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 Posted: Wed Sep 02, 2009 10:59 pm
Kismet hurried through the streets, trying her best to close her mind to the carnage around her. It was one thing to think she was used to it when viewing the matter from afar, and another to be drowning in a sea of blood. It invaded her senses: the sound of screaming people in the distance, the heaviness in the air, the smell of blood that she could almost taste, metallic on her tongue. Then there were the people. Sekhet's forces spared no one, and the young and old alike were cast aside like refuse while their life flowed out of them.
She knew that was what her world was like. She knew that the only thing keeping her from being one of the corpses was the fact that she had a small handful of admirers. When she ran out of merchandise and was forced to turn to this profession, she detested it. But it beat a fate of being left to die by a soulless tyrant and a heartless populace.
Clutching Karma even closer to her chest, in a vain effort to protect him from the scene, Kismet stepped up her pace. She was practically running; she couldn't get to her small home soon enough. The bodies blurred together. If she couldn't focus, she couldn't be sucked into the despair that afflicted so many... that still affected her, when she let herself be weak.
Then she slowed. Through the screams in the distance, she could hear one piercing howl of anguish nearby. While Kismet knew it was a bad idea, she sighed and looked around. There didn't appear to be anyone living, but looks could be deceiving. Someone near her was alive, and in pain. While she wanted nothing more than to keep moving and pretend she hadn't heard, she knew she would never be able to forgive herself if her self-absorption caused the death of another.
It wasn't easy. There were so many bodies, and Kismet couldn't bring herself to check each one up close. The best she could to was follow her ears. She turned a corner, and found yet more bodies, but also a live one- a child. While the girl did not appear to be making a sound, the noise seemed to come from her. Looking closer, she saw a young woman clad in blue on the ground next to the child. Breathing. Screaming.
"Is that your mother?" she asked the girl, somewhat horrified. Her voice slipped, making her accent more pronounced. "Is she hurt? Can I get something?" She wasn't sure what she could do, or even if she could help at all, but she couldn't walk away without trying. She was not that far gone from herself.
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Posted: Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:49 am
It had bothered her for a while that her children had been out of sight for so long. It had bothered her that the weather seemed to be making a mockery of the situation she found herself in. The master would be requiring a meal for the soldiers, and for his family. Different fare, different goals. And she was usually so accomplished at doing what was expected of her. Except... It had bothered her for a while that her children had been silent for so long, and that none of the others seemed to know where they had gone.
"Anya, where do you think you're going?"
The hiss of the voice bought her attention back to the fact that she was taking off her apron, and that she was heading towards the back doors. Her mind was occupied with thoughts of family and fear: the weather _was_ nice, and like all children she suspected maybe her own had also tried to go out into the world beyond this estate.
"I'm going to go check on my children." was her answer, her eyes scanning the kitchen. "It's not special meal, everything is prepared and everyone knows their place. If the Mistress comes down..." she hesitated, feeling a cold lump of unease at the thought. These people thought they controlled everything, that they knew what as best for her and her kind. "Tell her I heard of some rare mushroom being offered in the markets, and I went to check it out." Right. It would hold for a while.
"How long do you think you're going to take?" the voice was anxious. But working for men in power made most serfs anxious, and so Anya frowned. They were her children but...
"Not too long." she conceded. Anya reached for the scarf that hung on the hook at the exist, and twisted it around her head. "I just want to make sure nothing has happened." fingers crossed that everyone was still safe, and this was just the active over imagination of an older woman. Fingers crossed. "I'll be back soon, just... make sure everything stays in order, alright?"
The serf nodded her head grudgingly, and Anya took off. She'd head out of the estate, towards the rest of the district first, and work her way outwards. If she didn't find her children, she'd have to come back and worry at home. Said worry gnawed at her gut as she moved out. They needed to be safe.
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Posted: Thu Sep 03, 2009 5:11 pm
DivineSaturn "Is that your mother?" she asked the girl, somewhat horrified. Her voice slipped, making her accent more pronounced. "Is she hurt? Can I get something?" She wasn't sure what she could do, or even if she could help at all, but she couldn't walk away without trying. She was not that far gone from herself.
