[Verlyna's Emerald Pond] Meditations in Green [Vizyous]

[Hadrian]

"Nobody really does," he mused. At least, the more he learned, the more he realized that he knew nothing at all. Wasn't that realization supposed to be the beginning of wisdom? He smiled a tight smile for the Symenestra. "In any case, I don't know much about illusion at all, even after having been here for a little while. I can't stay very long, so I suppose I might leave empty-handed, as it were. "How long have you been here? How long will you stay?" They were questions politely asked rather than meant to be truly intrusive, but he would have to gauge the Symenestra's responses. Perhaps then he could learn more about the race anthropologically. They were rare outside their fabled Kalinor.

[Vizyous Aconitum]

"I've been in Alvadas for twenty or so long days, but away from home for much longer." Vizyous grimaced at the word home and shook his head; Kalinor was no longer his home. "Thank Viratas for that." He paused, the word Viratas reminding him of something Hadrian said. "As far as how long I'll be here, I don't know. I plan on staying until I feel I'm needed elsewhere."

As far as Kalinor went, though... "I don't know what you're home is like, but I'm staying away from mine for as long as possible. The Symenestra there are only intent on breeding." Vizyous scowled, recalling the births he witnessed, "And only with naive humans that don't know any better. We are killers from the moment we begin to truly live..." He wondered what the look on Hadrian's face would be if he witnessed a Symenestra being delivered, if it would be so stable or if he would become more pale. "I feel only the females are free. Males are pressured to sire from the moment they can appreciate the female form. Loving a fellow Symenestra is almost discouraged in my Web, at least that was the strong impression I got when they found I'd bedded with one." He nearly snickered at the last comment, still amused to think of their outrage.

"But, Hadrian." It wasn't often that Vizyous addressed others by their name, and he realized that it was the first name he'd spoken other than his own in a while. He decided that Hadrian wasn't too bad of a name or a human. "If you're truly curious what Symenestra blood will do as a..." He recalled the words the human had used, "...magecrafting reagent, I will volunteer to satisfy your curiosity. So long as my body need not be drained of all it's blood."

Vizyous hadn't bled for Viratas since he'd come to Alvadas. He figured now was a better time than later, when his mind may come up with a more violent way of shedding blood, perhaps not just his own. He sat on a stone nearby, folding his legs and looking up at Hadrian from beneath his hair with a troubled look on his face. "I haven't bled for Viratas in a very long time, and your curiosity of what it would do as a reagent is now my curiosity, too. Unless you were not serious?" He almost felt upset at that prospect.

[Hadrian]

"Twenty days? That's impressive." He listened to Vizyous little monologue, absorbing what he had to say, eyes widening just a bit at the offer of his blood so easily, but he was a follower of Viratas, so perhaps it was not so surprising. "Regretfully, I don't have a laboratory to perform any enchantments here in Alvadas. Though I suppose if you were to donate the blood, I could take it back to Syliras with me and experiment. I could send word back to you here to let you know what happens," but he rather imagined the man would want to see his blood at work. "I've used human blood before to key in certain behaviors, and animal blood as a sacrifice to increase power, but never any other sentient creature's blood." He supposed the leaves of the Windoak counted, sort of, but that was probably something that should be kept a secret. "So, yes. I would be happy to accept your blood for future work, but I am not sure when I could make use of it. I will likely return to Syliras soon, but it's a long journey back. "I've always wondered what the Symenestra are really like. I have known so few, and most of them are not exactly friendly. Brilliant in other ways, but not amiable. Neither am I, I suppose. May I see your hands?" he asked abruptly.

[Vizyous Aconitum]

When the human could make use of his blood wasn't important to him, just as long as it was used. "I'd like that." Vizyous responded to Hadrian sending word back on the effects of his blood, remaining quiet as he tried to understand what the human spoke of, not understanding exactly what was increased in power. He wasn't trained in any kind of magic, though, so he didn't expect to understand and merely nodded.

When Hadrian began talking of the Symenestra and then abruptly asked to see his hands, Vizyous hesitated a moment but then complied. He stepped in arms length of the human and held his out his hands palms up, giving the man a curious glance. "Syliras is a very long distance to travel." He agreed, slightly uncomfortable at being in close distance with his hands vulnerably held in front of him, "And Symenestra are always unlikable in many ways but likable in few. Unless their Dra, then they're much more diverse as long as they've been raised outside Kalinor."

