Leigo's Fortune (Anselm & Leigo)

[Anselm]

Leigo's Fortune 40 Spring 512 Marketplace in Zeltiva OCC : Continued from The Seer of Zeltiva. Anselm immediately recognized the man. His name escaped him but he remembered the man as somewhat full of himself and less than pleasant. However, as a general rule Anselm was disinclined to judge others or to hold grudges against those who had wronged him. People behaved the way they behaved for reasons that seemed reasonable and good to them at the time. Of greater interest in this case was that the man appeared to be confused. Or lost. Or disoriented. He managed to successfully maneuver himself into the chair and Anselm wondered if he was drunk. “We have indeed met before,” said Anselm slowly in a deep raspy voice. Anselm's face was almost completely hidden beneath the hood of his cloak. His hands were folded in his lap under the table. “You, of course, can read my name on the sign outside my tent. I, on the other hand, do not have the same advantage and I must confess that I do not recall yours.” In truth, Anselm rarely remembered peoples' names. Most of the people he met weren't interesting enough to be worth the trouble. Besides, when you've been around for nearly 400 years, there are way too many names and faces to try to keep straight.“And before we begin, do you have a particular question you would like to answer?”

[Leigo]

Looking over the old man, Leigo felt strangely attuned to the so obviously mystical aftertaste of Anselm’s tent. He didn’t really care for his fortunes, but since some higher purpose brought him there, he might as well give it a try. Wording the question carefully, he wasn’t picking at its joints; instead he planned for another scheme. All it needed however was Onuo’s consent. “Tell me, what fortunes my future brings…” it was open ended enough for the old man to talk for a while if nothing else. Onuo, would you like to play a game? A game, what do you mean? We shall deceive this old man, using your logic and playing to his interest. Are you interested? I reckon you need my help otherwise we wouldn’t be having this conversation? Very observant, yes… Observation is what I do; your schemes however don’t interest me. What if I worded the question differently? I’m listening. Should the man bite onto this design, I believe we could either distinguish the value of emotion or further embrace the already present order of logic. Also, I propose a bet? You had my interest up until the bet… So you are too afraid of the unknown to bet against a human? No… I’ll listen to what you have to say. And there it was. A loophole in Onuo’s personality, he looked down on people too much to refuse a match of wits. Leigo would do himself well to remember that one. Feeling somewhat self content, man proceeded. All you need to do is confirm my words once the suspicion kicks in. Can you do that? Yes. And the bet, what would we betting on? I’ll bet you that not all men are born equal. And we’ll prove it by outsmarting the old geezer here. Do we have a deal? All humans are equal… I’ll take that as a yes. Good, so he bit the bait. Leigo kept wondering though. Was Onuo truly ignorant enough not to notice that hook was actually meant for him and not the stranger, or was he so brilliant that he looked ten steps ahead of the man and accepted because he knew he couldn’t lose? It would be in his best interest to observe the Irylid’s personality patterns further on this one. Hopefully the alien wouldn’t disappoint. Returning his ear back to the old man, he was ready to try and swindle him.

[Anselm]

“Tell me, what fortunes my future brings…” The man left the sentence hanging and seemed to withdraw into his own thoughts for a while. Anselm wondered again if he was drunk. He failed to tell me his name, he thought. Not that it matters. He waited patiently until the man's attention drifted back to the present conversation. Anselm slowly reached into one of the pockets he had sewn into the inside of his cloak, and withdrew a small cloth bag. He carefully untied it and poured the contents into his right hand, which he held open so that the man could see the set of small carved bones with intricate etchings on them. Then he quickly reached across the table with his left hand and placed his index and middle fingers on the back of the man's hand. Anselm always wore thin black gloves so as to spare his customers the sometimes disconcerting experience of coming into contact with his cold, dead skin. He let his mind reach out to gently touch the man's aura. Not much surprises a four hundred year old Nuit. But this did. The man had two auras. Anselm was used to people with dual personalities. Kelvics, for example. Or Akalaks. But they had only one aura. Here was a man with two auras. Anselm couldn't immediately think of an explanation for this. He withdrew his left hand and turned his right hand over, letting the bones fall on to the table. He stared at them for the better part of a minute. Then he intoned the words he had been taught centuries ago: Wind above, Water below. This is wind blowing above water. The nature of wind is to penetrate, but it cannot get into water; The nature of water is to flow downward, and it does not take in the wind. One another not joining is called disintegration. The old man closed his eyes and said nothing for several seconds. Then, with eyes still closed, he spoke as though reciting something he was taught long ago. “Even though wind cannot enter water, it can go along with water as it blows; and even though water cannot take in wind, it can rise up along with the blowing of the wind. So there is also the image of resolving disintegration here.” Anselm opened his eyes and looked at the man with two auras. “This does not speak to me. Does it mean something to either of you?” OOC : The 'oracle' comes from the I Ching or Book of Changes, an ancient Taoist text. See bibliography

