Ariadne shrugged
"We have dozens of castles on Earth, many with hidden passages, secret rooms, and deep dungeons "

*smiles* "Actually, I don't know, I haven't spent much time in the gardens back home.  It was better than the Severed Court's general garden, which is primarily hedge mazes with gazebos scattered through out.  Here is way like walking in a nature park, very serene and cozy.  I'd imaging it would be a great date destination." *gets a hit of a blush*

*nod* "I look forward to exploring. The castle and the surrounding areas." he says to Ariadne *smiles* "Perhaps we can go camping as group. And explore the woods nearby." gives a sly wink to Ballad.

*Chuckles* "I would be severely disappointed if it didn't.  As for how long, not long, we just need to trap Odile and convince her to tell us."

Ariadne chuckled
"Traditionally, servants love to gossip, so it shouldn't be hard to get Odile to show off her knowledge of the castle. "

All Earth castles have dungeons, secret rooms, etc. Ballad looks thoughtfully out the dessert shop's window at the street and what they can see of Amber Castle, cradled in Kolvir's arms, from their vantage. It's a view to be certain. A thrilling loveliness, especially with Tir-na-Nog'th, too. Here's the bright edge of a smirk, the wide-eyed expression gone to her more common expression of poised listening instead.

“You give a lot of weight to Odile,” Ballad says, curiously. She remembers that Jon had said he wanted Odile to 'train' with the Amberites as well. "Why do you have such a good sense about her?"

*smiles* "She is young, full of energy and wants to be helpful.  Jade is planning or has made Odile her handmaiden, which means she will probably often accompany Jade where ever she goes.  As such, it would be good to make sure she can take care of herself and know how to coordinate with Jade and us if a fight broke out." *nods to himself* "Speaking of which, we will probably also have Rory joining us as my manservant; which is a position his uncle Rian held with my father." *smiles* "As much as I expect the five of us to journey together often, I also expect we will also have our own adventures and I don't want to go it alone, it is always better to have a companion in case of trouble."

Ariadne shrugged with a smile
'Well, i don't know these people , but Jade certainly trusts Odile. "

*nods* "She was also very helpful when I arrived. Granted she was already with Jade and I spent most of time with Jade."

Ballad sets down her (empty) (well, just a shallow spice-riddled splash left, too gritty to drink) coffee cup and rises. If there’s a knack to rising with an air of impetuous nonchalance, she’s pretty knacky.

“Speaking of Jade, shall we go uplift our friend’s downcast spirits and see the stairs of Tir-na-Nog’th before it gets too deep into evening? I may have a grand idea; it may even be my grandest in the two days we've now known one another.”

The box of the delicate pretty dessert all tied up with string thank you dessert people Ballad swings in a - well, no. She is careful of it. She doesn't want it to become a sweet ruination.

Ariadne nodded
"Sounds like a plan"

*nod and smiles* "That is indeed a grand idea" he stands up "I'll get one of these cakes for Lance. though Ari, would you be OK to deliver it for us." he looks at Ballad, then back to Ari. "I don't think he would enjoy seeing either of us right now." indicating himself and Ballad.

Ariadne sighed with frustration
'I'm. trying to be sympathetic, but that guy has GOT to get his head straightened out.   The possibilities for our lives is, well, literally endless.  We need to leave all the baggage from our old lives. "

"You haven't heard the grand part of it yet," Ballad says, impatiently. "What if - "


Then she frowns at Jon, sparkle in her eyes briefly quenched. "I didn't want to leave Lance out of it and meant for us to ... Well, if he was awake enough to... But... Did he not seem - was he very irascible at Bloody Mary's? I suppose he did seem rather zozzled."

Ari chuckled
"Lance was a bit....under the weather...which is something i hope he can get under control before it becomes a real problem for him, and us."
She shook her head sadly
"I've known several people who let alcohol or drugs control their lives.  It never ends well"

*smiles*  then looks at Ari and *nods*"That's OK, it is probably a good idea that we leave him be for tonight."

“I believe he’ll rally,” Ballad says. “But I am... sorry he feels so struck by woe. I hope indulging helped? I like a wallow.” A pause. A quiet, silk-gleam smile. “And Ari, ‘the possibilities for our lives is literally endless; we need to leave the baggage of the old behind’? Sounds like you are getting used to all this newness, or at least you're prepared to.”

And she waits for Jon to get a cake for Lance, if he still plans to, holding the door open (leaning against it rather insouciantly, to be honest) until everybody's ready to brave the night air again.

