Open It's time...

[Khal'iah]

'Nothing in the world's free.' the Akalak thought to himself, bemused. The woman was far from just being a charitable reader of cards, and from how swiftly she brought up the subject of compensation, Khal'iah then ascertained that this was her profession...of sorts. However, she indeed had captivated his attention with what the cards said about him and he was curious to see what else the deck had in store for him. That being said, the violet-skinned male made no response, nor motion to seize the deck of cards. Instead, he looked about the crowded tavern until he made eye contact with one of the numerous waitresses roaming about. He waved her over with a kind smile, to which she swiftly traversed the bustling establishment in order to service him. "Might I trouble you for a tankard of ale for my friend here? And a refill of my own if you'd be so kind?" he inquired, speaking warmly and properly. The waitress nodded swiftly and collected their tankards, promising to return in a matter of moments. Once she had disappeared from view, the Akalak turned his attention to the reader of cards and her deck. "I'll take you up on that offer then...let's see what this deck has in store for me..." he said softly, extending his swordhand in order to seize the cards. As his fingers clasped the stack of firm papers in their grasp, the Akalak mentally spoke aloud to the cards. 'Erm...' he began, slightly unsure as to how to address a seemingly inanimate stack of cards, 'my name is Khal'iah Vojak, a pleasure to meet you. I'd like to request that you show me a glimpse into my future...in particular, tell me about the one that I'll come to marry. It's a subject I've been a tad worried about for quite some time now. I'm not the type to 'settle down', y'know? So, marriage could pose complications if she wants a house and brats....so please, if you would, tell me about my future other half. Many thanks.' That said, his fingers moved in clumsy dance as he shuffled the cards. It was his first time shuffling Tarot cards and they felt unwieldy in his grasp. Nonetheless, he shuffled...and then set them down before the woman. "Alright, now let's see what a tankard of ale will get me." he said with confidence. As soon as the words escaped his lips, the waitress made her triumphant return, and the Akalak promptly paid her what was due for the beverages. She then bowed with a smile and returned to servicing the other patrons.

[Ruza]

"Alright, now let's see what a tankard of ale will get me."

With an almost out of character squeak she smiles broadly at the ale before her. Picking it up with her right hand she takes a couple of swigs before deciding to sip upon this tankard unlike what she did with the first. This ale tasted like roses compared to the beer she just had before this one. With a satisfied sigh she gently takes the cards from Khal and from the top she removed cards one by one and began to lay them out into 7 sets of 3 all around the card she just used to describe him. All cards but the King of Wands all faced down with a plain gray backing.


"Are you ready for this Khal?" Ruza asks him with a calm and cool expression, she might not have known ALL there was to know about the tarot cards, but if there was one thing she did know, improvisation on little known knowledge usually had a high success rating in being some odd percentage of being true. By the feel of the cards, she could tell this time was going to be a high percentage, someone has smiled upon her this evening. Reaching over towards the cards on the bottom left side her short fingers gently flip them over revealing the cards of; Justice, Strength, and the 6 of Swords.

"These cards represent your character. A man of great strengths yet avoids contact, as well as a clear sense of justice." She explains briefly before taking a moment to lift up her drink once again, taking a prolonged sip from it. Placing the tankard down slowly, it almost seemed like she was taking her sweet time, more time to build up suspense is good sometimes, hopefully this was one of them. Reaching over and flipping the next group of cards closest to the last. Ace of Pentacles, 2 of Swords, 8of Wands.

"These cards represent your current emotional links, you seem to be more than ready to have someone in your life, but you are impatient. All good things come to those who wait, love is no exception." Ruza advises with a small knowing smile. Without missing a beat she flips over the next set of cards. The Page of Swords upside down, The Moon, The Page of Wands. Ruza look upon these cards with a puzzled expression, this was a warning. Her expression turns from puzzled back to calm. "These cards represents me...You're probably not interested in what these have to say. Moving on!" she recovers as she flipped the cards back over and placed them to the side as if Khal would just forget about them. These cards were not going to benefit him any so why would he care?

