Seas Of Erin > Drunnandannon > I'm headed for a breakdown


Posted by: Jochy Melechen Aug 5 2007, 06:47 PM
The knock on the door would he hard and angry, and a moment later Jochy would open it and tromp inside.

Yes, thunderclouds were happier and sunnier than he was right now, and as if to add to that comparison he slammed the door hard enough to almost make himself jump.

Tiny bloody cabin.

Tiny bloody ship.

"That settles it, Andre is officially more of an idiot than even I credited him with."

Posted by: Sylvie Romain Aug 5 2007, 06:49 PM
Sylvie grinned at the mage. "Nice to see you, too," she retorted. "You can send me back, can't you?"

Posted by: Jochy Melechen Aug 5 2007, 06:54 PM
"No, I can't. Your father screwed us all for being a squeamish fuck. Why did you give the dagger to him? We both know he's an idiot when it comes to these things."

Jochy sighed and found a chair to throw himself down on.

It felt better sitting down.

Funny how this morning was so much worse than last night.

Last night he'd been happy.

Posted by: Sylvie Romain Aug 5 2007, 06:59 PM
"I gave it to Spider," she answered. "I told her not to tell anybody, but that apparently didn't work."

She gave him a sheepish smile. "You all right? You look exhausted."

Posted by: Jochy Melechen Aug 5 2007, 07:02 PM
"Oh come on, he sleep with Spider, of course she'd tell him. Probably the only reason he stopped bitching about it. I had just hope she would have sense enough to tell him not yet." Jochy rommed his eyes, running both hands through his hair.

"No, no no... I am VERY far from alright. I was yanked on this ship without my consent, my shadow is still missing, El probably think I pulled a fuck and run on her and this ship is too bloody small and solid and cramped. I would rather be any bloosy place but here."

He groaned loudly and quite thatrically, then gave her a thin smile. "So you summoned a demon to possess your grandfather? Smooth."

Posted by: Sylvie Romain Aug 5 2007, 07:09 PM
"Not really," Sylvie answered. "The thing that made Giles shoot himself in the head?" she asked. "You know about that? I saved it in a bottle and released it on him. It was smooth until they pulled me back here. I can order it around. I was hoping to order it to sink the ship and then call myself back."

She rolled her eyes. "That didn't work. Anyway, it's not going to be so bad, is it? I--"

Then she realized what he'd said. She blinked. Then she smirked. "Did you just say fuck-and-run?"

Posted by: Jochy Melechen Aug 5 2007, 07:19 PM
"Yeah, you can stop bitching at your sister for being a virgin now. Which, by the way, Andre still thinks you are. He's cute sometimes, really." Jochy smirked, then frowned slightly. "That means he's still gonna be lucid now and again, right? Giles was that, or else the wraith is more of an actor than I most of its kind. But... that clears up one concern at least."

He winked at her, the smirk deepening into a smile. "It wasn't distance from your land, and you haven't lost your gifts. You could order the thing around now, right? Giles shooting himself in the head was not because you lost the touch."

Posted by: Sylvie Romain Aug 5 2007, 07:25 PM
Sylvie grinned back. "I could," she answered. "I'm just worried without me there, it's going to go after El."

She let out a long, slow breath. "He'll be lucid sometimes, yeah...but how did you finally talk her into it, huh? She's a priss."

Posted by: Jochy Melechen Aug 5 2007, 07:31 PM
"Nah, not a priss, just picky. And at least El is with Judes, hell I'd still be there as well, only I don't have any choice in the matter, do I?"

Oh that was frustrating to no end.

"Wish there was some way I could get you back on that ship, but like I told Andre, I can't. I just didn't think they'd call you back this soon, I mean hell, we aint even out yet."

Jochy sighed and scratched his head again, frustrated. "If it wasn't Andre, I'd say he did it just to make matters more difficult for Judith as revenge. I mean the thing will probably aim for Si if it's smart... oh, by the way. Andre wanted the deed destroyed too."


