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 Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2010 1:04 pm
Shati had not been expecting any sort of acceptance, let alone politeness. She simply sat there, listening to the flower as she spoke without so much as a nod, and then turned back to Felicity. Let the irritating, product-ruining little Plague sit in her silence with no attention paid! Imagine how much work it must take to like with such a beast! She suddenly felt worse for the Grimm than she had before.
"Indeed? Well, I enjoy travel myself, although I haven't had the privilege in years. One cannot simply pack up and leave a farm," she offered, smiling softly, "I do like to meet those from other regions, though; other continents. Culture is so diverse, it's so interesting." She'd finished her bread, but didn't dare reach for another piece. If the rumor of Plagues spreading disease was true, that loaf was now good for nothing but compost.
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Posted: Thu Oct 28, 2010 2:17 pm
"I-indeed.. I c-can imagine how d-difficult it m-must be to get away if you h-have duties." Felicity empathized, fortunately she had no such obligations tying her down. Before entering the House of Obsucvos she had lived off her life savings (luckily her style of living allowed her to manage off the meagre amount) and the money left behind from her runaway lover. Now, with the support of the cult money was hardly any issue as there was work to be done in all regions and thus the only restraint on her travel was her own confidence. Luckily she now had the security of her family through faith in addition to her friend Jin-ho - so there was nothing at all really holding her back.
Travelling abroad however was out of the question due to the quarantine... Evidently she would not be able to spread the fel disease thanks to her immunity to the disease granted by her partnership with Claudia (more knowledge given to her by The House) but the government wouldn't make exceptions... In fact, Felicity would probably be even less welcomed than a pauper riddled with the black death simply because of the different plague that she carried - Claudia was feared as much as she was worshiped after all. "T-tell me ab-bout your homeland..? P-please?" She managed a wobbly smile and nibbled the corner of her lunch. The jam was pleasant and fruity. She'd only ever had such sweet preserve between the spongy layers of cake before hand and even then that had only been on special occasions. The north's cuisine seemed so terribly limited to stocky rough flavours and starchy energy giving constructions aimed at staving off the cold.
Claudia was also keen to hear of Shati's place of origin though for totally different reasons. In her blackened consciousness she imagined the woman pre-civilization; stripped bare except for rudimentary clothes, blood and dirt smeared across her face and her dark hair unkempt with twigs in it... Embellishing this mind's eye image was a carcass of an animal feasted upon by Shati's fellow tribesmen. The flower smirked - evidently amused by this concept. So crude; so base; so true to real human nature. They were so unrefined in comparison to plagues. They could only hope to be reborn through the glutton god if they devoted their whole lives - the rest would burn. She hoped this ex-savage would be one of the latter.
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Posted: Fri Oct 29, 2010 10:41 am
Shati was pleased that someone seemed interested in other lands. She often found the Panymese so single-minded in survival and work or hedonistic lifestyles that they didn't even consider the wonder of a world beyond the sea. Of course, she understood their reasons. Their own world was rife with disease and political turmoil so well-defined that one would be hard-pressed to pay attention to much else. With death constantly threatening at your door, why bother to wonder?
"It is very different than Panymium, and yet startlingly alike in ways," she finally began, albeit in a convoluted way, "There are separate tribes, dozens of them, placed throughout the continent. They vary in size and civility from one end of the spectrum to another. There are stories of a tribe so savage that they had no permanent land and instead moved through the others with pillaging and murder, but it may have just been a story. I've never seen one." She shifted then, pulling a leg to fold beneath the other. People had never asked, and so she had never had a reason to explain her homeland. It was difficult to describe the differences between lands without mentioning the similarities, and harder still to not sound like some sort of uncivilized creature. "Tribes were like communities rather than separate cultures. We all shared similar beliefs and got on well, except for the occasional squabble over modernization. The Ta'axta were mostly immune. We were what you would call... rural, I think. We lived in small wooden homes, hunted and farmed and traded. It was a simpler life than that of the city. Our capital, though, was closer to this. They are the best at what they do, and with their tall towers and waterways it is impossible to consider them anything other than city folk. Mostly the young men traveled there for trade, but I lived there for a time myself." Shati made a face as she was finished. She had explained to the best of her ability, and had really said nothing. How could one put into words the feelings of brotherhood and kinship among those not connected by blood? How did one articulate the wonder of a world full of spirits and nature without the modern sciences to fog the mind? Displeased, she made a bit of a face and slumped back again.
"And what of Sherygoed? Is it so different than Imisus? She was quite curious herself, as she had not truly traveled to the other regions of Panymium and wasn't sure if she would ever have reason to. Stories could sate her for now.
