Closed [The Enclave] Bookworms (Maria)

[Iosha]

Time Stamp: 86th of Winter, 512AV Location: Enclave (Storyteller's Well) Who: Maria Most of Iosha's young life was spent in the halls of a library. Even today she could still remember the smell of musty old books from the medical library of Mura. For twenty years, Iosha was a professional student trying to learn everything she could about her calling in medicine, and from time to time, she would read about the obscure magics of Mizahar mostly about reimancy and shielding. Also Iosha would use reading as a escape from reality, and the young woman would plunge herself into the world of fiction. She always enjoyed stories about mythical creature like dragons, trolls, and ogres, but Iosha guilty pleasure was reading trashy romance novels from Zeltiva and Sylira. She often enjoyed the stories about the lord knights and the handmaiden stories of Sylira, or if she was feeling extra dirty, she would indulge herself in a book from Zeltiva about a relationship between a professor from the University, and the student coming after class for a private lesson. However, her favorite romance novels were from southern Sylira. They were mostly about the farmers daughter and the shirtless horse rider from Cyphrus. The books were stupid reads, but on the cold lonely nights in the library, it was fun to take a break from her studies and dive into some harmless debauchery. When Iosha first came to the Enclave in Wind Reach, she was taken back by the sheer amount books the fiery red heads had at their disposal. It wasn't the grand size of the medical library in Mura, but it was enough to satisfy the young woman's search for knowledge and her side quest for more harmless debauchery. Today, she found a book on spiritualism and her favorite Inarta trashy romance series, Nights in the Arms of a Wind Eagle: Spring Flame. The novel was about a young Inarta Endal named Lea and her undying love for her Kelvic wind eagle named Shadow. Iosha was surprised that the author was able to make the story into a four part novel epic adventure. The second book in the series was called Nights in the Arms of a Wind Eagle: Summer Embrace, the third novel in the series was called Nights in the Arms of Wind Eagle: Autumn Passion, and the last book in the melodrama was called Nights in the Arms of a Wind Eagle: Winter Heartbreak. While reading the series, Iosha had to wonder how the two main characters had any time to travel through the Unforgiving with the all the times they had land to satisfy their carnal urges. Hands down her favorite scene was when Shadow and his Endal Lea had time to satisfy their desires trapped in the middle of Zith colony. By the end of the third book, their love helped them triumphed over adversity even in the colony full of hungry Zith. Wiping the tears from her violet eyes, Iosha closed the cover of the third novel dreading the fourth book Winter Heartbreak. She had a bad feeling that the title was foreshadowing a untimely death for one or both the main characters. Iosha looked over at the Inarta story-teller preforming for a group of Yasi. She smiled at the bright eyed children as they listened to the old man tell his story in Nari. Iosha couldn't understand anything the old man was saying, but she knew the story must have been exciting since the children were hanging on to his every word. Iosha watched the old man and the crowd, and she noticed a little girl staring at her. Whenever Iosha made eye contact with the Inarta child, the girl would hide out of sight behind the step. Iosha decided to amuse herself with the curious Inarta child, so whenever the child peeked over the step, she would make a silly face. This game lasted for five minutes until the child squealed delight causing everyone to stop and turn around and look at the Konti woman sitting by the wall with a scowl of anger on her white face. Iosha instantly blushed in embarrassment when the crowd started staring at her, she meekly apologized to the old man, “Sorry...I was listening to your story, and I have to say you present it vary well even though I don't understand anything you are saying...” Iosha ran a hand through her silver blond hair wishing for all the pairs of eyes in the room to stop staring at her, but the old man smiled and said to her with a smile, “We welcome storytellers of all types in the Well, so I am sure the children would be delighted to hear a story from your exotic island of Mura.” Iosha looked at the old man and started to wonder if he was punishing her for interrupting his story, but with the look in his eyes, she noticed he was serious about her telling the children a story. Iosha was about to say no, but the excited look on the little girl's face made her heart melt, and she surrendered to the child whim. Iosha looked up at the old man and smirked, “All my stories about Mura are quite boring, but I have a lot of exciting stories from Avanthal.” She grabbed both her books and walked down the center of the ring.

