Nira'Lia's Fortune

by **Anselm** on March 31st, 2012, 2:41 am

Nira'Lia's Fortune
20 Spring 512
Marketplace in Zeltiva

OCC :

Anselm peered at the frail-looking young woman. He knew, of course, that it would be impossible to judge a Konti's age from her appearance. It had been a long time since he had visited Mura and he had fond memories of the place. With few exceptions he found the Konti both fascinating and delightful. What brings you to Zeltiva? He wondered to himself.

“Dear lady,” he said slowly in a deep gravely voice as he stood and bowed slightly to her. “You honor me with your presence. Please sit.” He gestured to the empty chair on the other side of the table from his, and sank wearily back into his own chair. “Surely a lady of The White Isle has no need of my poor fortune-telling services. Your gifts of insight undoubtedly far surpass mine. I should rather be asking you to tell me my fortune.” He produced a slight smile and then waved his hand as though to dismiss her from his presence. “Be that as it may, I would be honored to tell your fortune if you wish it to be so. Do you perhaps have a specific question you wish to to ask? It is not required but can be helpful.”

by **Nira'lia** on April 1st, 2012, 1:32 pm

Nira'lia was clearly startled when the man spoke. His voice was so deep and raspy, its pace slow. To her, his whole persona was very mysterious -- a trait that most fortune-tellers seemed to instil. Her attention went from him to the chair he gestured to, and she gingerly took a seat. The smile that had graced her lips never left.

'Who is this man...?' He bestowed an aura that Nira'lia couldn't help but associate with something that she did not fully understand: death.

She returned to the present, inwardly scolding herself for being so rude. The woman realized that she had not spoken for some time. Even the smile that she had been wearing had slowly vanished. Her face went red as she felt incredibly embarrassed, and she shifted her stare to the table.

"I-I... that isn't true, what I know about telling fortunes would surely be miniscule compared to what you can do," she whispered, her voice almost inaudible. Then she continued to speak as she found the words she needed to say: words that she couldn’t bring up with her mother. "I would want to know... where the future will send me. I have always wanted to go to Mura, but lately, something tells me I should be heading somewhere west instead... I don't understand, but the feeling gets stronger and stronger every single day."

She spoke with the same soft voice that she used whenever she was unsure of what she was saying. Nira'lia continued to stare at the table. Before she had sat down, she didn't even know what she wanted to ask. But now that she was, the question just felt natural, and it had been something that was bothering her for some days now. She felt as if Avalis wanted her to answer to something, but it wasn't clear to her yet -- and maybe this man could help her understand faster.

by **Anselm** on April 1st, 2012, 7:57 pm

Anselm did not normally explain the theory behind his “fortune-telling.” Most people were satisfied with superstition. But the Konti were a people of insight, gifted with the ability to see beneath the surface of things. It would almost be an insult to pretend that what he did in any way compared with what this young woman could do.

“Of course I cannot really tell you your fortune,” he said. “Any more than I can predict your future.” He reached beneath his cape and pulled out a small cloth bag. “But there are ancient words, carefully crafted over time from before the Valterrian - or so I'm told - that function as a kind of mirror that reveals the soul of the seeker to him or herself.”

He carefully untied the cloth bag and poured the contents into his right hand, which he held open so she could see what he had. What he had was a set of eighteen tiny bones etched with intricate designs.

“I will throw the bones and the resulting pattern will provide me with a number between one and sixty-four. Think of it as a kind of random number generator. The number it produces corresponds to one of sixty-four words of wisdom I was taught by my master. I will say the appropriate word with the appropriate intonations to create the appropriate mystical effect. But in fact, it doesn't matter which of the sixty-four sayings you receive or with what intonations they are uttered. What matters is what you bring to the words.”

He started to turn his right hand to let the bones fall on to the table but then hesitated. He peered out from under his hood at the woman and did something he rarely did. He offered her an opinion.

“It has always surprised me,” he said slowly. “How often people say more than they know. You, for example, said, 'I would want to know where the future will send me.' Almost as though you believe your path is somehow ordained by a higher power and that your part is not to choose your own path but to discern the path that has already been chosen for you. I think in unlikely that you meant to say that, but that is in fact what you did say. Is it possible that this is the source of your inner conflict? Of your indecisiveness? Dare I say, of your fear? Is it possible that you already know the answer to your question but have not yet found the inner courage to overcome your outer reticence and embrace your own future?”

He turned his right hand over and let the bones rattled on to the surface of the table. He studied them for a few moments. Anselm always wore thin black gloves so as to spare his customers the shock of being touched by a Nuit's cold, dead flesh. He reached out quickly with his left hand and placed two fingers on the back of the woman's right hand as he spoke the words of an ancient oracle:

Above is earth, submissive, Below is heaven, strong.
Heaven is strong inside, Earth is submissive outside.
Strength and submission unified. This is called Tranquility.

