Standing up and turning to face Prad, Fiora smiles gently.  "Your mind is returning, good.  You touched something you should not have, and it stole your body.  It released you a few minutes ago, so it's good to see you recovering quickly."  Striding over toward him, she extends a hand palm down with fingers lightly curled.  "Fiora Ambrogia."

"Hello. I'm Prad," he responds. "Oh, right... the black pearl. That was it, wasn't it? It felt strange when I first touched it. I remember trying to sell it... and that's the last thing I remember."

He glances around again, noting the strange architecture.

"Where are we?" he repeats.

"Anders Mendelsson," Anders says when Prad's attention finally turns to him.

He was relieved to not have to keep an eye on Prad any more. Well, not lead him around at any rate. He still planned on keeping an eye on him, though--there was no telling what long-term effects the pearl may have had on him.

"Yes, it was the Black Pearl. It drew you here. We believe this is an ancient Syrne site, though we aren't sure just what its purpose was. You wouldn't happen to have any insights into that, would you?"

He figured it didn't hurt to ask. There might have been some information unintentionally imparted by the pearl.

Fiora raises an eyebrow at Prad's manners, or lack thereof, but it's forgivable under the circumstances.  He does still look pretty out of it.  Withdrawing her hand, she steps over closer to the stage.  Vasily's idea has merit, and while she might not understand the exhibits, she can theorize aloud about the one that has no fate at all.  At least, once Prad's had a chance to get his bearings.  If the stage does something interesting, now might not be the time for that.

One of us is confused.

I had Prad, Anders, and Alessandra over at the second recharging station.

And I had Fiora, Vasily and Valentino on the seats in the amphitheater.

So Fiora wouldn't be close enough to have a conversation with Prad without moving over to join them.

I thought Alessandra had moved over to the amphitheatre.  Fiora was near her because she was inspecting what happened to her fate after touching the pearl.  So there'd be no need to stand up before extending a hand to Prad, but moving over toward the amphitheatre afterwards still works fine.  I think.

In reply to Anders Mendelsson (msg # 681):

Alessandra nods. It is a interesting thing to think about.

In reply to Prad (msg # 684):

Alessandra wondered what had happened to him.

Ooc:Yeah, Alessandra moved away.

Vasily and Valentino (and Fiora?) sit in the bench seats of the amphitheater and wait for something to happen. After several minutes go by, still nothing happens.

Fiora's inspection of Alessandra's fate produces an unexpected result: there seems to be two different fates intertwined... but not... yet... linked together.

"Well, it certainly seems like nothing unusual is happening, but, of course, we know basically nothing of this place, so I suppose it isn't very surprising that a random guess would not produce anything interesting."

Fiora's fingers twitch through the air around Alessandra as she continues inspecting the...  whatever's happening.  "You seem to have two fates, connected but not tangled.  You didn't before touching the pearl, so it definitely did something, but I've never seen something like this before.  I've seen something like a mirror of it, a mother's fate is entangled with her child's before her child has their own."

"Know nothing about Fate, but is it possible that the two strands of Fate exist simply because Alessandra has yet to decide what to do with the Pearl?" Anders asks.

"If she wants nothing to do with it, how can she disconnect herself from the Pearl's Fate?"

"Yes, it did seem like a long shot," Valentino concedes to Vasily.

"Rather than something that happened just by sitting here, I was thinking that an instructor was needed... someone to select an item and then demonstrate it to the... students?"

"Still, it seems like there's... something more to this... something that we're missing."

"Of course, it could just be because we don't understand who or what the Syrne were or what their thinking was. The harder I try to think of something outside the norm, the more it seems to elude me. Really, if you think about it, we shouldn't be capable of thinking of anything that was truly alien... or else we'd be the aliens."

"That's not quite how it works...  Sorry, I'm trying to describe color to the blind.  Decisions are places warp crosses weft.  Above or below aren't quite right but they'll do.  Alessandra has an extra strand of the warp tangled around hers, but the reed hasn't passed yet."  As descriptions go it could use work, but trying to describe the weave of fate to those who can't see it could take weeks.  Of course, on second glance none of her current companions look like they've probably used a loom.  Oh well.

"As for disconnecting...  Doing it herself is likely impossible as she can't see them." Peering closer for a moment, Fiora smiles.  "I can try to untangle her.  I've never done such a thing, nor heard of it being done, but I'm curious what'll happen if I try."

