Author: Shiloh Kyrie, Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2017 1:16 AM, Post Subject: A Belated Hello [GO]

Seeing her gift was well-received eased her anxiety a bit. "I'm glad you like it; I like making things that have use." Her stiff face relaxed a bit, managing to wring out a smile. At the other goddess' jesting, she answered plainly. "I doubt that would happen. I think you're running things perfectly well down here. You already have more than enough lines of defense." Also being one of the highest authorities on divine retribution following the end of one's thread meant she had a great deal of clout regarding the mortal world already. Seeing all the trouble someone would have to go through just to reach the Domus Tenebris, it looked like the stone gargoyle statues she had planned weren't necessary.

"Originally I had some other ideas in mind, but I think it was best I reconsidered. …Unless you don't mind having a few more statues that are designed to vaporize intruders. They're a bit flashy though." By flashy, she meant overtly destructive–as they did indeed fire concentrated energy beams out of their faces. There were still a few errors that needed working out, as they currently torched anything that moved in front of them within a three meter distance. Implementing detection systems with greater degrees of recognition was very difficult if they weren't being actively controlled. 

When Dalanesca offered her a seat and a drink, she accepted graciously. Seating herself, she replied tersely. "Tea, any kind works. I suppose it was pretty obvious when I declined Angela there. It's not that I don't want to drink, it's more like I can't. Not like a vow of temperance–whenever I ingest alcohol I end up physically ill." Letting out a slow sigh, she tacitly explained. "…I've tried building 'tolerance' a few times. Needless to say, that didn't work." She really did not want to go into the finer details of suffering what would look like severe food poisoning minutes after downing a small glass of beer. Taking it with food did nothing to soften the blow, and made it's exit worse. Moving onto a less awkward topic, Shiloh folded her hands together and pressed the tips of her index fingers together. By now she'd learned that an ascension was an event in which mortals were elevated to godhood by the Voice. Like a spiritual 'awakening', except to an entirely new level of existence. Or that was what she assumed it was supposed to be.

"My ascension was, unsurprisingly–another near-death experience. When it happened, I was absolutely sure that I'd be seeing you somewhere out in the Circles instead of sitting here. Even though avoiding death by the skin of my teeth isn't anything new, that day would have been the second time I faced an unavoidable death if I had not ascended. The first time…sent me to Revaliir." She then began to recount the events leading up to that fateful moment. When she had looked back on the past, she noted it had started after the victory at Aysut. While she had been on a sickbed recovering from her injuries sustained while fighting Rudjek, she had a dream where she saw a strange place where things were inverted. It had been brushed off as hallucinations from blood loss or trauma, but she had the same dream again weeks before she was granted her current station.

"Weeks before it happened, I saw it again. I saw a great citadel up above, with an ocean for a sky and the sky at my feet. Rivers flowed from the firmament below upwards to the upended city. The pinnacle was the lowest point, and the base rose to be submerged into the sea above. I was standing on the roof of my airship, the Clephsydra, as I passed by this strange sight. There was something about that place that enraptured me. Soon after, I would find myself dreaming of it again as it began to fill my thoughts. Then, one day I was flying by Railoch on my way to Baltil. Erasmus was at the wheel, piloting the ship for me. I didn't sleep well the night before, and I couldn't focus. We were flying at a safe distance away from the stormy area of the pass, and everything was going along just fine. But suddenly, the winds changed. They pushed us off course, right into the storm alley. Right away the Clephsydra was hit by the worst bout of turbulence we'd ever seen and the ship was almost banking on its side. I tried to get to the pilot's cabin to steer us out, but with how bad the shaking was–we could barely stand."

Closing her eyes, Shiloh could still hear the warning sirens and creaking of the airship's hull when it had happened. That time the ship was almost completely on its side, throwing everyone against the walls. "I didn't have time to react, so I grabbed the nearest thing I could hold on to. That 'thing' just so happened to be the latch to a door which opened to the outside. …You can probably see where this is going. In short, I was sucked out of my own airship falling several miles through the air. It wouldn't matter if I tried to stick the landing–if you fall from that height, no one except Angela would be able to bring you back from that. But when I was halfway through falling, the craziest thing happened. I…wasn't scared. Here I am, falling to my death and this unnatural calm washes over me. I thought I'd reached some sort of self-resignation, and had made my peace with whatever higher power was in charge. When I was nearing the ground, the ground itself rose towards me. It was incredible! Spires of stone and steel, bursting out of the charred and drowned earth, twisting higher and higher until they closed together to make a ceiling. I woke up lying on my back, on a stone floor."

Opening her eyes, she stared at the table now leaning forward on her elbows. "I still can't get over it–that overwhelming feeling. Maybe I was just happy to be alive. At some point when I was in free fall, it felt like I was flying." Life, death, and second chances. That was what these years had been made of.

