#thesableseraph

“Just Ko is fine.” she said with a humble smile. The inventor was not so graceful as her guest. She rested both of her arms on the table and leaned on her elbows as she listened intently to the potential costumer.

A swell of pride grew in Ko as Fina praised her work and ambitions. However, even with how eager Ko was to accept this new job offer she couldn’t help but feel a little put off by how vague the woman was being about her ‘project’ and how her reputation was not something to write home about. Then again Ko couldn’t say her reputation was always a positive thing to some.

“I’d love to work with you and provide better working conditions for your staff. But, I am a little curious… What exactly is this project of yours?”

Roving eyes took quiet note of the other woman’s posture. Such an inclined stance spoke to her honest interest given with few reservations. Honesty, the characteristic amused Fina especially seeing it played so deep in the Zaunite fog. How endearing Ko seemed.  The masked woman's lax expression belied her sharp attention. How would Ko take the unsavory information placed before? Would it show on her face or in something as subtle as shifted weight? Beneath her porcelain shell, Fina watched and smiled in half amusement at what she saw, yet it was never enough to reach her eyes.

Truth be told, hiring a contractor was something Fina was unaccustomed. It was a matter of swallowing pride and admitting ignorance. “Magic” was real enough here. Eyes with the light of knowledge left little room for obfuscating shadows and illusions. Yet, working with such an honest face and such noble intentions, Fina almost felt secure in her exercise in trust. ‘Almost,’ was the key word.

Fina hummed in accord and mirrored Ko’s posture while she spoke. “My project? Nothing short of a proper orphanage for the children of Zaun. Now, I know such establishments garner certain... feelings in this city, but I seek to change that. This city is rife with delinquents and scattered children, not unlike the home of my youth. They grow with infected wounds in body and mind, festering into what we see today. I imagine some kinder fate.

“My company specializes in maritime trade, and years have given us a sizable wealth. I want to employ a portion of my revenue to the maintenance of a home for the neglected young, complete with physical and mental education. I am a wealthy woman without the need for fineries or frivolous wants, but I can acquire a grand estate to provide comfort and a secure place to rest their heads.

“Yet, I demand more than simple subsistence. Competition is the lifeblood of Zaun. The older children will be made to work for additional, above-standard wages within my shipping company or until they can find employment elsewhere. A benefit of trade? They may leave Zaun if they so wished, for it is their futures that matter most. 

“For such an ambitious project to succeed, I need... you. To remove pollution, you must begin at the source, no?”

She chuckled in her head then. With the skies clear, only then could one see a ‘brighter tomorrow.’

Fina’s personality from http://similarminds.com/cattell-16-factor.html

Fina’s personality is heavily at odds with itself, split between the formal face she presents with her masked persona and the wary rationalist that stages the act. She is cold to everyone and struggles to display affection even to the few she could consider close. What little warmth she had is derived from the expressions she emulates from others. These calculated gestures lack the genuine sincerity she tries to display and often feel jointed, wounding her particularly when rebuffed or alienated by those she opens up to. 

A keystone along her character growth is her struggle with her stunted emotional growth. A troubled past and lack of competent caretakers have fostered a survivalist mentality in the young woman with the aggressive individualism it takes to eke out an existence alone. Fina is highly suspect of the motives of others, preferring her own company because it is within the realm of her control. The unpredictable nature of the world at large make Fina feel tense and drives her towards perfectionism as she is intimately aware that careless errors lead to a quick death. Her own survival and needs are paramount so much so that others are often an afterthought of her action.

She approaches the world through the lens of logical reasoning, deducing fact and patterns to adapt to the world rather than rely on feeling or instinct due in part to her lack of development in self expression. Not knowing creates high anxiety for her as she equates it to lack of control over her fate, something she fought hard to win.

Her lukewarm social assertiveness and lively attitude are defining traits of the enigmatic Sable Seraph. The coy proprietress of the eponymous Sable Sails is a collection of characteristics Fina has observed in the aristocracy. Her personal fondness for games and sharp mind are turned to the Seraph’s dutifulness and adherence to the letters of her written contract. Those binding documents are displays of intellect used to further her own ends while dancing through the bounds of others’.

Smokestacks by LAYLA

lyrics [here]

“A test flight? My, my…you never quite cease to amaze with your technological wonders. If I had another lifetime, I don’t think I’d be able to see them all. Then again… you’ve spent a lifetime learning haven’t you?” The Seraph chuckled softly as she leaned back in her chair. A kick of one lever locked the door behind him and another shined the lamps upon the ceiling and cast the whole room in a soft light.

