there cannot be any sign of LIVING in this house!

[tender]

WHO: Mother Pleasance
WHAT: Company is here.
WHEN: Drakonis
WHERE: The Gallows
NOTES: The fabled Mother Pleasance has arrived and is roaming the Gallows, as announced (warned, announced, very similar). This log is a container for threads requested on the OOC post. If you want Mother Pleasance to drop in on a thread already in progress elsewhere, holler at me here. Remember, she's out and about in the Gallows so CONSTANT VIGILENCE.

Comments

[hmmmmm]

"I am very familiar," Mother Pleasance agrees. "I am interested to see where our practice of such scholarship deviate from each other."

As it must, of course.

Her finger follows Wysteria's, lifts to rub two fingertips together as if to test that the ink has not smudged off.

"Is that of great concern to your leadership? The possibility of people going missing?"

[heirring]

"Of course. The division's members are often assigned to field work, which can sometimes be as dangerous as any other thing that Riftwatch's Forces division might encounter. Sealing rifts and investigating Fade-touched anomalies and so on and so forth can be tricky business, Mother."

It is annoying, Wysteria thinks, that they didn't send a differently kind of curious person along. She has known one or two Sisters in her day who might have two dozen questions related entirely to the schematic laid on the table, but no.

"To say nothing of the Rifters who, it's well documented, are somewhat predisposed to— well, I hardly know what word to use, really. Disappear isn't quite as substantial as it ought to be. But in any case, Research more than any other division tends to attract Rifters and so the work must be documented carefully in case of such a happening. It would be very poor handling to allot resources to a project and then have it all be useless should a particular person go off or be killed. You're certain you wouldn't like to try riding the bicycle? I understand that this may be all rather dull on paper."

[hmmmmm]

Her fingers tap, tap, tap at the corner of the parchment.

"I'm far too old to go whizzing around on a bicycle," feels true.

The bicycle had hardly seemed substantial enough to hold anyone's weight. And with so little to hold on to—!

"Though I would welcome a demonstration of some other work you have on hand. I must reserve the towers I have heard of perhaps for my departure, but if you've another item crafted that I might inspect for myself...?"

[heirring]

It it some kind of curse, Wysteria thinks, to be standing about in the company of someone who might be well connected to any number of scholars who might sing her praises if they knew anything about her, and not be permitted to share anything of actual merit.

"I suppose we might look at my buckler," she says at length, wilting visibly as she makes to roll up the schematics. Surely that is inoffensive. "Though you must know that it's only in the testing stages."

With a great sweeping motion of the arm, Wysteria strikes the schematics and moves to a separate and significantly more chaotic work table where, from under some degree of detritus that look very much like the designs of a little boat and various accompanying papers, she unearths what appears to be a closed fan. This she brings back to Mother Pleasance, flicking it as she returns in order to fan open the thinly beaten metal scales. With the help of a connecting latch, it forms a fully, flimsy metal circle which Wysteria sets back on their slightly more workable table.

"I'm building it to help with field work. It's meant to strap here," she says, lifting her singular forearm in demonstration before turning the disk over. There are two fine corded straps, very light, on the inside of the insubstantial fan. It's also downright lousy with rune work.

"If you would care to brace it to whichever arm you are best with, I can set about activating it.

[hmmmmm]

"What exactly comes of activating it?" is not an inherently censorious question.

But it is imbued with, to Mother Pleasance's view, a healthy amount of apprehension as to what exactly might occur should the thing be activated.

Still, she does lift it when offered to take a closer look at the rune work. All some shade of unfamiliar; magical transcription was never part of her field of study. But she gives them the studious inspection she had leveled at the bicycle, blueprints, and slice of pizza she has been offered in the course of her day's work.

[heirring]

"Oh, it's quite safe. The enchantment here is designed to repel certain concussive forces. In effect, it's a shield—only a very conveniently lightweight one."

And extremely cleverly put together, if she does say so herself. Which she doesn't. But only just.