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Posted: Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:08 pm
Panting, chest hurting a bit from all the running he was doing, Valerius finally caught up with the carts, and made his way toward Marsalles District. It wasn't uncommon for him to work as a guard for the rich, though he didn't usually chase after their carts like a madman either.
He just felt that eh had to own up for his actions. He hadn't meant to sleep in, but he did agree to take that job late at night. He hadn't even had the chance to eat the payment he'd been given: a slice of bread, on the staler side of fresh, but an entire piece, was carefully wrapped still in his inner jacket pocket. It had been a rich reward indeed.
Finding the house he was supposed to help deliver the food supplies at, Valerius, back board straight, eyes sweeping side to side in a check for intruders or ambushers, checked the area.
He didn't see a cart, and something in the pit of his stomach sank. Still, he proceeded up the steps, and knocked on the heavy door, the question already forming on his lips.
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Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2009 2:59 pm
Event for Aaric!! .:: [ . EVENT FOR FEYD . ] ::.  Feyd continued his conversation with Adalei and Elliot, his attention momentarily straying from Syrin, who seemed to be amusing himself with the dancing specks of light in the room. Increasingly fascinated by the movement of the light, he struggled against Feyd's hold. Finally, with alarming swiftness, he twisted, then slipped from his master's arms. The young child scurried quickly towards one wall, disappearing behind crates piled with theater props.
However, as the adults looked for him, it seemed as though he had vanished completely!
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Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2009 4:37 pm
Quote: Adalei began scanning the area with her eyes as well, saying, "It's been years since I've been in a theater. My parents would take me, but I was too young then to really get it. I think I slept through most of the plays." She gave Feyd an apologetic smile before addressing Elliot. "Well, a theater is like...um...it's a place where people tell stories. They...pretend to be people from the stories; they enact stories...?"
Feyd grinned proudly. “That wasn’t a bad description. People come to theaters to escape to a different world or time—not truly, not like they do in the Room, but we try to replicate things as well as possible. We build whole sets and costumes here and actors, like myself,” here he grinned even wider, “go out onto to stage and live a story for the audience to watch. It’s very fun.” Feyd was probably confusing Elliot even more. “And this theater is the finest of its kind in Wynander. People used to come for miles around just to catch a show.” It had been the place to see and be seen, but times had changed and Feyd echoed Adelei’s disgust with some of his own.
He probably would have gone on, extolling the many virtues of theater and the arts, but Syrin had begun to struggle while he was talking. Feyd had held him closer without much of a though (for this wasn’t an unusual occurrence) but now the struggling was too much for the conversation to continue and the actor looked down chide the babe.
And then the babe was gone. His struggles didn’t hurt Feyd as he escaped, rather Syrin slipped from his arms like oilcloth and landed lightly on the floor. Surprised, it took Feyd a moment before he started after Syrin and that moment was all it took for the babe to vanish into the orderly mess of the storage toom.
“Rascal!” Feyd said, half laughing. “Help me find him.”
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Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2009 4:51 pm
.:: [ . EVENT FOR FEYD . ] ::. "I think I saw him go over here," Adalei said, obviously fretting over the lost child. She picked through several garments, hoping to find Syrin somewhere within the mess.
Elliot paused several feet from Adalei and Feyd, a grin creeping slowly onto his face. His pupils became thin slits between half-open eyelids, and then he said, "What a wonderful emotion. I think Syrin is tired of merely watching us." He waited as a minute passed. After giving a low whistle, he spoke again, his voice was soft. "Little one, it's time to come out of hiding."
Then, unexpectedly, a boy appeared from around the corner of the hallway, far beyond where the adults had been searching. He was quite older than the infant that Feyd held only minutes ago, yet the crimson hue of his eyes was unmistakable. Syrin as a Child .: [ Syrin (Child) ] :. [ Physical Traits ]
Syrin's often disheveled hair is pulled into a loose ponytail at the back of his head. His crimson-red eyes are his most remarkable physical trait. For a child his age, he is well-muscled and shows obvious talent for acrobatics and athleticism.
