Open [Springwater Square] More Than Coincidence.

[Cyq]

22nd of Fall, 514.

It wasn't that often that the mouse managed to 'break away' from his usual gallivanting about the various education buildings in Lhavit. Whenever he wasn't in and around the Dawn Tower, finding out whatever he possibly could, he was in the Unforgiving, using what he'd found on whatever small animals he could find in order to collect more bodies for their eventual malediction. He'd become.. well, reserved. Apparently that wasn't a very good thing either. There couldn't be any harm in exploring the city a little more.. getting to know its various inhabitants, discovering a little more about this place and just why it existed at all. Not that it wasn't beautiful.. but beauty didn't exempt it from purpose. Nothing was ever built, just because it was beautiful. It was built to look beautiful in a house when others came to see, or to look beautiful to someone else so that it could be sold.

Perhaps he was just being a little bit too... cynical. But, that was his nature. Even while walking through the Springwater Square, glancing to the many skyglass flags that hung far in front of him, above the rows of stores and vendors, he couldn't help but wonder what all of it was for. Was it a show of strength and influence, of Zintila's presence in the city.. was it a show of money? There had to be some reason they erected so much skyglass around every inch of the city, and why everything was crafted so ornately. Placed as he was, somewhere between the northern shops and the central fountain, he almost felt lost in it all. Thankfully the people were at least somewhat cautious of where they were going, and the mouse managed to avoid being simply stomped upon.. but everything was so tall and bustling. It was like a forest of garish coloured fabric as people passed him by and obscured him with their legs.

Five chimes of wandering did him little good, as well. Before he knew it, he was standing in front of a Reimancer, who was quietly standing on a small, likly hand-woven rug, waving his hands around slowly as Res wobbled in little clouds around his upper body. He opened his mouth, and drew it inside until his cheeks were practically bulging with the stuff, before blowing it out. As it passed his lips, however, it transmuted into fire and extended in intricate licks of flame, further manipulated by the small surrounding Res drawing it close to form strange shapes. The small several people that had crowded around the man gasped and cooed in awe, but the mouse wasn't as amused. "I could do that if I want." Well.. with practice, he was sure that he could. Eventually.

He didn't feel comfortable doing it while the Shinya were nearby, however. Even though they were the supposed protection of the city, he still didn't like them. They always looked at him strangely - even more so than the other citizens that often wanted to know what and who had created him.

[Kaik Leyr]

Fall had finally arrived with its frigid weather in tow, not that Kaik minded the change in fact he much prefered the cold than the heat of summer. The Okomo scarf he had received last season had finally came in use as he tightened it around his neck. With his own attire accounted for he began to straighten out Arya and Oliver’s clothes along with their weapons. It may have seemed unnecessary to equip the two with such weaponry but Kaik was a cautious man, more than that however it was because it helped ease his anxiety knowing he had those two by his side willing to protect him. He could not help but rub both theirs heads just grateful for their presence. “Father?” Oliver asked confused at the gesture, Kaik smiled in response.

Kaik had no real reason for leaving his home, he simply felt like enjoying the weather. Arya clinged to her master’s left side, gripping his hand tightly. Oliver did not share in Arya’s fear as he stood close to Father’s right side ever vigilant of any danger. Bells pass as Kaik wandered the streets of Lhavit without reason, this evidently led him to Springwater Square. A nearby vendor saw his chance for some Kina upon spotting a father and his two children. “You young man! With the arrival of Fall comes its freezy embrace! I sell warm clothes perfect for the season!” the man said, “No...no thanks.” Kaik said quickly moving ahead of all the stalls set up.

A short walk away he could see a small crowd was beginning to form around some guy standing on a rug. Wanting to see what was going on he moved closer to the attraction, it was not like Kaik was a stranger to magic but when the man unleashed his breath of fire Kaik instinctively jumped back and it was through such a maneuver he tripped falling on his back. It struck him as ironic that a mage would be so fearful of magic, but given what his dear creations were made of he had grown to have a dislike to fire. He could of sworn he heard laughter coming from the crowd but he tried not to mind it as he looked over to his left side. Arya was still holding his hand and being the faithful servant she was Arya fell down along with her master, the problem with that was now Arya’s hood was off with her true appearance open for all to see. He noted that the laughter was gone.

