Completed Drunken Spiritists

[Una Tanta]

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7th Day of Winter 513 AV

The image of the alcohol sloshing around his red lips, the scent making Unas insensitive nose wrinkle slightly permeated her mind as thickly as the cigar smoke hazed the air of the Rancid Reindeer. Unlike Cy, she had nothing to hold over his head. Nothing to stop him from drinking. Yet, like Cy, she needed something from him. Though guilt covered her, like a yellowing plaque, she continued to indulge his addiction. His knowledge could bring her Cy and she wasn't hurting anyone, she reasoned. He wasn't using his knowledge to aid Avanthal, all he wished was to drink and tell stories and leave the job to another if she benefited from the job as well was that really a crime? Una was thinking this as she moved through the shivery streets, appearing almost like a white ghost herself as the wind buffeted her off the path. A wobbly trail of footprints lay behind her, betraying her as real and finite.

I can help Avanthal. Help Cys place of birth, and with this magic I can bring him back to my side. I can finally live as part of the Vantha, instead of a false limb forever wavering alongside. Useless. Una chanted this to herself each time she tread through the heavy night and smothering stank of alcohol. I can't help him. I can't stop him. All I can do is keeping feeding him spirits and hope I learn fast enough. She thought valiantly as she leaned her shoulder against his heavy door and turned the knob. Almost falling into the peacefully rank room Una kicked the door closed behind her.

Moving to the table Una set the bottles gently down on the table, their clinking bottoms finally settling into silence as they greeted the wooden tabletop. Having finished the bottle she had left him with the already half drunk man leaned forward, reaching for another.

"Shall we begin?" Una prompted and was responded to with several deep grunts. "Do you even know what a Spiritist does girlie?", "They speak with ghosts." Una replied. She understood from her time in the library the importance of basic knowledge and took a seat across from the man. She preferred seated learning anyway. Mental acrobatics where always more her style than physical ones.

"But for what purpose?" "To protect people from them." Una replied, her answer slipping off the back of his question making him grimace. He disliked such pert students, who put no thought into the questions he posed. Una didn't realize his annoyance, nor did she consider herself pert. She simply saw no reason to hesitate at an answer she knew perfectly well.

"What else?" He suggested, drawling as he sung his socked feet onto the table. Leaning away from his feet Una struggled to concentrate. She couldn't help but stare at his feet with disgust. "W-well..." She struggled to concentrate. What other reason could there be to deal with ghosts? There weren't many in the oceans she was familiar with so she knew little, beyond the few rumours she had heard tumbling through the city. "I don't know." She shrugged. Unlike the humans she had met in Avanthal she had no issue with admitting a lack of knowledge. Lack of knowledge was the reason she was here afterall, despite all his lack of charm.

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[Una Tanta]

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She almost offered, bringing people back together, but didn't want to reveal her real reason for becoming his apprentice so kept her thoughts firmly to herself. "What happens when we die?" He asked instead. Though Una knew the answer she frowned, she wasn't here to explain what she already knew, she was here to learn. "We become coral." This made him burst into obnoxious laughter and take another swig of the ale.

Wrinkling her brow, Una frowned deeper. "We Vantha go to Morwen, most humans are reincarnated." The Charoda tilted her head baubles jiggling slightly in the dark room making it glimmer slightly. Too drunk to notice anything unusual or dazzling he continued, "We are born again into a different life." Una gulped silently. Did that mean Cy had moved on? She had assumed everything became a ghost, had assumed he was somewhere searching for her amongst all the souls.

"Some hang onto their life, for some unfinished purpose, and become ghosts." He explained fortunately not noticing Una unconsciously sigh with relief. It would be easier then wouldn't it? She wondered. To find a ghost when only few existed.

Taking another swig the man began to teeter. Una recognized the absent look in his eyes, it was the same look that had been in Cys eyes when he had fallen from the sky. The look of a man escaping reality. Offering an arm and taking the drink from his hand Una nodded, "Lets get you to bed..." She mumbled through gritted teeth. Every instinct told her to do what she had done with Cy. To drag him away from the alcohol, as far into the ocean as she could.

Helping him into the bed Una didn't bother to pull the covers over his shoulders. She felt a hot flood of guilt as she turned away from him. She had left him uncovered as a silent scream against what he was doing. Forcing herself to turn back Una pulled the covers over his shoulders.

Moving away instantly as he began to mumble incoherently Una felt tension build in her stomach and legs. He had not yet been violent with her, but as a drunk Una couldn't help but think it was only a matter of time. Turning her attentions to the small room that was his abode she sighed heavily. He had hardly given her anything, any knowledge. Though it was the knowledge she had desperately needed she wished he had told her more.

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[Una Tanta]

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Una pulled the red leather coat back over her shoulders as she marched out wit the heavy pail, collecting hot water. With the amount of information he was giving her everyday it would take years for her to learn enough to find Cy, Una thought to herself bitterly. As she trudged through the heavy snow, struggling not the splash the steaming water all over her or loose too much to the ground Una pondered how to get more information from him.

