings gathered, the octopus looked around for his next diversion. Since Six was still preoccupied with Sapho on the dance floor, Oscar began to eye the unusual game that had started at the next table. With kings, khans, heretics and monster hunters, it was a game unlike anything he had ever seen before!
Intrigued, the cardsharp cephalopod dragged his hat full of coins over to the other table, and after securing a snifter of brandy, perched on an empty seat back to watch this unusual card battle unfold.
.
edited by Six Handed Merchant on 1/21/2020