Posted by: Sylvie Romain Aug 5 2007, 07:42 PM
"So do I," Sylvie answered, as she glanced at a piece of rough parchment that lay on the bed where Spider had left it. "I'm just not sure exactly how to do it on my own. I don't want to make a mistake. And I want to-- I still want to figure out what to do with the power after this is done with. I don't want to have it for the rest of my life."

Posted by: Jochy Melechen Aug 5 2007, 07:52 PM
"Well, seeing as how it seems to be blood related, I think yer in bad luck. That usually means yer stuck with it... unless..." Jochy rose, careful not to rise to his full height as he walked over to the bed. "Yer the oldest one, aren't you? That's how it works? But... correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't this paper mean that yer grandfather signed away his birthright? Is he still alive? If so, what the hell does that mean if we destroy it?"

He paused for a moment, eyeing the parchment. "And if one person signed it away...." He let the rest go unsaid.


Posted by: Sylvie Romain Aug 5 2007, 07:56 PM
Sylvie shook her head. "He tried to sell it," she answered. "But it needs my blood, too, to make it work. I don't want someone to take it from me and make me sign it to them when it's already got his blood on it. And I want to sign it away," she said quietly. "I'd love to sign it away, but it's got to be to someone who understands what they're getting into and wants it."

Posted by: Jochy Melechen Aug 5 2007, 08:00 PM
"So... is your grandfather dead, or is he alive?" Jochy rolled his eyes, that was the problem with girls, sometimes they assumed you knew everything by telepathy.

"I'm trying to figure out how things work here, magically binding documents usually come with a pretty strict set of parameters. Why did it need your blood too? Or did it need both yours and Elaines? is that it? Every living relative binding themselves to the deal?"

He pondered the document, eyes narrow and focused, watching what was written and unwritten.

The last tended to be pretty important with magical documents.

Posted by: Sylvie Romain Aug 5 2007, 08:08 PM
"Just mine," Sylvie answered. "It...It goes to the oldest child in the family. So it was my grandfather and my mother, and then my grandfather and me. It won't pass to Elaine unless...well, I'm not sure how that would work. We'd both have to die, at very least. If I had a child, it would go to them before her."

She bit her lip. "My grandfather is alive. It needs his blood and mine to seal the agreement."

Posted by: Jochy Melechen Aug 5 2007, 08:24 PM
"So there are two people at the same time... the head of the family and the oldest child. Oh boy, this is a real legacy thing, ennit?"

Jochy ran a finger over the parchment, watching it. "The bond is not completed yet since yer blood is not on there... so why not just burn it? If it will burn... fire usually takes care of things. Even makes blood useless. Hard to tell whether this shit is protected somehow though..." He squinted faintly at it.

"Your people use VERY different arts from mine. Weirder than the damn fae really."

He chuckled, running a hand through his hair. "Gonna tell you something stupid and noble and shit here. The reason you don't want the power is the reason you should have it. Anyone that really want it, will be an utter bastard. So then you'll have to decide whether they are the right type of bastard or not..."

((Going to sleep now! Have fun!))

Posted by: Sylvie Romain Aug 5 2007, 08:32 PM
"Elaine wants it," Sylvie replied. "Or she did, before Judith made her offer. She's-- well, she-- she scares me sometimes, you know, I mean, no offense to you or anything. Look, everyone tells me I should have it because I don't want it, but I...I really don't want it. I shouldn't have to lead this life. It's not the life I want. I wouldn't mind going back to Africa and ruling, but I'd-- I'd need a husband, and I don't like the wraith part, or the diamonds part. It's not me. I'm not happy. I don't want to spend my life wishing I could be someone else."

Posted by: Jochy Melechen Aug 6 2007, 02:16 PM
"No offense taken, El can be bloody scary at times, but she's mellowed out a lot. And truth be told, if you don't want it, just dump it on anyone. I mean hell, all this shit about family obligations and stuff just... gets to me at times. People being roped in to do what they don't want just because of what they were born to be. To hell with all that." Jochy shrugged, to him it wasn't really complicated.

