Lares blinks in astonishment, taking it all in.
Amazing! Where the hell am I?
”Anyone here speak Latin?” he shouts.
He hesitates for a moment.
”Boarisch gäd aa,” he adds futilely.
Okeannetis stops when the man speaks in Latin "Yes, I do! My name is Okeannetis du Tytalus, and you are?"
Plasmatoris wanders through his gallery, and thought. She may be a muse, or a Faerie parasite. Or just as confused as he was. The style of the paintings seemed his, if much advanced. And the sculptures! Much better than he could do now.
He did a bit of scavenging - if this really was his, there should be a studio nearby. He wanted to get his hands on something to make sketches, or notes. Then he was going to find his way outside to look at this butterfly.
Assuming he can find a few tools is his art, he will wander out into the hot outside to enjoy the scene.
Lares seems extremely relieved, and almost runs towards Okeannetis. She sees a stout, shortish man roughly of her age, with a friendly smile, long brown hair. a massive beard, and noticeably ill-fitting clothes.
”Excellent news! Lares ex Miscellanea, at your service, dear lady.”
He lowers his voice slightly.
”It seems I am somewhat lost. You would not happen to be a local, would you? I could use some directions.”
Zarkut stares out at the strange vista, agog, drinking it in. After a diameter of mentally cataloging the various sights, he belatedly replies to the ghost. "Nowhere this warm? Isn't the Nile warm? I thought Egypt was a desert..."
Nicole looks uncertain as she answers "the year of our lord 1274? At least that's what I remember it being."
"By the Founder… 1274," says Argentius with a shake of his head. "How can this be? It should be 1181. Eusebius just accepted my masterpiece and unlocked the final step." He looks again at Nicole before stepping forward to explore beyond this room. He opens the door and steps forward into where it leads.
"I doubt you want to try to eat me, Ibis. And I'm talking about this door" he answers mentally as he steps out, before seeing the bird and approaching it. "Are you the Ibis?"
He mentally take in his surrounding, letting go an interjection of awe. He notes the presence of the two magi but avoids saying his name for now, unsure whether any of them are responsible for his presence here.
As Tastheus opens the door he sees a 10 year old boy with dark skin and dressed in white loose clothes that almost appear to be robes covering everything but his head and hands. He is continuing to talk in the language Tastheus does not understand.
Tastheus will leave the door open, and go change into a pair of adventuring clothes, those have the best fashion sense in his opinion. He strides out of the door, and goes down the nearest hall. He alternates between French and Latin, "Hello?! Is there anyone in this place who speaks Latin or French?!"
They look lost. All of them. Just as I am. Probably not the culprits, but fellow victims.
"Hello there. I speak Latin. I'm Aetherius ex Mercere. And you are?"
- appologies- I confused Zarkut's entity (not a ghost) with Lares ghost companion- strike that statement: "I do not recognize this place, but it matches the descriptions of the Libyan mountains, in the middle of the great desert, hunting grounds of the Red."
Silas finds a lab, complete with a lathe, and an altar which looks like it belongs in a church, but appears to be set up for magical work. On the altar are a set of lab texts, in his handwriting. The latest one refers to an experiment to "purge sinfulness" which was being conducted experimentally with divine vis that had apparently been acquired. There is also a small sword rack with three wands setting in it.
Plasmatorius finds doors to a breakfast room, a lab, two more galleries and a studio. In the studio he finds a paint brush made of cinnamon wood with pine needle "hairs" held in place with bronze fittings that he feels a strong connection to, as if it were a part of him.
Is Argentius heading outside or back towards his lab?
As Tastheus wanders through this otherwise empty building he finds a laboratory and a dining area, but no additional people inside the building.
Plasmatoris picks up the brush, gently running his hands along it, testing its weight and feel. Then he tucks it into a fold of his makeshift attire, along with the gemstone eye he's been carrying. "Mimi," he says. "I want to find other people. This situation is currently untenable. I also want to meet this butterfly, who seems to be my familiar. Can you lead me to them?" While in the studio, Plasmatoris finally picks up a small satchel so he can stuff things into it.
Is Argentius heading outside or back towards his lab?
Argentius is heading toward his lab.
As Tastheus wanders through this otherwise empty building he finds a laboratory and a dining area, but no additional people inside the building.
