(Flashback) Familiar Things: Part III

[Javial Kripsin]

84th day of Summer, 507 AV Something unusual happened even before Javial and Ilkraz’s day began together. Javial found himself as the secondary arrival, with Ilkraz and his steam based companion already at their meeting spot with the summoning circle prepared. This was a blessing of course, because it meant that chimes of rhetorical ridiculousness could hopefully be avoided. It also meant that yet again Javial was going to be unable to see how in the world Ilkraz made that circle. There was some kind of trick to it, and Javial was starting to become more and more curious. The man didn’t seem like he was trying to hide all that he was, but the more Javial interacted with both he and the familiars he called, the more he began to wonder just how much more was going on that he did not quite understand. As he had done in the previous days, Ilkraz raised a hand as a greeting, followed by Javial whom did the same. Knowingly or not, Javial had matriculated into one of Ilkraz’s strange customs. The man stood before his circle, bringing a small cloth to his forehead in order to clean the sweat from his brow, unobstructed from hair atop his head. Or eyebrows. Wait, did Ilkraz have eyebrows before? Were they always shaven off? Javial didn’t have long to ponder that bit of personal hygiene as Ilkraz spoke up, “Ulnix and myself felt quite bad about what happened yesterday, so we put our heads together and I think you’ll be pleased with the result. I’m not saying that you might not enjoy the result, or anything. I do however hope that you find this next familiar much more to your liking, Ulnix if you will.” The mage bent down, pricking his finger with a small blade and dipped the bleeding digit upon the ground. Javial already had his book prepared, inside were the notes of the previous days. Ready for additional information as always he watched as the ground became fluid. Just how much could he trust this mage? It was the third attempt at meeting a competent familiar without some sort of glaring personality disorder. Just what was going on inside of that world these things came from? Or was it something else? Was that mage and his familiar choosing these familiars with some sort of sick purpose in mind? “Astral coordinates 6701984710485453, and away we go.” The Avavali said in something of a tradition before heading out to his home planet. Like a trained scout he disappeared into the fluidity, leaving Javial and Ilkraz alone. Javial took a moment to look over at Ilkraz, whom was taking the same moment to dig around in his ear with his pinky. Pulling the small finger free he stared at the contents just long enough before flicking whatever it was that had stuck onto his finger upon the ground. Luckily Javial hadn’t been subjected to Ilkraz’s quirks for too long before Ulnix arrived.

[Javial Kripsin]

The crimson gout of steam poured up from the rippling surface with a new familiar, this one as fluid as the ground it stood upon. It looked almost like a snake, long and cylindrical, it’s outer most ‘skin’ smooth and slick, like oily water. Slithered about for a moment before turning toward Javial, “Yo future partner, good to meet you. I am Tazlade, a Sarawanki. What’s going on? Having a good day so far? Let me tell you it’s great to be here, you’ve no idea just how much Fyrden sucks. It’s either boiling hot or freezing cold, you know? Totally ridiculous. Anyway any questions you have I’d love to answer them. Ask away. Anything you want, honest. I’m an open book, metaphorically speaking. My knowledge is like, totally yours. I just...hey what are you writing?” Indeed Javial had been writing, taking what he could perceive immediately from this creature and putting it down onto paper. A fluid form and little shyness, not necessarily a bad thing considering dealing with people meant you had to understand how talk to them, but there were a few extremely important questions Javial had to get out of the way. One in particular had to be saved until last, for if this familiar was unable to be bonded to him as well, the man needed to at least gain as much information from it as he could. “Good day Tazlade, I’m Javial, I gather intelligence and broker information as a living. This means I need a partner good at gathering useful information…” “Gathering information!? Oh totally! Like, I love talking in general, so I learn tons of stuff from the others back on Fyrden all the time. I’m like a book, just like I said before, I know tons of stuff, I get involved with all the best gossip. Heck, if you dislike talking with me around you can just sit back and relax, I’ll totally handle things from there. Listen, I heard about that last Kirt that came up here to meet you, and if you knew me I could have totally told you that Kirts are selfish, maniacal sore losers. They’ll totally sell you out in a heart beat to get ahead in the world, cause all they care about are themselves. See I’m out for what’s best for us. We Sarawanki on the other hand get stuff DONE! You snooze, you lose right? We’ve got tons of energy and we’re not afraid to use it.” The strange ooze like creature stood up on a tendril like tail, it’s ‘head’ wavering back and forth hypnotically, almost like a cobras dance. Javial nodded slightly as he continued the process of the interview, so far the Sarawanki weren’t sounding too bad. A bit long winded, perhaps a little too much energy, like a child. Perhaps as they grew ‘up’ some of that energy faded? He was still no closer to understanding the innate capabilities of the race, however, “Tell me, I’ve seen that Kirt change its shape and color, what sort of things do the Sarawanki do? I see by the look of you, you’re made of water, or some liquid? My duties have me performing sensitive tasks that require cunning, what are your thoughts on this?”