If she wanted to walk, she should walk, consequences be damned.

He had done that after all.

"And if you fancy ruling... there's nothing to say that you need to go after the bloody diamonds, or deal with the wraiths any more than you like. Honestly you worry too much." Jochy grinned at her, running a hand through his hair.

"Yer just like yer sister, always overthinking. Do what you want to and stop worrying about tomorrow. I mean hell, the deed is proof that the power of the land -can- be shifted, right? That means you can do whatever the hell you want to. Anything at all."

He fells silent for a moment, feeling some of the anger and frustration fade away. "So... what would you do first then? if you didn't have a care in the world."

Posted by: Sylvie Romain Aug 6 2007, 02:31 PM
Sylvie raised an eyebrow. "What I'd do first? Apart from getting drunk to high heaven?" she asked with a grin. "I guess you mean with real life? I'd get a dog," she answered. "I've always wanted a dog. A bitch, so I could have lots of puppies all the time."

She shook her head. "It's not that easy, though. If I want to rule and I'm not careful of the wraiths or the diamonds, the French or the English or the Dutch will be all over me in a minute and they'll take the diamonds and my land and sell my people into slavery. And the wraiths will attack us and kill us and take our souls and turn us into things like they are. So it's either keep doing it myself or find someone very competent to take over."


Posted by: Jochy Melechen Aug 6 2007, 02:51 PM
"A dog? Oh hell, all they do is smell crotches, back and make a mess of themselves. And bites people." Jochy made a face at the thought, he had never liked dogs- They were large and dangerous.

And far, far too annoying.

"Well, can see how that might be a bit of a bother if you care about the people there, but really. There's plenty of competent people in the world, yer bound to find one you fancy. Now... let's take a look at this deed for starters." He picked up the parchment, chewing a bit on his lower lip as he narrowed his eyes to try to trace whatever it was on this paper that bound and made rules.

"So, tell be all about it... who made it? You've ever heard of how it can be destroyed? Anything would help so we do the proper thing and don't end up in a worse mess like we usually do."


Posted by: Sylvie Romain Aug 6 2007, 03:00 PM
"That's what Elaine thinks," Sylvie answered, rolling her eyes. "About dogs, I mean. No wonder you two-- er, get along."

She shrugged. 'My grandfather made it. In response to some threat from another kingdom. He wanted to just give it up. He gave it to Andre, and told him to get my blood and deliver it, because...well, you know Andre," she said with a sigh. "He'll do anything anyone wants of him. I wouldn't give him the blood, and-- well, that's right before Judith stole the ship. I don't know exactly how to destroy it," she answered. "I don't know if it needs my blood or if I just burn it up or anything."

Posted by: Jochy Melechen Aug 6 2007, 03:18 PM
"Heh, Andre was probably just happy that neither of his girls would have to deal with the wraiths, a kingdom and diamonds. I think he might fancy a normal life for you..."

Jochy ran his fingertips over the parchment, tracing the outline of the designs. They were completely unfamiliar, but things tended to share patterns.

Humans were humans. They tended to think alike.

"Two problems that I can see... One, the parchment might be protected from ordinary harm. That's easily enough to see, whether it will tear, burn or dissolve. Two... it might not fancy being messed with. Shit like that might hold curses, to try to destroy it might end us up in no small amount of trouble. Hard to tell... just a moment here..."

He closed his eyes and -felt- the parchment with his fingertips, searching for that telltale tingle of power. It was not unlike a skilled thief looking for the outlines of a hidden door, most people would see nothing... bur if you knew how to look, nothing could be pretty illuminating.

((So, can jochy pick up any information from the parchment?))

Posted by: Sylvie Romain Aug 6 2007, 03:29 PM
"I fancy a normal life for me, Jochy," Sylvie answered. "That doesn't mean I want people killed."

She peered curiously at him. "Can you tell me what you're doing?" she asked. "Or show me? Showing would be even better."

