[PP-F29] No Good Answer

[Lessa 1]

"Lighthouses are endlessly suggestive signifiers of both human isolation
and our ultimate connectedness to each other."
— Virginia Woolf

Thunder boomed. It coincided with the opening of the lighthouse's front door, giving the entrance a little extra pizazz. Not that it needed any extra theatrics, as the wind ripped the wooden door from Lessa's hands, and slammed it into the adjacent wall. "Holy shit," the woman muttered, shoving her body behind the heavy door, and bracing her foot against the wall. Once her companion had followed her inside, she pushed off, snarling against the wind, and manhandling the door back into place. Only when the latch snapped closed did she allow herself to relax. "That was insane."

Even more insane was the sudden and shocking shift between the storm and the solace provided by the lighthouse. In an instant, the pair had gone from the cacophony outside (relentless rain, howling winds, crashing waves, alien screams of hellish creatures) to near silence. Her hair wasn't whipping madly about her face, her cloak wasn't billowing like a ship's sails, and her cheeks didn't sting from the piercing of tiny raindrops. It was unsettling, and she found herself possessed to speak to fill the strange absence.

"I can't believe we made it," she stated, casting a quick smile in Jomei's direction. "It got a little dicey out there, but I definitely think it was worth the trip. I mean, look at this place." She motioned with one hand, encompassing the small entrance hall that they found themselves in. It was only large enough to house a bench and a coat rack, but Lessa couldn't help the eagerness from creeping into her voice. "I love lighthouses. Did you know that there's a word for people who love lighthouses? It's a pharologist. Pharology is the study of lighthouses, and it comes from pharos, which is Latin for lighthouse."

When she finally quieted, and the muffled storm sounds were her only answer, she barked out a quick laugh. "Huge lighthouse nerd," she said by way of explanation, pointing to her own chest. With anyone else, she might have apologized, or felt embarrassed for spouting off the way she did. But Jomei never made her feel bad about her spontaneous trivia. He didn't make her feel bad for anything, really. It was one of the things she loved about him.

"Speaking of random history facts," Lessa began, grinning in the dim light cast by the entranceway's single bulb, "Baldur should be here any minute. He's got the coordinates, and I know he was just as eager to check this place out as I was." She rocked up onto her toes, then fell back again, a nervous bounce as she stared deeper into the lighthouse. It was evident that she wanted nothing more than to scout ahead, but loyalty to her friend kept her in place. "He'd be so bummed if we discovered something without him," she muttered, as if reassuring herself more so than Jomei.

"All of the reports have said that there are no mobs here though. Soooo-" She turned her back to Jomei, then glanced over her shoulder, feigning a scowl that wobbled under the weight of a barely contained laugh. "No peeking, you perv." Of course there was no room for privacy in the closet-sized entryway, and the game allowed her to quickly shift between outfits anyway. When the ribbons of light cleared, Lessa's waterlogged cloak and heavy armor were gone. In their place, she wore her signature black leggings, sneakers, and a blue hoodie. Her heavy sword remained strapped to her back, just in case, and also because the casual Frontliner look kind of amused her. "Nice and dry."

She took a moment to battle her hair into a long braid. Without glancing up from her work, she stated, "the Lighthouse of Alexandria was actually built on an island called Pharos. Just in case you needed to know."

[Jomei 0]

