Location: The Forged Concordance, Western Grove Reaches
Time: 6:26 AM
Date: Maphima 6th, Lathis
Weather: Lightly Cloudy, Balmy Temperatures
#Reflections by the River Mouth
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-# pllk... pthk... plllk.. plnk... plnk...
plop!
Shaped stones skip along the lightly stirred surface of the calm lakefront as the crack of dawn settles in on the view seated high above the tree line. Muddled hues of the morning sky bleeding right into the wake that was left behind, soon after they sink past and snake into the bed undisturbed below. They come together in periodic sprints, traversing through paths of narrow lines and long curves. Some attempts even looping back around to hit the shore, and strangely enough... working in reverse long after the stone had sunk. None of them at all reaching the other side of the lake.
These idle tosses stem solely from the rabbit seated not too far from the edge of the rock bed, parked up on a log and an elbow pressed into her knee. Coming after a morning walk, she came here dressed in nothing more than some cargo shorts, a cropped, tough-line jacket, and a simple black top layered underneath, as well as some boots that dig nicely into the ground beneath her. A crafted belt bag hangs around the edge of her waist below, passing through a small set of keychains and carabiner hooks that dangle from their loops. No efforts were made, however, to conceal the growths of bark that crept up along her arms. Same with the wings that lay dormant behind her back.
Another stone floats over to her direction from below the lake, beckoned by the light twist of her hand. A shake of her wrist and the morsel of hardened earth suddenly flattens out, sparking with volatile energy as it rotates in place. Orbiting around her palm before being flung out into the waters once more. The same is done every now and again, with only minor changes made in the spaces between skips, or the trajectory of her throw as it ran across the surface.
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Repeated motions always kept crawling back to her in these aimless moments. They kept her composed. They gave her mind focus. They... gave her back the thought that she had control over her own outcomes. But more often than not, it was just something for her to keep herself busy with. Something to entertain her restless body so that her head can freely wander...
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"Sigh...."
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There was... more for her to ponder and parse through than she had initially hoped for that day... as it turned out...
|| @calm bridge 🎣 ||
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*Repeated motions always kept crawling back to her in these aimless moments....
The triton's regular trips to and from Daaloon was always interspersed with a visit to what she technically considered her alma mater, in some ways. While never formally educated, she assumed it was much the same as college without as much daily threat of dying. But today, Basha seemed swamped with whatever godsawful world event plagued the members of the Concordance, and so Ayalaryn opted to tour her old haunts to kill time until the guild mistress deigned to afford the alchemist some time, especially since she'd let her misdirected mail and parcels accrue for so long.
And put frankly, the incessant questioning from the modrons were getting on her nerves.
The grove had always been a sanctuary for the darker times in her life, so she went through the familiar winding pathways; Kaspar's old garden that was now overgrown since it wasn't as tended to, the clearing where she had practiced her newfound powers through her previous pact, the dent where her old gargantuan narwhal plushie once stood steadfast, and Aya even made sure to swing by and maintain her old makeshift memorial for Sophus. She loosens the collar on her purple coat as she finishes cleaning up the grave marker, the familiar tinkle of glass vials, flasks and syrettes upon her bandolier as she traipses further within the grove. Aya was never comfortable without her gear on unless she was on her ship these days.
Eventually her feet take her towards the comforting sussurus of the nearby waters, before the soft plop-plop sounds indicated something, perhaps someone else was nearby. Not wanting to disturb the person, first and foremost, and slightly on guard since she knew despite being still considered guild grounds, a lot of people had been kidnapped from here (to her very vivid recollection), she softens her steps to a slow pace, but still audible to anyone keeping a wary ear out.
"Hello?"
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*The triton's regular trips to and from Daaloon was always interspersed with a v...
Her ears are quick to react to the sudden disturbance in the air, a perturbed expression coming forth from the haunting rustle of leaves, driving into her mind a primordial response. Immediately, she rushed to retrieve the stone floating over her way, stumbling over herself as she stood up and rocked over a few pebbles in the process. Juggling after the slippery rock until she manages to pocket it with a swift catch.
With her arm outstretched and her body balanced over an awkward pose, she hastily shifts her sights back over to the forest edge to pin down where those chimes of glass came from, only to have a voice, beckoning out for her presence, being thrown at her way. Revealing her position from deep within the surrounding brush. She immediately steps back in fright after taking in a short glimpse of the mask obscuring the face of her would-be encounter, adding onto the great deal of alarm caused by the sheer amount of armaments present on their person. Though she may have everything inside her pouch still, compared to them, she feels woefully underdressed and unprepared...
Gulping down the lump in her throat, she straightens up her posture and makes herself look more presentable towards the stranger approaching the lakefront, keeping the stone nestled under her thumb as her hands slowly rise up to same height of her head. Her sunken ears and brow do nothing to hide her growing unrest, but... with a hand held to her will... she persists on regardless with her response...
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"H-... Hello? Who's out there?"
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*Her ears are quick to react to the sudden disturbance in the air, a perturbed e...
"Oh, hey. No need for alarm, I was just taking a stroll."
Aya was initially shocked by the sight of the long rabbit ears, almost immediately recalling the incident some two years back with Cadbury, easing her own stance, not wanting to cause another. Her eyes dart, making a quick study of her person, and clocks that the harengon is wielding something in her hand, but taking in the awkward pose she's found her in, and how underdressed she would be for anything threatening, and now her determined expression she levels at her, Aya realises she's still wearing the damn mask. It probably didn't help the tense situation any, so she opted to try to look less intimidating.
Slowly, the triton shows her free and empty hand to remove the cover, "Just taking this off. Sorry to disturb... I was a member of the Concordance, and this used to be a place I, ah, visited often so..."
Aya hoped that with revealing her face to the stranger, and overall inoffensive countenance, she might put the harengon at ease. To add to it all she gives a friendly smile and wave with her free hand, as an afterthought.
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"She's being sorry for... disturbing me?", she sounded off in her own head as her face wrinkled in confusion. If anything else... there wasn't really much of anything for her to disturb... or at least, nothing worth being left undisrupted. She considers her intent for a few moments more, shifting her jaw around in thought before being directed over to the face hidden beneath the mask. The gleeful grin throws her right off as her brows roll back in gentle surprise, prompting her to follow her wave with one of her own, though... it doesn't quite share the same heart and enthusiasm she had to greet someone like her back...
"Right..." She mutters after herself, lowering her hands right back into her pockets as she rests her weight on one hip and stares downward in coarse befuddlement.
"I'm, uh... Apologies for assuming otherwise... I don't often get to see a lot of byroad encounters at this hour out here... and the ones I do get don't usually come... this heavily armed..." A painfully nervous laugh fights its way out of her as the bandolier becomes ever more so visible under her discerning eye. "Of course... that's just the kind of place this is after all... how could I forget?", she thought to herself in detest, though... notably choosing to withhold her on the matter. The contents of the vials would need some more thorough inspection from her, but the intention was clear to her right away that, for whatever purpose they served, they were meant to be used at any moment's notice. Including this one.