OOC :

by **Nira'lia** on April 2nd, 2012, 9:43 am

The woman looked intensely startled and uneasy. Her eyes were wide, her mouth slightly agape as she took his words in. He spoke in what she would call was riddles, which was not uncommon for seers. But much of what he said also made sense... and it amazed her how heavily his words were laced with the truth. He easily observed and spoke of what she truly could not yet admit to herself.

'...It is true... maybe I am afraid of what I truly need to do because it will take me much further from the white Isle. This is why I cannot truly understand what it means, because I will not face the truth on my own.'

The woman watched as he worked with the bones. This was one fortune telling material that she had no idea about, and maybe she could pick up a thing or two. She listened to his words. The woman took every word of his in. Her eyes stared at him intently, showcasing the seriousness with which she regarded this situation. As he spoke of how he used the bones to discern the answer to one's question, she found herself very interested of what he had to say. Sixty-four words of wisdom... that was a lot. She couldn't help but giggle when he spoke about creating the appropriate mystical effect. Nira'lia had never seen such a transparent fortune teller, and with that, she somehow felt comforted. Hopefully, she could use this knowledge to hone her own skill in fortune telling as well. After listening to him speak, and after listening to his opinions, she knew he was a man with much wisdom.

Nira'lia gasped when the man suddenly reached forward and touched her hand. She was always wary of physical contact, and she felt relieved to see that he wore gloves that prevented her skin to touch his. She was a Konti, and like all Kontis, she had a gift -- and her gift came about when she touched another's skin. She was albeit curious as she eyed this man before her though. She wondered, what would be the most precious memory that this man held? However, this was neither the time nor place to pry into someone else's memory and emotions, and she knew that.

"I... well, that..." she was a loss in words as she realized that the oracle of which he spoke was once again a riddle. Nira'lia felt intensely dim and was embarrassed because of that. Riddles about one's fortune were not new to her, yet she still didn't know how to discern them. Discernment was one of the skills that she lacked when it came to fortune telling, though her mother always did tell her -- it is the person who asks who should interpret the words. That was also what Anselm had just told her.

"Strength, submission, tranquility..." she repeated under her breath, her mind hard at work. Nira'lia remembered his previous words and tried to put them together to the best of her ability. She was fearful of facing the truth of her fate, and this caused her unease.

She knew there was no possible way she could ignore her call, if it was indeed her call. The strength of the pull would be too much to bear. She also heard that when a Konti answers their call, they feel nothing but peace of mind. But for her... it would mean going further and further from her dream, which was to go to Mura.

"Would those words mean... facing my fate with strength and submission would bring me tranquillity?" she asked with a calm smile as she tried to suppress all the confusion and the frustration in her. Nira'lia didn't know why she was asking him -- the message seemed pretty clear to her, but then she thought maybe she had it wrong. "That would make much sense. I didn't think about it before, but that makes a lot of sense."

She didn’t know why, but she continued in her rambling --

”What about you, Sir Anselm? What would you do if you were torn between what you’re supposed to do and what you want to do? But maybe you would not understand, maybe you have never been in my place... and I don’t even know why I am asking you.”

If only what she needed to do and what she wanted to do were the same thing, then that would be easier. Nira’lia sighed. Her thoughts were a disgrace to Avalis, and in her mind, she apologized over and over again to her Goddess. She had even blurted out her arrogance to this seer, as if he could say something to comfort her, even thought he might as well just spit on her naivety and send her away.

Nira’lia bowed her head slightly, apologizing to the Nuit. ”I am sorry... you have been of much help. I should be on my way.”

by **Anselm** on April 6th, 2012, 2:01 am

Anselm's gaze drifted toward the tent opening. He appeared to have lost interest in the conversation. You must be getting senile in your old age, he thought to himself. Letting yourself get involved in other peoples' business. First there was that silly peahen Kelvic. Then that bumbling falcon Kelvic. Then that insane mage affair that nearly got you killed. And now you've let yourself get caught up in this neurotic Konti's inability to make the simplest of decisions about her own life. Anselm never had understood why so many people spent so much time worrying about things that didn't really matter. Like, Should I go here? Or should I go there? Who cares!? What difference does it make!? Wherever you go, there you are. And then you live your life there for a while. Then you go somewhere else and live your life there for a while. For gods' sake, lady, just choose!

