#curiositycollection

Glen Moray RhumAgricole Finished Single Malt Scotch Whisky https://greatdrams.com/glen-moray-rhumagricole-finished-single-malt-scotch-whisky/

Glen Moray RhumAgricole Finished Single Malt Scotch Whisky https://greatdrams.com/glen-moray-rhumagricole-finished-single-malt-scotch-whisky/

Glen Moray RhumAgricole Finished Single Malt Scotch Whisky https://greatdrams.com/glen-moray-rhumagricole-finished-single-malt-scotch-whisky/

Glen Moray RhumAgricole Finished Single Malt Scotch Whisky https://greatdrams.com/glen-moray-rhumagricole-finished-single-malt-scotch-whisky/

I’ve added a couple of new kinds of events to my schedule this year, one is a #curiosity and #oddities show! Since I’ve been busy lately processing work I already started and don’t have a lot of time to #draw, I decided to do a bigger drawing and add to it daily! I #sketched out a #curiositycabinet and I hope to fill in a compartment a day. I will probably be #inspired by some of the items in my own #curiositycollection in my drawings. (at Hazel Park, Michigan)

Macaw skull 🌿 #birdskull #skull #skullart #skulldesign #curiositiesandoddities #curiositycollection #curiositycabinet #macabreart #macabre #darkart #darkaesthetic #creepyart #spookyart #moodyart #skeletonart #naturalhistoryillustration #scientificillustration #penart #pendrawings #penillustration #thesketchbooksociety

