|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 7:23 pm
Roleplay: Making BargainsReyna Crelos Athan sat behind the desk, pen idly tapping against its smooth, polished surface. Typically, it was Reyna that sat there looking somewhat bored and visibly brooding. The demon was quite missing from the picture all together, and the shop itself likely fared better for it. He and Reyna were known to have their arguments but as of late they flared up a bit more frequently. This was especially so if the subject of his misgivings regarding her shadow was involved. He frowned and straightened his posture as he glanced down at a dozen or so stones that were displayed on a piece of polishing cloth before him. Ruby, aventurine, pyrite, opal, quartz, and lapis lazuli. It was an interesting mix, to say the least, but he had bought the whole lot entirely as one stone in particular stood out. He felt somewhat smug. Normally it took a bit more conniving to get certain stones once they had fallen into the hands of someone or some thing that realized that what they had within their grasp was different. This time it had been rather easy. A simple trade. No back stabbing. No double crossing. No contracts. In fact, he came away completely unscathed. His dour mood improved somewhat at that thought and he couldn't help but smirk. Just a little. Sosiqui Esfandiar grimaced as he stepped lightly through the shimmer of the portal, which was well hidden under the luxurious fall of a willow tree. It was true that his city thrived because of the Fifty-Five Gates, but every single one of those fifty-five portals to other worlds never failed to make his fur itch abominably every time he passed through. Ah, well. The profit would hopefully make it worth his while. The shadhavar stepped lightly along the street, his hooves clacking against the stone. He was wrapped up well in a cloak, though more for protection against the ridiculous chill of this place than for any kind of concealment. Still, the faint jingle when he moved made it clear that he was carrying objects of some value... and the broad spread of the shadhavar's shoulders, to say nothing of his horns, made it equally clear that he was not one to be messed with. He stopped in front of Twilight Designs, and took a moment studying the pieces in the window. Then he nodded and stepped inside. This was the place, indeed. Reyna Crelos Bright green eyes glanced up as the bell to the door chimed, signaling the entrance of a customer. Athan smiled faintly and stood from his seat to greet the newcomer properly. "Good afternoon to you," he replied smoothly with a slight incline of his head in an effort to be polite, "And welcome to my shop. How might I be of service to you?" Sosiqui "Good evening, efendi," Esfandiar said, nodding to the man behind the counter before shifting his cloak a bit, now that he was indoors and it was a bit warmer. He reached for the sack at his waist; the pouch was fringed with slim metal medallions, cheap to be sure, but they made a pleasing chime. "I have some pieces, some revenants, some jewels of sultans and padishahs long dead under the sands. Perhaps you would like to bargain?" He raised one eyebrow at Athan and produced an exquisite necklace of thick plated bronze and lapis. They needed coin. More than that; they needed water. Reyna Crelos Athan tilted his head to the side at the greeting. It was foreign to his ears yet somewhat familiar. He at least knew the title to be respectful by any means. "Perhaps." He paused as he examined the necklace before speaking up. "Mmm... genuine Lapis," he muttered under his breath, deep in thought, "And of impressive size. Uncommon in this part of the world." Sosiqui Esfandiar inclined his long muzzle in acknowledgment. "They are not of this world, efendi - as I believe you know." He could see the old wisdom in the man before him; one to be careful of, that much he was sure. "I am of Tesfaldir, the City in the Sands, of the Fifty-Five Gates, in the realm called Elohir. These relics were taken from their resting places by my own hands. I seek coin, and water, and anything else you see fit to trade." Usually he was not so frank, but silver-tongued though Esfandiar was, he did not consider himself quite good enough to charm the shopkeeper here. He had not come as far as he had without knowing when to be honest, and when to lie. Reyna Crelos "Ahhh. I cannot say I have visited your world, good sir," Athan replied with a bit more interest, "At least not that I recall, but I do know of it." He folded his arms over his chest as he regarded the beast of a man that stood before him. "Water, I am afraid, I cannot provide," he went on, "But enough gold and other such valuables, I can." He moved back towards the desk and paused briefly as his eyes fell upon the stones that lay there. A smile twitched at his mouth. "If you don't mind waiting for a moment, I must access our vault in order to retrieve proper payment for you." He left without another word and without pause, dark robes billowing about his feet as he moved and entered the back room. Esfandiar was left alone -- or at least seemed to be. Sosiqui Well, coin would provide water... still, Esfandiar was obscurely disappointed. He'd almost home to find some sort of elemental, perhaps a marid that could be freed on the city's behalf. Then again, if even the djinn were helpless... It was said in the city that the last lamp unearthed from the sands had contained a djinn, but that the eldritch being had simply swelled up and exploded into fine motes of dust when the wish for water was given - out of sheer titanic, life-destroying, impossible effort. No water had been forthcoming. It was said in the city that everyone was doomed, and that the gods had cursed them. The shadhavar shook his head, sharply. No. They were wrong. They had to be wrong. To distract himself from this distressing train of thought, Esfandiar pointedly turned to look around the shop. The wares were pleasant enough, though nothing compared to the high craftsmanship of his own city, naturally. Still, they had a certain rustic charm. He eyed the stones sitting on the desk with a critical eye. They were fair enough, though that one on the end was flawed, and... What was that?Esfandiar frowned at the stones, and quickly made a sign to ward against evil. Surely he hadn't just seen a pale dark flicker swarm around one of them. Surely not. Reyna Crelos Athan returned, faint smile still in place as he held out a hefty, leather sack with one hand towards the shadhavar. It was fairly heavy, and weighed enough that he was certain he would not be able to hold it out to Esfandiar for too terribly long without his arm cramping up terribly. "I would offer you something else to aid you," he spoke up after handing off the sack of gold, "But it is not here within the shop itself, nor can I access it from here." "I possess a stone that with the proper invocation is meant to summon water sprites and the like," he went on, "But I am not entirely certain if the fickle spirits it beckons would grant you what you need." Sosiqui Esfandiar smiled as he took the sack - it was heavy indeed, and he tested the mettle of the metal with his teeth and found it not wanting. "Thank you, efendi," he murmured, placing the piece on the counter, still half-wrapped in its clean linen shroud. "I hope it brings you fortune." He had made sure to take it by one of the sorcerers to cleanse it of any curse or ill-will that might be attached to the relic. But when the man mentioned water sprites, the shadhavar's ears perked with interest. "Anything, anything at all... would be most welcome, efendi," Esfandiar said, quietly. "The City is in dire straits. Our wells have dried and the oases within riding distance are fast depleting under our demands; when the River fails, as the seers say it will this year..." He shook his head. "I hope they are wrong." Reyna Crelos The word 'seer' seemed to strike a cord within Athan, and he glanced away quickly with a faint sigh. "Sadly, they have this dreadful tendency to be correct." He paused for a long moment as he moved to settle behind the desk. "For your sake and for that of your country, I hope in this instance that their Sight is off." It was a rare occurrence, but it did happen. He knew it to be true with an absolute certainty. He delved through one of the drawers and drew out a book which he set upon the table after clearing a bit of space to avoid disturbing both his recent and current acquisitions. It was his own personal catalogue of artifacts. It was unreadable to most, so he hardly had any concern about leaving it unprotected within his shop. "Mmm, yes." He laid one finger upon a page and the lettering seemed to light up for a brief moment, effectively distracted him from the piece of pyrite that had taken on a curious glow. "It is the Seastone of Nefaratus. Sometimes referred to as the Riverstone of Sefaratun. Same stone, same place. Slightly different names. Largely thought to be a mistake in translation, though it has been forgotten which is correct." Sosiqui "I would be most grateful for any aid you might see fit to provide us, efendi," Esfandiar said politely, though he kept glancing back at the stones on the desk. It made him nervous. He was certain he'd seen something... and that he kept on seeing it, every time he wasn't looking directly at the stones. A mere flicker out of the corner of his eye, maddening like an itch he couldn't scratch. Ridiculous. But he couldn't stop checking. "Pardon me, but... the stones. Back there. Do they hold any eldritch power?" It was an odd question, but the man had been friendly thus far. Reyna Crelos That was a term he had not heard in quite some time. He was not certain whether to be amused or, well, to be annoyed. Not with Esfandiar in particular, but at the memories he seemed to effectively draw to the surface of days long since past -- days he sorely missed and longed for still. "I wouldn't... call it that," Athan answered as he idly reached with one hand for the piece of pyrite that sat innocently enough before the both of them. He held it up with a smile so that the other might examine it. His grasp on the rock was quite firm and he tightened it when with a burst of darkness, it shot to life, fully awakened. "I would however call it a shadow or fiend. Sometimes both," he trailed off, head tilted to the side as he regarded the creature before him, "And she seems to be calling to you. Can you hear it?" He frowned a bit. "Mm... perhaps not. They are so terribly weak in this form," he sighed as his grasp slackened and the rock moved freely above his hand with a speckled, fragmented mist of shadow swirling about its surface to keep it afloat. Sosiqui Esfandiar recoiled slightly, and repeated the gesture to ward against evil. Then, considering himself decently protected from the thing, he leaned forward to peer at the stone and shadow with narrowed eyes. "It does not seem malevolent," he admitted, after a moment. "She? Does it bear life, then, of a sort?" Reyna Crelos "It is a life. One that has been forgotten for centuries, locked away by a man turned beast by his own mad desires." Athan regarded Esfandiar thoughtfully. "Kind sir -- efendi," he began in a serious tone, "I would bargain with you." He held Pyrite out towards the other, and it stayed as it was, hovering about his palm and for the moment, content doing just that. "I am on a quest to restore the life of the soul trapped within this stone and of others like it. If you would accept guardianship of her, I would give you the Seastone. The only care she requires is your presence.." Sosiqui Esfandiar looked surprised. "Such a gift in exchange for... my receiving this stone, and keeping it near me? I suppose I could have it set in a bracer... but, efendi, surely this bargain is not a fair one to you?" He searched Athan's face for any sign of deceit or levity, and found nothing but sincerity. "If you are serious... then, yes, I will bargain with you. The Seastone you offer is something I cannot pass up, especially for such a cheap price." The shadhavar reached out tentatively for the shadow-soaked stone. Reyna Crelos "Any help at all in my quest is more than I could ever hope for as payment. What's more, the Seastone is but a trivial thing to me that resides within my library, dormant and unused. It would be put to better use in your hands than simply collecting dust within my trove of miscellaneous artifacts." He paused for a long moment as he drew his outstretched hand away and folded his arms over his chest. "Before I declare our bargain complete, I think it best, and only polite that I introduce myself and ask for your name in exchange." He offered the other a faint, yet genuine smile. "I am Athan. You are?" Sosiqui "Esfandiar Kian." The shadhavar nodded. "It seems we are well-met, then. I will make this bargain with you, Athan, and carry both Seastone and this shadowed stone back to Tesfaldir. I will keep them both with utmost care. You have my word." There was a particular hard twist to the vow, and his face was sober, serious. It was clear that he did not take such a promise lightly. Reyna Crelos "Well-met, indeed, good sir," Athan answered, "As I mentioned prior, the Seastone is not something I can access here within the shop. It lies within my home in a dimension alternate to this one. I can promise you that it will arrive to you within a day's time." He reached once more to rummage through one of the drawers at the desk before producing a business card. It was black and for a moment seemed entirely blank before silver ink rose to the surface bearing the shop's logo as Athan handed it over towards the other man. "Should you ever need to return, for any reason at all." Sosiqui "Thank you, efendi," Esfandiar said fervently, taking the card and bowing. "Should you find yourself in Tesfaldir, seek the Inn of the Silver Fountain; my lover and I would gladly welcome you there, and if the Seastone proves of worth, the Padishah himself would delight to welcome you into his marble courts." He gave the stone, his new charge, a bemused look. "The stone is pyrite, is it not?" Reyna Crelos "That is correct." Athan looked pleased at the thought of traveling to Tesfaldir. He might have to do so for posterity. He did often travel to other worlds, and if they had more jewelry in which he might resell on Gaia, then the trip would prove not only to be entertaining but profitable. "I shall be certain to keep that in mind. I traverse many planes. It would be an honor to be a welcomed guest within yours."
