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Post by Emiko on Jul 4, 2020 0:17:40 GMT -6
One of the most famous cathedrals ever built on the European continent can be found in the heart of Paris, France... Notre Dame is an incredible building known throughout the world for it's impressive size, antiquity, and architecture. Built by the Catholic Church in the 12th century, it has stood tall throughout the years as not only a gorgeous wonder, but a beautiful symbol of the Catholic religion itself... And yet...while Notre Dame came to possess her fame due to her beauty, there is yet another cathedral that would have surpassed her in fame had its rich history and potential not been kept hidden by the Church itself...
Along the borders of Eastern France in the former province of Bresse is the small city of Du-sang, a city named and known literally as the city of blood... This place throughout its history has seen atrocities the likes of which have never been seen anywhere else in the country... Whether from invaders slaughtering the inhabitants or civil wars being fought for control of the territory, much of the Du-sang's history is written in blood... It wasn't until a quiet European crusade during The Crusades in the 11th century that this hostile area was brought firmly under control by the Catholic church and the French government... When the area was conquered however, the governing entities learned a rather dark secret...
In what historical texts were available to them, The government and church discovered that Du-Sang was home to a strange source of power... What...power this land had wasn't fully understood, but it was tempting enough that the religious inhabitants and foreign invaders alike fought courageously to the bitter end for control of it... And now after thousands of years, unbeknownst to those that had conquered it, the French government and Catholic Church had control of something very powerful that they couldn't even begin to comprehend.
History would record officially that the royal government of the time would entrust the religious affairs of the city to the church while the government would see to area's political affairs. Slowly, but surely Du-sang was annexed into the kingdom and converted from its pagan beliefs. It would take a generation for everything to settle, but for all their efforts, the governing entities were able to completely 'change' the culture and beliefs of the city to align with that of the rest of the nation. It was also during this time however that the church happened upon the dark secrets hidden in this land's bloody past...
The city was home to an area of strange magical energy that could actually be harnessed and used by those that knew how... And to the Church, such a source of power was considered an unholy abomination... The Catholic Church realized what it meant for this information to get out, and so they purposely kept this knowledge from the French royals. To ensure the secrets would remain so, the Church destroyed any written records of this lands past and stamped out any traces of knowledge through a bloody, but quiet inquisition. And as the final act of safeguarding the secrets, the Church began laying the groundwork for a new religious site that was planned to rival that of Notre Dame herself. The new structure would be built to 'conquer' the pagan past and would be known as Sanctuaire Sacré...
The construction of this new religious site would start not long after the Church finished creating its great wonder in Notre Dame. However, as the Crusades came to an end and the Church found itself losing favor with European governments around the continent, the Catholic Order was forced to abandon their ambitious goal of second great cathedral. They were only able to build Sanctuaire Sacré to half of its planned potential which still resulted in an astonishing structure. However, this new cathedral would never live up to its intended glory and would forever be eclipsed by the building it was planned to rival...
Over the years, Sanctuaire Sacré would end up falling out of the direct rule of the Catholic Church and exchange hands in ownership many different times. The state ended up seizing ownership of the cathedral following the crusades before it fell into the hands of the local government following the French Revolution. In the 1840s, the cathedral was sold to a well off Catholic Priest who held ownership of the structure until 1845. It was in that year that ownership of the cathedral once again exchanged hands where it was acquired by a private citizen of high stature through...questionable means... That private citizen was none other than Lady Saveria...
A wealthy woman of noble descent, Saveria was well known throughout France and Europe in general for her exotic taste in sacred and religious artifacts. She was born to an upper class family and inherited her family's vast wealth when both of her parents mysteriously passed away when she was just 23 years old. At 25, Saveria had somehow miraculously tripled her wealth which enabled her to purchase the things she coveted most in the form of historical, religious structures often times built hundreds of years ago... While the desire for such a thing was strange to say the least, even stranger was how Saveria would often turn around and sell these structures not long after acquiring them for a much larger profit than when she bought them...
This cycle of buying and reselling these large, old cathedrals would continue for several years until Saveria purchased the Sanctuaire Sacre in 1845. It was here that she found exactly what she was looking for the entire time... Saveria had been building up her wealth and stature because...she knew out there somewhere was a cathedral that was built on the land that held a special, magical power... Though the Catholic Order had done everything it could to keep that knowledge hidden, somehow Saveria knew of this power and set out to ultimately possess it. And upon gaining ownership of the Sanctuaire Sacre in Du-sang...she found exactly what she had been looking for...
With ownership of this special location in her hand, Lady Saveria wasted no time in making the Sanctuaire Sacre her new home. She setup quarters on the second floors for herself and the staff that helped upkeep the church and turned the third floor which housed the cathedrals many bells into something of a museum where all of her acquired sacred, religious artifacts were on full display. Despite the church now being private property, Saveria was more than kind enough to allow those that followed the Catholic religion to come and hold services in the main auditorium on the first floor every Sunday. These acts allowances to assemble in the church for worship combined with her often charitable givings and acts for the community of Du-sang made her seem like a saint in the eyes of the people. However...she was anything but that... Lady Saveria very much had a dark side and anyone that found that out would no longer have a will to call their own...
While owning Sactuaire Sacre and the ancient magic that it held was Saveria's ultimate goal, she still often set out on long trips to seek out and acquire new, priceless artifacts for her collection. A woman with a great lust for wealth and power, she desired to own everything the world had to offer and spent the next 5 years amassing an enormous collection. By 1850, Lady Saveria had one of the richest private collections and was one of the most wealthiest women in all of Europe. But despite all of that, she still wasn't satisfied always desiring more than what she had...
It was at this time in spring of 1850 that Savaria was about to head out to a nearby city to negotiate the purchase of a newly discovered artifact imported from England. Walking down the stairs of the cathedral in her nicest formal, black gown, Saveria was greeted by a trope of servants and maids standing by with the high priest she 'appointed' over the religious affairs of the building among them. She walked calmly to the waiting horse drawn carriage with grace very much use to the high heeled boots she often wore and wasted little time opening the door of the carriage preparing to get inside. Before stepping in however, she turned back to the high priest whom seemed to be in charge when she wasn't around and glanced to him with her deep blue eyes. Smiling those rosy lips of hers, Saveria brushed a strand of her dark black hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ears as she addressed the priest.
