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Near the centeral hub itself is the beginning of a crowd for the weapon exhibit. Most of the crowd is human, so far. At the very front is a human woman with dark hair, appearing to be the one in charge and waiting for people to show up.
Tetran is traveling with an engineer and soldier close by him, walking with a slight limp as if he has recently been wounded. As he walks, he joins along with the crowd, curiously glancing about his surroundings, adjusting his scarf slightly.
Very observant museum goers would hear a very subtle flap of wings as a Tupai flies into the room. Less observant people would probably just notice Zu taking a perch on a railing towards the front near the dark haired woman.
Thud. Thud. Thud. Announced only by the tapping of his staff against the ground, Wyri is one of the taller members of the crowd he slowly joins. He too walks with a slight limp, and seems to get by only with the aid of his cane. His eyes glow a curious shade of yellow, a thin smile playing among his lips, twisting the scar at his cheek.
"Is that everyone?" The woman up front asks, looking about the crowd. "I suppose anyone else that wants in on this tour will have to catch up." she says. Then she looks about everyone and begins, "Hello. I'm Natasha." she answers, "And I'll be your guide tonight as we look over some historical relics gathered by the Svajone and contributed to our exhibit."
Tetran stretches a bit and listens to Natasha, his gaze moving from different race, to different race, obviously curious of a few he has obviously not met before judging by his expression, before turning his attention back to Natasha, taking his PDA out while he does.
Zu merely nods a bit as the tour begins and flaps over to the weapons exhibit to take a look at the various curiosities there. For now the Tupai is relatively quiet as he doesn't have any real questions yet.
Wyri leans on his cane, the flower made of clockwork ticks away softly, gears spinning and whirring. If it is a timepiece, it's one hell of a complicated clock. The swirl of curiosity in his eyes does not reach his face, but then little does, as the Aukami looks about the room. Taking in Tetran, Zu, Natasha and the crowd. After a moment, he limps towards Zu, "I had not expected to see a Tupai here." He says, in hushed tones. Even hushed, his voice trickles slowly like rain off of the leaves of a tree.
Seeing that there aren't any questions right away, Natasha starts walking, "We'd like to thank you for coming out to the SCRI exhibit. If you enjoy it, please recommend it to a friend... and here we are, at our first exhibit." The exhibit appears to be a wedge shaped sword with a serrated edge. "An early era weapon we found. This one, specifically, is bronze. While primitive in nature, it was rather potent in exacerbating any wounds caused by it. The wedge shape coming from the tip and the serrated edge made it difficult to attempt to close the wound."
Tetran watches the sword curiously, as if being reminded of something, and sighs thoughtfully, still tapping on his PDA.
Zu smirks a bit at the blade and appears to find somethng funny. Probably the thought of a Tupai carrying one of those things around. He perches again on a railing and awaits the next exhibit. His only question currently is "How does Svajone come across these artifacts?"
Surprise flashes across Wyri's features. Surprise at being ignored by the tupai? Perhaps. He turns back to the exhibit. "Indeed." The Aukami says, his voice a mite louder then before. "Was this discovered here, on Fortrain?"
"Most of these are not from Fortrain." is the answer from Natasha, the woman leading the tour that has just started. "Some our acquired through new arrivals via rifts, but many of these have been found through trade. I also heard that there is a stone variant of the wedged blade, but that was not contributed for this exhibit."
Tetran stretches and yawns, continuing to tap on his PDA, listening carefully to Natasha as she explains how specifically these things were acquired, as if expecting a specific response.
Zu nods at the explanation and turns to notice the Auk now that he's spoken up. There isn't much of a response since the Tupai doesn't know him and Zu simply moves along with the rest of the group for the tour asking "Trade with who?"
Alastair Hall strolls in, dressed up fancy and with Leucohyle following. With a quick glance around to acertain the state of things, he follows after the tour group.
Leucohyle pads in, clinging cautiously to Alastair's elbow, and looking around with -huge- eyes at, well. Everything. Everything from structures to fixtures to the materials used in the flooring. She quickens her pace to keep up.
