rou_gui: (Default)
𝔔etzi'ah 𝔐orrison ([personal profile] rou_gui) wrote2015-12-26 05:29 pm

psl


prophetiae: (Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie)

[personal profile] prophetiae 2015-12-29 02:19 am (UTC)(link)
[ Brandon is not a great magus. He would be the first to admit as much. He is young and too unfocused, pulled in so many directions by people who take advantage of his work ethic, and by his real masters, whose agenda spans centuries.

Yet even at his most raw and lackadaisical, he would feel them, feel the House, as he does now though he strapped on as many blinders as he could before so much as stepping foot over the property line. All the death: not only the stagnant fermentation of bodies upon bodies, cruelty layered upon madness for years and years, not only the vagrant passing of spirits and echoing mutters of ghosts, but vivid darkness, resentful death. Still kicking, as it were.

But he considerately neglected to mention he was a necromancer, and if they don't pick it up off of him, Brandon supposes it may be for the best. It's better to play slightly wide-eyed scholar, with only a firm grasp of diplomacy to indicate he's not a complete naif. ]


Master Morrison mentioned more than one cousin. [ In keeping with that, he still uses "master" with innocence. It would be delightful if she directed him to stop, but he doesn't think she will. ] I would hate to be so rude as to leave someone out.
prophetiae: (De praestigiis daemonum)

[personal profile] prophetiae 2015-12-29 02:46 am (UTC)(link)
[ This part of the game, such as it is, makes Brandon feel almost at home. It's a nice smile that doesn't mean nice things, and he recognizes it without any outward acknowledgment. He only smiles back, as if this conversation were happening somewhere else about other things entirely, perhaps in another time as well. A crisply produced costume drama in which people converse civilly and nothing ever seems to happen until, all of a sudden, everything falls apart. ]

Thank you. I'll make sure to do that. In the meantime... [ He lets some conversational warmth creep into his voice, intruding upon his careful politeness, his hand absently brushing up against the table edge once more. [ Could I do anything for you? Fetch anything?
prophetiae: (Grimorium Verum)

[personal profile] prophetiae 2015-12-29 03:24 am (UTC)(link)
[ The oppressive process of ruination is one thing, but however bad things are, Brandon's conclusions from his observation of the kitchen before Qetzi'ah returned still hold. It's all a mess, yet she must be the one putting flowers here and there; there must be something for her to eat, or a room she calls her own, even if it's just this one. So there might be something, and besides, the more information he has, the more effort he can put into her gift. ]

Well, I can only entertain Master Morrison for so long. [ The fine thread of irony in that statement can be passed over as self-deprecation, in the interest of plausible deniability. ] And if I could be of any use... please. Feel free to order me about.

[ The easy phrasing of that, the smile that goes with it, it all falls somewhere between childlike and gentlemanly. ]
prophetiae: (Clavicula Salomonis de secretis)

[personal profile] prophetiae 2015-12-29 03:43 am (UTC)(link)
[ As prompt as a student at lesson, and with no sign of distress: ]

What shall I call him, Qetzi'ah?

[ From his apparent composure, not even a twitch of the eyelid when her open hand hit the table, she might be able to deduce he was waiting for something like this. Yet there is also no sense of mockery, at least, not overtly. His gaze is alert, almost avid, as if he really might comically leap to pointless, futile work should she snap her fingers.

Regardless of what she tells him, he'll still call Haran "master" when addressing him. But that much should be expected. ]
houseonahill: (floorboards)

( 1/2 )

[personal profile] houseonahill 2015-12-29 03:46 am (UTC)(link)
[ Murderer. Murderer. Call him murderer, traitor, deceiver. ]
prophetiae: (Compendium Heptarchiæ Mysticæ)

[personal profile] prophetiae 2015-12-29 04:18 am (UTC)(link)
[ The measured blink of his eyes and the uniformity of his breathing is all too deliberate, maintained until she's finished speaking. Perhaps anyone would hear that swell of whispers from beneath (the words indistinct since he's trying his best to block them out but the tone unmistakable), and there's no need to pretend otherwise. He won't risk it. ]

Of course.

[ Perfectly empty and agreeable, as if it's a matter of no importance, all while he remains so unrelentingly watchful. ]

And is there anything at all I can get for you? I ask because I only have two messengers, and one is already out.
prophetiae: (Sortes Astrampsychi)

[personal profile] prophetiae 2015-12-29 05:33 am (UTC)(link)
[ He nods agreeably, not revealing he's already done so. There is nothing that comes from this land he would willingly eat, save, maybe, for an offer of bread and salt. And even then, it probably wouldn't be worth it.

Or, worse luck, if Haran insists... well, that's just a whole other category of unpleasantries. He'll cross that bridge when he comes to it. ]


And if I called a deer? Would the hyenas take it first?
prophetiae: (Liber officiorum spirituum)

[personal profile] prophetiae 2016-01-03 11:27 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Not a hunting type at all, what with actually calling the deer. All he does is smile faintly for the hint of derision. What else have all twenty years of his life been but being trained to withstand others thinking poorly, or not at all, of him. ]

I won't neglect their gifts, either. How many are there?
prophetiae: (Ars Memoriae)

[personal profile] prophetiae 2016-01-03 11:45 pm (UTC)(link)
[ This sounds like useful information and Brandon lets his interest, bird-like in its non-threatening alertness, show. Inwardly, he has to reserve some judgment since she's obviously far from enamored of him; it could be misleading, purposefully or otherwise, or perhaps it serves some private interest of hers. ]

Oh? She leads them?

[ Brandon is definitely picturing literal hyenas, albeit ones that have grown more intelligent, fierce, and bloodthirsty through association with their masters and this place. ]
prophetiae: (Musaeum Hermeticum)

[personal profile] prophetiae 2016-01-28 08:07 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Hidden disdain in a pleasant voice is not easily picked out, even by someone who habitually does the same, but her displays of indifference seem to Brandon to be a matter of restraint, at least when it comes to Haran. If there are any similar sore points in regards to the hyenas, he has no intention of searching them out. However, unless they helped Haran achieve his position, he supposes there's no reason for there to be. Another thing to look into, as the masters intended him: the exact events of the fall of the House.

So much of his mission is naturally unachievable at this stage, so Brandon lowers his gaze again. The semblance of demure gratitude, and also because he thinks she prefers it. ]


Thank you very much, Qetzi'ah. If you would find it entertaining to watch, I will give the hyenas their gifts tomorrow morning.

[ His invitation, offered with a smile directed more at the floor, has delicate icing layers of irony. Come, watch him perhaps be devoured when whatever he's planning backfires spectacularly. Or perhaps not.

It also tacitly offers her an opening to dismiss him if she'd prefer, though his overly obliging demeanor may limit any satisfaction in it to his mere absence. ]
prophetiae: (Mysteriorum Libri Quinque)

[personal profile] prophetiae 2016-01-29 03:21 pm (UTC)(link)
[ With a deep inclination of his head, not without self-consciousness as to the archaic quality of the gesture, Brandon withdraws from the kitchen politely. His presence, especially in comparison the rest of the House and its usual occupants, doesn't carry much weight or darkness with it. No strong scent of anything. He came to the House unarmed and vulnerable, carrying only gifts and tools. That was the proper way to greet Haran and, he is now sure, Qetzi'ah.

But to meet the hyenas, and perhaps also Tavor, as she hinted, that must change. So he has the rest of the hours of the night to construct what he needs to best survive the coming morning. ]