For the first century or so after he was animated, he thought it terribly important to make the right choices and to go to the right places. Eventually he realized that it didn't really matter where he went or what he did. One place was pretty much as good (or bad) as another. So he had retreated to the mountains of Kalea where he studied under his master. Then he had moved to the vast wilderness of Taldera. Then back to civilization, where he moved from city to city. Moving was usually necessary when he acquired a new body because there was always the chance that the locals might recognize the body and react badly to him having taken possession of it. Lasting relationships were simply not possible. Getting involved in the affairs of others was risky because one never knew how people would react to a Nuit in their midst. People were born, lived a few years and died. Anselm just switched bodies and kept on living. If you could call it living.

But since he had returned to Zeltiva he found himself inexplicably drawn into people's lives. He almost seemed to care about some of them. LIke this Konti woman. He couldn't imagine why he would be the least bit interested in her affairs. She meant nothing to him. Her little life was of no particular importance. She hardly seemed competent to manage it, let alone do anything significant with it. What is happening to you, old man? He wondered.

He eyes snapped back to the Konti. “I told you your fortune,” he said harshly. “Make of it what you will. Now go away and leave me alone.”

He turned his gaze back to the tent opening. He could see little puffs of white clouds skittering across the little bit of the sky he could see looking out from his tent. A change of weather was in the offing.

by **Nira'lia** on April 8th, 2012, 5:21 pm

Her eyes widening, Nira'lia stared at the Nuit with much surprise. She felt her face heat up as it instantly went red because of embarrassment. What came over her, that she would disturb a man with such a vain question? Yes, what possible reason could there be for this man to have even the slightest interest in her predicament?

"I..." started Nira'lia, but she couldn't find the words to say. She wasn't accustomed to being snapped to, especially by strangers. "I'm sorry..." she finally managed to squeak out as she hurriedly stood up from her seat.

The woman almost tripped, common sense being taken over by embarrassment. She was visibly distraught, and also a bit frightened of the man. His aura was mysterious, but something about him really did make her uneasy. This had been forgotten when she had become too engrossed in her questions, but now that he had snapped her back to reality, the uneasiness was back.

"Thank you! You were of most help!" Nira'lia said as quickly and clearly as she could, although her voice was high and nervous. The girl took a slight bow, her light hair falling over her shoulders. Then she stood up straight again and looked him right in the eyes, giving him the best smile that she could offer in the current situation. With that, she rushed out of the tent, turning around the corner as quickly as she could to get out of his sight.

She sighed to herself and realized that her heart was pounding. The woman forced herself to think about what had just happened. Nira'lia knew she had to face her fears, and it was clear: she had to work to gain peace of mind. The only thing that currently comforted her was that she knew that answering her call would bring her happiness, she just didn’t know in what way yet. In all honesty, she didn’t even know what her call was exactly, just that she had the strong urge to travel to the west.

The Konti smiled to herself, holding a hand to her chest to feel her pounding chest. At first, the Konti thought it was pounding because she had been frightened by the man. But although she still felt foolish about her outburst, she had already felt at peace with the incident. Her heart was pounding for a different reason, and perhaps that was because she was excited, although also very nervous, of facing her call. And inwardly, she thanked the man again for helping her arrive at that realization faster, even if the man had not meant to.

by **Anselm** on April 8th, 2012, 6:03 pm

Anselm watched the flustered woman hurry away. He was disturbed by his behavior. It was simply not like him to snap at someone like that. He mentally ran through several emotions, trying them on like hats until he found one that fit: Anger. Now that is odd, he thought. He replayed the conversation in his mind but could find nothing that would account for it. He didn't feel especially apologetic for having been rude to the Konti. But it was an unwise and rarely useful way to treat people. He had acted entirely from emotion, not from reason. He had, it seemed, lost control of himself. Now that is disturbing, he thought.

He closed up for the day and walked slowly home. There was something wrong with him but he had no idea what it might be. He arrived at his little house and laid down on his bed. He began identifying sounds and smells and stray thoughts that came to him, firmly setting each one outside his immediate awareness. Soon he was focused almost entirely inward. There he remained for the rest of the day.

It was dark when he finally came out of his meditative state. He lit an oil lamp and sat at his table. He now knew what was wrong with him. But he had no idea what to do about it. Now that is a problem, he thought.

THE END

OOC :

by **Echelon** on April 9th, 2012, 6:39 am

Adventurer's Loot

A Gift
Experience is it's own reward.

Anselm's Loot :

Nira'Lia's Loot :

(This was a refreshing little thread. Clearly unscripted and felt very true to each character. Keep it up. Anselm, you might want to omit the word "heaven" from your mantra. And, payment can be decided between you two.) - if you have ANY questions or concerns about this grading, don't hesitate to PM me.