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Faith opened a few books and skimmed. She never considered herself much of a reader, but if anything could tell her about this place she would gladly crack open a book and read it. However, it seemed that most of these books were standard fare, though they were all before the 1940s. Which sucked. You'd think a place that could take people that died and put them all in some house could keep up with modern times.

She glanced around the library a bit more before she left. This place was weird. Like, weirder than she first thought. She wasn't sure she wanted to stay, but did she have a choice? Couldn't they just...move her onward? Like not even to heaven or hell or wherever the hell you went after you died, just somewhere apart from here?

No that wouldn't work. She wanted to go back. She had to go back.

She stepped outside and glanced around. There seemed to be more houses or buildings a ways away. However, a figure caught her attention. A woman sitting down on one of the chairs. She looked like she fit in with this place. Was she like herself? Or...what did Alicia call them? Emancipators? Emasculators? Whatever the hell they were, was she one of them?

Faith walked over and waved kind of awkwardly. "Hey there! Lovely day, isn't it?" She didn't know what to say, besides asking why the hell she was here and why the hell couldn't she leave?

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Sophia looked towards James as they continued to walk, she awkwardly smiled slightly she should have probably been more specific with her question. Of course she wouldn't have been born for another few years, but she listened to James, as he answered her question looking down at her feet. She had been dead nearly a year before James died as well, and the news about Newnan having been destroyed by a giant sink hole wasn't good news either. She was really tempted to somehow try and find a way back to their time to see Niesha, she let out a slight sigh and gave a nod.

"Thanks for the update.." Sophia said softly as she turned her attention towards the Kitchen House and noticed that there was a strange man that was waving towards them and started to approach them. Sophia looked towards James when he asked her if she knew the man, and shook her head. "I don't think so. I haven't seen his face before, like I said I really haven't been here that long myself." Sophia had only been brought here just a few moments ago, she was still trying to figure things out. He was either another Paradox or one of the Emendators that Alicia had mentioned when she was first brought here.

"Hi there." Sophia said giving Gilbert a friendly smile when he finally managed to catch up to them, she saw him hand James over the loaf of bread and jam into James' hands. Gilbert mention that there was another one of them being brought over now, she nodded slightly she would have probably been overwhelmed rather quickly if a lot of people were hovering over her for the first time. Sophia looked between Gilbert and James mentioning Alicia, so the two of them did know each other at some point before her time in Newnan. "Sure, my room or something?" Sophia said as she started to turn around and headed back to the way that they had came towards the main house itself.

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Bartholomew tumbled to the ground, still in shock from his death. A yell escaped from his lips, before he realized not only was he not in any kind of pain, grass was beneath him, not concrete. He opened his eyes, and snapped his head up towards the voice that addressed him. Confusion struck him, nothing making any kind of sense. He should be dead, or otherwise totally crippled. He quickly rested a hand on his face, and ran it down, feeling for any kind of residual damage from the accident, but not finding anything. "I'm... fine?" He said, awestruck.

Crossing her arms and tucking the clipboard at her side, Alicia simply nodded with a small smile on her lips. She could understand the reaction. She nearly said the same thing when she arrived after the death she had had, which was nearly as horrific as his read, but she was much more colorful in her vocabulary choices.

Then was the matter of what she said, telling him the accident definitely actually happened. That let him piece it all together, and his eyes widened as he did."No... I..." He choked out. The only reasonable conclusion was that he was dead. He took a shaky breath, and gave a concerned look to the girl in front of him, not bothering to stand up. "So... which one was right?" He asked helplessly, referring to the religions of the world. "Please don't tell me it was the Christians, I don't wanna go to hell." He almost whimpered out.

Laughing slightly she squatted down next to him and shrugged. "No fucking clue. You were stopped before you could find out. Welcome to Ville au Camp, I'm Alicia and..." she said and stopped for a second as she pondered. Could she really call him a bitch? Why not, girls got called dudes all the time and he did have a pretty head of hair. "Bitch, you're dead." She actually felt a bit proud of herself she wasn't letting this break her streak. Granted, she hadn't with James but that was James. That was someone she knew.

Bart cocked his head at her. He was stopped before he got to... the afterlife? But he was still dead. "Bartholomew, and well... I put that much together." He said, his voice steadying as he slowly pushed himself off the ground, keeping his eyes on her. "No surviving what happened to me, but none of this really makes any sense." He bit the inside of this lip, and took a glance around his surroundings, taking it all in. "How is this possible? Does this mean I'm some kind of soul? My body's gone, right? Or is this my same body from before, just restored?" He launched into questions, breaking his gaze away from her, peering over his new clothes that he'd finally noticed. He glanced over the watch, which he noted to be rather high quality. As he did, he kept on pushing with questions "Or is this just temporary?" He pondered, speaking more to himself than Alicia at this point, but still periodically glancing back at her. "Like a purgatory?" He was relatively familiar with religious texts, and plenty had some kind of limbo, so that could make sense. "And then the biggest question... Why me? Does this happen to everyone, or am I something special?" His eyes lighting up a bit with that last question.

Alicia cocked a brow slightly, this kid seemed to be rambling. Maybe that was just his way with dealing with the shock, maybe he was just a motor mouth. Lady Lucas didn't really give her any word on who she was bringing back, what they would be like, or even why. The names appeared, where they were coming from, how they died, and a few other things. Nothing really substantial in the greater scheme. Clearing her throat she half tapped the clipboard under her arm and really wished she had some gum right then. It would have been the perfect time to pop a bubble. "Take a breath gringo. Gonna go down those real fast. No idea how it's possible, The Dice really doesn't talk about the logistics and explain how she does shit. You aren't a soul, you are living and breathing. This isn't exactly living again but it isn't limbo. It is Louisiana, 1943. Wrap your head around that. It isn't permanent and you can die again. You can't go back to where you were, ever. Nothing religious going on here. And as far as being special, well Eve chose you to live after she caused you to die but you ain't no Jesus so don't grow a Messiah complex or you gonna probably just gonna get all types of trouble," she said before motioning towards the house.

"Come on Bart, I'll show you your room and you can then go meet the others," she added with a chuckle. Oh James was going to have fun with this one. They both would probably chew her ears off asking questions. Alicia wasn't the inquisitive type, she was actually a person of faith so she took things at face value and never really bothered to ask how any of it was possible. To her that would be like asking which God was the right God and why the world was born with assholes. It was better just to roll with it, rollability!

Bart's head spun with those answers, completely thrown for a loop. All he was being told went against everything he'd not only believed most of his life, but was almost diametrically opposed to the fundamentals of his understanding of the world. Because of this, while he heard a lot of what Alicia said, he didn't really internalize it. To him, it simply wasn't possible, how in the world could dying have put him in 1943, thousands of miles away?. He didn't have much else to go off of at this point though, so he decided to roll with it.

One thing really didn't sit well with him though, and as he followed, he cleared his throat, and uncomfortably said , "That last thing... this Eve, she caused my death? What do you mean by that?" That just seemed to be nonsense, nobody could have caused that, there were too many variables. This woman sounded crazy, and at this point, it almost seemed more likely that his death was some kind of mind control or fever dream or almost anything else than the things that were being said to him. Maybe that means this Eve somehow orchestrated him believing he was dead. After all, he felt totally alive right now. "You get that what you're saying is borderline insane, right?"

