Patterns & Puzzles

RP blog for Zeklyn Zausek, a young, male drow.

[pattern-assassination]

Sights of the Drow Quarter [closed rp with we-are-theorder]

[pattern-assassination]

we-are-theorder‌:

“That’s good,” Isaia said. “I don’t think they would have anything to complain about… even if they’re confused as hell by how fast it’s going.” The three of them followed Hurzven up the stairs, still filming.

“If it’s all right,” Xiao put in hesitantly, “we have a Cultural Studies department that would love more than anything to hear about your beliefs. The Order is committed to religious diversity, because rampant monotheism is what caused most of our problems.”

“Mmmm-hmmm.” Tyrone paused at the top of the stairs, focusing his camera to capture the historic stamped-metal ceiling un-rusting and un-warping itself. Where material was missing, matching replacement sections flew up to join with their fellows. “They were super excited to find out that Vhaeraunians exist, they’ll be beside themselves to find out about your Lady.”

Hurzven turned his head to look at Xiao a moment, “Perhaps,” He continued, paying more attention to the floor, as to allow them safely forward. That seemed to be all the questions he was willing to subject himself to, with any detail. Since from there he became more clipped, and as the hour mark came around he stopped replying altogether.

“Zhah lil' wlalth phor?“ Zeklyn asked him, while the other three looked around. They’d made it all the way up to the roof. 

“Ol uriu.” Hurzven sat down on the edge of the roof, “Bel'la nind whol doerin, lueth tesso lil' ligrr dorn telanth xuil ilta lodias vel'drav f'sarn n'nehr bein.”

Zeklyn looked at his companions, “His translation spell has worn off, but he thanks you for coming to see his work,” He looked at Xiao, “He says he’ll speak to Cultural Studies. Maybe something can be set up when he’s less busy. He is our main architect.”

[pattern-assassination]

Sights of the Drow Quarter [closed rp with we-are-theorder]

[pattern-assassination]

we-are-theorder:

“Mister, if this is what your Lady can do, I’m sure she’s gonna find a whole lotta fans around here,” Tyrone laughed. 

“I wish I could see the looks on the faces of the city inspectors,” Xiao said, taking some pictures of the perfectly repaired foundation. Local contractors would have had to excavate tons of soil and concrete before lifting the entire building, where Hurzven had serenaded it into fixing itself in a matter of minutes. “They’re not going to be able to believe this.”

“They don’t have to believe it,” Isaia said, in his matter-of-fact way. “They just have to approve it.”

Tyrone snorted. “Who you think basically runs this city now? Boss Lady says ‘frog’ and they’re jumpin’ before she’s done.” With the vampires out of power and the city leaders desperate to navigate a world increasingly saturated with magic, danger, and the unknown, it was not an inaccurate assessment.

They followed Hurzven inside, continuing to document the process as nails forced their way into boards and plaster appeared on the lath, drying instantly. Some floor tiles simply healed their cracks, while others flew in and glued themselves down. 

“One hopes...She is deserving.” Hurzven said, continuing through the building towards the back. He stopped at a rickety looking flight of stairs and changed the tempo of his song. The invisible workers seemed to change their focus and the stairs began to reconstruct themselves.

“If she will find a place the most likely start is here, Hurzven,” Zeklyn said, watching nails drive themselves into the boards of the new staircase, “I have no doubt you could work a shrine to her in somewhere at the very least.” Zeklyn didn’t worship Eiliestraee himself, but she had her place here, surely.

Hurzven didn’t reply and started up the stairs.

Zeklyn waved the other ahead of him, “We’ve already had inspectors come out. I’m told they couldn’t find anything to complain about.”

[pattern-assassination]

Sights of the Drow Quarter [closed rp with we-are-theorder]

[pattern-assassination]

we-are-theorder:

Xiao and Isaia stood a bit apart from each other, behind Hurzven, recording from two slightly different angles as they had been trained to do in the field. Meanwhile, Tyrone unobtrusively snapped HD photos with a high-sensitivity camera.

It wasn’t like normal construction was a quiet process, but this was just so bizarre, like a demolition in reverse. The building groaned, broken materials shuddered and then began to fly toward their original places as if magnetized. Little clouds of dust particles flew up, filling in cracks, which then healed themselves over like new. 