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2008 4:04 pm
Solo: ... So, Now What?
Esfandiar twitched as he stepped through the Thirty-Seventh Gate, the one that led to Athan's world. As usual, the transition felt like a thousand tiny insects crawling over him all at once, and he knew the phantom sensation would remain until he had a bath at the very least, and probably after as well.
A moment later, his hooves landed lightly on marble, the stone worn from many, many footsteps over the years. The Gate Guardian gave him a look, then relaxed as the wards recognized Esfandiar as a citizen. "Welcome back, efendi."
The shadhavar simply nodded, and strode briskly past the guard. The itchy-twitchy of the gating always made him eager to get back to the Inn as soon as possible, and he clopped his way grimly down the spiraling staircase at the center of the tower, dodging the constant flow of other travelers without a second thought. That single-minded movement brought him safely down from the Gate Tower, and safely through the warren of alleyways and plazas that made up Tesfaldir itself.
Usually, the approach to the Inn of the Silver Fountain was heralded by the soft burble of the Silver Fountain itself. Esfandiar frowned as he emerged out into the shaded inn plaza to silence. Well, not total silence - there was still the soft buzz and murmur of the city itself, everywhere, but there was definitely something missing. He stopped beside the dry fountain and ran one horn-tipped finger along one of the metal bowls, then shook his head sharply and walked under the entry archway of the Inn. The kitling at the counter offered him a half-bow, which he answered with a silent nod before he turned to open the locked door that led to the floor he shared with Asterion.
"Aster?" he called out, halfway up the stairs. "Are you there?"
A snort came from above. "Of course, oh moon of my delight," came the sardonic answer.
"Glad to know it, oh stars that shine," Esfandiar snapped back, but he was smiling. The minotaur was in a foul mood, as per usual, but the prospect of the Seastone might well cheer his lover. Provided, of course, that Athan came through with his promise.
The shadhavar stepped through the curtain at the top of the stairs into the cool, dim silence of his home. All around were plants, usually kept around the inn, but with the water shortage they dared not waste precious liquid on mere foliage. Dying plants were not good for business, but somehow Esfandiar couldn't bear to just let them die. It made his shared residence seem like a tiny forest, even if it was a crackling and dying one.
A momentary glance around the entryway revealed no minotaur. "Where are you, you b*****d?"
"Hmph." Another curtain swept aside and Asterion took a step forward, his arms folded over his chest. "Welcome back, I suppose. Any news?"
"Yes, actually." Esfandiar drew the minotaur into a gentle kiss; Asterion resisted for a moment, then capitulated, as usual. "Is it cool in the solar?"
"I've kept the curtains closed all day, though what use that is for a solar..." Asterion shrugged. "Come on, then. Tell me your tale."
The solar was indeed cool, and the soft burble of the one (recycled-water) fountain Esfandiar permitted himself filled the room. "Ahh, thank you," the shadhavar sighed, settling down on one of the lounges and closing his eyes. Asterion snorted, and Esfandiar heard the other lounge creak as the minotaur sat down on it.
There was a pause.
"Well?" Asterion said, after a moment, his tone impatient.
"Hmph." Esfandiar smiled, then opened his mind and rolled to lounge on his side, facing the minotaur. "Very well, then. Open your ears, your hearts and your minds, and I will tell you a tale like none you have yet heard-"
Asterion rolled his eyes.
The shadhavar's smile grew wider. "Oh, very well, if you don't want the full invocation. I sold the piece, for a nice price indeed-"
"Water?"
"Of a sort." Esfandiar reached into his pouch and removed the odd little piece of pyrite. The wisps of blackness around it teased at his fingertips, and Asterion's eyes widened. He, too, gestured a sign against evil. "This stone here was offered to me in trade... of a sort..."
"You keep saying that. Speak plainly," Asterion grumbled.
"Hmph." The stone floated a bit above the surface of his palm, and Esfandiar played with it a moment, fascinated, but keeping one eye on the minotaur until Asterion squirmed. "At any rate... the man who bought the piece seems a magus, or a sage. Athan, he is called. He offered me a relic called the Seastone, which may help the city... it can call up water-sprites, or so it seemed."
Asterion gave the pyrite piece a dubious look. "That?"
"Heavens, no." Esfandiar made a face. "This... is the price of the Seastone, which will arrive tomorrow. It is enchanted. Alive, according to Athan. He wanted me only to tend to this little thing in exchange for that relic."
The minotaur's dubious look shifted targets. "And you believed that?"
"Heh... easy for you to say, but you didn't see him." Esfandiar rolled the pyrite piece from hand to hand, watching with vague bemusement at how the tendrils tumbled and rolled along with it. "He spoke like a man in possession of absolute truth. I believe him when he says he will send the Seastone."
"And that?" Asterion gestured at the shadow stone.
"According to him, all it requires is my presence. A pretty bauble, but he seemed quite attached to it. Like a child." Esfandiar glanced up at Asterion. "At any rate, it is a small price to pay for such a good chance at calling up water."
Asterion shook his head. "I still think you're a fool, and that it's a bad bargain - but if you sold the piece and brought back gold for it-"
"Which I did, let me remind you."
"-then I suppose it's your own business, hm?"
"I'm glad you agree." Esfandiar clenched his fist around the pyrite, then gently lobbed it in the minotaur's direction. Asterion's eyes widened, and he had to dive off the lounge to catch it.
"Esfandiar..."
"What?" The shadhavar leaned over, surprised. Every tendril of shadow was swaying towards him, away from Asterion, like a frantically reaching child, or some many-tentacled beast from the Below. He reached out and took the stone away, and the panicky movement calmed at once, though the tendrils stayed curled up close rather than waving outward as curiously as they had before. "Huh. How odd."
Asterion repeated the warding gesture. "I don't like it."
"But you don't like most things," Esfandiar replied, cheerfully.
"Hmph. You're lucky I like you."
"Oh, I know it." The shadhavar smiled and stood up. "So, how much did you miss me?"
"A bit," Asterion allowed.
"Hmm. Show me?"
"... Very well. But not with that around."
"What, you want it to flail about like a lost thing?"
