InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "AHHHH AHHH AHHHH."

ᴀʟᴛᴜs, ᴇɴᴄʜᴀɴᴛᴇʀ, ᴍᴀɢɪsᴛᴇʀ (tevene) wrote in valloic,
@ 2020-12-12 19:31:00

Entry tags:

!: action/thread/log, ₴ inactive: dorian pavus, ₴ inactive: marina andrieski

WHO: Dorian & Marina
WHAT: Selling a dragon's tooth amulet - oh, and recruiting a HEDGEWITCH TEACHER for the university
WHERE: Glorious Purveyors
WHEN: The 10th
WARNINGS: Just a lot of fabulousness
STATUS: Complete

Marina hadn’t really gotten very caught up on the jobs. It was easier to steal money here and there as she could. She didn’t make it too often because she didn’t really want to have to deal with anyone coming after her. It wasn’t as easy to just travel around America to avoid people being overly aware of her. This place was smaller. It was also easy enough to trick people into buying drinks for her when she was out.

She’d been listening to get information and reading some. She’d been aware that Bonnie and Sirius were there, but she hadn’t reached out as of yet. She might later, but so far, none. There was some talk of another place in the woods with magical books and potions. She wasn’t personally as invested in potions as Julia or Josh, but she was curious to see some of the things that this store had to offer. Especially since it was a place she’d never heard of. At least not before here.

She used the waypoints, which weren’t the portals she was used to, but they weren’t the worst things she’d put up with. Pausing just long enough to check the name of the store, she went up to the door and opened it, stepping inside. She glanced around quickly before starting to walk around the store. She wasn’t looking for anything in particular, but if something tickled her fancy, she might leave with something.

And there he was, one of the Glorious Purveyors himself! Dorian Pavus, to be exact, floating around the shop tending to odds and ends, floating like foam upon the waves - with a dash of glitter, probably, because that was just how he was. He’d taught his usual Necromancy classes that morning then headed to the shop in the forest to inventory some odds and ends and do a bit of pricing - and haggling, perhaps, should any appointments drop by. He wasn’t certain what Gilmore had on his to-do list, but for now Dorian was free to tend to the wares - until he saw someone enter, that is.

The shop was indeed packed with curiosities, neatly assembled on shelves, books with their spines facing outward, and plenty of baubles and corked potion bottles to peruse. Inside, the strong scent of incense wafted about - like a campfire right in the center of the place, wood smoke, a musky bit of frankincense. He headed over to where their newest customer was, ever the regal presence.

“Welcome,” he greeted. Thaddeus Gigantus Crumbum the Third, also known as the stone golem that acted as shop security, kept an eye on the exchange. “If you have any questions about anything, do let me know. Most everything we can work out a price for,” Dorian added. “Save for the box of screaming, but would you really want that anyway?” A rhetorical question.

Marina arched an eyebrow, both eyes focused on the man’s face in front of her. The left eye’s clockwork parts moved to simulate constriction and dilation of a pupil that wasn’t technically there. The right eye was its own natural blue color, no mechanical parts about it. She didn’t worry about it too much. “Never heard of a box of screaming, but it sounds obnoxious.”

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear before letting her eyes glance around the space closest to her again. “I’d heard about this place through some conversation. Just came to see what there was. It reminds me of the Black Market back home.” She looked back at him then. “The name’s Marina.” She didn’t offer up more than that, but she wasn’t sure she needed to right away. “Are these all things from here or from where you’re from?” Because she could work with some magic outside of her own and most people with magic could manage Hedgewitch magic. But she couldn’t really do every magic. She’d seen that with Holland’s. And he didn’t try her magic, so she couldn’t be sure if he could do hers either. She pushed the thought aside, not wanting to dwell on people that weren’t around.

“It’s a fair mix - half are from my homeworld, half are from the world of my associate, Gilmore,” Dorian explained. “We also enchant items our clients may bring to us - jewelry or armor, things like that.” That was one of the specialties of Glorious Purveyors, anyway - enchantment. For a little bit of a health boost, or a zap of stamina and durability, depending on the item. The schematics for such things were known by those employed here, and sometimes they worked with Brigitte the sort-of arcanist (similar to Dagna, from Thedas) to unveil a finished product as well.

