Soothing the Soul (Open)

[Nero Czan]

Nero chuckled as he took the extended hand into his own. "That she is. Before you know it, we were already playing show and tell. She's a curious little one at that. Anyways, The name's Nero, and it's a pleasure to meet you." He took a moment to glance over this man's appearance. A massively muscular man, with a tanned look to him. His skin actually rivaled his own, and he may just be a Drykas. He was curious to see what his new companion carried, in terms of his possible Tattoo, but currently shrugged off the thought. "Don't mind my prying, but would you happen to be a Drykas? I have yet to see such a strength only beneath the Isur, and happen to be a bit curious when it comes to heritage." He smiled at the man as he asked his question, he gaze settling on Ora for a moment, with a soft whisper. "You sure know how to find reliable company..." Nero swiftly reshifted his attention to his new friend as he awaited an answer. There was something about this man that appealed to his curiosity, just as a second set of intuiton might react. Then again, Nero's intuition was not the best, and he didn't exactly have the best 'lucky streak.' Oh Well. We'll see where this takes me. At the very least, I've made two more friends. Yep. This would be the beginning to something interesting, at the Very Least.

[Ora Sa'vina]

Ora smiled at Ryshaltze and lead the way to where she had been sitting. Her eyes turned to Nero as she sat down. "Ryshaltze, this is Nero." Ora contently smiled, at returned to eating another slice of apple. "I would not call myself sociable, I suppose I am approachable. I have yet to start a conversation with anyone." Ora stated after she swallowed a nibble.

Her eyes lingered on her food for a moment before pausing. "I am sorry. This seems rude. Would either of you like something to eat? You could consider it my appreciation for such lovely company." Ora knew of manners, and considerably well, she knew it was rude to eat in front of others without offering something to them.

"Yes, it does appear that way, Nero. If Ryshaltze had not helped me I am sure I would not have made it much past the gate." Ora almost seemed to glow, she was cheerful and quite content in the presence of good company. "And I did no finding, he was the one who took care of that."

[Ryshaltze]

Ryshaltze grinned and punched Nero playfully. "You are correct on that count. I am Drykas, just like you. In a way..." He let the last bit trail ominously, then continued cheerily as if he'd never said it. "I'm a kind of dud regarding Drykas culture and all the associated shenanigans, though. Living away from one's homeland for years tend to do that to one's memory." It was truth that he did not knew much, for his memory of his previous incarnation yielded little, and he was eager to find out how much knowledge this real, authentic Drykas possessed that he could impart.

He glanced at Ora for a moment and realized that he found the way she ate her fruit quite endearing. It was as if she was consuming the apple so carefully, like tinkering with a fragile and valuable artifact, determined yet soft in touch. He shrugged casually at her acknowledgment of their previous encounter, as if to say that it was of no big trouble for him to do so.

Ryshaltze returned his gaze to the Drykas and addressed him. "How's it going back in the motherland anyway, I haven't heard news from that place in ages already." He referred to Endrykas, the land from which this man and his previous incarnation originated from. Not many Drykas left their homeland for extended periods, and he hoped that this man had just left the place.

[Nero Czan]

Nero could only smile at Ora's voice. "Please, eat. I'm more than satisfied at the moment, and I'd hate for your stomach to get grumpy on my account." He chuckled at her manners, which exceeded any local extremes. He simply considered it a part of her culture, and accepted it. "Anyways, I guess I owe this man a word of thanks, for without him, I wouldn't have made your lovely acquaintance." He flashed his usual smirk at her once more before returning to his Drykan comrade. It was in good grace that he had indeed visited Endrykas in the past month or so, despite his willingness to let those memories pass. "It's doing Great. I was present for the Great Race, near the end of Spring, and the annual fair was in wonderful attendance. Unfortunately, I spent a good amount of time in an infirmary, due to an... 'Incident' in the fields. But, that's just the appeal of those parts." His smirk grew, as his mind replayed the scene in the background. It had been an interesting conclusion to an even more interesting day. "I'm not exactly a Full-Blooded Drykas myself, so I've never felt quite at ease there... I was forced away as a child, and this tattoo never made it past my right arm." He smiled reminiscently as he glanced at the spiraling ink for a moment, before returning to his company, "Regardless, it is always well to find a fellow Drykas. The more detached you may be, the more interesting." He chuckled, enjoying the amount of truth those words contained. The full-grown Drykas had a tendency to be stone-willed and warrior-centric. This also included a serious demeanor, with a substantial lack in humor and wit. This is not to say they are absent in the Drykas culture, just a bit lacking for Nero's taste. Afterwards he turned to Ora, her delicate food being consumed piece by piece. She was an interesting woman indeed. And he hoped to get to know her better, however that would end.

[Ora Sa'vina]

Ora smiled and nodded to Nero. "Very well." She then continued to eat the last few slices of apple, listening intently to the conversation. Ora knew very little of Drykas culture, or much of any other culture, in fact.

One thing Ora found curious was the way Ryshaltze spoke of being Drykas "sort of". It didn't make sense to the young woman. Was he of mixed blood? That was the only thing that could make sense to Ora, but at the same time the idea that it was a lack of pure blood didn't seem to account for all of his oddities and demeanor.

The young Konti's interest peaked at the mention of a "great race". Ora knew what races were, but she was curious as to what made this race in particular great. Her eyes linger on Nero and she began to speak, "What is this great race?" Her eyes moved between the two Drykas men, her head cocked slightly.