Wyri nods, as if he had expected such an answer. He is leaning on his cane when Leu and Alastair arrives. There's a certain grace to his motions, fluid in every way save his limp, as he taps across to join them. "Do I know you?" The Aukami asks, looking at Alastair, brows drawn together as he tries to sift through his memories.
"I would have to look it up, but the source was human and the size of the hilt supports the belief that this was meant to be used by humans." Natasha answers. "The Svajone has been known in the past to offer new arrivals via the rifts compensation for any artifacts and curiosities of value they happen to bring with them. Not everyone accepts the offers made, of course, but it has given us potential historical insights through investigating the items in good condition."
Tetran takes in what is said by Natasha as he follows with the group, before asking politely, "And what sort of artifacts and curiousities do they except? Does it necessarily have to be physical? And how do you tend to the condition of the artifacts?"
Zu appears satisfied by the answer given by Natasha and flies off with thr group keeping about level with Tetran's head and not too far from it either. He currently just politely awaits the answer to Tetran's question.
Alastair Hall briefly looks at Wyri, inspecting the Aukami for a moment. "No." He says mildly. "I don't believe you do." Moving closer to the group, he speaks up after Tetran. "And wouldn't you gain more insight by simply asking the people about the time periods they come from?."
Leucohyle peeps around Alastair to echo his inspection of the Aukami, nose wrinkling with a puzzled curiosity, as though she's not sure how someone could not remember something like that. She blinks a few times, still wide-eyed, and pads off to move closer to the group, tilting her head quietly to await the answer to Doctor Hall's question.
"I will." The Aukami tells Alastair's back, giving a polite nod to Leuchoyle if she's still looking. His smile turns into a twisted grin, which looks even wider due to the scar on his cheek. The Aukami's eyes have turned a pale orange, and he limps to the edge of the exhibits, still within ear shot of Natasha, but out of anyone's way.
"It would be valuable to interview people." Natasha admits. "Right now we do not have any interviews available to the public." she starts to take a few steps along towards the next exhibit, "Most of our items are kept in sealed containment until someone can classify them and examine them. The truth is that the number of artifacts we have access to has increased far faster than expected."
Tetran nods softly, glancing at some of the artifacts as if trying to discern their condition himself, and replying with, "Thanks," turning to Alastair to reply to the question, trying not to disturb others as he does "Oh. I was just curious. I was rifted here from 2005 AD on Earth."
Zu looks thughtful at this and asks "Do you keep only outverser artifacts or are there relics from Hiverspace here as well?" While asking this he is flying next to Leucohyle and makes to perch on her shoulder if she'll allow it to avoid the exertion of flying.
Alastair Hall arches an eyebrow at Tetran. "From the 20th century, hmm?" He repeats in a tone of amusement. "Well, don't feel too bad about it. A lot of primitives manage to adapt quite quickly to modern life. I'm sure you'll fit in before you know it." There's an undercurrent of barely-concealed smugness in the Sivadian's tone.
Leucohyle nods politely in return to the Aukami; when his expression changes to the twisted grin, she crinkles her nose in alarm, and utters a faint 'pip' noise before getting closer to Alastair and going back to clutching his elbow. As he addresses Tetran, she pipes up, in a small, fluting voice, "It's -much- nicer he-- Er..." She leans away from the approaching Tupai, looking up at him as though he's just asked her if she'd like a lightly grilled weasel on a bun with fries. "...errr... H-hello?"
"Such simple creatures, humans." With all the relaxation in his posture of a bodyguard, Wyri leans on his cog covered cane and watches the crowd. There's an alertness to him, a tension in his muscles. Aside from making the occassional comment to himself, he says nothing, and makes no move to interact further with the crowd.
"A majority of our collected items are from humans." Natasha explains. "Most of the reasons have to do with who arrives via rift and provides items in quality condition, but it is also that SCRI's expertise tends to skew towards humans, and so those items are easier for us to catalogue and investigate."
