Unreal Estate [IC]

[Quinn]

Crow watched the workings with some admiration, settling back in his chair and placing his chin on his hand. For all the runic magic in his coat, he hadn't quite gotten the ability to cast or create such artifices yet, only tap into it here and there. He knew quite well by this point he was way out of his weight class anyway, so rolling with it was probably the best option.

And he was doing rather well at that, even when the ghosts appeared from ether. Morgan got to his feet and gave a very polite bow himself, speaking in the old tongue;

"Ãr mbuíochas leat, biotáille den teach. Your hospitality has been most generous."

[Supercape]

Gaelic? wondered Rene. He was fluent in nearly dozen dialects, some of them quiet cryptic, but he couldn't count that amongst them. Ah well, the more languages they had between them, the better. Mystic texts turned up in all sorts of languages.

"Oui, oui, pleasure to meet you, Monsieur and Madame. We wish you know harm, peace be with you. "

He bowed slightly, and doffed his beret.

"A beautiful house it is too. I understand why you... linger... if that is correct?"

[Aoiroo]

Waiting quietly she watched the happenings contently until she was looking at the three benevolent spectors who were trying to remove the stain of the nili from there home. Standing she approached quietly than did a light curtsy,

"It it very nice to meet you, and I apologize for the intrusion upon your threshold. If you have been listening, you can guess, we are considering this as a place of gathering. Is there any concerns you hold? It is your place of rest, it would be disrespectful for us to intrude any more than nessicary as we have several other options."

[trollthumper]

"We stay here, if that's what you mean," said the girl.

"Josephine..."

"Mother, it's okay." She looked to Rene. "After the fire, I stayed here. I... don't really remember what happened after that. It was hazy, like a dream. Sometimes I think I was like a puppet, and --"

"It's okay, dear," the mother said. "It was just a bad dream." The look in the mother's eye, however, said it was much more than that.

"And then I awoke one day." The little girl pointed to Nick. "And he was there, the man in the white mask. He told me we were free to move on, but... I didn't want to leave here. This was home."

"Eldrich and I told Josephine that there were places beyond," Nick interjected. "Heaven, for one."

"But Josephine didn't want to hear of Heaven," the maid said. She spoke with an Irish accent and in a reserved fashion, as if seeking permission with every sentence. "She wished to stay here."

And I stayed behind with her," said the mother. "In death, this house lured me back through the tragedy of her loss. I did not wish to abandon her again."

"And I stayed in the service of Mrs. Astoria," said the maid. "I will see my family again come Judgment Day, this I know. But until then... I wish to see Freedom."

"And I know that leaves me." The construction worker stepped forward. "Joe Delmundio. I know I look a bit outta place here, but I'm a resident all the same. I was working on this place when it was turning into Parkhurst. Something pushed me off the scaffolding and, well, I landed on my hard hat." He shook his head. "While that... thing was here... it liked to play with us. Like toys. Take control, use us at pawns. But it'd give us freedom, every so often, so we knew what we were missing. And while that happened, well..." He took the maid's hand. "I met Millie here. And I decided to stick around with her. Besides... Freedom's always been my town. I kinda wanna see where it goes, too."

Is there any concerns you hold? It is your place of rest, it would be disrespectful for us to intrude any more than nessicary as we have several other options."

"As long as all is kept in order, I shall be fine," said Mrs. Astoria. "I owe a good deal of thanks to Misters Eldrich and Cimitiere for the banishment of our gaoler. And I would gladly repay it with hospitality."

[Aoiroo]

Etain let out a sigh, she was happy to hear the acceptance, but it did not mean that she would not bring up one of the issues it would bring to those who had already had such a troubled existance.

"This is your home yes, it is nice that you may have us, but, the things we do will not always grant favor for all those we meet. We will try to be careful, but it is likely that association may bring about things and creatures that may wish to harm this place. We can cast spells to ward off such things, but there is always this risk, are you so willing to risk losing this place again after you just so recently gained your freedom to do as you wish with it."

[Supercape]

Rene sighed. It was a sad story, although he was glad that Nick had once again stepped into his role as the guardian of the dead and rescued them.

"A tragic story, Madame. I can understand your grief. "

He scrutinised the ghosts carefully and closed his eyes, using his mind's eye to see them more clearly than his failing eyesight could. He was uncertain about their presence. They were certainly not malign, but on the other hand things could get... complicated, with ghosts around. Etain had hit upon one conundrum already.

[GranspearZX]

"I think we can keep this place pretty well protected."

It wasn't just overconfidence talking; his mind was already working out an array of wards and circles that could deal with a variety of outside assaults, magical or otherwise. He folded his arms across his chest and looked around, still decidedly creeped out by the presence of ghosts but trying to cope all the same.

