Welcome to Gaia! ::

Observation was key, to learn an enemies' weakness and how best to exploit it you first had to understand them. That was what Akilae had been taught and was what he was doing now. He was not supposed to fight except to defend himself, right now his goal was only to observe the Orderites and report back on their behavior. It was boring work for his first assignment off of Soudul though it was good nevertheless to be outside of the compound and on the road to advancement in the ranks.

He paused for a moment to consult the map his father had given him, there should be a small lake not to far ahead of him and beyond that a road that would lead to one of the smaller cities on Serenia. Though he could not get see the water past the thick grove of trees he was currently in Akilae could hear someone or something splashing about in it. Assured that he had not gotten lost, the hybrid boy folded his map back up and tucked it between his forearm and left bracer.

He would have to proceed carefully now, not wanting to get too close to the lake until he knew just what was enjoying it. Careful not to step on any fallen branches Akilae continued to pick his way towards where the trees were thinning out.

An upward glance to check for predatory birds and mammals that might give his presence away revealed an interesting surprise. Someone was resting in a tree just a little ahead of him. He couldn't make anything out about them from the single leg he could see though. Akilae cleared his throat softly, wanting to get the other's attention as he approached. The last thing he wanted was to be attacked for sneaking up on someone.

Still he was mindful of their possible aggression anyways and kept much of his body shielded behind tree trunks.

Akilae had watched with amusement as a small dovaa girl was revealed to be who was waiting in the tree. Her eyes indicated that she was a Peisio, dovaa were already lesser beings but Akilae had no special interest or care for those outside of the Ysali clan. If a fight occurred he, being clanless, would be disadvantaged but he would feel no gui-

Oh! It seemed she was harmless after all and that the noise from the lake was dragons and not more people. Akilae was nowhere near ready to face those dragons yet but observing them as well as the dovaa girl would be a decent use of his time. He flashed the peisio dovaa a smile and nodded " Yes, I'll be right there."

Akilae broke from cover and walked towards the tree where the strange girl resided, still not dropping his guard just in case she tried something sneaky. When it appeared that no attacks were forthcoming he bent down to pick up the quill that had floated to the ground when he'd distracted it's owner. He tucked the writing implement behind an ear and began to scale the tree. It's bark felt a little different than that from the ones on Soudul but the mechanics of climbing were the same.

In no time he was perched on a branch near the Peisio girl, arm extended out to offer her quill back to her. For now he would play nice and see just how much she accepted him and how quickly she might be lured into trusting him.

A good lie is the truth simply stretched out a little. The more things you had to make up to make a lie work, the less natural it would sound and the more likely you were to be caught. This, along with paying attention to breathing rates and body language, which he still struggled with, was something all children of the order were taught. If they were to survive in the war torn continents of Magesc then they would need to learn early how to lie well. Akilae took no particular pleasure in deceiving others but he had a purpose in life and to fulfill it would require many lies to be told over many years.


"There are plants that only grow around here that my mother wants," Akilae explained as he tucked a lock of blue hair that had slipped loose while climbing behind his ear. "I don't understand why exactly plants will only grow on certain continents. I know some plants need more sun or more water but isn't all dirt just dirt?"

Akilae would start learning this sort of thing and the properties and uses of many plants soon. His mother had determined he was not yet ready to became a Ysali dovaa but that there were practical lessons to be learned now that would help him on his path. So while he had another reason to be in the area Akilae had been asked to find and bring back bits of certain plants if he came across them.

Akilae leaned forward slightly and reached out to accept the offered handshake. Grasping Esmeralda's hand he squeezed it firmly though not hard enough to hurt. "I'm Tyrok, most people call me Ty." Tyrok was the name he was to use outside of Soudul, except with special contacts. It was a necessary form of deception and while Tyrok wasn't quite as nice as his true name it was an acceptable alias. He at least was only required to remember and use one alias and was generally allowed to be himself under it. Onyx eyes who acted as spies had to memorize several and each had it's own personality attached. Akilae respected those who followed that path, he didn't think he could pretend to be so many different people, having to regularly switch who he was based on what contact he might be around at the time.

