Ambrosia Software Web Board: The Alraeican Tavern, Part IV - Ambrosia Software Web Board

Kwon's eyebrows rose slightly, signifying a high degree of astonishment; he'd never before sensed such arrogance from someone that wasn't outright evil. He realised that with Ranari's insular, one world point of view, she might require some careful handling.

"Madaya Lyr’Uûna’Tâ?" Sasha queried, stumbling slightly over the unfamiliar words.

"Moonshadow, as I said," Kwon replied. Sasha nodded, and turned back to Ranari.

"Yes, we know her quite well. She's currently adventuring with some other friends of ours, a long way from here, somewhere over the ocean. They're travelling by air, in a balloon, so you won't find it easy to catch up. But what do you mean, you're here to 'save' her? She's fine, as far as we know, and Flynn and the others wouldn't let anything happen to her if they could help it."

As Sasha looked expectantly at Ranari, waiting for a reply, Kwon couldn't help but feel that, in some way, she'd missed the point.

------------------
There are three kinds of computer users: those that use Macintoshes, those that wish they used Macintoshes, and those that don't know any better.

Katerei climbed of out of the portal and into Cademia. she glanced around swiftly and hurried off in the direction of the gates.
When she was outside of Cademia, she walked a distance away into a small group of trees. She stopped at the edge and pulled the dagger out of the sheath. Looking at it, she muttered softly to herself: "Vera avadon isma philandraon equinus. Alama quira opaliu tyvanon Elemeniya." It was in the language of her own race, the Elemence. In English it meant, "The city of Vera is protected by the magical horses. It will be safe even without the Elemence."
To most people, this phrase might appear odd. Yet it held a very special meaning to Katerei.

***

Katerei returned to Cademia and entered the tavern. Ferazel was sitting at a table. She sat down opposite him and spoke in a low voice. "Ferazel, I may not be able to stay here long. Vera is protected by the Kivadon, but I don't know if-" she stopped suddenly. A tall female with long, silvery hair had just entered the tavern. The woman looked at Kwon for a moment, and then her gaze swept over the other people in the room. Katerei looked at her, then down at the woman's wrist. She held back a gasp. The woman was wearing at thin, gold bracelet with a raindrop-shaped pearl hanging from it. There didn't seem to be anything peculiar about it, but it was very significant to Katerei. It brought back memories...terrible memories...memories which would torture her forever.
Katerei shut her eyes against the pain it brought back and disappeared with a small pop.

[OoC} sorry, Moonshadow, but this bracelet is a very important part of Katerei's past and I had to have somebody wearing it. Your character just happened to be handy. And, it has nothing to do with your character, so don't worry about that. It's not even the same bracelet.
[BiC]

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Hah! I have a new name, but I'm still insane so you still have to put up with me. >

*It's alright, Katerei.*

"Telori’dha bha’i’za feylamia. Isjari’dha fey’dao dy madaya. Madaya’dha badoc." Ranari muttered in annoyance. She surveyed their expressions, some confused, some annoyed, but all bare of understanding. It wouldn't really do to translate her words, either, their language was insufficient for her meaning, and even if it wasn't, they'd miss the sense. She looked over at the strange, small man. He seemed to have abilities beyond the others, even though they were not comparable to her own. Maybe she could give him, at least, a vague idea. She didn't want to spend any more time with humans than she really had to, and for that, she'd have to make at least one of them understand.
"So? Are you going to explain what you mean?" Sasha asked. Kwon put a hand on her arm, to calm her down a little. While the girl had talked, he had, again, gained glimpses of her meaning. The last word... Ranari seemed to be afraid of it, deadly afraid to speak, even to think it. It was something dangerous, something strange, and the very word itself didn't seem to be elven. It totally disrupted the melodic flow of her language.
Ranari decided she had to try, at least. She looked around the tavern, with it's strange, unnatural walls made from stone, and the humans. "Would you mind going outside?" she asked. "This place is uncomfortable."
Sasha exchanged glances with her friends. What kind of request was that? Uncomfortable? Ulf made a movement to get up, but Ranari shook her head vehemently. "No, not you." She said. "Just you." She motioned at Kwon. "You others have no chance of understanding."
Sasha got up quickly, staring at the elf indignantly, but Kwon held her back. "It is alright, Sasha. I do not mind going alone."
Sasha nodded and sat down again, confident Kwon could handle the girl if she tried something.
***
Ranari did not seem very talkative as she lead the way, her strange mare following her. It was unlike any other horse Kwon had ever seen, with its pure white fur, the white mane and tail streaked with silver strands, the silver hooves. He ran a hand along its flank, marvelling at the silken, warm fur.
"Rhiana." Ranari remarked. Kwon caught an image of a group of those majestic steeds, runing freely across a snow-covered plain, and knew she meant 'horse'.
"It is beautiful." Kwon replied. For the first time since they had met, Ranari really smiled, her arrogant air gone for the moment as she nodded in agreement. "Aî." Yes.
They walked until they reached the shore of the ocean. There Ranari stopped. She gave the mare a friendly slap, and it galloped away along the shoreline. "She returns when I need her." Ranari explained. "Now... try to concentrate on my words."
Kwon nodded, and Ranari started repeating what she had said in the tavern, word by word. "Telori." A group of humans. Kwon nodded. "Telori'dha bha'i'za -" A great white dragon, roaring, revealing its fangs... Kwon frowned, unsure what to make of this. A snow-covered crevasse, a figure walking towards it, unknowingly... ah! Danger. "- feylamia." A pale winter elf. On first sight, there was nothing wrong about it, but then Kwon saw the eyes. Black, soulless holes that seemed to look right to the bottom of his soul, paralyzing him, as the being advanced on him. It touched its victim's temple, and Kwon twitched in pain as he felt his soul being sucked out of him. Then a second Kwon came into view, his eyes black, soulless holes. Ranari paused for a moment, allowing him to recover, before she continued, this time with whole sentence. "Isjari'dha fey’dao dy madaya." Moonshadow, the elf, surrounded by humans, but not any humans... he saw himself, Sasha, Ulf, Flynn and others of his friends. Then he saw Moonshadow again, but something was odd about her. Something was missing. The gleam of her hair, like soft moonlight... the golden sparkle of her amber eyes... the pointed ears. She was, quite obviously, human. Why? Ranari continued. "Madaya’dha badoc." He saw the human Moonshadow again, accompanied by an image of her elven self... with those terrifying, black eyes. Was Ranari comparing the two? Was she even equating them?
"Now... do you understand?" He heard her Ranari's voice, urgent and pleading.