With that, Tastheus leaves the building, determined to find out what kind of covenant has captured him, and why. He continues to periodically shout "Hello?!" in both Latin and French.
[Sorry, when I read guy with no legs I was thinking guy with legs cut off, hence ghost]
Zarkut swears in surprise. "The Libyan mountains? That's... surprising. And far from my home. What do you mean by the Red?" As he continues watching the courtyard, he notices a few people that stand out as not being from here. But he stares at the wooden people, and the geyser, unable to resist examining their magical natures, and looks around for any other signs of magic.
Okeannetis is a small woman, about 4'6" tall (1.37m), with a rich auburn hair, and hazel eyes. Her clothes seem to be more fitting that his own.
"I am lost as well, or more to the point, a bit confused. That Monocerous over there is apparently my Familiar, but I don't recall binding it, as I just completed my Gauntlet. And I'm not even sure where this location is."
"We are Okeannetis du Tytalus, and this is Lares ex Misc. I am not sure whether this" and she spreads her harms, to show he entire place "is some elaborate scheme, or something stranger still."
”Salve, sodales! I am happy to see I am not alone in this. As for what this is, ’stranger still’ would be my humble guess, Okeannetis. Who could possibly manage a scheme of this magnitude?”
Lares looks around the yard.
”We should begin a coordinated effort to account for the situation. What other magi are here, who all these other people are, what those creatures are about… I am starting to develop a hunch of what is going on, but it’s just a hunch as yet.”
He looks from Okeannetis to Aetherius.
”Say, sodales, did you happen upon any possessions or creations of yours that you have no previous recollection of?”
As they speak, Okeannetis approaches the pen of the Monoceros. "If I set you free from this pen, would you promise not to flee? We are bound together, even if I don't recall how or when it happened, and I don't want to see you damaged. If you are, I will feel your pain, but I might not be able to get there in time to help. What is your name?"
And to the other two she says "Whatever is happening, I didn't see anything in the room I woke up in that could tell me more, nor any strange possessions or creation."
Silas rummages through what appears to be his own notes. There can be no question that these are his owns writing. That creature mustn’t be trying to deceive him then. He determines to proceed as if she was trustworthy. Silas put on the amulet and returns to the kitchen.
“Somehow it is my lab. You are correct. I am terribly confused as of what is going on. The last thing I remember is passing my Gauntlet at Verdi. But you say that yesterday I took you from Greece. Beyond that you seem familiar with my habits. How long have you known me?”
The pixie tells Plasmatorius "I would expect people to gather outside." she nods to the large window and door on the side of the studio, presumably to allow for natural lighting to paint by.
Argentius steps into a lavishly appointed lab with magnificent decorations (Palatial virtue), a massive map of the known regions of africa, a forge, a wax tablet, and light coming from small, inexpensive bits of cheap jewelry hung all over the room.
Tastheus will of course find the others outside.
Al Zahut responds, "The Red is a magical force, or so I understand, possessed of an all-consuming hunger which has been restrained by the temples to Ra and Isis which sit along the northern coast, and the throngs of people who worship there."
The monoceros is already out of his pen, it appears to have been constructed so it could come and go as it pleases, more like a home than a proper pen.
When Silas puts on the amulet his image shifts, concealing the sight, touch, and smell of his leprosy. "Yesterday, as I recall, you accepted me as your muse, though I have been following you for some time before that, especially your artistic career, the woodcarvings. You were living in Rome but had visited Thebes to study some of the Greek artists. You had, I believe, sacrificed your familiar and friendshis years prior to initiate the secrets of curse binding, which I believe you had placed on some artwork as gifts to certain individuals, as well as learning teh elder runes, and to make those" she points to a wooden man standing in the lab "that is your most popular model, the woodworker, which can help with construction and covenant upkeep, though you have made other amusements as well, though I do not see those around anywhere."
Argentius walks through the lavishly appointed lab with his mouth open, his finger tips sliding along table tops, brushing against bits of jewelry, caressing the forge. He turns a full circle in the center of the lab, taking in the place in full 360 degrees. "This must be a dream."
The magus then walks first to the wax tablet, looking down to read and study it, before looking about the lab for any other writings, journals, lab notes, or books.
"The detail of this dream… This couldn't be arcanely induced…"