A not-so-familiar face (Ireth)

[Xeona]

50th of Fall 513 AV

Another day, another opportunity to go crowd-watchaing. It started out just as a simple hobby, but Xeona had started to enjoy it. Just sitting on a rooftop, checking out if anyone "out of the ordinary" were passing by. From politicians from other cities of Mizahar, to just new people just arriving at the city. You'd never know who you'll find when you go crowd-watching.

Today, Xeona picked one of his favorite spots, a rooftop located right across the Safehaven Hostel. One could always find someone interesting there, and if you couldn't, then you could be sure of one thing, it was probably a very boring day. While Xeona looked out over the crowds, he noticed a human woman looking to be quite lost. Was she new to the city? Xeona was almost fully certain she was. Xeona was bored as he was, so why not give her a tour of the city?

He got over to the other side of the street and materialized behind a corner. "Alright, showtime." Xeona walked out to in front of the Safehaven Hostel and asked the woman: "Hey, are you new here?"

Boxcode by Savio

[Ireth Telemnar]

As she pulled her breeches on, Ireth listened to the city around her from her little room in the Safehaven. The bustling of the city was calming, in a way, although there was the intrusive lack of the constant sounds of water that one heard in Ravok. Of course there was the Nykian rains, but that was a different symphony altogether. But today, there was no rains tapping at the window. The cloud cover suggested that they might open their floodgates at any moment though, so the air was still and muggy.

Collecting her things, Ireth shrugged her backpack on and glanced around the room. After just a couple of days here, the room was beginning to feel less strange. Her possessions were spread out, clothes and leftover rations in piles and her blanket was half-off of the bed. The note Savio had written her sat on her nightstand. It made her smile as she headed out the door.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Outside, Ireth glanced from side to side. She hadn't a clue where she was going. She'd wanted to get to know the city a little better, try and get the lay of the land before trying to find her aunt. But where to start?

A voice called out to her and she spun around to face a ghost. Taken aback, she bit her lip. The man's outline shimmered, like mist or fog. "New?" she thought out loud. "Oh, yes! I... I'm just visiting the city. But I have no idea what I'm doing. I'd like to look around the city... I don't know the customs either. I certainly don't want to get in trouble. Perhaps... You might direct me to some sort of a guide?"

Ireth felt as if she'd just laid a lot out before this stranger. Hopefully, she prayed to her Rhysol, no trouble comes of this.

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[Xeona]

It seemed like Xeona's prediction was correct. The woman was new to Nyka, even though she was only visiting. "Looking for a guide, eh? Well, I think I can help you with that. I must've learned something about this place in 26 years. Xeona told her. His afterlife was pretty uneventful at times, and what could you spend your free time on that was better than helping out someone new?

"By the way, I'm Xeona. Might I ask for your name?" After she had answered, Xeona pulled out the tip that you just simply needed to know if you were in Nyka. "Just a friendly bit of advice before we start the tour, do not go outside during nighttime. We're talking dangerous buisness. Not stuff like pickpockets or thieves, instead, Nyka has... Well, I do not really know what to describe them as. One thing for sure, you should stay away from them.

Boxcode by Savio

[Ireth Telemnar]

There was something about receiving a Nykian tour from a ghost that made Ireth excited and on edge at the same time. She hadn't really spoken to that many ghosts, just one or two down on the Docks of Ravok. But this man, this Xeona, seemed nice enough.

"Ireth, my name is Ireth."

Xeona spoke about not going out after night, and Ireth pondered this as they began down the street, the ghost carefully avoiding the throngs of people. "Don't go outside after nightfall? Yes, my... friend had mentioned that." She was going to say lover, but she held her tongue. And, curiously, not being able to go outside after the sun set had been the reason that Savio had stayed with Ireth that first night in the Hostel. She wondered a bit about what these townsfolk could be so afraid of after the moon rose, but decided not to pursue it. The last thing she needed was to appear as some rebel against their cultural norms.

Except for entering the city, which she did through the Gates just like every traveler, Ireth hadn't really left this part of Nyka. The Celestial Square she'd heard somebody call it.

"Where are we going first?" She laughed for a moment, feeling like a child. This Nyka was bright, colorful. People were about, attending to their business, but Ireth found it all strangely fascinating. Perhaps it was the fact that, no matter where she looked, she saw no one familiar. In Ravok, so many knew her name or her father or her songs. But they didn't here. It was like a new start.

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[Xeona]

Ireth seemed excited to start the tour. "Well, alright, let's get started then! This here is the centre of Nyka, or the Celestial Quarter, as some people say. See that tall building over there? That is the Celestial Seat, where the leaders and all those whatnots are. Got anything to say about the city? Well, those guys listens to petitions every forth of the season. Hard to believe all those politicians were just simple monks back then... And I do mean all of them."

