after-party ♔ april

[wynn]

♬ Jeux d'eau - Ravel

WHO || Wynn, any and all Knights not currently on missions (if you are uncertain if your character would be at the castle for this, ask!)
WHAT || Squiring Ceremony Afterparty
WHERE || Knights Headquarters, the Ballroom
WHEN || April 1st, 2014, 6:00PM [backdated]
HOW || Prose OR Actionspam

The "afterparty" is rumored to be the real main event of the night. A black-tie affair in the lavish, opulent ballroom, it is every new Knight's chance to mingle and meet some of their new brothers in arms. Of course, a couple hours are provided following the ceremony for everyone to change, do hair and makeup, and choose from the vast array of formal attire in the closets of the balcony "dressing rooms" located at the top of spiraled staircases on either side of the ballroom. A separate dressing room exists for men and women, and they include full bathrooms (with, thankfully, very modern plumbing).

The squires are usually among the last to arrive, and the ballroom is full to the brim with a fancy array of people, of all shapes, sizes and species.

Hope you aren't shy. They're all here to meet you.

Feel free to make your own open threads for people to come congratulate your newly pledged knight.

ooc; also if your Knight wants to get all gussied up, you can make a Disguise (Cha) check for how good they were at hair/makeup/stylin', etc! This goes for... any time.

Comments

[daredtobelieve]

My colleagues and I derived a serum from a sample of pure vampiric blood, a race long dead in my world by that time. We injected ourselves to see what might happen. Each of the five of us gained an ability, presumably latent in our make up.

[bittersweeter]

[ "to see what might happen". so basically they were all buckets of nuts and it worked out. it's funny though, because she recognizes the impulse -- all curse workers have it. that's how a lot of people do their first curse. just... checking. lila's work was somewhat more insidious, but sleepwalking definitely came from the school of thought that merged with "let's poke it with a stick!"

she's really good at poking it with a stick. or, you know. touching electricity. or alex's mystery power. what is the danger in that????

her eyebrows lift, but her expression is thoroughly impressed. ] And the vampire DNA just jumpstarted it?

[daredtobelieve]

That was our theory. Though, considering it was a five of five success rate, it may be more likely that it mutated our own DNA, forcing the change.

[bittersweeter]

Huh. [ it's a conversational tone, still curious, but she's struggling on what else to ask. she is not a geneticist, no matter how much she's actually looked that kind of thing up or how much she just instinctively knows from growing up in a world where the genetics of curse work were talking about 24/7. ] Cool.

[daredtobelieve]

[Helen doesn't expect anyone to be an expert. She's had nearly three lifetimes to study the science of it all.]

Very cool, actually. I dedicated my life to seeking an understanding of the genetic abnormalities in the world- species never before seen, or abilities never before witnessed. With Wynn's help, I've been able to continue that work here as well.

[bittersweeter]

Ever met a curse worker?

[daredtobelieve]

Can't say that I have. Or if I did, perhaps they went under a different moniker.

[bittersweeter]

[ her arms unfold and she gives a little wave with her gloved fingers. ] You have now.

[daredtobelieve]

Oh. Oh. [Helens eyes light up a little.] And what exactly is a curse worker?

[bittersweeter]

Hyperbathygammy. [ she says this like it explains everything. ] There's a chemical in my brain, HBG, that gives me the ability to manipulate other people's brains.

[daredtobelieve]

I'm afraid I've never heard of it. [But she looks incredibly interested, turning more fully towards Lila, focusing on her completely.]

Manipulate them how, exactly?

[bittersweeter]

I can put people to sleep, make them sleep walk, play with their dreams. Stuff like that.

[daredtobelieve]

And you've always been able to do this? Or... as far as you can remember. I imagine the Veil makes things a bit hazy.

[bittersweeter]

Yeah, since I was a kid. [ like... a proper kid. super small. ]

[daredtobelieve]

Fascinating... [She fights back the urge to prod further, or to ask to study the ability (will 20 total).]

I imagine it must come in handy in the field.

[bittersweeter]

Sometimes. [ it certainly comes in handy when she's... not on missions and getting into hijinks. or she needs her prescriptions refilled. ] Some people are just really against torture.

[daredtobelieve]

[blink blink]

Sorry? What do mean- torture?

[bittersweeter]

Oh I said dreams, didn't I? Yeah, my forte is nightmares.

[daredtobelieve]

[A normal person might have backed off, found an excuse to end the conversation. Helen isn't really normal.]

So you can put a person to sleep and inflict your own choice of nightmare on them. Yes, I can see how that might be a rather insidious interrogation method.

Effective, though. At least, I imagine.

[bittersweeter]

Pretty much. My boyfriend said I should try to condition someone by way of, like, having them dream certain things to give them an instinctive fear response to it, but I haven't gotten around to it.

[ w o w lila could you be more of a psycho right now? ]

[daredtobelieve]

That sounds... Well, downright terrifying, actually.

[bittersweeter]

[ LILA SEEMS TO TAKE THIS AS SUCH A COMPLIMENT. ] Thanks!

[daredtobelieve]

[Well, it wasn't a discouragement but...]

I'm usually all for the development of these sort of abilities, but that does seem a tad extreme.

[bittersweeter]

It's just Pavlovian conditioning. I can give good dreams, but there's still all that controversy over whether reward in positive reinforcement actually works. [ and lila doesn't care enough about people to give them good dreams, ] Usually I just use it for a more in-depth kind of hypnotism.

[ yep, she didn't mention that she could mind control people did she??? getting to know you... ]

[daredtobelieve]

[Okay she's too curious. She can't not ask.]

You wouldn't be interested in letting someone take a closer look into it, would you? There are a few tests I could run that might help you learn just how far those powers might grow.