"Says the man that was just gutted by a fire hydrant in the middle of Justice and is walking around talking as if he's been out picking daisies all day," Alicia quipped as she walked passed Sophia and James as they were coming out but ignored them for now other than a head nod in their general direction. It wasn't the time to split up the conversation. Heading up the stairs she glanced back over her shoulder towards Bart. "Those two are from an entirely different time line than you, fucking nasty one too," she added before putting her attention back to the stairs that led to the room assignment board. "First thing you need to learn about here is that a lot is possible. Like Eve causing your death. She didn't chose to cause it, she just does. It's her thing, Emendators are like that. She's The Dice, she makes shit happen randomly and from what I read your death is about as random as they get. Granted you probably would have died from food poisoning. Who the fuck eats from a Sushi Cart in the Deadlight District? Oh well, least the cat wasn't hit," she added as she ran her finger over the chart to find Barts name.

Bart involuntarily flinched for a moment at the mention of just how he died, but nodded. "Okay okay, you have a point there, nothing's really making sense today." He conceded, and raised his eyes in surprise at the mention of alternate time lines, but latched on more to the mention of the Emendators, and said, "So she can just... make things happen? I think I may be in a little over my head here..."

"More like she is Lady Luck and when someone hits snake eyes, death makes a visit," Alicia said and then chuckled a bit. "Funny Lady Lucas is ever the lady."

Bart had to meet this Eve at some point and find out exactly how she worked. It sounded incredibly interesting, and something he was excited to explore. He did perk up at the mention of his cat though, "Lucky is okay then?" He asked, genuinely happy to hear that.

"Yup, cats just fine. Cats tend to be survivors even if their owners aren't," the Mexican woman quipped as she got the number for their newest additions room.

"I really wish I could've had more time with him." He noticed that she seemed to know Justice pretty well, and decided to ask, "So... you've been to Justice I take it?" This girl seemed to know a lot about here, and getting to know her would probably be good for him. "I had just moved in... I really didn't know too much about the city." He explained.

"Fuck, lived there, worked there, was murdered there," she said as she made her way up the short stairs to the gallery that connected where they were to the closest wing of the house. It went over the passage below that connected to Sophias room a floor below. "Okay this my room, yours is right next store," she said as she started to head that way but then felt the clipboard jostle some. Glancing down she grumbled a bit before looking back at Bart.

"Shit, new comer about to arrive. Okay, that is your room, 207. Should be set up for you. Gilbert does a pretty good job of setting new folk up. Make yourself at home. Bathroom is around there, over the front upper porch and on the other side. Kitchen house is out back on the other side of the oak tree, library and study is downstairs, keys in the lock," she said before turning and starting to walk off. Last thing she needed was to let someone arrive with no one to welcome them.

Bart waved goodbye as she quickly walked off, and turned his attention to the door. He didn't know much off the top of his head about 1940's plumbing and architecture, so a part of him wondered if they'd have hot running water. Things like that really did concern him, the past was missing a lot of things, like T.V, or the internet, which always made it kind of suck in his eyes. The future just seemed to , as a rule of thumb, be better than the past. He shrugged, and took the key, resting his hand on the knob to open the door.

"Ow ow ow ow shit fuck." Were the words that immediately slipped from his lips as Bart ripped his hand back to his chest. The second he had tried to open the door, a mild electric shock coursed through his hand. He frowned at the door, and slipped his key into his pocket. He looked up and down at the door, unable to figure out what was causing it. He gave an irritated sigh, and lightly poked the handle again, only to still find it shocking him. He squinted his eyes together, and rolled up his sleeves over his hands, trying to fiddle with it and open it without actually touching it and shocking himself. After a few moments, he managed to twist it, and pushed his way into the room, stumbling a little on his way through.

Once he finally made his way into his new room, his eyes rested on the bed in front of him. There was a messenger bag resting on it, and normally he'd rush to open it up, but at this point, he was mentally exhausted. Between dying, coming back to "life", his entire world being turned on it's head, and now him having to put up with his door electrocuting him, he was fresh out of fucks to give. He staggered towards the bed, not even bothering to close the door, and collapsed on the mattress, shutting his eyes tightly. Now that he was alone, all of his feelings were starting to crash over him. Tears welled out of his eyes, lightly staining the pillow his face was resting on. He was dead, and just... as bad as it could have been, there was no way he could go back. He'd never said goodbye to anybody, and the people who cared about him wouldn't hear of his death from quite some time. He had no real idea why he was here, and he just felt lost, and alone, and honestly scared. He pushed the bag off the bed, and curled up into himself.

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The smoke curled up from Evelinas lips as they parted. Sitting there half chewing on the mouth piece of her pipe as it hung from her mouth. She looked out over the sprawling front of Ville Au Camp, down the gravel drive that was framed with old oak and pecan trees on either side. It created a tunnel which people had to pass through to get to the front house and to Evelina was rather stunning to just observe. Watching the Spanish moss hang from the limbs and sway in the wind was one of the more enjoyable moments of her day. Her fingers drummed along the arm of the rocking chair she sat in, it was an old tune that clicked away. One she remembered from her bodies childhood, years before she even became conscious of the fact she was an Emendator. Even before her first skill had presented itself. A simpler time.

Yet times were not simple any longer. In fact, one complication was coming towards her now. Not truly a complication but an example of her work out in the world beyond Ville Au Camp. Death and then life. Looking at the girl coming towards her and waving her hand in an awkward fashion Evelina reached up and pulled the pipe from her lips. Waving back slightly with it before she rose from her seat, the chair still rocking slightly behind her from the sudden shift in weight. The Dice recalled the exact moment she had let the dice that lay in her pocket fall to the surface nearest to her, rolling and seeing the girls number come up. It was never a pleasant thing, yet the dice themselves were impartial. Death came to everyone. Yet death didn't get to claim each of them in a classic sense since Lady Lucas had come into consciousness.

Resting her hand on her hip, the smoke from her pipe curled up and around her slowly as she took a step forward to the edge of the porch. Evelina was dressed as fashionably but refined as ever. Short navy strap heels, dark silk stockings with the eras seem running up the back side. Her two piece dress suit matched her heels precisely. The skirt was straight and fitted to her midthighs and then ruffled just in the slightest. The jacket was much more elaborate but just as tailored as the rest especially the upper sleeves. Her hair was coiffed and twisted up into place. Every detail had been paid attention to, down to her nails which matched her suit and were as pointed as the tips of the constructed shoulders of her jacket. Her eyes were lined and dark while her lips were pale pink. A thick chain hang from her pocket to one of her buttons as she stood there.

Extending a hand towards Faith, her smile grew. "Evelina Lucas, delighted to meet you," she said brightly. "I do hope you found your room and its contents within to your satisfaction. Gilbert does try his best to make each room comfortable for our new arrivals though I must admit that the man isn't always the most in touch with his feminine side." Her voice was thick with a Yorkshire accent as she spoke. "Faith Masters, lovely name. Do you prefer to go by Faith or Miss Masters? Both have interesting connotations."

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Alicia was more than grateful that others did not seem to be around the tree. Perhaps having the portal at the Oak Tree was not the best point. It was right in the middle of a major pathway between the main and the kitchen house. Perhaps it would be something to talk to Gio about later. Move it down over by the waters edge, away from the house and everyone else. Give people a better chance to take everything in without interruption and Alicia more time to speak to them before they got to the house. It was something to think on but not for long, she had a new arrival coming through any moment it seemed from the looks of what was popping up on the clipboard.

From what Alicia was seeing here this was an interesting one coming in. This girl wasn't from either timeline she was aware of, it wasn't the one that Evelina referred to as the main, not was it the alternate one from which James had come from. This was a completely different branch. "Well shit," Alicia muttered under her breath. It was one thing to deal with people that at least came from timelines she was partially familiar with but this one was from completely out in left field. On the clipboard it was marked next to which timeline slot - Abandoned. "I can see fucking why..." she said to herself as she kept reading. No wonder it was marked as what it was. She would have abandoned it as well. It was like the horrors of the Alternate time line had had a bastard child with the shit that went down in Justice. It just wasn't pretty.

