Dangerous Virtues [Private]

[quaggan]

 The golem silently poured, then set the kettle back on the tray. It picked up a tiny fruit from a basket, squeezed its sap into one of the cups and offered the result of his effort to the noblewoman. It was clearly accustomed to preparing tea for her, it could handle the task without any input necessary. No such luck in Evan's case - the construct poured the full cup, then picked up the vessel filled with milk in one hand, the sugar bowl in other, and held it out for him silently.

While it struggled with its task, Siana was preparing the spell. She muttered something under her breath as she opened one of the hidden compartments under the table and took a small coin out of it. Frowning, she tossed it to the golem which instantly recalculated its priorities and decided to trust Evan to add whatever he wanted to the tea, setting down the sugar bowl. It picked up the coin and began to toss it in the air, each time providing the result for her to check. "The binder of the oath will only appear if we get heads" she explained.

It was perfect time to discuss the precise terms of the oath. "As you were concerned with the specificity of the oath, what wording would you use?" she asked.

[Keisen]

Evan glanced at the golem again. Unfortunately before he could state his preferences it was already occupied with tossing the coin. A peculiar sight in all honesty. Regardless of that, hisvtea wouldn’t be complete without milk. With a simply swipe of Evan’s hand the jug was lifted into the air and an invisible force had it pour some milk into Evan’s cup.

“It’s a tricky matter,” he said when the tea was ready. “I should be able to talk about what I need except for the exact things you find to valuable or sensitive to be shared with others,” Evan paused to both take a sip of his tea, which turned out to be quite exquisite, and to think the matter of wording through. “How about this,” he put the cup back onto the table, “‘I shall not disclose anything pertaining to the nature of your abilities which you explicitly ask me not to disclose’. It should allow you to restrict access to sensitive information but still allows me enough freedom of maneuver.”

[quaggan]

 The golem finally succeeded at its task. It handed the coin back to Siana, then headed to Evan's side, as if to log his tea preference into whatever simulacrum of a mind its creator saw fit to enchant him with. The chronomancer took it, chanting something under her breath. Some translucent sort of smoke began to rise from the metal surface, as if it was heating up - but the skin of her glove showed no sign of burning.

The gas formed a small figure, vague enough to pass for a shape of some of the sentient races, but tiny enough to be able to comfortably hide within one of the tea cups. Some hissing came from its direction, a sound more of air than of throat. The chronomancer extended one arm in its direction, brushing close to the creature's form. Instantly, one of its hazy limbs extended far beyond the length of its entire height, wrapping around her wrist.

"Do move your hand closer" she instructed. "The binder has a limited... volume. Recite the words then."

[Keisen]

Evan took som time, albeit not much, to study the shadowy figure above Siana's hand before following the noble's example. To be honest it's was the first magically binding vow he had ever done - or at least remembered. "I shall not disclose anything pertaining to the nature of Siana Whitechalk's abilities which she explicitly asks me not to disclose," he repeated. The things Evan did for his curiosity...

[quaggan]

 "This oath I accept and will honour" she recited. With a soft hiss, the gas forming the vague shape of the binder snaked through the air and entered their skin. It was quite a tingling sensation, but quickly subsided. As she tossed the coin, the golem extended its large hand to catch it.

Now that the formalities were over, they could begin what both of them came here for: the research. She leaned back in her armchair and posed the question. "I imagine you had the whole day to decide what experiment you want to try first." Not to speak of all the time he had since hearing the rumours.

[Keisen]

Evan flexed his hand after the ritual came to an end. It felt as usual after the tingling sensation subsided — not a trace of the powerful magic left. He turned his focus to Siana when she spoke.

"I need to know what I am working with," Evan replied bluntly, "the extent of your abilities. The more I know, the easier it will be to uncover their nature and underlying mechanisms," he took a sip of tea. "I won't lie to you, I do have a number of ideas, but they are about as reliable as rumors, some of which claim you have a 70- meter tall magical unicorn in your basement. Without any information we will be but speculating."

[quaggan]

 Siana extended a hand in the direction of the golem, without even looking. The creature handed the coin back to her, without any prompting. The coin has served its purpose - without the oathbinder inside, it was useless to her. She had no qualms using it for a demonstration. But first... "I ask you not to disclose what you are about to see" she recited, before turning her power onto the coin.

There were no dancing lights, no fanfare or thunder, no theatrics. The coin just aged. The colour of the metal slowly changed, turning from proud copper to a sickly hue of green and blue. The shapes etched in metal slowly wore out, becoming smoother and indistinguishable.

Tempus fugit.