Welcome to Gaia! ::

Standing right next to Owle, it was like him towering over the small woman.

"You can ask me if you have any specific questions. It was the first time for me to be on Gaia and I noticed only after few days that people there don't know much about Azum. But I don't think my country is dangerous...more dangerous than yours."

He took in her response and for a moment it seemed as if his lips were going to curl into a smile, but nothing happend.
"Ah," was his only rection.

"Well, I wanted to see if there is anything else to eat in the common room or the kitchen. You can join me if you like to, I mean, if there are any special things you would like to know about Azum."

No matter what Owle decided to do, Kaled would walk upstairs to find himself another snack. Making sure Shankar and the others were seated, there hadn't been much left for the man.

"Just the same in Azum. There are many dangerous things, many dangerous people - but I can't believe a life there is more risk than one in the East."

He opened the door to the common room.

"When you're at the right places - or the wrong - you can die any day in Azum."

There were still five sandwhiches left, and from the kitchen the smell of the dinner Sunstrike had just prepared wafted over. Kaled offered Owle the plate and raised his brow, hearing her question.

"Not that I know of. There are many...poisonous plants. And those that are able to di...digest insects. But not one of them acts like that, like an animal...or lives at all in this meaning." He put the plate back down on the table and took a bite from a sandwhich himself.
"I think, those stories are made when someone has an accident - maybe with such a poisonous plant. And in the course of events, he could lose his hand. And later on, all facts are mixed up - and then you have your predatory flower."

"Well," he went on, swallowing the last bite and taking a second sandwhich. "Really green is only the West of Azum. Jungles and mangrove woods you have there. The East, and more also the land's middle is full of sand...hmm...deserts. Growing food at the coast goes better, but agriculture in the inland is hard to..hard to accomplish. Olives or dates like the sun and the sea, but for other products it's good to have cultivation stations in our towns under the earth.

And to come back to what you said: some parts of the West of Azum are still unknown to us. The continent is not the biggest of this planet, but bigger than Gaia. So maybe strange things could be explored during the next years. However, I bet nobody will see animal like plants.

But I have heard unusual magic traditions are...are spread over Gaia. So maybe someone there could make flowers alive."

Kaled made a hand gesture, indicating that Owle could have the last sandwhich if she was still hungry.

"If you don't mind, Miss Owle, I would like to ask a personal question."

In case she agreed, he would inquire for her ancestors, so to what race she belonged that had given her wings and claws.

With three bites Kaled finished off the last sandwhich while he was listening to her. When the term "shifter" was mentioned, his interest grew visibly.

He pulled one of the stools out from under the table and sat down. To protect the furniture against those rough states of the sea, each stool could be fastened to the table's legs with two leather straps - just as the table itslef was fixed with bolts.

"How much can you shift your shape? Are you then still looking...the same, I mean...can I still tell it is you?

Do you know if there are shifters who can...give themselves another look, that of another person?"

"I...forgive me. I stop asking further."

The man nodded lightly. Owle's hesitation had been obvious, and a mild version of an apologetical expression was to be seen on his handsome face.

"But I never thought it could be true." His eyes narrowed, as if he taking a mental note. "This is one of the tales about your land that are told in Azum.

So, you can ask me something private, for compensation."

"A--wha?!" He seemed to want to back pedal a bit and get some room before all the finger jabbing went on but he forgot he was already up against the railing of the ship.

So he ended up standing stark erect now and towering over the red head.

"No-- no dammit! I had to trade...." He held up his right arm, and along the wrist, that simply ornate bracelet could be seen, which had the potential to turn into something extraordinary. When fully awakened, the crimson orb in its centre, now contained something else... so now it could literally be called "the eye of Efreet".

"And what-- you were just having a mad tea party up by yourself while moving the earth? You could have killed millions--! Forget about me!"

I mean...well...but I am curious...are all Sirens telepaths?


Kaled frowned for a split second, not more than a twitch of his brows, actually.

"No..."

He stood up and took a large clay bottle out of its holding from a nearby shelf, as well as a glass that stood, together with several more glasses, in a wooden construction reminding of a chemist's holder for test tubes.

"Only female Sirens are able to enter a mind or soul alone. Together with their help, the men can follow - but their flexibility in those...psionic spheres, also the lhor aven, is extremely restrained. But they have a minor connection to it to. They cannot access it...not...with their own will."

Asking Owle if she wanted to have some water, too, he would fill one or two glasses.

But maybe 'telepath' is not the best word. Sirens can't jump into a person's head without any...uhm..just like that. They need their songs and their mind's power within the music as a key. And the lhor aven gives them stability. It is not needed for entering a mind, but it makes everything safer and...easier. It works as a net, that catches you when something goes wrong. And it gives the female Sirens much more mental power. I suppose Lucind has told you that the lhor aven is the most important thing for fullbloods. It also has all our knowledge in it...all memories.

When the connection to the lhor aven is really stable - and that lasts many years - then Sirens can also stay in a telepathic like contact, even when they are far away from each other.

But there is this whisper skill. The transferring of words to one recipient. It is as if only that person can hear the words in his head. I think this is the reason why Sirens are often simply called telepaths."

Putting the bottle back into the wave-safe holder, the tall man's corn rows, that is, dreadlocks swang along his back when he turned around to look at the woman.

"However...it is different with us Azumerian Sirens. We have been...we have to do without the support of the lhor aven.
But well, this is the reason for this travel, after all. To see if something can be changed."

"Well..." And at this point, Kaled's mouth, or at least one corner of it, really twisted into a faint smile.

"There isn't more to it, actually. We want to see if there is a way to give...bring back the powers of us Aishwaryan's...all Azumerian Sirens.

Like I just said, Azum can be dangerous. And the country's conflicts make it not better. But you will learn about that when we're there.

We...could need more powers."

He emptied his glass and rolled up the sleeves of his olive and brown tunic: it was open in the front, held with straps that belonged to the garment itself and a broad leather belt; a white cotton shirt with a slitted neck line peeked out from underneath.

In this moment, Larhien, Lucind's twin brother walked into the common room, obviously leaving the galley.

"Ah...no sandwhiches left? Darn it...does anybody know if we're allowed to touch the stuff cooking there?" With his thumb pointing back over his shoulder, the man showed his typical boyish grin.