Shaking her head a bit she shoved the clipboard under her arm and cracked her fingers. The portal was shifting and lifting off of the ground as their newest girl arrived. Standing over her Alicia smirked. "Seems you weren't the energizer bunny because bitch you're dead," she said as she held a hand out to the girl. "Welcome to Thunderdome."

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After doing some exploring, Alexandra left the confines of her new bedroom. She wasn't one to just sit around wallowing in self-pity. No, she liked to keep busy, if only to keep her head above water. She walked out into the gallery, closing the door behind her before turning back around to lock it. She then made to slip the key into her pocket. Her lips thinned and her brows furrowed when she realized the stupid dress that she was unfortunately forced into wearing didn't have pockets. What the hell?! Pockets were--pockets were life. Annoyance flitted through her dark brown eyes. She bit her lip as she decided what she could possibly do with the key when she had no pockets. Put it in her hair? Nah, probably wouldn't stay. Gloves? Eh, no. She looked down at her chest. Yeah, that would do. She looked around to make sure no one was watching then slipped the key in between her breasts. No one would know it was there, and if they did, she would give them a thrashing because clearly her eyes are not down there.

She straightened out her dress before going on her merry way. She looked around the gallery again. There was a set of stairs off to the left, but she recalled Alicia taking her through the upper front porch. She shrugged, deciding to go the way she had originally came. She walked the short distance to the stairs and up to the porch. She paused for a moment to admire the view from up on the second floor before heading down to the hallway. She glanced at the Emendators' rooms as she passed by them to get to the door leading to the hallway. She soon reached it and promptly made for the stairs once inside. She started off going down the stairs in a bit of an overly cautious manner, what with the heels she was wearing. Sure they weren't massive heels, but still. She could easily trip and fall down the stairs, and with her luck, it could potentially lead to a second beheading on her way down. That would be--unfortunate.

Screw it, she thought with an irritated huff. She took the heels off and then just went the rest of the way down barefoot. As she neared the bottom of the stairs, she could hear voices wafting to her from nearby. She glanced around then followed the sound of the voices, still clutched her heels in one hand. She rounded the corner into the passageway, where she saw a group of people clustered together talking. She approached them with an easy smile on her face as took each of them in. There was a woman with a wooden hand. A black man, possibly the one Alicia had mentioned? And then there was--her eyes widened an ungodly amount, and she nearly went slack jawed when her gaze landed on the massive man that was Gilbert. "Sweet father of giants!!" she exclaimed, unceremoniously alerting everyone to her presence.

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"Maybe I'd fancy doing a reading with my toes," Nancy mused. "Change of pace and all." For the most part, she disliked talking while she conducted readings. She didn't mind with Gio - he was Gio, after all. With others, they tended to breathe down her neck and ask a bunch of tedious questions. Sometimes, they'd even ask for her to teach tarot to them. And while instruction in tarot wasn't too hard, the Cards would never work for anyone but her. It'd be nothing more than nonsense for anyone else - and as far as she was aware, none of the Paradoxes had an ability that could rival her sight.

Nancy carefully picked out the cards, turning them all to face upright. She always felt a bit mystical when she conducted these readings, as if her purpose was ever the more clear. "The Tower," Nancy said, looking at the card she had drawn that would give her insight into the past. She then moved onto the next. "The Fool," she said with a bit of a chuckle. It represented the present. "And finally...Ten Swords." It showed the future.

Her dark eyes flickered over the cards, chuckling a bit at the illustration on the Ten Swords. It always amused her, seeing the man with multiple blades in his back. Of course, the reading in its entirety wasn't so amusing. Her smile faded as her mind went through the meanings of the cards and what this reading meant. "This isn't a good reading, Gio," Nancy finally said, her thoughts in order and not a mere jumble of cards and their meaning. "See, the Tower...That's us leaving to come here, I think. Disaster, ruin, change. And the Fool, that's a hopeful beginning, taking chances, seeing the world - the new Paradoxes...But what worries me is the last one - the Ten Swords. Unless it's saying you're going to throw out your back, this card means this isn't going to end well...It'll be painful. Bloody, maybe. And final."

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The first thing Andromeda saw when she opened her eyes was the face of a stranger, offering her a hand. She remained motionless for a moment, trying to remember what had happened. They had killed the demon, right? Yes, yes they did. Her fingers curled a bit, feeling the dirt and grass. It seemed so real - but she had been in Massachusetts a moment ago. "I'm...dead..." Andromeda repeated, feeling quite strange. It all seemed to snap into place in an instant - the damage that had been done to the fabric of reality and then...then she was here.

"Yeah, I think I covered that part chica," Alicia said as she kept her hand held out to the girl. Damn she was pale, reminded her of the deadies she had to deal with in her memories of Newnan. "Least you got the skintone for it."

Andromeda hesitated for a moment, before taking Alicia's hand. It didn't seem like hell - and she wasn't even certain if she believed in heaven. "Where am I?" Andromeda asked, before her heart skipped a beat. The others - were they alright? Her brother - was he okay? "Are the others alive?" she then asked quickly.

Giving a good yank she helped Andromeda up and off the ground she shrugged a bit. "Okay, I can answer the first question. You are in Louisiana, the year is 1943. Hence your get up." Motioning towards the clothing that Andromeda had shown up in. It fit the time era and location. Granted what Alicia was wearing didn't but she had been there a while and knew better than to step outside of the camp wearing her clothing from 2017. "I got no clue if they are, they ain't here though, so that could be a good sign."

Andromeda's eyes flickered down to her clothing and she wrinkled her nose. While she didn't specifically dislike pink or dresses, she seldom wore dresses or even skirts. The stranger's comment about her skin tone came back to mind and Andromeda chuckled weakly. Some things didn't change even in death then - the weird looks about her hair, her skin, and her name. "My mother's albino," she explained. As for the others...Andromeda looked at her surroundings for a moment, taking it all in. Was this the place where everyone went when they died? It seemed too...small.

"Why am I in 1943?" Andromeda then asked.

"Because that is where The Cards saw, so The Dice checked if it was a safe day and The Hat got our shit here, Then The Watch took care of making sure the day stayed the day and boom, here we are." All of that completely made sense in Alicias mind as she spouted it off, the she realized it wouldn't to the new comer. "Long story but let's just say it is a safe day where shit doesn't happen. Well other thank pranksters and Halloween."

"The...The what? Like Monopoly pieces...?" Andromeda asked, her eyebrows furrowed. Even though it had essentially been brushed aside, her mind was far too inquisitive and curious for that. She hadn't heard of anything like the Dice or the Cards or the Hat or the Watch before. Her timeline had some horrifying truths and powerful figures - but nothing with names like that.

Looking back down at the clipboard she ran her finger over the information provided. "Salem... so either you like Halloween or hate it... which is it?"

"I was basically raised on it - so yes," Andromeda replied. "I was raised in the tourist trap you visit after Salem...I'm sorry, but...who are you? Are you...Virgil or something like that?" She was trying to wrap her mind around everything that was happening. The more information she had, the less confused she'd be - or at least, so she assumed. Only about half of this was making sense currently to her, something she wanted to rectify.

Alicia had no idea what Andromeda was referring to, it wasn't like she was up to date on her Dante Readings. "No, I'm Alicia. Come on, let's get your ass settled, Gilberts got your room all ready for you," she said motioning towards the large house that was just a stones throw away from them. "Hope you don't burn easily, we really don't have a lot of sun screen here."