He thought he had seen this woman around - at one of the weddings in the area, or at another event, perhaps? She may have gone to one of the Satinalia nights. Honestly, those were all a blur - he’d had quite a bit of fun, but yes. Blur. “Dorian Pavus,” he introduced himself, with a flourish of a hand gesture.

“Are you a mage?”

She listened as he spoke. Two separate worlds in one place. The potential for something useful was there. She was hoping that her books at the very least would show. Soon. But until then, she’d have to rely on shops. “Protection amulets?” At least until her own showed up, but maybe she wouldn’t hate it too much until then. “Or a way of amplifying magic without the help of others?” She didn’t really have the need for armor because she wasn’t really a warrior. She left that to the others.

She had been around, trying to find some way of getting to know the people around the place. It was the easiest way to study people. The only problem was that people that didn’t fully capture her attention went missed. She also had a habit of pretending not to know names and people. Who had time to let people think others meant anything to them? Every time she helped someone after all, it backfired. She had a clockwork eye to prove her point. Also the death of all her hedges when she helped Brakebills.

“Hedgewitch.” Mage was definitely too formal and too close to Magician and she was too annoyed with Brakebills to call herself a Magician. “I’ve taught myself pretty much everything I know.” The truth with the whole ‘memory amputation’ part left out of it. “But I’m still one of the best I know.” There was no point in being humble about it. “Are you a Mage?” It seemed likely if he asked her if she was.

“Protection amulets are one of our specialties,” Dorian stated, sounding delighted. “Right this way.” He led Marina to the front counter, while the stone golem remained where it was - of course, Thaddeus was large enough to observe with kind of an aerial view, and given that Dorian was pulling out a case of rare and unique amulets, the golem would be observing from afar.

The case was opened and he showed off a particular amulet that looked to be quite sharp. Indeed, it was. “We call this one Urzara’s Tooth,” he said. “This talisman was literally carved from the tooth of a slain high dragon - it provides incredibly protective power, especially against fire, considering a dragon’s fire gland was also added to the enchantment. But if it’s not your style, I have others.”

He knew quite a bit about all of the amulets in stock - he’d researched them all, studied them, both he and Gilmore. Mages from Dorian’s world found it difficult to enchant items themselves, due to the requirement of having to handle raw lyrium (this was why dwarves were best suited for the task - their immunity to the substance) but he’d also learned a thing or two about enchanting here thanks to Geliara and magic practitioners from other worlds.

“And yes, I’m a mage,” he confirmed. “A Necromancer, specifically. I also teach at the University of the Unseen Arts here.”

Marina followed, studying the amulet he showed her. Dragons. She’d heard about the dragons back home, but she’d never met one formally. She knew there was at least one in the library in Fillory. She was sure a quick google would tell her where the others were. She hummed thoughtfully. “So let's say you were surrounded by people under a spell to hide their real identities and if you poked too much at their fake personas, you might get hit by a truck or various large pipes or anything else that might kill you, can it keep you from dying?” It was a very specific example, but she’d contended with this multiple times and had to break said spell more than once. It was entirely ridiculous and had taken far too much injury to Julia to do again. But this place was dangerous enough to make up for it and if they did somehow end up on a cruise...well, hopefully she’d have help.

Necromancer. She had to agree to the fact that it was at least interesting. “Hm.” She studied him for a moment. “Magic school? I’ve been to one before.” She’d even had her own classes before, but that had been a while. “Used to run my own hedge.” Before they all died, but she didn’t say that. “So necromancy...how exactly does that work?”

Well, that was quite the scenario.

Dorian considered it, however. “It was designed to protect against all physical injuries - so, yes. The large pipes I can absolutely confirm but I’m uncertain about the truck since that’s...not been tested? However, high dragons are quite powerful and durable, and with this amulet you’d have something of a matching durability.” After all, it took a whole army of men to kill the dragon Urzara - the tooth was meant to be a symbol of power, gifted to the one who delivered the killing blow. So the amulet was quite old - it was no rinky dinky thing either. He passed it over, carefully. “Try it on if you like. See how it feels.” There were some amulets where you could just feel the crackle of magic, of power - some of it sizzled, some of it was actually kind of chilling (literally). This one was definitely heavy with power, though not in a bad way.