"...I will only be gone a day at most..." Saveria said as she felt around her hair with her black clad, gloved hands making sure every strand her long black hair was tied up beautifully and perfectly. "...It probably goes without saying, but I'm leaving you in charge of my estate while I'm gone. See to it that things remain up to standard here and that everything is in perfect order for when I return. I don't anticipate these negotiations will take long..."
The priest, a middle aged man with silver-white hair and brown eyes offers a smile to the woman that addresses him. Dressed in the usual attire one would expect of a Catholic priest, the man known as Siro gives Saveria an obedient nod of his head and addresses her with the utmost respect to assure her that what she desires will be carried out.
"Of course, Lady Saveria. I have looked over your estate many times without incident, and this will be no different. You can travel with peace of mind knowing that this place is in good hands."
Hearing these words is enough to make Saveria's lips curve into a smile of satisfaction. She turns from the Siro and proceeds to get into the carriage to take off for her trip. However, before she closes the door and concludes their meeting, Saveria suddenly remembers something she forgot to mention.
"Oh, I almost forgot... She was kind enough to help me with some...errands last night and her treatment took longer than usual. I didn't want to wake her up this morning to say good bye. Please make sure you keep the noise down to a minimum until she wakes up and then inform her of my gratitude for her services last night."
Understanding who she is, Siro offers Lady Saveria that same understanding smile and once again offers a nod of his head to show he will see to it Saveria's wishes are fulfilled in full.
"Understood, Lady Saveria. I'm sure she'll be glad for the extra rest. And I'll see to it that she's informed of your words immediately upon waking. As I said, you needn't worry about anything. This cathedral is in good hands, my lady."
With the confirmation given to her by the high priest, Lady Saveria feels satisfied enough to offer him a smile of her own. Feeling things are in perfect order, the head Mistress grabs the door of the carriage and closes it behind her. With the passenger now safely inside the vehicle, the female rider quietly nudges the horse to start moving. With the large iron gates closing behind them as they leave, the carriage sets off towards a nearby city where Saveria seemingly has some business to attend to. Trips like these are hardly uncommon for Saveria, and most ended without incident. What Lady Saveria didn't know however was that something very out of the ordinary was about to happen today... What she had worked so hard to acquire throughout the years was in serious danger...
(Reserved for Yum)
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Post by yooom on Jul 6, 2020 13:50:43 GMT -6
The carriage cut a quiet, peaceful route through the serene countryside as Lady Saveria and her driver made their way from the ancient chapel, winding its way easily up the winding streets. The carriage protected the lady from the elements, but it also obscured much of the picturesque landscape from her. Consequently, she never even noticed the silhouette watching the carriage from a nearby hill.
Ravenna Drake smiled, rising as the stately carriage disappeared from view. There was only one person who would require so ornate a carriage for their travels in all of Sanctuaire Sacre: Lady Saveria, connoisseur and collector of countless holy and magical artifacts. She’d been all over the continent, obtaining these relics in all kinds of ways, buying out whole churches just for their stores, dealing with all kinds of unsavory sort in the black market, even, if the rumors were true, plundering graveyards for the bones of centuries old saints. Regardless of what exactly composed Saveria’s collection, all were certain that it was housed in this little shrine. It was the perfect place to make a lair for the bizarre collector, a venerable site in itself, and far from prying eyes. Well...most prying eyes.
Ravenna knelt back down, and began playing with one of the many rings she wore, until she had detached a green gem that glowed faintly with a magical aura. She set it down on the hill, pressing it into the dirt, before rising, and making her way down to Sanctuaire Sacre.
Although it was late in the morning, it was quite quiet, the road was empty, which worked well for Ravenna. No one would have easily forgotten the rather peculiar sight of her. A tall woman, dressed in a long, dark coat with innumerable pockets, a pair of thick, metallic boots that would have seemed oddly quiet to a passerby, and a small brown shawl draped over her shoulders, quite at odds with the rest of her appearance.
Not even bothering with the gates, Ravenna made her way to the back of the property, trespassing with an easy grace, her gaze tracking along the walls, and the buildings beyond, calculating. Then she bent low, and sprang upwards, in a jump that carried right over the walls in a single bound, the magic of the boots extending her stride. It would have been quite an impressive feat, had she not let out a nervous squeak as she cleared the wall, landing almost silently.
The intruder turned swiftly from side to side, taking in her new surroundings. The high wall behind her, she was directly behind the back of the church. The high walls of Sanctuarie Sacre stood a few feet in front of her, curving around where the altar must have been, the stained glass muted on the exterior side. A small building stood beside the main chapel, connected by a small, covered path lined with pillars, Ravenna ducked into this pathway, tugging at her shoulders. For a split second it shone blindingly bright. When the light had faded, it was gone, and Ravenna was dressed instead in a quiet habit.
Saveria was not the only one with a collection. And, while Ravenna had nowhere near the sheer number of artifacts that the owner of Sanctuaire Sacre had, each of hers she’d picked specifically to help her obtain more. The thief grinned to herself, and took off down the hallway at a light jog.
It was a simple mission she had assigned herself. Get in, get whatever struck her fancy, and get out. The most difficult part was already done, and without the slightest difficulty from whatever guardians Saveria had assigned to the Sanctum. Now all that was left was to find Europe’s greatest reliquary, and take from it. From what she’d heard of it of how extensive the collection was, Saveria probably wouldn’t even notice anything was gone.
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Post by Emiko on Jul 6, 2020 16:14:32 GMT -6
Lady Saveria had no reason to ever believe that her priceless collection would ever be in any danger. Thanks to the 15 foot high brick walls she had built all around the church with a large iron gate being the only way in and out of the estate, her home was rather hard to get into unnoticed. Most would have had to come through the front gate to get to her valuables which...was not a thief's way in... The only real serious attempts ever made at her valuables were often from clueless amatures who were easy to spot and would get apprehended long before they ever set foot into the church...
While the walls and gate proved to be the most effective defense in keeping Saveria's valuables safe, it was far from the only things that a thief had to contend with if they were to steal her treasures. As ironic as it was, the church itself proved to be something of an obstacle for anyone who had ill intentions.
