The Zeltivan Monument Series Part 5: The Design (OPEN)

[Wart]

Wart followed, setting down on the table the two books she still held but keeping a hand on them just in case. Her other hand held tight to Tock's, a still trembling thumb lightly rubbing hers in an effort to give some comfort. She nodded at Tock's request, giving a slight smirk. Funny for big ol' "scary" ghost to get all touchy over a petchin lil' book. In her mind it was, in fact, not funny, but utterly terrifying to say the least. Whether it was believable or not, she would put up an unaffected and critical front, even if it was just to deceive herself.

As Tock moved closer, Wart placed an arm around her shoulder and leaned her head against hers. She didn't respond to the ghosts greeting, but continued to watch him suspiciously. The woman mentally scoffed at his saying he apologized for the "impression" (lotsa dark lookin' shyke for not meanin' to give an impression of hurtin' someone) but she couldn't help the relief when he went back to, as Tock had called it, the nice politics ghost. And now, sitting on a chair like a normal person, she felt at least a little more at ease, though choosing to remain on her guard. As a last stubborn, if not immature, gesture she responded to the ghosts hand gesture by sticking out her tongue.

After pulling out the chair Tock had been sitting at before, Wart moved to the one next to it and sat down, pulling her books so that they lay in front of her. She wasn't exactly knowledgeable when it came to politics, but she was eager for the atmosphere to go back to whatever non-spookiness it had been before.

"'Wha sorta politic stuff you two talkin' bout?"

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Tock pulled her chair close to Wart's, and draped her legs over the other girl's, holding Wart's hand in her lap. She seemed to need some comfort, so she gently rubbed her thumbs on the back of Wart's hand, trying to soothe her. Now that the eerie vibes had fled the room, it was easier to relax again. She still found it rather odd to be sitting here discussing politics with a ghost. But at the same time, it was an intriguing experience. "We's talkin' fer 'bout my statue," Tock said, pulling over some pages of notes and rough sketches. There were a dozen or more different designs, making it clear that she hadn't fully narrowed it all down just yet. But she was working on it. "She's fer ta been all 'bout Zeltiva. What fer makes it a great city. Glory an' wonder an' all 'at. An' fer not gettin' lost onna way ta the Uni," she nodded seriously. "But I was askin' Mistah Ghost Person," she nodded to Naoru, "'bout what fer ta put in 'er, aye?" She pointed to one of the sketches, which showed a rough outline of a man, holding up a giant clamshell, with a building shown perched on top. "Tryin' fer ta figger, like, what's fer good stuff 'bout Zeltiva. What people likes best," she scratched the back of her head with one hand, the other still holding Wart's. "I ain't born 'ere, aye? Dunno 'bout some o' 'is stuff..."

[Noaru]

Noaru saw the drawing on the paper; he was amazed by its detail! The old spirit studied the picture, seeing a man holding up a giant clamshell, with a building shown perched on top. He was thinking what else could be added to the drawing; a trident…. Nah, maybe a cape… The spirit wasn't sure; he had to think about what else could be added, as he looked around the room. An idea finally pops inside his head! Maybe the symbol of Laviku, or a wave or aquatic creature!


''I've got it! Maybe, Lavina's symbol could be added to the drawing, a wave!''


He's only known him through hearsay but Laviku was said to be the God of the oceans, Noaru was aware of the presence of the Gods but never knew their names or their physical appearances and being the spirit that he was, kept his distance-- last thing he wanted to do was enrage a God or gain their distrust.


'The people of Zeltiva enjoy the oceans and the university! I just thought of these to things from my memory of observing others.''


Noaru saw Wart sticking her tongue at him and laughs at little, reminding him of the less serious times of his life before death and madness had changed his soul for all eternity! He was indeed a strange spirit that just by witnessing such a little thing made him reminisce about so much.

[Wart]

Wart gave her friend a small smile in appreciation. The feeling of her hands provided the comfort she needed to allow herself to think of things other than the suspicious character. She still wouldn't trust the ghost, but for now she could at least get her mind straight and actually provide whatever input she could on the conversation.

She leaned in and took one hand to look through some of Tock's sketches herself. Her eyes narrowed, studying the details of each. It was plain to see that the statue was still in the earlier planning stage with quite a lot of finalizing to do, but she was impressed with a lot of the designs and existing detail all the same. She listened as Tock spoke, still looking through some notes. She realized she'd never really thought about it, but somehow always like Zeltiva, ever since first arriving here. The comment about the University made a smile a little, having lost her way a couple of times just trying to find the petching library.

When Tock mentioned that she hadn't been born there, Wart looked up at her. A small snippet of a half-heard conversation entered her mind. Something about that Konti girl that day they painted her house, and her asking where Tock was from. Whether she ever answered or not she couldn't say, she'd been too engrossed in the painting to pay much attention.

