A Meeting of Minds [Veldrys]

[Rorugir]

Rorugir tilted his head in thought as Veldrys talked. "Symnestra..." Rorugir repeated, pronouncing each syllable slowly, as if determining how the word slid off his tongue. "I have heard of you." Rorugir said suddenly. "But only in fairytales. You are the ones who...who abduct others for harvest?" A hand went down to his belt, betraying the isur's feelings of suspicion. The sudden jerk back into place was just as revealing, showing how they needed to work together, despite whatever problems lay on both sides. Rorugir watched the symnestra work his way through the window, helping him in a couple of spots when the size of the opening proved problematic. When Veldrys finally made his way through, Rorugir watched him fall.... and fall... *** "Another room?" Rorugir murmured in surprise. "Now why would a room open up to yet another room?" It was puzzling, but it ranked low on the current amount of puzzles at hand. Rorugir listened to what Veldrys had to say, and yet another spike of anxiety wormed it's way through his stomach. Those doors would take the symnestra even further away from Rorugir. Why, if he even could, would the symnestra come back, if he found an exit in one of those doors? In desperation, Rorugir thought of channeling his reimancy. Unlike many of his fellow reimances, Rorugir's skill lay not in fire, but the realm of earth. At first glance, he'd thought he'd might be able to use that to create a door in the wall, but upon closer inspection, the walls were made of steel, not earth. He could not control the walls - but, perhaps in such circumstances, he could blast his way through them? "Stand back." Rorugir shouted down. The symnestra would be undoubtedly surprised to heard this, after asking for directions, but hopefully he'd have the sense to heed his warning. Rorugir tapped into his djed, stirring the well of magic within himself. And it responded. Res floated out from his hands, condensing into hard earth as soon as it was produced. Res production was slow, but in a manner of minutes, Rorugir had a good amount of earth floating as a veil around his controllable Res. Earlier, when he'd inspected the walls, he'd discovered several weaknesses in the metal. No crafting was perfect, and this room was no exception. There had been several weaknesses where bubbles of air had been trapped within the metal, mainly around the window in the corner. They destabilized the wall, could possibly make them easier to break open - and perhaps he could use them to make the window bigger? Rorugir focused on his Res, sending it forward into the air. The earth shot forward as spears, tapering down into two critical points that had the force and momentum of the earth behind them. The two funnels of earth collided with the metal with a bang. Earth went flying backwards, forcing Rorugir to drop as it went raining past his head. A couple of moments passed as Rorugir lay on the ground, partially from dodging chunks of earth and partially from the exhaustion laid upon him from channeling such power. It was but a dream, but the exhaustion from using such magic seemed very real to the isur. His hands shook and beads of sweat formed on his brow. However, stoicism prevailed, and Rorugir pushed himself upwards to see what he had done. Luckily, he'd managed to strike the metal precisely where it's weaknesses lay, and the metal had twisted in on itself. His desire to see the window opened doubtless had a part in ensuring that earth somehow managed to see metal broken in the dream, as the window now had an all-new addition - it was now big enough to fit a larger mass through, though the sharp edges from the rough addition proved a challenge. Nonetheless, Rorugir managed to work his way through the window, and down he fell. "Incoming..." he managed to gasp. If Veldrys had not moved, Rorugir would land but mere inches away from him. He too landed with barely a thud, though Rorugir was much longer in getting up. When he finally did, however, he began to talk once more; "Let's try and find them together, shall we?"

OoCErr...that was a bit awkward, but I didn't really see how else we could have gotten Rorugir and Veldrys reunited. Hopefully, this will do, as it is a dream and all.

[Veldrys]

As Rorugir asked him to stand back, the Symenestra furrowed his brow and looked up. What did the Isur plan on doing? Hadn’t he claimed that the window was too small for him? Did he want to smash the wall with his fists? Isur were strong, but they couldn’t possibly be that strong, and according to everything he knew about reimancers (and that was very little) they couldn’t simply melt stone or make it disappear. Rorugir’s warning thus seemed to be fairly pointless to him – maybe he was getting desperate and beginning to lose his mind? – but Veldrys made a step back nevertheless, mostly so that he could see what the other man was doing a bit better.

He heard a loud sound, and he thought that something had happened to the window, but it was too high above him for him to be sure. And then Rorugir was already next to him, and the Symenestra insctinctively made another step back. His eyes were wide with surprise. „What happened?“ he wanted to know and eyed the Isur warily. „Was that your magic? What did you do?“ He waited a moment to give the Isur the opportunity to reply, and then he walked over to one of the doors.

