gloriouslygood | Open RP Post

She followed--materialized entirely now--at a less cautious distance, though she had the time to consider his rather magnanimous statement. He didn't keep slaves. Part of her, because she had been imprisoned for many years now, wanted to snap back that he did now that he had her, but Gilmore genuinely didn't seem the type. It was rare.

"Oh," she murmured, faced with the room and the decoration. "This...looks like where I grew up," Sooraya said quietly, mouth curving into a soft smile, softer than she would have shown otherwise. "So many colors."

"Well, I am originally from Marquet," Shaun explained. "I like to keep my residence close to home."

He had power. He had wealth. All of it was gained through his hard work and skill. He didn't need these things and didn't feel them when he thought about controlling another life. The things he would be tempted by were much more... emotional.

"You could have the second room. It's mostly used for storage at the moment but it wouldn't take much to give you a bed and such. Just tell me what you'd like to be comfortable." He gestured again with a hand towards the hall and the second room. "I doubt the bottle is very comfortable."

But who knew? Pocket dimensions could be many things including lavish homes and palaces.

"That...is complicated," she says, to the talk about the bottle she's tethered to. Sure, it's downstairs, but she can still feel it like a chain around her legs.

"It's not bare--there's furniture, clothes, decorations and such, but as gilded as my cage is it's still a cage." She didn't ask to be made a slave, or to be heaped with gifts she didn't ask for, to supposedly appease her temper. She'd have preferred to be asked, instead of mandated. "I'd like to sleep out here, if that isn't trouble. But I do want to pay you back for it, too."

Sooraya doesn't want to be in anyone's debt.

Shaun stroked his goatee a moment as he thought it over. He had no interest in being paid back in wishes, that was certain. He could have her work the store, earn her keep, but that felt too much like enslaving her to have her work for room and board.

"Well, what skills do you have? I have connections in town and could perhaps help you find a job. You can pay the standard rate for your room once you earn the gold," he offered. "Easy enough to make something so you can carry your bottle with you while keeping your hands free."

There'd be no debt that way and she'd essentially be a boarder. It seemed a fair deal to Shaun.

"I can translate most languages," she says lightly, thoughtful. "I could also work here, I'm familiar with magical goods, and...I have some experience as a metallurgist. But it's been quite some time since I've done that." Not that she dislikes it; she's good at finding the precious materials needed and has an innate talent at crafting the pieces.

"To be honest with you," Shaun said as he started towards the kitchen to make tea. "Having you work for me and stay with me feels too much like taking advantage of your situation. But, if you want to work for me, we could find you boarding elsewhere."

As he set the kettle to boil he pulled down is favorite blend of tea. A lovely black tea blend with a hint of jasmine. "Or if you're good with languages, I could see if my friend Allura has any translation needs. She does more with texts and books than I do."

As a proper wizard she needed books much more than Shaun did. "It really depends on what you'd most like to do."

"You're not taking avantage of me," Sooraya answered him back, shaking her head. "If anything it's...emphatically the opposite. You haven't asked me for anything, even when I offered. And if you're looking into how to break my bottle, then you're doing more for me than anyone else has."

He's also the closest to someone of her home, evidenced again by the smell of the tea. "Jasmine flowers? We used to make it with mint."

"I like jasmine more. But if you'd like mint I can easily make some as well." It took him very little time at all to heat water. He could do it with a snap of his fingers.

"The point, Miss Sooraya, is that it would make me feel like I'm taking advantage of you. You're trapped, unfairly, and the best I can do until that bottle is broken is give you choice." He poured himself a cup of tea and sprinkled in a little bit of sugar.

"So, if you'd like to stay with me I will help you find a job. If you want to work for me, I will help you find a place to stay. Which option do you like more?" He smiled warmly at her as he sipped his tea.

"Jasmine is lovely, thank you. I can find mint tea much easier." She shook her head at the explanation, but if he felt uncomfortable doing both, then the least she could do was agree to the conditions. He was, ostensibly, helping free her.