Fina wondered at all the time that had passed between since they had met. One year, the waters were infested with sharks after the scent of fresh spilt blood. The frenzy had long since ceased as sand filtered through the hourglass of months. The game was young then. Pawns were laid on the table and traded for neat objectives, squares on a grid worth innumerable lives. That was, if she hadn’t kept count. Slowly, that tainted blood that filled their veins was diluted.

Years later, they stood linked with brittle handshakes in one hand and hidden daggers in the other. That liquor of life concentrated with greed in those hearts that remained. Still, here Felix was, in her office instead of she in his, but it wasn’t plays of power that intrigued her. It was what he had lost and gained to be here. He’d freed his own soul from the devil, turned back his cursed deal. Yet, here he was bargaining with a lesser ‘fallen angel’ so to speak. What drew him back to this den of misery and deceit? The unspoken answer was what held her interest.

She chided herself. Idle thoughts were for idle minds and bodies without a day’s purpose. Now was a time of business and innovation, implications saved for the end of the night. The Seraph uncrossed and recrossed her legs as she leaned her elbow to rest upon the lacquered surface of her desk.

“So… tell me, Felix, what will you need to test the apparatus. I would hope that we see Daedalus escape the Labyrinth of his own doing rather than Icarus and his prideful folly. You, Zaun, and I? My, my… you would make a wonderful poet…” Again, honey laughs pass her lips as her eyes smile instead of hidden lips. Then, her voice softens.

“Truly I do. Felix, my Daedalus. Fly and leave your foolish Icarus to her fall. Perhaps I will learn to swim the bay to find you when the waters are calm.”

Four Word Prompts

The Queen gives a look that is somewhere between innocence and curiosity, her brows raised as she tilts her head and regards the masked figured before her.

“And what makes you say that, hmm?”

Previously...

"How does this sound? Five thousand krakens aboveboard, today, so you can make the necessary arrangements with your pay, with another five upon return to this office. We wouldn’t want you to be caught with large amounts of any valuables on your person now would we?”

She pushed the journal back without making further attempts to read it after having already taken the opportunity to glance at his words as they were penned to paper. The shadowed rogue’s attention was more keen to the grey humanity that sat nestled in the depths of his helmet. At the least, it was a pleasant thought to be dealing with another human rather than some sentient armor. Though, she wouldn’t have been very surprised by the latter in Valoran.

With the idle thought to amuse her, Fina’s gaze shifted calmly to the gauntlets that rose into the light before her. It was not a make she was intimately familiar with, but it took no expert to discern its difference from the usual make and metal of the pervading armor.

Though he was but another mercenary for her work, Fina couldn’t help but be curious to the unique circumstances that he had found himself in. Like her words prior, it was but random chance that shaped their lives and thus they themselves as individuals. How odd that they were brought here together, their bodies telling stories of wayward years and a patchwork sense of purpose.

He proclaimed himself a knight, yet he seemed more the ‘wayward adventurer’ she so often saw about the land outside reach of law. Even if the world had long been mapped, there was still some thrill in the less than known regions she supposed. Nevertheless, idle curiosities were for exactly thus, idle time, which happened outside of the purview of business and her work as the ‘Black Angel.’  “Your experience--evident by your survival--with the... ‘dangers’ of these untrodden paths more than qualifies you for this endeavor, and I hope that you will prove my inclinations insightful. Though, I am amused you would name this a noble goal, dear Knight.

“There are few things more inherently vile than avarice and the sickness gold brings. A merchant is no priest nor savior. His intention is always first to line his pockets. They would not risk life and limb for your sake, I suggest more care in doing so for theirs. 

“Perhaps you are now questioning, ‘what am I then if not mercantile?’ That is the question now isn’t it? Perhaps you will see in time what we of the Sable Sails endeavor to accomplish. Until then, you may refer to me as your employer, the Sable Seraph. Might I know your name, Knight of mine, for pleasure if not for the sake of my ledgers?”

@dustysoloist started following you

“It has been quite some time since I’ve been free to cross the waters to the city across the bay. Too much occupies my time in this city of filth and treachery, this place of absolute ‘freedom.’

“Yet, I’m still learning much about Piltover from reports and statements gathered by my eyes in the shadows. Rabble rise in bids for power, ne’er-do-wells play outside of view. Yes, the shining bastion of progress can’t seem to rid itself of the haunting spectre of its past. Not even the Sheriff can eradicate crime no matter how hard she tries. Amusing if it weren’t so sad.