Before he opened it, he turned around once more and looked at Rorugir. His voice was calm, nearly emotionless. „You asked whether we, the Symenestra, are the ones who abduct others for the harvest. I will be honest with you. There are some of my people that do such things – just like there are people who engage in questionable activites among all other races – but I have never taken part in a harvest nor will I ever do so.“

He had condoned it though. He had watched and not done anything about it. He had treated women so that they wouldn’t die before they could give birth. The way the venom destroyed their bodies had fascinated him. Was that enough for him to be punished? Was that why he was here? Was watching a crime take place a crime in itself, even if the crime in question was the only way to prevent the extinction of your race?

He didn’t want to think about it, not now. He gave the door a little push, maybe a bit more forceful than would have been necessary, and then he gestured for Rorugir to follow him. Behind the door was ... another room. But it was not a normal room. It had walls, a floor and a ceiling, made of black stone, but instead of furniture it was filled with plants. They were standing in a vast jungle that was filled with the sounds of hundreds of different animals, although none of the animals could be seen. There was light as well, as bright as the sun, even though the room didn’t have any windows, and there were no lamps to be seen.

„This makes even less sense to me than the last room“, Veldrys admitted. „Plants don’t grow in a room like this. This is definitely unlike any prison I’ve ever seen. We aren’t drunk, are we?“ He narrowed his eyes a little. Had he used the wrong plant for one of his teas or potions? Was he hallucinating? On drugs? Was this some kind of weird dream or was this Alvadas as he had already suspected before? Whatever was going on, he was relieved to realize that he probably wasn’t being punished for his crimes, at least not yet.

[Rorugir]

Rorugir gave Veldrys a small smile, the slowness coming reassuring him of the ache on the isur's limbs from channeling such power. He brushed out his clothes to get rid of any unseemly remnants of his landing before answering, speaking in a low tone, "Yes, that was my magic. I channeled earth reimancy to - well, to blast the window open." Guilt drew down the edges of his lips, forcing his face into a frown. "If I had known the results, I wouldn't have asked for you to morph. I'm sorry about that, but I honestly had no idea what I was doing up until this point. Still don't, in terms of where's we are." Rorugir listened with an imperturbable face as Veldrys spoke on his race. He'd heard of the symnestra in the streets of Lhavit, whose inhabitants had spoken in hushed tones and fearful glanced of the spidery folk and their harvests. Veldrys's words only served to back up this, and the emotionless tone of his voice seemed to convey to Rorugir a sorrow over such acts. "I see. The Lhavitians speak of you, of this Harvest you do where you kidnap others. They speak ill of you, but...I don't care. If you say you've never participated in one, I believe you. What others of your kind do doesn't change who you are. Bigotry and racism...that is the result of such thoughts. And believe me, I've had too much of that already," A bitterness pervaded Rorugir's smile. "Well then," Rorugir switched gears efficiently, like a well-oiled machine. "Onwards." The next room was certainly odd, especially to a man who'd stayed within forests and mountains, never once straying into the wet and humid place of a jungle. Eyes anxiously took in all they could see as he gazed around the room, filled with plants, sunlight, and the calls of creatures he'd never heard or seen before but would like too. A rational part of his brain processed that what Veldrys communicated - Was this the product of drugs? - but, for a moment, Rorugir was too wrapped up in what was around him to respond. When he came around to it, he did speak of it, however: "Prison is getting less likely by the minute, I agree. And, if horticulture class has taught me anything, plants growing here are indeed unnatural. I mean, for Izurdin's sake, it's a rock floor! This is indeed unnatural. But drugs...this seems more vivid, more real that any sort of wild fantasy." Rorugir cast a look at Veldrys. "Not that I've taken many drugs." Rorugir took a couple steps into the room, looked around, "Maybe if we investigate..." he said thoughtfully, "...We'll discover what's going on here. Or, at the very least, find a way out!"

[Veldrys]

„I think I might have taken drugs“, Veldrys admitted. By the time he stepped across the treshold, into the strange indoor forest he had returned to his normal height. He felt uncomfortable and vulnerable looking like a teenager when there were strange things going on. „Occasionally“, he added, so that Rorugir didn’t misunderstand him. „Accidentially. I’m a healer and a herbalist, and sometimes the plants I work with have unexpected affects.“ He looked somewhat embarrassed as he said this, and then he wondered what he had taken that he had ended up with such strange, realistic hallucinations. Or had the drug somehow transported him to another part of the world, another dimension?

