[Catacombs] The Flip Of A Coin (Izdihar & Adnys)

[Gate]

6th day of Fall

This day was like any other. Gate woke up in the morning and felt the need to learn and experience more. He got up and grabbed his backpack containing his weapons and money then left the inn he was staying at. The other day he heard of Catacombs that lay beneath Dira’s Chapel. This intrigued him and Gate thought of visiting it today. Walking through the cities with many taller people around him was always odd. Gate walked close to the walls and avoided getting trampled or ran over. After walking awhile he came to the place he wanted to be. Gate stood before Dira’s Chapel. After walking inside he noticed it was much different than the outside. There were pillars of skulls that seemed sinister and yet beautiful in the way they were. The curves of the ceiling and the black stones that made up the floor all added to the beauty of the Chapel. Gate walked through the Chapel and was astounded by everything he saw. He slowly made his way to the entrance of the Catacombs while taking in the sights of the chapel. After he reached the entrance he descended into the Catacombs to see what they had to offer.

[Izdihar]

A needle thin line of smoke climbed through the hallowed dim of Dira's Chapel. It twisted like a sidewinder through the haze of intangible djed leftover prayers laced in halls such as these. Izdihar of the Westwinds followed the smoke's path with kohl-lined eyes, the rest of her still as the skulls standing macabre guard with crossed scythes. Blood colored silk puddled on the marble floor, catching the light from the candles mounted in their own wax about the stick of heady incense. Izdihar's was not a face the Gilded of Ahnatep would expect to find in so somber a setting. Her's was the role of laughing socialite, bejeweled and bedecked with the weapons of wit and wile rather than those of religious fervency and wise faith. Yet today Dira's chapel held her far from both the hours of the cradle and the grave, and what worship she had made in this time had been silent and profound. It might have betrayed a depth others might have believed existent only in selfish ambitions. The sight of a miniature, moving figure caught her eyes as the incense gasped its last smoky orison. Delicate eyebrows drew together and a frown caught her mouth behind the sheer, dark veil swathing the lower half of her face. Within moments, she was risen with bare feet (sandals having been discarded at the chapel door) navigating a path through guttering candles en route for this mystery. Curiosity carried her, a strip of her black embroidered shawl tossed across the curve her shoulder. "You," she said, a fresh voice traveling ahead of her, splashing against the entrance to the stairs leading down to the catacombs. "Wait a moment."

[Adnys]

Adnys had been exploring the city for a few days, every nook and cranny. He wanted to know what everything was like here now that he had arrived, and he wasn't at all disappointed by what he saw. It was an amazing place. Perhaps he would stay here for more than just a few weeks, though he intended to leave before the beginning of winter.

A voice spoke from nearby, and Adnys walked towards the source of it. "Wait a moment," it had said, and, eager to meet one of the residents of the city of Ahnatep, and probably more than one, he moved farther in the direction of the sound.

[Gate]

The steps leading down to the catacombs were, like most steps, large and caused Gate to have to jump down each one. Right after he hit the bottom, he heard a woman’s voice coming up behind him. It was a sweet, beautiful voice. After turning around he saw an Eypharian woman coming down the stairs. Of what he could see, she had a beautiful face and bright blue eyes. As she came down he gave a small wave and said, “Hello! My name is Gate. Who are you?” While waiting for the woman to reply he heard the sound of footsteps coming near them.

[Adnys]

Adnys heard another voice, this one introducing himself to the other. He seemed to go by the name of "Gate." What an interesting thing to call oneself, Adnys thought, for it was truly a very interesting alias. He wondered if it was the man's real name.

Drawing closer, Adnys spoke up. "Hello, Gate," he said, smiling.

[Izdihar]

"Gate?" The lady seemed surprised, eyebrows rocking prettily upward as she eased to a halt like a ripple breaking against the wall of a seer's bowl. The steps spanning between chapel and catacombs yawned both behind and before her, a tiny figure made of clay smiling from the bottom and equally as bewildering figure crafted from what seemed to be lit from within by Leth's pallid stare. Four palms spread against the stone of the stair wall, feeling the age of it -- both what it had already earned and what it would in the centuries to come -- beneath soft fingertips as she gave them both her profile. Looking up. Looking down. There was no fear in her regard. Though they dwelt in the shadows of a funeral hall, surrounded by the remnants of a culture the inhabitants of the sands above struggled to re-achieve, she was certain and unmovable. The confidence of a noble Eypharian carried her through all. "And you?" She wanted to know, most politely, of the ethaefal above. "I am Izdihar of the Westwinds and these likes," a feint to the curve of her smile. She meant them. "I've not seen before. Where are you going, Gate?"

[Adnys]

Out of Character: Izdihar, since it is day time my character appears as a human currently.

"Greetings, Izdihar of the Westwinds," Adnys said, reaching out to shake her hand. "I am Adnys, recently arrived here." He gave a slight bow, his eyes meeting the cold stone floor, then moving back upwards to greet Izdihar's face. Before coming here, he had never seen an Eypharian in his life, but now Adnys had encountered enough that the extra limbs had ceased to disturb him.

The first day he had been here, though, it had been nearly unbearable. Everything had felt so alien to him, and the heat beating down on him all day made it all the worse.

Turning back to Gate, Adnys tilted his head slightly and wondered why someone would go by the name of Gate. Perhaps the alias was meant to be symbolic in some way, though how Adnys didn't know. Gate was the first Pycon that Adnys had ever seen, and he was slightly taken aback by those great wings. They were simply magnificent!

At the same time, though, the wave of unfamiliarity that had struck him in the past few days returned and Adnys was fearful and curious, all at once.

[Gate]

As he looked upon the human that walked to them and said hello to him, he gave the same short wave and said, “Hello.” This man towered above Gate and he noticed the blue eyes that shone bright as the moon, even in the poor lighting of the catacombs.

Gate then turned to Izdihar and gave a polite smile, “I am a member of the small race called Pycon. I tend to be very curious and decided to explore these mysterious catacombs here.”

[Izdihar]

There was a moment's hesitation when Adnys offered his hand, but ultimately the noblewoman fell back upon the charm of the palatial Westwinds and accepted his hand for a shake with good grace. Curiosity kept her from retreating back into the embrace of Tanroa's deathly handmaiden above stairs and she observed the Pycon in particular with sharpening interest. She had never seen such a creature before, though she had read of them in books. "That's quite a morbid strain of curiosity you have," she remarked after a moment, relying upon her grasp of the Common language though she found it to be particularly claustrophobic as a vehicle of communication. A glance of clear water eyes cast itself down through the shadows and within a moment she had turned to grasp the staff of a torch hooked upon the wall of the stair well. Firelight threw itself like a man's last gasps, guttering and fleet, across time worn stones and the depiction of a jackal swallowing the moon carved deep above the arch way below. A hint of adventure caught her smile, eyebrows raising at her unlikely companions. "Shall we indulge it, gentlemen?"

[Adnys]

Adnys was overwhelmed and somewhat intimidated by Gate, having never seen a Pycon before and thinking them quite terrifying. However, this one seemed gentle enough to him, and he did not want to offend anyone, so he decided to attempt to keep his fear hidden. "So you've only gotten here recently, as well?" he inquired, glad to meet another newcomer.

Hearing Izdihar's voice behind him, Adnys turned and saw the torch in her hand. "Perhaps," he said, still wishing to explore the area and not having fully done so as of yet.