Solo A Well Laid Trail

[Yisanareysin]

20th of Summer, 516 AV

HD Ticket for Pathfinding

Rey noticed the first one after a meeting with a client. He'd been walking through the underground, his mind already sorting through the facts of this new case (a merchant suspected her stall was being sabotaged, what fun), when he'd caught a glimpse of colour on a wall. Down here in the underground, bright colours were an unusual sight, and Rey's interest was piqued.

Padding up to the wall, Rey studied the image there. It was simple enough, a four pointed star, painted in bright, almost purpleish red, about the size of his hand. Strange, but then again, what in Alvadas wasn't? Rey shrugged, and moved on, thinking no more of it.

Until he saw another. And another. They weren't everywhere, by any stretch of the imagination, but as Rey wound through the underground, checking in with his contacts, he spotted two more around the underground. Peculiar indeed. And very interesting.

At his next stop, Rey asked about them.

"What, the stars?" The hooded woman shook her head (or so Rey assumed). "Showed up two days ago, them. No idea what they mean, and they change sometimes, people say. Hard to tell, the way the streets shift, but people say they do change."

Hm. They could just be this season's illusions. Then again, that didn't necessarily mean it wouldn't lead to anything interesting. He'd heard about last season's ice monsters, though he was perfectly happy to have sat that one out. So, as he always did when he needed something in the underground, he sought out the urchins.

"What, you 'gain? What 'cha want this time?"

As it happened, the first urchin he stumbled across was the same girl he'd met several days ago.

"You have sseen the sstarss?"

The girl scowled at him. "Do I look like I go topside?"

Rey shook his head, and tapped the walls. "Red sstarss. On wallss?"

"Oh. Yeah, I've seen 'em. Lemme guess, you wanna know what that's all about."

Rey nodded eagerly.

"I got nothin'. No one got nothin'. It's one of the city's little games, I guess. I know where there's a bunch of 'em all nearby, if you want?"

At his nod, she scampered off, leaving Rey to jog after her.

"Here, see? There's a bunch around 'ere, but there ain't no pattern or nothin' I can see."

She stuck out her hand, and Rey passed her a silver. As she turned to run, Rey called out to her.

"What'ss your name?"

"You're not gonna eat me if I tell ya, right?" She narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him.

Rey laughed at that. Reaching into himself, Rey gathered the heat, that 'djed' within him, and let it flow out. "No." He told her, weaving just a dash of hypnotism into the words to make her believe them.

"Good enough. I'm Mae. Smartest an fastest of the kids down 'ere." Boastful little one, Rey thought as he watched her dash off. Still, she'd proven useful so far.

He could think on her later. Putting all thoughts of urchins and contacts aside, Rey turned to the wall beside him, where another red star was painted. Right now, he had a mystery to solve.

Snake Tongue | Common | Arumenic

[Yisanareysin]

At first, second, and third look, the star seemed wholly unremarkable. Its borders did not shift, nothing twisted within, and it neither glowed nor glittered. Concentrating for a moment, Rey reached for his sense, and focused on the star. The heavy bitter tang of paint, and nothing else. No magic, no hidden message, and no illusion, as far as he could tell.

He turned his focus to the wall around the image, searching for any irregularity. The wet smell of clay bricks, the gooey blehy taste of adhesive, come on, come oooon, there had to be something. But if there was anything special about the wall or the image it was beyond Rey's abilities to sense.

Scowling, he dropped his sense. Alright. Alright. Maybe he was going about this the wrong way. Maybe the secret was something so basic he couldn't sense it. Stepping closer to the wall, he gently touched the star, trying to see what he could glean from it the normal way.

The paint was in a thin layer, thin enough that Rey could feel the bump of the bricks behind it. Running his fingers over it though, he could feel a grain, presumably left by the paintbrush when it ran through the paint. So, it had been painted on the normal way, it seemed. What else?

The edges were surprisingly clean. Not unnaturally so, but it was clear whoever painted it wanted the shape to be as crisp as possible. The centre of the star was directly in the middle of one brick, and the upper and lower arms extended two and a half bricks exactly, while the left and right ones....

Huh. The left arm was exactly one brick long, finishing in the centre of the adjacent brick, but was it just his imagination, or was the right brick just a little bit longer? Pulling out his notebook from his pack, Rey measured each arm, marking the ends on the side of a blank page.

Yes, the right one was definitely longer by about half a finger's width. A mistake, perhaps, except the other three arms were exactly the same length.