She was brought back here on the road to memory's lane... It'd be best not to get in the way of that and to keep that rabble to herself for now...
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"Oh, hey. No need for alarm, I was just taking a stroll."
*Aya was initially ...
"I was just, uh... out here collecting some thoughts... rolling out some rocks into the water... You weren't really interrupting much honestly... though... I hope I wasn't doing too much to disturb this side of the lakeshore for you in return. The last time I rattled the waters over someone else's place, a whole ghost ship sprung forth from beneath the surface and washed me back into the pointy gravels..." She huffles out a more sincere sounding laugh, even if it was done at her own expense, being very vocal with her hands as she describes the ship in question.
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"I was just, uh... out here collecting some thoughts... rolling out some rocks i...
She waves an assuaging hand at the anxious harengon, "No need to apologise. It's probably for the best that you're on your guard around here. It's not exactly the safest of places. The Concordance has a lot of enemies, and you can safely assume there's one or two lurking for an opening. But I'd guess," Aya gestures over her shoulder with a jerk of her thumb in the general direction of the mines, "That the flavour of enemies this month is modrons? Hard to imagine those little guys capable of kidnapping."
The triton does her best to be fairly convivial in her conversation with the stranger, admittedly curious herself as to why someone was so casually dressed this far away from the guild's protections. This place may have been her sanctuary at some point, but after all the reports of kidnappings, she made sure someone always knew where she was. Still, she spots the harengon's eyes dart to her bandoliers, and she apologises again for some perceived slight.
"Ah, you're free to do as you wish, so there's no fault at all. I don't think you'll be disturbing any ghost ships in this lake of all places, though. Maybe a ghost-canoe?" Aya chuckles, "Oh, guess I haven't introduced myself, huh? I'm Ayalaryn Galgoxath, but most people in Daaloon just know me as Aya." Technically, her crew at the Providence knew her as Captain, but she wasn't about to assert an unnecessary title to a stranger. As she says her name, she takes off her hat, letting the natural light illuminate her features, turquoise eyes glimmering back at the harengon, and the gentle curve of her smile framed by the dark green waves of her hair. Her fins flare wide on either side of her head, the bright yellow membrane taut as she stretches them out from being freed from the confines of her headwear.
A far cry from the shaggy bobbed thing that cowered her way to the entrance of the mines many years ago.
"Pleased to meet your acquaintance, Miss, uh..." She tilts her inquisitively head at her, querying her new acquaintance's name.
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"They all just sorta started spawning in here a month or so ago. Some faulty gating separated them from their big march, or so I've been told at least... They just kinda hang idly by and fill up the halls to the most I've seen so far, at worst being a minor inconvenience to some. Getting stuck in shelves, falling into the serving pots... One particular mod' keeps hanging out inside the fire pit and hurting themselves... needed to be dealt with constantly the thing. Almost makes me want to put up a sign or two just 'cause..." She expresses a clear sense of dissatisfaction over the whole ordeal as she spoke. Never mind all the relief efforts that she herself partook regardless in over last few weeks to remedy such fallout and mass displacement for both sides. No... not a lot of worth bringing that up just yet to her...
"And yeah... That's just the nature of a place like this... for both its detractors and its buyers... I ain't a fool to disregard such dangers so easily from those lurking about... and I ain't gonna take what they have to throw at me sitting stupid either if you can catch what I'm laying down..." She shifts over to a more confident stance with her hip set in front of her, flashing the triton a quick grin that bared enough of her grit for the whole world to see. Speaking to her clearly that she intends to do business one way or another...
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*She waves an assuaging hand at the anxious harengon,* "No need to apologise. I...
She finds herself slightly mesmerized by the unfurling bouquet of fins and frills the moment after, stunned at how much color was able to be hidden away underneath the shaded brim of her hat. So much so that she wasn't able to anticipate the fast ball coming her way with that name being revealed right before her very ears. The gears just only beginning to turn in her head as she chewed into one cheek thinking...
"Ayalaryn, huh... Aya... that name rings familiar to me... somehow... Oh! My partner mentioned about meeting you a long while ago! You were apparently a big-shot alchemist from way back when back there in the guild." She exclaimed with her arms stretched out towards her, the synapses finally firing right in her head. "I, uh... wasn't expecting to meet you here now of all places... gosh, I... huh..." She digs her boot into the stones below, scattering a few grains of gravel as she does no such thing to hide her surprise, fluster, and overall amusement in this moment, having such unlikely visitor to appear in front of her just like that unprompted.
"Right... yeah... that, uh... huh... Most, uh... Most just call me Roe around these parts... but for you, ma'am? You can... y-you can also just call me Roe... I don't know where the fuck I was going with that one, I'm sorry..." She immediately folds over to one side as she runs her hand along the back of her head, refusing to make any and all eye-contact out of the sheer amount of embarrassment she now has to subject the both of them through...
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Truly an outstanding play from one of the guild's greatest minds...
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*She finds herself slightly mesmerized by the unfurling bouquet of fins and fril...
Aya laughs a little at the awkward introduction, her hand once more attempting to dismiss any embarrassment from the exchange, "It's alright. Don't be. I'm still not used to people considering me any kind of big name around here. Out there, I'm just the captain of a trade and ferry ship- who maybe sometimes gets recognised but that's few and far between. Depths below, Mizzium still ruffles my hair, Leon and I call each other idiots on the daily."
The triton combs a bewildered hand through her hair, being remembered in that kind of light, "Big-shot, huh? Funny, all I remember of my time was the skepticism and the tribulations that all brought. Had to fight to prove myself worthy on every mission I was asked on. I suppose overcoming all that is a feat in and of itself.". She gazes wistfully past the harengon, and, in spite of the harsh recollection, smiles to herself. Salt and glass were inconsequential compared to the elements, the eldritch and the divinity, but when all those failed, Aya was always the one who pulled everyone through.
She casually paces forward, approaching the lakeshore, glancing at the waters glimmering in the dawning hour, before turning to Roe once more, "But still, pleased to meet you, Roe. Who's your partner? I may yet remember them. Granted, it's been a while, and I do my best with names and faces, but, well, captain of a mercantile ship. People come and go quite often in my new line of work," Aya adds sheepishly.
Towards the end of her career, a few new faces came and left, but it was well after she'd resolved more of her internal turmoil over the chapter with Leafton. The days came easier and quicker after her brief sabbatical, leaving the Concordance, but she wondered if this mutual acquaintance was someone who knew her for her darker days, or from the lighter ones that came after.