" My mother is a herbalist, she does some healing but mostly she makes all sorts of things from the plants she grows or collects." Being a Ysali dovaa she could also use quite a bit of magic but his mother's clan choice seemed to have spawned from a true affinity for plants and they were her passion. Akilae didn't mind plants and he had a few he found attractive in his room but he doubted he would ever love them like she did.

"Why don't I bother you?" Akilae's tone was filled with genuine curiosity. Outside of the order hybrid's like himself were generally mistreated and looked down upon. Why was Esmeralda okay with him?

Ahh, so she still held the normal bias most of Magesc did but his mother's blood was enough to make him acceptable in her eyes. Akilae supposed he understood that, he had his own strong bias based on one's blood. Although he didn't have any particularly strong feelings about hybrids. The Order had no others at the moment and so he'd never had a chance to meet any given that he had rarely been permitted to leave the compound. He might favour those who had Oblivionite blood but in general Akilae felt like hybrids were their own sort of category of people that he didn't know enough about to really judge.

"I don't think studying dragons is silly, but I don't think it would stop the hunting either." Akilae fidgeted as he spoke, picking at a nail he had chipped earlier, trying to get the tip even looking again. "Dragons attack people even when we don't start the fight and they fight drakein as well who can be as smart as people. They aren't interested in sharing the continents with us. Plus, as long as their souls can be used as weapons people will hunt them for more than just self defense." There was never going to be peace with the dragons, it just wasn't possible.

"I think it's good to want to understand them better but I don't think there is a way to reason with them." Only dovaa could speak with dragons anyways and Akilae didn't think the dovaa would be asking dragons to leave their enemies alone if they could get them to negotiate.

"Hmm? Oh well I'd kind of like to be able to study music more someday." Akilae admitted, as his gaze shifted between Esmeralda and the peisio dragons that lounged in the distance. He wondered if the powerful beasts could hear them and simply didn't see their presence as as threat. No one had, to the best of his knowledge, ever figured out just what the hearing range of a dragon was. He supposed that sort of thing was something someone like Esmeralda could discover. Of course then it would just be used against the dragons which she probably wouldn't like. He'd learned that during his lessons, no matter your intentions for it someone will always use new knowledge for their own ends. His mother had confirmed such a thing, pointing out that plants once used for numbing the body during surgery were now used in interrogations to cause prisoners discomfort.


"When I'm ready I will be a Ysali like my mother." It was a choice that had been made for Akilae before he'd even been born. He didn't really mind though, he'd seen the strength of Ysali dovaa both on and off the battlefield. Besides that he had a unique role to fill and that required him to take his mother's clan. Akilae would not disappoint his family or the Order, he would follow the plans his parents had set forth for him.

Akilae had to smile at the dovaa girl's first comment. Perhaps someday when the war was won he would retire and become a famous musician. After all he would already be renowned for his role in the war, or so his father had assured him. Although Akilae had a feeling he would need to learn a new instrument to become famous. The harmonica, while portable and capable of a wide range of sounds was not exactly thought of as an inspiring instrument or the sort one held a concert with. Or at least from what Akilae knew it wasn't as respected as some other instruments.

The question about hybrids made the boy frown and shift about uncomfortably. "I don't.. I don't want to talk about it right now." He had heard rumors of how hybrids were treated and he'd gotten the odd nasty look in some cities in Souldul but he didn't have enough experience to feel comfortable lying about that sort of thing. Akilae knew he'd experienced a different life than what most hybrids reportedly did. The only thing he could really discuss was "Um but it's weird to kind of have eyes but not really." He had large mostly empty eye sockets , yet in their centers were small flares of violet light that allowed him to see the world in a different way then his oblivionite kin.