Tyrone silently mouthed the words “holy shit”, and Isaia shot him a look of agreement. Sure, they’d all seen things like Liridele mending the broken spine of a book with a few words, or Tania magically restoring one of her lavishly decorated nails. The Boss Lady even fixed dings on her fancy Benz that way. But this… this was on an entirely different scale.

Soon, the historic stone foundation had settled itself firmly into place, mortar filling itself in from where it had fallen out. The temporary supports had melded themselves seamlessly into the load-bearing frame of the gutted building. The busted window moldings leaped back into place, followed by glittering bits of glass jumping up to re-assemble themselves into panes.

“That is… amazing,” Xiao murmured when there was a lull, checking the footage she had captured.

“It is,” Zeklyn agreed, “It’s a shame that bardic music isn’t favored among our people,” There were certain things that did make it less favorable in The Underdark. It was noisy, for example, and most operations in the caverns required some degree of stealth. That wasn’t the main reason, however, “That’s a conversation for later though.”

At the topic, Hurzven had begun playing a little harder than he had been. The new building supplies that had been laying around, still wrapped from shipping, tore open and began to float up and toward the building. The newly repaired windows opened to admit boards, nails, tiles, and other materials, “It’s safe enough to enter now, if you like,” He said, stepping towards the front door, adding, “The lack of acceptance of Lady Eilistraee’s gifts is probably not on your list of things to investigate tonight.”

[pattern-assassination]

Sights of the Drow Quarter [closed rp with we-are-theorder]

[pattern-assassination]

we-are-theorder:

“Oh yes, I’d like that very much.” Xiao chuckled and glanced at Tyrone. “Maybe not as exciting as the giant riding lizards… but Kat really wants me to report back on it.”

“Damn right I’m excited to see giant riding lizards!” Tyrone was almost bouncing in his seat in his enthusiasm, like a kid about to meet a real-life dinosaur. 

Isaia executed a very smooth parallel park, and they all got out, following Zeklyn down the nighttime streets. Here and there, they passed drow about their own business, regarding the four with only mild curiosity. 

The building that was their destination was definitely the worse for wear. It had visible cracks, broken windows and moldings, and - despite the dangers of demons - assorted vandalism. The members of The Order politely introduced themselves to Hurzven. Both J and Kat had been quite clear that anyone interacting with the drow newcomers was to be on their very best behavior.

“May we record the process, so that our superiors can see it, too?” Xiao asked, holding up her smartphone. “But if you would rather we didn’t do that, we’ll just inform them verbally.”

Hurzven looked at the smartphone with a small flash of trepidation, but inclined his head, “You may, as long as you’d like to in any case. I will be working for roughly a hour.” He strummed at the strings of his instrument, “I  would offer a walk-through, before I begin, but there is a very real concern about this building’s stability.”

Zeklyn could see through the door, into the building. It had been gutted for the most part, the drywall had been destroyed in this one, in particular, “This is the one that had to be cleared of a demon infestation, isn’t it?”

“Yes, a few load bearing supports were destroyed in the process and some temporary replacements were put in,” Hurzven sighed, “I’ve decided it would be better to push this one ahead in the queue.” He gestured to the buildings around it. None of them were restored, the last completed one was a short walk down the street. 

He began playing his instrument and loud groaning noise could be heard as the building appeared to shift slightly, and the building materials around them began to lift up on their own and move toward and into the building “I will begin with the foundation and structural components, then we can go in through the rest of the process. Just stay close.”

[pattern-assassination]

Sights of the Drow Quarter [closed rp with we-are-theorder]

[pattern-assassination]

we-are-theorder:

Tyrone’s eyes went wide. “You mean those big-ass riding lizards? Like the pictures? Oh man, I wanna see one!” A couple of pictures had leaked, nobody knew from where exactly, but they showed the Boss Lady on the back of a giant gecko-footed lizard, with Kalantar De’tlar at the reins. They had sparked mingled admiration and hilarity, and a minor rumor that there was something going on between the Boss and the drow patriarch.

That rumor had died down quite a bit when she left for the dragon world with Sasagani, but you always had your die-hards in the office betting pool.

Xiao put away her smartphone, now that they were out of traffic. “Hurzven is the one in charge of the rebuilding, yes? Now that’s what I’d like to see.”

