Completed Business As Unusual

[Tazrae]

Timestamp: 16th of Spring, 522 A.V.

Tazrae climbed the steps to Mathias’ massive deck like she had done so a hundred times before. She was dressed in a peach-colored crochet bikini with a bright happy green Isuas cover-up over the top of it. She went barefoot, rarely afraid of snakes these days. Her danger intuition was a part of her now and she relied on it to guard her in ways that were probably dangerously inattentive.

But there was nothing to fear here. This deck was an oasis of conversation, education, and philosophy. Tazrae had been here many times before and selected the empty seat beside Mathias, automatically taking a pole and digging in the bait bucket for something to slide on her hook. She slipped off her backpack and left it beside her chair.

Mathias was watching her curiously as she baited up her hook and without rising, tossed her cast out into the turquoise water the deck was built over. When the pole was set up and she was actually fishing, Taz tapped her well gently, pulled djed up to her eyes, and took a look around.

Mathias was glowing gently like a mini sun and she wondered how that was happening. Not liking the way of looking at him with what she knew must be eyes shining with power, Taz moved the djed to her ears, fueling her hearing. Everything around her came alive with sound, and she grinned for a moment, thinking Mathias a grand symphony with low and bold notes that kept his magical drone interesting.

Everything here had a sound… a new sound. And as Taz linked her Bardic gifts of Audius with it, she realized suddenly the very wood she sat upon vibrated with a sort of auric power indicating it had been tampered with magically. Tilting her head, she kept listening, leaning over to lay a hand on the wood itself.

“It’s magically treated with shielding against rot and staining…. a weatherproofing so to speak,” Mathias said carefully, smiling at her. “I can see you using Auristics, but your aura really lit up when you switched from your sight to your hearing. You are one of Rhaus’ bards, aren’t you?” He asked, making Tazrae smile slightly. “Yes… sound works better with me… especially with Audius. I can look with so many different types of sound… it suss out a lot of things I couldn’t detect otherwise. Now I know what weatherproofing shielding feels like.” She added with a grin.

“I had no idea you were learning magic so quickly. That encyclopedia of arcanology must have helped tremendously." The older man said, turning on the charm. He had the most curious expression on his face and had started to reach out a hand as if offering to shake her own. Taz held up her own hand, fending him off, and shaking her head.

“I’m not new to Syka, I'm Tazrae.” She said softly. “You sold me an acre of land and gave me a rather large loan to open The Protea Inn a couple of years ago. Randal helped build it. Well, let’s face it, he built most of it. But I did build the decks myself. I paid it all off, by the way. If that matters…” She said with a smile.

Mathias grinned. "I know. The curses haven't affected me." He said with a smile.

[Tazrae]

“You know all this stuff going on in Syka? You all are my friends, but no one here can remember me. I’ve just introduced myself, but the moment I walk away and get out of their sight, they will forget me. My curse is to be alone. I know you are not affected by one. And there are multiple other people here that are.” Taz said, beginning to list all the curses she knew everyone had, starting with her close friends and her guests at the Inn.

"It hasn't been easy." She admitted.

Mathias looked thoughtful for a moment, then nodded. “This is the craziest season Syka has ever seen. I honestly know people don't remember you. I'd meant to come talk to you before this, but I thought you were doing okay and there's been a lot going on. But what you are saying doesn’t surprise me. You look like your handling everything okay and you've kept the Inn going. And I was just thinking the other day how lovely the Inn turned out. I wish we could get more business owners like you on board. If everyone worked as hard Syka would come together a lot faster and a lot smoother.” He added.

“Do you keep records?” Taz asked and Mathias nodded.

“Look in your records. You’ll find my name there.” She said, reaching forward and setting her pole into a pole holder built into the deck railing. “I need you to get that record anyhow… and some pen and ink. There's some new business I want to discuss with you, something more of a personal level for myself but helpful to the settlement as well.” She said carefully. She was demanding nothing of him really. Instead, she was asking him to do this thing for her.

