[Ino Vations] Drawn by Poison

[Irriari]

Irriari awoke two bells later. The nausea hit first, causing her to gasp and whimper. Soon after, the pain from leg returned, insistently throbbing in time with her headache. She snarled, but the sound was choked and weak, lacking the trademark vigor that caused humans to think twice before confronting her. Thoughts danced lazily in her head, staying out of reach for ten agonizing chimes. The zith remained on the floor, stretching her toes and fingertips, happy that they still worked as expected, though they were more stiff than normal. The memory of the fight returned in pieces, and the zith grimaced when she realized that the cane was the source of her downfall. As much as she criticized the idiotic fighting techniques that humans employed, a part of her was impressed by his resourcefulness. Stupid though they may be, humans far outnumbered her race, and such numbers were owed largely to humans like the shopkeeper. The most resilient of humans had created weapons that were a bane to her kind, and while the cane would hardly cull a colony, it had surely worked on her. Lost in her thoughts, Irriari came to the conclusion that it had been her fault for a plethora of reasons. A warrior of her colony was meant to attack first, and think on the nature of a cane second. Such was the price of living in a city for as long as she had.

Rolling over onto her good shoulder, the zith noticed the human was starting to come awake as well. She made no move to attack him. Any human that bested her in a fight deserved her respect. Irriari's smile was grim and brief as she pondered what would occur next.

[Inoadar]

There was no sense of time passed, but the light outside had disappeared altogether. Inoadar was glad of the dark. His head was splitting, there was blood caked down the front of his shirt and he couldn't focus his eyes. He rolled over...slowly...it felt like a dozen spiked steel balls, like those found on the end of morning star weapon, were rolling around inside his skull whenever he moved.

He stopped when he caught sight of something gray and black and out of place across the floor. 'Why is the floor all splotchy and white?' he thought deliriously. Then he remembered...The papers...the drawer...the claws...the fight...The Zith! The black and gray blur took on a new aspect of threat as it resolved into the Zith.

He rolled on his back, exhaling in resignation "Petch! You aren't dead?" He tried to raise his head to look but it felt like someone squeezed a vice on it when he did. He rolled back to see why HE wasn't dead. He saw that the creature seemed to be in as bad a shape as he was.

He knew he needed to deal with this thing while it was weak. But he didn't know if he could even stand. For the first time, he wished in complete honesty that his assistant Marcus was here to help. He suddenly puzzled over his absence. 'Where IS Marcus, anyway?' he thought through the pounding.

Then he remembered, and several new pieces fell into place. Marcus was gone today to report Inoadar's day-old agreement to ally formally with the Black Sun. He had been at odds with them ever since his arrival in Ravok. He had lost faith in gods and their minions back in Nyka, where he'd grown up. But here in Ravok, he had come to question that conviction, or lack thereof. Rhysol had come to embody everything he felt to be worthy of devotion.

He had resisted, not quite prepared to fully surrender his independence. And, in line with his newfound impression of the god of chaos, there had been no insistence upon that formality. He would continue to inflict his pleasure at his own discretion, endorsing the policy of disorder and betrayal he had fomented to date. The only concessions were he would no longer target the city's forces (unless, of course, instructed to do so) and he would take on jobs for them with prejudice.

Now it took on a new significance. This Zith was about as chaotic a creature as he could imagine. 'Was this a last test for him? Not just one of capability against a vicious beast, but one of unraveling a scheme? Had this whole fight been arranged upon Marcus' delivery of his answer? A gesture of betrayal through chaos?' He found he himself amused by the thought and started to grin with appreciation for the fact that it may very well have been his Marcus' idea. He suppressed laughter though. That would hurt too much.

With every ounce of fortitude he had regained in the last few chimes, he got to his knees, flopping back to sit on his feet. He made no effort to clean the blood from his visage. He directed his grin towards the Zith, who was likewise grinning toward him. "So...were you still interested in making a purchase?"

[Irriari]

Irriari did her best to sit up, ignoring the pain that came from her fingers as she tried to grab at the top of the desk. Finding the task to be near impossible, she opted to slouch against the desk instead. The strength of the wood steadied her shaking legs and made her feel slightly better about her predicament. The human next to her was managing to pull himself together as well. She chuckled, seeing that he was having as much success as she was.