“I’m sure Hurzven wont disappoint you, Xiao,” He paused a moment, “We can also go into one of the buildings that was completed early. One already set up as apartments,” He could take them through to his own apartment to be exact, but he spent so little time there himself that it still didn’t sound right to him.

“Of course there’s also the underground marketplace,” He offered, “I’m glad the merchants arrived in time, with even more goods to choose from than last time,” Zeklyn looked at Tyrone in the rearview mirror, “Of course that means they brought their riding lizards.”

The light turned green and Zeklyn gave Isaia more exact directions to the place they could park safely. From there it would only be a short walk to tonight’s construction area. 

Hurzven was sitting on the front steps of the building, tuning his instrument strumming tight strings and winding some even tighter. He was young, but still older than Kalantar, with obsidian skin and his long white hair all in braids and pulled together behind him. He looked up as Zeklyn and their guests came close enough to hear come up the sidewalk.

He strummed the strings of his harp-like instrument as they came close to him, a soft glow ran through the strings. Then he spoke with a formal courtesy, in English, “Good evening. Shall we begin, or are there questions?”

[pattern-assassination]

Sights of the Drow Quarter [closed rp with we-are-theorder]

[pattern-assassination]

we-are-theorder:

“I’m sure you will.” Kat smiled in turn. “Thank you, Zeklyn. We’ll aim for Saturday night. If we’re lucky, Rilkacha’s caravan will make it before then - but if not, we’ll still get a first-hand look at the construction progress.”

~//~

“Man, you got way more patience with these city drivers than I do.” Tyrone laughed from the back seat of the Range Rover, one of The Order’s small fleet of vehicles. Next to him, Xiao was looking intently at her smartphone. She hated traffic.

“You’re just used to portaling everywhere,” Isaia said, his eyes on the road. “Anyway, it’ll clear up after we get past Chinatown.” The nightclubs of Chinatown remained a popular Saturday night destination - even the former Jade Pavilion had since been bought up, totally renovated, and re-opened under a new name.

True to Isaia’s word, the traffic quickly dwindled as they approached Old Town. This area had always rolled up the streets when it got dark, and moreso now that demons often roamed the nearby Exclusion Zone. But the city’s latest immigrants were not at all bothered by darkness… and not bothered much more by demons.

Isaia eased the vehicle to a stop at a red light. “Hey, Zeklyn, should we park around here and walk over, or just drive straight up?” City parking often dictated that anything within five or six blocks was ‘walking distance’.

“We should stop somewhere soon. There’s a good place one more block ahead on the right,” Zeklyn said, “We had an incident when someone got curious and drove through,” He laughed, “It spooked one of the lizards and there was some scrambling trying to get it back.”

It had turned out better than it could have. The frightened creature ran down the street and into the nearby subway station, turned marketplace, and had refused to leave. It was decided that it was probably for the best to have them down there anyway, so a quick pen was put up for them. Something more permanent was in the works now.

Better safe than sorry though.

Zeklyn continued, “We’ll meet with Hurzven first. He’s waiting for us.”

[pattern-assassination]

Sights of the Drow Quarter [closed rp with we-are-theorder]

[pattern-assassination]

we-are-theorder:

“That sounds perfect, actually - everyone’s so curious about the construction.” Herself included… but maybe she could go see it in action after the Un’Lein expedition returned. “Two would do, just to have corroborating reports. Probably no more than four, counting yourself. I don’t want to make a huge deal out of it.” It was standard procedure to have at least two sets of eyes for observation work, since one might notice what another missed, but a curious crowd could be disruptive.

She had briefly considered sending Rooibos along. While the little pseudodragon would not be able to give a realtime account from a few miles away, the memory would remain in her familiar’s mind. But in the end, Kat preferred to just see for herself later on, with the ability to use magical sight if she chose. 

“If any shops are up and running yet, we can send some funds for ‘discretionary spending’. Then we’re not just showing up to rubberneck without bringing any business.” Kat chuckled. Trade was the foundation of this venture, after all.

“Rilkacha and the rest of her brothers should be returning sometime this week,” Zeklyn said, his ear twitched thoughtfully, “Having a set date is difficult, due to the dangers of traveling through The Underdark, make arrival times unpredictable.”

“There is always Szzarolin’s shop. He has been making some ready-to-wear clothing items and accessories,” Humans generally being larger and with different proportions than drow was the challenge, obviously.