Mathias nodded slowly, rose, and beckoned her to follow. She rose, grabbed her backpack, and followed. She pulled more djed up from her djedpool, fueling her hearing, wanting to see Mathias’ place with her hearing… with her magic. And so as she walked behind him, she produced a low pitch in her throat, singing out a pure note of ultrasound, pulsing Mathias’ cabana to get a feel for its layouts, rooms, and the space inside.

The map it drew for her in her head was helpful as she followed the Founder. It was a lot like already having a memory of a place because she’d been there before. A mental map of sound formed in her mind which to her abilities of reasoning was just as good as a visual one. So she knew where they were and where they were going without even looking.

Taz imagined the divine magic would be incredibly useful in caves or even underwater.

He led her into his Cabana which was spacious, and past the open living area, kitchen, and finally through an archway into what was a functional library and office. He took a few moments to pull out a huge ledger in his desk, which he flipped to a page, ran down it, and found her name. “Tazrae Ardera… I have you right here. You fully paid off your loan and it says you are the owner of the Protea. I remember that. I've always kept good records...” He added, shaking his head. Taz nodded, glancing around, pulling a bit more.

[Tazrae]

Mathias’ study lit up like a magical museum, all kinds of décor, books, and even the desk itself resonating with magic. The auras were dazzling, almost as dazzling as Mathias was himself. The man was pure power… djed as strong as Alric’s for sure. The thought brought a pang of pain to her heart, but she shoved it away. She had other things to focus on at the moment… like her future. Blinking, she pushed the djed forcefully out of her eyes and redirected it to her hearing with a sigh.

Taz was a bard through and through and the information and songs the items sang to her were far more palatable than the visual painting the room had given her auristics a moment ago. Compartmentalizing her thinking, Taz happily began to process the sound linking it to individual items as Mathias spoke to her about her history with him.

The resonance around the room soothed her and she wondered why she hadn’t approached Auristics this way before. It was so much more suited to her entire person than the visual aspect of it was. Taz could listen to music all day long, every day, and did so happily.

It had, in fact, turned the sadness that she’d been carrying around, into happiness and for a while she forgot how alone she was.

“But I know about the curses and I know about all the incredible things happening. We are looking for answers. I can’t… can’t imagine how awful that must be, Tazrae.” He said softly, shaking his head, his eyes full of compassion. The Founder looked like he was going to say more, but Tazrae interrupted him.

Taz interjected. “You mostly just call me Taz. We fish often, and I sing and play a lot at the Tendays. You like my scones. I cook at my Inn. And I keep snakes... I’m the one that bred all the Mussurana.” She said, smiling slightly. “When I was first here, an eyelash viper bit me. And if everyone hadn’t acted quickly, I would have died.” She said softly, reaching up to rub her forehead, hating to make this explanation.

Mathias reached out and seized her wrist abruptly. It wasn’t an attack, but it was a very deliberate action as he turned it over, to reveal the mark Kihala left on her. “You are one of the Guardians.” He said, a matter of fact.

Taz nodded. “I am. I was here during the test and I helped build Kihala’s Shrine. I often bring more flowers to add to it. And I do a lot of weeding there.” She said with an affectionate smile.

“You can’t fake that, Tazrae… no one can. Next time just show people this. The Gods don’t lie and their marks can’t be duplicated.” He added, offering her a smile. Her Guardian Mark wasn’t a Gnosis Mark, but it was brilliantly colored like a tattoo, but upraised like the embossed skin of a gnosis mark. Then he stepped closer and hugged her, sensing somehow that she needed it.

Taz blinked, shocked at the tears that were welling in her eyes. She blinked again, thinking they would fade, but instead they traced tracks down her bronze cheeks.

[Tazrae]

The music in her ears rang in discord, as the djed fled her control and she lost the ability to keep up the resonation infused with Auristics. The young Innkeeper almost swore.

Mathias misunderstood her momentary distress and confusion. “It’s okay… honestly. We will figure out what’s going on here.” He said gently, then tapped his book. “You said I’d need this again, and pen and ink. What for?” He asked, curious.