"... Fine."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2008 11:07 pm
Solo: Morning RoundsIt hadn't been quite as pleasant an evening as usual - Asterion kept complaining about the shadow-stone, and even Esfandiar's cajoling ("What do you mean, 'it's looking at you?' With what eyes?") failed to really get the minotaur into an properly amorous mood. Still... it had been nice enough. Esfandiar rose before his lover, and the shadow-stone floated up to bob at his side at once. The shadhavar crept quietly out onto the balcony and took a deep breath. Dawn had not yet broken over the city, and the last evening stars were still clinging to the sky. He looked down and saw that as many windows as possible were open, to catch the cool air, and nodded to himself. Soon they'd need to be closed, but the kitlings would take care of that. "Hm... what do you think, little one?" he asked the stone, flicking his fingers at it, coaxing it into his grasp. "Do you see this place, I wonder? What does it seem like to you?" He closed his eyes as shadow tendrils tangled around his fingers for a moment. He remembered... so vividly, the sound of the fountain singing in the plaza below, the soft breathy sound of the arghul and the clink and chime of medallions on the dancer's dress... Esfandiar shook his head, sharply. He must be more tired than he thought, to drift off into reverie like that. "So, little one. Let us see if the promised gift has materialized." He stepped back into the bedroom and padded quietly out to the private staircase, amused at how the shadow-stone followed him. He made his morning rounds around the inn, checking on the preparations for the morning meal in the kitchen, examining the state of the bar and the reservations for the next evening. Through it all, the stone bobbed behind him, drawing curious looks from the staff. "A benevolent spirit," he explained, and they nodded, satisfied. Traditionally, the rounds ended with a visit to the inn's namesake fountain, but lately the dry silver bowls had been more depressing than anything else. Still, Esfandiar strode out into the plaza anyway. He had a 'guest' this morning, after all. The first light of dawn was streaking across the sky now, and behind him the windows of the inn were being pulled closed, to keep as much precious cool air inside as possible. Esfandiar reached the fountain and traced along the edge of one bowl. In better times, there would have been clear, sweet water here - a sign of the inn's prosperity, of the city's prosperity, that they could afford to use water solely for aesthetic purposes. No longer. The sweep of his finger paused as he encountered an unexpected obstacle. There was a cloth-wrapped bundle resting at the bottom of the bowl. Esfandiar scooped it up, weighing it carefully before unwrapping it. Inside was a blue crystal on a length of chain, the whole ever-so-slightly cooler to the touch than it should have been. The Seastone... "Well, what do you know. Your master delivers as promised." The shadow-stone lapped at the chain with a few tendrils.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2008 2:11 pm
Solo: Values and Estimates
"So, what do you think?" Esfandiar raised one eyebrow at Sepehr. The sorcerer was hemming and hawing over the Seastone, and he gave Esfandiar a long stare, one eye grossly distorted by the jeweler's loupe he was holding up to his face.
"Hm," the human said, after another long moment. "It could be blue fluorite, possibly... but it does have a high level of mana, regardless of its physical structure. I'd ask a djinn, but I'm fresh out. See?" Sepehr put down the magnifier and reached under the counter, producing an apparently ordinary oil lamp. He rubbed at it with one sleeve. "Oh noble djinn-"
"Piss off," came a grumpy, echoing voice from inside, and then a sound that seemed very much like someone giving a raspberry.
"You see what I am cursed with? Such uncooperative spirits, such terribly impertinent beings," Sepehr said melodramatically.
"I feel for you," Esfandiar replied, deadpan. "So, regardless, it has power... if we can only figure out how to use it."
"Alas, yes - and there's the rub." The sorcerer shook his head. "Go back and ask your sage, see if he has any writ or rhyme about it." He picked up the Seastone, coiled the chain in his hand, and offered it back to Esfandiar.
"At least it isn't cursed," the shadhavar said with a sigh, accepting the relic.
"I'm not sure about your other little trinket," Sepehr added, giving the shadow-stone a dubious look. It had been floating quite silently behind Esfandiar the entire time, but the sorcerer hadn't been able to shake the feeling that it had been watching him... which was just silly, but there it was. "If you'd only let me-"
"No, I will not let you test it," Esfandiar snapped. "Stop asking! It was given to me to take care of, and giving it over to you to test would be the opposite of caring."
"Hmph. Suit yourself. If it summons a demon from the darkest hells, I'll give you a discount on warding charms." Sepehr shook his head.
"I'm sure it won't, but thank you," Esfiandiar replied, dryly. He tucked the Seastone back into his waist-pouch. "Good day, old coot."
"Pfah. When I loose all my teeth and gibber on the corners for centimes, then you can call me that."
Esfandiar smiled and turned to leave, holding up one hand. The shadow-stone immediately came over and tangled tendrils with his fingers, as it was wont to do. "And what did you think of him, hmm? A shrewd and dried-up old thing, he is, but trustworthy." He wasn't sure why he talked to the stone, but it seemed the right thing to do, somehow. The shadows felt oddly cool against his skin, cooler than the shadows thrown by nearby buildings.
The shadhavar quickly turned into a narrow alley, keeping his pace brisk; while Tesfaldir was a safe city by and large, Sepehr kept shop in one of the rougher districts. Only a fool would challenge a six-foot shadhavar, true, but it was best not to tempt fate. At least the shadow-stone was clearly fool's gold, no trinket worth taking, and even the floating and shadows themselves were nothing truly strange. Enchanted objects were everywhere; it was a poor lamp that didn't hold at least some wheezy and weak djinn. The shadow-stone was no great curiosity.
And yet... Esfandiar cast a sidelong glance at the stone as he walked. It was a small thing. It did not speak, did not eat and did not do much other than float and sometimes cling at him with its tendrils of shadow, but he was growing oddly fond of it just the same. Asterion did not understand. He was being willfully stubborn about it, deliberately obtuse, in Esfandiar's opinion.
Asterion. Up ahead was one of the outer plazas, where the mercenaries tended to congregate... where Asterion...
The scent of dust was thick and heavy in his nostrils. Dust, sweating camel, sweating everything else. The scent of the desert, fetid and damp for all that the desert itself was parched. Shouts, cries, minor chaos every moment as the caravan tried to right itself, and in the corner a mercenary with a baleful eye, and hooves protruding under the draping clothing of the desert-
"Hey! Watch yourself!" barked a voice, and Esfandiar stumbled. There was a kitling darting out of his way, hissing a curse at him, and he instinctively made a warding gesture. How on earth -
He sighed, and shook his head. He'd been thinking of the past so often lately. Silly, really, but perhaps it was only the direness of the city's situation getting to him. The future was looking bleaker every day, dry and cracked like the bottoms of Tesfaldir's wells, so why should he not look back at the past, at happier times?
Still... it was strange.
Next to him, the shadow-stone flicked tendrils at the air.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Apr 27, 2008 6:40 pm
Roleplay: Gems and GreenSosiqui Esfandiar took a deep breath as he stepped through the Gate, then twitched as the expected itchy sensation crawled over his skin. The shadhavar did his best to ignore it, and not to scratch - if he started now, he'd not stop for a while, and that would be both uncouth and bad for his skin. The feeling was purely psychological, so they said... The shadow-stone didn't seem in the least bothered by the Gate, and Esfandiar smiled at it with some satisfaction. "Hey, now, we're off to where you came from, hmm? Going to see Athan?" He had to thank the sage for the Seastone; while it hadn't yet managed to summon anything, the padishah's magi were intrigued by the relic at the very least. Still... he wasn't quite ready to go straight to business. Not today. It was a beautiful day, pleasantly cool instead of just plain freezing as it had seemed last time to the desert shadhavar, and Esfandiar found himself turning his steps towards a nearby park. The lush greenery was not as exquisitely groomed and elegantly managed as the once-luxurious pleasure gardens of Tesfaldir, but the scent of green and growing things was sufficient lure to bring Esfandiar in, if only for a little while. "Someday, if your master's little stone does what we all hope, the gardens at home will be like this, little one," he told the shadow-stone, cupping a lily in one hand and holding it up to the floating rock. Prolixity Kefan folded up the wrapper that his sandwich had come in and put it back into the take-out bag, and sat back against the low brick wall bordering the park lawn. His errand at the bank hadn't taken long, and the day was nice enough, clear and warm, that he had decided on impulse to grab lunch and eat it in the park across the street. The profusion of neatly kept flowerbeds always reminded him of Grandmama's garden. He crossed his ankles and watched the people who strolled or walked briskly along the paths. One caught his attention suddenly. The unicorn wandered along the edge of the flowerbeds, admiring the lilies; that in itself wasn't unusual, but what was odd was the little patch of shadow floating along beside him. Kefan though he could see the glint of something bright and golden within the patch, and it sparked his curiosity all the more. The odd wispy thing reminded him of a kitra. But there were no kitra here, and so he had no idea what it was. When the unicorn had come within earshot, Kef spoke up. "'Scuse me - can I ask what that is?" he inquired, nodding towards the little shadow. Sosiqui The shadow-stone drifted a bit closer to the lily, but it didn't seem as interested as Esfandiar had hoped. He found himself obscurely disappointed. "Ah, come now, surely-" he began, but was interrupted by the sound of footsteps. He quickly put down the flower and turned, surprised that someone would approach him here. Then again, usually he did not linger when he was on business. This visit was an anomaly. "I beg your pardon, efendi," he said, offering the man a polite half-bow, but only just enough to be polite. "It was given to me to tend to by a sage of this town who owns a shop nearby. I am not entirely certain what it is, only that our bargain included that I tend to it, and that it is alive in a sense." The shadow-stone, to his further surprise, drifted over close to the newcomer - but not too close. Still, it was quite clearly more interested in this new person than in the flowers. Esfandiar watched it with mild concern, ready to snatch the stone back should the man prove to be unfriendly. Prolixity It was alive? Well, that made some sense, and explained why the unicorn was speaking to the stone. Kef sketched a polite little bow to both of them. "I hope you'll excuse my curiosity," he said, falling back on a more formal tone in response to the slightly cool answer he'd gotten. "I have an interest in unusual stones." His hand came up half-consciously to brush his fingers against the wire-wrapped stone of his pendant, a gesture that was becoming habitual. He smiled at the stone as it floated a little closer. "Nice to make your acquaintance," he said to it, just in case it understood. The ring on his right index finger