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"I suppose the word just slipped out of my mouth before any thought, didn't it...?" She gestured a hand out, completely caught in her own fumble. "Saying that you had a storied history here would be more accurate to the truth then if that were the case. It's just that... people of our profession don't usually find much success in a field of work like this... or at least, that's how it was in my time. Hearing about the lengths you took to carve out your own success and survival... It was, well... a remarkable thing to hear about at the time when I... first started out here..." Her expression softens, a muted smile peering from her lips as she sat back into her pockets.
Right off the bat, it was strange to see so many similarities between their own collective tenures here at the guild. It was almost as if she was staring down a branching path that paralleled her own. An idealized version of it, if she could even dare to call it that. Such thoughts were immediately shut down in her own head. It is not worth idolizing the legend when they stand there before you now as a person. If anything... hearing her hint at a more grounded look at her life gave her a small, but much needed shift in perspective that she had all but forgotten about since the start of this encounter. That despite everything... her efforts were not for naught... and nor were they built upon nothing worth any substance... that she should look into that herself too...
Maybe... being on the backfoot is just a universal experience for all alchemists... A hilarious thought to be sure if true...
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*Aya laughs a little at the awkward introduction, her hand once more attempting ...
"Granted, I... only know you from what records you thought were worth leaving behind here at the guild. I don't know the full extent of what this place had to put you through, or how you are normally working outside of that... I doubt that you'd be all be all that concerned with what I had to say earlier too, looking at the way you carry yourself now. From what I heard from my partner, you didn't mention much about your work either... He did say to me that you knew how to cook up a mean cod though. I don't know about you... but something about that just tells me you'd be someone worth looking out for in the end..." A rather disarming laugh escapes from her chest as her words phase through and out from her sentence, leaving her quite sated and smiling all throughout.
"Sorry... I don't mean to come off as an obsessive fan... I just... I'm finding myself being a little more chattier than usual... My partner... He, uh... He's quite the big man. Handsome build, cute face, bit of a large mane. The sweetest gnoll you've ever seen in this side of the continent... You and he were at the campfire when you first met, talking about dinosaurs and having food together... His name was Akx if you couldn't recall..." She states, looking over with a more neutral expression after running through a range of warmths trying to describe him to her.
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"Granted, I... only know you from what records you thought were worth leaving be...
The triton shifts her weight to lean casually on one leg, as she listens with rapt interest at Roe. The entire time she'd been at the guild, she never would have thought leaving behind a legacy to look up to. There was truth to what the harengon admitted, tinkerers such as she, alchemists even, rarely found fulfilment at a guild that was built around the idea of 'survive or die,' something she took to such a personal affront that her entire career was almost built entirely out of spite.
But still, whatever Roe gleaned from her piecemeal journal entries, copied for the sake of the curmudgeonly sand dwarf's records, if it helped her through her own imaginably extended list of tribulations, well, somehow Aya was still fulfilling her raison d'être despite being leagues away from her old home's shores.
"No, it doesn't come off obsessive. Like you said, we alchemists are a rare find at the Concordance, so it makes sense you found me and imbibed every bit of fact about my time here to aid in your own journey. I'd imagine if there were more, you'd pay them all equal attention," Aya assuages her worries, "I guess looking back, in an 'outside looking in' kind of way, I really did achieve some feats here. If they were any kind of help, inspiration, or even solace for you, then that reassures me I made the right choices, in the end."
And what choices they were. She wonders if Roe managed to dig deep enough to find out the SEC, or even when she and Vooni stole the Bagman's heart from Marner. Most of all, her heart aches at the thoughts of all the lives lost that she might now be the only member on the grounds who remembers their names or faces. Before she slips further into her reverie, paying attention to the harengon's description of her partner, she realises now she must have meant in a romantic sense, pinging onto her loving descriptions of the gnoll in question. It's then it does finally click for the triton as to who she refers to.
"Oh! Axe, right? Yeah, no, I remember. Came from the uh, Katanack-clan? Likes onions with his fish - I think, if I recall correctly." The details are fuzzy, but she remembers the conversations as if through frosted glass. She could agree with Roe he had a bit of a sweet face, which made it jarring when Aya first met him, considering her only experience with gnolls was in less than amicable circumstances. But it was refreshing to return to the guild after her break and make new friends again. She missed that feeling.
"How's he doing these days? Eating well, enjoying new hunts and all that?"
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"I wasn't expecting to be handed over a guide or anything like that looking in... but... seeing that you were able to bring the fruits of your labor to places no one would ever dare to imagine... It gave me a direction to what I needed to be in order to make it out of this place early on..." She spoke at it with a grim look on her face, knowing fully well that it wasn't the healthiest of expectations to be placing upon herself at the start. That... if she couldn't learn to make something worthwhile of herself in time... she might as well be dead in the water behind everyone else...
"The Kadtanach-Feasters you mean?" She smirks in response, speaking that first half of Gnoll remarkably well. "He does, but... as I've come to know him longer... there's a lot more he likes to have with his fish than just onions. Usually another plating or two..." She jokes around with her for a second, hinting at the kind of appetite she works to appease on the daily.
The look of joy present on her face doesn't that last much longer, however, as she slows down to think about what she must part with that first half of her query. Weakness and remorse come to fill her vacant eyes at first, before they too come to pass as she summons out a margin of her own resolve. Persisting through with a few nods directed to her way.
"The last few weeks have been rather rough for him... but... he's doing fine now for the most part. He should be sleeping in still at this hour back at my place. Yesterday's assignment took a lot more out of us than we had hoped bargain... I do my best to keep his company entertained in times like these. Well fed and rested in this case, but... I needed to take the time off for myself too..." She sighed out, looking quite somber as she wander her way back towards the log she sat on before.
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*The triton shifts her weight to lean casually on one leg, as she listens with r...
"He does his hunts from time to time. Nothing much new in regards to what dinosaurs he finds out there. The meat he gets from them is something he doesn't want to return to being without for long, so we often have to travel back to Acrelund just so that doesn't. It'd normally take the better part of the month to get there by shore, but... if you have the right means of travel, things begin to become much more sustainable. Even then... the amount of meat you can harvest from those things can last you a long while... just gotta know how to store it the right way first..."
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"I wasn't expecting to be handed over a guide or anything like that looking in.....
It suddenly falls into place for Aya when Roe mentions the rough last few weeks and the assignment, how the triton had found the harengon on her lonesome out here. How often had she taken shelter under the grove's canopies (and for a while, her gargantuan plushie) to recover after a grueling few days, even weeks on a mission? Aya would stare at her campfire, churning over the events in her mind, what could have gone better, what might have been worse, focusing on the latter and spiralling down and the self-sabotage that followed. Heizen was her erstwhile partner in the grove before they split. Sometimes Leon was there to cheer her up. Enn, too, was frequent company to her maudlin nights before he was taken away from them. But at the end of the day, Aya was alone with her worst enemy, herself.