He leaned against the counter, striking a comfortable pose. “In my world, Necromancy is essentially the manipulation of spirits of death - wisps, more like, not the actual soul. They are not full spirits doing the bidding of the Necromancer. It’s largely composed of offensive spells for battle and such,” he explained. Most people tended to think of Necromancy as raising the dead, commanding an army of fleshless monsters that had crawled from the dirt, but that wasn’t it at all. At least, it wasn’t in Thedas.

“So you say you’re a Hedgewitch - that simply means without the formal schooling?” Dorian guessed. “We call those sorts Apostates in my world. Are you looking to get back into...running your own Hedge?” he asked, grey eyes smoky, curious as he regarded Marina.

She was sure she could find a way to test out the truck theory. Probably not with her. Maybe, though. She could have a backup just in case. “Interesting.” She took the amulet from him with a sense of curiosity. She couldn’t sense magic the way that Holland could, by just being around it, but she could tell there was something to it. She considered it for a moment, trying to decide if this was going to somehow curse her, but if it worked, it was in her interest to know. Even if she wasn’t sure she could afford it. The word as bond had been undone since Julia turned into Kim, but she did her best not to straight up kill people for things she wanted, so it was definitely going to have to be a delayed thing, which was annoying in its own way.

Slipping it over her neck, she could feel the weight and the power a little more. It was curious for something not from her world. “Well, I guess that comes in handy. Do the wisps die or are they basically already dead so unaffected soldiers?” Cause that would have been handy against the Beast 2.0 or the Monster or basically anyone they fought. Only she’d have needed magic to do anything with it.

“Yes. I went to the formal schooling, but when they don’t like that you did something they consider ‘bad’ -” And here she did air quotes when she said bad. “They expel you and, since they can’t feasibly remove all of your memories and weave new ones without it being easy to spot, they just take the important parts. Kind of like memory amputation if you will.” She wrinkled her nose at that. “But I’m not one to have things taken from me, so I taught myself everything again.” A beat. “And now Fogg is alone at a school where everyone he ever taught is either dead or left him.” Her annoyed face shifted in that moment and she smiled. “Just as he was meant to be.” And she had in fact gotten her memories back. Without the magic to hide them and with Fogg easy to seduce and drug, well...she figured it out quickly enough.

“I’ve done the teaching before, but not at an actual school. Just a side gig. I guess I miss it. Why?”

Since arriving in this world, Dorian had explained Necromancy quite a bit - it was different, and new, to not be immediately side-eyed (as the kids said) when he mentioned that this sect of magic was his specialty. There was plenty of debate concerning both Necromancy and blood magic - he wasn’t so keen on blood magic given his past, but Necromancy was useful yet taboo. Not here, however. Here he was teaching it as a subject at a university and even had students choosing to focus on it as their main course of study.

“The wisps are already dead, I suppose - think of it as part of what makes up a soul, like how male and female reproductive cells eventually combine to create a person. Necromancy is breaking those wisps apart to use in a spell,” he said. Some found it controversial in Thedas, but in Tevinter, not so much - lots of power sources to draw from; their main capital city was a large city. Lots of people, lots of death. In Nevarra, the dead were honored and respected, fallen soldiers fighting once more in an equal show of honor and respect - thus, Necromancy was standard practice there. Perhaps not so much elsewhere. Dorian himself was one of the few non-Nevarran Necromancers in Thedas.

He made a hmm sound, studying the way the tooth amulet looked - yes, that would do just fine. It seemed to fit Marina perfectly. “Well, if you’re looking for gainful employment - the University has many openings, after many disappearances. And you can pay this off faster,” he tacked on, with a smile that twitched his epically groomed ‘stache. “Which - we can absolutely work out a payment plan. No need for the entirety of the price upfront.”

Marina had seen questionable magic before and done questionable magic before, but she’d never done anything like Necromancy. Not the way he explained it. She was sure someone somewhere did something similar, but she didn’t know them. The last time she’d seen ghosts, they were covered in blood and in the library at Brakebills. It was weird.