"Gilbert? Is he one of those..." Andromeda paused, trying to think of a word that made sense. None came to her. She still wasn't sure what the Cards or the Hat and all of that was about. Her eyes flickered over towards the large house. The thought of getting sunburned didn't phase her all too much - she spent a lot of time in New Mexico with her mother when she was little. And while it did tend to happen easily, she was used to it. "I'm trying to wrap my head around all of this but...Alicia, what are you? What am I - a ghost?"

Alicia stopped in her tracks and pushed her hair out of her face before letting out of a huff. She really needed to talk to Evelina about all this and get a script down because she kept forgetting things. Turning she faced Andromeda and tried to explain everything. "Okay, there are four Emendators. They pretty much control everything. Then there are us. We are Paradoxes. We are dead but living again. We aren't ghosts, or vampires, we can die. We have nothing to do with any god or anything like that. This is just a place to get a second chance at something outside of what you used to have in your life. Clean slate if you will. Different time, different place."

The understanding dawned visually on Andromeda's face. Now that she had terms and definitions, a portion of her confusion dissipated. While she still had more questions, she didn't feel hopelessly lost anymore. She had heard hundreds of strange and curious things when she was alive - many of which turned out to be true. Her brother had worshiped Lucifer and leveled a small town when he tried to raise the devil from hell - it wasn't too hard to accept what Alicia was saying, now that she had some explanations. "So what do Paradoxes do then?" Andromeda asked.

"That's... well," Alicia said as she turned and kept walking, motioning for Andromeda to follow her. She had seen Gilbert duck into the passageway on the side of the house that was closet to them. Best not go that route. Then it dawned on Alicia that she didn't need to check the lists. There was only one room left vacant currently, it had to be for this newest arrival. Sweeping around a little wide she kept some distance between them and the house as she went for the far side passageway. "I'll let that to Eve to explain. She wanted to handle that once you all were here and settled in," she finally said as the arrived at the far side passageway and headed over to room 109. "It won't be anything you don't want to do, well shit, they don't force you to do shit at least."

Andromeda kept up with Alicia, her mind still mulling over the information she had gained. The last twenty four hours, from her perspective, had been horrifying and exhilarating. She had died - but then she was alive again. Alicia's vague answer only brought more questions to mind, but she consciously stopped herself from asking them rapidly. They could wait for now, until this Eve - was that one of the Emendators? She doubted that Alicia would be taking orders from a Paradox, giving her description of how this reality operated. She reached to brush her hair back, only to feel the chain of a locket around her neck. As she glanced down, Andromeda smiled sadly. It was just like the protection locket she wore when alive. Her thoughts drifted to her brother briefly. He wasn't here - that was a good thing, right?

"Thank you, Alicia," Andromeda said, once they reached the outside of room 109. That was one benefit to being dead, she realized - she no longer had to work to keep her father's hotel afloat. She hated running a hotel.

"Sure thing. Listen you need anything come find me. I think you are the last we are getting around here for a while. Hell," she said looking back down at her clipboard and then shrugging. "Yeah, no more names so get settled and then come look around. There are several others. Look out for the pranksters though, Gio and Nancy... I think being Emendators they grew bored over a few thousand years so get their kicks with new folk," she said as she unlocked the door and then handed the key over to Andromeda. Granted she wasn't about to tell her she was nearly as bad as that pair.

Andromeda raised an eyebrow, but she smiled at the thought. Many societies, from what she recalled, had prankster deities. Perhaps there was something to that after all. "What do Gio and Nancy look like?" Andromeda asked, accepting the key from Alicia. She had only seen Alicia thus far - as far as she knew, anyone could have been this pair of pranksters. It was hard to keep an eye out for something almost entirely unknown, after all.

Chuckling Alicia thought about all the others she had warned about Gio and Nancy. Not one of them had asked what they looked like. This girl at least had some sense about her. "Gios a few inches taller than me and bald older looking guy. Actually oldest looking on the grounds. Nancy is a couple inches shoulder than me, dark hair and eyes, pale." That was about it when it came to those two. Lord only knew what they were wearing right now. "Oh as far as the other two Emendators go, you can't miss them. Gil.... Think The Rock, thinner, better looking, but just as buff and scarier. Eve.. Prime, proper, all in blue, even her hair is tinted slightly blue. Navy blue, refined. Looks like something out of First Wives of the 1940's Spread in Time Magazine."

Andromeda committed Alicia's descriptions to memory. The four Emendators - Gio, Nancy, Gil, and Eve. They seemed like they'd be fairly obvious for the most part, unless another Paradox happened to be a bit shorter than Alicia with dark hair and eyes. She doubted she'd miss an incredibly old man, the Rock, or Pretty in Blue. "Gotcha. I'll keep an eye out." She had to keep her thoughts from drifting towards the only person she knew that would potentially be alive in the 1940's - Fairfax.

Alicia gave a nod before leaving Andromeda alone to get settled in and have some me time as she had with the others. Glancing down at the clipboard no more names were showing up. That meant she didn't have to go back to the tree. Letting out a breath she headed towards the front of the house. Eve's schedule was pretty set in stone so once you were around here for more than a few repeat days it was pretty simple to find her. This time of the day she was normally just taking in the air on the front porch. Time to let The Dice know she was done for now.

Andromeda entered her room, closing the door softly behind her. It was clean and orderly - almost a little too much so. It didn't have that lived in look that she enjoyed, instead reminding her too much of a hotel. If she could go the rest of her afterlife without encountering the hospitality industry, it'd be an afterlife well spent. She ventured forward and sat down on the small four poster bed, noticing a few items set aside for her. She picked up a reel to reel film projector and grinned, especially upon noticing the tins of films.

She looked through the tins for a few fleeting moments, before she spotted a wooden box. Picking it up, she placed it on the bed beside her and then opened it, finding a telescope inside of it. She picked up the antique telescope with care, a stray tear just missing its metal coating. She had minored in astronomy in college because of her mother. She had been Andromeda's inspiration to look up towards the stars and see the wonders of the universe. "I'm sorry you're alone," Andromeda whispered. She wasn't sure who she was apologizing to - it could have been anyone in her life. She had died and left them behind in a world plagued with horrors.

She then peered through the telescope, not aiming it at anything in particular. Her mother's advice came back to her and she smiled sadly. "I just need to find my Polaris," Andromeda reminded herself. She just needed to find her North star and use it to guide herself, like a compass, through this unknown and strange existence. She took in even breaths, before slowly and carefully placing the telescope away.

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Faith was a bit taken aback as she shook the woman's hand. How did she know her name? And then Faith remembered she was stuck in some time zone after being killed, so it wasn't that hard to believe some random woman knew her name. Faith returned the smile, but she was unsure about this woman. What did she mean? "Umm, I guess just Faith is fine. Miss Masters makes it sound so formal or that I'm in trouble and I don't believe I am....yet."

Faith looked around her at the outside of the building. She wanted to explore a bit more, but she didn't know if a group meeting would occur anytime soon. Maybe this woman could enlighten her? "Yes, my room seems fine. I..appreciate that, to be honest. This whole situation is fu....flippin' weird." She caught herself before she swore. For some reason, she felt she couldn't in front of this woman. "I wanted to ask, what else is there around here? I've only been inside this building, but what else is there? I didn't know if there would be a tour or not or if we were left to our own devices."