[Leigo]

Leigo found himself incredibly amused by the Nuit’s wordplay. People actually paid for that? Hell, he could have probably muttered similar gibberish. Should his words even prove accurate, no one would ever know because they didn’t make any sense. However, Anselm’s next words moved Leigo to the edge of his seat. Two of them, how could he know? Was he a mage as well? Or was there a more subtle truth to his ways? Truly the boy was caught between impressed and worried. The old man sees us? Onuo’s voice reached Leigo, only confirming the same question that had poked him. So it seems… Should we even proceed? the alien seemed genuinely worried, but the boy remained amused. Yes, even if he does know something, I’m confident we can stop him before he turns into an issue. Stick to the plan, please. Even though the boy’s thought was calming, his intentions were wicked. “The prophecy does speak to me, old man. Can I call you Anselm? Yes, very well Anselm! Let us call upon my master to see if he can claim this to be the truth…” not waiting for a reaction from either of the two, his thoughts quickly spoke to his companion. Tell the old man he did well. Offer him a reward. Mortals are greedy fools, all of us. He’s bound to accept. While he was waiting for Onuo to respond, Leigo folded his hands around the stone carefully, as if channeling some sort of power. Through motions unseen and notions unheard, his ideas were voiced by strange disembodiment. A voice that seemed to emanate from the foreign stone called out, luring the old man to listen. Luring him to appreciate the low humming tone of its calculating voice, the creature spoke. “You should have learned not to disturb me, mortal!” Leigo got genuinely surprised. That wasn’t part of the plan, what was Onuo’s angle? Well it was too late to stop anyway. “Forgive me master, but gratitude is due to the soul that predicts our fortunes in this life!” Leigo feigned pleading for mercy as he bowed to the empty room, taking steps back. “Yes, gratitude is due! How should we award him, servant?” still calm, Onuo’s voice quickly turned commanding. Something was wrong, the alien was enjoying this too much. “I saw a sign outside; this man claims to be a collector of great artifacts of old, like the one that birthed you milord! Could you not take a chime and shed some of your ancient knowledge into our puny hands?” well, one needed to play his part, even if that part was boring. “You did well to warn us of the coming storm, old man! Ten thousand paces from here towards the place where Syna falls into her lover’s embrace, there is a hidden power. Dig and dig deep, for once you obtain that knowledge all other things will appear unjust and tiny for all your other days. The map is yours now, do with it what you wish! Oh, and young disciple, don’t pester me again before the next cycle… your life depends on it…” no longer calm, the voice seemed generally upset and twistingly ambitious. The boy could get a couple of things out of this. He was not truly Onuo’s master, not yet anyway. They were hardly even companions. The alien would not be quite a dependable soul should he ever need help outside of a grave situation. And ambition, at first glance so distant, Onuo had ambition enough to rule Leigo. Perhaps such was their karma; one destined to rule the other, but not yet, not soon. His thoughts were cut short as the alien reminded him to continue his more mundane pursuits. Please continue the conversation! More an order than a plea, the familiar clearly didn’t want his effort to go to waste. “Yes, master! Please don’t be mad, I’ve summoned you like we agreed… Master?!” “Did you just hear that too? We better get some shovels! It’s not often you see Him talk to us lowly beings…” Leigo would probably continue to ramble, but he had better things to do. Like wait for Anselm to respond.

[Anselm]

