[The Unforgiving]Sun Bathing... or Not (Ishkaral)

[Vira Oreleous]

20th Day of Fall, 511 A.V. 10th Bell, Coastline of the Unforgiving Vira was nestled in between a few large boulders. Hidden from view but still able to catch the sun. Today was her day of leisure. Hard earned from a long journey beneath the sea. She took a deep slow breath and imagined being back home. Away from dry land and back amongst the coral palaces and seahorse races. Reading an old scroll on the Human Anatomy, instead of cutting the creatures up herself. The knowledge she obtained from them first hand. Was of course irreplaceable, but she could do without the screams and pleas for mercy. This wasn't the time to regret her decisions. It was her time to lay down and sun bathe. Her body floated just a foot under water. The sun's rays glimmered on her dark blue skin. As the tide ebbed and flowed, so did the white silks draped around her chest and hips. It felt damn good to relax. But something had to ruin it. Something always did. Either she wouldn't let herself relax or a creature came by worthy of examination. And if it wasn't the latter. She would of gotten up herself. Laying back for long, wasn't a skill of Vira's. There was a splash in the water. Close enough to make her jump, but far enough not to be an immediate threat. How close it was didn't matter to Vira. In a heart beat she slithered out of the rocks and swam into deeper waters like a watery phantom. She wanted to go back to Calarune and forget her attempt at relaxing, but her curiosity pulled her back. It could be a human taking a dip. Such easy prey couldn't be passed up. She crept back into the shallow waters, and hid by the rocks she was resting in. But what she saw was far better than any human subject.

[Ishkaral]

The scorpion kept scurrying off out Ishkaral's line of sight, going in narrow spaces between rocks or simply playing hide-and-seek behind some boulders and whatnot. Ishkaral wasn't losing his patience just yet, mainly because this was his very first expedition with the intent to find new Morphing material and such. Eshacro on the other hand, was getting annoyed with the playful scorpion.

" Sunnova...QUIT MESSING AROUND! " He yelled as the scorpion tip toe'd away from the Akalak's sight.

Ishkaral didn't pay much attention to Eshacro's rage fit though, he was too busy trying to actively pursue and observe the scorpion's behaviour and appearance, without coming too close or anger the cretin. Then the encounter happened that Ishkaral had hoped for, for all these hours of observing. A battle between the stinging scorpion and a rather sizeable mountain spider.

At first they were acting like they hadn't seen eachother or were without the intent of harming one another. But once they were close enough to strike ... Insect-Hell broke loose. The spider made the first move but was unable to bite through the thick exoskeleton of the scorpion with his fangs. But the scorpion was able to snap two legs of the arachnid and finished it off with a swift piercing stab from above with its stinger.

That was what Ishkaral needed, to see how exactly the stinger worked when stabbing, apparently it can only move in a "straight" line in a downwards stab.

The stinger in itself wasn't that great to use in combat, unless he'd be skilled enough to morph a poisonous substance in "his" stinger, but he was nowhere near skilled enough for that.

Having observed long enough, especially in Eshacro's opinion, they went to sit on a rock and practice morphing thicker and larger scales from their skin. They just sat down halfnaked, without clothes on except for pants and footwear, in order to morph large scales without ruining their clothes.

Ishkaral started working on creating the exoskeleton, which took a rather significant amount of time to manifest itself and the end-result was a tarnished golden shine over his scaled body, but the scales interfered with his movement and had to be readjusted still. The Akalak morphed back into his normal self and laid on the large flat stone a bit, to regain his focus and think of a solution for the malfunctioning joints when encased with large, thick scales.

[Vira Oreleous]

The second she spotted the green individual. She couldn't take her eyes off him. He had to be the finest specimen she had ever seen. His body was in its physical prime. Broad shoulders with well defined muscles, and taller than any man she had ever seen. She couldn't be for certain, but he looked nearly seven feet tall. The only problem she could see was his skin... It was green as moss and looked to be scaled. Akalaks where a Humanoid race. Similar to man in looks and anatomy, other than the skin. But that was a fine blue. She had seen many different shades in Riverfall during her many visits, but green and scaly wasn't one of them. Whatever this creature was, it could easily tear her limb from limb. She didn't dare confront it directly and clung to the shadows of the boulders she was hiding behind. Her dark blue skin made her look like a denser shadow, but it was her swimming she would rely on to get away, not her stealth. She was too curious to escape though. Especially now that that the subject was yelling at itself... With no one around. Or at least no one that she could see. She started to question his mental health. Now she absolutely had to have him. This could be a freak of nature or a whole new race. The Charodae never documented While the man observed spiders and scorpions, Vira observed him. With the same look of interest and excitement. She wondered what he could be so fascinated with? She had an interest in the way life worked. In all creatures and if he wasn't around she would surely be doing the same thing, but what was his excuse? It became clear to her when he sat down. And started to put his studying to good use... with morphing. She felt a tingly sensation throughout her body. Not only was this man a seemingly new race. He was also a fellow Morpher. It was a mixture of shock and glee. It had been a long time since she felt this happy. Stepping out of the comforting embrace of water and onto the dangerous world of sand and rocks. She spoke in a thick accent. ”Laviku's blessing upon you. It is a good day for morphing is it not?” He had no weapons, hardly any clothes on. And neither did she. She had left her spear behind with Calrune in the deeper waters. And the only clothing she wore. Where necklace and belt made of small bits of bones, salvaged metals and gold coins lost at sea. And soft white silk wrapped around her chest and hips. Her skin was a smooth ebony with blue undertones. Especially vibrant with the sun gleaming off her wet skin. Her body was humanoid in nature. Not unlike the Akalak. Only shorter and much more lithe. Her face was the most distinguishing thing about her. The Charodae's eyes were pure black. Her hair was made out of various fins and webbed membrane, making a spiky head dress, trailing down the nape of her neck. ”May I ask what race are you? I have never seen Human nor Akalak with your skin before.” Her manors didn't extend much farther than her greeting. As she plowed forward with curiosity. ”My name is Vira Oreleous and I am of the Charodae people.” Her voice was more beautiful than music under water. Above land it sounded much more harsh and squeaky.