10 of Swords Upside down, 9 of Pentacles upside down, The Star upside down. The next group revealed as she quickly flipped them to draw the attention from herself and back to his future. "These cards, tell me that you should expect to find this love fairly soon if you let go of whatever you are worrying about." She explained, once again ending with another prolonged sip of ale, that last 3 cards troubled her a little bit, placing her ale down gently she took another glance around to see if there had been any eyes pointed towards her and her drinking companion. Before the man in front of her began to wonder why she had paused for a moment she continued by flipping the next set.

The tower, The lovers, the world. "These cards represent the unexpected." she began as she looked down at them again with a slight puzzled expression. "That you will be meeting your true love in a place high up." she continued, although she had not been 100% on exactly what it meant, she decided to go with what her drifting mind had come up with. Reaching over with her right hand this time to flip the second to last group of cards revealing a 2 of cups, Temperance, and the Empress. Lifting her ale with her left hand she decided to take the rest of the ale down before continuing. "It seems your true love will be meeting you in a place you least expect, fairly soon..."she says with a slightly inebriated smile, she was excited for him.

Ruza slowly flipped the last group of cards to reveal The chariot, The Wheel of Fortune, and Death. "And last your distant future, don't be to put off by death, it only means transformation in this context. Your life will transform seemingly quickly, but it will be for the better so don't rush because it will already be happening so fast you may make mistakes. Get on your way with patience and understanding and you shall be rewarded greatly in the end." she finished. With a small sigh of satisfaction she was impressed with her, from what she felt, accurate reading she had been able to deliver to this person. She was glad she did, yet she could not really figure out why. He just seemed to need this information for some reason. Who was she to question it?

[Khal'iah]

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be." stated the violet-skinned Akalak simply. His shimmering eyes were affixed firmly to the cards that she had laid out upon the table and silence completely ruled him once she began to proceed. First, she reached for the stack of cards that was located to her bottom left, which she claimed represented her character. He agreed that he had great strengths...but avoiding contact? Well, she clearly hadn't seen him in action the other day. No matter, he continued to watch as she moved to the second stack of three cards. These turned out to be a simple reminder about the truth of life and his status as an Akalak. He was considered a man amongst his kind and was expected to find a mate by the time he was forty-five. Though he truly did not care much for the customs he had all but abandoned, he did want to find that one person to spend the rest of his days with...can't blame someone for being impatient when it comes to that! The next stack of cards caused the Akalak to raise an eyebrow. He did not anticipate his reading to contain information about the reader of cards herself, but he shrugged off this pleasant surprise and continued to hearken to her display. The next stack of cards did two things for the Akalak. First, it inspired in him a sense of excitement and optimism: love was right around the corner...yet he did not know exactly what it was he was worrying about. Was it simply the search for his future mate that she was refering to? Or was there some other worry, unknown to the man, that plagued him and prevented his finding of his perfect match. The next two stacks of cards further added to the encouragement that Khal'iah was feeling...Zeltiva was surrounded by hills and mountains. There was a high possibility that he could meet her within a stone's throw of where he currently was! But...it would be a place that was unexpected. He mentally went through high places he frequented and crossed several off the imaginary list of possible locations that he had conjured in that moment. The last stack...sent a chill down the Akalak's spine. To not be put off by death...was someone he knew or would come to know die? Would his life be transformed through death? Khal'iah shook his head softly as he contemplated, now realizing that he had more questions now than he did going in. He was about to request another reading when he realized something...maybe that was the point of it. Give the customer just enough insight into the future to beg questions and have them coming back for more. 'What a clever business model.' he thought to himself, amused. He reached forward and gripped his tankard of ale, elevating it to his lips with a smile. He reveled in a quiet sip and collected his thoughts before setting it back down with a clatter. "Well this was certainly enlightening Ruza. A tankard of ale well bought." He opted then to steer the conversation away from the cards, lest he end up purchasing another reading or another tankard of ale. "Now then, no cards can I read nor fortunes can I tell, but answers I may have to the questions you possess. I am uncertain if you have ever met an Akalak in your travels, as many I have encountered lately have not, so I will give you this opportunity." He held up three fingers, attempting to tap into that 'mystical' air that the woman so effectively employed. "Three questions you may ask and the absolute truth I will provide. Sound fun?"

