Palamedes Sextus (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
hellonspectacles) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
come_sailaway2023-03-05 04:23 pm
hellonspectacles) wrote in come_sailaway2023-03-05 04:23 pm
In her sepulchre there by the sea
Who: Palamedes Sextus and his cavalier, Camilla Hect, the rest of the House Heirs, a gaggle of spooky monks, some skeletons, a murderer, and you!
What: Memshare adventures! All memories are open to all.
When: Anytime in March
Where: Canaan House, Earth!
Warnings: Canon-typical blood, violence, and mild body horror
Notes: Below the cut you will find some scene-setting and descriptions/notes for each of the prompts. Prompts themselves are in the comments!
In general, characters will assume that you arrived with the other visitors to Canaan House a few weeks before any of the events described below, but they will have no idea who you are and why you’re there, and will be extremely suspicious of your presence.
Canaan House rises out of the sea like a castle, a tower, a crumbling mausoleum. Outside the small island on which it stands, the ocean stretches as far as the eye can see, sparkling under the bright rays of Dominicus. The building itself is clearly old, crumbling in places, windows cracked and bricks pitted; even on a thanergenic planet, where life must fight for its existence, nature is slowly overtaking one of the last symbols of humanity on the planet all people once called home.
Inside, the sense of grand decay continues. If you squint, you might notice the way it resembles a university building, some wings made up with wood floors and elaborate bannisters, fading paintings and rotting tapestries on the walls, while others are full of large, light-filled spaces, all glass, and steel, and concrete. There is a large courtyard with a dry fountain, broken elevators and flights of stairs that end halfway up, and dozens of doors with numbers above the threshold, each with its own unique lock, each requiring a key to open. Listen closely and you might hear an ambient hum of electricity, or the quiet clatter of bone from the dozens of otherwise-silent skeleton constructs that clean, and cook, and gather food for the planet’s first guests in nearly ten thousand years.
Welcome to the First House. Don’t stay any longer than you have to.
The Wind Came Out of the Cloud By Night
Investigate a murder scene! This is the best chance of meeting lots of other characters or exploring Canaan House more broadly.
The Demons Down Under the Sea
Solve a puzzle, fight a skeleton monster, hang out with Palamedes and Camilla
We Loved With a Love That Was More than Love
Experience Palamedes death! Please note that unless previously discussed, characters will not be able to interact with this memory, only observe.
What: Memshare adventures! All memories are open to all.
When: Anytime in March
Where: Canaan House, Earth!
Warnings: Canon-typical blood, violence, and mild body horror
Notes: Below the cut you will find some scene-setting and descriptions/notes for each of the prompts. Prompts themselves are in the comments!
In general, characters will assume that you arrived with the other visitors to Canaan House a few weeks before any of the events described below, but they will have no idea who you are and why you’re there, and will be extremely suspicious of your presence.
Canaan House rises out of the sea like a castle, a tower, a crumbling mausoleum. Outside the small island on which it stands, the ocean stretches as far as the eye can see, sparkling under the bright rays of Dominicus. The building itself is clearly old, crumbling in places, windows cracked and bricks pitted; even on a thanergenic planet, where life must fight for its existence, nature is slowly overtaking one of the last symbols of humanity on the planet all people once called home.
Inside, the sense of grand decay continues. If you squint, you might notice the way it resembles a university building, some wings made up with wood floors and elaborate bannisters, fading paintings and rotting tapestries on the walls, while others are full of large, light-filled spaces, all glass, and steel, and concrete. There is a large courtyard with a dry fountain, broken elevators and flights of stairs that end halfway up, and dozens of doors with numbers above the threshold, each with its own unique lock, each requiring a key to open. Listen closely and you might hear an ambient hum of electricity, or the quiet clatter of bone from the dozens of otherwise-silent skeleton constructs that clean, and cook, and gather food for the planet’s first guests in nearly ten thousand years.
Welcome to the First House. Don’t stay any longer than you have to.
The Wind Came Out of the Cloud By Night
Investigate a murder scene! This is the best chance of meeting lots of other characters or exploring Canaan House more broadly.
The Demons Down Under the Sea
Solve a puzzle, fight a skeleton monster, hang out with Palamedes and Camilla
We Loved With a Love That Was More than Love
Experience Palamedes death! Please note that unless previously discussed, characters will not be able to interact with this memory, only observe.
no subject
A bold admission to be said so casually, but Pal will know what the word means - even if the Earth myths that lasted in his reality involve sexy, possibly sparkling versions of them.
"My 'olfactory glands' are part of my biology. That's also how I knew that big guy was a reanimated corpse.
"I'm not lying, Reverend Daughter. If I wanted to lie I'm come up with something less ridiculous."
no subject
Her taller companion is another matter entirely. Gideon gives up her half-hearted vow of silence and bursts out laughing. "Oooo, do you drink blood? Glow in the dark? Break into ladies' boudoirs and ravish them?"
no subject
"Yes, I drink blood. No, I don't break into boudoirs or ravish anyone."