But Roe goes on to explain how her partner, Ax, had been. She hoped that the guild hadn't done its worst and turned the kind, thoughtful gnoll into yet another monster of avarice and pride, but from the good-natured description of the harengon, it seemed he had someone by his side through the dark times, at least, and so did Roe. Aya smiles in relief at that.
"There is a saying, that to help others you must first help yourself. It's--" She tilts her head to the side pensively, "It's not the best advice, I find, but in times of crises, it's sound wisdom. It's good to take care of yourself. I imagine Axe cares about you deeply, and if you were throwing your health away to sustain his, it would be more detrimental in the long run."
Aya knows all too well that being alone with her thoughts led to decisions she came to regret much later, and it was only when her patron's voice joined the cacophony of thoughts in her head did she become more singularly focused. After he was gone, it was only with company she could stave off the miasma of depression that swiftly blanketed her from thereon, in her abject loneliness.
The triton glances around, searching for even ground in the immediate vicinity before walking over to a rocky outcropping, just clear enough to sit at, before glancing over to the harengon and pointing at the area, "D'you wanna sit and chat some? I'm incredibly curious as to what's been going on for you. What happened yesterday, if you don't mind my asking?"
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"For a while, I didn't know what that truly meant. A violent reaction usually stirred within me whenever I had to sit through that kind of lecturin'. I didn't see how that could possibly help anyone. "How can I stand to sit idly by and put myself first when there's much more I can do for others aside from myself?" is... some of the stuff I'd usually say in protest... I later came around to settle within myself why that is. The conclusion that I ended up coming up with is... if your head isn't at all in the right place, how can you expect to do the best that you can for them in the first place... y'know? You gotta... know when to hit brakes for yourself sometimes..." She rolls her shoulders around to shrug in such a roundabout way, lazily swaying around as she waits for the words sit before proceeding with the next part of her piece. A much more somber look this time on her face as she beings to impart.
"There's uh... There's a lot of times I made Akx rather upset over my own reckless behaviors in the past. He cares about me a lot, and it worries him to no end if I ever so much as stay in the lab without having a proper meal for too long... or choose to over-exert myself in a mission alongside him, even if I know that I can fully well handle it... even if it is to put his own needs over mine... I didn't recognize it at first. I don't know why it took so long for me to accept that from him. I... I was just too stubborn, you see... even now... He also doesn't like it when I put myself down..." She kicks at small pile of gravel by her feet as she admits that to herself out loud, drawing in a large quart of air before continuing.
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"To me... Akx is someone worth the struggle to do anything for. I value him that much in my life to say that... but I had to realize on my own that... I, too, had to set some value aside for myself. That... there should be room for me to say that he's worth taking care of myself for... that I am someone worth taking care of myself for. It's just that... I'm so used to readily discarding myself for other people... so used to being stuck on my own path... it has taken me this long to catch up and do anything about it for myself... Hearing him say how much it hurt him to watch... hearing that from someone for the first time in a long while.... It shook something right out of me. Told me then and there that something needed to be done... That I needed to do better for myself... and it still shows..." She breezes through an array of vulnerable emotions as her voice vastly deepens in tone, prompting her to collect herself by crossing her arms over as she stood uncomfortable for a while. The memory of their fight still freshly understood in her mind.
"Sorry... I made a bit of a mess of myself there earlier..." She musters up the will to smile once more, wiping away some of the sea spray that had pooled up in her eyes. "I'd be happy to talk it over with you if it means I get to have you for the next hour or so... Been rather curious to know why such an esteemed captain as yourself is beached so far away from their own ship... Not a lot of sailors this far deep in the mainland..." A lively laugh is drawn out from within her, filled with warmth and a playfulness eager to be shared. Knowing that she'll have to mention the shipwrecked couple at some point adds to that.
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*It suddenly falls into place for Aya when Roe mentions the rough last few weeks...
With a sigh, she began to haul her lonely ass back towards where she spotted the triton, crunching down on the small bed of gravel with every step of her boots. Once arriving there, she carefully lowered herself down to her level before managing to sit herself in place, feeling the faintest twinge of pain as one of the stones dig up against her shorts.
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-# "Khhhth... Should've just rolled the log here, now that I think about it... yow..."
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"For a while, I didn't know what that truly meant. A violent reaction usually st...
"I'm glad in spite of everything you've both experienced at the Concordance, Akx still remained as kind as he was when I first met him," Aya responds after Roe retells her internal turmoil, helpfully put at ease by her partner. "Something about the life you lead here, regardless of the missions you pick up, can turn you down some pretty dark avenues. I was much the same as you, wanting to put everyone else first, whatever the cost to myself was never too high. What was it?" The triton leans back in her seat, trying to recall that old mantra that numbed her through the worst of the pain. She'd convince herself it was for her betterment, it was for others, for the world and the greater good - it was everything but her own needs.
"'Alchemist first, Aya last.' Haven't said those words in quite some time. Last time I said that, I was staring down the destruction of my very soul for the sake of being 'strong enough to help my friends.' Tsh." Aya scoffs, shaking her head at her old mentality. "That only lead to all said friends leaving me, in the end. It really only took someone I met well after they left who sacrificed world-altering magic to make me see I was worth it, that I had more value than just my use to the people around me." The sending stone is still tucked away in the exact same pouch on her bandolier after all these years. Twenty-five words she still struggles with, but she knows he's always on the other end, happy to respond whenever he can. Thanks, Mizz. She thinks to herself.
"Sometimes it just takes that one person to make sure you see that value in yourself, and for you to appreciate it. The rest is up to you to put the hard work needed to maintain it. But, ah, we're just agreeing with each other at length here," She waves her hand in embarassment. "No need to apologise about being a mess - we all are. Some are just more conventionally acceptable about it." The triton chuckles.
When the harengon directs her question about her being on land, Aya winces sheepishly, "I may have forgotten to put forwarding addresses when I moved out of the guild. I subscribed to a few local apothecaries to help supplement my stock for alchemy. I thought I cancelled most of them, if not given new contact details, but, uh, the parcels have been accumulating slowly in Basha's storage, apparently. I got a pretty angry letter from her to come pick them up as soon as I can, and, well, here I am." Aya spreads her hands out on either side of her, wiggling them in presentation.
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"The things they pay us to put up with and put through... I don't know how can anyone have any room for kindness left after that, let alone any hope for something greater. Shame that... nothing else better can be done with what we have in operation right now... Nothing about that will likely change any time soon... no doubt about that..." She hides no shame in dragging the guild through the mud with that statement, harboring a bitterness that can only be found through retching out swallowed epsom. A deflection. A mild distraction from being so well read out on the head, denying the fact of her continued involvement despite it all...
"But as long as no one else can do the things that we do in our stead... here we must stay to do them..." A clause that she has absolutely no faith in, as denoted by the awkward-sounding laugh that came in coughing out of her.
