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Adam opens the doors and announces, "Hall's Open" Adam walks back behind the bar and begins wiping it down with a towel. <Jaret> ::strides in, dressed to the nines, and makes his way to the bar:: Evening, good barkeep. Can I get a goblet of Arabellan Red, please? <Adam> Certainly. Adam turns to wineglass, who happily points out a bottle. Adam gets another glass and pours some of the bottles contents into it, and gives it to Jaret. <Tyl> Evening Adam... <Adam> Good evening, what can I get you? <Jaret> ::swirls the wine around in the glass before taking a content sip:: <Tyl> rum and ice please. Tyl smiles. Adam rummages under the bar for a moment, then comes up with a glass with some ice cubes in it. Wine glass then points out a tap and Adam fills the pours some into the glass. Adam gives the glass to Tyl. <Tyl> thank you, good sir ::fishes out a coin and lays it on the bartop:: Adam takes the coin and deposits it in the lockbox. Grigoriy slips in through the door. He is once again dressed in a rather subdued brown robe, and he is carrying a walking stick. His hood is back, but his face is slightly more pensive and less cheerful than normal. <Tyl> Ah, good evening to you, my poor put upon friend. How goes it this evening? Adam goes to the shelf and picks a bottle, depositing on the bar in front of Grigoriy. Zoya bursts through the door and barely steps out of the way before it rebounds into her face. Her hood is already down, her strange grey eyes are shining so bright they seem almost silver, and she's carrying a large-ish leather sack over one shoulder. <Zoya> IT'S FINISHED! Grigoriy smiles. "You remembered..." <Adam> Mother's Milk, right. Adam turns to Zoya, "What's finished?" Grigoriy turns towards the door, a somewhat wary expression on his face. He raises an eyebrow, then turns back to the bottle. One less stopper and one large swig later, he sighs contentedly. <Zoya> This very evening, this *very* even-song, just as the sun caressed the hills to the west, the last piece snapped into place! Grigoriy leans toward Tyl. <Tyl> ack! Have you been reading bad poetry, Zoya? Zoya strides toward the center-most table in the room, and begins untying her bag. Adam turns to Jaret, "Did you understand that?" <Grigoriy>Not well. Have had no luck. Questioning helped not. Bad business. Boring business. <Jaret> ::nods faintly to Adam, but keeps watching Zoya:: <Tyl> No luck, eh? Maybe there's a better way to go about your investigations... <Jaret> ::perks up slightly, and addresses Grigoriy:: Sir! You are in the depths of a search for something? Zoya produces a quite peculiar contraption. At its core is the piece that she has been working on for some weeks, but innumerable gadgets, widgets, twists, ties, juts, spurs, and thingies now protrude from its once-merely-confusing endpoint. At the center of it all, glowing softly, is a rough-edged, bluish-grey stone. <Tyl> oh, I know, I know... it's a whatchamacalit! no, that's a chocolate bar... it's a thingummy! Right? <Adam> Zoya, what is that thing, and more importantly, what's it going to do? <Zoya> This ::enthusiastically:: is my latest invention! Tyl ducks <Zoya> ::in an aside, to Adam:: I don't know what it is, yet. Adam places his head in his hands and mutters to himself. <Zoya> But what it does! THAT I know! This... ::lowers her voice in an abortive attempt to seem mysterious:: ... will locate The TOWER. <Adam> Which Tower? <Zoya> ::waggles her eyebrows in an even more humorous attempt to be sinister and mysterious:: THE Tower! Adam decides it's going to be a long night and pours himself a drink. Zoya fishes in her pocket impatiently and pulls out a much-abused sketch of a tower which was apparently created by someone who had OD'ed on DreamDust. <Zoya> THIS tower. Grigoriy takes a swallow. Adam takes the sketch, examining it from several different angles, and even folding it a few times to try to make sense of it. Grigoriy peers at the sketch, then shrugs. <Tyl> All right, silly question, I'm sure... how is it supposed to find the tower... <Grigoriy>Still have not seen that place. <Zoya> I'm glad you asked! The similaritude of the focus tangent... ::Zoya bounces off on a long, impossible-to-follow (because she's inventing words for things as she goes along) discussion of how her device is supposed to work. <Tyl> Ah... I see... Tyl nods and rolls her eyes <Jaret> ::eyes glaze over slightly as Zoya rambles on. He shakes his head, snaps out of it, and sips some more of his delightful wine:: Grigoriy takes another drink as his attention drifts elsewhere. Adam attempts to