Eridanus' Fortune

by **Anselm** on July 3rd, 2012, 3:10 am

Eridanus' Fortune
The Morning of the 81st of Summer 512
The Marketplace in Zeltiva

OOC :

The old Nuit sat still and silent behind his table, body hidden within a full-length cloak, face mostly obscured in the shadow of a deep hood. Bruised eyes gray and empty stared out at the two visitors. He recognized the frail-looking Konti but not the slim young man, although the shimmering highlights in his unkempt hair betrayed his Vanthan origins.

“My dear Nira'lia,” he said in a deep, raspy, measured voice. “It is a pleasure to once again enjoy your beautiful.” He raised his arm to point at the chair on their side of the table. “I have only one chair. Perhaps you would like to sit. I suspect you are still on a journey of unknown destination. Is that not so?” No one in Zeltiva could possibly have missed the army passing through, and both of his guests had the look of people who had been on a long and difficult journey.

by **Nira'lia** on July 3rd, 2012, 5:26 pm

"Hi, Anselm," said the Konti with a smile. Her tone of voice had a hint if uneasiness. Nira'lia could still remember their last encounter. It had not ended very well. However, the cloaked man's politeness this morning helped her feel more comfortable. "Well, uhm... we're headed somewhere with the large group that arrived here yesterday, if you noticed that. I'm still really clueless about what we're really being asked to do, so I suppose you can say that."

The Konti couldn't see much of his face. They were mostly shadows hidden behind his hood. If she did, she'd see the state he was in. Nira'lia had no idea he was a Nuit, and seeing his face would alarm her.

Nira'lia assumed that Eridanus wouldn't take the seat before her, so she sat on it, her eyes fixed on the Vantha. Then, she glanced backed at Anselm and pointed at Eridanus.

"This is Eridanus," she said simply, introducing him. Nira'lia then said to the Vantha, "He's splendid at what he does. You should ask a question, it works better that way, rather than asking for a general fortune..."

The Konti remembered that Anselm used the method of bones to tell his fortunes. She was also curious as to why the Vantha's interest had been piqued by this person.

by **Eridanus** on July 4th, 2012, 6:04 am

Eridanus grinned in surprise. That would have very much explained the fleeting mask of recognition on Nira's face earlier before they entered the tent.

"You two already know each other?" It was more of a statement than a question.

Clearing his throat briefly, the vantha stated formally, "Greetings Anselm the Seer. As our fair konti described, I am Eridanus. Pleased to meet you."

He had lived long enough in mortal society to be aware of certain customs and traditions of civil folk, and so he pulled the chair out, helping the konti into it. Although the tent was generally low-hanging, he was not particularly tall and so it was still bearable. Though he might admit that it seemed a little strange talking down to the other two people as he was the only one standing.

Nira's suggestion piqued his interest, for it probably meant that she had visited the Seer before. Eridanus observed the hooded man curiously, though he could not tell much because of the cloth covering most aspects of the Seer's body. He could not have recognized the scent of the embalming fluid despite his keen senses due to the stench of sweat from the crowds on a hot summer's day.

"You weren't here 4 years ago," Eridanus commented, stating the most recent time that he had been in Zeltiva before leaving the place after graduation.

"Alright. My question then would be... With respect to this grand quest that the both of us would be taking, and that of which many others including allies and opponents, what would we face? What lies in store for us?"

He paused, uncertain if that was the correct question.

"I'm not sure how this is supposed to go. Is that question apt?"

by **Anselm** on July 5th, 2012, 12:08 am

“What lies in store for us?” Repeated Anselm. He repeated it again, slowly as though considering each word, putting special emphasis on the last word: “What lies in store for us? As though I can see into the hearts and minds of a thousand people. As though the same fate awaits them all. Or perhaps you meant just you and Nira'lia.” He let the silence hang between them for a few moments before continuing. “What lies in store for us? Perhaps something the gods have stored up just for you? I suspect they have more important matters to attend to. In any case, I cannot show you the future. I can only show you yourself.” He paused again. “What lies in store for us? As though it were lying in wait ready to pounce as you pass by.” He paused again, as though reflecting on the words. “What lies in store for us? These are difficult questions. And there are so many of them. I wonder which one you intended to ask.” He waved his hand as though dismissing them from his presence. Then he continued.