"I don't know about you... but I think you deserve to come in second place at least when... prioritizing those in front of you... Putting yourself last in a race is a tad bit too harsh, you don't think?" A much more genuine chuckle surfaces at the hand of her quip, eyes frosting over with shared sentiments. "Akx and I have been that sorta person to each other for a while now. More times than I could ever count... A couple standout moments that I could on one hand, but you... you get the picture..."
spark lintel
"I'm glad in spite of everything you've both experienced at the Concordance, Akx...
"Aside from him... there are other people that I'm glad to have been given an ear to. My friend Edmunds tells me constantly that my skill in artifice is something to be proud of, and that I should always try to see the good in it, even if most of the time it seems that I am unable to. Jessie is uh... Jess made me realize things that I would have never thought to consider about myself before... make me remember things that I have forgotten about... And Renni... Ren... she might as well be my second brain at this point with how persistent she is to keep me on the right path..." Her smiles beams wide at the sound of their names being read out, faltering for a moment as she stares back at Ayalaryn, thinking back at all the trouble she must've given them as well. She wonders if she feels the same way she does in regards to her own companions and friends. Always around the next corner, but... somehow further than two oceans apart...
"Ach! That sounds like a rather unfortunate mess to send out into the world... The teleportation hub would be able to send that back to your ship directly if you have the necessary stonemarkers with you... If you want... after collecting them all, I could go and send them back to you myself?" She excitedly tosses the offer around as her hands spin about in gesticulation, always roaring to get down to the bottom one problem after another.
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"Aside from him... there are other people that I'm glad to have been given an ea...
"No, I agree with you about where I should place myself - now at least. I haven't put myself last in a long time," She shrugs gently, her arms propping her up as she leant back to study the sky, "The thing is, I spent most of my early career latching onto others, and constantly comparing myself to them. Peers, friends, even lovers, I perpetually felt inferior to. So, I never saw it as a race. I saw it as a world other people deserved to be in more, more than myself. But the world is larger than the guild, and it always has been. Took me a while but I eventually learned that even I deserved to be here as much as the next person."
As Roe lists the friends she's made, strengthening the harengon's resolve to go through whatever tribulations the guild lay at their feet, Aya smiles approvingly, "Keep those friends close, for as long as you can. Don't be afraid to lean on them when you can. Leon, despite leaving for an easier path, did his best to support me during his time here. I can't imagine how terrifying it was for him to know his closest friend was going to be obliterated. But for the young man that he was, he was there for this old tired soul, especially when I lashed out at him so often trying to deal with my turmoil."
They were ugly memories, but important ones. Restless nights of self-imposed isolation in the sparring cabin, her morose self-flagellation constantly interrupted by the paladin, checking in on her, making sure she was okay. She never was, and she hated he wouldn't leave her alone long enough to die. Aya lashed out, said unkind words, anything to push Leon away to prove the voices in her head right. Well, all but one of them at least. "Trust that they do so out of genuine care, and just repay them in kind down the line, when you can."
"Oh, you don't need to, not on my behalf. Besides, it gives me a reason to take shore leave in Daaloon," Aya grins at that. "It's good to remember where you came from, and what better way than to visit this old place? But tell you what, I'd need an extra hand hoisting them to the circle so I can get them on the first cart to the Providence in Jastrow. I'd love the company on my way out, at least."
spark lintel
"Personally, I don't think I deserve to be lauded for what I did to retain my place here at the guild... but that's a thought I won't bother you with right now..." She climbs back to the same dismissive attitude from before, tossing her hand aside to emphasize the lack of place that statement has right now. "It's hard not to feel compelled to compare when you're forced to face with so much powerful talent on the daily... It's harder still to forgo any attachment when all you had so far was yourself and... everything else before you that you've lost... It is such a disorientating... dissonant experience to go through... especially if those feelings get in the way of someone you know you want to stick by, and you end up directing that all to them..." Her lips pull back for a moment, guilt clear as day being expressed through her words as it almost becomes frighteningly accurate how she is able to draw parallels between the both of their lives, even if unintentional on her part. How was she going to break it to her that the habit hasn't shaken off her quite yet? Especially now as she runs through her anecdotes and praises...
_ _
"I, uh... I intend to do a little round of visits myself once activity dies down again. I don't make enough of an effort to reach out these days. I've never been the best when it came to that aspect of maintaining friends... They always say that I forget what I don't see right in front of me. The thought always just... slipped my mind too often between all the things that have been tossed my way. It's been the first time in a long while since I had think about more than person to keep up with. It was easier when they were all still in one place, but..." Her head slumps to the side against her shoulder, following the move to recline her weight back as she smiles daintily to the wind.
"If all you're needin' out of me is a moving partner... I'd be more than happy to oblige you with your request. I got enough tools and grit to help with the job... and uh... Been meaning to get more familiar with carrying crates around..." She speaks with a more noticeable drawl to her voice at the end, before it all vanishes under a wave of giggles as her attempt to seem tougher gets ridiculed in her own self-awareness.
spark lintel
"No, I agree with you about where I should place myself - *now* at least. I hav...
"I suppose I should be getting to what you stayed here for... Where do even I begin with this... gosh... I guess it all started when we woke up one morning where we weren't supposed to. Back there inside the guild barracks to be exact. We usually camp inside the forest in our own little wagon home that we crafted together ourselves, and we don't sleep any place else aside from missions where we need to stay for the night somewhere else before heading out. It's why it's all the more stranger that we couldn't recall for any reason why we had to sleep in the guild for that night. Stranger still was all the rubbish that was scattered around. Half-eaten boxes of chocolates, emptied liquor bottles... Akx doesn't drink, and I've been trying to stay clean for the most part. I don't even know what to make of what I think is being hinted at. He was just as confused as I am when we got to the bottom of it alll... Bad enough that I had to wake out of a nasty nightmare to this. I was... choked around in red chains and... iron spikes... horrible..."
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"I suppose I should be getting to what you stayed here for... Where do even I be...
The triton listens attentively, furrowing her brows at the mild self-deprecation that litters even the harengon's casual conversation. Aya remembers how natural that once was to her, as was breathing both air and water. It was easier to think that she was and would always be lesser than her peers, even if she had crawled through the same thorny pathways to power, even if she had worn the same metal badge that their guildmistress awarded their efforts. Heizen would always prefer better. Leon and Enn always deserved better. Mizzium had always seen better.
"Listen, we can deal with my little administrative mess-ups later. Besides," She tilts her head to the side, "I'm still waiting on Basha to be free from her wrangling all the modron issues to sign off on all the paperwork, so I imagine it will be a while yet. For now, though, I hate to think I'd be leaving you in such a state, and I don't mean your memory lapse with your partner." The senior alchemist quirks a small smile at that.