It was an arrow. A marker.

Rey padded off in the pointed direction, keeping an eye out for anything out of the ordinary. Before long, he spotted another star, this one on the ground. Kneeling, he measured each arm in turn. Smaller overall, but the left arm was longer this time, leading off into an alleyway. Perfect.

He followed the trail of stars eagerly, growing excited as each successive star grew smaller and harder to spot. He must be getting closer.

On and on and on he went, eyes alert for every flash of red, until...

"Seriously?"

A dead end.

Snake Tongue | Common | Arumenic

[Yisanareysin]

Rey narrowed his eyes at the dead end. It was mostly empty, with a few boxes stacked against one wall, a sheet covering them. No entrances or exits except the one he'd just come from. Had he measured the stars wrong?

Backtracking, he very carefully measured the tiny star painted on the floor again. No, it definitely pointed this way.

O...kay. He moved back to the alley to take a closer look. Nothing on the walls, even when he cleared off all the dust. The crates? Carefully, Rey pulled the sheet off the crates, checking it as well. No, nothing there either. The crates were all empty as well.

Hmm.

There were six crates, stacked one, two and then three high. Almost... almost like a staircase.

Climbing up the stack of crates, Rey was irritated to find that he was still a crate short of the roof. Hai. Had this puzzle been intended for someone taller than him? Surely not that much taller. Grabbing on to the roof, Rey started to haul himself up, only to come face to face with a tiny, red star.

Ahah. There it was, painted on the very edge of the roof. It had blended in with the duller red of the tiles, but now that he was right next to it, it was obvious. Pulling out his notebook again, he measured each arm, then frowned.

This star was pointing down.

Just what the petch did that mean? Hopping off the crate back to the ground, Rey frowned. The only thing below that star were the crates, and he'd already checked those. Maybe if he checked inside the crates? Or... Struck with sudden inspiration, Rey moved the crates aside one by one, careful not to damage any of them just in case. And there, under the bottom layer of crates, lay a trapdoor.

Grinning madly at his success, Rey pulled it open with some difficulty. Within, a wooden ladder led down into the inky blackness, without even a torch to light the way. Ominous, but Rey had come this far. Akajia knew he wasn't going to back out now. Reaching out, he shook the ladder slightly. It seemed sturdy enough, and what little of it he could see appeared well maintained.

Well, as his mother used to say, the scaredy snake starves. There was no reward in this world that did not require a little risk. Grabbing hold of the ladder, Rey began to climb down.

Snake Tongue | Common | Arumenic

[Yisanareysin]

How long Rey climbed there in the darkness, he didn't know. He was careful with every step he took, well aware that he had no idea how far down this ladder went. Eventually though, he noticed a slight light beneath him, which soon revealed itself to be the outline of what appeared to be another trap door. There must be light beneath it, Rey realised. Reaching the bottom rung of the ladder, he kept one foot planted firmly on the ladder, hung on for dear life, and kicked at the trap door.

It gave out underneath him, swinging open to reveal what appeared to be someone's living room.

"Come on down, then. I'm sure you're wondering what this has all been about." The voice that called out to him was steady, female, with a distinctly unalvad accent. It didn't sound threatening, and seemed to be offering answers, so Rey wasted no time dropping down into the room.

The room was brightly lit, but rather sparse. Glancing around the room, Rey could see this room had only recently been lived in. The few scratches on the floor were fresh, all the furniture looked brand new and there was very little in the way of personal effects. It looked very much like his own, recently bought home did, in fact. He was above ground again, in a new resident's cottage in Alvadas.

Completing his inspection of the room, Rey turned to it's sole occupant. The woman sitting at the table was older than she had sounded, her hair already greying and wrinkles lining her face. But her voice had been sure, and she sat straight, her hands steady as she sipped at a cup of tea.

"Come closer lad, take a seat."

Rey did so obediently, settling down across the table from her. As he did, he glanced up, and gasped softly. The woman's eyes were green, but her pupils were ringed with red, flaring out at four points. The red star, not in paint, but in this woman's eyes. She chuckled.

"Observant boy. You'd have had to be, of course, to find me. And determined too. Tell me, why did you follow the path that I set?"

Rey cocked his head to the side, considering the question. Why had he followed that trail? "Wass curiouss. Path wass put there on purposse, sstarss big enough that people will ssee. Sso, path wass made to be followed. Wanted to know why, and who."

