Lectre Mansion Grounds

Elizabeth

She wandered towards the riverbank, wondering what surprises might show up there. Her golden eyes skittered across the landscape always searching for something.

This?

hia

ah, yes

As the cab pulled up to the curb, Hope leaned forward in her seat, trying to look around the tall spires and the emmaculate hedges that surrounded the property. Lifting a hand to remove her headphones, she looked towards the driver with slightly raised brows.

"You sure this is the place?"

"Yes ma'am." the gentleman replied patiently, handing back the napkin she'd received with the address written on its surface in that familiar, neat handwriting. She glanced at it, then looked at the address inscribed on the mailbox near the street. Yep. Same one.

She counted out the bills, slipping them into the man's hand before stepping out of the cab and out into the balmy atmosphere. It was a warm spring afternoon, with a cool breeze that seemed just the right temperature to take the edge off the heat. Regardless, Hope wore jeans and a long-sleeved, billowy light blue blouse.

Adjusting her shoulder-bag, the girl walked up to the gates, glancing around for some sort of call bell, when the iron creaked, the doors opening inward for her of their own accord. From that point forward, it was a long, shady gravel drive, lined with trees filled to bursting with new growth. She looked all around, the smile never leaving her face as she casually made her way towards what seemed to be a courtyard. At the very least, the grassy knoll was far more open than the drive had been.

In the distance, she could see the house, and it was so stunningly picturesque in its loveliness that it nearly took her breath away. She thought she'd walked right into a Jane Austen novel. Never short on enthusiasm, the girl picked up her pace, her bag slapping against her hip as she made her way closer towards what she believed was the front entrance to Andreis' home.

It was a cold night, and Varyn had spent the better half the afternoon searching the giant mansion for any signs of his family. There were barely any hints to living ones, but lots of signs of the dead ones. He fished the stained little ragdoll from inside his coat and hefted it up and down as he paced around the grounds.

Clunk.

Varyn felt something hard against his foot and bent over to inspect it...

There, he would find a little effigy that carried the likeness of a dog. It was cast in silver and beautifully detailed, from the perked ears to the ruffle in its fur. Its eyes bore deep and watchful within its skull, casting a gaze at Varyn. There was a crack in the item, from the back of the head to its shoulder, where a blackness leaked forth from within.

Varyn slid his finger over the crack, probing the edges of the crack with his fingertip. It was like the masterwork, why would somebody just leave this around to rust in the dewy grass? Varyn turned it over to examine the face, brushing the dust off it and looking curious.

"Who made you?" Varyn asked no-one in particular, putting away the ragdoll and used both hands to shuffle it around in his hand. The most he'd found inside was the crappy little ragdoll, a bunch of ghosts and litter. He wouldn't be an Inkson if he wasn't suspicious.

Yet, there was something familiar feeling about it.

As his finger danced along the crack in the silver, a great howl filled the air around Varyn and echoed into the nearby area, haunting and fierce.

A black liquid began to pour out of the split in the silver, quickly pooling on the ground in front of Varyn's feet. The substance welled up and began to take form, from bubbles and blobs to something more defined, something recognizable.

Sitting before Varyn was a grand, handsome beast, black as the ink it had formed itself from with an exact likeness to the effigy that the man had been holding, red eyes peering from beneath its furry brow.

Varyn dropped the effigy, what a magnificent beast. It came to be was familiar too, the boiling black ink that formed the dog was similar to how Varyn pictured his disappearing act was like, he never really did it in-front of a mirror. "Hey dog." Varyn smiled, holding out his hand towards the effigy dog's nose.

"You're a good lookin' dog! Ain'tcha?"

The dog's tail began to wag- oh, he knew this person. Not by face, but by smell. The scent of ink was prominent leaking from the young man, and that was enough identification. The bounded up to him and butt his head against the man's hand. He sat down again, barked, got up, spun, and sat down once more.

Varyn grinned. "I think I know what you're all about. I think I'll call you..." Varyn rubbed his chin, leaning forward to pet the dog as he thought about a suitable name. "Saxon, that sound good, buddy?" He moved to scratch the dog's ears, hoping the mutt would approve.

Lectre Mansion Grounds,
Wing City,
Terra

Whispers of the names ‘Sinhai’ and ‘Song’ echoed throughout finer society in Wing City, and those of society that while not so ‘fine’ still were in the know perhaps as a job, perhaps because of a friend, or perhaps they were just curious of the workings of their chaotic little world. It was unknown who these people were to much of Wing City, if not all of them. Some people aware of the happenings on Origin might here whisper of the House Song, who possessed many human servants in a vast network and whom the members of were rarely seen, but they were few and far between. In fact, they were so few that their knowledge likely would not reach very far. A new era was dawning for the Lectre mansion grounds, and Wing City could watch up while preparations unraveled.

A new beauty would be brought to the mansion grounds as they were redefined by the very transcendency that their new owners thought would be appropriate, thought would tell everyone of their goals, of what they wished to craft in the long run even if no one was aware of the bigger picture one could glimpse through Lectre. Advanced technology combined with sorcery, not one but instead separate this time around, fueled the restructuring of the ground, of all that was on and near Lectre into something more beautiful - something that would fit the needs, wants, and embody the dreams of those that would come to inhabit the Lectre manor grounds. The preparations would not take long in the face of the capabilities that the Sinhai and their many peoples possessed, as such was the way that the world worked when faced with the very power to control it to its very core. The end result was something that could be used to create, to destroy, or simply to beautify. In this place, the action taken was more along the route of creation and beautification as hydrogen, oxygen, and new trees were brought in, as soil was enriched, as life was brought, as shielding was erected, and as buildings were built.

Underneath the Lectre manor grounds a secret would be present, however, and it would be inaccessible to all but those who knew of it, undetectable to even the most capable of entities, and not a trace of it would be tasted in the air unless something could cause suspicion of its existence to arise. There would be laboratories for various purposes, engineering rooms and forges, armories, quarters, transport pads, command rooms, an area from which vehicles could launch, and various underground levels protected by that shield that would protect the upper grounds, thick walls, and technologies that would allow Lectre to become another bastion for the Sinhai. The best part was that even a satellite view of the grounds at a time when vehicles were being launched as the ground opened up would not reveal that they were being launched, as was the nature of the shield. Lectre was becoming something a bit different, and many would see that it was a necessity in the long run. Until then, however, Lectre would be manor grounds - well, they’d always be manor grounds. Secrecy was the power of the Sinhai, after all.