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Gilbert gave an easygoing smile as he shook his head in a self-admonishing manner. He directed his gaze to Sophia and in smooth, even voice, allowed an apology to roll from his lips. "Ah yeah... So sorry. I am caught between the entirety of human history and the desire to be polite. Sometimes the two fight with each other." He motioned after Sophia as she turned and began heading back to the passageway in which her room occupied, and followed up behind her.

Meanwhile, James was having an odd bit of fun trying to figure out exactly what the taller and obviously more muscular gentleman in the creased clothes and stylish fedora meant by that last statement. In life, James was a huge fan of turning the occasional enigmatic yet extremely backwoods phrase. When he got his bearings in this place, be it Heaven, Hell, Purgatory, or "Other", he hoped to get back the full use of his cheerful sarcasm. The opportunity for a chunk of tasteful sarcasm wasted, James sat on his words, and tried to wrap his head around the new guy. "...entirety... of human history." he mused out loud. Maybe it was just an expression of the period; maybe that meant something in the 1940s. Or from whenever he may or may not have died. It was a lot to get used to, he supposed. But the man looked damned comfortable in his own skin, and in this place, whatever it was. If he was like himself, or Alicia, or Sophia here, then he'd been around for a long time. Unless he was one of those Emendators that he was told about. He didn't look all that different from the other dead guys he'd met so far.

Now that thought hit home with him. James was a dead person, walking around like it was no nevermind. Is this what it felt like to be a Walker? From their perspective, anyway? The next time he settled down to a nice, juicy steak, would that be him actually gnawing into a warm, living torso? The thought made him shiver. Was this death and unlife? Was he a drooling, snarling corpse looking for a helpless victim to chew on, but seen through a nigh-idyllic filter? It was damned sobering, and James hadn't even gotten his morning snootful yet. Just then, he could really go for it, a.m. or no.

Well, if he was going to get answers about the man, or about this place, he'd better start asking questions. James looked down at his hands, now full with the bread and jam the tall man had thrust upon him, shrugged, and jogged after Sophia and this mystery gent. By the time he got up to them, they had found their way back in front of Sophia's door. James opened his mouth to pose a question, only to realize that he was a half-second too late as the man began to speak. He would have sworn that he was trying to cut him off except that he was facing another direction altogether. "It's confusing for me sometimes," he began, "and I've been at this for a while. I can only imagine how this must be for you. Strange world, unfamiliar year, and you being new Paradoxes. Well, welcome to Ville au Camp anyway. I'm the guy you talk to if you need anything. You may call me..."

At that second, a feminine voice of eastern European accent blurted an exclamation in their general direction. James seemed to quietly understand that she was referring to the larger man in his company, but Gil looked bemusedly shocked. "Father of Giants?" he inquired quietly. With stronger voice and definite mirth in his voice, he continued, "I knew a guy that had that title. Name of Caelus. He wasn't all that sweet, though - matter of fact he was... ...hmm, kind of an ass." He smiled at Alexandra, then looked at Sophia and James, "I am called Gilbert. Gilbert Summers, but my colleagues refer to me as "The Hat", as we all have our jaunty little nicknames." He chuckled a little. For all of the names and titles he had gone by over the many centuries of his existence, "The Hat" was fast becoming his favorite. It sounded a little like a Mafia nickname. And he was fond of hats. "Some of those nicknames are very, highly appropriate."

James's face seemed to light up, as if by a switch. "You one o' them Enema-daters, ain't you? Hot damn!"

There was a snort that issued from Gilbert that was supposed to be a laugh. Unfortunately, it got caught somewhere in his sinuses and tried to escape in a manner that was equal parts ouchworthy and comical, prompting another bout of snickering and suppressed guffaws. "Emenda... nevermind." He wasn't a bit offended. "Hey, our group's getting a little crowded. Maybe we should take this to the Sitting Room and, well, sit for a while. I'm sure you have questions, requests, concerns... ?" His voice seemed to deepen and roll out like a great lion purring, "I'm sure I can be of help."

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"Bold words, Nancy, but if you attempted to perform a reading in such a manner, you would just make a mess of the cards and have to reassemble the deck from the shambles lying on the ground." If she were to actually go so far as to try performing a reading with her toes, she'd probably keep going and try to pick up all the cards with her feet as well. Worst case scenario, it would take all day for the reading to actually be placed and interpreted.

As for the reading Nancy was doing right now, Gio had spent enough time with her to get a general idea of what each card meant even without an explanation. He wasn't anywhere close to Nancy's level of foresight, but he could tell a good reading from a bad one, and oh boy was this a whopper of a bad one. He couldn't even bring himself to reply to her remark about throwing out his back in a way that might have invited some levity into the situation or try to find some potential interpretation of the cards that were less overtly ominous.

"We need to tell the others about this," he stated finally. "The plan can wait until the next loop if it's a necessity. A reading like this on All Hallow's Eve," Gio didn't finish his sentence mostly because he himself wasn't entirely certain what the full implications were. However, something in the back of his head told him that it was more than a little likely that there would not be "another" time loop.

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Sophia looked towards Gilbert for a moment with a slightly confused look on her face then she started to slowly put two things together and then looked at him once more. Looked like he was one of the Emendators that Alicia had mentioned before, Sophia gave a slight smile and nodded as she turned around and continued to go on her way over towards the passageway that would lead them all to her room. That's when she paused hearing a woman's voice, as she looked to see Alexandra there. She gave the other woman a friendly smile as she walked up to her and extended a hand towards Alexandra. "Hi there it's nice to meet you." Sophia said giving her a friendly smile.

Sophia continued to make her way towards her room then stopped for a moment looking over at the people that were there, Gilbert, the other woman she didn't know and James. Sophia looked at Gilbert talking about some guy named Caelus, but then went about introducing himself to Alexandra. "Sophia Harris nice to meet you." Sophia then tried to hold back a laughter when James tried to pronounce the name, Gilbert then suggested using the Sitting Room.

Sophia gave a friendly nod and motioned for Gilbert to lead the way, she did have a lot of questions to ask and the sitting room would probably be a better way. Also to try and get information on why exactly they were all here, Gilbert so far to Sophia seemed to be a pretty nice guy as far as she knew. "Lead the way, I think it would be a good way to get to know each other."

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As Bart buried his face deeper into the pillow, he took a deep breath, and gave a long slow exhale into the fabric. He swallowed hard, and and flipped over, staring up at the ceiling. His face was red and puffy, feeling as frustrated as he was lost. He gave one last punch on to the bed, and then forced himself to exercise a modicum of self control. If there was ever a time not to freak out and keep emotions from running wild, it was now. Was he still upset? Scared? Hell yeah. But if he let that rule, he wouldn't get anywhere.

Two options seemed to occur to him. Either nothing's real any more, and everything he ever thought about the world was totally wrong, or he was batshit insane. Entertaining the second option, regardless of it's validity, wouldn't get him anywhere. If he was legitimately this crazy, he reasoned, there was no recovery. "Alright then, fuck it, why not?." He said, exasperated. Nothing fucking mattered any more if he couldn't trust his own perceptions, on the other hand, things still got to have meaning if he could.

On that note, he decided to use his perceptions, and examine the room around him. Firstly, the messenger bag he knocked off his bed when he entered. He rolled around, back onto his stomach, and peered down at it. It seemed to be a nice, leather bag, something he'd never have bought for himself, but was certainly to his liking. He reached down, and brought it up to the bed, reorienting himself to be sitting cross legged on the bed. He quickly opened it, confirming it was empty. He gave it a quick pat, as something much, much more exciting crossed his eye. His face broke out into a grin, as he sprang to his feet, and rushed over to the cabinet across from the bed. He peered down at a neat stack of books, and grabbed one at random, peering down at a pristine copy of The Great Gatsby. He held it close to his chest, this was one of his absolute favorite books. He gripped it in both hands, and patted it neatly on the cover, before gently placing it back on the pile.