This is a response to the following prompt from curiositycollection: commentfic? or storyline prompt? -- In the Regent Courtroom, Myka sat contemplating their losses. The Regents appeared determined to find Artie guilty and to punish him, perhaps permanently. Helena was gone, and not even Mrs. Frederic knew how to find her. Suddenly, the courtroom door swung open. Helena strode into the room, her raven hair flowing over her shoulders. She hefted her bag onto the table. "Righty ho, then," she said. "Allow me to clear up some questions about Magellan's Astrolabe." Righty-ho, then. --- She couldn't recall being more infuriated and frustrated in her life. She and Pete, Claudia and Steve had all taken Artie's side, and had all given their best defenses against the tribunal of Regents. It seemed completely out of character for them to hold such an affair -- they had always made their decisions in secret, closed-door meetings, and yet here they were, out in the open, judging Artie for his actions. Really, judging them all. Myka Bering glanced at the five people seated across from them, familiar with a few of them in some small way. There was Deb Stanley, Pete's "mess" from a few weeks ago, a newly-instated addition to a still-depleted team of Regents. There was Jane Lattimer next to her, the Remati Shackle clinking across the tabletop every time she moved her wrist. There was Mr. Keeler from Elk Ridge, the grocery store manager that kept the Regent Vault that H.G.'s hologram unit was stored in. There was Mr. Kosan, scrutinizing their every word and action and twitch. They had all borne no small amount of scrutiny after the events with the Chinese Orchid. They themselves had barely survived, and thousands of others simply hadn't been so lucky. The worldwide panic had brought the uncomfortable eyes of several world leaders to focus on the Warehouse, its agents, and its Regents. The world was looking for a scapegoat, and the longer they fought against theeir assembled bosses, the more she felt like that scapegoat would be Artie. "Mr. Kosan," she began again, swallowing her ire at the prospect of having to repeat herself for the fourth time, "you don't understand. Artie wasn't himself when he acted. He was overtaken by another force, another personality. What he did was not some deep, dark desire that manifested itself somehow. The evidence we received from the Order of the Black Diamond siggets the evil he was possessed by was the exact opposite of the Artie we know." "A point you've tried to state four times, Agent Bering," the man replied. "We are not deaf." "But Mr. Kosan, this explains everything!" "No, it does not. Agents are called upon to sonsider matters in far greater detail and with far more prescience than normal people. It's not Agent Nielsen's would-be reign of terror that we are interested in so much as his choices leading up to it. He chose to use the Astrolabe, then chose not to tell anyone about his decision." "He was warned that anyone he told would be in danger!" Pete exclaimed. "How can you blame him for not wanting to put us all at risk like that?" "A danger you all faced anyway." "A danger we wouldn't have been in had Artie not begun to loop us in to begin with." "And you think he should have continued keeping it to himself?" "No! But...look. He told Leena about the plan. Leena and H.G. and Mrs. Frederic. And while the other two were out of his reach, Leena..." There was a sniffle from over Myka's left shoulder. She didn't have to glance back to know it was from Claudia. "There were so many moving parts to that prophecy. You have to understand that. Mrs. Frederic herself said she would have done the same thing." "Mrs. Frederic is not here," Kosan reminded them, perhaps a little too harshly, "and we all know why." Myka fell back into her chair, her forehead wrinkled in a frustrated scowl. She was running out of ideas. Just then, the chamber door opened, bathing the entrance in light and silhouetting their visitor. Myka blinked against ti for a moment, then felt her breath catch and her heart go still. "Helena..." And indeed, in strode H.G. Wells herself like a triumphant conqueror or the prodigal child or something else equally heroic. "Am I too late to join Artie's defense?" she asked the panel, each of them wearing their own mask of shock. "Uh," Deb sputtered, "who are you, exactly?" Jane leaned over to explain it. Myka figured she got the gist of it when her eyes widened. "Agent Wells," Kosan acknowledged, "Welcome back. When you disappeared, we feared..." "I did so at Mrs. Frederic's direction, Mr. Kosan. I had to be sure the danger to the Astrolabe had passed before making my return." "And where is the Astolabe now?" Helena did not answer immedately, instead turning to face the team of agents on her right. And for a moment, just the briefest of moments, she locked eyes with Myka and smiled. "Safe," she replied, before looking back to the Regents. "But on that topic, allow me to share with you some facts about Magellan's Astrolabe." Kosan raised his hand dismissively. "That won't be necessary." "No?" The reply was playful, and Myka smiled. She recognized the tone in the other woman's voice. It was the same tone she took on before she verbally outwitted Pete, back in the day when they were all still one happy agent family. "Then did yiu know that the user of the Astrolabe is marked by the device? Dod you know that it is the Astrolabe itself that wishes to be undone? Did you know that the evil created within the soul of the user has a memory, a personality, and that it takes on the most sinister interpretation of not only that poor soul, but also every other soul that has ever used it?" There was no immediate reply. In fact, the chamber was as silent as a tomb. "I thought not." Jane cleared her throat before leaning forward. "Agent Wells, we appreciate your insight, but I have to know....where did you come across this knowledge?" The time traveller tilted her head. "I spent years researching every time-related artifact the Warehouse had ever heard of. The astrolabe was an artifact that figured prominently in my research, but it was an object that, by the time I discovered its nature, was long since past my ability to use it. But each of the objects I researched had an equally horrific downside, as they all do. This is why I constructed my own means of time travel, why I built my time machine. I wanted to control the side effects as I wished to control the outcome of time itself." "And in this research, you managed to come across documentation that detailed exactly how the astrolabe worked?" "Yes." Kosan's eyes narrowed. "How?" From her satchel, she produced several folios, the strode to the Regent's dais and dropped them on the countertop. "From Macimillien Robespierre himself." "Wait," Steve said, "I read those. The Order of the black Diamond had those. They didn't go into that much detail." "That's because the Order has Robespierre's waking diaries. The evil kept its own journals." The regents all glanced at one another before Kosan finally spoke again. "We need to discuss this new evidence. We'll adjourn for a short recess and come back to this." ---- In the intervening time, the Warehouse agents took an opportunity to stand and stretch, to chat a little maongst themselves, and to greet HG again properly. Pete was the first, and flew over to her to wrap the smaller woman in a bear hug and swing her around. Claudia flew into her next, nearly tackling her with the embrace. She was then introduced to Steve formally, never having the opportunity to formally meet the man before. And then, Artie came up to haer and hugged her himself, then thanked her for keeping the astrolabe safe from him. All of them seemed to clear away, however, as Myka approaced Helena for the first time in months. She hadn't blamed Helena for the sudden departure after they saved the Warehouse from Sykes' bomb, but it had hurt anyway. She had only just regained her friend, only just been able to feel her touch again, and she had been shocked to discover how much she'd missed it. Even wrapped in the rigging rope from the Mary Celeste, she had been grateful for Helena's solidity. But now they stood no more than two fet from one another and she was afraid to reach out. "Hello, Myka." There were a million thing she wanted to say, but she settled for the simplest one. "Where did they take you?" Helena smiled softly, almost sadly. I was assigned to Mrs. Frederic at first, as her personal attache, as it were. She suspected that artie had done something related to time from the beginning, and asked me to use my unique talents to research the matter. I was also a bit of a specialty gatherer for a time, but all of these roles required absolute secrecy. Then, when Mrs. Frederic sent me away with the astrolabe..." Myka flinched. "Oh, Darling, I wanted to contact you. I wanted to hear your voice again, to talk to you about my research, to hear about your missions. If I had only been allowed..." "No, I understand. I do. It's just...I missed you." Helena's dark eyes sparkled a bit at the admission. "Oh, Myka," she breathed, "there is so much I wish to tell you, when we have the time." She nearly said their time was then, now, but a door creaked open behind the dais and the Regents walked back in. Each of them took a seat again, and Helena came to rest beside Myka, her hand against her palm. "We've come to a decision," Jane started. Myka's heart fell. Was the discussion really over? "Agent Nielsen will be placed on nine months of probation -- no field work, limited handling of the artifacts. Miss Donovan, as the new Caretaker, I expect you to see to it that those conditions are met." Claudia perked up. "Yeah. Sure! I mean...uh...that's kind of a full-time job though. Can I ask for some help?" "You have your agents. What more do you need?" Kosan asked. "Well...I was thinking that to keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't relapse into cray cray, I might could probably use the skills of someone who's been there. Like H.G." Myka's heart, stilled by her arrival, suddenly beta faster at the pospect of having Helena nearby for an extended period of time. "Plus, we need another agent. It'll be nice if we don't have to train one." The Regents mumbled amongst themselves, but the conversation was short. "This is an acceptable arrangement." Adwin Kosan waved his hand for a moment. "If there's no further business?" No reply came, and they were dismissed to the sounds of joyous relief coming from the Warehouse team. And amidst the congratulations and the hugs and the thank yous, Myka locked eyes with Helena once more. And they smiled. The time for their own discussion had finally arrived.

But thanks for the tip!