Open Absorbing the New Scene

[Kenept]

"Of course you can have some." Kenept responded to Alses question with a smile. He didn't mind sharing, and he didn't know how large of portions this place offered. It would be silly to order more than he could manage. He owed her something for the tour around the city, and right now this was a good start. Now, to deal with her other question. Why had he come here? What had brought him to Lhavit, across Kalea? Of course Kenept knew, but did he want to answer her? Could her answer her? And if he did, how much of his story could he tell? All of it, or just some? She was right that she had been doing most, if not all, of the talking thus far. And she was also right to wonder where he had come from, since he was an outsider after all. He sat there, looking at the window behind Alses, thinking. Debating on what to say and how to say it. He didn't want to seem to alien to the girl, but maybe alien was better than boring. "Ah, yes. Where did I come from. I suppose that would have come up at some point. Now, where to start..." He paused, thinking about where it was that he should start. Perhaps from where the beginning was. And by the beginning, he thought that the ordeal that landed him here would suffice. "Well, about four years ago, my brother, his name was Ceva, and I met this man." He looked down at the floor at the mention of his brother's name. He hadn't used or heard it since that day. "We had learned that he was a mage, a Reimancer, and had succeed in convincing him to train us in Reimancy." He had decided not to go into detail about how this happened. Either she already knew how one learned Reimancy, or she would find out by going through the ordeal herself, but Kenept felt that telling her that was not his place. "Up until a few moons ago, everything had been going well. He was teaching us and we were excelling. But a few days after I turned nineteen, our parents overheard a conversation between my brother and myself." At this point the Yhavao had returned with the steaming tea, and the cake. Kenept looked up at her, brushing the long black hair out of his face. "Thank you," he said. She nodded with a smile and walked away. He looked at Alses before continuing, "by all means, help yourself." He offered with a smile. "Now... They heard this conversation, pertaining to Reimancy, and confronted us. In the end, they made us leave. They are not fans of magic, and though it best if magic was not in their house. They said that it could 'ruin their reputation around Alvadas'. So, we left, with some money, and few supplies. Ceva and I had decided that Lhavit was the best place to come that was a reasonable distance away, not too far, not too short." He stopped, and looked out the window again. This was the part that was hard for him to grasp. "On our way here, we ran into a group of bandits. They... they tried to rob us. And in the process, Ceva was killed." He looked at the floor again, letting his hair fall back in front of his face. "And before I knew it, I was here, in Lhavit, and now in this tea shop." He continued to look at the floor. He hoped that he hadn't said too much. Hopefully she wouldn't think he was weak, or too different. She had asked his story, and he had told her. He wasn't quite sure why he had told her that much, but he felt that he could trust her.

[Alses]