"Oh, and speaking of monks and politics, do never, ever anger a monk. They have great influence over the city, and will usually make sure you miss out on something, whenever it is finacial deals to food." Xeona turned around to Ireth, and gave her a asking look, to see if she understood everything.

Boxcode by Savio

[Ireth Telemnar]

Almost sounds like what would happen if you upset our Ebonstryfe... Maybe.

Ireth nodded in confirmation, her thoughts wandering as they wandered about the buildings and the people. She noticed a few rude or quizzical stares pointed at her, presumably because of her guide, but she chose to ignore them. Savio wasn't always going to be there with her, and it was silly to even suggest that she not go outside of her Hostel room without him. She was a grown girl, naive perhaps, but there was no way she was going to learn about the world if she never experienced it. So she hiked her backpack further up on her shoulders and followed along.

The beauty that was in the buildings was exotic to Ireth, as everything was built upon huge weighted platforms in Ravok. To build on dry land, though not totally unknown to her, was still something of a novelty. And the stone was such a distinct color, rose almost.

"I've heard things about the Nykian monks, but I don't understand their distinctions. Who do they serve? The king?"

x

[Xeona]

Xeona turned around to see Ireth completely amazed by the buildings around here. Were they really that great? Perhaps they didn't build like this where she was from... "They do actually serve one of the four Celestials, the Southern monks worship Skerr, the Eastern ones worship Laat, Northern Uphis, and last but not least, the Western monks worship Xannos."

As Xeona had shown all the buildings in the Celestial Quarter, he turned around once again to find that they were getting close to the Aperture. "Whoa, that was close..." he said, when Ireth stopped in shock a bit too close to the edge.

Boxcode by Savio

[Ireth Telemnar]

Four gods? Sounds awful complicated...

Ireth probably would have walked right on off into the enormous canyon that gaped before her if Xeona hadn't mentioned it. She heard stones on the edge of the wall fall off into the abyss from the vibrations in her step. This was the Aperture, the enormous fissure that ran through Nyka. Ireth had only glimpsed it before today, and had certainly never been this close before. Two more steps and the darkness would have swallowed her up.

There seemed to be two sides to the feelings people had for the Aperture. Ireth had heard folk describe it with disgust dripping from their tongues, how it was the home of foul demons and loathsome monsters, nightmares that fed on terror and shadows that preyed on flesh. On the other hand, there had been people who called the canyon the Heart of the World, an obvious term of endearment.

To Ireth, it was frightening. She took a couple steps back. It made the little hairs crawl on the back of her neck and made her feel a chill. The sounds of the city seemed to fade away as she stared down into the darkness as if in a trance. There were things down there....

She swallowed in an attempt to wet her mouth again. "Xeona... Um, where to next?"

x

[Xeona]

As Ireth stared down into the Aperture, so did Xeona. But while she watched with fear, he watched with interest. He suddenly felt an urge to just go down there, see what everyone feared. Without noticing himself, he was actually making a very slow decent, like something down there was trying to drag him in. Xeona could've easily go in the other direction, but he didn't even make an attempt to resist his decent.

That was, until Ireth spoke. He snapped out of a trance-like situation to full awareness. "Wha... What the..." Xeona thought to himself, trying to cope with his latest thoughts. "I know the Aperture messes with your mind, but this much?" He made an attempt to neglect them, and then he got reminded of something else. Ireth. Had she noticed Xeona's strange behavior?

"This is getting too much for me..." Xeona thought to himself. "Alright, we need to cross that bridge over there to get to the next thing on the tour." He pointed towards a bridge connecting the two sides of the Aperture. "Just try not to look down." Xeona meant that a bit more to himself than to Ireth, but he said it loud enough for her to hear as well.

Boxcode by Savio

[Ireth Telemnar]

Ireth had no objections to following Xeona's instructions. She glued her eyes to the red buildings on the other side of the bridge, the people going about their business, the cloudy gray sky that sat atop it all. The bridge was stone and firm, not too busy. She recalled that Savio had mentioned the name of an Aperture bridge or too. They were strange, and had stories about them. "Xeona? What is the name of this bridge?" She was bound and determined to get to know this city as best she could, so that she didn't need to bother anyone to be a guide whenever she needed to go about Nyka.

Once upon the ground of the other side of the massive canyon, Ireth let out a sigh of relief. She was more than happy to get away from the Aperture.

As they walked, Ireth thought. A merchant calling out to passerby with a rough, gravely voice caught her attention. "How does one go about getting a job here?" she asked the ghost ahead of her. "In my city, I was a street performer, a musician. I had to... legally become a street musician though, signed a form of some sort so that the city knew about me. Is there something like that here? Who do I need to talk to?"

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