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

[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?"

[deathsmajesty]

"Oh that's not fair," Liliana said with a low laugh. "Putting my love of learning and teaching up against--" She pulled him back to her, giving him another one of those deep kisses. "That's dirty pool, my 'Nys."

[chef_chocobro]

"I didn't realize," Ignis said, and that low laugh and that kiss and the response in general, really, seemed to pull out one of those rare laughs of his own, just a short brief, huff, but nakedly amused all the same. And that persistent hand had not left Liliana's back, but the other found its way to brush through her hair, and lightly against her cheek, "that my attempts to avoid contributing additionally to your annoyances at all costs could be considered so underhanded, my 'Iana."

And if everyone could kindly pay no attention to the extra way that particular volley back seemed to brighten a soft smile on his face, that would be greatly appreciated.

"But I am terribly curious. Even more so now to find you amenable to sharing."

[deathsmajesty]

"Then ask away, my darling," Liliana invited. "You know I adore discussing magic and mana and all sorts of ridiculous things from my section of the Multiverse."

[chef_chocobro]

"Well," Ignis then ventured with confidence, "the first and most obvious question, naturally, would be who is this Ramos in the first place? And the next would be to take a moment to dissect which type of mana would apply to which piece. But don't tell me. Give me a moment, see if I might work it out for myself."

And now, settling himself into serious consideration for a moment, the hand so recently against her cheek now curled underneath his chin. "Let's see. So. We have an eye, the heart, a tooth, the skull, and a horn. Well, obviously, the heart is the easy one, that would align with red, would it not? Blue, the eye, watchful and perceptive. Green, I lean toward the horn, bringing to mind the concept of the horn of plenty, although I'm not overall married to that idea. And white, I suppose, for the tooth. And just as I consider my reasoning for green to be happenstance, so, too, the fact that healthy teeth are quite often the sign of good health overall.

"Which leaves the best for last," he said, with a knowing nod and a shameless smile for the flattery, "black. Likely the skull, because why wouldn't it be? A bit lacking in imagination, but solid in its symbolism all the same.

"So," a pleased grin was now passed Liliana's way, his musings concluding with another soft kiss, "how did I do?"

[deathsmajesty]

"You did marvelously, my darling," Liliana said, clearly pleased by his cleverness - a cleverness born of listening to her and absorbing what she'd said even in off-hand comments. "I don't know who Ramos is, nor the intentions behind all of the symbols chosen, though I wouldn't be surprised if your suggestions weren't fairly close to the mark. The horn is perhaps the most bestial of the symbols, which is why I would assume green, as green is the mana that engenders the most wild creatures, but I will admit the tooth had me stumped, so I shall accept your guess that it's some kind of identification with health."

She pulled out her notebook and a pen. "May I show you some of the characters that are frustrating me?" she asked, reaching for his hand. "With their closeness to Old Terisiarian? Though for all I know, even though they appear similar, they might correspond to different sounds entirely; what looks like the Old Terisiarian ahfeth might end up being their way of transcribing the sound of the letter..." What was it in English again? "'D.' Or some sound that isn't actually in Old Terisiarian at all."

[chef_chocobro]

There had already been a protestation forming on Ignis' lips at the start of Liliana's suggestion, but, oh, how that changed once she found his hand, and there was a marvel in how so cool a touch could inadvertently cause a sudden warmth to just spread all through his chest.

"Yes," he said, without a single hesitation. "Yes, please. Perhaps a different perspective might at least shed some light. And if not necessarily the correct one, an illuminating one all the same."

[deathsmajesty]

Her hand guiding his, she drew out several of the characters, first in Old Terisiarian and then the ones she saw on the inscriptions. She did this several times, first with one then the other, so Ignis could feel the lines of the script.

The ones from the Ramos figures had a few more curlicues and curving lines, but he could feel that, at the base, the characters she'd picked out did share a remarkable resemblance to one another.

"I may also be looking for overlap when there is none simply because Old Terisiarian is the language that Urza and his brother Mishra spoke," she said, her voice filled with the usual venom at Urza's name. "And Urza did become a Planeswalker after their stupid, pointless, prideful war."