Alses blinked stupidly at Kenept for several moments, then recovered, a ruby flush creeping up her cheeks. “Ah, you misunderstand me. We don't eat or drink, as a general rule, if we can help it.” She paused, but an explanation was evidently in order. After some internal debate, she settled for: “We had a rather bad experience shortly after trying our first meal that rather put us off the whole messy business.” She shuddered, and then continued brightly: “In any case, for about twelve hours in every twenty-four, I'm probably what would properly be termed a djedivore.” She waved an airy hand, her voice taking on a rather academic cast. “To be absolutely technically accurate, the yomi-djas of the situation, if you will - a gnosivore.” A brief pause, whilst Alses' brain performed an automatic rephrasing. “To clarify, in this form I gain all my sustenance from the sunlight that Syna's grace pours upon the world. I neither hunger nor thirst all the day, and since I defy the Lhavitian norm and sleep for much of the night...” she left the sentence unfinished and then continued “That's not to say I don't enjoy the tastes of food and drink, though – we use our auristic talents to experience that sort of thing, hence my question. Some people are wary of magic, even here. That's their prerogative, of course, even if we personally consider it a narrow-minded and blinkered view of a tremendously useful calling.” Alses listened attentively – she'd found it was an excellent way to get people to open up, simply appearing interested and genuinely concerned. Kenept's tale was soon interrupted, however, but only by the welcome arrival of rich and warm chocolate cake and tea, the two fundamental ingredients of civilisation, as far as Alses was concerned, and she took the opportunity to muse, more to herself than anything: “Reimancy, reimancy...That's elemental magic, yes? We have heard of fire reimancy, and mention of other sorts, but I can't quite remember...” A sigh; the knowledge was just there, floating beyond her immediate grasp. She gave it up for lost, at the moment – there would always be someone she could ask at the Dawn Tower, after all. “No matter; do continue.” Kenept's story, however, soon took a darker twist as he related the tale of how he and his brother were summarily turfed out of their home by magic-fearing parents, to fend for themselves as best they could. Small wonder they'd made for Lhavit, even given the horrendous terrain between Alvadas and the celestial city. Alses winced in remembrance; she'd done that trek, years ago. “We are sorry for your loss,” she murmured, head tilted absently, unconsciously to the skies even as Kenept's angled to the floor. It was the right thing to say, insofar as anything was right – and she meant it. “There are no adequate words, of course, but...we lost the Goldenlands and our first master to magic, and we are no stranger to pain and grief. It sticks in the craw, and I've yet to find a way to get rid of it that didn't involve tears or talking.” True to her word, the phrases were sticking in her throat. It was about as close as she could come to an outright commiseration – and offer of support. “If it helps any, consider this: perhaps some deity found him worthy and gathered him close to live out eternity in perfect bliss, or that Lhex has granted him a new life, perhaps better, to replace the one cut short.” She cleared her throat. "The question is, what do you plan to do with your life now?"

[Kenept]

Kenept wasn't quite sure about what Alses had meant when she said that she would have some of the tea and cake without actually eating it. He didn't know if it was an Ethaefal thing, or some sort of magic, or both. Anyhow, Kenept continued to look down at his shoes until Alses had finished talking, reminding him that his brother could have been placed in a better place than this corrupt world. It still wasn't the same without him. He looked up at her, again brushing the hair out of his face with his fingers. "Yes, reimancy is elemental magic, and I, right now, manipulate fire." He reached out and picked up the cup of tea, bringing it to his lips and taking a sip of it. It was delicious, much like Alses had described it. Keeping the cup in his hands, he continued. "My brother was able to manipulate stone. As I become more advanced in it, I could learn more. But not until I practice." He had to pause and think as to what he was going to do next. "I don't quite know what to do next. I thought about coming here for further training, or somewhere at least." He took another sip of tea, and set the cup down on the table. "I suppose I'll just see where life takes me, maybe something will come along and lead me down the right path." Kenept picked up the fork, and took a small bite of the cake. It too tasted divine. The tea and cake complemented each other quite well. "What about you? Do you know where you're going in life?" Waiting for her response, Kenept took another bite, this one slightly larger than the last.

[Alses]