Posted by: Jochy Melechen Aug 6 2007, 03:43 PM
"Alright..." Jochy opened his eyes, running a finger over the parchment. "First, the text is in french. That's just to put human words to what's inscribed here. I guess your people don't write much normally? Either that or your grandfather wrote it for someone that would understand french. But that part's not important. This is."

He brushed the symbols carefully, talking as he let his fingertips dance from place to place on the deed. "Here are the names... your grandfather... you... and the third party. Each marked by true name and symbol. The blank spaces here... and here and here are to be filled with blood. Your grandfather's space is filled already, connecting his name to the runes of binding here and here. Through blood he has bound himself to this deed. If you did the same, and a third person put there blood here... then he would receive what you two had given up. See that symbol there? It's inverted compared to the two surrounding your names. Flowing from you, to him."

He reached out, taking her hand in his, smiling softly. "Close your eyes and concentrate on your fingertips." He gently guided her hand to the parchment, first to the spot where her blood should be spilt, then to the one her grandfather had filled. "Sense any difference? I get a tingle in my fingertips from the charge, but things can manifest differently. Some see patterns, some smell things... some just gets a creepy feeling."

He let go of her hand, then pointed to the parchment again. "Binding runes here, here and here. They seem to bind both the signers of this deed, and the wraiths. But so far things seem pretty straight forward right? Binding symbols, descriptive text, naming symbols, channeling symbols." He pointed out each of them in turn, then put the parchment down.

"Now... based on this, it would be perfectly safe for me to destroy this thing... right?"

He didn't make a move to do so however, he just winked at her.

"Care to tell me why I'm wrong?"

Posted by: Sylvie Romain Aug 6 2007, 03:53 PM
Sylvie kept her lips firmly pursed shut as she dutifully listened to the mage, giving him her hand and shutting her eyes when he told her to.

"Ick, it feels like..." she squirmed a little as he let her hand fall away. "Like things biting. Where the blood goes." She shook her hand out a little, and then, holding it with her other hand, looked up intently at Jochy. "That's good, right?"

She squirmed again, then frowned at his question and his wink. "So you're telling me you can't just destroy it, right? Err..." She looked at it again, frowning hard at the document. "Am I supposed to be able to figure out why not? Is it that easy and I'm missing it?"

Posted by: Jochy Melechen Aug 7 2007, 01:23 AM
"Yeah, it's good. Means yer sensitive." Jochy grinned as she made a face, rubbing his own fingertips together in sympathy. "Not sure whether it's general, or whether it's just focused on things surrounding yer heritage, but if I was you I'd pay close attention to any odd feelings in the future. Any tingles, odd jolts, weird slimy feelings, shivers and smells... anything that actually makes you react and think 'huh, that was odd' is most likely -really- odd. Whether you want to keep doing this or not, until you get rid of it it's a tool for survival. Trust your hunches, they might be a lot more than hunches."

Still rubbing his fingertips together, Jochy chuckled and looked down on the parchment. "Nah, it's not that simple. It's a trick actually. I mean I pointed put all the symbols, and none of them were particularly dangerous now were they? Not to destroying it. But just because you can't see it, doesn't mean it's not there... there's something..."

He frowned and ran his fingertips over the parchment as if trying to trace invisible lines. "It's an old trick, and there's three ways of going about it. The simples one is to add the things you don't want anyone to read in invisible ink. That's the classic, nothing magic about it. Can be shown with heat, over a light and so on. If one's not careful one might sign things one never agreed too. But that's usually not the magical way of going about things, too simple. Not something you'd want to trust putting a curse in."

He gently touched the paper, recoiling a bit as if he had touched something gross. "Bit more subtle is to weave the curse into the thing it's written on. Papyrus like this is perfect... it's thin slices of plants layered over one another and then pressed together and polished. It is not that hard to, for example, put a specific pattern of threads or plant fibers between these slices, to be fixed inside once it dries. Most people would never notice."