This made him so happy, books had always been a retreat for him in life, and having these with him would surely grant him days upon weeks of enjoyment. He'd have to organize this collection, but that wouldn't be hard at all, in fact, he'd probably enjoy doing it. He gave a quick glance back at the messenger bag, and put two and two together, his smiling managing to widen even more, even giving a slightly giddy laugh. It did confuse and worry him, however, how exactly they knew so much about him, and what they knew about him. If they knew what he liked and loved so well, did they know what he despised? What he feared? That didn't sit too well with him at all. Even if they gave him nice things, he needed to tread carefully.

With this, he decided getting to know his new... housemates? That was a good word. He turned back to the door,left his room and, perhaps with the tiniest bit of trepidation, edged down the stairs. Making his way, he overheard a voice mention moving to the sitting room, wherever that it. He quietly tilted his head over to the hulk of man who suggested that, and the group forming around him. Bart felt a little awkward at the idea of joining them, but he had no idea where anything really was, and the man did seem to imply he was open to answering questions, which he was positively bubbling with. Alicia had given him a quick run down of what was where here, but he couldn't remember much of that. He tried to assimilate himself into the party, stepping off the last of the stairs, and, with a unsure look on his face, leaned against a wall, ready to follow them and see what he could find out.

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Giving Faith a proper handshake Evelina smiled towards the young woman. Pulling her hand back she slipped it into her pocket and the gentle clicking of something solid started in her pocket as she fiddled with her dice. The pipe smoldered in her other hand as she brought it to her lips. "Or that you are some dominatrix in a thrilling tale of adventure that is putting vile cohorts in their proper place," she said in a cheerful voice laced with a bit of intrigue over her Yorkshire accent. "Faith it is though, as you have requested." Clamping the pipe between her teeth she took a puff and motioned for the girl to go ahead and join her, there were other rocking chairs that were open for use.

"Delighted to hear it, Gilbert will be pleased to know that his attention to detail was worth the effort. And yes, I can only assume that it is much to take in. I do recall when I first came into Consciousness it was rather perplexing but then again our ways are not yours. Life as a Paradox does differ greatly," she said in a passing fashion as she stepped back over to the chair she had been resting in and set herself down. The heels of her shoes placed firmly against the porches surface as she rocked herself slowly and pulled the pipe from her lips.

"Oh yes, we are just awaiting for all of you to arrive and be settled. My esteemed colleague Gilbert will be taking you all in a single group on a grand tour of the grounds to get you familiar with everything." Looking out over the grounds and down the tunnel created by oaks and Spanish Moss. It was such a lovely sight. "There will be much to do but do let yourself adjust to the newness of everything, of this existence. Too many times I have seen ones arrive and seem fully accepting only to watch them crumble from the denial they laid their minds in. Such loss and tragedy ensues, nothing that we can do to rectify it either. As much power as we seemingly have, even we cannot mend the mind nor the heart..." she said in a wistful voice as her bright eyes seemed to glass over with a welling of tears before she blinked them back and it was gone.

Clearing her throat she smiled once again and looked towards Faith. "And you have much to learn of your new bodies and abilities now that you are here. It will be interesting to watch them manifest," she added as she rocked back a little more than usual in the chair and held it in place for a moment. "I do wonder if Nancy has seen anything in the cards about just what will produce from you newest lot." It wasn't uncommon for The Cards to get a feeling of readings more than normal when new people arrived, yet then again when she did it didn't necessarily mean it was about the new comers. It could just as easily have to do with something in another place, in another time, that they had nothing to do with right then. Then again... Everything was connected.

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Biting her thumb nail some, Alicia spit out the bit she had gnawed off and sighed. Seemed she was done for now. She knew she needed to work on her welcoming speeches but she had time. No one had totally freaked out, she had gotten everyone settled. So it was as good as she could hope for on her first official day. Looking down the passageway as she headed towards the front of the house she spotted a few peacocks roaming the front lawn, flittering their tails. Why they kept peacocks Alicia never knew, they just did. She stopped for a moment as she heard a voice. It was Eve speaking to someone. She hadn't caught another voice but she had just walked up.

Peaking around the corner she looked along the front porch and spotted Faith there and Even sitting in her rocking chair as normal. "Yo, all done," she said as she came around the corner fully and announced herself. She glanced over at Faith and nodded a bit. "Hey, looks like you're finding your way around, sweet. Hell, nice to see you out and about," she said before glancing back towards Eve and forking over the clipboard. "I think that is everyone," she added.

Even reached up and took the clipboard, gave it a glance and handed it back. "For now, keep a hold of that. As long as you are our resident greeter you will need it on you at all times while on the grounds. When you leave for missions, do ensure it makes it back to Gilbert for storage or myself," Eve said as she pushed herself out of her chair. Alicia nodded and smirked a bit. She liked the idea of having the clipboard. It let her know things about each new arrival. As far as going out on a mission, she really didn't want to anytime soon. Especially considering what happened on the last mission.

"Okay, gonna go check the kitchen, have a feeling Gilbert didn't wash my fucking dishes," she said before darting off after giving a slight wave towards Faith. Rushing back through the passageway to the back of the house and running towards the Oak Tree.

"Language!" Even quipped and then rolled her eyes slightly before turning her attention back to Faith as one of the peacocks called out. "So where were we?"

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Had the last reading not appeared so grim, Nancy would have gone out of her way to make a show of using her toes to pick out the cards. It was a bit hypocritical of her. As much as she hated it when others touched her cards, she didn't mind the thought of using her feet to handle them. Her protectiveness over the cards wasn't necessarily out of a fear that would someone else would ruin them. Instead, it felt more like an invasion of privacy. The cards felt like an extension of herself at times, hence her nickname. "It's always All Hallow's Eve," Nancy pointed out, but she didn't disagree with Gio. And perhaps if the mood was lighter, she would have reminded him that it was technically her birthday.

However, she also didn't move from her position on the floor. The urge to conduct a reading swept over her and she reshuffled the cards, moving onto the next glimpse into what was to come to pass. "All the new Paradoxes...They might be setting off all these readings," Nancy muttered, pulling out the three cards. "If I get a feeling for a third one, you might want to go get Eve and Gil and bring them here. I want to do another reading anyways, a specific one, just to confirm. After what happened to Drem..." She let the sentence hang.

Turning over the cards, Nancy drew the Knight of Pentacles, the Moon, and the Ace of Swords. She felt relieved as she realized the meaning behind this one. While it impacted them, it wasn't harrowing to her. It impacted them in the way that all events in history impacted them. Yet to one of the Paradoxes, it perhaps hit home a little more. "A coroner from Justice is going to have a realization about a case - about Alicia's." She didn't feel a need to explain the cards beyond that. If she wanted to, she could have gone over the meanings of each card, but she simply didn't feel like it. That was how Nancy was - chaotic, a bit inconsistent, all over the place.

Nancy shuffled the cards once more, pausing for a second to see if the feeling for a reading would return rapidly. She wanted more clarity on the painful end that she had foreseen. She couldn't change what the cards meant, yet she could attempt to gather more information if there was indeed a grim future looming over them. Or if Giouse really was going to throw out his back - she hoped that was the meaning (and not just because it would be a bit amusing).