[Javial Kripsin]

“Ok well, we Sarawanki are liquid, but not just water. See as a liquid we can move silently and get into places that other things can’t. While a Kirt may be able to change its shape or color a bit, I can squeeze into the tightest of cracks, or even absorb into the land itself. I can totally go anywhere a liquid can, isn’t that awesome? So getting into places quietly is no problem. While you might be locked out, or somehow barred from entering a place, I can like, manage to find someway to enter. Eh? What do you think of that?” the Sarawanki seemed to feel ultimately confident in it’s responses, as it gave absolutely no hesitation in answering nearly anything Javial tossed at it. It didn’t hold back on the information either, in truth it was probably the most excellent resource for information on a particular familiar species that Javial had seen yet. The calculations inside of his head were quickly placing this Sarawanki at the top of the heap for familiar candidates. Their conversation had progressed far enough to the point where he could really get to ask some specific questions to figure out just how appropriate a Sarawanki would be for a person such as him, “How about defense? Do you have a way to protect yourself? The Avavali claimed total invulnerability, while the Kirt spoke of having a superior toughness of the rock, and a way to regain its strength.” Combat and defensive wasn’t first on Javial’s list of important things to look for in a familiar, as he preferred to stay far away from such things as possible, but the very lifestyle he led meant that there were instances of potential…angry customers. Sometimes customers had to resort to violence in order to show their displeasure. Though not of an immediate concern, it appeared that Ilkraz and Ulnix were playing some sort of silent card game, with the various cards laid out before Ilkraz outside of the summoning circle. Sometimes his hands would move to one card, only to stop and then move to another, flipping it over. He would then look at it ponderously and move onward with the game. The Sarawanki almost seemed to nod before splitting itself in two, and then rejoining its parts. “See that there? Since I’m liquid in nature, I’m dreadfully hard to do in! Blades are no problem, nor is heat. In fact my greatest advantage in a fight is my super heated temperature. If I needed to, I could like totally fire droplets of boiling water at someone; I’d like to see them mess with me after that! Pretty neat huh?” the otherworldly creature said, it’s flexibly fluid body moving about as it tried to make itself as easily viable to Javial as possible.

[Javial Kripsin]