------------------
As l lay in my bed staring at the sky I asked myself:
Where the hell did the roof go?

[This message has been edited by Moonshadow (edited 12-01-2001).]

Kwon blinked several times, trying to comprehend the images Ranari had shown him. Was she implying that, by associating closely with humans, Moonshadow would become human? Lose her elvishness? And what of the image of the human Moonshadow alongside the Feylamian Moonshadow? That made no sense to him whatsoever.

Kwon looked up at the pale blue, almost desperate eyes, and regretfully shook his head.

"I am sorry, I do not understand."

Ranari looked away to the East, and said something under her breath in her own language.

Kwon looked at her for a long moment, then spoke. "If you intend to wait for Moonshadow, you will need a place to stay. We have more than enough room in our barracks; would that be suitable?"

------------------
Confucious say, who say I say all they say I say?

Katerei stood by the edge of the forest, looking down at the city. She gave a slight shiver. That bracelet...the memories they brought back...oh, the terrible memories...her parents, being murdered...by Zrenerr.
Katerei fell to the ground, shuddering terribly. Zrenerr had been horrible, absolutely terrifying. So many people had been scared by him.He killed so many. Yet no one except the Elemence ever found out. He hid too well.
Zrenerr was a Dark mage. He was an expert in stealth, and attacked people in secret. He excelled in using any type of Dark magic, and some said that he had once been taught by Slethra, the Dark goddess. Of course, Katerei didn't believe this, because Slethra was actually only a myth, but he had terrible powers.
Katerei forced herself to stand up. The woman with the bracelet might be around for quite awhile, so Katerei decided to return to Catamarca and stay there. But not yet. She still had business in the forest.
She walked deeper into the woods, until the sunlight was completely blocked out by the trees. Once there, she pulled her dagger out of the sheath again and held it up to the heavens. "Ive Silvre amaroq, ilaya, wolf, my friend. Aka sceri quann'na, come to me, Silvre." The blade of her dagger began to glow, and a silver pendant appeared in the handle. She pressed a finger to the pendant.
White mist began to swirl. "Silvre!" Katerei cried. The fog dissolved into nothing to reveal a white wolf standing there.
Katerei bent down on her knee and closed her eyes. "Silvre, amaroq, ilaya. You have returned. I missed you." She opened her eyes. The white wolf was smiling.
"Of course I returned, kithaya," Silvre replied, using the Amaroq name for 'inexperienced one'. Compared to the Amaroqs, though, any mage was inexperienced. They bore an deep aura of magic around them, which enabled them to travel within time at will. Of course, they could not do magic, being wolves, but they had special abilites of their own.
"Do I not always return to my ilaya when I am summoned?" Silvre replied, smiling again. "Anyhow. I am here. Why have you summoned me, kithaya?"
Katerei bowed her head again. "There is trouble here, Silvre. I can sense it. There is a woman here. I know not who she is, but she dons the Zrenerr Bracelet."
Silvre stared calmly at Katerei. "Are you sure it was the same bracelet? Is it not merely one very similar to Zrenerr's?"
"This is also do not know of. It looks exactly the same- but how could it be different, for did Zrenerr not say he possessed the only one?"
"Should you be telling me now, kithaya, that you believed the word of a murderer, a plunderer, and a liar?" Silvre replied, smiling ever so slightly. "I would have expected that you would be all the wiser for your experiences with him."
Katerei nodded. "You speak the truth, my Amaroq. Could it be possible, then, that there would be more than one Bracelet?"
"I know not of these things, kithaya," Silvre said gently. "But yes. It is very likely that there is more than one. Although, the magic cast upon Zrenerr's Bracelet is extremely strong. I doubt it could be replicated. This woman you speak of- shall we call her Renya, the unknown one, for now- her bracelet is unlikely to possess any magic. Now, do you go back to the city, and pretend everything is normal. I shall wait in the forest here until you summon me again."
"Yes. I will. Thank you, Silvre, my Amaroq ilaya." And with that, Katerei turned and vanished through a portal back to Catamarca.

[OoC] Jeez, I think that was my longest post ever. Took me forever to get the language straight, though, and getting Silvre and Katerei to speak in Old English isn't fun. Maybe I'll just lay low with Silvre for now. [BiC]

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Vera avadon isma philandraon equinus. Alama quira opaliu tyvanon Elemeniya. Likiyre svanre tyu'aka. Likiyre tyu'aka.