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Did she stay inside the room and wallow in self pity? The bed did look especially inviting and comforting, but she didn't want to be alone with her thoughts. No, the white haired ex-museum curator had always been able to lose herself in a healthy dose of exploration. If she moved around, she could keep herself from considering the harrowing possibilities. Had the others died in that tent? From what she could understand, not everyone went to this place. Otherwise, she was certain she would have seen Emmie - or that Alicia would have mentioned her. And while she could have, she supposed, left this place and made her way to Massachusetts, what's to say Fairfax would be there? He could have died with the others and never returned to 1929.

"You'll drive yourself insane like that," Andromeda admonished herself. "And look, you're already talking to yourself. You know who does that? Crazy people and Lewis Carroll." She paced back and forth a bit, pausing to tap her feet. Her first conclusion seemed to be the best - she needed to get out of this room, away from her thoughts and the potentially tragic fate of her friends, and go explore. The animated fish said it best - just keep swimming.

Andromeda looked down at the key in her hand. She didn't especially feel like putting it inside the purse. She set the purse down on the bed and then slipped off her locket, unhooking the chain. She then fed the key through the chain, the key now resting against the locket and secured, before she refastened the locket-necklace combo around her neck. It felt much more practical this way. Taking a deep breath, Andromeda opened the door, expecting to see some of the others Alicia had mentioned -

But there was no one there. "Alright, Andy, which way to go which way to go..." She really needed to put an end to this talking to herself. She glanced up and down the passageway, trying to remember which direction she had come with Alicia from. Looking down at her current attire, a bit of realization sank in. She probably would get some major sunburns dressed like this. Maybe that's something she'd ask Alicia about later - if they could find her some clothing that offered her skin a bit more protection from the sun's rays. While she had already died, Andromeda didn't quite feel like getting skin cancer - could she get skin cancer?

In the interest of potentially avoiding skin cancer, Andromeda decided to go straight. Leaving the passageway, she entered the receiving hallway, taking a moment to look around. "Erm...Hello?" she called out, just in case someone else was around. There had to be others somewhere - right?

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Alexandra's brows shot up at the odd reply of the giant man, man giant, father of giants, whatever. "Uh huh," she stated whilst giving a slight nod of her head. It wasn't very often, if ever, that she was left momentarily speechless, but somehow this man managed that near impossible feat with his interesting choice of words. She glanced over at the other two people there, giving them a look that said 'can you believe this guy?'

She listened to the rest of what this rather interesting man had to say from where she awkwardly stood, barefoot, in a dress, in the outside passageway. She let out an involuntary snort when the man giant Gilbert stated his nickname. "'The Hat?' And here I thought 'The Great Bazhooli' was a unique title," she remarked sarcastically. An easy smile returned to her features, and her dark eyes sparkled. She let out a small almost girlish giggle at everything that was transpiring. It all seemed rather amusing to her. Granted, she tended to walk through life and re-life(?) with an ease that many people unfortunately lacked.

She turned slightly to face the approaching woman. Her smile grew and held a certain warmth to it. "It's nice to meet you too, Sophia," she replied. She went to shake the woman's hand, only to realize that she was still holding onto her heels in that hand. She let out a light laugh, dropping the hand back to her side and instead giving a slight nod of her head in greeting. "I am Alexandra Andonova," she added. She smiled warmly at the others and made to follow them to wherever the sitting room was.

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Faith had to admit, the woman's story intrigued her. Maybe she should go by Miss Masters. However, before Faith could show her satisfaction the woman continued on with her story. It was a lot to take in at once. One word, in particular, struck her fancy. Abilities? What did that mean? Was it like superpowers or were each of them picked because they had something to bring to the table? What were her abilities then? Her killer fashion taste? Her devil-may-care attitude? Surely, as amazing as she was, this would not stand for whatever they would be doing.

And then that greeter woman came. What was her name? Estela? Lupe? Was it a Hispanic sounding name? Ah well, she simply smiled at the woman as she and Evelina talked. Again, she was struck. Missions? Maybe this was superheroes! That was pretty exciting! It was too much to contain, "If we have everyone, will we be starting soon? All this talk has really got me curious. You mentioned abilities and missions? I imagine the tour will highlight what exactly this means, but surely you can understand that these are not typically words one hears on the norm. Granted, none of this is exactly norm, is it?"

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What appeared to be a general consensus of opinion had been made concerning a change in venue. The sitting room seemed to be a more hospitable location as compared to standing about in the right passageway, engaging in idle small talk. One piece of said talk did seem to capture Gilbert's attention, however. One of the newcomers, specifically the one that referred to him as "Father of Giants" a moment before, had brought up another identifying title. As it turned out, it was another one that he knew. With a sly grin, Gilbert vocalized a point of memory that the title invoked, "Come along, Miss Andonova, it's a little more unique than that. There have been several Great Bazhoolis over the centuries. I've known a few. There's only been one 'The Hat', so far as I know."

James's eyes brightened suddenly, a glimmer of recognition spreading across his face. In optimistic voice, he added to the conversation, "Hells yeah, knew me a Great Bazhooli, too! Odd muthafucka. Damn handy with them knives, though, had him a cat..." his voice faltered and grew quiet for a moment before he continued, "...name o' Schrodinger. Um, hey... He died on us, same day Bridgette and Astrid went." He knew it was impossible for the others, except for Sophia, to know who these people were. He just felt like saying their names out loud to make sure that they weren't forgotten; his own way of keeping vigil for them. Others died then as well, obviously. More names to remember. Distantly, he hoped that someone back where and when he was from thought enough of him to speak his name from time to time. It was a depressing thought. Here was another: "Big man said his family was all gone. Now he's dead, too. I think I mighta known the last one. Ain't that a bitch?"

Gilbert's look turned to the quizzical, then relaxed with understanding. "He wasn't the last one, James. I can tell you that much." The look he gave the man insisted that he was not to ask more, which James reluctantly agreed to. For the time being. Luckily, he attention got turned elsewhere. From James's vantage point, he saw Alicia crossing the opening to the passageway and waved his arms to try to get her attention. "Hey girl!" he called, breaking the conversation's previous decibel level, "Q & A in the Sittin' Room!" He was reasonably sure that she was going to be busy. She liked to keep busy. But it would have been impolite not to ask. Loudly.

Meanwhile, the tall Emendator seemed content to take Sophia's advice, taking a cursory step in the direction of the Hallway door. "Sure. Q & A in the sitting room." He chuckled and shook his head, interested to see the interactions between the new Paradoxes. Lots of different personalities to mix at Ville au Camp. Before disappearing into the next room, he noted the newer (and quieter) man descend the stairs and flash a welcoming smile.

On the other hand, James hung back a little, edging closer to the newcomer. He turned his head to look the man over, eyes wide as if struck with some manner of shock, and whispered to him in a rasp, "...I see white people..." before immediately following The Hat into the Hallway, through the Library, and into the Sitting Room. To sit.

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Sophia looked down and noticed that Alexandra was holding her shoes and laughed slightly, she wasn't a fan of heels herself either preferring to wear a pair of boots more than anything. "Nice to meet you Alexandra." Sophia said, looking over at Gilbert 'The Hat' was certainly a very weird nickname or title he went by. But she wasn't going to judge it, she was in a world filled with the undead that wanted to eat you, and then waking up and coming here. Sophia looked between Alexandra and James both mentioning the name Bahzooli, she at least didn't think she knew him. It was probably sometime when she died, then Sophia paused for a moment when she heard that both Bridget and Astrid both had died.

Sophia caught a glimpse of Alicia as she ran off to go do some other duties as far as she knew, she really did want to know more and the QnA session in the Sitting Room was probably a good idea. "I guess we should get some answers now." Sophia said giving Alexandra a friendly smile before turning around and followed behind Black James and The Hat. Through the hallway and then through the library, taking a moment to look at some of the books that were there.

