Closed [Laviku's Tower] Like a Stone

[Achenar]

oocI forgot to ask you what timestamp you preferred so I simply put a random one. Let me know the date you'd like!

15th Spring, 515av

“How garish,” he exclaimed to the silent walls, peering inside the glass and tile carved chambers of water. He was alone, and the words echoed listlessly back at him.

Do I really sound like that? He smirked, a hand trailing the edge of a glass tile before being drawn by an invisible force to his mustache. It would disappear soon, just like the tattoos and the sun kissed olive skin. What scarred flesh remained would become a marble replica of the moon, shimmering and grand in all its splendor, but what lied underneath was dark and hollow.

Maddoch’s steps took him down the compact staircase and towards the platform, where he stood and watched the strange fish dart inside their gilded pools.

Maybe in another age he could have enjoyed the pull of the sea, but now there was barely a phantom call. He felt nothing, even standing amidst the very temple erected for the patron god of his svefra heritage. The mantle of Jayce Stormcrest had long since rotted beneath the earth in some distant land he couldn’t recall.

The ethaefal crouched at the edge of the platform, resting his arms on his bent knees.

“Do you do nothing but gape?” He snapped briskly at a curiously multicolored fish. “Of course you don’t,” he continued, “All you do is gape and shit.” The fish answered with its marble-eyed stare, darting when he slapped the water with an outstretched hand.

Berating a fish. Now I sound insane. The smirk returned to his lips. But was he really sane? He was beginning to doubt such a concept even existed. The ethaefal stood, the creases in his leather pants unfolding. He made to head up the stairs, unable to even scrape any sort of prayer to the depths and the walls; where more than likely, the high priestess listened.

Perhaps in another lifetime he could have forgiven.

But not this one.

[Khida]

From a distance, Khida had found the seaward tower strangely compelling. It seemed different from the rest of Riverfall, set out alone with its foot in the water while the greater part of the city was tiered along the cliffs. Not to mention, it was a high point which got her up out from amongst all the walls; all of the towers attracted her for that reason alone. But this one was sometimes cut off by water, and sometimes not -- at least, she had noticed today that the tide had receded, opening up the possibility of walking out to the landmark. The Kelvic had consequently taken the chance to indulge her curiosity and find out what what this building was for.

The staircase to the balcony wound longer than she had expected; while the tower looked tall from its base, walking all those steps was truly another matter entirely. There was surely nothing ever so high in the Sea of Grass save the crater walls, and one didn't simply walk up those! Accordingly, the Kelvic's climb was punctuated by pauses where she looked at the gradually changing view of the city, at the vast gray reach of ocean, at the spray-slick and storm-worn stones of the tower. Eroded though they were, the gray blocks remained rough to the touch, rasping against her skin as grains of sand might do.

The balcony proved to offer only the same sort of view Khida had observed as she made her way up the stairs -- a view from different angles to be true, especially on the far side of the tower, but nothing that held her interest for long. It was nothing she couldn't see from higher still, and did not illuminate the role of the tower. What she did get was a slightly closer look at the very top of the tower, at the glitter of what seemed purely gigantic mirrors -- but what they would be used for up there, the Kelvic could not imagine.

She had also seen a door on the way up, though, one which she had mentally marked to investigate later. Later arrived once Khida had made her way back down to its level, a far easier traversal than the climb. The door proved to open readily beneath her touch, revealing a narrow corridor built of the same stone as the outer wall. She hesitated briefly on its threshold, but after so many days spent in the city, the stilled air inside stone buildings was becoming almost expected; it was not so surprising to walk into anymore, and somewhat easier to tolerate. Besides, she expected she could always open the door back up. After but a beat, the Kelvic forged ahead, letting the door pull closed behind her.

Inside, she found... much more than just stone. There was water, caught in basins extending from the wall; there were panels of glass which proved to seal away yet more water; and there were tiles in colors almost striking against the gray stone. And then there were the green growing things, the quicksilver flickers of fish startled by her passage. More kinds of fish than Khida had ever realized existed, she thought, although all she saw of them was but glimpses. It wasn't exactly a difficult threshold to surpass.