Taz looked thoughtful. It was now or never. Time to be persuasive. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately. That’s really all I can do. Everywhere I go, I run into people that don’t know me… my friends, people I now consider family… it’s really hard. I need to keep busy, but there’s not much I can do to really help other people. I didn’t know I was so social before this season and this… this curse. So, I’ve been thinking… that’s all I can really do these days besides baking and trying to talk Oralie into the fact I belong in the Kitchen of the Protea. She doesn’t remember and runs me off as much as she can. Though, truthfully, she’s very nice about it. I’ve been looking and thinking." Taz said, taking a breath and letting her words settle with him before she continued.

"When this is over, I want to expand the Inn to more rooms since Syka is getting bigger. We’re so full right now I don’t even have a place to sleep, so I set up a tent. But I want something more permanent. I actually know how to build a lot of things because of Randal’s help and I can take care of myself in the Wilderness.” Taz said, taking a breath and refocusing her mind. She hoped that in laying it out in a way that made her private land ownership seem beneficial to the Settlement, Mathias could be persuaded to sell her the land.

“I would like to buy the three acres of beach between your place and The Protea. I want to build my own house… maybe set up a tent and a camp for old time’s sake while I’m doing it, and some more permeant things … but mainly a house. I need… something of my own. A stronghold for my soul. I couldn’t say that to just anyone, but I know I can say that to you.” She added, then continued, hoping her argument was good enough.

“I’d like to double the land though… three acres of beach between you and the Protea and another acre deep in the jungle between the beach land and the cobbled pathway. I want to create a space for the Ixam that are here now. A sanctuary for them to lounge around and be lizards like they need to be. I can keep them fed and teach them where to hunt… and maybe get some of them used to riders so they are more used for the settlement. That’s why I want so much land.” She said thoughtfully, her eyes filled with hope.

Taz called her djed back up, instinctively fueling her hearing with it. She tilted her head, sounded out a note too low for Mathias’ hearing under the guise of a sigh, and listened to the feedback in his aura. He wasn’t mad. He wasn’t concerned. He seemed… as if some part of him knew this would happen eventually. She could tell suddenly by the sound feedback, the audible aura, that Mathias enjoyed seeing the Settlement grow.

He was going to sell her the land. Taz almost tipped her head back and laughed her joy to the rich wood ceiling of Mathias’ cabana. Instead, she contained it and listened. Mathias was putting on a good show. But it was obvious, under the façade, he was pleased at her request. The man was pleased! And he actually knew her!

[Tazrae]

Mathias looked thoughtful and pulled out his book again. He unfolded a huge map where Tazrae saw how the Settlement had been divided into parcels of land. She’d been right. There were exactly three acres between her place and Mathias’ place… three parcels. And there were three more between the beach and the cobbled pathway one acre deep between her Protea Land and Mathias’ place. The Founder nodded thoughtfully and pointed once more to where her name was written on the parcel The Protea sat on. “More proof.” He said, smiling thoughtfully. Beach lots cost 1,200 gold apiece. Jungle lots cost 900 gold per lot. Are you sure you have that kind of money? 6,300 gm is a lot of coins.” He added. Taz nodded, slid her pack off her back, and began removing money from her pouch. When she had the total sum stacked up on his desk, Mathias nodded, and carefully wrote her out a bill of sale and added her name to the lots between himself and The Protea.

“It’s done, then. I’d normally check with the other Founders, but this seems like a special case, and they don’t know you… something is telling me in my heart this is the right thing to do.” He said with a smile. “I just need you to sign this sales document. I’ll sign it too. We need to sign two of them so we both have a copy.” Mathias said as he filled out the bill of sale in duplicate, outlining where the purchase was and to whom it was made. He also wrote paid in full on it. He offered her a copy after she’d signed them both. The smile he gave her was big… bigger than she would have expected.