Eventually Sophia found the sitting room, looking around until she found a seat, adjusting her dress somewhat before sitting down crossing her legs together. It was certainly about time to get as much answers as she could, and what else they all would be doing.

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Gripping the pipe between her teeth, Evelina slipped her four fingers into each of her front pockets, letting her thumbs rest along the seams as she gave a curt nod. "Precisely my dear. Nothing is as it once was but normal is in the eye of the beholder. As one of my dearest as been noted as stating in the past...'What is normal to the spider is chaos to the fly'. You are just no longer a fly," The Dice said, quoting one of her first creations in this world. A woman after her own heart in many ways, especially demeanor. Though Evelina would be looked at as the wild one between the two of them.

Her brow quirked in the slightest as she heard a voice call out from just to her right and behind her slightly. Turning on her heels she strode over to the edge of the front porch and peered down the receiving passageway. Spotting the pale skinned woman whom was looking around she gave a smile. "Well I dare say, you could have been a Crypt in your previous life," she said as she stepped down the receiving tunnel and held out her hand. Taking Andromedas in her own she shook it firmly. "Evelina Lucas, delighted to meet you Andromeda. Please, come with me. We are about to start the groups orientation," she said in a bright voice as she let go of Andromedas hand.

Pulling for her pocket she took a look down at her watch, time was of the essence to her. Not that they had to meet at a particular time but she had wanted to begin by a certain time and once that time was in her mind it was set. If she showed up a second after that she would have considered herself late and she just couldn't have that. Her heels clipped on the front porch as she stepped back onto it and made the short walk across the porch. Taking ahold of the knob, she turned it and pulled the door open sharply as she stepped in without a hint of glancing around, her eyes fixed on the largest man in the room. "₁Βλέπω ότι έχετε στρογγυλοποιήσει ένα μεγάλο μέρος των νεοφερμένων μας. Χαίρομαι που βλέπετε ότι είστε ακριβείς σήμερα και ότι έχετε βάλει στην ουσία ένα πουκάμισο," Evelina quipped as she pulled her pipe from her lips. There was the slightest tug of a smile at the corner of her mouth as she waltz over to the man and looked him over.

"Oh and Queens Pawn to Queen Three," she added before turning around and giving her attention to those that had already made their way into the room. "Please, have a seat, it is a sitting room is it not? Sophia has the right idea. Bartholomew, it would be good of you dear to come in. You are lagging behind the others," she added as she turned and placed her pipe down on a resting stand on the table next to her. "I see that you all have arrived. I do hope that Alicia did well enough in her job to welcome you and get you situated. It was a bit of a rush this morning and I apologize for that. it has been sometime since we welcomed so many Paradoxes in a single day. We normally prefer to stagger out the arrivals but things being as they are, we were not left with much of an option."

Tugging at the bottom of her jacket she smoothed it out and laced her fingers in front of her as she faced them, standing there as prim as proper as ever as she spoke in her adopted Yorkshire accent. She found it fitting as she hadn't exactly lived in the United States long enough to reasonably acquire a new sound to her voice. "I see some of you have met The Hat. Those of you that haven't please let me introduce you. This is Gilbert Summers, our resident weapons and fighting master. He is one of our fi...," Evelina began and then caught herself. There was a quick glance towards Gilbert as she did. It was the first time they had welcomed a group since Drem had been killed. Clearing her throat she continued. "Four Emendators. You will meet The Cards and the Watch later on as they are currently preoccupied with planning this evenings events." She was not sure what Nancy and Gio were up to but she hadn't expected them to be at the little questions and answer meeting.

"I am The Dice, your resident host. My former title is Lady Evelina Lucas currently but you may call me Eve if you prefer. I wish to welcome you to your new home. I am sure you have many questions but if you would give me a few moments to run down a few things with you, it could possibly answer a great many of those." Glancing over their new arrivals, Evelina smiled towards them as she waited for everyone to get situated and comfortable. And for Gilbert to exit the room if he so chose to, he knew the welcome message as well as anyone did so she did not hold him to sticking around. She would spend the next hour speaking to them before moving conversation over to the kitchen house so they could eat while she continued. After lunch they would adjourn for them to meet with him to give them a tour of the grounds. At least that was if he wished to go. If not the schedule could be changed. She was prepared for it.

There was a tingle in the back of her mind and Evelinas lips thinned. It was not something that could be put off. "We will begin in just a moment," she said as she gave Gilbert a knowing look. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a single dice and rolled it around in her fingers. It hit the desk and clicked as it went from side to side, flipping and turning over. Then it stopped and Evelina looked at the results, she swallowed hard as her eyes went back to Gilbert. He would know what the rune on the top of the dice meant. All the Emendators did. Each of them had seen Evelina roll that dice enough to know what it meant when that one popped up. "I had high hopes for that one, such a shame..." Evelina said as she picked up the dice from the table and slipped it back into her pocket. Taking a breath she looked back over to their new arrivals. "Now, are you ready for me to begin? Remember, please hold all your questions until the end of the orientation."

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Alicia stopped in her tracks as she heard a voice call out. Glancing over towards the house she waved a bit. "₁¿Por qué diablos llegaría a eso? Ya he estado allí y he hecho eso. No necesito un puto curso de actualización. A menos que estés repartiendo tamales y salsa picante, ¡estaré en la cocina!" she called out before starting her run up again and bee lining it for the kitchen house. Alicia had no intention of going and sitting through one of Eves introduction meetings. She had been through that already, and in fact had spent more time than most new Paradoxes going over things because she was the welcoming committee now. Granted after the way things went she could probably do to sit through another and get a few pointers from Eve. Yet she was done with that for now. She was feeling a bit overwhelmed from having to welcome so many so quickly and back to back like she had. She had manged to get through it, no one broke down in front of her, they all had their room keys, and no one had spontaneously combusted so it was a win win in her mind.

Jumping up the steps of the Kitchen house she made her way inside and glanced around. Just as she figured, Gilbert hadn't done the dishes, he had left them in the sink soaking. Yeah, they could stay there and come reset time they would poof and be right back where they had been the night before. Yet, she knew what Evelinas plan was and if she walked into the Kitchen House with a sink full of dishes from breakfast with new Paradoxes on the premises... She had never seen the Dice loose her temper but out of all of the Emendators Eve was the one she never wanted see finally lose her shit. That woman was so tightly wound she was half sure that if she ever did finally snap it would be something that would have made even her father, the former Federale, Caesar take a step back from. So, Alicia swallowed her pride and put on the house wife apron that hung on a hook and got to work on doing the dishes. Better dish pan hands than pissing off someone that had control over death.

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"To get such an omen on All Hallow's Eve before a time loop has gone into effect," Giosue clarified, as the fact that Nancy was trying to make a lighthearted jab completely flew over his head. However, the fact that she had another reading immediately afterwards did draw his attention away from the impending doom that she had foreseen not a minute ago. Perhaps this would be some form of clarification on the previous reading, or something that would brighten the situation a bit.

And instead, it had to do with somebody in a different time and place only tangentially connected to Ville au Camp. But that actually did lighten his mood quite a bit, because it brought about an idea that he hadn't considered, they didn't really know who or what the previous reading was about. It was still in their best interests to look the fuck out, but the threat of cataclysmic failure no longer had to be held directly above their heads and thus could be ignored to a degree.

"So what do you want to do? Shall we go inform Eve and Gilbert, or would you rather put that off for the time being? You've got a better grasp on the cards than I do. If you think we should be fine for the time being, we could go back to the matter at hand." That matter being practicing for the big prank they'd spent so much time working on.