And as for the other guess: the whites of Natsuno's eyes go pitch black and the usually purple irises glow an eerie red. His second set of fangs unfolds, visible when he speaks again.
"You tell me if I glow."
no subject
Harrow's pinched face somehow manages to become even more pinched, but thankfully, before the Ninth House pair can erupt into a petty squabble, Palamedes clears his throat.
"In the interest of full disclosure, I still don't entirely believe that you are who you say you are," he says. "But I don't have a better explanation. And more importantly, thus far, you have done nothing but help us." He shares a look with Harrow, willing her to agree, or at least not protest. "And if you are lying about Lady Pent's body, we'll know soon enough."
no subject
"I don't expect you to believe me this easily. I do get how it all sounds." He looks from Pal to Camila, then to the Ninth pair, and adds in a slightly drier tone: "But I appreciate you holding back the violence until after the autopsy."
Whatever the bone girl's decision is, though, Natsuno will carry the corpse to the morgue without complaints.
no subject
Harrow doesn’t answer, her expression remaining as pinched as ever, but she also doesn’t send a skeleton army after Natsuno, so that’s probably as close to an agreement as they’re going to get.
Eventually, after snaking through the strange ruins of Canaan House, they arrive at the morgue. Palamedes has to poke around in a few closets before he finds two tables for the bodies, and then he has to find a rag and some ancient-looking cleaning fluid with which to wipe them down. Once they are clean, he gestures vaguely at the tables, indicating they should be set down, and then starts hunting through drawers for a scalpel.
no subject
When everyone is ready to start, Natsuno points at the corpse's stomach, where the scent is strongest.
no subject
As the Ninth pair hangs back, each looking wary in their own way, Palamedes and Camilla approach Abigail's body and take a place at either side of the table. They move with efficency and, funnily enough, politeness as they first cut away the dead woman's shirt and clean her torso of dust and blood. Camilla takes a notebook and a pencil out of her pocket and writes as she begins to speak.
"Autopsy of Lady Abigail Pent, conducted by Master Warden Palamedes Sextus and Warden's Hand Camilla Hect. Cause of death: hypothesized to be a fall of approximately fifty feet. Potential foreign object lodged beneath skin of right abdomen." She offers Pal a nod, and he nods in return before sinking the scalpel into the skin.
Since Abigail is dead, it isn't very bloody, but it isn't pretty, either. Pal cuts an incision just big enough that he is able to slip two fingers and his thumb inside. Almost immediately, he goes still.
"Holy shit." A beat. "Cam, don't write that down."
Obviously, she writes down, Preliminary reaction: Master Warden says, 'Holy shit.'
no subject
The moment the skin is cut, the metallic scent grows stronger, so Natsuno is hardly surprised by Pal's reaction.
If it was the Palamedes he knows, Natsuno would sass out a told you, but this a different Palamedes, who probably won't be able to tell that the teen is wearing his told you lineface.
"So what it is?"
no subject
“What,” says Harrow.
“The fuck,” says Gideon.
Palamedes speaks rapidly as Camilla writes. “One key. Silver and nickel alloy. Found within the stomach with no signs of hydrochloric acid degradation, so likely placed after death.” He presses his lips together so hard they go white, then exhales with a huff and shakes his head. “No, there’s too much interference. I can’t tell who touched it last.”
“Isn’t it obvious.” Harrow almost growls the words. “It was the Third. They’re the flesh magicians.”
no subject
They're dicks for sure, but if Natsuno's going to advance this memory to a conclusion it will to the correct one.
"I think Dulcinea Septimus is involved. She's controlling her cavalier's corpse, right?" Which apparently is not allowed. "She could've had it carry her out if it the 'soul siphoning' engendered her, but made it stop the summoning instead."
no subject
Only Harrow looks intrigued.
For the first time, Palamedes looks at Natsuno with real suspicion. “Lady Septimus has no motive,” he begins, but Harrow interrupts up.
“You saw something,” she says. “Tell me what you saw to make you think Dulcinea Septimus is involved.”
no subject
"The way she looked at me when I said her cavalier's dead, and pointed out she interfered twice. If someone falsely accused you, you'd be outraged and defend yourself, right? But she looked threatening. The kind of look you give someone to shut them up. Also, she never explained why she sent her cavalier to hit the Eight - the Master Warden just assumed it."
He looks from Harrow to Master Warden in question.
"I told you the truth about how I knew about the key, just like I told you the truth about getting here on accident. I don't know about anyone's motives - all I know is that people were murdered and Dulcinea Septimus acted suspicious."
no subject
“Silence,” snaps Harrow, who continues to be the only one in the room taking Natsuno seriously. “He makes a good point. We should interrogate the Duchess.”
“No.” Without actually raising his voice, Palamedes’ voice contains all the silencing command of a shout. As though to further his point, Camilla rests her hand on the hilt of her sword. “I will speak to her first. Just me.”
Something flickers across his cavalier’s expression. “Warden—“
“Just me. Lady Septimus and I have a lot to talk about that’s better said in private.” His gaze settles on Natsuno. “I will address your concerns and relay her response. I swear it.”