[centre][h3] Southern Jewel Palace[/h3][/centre]
[indent][sub][@Oppositionj][@Terminal][@Zhaliora][/sub][/indent]

Sirro chuckled to himself. This girl was kinda clueless wasn't she? A Beastkin in Kron-Nesis for one, with a collar, in the capital. What else could it be but a slave? Her reaction to finally figuring it out was...amusing. He had expected her to either be more outspoken in protest, like most from Ithell. What they did not understand was that slaves made everything so much easier. While not cheap to procure, it was so worth it to have someone do all the menial tasks around. Left so much more time for doing things that really mattered in the world. Why would anyone of stature want to clean, or cook, or go to a cold bed for that matter? Sirro's mind was wandering as he listened to Hecuba introduce herself. Had the old codger already bedded her? He had heard that the woman had very particular skills, and lack of in many ways which made many question her suitability as the High Astronomers assistant.

"Suit yourself," he said as his eyes turned purple for a moment and he looked her over. Sirro tapped his chin while thinking. Perhaps this girl was what he needed? She had not been repulsed by the slave. She had a somewhat quick head on her shoulders. Well spoken. Seemingly interested in his little experiment about mind-control. Perhaps a scholar through and through. He wondered how far down the path of knowledge she was willing to go. Did she have morals? Or just an incurable thirst for knowledge? All in due time, he chided himself.

Sirro waved off her remarks about the old codger. It wasn't like it really made any difference. It would either be now, or later. Later was actually better now that he had sent this interesting girl to his room. "For all I care she could be walking around naked. Not like it matters. She IS a slave after all. If I wanted to I could alter the collar slightly so that she quite enjoys walking around naked in public. Hmm...perhaps I should..? I did turn off any sense of shame and modesty after all."

When she got out her tools Sirro got even more interested in the girl. She seemed like a good match after all. Was this perhaps included in the offer? Gaining a proper assistant that could perhaps match his lust for knowledge? One who did not seem to care about slaves and the experiment upon their person? The possibilities started running rampant inside of Sirro's mind as the clear tune rang out. "Oh, the enchantment is pretty much perfected. I just didn't feel like pouring too much magic into the makings of the spell in case it didn't work the way I wanted it to." He didn't really care that the girl spoke out of turn. In fact it made it better. He had not seen this kind of drive in a long time.

"Yes, I've tested it before. Last time though I poured too much magic into it and had a slightly different setting. She became way too obsessed with me. Would not leave my side for a moment. Hung on every word that I said like I was her god. Practically drooling to hop between the sheets. Had to put her down though when she nearly killed another slave out of jealousy after the collar had worn off. A pity too, she was really good in bed, and around the house in general." Sirro looked at his current possession and smirked. "That's why I needed those scrolls from the Archives. Finding the perfect material as a container is a hassle. That collar won't stop working no matter what. Even if you should had unravelled the enchantment it would had kicked right back in. Same if you destroyed the collar. It would reform itself after a few moments." He changed posture slightly as Hecuba went onto the main topic.

Ishtar silently cursed herself as she found that once again, her gauntlet had unintentionally curled into a fist. Just listening to the words of the court wizard often summoned up such sophomoric emotions within her. Ishtar often found herself in the opposite scenario, feeling too little in her deadened heart, but the back and forth conversation between Sirro and his newfound colleague about such concepts of mind control had Ishtar inwardly perturbed to say the least. The archivist couldn’t help but let her mind wander to Sirro’s original intentions. Of course he’d gotten a new slave. [i]Had it been because a dead mind such as hers was impenetrable to his experimentation?[/i] Ishtar would assume so regardless of the wizard’s true intentions. No matter what situation the two of them would be involved in, Ishtar was sure that as long as their relationship continued, she would never lose her grasp on at least one of her emotions: [i]hatred.[/i]

His face turned into another dark smirk. "Dear, I don't really care about politics. I care about knowledge. The pursuit of knowledge is my main goal in life. That and enjoying myself while I do live. I know how they got their grubby hands on the way to work the material. It was sort of gifted to them by a being of power, or so legends tell." Sirro looked smug for a moment. The kind of smug where you know a big secret and the other doesn't. "But yes, I am willing to help the old codger in his work. It is quite interesting after all." Gone is Sirro's erratic and lecherous normal and instead a cold and calculating persona, with a clear superiority complex.


"The spell's purpose is quite a simple one really." He raised a finger. "I want a portal to Ithell's archives."

"Ah." Hecuba replied, nodding eagerly as she glanced around the room almost absent-mindedly - but her tone was plaintive, perhaps understandably so. The creation of portals, much like teleportation, was considered Mythic-grade magic, only known of in old legends. Mages across Telduria had been trying and failing to create and recreate magical portals for millenia without success.