"Well, hate ta say ya prolly know more'n I do." She scoffed lightly at herself. "Wasn' born anywhere near here neither."

Hearing the ghost's comment she frowned a little. She didn't recognize the name he's used, but could only guess it was some God. Wasn't that the ocean one everyone was all crazy about here? Eh maybe, she didn't care much for the suggestion, but from an artistic standpoint couldn't help with agreeing with it. If you were going to make something representative of Zeltiva you'd probably have to include… whoever it was, in there some way somehow.

"Was' his.. Er… its symbol exactly?"

Waiting for an answer from either of the two, Wart allowed herself to think about the different things she personally liked in the city. A lot of it had to do with the roughness of a lot of it. It wasn't exactly a rats nest of thugs and thieves, but it sure as hell wasn't the strict stick-up-your-butt kind of city she'd heard places like Syliras to be. But how exactly you would turn something like that into an image, she'd have to give more thought into.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Tock listened to the suggestions, nodding and taking notes. She tapped her quill against her lips thoughtfully, "Hmm... Aye. Aye, Laviku... People 'round 'ere sure loves 'im a lot. Mighty good symbol fer ta represent Zeltiva, aye?" She made a note to look up what Laviku's symbol was. Religion wasn't really her thing, and with so many petching Gods, she had a hard time keeping track of the details of most of them. They just weren't important in her life. As she was jotting her notes, since Wart seemed not to know any more about the subject that she did, she added in the only bit of religious 'wisdom' she had about Laviku, "Ya know 'e done married twins? An' shags 'em on the beach in Mura? Think it were," she scratched her head with the quill, ignorant of the ink she smeared in her hair, "'Ealy-bitch, an'... dun remember the other one. The Konti's Mommas..." She had a hard time remembering the details of the conversation from four years ago, where she'd learned this bit of 'religious knowledge.' "But aye, 'pparently 'e can only shags 'em on the beach when the tide comes in, what cause 'e can't leave the water, aye?" She nodded quite seriously, fully believing this was how it worked, "An' 'at's where Konti comes from, what cause 'ere ain't no boy Kontis fer ta make 'em no babies..." She sucked on her teeth, adding a few notations with arrows about where on her design she might want to add Laviku's symbol. Though she'd have to find out what the symbol WAS first, in order to incorporate it more artistically into the design.

[Noaru]

''Sorry to interrupt you but what are these Konti you speak of?''


Noaru had a confused expression upon his face, completely and totally unaware of other races besides humans; he was. He had existed for many years but has never met any other races besides humans and other ghosts.... Well, malevolent spirits like him this is other ghosts tend to stay away from him due to his fits of rage at times and destructive nature. Noaru saw that he was starting to move off track, being an ''air-head'' what the humans would say at times; answering Tocks and Warts question he says.


''Laviku's symbol would be a wave of course! He's the God of the oceans and should be well known in Zeltiva being that this city is so closely tied to the sea!''


He could see that his two companions was slowly yet progressively learning, and understanding what he was saying! He felt like more of a teacher than anything and in a way he was teaching but a slow pace since his knowledge was limited to what he has witnessed or speculated within his thoughts. Noaru felt a since of accomplishment, he hadn't harmed anyone all day—a world record in malevolent spirit history!

[Wart]

Wart listened to Tock's explanation, face frozen in a mix of shock and disbelief. She'd always wondered about the whole Konti's being all girls thing, and for all she knew everything her friend said must have been right. An' they worship this vagik?? To her it sounded like some fish man was petching an island of girl's and playing God for it. She laughed and shook her head, looking down at the table. An 'ey wonder why I ain't religious.

Looking up she answered the ghost's question with a smirk. "Konti're a buncha fish girls, real pretty an' pale. Real good healers an' can 'read your mind' or some shyke. Pretty useless when comes ta' workin' though, real fragile. They live o'er on Mura, this island off o'er there" her hand waved in some vague direction "an' they got this water 'at does real weird things to your head or somethin'." She'd never been there but the people she'd come to Zeltiva with would talk about it all the time like it was a dream vacation. To her it kind of sounded like a bunch of creepy white ladies around a drugged up pool.

Now that they'd started talking she felt a little more comfortable and let her mind wander while the ghost was speaking again. Her finger idly traced patterns on the flower book in front of her as she considered other aspects of Zeltiva that could work as designs. Trade was big, so maybe like a pile of Mizas by some big trade import? Fish or something? Then she remembered Zeltiva had some other currency, nilos. She didn't like cities having their own stupid kinda money, thinking it'd be better if everyone just used the same petchin thing to make it easier, but it was something specific to the place.