[Maria]

Where exactly Maria's love of literature came from is very much a mystery, even to the young girl herself. Perhaps it was born from the endless nights of hearing her mother's tired, but ever so lovely voice creating a new story for her young daughter to hear before bed. Or maybe it was born from her father's strong voice that used to spin tales from his wild adventures as an Endal. Or maybe, just maybe, it was born from those lonely nights the girl spent alone after both her parents departed from this life and the fictitious characters in novels became her only friends. Any of these ways are the possible reason, but Maria has never thought on the topic long enough to figure out the exact reason. All she knows is that she loves the way words flow together to create moving images of people's lives in her mind. This love stretches from the most boring books created for the sole purpose of learning facts, to the most cheesy and horribly written works of fiction. Today, in the late of winter, Maria has found herself in one of her favorite places in all of Wind Reach, the Enclave. It is one of the few places Maria is almost always happy to be. The walls here hold some of her most treasured memories and some of her darkest secrets. She finds comfort in the many, many books here and the ever present scent of paper and ink that hangs over the whole place. Maria can easily smell this scent from where she stands between two shelves that are full of books. She has found herself in the romance section, currently her favorite section of the library. Shifting her weight from one leg to the other, Maria looks up a tick from the book she holds in her hands. Not far off she sees a Konti. Not used to seeing such a race among the wild red heads that roam these parts, Maria can't help but stare a chime or so at this blond haired beauty. The first thing she notices is the book in the girl's hands. Just barely, Maria can make out a few letters of the books title from where she stands. If she did not recognize the book, she wouldn't be able to have figured out the title. But alas, she does recognize the book for it is one out of a series she read not long ago. She found the series cheesy and rather trashy but finished it anyway for she has a very hard time not finishing something she has started. After figuring out what the Konti is reading, Maria turns back to the own book in her hands. It is another cheesy romantic novel, but has more of a pull to it. Enough of one that has gotten Maria emotionally attached to the characters. Which is rather unfortunate as by now, so near to the end, all of Maria's favorite characters have been killed off in one way or another. So it is only appropriate that Maria reaches the very last page of the book and reads that very out of the blue the only character she has left to like is killed off. Frustrated, the Inarta shuts the book and slides it back into its place on the shelf. She would growl out in her frustration, but that wouldn't be very appropriate or pleasant for a library. So she goes for the quiet approach of composing herself and running her fingers through a part of her thick, dark red, brownish hair. Soon after this short moment of gathering herself and showing little to no outward emotion, aside from that of her natural state of being quiet and introverted, Maria hears a voice not far from where she saw the Konti. She looks over and sees that it is in fact the Konti speaking. She listens quietly from where she stands as the girl seems to be almost guilted into telling a story to some Yasi. With her interest now grasped, Maria can't help but move closer for she wants to hear the story as well. Her inner child jumps out from within her and she wants to hear of this girl's adventures in Avanthal. Maria moves to where she is close enough to hear, but cannot be seen by the Konti and the Yasi. See the girl's shyness has come out as well as her interest. If it were just the Yasi, Maria would have just gone up and plopped right in the middle of them and maybe even forced a story or two of her own upon them. However, new people have always made her suspicious and more introvert than normal. Nonetheless, Maria really wants to hear the story. So naturally, she goes about finding a way to do so in the least conspicuous way possible. Maria soon learns that there are not many option that will allow her to achieve this goal. After a good couple ticks of thinking, the girl finds there are really only two options for her. One is to stay where she is, hidden among the shelves and strain to listen comfortably. Or two, is to just go in and join the group. While trying to figure this out with a very strange look of one who is in the middle of a deep and complex thought process takes ahold of her face, Maria does not realized she has moved and can now be seen by the group of Yasi and their Konti friend. Only when she looks up and realizes this does she make her decision, for now there is not a point to staying behind the shelves for she has now possibly been seen. Feeling rather awkward and uncomfortable, Maria is rather lost on what to do now. She doesn't know if she should go down and join them, continue to stand here and stare and look weird, or casually walk away as if she was never here in the first place.

[Iosha]

