nysalogs | [OPEN] When I was a child I'd sit for hours staring into open flames...

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[OPEN] When I was a child I'd sit for hours staring into open flames...

Who: Daenerys Targaryen (

dorzalta) & others.
What: Chimera call to action in Wyver, post-kidnapping/torture, plus whatever goes down in April.
When: March/April catch-all.
Where: Wyver, Thesa Station, and others TBD.
Warning(s): Game of Thrones/Daenerys standard warnings, torture, self harm, etc.

Wyver
I. CHIMERAS
To get close to the dragons, Daenerys believes she must get close to the Beastmaster known as Thali. It would do her well to participate in this task for a multitude of reasons, the first of which includes keeping herself occupied. Her hair's braided back into one single plait, and whilst she's neither donning her Targaryen colors, nor wearing something entirely Dothraki, she is in leathers and pieces spun for practicality in the heat and humidity.

( a. ) Are you her partner in gathering the chimeras and feeding them? If so, have fun standing beside her as she stares at the creatures, frowning. "Which mouth do they feed themselves with? They're rather vicious looking."

( b. ) Or perhaps you're seated with her on one of the rocks near a spring. She's parchment with her, spattered in water and mud (is that blood?), with notes scrawled on the pages. Her legs are stretched out before her, hooked at the ankles, and she looks as if she is a queen in her element, not an onlooker studying a creature's behaviors. "It's a shame they've the head of a lion. That is a lion, isn't it?"

( c. ) Of course, living creatures--be it humans, dragons, or chimeras--can be spooked, and these are no different. One of the dragons in the nearby areas roars, and suddenly the chimera the two of you are guiding to a new location jerks. "Watch for its--mouths," she warns you, before ducking from the lashing snake tail. "Shh, friend, the dragons will not harm you."

II. FIELDS OF THE EXALTED (post-kidnapping)
She's reason enough to claim her spot in this place, having spied upon Thali during her work with the chimeras. After a few days of ignoring anyone and everyone, Daenerys is quick to reassert herself. It would do no good for a queen to show weakness. Likewise, she's determined to find a job to move out of her... less than acceptable living arrangements.

( a. ) If you're a friend visiting her, she may rope you into meeting a dragon--her dragon. For while Drogon is not free for her to ride as she'd prefer, he is still on the grounds, in the sanctuary. She can still interact with him. Which means you will, too!

( b. ) Work is good for the soul. When she was nothing more than a khaleesi, the khalasar kept her busy and exhausted. It might've been a simpler life, traveling with a nomadic tribe, but there were still things to appreciate. Do you help Dany gather meat for feeding younger dragons, lead in livestock for the adults, break up fights between dragons, tend to sick creatures, or training youngsters?

III. WILDCARD
HMU if you want some other interaction in Wyver prior to or post kidnapping!

Thesa Station
IV. STASIS
It's been some time since she's visited her people, and for that, there is a flare of guilt. Wearing her attire from home, she spends a vast majority of her time in the stasis room.

( a. ) She stands before ser Jorah's pod, staring up at him with a troubled expression. A palm rests against the glass of his pod, fingers gently smoothing the glass as if she would touch his face. It's intimate, but what of the stasis room is not? "I don't know what to do," you might overhear her telling her old bear. "I need you by my side. Please wake up."

( b. ) Missandei looks so peaceful, and that peace brings her peace. It's the first time she's smiled. "You'd have found them adorable. I know you've never seen a hatchling before."

( c. ) "You've left me with scars, brother," she murmurs to Viserys' slumbering face. No gold crown, not a crown for a king. No demonic teeth or flame-bright eyes. "But it was you who woke the dragon, this time."

V. MESS HALL
Wine and oranges--that's what Dany has as she sits in the mess hall. She's alone at her table, looking up, not at others. Up means she can gaze through the expansive glass lining the upper part of the room, and out into space itself. "Do you believe the stars are souls?" she'll ask someone, if they sit at her table.

VI. WILDCARD
Let's do it.

( ooc: Feel free to ping me on plurk to hash out some plans

bubblytangerine or PM me on this journal. Will match format, so if prose isn't your jam, no biggie. Daenerys was kidnapped and tortured, so she will be absent for a period of time. )

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"You're right, it always is in groups." 76 has been here from what, as far as he's aware, was the start of all this. There hadn't been any other refugees deployed to El Nysa before them, at least. And since then, the newcomers have always been woken in groups.

It could be for some sort of logistical or practical reason. Waking people up all together so that they can be tended to at once made a certain kind of sense. It also meant they would feel less alone, in a situation that was already hard to accept.

All the same, the justification that all of these people are still somehow injured is a weak one, to say the least.

"Your guess is as good as mine," he says with a frustrated sigh. "The Orbiters aren't great with clear answers. I've thought about trying to open one of these by force, to see what happens." He nudges one of the other pods with his foot, but doesn't actually make good on that idea for now.

