(OPEN) the warning signs have all been bright and garish
Bastien De Rosieres
the Dionysian
Ambassador for the Hollowed Grounds / Artist

Age: 41 | Height: 6' 2" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 5 - Strg: 20 - Dext: 22 - Endr: 20 - Luck: 10 - Int:
PITTORE - Mythical - Gremlin (Disappearance)
Played by: lancydulac Offline
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Posts: 1,399 | Total: 8,707
MP: 0
#1
BASTIEN

There had been a train of logic he'd followed to get to where he was, though if Bastien had been asked about it, he might struggle to remember each step. He had begun with laying in bed, deeply missing Rexanna and wishing she would come to make him feel better (remembering she was dead but hoping it might be one of the hallucinations); when she finally hadn't he'd stumbled up with a thought.

This world had introduced him to magic, vampires, Gods, monsters...it struck him that re-animation, especially as Rexanna's soul was guaranteed to be around, had to be possible. Not in her old body, but in something new, maybe something like Azrael...he'd rushed to the Atheneum, presumably hoping to find 'Ascended Resurrection for Dummies' right out on the shelves. Anything to distract him from the deep confusion and despair, his grief mingling with the effects of the sickness.

After a delay where he'd spent a long time staring longingly at a puddle from a distance, he was there in the Atheneum. It wasn't long before he was surrounded by books, laying on the floor in a pile. Some of them were arguably relevant: books on anatomy, theories on souls and the afterlife, a book about the Voice. Others less so: a cookbook, a child's story about a grumpy Cloud Wyrm and a book on Attuned Partial Shifting.

In the midst of all this assorted knowledge, Bastien was crying. Odd, wailing cries that echoed throughout the Atheneum, his face aimed right up to the ceiling.
If we should be arrested before we sleep
I'll see you outside in a few days or in a few weeks
Amun Arlun
Potter

Age: 41 | Height: 5'7'' | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 11 - Strg: 31 - Dext: 34 - Endr: 28 - Luck: 30 - Int: 1
ZHANSHI - Mythical - Landshark (Airbending)
Played by: Crooked Offline
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Posts: 2,317 | Total: 9,913
MP: 3415
#2
Amun

You'll be faced with problems of all shapes and sizes
You're going to have to make a few compromises
There was a shrine to the Voice in the Atheneum. Amun was sick and needed help. The Voice helped the Ascended.

That had gotten him this far. However, as he pushed the doors to the building open, he found himself at a loss for what to do next. Well, besides stare at the books that were fluttering around like bats. He gaped at them, wide eyed and opened mouth. They made a keening cry.

Zhanshi, of course, knew the books weren't the source of the sound, or even there at all. So he grabbed the leg of Amun's pants and tugged the potter towards the actual crying. It wasn't long before the landshark and Amun stumbled upon Bastien.

Quite literally in the potter's case: he tripped and fell over the prone artist. Landing with a grunt, Amun rolled to his back and off the other man. "Bastien? Is this your latest installation?" The potter gestured at the books circling above.
For now we're happy if not overjoyed
And we'll accept the things we cannot avoid
Bastien De Rosieres
the Dionysian
Ambassador for the Hollowed Grounds / Artist

Age: 41 | Height: 6' 2" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 5 - Strg: 20 - Dext: 22 - Endr: 20 - Luck: 10 - Int:
PITTORE - Mythical - Gremlin (Disappearance)
Played by: lancydulac Offline
Change author:
Posts: 1,399 | Total: 8,707
MP: 0
#3
BASTIEN

Hearing someone arrive into the Atheneum, Bastien did not pause in his mournful cries. Let them see his pain; he would fail to hide it anyway, and he'd never been shy about his emotions. Being tripped over though: that was unexpected and uncomfortable, even without the pain, and he groaned, pushing himself up on his elbows to peer suspiciously at the interloper.

Luckily for Amun, Bastien was easily distracted at the moment, and when asked a question about what he was doing, he had always been inclined to answer. Looking up, he saw only books in a pile high around him, no flying, for the moment tied to reality. "No...no, if it is an installation it is purely accidental." Were he in a better mood, he might have begun to pontificate on art and it's intentionality...but he just slipped into quiet, reaching to stroke down the spine of one of the books.

"I was attempting to...I remembered...I don't know how I could forget. I remembered Rexanna is..." He left the word itself out, sure Amun could fill it in. "I was trying to fix it."
If we should be arrested before we sleep
I'll see you outside in a few days or in a few weeks
Amun Arlun
Potter

Age: 41 | Height: 5'7'' | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 11 - Strg: 31 - Dext: 34 - Endr: 28 - Luck: 30 - Int: 1
ZHANSHI - Mythical - Landshark (Airbending)
Played by: Crooked Offline
Change author:
Posts: 2,317 | Total: 9,913
MP: 3415
#4
Amun

You'll be faced with problems of all shapes and sizes
You're going to have to make a few compromises
Amun smiled at Bastien's words. The books still circled overhead and the potter's eyes tracked them, flicking this way and that as they followed movements that weren't there. "It's very impressive," he mumbled. "Knowledge should be free." Nodding, he ended up tucking his chin into his chest.