She pondered his question for a moment, and turned her head to inspect the bottles and vials of poisons that were within her line of sight. As much as she ached to buy them, her miza purse was running far too low on funds to buy anything aside from food and lodging. Worry crossed her face briefly as she wondered how she was to pay Tarsin for her lodging during the summer.

“As much as I would love to purchase a few poisons, I can't. However, I was curious as to whether you could teach me more about poison and reading, in exchange for some of the reagents I've found. A few are from deep within my old colony, and I doubt you'd have access to them from any trader that frequents Ravok. I also have a book on philtering, if it would be of any use.”

She schooled her face into something an expression that looked bland, or so she hoped. While she had attacked him and didn't have the highest of expectations,the excitement of potentially finding a mentor inside of Ravok was nearly overwhelming, and the zith held her breath, waiting for his answer.

[Inoadar]

Gears turned in Inoadar's brain, though his probable concussion made it less than fully responsive. He knew that teaching was not something he took well too. His assistant had only striven to be a shop assistant and had not really shown a great deal of interest in learning the "craft" of poisons. His only level of growth had been to learn safe handling of the treacherous chemicals and powders and to prepare the equipment for operation. But then again, their contentious attitude, prior to the final disclosure of each others agendas, had not given him much inclination to try teaching him.

There were times Inoadar's enthusiasm for an experiment he expected to glean new knowledge from, had infected his assistant with a near equal curiosity. He had found that he enjoyed having the novice watch him work. And he found that he enjoyed rambling on about his details like a master at the Institute of Higher Learning. He wondered, though, just how academically focused such a creature could be.

Poison became an intuitive thing, to a degree, as you began to think ahead to what part of the plant or bug yielded the required elements. And if it was simply cut away from the carcass, or if it had to be "processed" or "milked" from some gland or spore. You got to where you just "knew" that this needed to be swollen with moisture then flash heated until it popped and the discharge collected. Or that had to be completely dried out and ground up, separated by color and then boiled and only the steam allowed to condense on glass, which was then scraped off. But it was largely academic for the first several phases. He wondered how much the Zith knew already.

But reading...ouch...that was truly an academic pursuit. How would he help her focus...her...mind...hmmmmm

His eyes narrowed, not in suspicion or anger, but in connivance. "Yes. I'm sure we can come to an arrangement, and not just a short term one. I am always looking for a new source of reagents and catalysts. And in return, I can help you learn more about poisons. But you should know, I am enrolled at the IHL this coming Summer season and won't have as much time as I'd like to truly give you a extensive program. Is it possible you could enroll there? To be honest I have no real training as a teacher."

He saw that she was waiting on a response regarding reading, and he made a stalling gesture with his hands while he contemplated the right approach. "Now, I don't mean this to be insulting." he grinned. "I think we have both had our fill of that for one day." he swung his arms briefly, taking in the wreckage of the room, which really wasn't all that bad. "But, I need to know, do you know how to read AT ALL? Or do you just need to be able to focus on the things you HAVE learned in order to truly gain from them? I mean, is it that you CAN read, but you just find it insufferably boring?" He started towards a shelf in the back, "Because I have something that can greatly help that."

[Irriari]

Irriari sighed, thankful that his response was something that she could stomach. While zith often operated solo outside of their respective colonies, she had found herself missing social interaction as of late. Humans could hardly be considered a substitute for the warriors of her colony and the slaves of the tunnels, but until she returned home, they would be enough. They simply had to be.

She quickly ran over the list of reagents that she had in her poisoncrafting kit. The makhari plant would work well. It was exotic enough that she doubted any traders would carry it. In fact, it would be surprising if the traders carried any of the plants and mushrooms she had procured from the Syliran region. Many of the merchants preferred ingredients for cooking over reagents that would be used to kill. The former was far easier to handle, and lacked the fallout that costly poison-crafting materials had.

“I plan to enroll there soon, in order to further my training as a part of the Ebonstryfe. I'm still unsure what classes I would take, though. If they offer poison related classes, I'll probably enroll in those.”

She paused for a moment, wondering what the human could teach her if he disliked teaching. After a few seconds, she presented her idea,

“Maybe you can show me how you create your poisons? Or we could go collect materials together... I doubt you're as familiar with the Wildlands as I am, and I can probably teach you a thing or two. That would save you from having to lecture me.”