As he stood up along with Arya he pulled her hood back over her head. There was no anger, no accusations or interactions, no everything he had expected to happen never happened. Instead admiration, intrigue, and curiosity were what he heard as the people voiced their questions and begun debated with one another over the principle of Animation. Why? Why now? What of the past? Was what I thought the public’s opinion of what I do wrong? The questions in his end never stopped as he began to be overwhelmed by the people surrounding him. He needed to get away, “Um sorry sorry...I uh...I- I need to go somewhere...yes right I’ll be…l-leaving now.” With that he tried to find a more secluded area of the Springwater Square to occupy his thoughts.

Box Code by Scarlet Rose

[Raizuvon Auralis]

Retconned :

It was rare to find Rai not researching new methods or schema, or actually putting said plans into use. However, this is one of the rare times when he needed to escape from the dark, stuffy area of his place and to go out into the open. Perhaps breathe in some fresh air, look around and attempt to get some inspiration. It was something he was poor at - resting - for he was and always had been a workaholic. Yet, he understood that both his body and mind was mortal, and so he needed to allocate the requisite rest to them, and perhaps he could perform at a more optimal pace when he next set himself to work.

It was thus that the Isur found himself in Springwater Square, a huge area with a collection of various performers, some of which includes magicians. Rai sat near one of the fountains' marble edges, his back leaning against a back-rest, his legs crossed with one hand resting on his knee, his fist against his cheek in a relaxed manner. To the onlookers he might as well was high or be daydreaming, since his eyes were a little spaced out. However, he was actually dipping into his djed pool, channelling them to his eyes while looking at one of the structures that was made of skyglass. In fact, everything was made with skyglass, and the architecture was so ornately structured that it made Sultros look like it took itself too seriously. Then again, he figured that Isurs were the kind to take everything seriously.

He did not try anything huge, since his proficiency with Auristics only stretched as far as focusing on one aura for a short period of time, and he was warned by the Sentinels that if he were to value his eyesight he would refrain from overextending. The aura of Skyglass was glowing blue, and was celestially beautiful in a way that he could not describe when viewing through his arcane lens. If he were to use mortal words to describe it, it would be that... that aura of Skyglass was of a different color, one that did not exist in the mortal spectrum, on the physical plane.

As he noted the calmly swirling djed that marked Skyglass as a divine-touched material, he felt an invisible brush against his shoulder, causing him to flinch subtly. However, there was no real brush, but instead it was his wizard's senses that the djed balance in the area was slightly higher than usual. Indeed, it was immediately followed by a large cloud of combustion that bled into his view, and he quickly closed his eyes, already a slight pain tingeing when he accidentally viewed another aura of bright, magical fire.

The crowd applauded, then laughed at some spectacle, but Rai did not see any of it. Instead, he was massaging his temples sourly, his expression was one as if he had just smelled someone's season-long unwashed sock. His natural dour look - typical of Isurs - only made it worse, and if an onlooker were to observe the Isur it would be easy to make the wrong assumption that he was displeased by the fire mage's performance.

[Phelan Lyall]

Phelan had set aside mourning his father some time ago, convinced that doing so would do him little good. However, that didn't mean the sense of loss from his fathers death went away, and with nothing to distract him, the wolf was frequently visited by a sudden pain as his thoughts wandered to his late father. So, in the interest of doing something to avoid dwelling on what he couldn't change, the wolf took on his human form, got dressed, and wandered into the city.

It was early morning when he walked out of his house, and for the most part the wolf just...wandered, not particularly caring where he went or what he saw, just so long as he went there and saw it. Despite the aimless nature of his walk, Phelan was more than entertained by his day as he saw some pretty neat things, such as people practicing magic in the streets, a few of the other races just casually talking to each other, and even a mouse that seemed to have a purpose...and clothes? That didn't quite fit into things...stopping for a moment, the Kelvic turned down the same path as the mouse and tried to follow him.

However, despite the Kelvics best efforts, Phelan lost track of the mouse in the crowds. However, he did stumble across someone blowing fire in the Springwater Square. "Wooow...never seen that before..." Phelan said, watching the firebreather with the same sense of awe an outsider might have when simply looking at the beautifully constructed city. "Guess I should get out of the house more..." he said, looking up at the city and grinning.