Jomei the emerald duelist

Spoiler notes Level: 34 | Paragon: 88 | Tier: 4(13)  Jomei | HP: 1020/1020 | EN: 140/140 | DMG: 21 | MIT:44 | ACC:3 | TAUNT | F-SPIRIT | EVA:4 | BH:56 | HB: 45 | VAMP-D: 112 | BLI: 32/-20 | LD:3     Equipment: Vicious Mockery : ACC II | Taunt | Blight  Fencer's Regalia - Trepidation: Vamp D II | HB | MIT  Token of Serenity: HB| EVA III   equipped Vicious Mockery Fencer's Regalia - Trepidation Token of Serenity battle-ready inventory Listed Below skills Spoiler Skills Rapier R5 | TECH Spec. Combat Mastery DMG R3 Cloth Armor R5 Charge B Healing R5 Energist MA R2 Howl Fighting Spirit Quick Change Extended Weight Limit Searching R2 Extra: Concentration Survival   Parry Forgotten King's Authority Assault Mode  Lady Luck Meditation Mods Athletics Emergency Recovery Vengeful Riposte Justified Riposte Night Vision Addons Stamina  Focus Precision Nimble Focused Howl buffs Spoiler Buffs Dimensional Backpack +1 BRI slot Well Rested: -1 energy cost for the first three expenditures of each combat     Squeaky Clean: The first time you would suffer DoT damage in a thread, reduce damage taken from DoT each turn by 25% (rounded down)     Tasty: Turn 2 identical food items (same quality, tier, & enhancements) into a Lesser Feast. Relaxed: Increases out of combat HP regen by (5 * Tier HP) and decreases full energy regen to 2 Out of Combat Posts. Filling: Increase the effectiveness of a single food item consumed in a thread by +1 T1 slot. This can exceed normal Cook enhancement caps.  Multipurpose: Gain +1 to LD, Stealth Rating, Stealth Detection, or Prosperity to one post in a thread. Can be applied after a roll Item Stash: +1 BRI slot Advanced Training: +10% EXP to a thread. Limit one use per month. Must be used on a player's first post in a thread. Cooldown begins counting down when used in a post.

 

"Huge lighthouse nerd" 

Bumping shoulders as they attempted to stand beside each other, Jomei would step past Lessa further into the entrance corridor. He would turn his body perpendicular to hers as he slipped by, flashing a quick smile. He stood with his back to her for a moment, resting his hands on his hips as he looked ahead of them. Just more dimly lit hallway.

"Didn't need the lighthouse to tell me that." An impish smirk peered over his shoulder as he looked back at her. 

Floor Twenty Nine, despite how fascinatingly spooky it was, was very far down on his list of frequent places to visit. From the constant storms to the lack of safe-zones, it was just a miserable place to be. Not many people could drag him out here to travel across most of the floor to find some lighthouse.

He was the first one out the door when Lessa asked, eager to go with a smile on his face. 

"Can't say I've been to many lighthouses." He would suck his teeth and inhale as he turned to face her proper, "But you'd love the Poolbeg Lighthouse, if you've never been when you were at Trinity." He'd slowly extend and arm forward, as if carving a path through the air in front of him to create a visual. "Little red thing at the end of a looong seawall jutting out into Dublin Bay. Take you about 40 minutes to walk it." With pursed lips, he shook his head, "Never been inside though. So I guess- " he would gesture to the cramped hall, "This is a first." As if to play off the somewhat mocking tone he had regarding the small space, a wide smile tugged at the corner of his lips. "I'm excited to see the rest of it." 

It was true, he could listen to her gush about lighthouses all day.

With arms crossed, he would lean against the wall beside him as Lessa turned to change. "Oh yeah, flashing white lights really get me going." he teased back before giving her the privacy she asked for. Slipping his own cloak off of his shoulders and over his head, he would hang it on the coat rack beside him. Droplets of water would drip from the edges of the saturated fabric, quickly creating a puddle on the ground below it. After a moment, Cardinal destroyed the immersion and sent the item back into his inventory. At least he was dryer now than he was a moment ago.

"Speaking of, have you spoken with Baldur? About joining Jacob's Ladder?" He would turn to give Lessa his attention once he knew she was changed, smiling at her comfortable choice of attire. "Heh, the massive sword really ties the look together..." he would interject before continuing. "I know it hasn't been a lot of time since we spoke about it.. Just figured if you hadn't.." His shoulders rose and fell as he shrugged, "This might be a good chance to talk with him about it. Not like I expect the conversation to go much longer than 'I'd like to join' - 'Yes of course'" 

Edited August 15 by Jomei