He smiled, “I’ll make sure to give a good tour though.”

[pattern-assassination]

Sights of the Drow Quarter [closed rp with we-are-theorder]

[pattern-assassination]

we-are-theorder:

“I wish I could go myself,” Kat said, a little wistfully. “I’d love to see it. But with J gone, I just have too much to do.” 

That was the other thing she missed - being able to leave once in a while. J tended to stand out wherever she went, in part due to that raging aura of hers. But Kat was skilled at making herself seem unremarkable when she wished to be, only vaguely remembered when she went out and about. It came in handy… but not today.

“Would it be all right to send a couple of people out with you to take a look? You could take some of your coworkers, if you like.” She smiled. “I know I can trust Crypto folks to report back accurately, and I’m sure they would jump at the chance to see it.” Then IntOps could consolidate the reports for their own records and for presentation to J when she returned - a tidy solution that left Kat free to tackle the mountain of paperwork that regularly dogged the leader of The Order.

“That shouldn’t be a problem at all.,” Zeklyn could come and go from the area as he please. The place was under construction, but some buildings were ready to go already. That might be a good place to start for a tour. He could show them one of the apartments while they were there.

 “Maybe on a Saturday night? That’s when large parts of construction are done.” Hurzven had been hard at work learning building code and fixing the existing buildings. His construction method was interesting though.

“Should I ask and see who wants to come?”

[pattern-assassination]

Sights of the Drow Quarter [closed rp with we-are-theorder]

[pattern-assassination]

we-are-theorder:

After three weeks in the shoes of the Leader of the Order, Kat was more than ready for J to come back and fill them herself. The other department heads were all very helpful, and so far only one of their outside contacts had given her any real grief, but she missed her research and her office being quiet. Rooibos, too, missed being able to just curl up on a stack of books and sleep.

J will like how you handled the nasty one, came the pseudodragon’s thought, making Kat chuckle. Since becoming her familiar a scant month ago, Rooibos’s natural but limited telepathy had expanded into a strong empathic link between the two of them, over which she could now express the full complexity of her ideas and feelings. She often preferred this to speaking aloud.

If only I could spook away all this paperwork the same way I did that jerk, Kat thought, and sighed. At least her next meeting promised to be more interesting.

At the light knock on her door, Kat gave a gesture, and the door opened itself, revealing the young drow. She had seen him in passing, sometimes in the company of Lorandin or of other London Office employees, but this was their first formal meeting.

“Good morning, Zeklyn,” she said, with a smile. “Please, have a seat.” She gestured to the empty chair nearby, and the door closed itself behind him as he entered. Rooibos snaked her head over Kat’s shoulder to peer at the drow with interest.

“I’m sorry to take you away from your usual work, but I was hoping you could assist me with something. You see, I’m looking to put together a detailed report on the progress being made in the new Drow Quarter.”

Zeklyn stepped through the open door and took the offered seat, “Good morning, Kat.” It was a strange thing, the top people in this organization seemed to prefer the most casual sounding forms of their names. It felt almost disrespectful to not be formal, but if it was their preference that was their business. He nodded at her curious familiar as well.

“That’s alright. I can pick up where I left off later,” The perks of his memory. It was useful that he never had to sit back down and wonder what he’d been doing, and the only worry about lost notes was social, rather than a hindrance to work.

“I’d be happy to help with that. Answer any questions you have,” He’d been right about this being about the Drow Quarter. Since The Order had invested so much into it, of course they’d want to keep an eye on things. They wouldn’t be turned away if they wanted to go check on progress occasionally though, “If you wanted to see for yourself how the work is progressing, that can be arranged too.”

[pattern-assassination]

Sights of the Drow Quarter [closed rp with we-are-theorder]

Taking the elevator down to R&D, below The Order’s HQ, wasn’t really that uncommon for Zeklyn, or his co-workers. Cryptography and Analysis working alongside R&D or IntOps was fairly standard. It was being called to speak with Kat that was new. 

He was curious about what she wanted with him personally, as he stepped off the elevator and proceeded down the corridor. If they’d found something they’d have probably told Mr. Stratton the situation...The most logical reason was that she wanted to know something about the slowly growing drow district down the road...Even if it wasn’t the most exciting reason.

Zeklyn was currently the only drow on the payroll after all.