[Cyq]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

If there weren't so many people gathering around the spectacle, the mouse would have left quite a while ago. Instead, he was trapped about as close to the rug as possible - so close that as the fire wound itself slowly around his body, drawn in thin winding tendrils by the precise manipulation of Res, he could feel the heat on his clay. At least when the stuff began to expand, he found more room, and eventually decided that enough was enough. He didn't need this, today of all days - he just wanted to find something interesting to do on his day off. Luck and hapchance was on his side for the day, it would seem. He turned just in time to see the glimpse of a doll. From so close, it was most definitely a doll - right down to the woody, granulated skin texture and the complete lack of hair. It wasn't badly made, not at all... but he didn't really spend too long wondering on the craftmanship, and more on why it was moving by itself. Perhaps the man has control of its joints through the hand. Some bizarre form of gadgetry.

The only world magics interested in the arts of crafting was malediction. It was all that the Symnestran had known - the creature that had first opened his eyes to magic. Whether or not this truly was magic - and it very likely wasn't, considering the thought of making life was utterly beyond any other power he'd heard of so far - his curiosity had been piqued. Even as the man began to make his excuses to leave from the crowd that, by now, wasn't even paying attention to the Reimancer still puffing out flames and winding them around his shirt-less body, the mouse began nudging under and around the various feet in the crowd in order to take a better look. Each time he pushed far enough ahead, however, another foot came into view and he found himself slowly falling behind. Damnit. I need to see it.

So intent on this new discovery, he soon stopped bothering with his polite attitude. The stub of his little stick jabbed into the soft spots between the toes of the feet that he passed, sending up angry little yelps and confused grunts from those above him. He jabbed it particularly hard into the foot of a tall boy with messy black hair. For most of them, he didn't even give a glance - not even when he finally made it out of those damnable crowds and into the relatively open space that lay between dancing performers strutting around with their magic and acrobatics for Kina. A pathetic way to live, truthfully.. passing around from city to city, using their talents for little more than striking awe in the humans and other creatures that could not or simply would not learn how to perform the same tricks themselves because they found better things to do with their lives. The only thing better in their lives is death. They wouldn't even make good Legacies...

There was one exception. As he finally broke the crowds and made it back to the light of the surrounding square once more, his eyes caught on a particularly... exotic specimen. Isur. He'd heard plenty of stories of them, but never really seen any. Pyconia bordered on the lower edges of the mountain that they called their citadel, and so it certainly wasn't common to hear the stories of those that had managed to find an Isur and have them accompany a stranded or particularly curious Pycon inside - but they still existed. Their craftsmanship is well known. Having one alive or dead... that'd certainly be something useful. How he'd be able to kill an Isur without any others discovering.. how he'd be able to cover up the fact that he was using the bones of an Isur once they'd been maledicted.. those were all things to think about later. For now, he certainly had a pair of interesting people to meet.

[Kaik Leyr]

In his rush to get somewhere more quiet he had a chance encounter with a strange man who was about his age. Unfortunately he had met the man by bumping right into him, quick to apologize he looked up at the face of the stranger but he soon forgot about his apology as the eyes of the man seemed to mesmerize him. Thoughts of finding eyes much like the stranger overridden the need to apologize, of course he soon realized that just staring at the man would bring trouble so quickly he said, “S-sorry! I uh...didn’t see you um...I wasn’t really staring at you! It’s just...just...I just like your eyes that’s all...ah! Wait no don’t misunderstand that I just um...I um...I’m gonna go now!” Having made a fool of himself he darted away from the amber eyed man.

After some time he arrived at an empty bench far away from the performances of the magicians and the crowds. The need to check over Arya seemed irrelevant considering that she was only seen by the crowds but somehow Kaik felt like they had done something to her. Worry overcoming his logic he checked Arya’s body to be sure his worries were not true, sure of this fact he let out a sigh as he patted Ayra’s head. He was not sure what to think of the crowd’s reaction to Arya, so instead of dwelling on the thought he decided to see how Oliver speech was developing.