The zith stiffened as he questioned her inability to read. In the colony, it had hardly seemed a detriment. Though Sevrai had explained the process of deciphering the squiggles, it seemed difficult. Learning to fight would save her life, and reading would bore her to death, she thought. Now that she had to pay humans to read her the books she purchased, Irriari was starting to understand why her slave has begged her to learn. Having her weaknesses brought to light annoyed the zith. She spoke quickly, wishing to end the topic before he questioned her more,

“I can't read at all. I spent my time killing and enslaving humans, not picking up their hobbies. I'll find someone else to teach me.”


She hesitated at the end, hoping that her tone reflected discomfort instead of scathing anger.

[Inoadar]

He could see her reaction to his questions about reading, and decided it was best to drop it and not make any more disclaimers about "having to ask" and "regretting any offense" and so on. No sense in aggravating that issue any further. He was also relieved to hear her suggest a different reading teacher. But he still wanted to introduce her to one product he stocked in that regard. He took a small vial from a shelf and walked back to her. He paused for a moment in hesitation, then held it out to her.

"Here. Take this. I will not charge you for it. I think we can work together and I will provide you this as a "good faith" gesture. It is called 'Intellect Mist'. It will greatly increase your...mental focus and response and should help you when you find a teacher." He did not say what sort of teacher he was talking about. He felt that was obvious.

"This is four doses worth. Each dose should last you four bells or so. Keep it sealed until you need it. Now understand, this normally costs about 300 gold mizas for this vial full, but I think it will be worth it. I will expect payment for further vials, though, but I think we can work out services as payments if mizas are an issue." He leaned back in thought for a moment, stroking his chin. Then he nodded, absently pointing at her, in a gesture of giving her credit.

"I like your suggestion, about collecting materials together. It's true I crossed the wildlands between Nyka and Ravok some time ago, and I still make excursions along the lake shore for some herbal needs. But I have no doubt that you know the extended wildlands far better than I do. And I would certainly be willing to pay you for your services as a guide in any joint efforts to acquire materiel for our crafting supplies."

She seemed willing to let him make his proposal, so he continued. "Now, I think there are some fair concessions I can request on my own behalf. I don't want to break my own finances providing yours, after all. First, it will only be on an active basis. That is, I'm only paying for days where we are both together outside of Ravok in a mutual effort. Then, since we will also be searching for materials for your own stock, that should be considered part of the payment. Now it's impossible to predict which excursions will be more beneficial to MY research and which will be more for yours, so I propose a flat rate of 3 gold mizas per day and let the herbs fall where they will."

He stopped with a shrewd sidelong glance. "Think this over and feel free to let me know at your convenience. I'm not a man given to haggling, but I would be willing to listen to one counter proposal, if you think my offer is not fair. In the meantime, keep the Intellect Mist without obligation."

[Irriari]

Irriari's clawed hand grasped the vial and she nodded at him.

“Thank you.”

The short response was hardly enough to describe the mixture of emotions that had flooded through her when he offered the Intellect Mist. Gifts were exceedingly rare among her people- tokens were earned from hunts or bargained for when traders dared get close to the colony. Such sentiments were considered to be weak human gestures, and the Elders frowned upon the habit taking hold in the colony. Sevrai still made her small trinkets that aided with poison-crafting when she was able, and Irriari had always been pleased. However, no human had ever given her more than insults as she moved across the street. She moved her thumb across the vial, reassuring herself that the kindness he had shown her was genuine.

After listening to his proposal, Irriari nodded again. The human had put a large amount of thought into her suggestion, after only half a chime.

“Let me show you what I can do. If you find my gathering acceptable, we can discuss payment then. I'm sure what you mentioned will be fine.”

In truth, she had hardly expected the human to offer her any mizas for the trips into the Wild Lands. The companionship and talks about poison would be more than enough payment. Hopefully her gathering attempts would be worth the trips outside of the city. The shop alone proved that he knew more about poisons that she did, and the Intellect Mist had served to further his superiority on the subject. Her own uses of the poisoncrafting kit she owned were rudimentary and hobbled together by way of trial and error. Irriari pushed down the fears of inadequacy and posed her next question to him:

“Are you free to leave your shop around mid day? I prefer to search for materials at dusk, and it will take us at least four chimes to get to the area of the Wild Lands that I am most familiar with.”