With the ancient stone structure being three stories in length, a thief would have to search far and wide to find the valuables... Just getting through the wide open auditorium on the first floor would be hard enough... The Catholic priest often stood or sat on the stage at the far end of the church reading the Biblical texts and attending to the estate from the central podium which Saveria had purposely setup for him. Even if a thief did get get by the priest unnoticed, the light shining in from huge circular stain glass window behind the stage illuminated the area greatly making 'hiding in the shadows' a difficult task... It was possible for a thief to hide along and behind the large columns that supported a large platform that surrounded the church allowing audiences to view the services from up above. However, navigating to one of the only two staircases on either side of the church to get to the second floor would be hard without being noticed...
If a thief were by some miracle able to navigate the main floor without being seen, they would then have to find a way to transverse the second floor of the cathedral which had been converted into living quarters for Lady Saveria and her staff. As this floor housed modern facilities for the time including bedrooms, a kitchen, bathrooms, etc. it was almost guaranteed that most of the staff's activity that up-kept the property would be working here... Getting through these living quarters unnoticed would be even harder than getting through the auditorium itself...
Should the thief however find a way to move through the living quarters without notice and find the only staircase in the back of the church that lead to the third and final floor of the cathedral, only THEN would the thief find her treasures... Lady Saveria intentionally put all of her valuable artifacts on the third floor with a wide open concept. The only walls present in on this floor were the ones that supported the otherwise flat room. Due to the nature of it's construction, this floor looked like nothing more than a large attic savor the cathedrals many bells hanging some 50 feet overhead that were used to signal certain times to the city of Du-sang. It was in this attic-like-room, along the walls in various display cases that Saveria kept her treasures.
Lady Saveria always figured that her treasures were safest in the place where no one would consider them to be kept. Common thieves would often start hunting on the first, or perhaps second floor of the cathedral thinking they'd be in these spacious areas. Never did any think to look in the dusty attic-like-room where the bells were kept. Now had the planned architectural wondrous bell tower been installed when the building was planned long ago, it might have been a different story. The tower was drawn to stand as a stand alone beacon with the bells ringing gloriously to all of France. However...the tower was never built and left all of the magnificent bells to be placed in this old, dark room... Only small windows spread throughout the large room gave any sort of light outside of candlelight, torches, and lanterns...
Due to the buildings unique architecture and renovations, Lady Saveria never one time experienced the theft of her property. There were just so many factors that an average thief had to contend with thanks to the building's features alone. Saveria wasn't so arrogant though to think that there would never be an instance where a thief couldn't bypass the building's structural defenses... She also made a point to put other measures in place to ensure that anyone that DID make it to the bell room never made it out alive... And that line of defense would be the most lethal one of them all...
Still, that wasn't to say that an experienced thief couldn't get into and navigate the Sanctuaire Sacre with the right tools and know how. True enough, Ravenna had successfully infiltrated the walls easy enough. However...did she have the tools needed to transverse the building and get to the room where all the treasures were kept without notice...?
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Post by yooom on Jul 7, 2020 10:38:32 GMT -6
Confidently, Ravenna pushed open a thick, oak door, and entered Sanctuaire Sacre’s main hall. Having overcome the chapel’s remoteness and it’s exterior protections, she was confident that there would be little, if anything more, in the way of additional defenses.
She caught herself a second before it was too late, pulling herself backwards as she entered a large hall, disappearing behind a row of pillars into an aisle. Pressed up against the cool stone, she listened carefully. Sure enough, there it was again. From the end of hall, at the high altar, there was a voice, faint, but definitely there. She leaned forward, slowly, gazing down the hall, until she spotted him. It was a curious hall, a long, wide room, with thick pillars running from the end of the hall to the altar, but with a strangely low ceiling for a cathedral, especially given how tall the building had seemed on the outside. Ravenna glared up at the ceiling. Something was up there, an additional story, perhaps more. Trust Saveria to make things more difficult, even from miles away. Scowling, her hands began rummaging through her pockets, while she stared intently along the hall, focusing on the altar, and the man by it.
Finally, she pulled out from one of her innumerable pockets a small, flat, round pebble. A curved arrow had been carved into one side of it. Winding up, remaining hidden behind the pillar, she threw it. The stone sailed over the man’s head, and bounced against the heavy stone, landing on the floor behind him, the clattering sound echoing across the quiet stones. She heard the recitation come to a pause, and, as the priest turned to see where the sudden noise behind had come from, Ravenna moved, darting across the nave quietly, and ducking out of the hall, into a stairwell. She smiled grimly. Here was the mystery of the low ceilinged hall solved, there was a whole story above, quite a surprise for the intruder, but she darted up them all the same.
A moment later, she found herself at the top of the stairs, in another wide hall, with an even lower ceiling. Instead of the wide, clear hall below, this floor was a cluttered dormitory, with rows of dusty beds and heavy chests running down the hall. She scowled, disappointed at the lack of treasures, though she was thankful it was deserted. Indeed, some of the beds didn’t seem like anyone had been in them for many years. Despite the quiet, she made her way cautiously. She could hear the sounds of movement in one of a set of smaller rooms to the side, perhaps a kitchen or sitting area, and ducked behind a bed, stealing past them one by one, uncertain where she was going. A small door in one corner seemed to speak to her, and she made her way carefully for it. It was a difficult trip, only a few feet, and yet every so often one of the chapel’s staff made their way through the hall, and she had to wait for them to leave behind one of the beds, but she had soon made her way to the door. Finding another stairway going up, she slid the door shut silently, and made her way up the staircase.
She blinked, taking a second to adjust to the sudden darkness. Despite the fact that it was still the middle of the day, the room was quite dark, lit only by a few tiny windows. As her settings came to her, she let out an excited gasp, stepping in place eagerly. Here at last were the cases lining the walls, packed with items, a museum like setting. A row of large, tomb like structures stood at the end of the hall and, towering above everything were the bells, hanging down from above like giant, metal bats. She paused silently, awed by her surroundings. She had made it. She was in the middle of Saveria’s reliquary. Magical artifacts from all over the world had been gathered together for this room, and now they were all up for grabs for the young thief. She let out an excited little giggle, springing forward, examining the cases, eager to learn what wonders Saveria had stored away here.
So eager, in fact, that she did not thoroughly check the room to make sure she was entirely alone.