One does not live for nearly four hundred years without learning to recognize a con when one sees one. But what sort of con is it? Anselm wondered. A man who seems to have trouble staying in the present. If not drunk, then what? Unbalanced? A man who has two auras. How is that possible? A stone he seems almost obsessively attached to. What's that about? A voice seemingly coming out of nowhere. Or perhaps from the stone. Hypnotism? I would have noticed that. And a treasure. Ah! That's the bait. But bait for what? Anselm liked mysteries. He had even been known to read trash mystery novels on occasion. And this mystery had his attention. A con, yes. But an intriguing con. There was another consideration. A more ominous one. Nuits are viewed with deep suspicion in most places. Even in a cosmopolitan city like Zeltiva there were those who feared and hated Nuits. This could be some sort of trick intended to cause Anselm harm. He had gotten himself into serious trouble on more than one occasion by being too trusting of others. So caution was called for. In fact, the smart thing would be to thank this fellow for his business and send him on his way. But he was intrigued. How to proceed? Anselm waved his hand as though dismissing the man and said, “Perhaps this merits further investigation.” He had taken hold of the cane leaning against the side of the table and was gently tapping the ground with it. “But let us not be hasty. I have a small matter to attend to now just now. He rose wearily to his feet. If you were to meet me tonight at twenty-one hundred bells at the World's End Grotto, we could discuss this further. Would that be acceptable?” He slowly walked outside the tent where he began untying the tent flaps to close his business for the day. “Oh, one more thing,” he said. “What might your name be?” OOC : I appreciate the opportunity you have given me to explore Anselm's character more deeply. It took me a while to figure out how he would reason through this and how he would then proceed. Feel free to move the story directly to the Grotto. Or in any other direction you want to take it. Edit : Changed 2100 hours to 2100 bells.

[Leigo]

Leigo seemed self content when the old man accepted the offerings of his ‘master’. It felt bad to be a slave, even if it was just for the sake of the story. That surprised him too; Onuo seemed to have a knack for these things. His alien companion seemed too adept at lying. And even more so for a creature that was defined by constants, truths and appearances. This reckoned further investigation, but not yet – he was still much too weak minded to understand his other self; much too scared. The old man agreed too quickly… That foreign thought edged Leigo from the abyss of thought his mind was slipping into. He needed to act on the warnings of his other half. One could have never been too careful, Onuo was about to teach him that. Trying to stay in the present, he scraped off the bits and pieces of information that were coming from the old man’s antics. They were strange, or rather stranger than one would expect. That cane kept hitting the ground repeatedly and it made the boy nervous. Perhaps the old man was nervous as well? Once Anselm finished, boy had but seconds to decide his course of action. Surprisingly enough, despite all the tell tale signs of danger, he proceeded with the scheme. It was entertaining after all. “Tonight at World’s End Grotto, Anselm, I shall await you…” he made distant pauses as his tongue purred silken words taught so long ago. “… And you shall ask for me by my name. Yes, you should know it! Abranox you will call out and none but me could answer, Ogiel Abranox, at your service Anselm. Perhaps then your suspicion will be lifted and we could all yet prosper from this quest. Till the time sews us together again, I shall await you…” No more words, he needed to leave here. With a gentle tug at his clothes, Leigo bowed swiftly before the elder. Disappearing came easy when you knew no one was after you… but was that true? * You do realize he never bought any of the words that came out of your mouth? Onuo was once again active in making Leigo worry, but it wouldn’t work so easily this time. Yes, I am well aware. Then you know that giving him your true last name was a foolish thing to do? Foolish – probably, interesting –definitely. You see I have no interest in playing games I cannot lose. And without that personal touch of my name, he would have been left stranded even if he somehow managed to connect all of the dots spread in front of him. Besides, according to Anaya summoning is a very rare art form; one could hardly hope to learn of her talent… let alone your existence. We never concluded what would be the wager in our little debt. No we did not. How about the loser answering just one question of the winner’s choosing once the game is concluded? That is acceptable. How should we proceed? Leigo, there was something odd about that old man. Do tell. His body seemed to be rotting, not like those corpses we’ve seen around after the storm, but not that far off. I’ve heard stories about this as a child, nothing concrete though. We should go and seek Anaya’s council. Two portions of the same soul faded into the background, their movement leading towards the University. Both of them were well aware what they wanted to hear from Anaya, and from one another.

[Anselm]

