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 Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2024 1:24 pm
Raja 1
She was in the process of tying up the last bit of furs that they had skinned off their haul from the hunt when she heard Harlei enter the room they'd been staying at. With them being up north there was no camping out in the woods. It was too cold for that.
"I was going to send your father out to find you." She comment without looking up. "What did you and your sister want for dinner?" While she might not be able to get the exact thing if she had ideas of what to look for then she might be able to get something for everyone when she went out.
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Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2024 1:27 pm
Harlei 1 She had made it back to the room her family was staying in as quickly as she could without out right running like her life depended on it. When she entered she heard her mother say something but didn't really register it. Instead she looked around at her sister and then her father before speaking. "Forget dinner.. there's something wrong with me!" She said breathlessly. "I don't know what happened but it's happening to everyone in town too!" She was almost yelling now. Her eyes went from parent to parent as she waited for them to give her some kind of explanation. Her hair was no longer blonde but some soft off shoot of lavender. And her skin had changed as well, though she guessed she was glad it was still peach in undertone.
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Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2024 5:53 pm
Hargitt ll 1
Hunting during a Northern winter had never been one of Hargitt's favorite adventures. It was hard enough staying warm in Sauti during the colder months, let alone Zena. Despite layering up he'd still come back to the room with a chill in his toes and the tip of his nose was raw to the touch. Still, pay was better where the work was hardest and with two extra mouths to feed it wasn't as if he could turn it down. The girls were far from helpless, though, and ended up helping more often than not on a hunt, but there were times when Hargitt preferred not having them tag along. Dreadful winters for one or anything involving shaking someone down for coin.
He was settled near the fire in a solid, wooden chair when Harlei came into the room. Much like Rajani, Hargitt didn't look up and instead focused working a kink out of the back of his neck. When had he gotten so stiff-?
As soon as Harlei started talking about something being wrong Hargitt whipped his head again, only to wince at the twinge that went down his spine. Dumb move on his part, but the sight itself was what really got him.
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Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2024 5:59 pm
Ishani ll 1
It was hard not to hear yelling from down the hall. The inn her parents had picked out was nice enough to have a bathing room on the lower floor, with separate spaces for both men and women, which gave Ishani all the time in the world to have a warm bath. There was a fee for it - wasn't that just the way of things in Zenan villages? - but it was well worth it. She'd been able to watch as runes carved into the bathing pools floor lit up, refreshing the heated water from time to time and by the spirits it felt nice. As much as she preferred being away from villages and cities there was something about this part of it that she was grateful for.
With fresh clothes on her back and her hair wrapped up in a cloth, the teenager had been strolling back to her family when the noise caught her ear. At first she wasn't sure what Harlei was so upset about, but then - Well, she came through the doorway behind her sister and if it wasn't for her voice she wouldn't have known it even was her sister.
"Woah." Ishani gawked. "What happened to you?"
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Posted: Wed Jan 24, 2024 4:51 am
Raja 2
When Harlei started to yell she began to get irritated but then the words made her pause what she was doing. Much like Hargitt she snapped her head over to look. What could be wrong with the girl? What she saw caused her to stare a bit with a blank face. Overall it looked like her daughter but yet it didn't. The colors were not what they were earlier in the day when she left.
After a moment she moved her eyes over to Hargitt. "Have any ideas?" She asked her best friend if he knew what to do about the issue. Harlei's hair could have been explained away by dye but her skin was a different story. Even body paint was easily identifiable and well, this looked like regular skin. As Ishani walked in she instantly looked at the other girl to check her for changes. Harlei had said that whatever it was was happening everywhere.
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Posted: Wed Jan 24, 2024 5:00 am
Harlei 2 She stared from one parent to the next as all they could do was look at her. A half whine left her as she began to get frustrated. A small stomp of her foot caused her to close her eyes as she turned toward Hargitt. "Daaaad." When she opened her eyes again it was to the sound of the door opening. Harlei turned to look at her sister with half tears in her eyes. "I don't know. There's some pollen or dust outside that was making me sneeze and then all of a sudden people started changing colors." She moved her right hand up to grab her hair and shake it for emphasis. "Now we don't match." Because that was the biggest issue, right?
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Posted: Wed Jan 24, 2024 7:46 am
Hargitt ll 2
The huntsman rose from his seat and made his way closer to Harlei. For a moment all he did was look at her, even going so far as to reach out and touch her shoulder just to see if it was some sort of paint. When the color didn't fade, even with a little rub, his concern deepened. "What kind of pollen does this?" And to make things more confusing, he turned to look at Ishani, critically trying to see any changes on her and finding...nothing. Why was it just Harlei?
Turning to Rajani, Hargitt asked, "Do you feel any different?" Maybe it just took effect on the young? Or maybe it just worked faster on them? But then, that still didn't explain Ishani.
Looking back at Harlei, he put a hand to the one in her hair and tried to disentangle it. "Don't; you'll hurt yourself."
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Posted: Wed Jan 24, 2024 7:50 am
Ishani ll 2"Oooh! I heard people talking about that while I was in the bath. Through the wall." There was a wooden wall that seperated the men's side from the women's and the one time they'd gone down as a family Ishani had made sure to throw rocks over it to mess with their father. "There was a man talking about his new eyes, but I just thought....well, I don't know, I thought it was some sort of lens? Like the kind the yaeli wear?"Because, well, what else could it have been? But now here they were, here Harlei was, and - Ishani's heart fell. "It's okay; we don't have to match." She reached out for her sister's other hand. "And if you really don't like it we can dye it, but I think it's pretty. Does it hurt? Your scalp doesn't burn, does it?"