Ranari looked at Kwon intently. Try as she might, she could not find any untruth about the man's concern. He was sincere. A confused frown crossed her face. That was not what she had expected. Yet... stay with the humans? Was that wise? Maybe she would end up like Madaya did... liking them, trusting them. She shook her head in disgust. No, she wouldn't. She wouldn't be deceived by their ignorance. She noticed that the man stared at her thoughtfully. Was he trying to make out her thoughts? She stared back defiantly.
***
Katze proceeded through the darkening alleys, cautiously, this time, using her intuitive magic to hide herself and Sideline. There was no need to let anybody know they were here. She'd catch them by surprise, and she'd resolve that matter quickly. She was pretty sure Lacan hadn't caused the trouble, someone else would have to be behind this. And she already had a good guess at who. She would just have to talk to talk to Deira first.
Sideline placed a hand on her shoulder, stopping her and therefore keeping her from bumping straight into the wall of this blind alley. She smiled at him thankfully. He nodded, and looked around cautiously. She knew he'd never been here before, the area was fairly new and resticted to members of the guild - normally. Today, she had decided to make an exception. No matter how much the guilds hated him for helping out the judge, he had skills beyond many of their members, and they had to respect that. She ran her finger along a crack in the wall, searching for the right point to open the passage. Sideline watched her attentively. There. She pressed, and the secret door slid open, just wide enough to let them pass. When they were through, she closed the door again. Then they walked on.
***
Deira shook her head in disbelief, and brushed some strands of her long, auburn hair back from her face. "Are you sure, Arenor?"
"Yes, sadly." The younger man in front of her nodded, narrowing his eyes in calculation. He had short-cropped, black hair, amd attentive, black eyes. A long scar ran across his face, from the right cheekbone to his chin, a souvenir from a long-ago fight with another high-ranking member of the guild.
"I can't believe she'd do that. Why would she really side with the judge?"
"She was always friends with Sideline, remember? That must have rubbed off on her." Arenor replied, leaning forward to look Deira right in the eyes. "It's sad, but you should face it - and act accordingly."
Deira's head came up sharply. "Is that what you're planing at? Getting rid of her?"
Arenor drew back, taken by surprise, but successful at hiding that from his face. "What are you talking about, Deira? Why should I?"
"Oh, stop plaing innocent! You've been convicted." She pointed at the door. "Regretfully, for you, you weren't the first one to arrive." The door opened, and to figures walked in, a male and a female.
"Sideline!" Arenor hissed, but his face contorted in hatred as he saw who the second visitor was. "Katze!" He reached out to draw his dagger, but Sideline help him back with an iron grip. Two more guild members entered the room.
"You're dismissed." Deira said coldly. Arenor turned pale.
As the two thieves prepared to take him away, Katze ran her right index finger across his scar, almost caressing it. "You know... I always enjoyed looking at that. Pity I'll be seeing it for the last time, ain't it?" She asked, a cruel smile on her face. "Traitors have to be punished accordingly. She drew her hand back. "Farewell." On her sign, the two thieves took Arenor away.
Katze turned back to Deira and Sideline, noticing he had paled considerably. "Don't worry, I was not referring to you."
Deira nodded, smiling slightly. "A fool who lets himself be caught... you never lead to anybody's dead, at least not of my guild. The thieve's you managed to convict now suffer the lesson from their ignorance. They'll be more careful next time. We're all more careful, thanks to you." Her smile faded from her lips, and her expression hardened. "But I forbid you ever come here again, Sideline. I understand that was an exception, but the next time, Katze, you can goddamn well come on your own."
Katze grimaced. "Of course."
The smile returned to Deira's face, which softened her features considerably. "Now, which passage did you use?"
"The Red Fox."
"Well, the opening mechanism shall be replaced." She turned back to her desk. After a short time, she turned around again, looking her two visitors up and down. "What are you still standing here for? You may leave now."
Katze and Sideline hurriedly left the room.
***
Once safely outside and far enough away for comfort, Sideline grimaced. "What a fury." He remarked.
Katze laughed.
***
Kwon looked at the girl with raised eyebrows. "It would not be a good idea to stay here alone. There are ruffians out there, in addition to dangerous animals. You will be safer in the city."
"I can take care of myself." Ranari snapped. "But I accept your offer. When Madaya returns, I have to know it immediately."
"That being the case, it would be high time for me to intorduce myself, would it not? My name is Kwon Chen, but you can call me Kwon. Everybody does."
"Well, Kwon Chen. Let us return, then."
Kwon nodded, noticing the girl had taken over his way of speaking.

*Well, for everyone who wishes to have Ranari say something, please note the following. At first she'll speak much like Kwon, meaning no 'and' and no contractions. Furthermore, she'll never use the future tense, due to a different understanding of time, and she'll always refer to people with their full names (e.g. Kwon Chen instead of Kwon.) Moonshadow's an exception there, since they're friends.*

------------------
As l lay in my bed staring at the sky I asked myself:
Where the hell did the roof go?

[This message has been edited by Moonshadow (edited 12-02-2001).]

Kwon lead the pale girl back into the tavern, to the Ronin's table. "Allow me to introduce you: Ranari, this is Sasha Romanova, and Ulf."

"Pleased to make your acqaintence," Ranari pronounced carefully.

"Please, sit down," Sasha indicated to a chair near Ranari.

"Would you like something to drink?" Kwon asked.

