Log:The Mien Study - Briar

The Mien Study - Briar
Participants Lux and Briar	May 2nd, 2018 Lux questions Briar as to the origins of his Mien for her study Library/The Mien Study
Location Wayhouse MT07
Lux is quite the sight to see, settled in a large comfortable chair that arches behind her. The Wyrdy Fairest is settled with a clipboard with several pieces of paper attached to it and a pen in one hand. She has been taking notes about something, perhaps it has something to do with the other chair that is settled across from her, and the pile of small clay faces that is set in neat rows on a table beside her? As always with Lux, light pools around her feet, a manifestation of her Wyrds effects on the world. It circles her feet, tendrils of light drifting upwards like smoke to form geometric shapes as they rise. Currently, patterns of fractals filter through the light, shaped by its misty form as it drifts up to about her shoulder level. A small sign is placed beside her, written in pen with magnificent handwriting 'Mien Study.' Briar, by contrast, is considerably more mundane and earthy than the near-ethereal Fairest. He's dressed in a simple, plain T-shirt and running shorts as he enters the Wayhouse, and honestly couldn't look any further separated from the glowing, mystical Lux if he tried. He seems /fixed/, somehow, compared to her. Much more... not mortal, but definitely centered on Earth, at least. He opens the door and steps through, drinking heavily from a water bottle as he lets the door fall shut behind him - and then he catches sight of Lux sitting at the table, and there's a moment of obvious near-panic. He doesn't lower the water bottle. He just sort of... freezes up for a moment, his oversized ears flat down the back of his head, his one eye fixed on Lux, caught motionless in mid-step. Then there's an equally obvious moment of conscious /forcing down/ of the panic. Briar's eye blinks once, then flickers away from Lux's face to the little sign beside her, and the row of clayfaces, and the empty chair across from her. Then his ears come up again, he lowers the water bottle, and he steps forward towards her, one black-nailed hand outstretched for a handshake. "Hey hey," he says cheerfully - and if there's any of that momentary panic left, it's gone now. "You're Lux, then, right? Miss Shadowcaster? Briar Jameson. Bishop Briar, if you insist on titles, but Briar's fine." The door opening draws Lux's attention. Then the startled prey response gets the thin line of her ruby lips to lift in a small, predatory smile. She lets the smile fade but that look - one of a wolf after a morsel - remains in her eyes. As Briar approaches, she nods quietly, gesturing with one hand palm up toward the other chair. "Briar Jameson. Welcome. Sit, if you wish. I assume by your knowledge of my name you have seen my notices of a study I am preforming. If you wish to participate, please state so, and if you wish to remain anonymous in the data or if you do not mind your personal data being used in the study. Remember, this will be going into the Custodian's Library for others to access as they wish." Surprisingly, despite the obvious original fear, and despite Lux's predatory gaze, there's absolutely no trace of any sort of animal response in Briar any longer. Whatever there was... well, it was either strangely fleeting or has been absolutely mastered in a staggeringly short amount of time. Either way, when Lux waves her hand towards the chair opposite her, Briar sets his water bottle down and drops into it without any sign of hesitation or worry. "Yeah, I saw the notices," he says casually. He rolls his shoulders and settles back into the chair. It's odd, watching him; his one eye stays fixed on Lux, as does his left ear, but the right keeps swiveling about, following any sort of sound that pops up in the Wayhouse. "I thought I'd swing by and contribute what I could. I don't mind if you use my name, either. I've got nothing I'm particularly bothered about hiding." And he gives her a broad, buck-toothed grin. Lux tips her head forward slightly. "Excellent. Let us begin then." She says, before taking a long moment of looking over him. She starts to write some notes, speaking them outloud as she does. "Beast Seeming. Kith," she pauses, looking up at him expectantly, before continuing her notes. "Notable features. Ears, Hare-like. Brown fur instead of hair. Thick nails - claws? More like prey animals nails. Odd feature - Feathers. Chimera?. Missing eye - combat or by design? Buck teeth." She finishes her initial notes, then looks back up at him, attention still tight and direct. "Allright. What would you describe your Kiths as, if you know? Do you know or understand how you came to be this way from your time in Arcadia? Do you know the name of your Keeper or any of their Titles, and do you know or believe they had any hand in your current form?" The questions are said in a measured tone, though little time is left for answers until she puts her pen to paper and waits. Briar tilts his head to one side, watching patiently with his one eye as Lux takes down her initial notes. "Well, with regards to the feathers," he says, when she finally pauses, "it's nothing to do with Kith. I'm not sure what all the names are, but from what I've been told, those are