[Inoadar]

Inoadar gave her a 'matter-of-fact' look, "I can leave whenever I damn well please. It's my shop." A brief smile crossed his features, to be countered by a look of slight submission. "Except, of course, in the case of other instructions by the representatives of our great Lord, Rhysol. I'm sure you can understand that." He overdid it a bit, but thought it best to take no chances, especially if this creature HAD been sent as a test.

His brow furrowed a bit with puzzlement, then opened with realization. "Of course, of course, you can FLY there! Umm, we may...well, I will have to leave sooner than mid-day to get truly into the wilds by dusk. It will take me the better part of four bells simply to get to the Southern Post, where my horse is stabled. I suppose, once we agree on a day to go gathering, we meet there, and shoot for, say, sixteenth or seventeenth bell. Does that sound good?"

He looked around with a chuckle, "Well, my assistant will have a bit of cleaning up to do. Good...earn his pay. So anyway, allow me to introduce myself..." He hesitated. He hadn't given anyone in Ravok his true name. He was not sure if the Black Sun even knew his true name, Trandino Adarius. They knew that 'Nolan Parnell' was fake, but they may well think that the simplified version of his true name, Inoadar, was his actual birth name. Then again, it may be part of his test to be honest with this creature, or it may be a test of his ability to maintain a false front, even under duress. And he did not want to complicate any of the city's paperwork by introducing yet another name into his files. They may very well have decided to treat his stolen citizenship papers as real now. After all, the real Nolan Parnell died in the Rising Dawn riots.

All this flashed through his mind in a second and he opted to maintain the facade while expressing it in a way that would let any operative of the Black Sun or Ebonstryfe know that he was not trying to fool them. "...My citizenship papers name me Nolan Parnell." He bowed, "And if I may be so bold as to ask you your name?..."

[Irriari]

Irriari smiled at the Rhysol reference. Even if the human hated her for being zith, he could at least understand the power of Rhysol. She doubted his shop would last a quarter of a season if he didn't.

Irriari laughed at the thought of flying to the Southern Post, though it was a bitter sound, tinged with longing,

“I would love to fly across Ravok, but I am chained to the boats as much as you are, human. The citizens get anxious at my flight. Yes, that time is fine, though I won't be in the best of moods. My kind doesn't take well to sunlight”

Nolan Parnell. Irriari spoke the name in her mind, committing it memory as she gazed at the man. His name was easy to pronounce, even for a tongue that had been molded to speak zithanese. It hardly had the beautiful ring of some of the names she had heard, but humans had no choice in what they were called. A plain name for a dangerous man. Still, he had seemed hesitant when he revealed his name. If nothing else, the zith knew the human could speak quickly and she wondered why he had stopped. She chalked it up to nervousness and replied to his question:

“I am Irriari now, though I was once called Sunder.”

She smiled as she turned her back to him, speaking as she moved to the door,

“It was nice meeting you. I'll be back in a few days, if you wish to gather materials then.”

Her fingertips moved against the smooth glass vial as she opened the door and stepped out into the darkened city. Finally, she might have a way to learn more about her chosen discipline.

[Verilian]

. . Thread Award . . Irriari +1 Intimidation +2 Unarmed Combat +1 Rhetoric +1 Negotiation Lores: Location of Ino Vations, Negotiating with a Human, Lore of Intellect Mist Inoadar +1 Intimidation +1 Blowgun +1 Acrobatics +2 Brawling +1 Rhetoric +2 Negotiation Lores: Altercation with a Deformed Kelvic Monstrosity, Negotiating with a Zith, You Question My Logic? : If there are any questions or concerns, feel free to PM me. Notes: Ah, good to see two people coming together as enemies, and leaving as friends. Sort of.. lol, anyway, great thread you two, and keep writing! Notice As per the request of the Founders, threads cannot be graded unless your CS is up to date. This means you need to add threads to your thread list when you make new threads, keep your skills up to date, ledger, living expenses, ect. If you aren't up to date, you'll get a PM from me before i grade your thread. If you are up to date, disregard this notice.