She could ask blatantly, but considering how drunk he was most of the time Una was skeptical she would do more than confuse him. Besides, she knew too little to even know what to ask. She couldn't very well walk up to him and ask how to find her dead husband. Perhaps she could simply ask how one finds a ghost that is causing trouble in the city. That played much better into her role as an apprentice. "So, If our goal is to protect the city from harmful ghosts and...whatever else he had suggested...then how do we go about finding the ghosts?" Una practiced aloud to herself, "How then, do we find harmful ghosts?" She tried again as she opened the door.

"We don't find them. They find us if they are harmful." He replied, making her drop the pail in surprise. Watching it spill across the floor in horror Una grumbled. I guess I'll start with the floors...She thought to herself turning to look at the man bent over the bed as his body convulsed through dry heaves. He had eaten little that day, he rarely ate more than a little, Una had noticed. Though Cy had always said dry heaves were more exhausting and painful she was loathe to clean up after the filthy bastard let alone his puke.

"If they aren't harmful?", "Why would we want to find them?" Una hesitated. It sounded like he was asking a genuine question, not rudely responding to hers. Though she understood most of the Vani spoken to her she struggled with less than clear intentions in the foreign language. "Why would we?" She responded tentatively. "Exactly." He replied before beginning another series of convulsions.

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[Una Tanta]

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Una scowled at his response, it wasn't really an answer. If it was an answer then it meant they didn't go after ghosts that weren't malicious. The Charoda wondered if that meant she wouldn't be taught how to find Cy. Malicious ghosts were easy to find she figured, since they were actively doing something in a certain location. No one she knew of had spotted Cy in Avanthal. But then again, she hadn't known to ask. Grabbing an already filthy rag and bucket Una moved toward the Spiritist slowly mopping up the chunky puke that decorated the floor. His entire room was floored with a very light wood that showed the stains of past binges.

"So Spiritists only deal with malicious ghosts? Then why were you dealing with the animals ghosts at the wall?" Una quizzed curiously gazing up at his pasty face from her place on her knees.

"Psshh..." He made a flapping gesture with one hand, "that is called a premptive strike!" He caterwauled banging his fist onto the flat of his hand decisively before doubling over to begin puking again.

"Preemptive?"

"Dealing with dah new or dah harmless ghosts so they can never become malicious."

"What does dealing with mean?" Una queried as she squeezed the vomit thickened rag into the bucket and began on the new pile he had left her. The rank stench made her gag repeatedly until her abdomen was sore with the effort. The smell was going to make her add her own vomit to the collection she worried to herself covering her mouth subconciously. Having spent much of her time in the clean clear ocean Una loathed the feeling of dirt and grime that the land imposed on her and would indulge in long baths or the Makutsi Springs whenever she got the chance. Crawling in this mans filth was only tolerable because of the knowledge he had promised her.

She had never loathed a man as much as she loathed this man. Perhaps it was because she loathed herself for tolerating him. Perhaps because the frustration of being unable to act only added to his already insufferable nature. Either way each day Una came she gritted her teeth, plugged her nose, and wiped the tears from her eyes that the repugnant smell forced from them. Even with the clear protective layer they stung from the ammonia and alcohol that had soaked into the wood of his home.

However, she wasn't going to get an answer to her question quite yet. Groaning and laying back Jared curled his knees up to his chin and tugged the covers messily over himself. Sighing heavily Una rose from the floor and dumped the bucket out the door and to the side, watching it sink into a thick layer of snow. Shutting the door behind her she resumed clearing away the dishes and grime that had accumulated without her here. Dishes dressed every surface, each more mismatched than the last. Most were chipped or broken in half to make two usable plates when he had run out. Several looked almost new, as if he bought new plates instead of washing the old.

Each plate had remains of moldy meat, bread and soup. The normally thick soup had seperated into layers and as Una dumped it into the waste bin that was collected daily to be removed from the city a strong fermenting smell rose from his making her wide nose shrink away in a wrinkled frenzy.

"Disgusting..." She muttered under breath. Piling the bowls into the wash basin Una dumped the pail of water she had collected before coming to work letting the hardened remains soak while she cleared up the rest of the dishes. Fortunately the alcohol mugs were almost licked clean already and just needed to be washed. The breads had developed a fuzzy blue and green mold and all was thrown into the waste bin. The Vantha must resent someone who wastes food so prolifically...Una thought frowning at the snoring lump in the bed.

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[Una Tanta]

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She had learned quickly that the Vantha didn't tolerate waste. Her first day at the Luminary Commons, the main eating area of the Vantha, she hadn't eaten the meat placed before her. As a Charoda she was unable to ingest it. Many scowls had followed and when she had moved to throw it out a stranger had stopped her with angry words she hadn't understood at the time and yanked the meat from her hands.

It had taken much awkward explaining in her less than perfect Vani to explain her races biology and inability to eat meat. Even after that many had stared at her in disgust and suspician until they had witnessed several times her picking off the meat to any dish, or requesting a vegetarian option, and handing over anything she couldn't eat to a nearby Vantha.