"A means of flaunting their power," she murmurs, realizing it sounds somewhat paranoid a sentiment. Had the Orbiters not promised the safety of her people and children? "Though what they accomplish by chaining us, I cannot say."

What did a master benefit from owning a slave? Plenty. Some of the rising sentiment from those she's encountered would answer with far less than complimentary words.

His admission has her gaze snapping back to him, eyes sharpening--not with admonishment, but interest.

"You're not aware of anyone else attempting this?" Having wondered what would occur if she tried to break open a pod had crossed her mind. "Shall we try?"

There's a certain Usurper she would love nothing more than to banish from these chambers.

The paranoia doesn't earn little more than a glance from 76, as he's had similar thoughts in the past. He's made no secret of the fact that he's not a huge fan of the Natha, even if they're the reason that they all survived the Storm. There's still too much they don't know about how all of that went down, and it bothers him.

Instead of hissing at him to not suggest something so reckless, the young woman seems just as interested in trying to break one of the pods open. 76 raises an eyebrow, quickly considering the pros and cons.

"It could get us on the Orbiters' bad side," he warns her. "And we don't know what might happen to whoever's inside the pod we open." He shoots another glance at the man that she'd been speaking to, doubtful that she'd want to risk him.

If she still wants try it after hearing all that, well, he isn't the best at impulse control these days.

The way he reacts makes her wonder just how he perceives her. Perhaps it was reckless to be so willing to destroy a capsule. Would it put them in poor standing with the Orbiters? Could they blame it on mere curiosity?

She is curious.

"They said nothing of what might occur, were one to be broken." Said with a sniff, as she twists away from Jorah's pod and stalks further down the rows. "I've enemies we can try it on. Cold-blooded murderers, if that would ease your conscience."

She's burnt men alive for their treasons. Watching another die would not sit heavy on her conscience. And what if they didn't die? What if the Orbiters held so very many in stasis--not because they were, in fact, healing, but because they willed it?

"We've nothing to lose at this point. Sometimes, we need to take our answers, versus biding our time." She glances over her shoulder at him. "Coming?"

This is a refreshing change from how most people would have reacted to 76's suggestion. Someone who is willing to take the risks, whatever they might be, in order to get some actual answers is someone he can get behind.

It usually takes some time for him to decide how he feels about a person after meeting them, especially these days, but he already knows that he likes this girl.

"Coming," he says with a firm nod as he follows after her. She could be lying about them testing this on someone reprehensible, but 76 had also seen the softer side of her, when he'd caught her talking to the first pod. That's not proof of anything, but he doesn't think this choice is purely vindictive either.

Besides, chances are that they won't be able to get the pod open anyway. All the same, it's worth a shot.

"What's your name?" He's curious, and if he's going to be doing something morally gray with her, he'd like to at least know what to call her.

"Daenerys." Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen, she doesn't say. "And you?"

He, at least, doesn't flinch. He follows her with a steadiness to his composure she respects. The sort of individual who didn't flinch in the face of risk, but who was still willing to push forward in spite of it.

"Which would you prefer? This one murdered my niece and nephew in cold blood, if what I'm told is to be true." Her fingers tap against the Mountain's pod. She continues walking, tapping the Usurper's, next. "This one led a rebellion which resulted in the decimation of my family. He laughed, I'm told, over the murders of my niece and nephew. His two brothers are alive."

Probably best not to touch his, so as to maintain peace between herself and the Baratheons who walk the lands below. She continues, brushing her fingers along Cersei's pod--"The queen who used wildfire to destroy the Sept, who murdered hundreds out of spite."--slavers, the Great Masters, Mirri Maz Duur is the one she stops before, after more walking. "Or the witch who murdered my husband and child. You've quite a pick before you."

"76," he says for his name, but goes quiet soon after that, as Daenerys lays out the options for him.

He's not really interested in being judge, jury, or executioner here. A lot of what she talks of sounds like hearsay. It's not that he doesn't believe it, but he didn't expect this to become some sort of moral test. Honestly, they all sound awful if her words are true, but there's still a chance she's making the whole thing up. Probably not, with the level of detail she's using.

He's quiet for a few moments, running it all through his head before he turns his attention away from the pods and back onto Daenerys.

"Which ones do you know for a fact did the things that you accuse them of?" Did she see any of these people actually commit these crimes?

"Numbers?" That has her brows lifting, a flicker of interest brightening her eyes. "Is that common in your world?"

Her fingers smooth along Mirri Maz Duur's pod. The woman inside it, older, asleep. No less evil for what she'd done to her family.

When 76 speaks, she falls silent, watching him steadily, not even a flicker of emotion crossing her features. And then, she inclines her head, saying, "The Usurper, the Mad Queen, the Masters, and the witch. I cannot speak for the Mountain."