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Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2024 5:51 am
Raja 3
A pollen? She had the same question as Hargitt. What kind of pollen did that? She was thinking about it when her friend turned to her and asked if she felt any different. The shifter shook her head. "Not even a little bit." But she hadn't been outside when there had been a lot of pollen. Or any that she could recall.
She moved over to Harlei as Hargitt tried to get her hand out of her hair. "The only pollen I would think would be magical would be from the Alk trees." She shrugged a bit. It was in her lineage. Raja was the last of her bloodline to show signs of Aishan descent. The spots on her forehead were the only thing that stood out. "But we aren't near one." There was little chance that the pollen from Aisha could reach clear to the mountains of Zena, right?
Rajani tilted her head a bit and tried to really consider what was going on. "Was there a mage or someone nearby possibly doing magic?" Perhaps Harlei just missed it.
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Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2024 5:57 am
Harlei 3 Knowing that she wasn't the only one who knew at least something about what was going on made her feel a tad bit better. Ishani had overheard a conversation about the changes so that meant she wasn't crazy. "It doesn't hurt it just.." She struggled with words for a second. "I liked that we matched." Her voice cracked a little. Their hair had been the same but now they had nothing similar. But as her dad tried to take her hand from her hair she turned to look up at him still with tears in her eyes. It seemed that the only things that hadn't changed on her were her shifter qualities. Her eyes remained the same as did her crystals but anything from her wind lineage had taken on a different hue. With her mother getting close she looked toward her but didn't seem like she was thrilled with her explanation or the question. She shook her head at her. "No.. no magic user."
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Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2024 4:11 pm
Ishani ll 3
"If it's Aishan related, then how come it was only your traits from dad that changed?" She hadn't been able to pick up why there was so much pollen, but Aishan involvement would have made sense if Rajani herself had changed. Diluted or not shouldn't her Alkidike heritage play a part in it? "Or do you think because her blood is thicker she's immune and we were the ones at risk?"
Either way, her sister was upset and Ishani couldn't do a thing about it. "Tomorrow I'll ask around the village and see if anyone knows anything. Maybe they've been able to talk to some travelers who know." She offered an empathetic smile.
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Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2024 4:23 pm
Hargitt ll 3An Alk tree? "Has this happened before?" Before Rajani Hargitt had never even seen an Aishan and that was simply because he spent so much time in the wilderness. What villages he frequented had a few travelers, but they were mostly of the Zenan and Talean variety. When he looked back down to Harlei and saw the tears in his eyes Hargitt gave a sigh. Wordlessly he brought his not so little girl close to his chest and gave her a hug. "We can dye your hair and you'll match again, but-" He tried to catch her eye. "-it won't be forever."It may help to take some of the sting off the initial shift, but at some point her hair would grow out .
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Posted: Wed Jan 31, 2024 4:12 am
Raja 4
Ishani had a point. Why had it only been the wind traits that had changed. Hargitt had no hidden lineage. He had a half sister that was mixed but beyond that.. She watched as he pulled Harlei into a hug. She wasn't so sure it had anything to do with Alk blood so much as the strange pollen. They were in Zena, any amount of pollen would be odd, but enough to pollute the air was definitely not normal.
"Hasn't happened that I'm aware of." The shifter thought about it for a moment before she turned toward her coat. "I can go find that other Alk hybrid we saw the other day and ask." Rajani might not be the most affectionate mother but she didn't like when the girls were upset.
"I can pick up some dye while I'm out." And dinner. That had been her original reason for wanting to ask Harlei questions anyways.
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Posted: Wed Jan 31, 2024 4:26 am
Harlei 4 She did wonder why it had been her wind traits that had changed and not the shifter ones as well. Not that she wanted everything to change it was just odd. Harlei let herself be pulled into a hug, leaning against her dad as she looked toward her sister. "Maybe moms weird blood kept everything else from changing? You take after her more." Could that be what it was? The mention of dye had her thinking. She wasn't exactly thrilled with the odd color of her hair now so that might be best. She nodded her head. While she would know her hair was different she wouldn't have to look at it. "You think the Alks will know what happened?" Was that why their mother was gonna go talk to a hybrid? "Is it some weird ritual? Can they turn it back?"
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Posted: Wed Jan 31, 2024 11:07 am
Hargitt ll 4
"Hang on-" Hargitt motioned to his travel bags, "-Take as much coin as you need. Make it a good one." There were times when the Sauti native's more budget savvy side showed through, but this wasn't one of them. A simple root stew wouldn't cut it for something like this; not that he thought Rajani would go for something that light. Still, he didn't like the idea of her paying for it all herself.
"Ishani." Turning to his thus far unaffected daughter, he added, "Go down to the inn keeper and ask for tea." If the girls were older he may have brought out some warm mead, but that was a drink for another time. With that much settled he nudged Harlei over to the fire where he'd been sitting earlier. "I don't know if they'll have anymore information than what we do, but it won't hurt to ask. For now, sit and breathe."
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