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Posted: Sat Nov 06, 2010 7:21 am
There was something about the way that Felicity was sitting cross legged with her portion of vibrantly jam painted bread clasped in her hand that made the scene look like a young child settled down in front of a storyteller, hanging onto their every word about a strange and magical land. In a sense the woman was in that mindset – the details that the foreigner shared were so alien to the mousey haired lady that she couldn’t help but nod enthusiastically, gasp at the thought of violent lawless tribes and display such a childish and colourful emotions. The way that Shati had started her sentences was completely right; there did seem to be such a medley of similarities and differences... “It s-sound so st-trange... I am s-sure it is wond-derful...” She nibbled another portion of her meal, mulling over whether she would like to live there or not...
It did sound very exotic but when it boiled down to it she supposed that she would never be able to survive in a place like that. In many ways she had to consider herself hardy – all Sherygodians were hardy... But in a multitude of other ways she was far to fragile. Even in the mental picture Shati had constructed for her she saw it in bold competitive colours... Felicity was too weak, wishy washy for an environment. The washed out and drab colours of Panyminum were familiar and though they were tainted with the rot and decay of the plague at least she wasn’t overwhelmed in that sense.
“Sh-sherygoed is v-very cold..” It seemed to her the best place to start when describing the northern region; the temperature was the controlling force behind almost everything that happened up there. “All y-year there’s sn-now and b-blizzards and it’s very h-hard-d to get b-by sometimes. We have n-nothing like thi-s-s.” She motioned to the cacophony of makeshift stalls and building clambering for space within the industrial marketplace. “Everyth-thing has t-to be stern and b-bulky, fastened to the ground-d so that it’s not blown-n a-away by a b-blast of wind. The wind-d up there really f-fr-reezes you to the core... The people are hard-der too. Here, everyone is s-sso friendly. It can be quite lonely at hom-me...”
Feeling her guardian’s description rather lacking in some areas Claudia chipped in, despite the fact she had been mostly excluded from the conservation by the rude tradeswoman. “You forgot the mages.” She made sure that her tone was laced with bitterness as she mentioned the cult’s adversaries. “They waltz around in their grand buildings working worthless arts in an attempt to find a cure to the plague ‘for the people’. But in reality they’re just-“ However before the wicked little flower could go much further Felicity had become flustered enough by the exclamation to drop her bread and clap her wiry hands together – hushing the petal covered being.
“C-claudia!” They were meant to be masquerading as part of the fellowship. For such a devout follower of Obscuvos the caedos could so easily betray their mission to fulfil her own spiteful desires.
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Posted: Sat Nov 06, 2010 9:53 am
Just as Felicity had been childlike, Shati was as well. She had never lived in a region without passing seasons, and she wasn't certain if she would ever have liked to. The picture Felicity painted was harsh and unforgiving; a young woman driven through a blizzard, and ignored as she collapses into a bank and is swiftly disappearing. It was unavoidable Felicity was sickly-looking, but couldn't that be born of the nature of her homeland? Certainly nobody who lived in such a harsh territory could be all weak. Shati herself was not certain that she would ever travel to Sherygoed, let alone try to live there. It took a certain kind of person to brave the snow all year-round.
When the woman had finished, though, her attention turned to the nasty little Plague. She listened with fair interest, and had to admit some surprise at Felicity's sudden horrified reaction. In fact, to say she hadn't jumped slightly would be an alteration of truth. It was lucky for Felicity that Shati knew almost nothing of the political turmoils in Panymium. She had distanced herself from politics even at a young age; they were volatile, dangerous, and just a little bit boring. She did not know, either, the severely different stances each party had on the Plagues, of which she had only recently discovered. It was as if the discovery of her own Plague was a catalyst to learning everything else.
"I admit I've met a mage or two," she said carefully, looking between girl and Plague, "They didn't seem particularly bothersome, but I have only met a few."
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Posted: Sun Nov 14, 2010 3:52 pm
Quick to attempt to reverse the damage done to their cover by Claudia, Felicity clapped her bony hands together and forced a pained laugh. “Oh, C-claud-dia exag-ggerates. They are n-nice und-derneath. She speaks f-from a bad-d experience...” She rubbed her hands together, as if trying to physically spread a mask over the rend in the fabrication of their lies that the little plague had created. “Inf-fact we are h-here with a g-good friend-d of m-mine. He is a m-mage.” A fond smile whispered across her taut lips at this, softening the slightly stressed line and speaking volumes of truth that words couldn’t quite express. Though in essence she was indeed against the works of the mages due to her newly adopted beliefs, she could make exceptions and find allies within the opposing fold. Jin-Ho had been nothing but kind to her.
Of course, all that Shati had to do was glance at the disgusted expression on Claudia’s face to see the ugly truth of the matter. Placed in such a despicable mood the caedos did not even care that the other woman knew their true nature; true alignment. It was not as though they would meet the black haired woman again and she would have no powers to speak against their involvement in the cult regardless! Judging by her lack of knowledge about the world in general the malice filled flower internally scoffed; the fool probably didn’t even know of the existence of The House or the great glutton god.