Ranari thought for a moment; who new what barbaric concoctions these humans drank. "Some Water, please."

Kwon walked over to the bar, and collected a glass of water from Rana. He placed it in front of Ranari, then sat down himself. "Ranari tried to explain her purpose for being here, but I regret I could not comprehend her images. She intends to wait for Moonshadow, though, so I offered her a place in the barracks."

Sasha nodded approvingly. "Good idea, Kwon. If she's as new to this place as she seems, it wouldn't be wise to have her running around on her own, getting into who knows what trouble -although, if Moonshadow's anything to judge by, she could take care of herself."

"I do not believe that there is anything in this place that could threaten me, Sasha Romanova," Ranari said. "Except getting too close to you," was her unspoken addition.

----------------

Sasha showed Ranari around the barracks. "The men's dormitory is through there, and we women sleep in this room over here. There're lots of spare beds, so you can choose your own; just let one of us know if there's anything you need help with. I'll leave you to get settled in."

Sasha turned and left the room; Ranari watched her go, a strange feeling coming over her. "No, I will not start to like them, I cannot!"

----------------

Later, over the meal Kwon had prepared, Sasha resumed the conversation. "We usually eat vegetarian when Leandra's away, I hope you don't mind. It's just that Kwon won't eat or cook anything that's come from an animal."

"That is agreeable," Ranari replied. Again, it seemed safest; while her people weren't vegetarian, she had no idea how these people prepared or cooked their food.

"How long do you expect Moonshadow to be gone?"

"I'm sorry," Sasha replied. "I really have no way of knowing."

Ranari sighed in frustration.

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There are three kinds of computer users: those that use Macintoshes, those that wish they used Macintoshes, and those that don't know any better.

[This message has been edited by Ronin (edited 12-03-2001).]

Katerei unlocked the door to her house and stepped inside. She quietly shut the door behind her. She glanced around, then walked down the passageway towards the end of the house. There was the small kitchen area, as she expected. It was common practice to have kitchen in the back of the house, because it gives you easy access outside. Also, the house faced towards the sea, so the winds blowing in would not allow the smoke from the chimney to linger.
She pulled a small wooden bowl out of the cupboard on the wall and set it in the counter. Katerei got some well water from the yard and filled the bowl with it, then shutting her eyes, muttered an incantation. Upon opening her eyes, she looked down at the water in the bowl. the surface reflected not the low ceiling of the kitchen, but a view on Cademia.
Scrying on somebody or something was very handy, although not the politest thing to do. But Katerei wanted to be able to watch Cademia and the people without actually having to be there, so scrying seemed perfect.
She dipped a finger into the water, and when the ripples cleared away it showed inside the Alraeican Tavern. Katerei peered closely into the water. There, at the back, the woman was sitting with Kwon and another woman Katerei recognized as Sasha.
After a short time, Sasha and the woman rose and left the tavern. This time, Katerei dipped two fingers into the water and the scene again changed to show the two females walking through the streets.
Katerei watched them for awhile, then took the bowl outside and emptied it. Water was no good to drink once it had been used for scrying. she went back inside and pulled her black travelling cloak on, grabbed her haversack and set out to walk the beach in front of her house.

------------------
Vera avadon isma philandraon equinus. Alama quira opaliu tyvanon Elemeniya. Likiyre svanre tyu'aka. Likiyre tyu'aka.

Sideline and Katze continued to make their way through the backalleys. Sideline held his hands out in front of himself; Katze noticed that they were shaking.

"I don't think I've been so scared in my life," he said softly.

"Not even facing the Shadow Fiends in the cellar?" Katze said in amusement.

"Well, they caught us by surprise; this time I went in knowing there might be trouble."

He looked down at his hands again; they were still unsteady. "I need a drink!"

They re-entered the Alraeican Tavern a few minutes later, collected two beers, and made for a table at the back of the room.

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My signature? You want to see my signature? Now why would I go revealing all my secrets to a total stranger, huh?

[This message has been edited by Sideline (edited 12-03-2001).]

After the meal, Kwon retired upstairs to the roof. He sat down, crossed his legs and began to meditate. The images Ranari had projected into his mind had disturbed him, unsettling his control; he felt the need to reassert mastery over his own mind, to drive back the dark forces that were still attempting to enslave him.

His technique was not to expunge the images, but to accept them, make them a part of himself. He brought each one into focus in turn, examining the fine details, until every part of it was engraved indelibly in his memory, able to be recalled at a moment's notice. The images didn't affect him so much this time, since he was viewing them deliberately.

Telori. A group of non-descript humans. Kwon was amazed at the detail Ranari had managed to impart to even such a generalised image. Each person had their own features and mode of dress; but there was something a little odd about them. Looking closely, Kwon could make out the signs that the images had been adapted, rather than created in her imagination; the base images were probably of others she knew - winter-elves, from her clan on Fir'dha.

Telori'dha bha'i'za. A great white dragon, roaring, revealing its fangs. A Fir'Dhamian creature, obviously. Kwon examined the image, until he could have said in an instant how many scales there were on any square foot of the dragons hide. A snow-covered crevasse, a figure walking towards it, unknowingly. This time the figure was clearly elvish; Kwon wondered if there was any significance to that fact, in light of the later images. The features were difficult to make out, but there was a faint possibility it was Moonshadow; however, given how much alike Moonshadow and Ranari were, Kwon didn't consider that conclusive.

