Infinite Consortium, Monday

[deathsmajesty]

So far, Liliana's spirits had turned up neither hide nor hair of that aggravating vampire that had earned herself a...let's call it a talking to, for the sake of plausible deniability. That was fine, after listening to the radio, Liliana knew that Navaan had class that afternoon and she would be waiting after class - after all, it wouldn't do to interrupt the students' learning. For whatever value of 'learning' could be done in a class taught by that.

And, until then, Liliana had some unpacking to do. No, not of her emotions or anything like that, don't be ridiculous. It was delivery day from the wider Infinite Consortium and she was digging through a large crate, pulling out five mana generators. They appeared to all be from a set and, unless she missed her guess, were some sort of religious icons, with writing she was unfamiliar with on the base. She'd add this to her list of items to rub by Jon and have him read for her, as well as the slabs of the obelisk she'd brought home back from her fight with Baron Sengir.

But what she could do was copy down some of the alphabet and also the name on the manifesto and then flip through her books to see if she could find anything that seemed similar.

A fun little mystery to pass the time until murder.

The Eye, Heart, Horn, Skull, and Tooth of Ramos
Mana generators and religious icons - useful and lovely, too!

[Open!]

Comments

[chef_chocobro]

Ignis would never deign to hope that he might be able to distract Liliana enough to continue delaying the inevitable murder he had inadvertently set into motion by divulging to her some of his strange encounter with the vampire yesterday, but he figured he could at least ply her attention away with the usual offerings of treats.

"Liliana?" he called, also as usual, as he stepped through the door and took a moment to listen for which direction to take to find her on this occasion.

[deathsmajesty]

"Over here, my darling," Liliana called from behind the counter once again. Last week's ill-timed industriousness had clearly been a fluke. Or perhaps she'd simply learned her lesson, considering they'd ended back here by the counter anyway.

Mmm, yes, most excellent times. Take that, obnoxious, ignorant vampire.

"Once again cursing my inability to learn to read a language as quickly as I learn to speak it." She did sound moderately cross.

Poor Liliana, having to put in whole weeks of effort sometimes to learn to read a foreign language. Woe.

[chef_chocobro]

Hers was truly a beleaguered lot. With a moment to just ensure the door was locked as was just generally wise and becoming habit at this point, Ignis made his way over to the counter, where he was grateful he could at least ensure that the box of pastries made it onto its surface instead of the floor this week. "Mmm, well," he said, "perhaps it's a good time for a break, then. Give your mind a little time to rest before getting back into it. What is it we're working on reading?"

[deathsmajesty]

"There are inscriptions on the items that were sent today," Liliana explained. "I don't know what language they are in, though some of the characters look almost like Old Terisiarian, a language from Dominaria. Though for all I know, it's simply a frustrating coincidence."

She stood, drawing him in for a deep kiss, the kind that made the clock stand still until several seconds after it ended.

"Don't mind me, my darling," she murmured. "It's been a very annoying day."

No vampire, no good bones, no understanding the inscriptions.

"But you're here, so there's a bright spot for me, hmm?"

[chef_chocobro]

And that was, indeed, a very good kind of kiss, one that Ignis was more than happy to fall into, a time disparity he would have no complaints about except for the fact that it should end. Grateful for having both his hands free, they slid around her with their frequent, deft maneuvering around the Chain Veil, though they mostly found themselves on her back this time.

"And I certainly have no intention of adding to that annoyance," he assured her, resting his forehead against hers with a small smile. "If anything, you at least now have delicious treats."

[deathsmajesty]

"You rarely do," she assured him, sounding almost...surprised by that. Liliana knew she was not the easiest to deal with (which was for the best, since it kept most people away), nor was she particularly inclined towards tolerating the foibles of others, but despite their occasional fight, they were remarkably happy content together, weren't they?

Curiouser and curiouser.

"I am very glad to have something so delicious delivered right to my door," she said with a smile that softened even as she spoke. "And the treats are a welcome addition as well."

Flirtation aside, she was absolutely opening the box and cooing at what he'd brought her. Listen, Liliana was quite capable of appreciating multiple things at once.

A few bites and her next kiss tasted of raspberries and chocolate.

[chef_chocobro]

Even rarely was far too much, although Ignis was striving to be better about it.

Hearing that softening in her voice made it a little easier to endure Liliana's attention shifting from him to the food, though. His hand remained lightly against her back, and he was perfectly content in having his own taste of the pastries being experience through what lingered on her lips once they returned.

And he planned to keep them there for a good while longer before letting his own attention divert toward anything else, and when he did, it seemed to have been with a reluctantly curious inquiry.

"Have you managed to discern much else about the items beyond their frustratingly indecipherable inscriptions?"

[deathsmajesty]

It was possible - possible - that Liliana had to shoulder some of that burden as well. It wasn't fair to demand he dance only to her rhythm after all.

"They're mana generators," Liliana said. "One for each color. An eye, the heart, a tooth, the skull, and a horn of Ramos. Though whether those are the actual items within the crystals or they're simply representations, I couldn't say."