"Well I suppose there is no reason the [i]attempt[/i] cannot be made..." Hecuba cautiously ventured. "Although the purpose of our experiment is to test the [i]functional[/i], practical aspects of a Black Blood ritual matrix. If the experiment ultimately fails then its core purpose is void, so..." She peered at Sirroc inquisitively. "I imagine you must have discovered a viable portal method? Perhaps one that would not have been possible previously [i]without[/i] an appropriately powerful ritual matrix?"

Sirro chuckled and placed one leg over the other, putting his palms against each other. "What would you say if I said yes?" He shrugged his shoulders. "Truly, the problem lays in the cost, rather than the actual spell matrix. If you break down the spell it's quite simple really."

Even in the silent and unmoving state of the undead, Ishtar could have sworn she felt her heart actually pump for a beat at the mention of Sirro’s true motives for working with his new friend. [i]He wanted a portal…[/i] The archivist’s mind raced with ideas, calculations, and thoughts of power. She thirsted to hear more. Just one jaunt through such a mythic power source could offer her a place back into her Forbidden Archives. Ishtar had toyed with the idea herself for a number of months, but she was never able to garner the necessary resources and manpower to undertake such an endeavor. [i]If she were able to get Sirro to undertake such a task, though, the results would greatly differ…[/i]

For a moment Hecuba's face looked somewhat blank, but after a moment she smiled lightly. "Oh? That is interesting to hear. Rediscovered portal techniques have historically tended to be some of the most esoteric processes known to magical theory. But if this technique is relatively simple, as you say, there must be a reason you have not already attempted to create one - why wait to work with us? Surely as the Court Wizard of the Grand Kingdom, cost would be no object to you. Portal magic would have profound strategic implications in quashing the rebellion." She looked around the study as she spoke before turning to the beast-women. "Fetch me a seat." She stated clearly and firmly. 

He waved his hand. "Yes, those old mages did have a few decent ideas, but nothing really substantional in the arts of portal making. At least not for how the world is now. Did you know that after the Harvester was sealed, a lot of magic was sealed with it? Perhaps you've delved deeply into the Archives, perhaps you haven't. But magic in the times before rarely works in the times of now." Sirro smiled slightly before smirking. "Take a seat. There is a perfect one next to you." He indicated towards the Beastkin whom quickly gets down on all fours behind Hecuba.

"...How..." Hecuba was still smiling faintly - perhaps [i]politely[/i] - but her gaze was evasive as she glanced between Sirroc and the kneeling beastwomen. "...quaint!?" She eventually decided on after a lengthy verbal pause. She turned slightly and appeared to size up the beastkin's knelt form, as if trying to puzzle together the logistics of actually sitting down on her back. For a brief moment it looked as though she was actually about to sit down - she began to shift the straps for her traveler's bag down off her shoulders, but then she stopped. "It would be irresponsible for me to use such an [i]unstable[/i] foundation for a seat considering the delicate items I am carrying with me, and I have been instructed not to let them off my person. Perhaps I should just stand if there are no proper seats available." She reshouldered the straps for her bag before perching one arm atop the other as she looked back at Sirroc. "But in any case - I suppose you are saying the Crucible Barrier is similar in some aspects to Hyperion's Interdict, before it was disjoined?"

Sirro laughed at Hecuba's diplomatic rejection of the seat. "That was a nice reply, even if slightly disappointing." He waved again and the girl ran out to collect a proper chair for Hecuba. "But as for your previous question; yes, monetary cost is not a problem, but it's not that cost that IS the actual problem. It's the raw power needed. And I guess your dissmissal of your chair means that blood magic is out of the question. So that leaves using another catalyst, like the Black Blood of the Earth. Even if you were onboard to sacrifice the amount of people it would take to take to cast the ritual, it is quite....how do you kids say it....uncool?" He chuckled to himself before continuing. "As for the second question, yes, the sealing magic is quite...annoying. Records exist of portals existing as a means of travel. The summoning of foreign beings to aid or destroy. Heh...the Harvester itself is a proof of that. To make sure that such an occurance never possible again the mages of old sealed away such magic from the world along with the being itself." He smirked again with clear superiority. "However I won't go into details, not unless you become my apprentice. A wizard has his secrets after all."

When the beastkin slave came scurrying out through the door, the silent Ishtar regarded her with one of her typical vile glares. She was unsure as to the nature of Sirro’s extent of control and sensory abilities in regards to the slave, but it didn’t much matter to her. As much as she hated his lecherous practices in wresting the minds of others from their control, Ishtar didn’t have much moral wiggle room. She just happened to work on a more soul-based level, finding her thralls in the dead. She presumed that was a part of why Sirro kept her around. Morality was so grey in the pursuit of ultimate truth, whether arcane or esoteric in nature. They were two sides of the same coin.