He winked at her again, the smile still playing on his lips, he loved things like this, they made him feel alive. "Third thing though is even more fun and clever. Then you work with the blank spaces. If you think about it, you can write a letter by filling in almost all the paper with ink, just leaving the paper showing in the shape of the letter. It's still readable, it's still a symbol. And... on something like this, with all the symbols already, and the text and the patterns nobody would think of looking at the things that are not text. The blankness in between. Perfect place to hide things."

Brushing his hands off against his breeches he eyed the parchment again. "This thing seems to be protected against being destroyed. Hard to say whether it's by making it sturdier, or by zapping whoever tries to do it. I just get the mental 'nononono' when I picture tearing it. But... it doesn't seem to extend to the people mentioned on the paper. Which means that you should be able to destroy it." He pondered the parchment again, frowning slightly.

"I think."

Posted by: Sylvie Romain Aug 7 2007, 07:19 AM
"Well," Sylvie said, thoughtful and slow. "What do I do then? Try ripping off a corner and see if it responds? I don't-- I'm not getting any kind of warning-feeling from it," she informed him, her eyes slanting up toward his, looking a bit wary.

Posted by: Jochy Melechen Aug 7 2007, 03:33 PM
"Either tear off a piece, or we'll try fire. But tearing is safer for a start."

Jochy nodded at her, hoping that he hadn't been mistaken, but no... it should be alright.

He hoped.


Posted by: Sylvie Romain Aug 7 2007, 03:49 PM
Sylvie took a corner of the document in her fingers and tried to rip it, and the paper ripped easily, though she winced as it sizzled at her fingers.

"Oh, for Christ's sake," she groaned, looking questioningly as Jochy as she shook her hand out. "Hold on a minute."

She pulled out her own knife, slicing it through her thumb, and stamped her thumbprint in her own blood on the document-- in the center of the document, far away from where she was supposed to sign. "You see, you stupid paper?" she asked it. "It's me."

Then she ripped it down the center, separating the marks for the blood from the names with a single, swift tear.

Posted by: Jochy Melechen Aug 7 2007, 04:00 PM
Jochy nodded, glad that he had not tried to do something stupid before checking it out. Or, truth be told, that Andre had not.

Instead he stretched after the lamp on the table, removing the protective covering so that the open flame was accessible.

"There, burn it. We'll shatter the ashes in the water. That usually takes care of things."

A great sense of relief made him grin at her, back to something akin to normal spirits.

"See? One great big weight off yer neck."

Posted by: Sylvie Romain Aug 7 2007, 04:02 PM
Sylvie grinned as she held the thing over the flame, letting it crumple and flare into squirming black ash in her hand.

"And another one on my neck for good," she agreed, but she didn't look unhappy about it. She held the ashes in both hands as she stood up, looking to follow the mage out.

((out for birthday dinner!))

Posted by: Jochy Melechen Aug 7 2007, 06:20 PM
Jochy was more than happy to return outside, making sure to put the lantern back before opening the door for her.

So what? He could be a gentleman at times.

Or at least do a well enough job of pretending.

"Don't be an idiot. There's always a way out. You just burnt one of them. They can't force you to do anything you don't want."

No, when it came to duty and reliability, Jochy was a rather shifty fellow. He didn't like being tied down. And he sure as hell didn't like obligations.

It was a wonder he agreed to marriage at all.

Posted by: Sylvie Romain Aug 7 2007, 10:34 PM
"They can't force me, but it would be a bad idea for me not to do it," the girl answered gloomily, as she held the handful of ashed out over the side of the ship and let them flutter down, a tension in her shoulders suddenly releasing. "I feel obliged."

Posted by: Jochy Melechen Aug 8 2007, 03:11 AM
"Well then, that's you and nobody else. Nobody picks obligations but yourself." Jochy leaned against the railing, watching the still sea in the harbor thoughtfully. "Just like El's decision to be a prudish prick before, or yours not to be despite your father's wishes. You pick your own beliefs, even the sucky ones."

That teased a chuckle from him and he spat into the ocean as if it had been Judith's face.

"Hell, especially the sucky ones. Like Andre said, I didn't -need- to sleep with El really, I wanted to. Despite how much that complicated my already fucked up life."