warmed slightly as he did, and he hid his surprise. Ajax had something to say, it seemed. Later, he promised her silently. It might be taken as an aggressive gesture if he brought her out unexpectedly in front of a stranger. Sosiqui Esfandiar nodded to the man - now that the spell of the silent green had been broken, so to speak, he was itching to be on his way, but the shadow-stone seemed quite curious about something... and he shouldn't be quite that rude, in any case. Brusque, perhaps, but not rude. "She seems taken with you," he remarked, his confusion shifting to amusement as the shadow-stone drifted closer to the man. It reached out shadowy tentacles towards his necklace, but stopped just short of the man's own skin. "What are you doing, little one? You shouldn't touch other people's precious objects," Esfandiar murmured. "If she worries you, I will take her away," he added. Prolixity "She's quite pretty." Kef watched curiously as the shadowy tendrils wavered out towards his necklace. "This? I got it at a shop nearby," he told the stone. "A nice place. Called Twilight Designs." He didn't find anything odd about speaking to the stone; the unicorn had done the same, after all, and it - she - seemed curious. He shook his head. "It's not bothersome," he assured the other man. "She isn't trying to take it, I don't think." Sosiqui "Ah, perhaps that's why she's so curious," Esfandiar said, with a sudden knowing nod. "That's where she came from, that shop. From the sage Athan that operates it, as far as I know. I was on my way there to deliver my thanks for a service rendered to me. My caring for this little one was my payment for that service." And it was such a small thing. He still wasn't quite sure it was fair. If the Seastone saved the city, then he was certain it wouldn't be. All of Tesfaldir would owe Athan a great debt, in that case. The shadow-stone, apparently emboldened by such words, reached out and wrapped two tentacles around the purple stone in Kef's necklace, tugging it ever so slightly. Simultaneously, Esfandiar felt something- Prolixity "Ah, she did?" Kefan nodded thoughtfully. "I thought some of the pieces there looked to be the sort that can be enchanted. I may have met the sage," he added. "She made this pendant." Now there was an interesting thought - was the pendant magical in some way? Surely not. The jeweler had said nothing about that. A fleeting image - a burst of fire, accompanied by a strong feeling of almost childlike delight.Kefan blinked and looked down at the pendant, now wrapped in tendrils of the shadowling. For half an instant, he had thought he felt something. Ajax's ring warmed again on his finger. Something was going on. Sosiqui Esfandiar blinked, a smile stretching over his face for... what reason? No reason whatsoever! What was that odd feeling of joy? "Fire..." he murmured, then shook his head, hard, and schooled his expression. One hand, at his side, made a subtle warding gesture. "Come away from there, little one," he said, with a very slight edge to his voice that surprised him. Whatever that entirely strange burst of sensation was, it had rattled him. The shadow-stone dropped the necklace and inched back a bit, then extended a tendril towards the same ring that had warmed on Kefan's hand. Prolixity Kefan, too, was beginning to feel unsettled. He brushed his fingers over the purple stone again, a tiny frown settling between his eyebrows. "Be careful, little one," he told the shadow-stone. "The rings are magical." He had no idea what the touch of the shadow might do to the kitra resting in his rings. It could be nothing; but then again, it might not be. If the stone did something to the rings, or vice versa, he'd be responsible. Sosiqui The shadow-stone paused before touching the ring, then retreated to its usual bobbing place by Esfandiar's shoulder. The shadhavar resisted the urge to heave a sigh of relief. "Well. That was... interesting. I'm sorry if she made you uncomfortable; I've not yet really figured out how sentient she is." He held up one hand; the shadow-stone immediately tangled tendrils around his fingers, as usual. Prolixity "Well, she seemed to understand, anyway." Kef nodded to Esfandiar. "No apology necessary." He watched as the shadowling twined its tendrils around the unicorn's fingers. At the least, it seemed affectionately attached to him. Kefan realized suddenly that he felt a faint touch of wistful envy at the sight. That was - unusual. He would examine the thought later; for now, he was on his guard. "I guess I shouldn't keep you from your business any longer," he said. Undoubtedly the unicorn had somewhere to be, and the faint sense of unease was slowly growing. Sosiqui "Yes, I-" Esfandiar began, relieved that the other man was giving him an easy way out, but then he paused and shook his head. "No... I have to know. Is your stone a magical one as well? I've never seen her so interested in an inanimate object before. And did you..." Esfandiar hesitated. "Feel something when she touched it?" He glanced at the shadow-stone. It seemed unaware, or uncaring, that it was being talked about. Prolixity Kefan rocked back a little, the tiny frown between his eyes deepening. "The jeweler didn't mention anything about it being magical, so I assumed not," he said slowly. "I thought I felt - I'm not sure. Perhaps it was my imagination. It was barely anything at all." This time, when he touched the pendant, it was a conscious gesture. But if it had been his imagination - "One of my kitra reacted when I thought I felt something," he admitted. Perhaps he should return to the shop, find the jeweler, ask about it. Sosiqui "Mmmm. I see. Thank you - I'm sorry our meeting was so brief and strange." He owed the man something now, Esfandiar felt, for bringing this odd and disquieting piece of rock to molest his things. "My name is Esfandiar Kian - should you ever be in the city of Tesfaldir in the world of Elohir, look for the Inn of the Silver Fountain in the west quadrant, and you shall find good lodging and food prepared by my hand." It was likely that the man would never take him up on it. He'd given the offer of hospitality to many, as courtesy dictated, for various reasons. About a third actually came. But the offer had to be made. Otherwise, the perceived debt unpaid would rankle him for days, much like the itch of the Gates. Prolixity "I hope you'll excuse me for interrupting your walk," Kefan said, and bowed again, falling back on courtesy. "My name is Kefan Andreitus. Thank you; I will remember the invitation." He didn't think that he'd have cause to accept it. He'd never heard of the world, nor did he have any particular reason to visit. But it did seem that there was some unknown link. Maybe he'd yet be proven wrong. He wasn't sure if that thought was interesting or unnerving.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Apr 28, 2008 8:19 pm
Solo: Unnerved
Esfandiar had come through the Gate fully intending to visit Athan, but now...
Even though the sage could doubtless answer his questions and ease his disquieting thoughts, Esfandiar found himself turning his footsteps quickly back towards the Gate again. That odd burst of feeling, of emotion and vision that was not, not, not his own had shaken him deeply, at the core. He was shadhavar, controlled, always always in control, keeping iron will on his own instinctive ferocity, taming it with manners and the ritual of civilized hospitality. Something he and Asterion shared; something he was far better at than his mate.
There was nothing inside his own mind that he did not know well, that he had not harnessed -
Except that. Sudden interloper, sudden thing he did not recognize, did not understand, could not put a name to.
Terrifying, somehow, that after so many years...
He gave the stone a suspicious glance as it bobbed beside him, easily keeping up even with his running stride, and he resisted the urge to make another warding gesture at it. Athan had assured him-
But that feeling-
Esfandiar shook his head, hard, and growled inwardly at himself. He was going all to bits, and that was not something he had done for decades. Foolish, foolish! He tried to calm himself, to stomp on his vague feeling of panic; if it snowballed, he just might lose control properly...
Asterion. I need Asterion.
Eyes grimly narrowed, the shadhavar reached behind him and grabbed the shadow-stone, his fingers wrapping around the cold square facets, exactly where he knew it would be, without looking. The Gate welcomed him eagerly, and the creepy-crawly feeling went almost unnoticed under his other concerns. The Gate guardian at the other end stopped his greeting mid-word and simply bowed as Esfandiar stalked past him, the sound of his own hooves seeming unnaturally loud and clear to his ears as he walked down the Tower stairs.
The stone was so, so, so cold against his skin...
He could feel the shadows writhing between his fingers, like tiny frozen tongues. Alive.
And there was a prickling at the back of his neck that had nothing to do with the Gate's aftereffects.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Apr 28, 2008 8:32 pm
Solo: Eyes
As Esfandiar wove his way through the maze-like streets of Tesfaldir, his sense of unease deepened, tugging hard at his restrained panic, threatening to slip its leash. It was ridiculous - he knew this city, it had been his home for years and years now, more time spent within it than life lived outside. He knew it as well as he knew himself.
Yet even as the strange sensations had blossomed within him, from an unknown source, there was another thing he had never known in the city.
Fear.
There was something following him. Something that hovered, that twitched in his peripheral vision but was not there when he turned his head, no matter how sharp and swift the movement. He realized with a start that he was sweating, and with a hissed curse that he had become turned around. He didn't recognize the buildings around him.
Lost? That's preposterous. I simply cannot be lost. How many times had he taken the route from the Inn to the Gate Tower and back again? Hundreds, surely, and yet... the alleyways were not ones he knew, the street names none that he had read before. Tesfaldir was a warren in places, and to find unvisited areas was not necessarily strange.
None of that knowledge helped.
Esfandiar's fingers clenched tightly around the shadow-stone and he broke into an outright run, the movement itself encouraging a loss of sanity. Shadhavars did not run lightly. They ran for battle, for hunt and for their lives. They ran to make the wind sing in their horns, to call prey and chattel-
But his horn was filled, the holes stopped up. No music. No music.
It wanted to hurt him. Them.
Esfandiar growled. He bumped someone aside, dimly aware of sudden shouts in the background. Kept going.
Anger. Malevolence. Darkness.
More shouting, maybe. It didn't matter much. An obstacle; jump over it. Or smash through it.
It didn't matter much-
The last thing Esfandiar saw as he ran in blind panic from the thing he could not see was the sudden loom of a shadow on his side; he lowered his horn and charged, and was met by something very solid, very heavy, and very painful on his brow.
The shadow-stone was so cold.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Apr 28, 2008 8:38 pm
Solo: Respite
His fingers hurt.
Esfandiar groaned. His fingers hurt... more than that, his head hurt. He had a vague memory of fear, of... yes, something had been chasing him...
He groaned as he sat up. Where was he? The shadow-stone was still in his hand, he realized, the facets pressed into his fingers hard enough to leave red imprints in the flesh.
"Finally, thank the gods," came a relieved sigh, and Esfandiar blinked hard and managed to finally take stock of his surroundings.
"Asterion!"
The minotaur was sitting next to him, a look of annoyed yet profound relief on his face. The room was unfamiliar. The door and windows were barred....?
"What happened? Where are... ouch..."