As the artist started to speak about Rexanna though, Amun sighed. Reaching out for the hand the other man was using to stroke the tome, the potter would try to rest his own hand on top of it. "Nobody is gone forever. They're with us. So let me help you fix it." He struggled into an upright position and started rummaging through the pile of books.
For now we're happy if not overjoyed
And we'll accept the things we cannot avoid
Bastien De Rosieres
the Dionysian
Ambassador for the Hollowed Grounds / Artist

Age: 41 | Height: 6' 2" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 5 - Strg: 20 - Dext: 22 - Endr: 20 - Luck: 10 - Int:
PITTORE - Mythical - Gremlin (Disappearance)
Played by: lancydulac Offline
Change author:
Posts: 1,399 | Total: 8,707
MP: 0
#5
BASTIEN

"Hm...I think the librarians would call it a mess. But authority is often bad at recognising art." Bastien nodded, sure that his 'installation' would be gone within the day if a caretaker here saw the books organised on the floor. A shame, because he felt they looked better there, at least where he was laying. The wall around them was almost comforting, made the space smaller and less threatening than endless corners where hallucinatory monsters could lurk.

His hand was touched and he looked over, not resisting the contact; Bastien had never been shy of it. "You know how?" He frowned, sitting up urgently too, leaning in close. "Tell me."
If we should be arrested before we sleep
I'll see you outside in a few days or in a few weeks
Amun Arlun
Potter

Age: 41 | Height: 5'7'' | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 11 - Strg: 31 - Dext: 34 - Endr: 28 - Luck: 30 - Int: 1
ZHANSHI - Mythical - Landshark (Airbending)
Played by: Crooked Offline
Change author:
Posts: 2,317 | Total: 9,913
MP: 3415
#6
Amun

You'll be faced with problems of all shapes and sizes
You're going to have to make a few compromises
Eyes still circling as they followed the books flying overhead, Amun giggled. "There are no librarians. The books are running the Atheneum." One of the tomes swooped down and he reached up for it. However, his fingers closed on nothing but air.

Stopping the search through the pile of volumes, he turned when Bastien sat up. Still holding the artist's hand, the potter leaned closer as well. So close that he actually rested his forehead against the other man's. Amun's eyes stared straight ahead, unblinking, pupils huge. "They say you die twice." Squeezing Bastien's hand, the potter took a deep breath. "Rexanna. Clem. Mabel. Lucas. Say it with me."
For now we're happy if not overjoyed
And we'll accept the things we cannot avoid
Bastien De Rosieres
the Dionysian
Ambassador for the Hollowed Grounds / Artist

Age: 41 | Height: 6' 2" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 5 - Strg: 20 - Dext: 22 - Endr: 20 - Luck: 10 - Int:
PITTORE - Mythical - Gremlin (Disappearance)
Played by: lancydulac Offline
Change author:
Posts: 1,399 | Total: 8,707
MP: 0
#7
BASTIEN

"Hmm...I have heard...of living books. I think. Something like that; do they have emotions?" Bastien asked idly, looking over to one of the books constructing the wall around him and poking it, wondered if it hurt, not aware of what the 'living' books actually did.

None of that mattered though, not when Amun said he could bring Rexanna back. Bastien held his hands tight and focused with an effort that was hard to come by with the sickness, the tiredness in his head fighting against it but the artist determined to hear this. All he wanted was Rexanna, her fingers in his hair and her presence by him: without her, this entire thing was like being a lost boat at sea. "Re...Rexanna, Clem, Mabel, Lucas. What are we doing?"
If we should be arrested before we sleep
I'll see you outside in a few days or in a few weeks
Amun Arlun
Potter

Age: 41 | Height: 5'7'' | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 11 - Strg: 31 - Dext: 34 - Endr: 28 - Luck: 30 - Int: 1
ZHANSHI - Mythical - Landshark (Airbending)
Played by: Crooked Offline
Change author:
Posts: 2,317 | Total: 9,913
MP: 3415
#8
Amun

You'll be faced with problems of all shapes and sizes
You're going to have to make a few compromises
Shrugging, Amun reached out his hands for the books just overhead. However, they remained tantalizingly just out of reach and he pouted. "Do they make their own tales?" He turned to stare into Bastien's eyes. "Or do they have to follow the words that others wrote for them?" The potter poked at one of the books making up the fort as if that would make it reveal its secrets.

Still resting his forehead against the artist's Amun smiled. "We're saying the names of the fallen." He hummed a little and swayed a bit, though he shifted to rest his hands on the other man's shoulders. "Because memory keeps them alive, see?"
For now we're happy if not overjoyed
And we'll accept the things we cannot avoid
Bastien De Rosieres
the Dionysian
Ambassador for the Hollowed Grounds / Artist

Age: 41 | Height: 6' 2" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 5 - Strg: 20 - Dext: 22 - Endr: 20 - Luck: 10 - Int:
PITTORE - Mythical - Gremlin (Disappearance)
Played by: lancydulac Offline
Change author:
Posts: 1,399 | Total: 8,707
MP: 0
#9
BASTIEN

"Both. Depends if the author is dead, I think - the words...become their own, after death..." Bastien trailed off, beginning to think of his own art and what it would come to mean after his demise; what his pieces in Venice meant now that he had disappeared into thin air. Had he become a household name, his sudden absence increasing interest in his work? Or had he faded into obscurity, his personality having been the only thing keeping his art career alive?

He supposed he should have seen Amun's answer coming, but it still drew a frown from him, Bastien leaning back to shake his head and take his hands away. "No. That doesn't work. I 've tried it. It's not the same." It was clear Amun didn't understand what it was he was trying to do; not recreate some old adage but new life, new chances, something physical and real.

Shaking his head further he stood up, stumbling through the wall of books. "You don't understand. I'll find someone else."

{FIN - Both cured now, so wrapping up!}
If we should be arrested before we sleep
I'll see you outside in a few days or in a few weeks


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