"Besides... I'm not gonna put all this effort into this place just to have some idiot try and take it from us. I'll fight fang and claw for it if I have to. If you're willing to put up with us, that's really all that matters, right. Plus, I figure you've been through enough that you shouldn't have to worry about the baggage we might attract." He nodded matter-of-factly. He wasn't entirely sure if that would really convince anyone of anything, but it was how he felt, and he figured he might as well speak up now.

[Lone Star]

Warlock looked around at the group. "We're magicians from every stripe. I'm pretty sure any threat that tries to take over would be struck down by our...magic. So you have no need to worry about the house being attacked. Gonna put some serious defenses all up in here." Warlock said, spinning his fedora on his index finger. "We've got this covered, I think."

[trollthumper]

"You're right to show concern, miss," Millie said. "This house has known troubled times. And we have tried to make it a home once more. But... we know its history as well. For good and for ill."

"The house had powerful necromancy bound up in it once," Nick said. "Strong enough to act as a gravity well for the local ley lines. Technically, we're standing in what's a fledgling nexus."

"The house is infamous, we know it," Joe said. "We've already had to scare off a few thieves in the past. But we know it's only a matter of time until someone who's more than just a thief comes along and wants to... well, remodel."

"We will defend this house to the last, and gladly share it with those who wish to aid in its defense," said Mrs. Astoria. "And if, by some dark twist of fate, it falls..." She looked to her ghostly companions. "We will find a new home, perhaps even in the next world."

[Aoiroo]

Etain smiled quietly,

"I just wanted to be sure you are aware of the risks, it is not fair to either contract party if one will dismiss or provide incomplete information."

She looked around quietly before saying,

"As such, would it be a trouble for you to give us a tour? No one should know this house as well, and it will be good to know if there is any alterations you might want to make that we may assist in."

[Griffalo]

Mercury smiled simperingly at Etain before looking back to the ghosts.

"Yeah, a tour would be great. This house is pretty awesome. Never seen anything like it that's so old." His eyes went wide as he had a thought. "You got any secret passages? Because that would be awesome!"

He looked around at the others, much older and more mature, then looked down at the floor.

[trollthumper]

"No secret passages, sorry," Joe said. "Or if they are, I haven't found them."

The tour led through the house in two parts -- the parts that had stayed on from White Orchid, and the parts that had been converted for the Parkhurst. Master bedrooms, children's rooms, and servants' quarters alike had been converted into hotel rooms, with rusting bed frames and broken and dusty mirrors. Elements of the old grandeur had remained, however -- the indoor pool under glass, a wonder of its age, had been converted for regulated heating, even if the unit was in disrepair. The library retained its old grandeur, with most of the books still there. The kitchen was lined with dust, but combined antiquity with the sense of a modern day line kitchen.

"Are the knives still here?" Nick asked as they toured.

"Oh, yes," Milly said. "Some of them were in a horrendous state after they were hurled, but I managed to dress up the ones that weren't so damaged."

Nick looked at a spot on one of the far walls where a number of gouges ran deep. "Yeah, still not a fan of that little trick."

[GranspearZX]

"...there's gonna be more cleaning involved. Mystical and otherwise." He coughed at the dust as he peered into one of the dusty old bedrooms, still shaking his head a bit at Evander's statement. "Secret passages.. this isn't Clue, you know." He still didn't like the way he was eying Etain either; part of him wanted to stuff him back into the broom closet he'd come out of.

"Some of this stuff is just gonna need outright replacing. I don't even have a job yet... ...say, you wouldn't happen to know anyone who'd hire a 16-year old kid, would you, Nick?"

[Quinn]

Crow stepped out of a nearby room and sneezed, rubbing his nose. Dust was still all over the place, but that could easily be solved with a little elbow grease. And maybe some dancing brooms. He wondered if anyone here had ever seen that movie...then he caught Arcturus's comment.

"Did a lot of fetch-and-carry dockside in Boston, Marc. Pay was lousy, but still, really great exercise. Maybe you can do the same here?"

Crow also caught the look Mercury gave Etain, and was disconcerted. This one, however, was less for the reason Arcturus had; the young lady fairly reeked of faery magic, especially with those illusions and the mask she enjoyed wearing so much. Granted, she was a real sweetheart, and he didn't mind hanging around her...but old habits died hard, and he'd encountered more than a few fae witches who owed him a big-time beating.

[GranspearZX]

"That's... not a bad idea."

He didn't want to keep relying on his father's savings; it was only a matter of time before he really would be on his own. This place, however, would give him a place to stay, and having a job would give the entire situation some semblance of normalcy. As they toured the kitchen, he found himself actively considering the library.

"I wonder if Miss Cross would donate a few books to us for that library," he muttered, mostly speaking to himself. When he looked up, he saw the knife gouges and paused for several moments.

"...the hell happened here? Er... wait. Maybe hell DID happen here."