[ Personality and Behavior ]
Syrin is a quiet child, though his silence stems from a love of mysteries and secrets rather than shyness. He rarely gives away his thoughts and feelings, recognizing that actions speak louder than words. If he feels guilty for harming someone, he will apologize in indirect ways (for example, leaving a gift at their doorstep), but will never confront the person. He acts in a way often confuses others.
While he may seem secretive and aloof at times, Syrin's eyes always reveal his playful and impish nature. He seems to have a fascination with tricks and stunts, and will not hesitate to mimic or learn how to perform them. Because of his identity from the Other Side, he displays considerable agility and balance when moving across thin ledges or scaling walls. He is a stubborn daredevil who refuses to back down from challenges. Sometimes, he exhibits a yearning to stray from Feyd's side, but some unknown force seems to prevent him from leaving. When other people are around, he frequently hides, revealing himself only at Feyd's command.
When speaking to Feyd, Syrin addresses his master using the title, "Sensei" (a word from an unknown language, but is spoken with obvious respect).
[ Relics ]
- Currently none held -
[ Spell List ]
[ * ] Ninety-Nine Needles - Type: Pierce
Description: If given a handful of items (e.g., needles, stones, or even grains of sand), Syrin can fling them through the air with such speed and accuracy that they can pierce the skin of another person. The cuts caused by this attack are not too severe, but would still require bandaging.
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Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2009 8:24 am
Saint-Cinq
He didn't see a cart, and something in the pit of his stomach sank. Still, he proceeded up the steps, and knocked on the heavy door, the question already forming on his lips.
Anya hugged the scarf around her head, hesitating as she rounded the front of the estate. She could get into trouble for going out the main gates than the back ones, but she felt .... right. She felt as if this was the way her children might have run. After all, most arrivals, whether for the masters of the house or for the servants to deal with came from the front gates, large carts and trolleys rolling in with goods and supplies of all kinds. Maybe her children had made a run for one of the leaving carts for a quick ride into town. Maybe. Maybe it was easy and innocent.
Tightening the scarf around her head so that her eyes were hooded, she slipped her hands into the pockets in her skirts, her back bowing slightly with a touch of subservience. Don't notice me her posture cried. Invisibility in the way servants seemed to be able to summon. It was better to be ignored and unnoticed, than to be remarked upon.
Still...
The knocking on the heavy wooden door was not a familiar sound for the older woman. She never chanced upon an occasion to make it to the front of the house often enough to hear such a thing. But she recognized it for what it was. With a frown, she looked up from her path to notice a figure standing by the main doors. He was young, strong, and it was bad manners for those inside to leave the door unanswered for so long. Bad manners and very unusual.
Anya hesitated for a moment before instincts as serf won over the instincts of a mother. Better to assist while she could than be punished later for not doing anything in the situation. She with a trouble voice, she called out: the man did not seem well dressed enough to berate her for speaking out of turn.
"Excuse me sir, maybe I can be of some help?" She'd deal with this first maybe, and then find out where her children had gone off to.
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Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2009 11:41 am
If Kaley was by herself, she would have taken the most direct routes through the city back from the Marsalle Estates into the Bone Yard region. However, now that she had Alyson on hand, she was moving far more stealthily, talking routes that minimized the amount of people who saw or could follow her unnoticed. In the end, she made it to the Bone Yard.
From there it was quick to get through the outer Bone Yard, and into the abandoned church, a couple secret passages and she she was into the otherwise inaccessible upper floors. She entered one of the rooms in the back that no longer had a ceiling. Potted plants and massive garden beds filled the room as the light filtered down from above.
Kaley smiled a bit as she watched the plants for a bit before she migrated into a different room and set Alyson down in a chair. She was then quick to disrobe, hanging up her mercenary garb, and other attire that allowed Kaley to pass as a woman.