Feylamia. Kwon shuddered again at the sight of those black orbs where the eyes should have been. The features in this image were so sharp, Kwon wondered if it was actually a bitter memory that Ranari had shared with him. He noticed something else, that he hadn't detected before: this image carried an undertone of emotion - a deep, abiding horror at the creature the unfortunate elf had become.

Isjari'dha fey’dao dy madaya. Moonshadow, surrounded by the Ronin, and others of their friends. Kwon pondered this for some time. Since Ranari had only just arrived in Cythera, she hadn't had the opportunity to meet all of the people represented; the images must have come from elsewhere. There was only one possibility - they'd been drawn from his own mind, and perhaps from Sasha's and Ulf's. That, along with the way she had projected these images for him to perceive, lead to only one conclusion: Ranari was telepathic. Perhaps not strongly so, which could explain why she had singled him out - of everyone he knew in Cythera, his mind was the most receptive. He wondered if Ranari knew the significance of picturing Moonshadow together with Flynn; he doubted it, they themselves hadn't yet discovered the growing attraction between them. It was something that Kwon had sensed almost from the beginning; watching that situation develop was one of the few things that gave him any pleasure, anymore.

He moved on to the image of Moonshadow as a human. As uncomfortable as the image made him, Kwon forced himself to examine it closely. Her eyes and hair were flat, almost lifeless. He focused on the eyes; they were almost - soulless? Something clicked in his mind, a connection was made - and he suddenly believed he understood.

Madaya’dha badoc. The image of the human Moonshadow alongside the feylamian version of her. Yes, it all made sense now.

It was most amusing!

It would take Moonshadow to straighten this out, he concluded - best not to raise the issue with Ranari again.

"Is there something I can assist you with, Ranari Aytann'Lyriamalwaar of the Unicorn Clan?"

Ranari jumped. She was certain Kwon Chen hadn't heard her approach, no human could have. This calm-souled human displayed stranger qualities than she'd realised possible.

She'd watched him as he meditated, stealing glimpses into his mind. She'd seen him replay the images she'd given him, and sensed his battle with the dark forces she'd only just perceived surrounding his mind. She realised that her interference had upset a balance, and forced him to refight a battle that was already almost won, yet he'd never once complained or tried to stop her. The gesture was almost elvan in its nobility; yet another fact that didn't equate with her understanding.

"No, I - there is - I was curious; you disappeared after the meal, the others said nothing. I wondered what you were doing, that is all." She turned and hurried back downstairs.

Kwon pondered her abrupt departure. Her world view was being shaken; best to leave well enough alone, let things take their own course.

Kwon returned to his meditations with an immense feeling of satisfaction.

------------------
Confucious say, who say I say all they say I say?

Ranari ran down the stairs, catching herself. Why had she gotten so nervous about that man anyways? He was only a human, after all. She burst into the main room, almost running the warrior woman - Sasha Romanova, she recalled - over in her hurry to get out of this building. She looked back quickly to see if the woman was alright - 'stop, what am I doing here?' - and froze.
Sasha turned to call something after her, only to see Ranari staring at her, as if paralyzed.
The elfish girl opened her mouth to say something, but failed to get out even a word. She had been stunned, but her determination had driven her onward, and so she had travelled without regarding the stunning landscape around her. She tried again. "Are... are those... flowers?" She asked in awe.
Sasha looked down at the small bouquet she was carrying. Violets and lavender, nothing out of the ordinary. Leandra used to decorate the barracks with flowers, and since she wasn't there to do it Sasha had promised to take care of that.
"Yes." She replied hesitantly, surprised at Ranari's reaction.
The girl took a few steps toward her, drawn between curiosity and caution. "May I?" She queried, her voice trembling.
Sasha looked at her in bewilderment, until she remembered that was probably the first time Ranari ever really *saw* something like that. Strange, how things she considered as ordinary could evoke such feelings... She nodded, hiding a smile. "Of course." She handed the bouquet over to Ranari, who took it carefully as if afraid it could break. She raised them in front of her face, examining them closely, looking at the petals from above and and below, sniffing them, then literally inhaling their scent. She laughed joyfully, rotating wildly with the bouquet in her hands.
"Hey, careful!" Sasha warned.
Ranari stopped immediately. "Oh... I..." She put the bouquet down on the nearby table, glancing at Sasha. "I..." She didn't finish her sentence, but instead turned and ran out of the door.

------------------
As l lay in my bed staring at the sky I asked myself:
Where the hell did the roof go?

Sasha stared at the door for a second, a little stunned by the girl's abrubt departure. She grabbed her sword and ran out after Ranari, slinging the scabbard on her back as she ran.

Looking around as she exited the building, she caught a brief glimpse of something white in the distance, and turned in that direction. She caught another glimpse at the next corner, but that was the last she saw; with no real alternative, she just kept running, hoping to see something that would lead her in the right direction.

She soon left the buildings of the city behind, seeing only the wide expanse of the beach ahead; she saw a white horse in the moonlight, with a pale slip of a girl standing next to it. Sasha sighed, and stopped running; it could only be Ranari.

Dressed in her black armour, with her jet-black hair reflecting very little light, she managed to get quite close before the elf noticed her approach. "She must be really distracted," Sasha thought.

"Ranari?" The elf gasped at the sound, and darted toward the breakers. When she drew near to the water, she dived.

Sasha was never exactly sure if she saw what she thought she had; in mid leap, the pale girl had seemed to change, taking on a sleek, streamlined form, that entered the water with hardly a splash.