[Ruza]

"Now then, no cards can I read nor fortunes can I tell, but answers I may have to the questions you possess. I am uncertain if you have ever met an Akalak in your travels, as many I have encountered lately have not, so I will give you this opportunity." - "Three questions you may ask and the absolute truth I will provide. Sound fun?"[/color]

Ruza gazed upon Khal with inebriated confusion for a moment, what did he know? "Surly he must have met my brother, why else would be be offering this?" she thought to herself as she reached to gather the cards back up. With one slick motion, she took her left arm and swept across the cards, pushing them into one pile. With both hands, she began to carefully shuffle the cards, then putting it away just as quickly as it appeared.

Many a thought ran about her head, inner voices arguing, it all seemed to be a bit much over a simple proposal of q & a with a man she does not know personally. What would she ask him? "Why would I want to ask you anything?" seems to be an awful waste of a question. "I'm sorry, but I don't understand exactly what your trying to do here." she said, at first consciously avoiding asking questions, just in case this may be worthwhile. "What if this man was a god in disguise? Or something along those lines..."

Ruza knew of course that Khal could not be any kind of god she had ever heard of. He could retain valuable information, or he could just be full of the manure of a thousand Riamms. "Not that I'm not interested, I'm just wondering what you are planning here." she said light-heartedly giving him a cheerful smile. "Here I thought you were going to ask more questions about the reading. I'm just used people asking all sorts of questions afterwards." she explained, to Ruza, Khal had already been all paid up. She knew an ale was relatively cheaper than paying full price for a reading. Which is one of the many reasons why she had offered it. Ruza shrugged her shoulders slightly and awaited his answer.

[Khal'iah]

At first, there was silence in response to his proposal. A silence broken only by his acquaintance's swiping her cards into a pile, shuffling them, and then stowing them back from whence they came. In response to this, the violet-skinned Akalak only smiled, patiently awaiting a response. He did not realize that he had essentially thrown her for a loop, but this realization hit home when she spoke of her own misunderstanding. A chuckle escaped his lips when she said this and he elevated his hands in a "non-threatening" manner. "My friend," he began, "though there are many questions I may ask about the reading, it will not change what the cards have said. This night, I have learned that which I fret over will arrive in due time, should I stop worrying. That, is satisfactory for me..." He paused in order to retrieve his tankard of ale from the tabletop once more, elevating it to his lips and taking a hearty swig. Afterwards, he let out a satisfied exhale and returned the ale to its place upon the table. "What I am attempting to do here is nothing more than a form of light entertainment. I am offering you the rare, rare opportunity to pick the mind of an Akalak. You have a luxury that many spend their lives attempting to gain..." He was laying it on a tad thick at that point, but the woman before him was more than likely a tad inebriated and would not catch his slight exaggeration if that was the case. "So, by all means, inquire to your heart's desire. Three questions you have at your disposal and absolute truth will be given." Khal'iah concluded with a warm, confident smile. This was the first he had proposed such a "game" and he was rather curious to see what three questions the woman would ask.

[Ruza]

Questions, sentient beings constantly have to question anything they don't understand. Ruza being a sentient being, finds it hard for her to find personal questions to ask someone who can answer without having to decipher cards with pretty pictures upon them. It all seemed a whole lot easier to ask her cards about a person rather then attempt to bring up personal conversations. It was all too intimate for her.

"Afraid of a little intimacy are you? Aren't little girls who have..." the voice echoed in the back of her mind, only to be interrupted by her own thoughts. "Gods be damned if I don't drill a hole into you soon." It was not the fact that she was afraid of people, she loved people, they were all very interesting. She knew how to work her way into another person's trust, and also she knew how she can persuade another to help her accomplish goals that would normally be just out of reach to her.

One way or another, she would have to learn to talk to people sooner or later. Why not now?

Bringing an uncoordinated hand to her chin, her eyes wonder off, gazing lazily across the crowd of interesting and dangerous looking folks. Ruza may have been more than a little drunk, her thoughts had slowed down to an easier to understand pace, yet it was growing difficult to remember previous thoughts. Then it came to her, the question everyone asks themselves more often then to others. Placing her hand down to overlap the other, an eyebrow raises impishly "Who are you, really?" she asks finally, a small sized smirk crept upon her lips.