PFSB

[riddleofthebelow]

The next time Tom enters the bar, he turns round to the portal painting first thing. When he steps away, the rabbits playing poker look much more like proper rabbits instead of rabbit-shaped former canines. He steps back, regarding it, and nods his head. Much better.

Then he takes his stack of research with him to a table and orders a scotch. While Wei Wuxian indeed broke the ward on the mysterious scroll, and Tom was able to translate it, it still makes no sense. He has old maps of London Above to scour for clues today, because the existence of scroll is still bothering him. He doesn't think it's malevolent, but he's even more convinced that there is no logical reason to have found it in the Underside.

Not that the Underside is very logical. You know what he means.

Comments

[blue_ajah]

There is a familiar figure in the bar already, at a table not far from the fireplace. The Aes Sedai is drawing circles on a piece of paper with a look of intent concentration.

Perhaps that is why she does not appear to notice Tom's arrival.

[riddleofthebelow]

He glances up when the waitrat brings him his glass and he sees a friend he hasn't spoken with in... quite some time. He beams, leaving everything at his table as approaches Moiraine.

"Excuse me, madam, but I believe we know each other from long ago."

[blue_ajah]

She looks up in surprise, and a pleased smile curves her lips.

"Tom! Light illumine. It has been a while, indeed."

[riddleofthebelow]

"It's been far too long. May I join you?"

[blue_ajah]

"Certainly," she replies, and gestures gracefully toward a seat as she shifts the paper in front of her to ensure that he has sufficient room.

"How are matters with you and your family?"

[riddleofthebelow]

He takes it and settles in.

"Growing. I know I've spoken with you since Portico was born, but I have another daughter, Egress, who is walking about Opening everything she can get her hands on. Gavroche is helping Door and myself with affairs in London Below, and Ingress is a full Herald, living in Haven now."

His smile fades just the slightest with this last.

"We miss her terribly, of course, but she's happy doing what she was meant to do."

[we_bring_hell]

A young woman descends from the stairs; she has very little distinguish her otherwise, as she is wearing a long rusty black robe and a veil that swathes her whole face. Even her hands are in gloves.

She passes his table on the way to the bar, and says in a clear, commanding voice, fully the Reverend Daughter of Drearburh, "Bar, a case of makeup suitable for the Effigial Rites of the Ninth House." A note appears, and she reads it.

"Yes, I am aware. I will consecrate it myself."

A large box of synthetic material appears before her, and she opens it to inspect.

[blue_ajah]

"Of course," she agrees. "Such separations are often difficult, and perhaps even more so when worlds are crossed in the process."

That, of course, being something that the both of them understand, each in their own way.

"Growing indeed, it would seem. I am happy for you, Tom."

[riddleofthebelow]

"Thank you. I have to say I'm rather happy for myself."

It is a good life he's made.

"How about you? How do you fare?"

[riddleofthebelow]

"Beg pardon?" he says, looking up, not sure if she's addressing him or not.

It should be noted that her appearance is not that unusual to him at all after years of patronizing Milliways and of soothing the constant chaos of the Underside. She'd fit right in at a Floating Market.

[we_bring_hell]

"I was speaking with the Lady Bar," she says, a trifle starchily. "Good evening."

[blue_ajah]

There is a hint of amusement in her serene tone as she tells him,

"I am as well as might be expected."

An instant's pause, then she adds,

"Which is well, as it happens. I have found a place for myself in Twin Peaks, and yet am still able to visit both here and the world in which I was born."

[riddleofthebelow]

"That's brilliant, Moiraine. I'm glad for you. It's not a bad thing at all to find another world to be one's home, although I imagine you're missed."

Unlike Tom!

He grins. "As for visiting here, that's been a rarity for me until quite lately. It seems I have good timing."

[blue_ajah]

"By some, perhaps," she replies, a little dryly. "By others, I suspect not at all."

"The Wheel weaves. What draws you back to Milliways, then?"

[riddleofthebelow]

"Good evening," he replies, not bothered in the least, since he is also well experienced with starchy individuals.

"I didn't mean to eavesdrop on your conversation."

Her clear and commanding conversation, he thinks, his mouth quirking into a smile.

[we_bring_hell]

"It is no matter." She shrugs, and lifts her box. "My name is Harrowhark Nonagesismus, Reverend Daughter of the Ninth House."

[riddleofthebelow]

He stands to give her a small bow in recognition of her formal introduction.

“I’m Tom Riddle, Lord Ostium of the House of Arch. We both have a plethora of names to use, so for the sake of ease, please call me Tom.”

[riddleofthebelow]

“I needed a change of scenery for a research project that was driving me mad. The infrequent times I’ve been here in the past few years have provided a quiet space; so few of the familiar faces come round any longer. But this time I met and conversed with magic users from a world quite different from mine, and I remembered what I enjoyed the most about coming here.”

Door also might have told him - very sweetly - that he needed to get a hobby or at least a magical friend because she loved him dearly but didn’t care for their cherished and infrequent alone time together to be spent by Tom ebulliently sharing the latest articles from research journals when there could be other, more romantic topics on offer.

[we_bring_hell]

"My peers call me the Ninth," she says calmly. "As no one else of the Ninth House is likely to come here, it should serve."

"Ostium is an intriguing title. In the biological sense?"

[riddleofthebelow]

"In the entrance or opening sense," he says. "All of the members of the House of Arch have such names. We're Openers."

[we_bring_hell]

She can hear the capital letter.

"And what is an Opener?"

[riddleofthebelow]

"We find the hidden doors within objects and between spaces that wish to open. May I ask what a Reverend Daughter of the Ninth House does?"

[we_bring_hell]

She nods, absorbing that. "A new type of magic to me."

"Each of the Houses of the Empire is a colony planet, if that is meaningful to you. The Ninth House is home to a sacred site; most of the population is a community of religious contemplatives."

"I am both the political heir of the House and the leader of the Vestals. Like all of the leaders of the Houses, I am a necromancer." She speaks with a deliberate composure; like Moiraine's little sister.

[riddleofthebelow]

Moiraine's adorable Goth little sister...

"I've not heard of your Empire or your Houses, but the construct I understand. What are your duties as lead necromancer?"

He's been at Milliways long enough to know necromancy doesn't equate to evil. If she reveals that she raises Infieri to swarm schools, he'll reassess that opinion.

[we_bring_hell]

"Most are quite prosaic. I raise and control the bone constructs who farm the surface, do some fundamental medical care for an aging population," she says blandly. "Quite apart from my religious duties as a Vestal of the Locked Tomb."

"But I am the servant of the Emperor in all things, as he requires. Lately he has called the heirs of every House to the First House, and it was there that I found this portal."

"In truth, your abilities would be invaluable to me there," she says, with a touch of irony. "But probably considered cheating, alas. My life has been consumed in the unlocking of doors these last months."