She had stopped to examine one chamber conveniently placed at the level of her eyes, when the scrape of leather against stone revealed that Khida was not alone within the tower. She turned towards the source of the noise, finding a black-haired head below her, a man who was not one of the city's most prominent race. "Who are you?" she asked, habit bringing Pavi words to her lips even though the stranger before her did not seem likely to be of the Drykas.

Khida space Common | Pavi
other space Common | Pavi

[Achenar]

The ethaefal noted the sound of footsteps before he'd heard the foreign voice echo down the staircase. Maddoch's gaze lifted to meet the eyes of a stranger; a woman with black hair and curious amber eyes. He stifled a look of disdain, having hoped he wouldn't be bothered in a place as out of the way as the tower was on its rocky outpost in the sea.

He didn't respond right away, however, he stepped closer, past her, his eyes scrutinizing her countenance like he did anyone who invaded his generous bubble. Even in this city, he could trust no one, and especially those as like to look innocent as this girl did. Though her sharply angled features and lean physique implied a different story.

"I don't speak the grass tongue, girl," Maddoch answered, his hands in his pockets, glancing idly into a basin occupied by a large opalescent clam. A Drykas, he guessed. He'd remembered the Paille Dynasty and their Drykas scions, though this specimen looked like she enjoyed a good roll in the dirt compared to those in Kenash.

He eyed her again, leaning against the wall, his arms folded. "Are you one of those nakivak girls? There's no bracelet leash on you. Couldn't possibly be a slattern then, could you?"

He could be speaking to a woman who knew no common, but he didn't give a shyke. He'd been in this city long enough to realize that by nature of what hung between his legs made him virtually invisible to the populace of blue men. Speaking to one of those giant's women was as like to get him shanked as a seedy tavern in Sunberth.

"It's a far better use of your time to go back to whatever cage you came from," he continued. "You're a roach to them," he said, pointing at the ceiling with his chin. The tone he gave was scathing. "Nothing but a pawn in their games."

[Khida]

The stranger was slow to respond, stepping closer with a peculiarly looming manner. The Akalaks were outright large, but thus far conducted themselves politely enough towards her; this one presented himself very differently. Though he was considerably smaller than the colored men of the city, he was still bigger than she -- and there was that in his attitude which felt more dangerous, or at least more intentionally menacing. Her eyes narrowed, meeting his levelly, and her posture withdrew even as she turned to follow his motion, taking on both reserve and steadfastness.

Loom though he might, Khida was not willing to cede him so much as an inch of her space.

Despite the intensity of his scrutiny, he kept his hands in his pockets, and he did eventually deign to reply. He turned out to speak ready Common, and expressed a deficit in Pavi. It was only then that Khida even realized what language she had queried in -- though she thought nothing of that fact, simply recognized it and moved on. His words posed a more compelling puzzle. One word, she didn't even recognize as Common; others simply made no sense in the context of her experience. A bracelet leash? Slattern she knew to be derogatory, although the full connotations of the word passed the Kelvic by. No more did she think to point out the Chevas mark she bore as a counter to his suppositions; the connections were not apparent to her.

Her failure to quite grasp the context showed in Khida's expression, in the tightening around her eyes and the beginning of a pensive frown, but it was what she did comprehend that she addressed first. "I don't have a leash. Or a cage," she retorted, deflecting his disdain with clipped, emphatic declarations. With repugnance for the idea of herself being leashed, caged, bound. With the armor of self-assurance, innocent though it might also be. "I have the grass and the sky."

He went on to point towards the ceiling, towards the tower above, towards the sky; her gaze flicked up, following the gesture. Their games. Whose games? Words said so little, for all the breath they consumed; she couldn't even determine who he alluded to. The nakivak, whatever they were? The people of the city? What did she even have to do with them? Her hands shaped confusion, though it would mean little to him. "Who do you mean?"

Khida space Common | Pavi
other space Common | Pavi

[Achenar]

He watched her movements like a goshawk would a mouse. He noted the way her gaze became predatory at his demeanor; the way her body reacted to the impulse of his silence. He could only glean from this observation the possibility that she, herself, was far more free-footed than her initial appearance let on. Perhaps even dangerous.