[trollthumper]

"Close to it," Nick said. "The nihil didn't want to go down without a fight. You can only imagine what a pissed-off poltergeist can do in a kitchen. Ballistic cookware, knives hurled at top speed... we were glad the gas was cut off."

"It was a bit of a mess to clean up afterwards, as you might imagine," said Mrs. Astoria.

He turned to Marcus. "As for work... I know a few places. There's a cafe down in Riverside, the Black Petal, that's looking for a busboy. If you're looking for something a bit more mystically inclined, I think there may be a position open at Cross' Roads."

[Aoiroo]

Etain had to agree since she really couldn't look at the cookware without seeing the visual dread from it's previous uses. Turning her sight back to the party who was a much more pleasant blend of energies she decided to rejoin the conversation.

"I think Miss Robin would be glad to contribute, she is very kind. Though I do not know if she will hire anybody as she is also very private. It does not hurt to ask though, we can go after we leave here since I need to pick up my orders from there as well."

She was sure they were supposed to be in by now, the books she purchased that said to detail visits to Avalon. It was a simple curiousity about it's content that interest her, but she was more than happy to put the allowance given to her towards Robin's shop regardless.

[Lone Star]

Blake winced at the mention of the flying knives. "I can only imagine, dude. Well, at least you got the nihil out of here...it wouldn't do us any good to have him throwing objects at us all the time, and keeping us up all hours of the night. I think I like this place. Are we all in agreement that this'll be out place to meet?"

[Supercape]

"Its a good place to paint" nodded Rene, signing his approval.

Of course, he sniffed, and ran a finger over some furniture to collect some dust, but he was smiling nonetheless.

"It is, perhaps, our destiny to be here. Ze will of the fates. And who am I to argue?" he shrugged. He was already sizing up some of the angles and features of the place. It really was full of things to sketch, draw, and paint.

[GranspearZX]

"God, it's been a while since I've even touched paint... sketching and Wacom tablets. That's about all the artwork I've done since I transferred to Claremont." He sounded a little disappointed. He looked over at Warlock and nodded, looking around the place again. "Yeah... I guess this would work for me. I mean, training on campus is a no-go, so might as well find my own place in the world, one way or another, right? Plus, a room with no roommate... I like Eric and all but it'd be nice to have people around who won't look at me weird when I do transmutation experiments and start sayin' stuff in Latin."

[Quinn]

Crow nodded, dusting off his hands and chuckling.

"Try testing out new runes on your coat and saying stuff in Gaelic. Count me in on this one. Can't move in, unfortunately, I'm attending Claremont full-time, but I'll contribute as best I can."

He began mentally composing the letter to his father, along with a few more for several sidhe he was on good-to-decent terms with. For a moment he toyed with sending a letter to his mother...but scratched that one off quickly. Her attentions very rarely turned out well, and it'd be little more than a taunt anyway.

[Griffalo]

Mercury nods.

"I really like this place. Got a real sense of history about it, I think. Plus apart from you guys..." He waves a hand at Quinn, Arcturus and Etain. "...there's not that many magical types at Claremont. It'd be good to study with people older than us, a bit more experience."

"I'm in the same boat as you guys though, I'll contribute what I can, but school takes up a lot of time."

His schedule was quickly filling up. School, this place... he hoped he'd be able to at least fit some actual heroing in, start proving himself to his father. Plus it was nice to interact with some of the other students outside of school.

[trollthumper]

"I can probably contribute a bit to this, myself," Nick said. "Work some wards into the walls... see if I can reverse some of the rot... maybe see if I can erect a selective veil over the place, make it less of a tasty target to scavengers. Some time, some elbow polish, some furnishings from the local thrift store... we'll make this a home for ghost and mystic alike."

[Lone Star]

Warlock's face lit up. "Dude, this is gonna rock! I've been meaning to try out some new protective spells...I'll see what I can chip in to defend this place. We'll need to make a lab, of course, for testing of new spells and such. I have a few tomes at my place I can bring up here. We can make this sort of a magical hostel, if we ever need a place to stay. Yeah. This is gonna be good." He nodded his head, and looked around the room. They were the next generation of Freedonian magicians, and he was proud to be among them.

[Supercape]

Rene nodded and muttered something positive in French. He was probably older than the combined ages of the other mages put together, with the possible exception of Etain - who, for all he knew, was older than he was.

It was all going a bit fast for him. But he could feel the tides of destiny, and he was going to sail them.

"Oui, oui. Tomes are good. We should collect as much learning as we can. Make it safe as we can. A library of all magical texts - and historical references. Much safer that way. "

He was still pacing, mentally looking at things to paint.

"And a nice big magical bell tower, warning of arcane threats to ze fabric of ze universe!" he proclaimed with a wink. "I always wanted one of them! sounded so dramatic!"