“Your other question, however, is interesting: 'What would we face?' You don't need a fortune teller to answer that. You will face yourselves.” He reached under his cloak and brought out a small cloth bag tied with a leather cord. He continued talking as he carefully untied it and poured the contents into his right hand. “Of course you will face many other things as well, but this is the only one that matters and it may be the one that the oracle can speak to. Let us see what we shall see, shall we?”

He held out his hand so they could see what he had. What he had were eighteen tiny carved bones with intricate designs etched into them. He turned his hand over and let the bones fall on to the table with a clatter. Most people would not notice that he gave his hand a slight twist as he dropped the bones, which caused them to fall in a roughly rectangular pattern. He stared at the bones for a few moments as his thoughts wandered back through time.

“You see the oracle,” said Master Ahn. “And the oracle sees you.” The old master grew silent for many moments before continuing. Anselm waited patiently. He was used to this. “What do you suppose that means?”

Anselm replied, “Wisdom is found not in the words of the oracle, nor in the mind of the person seeking it, but in the place where the two come together.”

“That is so,” said the master. “What then is this thing we call 'fortune telling'?”

Anselm replied, “The seer sees the oracle as it really is and he sees the man as he really is. His task is to bring the two together so that an epiphany may occur.”

“That is so. And how does the seer accomplish this?”

“There are many ways,” said Anselm. “But the most common way is for the seer to formulate a question that will force the seeker to respond to himself and to the oracle at the same time.”

“Does this always work?”

“No. Sometimes it brings confusion rather than epiphany.”

“How can you tell which it will be?”

“You cannot. You can only ask the question and then wait to see what will happen.”

This was the last lesson Anselm ever received from his master. It was also the last time he saw him. Much later as he looked back on this conversation, he realized that it had been a kind of final exam.

He brought himself back into the present, to the tent, to the two people watching him with quizzical looks on their faces. He looked hard at the young man, letting his vision shift to bring the man's aura into focus. The man shimmered and became less distinct as his aura began to glow around him. Anselm pulled his vision back abruptly. He had learned two important things.

“Friend Eridanus, I hope you will not take offense at my invasion of your person.” He said this because he knew that Eridanus had detected his attempt to read his aura. “But I see that you are ...” his eyes moved briefly to Nira'lia as he realized that he did not know if she knew what Eridanus was. “... an unusual being.” He now had the seeker's half of the equation. It was time to bring it together with the oracle's half. He intoned the words solemnly.

Wind above, entering. Thunder below, active.
Acting so as to enter gradually,
entering without either rushing or lagging.
It is therefore called increase.

“There is a teaching associated with this oracle, which I will share with you: When celestial nobility is cultivated to perfection, human nobility follows. What can compare to that good fortune?”

He gathered up the bones and poured them back into their bag, which he returned to a pocket sewn to the inside of his cloak. "Now I will ask you the question that I suspect you should have asked."

“What do you seek from this 'grand quest' upon which you have embarked?”

THE ORACLE :

by **Nira'lia** on July 5th, 2012, 9:38 am

Just like the first time Nira'lia had met Anselm, the Konti put her full attention at what he was doing. She didn't have the set of carved bones that he had (though she mused on asking where could possibly get them), but it was a learning experience for her. She had picked up a thing or two the last time she had watched him do his job.

It seemed that Anselm avoided giving direct answers to questions. Instead, he seemed to speak in riddles, in words that prodded the questioner to arrive at his own conclusion or interpretation. This common trait among many fortune-tellers had always fascinated Nira'lia.

She noted the carefulness in Anselm's tone as he spoke about Eridanus, and the Konti realized he was being cautious because of her. Nira'lia wondered how he had even found out that her companion wasn't an ordinary Vantha. Grinning, Nira'lia said, "Yes, he's quite... different."