[Nero Czan]

Nero absent-mindfully stroked his chin as he thought back on the manner of explaining it. Once he had the outline set out, he smiled at her as he began. "Well, as you may or may not know, Endrykas is a giant roving city. It continuously moves throughout the Cyphrus Plains during the year, and near the dawn of Summer, it goes into what is called the Stardown, which is a massive crater of unknown origin. At least, unknown to me." He chuckled, his knowledge a bit skeptical, but the patchwork should hold. "It is in here that, after the traditional day of prayer, that the Seven major horse-clans of Cyphrus gather to partake in a grand race. All of Endrykas participates in the fan-fare, from children with face-paint, tents with cryptic symbols for their favorite clans, and naturally, healthy gambling. It's basically a week of merriment, overshadowing the fact that Endrykas reaps it's greatest harvests from inside this crater, due to the extremely fertile soil." He looked back over his speech, hoping he didn't miss anything, and satisfied, just smirked. "That's about the jist of it." He gazed into her deep eyes for a brief moment, the vibrant color almost overwhelming, and with her smile as comfort, considered the long speech worth the effort.

[Ora Sa'vina]

Ora listened and tried to imagine such a scene. She imagined vibrant colors and happy faces. That would be a celebration Ora would enjoy seeing, people smiling and cheering on who the either put money on or what-have-you. "Sounds like it would be quite a week... And there are races and celebrations each day?" Her eyes wandered with no intent of settling as she imagined such an event.

Ora smiled at that thought. "On my isle, we have nothing like that. I suppose we're all too calm and focused to let loose..." Her eyes moved to Ryshaltze. "Have you ever been to such a celebration?" Her eyes moved back to Nero. "Are there other celebrations like the Great Race?"
Her voice was like an excited child hearing stories of adventure and heroism, the idea of other cultures and their traditions was something Ora was not familiar with and welcomed wholly.

[Ryshaltze]

Ryshaltze calmly listened to the exchange between the excited Konti and the lecturing Drykas. His memories did not yield anything familiar regarding this great race, yet he found himself being able to envision being among the crowd, sharing in the festivities and joy, betting on racers and swearing good-naturedly when they lost. Was this a part of his past that actually happened or was he just imagining things?

"Sorry for interrupting the moment, but what clan is Nero from?" He addressed the man. It was a random curiosity, but he wanted to know more about this Drykas' background. Maybe the more he knew about the Drykas, the more he might know about the elusive Iruki Shadowslayer, who drew his last breath on the year of the Valterrian, though the circumstances of that was still unknown.

[Nero Czan]

Nero chuckled as the barrage of questions came at him. It was not often that HE was the most knowledgeable person around, and quite honestly, it took a bit of getting used to. He decided to answer Ora's question(s) first, as he knew the second set might take a bit of story-telling, (Although he had been getting enough of that lately). As he thought back, there were vague memories of various festivals, but only a couple really stood out in his mind. "The only big ones I can recall are The Annual Hunt, which occurs every fall, and The Annual Feast, which occurs in the spring. They're not as extravagant as the Race is, but they're important in a Traditional sense. During the fall the greatest hunters across the clans challenge themselves to catch enough game to feed all of Endrykas over the winter. Then, to celebrate their victory, when the frost is melted and flowers are in bloom, a Celebration for the Gods is held, in the form of a magnificent, at least in size, Feast. The Feast takes place over a week, with each day taking a different meaning. I'll be damned if I can't remember the individual days though." He chuckled, surprised at his own memory. He had gone to stay with Sipher for an entire year as he peddled his skills in Endrykas, until he had suddenly vanished. After that, Nero hadn't returned for more than a decade. "That's all I can tell however." Ora's pure excitement was contagious, and it gave him unparalleled joy, just to have brought it to her. "Perhaps I'll take you someday. It's something that the imagination just doesn't do justice..." However, He shook off the thought momentarily, hoping to bridge together the two questions. His gaze shifted, as he thought over his answer for a brief second. Being the center of conversation was trickier than it seemed. "Now, I didn't grow up in Endrykas. At the time, The Clans were branching out piece by piece. My family name, or rather my Clan's name, was Czanis. When we traveled to Endrykas for festivities or formalities, were we officially members of the Topaz clan, responsible for peace-keeping and some other duty." He hadn't paid much attention to this as a kid, but as he recollected the details, some of the subtle facts of his small community's workings were explained. I guess this is a learning experience for Everyone. He continued on, hoping to satisfy his companions entertaining, albeit mysterious, curiosity. "Ours was one of the small 'Splinter cells' that were being formed at the time. We trailed Endrykas somewhat, taking a predestined path throughout the seasons, but we operated separately, I think... Granted, I was, 'forced,' to leave my home at eight years of age, so things aren't as clear as I'd wish."

[Ora Sa'vina]

Ora tried to imagine what the extravagant feast would be like. She loved hearing these stories, her mother use to tell them all the time from her experiences when she traveled. Ora watched Nero and listened intently. "Those must have been happy days, the feasts." She smiled then turned her attention to Rhyshaltze as Nero spoke to him. Her eyes lingered on Rhyshaltze before returning to Nero.

"Ours was one of the small 'Splinter cells' that were being formed at the time. We trailed Endrykas somewhat, taking a predestined path throughout the seasons, but we operated separately, I think... Granted, I was, 'forced,' to leave my home at eight years of age, so things aren't as clear as I'd wish." Ora felt suddenly dizzy as her vision blurred. She saw a child, alone, he looked scared, the vision changed suddenly, she say adults arguing and pointing at the boy with familiar tattoo.

Ora's vision returned to her but the slight dizziness remained. The young Konti blinked a few times, looking at Nero sadly for a moment before rubbing her face. Occasionally Avalis's gift would get he better of her, this was common among young Konti with on gnosis mark, random images of peoples past would flash through, they wouldn't always make sense, but they always left Ora dizzy and slightly disoriented.