Author: Dalanesca, Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2017 6:45 PM, Post Subject: A Belated Hello [GO]

"You're a jumpy little thing, aren't you?" Dalanesca watched with amusement as Shiloh stumbled over her words.  She thought back to the time when the pair had met, long before Shiloh had ascended to her position as a deity.  "No thanks necessary.  Sometimes a bit of company when traveling, even if gained under false pretense, is thanks enough," she added, shrugging at her before turning her attention to what her fellow goddess was doing - it seemed as though she were building something, and it left Dalanesca both amused and intrigued.

She watched her for quite some time as she put whatever it was together until it was finished and Shiloh offered her an explanation.  She clapped her hands together, clearly loving the idea behind it.  When Shiloh handed her the pamphlet, she glanced at it briefly before setting it down and taking a moment to walk about the dispenser, looking at each detail of it and just how the bottles fit into it.  "Of course, I'll have to replace those with what I get from Angela," she said, tapping a finger against one of the bottles.  "But I love the concept behind this.  An interesting little hobby you've got," she added.

She glanced back at Shiloh for a moment, and could see that her nervousness had returned.  "You seem uncomfortable.  Believe me, I would be too, if I were in your position.  But you've got nothing to fear from me, Shiloh," she said.  "We may not be the best of friends as Angela and I are, but we are sisters in Conclave and that is an unbreakable bond.  You stay on my good side and I'll stay on yours, and we won't have any problems.  Unless you're planning on invading Inferos with an army of metal contraptions, we're probably going to be just fine," she said, walking over to her and clapping a hand down on her shoulder. 

"You have got to lighten up," she added, giving her shoulder a little shake.  "I'd offer you a drink, but if I remember back at Conclave you don't partake.  Can I get you something else?  I could have Elyna fetch some tea, or perhaps fruit nectar if that is what you prefer?" she asked.  She waved her hand at an empty space beside them, where a table and two chairs appeared.  She took a seat in the one, gesturing for Shiloh to take a seat in the other.

"So tell me, what was your ascension like?" she asked, pure curiosity in her voice.  Her ascension when she had held the throne of Balance had been rather calm and quiet, whereas her shift in spheres to that of death and darkness had been violent and dark.  She was curious what someone holding Shiloh's seat of power would have experienced.

Author: Shiloh Kyrie, Posted: Sat Nov 11, 2017 1:39 AM, Post Subject: A Belated Hello [GO]

"Hell…o? Oh…" Shiloh's words were interrupted as she was greeted by a person with their mouth…sewn shut. This was not a good way to start a house call. The poor girl was respectful enough, so she followed to make her job easier. Soon she was before Dalanesca in her own throne room. The Reaper herself came to meet her, this time more formally. When addressed, she gave a polite bow. It was an old habit, and more of a reflex at this point after being thrown off by the mute who led her in. Trying to collect her thoughts, she was hoping her response wouldn't turn into a jumbled mess from her anxiety. Business? What business–oh, right. Yes, that. Why she was here. Of course. Nothing to panic about, everything was fine. No it wasn't. It wasn't fine. Definitely not fine. She took a breath and went to her back-up plan: pretend she saw nothing. That helped.

"I realized that I never had the chance to properly thank you for helping me back then…until now. I know it's long overdue, but here is something that I wanted to give as a token of my gratitude." She then paused, and awkwardly continued when she remembered that she didn't exactly have it with her. "…I almost forgot–please wait a moment." Pulling out her enchanted sack, she stuck her hand in and pulled out a large rectangular metal frame with wheels attached. Setting it on the ground, she began taking out several other things while mumbling to herself. "Wheels…panel one…panel two. Wrench…wrench…wrench–here it is." There was a pile of parts on the floor, and some tools. The deity then proceeded to open a portal and stuck her upper half through, as if retrieving something from the other side. There were a few moments of struggling as Shiloh dragged something rather bulky out from it, and set it onto the metal frame with wheels. She then took out more parts, assembling some sort of machine before Dalanesca's eyes. The contraption was six feet high, three feet in depth, and its front face was five feet across. The internal structure looked like a modified pipe organ, with all the tubes and mechanisms. The metal panels she had pulled from her endless sack were fitted onto the strange machine's surface, and a few twists and turns from the wrenches brought it all together.

The end result: a rather imposing looking device that was essentially a large rectangle standing upright. It was adorned in blackened carbon steel plating and silver, with resin simulating the texture of grey stone. The front had three spigots extending from the mouths of the decorative gargoyles, and a theater mask twisted in agony was at the top of the machine. Below it, there was the symbol of Antikythera stamped into the metal. Pushing it to the side to test the wheels, they creaked horribly causing the misfortune goddess to cringe. She rummaged in her bag and pulled out a canister of oil, dripped it on them, then wiped the excess. Pushing it again, her ears were greeted with sweet silence. She let out a small sigh of relief. "Let's see… Something's missing. Right, the arm." Grabbing what appeared to be a skeleton's arm, she fastened it to a point where something was supposed to be joined, resulting in a rather macabre holder for something.

