|
|
Post by redcoat on Sept 11, 2022 18:50:23 GMT -5
As the party splits, Ellie and Pheuse stay behind at Cannith house, waiting for the arrival of Si.
((Initiative: Pheuse, Ellie)) |
|
|
|
Post by Ancelas on Sept 12, 2022 20:40:31 GMT -5
As Neuks and Porter made their way out of the workshop, Ellie moved over to one of the bookcases and began skimming the spines. After realizing they were all technical manuals of one sort or another, she sighed and moved over to one of the couches in the room and flopped herself down, then reached into her hip bag and withdrew the book she had been reading on the train, preparing to settle down and wait.
|
|
|
|
Post by §~Samwise~§ on Sept 12, 2022 21:03:51 GMT -5
Pheuse watched Porter and Neuks leave, then he shifted in place and watched Ellie. It was interesting to see them try to find a book to read only to realize nothing was interesting.
He floated up and towards Ellie, keeping a respectable distance. "So ... how does that work?" He asked rather plainly. There had been a gesture, but it was hidden in his other movements and left the interpretation up to Ellie, for now.
|
|
|
|
Post by Ancelas on Sept 15, 2022 8:13:41 GMT -5
How does what work?" Ellie asked, missing Pheuse's gesture from behind her book.
|
|
|
|
Post by §~Samwise~§ on Sept 15, 2022 17:47:38 GMT -5
Pheuse gestured again,circling his face and then vaguely gesturing a circle over all of Ellie from his perspective. "How does your change work?"
He floated around and settled across from Ellie. "Is it just a physical change? Or do you have control over the clothes you appear to be in? Are you stuck the same size or does your change allow you to be larger or smaller, built like a gladiator, or fat like a sow?"
He tilted his head side to side as he continued. "Are you broken? Because ... you seem like mostly different people in different forms even with us present ... or is that normal for changelings? Stop me if I'm getting too personal."
|
|
|
|
Post by Ancelas on Sept 15, 2022 20:10:42 GMT -5
Ellie lowered her book slightly and squinted at Pheuse. "...I'll ignore that sow part." She raised the book again, and almost seemed like she wasn't going to answer - until she did.
"It's just physical. Can't do clothes, so I like to travel with a small collection, if I can. Size and shape is... limited. I can go a few inches taller or shorter, but this is about as thin as I can get. We can change how we look, our gender, how we talk... but every changeling has a certain limit, kind of like how everyone has a certain body type."
She lowered her book and looked over at Pheuse, pursing her lips. "I wouldn't say I'm broken, but... well... I guess I kind of am."
With a sigh, she sat up and ran a hand through her hair. "I mean... a changeling's approach to a persona depends on what kind of community they're a part of. Some people think of changing faces like changing clothes - you're the same, you just look different. Others treat it with greater reverence - each face is an identity, with its own past and mannerisms. You might be the same person, but you present yourself differently whenever you change, because you're pretending to be a different person."
|
|
|
|
Post by §~Samwise~§ on Sept 16, 2022 5:40:08 GMT -5
Pheuse snickered at the initial reaction. He had not intended offense with the wording, just curious on the limitations. As Ellie answered the limitations were being expressed.
He had half expected her to be more upset with the broken comment, but she had strangely confirmed. He let her get all her words in and then paused for some thought. "So it's normal for changelings to change into a different ... persona ... to handle situations, even when they don't need the persona change for identity reasons? So like ... right now if I was more hostile you might change into your male persona to continue interacting with me even though I know you're a changeling?"
His brows were furrowed as he thought on the implications of that. If he understood Ellie better, maybe he would be better at interacting with her and Si. At least he could learn enough to avoid taboos and avoid outing them as anything other than they presented as.
|
|
|
|
Post by Ancelas on Sept 16, 2022 7:06:02 GMT -5
Sigh. You're being a little too open, Ellie.
Did you really just think 'sigh' at me?
Ellie sighed out loud ad sat up, tossing her book to the cushion beside her. As she did, her features sharpened and her hair grew shorter and dark, as Tobias came to the fore. He eyed Pheuse a moment before continuing.