"That we are constantly surrounded by men, women, folk who can summon a storm with a flick of a wrist, enchant a crowd with a whisper, and still be on the same echelon as they - and we are," Aya emphasises pointedly, a firm glance at Roe to quell the same burgeoning doubt she knew the Aya-of-old would have, "But have to work twice as hard to be here, to, as you say, retain our place, that is all the more reason to be lauded, to be proud. And wouldn't your partner want, even prefer someone like that by his side? Despite the hurt, the decisions you make regardless of the outcome, he still chooses you. Don't discard his own agency here, that matters more than the, frankly, variable ability of people he cares less about than you."
The triton eases off her earnest gaze at the harengon, shrugging, "But it's best if you ask him that and hear it from him yourself. I am of the firm belief that anyone who loves an alchemist, and daily chooses to keep loving them, will do so in spite of, and perhaps even because of the volatile changes that are part of our modus operandi."
After an uncertain, thoughtful pause, she adds, "Maybe check those chocolates and liquor that you had if they were laced with something, though." She gives an awkward chuckle.
spark lintel
"Someone once told me that... to disregard yourself is to disregard those that believe in you as equal... That... the true scope of your strength is evident in the faces of whom you've impacted the lives of the most... Those people... are only able believe in your abilities with such utter hope and confidence in the first place... simply because they know it's you who's heralding them... I was always so quick to put doubt in their faith... I had to at some point just stop to think and say to myself that... there had to be something from where all of this was coming from... We... somehow arrived at the same conclusion in the end, it seems..." A pitiful expression crosses along her face, the distant memory of her encounter with the moss woman running her through a smile despite it all. She makes a quick glance towards the triton after giving her words some further consideration, before resuming her musings with a down-tilted stare.
"And yeah... It would be kinda unfair to Akx if I never took that into mind... He always says that I'm much stronger than what I give myself credit for, and he likes it that I get worked up and... work so much into what I do as a result... but I don't think that's the only thing he would want prefer me over someone else for... that at least I know for sure..." She musters out a small chuckle for herself before continuing. "All I'm trying to say is that the time and effort I expended for the sake of this place was... something I wish was directed towards another front entirely... That being said... I do wonder if that belief of yours had any prior foundation to it in the past before coming after my ears. Sounds too specific to not bring it up to my face with that kind of terminology being tossed around..." She heckled out, narrowing her eyes in a coy and knowing manner as she flatly waved her hand around.
spark lintel
*The triton listens attentively, furrowing her brows at the mild self-deprecatio...
"We, uh... never got to test for any trace substances while we had the chance. Shortly after we woke up... we were interrupted by someone wanting to tag us along for another job. Another triton such as yourself, had a lot of pretty frills and red scales. Very skilled on a mount and trident. Came knocking on our door that morning, holding with him another bounty on one of the gate shards scattered amongst the planes that the guild has been looking for recently..." She wrung her hand out to mimic the the exact motion.
"To tell a long story short, the reason these constructs ended up here at the guild... and just about everywhere else for that matter... is that they got cut off at the end of this migratory march they had do before they could return home properly. Ambushed right at the end stretch on the way back to Mechanus. The gate they had to pass through was apparently ripped into pieces and... this left them with no way back. Lost and stranded a lot of them were as a result... The one we had on our eyes at the time was lodged somewhere deep inside Mount Celestia, and we assigned someone to accompany us on our way there. They were apparently a guild alumni, and they had the ability to track down these shards for us... When we finally got to meet them, it was... overwhelming to say the least..." She alluded with a wince of her teeth as mild awkwardness and discomfort ran across her face at the mere thought of reliving that exact moment following after....
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"Someone once told me that... to disregard yourself is to disregard those that b...
The harengon implying some specific situation that elicited Aya's heartfelt belief brings a wry smile to her face, "There was one love I once had, but it was borne out of a naivete that didn't mature as fast as I needed to when everything happened."
She reclines on her arms again, looking up at the stars, nostalgic for the simple days that punctuated the horrors of the guild. "My very first job, as you might already know, I was captured and tortured - to be interrogated. Bad form on the villain's part, considering I knew next to nothing about the guild at that point, so he ended up just making a message out of me." She waves that side of the story with a dismissive hand.
"Anyway, part of the rescue team was Heizen Ekarri. He was the one who carried me back to the guild. Didn't nurse me back to health or anything, but once I was lucid, I kept the names of my rescuers in mind, to one day show my appreciation. We finally met outside of a job, out here actually," The triton gestures generally in the area, "Not specifically here, but nearby, but anyway - from thereon we became good friends, then lovers... then not." She shrugs a little. The pain of their split had long since dulled to a distant pang, eased by the friendship that then surfaced in spite of it. "He loved me and I'm thankful to have been loved for as short as while it was. Our relationship is different now; I believe he's reunited with his Elaine and enjoying his spoils from the guild, whatever shape that is. I haven't really kept in contact with him after he left." The triton smiles sheepishly. "Sometimes life takes you away from the people you once stood steadfast with, and that's okay."
As Roe explains the current dilemma facing the Concordance, Aya straightens up again, listen with rapt attention as the junior alchemist details the events that transpired for her and her company. Her face does not hold back the wrinkle of her nose as she describes the triton that she briefly partied with.
"Mount and trident? Sounds like the cataphracts from Dagath. They're generally well meaning but very 'duty above all else', since they're under the thumb of the priests there." Aya offers brief insight into her assumption of the new triton, before moving onto their recent mission. "Another guild alumni, huh? I've found that life outside the guild either does something to us retired adventurers, or we become so untethered that we get a little, well, wacky." Aya chuckles softly.
"The modron infestation might explain a few things about the delays in shipments lately. We'd been having trouble securing contracts because no one could secure their cargo long enough for us to pick them up for delivery. We thought it was something more targeted, but hearing all this, might be more likely the little constructs causing confusion," She places a thoughtful knuckle to her lips as she considers the implications. "It's been happening across all the ports, even as far as Kyrfell... anyway. How did you fare in the mission? By your expression it seems like it didn't go as swimmingly as you would've liked."
spark lintel
"So that's where the lake comes in all of this..." She briefly noted, pushing forth a smile on her face. "Wonder if you'll get to tell me about the ghost canoes here next..."
"I feel like life works like a large revolving door sometimes... People go to pass through it every day. Going in and out on occasion, with some going around for the whole ride-a-round and never leaving... You can't always know with absolute certainty who ends up showing up... who enters and leaves for that day... Can't always tell if that'll be the last time they ride on it either... or how long they be wanderin' in the store for. You might be surprised to see a new face walking in, or maybe a familiar one walking out with a new coat... Though hearing that happen to you, I'd hope instead that it's just a ride around a ferris wheel for ya' two than a last meeting by the shop door. That it's... only just a matter of time till this Heizen boards off and sees you by the platform... or that there's still a chance for you to board on after him... Time naturally spent apart, y'know?" She speaks away with a wayward, if a little frantic, expression on her face, a little aware of the fact shortly after that she might've come off a small ramble near the end. Aya probably did not need to hear this again from a stranger like her, seeing that she had already made enough peace with their drift and departure for some time now. She was never really supposed to be the one handing out advice. It's just that it would've been awkward if she had not one thing to contribute following that ending...