And while she could handle a job being difficult or irritating, staying, living in a place that inspired those feelings was far less pleasant. "I would like to tay here, if you will let me," she said slowly, only moderately formal. She too was still adjusting to being back out of her bottle, and the addition of Gilmore being...well, himself was taking a few moments to get used to. "I don't take up very much room. I must be in that bottle for four hours each day."

He poured her a second cup and gently offered it to her. "Of course, that's fine. I'll help you find some work around here. I have good friends in the city who would be happy to help. And I trust them."

Shaun wasn't foolish enough to think Allura wouldn't notice what Sooraya was but he trusted the wizard wouldn't take advantage. She was one of the few people Shaun trusted explicitly.

"I will work on your bottle as much as I can without losing business. And, unfortunately, it will probably take awhile. I've never had to break this sort of enchantment before." Because it's certainly more complicated than the usual adventuring trinket.

Sooraya took the cup and held it, letting it warm her fingertips as she shook her head gently. "I will give you as much informationon the spellsas I can, but I don't know as much as I'd like," she said. "The wizard that imprisoned me was unfortuantely secretive."

She could work many types of jobs an would happily do so; metallurgy and translation were simply those she liked the best and found she had an aptitude for. "I understand it will take time, of course, and I don't want you to lose business because of this. I'll happily do what I can to make sure you don't," she said. That said even being in the position of possibly being free was exciting, and showed in the way she smiled brightly. Freedom after so long being kept enslaved was a tantalizing offer. "Who are these friends of yours, though? Are they the same ones that brought me here?"

"Most wizards are in my experience." Shaun chuckled to himself before sipping at his tea. "Oh, don't worry, you probably won't even be the biggest distraction in my life."

Vox Machina were always the biggest distraction. They would come and go taking what they needed and selling what they didn't. It's how they are.

"Not Allura. She doesn't do much adventuring these days. Her wife does though." Shaun made himself comfortable in a chair, carefully arraigning his robes. "Vox Machina are the ones that rescued you and brought you here. They're an eccentric group of adventurers and incredibly dear friends."

"Vox Machina?" she echoed, brows creased for a moment. "Voice...machine?"

It sounded interesting enough, and Sooraya settled comfortably on a floor cushion, bare feet tucked under her as she drank her tea. "I should send them my thanks for that when I see them. Or I should go find them." She sighed gently. "It doesn't feel like there are going to be any deserts near here, are there?"

Emon was not, from what she could feel of the atmosphere and the smell, near anything so dry or arid as where she and Gilmore called home. "It smells like the sea. With which I have not had...the best experiences."

"Yes, that's what they call themselves." He chuckled fondly as he thinks of the group. "And they are a noisy bunch."

He always knew when they were in his shop especially if Scanlan was with them. Though, they'd settled down some in their later years. Not adventuring as much as they used to. Missing one of their number...

Shaun sipped at his tea again and pushed the dark thoughts away. "I can help you contact them. They don't spend much time in Emon these days. And the nearest desert is in Marquet, another continent. I'm sorry, you're stuck on the coast."

And while he liked Sooraya he wasn't going to share his teleportation circle back home with her. That was... very special.

She huffed out a little laugh, mouth curving as he confirmed that she was by the water. "I should get used to it," Sooraya murmured. "Water is life. And I'm not on a boat currently."

She would very much enjoy not being seasick, though as she watched his face she cocked her head, not sure of what exactly she'd seen flicker over his expression. "You're not entirely happy when you speak about them. Are they that bad?"

"No, and you're rather far from the docks of the city as well. We can take a walk around later." The city was still recovering from Thordak even after all this time. Magic sped the rebuilding up but there were parts with obvious scars. It would be... interesting to walk around and show her the sights.

He chuckled. "I love them all very dearly but we don't meet as often as we used to. It makes an old man nostalgic."

For the old days though he wouldn't begrudge Vex and Percy their happiness and their children. Nor Keyleth the strength she had found in herself. His own longings and regrets were simply his.