“Are you cold Oliver?” Kaik asked. “Co-ld? Father...Oliver doe-s n-ot under-stand.” Kaik had expected such a response, there was only so much he taught him before his awakening. “It’s okay Oliver...come closer Oliver, I want to see your face.” Oliver does as asked and now stood closely near his father’s knees. Father had found himself staring at his blue eyes, sad to see that the only thing that seemed human was his eyes. Indeed he was happy to have his dolls but it all could not compare to Ellen. Still unlike Ellen, his dolls were there with doing their utmost for their master, Ellen had become a dream to strive toward.

A cold breeze hits him as he put his hands under his scarf, “It’s cold.” Oliver and Arya did not responds, but Kaik just laughs it off as he asked the two to sit by him. He did not expect it to get any warmer by them sitting next him as they were only wooden dolls but somehow it felt like it got warmer. Maybe instead of warmth they brought a sense of happiness to him, no matter the reason Kaik would not care, he just knew it felt warm.

Box Code by Scarlet Rose

[Phelan Lyall]

Phelan stood and watched the performance until he felt someone jab him hard in the foot with a stick. Letting out a yelp and stepping back, the Kelvic looked down at his feet for a moment to see what had poked him, then noticed the staff the target of his original curiosity running away from the crowd. "Little bugger...wait, wasn't that..." he said as he thought he recognized the creature running away from the crowd. Hesitating only a moment, the wolf decided to follow the creature.

Unlike the smaller creature though, Phelan had to force his way through the crowd and he was too polite to jab people in the foot to manage it. The end result was that it took longer for the wolf to make it through the crowd and by the time he was past all the other bodies, he had lost sight of the creature. Its smell on the other hand, was one he remembered and he started to follow it, though it was a lot more difficult in human form to track it among all the other smells in the city. Because of how hard it was to try and track the smell among the other smells of the city, Phelan lost track of the creatures scent a few times. "This could take me a while..." he muttered under his breath.

As he tried to track down the hedgehog, another man ran into him. "Whoa, there, you okay?" he said, waiting for the man to respond. However, for a bit the man just stared at him and when he finally broke his silence by stammering out a very confusing apology and running off. After a moment of surprise, the wolf followed the man before finally seeing him stop and talk to a pair of puppets. After a moment, the wolf walked up to the man and and waved. "Hello there, I didn't get a chance to introduce myself. I'm Phelan Lyall, I wanted to apologize for running into you earlier."

[Cyq]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

It seemed as though prodding people in the foot with his stick was paying off - with all the people yelping in surprise and mild pain, hopping back a few steps, he could see where he was going.. and finally catch a glimpse of the man and the two.. things that stood close by. One of them was probably a real child, he couldn't really tell because of the clothes the two of them were wearing.. but one of them, he knew, wasn't. He almost ran towards them, heedlessly jabbing away at exposed toes or shoes with his stick with enough sudden shock to nearly topple some people backwards. Well, he couldn't blame them.. if he was a human and suddenly a hedgehog was walking over their feet, stepping on their toes, he'd be pretty damn surprised as well.. although he'd likely keep an eye on what was below his ankles just in case it was trying to pick his pocket.. or poison him. He wasn't exactly tiny and he wasn't exactly quiet, but with the way these people were reacting, he'd just dropped out of a portal to the Ukalas itself.

Before he could reach the man, strangely enough, someone else stepped right in front of him. Harameus save me, every person in this damn city is intent on standing between me and my goals. Literally. There wasn't even a need to jab this one in the foot because he could easily slip between his ankles without even brushing him, but the hedgehog did it anyway. Strangely enough, though.. the face looked somewhat familiar, as did the legs. It took a few ticks of concentration, but eventually he deciphered it. The wolf-man that he'd met in the Unforgiving, and tried to kill with a spear of rock.. yes, that was it. "Hello Phelan." He would have made his greeting more pleasant but there were more pressing things on his mind for that moment - pressing enough that he was willing to interrupt the middle of what was likely going to be a long, waffling and overall useless conversation they may have already begun in order to ask the burning questions at the forefront of his attention.