"...No, it's not... normal," he said. "That's part of why we're different. Ellie and I serve a purpose, and those purposes dictate our natures. We haven't met anyone quite like us before."
|
|
|
|
Post by §~Samwise~§ on Sept 17, 2022 21:15:42 GMT -5
Pheuse blinked as the form before him changed shaped and the conversation continued with Tobias. There was clear thinking after he spoke. It took all of five seconds for Pheuse to extrapolate. "Ah, so Si is closer to normal ... with the exception of genuinely being in rough shape."
He looked Tobias over, attempting to glean the different purpose between he and Ellie. "Can a personality take over while another form is still presenting outwardly? I assume that for normal changelings it would based on how you self-described as not normal to your knowledge."
He crossed his legs and still floated in place. "Oh! It's also only fair for you to ask questions too. I heard somewhere that it helps build trust."
|
|
|
|
Post by Ancelas on Sept 17, 2022 21:21:00 GMT -5
"...What are you, exactly?" Tobias asked bluntly, asking the question that had flitted through his head on and off since the events in the nightmare. While he did not answer Pheuse's questions just yet, it felt like the exchange was an appropriate one.
|
|
|
|
Post by §~Samwise~§ on Sept 18, 2022 7:14:01 GMT -5
Pheuse smirked at Tobias. "A Gnome Fairy ... or Fairy Gnome. I take more after my mother than my father." He shrugged a little.
"Titles don't really matter outside of what I present for the sake of my position." He rested his hands on his knees.
"Was that the answer you were looking for? Or was there nuance or detail that I missed?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Ancelas on Sept 18, 2022 7:46:47 GMT -5
Tobias nodded slightly, finding the answer appropriate. It also explained the floating, which had bothered Tobias for some reason.
"No... that's a very straightforward answer. Thank you. And your goals in the city... you and the others have been very... accommodating... in helping me. With my sister, and with Brynna. What are you looking to do here?"
|
|
|
|
Post by §~Samwise~§ on Sept 18, 2022 9:22:47 GMT -5
Pheuse vaguely gestured to the workshop table and then towards the exit. "I've done it. My main goal was the replacement of Porter's sensory mask and repair of sheered internals and his face plate."
"Outside of that, my former life gave me quite the view into how assisting strangers moves in your favor ... well, most of the time." He waved his hand and pulled a work stool over with his ring in order to sit down less suspiciously should someone come down to alert them.
"As far as Brynna, that was predicated on the story that Porter was saved by Brynna. I've not heard of many people that treat warforged as they do living creatures. So that felt like a good reason to find her and help if needed." He looked to the exit and then back.
"As far as your sister ... well, that is quite the woven web. At the very least I hope to get a chance to look at her unit ring so that I might figure a way to recreate it." He raised his hands and touched the bits of ear that showed from beneath his cap. "It would be nice if I didn't have to keep my ears hidden forcefully beneath this cap."
There was a pause and then a slightly rushed final thought before Tobias might interject. "She also gives off the impression of a lost, abused, and abandoned person. Anyone who doesn't feel motivated to help in that situation are monstrous or trying to keep a low profile and I am neither."
|
|
|
|
Post by Ancelas on Sept 18, 2022 19:06:38 GMT -5
Tobias grunted softly. "The motivation to help or not isn't always so black and white. He glanced to the side, eyes narrowing slightly, and then he looked back to Pheuse.
"Why did you have to come out all this way to fix Porter?"
|
|
|
|
Post by §~Samwise~§ on Sept 19, 2022 19:49:02 GMT -5
Pheuse shrugged initially at Tobias' input. "Why...?"
He looked towards the door and back again. "Because this was the city the replacement ended up commissioned in?" There was a confused tone in his answer. But he corrected as he spoke further. "Replacement parts for warforged are a niche discipline. Especially their sensory masks. Add onto that the fact that Porter is a slightly more unique construction and you are looking at at commissioning from maybe 1 of 5 artisans. And you want it to be one that might owe you, or one that doesn't understand how much you value your the warforged you are getting fixed."
"Anyone in Sharn that might have been skilled enough would've known the value and would've asked for more. Kind of like how I got the honor of doing the repairs. I'm cutting my teeth with repairing Porter. Proving my worth for House Cannith through Porter's original family." He sighed.
"How about you? Brynna being a member of a special unit ... what has someone paying you to retrieve her to Sharn? Couldn't they have just bought someone already in Flamekeep to do the job?"
|
|