Taz tucked the bill of sale into her backpack and looked curious a moment. His smile encouraged her to be bolder. “Mathias, you said you weren’t affected by the curses? That nothing is different with you? But I know Randal and James are. Can you tell me why? Have you figured it out yet?” She asked, curious if he had any idea why he wasn’t affected and others were.

Mathias looked thoughtful for a moment. He hesitated, then he finally spoke up. “There are three people that haven’t been affected of all the people in and around the Settlement. Of all the people here, only three, and we all three have one thing in common. All of us have three marks from a God or Goddess… we are priests and priestesses.” He added. “Myself, Stu, and Sawtooth.” He added.

Tazrae nodded. “I didn’t know you were a priest. May I ask of whom?” She said cautiously, but curious nonetheless.

This time her auristics picked up the sound of his joy, resonating him with a force that told her it was a powerful emotion within him. “I follow Xhyvas. He’s the God of Transcendence and Possibilities. We rise above… go further… recognize our potential and then realize it.” He said carefully. “I know you have two marks of Rhuas. And one of Caihya. I suspect you’ll have one Kihala with that Guardian Mark sooner than later. I can just feel your marks. Its one of my gifts. It’s part of the reason I’m selling you this land and trusting you. If they do, then I can as well. Don’t let me down, Tazrae. What you do with yourself and with the Ixam and for them will help the settlement tremendously. I’m glad to assist that operation further. It’s one of the gifts Xhyvas gives me… the ability to see potential futures and possibilities. You… have tremendous possibilities.” He said carefully.

Taz nodded and rose when Mathias did. She followed him back out to the deck where she took a moment to check her pole. She reeled it in, rebaited, and this time put some effort into her casting before clipping one of Mathias’ little brass bells to the tip before sliding it down into the pole holder again. Then she took a seat and leaned back, lifting a foot upon the seat of the chair and hooking her heel there. She was glad his seats were big enough to allow her to sit like a child.

“Do you mind if I stay here a while? I haven’t had a lot of people to talk to and I’ve missed our time on this deck.” She said carefully. It wasn’t really a complaint. Taz hadn’t felt sorry for herself or anything. Far worst things were happening to people, little Faye included. She couldn’t imagine aging as that child did… only to start over as a babe. Even Randal’s bestial features were more than she thought she could handle if it was happening to her.

Mathias smiled. “Taz, even though I can’t remember it. I’m very sure I’ve told you that you are welcome any time… to talk, to fish, to just sit quietly and be in someone’s company.” He said, reaching over and laying his hand over her smaller one where it rested on the arm of the chair. “Doubly so if you can sing. Something tells me that you need very little prodding to give me a song or two. And in exchange, I’ll give you all the conversation you crave for the next two hours without any silly questions about who you are.” He said with a laugh.

Taz didn’t respond, not with words. Instead, she simply leaned back, took a measured breath, and began to sing Mathias all the songs she knew he loved the most.

Words: 3190

Ledger Stuff :

Taz purchased 3 square acres of beach property (jungle plus waterfront addon) for 1,200 gm apiece = 3,600 gm plus 3 square acres of jungle property for 900 gm apiece = 2,700 gm for a total of 6,300 gm. Doing it at once you get a 25% discount (6300x.25=1,575 gm) for a total of 4,725 gm. Using a 'half-price property' quest coupon, she made that price 2,362.5 gm for the total purchase.

[Tazrae]

Grading

Tazrae-

Fishing +2, Auristics +3, Psychology +2, Business +4, Rhetoric +1, Persuasion +3, Interrogation +2

Aurisitics: How To Tell Magically Shielded Wood (Rot/Stain), Mathias: His Study/Library, Auristics: Judging Someone’s Mood/Decisions, Mathias: Priest of Xhyvas, Xhyvas, God of Transcendence and Possibilities, Mathias: See’s Tazrae’s Potential, Mathias: Welcomes Taz To His Deck Anytime – Open Invitation

Notes: You've Purchased Garden Beach - 3 Acres of Mixed Jungle/Beach and 3 Acres of Pure Jungle