It seems she's made her mind up, for she turns to the witch's pod and begins running gloved fingers along the seams of it.

"This witch made me barren. Killed my husband. She used blood magic to do it." More fiddling, as she re-familiarizes herself with the device which also held her, months ago. "I've already killed her once for those crimes. Should she awaken, she exists on borrowed time."

"It's a code name." Most people don't ask directly, but 76 doesn't mind explaining where the numbers come from. There's more to it than that, but he doesn't need to get into it.

Despite the fact that Daenerys had initially asked him to make a choice, it seems that she's already decided on who she most wants to potentially suffer. Unsurprisingly, it's the person who enacted a personal crime against her, who took something important from her. Multiple somethings. 76 is curious about what blood magic entails, exactly, but he knows better than to ask now.

Borrowed time. All right, he can accept this option, and so after a pause he nods.

"If you give me some space, I can try to force it open." Not with magic or anything that fantastical, but with brute strength alone. It's high time that he tried this for himself, even though he already has a feeling they won't get far. If there was any way to open these things, someone would have yelled about it on the network by now.

"A code name for what?" She has no issue with asking directly; if he took it personally, surely there would be mention of that very fact. "What is a code name?"

It comes often enough where she regrets the advancements of other worlds versus her own. Is this a coin of phrase many would understand? Not that it matters, it doesn't inhibit her from realizing that the name holds meaning, but what kind, she cannot say quite yet.

With a quiet hum, she steps back from the pod, glancing to 76 with an arched brow. "Do you think a direct blow will break it open? The glass seems thick."

Okay, 76 probably should have figured that Daenerys wouldn't know anything about code names, given that she comes from a place with kingdoms and witches and who knows what else. "It's a way to hide your identity when you're on a mission," he explains, as succinctly as he can.

The glass is thick, but 76 isn't going to let that stop him. He's got enough strength behind his punches that he might actually be able to put a crack into the glass, for a start.

"Only one way to find out," he says, before he rams his gloved fist hard into the glass. An ache runs through his knuckles, but that's something he can easily ignore. The glass seems unaffected, so he gives it another try. He might just need to weaken it.

"I see. Did your leaders send you on spy missions?" She can't think of any other reason, lest it was to maintain a peace between groups. Her next question stems from her imagination running a little more wild: "Assassinations of public figures?"

His first strike is hard and solid, and there's a resounding thump which echoes all around them. The force of the hit has her internally cringing. That must have hurt.

And the glass is unaffected. The next hit sounds just as strong as the first, earning a slight furrowing to her brows as her gaze flicks from the pod and to his hand. Surely that strike hurt? She steps beside him, careful not to stand in his way.

"There's not even a scratch on it. What sort of glass is this?"

It doesn't take long for Daenerys to pick up on what he means, although her guesses are a few years too early. He'd been the leader sending people with code names out on dangerous missions, not that he's going to tell her that. He shakes his head, and explains: "It was a self-appointed mission." The code name had come much, much earlier, readopted for a variety of reasons.

While there is pain with each blow that he inflicts on the pod, it's something that quickly fades; more quickly than it would for a regular human. He can see the concern on Daenerys' face when he glances over, yet another hint of softness under all of that righteous anger.

"Heavily reinforced. Maybe enchanted, I don't know. Magic wasn't really a thing where I come from." He backs up then, wondering if a kick might work better. He pulls one leg up, rotating until he's positioned correctly, and then shoves the sole of his boot hard against the pod. Again, there isn't even a splinter in the glass.

"All the more reason for secrecy then, I imagine." The answer is enough to appease her curiosity--for now. He may tell her more in time... and time is something they had in abundance in this place. Not as reassuring a thought as she'd once hoped it to be. The difference, of course, being that time in her world would be far more preferable.

He kicks at the pod next. Not even reverberations strong enough to tease Mirri into wakefulness. Were she not standing right there, she'd think he weak. But no, the enforcement on the pod is just that strong.

"I've seen no magic with that capability--hers in particular." Her gaze grows colder as she regards the sleeping face; with a quiet huff, she looks to 76. "Perhaps someone with more of an intimate knowledge would be of help."

It doesn't seem like brute force is going to solve this, which 76 had already guessed would be the case. While he'd never actually tried before, that had partly been because he knew the Natha wouldn't make it that easy to break people out of their pods. Someone would have succeeded at it by now, after all this time.

"You could try asking around," he says as he backs away, not giving the woman sleeping inside another glance. "But my guess is that they're impenetrable. If someone had managed to get one of these things open, we would have heard about it by now." Worth a try, though, just so that they could see for themselves.

76 shrugs, the closest he'll get to an apology for not being of more help. "This is how it is with the Natha. If they don't want us to access something, or if they don't want to answer our questions, they just ignore us." It's extremely frustrating.

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[OPEN] When I was a child I'd sit for hours staring into open flames...

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