He stopped at the door he’d been directed to and knocked, waiting for a response.

[aeriyth-dawnsorrow]

The Codex Silenda Project is by far one of the greatest things I’ve seen to potentially incorporate into tabletop campaigns.  It’s a five page puzzle book that requires the user to solve each puzzle to unlock the next page. I love the mixture of fantasy rules, sigils and the cryptographic feel that the tome gives when you open it. Da Vinci Code meets Dungeons and Dragons. On the back of each page you can include a portion of a story. There will be a Kickstarter campaign in August to own your very own Codex, complete with color customization, page design variations, and your own optional story etched into the ‘pages’. Their facebook is: https://www.facebook.com/codexsilenda/

These people have created something absolutely amazing and this absolutely deserves recognition. Internet RPG is great and all but having something tangible for tabletop games that adds that extra bit of special immersion will always blow my mind.

[liridele]

Some Who Wander ARE Lost! (closed RP with pattern-assassination)

[pattern-assassination]

“You’re all very welcome,” Zeklyn said, standing up. He’d get out of her hair and get back to work. He’d taken a nice long break this time. Noone could complain now, “If he wakes up and asks why I didn’t tell him I knew where you were the whole time. Please tell him I’m sorry. Old drow paranoia habits, they’re hard to break.”

“If you need me, I’ll be in the dark corner at the back of the main study hall.”

[liridele]

“I understand,” Liridele told him. “The Order has many enemies, and I’ve had the lecture on ‘social engineering’ tactics. I will explain it to him. Enjoy the quiet.” She smiled. That quality often had her working late as well, aiding her concentration. “Good night, Zeklyn.”

She picked up the bag with Oosha still resting on it; so deeply asleep was the familiar that she did not stir. In the back room, Lorandin was sleeping every bit as deeply as the owl was. This must have been his first chance to let his guard down enough for restful sleep in months.

A polymorph could not hide physical conditions like injury, starvation or exhaustion; one merely became an injured, starved, exhausted version of the polymorphed creature. Her brother’s sleeping face, carefully crafted as they were to resemble each other, showed its ravages all too well with sunken cheeks and temples, deeply shadowed eyes. Under the blanket, his frame was far too thin. 

Liridele had been forming a plan ever since speaking with Tatsuya: how she would approach the Academy administration, what defense she would use… and what outcome she would work toward. For sure, the Academy always needed instructors - but in this place, the difference she made was tangible. She could not abandon them now. She was sure that when she explained the situation to Lorandin, he would agree.

She tucked the blanket about her brother more securely, then sat down nearby and opened up a book.

~Fin~

[liridele]

Some Who Wander ARE Lost! (closed RP with pattern-assassination)

[liridele]

“Isn’t it just? But I suppose that, as a dragon, I can’t say that our society is any less complex. With ten subspecies, each with their own gods, and any number of hybrids being possible… it gets very complicated at times. I am often amazed that the Great Accord still stands.”

A small sound from the rest area came to her ears, and Liridele glanced back toward the door. “I should probably stay with him, in case he wakes… and Oosha must be exhausted as well, to be sleeping at night.” The owl didn’t even stir at her name. “Thank you again for your help, Zeklyn, we owe you a great debt.”

[pattern-assassination]

“You’re all very welcome,” Zeklyn said, standing up. He’d get out of her hair and get back to work. He’d taken a nice long break this time. Noone could complain now, “If he wakes up and asks why I didn’t tell him I knew where you were the whole time. Please tell him I’m sorry. Old drow paranoia habits, they’re hard to break.”

“If you need me, I’ll be in the dark corner at the back of the main study hall.”

[liridele]

Some Who Wander ARE Lost! (closed RP with pattern-assassination)

[liridele]

“Oh! It is easy to overgeneralize, I suppose. The drow of Un’Lein keep very much to themselves, and interactions are few. I’m sorry to say that those interactions are… not usually friendly. So our knowledge is limited.” 

Oosha had begun to make a faint whistling noise, sleeping on Lorandin’s pack. The poor thing could finally relax; it was hard to sleep well on a traveling shoulder.

“I feel much the same - of course, I never lacked for ways to contribute as an instructor or researcher. But here… well, I suppose I feel that I’m making a bigger difference here than I would ever be back home. It’s very motivating.”