"He had that name listed on the sign-up slips every time I came by to check up on the listings. I don't know if it's a family name, a name of nobility, a clan, or what... something I can hope you can elucidate on for me further..." She glances back at the triton with a hopeful smile on her face, before looking up to the sky with a rather fretful expression shortly after.
_ _
"As for the alumni sent to guide us there... gosh, where do I even begin... She went by the name of Sybil, first and foremost. They were... a gorgon from what I can assume of her appearance. Her whole lower half was that of a seprent's, and she... had a whole head of snakes that swarmed around a stone visor, covering up the upper half of her face. She wanted to prioritize herself more as a cobbler than a mercenary when introductions came around, and she was a really good one at that. I once ordered some shoes from her while she was still at the guild, but the interaction happened so far back ago that I entirely forgot how she was like, and how infectiously bubbly and easy-going she was... I don't think I was around to see the shoe house she came to the guild with that day, or the "shouse" as she came to call it..." She expressed with apt bewilderment as she sharply traced the outline of a hypothetical boot-shaped homestead with her two hands.
_ _
“I think the time away from the guild just built upon the eccentricities that were already there to begin with… I can’t really tell if it was obsession or dedication. The woman loved shoes a lot and lived her life through them. If the idea of a shoe-mobile wasn’t enough to convince you of that, the interior was filled with every kind of shoe-themed memorabilia and furniture item you can think of. Everything she spoke and did… all went back to shoes after a certain point. I’d normally find that kind of passion charming, but… I was quickly taken out of it after she served us sock-infused tea while we were discussing matters about the job all of a sudden. Akx nearly keeled over one sip because she just happened to forget to take out the laundry from the kettle that day. It did not spark within me any immediate confidence that we were going to be in safe hands after witnessing that. It… did not help that she also had high-bounty wanted posters of herself casually plastered onto the wall behind her… worrying to say the least…” She spoke of that fact with clear disapproval in her tone and look, before resigning herself to a more muted expression after realizing how awful she’s making it out to be, when there were far worse things to be upset about in that moment.
_ _
“I’m sorry, that was a bit undeserved… I don’t mean to make it sound like I’m ragging on someone too harshly over one mistake. For the whole time we were with her, she was being well-meaning for the most part, and it was her idea to come to the guild in the first place to help us. I really wasn’t in any place to judge myself, and I shouldn’t be too biased against one’s own past either. Especially if presented out of context… but I don’t know… I can’t help but feel a little cautious around other people sometimes when first meeting them, and it would be hard to not feel a little apprehensive after a situation like that… y’know? I just… It was just a little too overwhelming for me for one morning, but… I shouldn’t look back at it with too much fault for my own sake… sitting through my thoughts about it now…” Her hand grasped for one of the pebbles nearby, staying firmly nestled between her fingers as the warmth floods right in from her palm. Energy courses through it once more, forcing it to meld into the perfect shape for throwing before being lined up for another toss that skids across a quarter of the lake’s diameter.
_ _
“I don’t think we would’ve made it back with the shard without her… so I do at least owe her for that. She, uh… The reason Basha tagged her along with us is that she had the ability to seek out these gate pieces. She once ventured to the Outlands and encountered one of these things along the way. Studied it for a while in her own time, found that there was a certain sound that they emanated that you could open up your ears to with enough training. In her own words, it was something she just picked up one day. She could transport us to Celestia via the cubic gate in her possession and scout out the shard alongside us. Only problem was, she was barred entry from that plane. Story behind it was that she punched one too many solars after one too many drinks one time. That… and people keep mistaking her for a snake deity and are coming out to get her for it, which she doesn’t believe it to be true herself. That landed her with a unique punishment of being bound with an anklet that prevents planar travel. It was somehow only bound to her current physical form though. In theory, she could swap shapes and be free of the restraint around her tail, something one of her assistants was able to do by overriding one of the enchantments bound around her brace. It would only last for an hour before the thing corrects itself, so we would need to act immediately and travel to the clouds the moment we do… hoping that nothing comes to slow us down along the way…”
spark lintel
*The harengon implying some specific situation that elicited Aya's heartfelt bel...
“As for how well we fared in the mission… it honestly could’ve gone worse. A few minutes after we made cloudfall, we were already approached and hunted down by a whole squadron of celestials. Solars, planetars.. even ancient dragons were there among them if you could believe it. Luckily, we were able to divert their efforts by splitting up and avoiding any immediate combat. Didn’t make it any harder to outrun and out maneuver them. The clouds made it difficult to keep track of what you were chasing and what you were running from, so we often would pass by each other by surprise and exchange leads. At one point, I even had to run along a whole length of silver dragon back and tail before jumping back on my griffon mount after it had run along the opposite end. We were able to escape them eventually… barrel crashing into a small cave that was a few elevations below the first gate. I doubted that we were entirely in the clear after that, but… any port in a storm I suppose…” She lets out a sharp exhale in laughter, really digging it into the fellow sailor beside her.
“It’s a shame though… it felt rather majestic staring up at the clouds for… what little time we had to our names doing so before we got interrupted…” She spoke out with a forlorn smile as she let loose some of sensations she had whilst basking in the heavens, a clear cut of conflict still dawning on her face as she reminisces about the warmth and glow of the sun that shone with unfettered presence above there.
calm bridge
"So that's where the lake comes in all of this..." *She briefly noted, pushing f...
As Roe presumes more about her new triton friend, confirming that was his second name, Aya helpfully elucidates, "Most first generation to maybe secondary generation tritons take on as a sort of surname the name of their place of birth. Dagath is a triton protectorate in the Ahdelar. I've never been myself; I originate from Galgoxath, a different one in the Oshenna, and even then I was only there in my early childhood, so very watercolour memories. Though, I've heard plenty of the place, one of the more traditionalist cultures from the old world - the Elemental Plane of Water, that is. They operate from a very rigid caste system but... not officially in Dagath." There is a very visible look of disapproval on the triton's face as she broaches the subject.
"It's probably because the clergy there are still the foremost power. At least, this is all hearsay anyway. Like I said, I've never been, but tales from my childhood and passing stories through local ports, you can infer a lot of the information but nothing is confirmed. Its best you ask him yourself to get the real story." Aya shrugs.
"Shoes, huh? I suppose there have been more nefarious obsessions to happen upon alumni of the Concordance. Though by the sounds of it, she may have been up to a lot since her departure anyway," She chuckles lightly, "Sorry, not to make light of the hindrance she ended up being for your mission. But no, it's good practice to be wary of new faces, especially if you know nothing about them. It helps if you do a little research on people beforehand - helps you feel at least a bit more prepared, and if not, have something to catch them off guard and maybe pry through the veil of first impressions with that information."