When Iosha walked into the middle of the ring, she smiled at the old man and turned to the children and scattering of adults throughout the crowd. She mulled in her head what type of story. She could tell to children about her life since most of her story contained adult content not suitable for ears of yasi, so she decided to tell a ghost story. Iosha waved nervously at the children and said loud enough for everyone to hear her, “Hello, my name is Iosha Moonchaser, and I am Konti from the Island of Mura. Now a story about Avanthal...” Iosha started to tap her white chin and smiled to herself when she figured out a story. Iosha put her hands behind her back and said out loud, “When I first arrived in the frozen city of Avanthal, it was a cool and snowy summer night. I arrived around midnight, and I was exhausted and hungry from the trek through the north reaches....” Iosha rubbed her hands together as she thought about the cold of Avanthal, and she looked up at them and continued, “When I was walking down the street, I noticed a boy sitting in the middle of street and looking up at the sky. It was a odd sight, so I decided to walk over to him.” Iosha looked around at the kids and wondered if they were still interested in the story, and she continued, “When I made it the boy, he looked up at me with his black eyes and asked softly in a hallow voice, 'Would you like to play with me....'” Suddenly Iosha jumped back from her books and she heard a few kids cry out in fear. “I thought it was strange the boy had black eyes because all the stories of Avanthal told the Vantha eyes shine of all different colors of the northern lights depending on the mood. However, the boys in the street eyes were black...I stared at his eyes and I could feel the scales on my back starting to stand on end.” Iosha said as she was kneeling down by her books. Iosha rubbed her hands together again, and she continued with shiver in her voice, “The temperature around the boy seemed to get colder with every passing chime. Suddenly the boy stood up and started to dance in the middle of the street. I sat there staring at him, and he finally stopped dancing, and he reached out his hand to me and said softly with a sinister giggle, 'Why don't you dance.. everyone in Avanthal dances and sings song, but you haven't danced or smiled in a long time haven't you...” Iosha fell back onto her butt mimicking the reaction from her past. Iosha continued with a hint of fear in her voice, “I wasn't sure what I was hearing. The boy seemed to know me better than I knew myself. Yes, I haven't smiled in years, and yes I haven't danced ever since Ravok..., but I was trapped by his black eyes, and I couldn't move.” Iosha got up from the book staring at the eye level of the boy and continued her story, “I asked him how he knew, and the boy only laugh out loud at me and said, 'Your sadness is painted on your soul...' Suddenly, the cold wind picked up and a cloud of blinding snow enveloped me and the boy.” Iosha sat on the spot where her book were lying and look up at the ceiling and continued her story, “When the snow settled down in the street, I was looking up at the night sky staring up at Leth. I would have stayed there in my trance all night if it wasn't for a friendly hand on my shoulder shaking me back to reality.” Iosha jumped up from her books and decided to finish her story, “This was the first night, I met my friend Bjorn....The End.”

[Maria]

oocSo, so sorry for taking so long! I was having a bit of a writer's block.(which is so very strange for me) Shouldn't happen again any time soon. Maria listens to the words of Iosha Moonchaser. The story is an interesting one. One that actually intrigues Maria. Not that that is super hard to do. She is especially interested in this black eyed character. What he is Maria isn't really sure. The reasons for what he does, she is even more unsure. Yet something about such characters have always interested the red headed girl. She has even crept forward and taken a seat among those listening. When Iosha finishes her story, Maria looks around at the crowd around her. Some have gasped, other stare with wide eyes, but the ones that are the most interesting are those who do not react. Well really they are react, but they aren't doing it in the obvious way. Instead they pretend to be acting normal and unattached when really they are just as intrigued by the story as Maria herself is. These reactions are the ones that brings a faint, shadow of a smile upon Maria's lips. "What about the boy?" she finds herself asking aloud, "Did you ever see him again? Or even find out what he meant by his words?" She is actually very curious to know the answers to these questions. It makes her feel like a child to ask the questions she does, but she does want to know the answers. Plus she is in a library among Yasi and a very few amount of adults. She doesn't mind acting a little bit like a child by asking questions

[Iosha]

Iosha knew the story didn't shine a light on the true events of the first night in Avanthal. Since she got into a bar fight with one of the most brash woman in Avanthal. The event with the boy happened a few mouths later, and she knew she encountered a spirit on the snow covered street. Iosha wanted to add a sense of danger to her arrival in the city in her story, so the audience would be intrigued to keep listening to her. She kind felt bad for stretching the truth a little, but most stories about true event preformed for a large audience were exaggerated to get the attention of the audience. She was surprised at the reaction of the crowd to her ghost story because they seemed glued to her every word even if they were scared. She knew that she sold her tall tale to the audience, so she waited for any questions from the audience about her story. Iosha eyes focused on a young woman who was making her way through the crowd to the front. She had long fiery red hair that seem to contrast her icy blue eyes. During her stay in Wind Reach, Iosha noticed blue was a uncommon eye color in the Inarta, so she had to smile at the uniqueness of the woman. The konti looked around the crowd, and she saw no one had a question for her story. Suddenly, the blue eyed Inarta asked her questions about the spirit boy. She was curious about if she ever saw him again, and what was the meaning of his words. Iosha focused her violet eyes on the inquisitive young woman, and she said to her with a smile, “Honestly at the time, I thought the boy was a Chaktawe from the southern desert with his black eyes, but the boy seemed not right in my eyes or my soul. It almost felt like he didn't belong in the world at all. I still gives me chills thinking about the boy today.” Iosha ran a hand through her hair and said softly, “To answer your second question, yes, I saw him from time to time out of the corner of my eye for about a mouth. He seemed curious about me since he always seemed to be watching me.” The konti looked away and said softly, “Honestly, I think he was trying to get under my skin. He seemed to enjoy the fact. I was scared at him, so I think the boy or thing was preying on my fear. I think my first mistake was acknowledging the Thing's existence, so it attached onto me like a leach for a mouth.” She remembered for a mouth the black eyed boy stalked her till she got assistance of a local spiritualist to convince the spirit to leave her alone. It was a scary time for healer, but eventually, the boy left her alone.