"Stop that," Asterion ordered, putting one massive hand on Esfandiar's shoulder to steady him. "We're in the padishah's dungeons - you were caught in the east district. You hurt three people by running into them, broke a man's foot by stepping on it, and nearly gored a guard before they managed to knock you out."
Esfandiar's eyes widened in dismay. "No. I didn't," he said, flatly.
"You did, unfortunately." Asterion shook his head. "Fortunately, our good standing is not in vain - they brought you here to make sure you wouldn't cause any more harm if you woke up... feral. Since you haven't, I assume you'll be free to come back to the inn with me, and send all due apology and fines to the padishah later."
"Feral." Esfandiar groaned and rubbed his head with his free hand. It was the nightmare of every monster trying to live a civilized life - the sudden loss of control, the reversion to a feral state. Something he had feared in his heart for years, something that had never happened - not to him, not to Asterion.
He'd always thought it would be the minotaur that snapped first.
"And we couldn't get that damn stone out of your hand," Asterion added, shooting a glare at said hand. Esfandiar opened his fingers again and looked at the shadow-stone, its shadows waving energetically at him, shying away from the minotaur.
"There was something chasing me. What was it? Did they catch it?"
But Asterion's look was distressingly blank. "Nothing. There was no provocation. None of the guards or eyewitnesses saw anything. What are you talking about?"
Esfandiar stared at him. "You know I wouldn't lose control for no reason... there was something chasing me, something dark and cruel and angry, I'll swear it on any god you'd care to name!" He slammed his free hand into the wall.
"Easy, or they'll think you're still berserk," Asterion said, sharply, then sighed and shook his head. "There was nothing."
"That isn't possible... ooh..." Esfandiar's head throbbed, and he braced himself against Asterion's strong grip until the wave of dizziness went away.
"Come on. I'll talk to the guards. Let's go home." The minotaur helped him stand, helped him walk to the door.
There was conversation, distant and hard to listen to, and then the rare gift of a litter outside, a swaying, stuffy and perfumed trip back to the Inn.
And all the way back, Asterion glared at the stone in Esfandiar's hand.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue May 06, 2008 7:05 pm
Solo: Shame
Asterion did his best. Comfort was not the minotaur's strong suit, but he glowered at anyone in the inn that dared approach Esfandiar, forcing all the petty concerns of the employees to melt away like snow - for the moment, anyway. The shadhavar avoided making eye contact and slunk up the stairs, ears pinned back. Rumor traveled faster than thought in Tesfaldir; doubtlessly some of the inn staff already knew what had happened, and if they didn't now, they certainly would by morning.
Feral. Dangerous. A powerful stigma for any 'civilized' monster. There would be sidelong glances, uncertain looks, and mothers hovering closer to their children in his presence. He had, in a sense, broken his trust with the community. A hot ball of guilt sat heavy in his stomach.
"Do you want something? Sorbet?" Asterion asked, closing and bolting the door behind them.
Esfandiar shook his head. "I'm just... tired, that's all. I want to sleep - naturally, not induced by some guard's armored fist." His head still hurt. There would be a bruise there, and probably a lump as well.
"All right," the minotaur acknowledged, awkwardly.
The silence, the gap that had yawned between them was impossible to cross. Esfandiar opened his mouth, then closed it again and shook his head. Sleep and a new day would hopefully tame the tangle inside his mind. "Good night."
"Good night."
Esfandiar retreated into their room; Asterion did not follow. And that also hurt - he knew it was early, the day's light having barely retreated from the sky as it was, and the minotaur had business around the inn, especially since he himself was not available.
But he could have come after me.
He wasn't being rational, and he knew it.
Esfandiar sighed and sat on the edge of the bed. The shadow-stone was bobbing silent at his side, and he reached out one finger to it. It tangled tendrils around the offered finger, as usual. He had held it for so long today that there were small lines pressed into his hand from the rough facets of the rock.
"You believe me, don't you?" he said, quietly. "Didn't you see it, feel it, too?"
He wasn't sure what he was hoping for, but he was somehow disappointed when the stone continued acting exactly as it always did.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue May 06, 2008 7:07 pm
Solo: Void
It was happening again.
Esfandiar bared his teeth into the darkness, the fur on his back standing on end. The sight of a battle-ready shadhavar was usually in and of itself intimidating enough to stop conflict before it truly began, but this... this thing...
This was what had hunted him in the streets. He was certain of it.
The moon shone down on the cold, sharp dunes, the sand grains still clinging desperately to the heat of the day's sun. All around him the desert stretched away into infinity, with no light save the moon and stars visible. How had he come to be here, so far away from civilization? Perhaps he had gone too far, and he was exiled...
Again...
The thing, the darkness hiding within the darkness, writhed at him. He could not see it, but he knew it was there, and it wanted him.
Cold
What? The thought carried a sharp, alien nature to it. His fists clenched at his sides.
Cold
Slowly, a shape formed besides him; he whirled to level his horn at it, then pulled up in surprise. It was the shadow-stone, bobbing at his side, surrounded by a dark haze that was nothing like the menacing thing.
"Little one?"
Run
A sudden breeze skittered along the top of a nearby dune, prompting a small sandslide. The grains rattled as they fell.
Run
Now
It was coming.
Esfandiar snarled and grabbed at the shadow-stone. It hung in the air for a moment, defying his pull, then yielded. The mass of shadow engulfed his arm, but it was nothing compared to what that thing would do to him - to them both - if it caught them. The facets burned like fire, like ice, in his hand.
The darkness somehow smiled, then stretched lazily and put out the moon.
Esfandiar stumbled, then lost his balance and fell, sliding down the side of a dune with a torrent of sand that threatened to overwhelm him. There was a burst of panic that carried the same alien flavor as the strange thoughts he had heard before.
The sand, the darkness, flowed over him. He threw back his head to scream; it poured down his throat, choking him. The sharp frozen chill sent a spike right into his brain.
He couldn't move-
"NO!"
With a flail and a thud, the shadhavar fell out of bed in a tangle of blankets, his eyes snapping wide open in panic.
No. Nononono. Look, the bed! The ceiling, exactly as it should be! The window! Somehow, the faint glow of twilight was still clinging to the sky.
A dream.
Slowly, slowly, Esfandiar calmed himself. Shaken, he managed to extricate himself from the blanket tangle and stand up. He fumbled at the oil lamp until, blessedly, a tiny flame sprouted to drive away the darkness.
Safe.
He turned, and saw the stone.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue May 06, 2008 7:10 pm
Solo: Emerge
All the light in the world could not pierce the thick halo of blackness that writhed around the shadow-stone - far, far more than the light tendrils of shadow that had always been there. It was so exactly like his dream that Esfandiar swallowed, hard, and wondered if he'd truly woken up after all. "Little one?"
The shadow was rusting, a tarnish spreading in from the outside. Cracking, against all laws of nature - how could a shadow possibly rust or break? Yet this one was clearly doing so. Esfandiar reached out one hand, tentatively, but kept the lamp close in his other hand. "Little... one...?"
The stone descended, slowly flowing down with the shadow to vanish from his sight on the other side of the bed.
Silence.
Unsure, Esfandiar pinched himself. Maybe he'd imagined that-
An odd crackling noise, so slight at first that he dismissed it as his own mind playing tricks, reached his ears. On the other side of the bed, something moved. Esfandiar backed up against the door, ready to scream for Asterion if needed.
But if this was still a dream, what would answer him?
A long, strange sand-colored thing oozed over the side of the bed. It took Esfandiar a moment to identify it as a finger - an impossibly long finger. Then a hand. It was cracked, deep darkness oozing through at the breaks. His grip on the lamp made his knuckles white.
Esfandiar swallowed the unreasonable fear and called on his anger. He was a shadhavar; feral or tame, he should not be afraid of things in his own inn! And if this was still a dream, he would wake again. He had angered no djinni that would place sleep-spell on him. Slowly, he advanced, edging around the bed to see what lay on the other side - and nearly dropped the lamp.
There, curled on the floor, was a person - no, not quite; instead of legs, the being had a long tail, like that of a djinni, though it crumbled away to dust along its length. Its skin was tarnished and cracked. Dark black eyes blinked up at him from beneath a gray hood, and black ringlets swayed on either side of its mouthless face.
And the shadow-stone, shadowed no longer, was set into its chest.
"Little one..." Esfandiar breathed. "You. You are the stone."
The creature stared at him a moment longer, then nodded slightly.
Esfandiar knelt awkwardly on the cool stone floor next to it. The lamp shook ever so slightly in his hand. "And you were... in my dream...?"
There was a long pause, then another nod, and then that cool alien tone in his mind. Cold. Run. Run Fast. It was not so much words as concepts, neatly packaged and shoved into his consciousness. Stronger.
"Stronger?" He held out one hand to it - no, to her. The creature hesitated, then slowly reached out and laid one cracked hand in his own. He stood slowly, helping her up; her tail unwound until she was floating, bobbing in the air exactly like - and yet at the same time very unlike - a djinni.
Rocks. Fight; Negative. Body. Fight; Positive. Stronger. She reached out one hand and ran a long finger along the line of his jaw; the touch was oddly cool, her skin oddly smooth, like eggshell. Darkness; Old; Nasty.
"I... I see..." Esfandiar took a deep breath. So it hadn't been a dream, and yet it had.
What had he gotten himself into?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed May 21, 2008 1:39 pm
Solo: Possession
And then the world, without warning, began to move again. A dull roar of sound reached Esfandiar's ears, and he realized that someone was pounding on the door hard enough to make it shake. Yet it seemed still at one remove, distant, dreamlike. The creature raised her mouthless chin high, as if in defiance, and tangled her long, stick-thin fingers with Esfandiar's own.