"I see." Hecuba's reply was clipped, as though she were eager to discuss something else. "Well, as long as you are willing to provide your assurance the method's premise is functional, a Black Blood matrix will certainly allow us to channel the power necessary for a portal. As you are aware, transubstantiated Black Blood is useless for our purposes, so we need a tap and foundry. Have you identified a suitable location in the countryside for us to draw the requiste materials from the earth?"

Sirro rubbed his chin with a slight smirk still on his lips at the evasive nature of the girl in front of him. Perhaps he had been wrong about her. Perhaps there was something else going on. It didn't matter too much though. He was about to reply when a soft knock came from the door. "Come on in," he said and the slave quickly made her entrance again, providng a proper chair for Hecuba to sit on. "As for location, yes, I do know of one. A pretty little place in the middle of the mountains. Unfortionatly it's currently in the possession of the Darakeene Rebels. The good news though is that they've already got most of the equipment needed for the process. So..are you prepared to spill some blood for your ambitions, little one?"

As Sirroc spoke, Hecuba slowly and carefully unshouldered her bag, setting it into her lap as she took a seat in the proferred chair. She crossed her legs demurely as she did so, and wrapped her arms almost protectively around the bag with a momentary sigh as she finally leaned back and relaxed her feet. "Well, Court Wizard, I would like to say that these are not my ambititions. They are yours, and to a [i]faint[/i] and indirect extent, those of the High Astronomer who is deferring to your preference. I will say both of the High Astronomer as well as myself that while we are open-minded academicians who have no true objections to either the Grand Kingdom's political ambitions nor to, hypothetically, the uses of dark and proscribed magic..." Hecuba paused briefly, giving Sirroc a cool and knowing look. "Bear in mind, the High Astronomer's personnage is subject to close scrutiny back in the lands of the Court of Stars. Please forgive me any apparent...[i]reticence[/i] on my part. As the High Astronomer's personal assistant, there are limits to what decisions I can make in his stead." She paused again as she looked on at him thoughtfully.

As the two academics toyed with the concepts of blood magic and their front of ethical observation in regards to the dark arts, Ishtar was hit with a slew of old memories from years of study. Perhaps she could leverage herself higher in this situation. Ishtar was, after all, about as far from being morally constrained by the use of the dark arts as possible. It was almost on queue after that when Sirro seemed to finally note Ishtar’s presence. After enough time working with the crazy man, she had become used to his abilities. As such, Ishtar was merely waiting to be announced. It was her own invented way of intruding on his meetings with the intention of being invited in, in all honesty. Much to Ishtar’s surprise, it usually worked.

"That said, I can say with some certainty that the High Astronomer would not object to the [i]parameters[/i] of the experiment, given they have been set by the senior researcher at hand. But I doubt this sort of excursion is one that would be supported by the Grand Kingdom itself, surely - in the sense that I doubt they would divert their armies for the sake of mere experimentation alone. How do you intend we secure the site?"

"Oh, these ambitions are not of the Kingdom, but of my own, and by extention yours. You want to see if it works, I've got the knowledge and the resources. Besides, if things goes like I want them to, and the portal is formed, I think this venture would benefit you more than I. Unadulterated access to my knowledge and backing, in return for the ability to read in the Archives in my spare time." He smiled kindly. "And yes, while I could easily request forces to be diverted, I don't know if that's the best thing to do. Think it might be better to send you, our little eavesdropper, and perhaps a few mercenaries or a smaller squad to get the job done. I could of course just wander in and do it myself; but where is the fun in that?" Sirro smiled and glanced towards the door before looking back at Hecuba. "Unless you don't think you're up for the task? Should I send a messege spell to the old codger and ask for his opinion perhaps?"

"Actually that will be fine. Chances are when the High Astronomer arrives here at the palace in a few days, he can have his audience with the King while I am out with this...band I suppose?" She turned her head inquisitvely to peer at the door. "[i]Is[/i] there someone at the door? I think you had better come in."

When it came to Sirro’s companion recognizing her presence, Ishtar finally stepped up and pushed through the already cracked open door as innocently as an expressionless husk could. She took a few the page she had discreetly secured for herself before completely switching gears. “I’d love to assist, Sirro. The mythic concept of jaunting through space has interested me for quite a long while— in recent days most of all.” Her blood-red eyes would have been expected to flick towards her superior as she spoke, but instead Ishtar’s zombified gaze seemed solely focused on its unmoving position. 

“While I’d be discourteous to deny the assistance of some living food sources, a small supply of corpses and reagents would be preferred if you could spare such. [i]I know you keep a tight budget, wizard.[/i]” Her final words came out with as much of a sense of sarcasm as a completely monotone and lifeless creature could carry. Finally, Ishtar shifted slightly in her taut and dystrophied muscles. She directed herself towards the astronomer. “I suppose I’m meant to guard this one, though?”