Never the less she kept her tongue. There seemed to be little point in dropping more of her poison into the conversation. The ignorant stall keeper had thus far proved resilient to her attempts at inflicting her with verbal wounds and thus the excitos was inclined to sink into a kind of sulk. It was greatly frustrating when things didn’t go her way and Claudia couldn’t honestly do much about it; not with her guardian so enamoured with the conversation. She would just have to take it out on Felicity later.
Changing the topic from mages Felicity finished off her slice of bread and looked wistfully at the loaf for a moment. “D-do you do w-well here?” She imagined the woman would have to work fairly hard to earn her keep... There was only so much one could charge for perishable goods...
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Posted: Mon Nov 15, 2010 10:46 am
"I see," Shati replied, tilting her head slightly. It certainly hadn't seemed like the flower was exaggerating (at least not any more than was to be expected), and a look in her direction showed that she probably was not. Was it a lie, then, that they were here with a friend? What kind of people were they, to be so adverse to the mages? The significance was lost on her, even if she understood the political turmoil. She was pulled from her confusion by another question, though, and caught Felicity's glance at the bread. She considered the Plague's resting spot and motioned toward the loaf.
"It's yours, if you want it," she began, and then replied: "I do well enough to own a home, a few cattle, some land. Better than most, I guess. Everyone has to eat, and the wealthy are willing to pay a great deal for fresh produce.
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Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2010 2:40 pm
When the loaf was given to her an astonished look burst across the gaunt features of the woman. She was so unaccustomed to such generosity! She could tell that her little charge did not harbour any warm feelings towards Shati but the Keeper’s respect and desperate desire to keep her rose content and put up with her general rude or unsociable nature was being firmly quashed by her admiration of this relative stranger. She even went so far as to lean forward, move the caedos and tear a chunk out of the flower’s perch, muttering her thanks to the dark haired woman as she did so.
However, it was not just the woman’s kindness that was a cause for surprise. The other’s social standing and independence also came as a shock. Felicity had assumed that perhaps the woman made most of her produce from a small plot of land and was kept cooped up in squat accommodation like the rest of the residents in this bustling city – and many other of the densely populated areas in Panyminum. Much to the contrary it seemed the immigrant owned a farm with animals! In the frigid north that would be such a rare occurrence that only the landed highest classes could boast ownership to living beasts... She supposed that in these warmer climes it could be more likely but she was awed none the less.
“C-cattle..? I h-have never seen a live c-cow.” It was true... She knew what they looked like only by the dead bodies hung in butchers around the inner portion of the city in her homeland - too expensive for a commoner like her though.
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Posted: Sat Nov 20, 2010 2:02 pm
Shati thought nothing of the gift. It was either give the loaf to Felicity, or risk her and the grocer's reputations in selling it to him. She wasn't even certain she wanted to touch the loaf herself. It was a loss, yes, but considering she grew her own crops most of the year, it was a small one.
"Oh, I grew up with cows. I only raise females for the milk, so they are all alive an well still," Shati smiled. She had grown up on a world where the hunt and slaughter of animals, adorable or not, was necessary, and she had never been very fond of it. "If you are ever in Imisus again, you should come by! I have chickens as well and a pair of sheep. I fear I don't get much company."
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Posted: Sun Nov 28, 2010 6:04 am
With the loaf kindly given to her Felicity took the lump of food, the plague sitting on top of it included, into her lap and began tearing small bite sized pieces off it. It seemed to her as though their little discussion was drawing somewhat to a close and she did not want to keep the merchant farmer any longer than necessary. She hadn’t even paid for this lunch and all the time that the dark haired woman spent in idle conversation would be detracting from her potential day’s takings. Conscious of this the waif like woman brushed some of the crumbs off her skirt and scuffled around, arranging her legs underneath her so that she could stand up and get out of Shati’s hair. “Th-thank you Shat-ti. I will vis-sit you if I c-can..” She wrung her near skeletal hands together before grasping the food and rising.
Disturbed by all this movement Claudia wobbled on top of the bread, raking the crusty surface with her clawed black hands. “We’re going?” She leapt from the human's lunch to the material swathing her arm, skittering upwards to regain her regal positioning on her shoulder. “Good. I’m bored.”
Felicty winced. Evidently her flower simply could not let the meeting end on a pleasant note, yet there seemed to be little that she could do to sew the caedos’ insolent lips shut. “It h-has been n-nice chatting t-to you..” With a small skittish bow of the head and an uneasy smile of thankfulness the northerner turned on a hobnailed heel and began walking away. Really there had been no need to be nervous – people here weren’t all that bad!
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Posted: Sun Nov 28, 2010 4:28 pm
Shati smiled and stood with Felicity, briefly considering offering her hand. She thought that might make the poor woman feel even more awkward, though, and so she busied herself brushing her hands on her apron. She managed to smile, even with that damnable flower, and gave the woman a little nod.
"It was my pleasure," was all she could offer before Felicity went running, and she watched her go. What a strange little woman that was... but not necessarily one she would avoid.
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