“Not sure I can deny or confirm whether or not anyone from home does that. I wouldn’t leave some people up to using it for not great reasons.” But that wasn’t her business unless it directly impacted her and then it was her business.

“It’s always curious to me how people go about getting people to work places. The last time people needed more people to work in a place, I had someone beg me to come work with their group because his girlfriend wouldn’t stop talking business in bed and complaining.” Heterosexuals were so...weird. She shrugged, which was related to both what she’d said and her thought. “A lack of staff and in order to get me to buy an amulet is definitely a new one, though. Interesting business practice.”

It was true, heterosexuals were incredibly weird. Dorian would concur with that, one-hundred percent. “I assure you that neither my lover nor myself talk business in bed. He’s much more interesting than even this shop.” He had to try to get that sentence out without laughing. Alas, it did not work too well. As much as he adored Glorious Purveyors, he adored Atreus more and he was certain Gilmore felt the same way about his particular dark-haired paramour as well.

“And I find that having things to do to keep busy here is a positive. Plus, the amulet will protect you and - well, everybody wins?” Besides, the University had taken quite a hit when Zelda disappeared - it had been a stream of disappearances since, and Dorian would hate to see it fold even though Hilda did her best to try to maintain all the upkeep while at the same time running a bookstore.

It was a lot. To say the least.

“Anyway, I can give you a tour of the University if you’d like,” he offered. He didn’t expect a new potential employee to agree without seeing the place. That’d be complete insanity. “You can see if it’d be a good fit.”

“Thank the gods.” Because she wasn’t sure she could handle more of that in her life. She didn’t get the ‘work during sex’ part of the adventure. There was exactly nothing and no one that would have distracted her from her future wife...before she’d found some awkward gifs of her as a blonde with memories she didn’t know and a fight between her and Anna. So she was future wifeless again. She was definitely taking spellwork to make herself “worth” someone else’s love off the table indefinitely. Ugh. She might not be the best person out there, but that was definitely plan not gonna happen.

“Yeah. I guess it makes things less boring. And my club is taking one million years to show up.” Technically not hers, but she’d sort of taken it over after Vex and Kenzi disappeared back home and it was still there. Every town needed a BDSM club as far as she was concerned. If it ever showed up, she could figure it out. She was impressed all the same with the unusual business practice involved. She might’ve done it herself if she was the magic shop having kind of girl. “I suppose everyone could win. I could be feeling generous enough to let us both feel good about this interaction. Potentially.” She did like the concept of a dragon amulet even if it was annoying that she liked it. Still it was in her interest to have a way to keep herself safe in case she had to deal with something ridiculous. Like a stupid cruise again. If she could avoid that forever, she’d be glad.

“Okay. We can do a tour and then I’ll see about the amulet if I decide to work there.” That being said, she took it off without actually wanting to and held it out to him. “And then I can give you the joy of arguing prices with me. I promise I’m an absolute delight.”

Dorian’s laugh was speckled with even more merriment this time, how genuine. “I can already tell that you are,” he agreed, taking the amulet back and returning it to its proper spot in the case. He’d make a note about it, however, indicating that Gilmore ought to not offer it for sale since it was essentially spoken for - he had a feeling Marina would be back for it. The attraction to a dragon’s tooth was hard to resist, after all.

“I look forward to giving you a tour of the university,” he added grandly. “Tomorrow, perhaps? Classes will soon be out for the winter break and you’ll want to see it when it’s still hustling and bustling.”

She smiled, which was surprisingly genuine for her. “At least you can recognize greatness. I’ll give you that.” She studied him for a moment. “Tomorrow works for me. I’m surprisingly not overly busy.” Hustling and bustling. She felt a twinge of something she didn’t want to address and she forced a smile before taking a small step back. “I’d hate to take up too much more of your time, but I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow, then,” Dorian wiggled his fingers in a goodbye, and Thaddeus shifted his gaze to the northernmost wall again. He’d just be here, in case some other appointment came by - whereas Dorian would return to his inventory, humming a jaunty tune under his breath, pleased that he’d potentially sold an amulet and recruited fresh blood for the university.

Oh, and now Marina had a fabulous mage friend too - it was always handy to have a Necromancer around, wasn’t it?