Tetran regards what Natasha says for a moment, Hall's tone not escaping him as he glances to him, and then to Wyri as he hears the comment on humans, "We're more complicated than some would think... And I think I've adapted fairly well," he mutters, glancing at a PDA that is obviously customized, his voice low enough to not bother others as he turns back to listen to Natash again.
"There's the spirit!" Alastair says in an encouraging (albiet slightly condescending) tone tp Tetran. He continues listening to the presentation.
Zu falters at the leaning back and shakes his head slightly muttering "Um. Sorry. You looked like somebody else for a second. Zu is my name though." He carries the conversation while in the air opting to stay flying rather than make an ass of himself again.
"It it's nice to meet you, Zu," Leucohyle recites, keeping to social protocols while still managing to look very, very puzzled. "I'm 5824553, but, y-you may call me Leucohyle, if you prefer verbal-nomenclatures." Awkwardly, she clears her throat, and shuffles to face the presentation, expression turning quickly to rapt attention.
Wyri grins at Tetran. "It wasn't an insult," He replies, before looking back to Alastair. "In some cases." His grin fading to a soft smile, he tucks a hand in his pockets and rummages around for a bit.
The tour is already underway, being lead by a human woman in the front. "And now I would like to draw your attention to a primitive flintlock arm." she announces, showing a pair of flintlock longarms, "These two are particularly unique since to the best of our knowledge they were never used."
Tetran glances curiously at the flintlock longarms, studying them with his gaze, nodding solemnly as he listens to Natasha, turning to Wyri for a quick moment, "The name is Tetran by the way."
Zu nods as much as he can while still in flight and says "Leuchohyle it is. Good to meet you. Sorry I can't very well shake your hand right now." The bat's attention then goes to the arms as well.
Alastair Hall focuses his eyes on the display, zooming in for a better view of the flintlocks. "Interesting." He comments in a mild tone.
Leucohyle peeps around Alastair, following his gaze over to the flintlocks. "Oh, my," she pipes. "That -is- primitive... I I wonder what the failure-rate would be on on such-a-device."
"Grutos. Wyri Grutos." The Aukami replies, swirls of pink appearing in his glowing orange eyes. "A pleasure to meet you."
"In actual use, quite high. As you can imagine, there are many things that could go wrong with the firing. The mechanism was to use the flint to create a spark to light powder to provide the force to propel the small ball being fired from these." Natasha explains. "Moisture could prevent the proper propulsion, or powder could build up or not be fully extinguished and cause misfires or a decrease in accuracy." then she takes a moment to smile before going on, "These early ones were used in large groups in the mere hopes of trying to hit their opponents on a battlefield."
Tetran nods solemnly to Wyri, smiling and offering his hand to him, still studying the flintlock weapons curiously, and listening to Natasha's description.
Zu looks curious at this statement and asks of Natasha in a voice that suggests he finds the notion of what he suggests stupid "What? You mean they'd just get up in a line and take turns shooting at each other?" There's a small chuckle after this.
"How very polite." Alastair opines in an amused tone.
Leucohyle utters a few, cautious pips of amusement. "H-how very -inefficient-," she says, in her fluting little voice.
Wyri studies the hand Tetran offers for a moment. "Oh, yes." He withdraws his free hand from his pocket and shakes the human's hand firmly. That done, the hand goes straight back into his pocket. "Were there no psionics?" He asks. "A simple matter to form a shield from such weaponry, no?"
"Reloading the weapons was not a simple affair." Natasha explains, "So yes, you could say they took turns. Perhaps we can procure someone to provide a demonstration firing sometime. Of course, should that happen, we will let everyone know." then as Wyri asks, "Psionics? No. It is only a small sliver of human history that they had any appreciable psionic ability. There are certain mythos that describe abilities like psionics, but mostly there were no verified cases that we are familiar with."