pretty simply Runnerswift and Cleareyes. Ironically." Another grin, and he lifts a hand to tap an index finger against the skin under his empty eye socket. "The feathers - and possibly a bit of the claws, I'm not sure yet - are from the Bishopric. Bishop Briar, like I said." That same hand lowers to tap its claw-nail-talon against the little blackbird necklace hanging against his chest. He shifts in his seat, kicking his legs out to one side and leaning back heavily. "As for the rest... Well. I don't remember too much from Back There, if I'm honest. At least, not about how all /this/ happened." He lifts his hand again and waves it vaguely, indicating his ears. "I remember... I was chasing somebody into the woods. And then I just kind of... /was/ a hare, if that makes any sense. Apparently, it's pretty common for those of us Taken by the Wicked Wood." He shrugs. It's a surprisingly expressive gesture, on somebody so lanky. "It likes witches. Witches like spells. Spells that take... parts. Like eye of hare." That last bit causes a raised eyebrow on Lux's face. "Ah. Interesting. I had assumed it was combat damage. However, you mean to tell me that you believe your Keeper might have specifically manipulated you into a Hare in order to harvest your eye for a ritual of some kind? How intriguing." She pauses, scribbling more notes. "How very interesting." His eye seems suddenly more interesting to her than it had a few moments ago. "Allright then. We can dismiss the Feathers and perhaps your ... talons? as Entitlement driven. I had not considered that originally..." Shee gestures to the pool of light around her and the fractal producing smoke "Mine is not quite so physically changing. I will need to ammend my questions and note taking process." She makes a few more notes on the side of the paper before continuing. "Have you noticed any changes in your mien as you become closer to the Wyrd?" Briar shrugs again and runs a hand through his hair-fur. "Apparently it's pretty common for the Wood, yeah. It... I don't know if It /wants/ anything. It just kind of... Took people. And then they became animals, and then the Witches would come and hunt them down to harvest parts." He shakes his head. "I was pretty sure they were gonna come for my ears next. Or my other eye. Or a foot. So I decided to bail. Seemed like the best option." He doesn't seem particularly bothered by the memory, really. Overall, he seems... remarkably calm. Particularly for a prey-Beast in the presence of someone who looks so much like one of Them. Attentive, yes. But calm. "Mostly the fur," he continues. "It used to stick to the top of my head. It's been spreading, though. Moving down my back and shoulders. And my feet... well, they don't /look/ different yet, aside from the nails, but there's a definite feeling that there's /somethin'/ goin' on down there, you know?" He grins again, then tilts his head to one side and flicks an ear. "Mind if I ask what /your/ Entitlement is?" Lux makes more notes, then looks up at the question. "I am a member of the Office of the Vizieral Counsel. If you are not aware, we are advisors to Crowns and those who have power in matters of all things occult and political. Not like the Kingmakers, mind you. We are Oathed by our Entitlement to never do harm or work against the interests of the Freehold we align with. Kingmakers meddle to much." She shakes her head with a slightly disgusted look. "This has all been very wonderful information. You are entitled to a Clayface triffle if you wish." She gestures to the rows of clay faces beside her. "Do you have any other comments or information you would like to share?" Briar laughs, once, at the sight of her disgusted expression. "Yeah, I get it," he says, with another buck-toothed grin. "Never could stand politics, myself. It's why I never got involved with any of the Courts. But hey, if it works for you." He shrugs, smiling genially, then shakes his head. "Nothing off the top of my head, but if there's anything else you want to ask, feel free. I'm here to make a contribution, any way I can." He glances down to the clayfaces, then shakes his head. "And I appreciate the offer, but you don't have to pay me." Lux smiles at the fact he does not take a clayface, then nods her head slightly. "Excellent. Your help Briar Jameson, has been much appreciated. This is a study that will take no short amount of time to gather and understand the data. If anything even can be understood. So much of our Wyrd and Mien is driven by story and conjecture of the zeitgeist of humanity. It is a shame that it will not be so easily pinned down." She lifts the pen to her lips, tapping against the ruby surface for a moment. "It is most interesting however that yours are quite obviously based on specific fokelore of witches. This is a good string of understanding some of what might cause the creation of Mien." She pauses, considering. "Are you from this area, Briar? Or were you Taken from somewhere else?" Briar nods along with her little musing on the mystery of Wyrd and Mien. "Yeah. I've never been good about all the magic stuff, myself, beyond the barest basics. I'm more about..." His hand comes up again and toys with the blackbird necklace. "...About centering yourself, I guess. And you don't need magic for that. Just strength