Bringing her focus back into the conversation she listened what everyone was saying before adding the suggestion, hoping someone would say something that would spark a better idea.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Tock wrote down what Naoru said about Laviku's symbol being a wave, though she'd still need to research the actual symbol, since the wave might have a particular shape or appearance. She would need to make sure her use of it was accurate down to the last detail. On the subject of Mura, she added, "'Ey gots 'is real shiny magic forest though. Changes colors what when the seasons change. I were up inna tree 'ere what when she 'appened one winter. Thought it what were pretty cool, maybe gonna build a color-changin' somethin'-or-other outta the magic wood... 'cept fer she ain't magic no more what when she's cut off..." She spat on the floor at that, still disappointed that the magic wood was no good for building stuff. She shifted her legs on Wart's lap, trying to think about Zeltiva instead of Mura, in order to get more ideas for her statue. Laviku and some fish and stuff could represent the importance of the sea. She could also include some sailing ships to represent the importance of trade, as Naoru had pointed out. "What about people though?" she asked. "The people's the most important thing. More important than the sailors o' even the leader. Leader's jus' some bitch what wants ta 'as power fer 'erself, aye? Usin' the storm an' stuff fer ta makes people thinks what as she's doin' good'n'all. But it's the people what deserve all the credit, aye? 'Ey does all the work, builds the 'ole city up, makes it mean somethin'... without the people, the leader ain't NOTHIN'" This was her Sunberthan heritage talking. Back home, they had no leaders. Many people didn't even worship any Gods. The people just took care of themselves. Though there certainly were downsides... Tock had been assaulted, robbed, injured, and nearly raped enough times to know the dark side of Sunberth. But she still felt like, even if there were some benefits to Zeltiva HAVING a leader, the people themselves were far more important than the one that lorded over them and tried to make everyone obey their stupid rules; like, 'don't climb on that,' or, 'you need paperwork for this.' Bah. Stupid rules.

[Noaru]

'The Konti sound real nice, and non-human; they and their home land even sound magical!''

Noaru voice seemed to flair with excitement while responding to Wart! The konti were definitely going to be on the list of ''races-to-meet'' on his part. Though, his strength would need to grow more before he could travel anywhere and he would need to obtain more power before he could attempt to leave Zeltiva! A serious expression appears on his face for a brief moment while he looks downwards into the pages of a open book, he was displeased with his current level of strength and grew dissatisfied.... he needed power now.


''Now, I've definitely got to travel there sometime, as meeting beautiful inhabitants of a surreal location is any adventures dream! One could possibly find love there!''


Noaru responds to Tock, keeping that flair of excitement in his voice! ''What do I know of love....'' He thought, thinking of the possibility of him finding someone of ''interesting'' would only result in him being heartbroken that person would eventually die, leaving him with nothing but their memory and the bitten taste of death. He soon shatters the thought of love and friendship, knowing that eventually he will lose everyone again like he did before in the past ''Everyone will just die and leave me behind... again'' He thought.


''The people make up a leaders power! What kind of leader would someone be without individuals to be led? That individual would be crowned with shame and embedded into that crown would be the title ''King Nothing'' and their lawless kingdom would be filled with fools.''


The talk of lawlessness intrigued him! Imagine it... a world wrapped in discord and destruction, there would be individuals who would try to cling onto the rules of their falling civilization only to be torn apart by the innumerable host of senseless mindless souls who would later destroy themselves! And thus world would be left empty and a dark void would take its place... one should be careful with what they desire for.

[Wart]

Wart propped her elbows up on the table, listening from her friend to the ghost, agreeing with what they said.

"Yeah 'n you know, goin' further 'n that you got the workin' people. Cause all 'ose 'upper class' rich vagiks? They ain't done shyke but take what they can from the city n' everyone else n' make emselves look good. Hell jus petchin lil' lapdogs for the leader. Better'n everyone else cause they don't gotta go out n' work for what they got, workin' class is out there buildin' it for em while they watch n' boss everyone around. So yeah leader's gotta have people, but they gotta have useful people."

Her mind went back to the man with the big house and the flowers. He sure as hell hadn't planted or built it himself, Gods forbid he break a sweat or touch dirt. This was one thing she'd been surprised at arriving in Zeltiva. In Avanthal you were born in a hold and you grew up learning what that hold did. Just about everyone was doing something, cooking, building, hunting, painting, whatever. Each hold did its own thing and each hold needed every other hold. As far as she knew there wasn't a "uselessly sit around and look down on everyone" hold, which is exactly what she compared areas like West street to.

She grumbled "They wonder why times are hard, should go give em' petchin' merchants a talkin' to an get em to go get their hands dirty or go do somethin' useful with all their money. Betcha we'd have food 'ere if they'd get off their asses."