“I wonder if I might trouble you for some assistance?” Anselm asked. The girl behind the desk looked up from her book. Anselm was familiar with the book: The Wars of Zeltiva by Anders Flynn. Oddly enough, Anders Flynn had been an Isurian. There were a few points on which Anselm knew that the author had gotten it wrong, having witnessed those events first hand. But by and large he had been a competent historian and The Wars was a standard textbook for Zeltivan history. As for the girl, she was just that: a girl. He couldn't imagine her being more than seventeen or eighteen years old. Long straight black hair, parted in the middle, hung loosely to her waist. She was perhaps five foot four with a petite figure. She had large brown eyes, full lips and a button nose. All in all, a pretty girl if you didn't mind the Chaucerian wartMinus the “... tuft of heres, Rede as the bristles of a sowes eres”, of course placed prominently on the left side of her nose. “That is why I sit here all day,” she said with a touch of sarcasm. She reluctantly placed a blue cloth bookmark in the book, closed it and laid it on the desk. “How may I help you?” Anselm had been in the library many times over the past few centuries. Nonetheless, it was a big library and on this occasion he did not have the luxury of time to wander around looking for a particular piece of information by himself, as much as he would have enjoyed such an exercise. “I am doing genealogical research on a family name: Abranox. Specifically the last fifty years or so. I suspect they lived here in Zeltiva but that is not certain.” This seemed to catch the girl's interest. She thought for a moment and then stood up abruptly. “Follow me,” she said firmly as she headed toward a spiral staircase that would take them to the second tier of the library. Anselm followed along as quickly as his gimpy leg would allow, his cane making a distinct “tap, tap, tap” sound as he pursued her. A short time later, Anselm had the information he was looking for. The Abranox family had been a successful Zeltivan shipping family. Tragedy had taken the family patriarch and his wife, leaving behind a teenage boy, apparently the same young man Anselm had met earlier in the day. He could find nothing about the boy himself. Although he had learned something about the man's past, he had not learned anything that shed light on the strange conversation he had had with the man. But he had an idea about what to do next.

[Leigo]

Leigo and Onuo circled around the building, evading students and faculty alike. No time for pleasantries was present, even if they had all the time of this world. Three knocks on the heavy wooden door of Anaya’s refuge grew into a low rhythm that worked its way into small goose bumps on the back of his neck. Before he could get his hand around to tending to his unnerved skin a door was opened in front of him. This passage was about to have him contemplate every single move he had made up until this point, but for now it started with a more mundane and Anaya like greeting. “What are you two doing here? Don’t you know some people actually have to work at this wretched hour?” his voice wasn’t really angry, but Leigo wouldn’t take it lightly. He had mistaken such before, he wouldn’t repeat that. “We require information on a certain… predicament?” there was not a right wrong to talk with Anaya when she was angry, just a less wrong one. The boy would be sure to capitalize on that thought. “You are much more incompetent than I last remember you then. What on earth could you not have found out by visiting the library or doing scout work with Onuo? Truly, to be sightless while an Irylid is by your side, it’s almost a mortal sin…” her banter probably went on, but Leigo couldn’t hear it because a more meaningful thing occurred. I like this woman; she has a sense of humor. While the thought itself had little meaning to Leigo, it presented an opportunity to study the alien further. It seemed like the creature had an actual and working sense of humor, even if it was dry enough for not even him to know when he was actually being funny. A rather funny thought crossed Leigo’s mind; perhaps he could make this alien more human, and in turn he could promise to be more alienated to this world; though the latter was already largely present. A funny thought indeed… “…Well, what did you require?” ah, dear Anaya, such an easy girl to work with. Even if he hadn’t been listening almost the entire time, most of her banters ended by going back to the original purpose of his visit, truly it was pleasant to know someone like that. It made things easy. “Earlier this day, we had an encounter with a rather stranger individual. An old man who by Onuo’s observations seems to be rotting… care to cast some light on the subject?” as she pulled away from the door, he entered after her, looking around the room. Closing the door, he waited for his answer. “A rotting old man, you say? You don’t have any idea what you’re talking about; otherwise you wouldn’t be taking all this so lax.” “I’d tell you you’re scaring me, but you’re always like that.” Did he just get cocky there? Strange, that wasn’t his intention. “I’d slap you right now if I thought it would get me anywhere. This old man, did he smell funny? Was he wearing concealing clothes? Gloves, hoods… anything would help really?” her voice got worried again, but it felt like a nice change after her initial response. “He was all caught up in robes or something, yes. And thinking of it, he had this whole mystical vibe to him, but the smell was a bit over the top for me… it was like perfume mixed with… stink?” And then she did slap him. “You idiot, have you never heard of Nuits? I swear on all that’s holy, sometimes it seems like you’ve been living under a glass bell on Leth’s barren back your entire life. Have you never heard of the immortal body snatchers that come at night and prey at the weak? Well while that story isn’t quite true, that is in essence what they are, immortal corpses…” she stopped as Leigo tried to speak, raising her finger for him to remain quiet. “… How are your injuries?” “I’ve been worse. Thank you Anaya.” Hugging her in a rush, Leigo spoke again just before exiting the room. “And tell Suiembro I said hello.” Leigo knew where he was going next, but Onuo was pretty sure of the boy’s choice too. Why do you think Suiembro avoids me so much? The question didn’t seem to surprise the familiar, instead its response was equally even to the tone in which the inquiry had come. You’re too nosy? All you humans are… Does that mean you share such feelings towards me? Feelings are irrelevant, but perhaps I do believe that avoiding you would be more pragmatic sometimes. I see…

