Closed Fates to Come

[Nahaali]

39 Summer 518

At night Nahaali tended to park her wagon-home in the Tent City, near the outskirts between it and Sunberth proper. She had Patch tied up to a pole nearby so she could wander and graze, and Woofus spent most of the night either alseep at the foot of her bed or poking his head out of the back opening and guarding the wagon.

When dawn arose and woke Nahaali up by shining light into the wagon, she began her daily morning routine. She used a nearby well within the Tent City to pump water up her wash basin and clean herself as well as Woofus and Patch. Pouring out the dirty water and replacing it, she began to cook breakfast. Groups of people came together to make cooking fires and share ingredients to make group meals, and she joined one and helped cook.

Then she headed into the city for work. The wagon didn't have an actual driver's seat, and instead she simply reined Patch through the front opening of the cover. She went through the Sunset Quarters and the Seaside Market, looking for a place she could rest the wagon and set up her workplace today. Eventually she decided to stop in Baroque Bay. That was always a good place to work. Plenty of people, especially travelers and sea-merchants. Plenty of people to get a couple extra coins from, too.

She parked Patch and the wagon in an alley, and began to set up her workspace. The table, chairs on opposite sides, and a sign saying Mystic Readings. She placed her tarot deck on the table, and whistled for Woofus. He came out of the wagon and immediately walked over to the table, sitting next to it as guard.

Nahaali tied and wrapped her head up in an updo, keeping her tight curls out of her face. She always had her hair up when working. It gave a sort of subconscious feeling of trust to her client. She remember learning that somewhere. Whether that actually worked or not, she didn't know. But now it was time to wait for someone to come by. Nahaali sat at the chair, picked up the deck, and started to shuffle it.

WC: 368

[Kynier]

Something had felt wrong the entire morning. It wasn’t the bruised ribcage from the night before, nor the deep cut across his right cheek or the cut above his blackened left eye that were also from last night. The magic from his weapon was doing a lot to soothe the pains and accelerate the healing process of each injury. Whatever it was Kynier couldn’t quite place it. Since he’d stepped out of his home in the Sunset Quarters at the eight bell, his nerves had been on end. It had been so distracting, the mage had abandoned his task for the day to figure out why he felt that way.

So he allowed his feet to wander through the city, aimlessly. The mage turned his neck into a swivel and was always looking in a direction other than straight forward. Nothing ever looked out of the ordinary. Or at least, what was ordinary for Sunberth. Utilizing peripheral glances, Kynier failed to see anyone tailing him either. After a couple of bells the feeling persisted and he came to a stop at the corner of an alley in Baroque Bay. There he crossed his arms and leaned against the corner, looking up and down the street at all the people passing by.

No one stood out and no one stopped to suddenly observe something because he had stopped. So why did he have this feeling? The day before last all he had to be concerned about was going someplace he truly never wanted to be again because he had to. Though yesterday, he should’ve died. The mage had clearly been bested, and there were several weapons available that could’ve cleanly taken his life. Yet he had woken up somewhere else. The more he thought it through the more he knew… he should be dead. The mage had traversed into Daggerhand territory seeking information, had been discovered, and had been beaten. So why was he still alive?

It was well known that the Daggerhand were the most brutal of the gangs. So this act of mercy from one of their superiors was really nagging at him. It was a secret that he wasn’t privy too despite how much he desired to know. And as he stood there contemplating it, the mage observed the people passing by, as well as the environment. Until eventually a sign at the edge of an alley caught his eye. Mystic Readings. There was a table sitting close to the edge of an alley on the opposite side of the street as him. A woman whose hair was up sat at it with a large thick dog sitting beside her.

Kynier detached himself from the corner and walked across the street, closer to the oddity. What he was unable to see at first was how the table was almost completely clear except for a deck of cards. Most often that would be seen around gamblers. But the woman’s sign immediately denied that stereotype. He walked close enough to get the guard dog’s attention. Kynier set his hands on his hips but avoided touching the dagger and short sword that were strapped to his belt. Eyeing the sign he walked up to the table.

“Mystic Readings?” he said in a polite yet curious tone. “Does that mean you’re a fortune teller?” Part of him hoped that that was the case. At the moment, he was so unsettled and unbalanced he was willing to listen to some advice from an unbiased party. While many were skeptical of the art of fortune telling, he had no real opinions about it. He was a mage and wasn’t going to discredit the possibility of magic before seeing it.

Boxcode credit goes to Gossamer!