[Maria]

Maria waits for the scaled woman's reply. When it is sounded it turns out to not be something she had been expecting. What she had been expecting was being told that the boy was a simple spirit never to be seen again except for wandering the icy streets speaking meaningless words that sounded enchanting and scary, but meant nothing. That is not what Maria gets at all, but what is said is still interesting. The woman thinks that the boy was of the Chaktawe race with his black eyes, but not of this world. This makes Maria go deep into thought about the boy. She comes out thinking that the boy was a spirit of one belonging to this race, or maybe it was something else. Something undead, but still very physically present. Maria remembers reading about a race once called the Nuit. A race that takes over the dead body of another. A race that quite frankly makes the young Inart's skin crawl. Maria then listens to the rest of the girl's words. The words make Maria pleased that she was not the one experiencing this creature. Something that enjoyed this woman's fear does not sound like something anyone in their right mind would want to run into. "Sounds like you would be right. It is almost like he was feeding off of your fear," Maria muses aloud, "Perhaps if you had not spoken to it it would not have latched onto you for so long. But of course I would know nothing of the subject for I was not there and did not experience what you have." Maria plays with the end of her hair with her right hand and continues to ponder the girl's words on her own. She wonders what the thing wanted. Maybe it was trying to complete some sort of destiny or maybe it was just plain crazy and needed to be set free of its tie to this earth so that it may continue on its journey to its next life.

[Iosha]

Iosha looked at the inquisitive Inarta woman and thought about what she said about the spirit, and she shook here head and said softly, “During that time, I was suffering from a great deal of emotional distress, so I think it started following me. I believe it was feeding off my negative emotions, and it was gaining a great deal of power of me. It was stressful times, and being a new city, it was harder to keep my head on straight. Anyways the spiritualist in Avanthal told me the troublesome spirit wouldn't be hanging around me and leeching my energy.” The konti looked at her and said softly, “If the spirit ever decided to come looking for me again than I would probably run the other way.” Iosha looked at the children, and she could tell the fear in their eyes were going with every word. Iosha decided it was time for her to take a seat, so she turned to story-teller and said softly, “Sorry, I am not good at telling children stories.” The old Inarta looked at her and said in common, “You definitely caught my attention young lady.” Iosha blushed a little and said in a embarrassed tone, “Well, I knew it wasn't the greatest story, but I tried my best.”

When Iosha turned back to the crowd, she saw a new child sitting in the crowd next to Maria. It was a pale boy with short back hair and completely black eyes. The Konti's eyes immediately went wide as plates, but the boy put a finger up to his lips. Iosha went silent as she watched the ghost examine the face, and the boy looked at her eyes, nose, and ears. He turned to Iosha with a smile on his face, and he mouthed to her, “Can I play with her?” Iosha shook her head and looked into the eyes of Maria and asked with a smile, “Wouyld you like to tell the next story? I am dying to her a folklore about Wind Reach.” Iosha violet eyes stayed on the child's face until she made it to Maria. She stuck out a hand to her and said to the audience, “I don't know her name, but she asked such good questions that I decided to step down from story-telling. What is your name?” The konti looked at Maria and gave her a smile with a wink hoping the young woman would take her hand. Before the spirit does anything foolish.

[Harrier]

Iosha

Skills	Amount
Reading	5
Observation	2
Storytelling	5

Lore

Lore of Zeltivan erotica

Lore of Syliran Romance

Stories from the South: Drykas Riding the Farmers Daughter

Tales of Debauchery: Breaking from the norm

Book: Nights in the Arms of a Wind Eagle: Spring Flame

Book: Nights in the Arms of a Wind Eagle: Summer Embrace

Book: Nights in the Arms of Wind Eagle: Autumn Passion

Book: Nights in the Arms of a Wind Eagle: Winter Heartbreak

Peekaboo with a Yasi

Telling Yasi stories: My friend Bjorn

Bjorn: child ghost?

How to enchant an audience with words

Maria

Skills	Amount
Reading	3
Observation	2
Investigation	2
Socialization	2

Lore

The Enclave: A place to keep secrets and remember

Nights in the arms of a Wind Eagle: a trashy read

Combing your hair can release stress

The Konti is a storyteller

Nuit are bodysnatchers?

Bonus:

Additional Comments: Iosha-Be careful about referencing Earth myths in Mizahar. There is no such thing as dragons, trolls, and ogres even in fiction. Other than that, I can't wait to hear more of this "Bjorn" you talked about!

I gave you investigation, Maria, because of the mental questioning and eventual asking she did about things unknown.

Because there wasn't much as far as skills go, I tried to rack up the lore for you. Hope you like them!

If you have any questions, shoot me a message and we'll figure it out

(c) abstract