I ♚ Q U I L L / V I D E O

[justicelobster]

[ A bold sort of cursive appears over the network. Its purpose is clear, and something about the wording suggests that the writer would be most displeased should his message be ignored. ]

Albus Dumbledore. A peculiar name, and also a man with a peculiar way of calling for aid. I find myself questioning his motives. For all his talk of "honour"

Comments

[Quill]

[snarkypotions]

I take it that you are a professor, then?

[Quill]

[justicelobster]

[ for a moment, he just stares at the screen. this was all completely absurd. and yet... here he was. ]

So says the letter from "Albus Dumbledore".

Are you one of his vassals?

[Quill]

[snarkypotions]

[Excuse him? Who do you think he is?]

I beg your pardon?

[Quill]

[justicelobster]

I did not think I was unclear.

Do you serve him in some manner?

quill.

[kindlymeant]

[There is something familiar in his eyes, but Alayne does not recognize him. She recognizes, however, the mention of 'Maesters', and of the 'Others'. Could it be that he's Westerosi?

Asking outright seems rash - perhaps there will be another way to find out.]

It seems ill done that he would bring us to such a place, so troubled, without explaining more to us, my lord. Perhaps he seeks to call his banners?

quill.

[justicelobster]

[ He regards the... letter(?) for a moment. A fellow Westerosi (should the sender prove to be so) could be both a blessing and a curse. Though, given the state of things, it was far more likely to be the latter.

Most likely, he would be able to judge the sender more carefully based on their reaction to his identity. ]

Your Grace is the proper way to address a king.

Perhaps that was his intent, but it does not change the result of his misdeed. For that, he should be judged accordingly.

quill.

[kindlymeant]

[A king. If he is Westerosi, then there is surely only one man that he could be. Once, she'd have thought him a friend, an ally, someone she could turn to. Now, she thinks she knows better - and so she'll have to be careful.]

Forgive me, your Grace. I shall not make such a mistake again. [She considers saying something else - that she should have recognized him as a king merely by his noble look, perhaps - but from what she's heard of him, he would not appreciate such.]

You are to be a teacher, your Grace?

quill.

[justicelobster]

It is not as though you had any way of knowing my face, my lady.[ Certainly, the sender seemed rather ladylike. ] Though, should Albus Dumbledore have his way, the title will mean even less here than it does in Westeros. You are correct.

[ There is no easy way to approach this. He hesitates for a moment before writing... ]

Which house do you hail from?

[ At least he assumed that she was from a noble house. After all, smallfolk were not very likely to be able to read and write and even less likely to bother with such courtesies. ]

text

[seeingeyespit]

4T L34ST YOU H4V3 4 L4ND TO R3TURN TO
SOM3 OF US 4R3NT TH4T LUCKY
>:[

quill;

[justicelobster]

[ ...

...What in Seven Hells is he reading? He could easily make out the words "you", "to", "of us", and "lucky", but the rest of it appeared to be written in a queer sort of language mixed with letters and numbers. However, after some time, it occurs to him that perhaps the numbers are substituting the letters. If one changed the "3" for an "e" and the "4" for an "a", its contents suddenly made sense (with the exception of the last three characters).

Though he couldn't quite fathom what exactly the point was to such an excersise. ]

Is that so?

[ and then, as an afterthought. ]

You write with strange letters.

[seeingeyespit]

Y3S
4ND Y3S, 1 C4N S33 WHY YOU WOULD TH1NK TH4T
THOS3 L3TT3RS 4R3 V3RY SP3C14L
TH3Y 4R3 C4LL3D "NUM3R4LS"

[troll is a word with a lot of nuance, okay, it can refer to a species or chatting with someone or, well, what Terezi just did. She's such a...troll.]

quill; /gives up on coding for now

[justicelobster]

[ Is this some sort of jape? Or does this one honestly take him for that much of a fool? ]

I know perfectly well what they are called. What I wonder is what their use is when letters serve the same purpose.

video.

[justicelobster]

My lady.

[ Stannis hadn’t been expecting to see that face so soon, and even less so here at... Hogwarts. Hogwarts. He frowned slightly.

While Melisandre’s face was certainly a welcome one, her presence said something about Albus Dumbledore’s power. If she had not seen this in her flames... If she could not shield even herself from his clutches... It was an ill omen. What sort of man would dare tempt the wrath of R’Hllor so brazenly?

He misliked this Albus Dumbledore more and more by each passing moment. ]

So arrogant that he expects our fealty, and only speaks to us through scraps of parchment. Had he not been so bold in his previous actions, I would be of the mind to call him craven.