When Roe details her expedition into Mount Celestia, starry eyed but conflicted as she was by the presumable vistas she encountered, and even at the nautical jibe she peppers in, Aya smiles, "The upper planes are certainly a delight for the eyes. I've never been, not because the opportunity never presented itself, but mostly because I tend to avoid the place. I don't particularly see eye-to-eye with the divine, much less their agents. Which is ironic since I feel like I could be lauded for saving a hundred orcish souls from eternal perdition under the thumb of a particularly problematic balor, but I digress," She half shrugs, a lopsided smile on her face, "Every time I've come across a cleric, or any poor soul hitched to some deity's post, they've had to pay for their faith as price, or proof for whatever convenient dogma. I never fault the person; despite the powers we accrue here in the Concordance, the gods are still obfuscate and omnipotent, and we end up being their pawns one way or another." The casual bitterness isn't present in her expression as she stares at an indeterminate point in the waters of the lake, only an empty stare that belied her years of struggle, hands pressed together in beseeching and begging to only unfold to an empty faith.
"But!" She shakes off the morose statement, "Above all else, I'm glad that meant you came back safe and sound, and a robust experience under your belt. Now you know should ever those solars, planetars and all cross your path, you know how to deal with them. Knowledge is power, after all."
spark lintel
"Some other hares have a similar thing going for them depending on the warren they hailed from. The ones that come to mind first are the folk that guard the Adelharr, far up in the forests frozen over like glass... Others I've interacted with, though, came from a long line of migratory families and clans. Names were often inherited from ancestral ties or carved from traveling bands that existed long, long ago. Can't really have a name and place to originate from if... it never stays in one place to begin with..." An awkward cough is forced out from her chest as she attempts to draw attention away from that trail of loose knowledge.
"I... probably should ask him myself, yeah... I haven't had much of a chance to get some deep words out of the guy. It would be a good idea to take that up with him after I get some things cleared, kill two birds as they say..." She nods with the barest hint of attention, sinking back into the words to she used to describe his homeland. Honing in on the term "caste" in particular as she emotes with the same discontent shown previously on her fellow triton.
"I don't think Sybil was that much of a hinderance to us. She was able to hold off Bahamut for a good while as were... I suppose I should explain who were after first, huh..." She posts the question to herself after losing track of the plot out of nowhere, positioning her hands together in preparation of a rather large recount.
_ _
"One of the aggressors the guild is being sent to go after is a construct by the name of Courtney Gears. She's uh... some would might say a "songstress". Taking advantage of the current modron fiasco to amass popularity and spread her fame across the planes, causing... immeasurable harm and destruction towards the audiences of other "popper" idols along the way... I don't know how much more blunt you could be with your intentions by having your most acclaimed song being labelled "Kill All Squishies!", but... here we are..." She throws her arms out in front of her as a sign of defeat, unable to keep up with the overwhelming terms and conventions being thrown her way as a result of these jobs she's being tasked to work on. She thought she had it bad by not knowing what a "streaming service" was, but this... this puts a different kind of knot in her head.
_ _
"Anyways... She was first noted down with hijacking another idol's show during one of their concerts when they were touring around Daaloon. When it comes to her more recent exploits... she decided that it would be a great idea to transform Baha's moving, crystal palace into a stage performance for her fans, having implanted the gate shard into the chest of his avatar as she forced him to dance under her control, all while his subjects were lulled into being her involuntary audience as they cheered her on throughout it all… With the previous iterations of her model we managed to scrap, we never saw this level of power and mental command being exerted before. How she was able to get this all done… I can’t say for sure as of yet. The shard itself was causing mental anguish to all of Celestia’s residents when it was brought up to one of its agents. Perhaps she found some way to weaponize it against them and… got away with it…” She spoke with some quiet heft to her voice, touting this enemy as a legitimate threat by this knowledge shared and experienced, as opposed to the arrogant thorn she thought of her before to humiliate and put out of her place.
_ _
“Thankfully… we only had to deal with her and her entourage first. As I alluded to earlier, Sybil was able to hold off the platinum bug for us by keeping him in a headlock, clearing out the way for us to crash her show. It took us a good while to wear her down, as she kept forcing out his metallic breath with every chokehold she attempted on the poor thing. We were so close to getting her the third time too… but we just happened to have the worst timing when it came to closing it out in the end. As it became clear to us at the end of the hour, the enchantment on Sybil’s planar anklet ran out of juice, and she got shot back down here the second right after. Without her there to hold him in place, Courtney was free to drag back Bahamut into the fight and have him gang up on us both. Akx was able to free him of his control and music-sustained suffering by yanking the shard from out of his chest, right after I was able to tether him there. We were able to do some light work of her crew shortly after with him now on our side, fighting alongside us with Apolanis on his back. It was ultimately the war cleric we were with, Zahirah, who put down the model down for good, bashing her in with the weight of her flail from below.” She vividly demonstrates by swinging her fists around to mimic the same effect, adding extra gruesome detail by twisting the invisible handle around in place.
_ _
“For our efforts… Akx was rewarded premium access to his guest home and vacation stay, which just happened to be located on one of the islands floating behind us just a few altitudes below. Paired with that was a navigation orb that was bound to that very manor’s location within the planes, allowing us easy transport to that place at any time we so choose. As for the triton, he kneaded one of the loose set scales that fell from his fight with Sybil earlier… and somehow knitted it all together into a platinum scarf for him. Kinda wanted one for myself after witnessing what I did… It would help with all the damned angels you’re pitting me up against to fight…” She returns the hopeful remark with a low snicker of her own, letting out a little envy in her voice as she then resumes form in her dulled down state.
spark lintel
*As Roe presumes more about her new triton friend, confirming that was his secon...
“I don’t quite like how the divine sometimes choose to operate away from our eyes either. I don’t work well within the scrutiny of some of their beliefs, the absolutes of their laws… I wouldn’t be surprised if the image of me holding critique against their arrogance appalls them to their core, as I stand in the way of what they believe to be “right and just”... In fact… in this very same mission… a tribunal of angels chose to sentence us to death under false assumption that we were associated in any way with the damned cult Sybil is being blamed for, despite the fact we were only recently acquaintances at best, and that the woman herself is not aware of it all in the slightest! No matter how much we tried to refute their claims… to denounce any affiliations… it was if they lacked the fundamental ability to perceive any other outcome aside from their own…! I would’ve gone after every hairstylist and customer she’s ever worked with if I too had the same, collective mind as they did! It was if they were more mechanical in function than the damned constructs we were chasing after…!” She detailed the untimely encounter with bewilderment and rapt annoyance, her ears rocketing up like shoots as she heads towards the complete opposite direction of how her fellow triton chose to react to this shared experience.