[Hadrian]

"Well," he said, mildly surprised by the offer remaining open despite the length of time it might take to assuage his curiosity. All the same, he stepped forward, taking Vizyous' hand in his own. Hadrian worked hard, but he was never meant for menial labor. His hands were soft, though his nails were bitten to the quick, a bad habit he sometimes fell back on when he was under a deal of stress, which residence in Alvadas was quite. Sometimes there would be ink smudging those scholar hands with the long, tapering fingers that would have done well on a musical instrument or perhaps doing the keen work of a chirurgeon. Vizyous was spared his intense gaze as his eyes traveled over the even paler hand of the Symenestra. He was studying him, much like a specimen, or perhaps a work of art. "About forty days by ship to Syliras, assuming the weather holds and one isn't beset by illusionist pirates." There was a story there, of course. "How are they likable?" he asked. His chlorine blue eyes flicked up for a moment to fix on Vizyous'. "How are you likable? And what is a Dra?"

[Vizyous Aconitum]

The hand holding his own was startling, Vizyous not having been in physical contact with another in such a meaningless and simple way for a while. His brows drew down in slight confusion at the feeling, his bright amethyst eyes staring at Hadrian's hand intensely. Hadrian's hand was soft yet definitely not pampered, and that made sense him considering he seemed to be traveling alone but wasn't a warrior or criminal. Well, not that he knew of yet, anyways.

His own hand was very different from Hadrian's, unusually rough and scarred despite being young. His palms had many lines which could partly be blamed on him being a curious man that often climbed surfaces not intending to be climbed, and partly blamed on him being clumsy with knives. Vizyous's nails were claws, long and sensitive, and his fingers lanky, much alike his limbs.

"Likable is a tricky word," Vizyous said to him, the words coming out more cynical than intended, "Every one is drastically different from the other no matter what race, but there's always the side of Symenestra that no one likes." The man let out a deep sigh, partly out of slight regret for the nature of his race and partly out of being in contact with another. "We're natural killers and worshipers of Viratas, some more put together in the brain than others." Although, he felt like a hypocrite for mentioning that last point.

"As far as what's likable... among Symenestra, there's the natural talent for weaving, and if you don't count that the mothers of our children die while giving birth, there's the incredible charm of a desperate man to look forward to." Vizyous said the last part in jest, although he was slightly serious about it. Symenestra could be the best of seducers when needing to have children. "But as far as myself, I can't answer."

In all honesty, Vizyous wasn't sure what was likable about himself at all. He was viewed in a different light by each person he met, a social person that usually ended up either befriending those he met or being disliked. The Symenestra frowned at that, glancing up at Hadrian, feeling his blue eyes on him. "I suppose, right now, I could be likable to you because I'm donating my blood, however if this has a bad effect, I may not be liked anymore. As said before, likable is a very tricky and undependable word-- And Dra are those born from a woman of my kind and a man of another. They're usually treated unfairly... and are sometimes much kinder to others because of that."

[Hadrian]

Hadrian hadn't really considered how Vizyous would react to him so closely examining his hand, stroking it almost as his own sensitive digits took in tactile information even as his eyes tried to memorize their form. He was trying to lock that image into his mind, and the feel of the skin and the claws. At the same time, he was pushing his own djed into his hands, but not to speed them up or strengthen them with Flux, though the technique was similar in theory, at least with the transportation of energy, neither to transmute it to res as it pooled out of his pores for elemental manipulation. Instead, he was attempting to mold his hands into Vizyous' hands, or similar hands, but it was slow going, and he was trying to listen while concentrating, but he was adept at compartmentalizing his thoughts. "All the races have killers among them," he said seriously, "and there's nothing inherently wrong with Viratas, either. He isn't Rhysol or Sagallius. The blood is the life, and it makes sense for you to worship him. And being likable is not the same as being good. Evil people can be charming." He shrugged, then looked at Vizyous' hand again, and the first faint differences in his own, hadrly noticeable yet. "Ah, yes. Symenestra breeding. You said you bedded one of your own, endangering her life, yes? So, have you endangered the lives of other women not of your race as well?"