With the assembly finally complete, she turned to explain what this mechanical monstrosity was. "Here it is; it's a drink dispensing machine. It's a prototype, so most of the functions have to be operated manually, but it's still simple to use." Turning the machine around she removed a back panel, revealing an area where there were three bottles attached to a set of tubes. "So before you start, you'll need to place some bottles first. I wasn't sure what you preferred, so I loaded bottles of red wine, ale, and white wine into the pumping system. These tubes here–they're flexible, so you just set the bottles in and insert the tubing down the necks. They're attached to a mechanism that will draw the alcoholic beverages up into some pipes which lead to the spigots in front."

Replacing the back panel and turning it to the front, she went over how the dispensing worked. "So once the machine has drawn liquid, you can begin pouring. All you need to do is place you favorite glass in here–" Shiloh said, pointing to the skeletal arm, "–And you can move it to whichever spigot you want. Turn the knobs–then turn them again to shut off the flow when you're done. Oh, and the hand on this arm is actually a modified clamp so you can adjust its grip to accommodate different beverage containers. There's a little thing here that tightens when you turn it." To demonstrate, she put in a wine glass into the hand, pulled it towards the first spigot, and turned on the tap. Turning it closed, she presented Dalanesca a pamphlet made from parchment with a summary of what she had just said, complete with detailed diagrams. At the last page, there was a section stating that the 'Drink-Dispensing Fountain' was ensured and tested to last for a lifetime, and if repairs were needed one could simply contact Antikythera with a message. 

While she had been working on the machine, Shiloh had forgot her initial nervousness. But once that was over, she wasn't sure what else to say. She hadn't planned that far ahead. She might have gone a bit overboard with her 'gift', but it was too late for that now.

Author: Dalanesca, Posted: Sat Nov 11, 2017 12:20 AM, Post Subject: A Belated Hello [GO]

As Revaliir's newly risen goddess sounded a knock on the door of Domus Tenebris, Dalanesca looked up from the book she held in her hands.  It was not too often that the goddess allowed herself idle time to read, but she had found a spare moment.  She sat sideways on her throne in a casual position.  Elyna, one of the mutes she had in her service, stood nearby, not reacting to the knock whatsoever.  With an exasperated sigh, Dalanesca finally shouted out at the speechless girl.  "I'm sorry, do you think you're here for a decoration?  Go see who that is," she said.  The girl's eyes grew wide and she hurried off to answer the door.

The large door to the manner swung open, and a tall, thin girl with long and stringy black hair stood in the entryway.  Her mouth had been sewn shut, as was custom with Dalanesca's help, so she could not speak to the newcomer.  She bowed her head in respect, before gesturing for the goddess to follow her into the manor.  It did not take Elyna long to guide her to the throne area where the Reaper sat. 

Dalanesca dismissed the girl with a wave of her hand and got up from her seat.  Unlike the last time the two had come into contact during the meeting Angela Rose had called at the conclave, Dalanesca wore a pair of heavy boots beneath her skirt, the soles thudding across the floor as she walked over to greet Shiloh.  As she approached her, she gave her a smile - though it was not as warm as those she offered the gods she had a history with.  "Welcome," she said, and it was clear she was well aware of who she was.  "May I ask what business luck has here in Inferos?"  She was genuinely curious as to why she had chosen to visit her - not many of the gods chose to travel to the Underworld without a good reason.

Author: Shiloh Kyrie, Posted: Wed Nov 8, 2017 6:01 PM, Post Subject: A Belated Hello [GO]

It made her feel a bit guilty, somewhat. The first deity she had ever met when she first entered the world, and she hadn't realized it until now. But maybe the Reaper had forgotten too, since how often do you remember a stranger you've met only once? That time back when she had gotten lost was the first time she had encountered Dalanesca in person, and Shiloh was thankful she had been respectful. Since Dalanesca had been the first of the Conclave whom she had met, perhaps she should have come to see her before the others. Back at Antikythera, the newly ascended had been fussing over what kind of present to give. She didn't want to go with the obvious. That was boring and predictable, and people didn't like presents that were boring and predictable. Racking her brain she had a vague memory of the woman coming into the Conclave meeting with a glass of some alcoholic drink. What was it again? She couldn't recall.

Holding two bottles of starlight, she had taken the long trip through the Circles of Infernos. Just because she had been here before didn't mean it became any easier to traverse, but she managed to make it to the last and final circle. Hanging the lantern on the provided crook, she stood before the Domus Tenebris. Silver and onyx; monochromatic choices for aesthetics. Though unlike the surrounding area of Antikythera, at least there were some plants here. She had her gift ready, but wasn't able to bring it in its entirety along for obvious reasons. Dragging that through the Nine Circles would be a nightmare on its finish and functionality. Hopefully the goddess had enough space for it. Knocking on the door, she waited. Still nervous that she had managed to make it this far, Shiloh had no idea what to expect. Pretty much this entire realm was full of surprises–the deadly kind.