Sirro chuckled at his [i]assistants[/i] words. "Only for you child. Its not cheap to buy slaves, tomes and items of wonder you know. My measly budget can't afford to splurge. But yes, that would be preferable. The experience along with the ingredients you could gather, and the end goal would work well with your ambitions and wishes; would it not?" Sirro leaned back in his chair. "Now though, we would need to find you some companions to work with. Unless you're quite confident in your skills to take on a garrison by yourselves?" He tapped his chin. "I could always ask the marshal to redirect some forces. The princess is going to be going to battle after all. Might put his mind at ease with such a task instead of the front lines."

Ishtar responded in quite the opposing manner when compared to her superior. She could barely fake a laugh if she tried, but in this instance, she had no intentions for humor. "Mm... Yes, I see how it is. I'll find my companions along the way then." Ishtar managed to force her shoulders up into a lazy shrug. As Sirro brought up the possibility of reinforcements, her voice was almost audibly carrying a sense of disdain. "I believe you'd know my answer to that. I'm sure our fearless leader wouldn't be too happy if his precious daughter fell victim to some rampant undead menace out there just because it was hungry. I'll go it alo— well, [i]we'll[/i] go it alone, I suppose..."

"Uh..." Hecuba tentatively raised a finger to interject. "Actually we [i]should[/i] probably enlist a few others. While I am certain reanimated workers could perform most of the necessary labor under my supervision, please remember the destination of the portal. Assuming we are successful, the passage will be traversable in both directions. We will be receiving [i]inquiries[/i] from the other side, and I have my Master's repute to consider. If a member of the Grand Archives comes through and sees me directing undead laborers it would be..." Hecuba shook her hand waveringly in the air. "...[i]problematic[/i]. Not just for me, but for you, Court Wizard." She indicated to Sirroc as she crossed both her arms and looked to him. "You are the senior researcher. The Archives might ban you indefinitely for utilizing proscribed magical arts without prior consultation and leave. Or they might seal the portal from their end." 

"Problematic..." Ishtar echoed the words, tightening the expression barely visible on her gaunt skin. She didn't assume herself offended, but how she reveled in any laymen's remarks of the undead. To others, they were problematic. Ishtar, unfortunately, lived those problems. The wight cast a hand off in a flick to her side as a gesture of disregard. "Right. Right. Do what you will. Wouldn't want to harm the reputation of our allies." Ishtar momentarily paced to the side, sending a glance towards the door. She then directed her body towards Sirro. "Anything to escape your presence for a while, dearest friend."

Sirro chuckled to himself at the comments before opening his mouth to speak. "Go down to the war camp with this letter." he pulled out a letter from a drawer and handed it over to Hecuba. "This should grant you requisition of a squad for the task at hand. Go now, contact me through this crystal in dire circumstances or when you're finished." he continued and handed over a crystal to Ishtar.

"Alright. I will have to write to the High Astronomer later, but I am glad our research can now begin in earnest." Hecuba said jovially, clasping her hands behind her back and rocking on her heels excitedly. She turned to Ishtar with a contrmplative look. "I am Hecuba Amaranth, personal assistant to High Astronomer Ormoneric of the Grand Observatory of Ithell." She once again made the same curious gesture of greeting she had presented to Sirroc earlier - touching the lower portion of her chin with her left hand, while raising her right and making the arcane gesture of the starcaller. "A pleasure to meet you, my lady. Might I have the privilege of your name? I will follow where you lead - you know the way, and have markedly more authority here than myself. My talents are yours, should you need them. I am trained and educated in the art of celetial and cosmic evocation as practiced by the Astronomers of Ithell, but I am also capable of a wide breadth of essential mage-craft. The High Astronomer's research and needs are diverse."

Ishtar let her gauntlet's sharp fingertips curl greedily around the crystal. Just a moment later, the stone was hidden away beneath her robes. "When we are finished, then." There was a certain cockiness to her tone as she spoke, then turning to observe her newfound ally. Hecuba's strange gesture perplexed Ishtar, but she nonetheless responded in kind by closing her fist and bringing an arm across her chest, following such with a nearly undetectable bow. "Hecuba Amaranth... I am Ishtar Astarte Resheph. Archivist of Kron-Nesis and expert on culling dark threats. I wield old magicks forgotten by most. You shall see them come in handy on our journey. I advise you not to jump to conclusions about my skills, however."

After finishing her words, Ishtar shot a glance towards Sirro. She relaxed her expression as much as her gaunt exterior would allow. It certainly made her look less zombie-like. Alongside that, she threw her hood up over her head, shadowing her visage. Any precautions used to keep the peoples' eyes off of her were oft employed. She then offered a final remark. "It can't be productive to idle any longer. Shall we?"

"Of course. By all means." Hecuba gestured for Ishtar to lead them forward out of Sirroc's office.