„But normally there are no other people in my hallucinations“, he murmurred as he considered the situation they had found themselves in further. „Normally I’m the only real person in them, and I’m surrounded by monsters or strange versions of my former patients that accuse me of not helping them enough. And the beings in my hallucinations aren’t particularly reasonable. Unlike you.“ He made a step forward and proceeded to inspect one of the trees that grew in the forest. It looked just like a real tree. He let a hand run across its trunk. It felt like a real tree as well. How was it possible that it grew on a stone floor?

He turne to face Rorugir again. „So how is it possible that you are here with me? Did we take drugs at the same time and end up in the same hallucination?“ He furrowed his brow as he thought about that. How likely was such a thing? „Or am I a product of your hallucinations and not even real?“ he wondered. He didn’t particularly like that possibility, but it had to be considered as well. Veldrys had never been the kind of man that refused to think about a certain topic just because it was unpleasant.

There was also a third possibility. As a follower of Viratas he regularly used his gnosis mark and drank blood. Maybe there had been something wrong with the blood he had drunk. Maybe the person he had used his mark on had been ill. Maybe there was still something wrong with the gods.

He remembered all those strange incidents in Denval recently. Both Cian Noc and Theo had used their marks and become violently ill afterwards. There had been vomit all over the place, blood, they had hallucinated and developed a fever. Was that what was happening to him? It was certainly better than being the product of somebody else’s imagination, but still ...

... if this was some kind of gnosis-induced illness, why was there an Isur next to him?

He shook his head. „It gives me a headache to even think about all this“, he admitted. „But if we reach the other side of the forest we should be be closer to the exit and finding out what exactly is going on. Would you mind leading the way? You are stronger than I am. My bones break easily, so if something were to attack us ...“

He made a gesture that was pretty hard to misunderstand.

[Rorugir]

Rorugir eyed Veldrys, taking in the glassy whiteness of his skin, the overlong and overstretched limbs. The way he stood there, half-crouched, as if trying to present as little a target as possible. The slight sheen of vulnerability in his amethyst eyes, betraying the truth of his words. By contrast, Rorugir felt confident in the strength of his body, forged by fire and cooled by iron. His axe was conspicuously absent, but the long-coming feeling of power from his success in channeling reimancy made Rorugir feel like a god. Not that he'd know what that feeling was like, however. "Alright." Rorugir agreed, nodding once. "I'll take the lead. As long as you don't stray too far behind, mind you." The isur turned to the jungle, head cocked to one side uncertainly. He seemed to be mentally arguing over the best way to proceed, but finally Rorugir took his first tentative step into the jungle. One step led to another, and another. Before long, Rorugir was striding along the leafy material of the wet forest, presumably with the symnestra following. The calls of the animals had died away right after Rorugir took a step into the room, and though he looked, Rorugir couldn't seem to find any sort of life. The jungle seemed completely devoid of it. The only sounds that sounded across the room now were that of the isur moving among plants, occasionally stepping on one here or there. More to get rid of the ominous silence than anything else, Rorugir began to speak. "You said you were a herbalist, correct?" Rorugir said. "I guess that eliminates all blame for why you know of drugs, then. Me, I'm a blacksmith and a mage, and so my familarity is a bit more dubious. Anyways, can you recognize any of these plants?" Rorugir stopped, and gestured to a particularly large specimen beside him. It was large and a virulent shade of green, all leaf and scarcely any root or flower. "Like this? Any idea?" Rorugir took a glance at Veldrys, trying to see what his reaction was. He kept his hand well away from the plant, just in case it turned out to be poisonous, or even worse, one of those plants that moved. OoCFeel free to take liberties with the plant and describe it what you wish. I tried to keep it vague.

[Veldrys]

As Rorugir agreed to take the lead, the Symenestra gave him the lightest of smiles. He was glad that the Isur was willing to go first as he looked like he was a much better fighter. Besides, if it turned out that there was something dangerous in the forest – or that the forest itself was dangerous – he preferred if somebody else died instead of him. According to the Viratassa, his holy book, all blood was precious, but when it came down to it, a man that had been marked by Viratas was worth more than a ... whatever it was that Rorugir’s job was ...

„Don’t worry, I’ll stay very close to you“, Veldrys replied to his newfound ally. As he took a closer look at their surroundings, he came to the conclusion that this here was not just a forest. They were in a veritable jungle, and as it seemed Rorugir wasn’t completely sure as to where he should go. Veldrys looked at Rorugir doubtfully, but then he shrugged his shoulders, decicing that he might as well follow him for now.

„I wonder where the animals have gone“, he murmurred as he noticed that the jungle around them had become completely quiet. His heart began to beat faster. Had something chased them away? He looked at Rorugir. The Isur could clearly see that the Symenestra was worried.