The question caught Alses off-guard, although in retrospect, it shouldn't have. “Me? Us?” she repeated, like an idiot, before catching herself. “I suppose...” she shrugged, looking around for inspiration “I suppose we wish to complete our apprenticeship at the Dusk Tower. Beyond that...” she weighed up, briefly, what to tell him and what to leave out. “Well...in the short term...A laboratory of my own is the current goal. I've done some commission work for Ald'gare Dusk – he's the Patriarch of House Dusk – and I think I should like to continue building my reputation as a magesmith here in Lhavit. After all, only those with a firm footing, a foundation in rock if you will, can go on to build castles in the air.” Her voice had a slightly wistful, longing air to it. “Magic is what I delight in.” A wry quirk of the lips. “As you might have noticed. Always presupposing I don't get a sword in the heart or blast myself into oblivion with magic, we'll last forever, and we would like to learn it all. I can admit that I know very little of some disciplines, and I'm certain there are others that I know nothing about, but there's time. There'll always be time. I was told a very long time ago-” perhaps best if Kenept didn't know exactly how long ago it had been “-that learning is a never-ending journey.” A sardonic twist of the lips. “We can think of no better task for an endless Ethaefal, quite aside from the joy we get from knowledge. Perhaps I might choose to teach others, in the fullness of time, perhaps not. We shall see where Tanroa's river takes us.” She shrugged, shifting position slightly. “We are always on the lookout for ways to serve Syna, too.” A bright smile. “There are those among the Ethaefal who maintain our gods abandoned us, or that we were cast to Mizahar as some sort of punishment. I find their reasoning flawed, at best – if that were so, why do we retain our celestial forms? Why is it we feel neither hunger nor thirst when in Syna's light? A deity who can pluck souls that have pleased Her from the cycle of rebirth would surely find it a simple matter to withdraw all of Her blessings if we had truly drawn Her wrath. No, as far as I'm concerned, we still have Her regard. We feel Her presence at our back every time we step into sunlight, everywhere we look She is there. If this is a challenge of some sort, or even a game of the gods, we should rise to face it; the Ethaefal are Syna's chosen souls, after all, glorious and eternal! Shrinking and snivelling and bemoaning fate is unseemly in mortals; how much worse is it in one of us?” A deep, calming breath. Alses' voice hadn't risen much over the course of her tirade, but conviction had crackled through every word. “My apologies, Kenept. As you can tell, we feel strongly on the matter.” Quite an understatement, if ever one had been heard. Her voice dropped, and she began to speak almost to herself: “That's not to say we don't find Mizahar difficult, or alien, or that our faith has never wavered – it has. I got quite a spectacular addiction to kariino extract a few years ago, trying to ignore the...difficulties, shall we say? We still use it more than we really should.” A sigh, and a return to distance, speaking mostly to herself once more. “Nonetheless, my faith in Syna got me through some of the worst times in my lives, and we are ever thankful. We were raised above the multitude, showered in blessings for our devotion and courage – to spite the one who gave us all that we are is-” She recovered herself with a cough. “And there we go again. I really should learn a little more control. Time for tea, I think – if you'll give me a moment for my indulgence.” The magic was eager to come to her command, rising eagerly in billowing waves through her body, an energetic surge of pluripotent djed positively begging to be directed and put to some use – any use. That was the danger – and why concentration was essential, so the djed did as it was bid, rather than squirrelcaging wildly around and causing untold damage to the body from the inside out. Tea was a goal, true, but she also wanted to inspect Kenept's aura more closely, familiarise herself with its particular quirks and twists. One never knew when it might come in handy, and besides it was always useful to have as much information as possible about someone. Gently weaving the sparkling threads of djed, intertwining them with a purpose, Alses flushed them through the intricate tracework of her body, bringing them close to the surface and then, with a final subconscious command, sending them forth to drive the synchronicity of mind and aura as the artist unseen scrabbled for his paints and pencils, fleshing out the broad blocks of colour that mantled Kenept's figure into much more intricate coruscating webworks and veils of glittering shade and hue. She tasted the harsh bitterness of sorrow at the back of her throat, the phantom hand clenched tight around her neck, almost instantly once she'd attained the right frame of mind, hardly surprising considering the subject matter of their conversation. There was a slight shiver of cold across her arms – once again, not a surprise, since to her most other races were slightly chilly to the touch. The rest of him remained a frustrating blur – she frowned slightly and burned more of her djed to bring herself to a deeper synchronicity, subsuming herself in the deeper world of phantom senses. She squinted, in her mind's eye – his aura was a slippery thing, always shifting and changing whenever she thought she had a fix on it, as though he'd learned something of being stealthy and unnoticed. She would have liked to examine him more closely, to take her time, but alas, that was impossible right now. Reluctantly swimming back to the superficial world that most people saw, Alses let a flicker of her power bring the taste of Twilight Dawn and rich chocolate cake bursting on her tongue. A catlike smile of satisfaction, perfect and pure, washed across her face – that was one of the more compelling reasons to come back to Mizahar and not lose herself in the dreaming colours. “Ah, delicious,” she murmured. “Just the right amount of brandy for the time of the year, no?”