Now, Kaley was Kale again, and HE gave out a deep sigh, "So I now have a child...interesting development." his voice had become cold. He sighed a bit and made his way towards his other garbs hanging about. He dressed in greys and blacks, his hood having the only shreds of color upon it and that was a bit of purple.
He then turned towards the child, Alyson, and shook his head in silence as he approached and picked her up before carrying her into a third room. This one was hidden behind a false wall and was filled with all sorts of tools, alchemical and herbal. He set her down in a new chair and looked about.
"I should start teaching you shouldn't I? Well...hmm..." he takes a dried plant up and held it before Alyson, "This is called Belladonna, it is a deadly poisonous plant that can be ground into a potent poison. You can use it to kill targets by coating a blade or needle with a gel made from it." he begins, going on to the other plants there. With every plant, ever poison, he also explained how to counter-act the poison, how to make the antidotes.
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Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2009 5:10 pm
Chiaku
Elliot paused several feet from Adalei and Feyd, a grin creeping slowly onto his face. His pupils became thin slits between half-open eyelids, and then he said, "What a wonderful emotion. I think Syrin is tired of merely watching us." He waited as a minute passed. After giving a low whistle, he spoke again, his voice was soft. "Little one, it's time to come out of hiding."
Then, unexpectedly, a boy appeared from around the corner of the hallway, far beyond where the adults had been searching. He was quite older than the infant that Feyd held only minutes ago, yet the crimson hue of his eyes was unmistakable.
Feyd frowned. He was usually much better at finding Syrin, he had certainly had to do it enough. But moments passed now and still Syrin was no where to be found. The actor began to worry finally, tuning out Elliot's soft words.
At the frost fairy's coaxing Syrin emerged, a shy smile in place like some sort of apology for having caused the upset. On silent feet he cut over to where Feyd stood, his head in a bin of props, searches for a babe that no longer was. Syrin touched his sleeve. "Sensei."
Straightening Feyd looked down. Shock registered on his face for only a second, and then he grinned. "Rascal." Kneeling, Feyd brought himself to the boy's height and looked him over, a process Syrin under went patiently, turning in a circle when prodded to do so. Finally, Feyd stood again, ending the inspection by tousling the the boy's coppery hair. "You sure grew fast." He had been warned, back in the Velvet Room, but it was still shocking to see. If the growth rate continued Feyd would have a lot of explaining to do... and a lot of 'sons' and 'brothers.'
However, Syrin didn't have those heavy thoughts. He had no notion yet of the challenges Feyd would face explaining his presence to his coworkers and friends. Instead, whirled on Elliot once the inspection was over, regarding the older boy with wide, eager eyes. "Would you show me a trick, please?"
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Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2009 7:07 pm
ikshiva "Excuse me sir, maybe I can be of some help?" She'd deal with this first maybe, and then find out where her children had gone off to.
Swallowing, Valerius readied himself for any news. If it was pleasant, he would be grateful to the gods for their favor. If it was not, he would find a way to make amends.
"Hail, madam," he said, formal and slightly out of place for a front stoop, also remembering that this woman was not the head of the house, but still unsure of her position (Valerius was least proficient when it came to discerning a woman's rank based on fashion). "I beg pardon, but would you know if a cart of food was delivered here not long ago? I was assigned to guard it, but I was detained."
There was nothing left to do but hope that the answer was favorable and prepare for it if it wasn't.
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Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2009 10:47 pm
Saint-Cinq
"Hail, madam, I beg pardon, but would you know if a cart of food was delivered here not long ago? I was assigned to guard it, but I was detained.".
Anya hesitated as she watched this man. A guard, then? She bobbed her head in a bow, not really knowing how to deal with strangers. She'd grown up with most of the guards at this estate and understood in the simplest sense the power hierarchy. But this was something new, a strange chance thrown into the mix. So she kept her tone respectful, not understanding. Why was the guard here now, if the food had already been delivered? But... what food?