"So, let me see if I understand what you just said," Anders responds to Fiora as he continues to keep one eye on Prad. "Alessandra now has a second Fate strand that's not... exactly... hers--it's the Pearl."

"Until she decides to do something with the Pearl, it's not yet entangled with hers."

"What would happen if she does decide to do something?"

"If you want to try and separate the two, is there a chance you could wind up with it?"

"I'm not sure what will happen.  It will probably tangle with hers eventually, regardless of whether she makes a decision.  The future unwinds from the spools to weave in the present and create the tapestry of history.  The loom runs no matter the actions of man, I can merely move a thread here and there.  Stand here long enough and all our fates will tangle with the Pearl.

"It acts of its own accord.  I don't know what will happen if I try, but that's plausible."

In reply to Fiora Ambrogia (msg # 701):

Alessandra finds the other woman's speech fascinating. "Well, what could I do with the Pearl?" Alessandra asks, curious.

"I don't know!"  It's a simple answer, both forboding and cheerful in one.  "Stay and study it is the obvious one, or you could try to take it now, or leave and plan to come back, or leave and don't plan to come back, or something I've missed.  Ohhh, if only we could repeat the experiment, but we only have one pearl and one of you."
This message was last edited by the player at 04:47, Sun 31 July 2022.

Vasily considers for some time their non-result, then responds to Valentino; "Hmm, well, perhaps it may actually be wise of us to leave this place; we've delivered the pearl out of human hands, finally. Prad and Allessandra both seem ok, at least for the time being. Do we actually have any more business here, beyond simply satisfying our idle curiosity?"

"I don't think Prad will remember where this is or how he got here, but, while hidden, this place isn't inaccessible," Valentino suggests.

"For the moment, anyway, we've kept the Black Pearl out of the hands of the governments. So, as you said, what business do we have here? What do we do next? What do we want to do next?"

"As for the Black Pearl, Alessandra, it may have limits, but, as I understand it, it can do whatever you want it to. Not sure if it can create matter. If you wanted a steak dinner, I don't know if it could create it. But you could probably use it to cook a steak if you had it."

"You should be able to use the Pearl to move a boulder, to create a ball of fire to attack a monster, or to port to somewhere else. You saw what it did to Prad on its own. I suspect you could do that to others."

"There's bound to be a price to pay, though, every time you use it. Fiora might have a better idea of what that might be, since it's sorcery, and I don't know any."

"Blood, the price is always blood, one way or another.  It may not happen immediately, and it may not be obvious, but the price will be blood.  Every sorcery is the same that way."  She fills in for Valentino.  "A ball of fire might burn you, but I'm told Fuego burned its users by burning their blood.  There aren't any left to ask though, sadly."

"So where does that leave us?" Anders asked.

"If the Pearl gets fully charged, will it follow Alessandra if she leaves this place?"

"I don't know how much power it stored, though the tales seem to indicate it was a lot, but wouldn't that be enough to follow her under its own power... rather than rely on Prad to carry it?"

"I'd suggest that the Syrne knew how to control such sorcery without paying the blood price, but then they aren't around any more so maybe that was what happened. Could they have delayed it long enough for it to reach a tipping point and it then destroyed them?"

He considered things for a minute more.

"It gets down to what you want to do, Alessandra. Are you keen enough to want to wield some sorcery that you're willing to pay the price?"

"Oh, I can avoid the blood price Anders, but that doesn't mean it won't be paid.  It's akin to redirecting your opponents blade into the audience in a duel-" Here she looks to Valentino, brushing the fingers of her left hand across the hilt of her blade.  As a fellow Duelist he's the most likely to immediately grasp the dishonor implied.  "-but there are those who would sink so low.  Did the Syrne?"

"It's not like we know a lot about the Syrne, which is a misnomer anyway," Valentino replies. "What we call the 'Syrne' is the latest of several previous civilizations that vanished. At least, that's what the scholars are telling us."

"Most of what we find are the REAL Syrne, though whether they called themselves that or not is unclear."

"So, what did they do with sorcery and the blood payment? Who knows?"

"Oh, here's an idea. Does it... bother you... to look at the Fate strands of other objects? I was thinking if you examined some of these other items you might get a sense of what they did or what was going on here. Is that a possibility?"

In reply to Valentino Iocovelli (msg # 705):

Alessandra nods in understanding. "A pity we don't have two pearls and two of me. And I don't think I would want a steak dinner at the moment." And if there is a price- that is scary to think about.