Sasha was astounded. She looked at the horse, which seemed to look back at her with an intelligent gaze, and then stared back out to sea. For some time, she thought she could see something occasionally breaking the surface, moving further and further out.

"Well, that's one for the books!" She murmured; the horse winnied, seemingly in reply.

Sasha began to collect driftwood, and soon had a small fire burning. She sat down to wait.

------------------
Two wrongs are just the beginning.

Katerei walked slowly down the beach, examining small rocks and shells carefully. She was not really doing anything in particular, which was definitely not Katerei's normal self.
She bent down and picked up a silvery-white shell. It curled round and round, and the seawater had polished it to a pearl-like smoothness. A faint aura permeated it, casting a silvery light onto the sand.
Katerei smiled and slipped it into her haversack. It seemed different, somehow. She would show it to Silvre later.
***
Katerei continued walking down the shore. A sudden noise disturbed her. she looked up and saw a bright white horse standing on the sand quite a ways away. A pale girl was standing next to it. It was the woman she has seen earlier wearing the bracelet.
She sunk back into the shadows, and her black cloak allowed her to become almost invisible. Nothing happened for a moment, and then Sasha Romanova ran silently onto the beach. The other woman turned around to look at Sasha, then dived into the sea. Katerei squinted. Had she seen what she though she saw? It looked liked the woman had ~changed~ into something as she dove in.
Katerei shook her head. It was possible but it seemed odd all the same. She turned away. Maybe Silvre would know something about it.

( I realized after I posted this that Katerei was in Catamarca, while Sasha and Ranari were in Cademia. So just ignore that...say that Katerei walked all the way around the coast or something. )


[This message has been edited by Katerei (edited 12-04-2001).]

Lemenath paused in the doorway of the tavern, halting himself in midstride. The tavern was in an uproar about some female elf and another odd fellow.


"Appearantly I missed something here..." Lemenath muttered as he re-arranged his hair to hide his pointy ears before continuing to Hergat's table in the back. "I've got what you wanted." He said as he slipped a leather bag over to Hergat who grunted in acknowledgement. Hergat rummaged through it and looked up and Phinril and Xenar, nodded once.

"Then lets get out of here." Phinril said quietly.

"Not yet, it would be too suspicious for him to just come and go. And we need to leave together or this won't work off. Paitence, you remember last time you forgot that." Hergat calmed Phinril down, both men returned to their seats and ordered another round of drinks.

------------------

Katze glanced at the four men in the other back corner, somehow disturbed. She looked at Sideline, raising an eyebrow questioningly. He nodded in understanding, and they resumed their conversation.
If any of them left or did anything conspicious, Sideline, who was facing them, would let her know. Katze leaned back to relax, satisfied for now.
***
Ranari observed the shore from a safe distance, wondering why the warrior made herself comfortable there. Hopefully she wouldn't get too close to Fô'za. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw somebody else, turning away. The conspicious blue hair tols her it was the strange woman she'd seen before, in the place called Tavern. She had sensed something strange about her then, something that told her the woman wasn't human. Curiously, she dove beneath the waves, nearing the shore, until she remembered Sasha was there. Following the strange woman imperceptibly would surely be impossible if Sasha Romanova followed her. This could get tricky. She knew that it was possible to change back and teleport almost simultaneously, but she had never yet tried it. She was not on that level, yet. But she knew the theory. Determined to find out who the blue-skinned stranger was, she gathered all her energy, leaving the form of the dejfinya - an animal that apparently didn't exist on this world, since she had found no human equivalent for it -, and activating her teleport spell almost immediately.
'I should have taken aim more carefully...' Ranari raised a hand to her temple, wondering how the heck she'd get out of the mess she'd created this time. Far below and some way to the south, she spotted the blue-haired woman. She also noticed, to her utter satisfaction, that Sasha Romanova had not seen her escape. Were trees made for climbing, just like cliffs? It was a question seriously worth pondering. they did seem like they were created for that, and their many branches reminded her of the crystalline structures on her homeworld, which were grown for the practise of one's climbing skills. It was worth a try.
Gradually, Ranari made her way down the tree, silently cursing her conspicious appearance. She had not considered that, with her white clothing and extremely light hair and skin, she'd be clearly visible in this environment, if she wasn't very careful. She ducked into the cover of the trees, determined to find out more about the stranger. Wherever the woman intended to go, Ranari would follow her.

------------------
As l lay in my bed staring at the sky I asked myself:
Where the hell did the roof go?

Katerei kneeled down into the sand and pulled the strange shell out of her haversack. It was glowing even more brightly now, since the sky was much darker than it had been before. She studied it again. There was certainly something different about it. she returned it to her haversack, then stood up and hoped nobody could see her. But, unknown to Katerei, the strange silver-haired woman was watching.
Katerei gathered her cloak around her against the chilly ocean air and slipped off through the shadows.
***
Ten minutes later, she was in the forest. Katerei bent down, pulled out her dagger and uttered the spell to summon Silvre. The familiar white fog swirled around, and then Silvre appeared. She smiled. "Hello, kithaya. I was wondering when you would call me again."
Katerei bowed her head in greeting. "Seyqua, my friend." She bent forward and petted Silvre, something which nobody except a very close friend would ever dare do to an Amaroq.
"I have an interesting item to show you," she said. "It seems different, but I don't know why. I hoped that you, with your knowledge of such things, might be able to tell me something?" She pulled out the pearly shell and held it out for Silvre to see.
Silvre stepped forward to examine it. After a moment, she looked up at Katerei and opened her mouth to speak- then a movement in the trees caught her eye. There was somebody there.
Katerei turned around to see what Silvre was looking at but all she saw was trees.