But frankly… he enjoyed danger. He enjoyed the pain. But there was no pain to be sought in idle pleasantries.

He watched her with eyes as blue as the ocean crashing in around them. The roar of the waves echoed along the chambers, and the tiles glimmered from the fractals of light in the waters beneath them. Despite his perceived boredom with contrived temples of worship, this place was a marvel of architecture and beauty. This he could at least appreciate. The woman, however, was met with an amused smirk. Simple girl, are we? Though her answer was curious and the ethaefal raised a brow.

“The gods, girl,” Maddoch answered with a patience that might have surprised even himself. “The gods don’t care. Did you come here to pray? To search for answers? You will find none, unless you bend yourself over and cave to their desires like a mindless thrall.” He shrugged, ignoring her odd hand gestures as the hiccups of a wild woman.

He raised his eyes to ceiling, despite being blocked by the structure; he felt the rise of Leth’s realm and the beginnings of his metamorphosis. The man of svefra heritage, whose olive skin was painted in a myriad of tattoos, was replaced with a tall, regal man, whose silver eyes glowed faintly under dim light. His horns swept behind and up his head like a glass ornament in shades of olive.

He chuckled when the transformation was complete. “How ironic that I’d grace you with this form after spewing blasphemy.”

oocI hope it's alright if I accelerated the transformation for more in-depth philosophy banter. Haha!

[Khida]

So...I wrote half of this ages ago and then just... kinda forgot I'd done it. Sorry!

He watched, predatory, intent; he spoke, jaded and scornful; he projected a presence far beyond his height and breadth. And in the shadow of that presence, this stone-bounded space rapidly became much too small. The walls seemed to channel the impassioned bitterness of the man's spite straight at her; the gray stone confined, barring off all possible paths until the only way to gain distance was to also retreat.

In no wise was Khida willing to let this one force her into retreat.

Perhaps if she could have flown away, she would have done just that -- but the falcon could not open the door atop the stairs, and the thought of breaking flight to open it felt too much like exposing vulnerability. No, flight would be a last resort, if it came to that, if all else failed and she found desperate need to stay out of his reach. That much, the Kelvic was confident her wings could assure. But -- for all that he loomed, the man had yet to offer real physical action against her. Maybe that would remain the case, given.........

But he changed.

He became other, transformation sudden and unexpected. The shapeshift startled Khida into a rapid backward near-stumble as his words had not, four steps ending with an ignominious hop that just barely saved her from sprawling across the stairs. She stared at the stretch of his height, the shift in his features, her own eyes first going wide and then narrowing in evaluation.

"You're..." ...like the sun-man, only the rest of those words remained unsaid. Even on their few breaths' acquaintance, that would be an untruth; in no manner was this man like Caelum, except the purely superficial. Same, not same. This man gleamed in the way the sun-man did, something like how water sparked light back into the sky; and horns as green as grass or the leaves of Riverfall's trees spiked up from the midst of his black hair. In that way, the two men were definitively similar. But the Ethaefal she knew had never menaced the way this man did. Too, Caelum's peculiar appearance was a thing of the sun, and Syna had ruled the sky when Khida entered the tower -- if only for a few chimes, ones perhaps now passed by.

Yet though this one was (presumably) god-touched, he spoke of their collective with scorn, and of his transformation now with some dark shade of humor.

Khida hovered there on the edge of the step, caught between caution and curiosity. Astonishment shaded back into wariness now tempered with rising intrigue. "I came to see what was inside," she answered, needing no further justification than that. "The towers are for gods?" Manifestly, she was not from Riverfall, to not know that.

The Kelvic tipped her head, gaze sharpening on the man. He was pretty, in the way the sun-man was pretty... but pretty did not mean good. For all her curiosity, she didn't go any closer. "You... do not worship." Not when he spoke thusly. "But you did? Not the sun," she added, revealing at least some knowledge. "Who?"

Khida space Common | Pavi
other space Common | Pavi