The man could tell this familiar wanted it, and seemed to have a much milder personality over all. Tazlade had his eccentricities of course, but the more Javial dealt with the creatures of Fynden the more he realized that they had traits, behaviors, goals, and weaknesses just like anything else. Some part of him went into the whole process believing that at the end of the road was a creature that would unquestionably follow his orders, but these creatures were completely independent, no doubt with their own life’s path something inside of where ever a brain could be kept within bodies like those. Javial wasn’t completely sure he would exist well with a partner like that. Too much independence could be bad for business, especially in a place like Sunberth. It was then that the most important question suddenly came to his mind, how would a creature like this exist within a place where magic was detested so openly that mages were often the subject of witch hunts? “Tell me, Tazlade, the place where I operate out of has a certain dislike for magic. Not that some caution of magic is improper, but they hate it enough to kill mages openly practicing. It is of the utmost important that a familiar be prepared to spend length periods of time being inconspicuous. Perhaps looking like a regular animal, or an object.” Touching the tip of his quill to his tongue, Javial awaited the response from the Sarawanki. The utensil he wielded for writing drifted downward, prepared to touch the paper, but nothing came. Just when he was about to speak in an attempt to ensure the watery low worlder was still there, it replied. “You mean…quiet? Like…I can’t talk to people there…at all? Just you? No one else…” the creature’s voice began to waiver, as if it was about to cry. Could a familiar cry? Up until this day, Javial hadn’t even been certain that the elemental based anomalies even had feelings. “Yes, though we may operate out of different cities in time.” Javial attempted to sound reassuring, but there wasn’t a great deal of certainly in his words. Even he wasn’t sure just how long he was going to stay in Sunberth once he returned. The travel alone to Ravok took a huge deal of time, and his services were blunted somewhat in such a structured society, even if it was devoted to Rhysol. In Sunberth, with no true government, the talents of an intelligence broker were worth a fortune, especially with the three big Syndicates always vying for power. The job security was unending.

[Javial Kripsin]

“I…I thought it was going to work out. I really did. I hoped that you and I could be buddies. We could go on adventures together…travel the world, find lost treasures and like, rule kingdoms and stuff…” the Sarawanki’s imagination was really carrying itself far off base now. “Er…no. I make a living. It’s a business, of course I want to expand, but we’ve got to be realistic.” Javial replied, already he could see which direction this conversation was going. It seemed Sarawanki’s enjoyed travel and action; they also wished to be social beyond the company of their mage. Or at least this one did. The Sunberthian born man was too much a perfectionist to settle for anything less than his ideal familiar, “So I don’t think we’ll be able to work together.” “I…I understand.” The Sarawanki said, melted slightly, its body losing some of the defined form it had previously. Suddenly it simply folded downward into a puddle, and all Javial could hear was what sounded like crying, “Waaaaaah! Waaaaaah…I was so close! I don’t wanna go back to Fyrden!” despite it’s verbalized resistance the creature slid down into the ground and disappeared, leaving just the Avavali inside of the circle. Javial looked over at Ilkraz, whom was still concentrating upon his card game. With a sharp ‘ahem’ from the bottom of his throat, Javial managed to capture the man’s attention. Snapping his head to the side his eyes widened a bit, “Oh, how’d it go? A total one eighty from that Kirt right? That’s one fine familiar right there, and you won’t have to worry about it poisoning your food while you sleep with a paralytic agent. Not that those kind of things happen often, or anything. Wait, did he leave already?” “Yes. It turns out we had some personal incompatibilities. I need a familiar that doesn’t have a problem staying silent for long periods of time. A wrong word or an improper comment can get a man killed where I’m from. Not that I don’t understand that magic itself is a risk, but if I can stack the odds in my favor, well then I don’t mind a risky business proposal.” Javial pulled the covers of his book to a close before tucking it away inside of his satchel. As he reminisced over some of the various bits of information he had most recently learned, Ilkraz pointed out some astonishingly pertinent information. “Familiary isn’t like other magics, you know.” He said as he deconstructed the summoning circle, shortly thereafter moving to collect his various cards, “It’s as much about understanding what familiar you don’t want, as it is understanding what familiar you do want. But familiars aren’t perfect, just like us. They have personalities and goals…and dreams. There’s a familiar out there for you, somewhere, as long as you are willing to work with it.” Raising a hand up to his bald head, the mage rubbed his flesh for a moment before noting, “I hope. I lost at cards, so Ulnix and I will be on vacation for seven days, so we’ll have to meet here after that. Take some time to think about it.” With little more than his simple hand wave gesture Ilkraz walked off, leaving Javial pondering.

[Lazybones]

Thread Complete! Notes: Sarawanki, the chatty high school student. Javial Award : Skills: Intelligence +3, Investigation +1, Familiary +4 Lores: Garrulous Sarawanki, Finding a Familiar is Unsettlingly Difficult