[Anselm]

As Anselm was leaving the library, he noticed Ogiel Abranox. He stepped back until the man had passed out of sight. Then he made his way toward the registrar's office. As he rounded a corner, a woman came around the same corner from the opposite direction and barreled into him. They both went down in a pile, with her landing on top of him. His cane went skittering across the floor. “Oof,” she said as she pushed herself off him. Realizing that he was a crippled man, she reached out to take his hand and help him up. But he waved her off and managed to get to his feet. “My cane,” he croaked. “Where has it gotten to.” The woman retrieved his cane for him and handed it to him. “You!” She said. “You're the Nuit!” Anselm looked her over. She was a tall woman with short black hair and a very serious face. She wore a silver necklace with a black cat on it. He did not recall ever having met her. “My apologies,” He said. “Do I know you?” “Cadena Anaya Fianza,” she said, obviously flustered. “I teach here.” “Ah, I see.” He thought for a moment. “What do you teach?” “Summoning,” she said curtly. “Now if you don't mind ...” She walked off in a great hurry. Most peculiar, Anselm thought as he watched her disappear around another corner. She has two auras. That's quite a coincidence. He thought for a moment. Perhaps too much of a coincidence. He turned and went back to the library. - - - - - Later that evening he found himself at the World's End Grotto, seated at a table for two in a somewhat darkened corner. In front of him on the table was a glass of wine he had ordered, but which remained untouched.

[Leigo]

Even though Leigo’s initial impulse was to go to the market and buy himself a nice, bladed weapon, Onuo’s judgement got the best of him. If the old man is truly hated with your kind he will not dare draw any attention to himself by trying to harm us. Just be careful not to be left alone with him for too long. Something else seemed to bother the alien, but it was beyond the boy. How will we decide who won when there is no longer any hope of deceiving the corpse? It was strange, but ever since he learned of the old man’s ways, Leigo perceived him more as a thing, a monster, instead of a person. Perhaps if he doesn’t learn of your existence we can still call it a success? Onuo? Everything alright with you? You seem quieter than usual… words echoed in his own head, but the familiar didn’t grace them with a response; not yet anyway. What’s the matter with you? Have I offended you in some way? Come on, speak already! To think that he would have to pull words out of the creature again – and it had just gotten chatty. It’s uncertain and foggy, but I seem to recall the mention of a Nuit somewhere in my long life. Back when my siblings and I were still one, a man rotten in more ways than one came to tame us, but we refused… a wise decision. He presented himself as a Nuit, back then it seemed prudent to say no and wait for a better offer. Back then we were still young and arrogant, but now… the voice trailed off, Onuo would save his question for a better time. For someone who claims to be so old, you sure seem to be unsettled by this Nuit character. Do you truly find them that frightening? Leigo poked at the creature in hopes of getting somewhere. Still the answers didn’t interest him as much as getting his familiar to be more talkative. You humans are afraid of things you don’t understand, while as I am afraid of things I do understand. There is no silver lining here… he is old enough to have known of our ploy from the beginning and probably even more so confident in manipulating us the entire time. After all didn’t you find it strange how easygoing he was with the whole deal? He’s just as likely to be playing a game he cannot lose as we are… take good note of that and take care. Creature hummed once more, but no, no voices came. It was not yet time to ask. Shrugging off his companion’s worry, Leigo remained confident. If you believe there are that many of my equals right under our noses, you’re more paranoid than I gave you credit for. His tone was dry and humorous, but even he worried. You might consider this all to be a joke, but I’m not waiting for you to turn us into a punch line. People avoid Nuits for a reason, and if you need to get burned once to understand why… so be it! Those were Onuo’s last words before the meeting. * Boy slowly stepped inside the World’s End Grotto, careful not to disturb any of the patrons. It didn’t take long for him to spot Anselm who sat alone at one of the tables. Without hesitation, boy made his way through the room and stopped across the old Nuit. “Good evening kind sir, I believe you had time to consider my master’s offer?” Anselm had no shovels with him, and seemingly no intention to go on a treasure hunt… but did he know about Onuo?