follow the lecture, absently drinking from his mug as he does so. <Zoya> ...and the carambaflux inhibizor is left to follow the reacton! Couldn't be simpler! Adam grins, "But what about the perovus flux? Wouldn't it get caught in the tiffel loop causing a vertrox feedback?" Zoya looks over at Adam. <Zoya> What? <Adam> I said, wouldn't the perovus flux get caught in the tiffel loop causing a vertrox feedback? Adam notices his mug is empty and refills it. <Zoya> You aren't using real words. <Jaret> ::has some more wine and eyes both Adam and Zoya curiously:: <Adam> What makes you say that? ::Sips his drink:: <Zoya> ::raises one eyebrow:: All right, then. What's a perovus flux? Tyl finishes her drink <Zoya> And what does it have to do with my device? <Tyl> <turns to Grig> meet me at my house later tonight and we'll discuss your assignment... I have to meet someone now... <Adam> You've never used a ::picks random word from Zoya's lecture:: before have you? Tyl waves cheerfully and leaves Grigoriy nods and waves at Tyl. "Later" Adam sips his drink. Zoya laughs hysterically. <Zoya> I thought you were *serious*! ::She walks over and claps Adam on the shoulder:: Good one! Adam raises his mug, "I was as serious as you were." Zoya lifts her device before anyone can say anything else, and begins fiddling with some knobs and switches. The stone in the center begins to glow brighter, pulsing with jewel-tone colors. Grigoriy watches with interest, although his interest appears to be elsewhere. Adam sees Zoya starting to turn the device on and rushes into the back. <Zoya> ::The colors travel down the length of the device, rippling like the colors on a soap-bubble. Each color seems to select one of the strange tentacles at the end of the device, and the tentacles slowly start to come to life, waving gently like grass in a breeze:: Adam returns holding a hammer and wearing what appears to be some gnome's idea of night vision goggles. <Zoya> ::Finally, all the color drains out of the stone in the center of the device and the tentacles, which had begun to thrash wildly, suddenly stiffen, all pointing in much the same direction - toward the wall.:: Adam starts circling the table with Zoya's device, looking underneath it and under the chairs and everywhere else around the device. <Zoya> It's working! She looks up, and realizes that there isn't a window in that wall (it's the one with the fireplace), and decides she has to go outside to follow her device's directions. She bolts for the door, leaving the sack in which she had transported the device on the table, and runs out.:: Adam notices that Zoya's holding the device now and starts searching the whole Hall glancing back at the device every second or so. Adam takes the gnomish device off his head and sighs, "At least nothing disastrous happened." Adam returns to the bar and pours himself a new drink. <Jaret> ::calmy sips some more wine and returns his attention to the barkeep:: Patrons are just leaving left and right, all of a sudden. Unusual night... Zoya comes in looking somewhat surprised. The device has apparently been turned off. Zoya walks over to the fireplace, leans into it, and peers up the flue. Grigoriy chuckles quietly to himself as he takes another sip. The bottle's contents are fairly close to out. Adam watches Zoya and has some of his drink. Zoya crawls into the fireplace and stands up on the tips of her toes, apparently examining something. Zoya crawls back out and plops down at a table, device in hand. <Zoya> Huhn. Zoya fires up the device again [more theatrics] and starts walking back and forth in front of the fireplace, very slowly, intently watching the tentacles. They seem to point toward the left side of the fireplace. Grigoriy mutters something under his breath, then empties the bottle. He pushes it across the counter to Adam. <Adam> Another? <Grigoriy>Da. Adam gets Grig another bottle. Zoya start closely scanning the entire left side of the fireplace, stone by stone. She eventually narrows it down to a single stone, about 2/3 of the way up the wall, wedged between two hunks of granite-flecked riverstone. <Zoya> How very fascinating... Zoya sits down and starts mumbling to herself. Grigoriy uncaps the bottle, and downs a rather large portion of it. "Spasibo." Adam takes some of his own drink, watching Zoya and occasionally running his hand over the hammer he left on the bar. <Zoya> ::After a while, she gets up and examines the stone. Sure enough, it is the same bluish-grey as the center-stone of her device.:: Who would've thought... <Zoya> ::She sighs deeply, then packs the device away in its leather bag.:: Nothing