The woman hummed thoughtfully, considering his answer. "Blind curiosity, then? But plenty of people in this city are curious. Not many have the determination or patience to see this sort of puzzle through. Why did you?"

Rey shrugged helplessly at that.

"Iss who I am."

That seemed to be good enough for her. Nodding, the woman poured him a cup of tea, and began to speak.

"You're probably wondering why I laid out that trail." At Rey's nod, she continued. "You've proven yourself an adequate tracker, so you've earned the right to know." She sipped her tea.

"I suppose it would be best to start from the beginning."

Snake Tongue | Common | Arumenic

[Yisanareysin]

"To get the obvious out of the way, I am a practitioner of pathfinding, the magic of tracking." Rey sucked in a sharp breath as the red rims of her eyes began to glow, and his skin started to tingle with the sensation of magic in the air. "No, leave your questions for later. You won't find information on pathfinding in any book or school. The art has been near extinct for centuries now. It's pathfinding that gave me the red in my eyes, and pathfinding that made me wealthier than I could ever have dreamed as a child. But I'm growing older now, and I made a promise long ago."

She let out a heavy sigh, eyes distant.

"Which brings me back to the present. I laid out that trail to bring those with the knack, and the temperament for tracking to me, so that I may pass down this magic to those who are worthy of it. So, I offer you a choice. You've heard my stories, and my reasons. If you wish, lad, you can leave," she said, gesturing to the door. "now that you know. But I suspect that won't satisfy you, am I right? I know your type. You want to learn pathfinding."

Rey nodded, eyes wide. If it were true, Eyris knew the chance for him to learn something lost, something new, was too good to pass up.

"Why should I teach you?"

Rey blinked at that. "Thought you sset out thiss trail to find people to teach?"

"Oh, I did. I cannot, will not, let this magic die out. But I'm not dead yet, lad. I've already taught a few, and there will be others, just like you. Why should I teach you, young, inexperienced, and a snake at that?"

Rey frowned. Of the three, that last one was the stickler, wasn't it? Most humans weren't keen on predators like himself. Rey hadn't had much issue with it so far, but that was more a quirk of the native Alvads. But this woman wasn't a native, was she?

"Oh, don't get me wrong lad. I've nothing specifically against your kind, and what you do with this gift once you have it is none of my concern. I was a sunberthian bounty hunter myself in my youth, you know. But from my own experience, your kind are insular, more likely to eat one of another race than teach them. I want this gift to survive, in more people than just a colony of snakes. Convince me."

Snake Tongue | Common | Arumenic

[Yisanareysin]

Rey considered her words. If she really didn't want to teach him, she'd have tossed him out by now. But instead, she sat there, asking him to convince her. So, this was a test then? How to convince her....

Well, he was getting ahead of himself. First things first. Bringing the cut to his mouth, Rey sipped at the strong tea, and focused on the woman, using the cup to disguise his inhale as a sniff. His sense came into focus, and he dropped his eyes to the cup as he latched on to her scent. Gently settling it down, he studied her again.

Definitely human, from the scent. Older, female, yes, he knew all of that already. There was the light, almost herbal taste of calm, the sweetness of hope, and deeper in, a tight, sour anxiety, his mind conjuring up the mental image of a clock ticking it's way to oblivion.

He focused on her eyes. It was difficult to tell, his sense geared more towards scent than sight, but it seemed like they were different, in some unexplainable way. And he'd felt that tingle of magic...

So far, everything she was saying checked out. Ideally, he'd be able to watch her use it, but somehow he didn't think asking for a demonstration would go over particularly well. He had enough evidence that she seemed to be telling the truth, and he could detect no deceit from her. Safe to assume that she was telling the truth.

Now, to convince her. Reysin spoke slowly, choosing every word with care. As he did so, he drew within himself, adding a tinge of magical weight to his words, to make them feel just the tiniest bit more true.

"Iss true, mosst of my racce doess not mingle with otherss. But mosst of my racce live in the nesst all their livess. I do not. I have been gone from my nesst for six yearss now, and lived in Alvadass for two. Iss thiss not proof enough that "I am not ass mosst of my kind are"?"

He watched her reaction carefully, seeing her brow furrow in consideration.

"And you ssay your wish iss to sspread thiss magic? What way iss better than one who will live for another two hundred yearss?" He carefully added a dash of hope and acceptance, and let it ghost towards her. That slight nudge was about all he could do at this point, and he could already feel a shortness of breath in his lungs, a sign that he was verging on too much. It was disconcerting to be finished so quickly again, having gotten used to his more prolonged use of sense.