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Post by Emiko on Jul 7, 2020 11:59:12 GMT -6
Under normal circumstances, Ravenna would have probably had a harder time getting to the bell room than what she had... The priest however was not necessarily any sort of watch dog and easily fell for the clever thief's stone trick. Likewise, most of the staff that would have otherwise been stationed on the second floor were out tending to various aspects of the front lawn working to install a beautiful garden Lady Saveria hoped to have up very soon. As a result, Ravenna was able to wiz through the cathedral with incredible ease all the way up to the bell room. And once she entered that room, her efforts were richly rewarded...
All along the walls of this rather darkened room were treasures as far as the eye could see. Sacred, magical relics that Saveria had spent the last decade collecting for herself. There were rings, cloths, gem stones, talismans...all sorts of treasures that were locked behind simple display cases. The contents of this room were equaled to a measure of wealth that was unseen anywhere else in all of Europe... Not even the kings that lived on the continent had riches that surpassed what Lady Saveria had hidden in this room. And all of this...seemed to be Ravenna's for the taking. Unfortunately for her though...it wasn't going to be that easy...
Ravenna was able to make it through the dark room and even happen upon the first treasures in her path without incident making this seem as if she really could get away with the heist of the century... However, not a single moment after her fingers could graze the glass of the display cases, the sound of the gun cocking could be heard echoing behind her... Judging by the sound, someone had just loaded a firearm of some kind, and the accompanying steps that followed made it very clear that someone else was in the room...
"...That's close enough..." The voice of a young woman said as the sound of the footsteps moved ever closer to where Ravenna was. "...Lady Saveria doesn't like un-welcomed guests in this room. And she gets especially upset when said guests go near her possessions without permission..."
...Whoever was in this room with Ravenna seemed to be something of a guardian of the treasures. While the faint foot steps and voice could only hint who Saveria had put in charge of security of this room, the darkened place made it otherwise impossible for anyone to clearly see who the protector was. Thankfully or...perhaps unthankfully in Ravenna's case, she wouldn't have to wait long to see who was in this room with her. The guardian of this place quietly stepped into the light allowing herself to be seen, though...it was an intimidating sight for a thief to behold...
Stepping into the light, Ravenna would see a young woman perhaps in her mid 20s standing with a single shot musket aimed directly at her. The woman's upbringing would prove difficult to determine due to the fact that she was dressed as if a commoner by wearing a simple, but long burgundy skirt with a matching mid-sleeve top with a pair of simple black slip-on flats on her bare feet. This...contrasted heavily with her clearly upkept wavy brown shoulder-length hair and soft hints of makeup in the form of expensive lipstick and blush softly placed on her face... The only thing that Ravenna would clearly be able make out about this woman was the evident sincerity of her only visible right blue eye. Her left eye...was mysteriously hidden behind a strange eye patch that was covered by her long side-swept bangs...
This girl, known as Celaine seemed to be the guardian of this room... And if the fact that Ravenna literally had a musket pointed at her didn't say as much, Celaine's dark and calloused words certainly did...
"...If you value your life in any regard, you will step away from my Lady's property and get out of this place right now... I will not be so kind as to warn you again..."
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Post by yooom on Jul 7, 2020 14:45:38 GMT -6
Ravenna’s heart jumped into her chest at the sudden click of what was immediately familiar at the sound of a gun being cocked. She cursed her foolishness in her head, how on earth could she have failed to keep an eye out for someone. She had done it in every other room, why had she allowed herself to get distracted when she had come so close to making it without a fight. She sighed, and turned around, slowly, to come face to face with her captor.
Ravenna raised an eyebrow. Nothing about this girl, or the weapon she held, was what she’d expected. Rather than a nun, or someone in a religious order, she seemed to be dressed in the clothes of a commoner, albeit a rather well-of one. She was shorter than Ravenna, the disparity between their heights exacerbated by the fact that the girl was in flats, to Ravenna’s boots. Her hair was well kept, and her face was rather pretty, save the dark patch covering one of her eyes, only slightly visible behind a wave of hair that seemed carefully preened to obscure that half of her face. Even more curious than the girl’s appearance was the weapon she held, a musket, about as long as the girl was tall, indeed, perhaps a bit longer. The thing was outdated, an antique by the standards of the day, but Ravenna doubted that it made it any less effective, especially at this close a range.
“Trust me, stranger,” she said, with a friendly wink, taking a step away to the guardian, hoping that her expression would distract her from the steady movements of her hands as they slid smoothly into her pockets for a split second. They were out again, and she raised her hands in surrender, keeping her thumbs and index fingers held tightly together, hoping that she wouldn’t notice the tiny bits of powder pressed between them. “There is nothing I value more than my life.”
“But, I assure you,” she continued, in a calm voice. “There is no need for,” she gestured to the gun Celaine’s hands, taking care to keep her finger and thumb still pressed together. “that. I mean no harm to your Lady’s possession. Indeed, Lady Saveria herself permitted me to observe and catalog her collection.” She gave Celaine a nod. “Though she could have done me a favor and told me she had an armed guard up here,” she said, with a feigned titter. While her nervousness was a complete facade, there was a small truth to what she had said. She had not expected guards in the facility, she hadn’t thought Sevaria would have trusted anyone but herself inside the reliquary itself. “I take it that she did not mention me to you either,” she said, sheepishly. “Might I have your name?”
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Post by Emiko on Jul 7, 2020 16:27:02 GMT -6
Ravenna would find that...trying to talk herself out of the situation or even getting Celaine to drop her guard was a task not easily accomplished... Every word she spoke seemed to fall on deaf ears, and that musket aimed at her would continue to remain so even as she moved away from the treasures. To anyone else, Ravenna's lie about how she'd been personally selected to catalog the collection of Lady Saveria could have been taken as a believable truth. Even the priest of the church would have probably came to believe it. But...that was not the case with Celaine at all...
After Ravenna 'explained' herself and went on to inquire about the guardian's name, Celaine just stared at her silently for what seemed like an eternity... With almost...military like discipline, she remained firmly on guard with her finger on that trigger waiting to fire if something even remotely suspicious was noticed... Just when it seemed like the silent tension in the air would most likely be shattered by the blast of the muzzle, it was instead broken surprisingly by Celaine.