[Nahaali]

39 Summer 518

Nahaali had been focusing on her cards, channeling her energy into them. Whenever she focused and channeled energy, the readings came out better. At least, she felt like they did. She was able to read more enthusiastically, at least, which dragged her clients in more. If they were intrigued enough, there was the possbility they'd give her an extra tip. And of course, she always offered an extra sale of "remedies" to help with their readings... if they seemed naive enough.

Besides her, Woofus let out a small huff. Not quite a bark, but something to get her attention. Someone was walking towards them. Nahaali paused from her shuffling, looking up to see who was approaching them. A man, his hands on his hips. Nahaali noticed at least one weapon sheath attatched to his belt, and noted how close his hand was to it. Though wary, she wasn't too stressed about it. Woofus kept a close eye on him, and if the man made one wrong move he would attack.

She smiled at his question. "Aye, that I am. Fancy a readin'?" She began to shuffle the cards again, showing off slightly with them. "Got a number of types, too. I can interpret yer past, present and future. Or a dream ye recently had. Can also predict yer level of success, yer dream career, yer love life... and yer life in general. All various prices, o'course. The number o' cards vary, is why. Even if ye don't got questions about yer life, love or career, 'tis always nice to get an opinion from... the Unknown, as I call it." She chuckled. "Ah, anyway. Any sound interestin' to ye?"

WC: 278

[Kynier]

The mage knew his distant past and had put it behind him. Only the recent past did he have questions about. What he could’ve done differently, but the answers to those questions wouldn’t change anything now. The future was the concern. So Kynier pulled the chair from across the fortune teller out and sat down. The woman was a bit petite, making the guard dog next to her look much bigger by comparison. He locked onto her brown eyes with his hazels and looked hard at her. Was she actually talented, or did she just tell people what she estimated that they wanted to hear?

Reaching into his pocket Kynier wrapped his fingers around his coin pouch and withdrew it. The soft clinking of coins rang as he held it in his hand and rest his chin on the back of that same hand. Losing money wasn’t something he felt concerned about. Just the idea of having been scammed. “The dreams I have are of little interest. My career is interesting to say the least, but I’m content with it. My…” his words trailed off. There was no love life to be spoken of. While the gods had set him on a path intertwined with a woman he liked greatly, he had no understanding of walking that path. But asking for advice on that felt a bit strange from a female stranger that he didn’t even know the name of.

“It’s my future that I’m interested in. Recent events have left me with a lot of questions and I feel uncertain. What sort of readings can you provide for that?”

Boxcode credit goes to Gossamer!

[Nahaali]

39 Summer

Nahaali continued to shuffle as the man sat down across from her, a small smile staying on her face. He seemed to study her set up, before looking back at her. She wondered what he was thinking. There were plenty of people who could tell she wasn't really reading fortunes, only vaguely interpreting cards that were drawn and hoping it would strike something in her client. But if this man was one of the doubters, why would he sit and consider her help in the first place?

The man reached into his pocket and brought out his bag of coins. Hearing the clinking of the mizas got Nahaali thinking. He sounded well off, having that much spare change on his person. After all, if he carried all his money on him and he was robbed... that would not be good. Nahaali immediately began calculating in her head, how much money would the man be willing to part with? She wouldn't ask for too much that it would be suspicious.

She listened as he mused through his options. When he finished, asking about her options with his future, she was intrigued. "Just yer future, sir? Ah, I can do that fine, by itself!" She shrugged non-chalantly. "I can focus on yer future, yeah. Don't do just one aspect like that often, but it's no problem to me. Ye can choose how many cards for me to read. A miza each." She paused then nodded slowly, "Just know I ain't readin' yer future, if that's what yer hopin' for. Only interpreting the signs given to me through the cards."

This whole time she had been absently shuffling the cards, but now she placed the deck on the table and spread them out face-down. "If it all sounds good to ye, decide how many cards ye want me to read and hand over the coin. Then, pick the cards that 'call out to ye', without lookin' at 'em, and place em in the middle o' the table face down. I'll flip 'em one at a time."

WC: 343

[Kynier]

A miza each? Kynier found it curious that she didn’t mention whether it would be gold or silver mizas. It was card reading after all. The woman wasn’t Konti, so she had no divine blessing for fortune telling. So he searched through his pouch for five silvers and set them on the table for her. Then his eyes looked over the cards that had been spread over the table before him. Any five cards. But which ones should he choose?

It seemed as though his intellect was getting in the way. For he considered choosing the cards with some sort of pattern. Then questioned if the reading would be accurate with that. Was he just supposed to pick randomly? The concept seemed a bit strange. Letting random selection be what set your life and being to open interpretation. After nearly a chime of just staring at the cards he came to the conclusion that he was overthinking the process way too much. So he lifted a hand and set it to hover a few inches above the card in the upper right corner.