[Kenept]

Kenept watched Alses as she talked about what she had wanted in life. It was all very new for him, as he knew almost nothing about Ethaefal - that they had an unimaginable lifespan, that they need not eat nor drink in the times of their idle - nor did he know that Alses had an aspiration in magic. She wanted to learn it all, a mighty goal for one person. But then again, an Ethaefal wasn't exactly just a person, as Kenept was starting to learn. He listened as she spoke of the other Ethaefal, and their beliefs, and her beliefs on their beliefs. And, even though he knew very little about the Ethaefal and where they came from or what they were on Mizahar for, he could get where Alses was coming from. Why indeed would they be as most said if they still had the gods blessing. This was a subject that Kenept was in no way prepared to answer or express an opinion - for he really had none. As Alses wanted a moment for the enjoyment of the tea, Kenept brought both hands away from the cup, and placed them near the edge of the table. He didn't know how she was going to 'indulge' herself, or what she was going to do to 'indulge' herself, so he thought it best if he wasn't near the cup when she did. Little did he know that she would be using magic to enjoy the taste of the tea. He felt nothing as she explored his aura, for the time that she was examining him, he thought that she was, as she said, enjoying the tea and cake. As she finished, and spoke again to Kenept, he nodded. "Ah, yes. It sure warms the body. Much needed on a breezy day such as today." Assuming that she was done with it, he once again picked up the cup in both hands and took a large sip from it. The hot liquid running down his throat warmed him, and he smiled. "I'm curious as to how you enjoy the tea without so much as looking at it." He said, in a quizzical tone. He was indeed interested in the uniqueness of her ability.

[Alses]

“It's an application of auristics,” Alses replied after a moment's internal debate. “There's an awful lot more to the world than most people – even most wizards - see, and it's beautiful,” she breathed, elsewhere for a moment. “Take it from me. We have the secret of using our own djed to bridge the gap between self and non-self, extending our senses far beyond their normal reach.” She smiled, mischievous. “I find it an invaluable skill, especially since we like the finer pleasures that life has to offer. I daresay we eat just as well – if not even better – than the finest families in Lhavit, since the skill works through some barriers, like window-glass. We've gorged our tastebuds silly on venison and goose-liver pâté, on fantasy creations of chocolate and sugar and all the little subtleties of a chef's art...” her smile took on a rather nostalgic cast, recalling a treasured memory “...felt the bubbles burst on the roof of our mouth after sampling Riverfall's finest champagne. It was almost enough to make us want to try a glass or two. But only almost.” She waved a hand airily. “It has practical uses, too – we could tell you whether a fruit was ripe or not by the taste in our mouth, for instance. Not a particularly pleasant use, since unripe fruit tastes bad, in the main, but still a use for our skill.” A pause, whilst Alses cleared her throat gently and gathered some of the multitude of her wandering thoughts. “To be an aurist is to sink yourself in the world so deeply that it opens up for you like a flower.” She touched her fingers lightly to the sides of her eyes. “The world that we can see is quite, quite different from yours.” Alses grinned, relaxing back onto the pale silk cushions on her side of the little table. “If you were hoping we would hand you the secrets of the craft on a skyglass platter, I'm afraid you're out of luck, Kenept Oraji.” She kept her tone light and warm, a slight smile on her face; there was no need to alienate someone purely on the basis of a question. Perhaps it was just her own paranoia, and that snapshot feeling of slipperiness in his aura that she'd been able to glean, influencing her. That was one of the lesser-known curses of auristics, too. “Even I know such knowledge is very valuable. Unless you can offer something of equal value in exchange-” at this point Alses very carefully did not say: 'your knowledge of Reimancy, for instance' – there was a difference between gently leading someone to a logical realisation, leaving them the freedom to make their own choices, and shoehorning them into a (metaphorical) corner that they would then probably fight to extricate themselves from “-that will have to suffice.” She sighed. “Besides which - and do understand I mean no offence - we are acquaintances of a few bells at most, and Mhakula's is an excellent place to practice auristics, but an horrific environment in which to be inducted into the deeper mysteries of the world.”

