Closed [Alements] The Bottom of My Mug

[Eselle]

Timestamp: Night of the 86th Fall 514 AV

Syna’s ribbons spread across the sky, slowly dimming from gold into scarlet. Eselle’s bruises had faded from black into mottled green and yellow. Most of them were hidden beneath her clothing, except for the split skin on the side of her face and the bruise surrounding it, she looked little worse for the wear. The Konti when healed looked frail, and instead of making her look pathetic her bruising gave her character. At least, she tried to make herself believe it.

Eselle slipped into Alements. She enjoyed tea here and tonight that was her intent. To find the peace she once cloaked herself in, the surety and serenity of a seer. It had been lost now, somewhere with the changing autumn colors. There was doubt and exhaustion, this was what it meant not accept signs as answers. Her fingers jerked at the buckle across her chest, releasing the sheathed bastard sword. Eselle settled it across a chair at the table she selected.

Meandering towards the bar, thoughts of tea were on the tip of her tongue before they stuck like sap. She heaved a sigh, tea just didn’t feel right. “Ale, please.” The Konti ordered and marched back towards her table. She would begin looking for right, whatever felt right tonight. The first place she would look would be in her mug. Settling the umber liquid on her table, she lowered herself into the cushy chair. The worst her bruises had been on her hips. They painted her white skin with a sickly opaque patterns, which Avalis be blessed, were hidden.

Curling her hands around the mug, she stared down into it. The first sip was followed by a grimace it felt like rolling a sticker seed around on her tongue and tasted yet again worse. Still she wouldn’t falter in her seeking so quickly, her next drink was a gulp. It somehow made the brew more palatable.

She pushed the ale back down to the table and looked up as if on a queue that no one else heard. Eselle surveyed the tavern lazily, someone else here, was looking for answers.

[Aoren]

Aoren’s first day in Riverfall had proven to be more fulfilling than two seasons spent in Zeltiva. The air in the city felt more alive to him than what he’d been accustomed to in years. The alabaster buildings and methodical attention to detailed beauty captivated him when normally he would have simply passed it by intent on his destination. After seeing to some of his more personal needs earlier in the day he had been content to just wander the parts of the city he was welcome to until finally he returned to the Alements tavern. He had wanted to spend more time with Caelum but the Ethaefal had matters of his own to tend to. Aoren learned very quickly that Caelum was a busy man. As he stepped into the den of the tavern something flittered across his consciousness. For a moment the Drykas man was a little confused until he was prompted to look down at his right hand.

A soft, almost whimsical music whispered through his mind drawing his attention deeper into the room. It had been a long time since Aoren had felt the soft caress of Avalis lullaby singing to him, announcing another Seer was nearby. Following the soft cadences of his mark’s song he was lead to rest his gaze upon a blonde haired woman. Her face was touched by the golden shimmer of scales and immediately Aoren recognized her as a Konti. It was curious to note that while Konti were vaulted as the chosen children of his patron goddess, Aoren had not met many of them marked by her. In his life the Konti that he had met were all marked by Avalis’s twin sister, Rak’keli. Part of him wondered why that was. As a man marked by both goddesses he could understand the immense amount of peace and clarity they bestowed upon their followers. At the same time he was filled with a strong sense of duty.

The clearing of a throat behind him pulled Aoren from his thoughts. He looked over his shoulder to see a man and woman staring at him expectantly. Heat rushed to Aoren’s face as he stepped out of their way.

“Sorry.” He rubbed at his face in an attempt to brush aside his embarrassment. Making his way up to the bar he slid into a chair beside the Konti woman. He considered ordering just a glass of tea or water but he’d had so much of that during his journey across the sea that his throat thirsted for something different. Chewing on his bottom lip for a moment he gave a definitive nod.

“Ale. Make it a strong one.” As soon as the words were out of his mouth he felt satisfied with his choice. A strong drink was definitely what he needed. It seemed like the perfect way to end a long journey and an overall relaxing day as he got acquainted with a new city. In a way he was celebrating and celebrations deserved a good drink to commemorate them. He was celebrating the end of his old life and the beginning of his new. As his drink was handed to him he took a deep breath before downing a solid gulp to get himself accustomed to the harsh flavor. He scrunched his nose, shaking his head slightly as it danced over his tongue then burned its way down his throat.

“Ugh! Wow. Maybe I should take it a bit slower with the next one.” Aoren chuckled to himself. Cobalt blue eyes came to rest upon the blond haired woman next to him. He dipped his head raising his mug to her. Coincidentally the hand that raised the mug was the same hand upon which shone the Seer’s Lily. It glimmered on the back of his hand beneath the light in the tavern. As soon as he got a good look at her, Rak’keli’s mark began nudging him to take action. The opalescent sigil covering the right side of his face called to him adding to the gentle whisper of the lily to create an elegant melody both insistent and calming.

“Not often do I share the company of another touched by the Light Sister. Unless, I’m mistaken?” He was curious about her. That much was evident. He wanted to know who she was.

[Yra]

Yra never minded standing at the bar, looking busy as she served Caelum's familiars. She wiped down mugs, attempting to make clean in respect for humans who only wanted clean things to eat and drink from. Food and drink were questionable to the Ethaefal herself, confusing ideas in a confusing world that she currently had not the patience to mull over.

Yra barely had the patience to clean a mug for ale. She might snap. She wanted to do something else, anything else, that would take her tempestuous mind from the mundane task set before her, yet she did not want to do something else, fearing it would waste her time.

Caelum had said it would get easier, this life. Yra troubled herself with grumbling thoughts decrying that it would take time, and she had not the patience to deal with time.

With a grunt of frustration, she placed the mug down firmly in front of her and declared it clean to the patron who watched her with a faint expression of amusement. Her eyes, vivid blue to speak of a connection to the sea, glinted dangerously as if to threaten a storm the likes of which only Laviku could summon.

"I request a moment to myself," she said to that face, the stranger whom Caelum must recognise. The man probably had a name; names were common things in this world, with their funny sounds and their heaviness on the tongue. Her own name, her real name, was sunlight and bells and colours as rich and vibrant as raw dyes, sound and light all in one.

"Um... be my guest?" He responded, lifting his shoulders.

Yra jerked her head sharply and gestured to the other woman there behind the bar, waving swiftly. The narrowed gaze she earned for her trouble surely would mean a retribution, but Yra did not concern herself with it.

She made herself a mug of ale, using a dirty mug rather than cleaning it out, and made her way through the press of bodies to find something, somewhere, where she could be at leisure.

As soon as she saw the face of the Konti and recognised her for what she was after a long moment, the Ethaefal-Svefra took an empty seat with her and her male companion.

"I could not help but overhear you and join in," she lied, partially, looking to the man. "What does that mean? 'Light Sister. Is it code for something?"

[Konrad Venger]

Hey, guys! Once you get back and deduct your Winter Seasonal Expenses, I'll grade this up, no problem. PM me when you get back!