Adventure on!

*nods* he orders a mini-cake to go "We can have a servant drop it off, with a note."
He then heads out and waits for Ballad and Ari.

Ariadne looked around
OOC:23:00, Today: Ariadne rolled 13 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 6,6.  perception (includes the -2 from before).

She smiled at Ballad wryly.
"Like I said, I'm trying to be sympathetic.  I got over a lot of my own emotional baggage back home, fighting with people who thought I should be someone different than I was.  So perhaps I have an advantage over Lance with figuring myself out.   Though, to be honest, it put be at a loss when 'who I was' was turned totally upside down by discovering that my entire life was a lie. "
The brunette tried, with limited success, to sound more amused than frustrated.
"If Lance has more to figure out, before accepting his new life, I'll help where I can."

Jon looks around searching for something
OOC: 07:36, Today: Jon rolled 5 using 2d6 ((2,3)).  And he realizes he can't see anything :)

*nods* "Yes, same here.  I want to help, but Jade told me that he is jealous of me for some reason. Right now, I think seeing either Ballad or I, would only make it worse." *sighs* "I understand how overwhelming this can be.  I'm lucky that my shadow is more similar to Amber than Earth.  But he does seem to be fighting some personal demons, at least that the is the sense I got from Jade before they left."

"I don't know how to help, except to give him time and space." he looks to Ballad then Ari and shakes his head. "Enough of the this.  Time to be happy, because we need to be happy to make sure it is infectious enough to make sure it rubs off on Jade.  Because she deserves it after the rude things that guy said and dealing with a drunk." he puts on a smile, but it doesn't reach his eyes.

“That won’t do, Jon; just feel whatever mood you feel and let it be a true one and let good company lift your spirits as well, in a natural way, and Jade will like that. Especially once ”

They search. They stroll. If this were a competition, Ariadne would definitively win; Ballad is impresssed. "If this is what you turn up when you explore a new city, what you find in infinite shadow will be remarkable!"

While Jon couldn't find anything, he does follow Ballad and Ari.
"Hmmm, Hopefully my sense of direction will work better in the woods than the city" he chuckles.

Ariadne nodded with a self deprecating smirk
"I don't know all of Lance's deal...."
She waved her hand around a bit, indicating Lance's "chaos"
"But i can say from personal experience, any random person from Earth, which is who we probably both thought we were until very recently, wpuld be a bit overwhelmed by everything here.  First, because Earth, for all its stories of magic and mythical worlds, is almost entirely convinced that it is alone in the universe.   No monsters or aliens or magic.  A few people believe, but they're considered fringe weirdos.    And second , it feels like, and I'll admit that I might have this totally wrong, it feels like everyone we meet knows so much more about Amber than we do.  It's a bit of a blwo to the ego to go from a big deal in your home to a lost sheep in this new one"

Ballad’s general air is a pensive one, but there are underpinnings of a hopeful nature.

“I don’t know. Couldn't it be compliment to the ego? You’re not just of one world but belong to another, and one which sits at the center of it all — and here you are a big deal even though you never knew it existed? I suspect Amber is full of mystery even once you've been thoroughly steeped in it. After all, Dad - well, and the others, Uncles Random, Gérard, Aunts Flora, Llewella, whoever... They don't know what's going on. Or if they know part of what's going on, they're not all on the same page.”
This message was last edited by the player at 00:45, Tue 15 Dec 2020.

In reply to Ballad (msg # 342):

Ariadne chuckled wryly and shrugged
"Maybe eventually, once we adjust, but there's an expression in our world called 'going from being a big fish in a little pond to being a little fish in a big pond ', to represent someone who's a bog deal in their small metaphorical (well, it usually refers to a metaphorical world)  to going to being just one of many in a bigger world.  Sure, it can be a great opportunity for a challenge and a way to rise to the more glory.  But we Earth folks can be a bit egotistical, so it can be disconcerting "

“I think I understand. I feel it a little when I walk the shadows,” Ballad replies. Then: a sudden, bright-edged smirk. “Once you and Lance have settled into yourself here, you’ll see egotism is a cultural tradition; not just for our relations, but I think most citizens of Amber tend to have a high opinion of Amber's place in the larger, um, picture. Symphony? I'm not satisfied with the metaphor.”

Ariadne grinned
"Metaphors are tough animals, making us wrestle them to the ground like wild cats"
Then she frowned with amusement
"Although that's technically a simile.
But i hope we don't get TOO full of ourselves."