"Hush, little djinni," the shadhavar murmured, carefully extracting himself from her grip. There was still a soft fog in his mind, it seemed, and he shook his head to try and clear it.
Name; ... The creature paused, and a vague sense of uncertainty crept over them both. Name; ... Her hand strayed up to touch the stone. Name; ... Pyrite.
"Pyrite, then-" and suddenly the door shattered inward, and Asterion's bulk crashed into the bed, momentum carrying him through the doorway. WIth the minotaur came the full sharpness of sound, the full reality of the world turning, moving, awakening from the dream. The lights were too bright, and Esfandiar blinked. "Asterion!"
The minotaur sat up, and Esfandiar was shocked to see the look of barely-restrained panic in his lover's eyes. "What happened?!" He reached up and grabbed Esfandiar by both shoulders, his grip so strong that it hurt.
"Aster - what happened?" Esfandiar was vaguely aware that Pyrite was drifting somewhere behind him, but he concentrated on the minotaur, putting his own hands around Asterion's wrists. "You're going to bruise me like a melon."
Asterion relaxed, just a little. "There were sounds. You were screaming, Esfandiar - the inn staff called me in, and we couldn't open the door, not even with my key! What did you do?!"
"I... oh dear." Esfandiar sighed and gently pulled free from the minotaur's grip. "It seems the little shadow-stone is more magical than we thought. The screaming was just a nightmare, my dear... but one we shared."
"We?" Asterion's brow furrowed, but then he stiffened again. "What is that?"
Esfandiar turned and, to his surprise, saw nothing - but no, one of the shadows in the corner was unexpectedly dark and intense, moving at the edges just a little. The minotaur was glaring at it, and he scraped one foot against the floor, very slowly. "Asterion. It's the shadow-stone. It's changed - here. Come out, little one."
The shadow shifted, and then Pyrite was suddenly there, melting out of the darkness like a demon. Asterion drew breath sharply and made a warding gesture. "Esfandiar," he said, flatly. "What. Is. It."
"I'm... not rightly sure," Esfandiar admitted, as Pyrite floated over. Asterion turned to track her movements, keeping a baleful glare fixed on the creature at all times. "But I assure you, she is the stone. Pyrite."
"I don't like it," Asterion rumbled. Pyrite tilted her head to one side, a few dark ringlets falling free from her hood. "Not one bit."
Esfandiar squirmed. He hadn't much cared that Asterion didn't like the shadow-stone, but now, stupidly... now that the stone had a face, a name, it didn't seem right anymore. "I was charged with her keeping. You know that."
"That was a foolish choice," Asterion said, folding his arms over his chest. Pyrite flicked one finger at him, and he flinched away. For a moment, Esfandiar felt a distinct smugness radiating from her. "We will discuss this in the morning."
Startled, Esfandiar looked outside. The twilight that had lasted so long in the sky was gone, replaced abruptly with the deep black of true night. When had that happened? He hadn't noticed. "Oh... I'm sorry, Aster."
"I'll sleep in the guest room," the minotaur rumbled, then left with a nod. Pyrite followed him to the doorframe, and he picked up the pace a bit; Esfandiar thought he might have cursed at the creature as he left.
"Pyrite... please, don't torment him," Esfandiar said with a sigh, feeling very tired all of a sudden. He sat down on the edge of the bed. She drew up next to him, flicking her crumbling tail around his waist for a moment, then laying her hands on his shoulder over where Asterion had touched. He shivered.
You; Mine.
"I'll argue with you tomorrow," the shadhavar mumbled.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2008 4:53 pm
((reserved for solo; Asterion))
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2008 5:05 pm
Roleplay: Statues and StoneReyna Crelos Mystic paced through the front end of the shop. It was terribly difficult to sit by and wait, but he had no choice. He had left Reyna and Athan unprotected far longer than he should have. Dashing off in retrospect hadn't been the greatest of ideas, but Zero and Red's distress had caused him to not think his plan through entirely. He shuddered as he moved to stand near the statue that Reyna had become, gingerly tracing her features with his dark hands. If anything had happened to her, he never would have forgiven himself. Hell. If anything had happened, there was a distinct chance that he would have died -- quite painfully at that. Sosiqui Esfandiar winced at the familiar pins-and-needles feeling that always came with him when he stepped through a Gate, but this time he had something more to worry about. He turned immediately upon exciting the Gate and waited, antsy. Would Pyrite transition properly? She had as a stone, but... A moment later, though, his fears were put to rest as Pyrite's cracked form diffused through the swirl of the Gate. She paused once fully free of the Gate's power and held perfectly still for a moment, then slowly moved to smooth down her robe. "Are you well?" She turned to look at him, then nodded, slowly. Strange; Impact: Negligible. The thoughts trickled quickly into the forefront of his mind. He nodded back, relieved. "Very good. Let's see if your appearance is... expected." He held out one hand; she wrapped her long, thin fingers with his. ..... The shop was as he had remembered. The shadhavar glanced over at Pyrite to see if the creature showed any sign of recognition, but she was terribly hard to read. Esfandiar had learned to interpret the body language common to most humans and humanoids fairly early on, but removing the mouth from the equation changed everything. Her dark eyes did not divulge anything easily. Still, he felt the slight pressure as she hung back, just for a moment - just barely long enough for him to realize it wasn't his imagination. It was enough to make him ask. "Do you remember this place? It is where your stone came from." Pyrite tilted her face up to look at the shopfront, her ringlets falling dark around her face. Then she shook her head. Negative."Hm. I was wondering... well. It doesn't matter." He reached for the doorknob and stepped inside, holding it open for Pyrite to follow after. Reyna Crelos The shop held an unfamiliar silence. There currently were no customers present. Athan was not bustling about with his robes swirling about his feet, and there was no mumbling or grumbling from the demoness. Both shopkeepers were frozen mid movement from when they had both turned to stone. Their skin, hair, and clothes had turned a pristine alabaster color. Mystic all but radiated despair. At least prior to his leaving them there was still a bit of color to their cheeks, and Athan's dark clothing shone through. He glanced up, eyes narrowed in suspicion at the hulking figure of the shadhavar as he entered the shop. His tension bled away at least somewhat when he realized that the beast of a man before him obviously meant no harm as he sensed that familiar, looming darkness that always accompanied one of his own brethren. Sosiqui Esfandiar smiled for a moment - and then, suddenly, realized that something, everything, was terribly wrong. The sage that had given him both the Seastone and Pyrite's stone was silent, quite clearly frozen in place, transmuted... as was another by him, and- Pyrite breezed past him and phased right through the counter, holding one hand out to Mystic - but she was reaching towards his face, not his hands as if to shake. Reyna Crelos Mystic recoiled away from Pyrite but not soon enough. He expected to feel nothing and that her hands would phase mostly through before he pulled away entirely. Instead he found himself in his solid form and cool, slender fingers pressed to his face. The room for a moment spun at a dizzying angle and then -- He heard a man laugh as he watched another take his last breath. Laughter. Deafening laughter. Then nothing at all. An abyss of darkness. A void. Then it seemed he was back in the shop but only from hours prior. "What in hell, Athan?" Reyna murmured, visible eye wide with confusion and the tiniest bit of fear that she had not managed to hide. She strode over towards him and placed a hand upon his shoulder only to find that she could not move it.
She opened her mouth to speak in warning to the others, but no sound came forth.
"B-be not.. made of... stone. It is your c-creator, your f-father, your maker who m-must atone."
Athan fell silent. Neither he nor the demon frozen at his side moved.