"...Your saying that...my Mistress has personally selected you to examine the contents of her treasures and that this is some sort of misunderstanding... Is that right?" Celaine asked with an obvious hint of skepticism in her voice... The reason for her skepticism would show itself as she continued on...
"...That's funny because...I've been in the service of my Lady for three years and in that time, no one has been allowed to even view these possessions, much less catalog them. The only reason why anyone would come into this room is because they have either crossed Lady Saveria and are to be put to death by her hands. Or...they are unfortunate souls that my Mistress would experiment on with her treasures...myself included..."
Following this rather dark explanation, Celaine took a couple of soft steps towards the side to clear the way for Ravenna to take the stairs back down and ultimately out of this place. However, while this was a gesture to show that she was being let go, that musket never one time left Celaine's shoulder, nor stopped being aimed at Ravenna's body... If anything, the riffle was pulled up just slightly towards the thief's head showing the situation was intensifying more than anything else...
"...I don't take kindly to being lied to and will not give my name to those that deceive me. Nor am I in any mood to play games with you, thief... I've already told you what you need to do in order to survive this. And as I said, I will not offer the kindness of a warning again. You had best heed my words and leave this place or...I will kill you and do so with no regret..."
It may have been painfully obvious at that moment that Celaine wasn't fooling around in the slightest... In fact, in a way, it almost seemed as if it were taking everything inside of her not to pull that trigger right then and there. Yet, as she held that firearm steady, she was offering the thief a way out of this alive showing that...there was some sort of compassion behind that firm resolve... Still...it didn't make the situation any less threatening and if Ravenna were to make an attempt at anything in this room, it would be at the risk of her own life... Was the greatest treasure trove in all of Europe worth risking her life for...? Only Ravenna could answer that...
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Post by yooom on Jul 9, 2020 11:14:23 GMT -6
Ravenna’s smile slowly faded as Celaine spoke, cold rage in her voice. Evidently, whoever this was was not about to take kindly to trespassing on the territory of her Mistress, as she called Sevaria. She listened to Celaine speak but, while her words about Sevaria performing experiments sparked the thief’s curiosity for a moment, she did not give it too much thought.
No, Ravenna’s mind was whirring, thoughtful. Thanks to the gem she’d buried on the hill she was in no immediate threat of being captured, she could be half a mile from this dingy room and its gruff guardian before Celaine had even realized what she’d done. But she couldn’t do that...at least, she couldn’t do that just yet. She’d made it this close, she was literally standing in the middle of Sevaria’s horde, and she’d be damned if she left without taking at least something. It wasn’t the get-rich-scheme she’d had in mind, but she wanted at least a memento of her trip, something to show off when she got the chance to brag about the time she’d robbed the Lady Sevaria herself. But first, she’d have to get out from under this girl’s gunpoint.
She took an apologetic step backwards, towards the door she’d come from, hands still raised, finger and thumb still tightly clutching the powder. “Your devotion to your, um, Mistress, is inspiring,” she replied, the bravado in her voice much diminished, though still faintly present. And, without so much as another word of warning, she snapped her fingers, hastily shutting her eyes.
There was a blindingly bright white flash of light, as the powder in her fingers took immediately. It took Ravenna with her eyes shut aback, and she was certain that Celaine, who’d been in this dark room long before her, would be completely blinded for about a minute. She moved swiftly, diving behind a glass case filled with ossuaries, watching her carefully.
“I’d be careful with that gun,” she warned. “That powder can be quite explosive, you’ll blow your own face off if you try firing it in here.” It was another lie, but she was hoping that the stunned Celaine might have enough of a sense of self-preservation to fall for it. The powder was in fact some ash from the Holy Fire, a fire that never died, even when it had burned to ash. It was more popular in Eastern Europe, Ravenna doubted that this rural French girl would know of it. Having revealed her location to the blinded girl by shouting she scrambled away, keeping an eye on Celaine as she examined the nearby cases.
Circumstances weren’t exactly ideal for plundering, a blinded and doubtless very angry guard in the room, but Ravenna was never going to be able to wander Sevaria’s hoard at her leisure. She scanned the nearest glass case, which housed only a handful of broken shards of wood, scowled, and moved to the next one. Seeing a handful of dazzling golden necklaces, she grinned, and began immediately scanning the case for any signs of alarms or traps, somewhat haphazardly, as she knew her bought time was running out.
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Post by Emiko on Jul 9, 2020 12:14:15 GMT -6
Celaine's aim was as sincere as it ever was and wouldn't be lowered even as Ravenna quietly moved to where she had came from. She seemed to be doing everything in her power to prevent this encounter from escalating into a more serious, perhaps bloody affair... There...honestly could have been a thousand good reasons why she was doing so. However, in her efforts to contain this situation, Celaine had no idea that she was actually setting it up for something more serious...
Ravenna's quiet actions and lack of words following Celaine's warning threat lead the room's guardian to honestly believe that the thief would go on her way and leave things be... And that silly belief brought a false sense of hope that caused Celaine to drop her guard ever so slightly. It dropped only a little bit and only for a moment, but that moment proved to be the poor girl's downfall... For just as it happened, Ravenna snapped her fingers causing a flash of light to illuminate the room in a blinding display...
Not the least bit prepared for what happened, Celaine let out an agonizing yell as her exposed right eye was suddenly blinded by the bright flash. In response, she ended up dropping the musket and falling to her knees where she frantically tried to rub the affects from her eyes. However, this proved to be a pointless act as her sight would not return for a short while thanks to that sacred ash that Ravenna used...
Celaine's focus would shift from herself back to Ravenna's when the thief 'warned' her about the firearm potentially exploding in her face. If this had happened to anyone else of Celaine's apparent upbringing, they would have been skittish, even downright hesitant to even touch what was clearly an aged fire arm. That wasn't Celaine however, and either because she knew the truth or she flat out had no sense of self preservation, the blinded girl literally grabbed the musket she had dropped and blindly fired it in the last known location that Ravenna had been in.
...Had Ravenna not moved to the display cases after blinding Celaine, she would have ended up with a surprisingly accurate shot to her heart... Not realizing that the thief had since moved, Celaine's careless shot was a complete miss. However, the immediate shot and surprising accuracy she displayed with it would have conveyed a clear message of just how serious of a threat Celaine was. If not for the fact she was temporarily handicapped by her blindness, it was very possible that Ravenna would be a corpse right now...