[Vizyous Aconitum]

Vizyous truly smiled at Hadrian's words, comforted by the human's open-minded view of Viratas and intelligence. "Most humans I've met associate Viratas with only violence and bloodbaths." The new respect he had towards Hadrian showed in that small sentence, his voice insinuating there was a deeper meaning. He said no further on the subject, instead watching silently as Hadrian studied his hand, not sure exactly what the human was looking for although sure it was something he probably wouldn't understand.

"I don't sleep with women often." Vizyous responded casually, although in his mind he was busy thinking through each woman he had slept with. There were only three, but each knew the consequences of what would happen if they became pregnant. They were brave, or perhaps suicidal. "The women I slept with all knew it was dangerous. One was Symenestra, the other two human." He stopped talking for a while, letting out a deep breath and considering Hadrian's last words. "I don't know how they did it, really. I wouldn't be able to, if I was a woman."

Vizyous didn't know whether the women he had been with were naive, stupid, brave, or had given up on living, but no matter which combination they were he hoped they were in good health. He didn't want any child to suffer knowing they killed their mother, or any mother to suffer being killed by their baby.

[Hadrian]

With the change occurring, Hadrian was able to distract Vizyous by bringing his gaze up to meet the Symenestra's. The occasional glance down gauged his progress with the morphing of his hands. To be truthful, the dialogue interested him, too. He was learning even as he was practicing a discipline at which he was hardly accomplished. "I try to remain open-minded about things as a scholar," he said coolly. He wasn't tooting his own horn, but trying to explain the mindset he had cultivated for himself. "Most of the gods considered evil only have a bad reputation, or their worship has been twisted by fear and misunderstanding. I mean, I'm not likely to cozy up to Rhysol, but why fear the God of Pain when pain has proven such a valuable tool for survival? It's a warning system. Yes, it requires discipline to rise above it, but that does not make it evil, nor its patron deity. Ergo, the God of Blood is not evil. Blood is necessary for our lives. I don't condone the unnecessary shedding of it... I was not happy sacrificing a cat to power a spell, but I believe there was a sort of balance to it..." He shook his head, not really wanting to admit what several people whispered about him behind his back, that he had never really been intimate with a woman. It was shameful, of course, but he didn't feel right paying for it either. There was so much mess involved, physical as well as emotional, and he just could not handle it as yet. "Well, I don't know about your sexual urges relative to a human's, but there are herbs to abort a pregnancy if you want to save the mother's life. Some people think such things immoral. I don't know, they might be." He shrugged. Such questions of ethics only confounded him because he found himself in circular arguments with no end in sight. There were also men who slept with men, but he couldn't remember the Symenestra stance on that and didn't want to give him the wrong idea about still holding his hand in his. He glanced down at his hands, which were markedly paler, and his fingernails, which were looking more and more like claws. Then he smiled at Vizyous.

[Vizyous Aconitum]

Sacrificing a cat wasn't something he usually heard being done, but then again magic wasn't something usually practiced. As for herbs to abort a pregnancy, Vizyous had never been around the women long enough to talk with them about it. He assumed that if they wanted to take herbs for their own protection, they would decide that on their own.

"Have you been to Ravok?" The city that worshiped Rhysol had always been intriguing to him. He'd only visited it a small number of times during his merchant days, and he was grateful for that. While Ravok itself was beautiful, the people within it were obviously restricted and outsiders, especially those alike his own race, scorned.

When looking down at Hadrian's hand still holding his own, Vizyous became confused. The image seemed to be weird somehow, although he couldn't tell in what way. "What are you doing?" The Symenestra drew his brows together, mouth turning down in thought. There was definitely something different about Hadrian. Now that he thought about it though, what was strange about the situation wasn't that there seemed to be something different about Hadrian, but something familiar and Symenestra. He must be imagining that, though, unless the human was skilled in illusion?

"Why do you still hold my hand?" The question wasn't asked in a rude tone but a curious one, his original thoughts on it being that Hadrian was going to draw blood from his hand or wrist. Was blood not needing to be drawn and being used while still in his veins to power his magic?