"What are these dolls." He gestured to both of them, from Oliver to Arya and back again, standing at their sides and scanning over them with his pupil-less eyes. "How are they able to move.. and how are they able to talk." He gently prodded one of them on the shoulder, to see what would happen.. could it attack, could it defend.. could it hold a basic conversation? Was it a living being? "Are they powered by something.. are they the product of some complex form of gadgetry?" He couldn't see any evidence for it, any cogs or signs of some kind of device that would allow it to move its own limbs. Funnily enough, it looked like a doll that had been given the powers of movement.. just like he resembled a statue that had been given those very same powers. "Are they creatures created by Gods. Did you make them?" After firing off so many questions, the last one he looked to Kaik as he spoke it.

"Can you make me one." If the man knew how to make them.. if he was truly responsible for their construction.. then he could make more. The hedgehog could use an automaton or two to help him with his various endeavours in Malediction and in other crafts... as well as in daily use. After all, the hedgehog had to prod people at the ankles just to make them pass for him.. but if he had a creature like the small child to carry him around, then.. well, he likely wouldn't be stepped on any more. And.. perhaps, eventually.. he'd be able to learn how to create his own.

[Kaik Leyr]

A pleasant warmth overtook Kaik as he sat happily, his eyes partially closed, next to his dear companions. This moment of peace was shattered as the amber eyed man from before apologized for bumping into him, which struck him as odd as he thought he himself was who ran into him. It was definitely not right for the amber eyed man, whose name he just learned was Phelan, to be apologizing for things he did not do. “No! No, the fault was all mine...er yes my name is Kaik, is...will that be all?” he tried to hide the irritation in his voice but failed to mask it, he was enjoying a rare moment of happiness and though it was no fault of Phelan he still felt he was being a bother.

Just when he thought he could enjoy some time by himself, a bizarre meeting with a hedgehog put such thoughts to rest. Clearly this small creature was not a hedgehog at all, it seemed to be made out of something clay-like, it was also made clear it had a soul given its ability to speak. The hedgehog seemed like a work of animation, yet Kaik was certain that it was impossible to give motion and speech to a clay like substance, though with such a thing standing below him it was hard to believe his thoughts. The hedgehog seemed to have an acquaintanceship with Phelan given his greeting to the man, though it seemed the creature did not come to greet Phelan but to investigate the nature of his dolls. A barrage of questions are flung at him much like his encounter with Una.

Before he could react the strange creature was already at Arya’s side prodding her shoulder albeit gently, Arya quickly moved away from the creature and behind Kaik as he himself had already began to stand up, Oliver quickly took his place by his Father ready for whatever may be required of him, he knew well the violence strangers could cause and refused to see his Father in the same situation. “Don’t touch them.” his voice remained calm, yet there was an unmistakable anger boiling behind it. The strange creature wanted answers so answer them he did, if only to be rid of the hedgehog. It did not matter if Phelen was listening, he was sure such complex talk of magic would just go over the man’s head.

“You asked what they are? They are as you say they are...dolls. They move and speak by being taught, as long as I give them the means to do so. They were created with the power of magic, there is no complex gadgetry involved,” Kaik wanted to poise his own question of how the hedgehog was able to move but felt just getting it to leave was the priority, “Yeah...I made them...and no the gods did not create them.” The hedgehog’s final question seemed like a final insult, there was no way he would create a doll some questionable creature, Cassia being the only one he ever ever felt like creating one for. “Whatever your name may be...sorry but...I’m not going to create one for you...I don’t have any reason to do such a thing.”

Box Code by Scarlet Rose

[Phelan Lyall]

Phelan shook his head as the man asked if there was anything else, then started to turn and leave before Cyq made his appearance. "Ah, hello, Cyq. I was just looking for you." the Kelvic said as the hedgehog started talking to the other man. After a brief moments thought, the wolf sat down far enough to make sure he wouldn't intrude in the conversatio and waited for them to finish.

Towards the end of the conversation, another question occurred to Phelan that Cyq hadn't thought of and he finally spoke up again. "If you don't mind my asking, why did you make them? I mean, most such things are made with some kind of purpose, or for some specific reason. Or were they just something you wanted to make?" he asked, scratching his head. The puppets had caught some of his interest, but it was far outside the scope of his abilities to duplicate the feat, nor did he have any particular interest in learning how to make them at the moment. But why they were made, that was much more interesting.

Common

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