Mystic stared, wide-eyed with a look of sheer, utter panic. Then he pulled away from her, bright eyes glowing with a sort of barely contained ferocity as he stumbled back to lean heavily against the wall. His chest rose and fell rapidly as though he truly were merely human with lungs that ached and burned along with his agony. 'Child,' he hissed as he struggled to cool his temper, '... you will NOT do that again without my permission.'Sosiqui Pyrite's tail lashed once, twice, as her hands touched Mystic's cheeks, her fingers laying cool and smooth against his skin - and then it came, a delicious outpouring the like of which she'd only ever tasted from Esfandiar himself. A delighted mental sound echoed down the link she shared with Esfandiar, along with dim and disjointed sensory input gleaned from the memory she had just called to the surface. Her eyes brightened as she absorbed it into herself. Another drop to fill the void. Then the contact was broken, and she pulled back, disappointed. Greeting Offered; Incorrect? Confusion. She shoved the concepts at him, the whole bound up in a mash of bewilderment. She kept the current of odd delight at his discomfiture buried deep, where he could not possibly see it. Behind her, Esfandiar shook his head, hard. What had been that sound that echoed in his ears, crackling and distant as though it sounded from an ancient tomb? Reyna Crelos The elder shadow struggled as he tried to wade through both the confusion of what she had just done and the remnants that still lingered. Her vague way of speaking seemed to only hamper him further. His eyes narrowed as he studied her carefully before hesitantly creeping forward. 'Not entirely correct, dear. One does not..' What had that been exactly? Thoughts? Memories. Part of it was for sure, but the other. He shuddered. A void. '.. greet their kin in such a manner. A simple hello will suffice next time.' His gaze settled heavily upon her fragmented form. So different she seemed from the other children. She lacked their innocence, though he knew that was hardly the proper term to use in reference to his brethren. 'I am Mystic,' he offered to both the child and her bond before he shot a forlorn glance towards his own guardian, '... I.. regret that our first meeting is under such circumstances.'Sosiqui Pyrite froze still for a moment, except for the soft and constant hiss of dust sliding around her form. Stone; Pyrite. Stone... Being? She reached out one hand towards Athan's face, then stopped and glanced back at Esfandiar, then Mystic, as if for permission. The new words in his mind brought Esfandiar's focus back. "Ah - my apologies," he said, quickly, offering the new shadow-being a quick half-bow. "I am Esfandiar... I was seeking the sage, Athan, to tell him that the stone he entrusted to me has... developed." He gestured quickly at Pyrite. "But I see he is..." The shadhavar paused, then let the sentence trail off. He wasn't really sure what the man was, at the moment, other than made of stone. That certainly hadn't been the case last time. Reyna Crelos 'Indisposed,' he volunteered. Any other time he perhaps would have been amused in a sick sort of way at Athan's misfortune, but how could he when his own beloved Reyna was trapped in stone as well? 'And developed she has, along with peculiar talents that steal her speech and the thoughts of others,' Mystic replied a bit dryly before sighing. 'Definitely peculiar. Athan no doubt could give name to whatever it is, but.. as I said. He is indisposed as is my own guardian. And all thanks to a seemingly benign note.'He motioned towards the scrap of paper that sat innocently upon the desk a few inches from where Athan's hands were held out. It had indeed simply fallen from his grasp once he had turned to stone. Mystic's head tilted to the side as he regarded the two that stood before him. Red and Dio were helping. Perhaps they would also be willing to do so. '... I don't suppose you be inclined to help restore both Athan and Reyna, would you? I am currently here only to guard them. Others of our kind are searching for items for the spell which will release them.' He paused before adding quickly, 'I am also certain Athan would be generous enough to reward any who would offer help.' Sosiqui Pyrite slowly reached out to run one finger along the line of Athan's cheek, but only very lightly; she made no such move towards the other statue. Strange she might have been, but she could read the possession there quite clearly. Making the elder shadow truly angry at this juncture would not be prudent in the least. Esfandiar looked surprised, then nodded, firmly. "He provided me with assistance when he had no reason to do so." True, the Seastone had yet to prove itself, but the gesture alone... "It would be my honor." It would also keep himself and Pyrite out of Asterion's way for a while, while the minotaur adjusted. There was a little nibble of guilt in Esfandiar's gut, but he shoved it away and tried to ignore it. It was hardly his fault that his lover had reacted badly... right? Reyna Crelos A look of relief washed across Mystic's features. 'Thank you. Thank you very much,' he replied as he fumbled through one of the drawers at the desk to withdraw paper and pencil. He needed his own list, but quickly he scribbled down a description of one of the items. Alistair's Stone ~ This stone has the appearance and forms in the same manner that crystal quartz does. The primary difference appearance-wise would be the red rutiles and black spots contained within the stone itself. A natural wand of the stone will be needed to stir the antidote. Once used, unfortunately, all the color drains from the stone and it is rendered useless and eventually takes on the appearance of an average, every day rock. 'It's... not an entirely uncommon thing, but it's not the sort of stone that would be kept here. A place that deals specifically with spell casting supplies would be best, I think,' Mystic went on as he handed the slip of paper over to Esfandiar. 'If you could please bring the stone back to me, I would appreciate it.'Sosiqui Esfandiar nodded, then looked over the note. "Hmm. It is not something I have heard of, but the markets of my city are vast and stocked with the trade of many lands. Surely I will be able to bring this back to you." Pyrite, peeved that the stone-that-had-once-been-man was not giving up any form of memory in the least, drifted away from Athan. She took a deliberately circuitous route to get around Mystic before floating back to Esfandiar. Cold; Rock-Living Negative, she broadcast to both the shadhavar and the elder Fiend. Esfandiar took a moment to decipher the thought, then glanced soberly at the two statues. "I fear we have not properly met. I am Esfandiar Kian, of the city of Tesfaldir in the world Elohir." The same sort of feel surrounded this being as well. "And you are the same as Pyrite, are you not? What manner of creature are you? I mean no disrespect, I simply do not know," he asked, levelly. Reyna Crelos 'I am the same manner of creature as your Pyrite is, and eldest of all our brethren,' Mystic told him. He did at least feel somewhat obligated to explain. Esfandiar had agreed to help, and somehow he doubted Pyrite's ability to explain in a manner easily understood. Then again, he had no way of knowing that her soul bond didn't permit her to speak more freely with her guardian. Each of them seemed to have their quirks. 'We have been dubbed Shadow Fiends by Athan. He is the reason we are here. He is.. as I have come to understand it, on a quest to right wrongs done by a former comrade, though if you have met him prior and he entrusted a stone to you, you may have heard some of this already. Essentially, we are the remnants of souls that were trapped in stones.' Remnants. Memories. A chill went down his spine. Was that all they were? All shadow and fragments and pieces of people who once lived. It was a concept that often worried and plagued his mind, but the situation at hand amplified it. As did Pyrite's elegant, fractured hands. Sosiqui "Shadow Fiends." Esfandiar tried the words on his tongue, then nodded. They seemed to fit quite well; he had a feeling Asterion would agree, at least when it came to the Fiend part. The rest... much of it was new. "I had not heard it in quite those words," he said, carefully, glancing back at Pyrite. Born from the stone, but a remnant of something trapped within rather than an entirely new creature... "I will have to speak to you - or Athan - about this in more detail, at a more opportune time." Pyrite herself merely looked intently at Mystic, rolling the memories around in her own mind. What an odd burst of laughter. So vibrant. So... vividly remembered. The sound twisted and flared like white fire. NC-chan Shiniesshiniesshinies was an ongoing litany in her head as she walked, the odd not-charm necklace she wore squirming slightly when in too-bright sunlight. Of course, the 'charm' was actually Will, not a piece of black tin. The streaks of color in her teal hair shifted as she moved, making the longish braid ripple as if alive even as it bounced about. The silver-furred animal ears and full, fluffy tail were the only indications besides the odd hair that she was anything but human. But that is neither here nor there. For she was on a mission. She'd gotten some money into her grubby little hands and wanted some pretties. Now. So she was headed to the shop she'd gotten Will from (remembering how she'd drooled over some of the lovely work while at it!) as well as the base of operations for the mage who'd shown up at her 'house' to deal with the nightmare creature that now lived in the basement. All the better to deal with annoying people... Will was...odd, and small, so she hadn't hesitated to bring him with her. The rest of the household...didn't know. A smirk twisted her lips and widened into a pleased smile. Yes! The shop was in sight. With a smile on her face, Karly pushed open the door and called out, "He-llo! Anybody home!" in a teasing manner. Reyna Crelos 'Athan would likely be able to explain it better than I, though I certainly would not refuse you information should you require it,' Mystic stated quietly before his gaze settled upon the door as it chimed loudly, breaking the heavy stillness of the air around them with it's miniature cacophony of noise. 'More or less.' was his cryptic reply to the woman that entered the shop. Aki Ana Aki caught the door, slipping in behind Karly. Her face was set into the cool, unreadable mask that marked her as elven, but her eyes told a different story. The golden luminescence of her gaze had faded, replaced by a deep and troubling red. It was not only her eyes that spoke of a difference...something drastic within Aki had changed, and to any that knew her, it was painfully obvious. Silently, Coral manifested behind Aki, draping her skinny arms loosely around her guardian's neck. Aki lifted one hand, settling her fingers over Coral's, and glanced once around the shop. "I wish to speak with Reyna." Her other hand tightened at the pouch she wore on her belt, crimson skirt riding low on her slender hips. She gave Karly a flat look before turning her attention to Mystic. "Now." Reyna Crelos Mystic phased through the desk, past Esfandiar and his fractured child Fiend, past Karly so that he was faced to face with Aki. He knew her -- but only because his Reyna knew her and felt strongly enough about her that her control had slipped and images of her had been brought to his own mind at a previous time. 