else for it, I suppose... ::She starts rummaging through the pockets inside her robe:: Grigoriy shakes his head, murmuring "Uh oh" <Jaret> ::sips some more wine, watching the scene, most likely without the faintest idea of what Zoya might do next:: Zoya comes up with a miniature rock-hammer. She holds it in both hands (quite a trick, considering its size) and mutters a quick incantation. The hammer suddenly surges in size and now appears to be a heavy dwarven pick-axe. The head of the pick dips toward the floor and Zoya gently puts it down. <Adam> Um, Zoya...What are you planning to do with that? Adam walks out from behind the bar. <Zoya> Well, there's nothing else I can do, Adam. ::soul of reason:: The rock must come out. <Adam> Um...I'm afraid you're going to have to talk to Moon Dancer before I can let you do that. <Zoya> Oh, don't be silly. I'm sure he won't mind. <Adam> Besides, I thought this device was supposed to find a tower, not a rock. <Adam> I'm fairly certain he would mind. <Zoya> Well, obviously, this rock was once part of the tower. You can't expect to get it right the first time, you know. <Zoya> Of course he won't! I'll plug up the hole! Grigoriy smiles to himself as he takes another swig. <Adam> You're going to have to talk to Moon Dancer. <Zoya> Well, where is he? <Adam> Don't know. Probably off in the woods somewhere. Either that or else he's eating pies with Lion. <Zoya> Well, then. Since he's left you in charge of the place, you surely don't need to find him just so I can get a rock. Now, if you'd be so kind as to give me a hand... Zoya gestures toward the pick-axe. Grigoriy shakes his head and puts down his bottle. Grigoriy stands, and heads towards the fireplace. Zoya beams at Grigoriy. <Grigoriy>Is not good idea to make, ah, rubble of host's fireplace. <Zoya> Gri.. Whatever! My old friend! You will help me, yes? Zoya blinks. <Grigoriy>Ah. Nyet. :: smiles sheepishly :: Is not my place to make holes in favorite tavern. <Zoya> But... I don't want to make it rubble. I just want that rock ::pointing:: there. The rest of it will be fine. Adam puts his head in his hands and mutters again. Grigoriy scratches his chin. "Can probably wait until Moon Dancer returns." <Zoya> But MoonDancer hasn't been here for WEEKS! I don't know if this will wait another day! <Zoya> ::frustrated:: It could all suddenly -!- POOF -!- go away! <Adam> Why wouldn't it? I mean that rock must have been here for years. <Zoya> I'm so CLOSE! <Jaret> ::alone at the bar, Jaret sips some more wine and watches the proceedings with a smile:: <Grigoriy>Um, is stone. Will stay there. Has been there for long time. Won't go away. Grigoriy reaches for the bottle to fortify himself, but realizes it isn't at hand. He shrugs. <Zoya> But it *won't*! Why do you think I needed a locator in the first place? The Tower MOVES, my friend. It shifts. At least three times, that I know of. If it moves again - it could go to another plane entirely, and THEN how would I find it? <Adam> What makes you think it's on this plane now? <Zoya> This rock ::squinting at the one in the fireplace:: might have been ordinary slate just yesterday... <Zoya> Disturbances in the field. <Adam> Um, if it was ordinary yesterday, how did it become special today, unless Moon Dancer did something to it, in which case you should be talking to Moon Dancer. Grigoriy cocks his head as he regards the rock. "Not sure. Expect that fireplace would fall apart if rocks disappear from it, da? So, it must stay there all the time." <Adam> What kind of distrubances? Zoya throws up her hands at trying to explain. <Zoya> SOME kind of rock must be there. But the Tower, it is tricky, yes? Where it wishes to appear, something was there before, so it must put the something somewhere. When it disappears, it puts the something back. So this rock could be the same. When it disappears, it could replace the slate that was there yesterday. <Zoya> Disturbances ::very slowly:: in the field of magic tell me that the Tower is here. Grigoriy shakes head. "Is nikulturny to break apart home of host. Is tavern, da, but principle applies." Adam looks Zoya in the eye, "You're just going to tear the wall apart from the outside later this evening if I don't let you get this rock aren't you?" <Zoya> What kind...? ::frowning:: Have you ever seen a sudden ripple in a pond? What kind of fish made the ripple? You do not know, yes? You can tell, perhaps, whether the fish was very large, or very small, but not what kind. <Adam> So how do you know these disturbances are the tower and not something else? <Zoya> So there are only a few... fish, in this pond, that can make ripples like these. One is a person. Not altogether stable. Those ripples are... shaped differently. I don't know how to explain it. <Adam> Why don't you ask that person then, they probably know were the tower is? <Zoya> I can't find them. They are... too erratic. <Adam> So what else is making ripples? <Zoya> Oh, there are many ripples
