Open Chronicles The Anirian Rose Masquerade

[Kasim Areth]

Kasim chuckled. "Well, I met someone at the other end of the world."

Telling the whole story would take more than a brief conversation in a place such as this, and he was sure that she would not believe the half of it.

"Fell in love, married her." He smiled slightly. "And then it turned out, somehow, that the safest place for us was right here."

He shook his head. "Fate sometimes twists in interesting ways, and so I find myself home once more."

A smile touched his lips.

"I'm not sure how much this place has changed, but for now...it seems enough." Kasim commented quietly.

 

[Jiya Luana]

Jiya was glad all that was visible were her eyes because no doubt her lips had twisted themselves into a doubtful frown. Aniria was of course a military paramount and its city walls had only fallen last year because of the Dreadlords fighting in favour of the Rebellion, but there were other dangers here. Dangers that could get a man killed just for saying the wrong thing. Though it didn't hurt he belonged to one of the most powerful families in this city. If anyone could be safe...

She took a deep breathe.

"Well a Luana and a Virak having a discussion that doesn't end in threats is definitely a change Aniria hasn't seen for at least four centuries. Welcome home, Enrich."

 

[Kasim Areth]

Kasim chuckled. "Well, the conversation isn't over yet."

He was not ignorant of what Vel Anir was at it's very core. The dangers that presented themselves at home. There was a reason he had stayed away for so long, and there was a reason that his beloved and their children were not currently here with him.

There were no illusions about his home.

"Though, I did forsake the name, so maybe that will help." Kasim said with a small smile.

For a brief moment he let the conversation lull, and then turned to face the great hall once more. "How has your life tread, Jiya? Before I...left, I recall you'd just gone yourself, to...Elbion?"

He always did have a good memory.

 

[Jiya Luana]

Now the conversation had turned to less secret-keeping worthy matters Jiya began to wander as they talked. The smile hidden behind her mask could not be seen but it could certainly be heard in the warmth of her words.

"Yes, I studied there for nearly ten years before the Revolution brought me back here," it felt longer than a year ago now. A lifetime. Her whole world had changed with just that one letter. "I dithered a lot when I was younger, poked around in different kinds of learning, but I just kept coming back to making things - using alchemy to recreate the magic others are born with naturally or to protect them from it entirely."

 

[Kasim Areth]

"How fascinating." Kasim said as they began to walk back towards the hall. His gaze sweeping over various inventions and the small placards that sat besides them.

After the Revolution some houses, such as Pirian, had admitted to their families own inherent magics. Others, like Virak, had kept to their secrets. Kasim was not in the know enough to say either way about Luana or even Sirl, but in that moment he found himself thinking.

"Fascinating." He mused as they stopped in front of a small mechanical insect. A key sat on it's back, and as a demonstration the man behind the case twisted it. After a second the insect slowly began to walk forward. "Is anything of yours on display here?"

Kasim asked curiously, looking up at Jiya.

 

[Aelita]

“Why not pay someone to use magical quill?” Aelita asked after Alistair explained the purpose of the printing machine.

Leaning in, Aelita took a closer look at the mechanisms of the device. Her hand moved toward one of the screw presses before she stopped herself.

“Do you just swap letters with these screws?” Aelita asked.

Stepping back regardless of the answer, Aelita summarized her opinion of the creation with, “Interesting. Maybe books will get cheaper?”

Looking around, Aelita asked, “What else is here?”

 

[Alistair Krixus]

"Not everyone can use magic, but everyone can be taught how to read and to use this machine. It will almost certainly make books cheaper and reading more abundant."

Alistair nodded along as he watched her inspect the machine. He was not sure how much they were supposed to be touching the items, but he would not be ratting out any of the other guests.

It did seem like the blocks with letters on them were placed inside and then the screw locked them in before the letters were pressed down.

He turned to look around the rest of the event with a twinkle in his eyes.

"A little bit of everything from what I have seen. An incredibly advanced clock, beautiful paintings, treatises on mathematics and science, and more."

Aelita

 

[Jiya Luana]

The little clockwork creature gave her pause to think about something she was working on herself and she almost missed Kasim's question as she mentally redrew blueprints back home.

"Hm? Oh, of mine?" not many people outside of Vel Zrada cared much for what she did in its current principle phase. Until she showed more results it would be likely to stay that way. Here, however, with like minded people her smaller projects were received much better. "Actually," her lips twitched and she motioned for him to follow her along the stands to what appeared to be a lamp. Instead of a candle however, was a small glass dome.

"I call it a Glow-blub," she explained and turned a switch which suddenly caused it to light up. "They're powered by small stores of lightning I've been catching and storing with metal nets. One small little power pack will power this thing for over a month."

 

[Kasim Areth]

Kasim looked at the glow-bulb with no small amount of wonder. "Fascinating."

He said quietly, inspecting the light from every angle before pulling away and rapidly blinking. The smile on his face broadening ever so slightly.

"Truly wondrous." The former noble mused. "Think of it, an entire city lit by lightning."

A chuckle escaped him. "I think they would love this in the stormlands."

The little area of the Blight was almost constantly wracked with thunderstorms. He doubted it's currents residents would much appreciate something like this, but it would most certainly be a useful thing to have around while traveling through.

"You should be very proud." Kasim said as he looked to Jiya.

–

 

[Aelita]

Listening to Alistair, brunette!Aelita’s eyes looked over his masked figure. Her eyes visibly narrowed through her mask as he spoke. Her lips pursed as if a word hung at the tip of her tongue. This became the longest moment between her sip of the red wine in her hand.

When Alistair mentioned the advanced clock, she shifted her attention toward it.

“Advanced clock?” she asked.

Her eyes quickly examined it to gauge the time it told.

“Is that the actual time?” Aelita asked with interest in her voice.

 

[Alistair Krixus]

Alistair turned and looked at her with a deadpan expression, trying to determine if she was making a joke. Very slowly he turned back and then responded,

"No, I suspect they gave it a name for more profession and impressive...I think it would be hard to sell the invention with a name like, 'the Advanced Clock'."

He looked around the room again and was disappointed to see the majority of the items in this room were artwork. The young noble loved art as much as the next, but it was a shame that he did not see more innovations that could be effectively used in the city.

Hopefully, he could find more in some of the other rooms.

"Would you like to accompany me to the next room?" Might as well be polite.

Aelita

 

[Aelita]

”Huh what?” Aelita muttered as Alistair spoke about the clock’s name.

Aelita’s eyes glanced around again to look for another clock. Yet, she found none. She peeked down at her wine glass. Still half full.

With a shrug and a smile, Aelita replied to Alistair with, “Might as well see what other widgets there are.”

However, the “advanced clock” was set a few minutes behind the one the Guards used for this event. The time where Aelita would need to be back on shift drew soon...