Eventually they tolerated her pecularities but others still looked on resentful, fruit and vegetables were a rarity in Avanthal. To have an individual who could only ingest these greens was akin to someone saying they could only wear the most precious furs. Some of these people, trying to prove that she was indeed just being particular, had snuck meat into one of her meals which had left her doubled over sick for the remainder of the day. She had been left alone after this event and eventually people even argued to sit next to her so they could get her leftovers.

The meat in Jareds Arvinta had developed a rotting odour that could barely be smelled over the tang of puke and alcohol. As she disturbed the meat dumping the remainder in the waste basket the scent strengthened and Una rushed to the door wrenching it open as she heaved. She wasn't about to puke all over the floor she had just cleaned. Unfortunately she didn't open the door quite in time and her last meal was left dripping from the engraved designs on the door.

Whimpering she slid to the floor, legs bent awkwardly around her and banged her head against the door. I'm never going to finish....and he's never going to be sober enough to tell me anything of interest... She fretted feeling hopeless. Very slowly she rose, fetched the rag and began clearing away her own puke. Her physical disgust for the way this man lived, the way he was forcing her to live. "Its all worth it. Its all worth it." She chanted to herself as she rang out the rag over and over again.

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[Una Tanta]

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When she had finally finished cleaning Una gratefully slipped out of the room and scurried toward the Makutsi Springs where she could scrub the filth of the day from her body and mind. As she gratefully rid herself of the many layers of clothing and carefully folded the precious garments she spotted Jack already waiting in the smallest pool. Leaping into the boiling water with glee Una held herself underwater for a moment feeling the grime give way to the water before she even began scrubbing. Slowly and only because Jack was there she let herself bob to the surface.

"Bad day?" He chuckled.

"You have no idea."

"I have some idea. You are filthy!" He replied wrinkling his nose, "You smell like Cy."

Swatting him gently Una turned her back to him as she reached for the sponges he had brought. "Help me?"

"With pleasure." He replied reaching for the other sponge

He had been bringing her sponges and meeting her in the springs since she began her apprenticeship. They rarely spoke about anything other than Cy or literature or spoke of nothing at all and Una appreciated it endlessly. Scrubbing away the filth was tedious but every little patch of cleared skin made the Charoda feel invigorated. The sponges were hard and rough even when submerged aggitating her fragile skin until it was almost red and sizzled painfully in the hot water, yet she favoured this feeling to the crumbly grime of earlier.

"Thanks" She murmured easing her head back against the pools edge, finally clean.

Nodding Jack laid back, letting his body float and stared at the sky. Copying him her legs bumped his gently, but nothing was said. Both gazed at the glittering stars and rainbow that perpetually danced above the Vantha. Like a coral reef made from light though Una didn't have the same spiritual connection to the bridge that had born the rainbow eyed Ice children it reminded her of home, when it had been a better place. The night passed by in delicious silence the croaking and singing of the frogs that inhabited only the springs background music to their thoughts.

"So you are going to find Cy?"

Unas eyes widened with surprise and she sat up, "How did you know?"

"Why else would you be chasing after ghosts?"

Though she hated that someone besides Cy could read her so well she smiled despite herself. The secret weighed less when another knew it.

"So what are you going to do?" Jack asked, still staring at the lights.

"What do you mean?"

"He's a drunk. What are you going to do to get the information you need? I've seen you at the library don't forget. I know you aren't the most subtle person. You are going to give yourself, whether you want to admit it or not."

Una frowned, "you think?"

"Yes."

"Hmmm...I don't know...all I need to learn is how to find a ghost right? That can't be that hard. If he is going to teach me anything about ghosts we will have to find one first right?"

Jack didn't look convinced.

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[Catastrophe]

Una Tanta :

Skills

• Socialization: 3 XP
• Observation: 2 XP
• Interrogation: 2 XP
• Leadership: 1 XP
• Cleaning: 2 XP

Lores

• Avanthal: The Rancid Reindeer
• Searching for Cy's Spiritual Being
• Spiritists: Trying to Find Answers on what they do
• Mopping up Vomit
• Cleaning in Turn of Gaining Knowledge

Loot

• N/A

Notes :

So totally gross! Vomit is definitely not my favourite and by the way Una handled it, I'm sure it wasn't hers either. This was a pretty awesome thread Una. I loved how she was so insistent on gaining any sort of information about Spiritists. I also admire her persistence in finding Cy. Keep up the wonderful job!

I would like to point out something in your posts, however. You have Una speaking with another person, but in the paragraphs with conversation, you do not create a new paragraph each time there is a new speaker. During certain times this is alright, but throughout this thread I found it really difficult to follow the conversation and decipher who was talking. This is just something to keep in mind for the future. Other than that, it was a joy to read!

If you have any questions or concerns at all about your grade, just send a private message my way so we can discuss the issues!

The Darkness Within