<Adam> I thought you said there were only a few fish. You mean the only ones you've identified are the tower and the this "erratic" person? <Zoya> Only a few fish create ripples of this... magnitude. You understand, the analogy is very rough, yes? In the pond of magic, the ripples have some colors, that help you know things. Identification is not possible - but other information may be. Grigoriy shakes head. "Is beyond me." He wanders back to the bar, to grab his bottle. Zoya sighs. Adam runs his hand down his face, "So what you're saying, is that you want me to let you put a hole in the wall, so you can find this tower, that's so magical it stands out like a beacon." Grigoriy smiles as he heads back to the fireplace, bottle safely in hand. <Zoya> It's really difficult to explain. There is no beacon. A fish may cause a ripple and then swim away. In magic, there are many more directions the fish may go. The Tower causes ripples in many different places at once, in many different... colors, you might say. <Adam> But there really strong ripples right. <Zoya> Yes. <Adam> Meaning, this tower is very magical right? <Zoya> Yes. <Adam> Meaning, that whoever owns the tower is probably very powerful, right? <Zoya> Yes. <Jaret> ::has utterly zoned out from the discussion of magical theory/fishing:: <Adam> So, why do you think a very powerful person, who made their very magical tower, very difficult to find, would want you to find their tower? <Zoya> Obviously ::very slowly:: they don't. <Adam> Okay...What do you think this very powerful person would think if you did find their tower? <Zoya> ::shrugs:: I will get to this when it happens, yes? Grigoriy takes a swig from his bottle, smiling at the exchanges. <Adam> Did it ever occur to you that maybe this very powerful person would be angry that you had found their tower? That maybe they made it difficult to find for a reason? <Zoya> ::Zoya nods:: Oh, yes. It is a test. <Adam> ...Why do you think it's a test? What makes you think they won't just blast you into nothingness the moment they find out you've found the tower? Zoya shrugs. <Zoya> I've been in the tower before, and I am still here, yes? <Jaret> ::quietly finishes off his goblet of wine, and it sashays off into the kitchen:: <Adam> What will you do if I don't let you get the stone? Zoya considers for a moment. <Zoya> I will wait for MoonDancer, for some little while, I suppose. Adam looks critically at Zoya, "How little a while?" Grigoriy heads back to the bar, extracting coins from his purse as he goes. <Zoya> Ehm... Say, one week? Is that fair? Adam thinks, looks at Zoya, up at the ceiling, then resignedly down at the floor, "Very well." <Jaret> ::pats at his damp forehead with a white linen handkerchief he pulls from a pouch:: I'm terribly sorry, but with this heat, I just haven't been myself lately. I hope to be a more convivial companion once things cool off a bit. Grigoriy drops a few coins on the bar, and re-stoppers the bottle. He looks at Adam before slipping the bottle under his robe. "Would like this for later." <Adam> No problem Grigoriy. ::To Jaret:: I hope it cools down soon as well. <Jaret> ::nods agreement to Adam while standing up:: May good fortune bless you all! ::walks out of the Hall:: Grigoriy stretches before heading for the door. "Good even, all! Has been fun, but have more work to do." Zoya sighs. Grigoriy strides off purposefully into the night. <Zoya> Ah, well... I will be back in one week! <Adam> Good evening Grigoriy, don't forget your appointment with Tyl. Zoya walks out, cradling her device in its bag. Adam seeing the Hall empty cleans off the bar, then locks the door. He then strides over to the stone Zoya was so interested in. After studying it for a few minutes he walks into the back, emerging a few minutes later with another stone of similar size. He then kneels down next to the wall and starts singing a very low song. The stones of the wall bend and twist and Adam slips Zoya's stone out and the new one in. Adam continues to sing and the stones resume a semblance of their original shape but look more secure than they were before. Adam then sits in one of the comfy chairs, holding Zoya's stone at eye level. <Adam> Okay, what's your story? |
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