"I'm afraid there wasn't a delivery made." she answered quite simply. "The Mistress of the estate's norm is to allow the cooks or even the steward to deal with the arrivals." she frowned as she tracked through her own movements. No one had bought around the food cart, but now that she thought of it there was supposed to have been one made.
And this man had been detained? Curiosity flitted at the edges of her mind as she wondered of the events. It was like some mystery: no... it was like an adventure!
No one had come to the doors yet. Unusual and a little bit worrying. Gnawing at her lip, she took a couple of steps foreword and bobbed her head again. "I am a cook at this estate, and I cannot remember any supplies arriving today." worry touched her voice. "Is something the matter?"
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Posted: Sun Sep 06, 2009 8:34 am
Aaric However, Syrin didn't have those heavy thoughts. He had no notion yet of the challenges Feyd would face explaining his presence to his coworkers and friends. Instead, whirled on Elliot once the inspection was over, regarding the older boy with wide, eager eyes. "Would you show me a trick, please?"
Walking to a window in the room, Elliot swept an arm to present the rectangle of glass--a magician directing his audience's attention to the main prop of the act. He reached a single finger towards the glass, his skin suddenly turning death-like blue, the color of his eyes fading into empty, white ice. His breath became a visible cloud, as though he were standing outside in winter. Then, as his finger met the glass, an intricate web of frost formed. The ice branched and spread across the surface of the glass until Elliot removed his finger. As his composure returned, he turned to the others with a grin, the frost on the glass already melting at the edges.
"On the Other Side, his name was..." Adalei hesitated, meeting her companion's eyes. "His name was Jack Frost. He was a kind of...I think...a fairy that lived in cold places. ...Doesn't that sound crazy?" She looked at Feyd, then Syrin. "Right now, Syrin probably doesn't remember who he was on the Other Side, or even what his name once was. If he can remember his identity, he'll become a lot stronger, but also...also, he may not want to be with you anymore. He may decide to leave."
Now, even Elliot's expression became somehow distant and closed. He looked away, staring instead at the glass where frost had been replaced by fat drops of water.
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Posted: Sun Sep 06, 2009 9:04 am
ikshiva "I am a cook at this estate, and I cannot remember any supplies arriving today." worry touched her voice. "Is something the matter?"
"I am sorry to be the herald to tell you that all the food carts have passed, and that, regrettably, it would appear that the one for this estate has been stolen or destroyed. The poor, beggars, and thieves had mobbed the caravan, and while some carts escaped unharmed, others did not. I should have been there sooner." He added this last, in an undertone, angry at himself.
But a thought had struck him. He met the woman's eyes full-on, with an odd intensity to his stare, as though planning something but wanting to be absolutely sure before he did it. "How much supplies do you yet have at the estate? How long, in your cook's opinion, will the food last?"
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Posted: Sun Sep 06, 2009 9:58 am
Saint-Cinq . "How much supplies do you yet have at the estate? How long, in your cook's opinion, will the food last?"
It was gone? Fear curdled in her stomach like an old friend, and Anya found herself stilling. It was prey's reaction to a threat, freezing as if by escaping notice, punishment might be escaped as well. She hesitated as met those eyes, her own touching it briefly below looking back down. They were fierce, the eyes of a determined man, and one that stilled the fear. The words were strong, opinionated in such a way that made her wonder: why? Did he have some idea, some plan?
"A week, maybe." she said quietly, her voice stopping as she thought through. "No longer. The Mistress has plans for this week, celebrations taking place that will eat through the supplies rapidly. It slipped my mind that the carts were to arrive today. Without them, and what with have we can last, maybe a week." Maybe. If they stretched it out. But the mistress was a proud woman who threw lavish affairs, ignoring the times of strife and chaos. After all, they were not touched by it the same way others were.
She hesitated. She should leave, go out, do something to find her children. But this was urgent. As a cook, as a serf. If something was not found to solve this, it would be they who would suffer the most.
"What will you do?" she asked, hesitating. What would he do?
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