------------------
Vera avadon isma philandraon equinus. Alama quira opaliu tyvanon Elemeniya. Likiyre svanre tyu'aka. Likiyre tyu'aka.

Hergat inwardly was pleased, he was forced to rely on insticts that served him well and made him one of the best at his job. Waiting until the precise moment Phinral had finished a rather bad joke, Hergat smiled and spoke out of the corner of his mouth, "don't look now, we're being observed." He saw Xenar twitch as if he was about to turn, but refrained from doing so.

"Its the people that mentioned the guild." Hergat spoke quietly, in such a manner that it made the two humans at that table wonder if he had spoken at all, his lips didn't move. Lemenath, taking a silent cue, "accidentially" knocked over his cup, and Hergat shifted his chair out of the way of the dripping liquid. Coincidentially, that brought him into a perfect position to clearly face Sideline across the bar if he chose.

------------------

Ulf was worried. Sasha and Ranari had been gone a long time; but not having Kwon's sense of his surroundings to fall back on, he wasn't quite sure how to go about finding them. He decided to try something he'd never done before.

Pulling the Friendsooth amulet from under his shirt, he held it tightly in both hands and concentrated as hard as he could on a mental picture of Sasha. Much to his surprise, his efforts succeeded as he saw an image of her sitting on the beach, next to a fire.

Smiling, highly pleased with himself, he collected a few items and placed them in a canvas shoulder bag.

----------------

Sasha looked up as she heard Ulf approaching. He sat down beside her, placing the bag on his knees. "Hungry?" he asked.

"Not just now thanks, Ulf, but I could use something to drink."

Without a word, Ulf fished a bottle out of the bag and handed it to Sasha. She grinned. "Thanks, again."

She took a drink, and sighed in satisfaction. "There's no need to wait, Ulf; I'll be all right by myself."

Ulf nodded, rose, and started back to the barracks. "Thanks for the food," Sasha called after him.

She sat there for some time after he'd gone, then looked up curiously at the horse; strangely, it had hardly moved. She rummaged through the bag for a moment, and found an apple; she cut it in half with her dagger, and held out a piece to the horse. "Come on, I won't hurt you," she coaxed.

The horse looked at her with it's intelligent-looking eyes, and trotted slowly over; it sniffed the apple, then gobbled it out of her hand. "There's a good horse," she soothed, as she proceeded to give it a rubdown.

------------------
There are three kinds of computer users: those that use Macintoshes, those that wish they used Macintoshes, and those that don't know any better.

[This message has been edited by Ronin (edited 12-06-2001).]

Unknowns, unknowns and unknowns.

Sideline hated unknowns, and there were four of them sitting just a few tables away. He leaned back in his chair, carrying on an inconsequential conversation with Katze, all the while observing the four men in the corner of his field of vision.

One of the men had a look in his eyes that Sideline had come to know and fear - the look of a killer. That was bad enough, but Sideline was also morally certain that the man knew he was observing him!

He noted the subtle shifting of positions that gave the man a clear line of sight in his direction, and twitched inwardly. Stalemates were something else Sideline hated, and this was shaping up to be the strangest one he'd ever seen; neither side could act without the other knowing, and the point was fast approaching at which one group or the other had to act - he could sense it, almost as tangible as the urge to draw his next breath.

The situation was getting extremely dangerous.

"This is ridiculous," he thought. "Neither group knows a thing about the other, and here we are, ready to slit each other's throats if someone so much as coughs funny! There must be some way to break the tension!"

Sideline had a favourite maxim he liked to apply in times like this: "When in doubt, do the unexpected."

Ignoring Katze's shocked expression, he suddenly stood up and walked over to the other table. "My name is Sideline. May I sit down?"

------------------
My signature? You want to see my signature? Now why would I go revealing all my secrets to a total stranger, huh?

Phinril smiled and stood up, inviting Sideline down before anybody could protest. Sideline uneasily sat down across from Hergat and for a moment there was an uneasy silence. Hergat glanced at Sideline, storing away the info into some corner of his brain for future reference. The uneasy feeling in him grew deeper, gnawing at him.

"So...err, I'm Sideline. And you would be..." he stuttered, suddenly wondering why. This seemed so silly, everything about this situation was almost ridiculous. Two people at each others throats without knowing who they were fighting. To his immense relief, the man across from him stood up and relaxed. Perhaps he didn't consider Sideline much of a threat, or perhaps there was an ulterior motive that could be pondered later.

"My name is Hergat. I'm pleased to meet you." He said and then guestered to his companions. "Phinril is the man standing over there," a guesture in the direction of the young man trying to find an empty chair, having given his to Sideline already. Katze got up and showed him Sideline's old chair, to which he blushed, bowed, accidentially bumped into the table behind him too hard and sent beverages flying all over its patrons. "Xenar," the man continued, either oblivious to the scene, which wasn't likely, or had seen it before and knew what to expect, "and the elf here is Lemenath."

"Pleased to meet you." Sideline had regained his confidence and wondered what it was about Hergat that unnerved him. Perhaps it was that he had the appearance that he enjoyed killing. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he missed what Hergat had said until Xenar nudged him with an elbow.

"So, Sideline, who's the Mark?" Hergat asked calmly, staring him in the face.

