[Dawn Sister] Exchanges

by **Eleret** on November 30th, 2013, 12:41 pm

Brodon spoke of weapon-wielding as art, talked about feints and deception and drawing out the opponent to set him up for a strike, demonstrating a set of actions. As he did this, Eleret politely rose to better witness the demonstration; at the last, as he concluded, the Konti shook her head, reaching out to set a hand on the upheld staff. "It is not that I mean," she said. "There is a way to hold that is right. That does not... that you keep the staff with your hands, that you do not hurt your fingers. With sword, there is... there is time to use point, edge, side," she went on, tapping the staff briefly and then stepping back. "You see? It is very small, very... first things learned, you do not even think now. But everyone does, because everyone must. Telling is art, is... is like water -- the way fits the user and the question, like water fits container. Not everyone is same."

He went on to ask if she had ever been wrong, to mention his skepticism at readings. She scented it on the air between them as well, the sharp astringency of juniper -- doubt, uncertainty, anxiety. The Konti smiled, hoping to put him at ease. "Many wonder," she assured him. "Many who are not Konti think... for fun, think fortune is just a story. But if you look at clouds, you see the weather come, yes? There are signs; fortune only reads them."

Then Brodon asked about his death, and Eleret raised her eyebrows in surprise. "No reading is not death," she replied, shaking her head. "I do not know what Lucas did -- what question, what focus. But if he was asking about the staff, and did not clear first, then he would not read you. There is..." She paused, not finding the right words in her Common vocabulary. "...I would say an attunement to reading. It is like..." She pointed up at one of the Dawn Sister's sails, billowed out with the wind. "You look at one sail, you see others at edges, just a little, but mostly you only see the one if you do not move. Reading is like this. You ask one question, you see one sail. If you do not move, do not clear the question, maybe you can see a bit of different sail in the edges, but not so much." Turning back to Brodon, Eleret shrugged slight. "It is also that sometimes one fortune is... very 'loud'. It shouts over others, and the reader cannot hear them. That one, the one that is noisy, may not be what you wanted to ask about, but it is the most important to know."

There remained one question which she had not addressed explicitly -- that of being 'wrong'. "I have missed," Eleret stated plainly. "Anyone does. When I was small, I tried... hard questions. Because they are what anyone wants answer of," she commented with a rueful smile. "Young Konti ask a thing like, 'who will I marry'; it is a game, to try and know. But a person is many things; to read enough from fortune to know a person well, to find them in a crowd, is not easy." She shook her head again, smiling wistfully at whatever memories her answers stirred up.

by **Brodon Windriver** on December 6th, 2013, 10:18 pm

Brodon did not quite understand the various metaphors Eleret gave, but felt reasonably sure that he and she were actually in agreement. That what read clearly on one person, might give vague uncertainties on another, due to the variables inherent in each person's life. The same being true of the method of reading employed. One method may render a message clear as the written word, while another may seem as a delirious hallucination.

Strangely, he found himself reassured by the fact that the Konti gave no promises. But it was never that he doubted the honesty of the practitioners of readings, though, of course, there would be exceptions to that rule in every field of mortal endeavor. It was more the concern over the potential mischief of the gods. But if he was going to worry about something as all-pervasive as that, why should he have any faith at all? He might just as well fear to get out of his cot every morning.

He did not want to confuse things further with speculation about what subtleties she may have meant. It sounded as though she had meant that the 'fundamentals' of sword use were the same, and he agreed with that. You did not hold a sword by the blade, nor brace a staff below your own ribcage. He could only guess that she meant that, with readings, there were no such fundamentals; no components of a vision that always indicated the same thing.

Perhaps this was what had happened with Lucas. "I am only being able to say that Lucas gave a reading of me and was not finding any things. Also not when he...no, wait...I am not thinking he ever only was touching the staff alone..." Brodon stopped, thinking for a moment.

"No, it was when I was holding the staff and he was reading me that he was finding a scene..ery. Of a jungle...But I was not being in it. Only the staff. He told me to stop holding it then, so I did so. Then he said the scene went gray and lost it. Then, when he took my reading, there was again nothings of any kind."

He leaned again on the railing, looking out over the rolling sea. "He tried again, doing all of it in the same way, but he got no things to see. He said it was not...regular...for it to be so. That the one scene...thing...had been very strong, but was not now even...a "twitch"...I am thinking he said."

He turned to look at Eleret, clearly hinting a request in his words, "I am wondering if it would be be...ing...the same for you."

by **Ragdoll** on May 26th, 2014, 12:55 pm

Grade Awarded!

Eleret, should you ever decide to bring your PC out of hiatus, you're more than welcome to PM me and I'll grade your portion of the thread.

Brodon :

Don't forget to edit your grading request! Though I try my hardest to award you what you deserve, I may occasionally mess things up! If there's something you'd like to discuss about your grade, then please don't hesitate to send me a PM and I'll be happy to work things out with you.

Skill	Points
Socialization	4
Observation	2
Storytelling	1

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