"I'd like that," she answered, setting the teacup on her lap and watching his face as he spoke. But his reference to his age made her chuckle, a soft but happy enough sound. "You are not an old man," Sooraya answered. "Not older than me, I don't think."

"You are a spirit. Much longer lived than a simple human. I wouldn't dare try to guess how long you've been around." Though Shaun wouldn't mind talking to an ancient djinn just to hear the stories of times long gone and maybe even magics lost.

And it was rude to guess a woman's age anyway.

"Though, if you're willing to share how you came to be captured that might help me undo the shackles of magic that hold you." He twirled his wrist and after a moment parchment, a quill, and ink floated into the room to land neatly next to him. So he could take notes.

"It's not a terribly entertaining story, I'm sorry to say," she prefaced, "But I'll tell you, certainly." She didn't mind people knowing how she'd come to be enslaved, though no one before had ever asked, nor seemed to care overmuch about the particulars. Just the wishes.

"I used to travel with my people," she began; the story was easy enough to suss out. She had served the head of the tribe that lived around the oasis she occupied, and for quite a while it had been fine. Years, in fact. But there was one son, set to succeed his ruling mother, that chafed at the idea of having a powerful and beautiful creature like Sooraya so close, and so inaccessible. She had refused his advances one too many times, and he had cursed her to be confined in a bottle he'd kept nearby him at all times. The spells were powerful, rendering the bottle unbreakable by normal means, and tethering her to it and thereby its owner.

"He wanted power to control the neighboring people, and...did not take kindly my refusal of both that and marriage. I didn't want to be tied to anyone. I thought as long as his mother was alive she could talk him out of it, or sway enough people to keep him from acting on the desires he had. I very clearly underestimated him. He murdered her take power, and bound me to keep it."

The point of the story wasn't to be entertained. It was to figure out what he might need to do to free her. He listened politely, occasionally sipping his tea. It wasn't a tragic story more a cruel one about the typical power hungry prick not use to hearing no.

He nodded. "He's dead. My friends killed him and took your bottle. He didn't bind the spell to his own life, if what I'm saying."

So, it would take untangling the spell itself, possibly layer by layer to free her. It would be a long time, probably, since he still had his own business to run.

"Ah," she says on a sigh. "I'm not sad to learn he's dead. But...that makes unraveling those spells quite a lot more difficult." He hadn't been the kind of man to write down precisely what curses he'd used.

"Thank you for...everything you're doing, I suppose. Preemptively."

"Magic speaks more truth than the caster anyway." He would much rather figure out the spell than the disgusting man who cast it. Vox Machina had done the right thing ending him. He would have only caused more trouble left alive.

He waved a hand. "No one should be bound by magic. It should set people free and help them, not enslave."

Shaun had very strong views on the uses for magic. It was very dear and very important to him.

"Hasn't stopped centuries of people doing it up to now," she says lightly, looking down for a moment. Whether or not she felt anything in particular for the man that had captured her, it did take a moment to process the information. "I wish I could help. Unfortunately...my own magic is useless in breaking these particular bonds."

Not to say she couldn't research for him, or gather any ingredients necessary, but the actual spellcasting power would have to come from Shaun. "Thank you for telling me."

"I imagine if you could do something about your imprisonment you would've done so by now. Don't worry." Shaun didn't think she was the sort of enjoy serving a madman all these years.

He would do his best to get her free. He would also do his best not to ask her for anything. The choice would always be hers and he would not demand anything. She had choice taken away from her too many times.

"You can relax up here while I work. I'm going to go back down and get to work on helping you get established and taking a look at that bottle in more detail." He got to his feet with his tea.

"I may go exploring the city a little, if you think that's advisable," she murmured; she certainly didn't want to be in his hair all day, or just lazing around upstairs. It was nice, and she appreciated beyond measure his willingness to help free her, but she felt like she needed to be doing something to repay him.

She just didn't know what. Yet.

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