Slowly that hand drifted over the other cards. Anytime he thought he felt something that wasn’t the wind on his hand, he’d stop and select that card. Though he didn’t have his Auristics active, Kynier felt no residual trace of magic either. One by one, he selected the five cards after two entire passes over the deck and the beginnings of a third. He set them apart facedown as she had instructed and in a neat line. As he looked at the backs of the cards, he felt his heart begin to beat a little faster.

What was it they were going to say? Sudden doubt began to plague him. Rather than get up and leave he chose to resort to magic to help ease his tension. Kynier’s eyes half closed as he let out a long exhale. Mentally he pushed aside his skepticism and reached inward to that place of power. The djed that lay deep within him expanded and responded to his mental summons. It flowed to his eyes and activated his Sight. In ticks the outermost layer of the woman’s soul, the aura, began to permeate through her skin to form a mist around her.

Kynier set his focus on it in order to use Auristics in a way he had only ever been told about. As a method of determining the truth of a person’s words by paying attention to the subtleties of their emotion state. If she were to simply guess, Kynier had a better possibilities of seeing it.

Boxcode credit goes to Gossamer!

[Nahaali]

39 Summer 518

When the man placed the silver mizas on the table, Nahaali felt her lips purse. She had hoped he would assume she meant gold mizas. But she took the silver. She felt the man had given her silver instead of gold because he felt a gold miza per card was too much, and if he did think that she didn't want to try to press on it. She quickly put the coins in her pouch at her side, and watched the man pick his cards.

For a moment, he seemed to simply look at the cards. Nahaali sat their silently watching, but internally she was groaning. Yer just pickin' cards, lad. She huffed to herself. It's not that hard. He was taking it so seriously! Any cards he picked, there would bound to be something relavant to his life, so Nahaali didn't understand the hesitation. Her eyes followed his hand as he picked the cards, going over the cards multiple times. Her foot lightly began to tap under the table, not loud enough to be noticable though.

What felt like bells later, the man finally had five cards. As he looked them over, she grabbed the rest of the deck, stacked them, and moved them to the edge of the table. She reached out, placing her hands over the cards, and pulled them to the center of the table where the deck had been. "Alright, sir. Let's see what ye got."

She flipped the card. The image on the card was of the sun looking over a young boy riding a white horse. "The Sun. That's a good card, especially considerin' it's yer first card." She looked at him with an encouraging smile. "This card's all about optimism and success. Projects ye've been postponin', ye should start 'em. They will be successful. The Sun's here to tell ye that things are gonna get better for ye."

She gave him a moment to process that, then reached over for the second card. This one had a corpse lying on the shore wit ten swords in his back. "Huh. Ten o' Swords, this is. Means lately ye've hit rock bottom. Somethin' happened to ye that feels like it, at least. But that only means ye can go up from here. Especially with The Sun before this, it means that despite yer current position, yer goals will be successful."

WC: 396

[Kynier]

The woman’s aura formed around her in soft colors that fluctuated. As Kynier focused on the he felt an after sense of something. Irritation. Whether it was directed at him or something she had been thinking of or dealing with before him the mage couldn’t tell. The sensation faded as her attention turned onto the cards he had laid out. Kynier’s eyes flipped down to the first one as she turned it over. An image of a young boy and a pale horse. When she started speaking his djed infused eyes turned to her. She spoke of optimism and beginning projects he had been delaying.

Dishonesty felt similar to unease. Her first reading did not portray any of that in her aura. And Kynier was willing to accept that. There was something he had been postponing. New information had been recently revealed and he was still processing whether or not he should follow the lead his employer had given him. The magical scars had finally faded and there was no real reason for him not to go anymore. But something about it all still bothered him. Whether it was Lhex or another divine, maybe even Akajia herself, something was urging him to move forward with it.

Kynier watched as the second card was turned over. A dead man with an unnecessary amount of weapons protruding from his back. Her focus swirled once rapidly as she described him hitting rock bottom. There was a sense of something from her. No emotion that his Auristics conjured within him. But something he couldn’t quite decipher. But the second card was less convincing than the first. The wounds on his face alone indicated at least some sort of trouble. The woman probably had read his body language the entire time she had seen him and made an educated guess.

The validity of her words and readings was still to be determined. So far she had been correct, but one was something that had been too obvious to really give credit for. Kynier’s eyes lowered to the third card and the miniscule aura it gave off like its counterparts. What would the next card reveal?

Boxcode credit goes to Gossamer!