Regardless of how much of a threat Celaine was, it didn't change the fact that she was still blind and had just fired her one, and only shot. At this point, all the poor girl could do was return to trying to clear up her vision in her right eye so that she could see again. She knew right away that her shot was an utter miss and at this point resorted to her words uttering harsh threats in her otherwise helpless state...
"...You cowardly thief! I swear if you touch ANYTHING that belongs to Mistress Saveria, I will kill you! Leave this place now, or you will find yourself in a hell the likes of which you could never imagine!"
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Post by yooom on Jul 9, 2020 13:30:43 GMT -6
Ravenna had hoped to disable the gun, or at least give her a few moments pause in the attack. This proved to be incorrect as, with an angry roar, Celaine opened fire, sending a bullet right through where Ravenna had been a moment ago, shockingly accurate given that she shouldn’t actually be able to see, having supposedly been blinded by the spark of Holy Fire. Was she somehow able to see still? Was she able to detect her in some other way? Sure, she would have heard Ravenna’s voice but the level of accuracy was beyond surprising.
Ravenna said nothing, silently studying the case a few moments longer, pulling from another pocket a faded, glass lens, and gazing through it. The case didn’t appear to be trapped, which made Ravenna even more suspicious of it. It suggested to her not that the cases simply weren’t trapped, but that Sevaria was one step ahead of her. But the furious shouts from Celaine hurried her, and she pulled out the stone with the curved arrow from her pocket again, and, leaping away from it, threw the stone against the case. The glass shattered, but no accompanying gunshot rang out. It did not seem like Celaine was attempting to fire. Was she waiting for a better shot? She hardly seemed the type to hold back.
Crouching down to keep herself from the line of fire, Ravenna hastily returned to the shattered cabinet, scooped up the handful of bejeweled necklaces into a coat pocket, and stood, triumphant. It wasn’t exactly the cleanest operation, but she’d done it. She’d accomplished her goal. Leaving was a simple matter, thanks to the ring she now clutched in her hand. It was perhaps her most complex artifact, and her most useful. A tug to the unjeweled ring would cause the wearer to return to wherever the gem had been placed, in this case, the quiet hill beyond the estate, far from the raging Celaine’s range with her blunderbuss, or whatever ancient gun she wielded. Firearms, magical or otherwise, were far beyond Ravenna’s knowledge.
She’d seen the most wondrous room on the continent, practically radiating with holy magic from every wall, every sacred artifact, and taken from it. She grinned over at Celaine, and called out. “Well, it sure was nice to meet you!” And with that, she tugged the ring.
Nothing happened.
Ravenna stood for a split second, dumbstruck, before diving back behind the counter, swearing in a half dozen languages. Why was she not already out of here? Why wasn’t the ring working? Her eyes turned back to the room, and she scowled at the ancient walls. Something to do with the place she was, she suspected, dread starting to fill her. How typical of Sevaria, to make it too easy to enter the reliquary, and impossible to leave. It wasn’t just a reliquary, this whole room, perhaps this whole complex, was a trap. And now she was stuck, her only way out blocked by the screeching girl, who she did not want to mess with. Her hands went through her pockets, scrabbling nervously, mind racing as she tried to think of another trick to get past her. She had a few ashes from the Holy Fire left, but she doubted Celaine would fall for the same trick twice.
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Post by Emiko on Jul 9, 2020 13:51:36 GMT -6
Ravenna's choice not to throw any sort of words at Celaine while she went about doing her dishonest handiwork actually in some ways worked in Revanna's favor. If...it wasn't painfully obvious by now, Celaine had a bit of a temper and the devotion to protecting her Mistress' treasures couldn't be overlooked. Had Revenna taunted her, or said anything demeaning in anyway, that would have doubt sent Celaine into a raging fit to do far more than throw out insults... But...what exactly could a temporarily blind girl who had fired her one, and only shot do...?
Celaine would remain silently working to try and gain her vision back for the next few moments knowing herself how poorly she was doing her job... She was just beginning to gain traces of her sight back when she heard the sound of something shattering in the distance. Turning her head in that direction, she could see the blurry scene as it happened... The thief reaching into the display case and taking the priceless treasures that her Mistress had spent years collecting... Even though it was a blurry sight, it was still a chilling one to her for some strange reason...
The sight of Ravenna holding the glistening jewels in her hand was more than enough to make Celaine's blood boil... What really struck her however was when Ravenna threw out a simple taunt of how it was nice to have met her... For whatever reason, that simple, but snide comment rubbed Celaine the wrong way. And just like that, her flailing threats suddenly turned silent as she lowered her head to the ground and closed her one blurry eye...
She said nothing as Ravenna attempted to magically teleport herself out of the manner seeming as if she had accepted the defeat... However, even as Ravenna hid herself away and tried to verbally reason out what was going on, Celaine seemed to make no movements or sounds... Her vision was starting to clear up enough that...she could have done something, but her silence at the moment was all she gave to the intruder... What seemed like silent defeat however, was actually a quiet rage that was boiling to the surface... And not long after Ravenna realized the only way out of this place was the through the same way she came in, Celaine's rage erupted and forced her to take rather...drastic means...
"...I told you not to touch anything that belonged to Lady Saveria..." Celaine softly spoke out of her silence in an ominous tone of voice... "I warned you to leave this place or else you would die... And you failed to heed my warnings..."
It was only a moment after uttering these words that Celaine grabbed the eye patch covering her left eye and removed it from her head. Once discarded, she brushed the hair covering the left side of her face behind her ears and opened her left eye to reveal a horrifying sight... In the socket of her left eye was something of a light blue glassy, artificial eye. And this eye of Celaine's...seemingly a replacement to one she lost long ago had very special properties as Ravenna would soon find...
In a matter of moments after being exposed, the artificial eye began to actually glow with an almost ethereal sort of blue glow. Like her eye, a soft chain-like bracelet that Celaine had been wearing on her left wrist also began to strangely glow. At first, the glowing eye and bracelet seemed like nothing but a light in the dark. After a few moments passed however, the bracelet around Celaine's wrist actually began to sprout a strange magical chain...