"Excuse me, I don't think I heard you correctly..." Sideline began.

"Who's the Mark? Aren't you here to hire my services?" Luckily, Sideline was saved by the appearance of Phinril, having found a chair and avoiding a fight with the patron whose drink he had spilled.

"No more alcohol for you..." Lemenath smiled, a pleasant smile...

------------------

Sideline smiled inwardly. Now these were terms he could understand!

The man was clearly an assassin; but not from around here, possibly not even from Cythera - nobody local would have dared ask him that question, his stand was too well known. The question remained: just what had brought them here?

"You misunderstand," Sideline began, sparring verbally and buying time to think. Just because the stranger had laid his cards on the table, it didn't mean that he was going to follow suit. "I saw that you were strangers to Cademia, and just wanted to welcome you to the city."

Hergat kept smiling the same relaxed smile. His initial attempt to provoke a response had failed, but he'd expected that; this Sideline was obviously a professional - but a professional what?

Sideline's next question brought him out of his reflections. "So tell me, what brings you to Cademia?"

------------------
My signature? You want to see my signature? Now why would I go revealing all my secrets to a total stranger, huh?

Katze looked over at Sideline, who didn't seem quite comfortable with the situation he'd brought himself into. Without further thought, she moved over to the table he and the other men were sitting at. She placed her chair next to Sideline's and sat down, smiling at everyone. "My name is Katze." She simply said, then leaned back in her chair, taking the opportunity to look every one of the strangers up and down, memorizing all the information for further use.
***
Ranari leant forward in awe as the blue-haired stranger summoned the wolf, and *talked* to it. The wolf's gaze flickered to her position, and she dropped back into the bushes just in time, breathing heavily. They had almost discovered her. She focused her attention again, observing the wolf. It was great and white and had an aura of kindness and wisdom about her, accompanied by an intelligence which surely surpassed that of any human she'd met so far. In short, it was breathtaking. Ranari put down her crystal bow and Mam'ra, and the small knife she always used to bring along, keeping only her ivory flute, the one item nobody would ever take away from her. It was special. Her sister had carved it for her even before her birth, and had taught her how to play it. Ranari had been ten years old when her sister had mysteriously disappeared. Ranari clasped the flute. Then she stepped out into the small clearing. No one who knew and had befriended such a beautiful creature could possibly be bad.

------------------
As l lay in my bed staring at the sky I asked myself:
Where the hell did the roof go?

"Sorry, I keep my clients and their Marks personal, unless they request otherwise." Hergat continued, "You seem to know your way around here, and probably most of the people. Can I ask you a question?" Hergat smiled, perhaps from watching Sideline suddenly flinch.

"Uh...sure. What would that be?" Sideline asked with a calm voice; Hergat privately moved his opinion of this man a notch higher.

Hergat grinned, Katze shuddered inwardly wondering what the question would be, "Where's the bathroom?"

------------------


[This message has been edited by Lemenath (edited 12-06-2001).]

Katerei turned back to Silvre. The white wolf was studying the pearly shell again.
Silvre shook her head. "I have an idea of what it might be, but I cannot say for sure right now. Do you think you could leave it with me for a time?"
Katerei nodded and started to speak, but she was interrupted by Silvre. "Quatra. Are you from Cademia?"
Katerei turned around in surprise to see who Silvre was greeting. It was the strange silver-haired woman.
Katerei took a step backwards. "It's you!" she said, her eyes flickering to the woman's wrist, which still bore the bracelet. She shook her head, continuing to back into the forest. "No," she whispered. "You can't- no, you're not with Zrenerr, you can't be...but the bracelet?"
A smile crossed Silvre's face. "Katerei, do you not remember what I told you? This woman does not bear the bracelet of Zrenerr. It is a different one."
The woman lifted her wrist. "My bracelet? It belongs to no one but me. And who is Zrenerr?"
Silvre shook her head. "Do not mind my friend. She is still haunted by her memories. Ask not of the bracelet; perhaps you shall know sometime. But for now- I am Silvre, leader of the Amaroqs, and this is my friend Katerei. By what name shall we call you?"
"I am Ranari," the woman replied. " I am not from Cademia. I live elsewhere- I am here to find my friend Madaya, who you know as Moonshadow."
Katerei scowled at Ranari. She still didn't seem very trustworthy, and even now, she felt uneasy. It felt rather as if Ranari was searching her mind, her memories, and the only ones near here who knew Katerei's past was Ferazel and Silvre. But she tried to push that aside for now and answer the woman's comment.
Katerei shook her head. "Silvre knows not of Moonshadow, and I have never met her either. Only from people who have mentioned her, do I even know who she is. Moonshadow left before I arrived in Cademia."
Ranari raised an eyebrow. "You are not from around here," she said. "I sensed as much."

------------------
Vera avadon isma philandraon equinus. Alama quira opaliu tyvanon Elemeniya. Likiyre svanre tyu'aka. Likiyre tyu'aka.

"Oh," Sideline replied, "down the corridor behind you, second on your left."

Hergat stood up from the table, and made his way in the direction indicated, careful not to turn his back until he was well away from the table. As soon as he was out of sight, Sideline turned to Lenenath.

"So, what brings you all to Cythera?" He sensed Katze stiffen momentarily, as the significance of the question sank in, but he knew she'd have sense enough not to overtly betray her surprise.

He looked innocently at Lemenath, awaiting his response.

------------------
My signature? You want to see my signature? Now why would I go revealing all my secrets to a total stranger, huh?