[pattern-assassination]

“I used to listen to drow nobles argue and debate a lot,” Being a servant for a few decades will have you hear all kinds of things, “It seems to me like no one likes to make interactions very easy...Most city-states are Lolthian anyway, with varying degrees of viscous fanaticism, so you aren’t very far off the mark.”

“Isolationism is fairly common too.” Until you got to the priests of Vhaeraun at least, but that was a whole other story entirely, with it’s own variations.

“This place isn’t any less complex though,” Zeklyn laughed, “There’s just a different set of rules.”

[liridele]

Some Who Wander ARE Lost! (closed RP with pattern-assassination)

[liridele]

“My understanding is that Drow society is highly matriarchal, yes?” Liridele cocked her head slightly to one side. “And clans are very ambitious. But… triplets?” Her eyebrows went up. “My goodness, that’s extraordinary… and ironic. It does serve her right, for ignoring your talents.” Oosha gave a sort of sleepy, self-satisfied chirp, as if to underscore this opinion.

Liridele smiled. “According to the rest of the Crypto team, it’s definitely to their benefit that you are here.”

[pattern-assassination]

“Lolthian cities are usually very matriarchal, yes.” He answered, then laughed when Liridele realized that his half-brothers were triplets, “Triplets, yes three little bundles of poetic justice.”

Zeklyn looking around vaguely, “Learning new things and helping the team is rewarding. There are lots of challenges and I’ve never applied myself like this before.”

“I’m glad that I can help.”

[liridele]

Some Who Wander ARE Lost! (closed RP with pattern-assassination)

[liridele]

“Unions are often a mix of practicality and love, back home. Our family had picked out ‘suitable’ betrothal candidates for us and everything.” The pack was fully mended now; Liridele began to put things back into it, checking to see if they needed any repairs first. “But Lor and I… well, we knew about ourselves long before any formal ceremonies would have taken place. It didn’t seem fair to us, or for the betrothed.“

She placed the pack on the table, and Oosha promptly went to roost on it. “We - that is, silver dragons - believe that a joyous mating has a better chance of offspring. And what right would we have had to bind another to us, when we couldn’t love them fully? Yet we were told that we were being selfish.” She gave a sad little smile. “Lor and I don’t speak to our parents anymore. I guess you could say we’re like a tiny clan unto ourselves.”

[pattern-assassination]

“I don’t speak to my mother anymore either,” Zeklyn scoffed at himself, “She didn’t even give me a chance at helping continue the family business or line. Decided that she wanted a daughter to do that instead. Sent me to be a servant for Kalanyl’s house when I was little.”

He lifted up the dagger in his hand, “My father died and she chose another husband to try and get the daughter she wanted, I never went back. I didn’t even go back when her pregnancy by him produced three more sons.” The drow snorted, “Served her right.”

[liridele]

Some Who Wander ARE Lost! (closed RP with pattern-assassination)

[liridele]

Liridele gave him a sympathetic smile. “If it makes you feel any better, I don’t think the women here even know what to make of me. Not that it was much better back home!” She laughed, checking over the bag and finding yet more bits to be mended.

“My brother and I have always been close - closer to each other than we ever were to the rest of our family. They are… somewhat obsessed with continuance, like many of our people.“ She sighed. “If anyone were to come seeking me out after I vanished, it would have been him. I’m just kicking myself because it didn’t occur to me to check. It makes me feel like I somehow doubted our relationship.”

“The look on J’s face when she told me, though…” She chuckled. “I don’t think she expected to deal with any dragons in her lifetime, much less three and a half of us. A rain of dragons.”

[pattern-assassination]

Zeklyn laughed lightly, and pointed at his ears. “People still stare, long after they’ve met me already sometimes they catch themselves staring. The ones who want to touch them are the strangest though.” 

He sighed, “It’s going to take the people up here a while to get used to the presence of anyone that isn’t human.” The drow shrugged, “Most of us have the time to wait though.”

“And it’s better up here than back down in Rhylin’Tanara sometimes, at least I don’t have to live up to my family’s name here.” Zeklyn admitted, pulling out his mythril dagger and looking at it in the light, “Though, I’d have just married a girl and had a couple children for the sake of the line. That would have been nothing. Marriages are all careful match making and contracts for the sake of having children or pooling resources, back there though. No one get’s married because they like each other...Usually.”