The chain extended five, ten, twenty feet in length before it stopped and with its root attached to Celaine's wrist. The mysterious woman harshly banged the chain against the wood floor of the room leaving behind clear marks where it whipped. This chain had just been magically manifested from a talisman around Celaine's wrist and seemed to have the same properties as an actual chain forged in iron... However this chain came to be, it was irrelevant to the fact that Celaine seemed intent on using this as some sort of weapon which...didn't bold well for Ravenna... The only thing scarier than a magic chain sprouting from her bracelet were her words she delivered in an ominous tone...
"...I'm not letting you leave this place alive with her treasures... Even if it costs me my own life, you will return what you've stolen..."
Celaine wouldn't even wait for Ravenna to say something before she swiftly went to work putting an end to this thief. Without any further word or warning, Celaine threw the magical chain towards where Ravenna was hiding aiming to strike her as if it were a whip... Needless to say...if that chain made contact at all, it was going to hurt. Though forged of magic, it was still as harsh as an actual metal chain and Celaine seemed capable of wielding it with incredible ease as if it were an actual whip in terms of it's weight and flexibility...
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Post by yooom on Jul 10, 2020 9:37:51 GMT -6
The girl’s quiet voice was somehow even more terrifying than her raw fury, or perhaps that was just Ravenna’s increasing desperation at her worsening situation. She didn’t dare rise and take a look at the crack shot, even as Celaine seemed to be fumbling with something. The clang of what sounded like metal rang out sharply from Celaine’s feet, echoing across the quiet hall, making the titanic bells above tremble faintly. Ravenna, taken aback, kneeled up slightly from her cover, in time to see that the guardian had exchanged her rifle for a long, thick chain gleaming with magical energy. She’d looked in the nick of time, as she watched Celaine raise what looked like an incredibly heavy metal chain like a whip, diving out of the way as the chain went smashing through the glass case she’d been taking cover behind, sending glass shards and bits of wood in all directions. Ravenna yelped as she felt a bit of glass slip past her right hand, cutting across the back of it. She grimaced. The glass had been painful, but it would be nothing compared to what getting hit by a metal chain would feel like. She dove from the wrecked cabinet to the next, a sturdier looking wooden one, though she doubted it would hold out against an attack from this new chain.
“You would destroy your Mistress’s collection to save it?” she called back, gesturing at the destroyed cabinet with one hand, the other fiddling through her pockets with an aggravated snarl. She pulled out a large, clear gem, big enough to only just fit in the palm of her long fingered hands. She grimaced, fishing out a small, sharp knife from the same pocket.
The gem was the pride of Ravenna’s collection, Vision of Heaven, a massive gem said to contain within it an image of Paradise. Generations of priests had gone mad, spending their days staring wistfully in the cloudy heart of the gem, losing themselves to it. What was less known by those priests,and far more useful to Ravenna, was what happened when the gem was struck. Ravenna grit her teeth, and slashed across the gem’s surface.
The gem began to hiss faintly, as thick, white smoke burst from it. Ravenna hastily pocketed it again, diving away, as the smoke congealed into a thick cloud above where it had been, turning into a dazzling array of blues, greens, and golds, undulating like an aurora borealis, and within it other, fainter shapes, bright, purple orbs, deep green plains, an amber sky. The illusion was rather short lived, it would be over in a few short seconds, but a few seconds were all Ravenna needed as the raced forward, sprinting for the exit, though Celaine and her chain were still in her way.
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Post by Emiko on Jul 10, 2020 10:35:40 GMT -6
Celaine's strike shattered a display case sending the glass and contents in various directions of the area... However, the enraged woman failed to hit her intended target which...as expected didn't sit that well with her. She watched closely with her magical, artificial eye as Ravenna fled from one display case to the next seeking cover from her strikes. As she came to a halt, Celaine was just about to strike at Ravenna's location once again when she heard the thief question her decision to destroy Saveria's collection just to save it. And those words gave for some reason gave Celaine a pause if only for a moment...
That moment of indecisive hesitance would end up coming to haunt Celaine once again as Ravenna used yet another trick of her arsenal at just that time... Whether it was by sheer luck, or an eye for timing, Ravenna seemed to have a knack for finding a moment of weakness and exploiting it perfectly. In this instance, rather than a blinding flash of light, the thief activated a magical gem that created something of an beautiful illusion of an indescribable scene...
When the scene was created, Celaine was immediately surprised and caught into its allure... The immediate shift in atmosphere to this beautiful sight of grandeur was so beautiful that she couldn't help but fall into a bit of a daze because of it... And that loss of focus, though only for a moment granted Ravenna the time she needed to get out of Celaine's line of fire and sprint past her towards the exit without consequence...
The mesmerizing, heavenly scene would only last for a few moments before it completely faded away bringing Celaine back to reality. By the time that she came to her senses though and realized what had happened, she glared behind her and saw Ravenna heading to the door... The thief had tricked her yet again with a visionary trap and it outright infuriated her. However...before she would lash her chain whip to strike at her again in rage, the little trick Ravenna pulled gave her pause with an idea of her own...
The way things were going, Celaine understood she wasn't prepared for, or going to overcome the thief's tricks. Nor did she have the restraint right now to keep herself from destroying the whole church or...even keeping this sort of offense up... This needed to end before Ravenna got away and anymore damage was caused. Prioritizing the needs of the moment over her own selfish rage, Celaine decided to employ a little 'trick' of her own...
Allowing the thief to run by her without consequence, Celaine simply turned her attention up to the ceiling above. She looked around at the various bells for just a moment before nodding her head softly at an idea she had. "...That'll do..." Celaine softly said as she suddenly whipped her chain up into the air, allowing its length to extend once again all the way up to the ceiling above. Once her chain latched into the literal ceiling of the cathedral, Celaine willed the length of the chain to magically retract which actually lifted her up and sent her towards the ceiling like she were a spider attached to some web.
Once Celaine made it to the levels of the bell, the chain lodged into the roofing held firm on her left hand. With her free right hand, she gently reached over to touch one of the nearby bells. Upon touching it, Celaine's magical eye instantly began to glow brighter which...in turn caused the bell to strangely glow as well... A strange sort of magical light began to glow and spread over to the next bell and flowed on to each one until the entire room was light up in a dazzling display of colors similar to the scene Ravenna used on Celaine. The lighting however would only last for a similar time before the room fell dark once again...
