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Post by The Forgotten God on Sept 2, 2020 22:03:11 GMT
A upscale shop of curiosities, run by a strange old man named Alexios. He sells clocks, timepieces, jewelry, perfumes, and other eccentricities to the wealthy.
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Post by Justine-Juliette de Vair on Sept 2, 2020 22:09:32 GMT
Soon after arriving in Bastion and making herself at home in Ceutinde’s house of the overly long name, Justine had enough of twiddling her thumbs. She thought of the whispers and the weird time ship and pulled out the music box, turning the thing over in her hands. Right, she decided, she would figure out if this thing had caused the whispers and the tugging at the corners of her mind.
After asking a few questions in the bar area, Justine had enough information to seek out The shop of one Alexios. She dressed in her best clothes (because shopkeepers always took more kindly to you when you looked like you had some coin) and set out. Eventually, she came to the shop and went inside, where she looked for the proprietor.
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Post by The Forgotten God on Sept 2, 2020 22:20:30 GMT
An exceptionally short man opened the door for her. “Welcome welcome!” He said in one of those overly enthusiastic salesperson voices, “a lovely day to be visited by a lovely lady! However can I assist you?” She saw a tremendous collection of fantastically weird objects, but reassuringly she did see a corner with music boxes. “I’m Zeph!” There are a few other customers but they are steering wide of the strange little doorkeeper.
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Post by Justine-Juliette de Vair on Sept 2, 2020 22:26:19 GMT
“Uhhh...hello.” No one had ever seemed so excited to see Justine in her entire life. Not that she could remember. “Are you the proprietor? I have something to be...evaluated? Appraised? It’s a music box. I believe it to be enchanted or something.” She didn’t show it to him yet, instead just marveling at all the curiosities and bric a brac in the shelves.
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Post by The Forgotten God on Sept 2, 2020 22:31:48 GMT
The little man went to answer before a voice cut him off. “Send her back, Zeph.” It was a deep voice but had a hint of humor to it. The short man stepped aside then dramatically waved his hands back like he was presenting her. “Master Alexios, I present the lovey, the glamorous, the mysterious! Err..” he realized suddenly he didn’t ask her name, “...Madame Music Box!”
Alexios stood up from his chair near the back and waved her forward. He’s a genteel looking man in his middle fifties. He is dressed in expensive but slightly outdated clothing and has the most modern and expensive accessories. “Come on back. Let’s see what you have here today.”
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Post by Justine-Juliette de Vair on Sept 2, 2020 23:16:35 GMT
Justine looked from Zeph to Alexios and sketched an uncertain curtsy. “Well, thanks, Zeph.” She followed the older man to the back of the shop and pulled the little box from her satchel. “I’m Justine...” she paused and then realized her name was no longer anathema, “Justine de Vair. Pleasure to meet you.”
She held the box out to him for inspection. “It’s a curious thing, found in even more curious circumstances.”
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Post by The Forgotten God on Sept 2, 2020 23:35:15 GMT
“De Vair, de Vair...” he shook his head. “Seems like a name I should know,” he said. “But I won’t pretend to.” He put a little strap around his head with a magnifying monocle on it. “Curious indeed...” he made a strange face. “It’s a memory box,” he said confidently. “And an old one. Never imagined one would be in such magnificent condition. What dealer did you get this from?”
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Post by Justine-Juliette de Vair on Sept 2, 2020 23:58:11 GMT
She seemed almost relieved still that he did not know her family name.
As he inspected it she looked even more interested. “A memory box? Is there any way to find out whose it was? How old do you think it is, exactly?” She hesitated a moment when he asked where she had gotten it. “I found it while reclaiming,” she summarized..
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Post by The Forgotten God on Sept 3, 2020 0:24:59 GMT
Alexios tilted his head left and right as he thought. “I’d say a minimum of three or four centuries,” he said, “but if this came from another kingdom then it could be much older. Memory boxes are powered by something called a spirit gem. The dying put their memories inside the gem and they make the box to play it back for their loved ones. Even in antiquity they were exceedingly rare. Wherever you found this was a place of rare magic.”
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Post by Justine-Juliette de Vair on Sept 3, 2020 2:13:17 GMT
“Utterly fascinating,” she breathed. “So how do you make it work? We wound it and nothing much happened.” She thought about the whispers and things on the ship. “But I think it was somehow active before. When i found it, I mean.”
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Post by The Forgotten God on Sept 3, 2020 3:55:43 GMT
The old tinker frowned as he inspected it. “Well, you need to have an idea of what to recall when it’s played. That’s why it usually was used by family who could summon a memory from their thoughts.” He looked at it another few seconds. “But this has something special inside it, I’m sure of it. Pure ivory inside. No one’s worked that in centuries. Priceless...”
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Post by Justine-Juliette de Vair on Sept 3, 2020 16:02:25 GMT
Justine narrowed her eyebrows. “It’s marked Theodosius Arkaion on the bottom. Ever heard of him?”
She closed her eyes and tried to remember. “I think we heard it before..and I think we all heard something different. The room was full of magic. My friends looked rattled...and I felt like my...” She couldn’t mention Juliette. “Like there was a voice whispering in the corners of my mind. Is that what it’s supposed to be like, when it’s on?”
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Post by The Forgotten God on Sept 3, 2020 16:56:47 GMT
The tinker frowned. “I don’t know,” he said. “The newer ones are less subtle I think but I’d imagine whoever crafted it would have their own signature sort of style. Master Arkaion...I’ve heard the name. He was an enchanter a long time ago who legend says vanished into thin air or something. I imagine the Mist swallowed him up like everyone else. Don’t take less than two thousand gold for that,” he advised. “A real collector would pay four or five I think.”
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Post by Justine-Juliette de Vair on Sept 3, 2020 21:12:07 GMT
justine’s eyes widened a bit at the mention of the things value. “I’ll keep that in mind if I decide to sell. Is there any other way to figure out who or what stored their memories inside? Like if I took it to an enchanter or something?”
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Post by The Forgotten God on Sept 3, 2020 21:18:35 GMT
Alexios shrugged. “Might be,” he said. “Magical solutions to problems isn’t so much my lane. You could try one of the necromancers down in Oldtown. They love all that weird death-related stuff.”
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