Tetran listens carefully to Natasha's talk of psionics, and regards it curiously, before turning to Wyri, "I personally didn't meet any psionics I was aware of specifically until I got rifted to Hiverspace. So she's fairly right in that regard." he says, verifying what Natasha said, if only so he will have something to say.
Zu shakes his head a bit and replies "At that point you'd think it'd be more effective to have at each other close quarters than bother with the guns."
Leucohyle titters softly. "Took -turns-," she pipes. "C-can you believe that, Father? How -barbaric-."
Alastair Hall nods in agreement with Leu. "Very much so." He states. "What else would you expect from a bunch of primatives?"
Newt quietly, subntly "appears" at the back of the group. He hangs around a bit out of the way and then sneaks off to the side to try and get a better look at things.
"Unfortunately military tactics isn't my specialty." Natasha admits. "From what I know... often you would see cavalry" a pause, "Mounted soldiers, ride and attempt to disrupt these lines. The reason these weapons were so popular was not superiority, but ease of training."
Tetran waves softly to those gathered, "Take care, but I don't feel well. I'm going to get some rest." Bowing politely before walking on.
Zu nods at this and asks "Mounted on what exactly? I'm not particularily familiar with what primitive Earth mounts of choice were. I somehow suspect it wasn't those blasted cats some of the humans have about."
"Horses, most likely." Alastair suggests in an idle tone. "They feature prominently in many earth legends."
Leucohyle blinks repeatedly. "R-really? Horses? I've I've seen multimedia of horses..." She fiddles her fingers together, and then pipes, almost hushed, "...my word... just... ride them right over the er, the er people... that would -certainly- disrupt any sort of... aiming, or, focus, or... Eeech."
Newt pipes up, "And Fastheld. Aparently they had lots of horses there. They're trying to get em here too."
"Not cats, horses would be the most common. If you are curious about those, some are being raised not too far from the city itself." Natasha says. "There were other choices, but most of those were environment dependent."
Zu nods and falls silent for now ready to move on to the next exhibit once the questions of this one die down.
Alastair Hall pivots on his cane and follows after the tour guide.
Leucohyle trails along beside Alastair, peering with curiosity at the exhibits and just at the surroundings themselves, never getting farther away than the length of her arm.
It's with restrained curiosity that Wyri listens to Natasha. He shakes his head occassionally at human antics, but for the most part remains impassively silent.
"Our next exhibit is related to the last one, and is a collection of various ammunition used." Natasha explains. "The small spheres on the left were used in weapons like those displayed earlier, as time goes on, the ammunition changed as well as the weaponry, depending on the purpose. As you move along, you will see ammunition that shows increased accuracy, for instance."
Alastair Hall leans forward to examine the various types of ammunition, mildly curious. "What sort of wounds did these typically cause? From a medical standpoint?"
"I'd I'd hypothesize that the small spheres were designed to be flung at at penetrative velocity towards the target, Father," Leucohyle pipes, quietly, pointing at a few of the rounds.
"Most of them are not terribly different from what is employed currently." Natasha explains. "The fundamental concept has been the same for centuries. There are differences, of course, in some of them. For example, this one," as she points to one, "Is hollow at the tip, which reduces its power upon impact with a target. For a solid object, this may be undesirable, but in a person, it meant that you would have additional punctures created, making it far deadlier."
"Hrm." Alastair muses thoughtfully. "Yes, I'm familiar with those. Rather nasty."
Leucohyle crinkles her nose. "Euw," she murmurs, squirming slightly and scooting closer to Doctor Hall. "Th-that's... unpleasant. That's unpleasant."
Wyri moves up to where the pistols rest, now that the majority of the crowd has moved on a little. His cane taps loudly on the floor, the sound mingling with the ticking from its clockwork. He reaches out slowly, as if to lay a hand on the display case, before thinking better of it, and putting his hand back in his pocket. "Curious." Is all the Aukami says, frowning slightly, silver hair falling over his scarred face.
"And with that, we will conclude this tour." Natasha says. "I hope it was enjoyable for everyone."