[chef_chocobro]

Ignis nodded, with a faint and thoughtful hum. "And would further questions be welcome, or is your brain screaming for temporary distraction in an entirely different matter at the moment?"

[single_man_tear]

"Sup," Dean said as he entered the store and headed over to a certain section of the store. "Don't mind me. Just need to see if we have any silverthorn."

[deathsmajesty]

"Silverthorn?" Liliana asked. "What's that? If it's a plant, like it sounds like, then no. Unless you've already set up your own imports?" She crooked a smile. "I'd be impressed, considering the entirety of last week."

She'd say she certainly hadn't gotten anything done last week, but that was par for the course. Liliana's industrious moments were far and few between, at least as far as the store went.

[single_man_tear]

Dean groaned and rolled his eyes. "Fine. I'll just have to go back to the mainland and pay that shyster more for it," he complained. "And yeah, I did set up some stuff to get here. Don't worry, I paid for it out of pocket and will let any sales cover my costs."

Because this whole place needed a hunter upgrade.

[deathsmajesty]

"You're expecting sales?" Liliana blinked at him. "Darling, you were the first person I sold to in weeks, easily."

She unlocked one of the drawers at the counter and pulled out several stacks of bills.

"Nonsense, if you're buying for the Consortium, it's paid for by the Consortium." She pushed three stacks forward. "Will this cover the costs or do you need more?"

[single_man_tear]

Dean eyed the stacks of cash with just a tad bit of greed. "That should cover it along with some other items I have in mind," he said, taking said cash and stuffing it into his coat.

You know. Things like beer. And pie.

[deathsmajesty]

Pfft, like Liliana cared. In fact...

"Here," she said, pushing another stack of bills his way. "You said you preferred to be paid in cash, yes? You should have gotten that last week as an advance on your pay, to help you get set up on the island."

Gaia only knew how other people did it, when they didn't just have a creepy mansion to claim in the woods.

"If you incurred any debts because of that, let me know and I'll take care of them."

Liliana was very generous when it came to spending other people's money. Ignore all other spurious claims of generosity from others, they're falsehoods

[single_man_tear]

Okay. That was a lot of money. Which Dean picked up and stuffed in his pocket without a hint of shame or awkwardness.

Years of hunting on the road, hustling people at pool and credit card scams meant never feeling bad out getting money freely given.

"No debts. We're covered," Dean agreed. "Though just a heads up I might be heading out later this week on a case. Should be back before Tuesday but I might miss a shift."

[deathsmajesty]

"Oh that's fine," said the woman who didn't bother showing up when she didn't feel like it. "Feel free to work another day if you'd like, or to just skip that week."

A pause.

"A case?"

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

Jon got Liliana's voicemail and after his class, he stopped by to see if he could help.

He was just a little bit covered in all kinds of cat (and capybara!) hair.

"Liliana." He waved. "I got your message."

[deathsmajesty]

"Jon, darling, thank you for coming," Liliana said, getting up to greet him. "I've been meaning to reach out for awhile, I have some chunks of a basalt obelisk with Old Urgrothan writing on them, but today I got some new items--" She gestured to the window, where the display was "--and they have inscriptions, but I haven't the least idea what they say. I was hoping you could tell me?"

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

Jon nodded and followed her. He reached out to pick one up, then snatched his hands back in a rare moment of self-preservation. "Um. Are they - that is, I'm wondering if they're safe to handle."

[deathsmajesty]

"Oh yes, they're fine," Liliana said. "They're mana generators - meant to be used. One of the things I'm hoping to figure out is if these were common artifacts or uncommon or particularly rare...and, depending on the answer, how they were used in and by the society."

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

Jon nodded and reached again, finding himself drawn, unsurprisingly, to one particular design. He sighed as soon as he saw it. Trust the Eye to be interested in...well, an eye.

He gingerly turned it over, seeing the writing along the bottom. "'Ramos wept, and there were seas.' Do you...I don't know if you know who Ramos is. Or was."

[deathsmajesty]

Liliana shook her head. "No, the name isn't familiar. I've been looking through some books to see if I could stumble across it or the characters that are being used here."

She traced over some of the letters. "There are bits of them that resemble Old Terisiarian, which is a language from my home plane, so I was extra curious."

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

Jon nodded. He reluctantly set the eye down and reached for the next one. "'Ramos bled, and there was fire.' Ah." He set that one down rather more quickly, just in case. So these...they seem to be related to the classical elements as described in older Earth cultures, and presumably other places, which would make the others earth, air, and some sort of soul or mind. If the pattern holds."

[deathsmajesty]

"It's the five colors of mana," Liliana said. "Blue mana, red, white, green, and black." She touched them all in turn and seemed none the worse for wear. "Wrapped into some kind of creation mythos. But blue is the mana associated with thoughts and the mind, and we don't really have a mana that corresponds to the soul. Nor air."