[Kenept]

Kenept, not paying attention to how much or how fast he was eating, had managed to finish off the entire slice of chocolate cake as he listened to Alses talk. He was, regrettably, paying so much attention to her words, and how she used them, that he didn't remember just how wonderful the cake tasted. The only part of the cake that he did manage to remember was that first couple bites. And even those, as far as Kenept was sure, were not the best parts of the cake. It had seemed that more towards the middle of the slice was where most of the chocolate was located. But by the time that he had made it there, he had been drawn into the discussion of this magic that Alses had used. "Auristics, huh?" Kenept though out loud. He had heard that term before, but he couldn't recall where. Perhaps his brother, or the man who initiated him, or even out on the streets somewhere. But, like most things, Kenept was unfamiliar with it. Other than hearing the name, he had no prior knowledge towards it. "So, it's like being able to see, or sense, different things about someone - or something? Things that most other's cannot?" He asked, going on what she had said, this was the closest guess that he could make. This ability, Auristics, seemed quite useful, in the way that she had described it. And the way that she had chosen her words made Kenept even more interested in this source of magic, as well as the girl who sat across from him. And then she had said something that caught his attention. Was she asking for an exchange? It almost seemed that way. But he didn't think that she was that interested in Reimancy, at least, not enough to make an offer to trade trades. Kenept leaned closer to Alses, and smiled. "Perhaps we could make a deal..."

[Alses]

Kenept seemed to be mulling something over, turning the new concepts over and over in his head. Alses waited patiently, and with no small amount of interest; it was always intriguing to see how other people's minds worked. “Amongst other things, and up to a point, yes,” she said, answering his question. “We aurists have a certain reputation for reading minds, too. Not entirely unjustified, either.” Her lips quirked; that was (as far as she was aware, anyway) a little bit of a lie, true enough, but it nonetheless had a grain of truth to it – and the expressions on people's faces when they heard that were always well worth it. A good aurist could read feelings and emotional states from an aura, and so infer a great many things about the person in question. A few carefully-directed questions could certainly make it seem as though the aurist could see right into their head, even if the reality was a little more complex than that. Kenept then leaned forwards, voice dropping as he did so. “Perhaps we can make a deal...” Interesting. So he wasn't completely naïve – not that she'd particularly expected him to be; he was a wizard after all, a practitioner of the arcane arts much like herself, but there was always the possibility that someone would be more trusting than was perhaps wise. They were both being careful, however; neither knew the other particularly well, after all, and Alses at least was hedging her bets when it came to Kenept's trustworthiness. Had he lived in Lhavit for a longer period, absorbed the culture more, understood the vital importance of honour, reputation and appearance within the city walls, she might have felt able to be more open, more trusting herself. As it was though, dealing with a relative newcomer, progress had to be made carefully – it was the only way to be sure, at this early stage. Doubtless something similar was going through Kenept's head as they danced their careful dance. She was well aware of how alien she must appear to him, and how different celestial Lhavit undoubtedly was from his previous city. “What sort of an exchange did you have in mind, Kenept?” she asked delicately, curious as to what he would come up with. Between them, unheeded for the moment, the remnants of the chocolate cake - which Kenept had polished off with impressive speed - and the teapot steamed faintly.