of will. But it takes all types. So I do what I can to help out, even if it's just turning up and answering some basic questions." He blinks at her question, then laughs. "Oh, no, I'm from Fort Brunsett," he says brightly. "But I was Taken from U Vermont. Over in Burlington. While I was in college. And I came /back/ almost on the other side of the state. It's taken me almost eight years to get back here. I keep getting sidetracked, everywhere I stop." He shrugs. "Everybody needs a Blackbird, eventually. There's never any lack of work to do." Lux's lip purse closed slightly, becoming a thin line. She nods her head slightly. "Yes. I would expect in this place, with the concentration of Power that it draws, a Blackbird is even more in desire I would expect given the insanity that might be drawn with it. I am extremely surised, given the power again, that only one Legate of the Black Apple is here. Certaily more of those are needed." "Mmhm." Briar flicks an ear when Lux purses her lips. "It's easy to get... disconnected, for us. Even when you're like me. When you're not nearly as connected to the other side as you are." He waves a hand towards Lux. "Not that you're necessarily /going/ to get disconnected if you /are/ as close to that side as you are. It's just hard to handle, for some people. So everybody wants a Blackbird around sooner or later, even if it's not for them." He smiles crookedly. "Just like they want a Black Apple around, sooner or later. Even if they can't stand the idea of negotiating with one of Them. Like I said, takes all sorts. So I'm here to help where I can, any way I can." The thin line of Lux's lips doesn't change, and she nods her head slightly. "Yes," she says finally, before moving a fresh sheet to the front of her clipboard and placing the pen within the clip. She sets both to the side next to the clayfaces and folds her hands into her lap. "I shall keep in mind your Entitlement should such become necessary for others. Luckily, my Entitlements power subdues any insanity that we do not purposfully indulge in." The thin line becomes a slight smile again. "It is interesting enough of the fact that that is the real reason for the Entitlment. To curb the insanity of the powerful... the insanely powerful, if you will, by giving them purpose." Briar gives another laugh. Lux's thin-lipped expression doesn't seem to bother him in the least, really, no matter how long it lasts, or how predatory the look in her eyes may still be. For all the momentary instance of animal panic at the sight of her, Briar seems to be a difficult man to rattle. "Hey, I appreciate it," he says. "I can't always keep track of everybody's condition myself. Having people keeping their eyes open for me is a big help. And don't worry. I wasn't trying to insinuate that I thought you were insane. Some people can handle it." He blinks, once, at the explanation of her Entitlement, then breaks into another grin. "Hey, now, that /does/ sound handy. Now, if I could just get everybody else around here to sign up and put me out of a job." "Well," Lux says after a moment, a smile tugging the corner of her lips "You need to be of a certain level of power and insanity to join. It is said that the first Vizier was insane enough to destroy entire villiages and towns, leaving nothing but destruction his wake simply because they were in the path he walked. He was an extremely powerful changeling, had mastered more Contracts than are known today. His arcane knowledge was beyond the understanding of even the best of the Viziers today. He also heard the call of Fairie, of The Fae, and of things best left unsaid. He no longer knew what was real and what was fake. When he entered a freeholds territory, the Crown rode out to stop him. The crown, Cantigernus, made an offer to Lailoken. If Lailoken would pledge as his advisor, the crown would work to keep him sane." Lux pauses for a moment. "I am not... that insane," she says after a moment. "You know... they say Lailoken is still alive, still serving his pledge to aid a Freehold to keep his sanity." She chuckles slightly, not quite certain in the veracity of that tale, before she begins to pack her things away. "Thank you for your participation Briar. Is there anything else you wish to ask about before I take my leave?" "Do they?" Briar tilts his head to one side, watching Lux carefully for a moment. His expression is as casual as ever, and there's no sign of anything but relaxation in his posture, but that one eye watches her intently. Then the hare-man shrugs. "Well, they say lots of things. We /like/ to make up stories." He grins again, then pushes back from the table and stands, unfolding to his full, impressive height. "And nah. I got nothin' else. But, y'know, whether or not you're /that/ insane, and whether or not you're lookin' to talk with a Blackbird, sometimes it can help to take some time to talk to somebody and sort your thoughts out." He scoops up his water bottle and takes a long pull at it for a moment. Then he smacks his lips in satisfaction and flashes her another grin. "If you ever want some help relaxing, look me up. I'm no great magician, but I /am/ pretty good at yoga. And all that sort of stuff. 'Til then, though, I'll let you get back to sortin' your results and everything. Hope I helped."