Once the darkness had returned, Celaine smiled and softly removed her hand. She had just temporarily enchanted the bells with her own magic. Now having complete control of them for the time being, all Celaine had to do was move her hand in which case she could will whatever bell she wished to ring... Any bell that DID ring would unleash her manipulative magic through the sounds meaning that...Celaine had just enchanted a hypnotic, musical choir of these metallic instruments...
Celaine wouldn't waste a moment putting her newly enchanted tools to work. Due to the fact that Ravenna was escaping and she couldn't keep this up for long without hurting herself, Celaine began to move her right hand about as if she were the conductor of an orchestra. As she moved, various bells began to ring sending out their entrancing ring. At first, the ringing bells seemed to sound exactly the same as one another, but...if one were to listen longer, the ringing would start to change in frequency just slightly. After a bit of time, anyone within the vicinity of the room would start to hear an actual song being played by the bells... And that song...was as captivating to the ears as 'heaven' was to Celaine's eyes earlier... If Ravenna got caught up in the siren sound of the bells, even for a moment...she would be in for a lot of trouble...
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Post by yooom on Jul 10, 2020 11:26:11 GMT -6
Ravenna raced past Celaine, fully expecting a blow from the magical chain to strike her, or for the guardian herself to try to dive at her as she zoomed past her. But Celaine made no attempt to cut off her escape, and she was a moment later past her, only a few feet from the door itself. She spotted, from the corner of her eye, Celaine aiming upwards, and went to a skidding halt. She let out a gasp of surprise as the girl’s chain shot upwards, propelling her upwards. She froze, watching as Celaine zipped upwards, dragged upwards as her chain seemed to shrink, pulling her up to level with the bells themselves.
It didn’t make sense. Celaine had been devoted, hysterical, when Ravenna had been plundering Sevaria’s halls. And now, that she was on the brink of escaping, she was getting out of her way, far out of her way, to...to do something with the bells. Had the illusions set something off for her? Was she trying to flee? No, that hardly made sense. Visions of Heaven did not project fearful images, and even if it had, she had been only a few feet from the doors...Why then-
As Ravenna gazed at her, trying to understand, Celaine reached out a hand, to brush against the metal shell of the bell. The bell began to glow a faint, bright blue. Ravenna frowned, curious, confused, as the light moved, bouncing from bell to bell, until the whole tower was gleaming that same pale hue.
It was a puzzling sight, and Ravenna continued to stare in confused silence, as the glow of the bells dimmed, fading, until Celaine was almost invisible in the rafters. She blinked. Whatever magic it was,it certainly wasn’t something Ravenna was familiar with. Nor was it especially effective, it seemed. It hadn’t hurt her, indeed, she felt rather pleasant in its wake, the stress of this escapade fading from her. She gave Celaine’s silhouette a bemused grin, and gave her a little nod.
“Thank you, that was a truly inspiring light show,” she said, turning briskly back for the door. She hadn’t made it another step before Celaine’s true magic began, and the true enchantment began.
Despite their looming appearance, the bells, as they began to ring, were quite soft. Ravenna had heard quite a few musical displays from bell towers like this, and had always found them rather brash, inelegant, something she’d always attributed to the instrument itself. It was hard to be soft and gentle with a ton of metal. And yet, as the tune played, she found that Celaine’s song was quite gentle, and very soothing on the anxious criminal’s ears. It was quite a pleasant melody, and Ravenna found her shoulders swaying slightly to the tune. Even as she continued to make her way towards the door, her steps were slow, her body seemingly hesitant to distance itself from the soothing sounds.
“Well,” Ravenna mumbled, her voice only barely audible to Celaine stories above. “That’s quite lovely, but I really must be going,” she said, even as her legs came to a stop, only inches from the door. While her eyes were on the handle, they were hazy, her focus more on the sweet sounds from above.
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Post by Emiko on Jul 10, 2020 12:53:13 GMT -6
It took a great deal of concentration for Celaine to not only consciously manipulate which ever bell would ring, but also control the frequency of their sound as well ensuring that each tone had a distinct sound when it was created. What proved to be really consuming however was the soft, but very much controlled release of hypnotic magic that was emitted into the atmosphere with each ring of the bells. It was such a monumental undertaking to do something this big that there wasn't much room for her to do anything else. However, while this little magical act had her complete focus, even she could tell from her high up vantage point that the thief was starting to slow down meaning that what she was doing was working.
Not knowing the full extent to which Ravenna was feeling the effects of the enchanted bells, Celaine continued to manipulate them with great care. A wave to the right would magically move three bells on the far side of the room releasing a perfectly harmonized trio of sounds... A sway to the left would trigger bells above Ravenna to follow suit ringing in harmony to create the most beautiful song... Celaine would continue to make various motions to 'conduct' the metal instruments, and each time the bells would produce their potent ringing in enchanted obedience...
It truly was an amazing feat to anyone that hadn't ever witnessed it before. The bells moving and producing a soft song like a well practiced choir... Just the sight of it alone would have been enthralling, but that sound that came out was even more intoxicating... The real kicker though was how the bells started to fill the room with unseen hypnotic, magical energy that would cause the one hearing the bells to fall into a state of trance...
The magic within the room initially wasn't that strong, and Ravenna honestly could have gotten away had she not turned back to see and hear what was happening. The longer she stayed put however, the more exposed to the magical energy she was... Little by little, the unseen energy filled the dark, empty room with it's potent power. And gradually, that energy would flow down and sink into Ravenna's body through her ears by sound alone. The sad thing was...the longer the thief stayed in this room, the more this...energy would seep into her being... And the more she 'allowed' into herslf, the more...heavenly it would feel...
This wasn't the first time that Celaine had pulled a trick like this, and she knew what Ravenna would be feeling soon enough. Her focus however was on the movements the thief would make. For...if this music was truly affecting the girl, she'd be enticed to gleefully enjoy the experience either through dance or some other gesture. Because of that, Celaine was very careful to orchestrate a soft, but rather upbeat song trying to influence the thief to stay and enjoy herself in song and dance. Celaine wasn't sure what the thief might end up doing, so for now...she focused hard on controlling the bells and playing a song of bliss to entice a reaction out of her... Ravenna's movements...would determine how Celaine proceeded...
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