heirtothedragonsfire | A Courtesy Welcome Call for dark_lady

The virtues of strong foundations have never been lost on Isidor. An old family can only grow to be as old as hers with strong beginnings that were carefully tended to. For an earth mage it's particularly easy to see the limitless reasons to make a start as strong as possible. Which is why Isidor makes it a point to check in on those newly settling into IRIS. It's a careful balance, to be more than a contact for mundane tasks, to be a manager, the person on top, but still accessible. Checking in on residents is by far the easiest of her tasks.

Sariss had intrigued her. The request for a simple workspace was a little surprising: Logically it made perfectly good sense, but Sariss came across as too... ambitious for 'basic research amenities'. Perhaps it was just Isidor projecting, but people with such an exceptionally high standard for her appearance and demeanour were either very stuck in their ways or looking to carve out the new normal. The former didn't tend to pique Isidor's interest as much as Sariss did.

Although there's no real need to, Isidor knocks on the door before flashing her card over the access panel and opening the door. It rarely hurts to be polite. She stops just inside of the doorway.

"How are you settling in?"

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"Curious and fascinating," she responded, shaking her head.

"You have accumulated a locus of power, to say nothing of your own personal prowess - and yet nobody has tried to take it from you. You speak with such authority, that broaches no disagreement."

She smiles at that last. Oh yes, she can understand that. She rather likes it, too.

"I suspect that you will, one day. It is sadly inevitable, I find. But you've done remarkably well to come so far without a nemesis. There are still so many who dislike a woman holding any power, by itself."

She pauses, striving for dark humor.

"Unless you took the simplest expedient and simply eliminated a few before they became threats."

It is mostly meant as humor, but this woman is...interesting. And there is much unknown about her. She hopes to provoke some kind of telling reaction.

The corner of the mage's mouth twists in a smile. Confidence and straight-forwardness are cardinal sins in the law of feminine wiles (at least where she was raised). It looks like she's not the only one who's more comfortable flaunting that particular set of rules. Part of her wonders if Sariss has had to play pretend as often as she has.

"You make it sound like the only way to deal with potential threats is to kill them." Her feigned seriousness is broken with a light shrug and a wry grin. "Where's the fun in that?"

"As for the lack of competition, well..." Again she shrugs, this time leaning back against a counter. "If you can find out why, you can let me know. There's no pleasure in being the best when no one else is even showing up."

In more ways than she would ever want to remember. So much of her darkness is fueled by her memories. There are whole worlds she would burn to a cinder because they were places that, in every way, tried to make her nothing but an obedient pet.

"The most efficient, perhaps, but yes - not the most fun." None of her thoughts show on her face, of course. Her control is more internal than many of her ilk.

"So, unchallenged and unrivaled - how do you enjoy yourself?"

Death, with all its permanence and consequence, is not something to be approached lightly. No one can claim it's not efficient in ending a person and what they bring with them, but fate rarely keeps things so neat. With a whole swathe of other mages, of deities and creatures from the dark to be wary of, most of Isidor's family and peers hesitate to risk the delicate peace they live in. So joking it is, and a wider grin for Sariss' concession.

That question comes out of the blue. Not that she hasn't been asked it before. In fact, she's been asked it too many times. So many people eager to get past the business and to the personal. She just hadn't quite expected it from Sariss, who herself seems so forthright and serious.

It takes her a second but in a blink she's back to her pleasant smiling. "By exploring and improving. If no one else is going to challenge me then I'll have to compete against myself."

It isn't, but she has dealt in it so long that it is an old friend. In her world, any conflict was one fought to the death - there were no exits, little diplomacy. But there was much subtlety, a vast bevy of corruption - and violence, suddenly lurking around every potential corner.

She also wastes no time, and asks what comes to her mind. This woman has power and wields it, and that is rare enough - but she wants to find the edges, complete the picture.

"A wise answer," she intones, impressed. "I am rare amongst my ilk that I seek out knowledge at all corners."

That answer has Isidor looking at her strangely. There's a hint of joking when she asks, "Do your people not like seeking knowledge?"

And not a hint in her reply.

"When it suits them, they do. But it is a means, not an end. What they seek is power, above all things. They do not understand, as we do, that knowledge and power are not separate things. One is an effect of the other."

"Mmm," Isidor hums thoughtfully, narrowed eyes assessing the woman in front of her. Power and knowledge. Knowledge and power. A dangerous combination whatever way you look at it.

"So you seek power through knowledge? Rather than knowledge for knowledge's sake."

"Before coming here, I could have answered that in a moment," she replied, looking off into the distance, thoughtfully.

"It was power gained of knowledge. In days past, I was a servant of a Master who understood what it meant - but now? Now I have my own path to chart, for the first time in my entire life."

This is what sets her apart from her fellows. And what makes her dangerous.

Isidor's evaluating gaze doesn't move an inch. People's origins have a hold over them, and this glimpse into Sariss' is telling. The thirst for power is not easily shaken, and while freedom might be a bright distraction, that thirst remains. Just better hidden.

"Well. If you're looking to discover your own knowledge, here is the place to do it." She smiles, her eyes a little to bright, and then straightens. "I should leave you to your work."

Ah. There it is. Honesty and what it achieves, demonstrated again - driving people away as quickly as their legs can take them. Inwardly, she sighs. Outwardly, her look merely goes somewhat blank.

"Yes, I've kept you from your own duties far too long."

A Courtesy Welcome Call for dark_lady_sariss

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