The thought of that particular brand of suckiness made him groan, grimacing as he watched the black waters below. "I can't -believe- they stuck me here."

Posted by: Sylvie Romain Aug 8 2007, 09:11 AM
Sylvie's eyes lit up, and her mouth twisted into a smirk. "Sleeping with my sister wasn't an obligation, was it?" she asked. "So how was it, anyway? Is she a complete cold fish in bed? I always thought she would be, stupid convent training and all."

Posted by: Jochy Melechen Aug 8 2007, 03:45 PM
"No, but -not- sleeping with her might have been. You know on account on being older and more responsible..." Jochy returned the smirk, a slightly smug expression on his face.

"Only one thing I can say speaking of fish... in the calmest of waters..." Oh damn but he looked pleased with himself.

And it seemed that Sylvie had as wrong an opinion of Elaine, as Andre had of Sylvie.

Ah, illusions. How sweet.

Posted by: Sylvie Romain Aug 9 2007, 12:56 AM
Sylvie laughed out loud, covering her mouth as she wracked with laughter. "Oh my god, I didn't want to think about my sister that way, thank you very much," she squealed, still laughing loudly.

She gave him a cautioning look. "You have better not have corrupted her. She's my little sister, you know. Even if it is by twenty minutes."

Posted by: Jochy Melechen Aug 9 2007, 03:52 PM
"I have corrupted her. Utterly. You'll long for the days when you could be the world weary libertine and chide her for being the prissy cloister girl." Jochy was grinning now, feeling a lot better about being stuck on this ship.

At least there was someone he could talk to that didn't want to cut his balls off, or toss him over the railing.

"Ah well... a job well done."

Yeah, that self-satisfied smug smirk was only a bit exaggerated really...

Posted by: Sylvie Romain Aug 9 2007, 04:25 PM
Sylvie snorted and wiped her hand off. "Are you talking about my sister or the deed?" she asked dryly. "And how come Papa hasn't castrated you ye--"

Her eyes-- somewhat deliberately-- went to his trousers. "Or has he?" she asked with a smirk.

Posted by: Jochy Melechen Aug 9 2007, 04:33 PM
"Honestly I think Andre would be far too flustered to even think of getting his hands anywhere near my balls. He's painfully straight."

Unfortunately.

Besides, that man was FAR too much trouble.

Unlike say... Nialla.

Jochy grinned and shook his head. He really should try to straighten his life out sometimes, but right now he was having far too much fun tangling it. Not like he meant doing that or anything... things just happened.

Yeah, just like that.


Posted by: Sylvie Romain Aug 9 2007, 05:51 PM
Sylvie wrinkled her nose. "And I really don't need to hear that about my father, thanks. What'd you think of the Admiral?"

Posted by: Jochy Melechen Aug 10 2007, 05:30 AM
"The admiral? One competent scary bastard. Wouldn't fancy going up against him, the man makes my skin crawl. Guess I'd like him well enough though if he wasn't on our opposite in all this."

He gave her a wink, then smirked again. "Doubt he's a great fan of mine these days... wouldn't like falling into his hands again."

Not after selling him to Darren.

"Well, fancy go tell Andre the news about the deed? I'll bet he'll be more than happy to hear it's gone."

((Preparing to end this))

Posted by: Sylvie Romain Aug 10 2007, 07:29 AM
Sylvie snorted. "I mean, since you obviously think about getting the rest of my family in bed," she teased. "The Admiral's really good to have if he is on your side," she added, before looking down at her hands.

She caught at Jochy's shirtsleeve. "Yeah," she agreed, as she turned to leave. "Let's go."

Posted by: Jochy Melechen Aug 10 2007, 04:40 PM
"Oh yeah, the man's dead sexy... I always did like older men." Jochy grinned as they walked, getting one final jab in.

"Oh is -that- why you possessed him with a wraith?"

Posted by: Sylvie Romain Aug 11 2007, 02:11 AM
"Precisely why," Sylvie replied, smirking back. "You just want the whole damn family, don't you?"