pretty_plant

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You are a minor practical magician who have practiced magic for around three years with some basic understanding of common spells.
Today, your fiance, a pretty girl of eighteen, suddenly disappeared and in your attempts to find her, you walk on a fairy road and find a majestic castle with tall towers. Music comes from the windows into the room and you can tell that a ball was going on.
Walking into the chamber, you see many ladies and gentlemen of superb handsomeness in a dizzying array of outfits that escape human comprehension.

What do you do now?
A. Approach a lady and ask her for a dance.
B. Stay next to the wall to observe.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

logonaut

I stay next to the wall and observe.

From:

pretty_plant

You stand in a corner of the room, trying to make yourself inconspicuous. You want to try a spell to make yourself blend into the shadow but amidst so many fairies, you are unsure whether the spell might cause the fairies to notice you rather than hide your presence.

After a while, you decide against it and observe everyone silently. In your corner, you can see a servant filling up a bowl of punch and cleaning up dirty plates on the table at the side of the room. He stands out because while everyone in the room wears beautiful clothes, he is dressed in rags. While everybody is immaculately presented, their hair perfectly brushed and styled, their face cleaned, either carefully shaved or tinted with a lovely hint of blush, he is slovenly with his unwashed face and dirty nails, looking like he would belong to a place under the bridges in London rather than a lovely ball.

And most importantly, he looks absolutely normal with none of fairy strange quality in countenance or figure. You suspect that he might be a human.

When he comes across the corner you are standing in, you will:

A. Ask whether he is a human and say that he is cruelly treated here.
B. Ask him whether he is a human and use money and a stable chance of employment to turn him over to your side.

From:

logonaut

I choose B.

From:

pretty_plant

"May I have your attention?"

The man looks towards you and looks momentarily surprised when he sees you.

"A Christian gentleman?"

"Not simply a Christian gentleman. I am an English magician."

"Oh." The man's face was contemptuous. "Are you one of those that sell useless trinkets for a lot of money?"

"No, I am no such thing. I am a modern magician. I study with the foremost teachers of magic and even correspond with Lord Portishead, whom as you might well know, was a dear friend of Mr Norrell prior to his departure from England!"

"I know no fancy people."

"Fancy people!? How can you fail to know at least Mr Norrell? He is the nation's foremost magician, the one who revived magic to its glory and saved us from the France!?"

"Well, he must have done it very quickly because I left England only one week ago and I heard no such thing and the war with the France isn't getting any better."

"One week!" You pause a little bit to think. You have heard of people being enchanted and being trapped in Faerie without being aware of how bad their position were. You feel like you ought to be careful. "I have a question to ask of you. I am looking for a lady who is brought to this place. She is to inherit a great estate. If you promise to help me save her from this place, I promise that we will give you 50 pounds and a position as our manservant."

For a man of such a background, 50 pounds can mean two or three years of work. The man hesitates for a little bit before saying,

"I do enjoy working here wearing this fine servant's livery and eating good food but it is probably better to return to England and find a wife there. All these fairies, even the servants, are so full of themselves. I will help you."

What will you do?
A. Ask about where the girl is?
B. Ask about the master of this place.