„I am a herbalist, yes“, he replied as he tried to find out why it had become so quiet all of a sudden. „As for you, maybe somebody put something into your food? Would that be possible?“ Of course that still didn’t explain everything, but at least it was a start. He was just about to ponder whether it was possible for two men that had accidentially taken drugs to have the same drug-induced hallucination when Rorugir pointed out a plant to him.

He made a step forward and narrowed his eyes as he inspected the plant. „I’m not sure what kind of plant this is“, he admitted. „But I wouldn’t touch it or try to eat it. Did you notice the color and the shape of the leaves? Plants that look like that tend to be poisonous. In fact I wouldn’t touch any plants in this forest. There is something wrong with a forest that grows in a room.“ He remembered that he had touched one of the trees before and quickly wiped his hand on his robe in case the tree was poisonous as well.

[Rorugir]

Rorugir quickly took a step back, eyeing the plant suspiciously. "Figures..." He muttered. "...I always manage to pick the poisonous ones." Rorugir saw Veldrys' movement and he laughed. It seemed almost like rocks falling over one another. "Seems you do as well." He said, shaking his head. The isur and the symenestra's shared dream had given him much to think about, that was to be sure. The melding of rooms, the strangeness of them and what they could have ever represented. The two personalities, meeting in the dream like two weather fronts, interacting in a very...intriguing way. Although he never would admit, either here or in waking hours, he had enjoyed the exploration that he had done with Veldrys. Encountering a symenestra for the first time had been intriguing, and nothing like he had expected. Since it was a dream, Rorugir would probably think Veldrys had just been a figment of his imagination the next morning, but for now he was content. Ah, but such things are fleeting. And, no matter how much you tried to stop it, you always had to wake up... A strange tremor ran through the room, the plants rustling as the unseen movement shook them all. Rorugir instinctively tensed, his head ever so slightly turning to the origin point. His eyes were reduced to slits as he concentrated...and then the room shook again. This time a oath in the language of Isur feel from his lips. A hand whipped forward, gestured - gestured to the rapidly moving darkness that was approaching. "Run!" Rorugir shouted hoarsely, not even turning to check on his companion as he broke into a dash backwards. But although he had taken the correct path back to the door, he found no such opening awaiting him; the room ended there, yes, but only a blank wall awaited. A grim smile found it's way onto Rorugir's friend. Over his shoulder, he said, "It was nice meeting you, Veldrys the symenestra. May you find better luck elsewhere!" And then Rorugir braced himself, braced himself for the darkness of a waking mind. OoCYou can post again if you wished, but this is a kind of "wrapping up" post, as I said via PM. I'll turn this in soon, don't you worry. It was a load of fun writing with you, Veldrys, and we should definitely do it again in the future!

[Veldrys]

„If we make it out of here alive, I could teach you“, Veldrys offered as Rorugir muttered how he always picked the poisonous plants. While none of the plants in this strange forest seemed familiar to him, he knew most of the plants that grew in Kalea. He still wasn’t completely sure if Rorugir was real, and he would sacrifice him in order to save his own life in a heartbeat. but on the other hand he didn’t want Rorugir to end up poisoning himself. He was too much of a healer for that!

For a while the Isur and the Symenestra walked through the forest in silence. They didn’t seem to be in immediate danger, even though the animals had all disappeared. Occasionally, when he saw an especially interesting looking plant, Veldrys wondered if he should pick it so that he could examine it if – or rather when – he came home, but then he decided not to touch it. He was strangely worried that the plant would grow sharp teeth and try to bite him. In such a place anything was possible ...

And then a tremor ran through the room, and the Symenestra froze. He stared at Rorugir, and his eyes were wide. „What ... what is this?“ he asked even though the Isur probably wasn’t any wiser than he was. The room shook again, and Veldrys held onto a nearby tree for support. As Rorugir told him to run, he hesitated for one second, and then he followed the Isur as fast as he could. But the door through which they had entered was gone. His heart began to beat faster, and he looked around in panic.

And then darkness engulfed them both.

[Gossamer]

. Character: Rorugir Experience: - Dreams get zero XP Lore: Using magic for creative uses, Trusting Strangers, Dreaming of Symenestra, Suspecting Foul Play by Ionu Character: Veldrys Experience: Dreams get zero XP Lore: Using morphing for creative uses, Trusting Strangers, Dreaming of Isur, Suspecting Foul Play by Ionu Additional Note: Interesting thread. I really wished it would have had some deeper meaning or greater mystery. At first it hinted at having one, but hopefully you guys will one day meet in the flesh and remember the dream. That should prove interesting. .