[Kenept]

Kenept took a deep breath through his nose, getting a good whiff of the tea that sat steaming before him. Alses was being quite careful with her words. And Kenept couldn't blame her; she barely knew him. And Kenept barely knew her, but yet here he was, purposing that they take time and teach each other some things about what they knew. But perhaps it was different for Kenept. He had walked around with her for a good portion of the morning, and had watched as people interacted with her. He had been judging people's attitudes as they talked with her, all of whom had seen quite thrilled to see her. He had noticed nobody becoming reclusive or defensive around her. That showed him that she could perhaps be trusted. He couldn't blame her for her carefulness though. All that she had to go on was what she had seen since she had met him, which was not a whole lot. It was one of those things where she had to use her best judgement about him. Letting out the large breath that he had take, Kenept answered her question, softly. "I think you know what I'm referring to, Alses." He was sure that she knew, but he continued anyway. "Perhaps we could exchange knowledge. Skill for skill. I can teach you, what I know of Reimancy. And in exchange, you enlighten me in the art of Auristics? Although I must warn you, beginning to learn Reaimancy is a difficult and potentially dangerous task." He didn't have the time, or the privacy to go into details about it in the middle of a tea shop, but should she agree to make a trade, he would indeed inform her of the risks, and perhaps the experience of becoming a Reimancer. Kenept leaned back, slouching down a little as he did so. He picked up the cup of tea, and took a sip. "What d'ya say, Alses?" He asked with a playful tone, and took another sip.

[Alses]

OOCSent you a PM regarding the initiation thing, Kenept . “Tempting offer, Kenept, very tempting,” Alses murmured, keeping her eyes on the slight young man opposite her. All around them, the tides of conversation rose and fell like the ocean swell, a masking susurrus that was part of what made Mhakula's such a useful place, especially when busy. A very large part of her was screaming 'Yes! Yes! Yes!' inside – it was quite difficult to keep that from showing, and she wasn't sure she managed it particularly well. The fluttering, tumbling butterflies of excitement didn't entirely affect her brain, however; sensible caution, hammered in over years of tuition and practice, still informed her decisions. “Not to disregard the dangers of reimancy, but all magic, even world magic, is dangerous. 'It's a wonderful and useful tool up to a point, and then you die,'” Alses quoted, eyes serious. “That was what my master always used to caution us, anyway. Where that point actually is changes as you practice and become more adept with the djed, but it's always there. I'd be remiss at best if we suggested auristics was a safe and easy discipline to adopt, too – although the problems are more up here-” she tapped her head “-than anywhere else.” Casually, quite relaxed, Alses cast her gaze around the room. They'd been sitting down and talking for a while, and the elevenses rush was petering out. “If we might make a suggestion?” she looked askance at Kenept before continuing “I propose that throughout the rest of the day, we compare notes on the respective dangers each of us might face, as well as some of the benefits we enjoy, and then you and I will have a little more...” she cast about aimlessly for the word “...perspective, perhaps, on each other's specialty.” A half-smile. “Then we can decide, either today or a little later, and discuss the particulars somewhere a little more secure. Not that Mhakula's isn't a good place to talk without being overheard, at least when the lunch rush is here in full force, but we're falling into one of the lulls right now, and we certainly wouldn't want our discussion to be eavesdropped on.” A sigh. “Even with the current dearth of students thanks to the djed storm, there are those whom the Towers turn away as unsuited for initiation, for one reason or another. Most accept the judgement, but we are certain there are those who would try and learn anyway, through whatever means they can.” Unspoken was the rider: 'Best to keep the magic to the worthy.' It was something of an unwritten rule among wizards in general, she'd found, and an eminently sensible one; some applied it more rigorously, of course, in the form of 'best to keep the magic to the wizards' or even fanatically: 'best to keep the magic to myself', but 'keep the magic to the worthy' was the most practical, at least to Alses' way of thinking. No sense freely giving out the secrets of the universe to all and sundry, to anyone who turned up at the gates and demanded to know how to read someone's mind. On the other hand, it would be useless if all of one's knowledge and power were to be lost, and besides, influence was always a useful thing to have. Hence, the middle ground – and naturally, Alses positioned herself foursquare in the category of 'worthy'.