The woman hummed thoughtfully, her fingers tapping on her teacup. A loud meow startled Rey, as a rather large cat leapt up into his lap.

"Uh... Hello?"

The cat meowed again, blinking at him. It's eyes were ringed as well, Rey realised, surprised. Did it also have pathfinding? Could animals learn magic? Did that mean animals could learn, say, sense, or hypnotism?

A soft chuckle interrupted his train of thought. "Eloise seems to like you. A good sign. Come here, lad." Pushing the tea set aside, the woman took both of his hands in hers. "Swear to me. Swear to me you'll pass this gift on when you find those who deserve it."

Snake Tongue | Common | Arumenic

[Yisanareysin]

The woman held his gaze, her expression serious, and Rey could sense the gravity of this moment, the importance this promise had for her.

"On my motherss name, I sswear it." There was an itch, to use hypnotism to seal the deal, but he pushed it down. No sense overexerting himself, not when he was fairly certain he had this one in the bag.

It seemed to satisfy her. Her hands tightened on his, and she drew closer to him. "Look into my eyes." She ordered. He did so immediately, his own blue eyes locking onto hers. As he stared, her red stars began to glow, and Rey felt his chest tighten in unease. His skin crawled, and he felt naked, like she was seeing right through him. Then, as he stared, he felt his eyes began to prickle as well, not itching, not watering, but prickling, the sensation bizarre, bordering on uncomfortable. For an instant, red seemed to fill his vision, then yellow, then....

Rey shivered as she released his hands, his fingers coming up to rub at his eyes.

"There."

Rey blinked rapidly, trying to rid his eyes of the sensation. That was weird, but he didn't feel any different. Lifting his head, he opened his mouth to say so, then gasped.

Lines filled the room, trails of colour crossing through the air like huge, translucent ribbons.

"Wha-"

Rey let out an oomph as the cat hopped from his lap, and did a circuit around the room. As it walked, it left a trail behind it, bright yellow weaving around the room. There were two other ribbons, one a light blue, the other dark purple. The light blue one... Rey's eyes followed it up the trap door, then back down to his own chair. The blue one was his, he realised.

"Eyris's eyes...."

"Your eyes, lad. Iraso vision, or so my father called it. Some old world word from before it all went to shyke. A gift I do not give lightly."

"This... you ssee thiss alwayss?"

The woman laughed. "Gods, no. Concentrate on seeing the world normally again."

Right. Right. Just like letting go of his sense. He could do this. Screwing up his eyes, he concentrated, trying to release this "Iraso vision", as she called it. After a tick or two, he opened up his eyes, relieved to see it was all back to normal.

"There you go." The woman stood, and Rey stood with her, his legs a little shaky. Akajia's shadows, this was... this was amazing. The woman clasped him on the shoulder.

"Take care, boy. And remember your promise to me."

He nodded shakily.

"I will."

Snake Tongue | Common | Arumenic

[Sayana]

Don't forget to edit/delete your grade request. If there's anything I may have missed, please PM me and I'll be happy to look into it.

 

Reysin

Skills

• Observation: 5
• Investigation: 5
• Intelligence: 1
• Hypnotism: 2
• Auristics: 2
• Tracking: 2
• Mathematics: 1
• Climbing: 2
• Socialization: 2
• Persuasion: 1
• Rhetoric: 2
• Pathfinding: 1

Lores

• Mae: Smartest and fastest street urchin of Alvadas
• Red stars in the Underground: Arrows
• Mathematics: Comparing different lengths
• Location: The Pathfinder's home
• Pathfinder in Alvadas: Has red stars in her green eyes
• Pathfinding: The magic of tracking
• Pathfinding: Nearly extinct for centuries
• Pathfinders have rings of unique colours around their pupils
• Pathfinding: Animals can have rings of colour in their eyes like other pathfinders
• Pathfinding: Becoming initiated
• Pathfinding: Activating and deactivating Iraso vision
• Pathfinding: Different coloured ribbons for different people/animals

Miscellaneous

• 1 sm to Mae

Alternatively you could set aside 10gm each season for bribery to street urchins to cover these expenses rather than linking to each instance.

Comments: Wonderful thread. I really enjoyed the obscure trail that was laid. It was visible to most but not easily followed except by someone as inquisitive as Reysin. I also liked how you made the Pathfinder not give out her magic to just anyone. Great work, it was very convincing.


Your Grader,

Sayana

Boxcode design: Firenze