'Apologies, but..' He paused for a moment as his gaze shifted from the beautiful elf to the equally enchanting creature behind her. He shifted slightly as he motioned towards the two still forms that hovered, trapped mid-movement in solid stone. '... there's been a bit of a.. mishap. With a spell. Otherwise, I know she'd want to speak with you. If she could.'Aki Ana Aki stared, lips parted, and looked from the frozen forms to Esfandiar, back to Mystic. Her mask began to crack, bit by bit, as her brows furrowed. "I don't believe it." It wasn't Mystic she was doubting, not exactly, but Aki pushed forward and swept across the room. She got as close as she dared, just a few paces away, and looked. Really looked. Coral vanished, wide eyed, as Aki's hands balled into fists. Her crimson garments settled, drifting back into place, as she stared. Frozen. Just like she was. Only...trapped in stone, and not a moment. "Why....why are you standing here?!" Her voice was low, rising only at the end as she turned towards Mystic. "I need her to...I...we need her!" The words burned, more than she cared to admit, and Aki yanked the pouch from her belt and dropped it carelessly upon the counter. Something metal gave a muffled clank as it hit. "Fix her? Please?" She knew she was being foolish, but the world suddenly felt much smaller to Aki. Sosiqui Esfandiar jumped as the door chimed, his ears canting back a little bit. He was no stranger to crowds, but as the door's bell chimed yet again, admitting more bodies to the shop, he found himself feeling vaguely overcrowded just the same. The sensation only increased when one of the new arrivals froze almost as much as a statue. It was clear she knew them... and the pain was just as clear. He was out of place here, in a way he never had been in Tesfaldir. Save for that one moment. "Pyrite?" he said, softly. But the Fiend was ignoring him, staring silently at the newcomers. Her hands twitched at her sides. Reyna Crelos Mystic's eyes fluttered closed for a moment before he strode towards Aki and pressed one hand gingerly to her cheek. His temper flared briefly at her tone and her words, but he shoved it aside quickly. Reyna would be displeased if he angered her. Aki was special. Reyna made her beautiful things. She bothered to care, though the demoness was loathe to admit it He peered down into her eyes and faltered for a moment as he noticed they were as red as Reyna's. The very same vibrant, blood red. He had expected another color entirely. 'I am not standing here idly, please know that. I need her as you do.' Mentally he added, I need her more than you, but did not voice it or allow the thought to surface. 'I am only here to make certain she and Athan remain safe while supplies are gathered to reverse the spell. I have already cast it once today on another. As soon as the items arrive, they will be cured.'Aki Ana Aki would have forgiven the temper. She was angry herself, and after centuries of delicate placidity, it was near to the surface. She wasn't too angry, or too scared, to listen though...she met Mystic's eyes with sullen determination. "Then...tell me what you need. Anything." Aki's eyes narrowed, but she was fighting tears, not temper. Coral. As though Aki had snapped, Coral appeared again, rising from behind her guardian. The Fiend wrung her hands lightly, obviously worried as well. Aki extended one arm, and Coral wrapped her tail around it obligingly, sliding upward until her face was next to Aki's. "If there's a cure, we will help you." Aki broke gaze first, her eyes flicking for a moment to Esfandiar and the strange Fiend by his side. She wondered, distantly, if this was the person Mystic had already freed...or if it was an ally, also looking to help. Coral's eyes slid to the side along with Aki's, and they regarded him for a long moment together. If he had been stone, as Reyna was, surely he'd been through enough. If not... "We will all help, I'm sure." NC-chan Letting the other slip by didn't bother Karly any; the aura coming off her was desperate about something. The mood in the shop was somber, with their entrance having broken the stillness. Her ears flattening to her head she shuffled till she was near the kirin-like creature, careful not to invade his space too much, nor that of the one floating near him. Her ears perked forward thou, listening intently and grimacing slightly at being able to kind of take in the fact that there seemed to be two 'living' statues posed in plain sight. Taking the bull by the horns (metaphorically speaking, anyways), Karly flicked a hand up into the air, waving it about a bit as if in school. "Umm...whole story please? I don't particularly like people in distress," she gave a small, hopefully non-too-cheerful smile to the elf, " but I'd like to hear how this came about and then maybe lend a hand?" She'd been helpful to so many, it was hard to say something like that, but she'd learned the hard way about finding out -everything- before committing. Sosiqui Pyrite squirmed, eager to partake of the rich memories that had to dwell in these new living ones - to say nothing of the pointy-eared one, which seemed to her like a veritable feast - but Mystic's presence kept her in check. Still, her tail lashed back and forth and she drifted a little bit closer to Aki. Esfandiar didn't quite notice. "Naturally," he murmured, in response to the woman in red's impassioned statement. It was something to say, maybe some small way into the private world that seemed to have formed around Mystic, the statue, and the elven woman as soon as she entered the shop. The other newcomer seemed just as clueless as he was. ShortGreen Before anyone else could say another word, a new face appeared from between the curtains which lead to the back room. Despite the sweetness of the features, the expression was clearly Not Pleased and Delilah looked to Mystic for explanations. "Mystic?" she asked in a soft, slightly musical voice, "why is everyone shouting out here?" Reyna Crelos Mystic's brow furrowed as he glanced around at all the eyes that bore into him now that he had the entire room focused intently on him. He looked as though he wanted to speak as he waved one hand over towards where his guardian and maker were to begin his explanation, but stopped. His hand was almost entirely transparent, barely even there at all, though he could still flex and feel his fingertips. He was.. he.. he made a sort of panicked noise as his gaze settled upon Delilah. He had mentioned it in passing to both her and her mother earlier. They had each reassured him just as he had them. He held a great deal of strength. He was the eldest. He could not fade away, and yet.. 'Del.. perhaps.. you could explain.. I.. there isn't time for this. We need to hurry.' His eyes fluttered closed and he bowed his head slightly. 'Before I fade... entirely.'ShortGreen Delilah gasped and pushed her way through the curtains to reveal that, despite her tone and diction, she was apparantly only ten years old. Within seconds, she was at Mystic's side and trying to clutch his hand. When that proved harder than it had mere hours ago, she hissed, upset, and turned stormy turquoise eyes on the gathered people. "He's sick!" she explained with a rare burst of anger. "Miss Reyna being sick makes him sick, too. Mama's out looking for the things that will make them all well again." She narrowed her eyes. "Maybe you guys can help with that." Unseen by them, one of Kova's potted geraniums in the back room started to twist and turn. Sosiqui Esfandiar shook his head, snapping out of the (quite possibly Pyrite-induced) reverie. Why was he standing here like a lump when there was work to do? "I will take my leave, then. We will take our leaves, rather," he murmured in Mystic's direction, though he was not entirely sure the beleaguered Fiend would even hear him. He headed for the door; Pyrite braced herself, but after a moment (far too soon) she felt the painful tug begin, and the Fiend quickly fled to her bonded's side, though she gave him an irritated look.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2008 5:15 pm
Solo: The Spellcrier's Memory
Pyrite fussed in his mind as Esfandiar went back through the Gate, his 'shopping list' in hand. The item Mystic had requested was not something he was familiar with, but Tesfaldir had the finest market he had ever found, full of trade goods and eldritch items of every type. Surely someone would know of this 'Alistair's Stone'.
Memory; Desire, Pyrite projected, peevishly. Esfandiar nodded to the Gate guard and trotted down the stairs, ignoring both the pins-and-needles and Pyrite, even as the Fiend tried and failed to brace herself in the air against his movement. Desire. Desire. Desire-
"Hush," Esfandiar said, sharply, and Pyrite stopped so abruptly that the absence of her thought was almost startling. He glanced back at her where she bobbed behind him, her long cracked arms folded over her chest. "You can do... whatever it was you did... later. Right now, we have a task. Don't you want to help your own kind?"
Strangers, Pyrite said, after a moment. Knowledge; Negative.
"That doesn't matter. You help what's yours, and what owns you. At any rate, we can return after we have this mysterious stone. Tangle fingers with anyone you like, so long as it doesn't make them angry. I care not." He started walking again, his strides long and purposeful, and Pyrite began to follow after a moment, just a little bit before the bond forced her to.
But only a little.
Soon, though, the Fiend forgot her annoyance at being dragged away from the crowded shop. The market districts of Tesfaldir were crowded with more beings, more minds then she could ever dream of touching, and her fingers twitched visibly at her sides. But they were staring, and she didn't like that; the Fiend shrank down and puddled in her bonded's shadow, which fixed things considerably. Esfandiar, so intent on his goal, didn't notice any of it.
At last, the shadhavar stopped in front of Sepehr's shop, the front cluttered and crowded with dusty relics and nameless things in clouded jars, as always. Pyrite reformed out of the shadow and poked at one of the dangling, brittle dried-herb bunches with interest.
"We're going inside. Don't break anything - some of it might be cursed, and the rest probably costs more than you," Esfandiar warned, and opened the door.
"Ah! My frie- what in the name of all seventy-two hells is that?"
Esfandiar sighed, and pulled Pyrite inside. The shop was dark, warm, and smelly, though not unpleasantly so on any count. Sepehr was giving Pyrite an astonished look. "This is Pyrite. She came from that shadow stone you were so worried about. No demons, see? Merely a... spirit, of sorts."
"Mmmmm." The old sorcerer gave the Fiend a suspicious look as she drifted here and there, peering at the clutter. "She has a tail like a djinni-"
"But she is not of that race, I assure you. She came from no lamp, no ring. At any rate, she is not my current concern." Esfandiar unfolded the paper that Mystic had given him. "I find myself in need of 'Alistair's stone'. Might you have such a thing?"
The sorcerer brightened. "Oh, that? Quite useful in spell-casting, grows in natural clusters very nearly like wands. It doesn't need finishing or awakening to prepare... I should have some left from the last traders that came from Isten Caverns, hum." He ducked down under the counter and began to rummage. "Since you're an old friend, I'll make you a bargai-"
He came up again, right into Pyrite's waiting hands.
The caverns were cold, cold; that was because of a stone, the shadhavar guide informed them, a stone that sucked warmth and life right out of you. Too dangerous to cool the desert cities, too dangerous to use in place of an ice-box. Too dangerous to touch. You stayed clear, or you froze, died, and shattered like glass.
They gave the dripping formations a very wide berth indeed; but he had sent a little construct over, a little djinni of no significance. The creature had touched and puffed to freezing dust in an instant, no time to scream. Nobody had seen.
He had gone back later.
Cold, so cold. Bit through the cloth. Bit through the hands of the first slave, and the second. Had to have it. Wanted it so badly. Needed it. For-
He jerked away, twisting out of the Fiend's grip, his face turning pale as the stone in his memory. The images and sensations echoed down to Esfandiar too; the shadhavar had unconsciously tightened his arms around himself, protecting himself from a phantom cold from fifteen years ago, six hundred miles away.
Sepehr trembled, with remembered cold or rage, he could not say. "What is she?!" he hissed, one hand still holding the rough wand of Alistair's stone.
"Old friend, believe me - I had no idea she would-" Esfandiar began. Sepehr threw the rock at him; he flinched, but a quick swish of Pyrite's tail caught the crystal before it could hit her bonded. "You must believe me!"
"Wrong," the sorcerer rasped, making a sign against evil. "Get out."
"I must pay you-"
"OUT," and then they were both outside the shop, blinking in the sudden light as the store folded up behind them, as mystic stores in the district were wont to do. It left behind only a flat stone wall.
"Sepehr," Esfandiar called out. He banged on the wall, then sighed and slumped. Pyrite's tail coiled around and deposited the stone wand in his hands. "Why did you do that?!"
The Shadow Fiend regarded him, expressionless. Memory; Desire. Interest. Desire.
"... don't. Never again. Not now. Just... be quiet until we return," Esfandiar said, quietly, but anyone who knew him would have run away at the deceptively soft tone. The emotions echoing down their link clued Pyrite in, and she remained still, hiding in his shadow, as the shadhavar bore the wand back to the Gate.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