Anselm's question made Nira'lia think as well. It wasn't directed at her, but she also wanted to know why exactly they were headed to Sahova. Gut feelings usually had something to back it up, a reason to give meaning to it.

Puzzled, she looked at Eridanus and said, "Now that I think about it, I want to know too... what are you seeking?"

After all this time, it never occurred to her to ask him that. She inwardly thanked Anselm for asking such an obvious question.

by **Eridanus** on July 7th, 2012, 4:09 pm

The Seer began to repeat his questions, emphasizing different words in each iteration, addressing it with statements of his own. Eridanus wondered if he was indeed asking the right question, but the man seemed to be lost in a world of his own, and so he kept silent, waiting for an answer of sorts to erupt from the Seer's lips.

Finally, he took out a bag of strangely formed bones, letting them clatter on the table with a practised movement. There was silence for a while as the vantha unconsciously held his breath, awaiting some sort of grand proclamation.

When suddenly he felt an uncomfortable tingle. That itch came in the direction of the Seer, and he found the man staring intently at him. Almost in reflex, his own djed pool jump-started within his body, and he felt his senses being powered by the astral resource.

Instantly, the nauseating odour of sick decay assaulted his nose, and he cringed at the unexpected assault. His eyes widened as he reappraised the man, realizing that the man was indeed a walking corpse. The pungent odour was not a physical one, instead it was the manifestation of the Seer's nature in his aura that his djed-enhanced nose interpreted. He could also see a bright flare in the man's aura, and that was a spark of understanding flashed in both magicians' eyes.

Auristics was like a beam of light, though invisible to the uninitiated. When an Auristics user flashed his beam on a commoner, the target is illuminated, but only to the mage. When two Auristics users flashed their beams of light on each other, it is impossible not to realize each others' powers.

And that was what happened, for both mages recognized the part of the soul in each others' aura that not only proclaimed their proficiency in djed manipulation, but also that they were in the midst of accessing the astral resource in their soul.

Anselm apologized quickly, and Eridanus nodded briefly in acknowledgement as he also withdrew his djed-fuelled senses from Anselm, restoring the nuit's privacy back to him.

Smiling at the Seer's discretion, he remarked, "I appreciate your discretion, good Seer. However, Nira'lia here knows my true nature as an Ethaefal, Son of Leth. There is no secret in that."

Anselm recited the oracle, and shared another phrase associated with it, causing Eridanus to think deeply on the topic. As of now the Oracle seemed pretty obscure to him, though he was sure that he might be able to discover something should he meditate further on the topic. However, he could only draw blanks at the moment.

On the other hand, the additional teaching resonated strong in him.

When celestial nobility is cultivated to perfection, human nobility follows. What can compare to that good fortune?

He was a strange being on Mizahar. An immortal, yet also a mortal. A celestial being, but also a human vantha. He was trapped, sandwiched between the two realms, the two worlds, but yet truly belonging to neither. Nicely said, he was balancing between the two realms. Crudely put, he was an abomination.

And that he was, for beings like him should not even exist at all. Only with the severing of the world, and with the horrific damage that Ivak rendered to the Ukalas did beings like him Fell.

"When celestial nobility is cultivated to perfection, human nobility follows. What can compare to that good fortune?" He whispered, frowning as he did so, trying to find that one answer that eluded him. Perhaps somewhere deep in his heart he knew the answer, but he could not bring it out. He could not answer himself nor remember.

The Seer interrupted his thoughts with a question, with his konti companion repeating it, and the vantha looked up with a disoriented expression.

"Oh sorry... I was brooding on that last bit that Anselm shared. What do I seek from the quest?"

Looking at Nira, he shrugged, "I don't know! We came to investigate the strange premonitions that we had, which was the reason why we travelled to Syliras in the first place. And because the premonitions were true, we just signed up. Maybe because it felt like Fate was pushing us, and we followed Its Designs accordingly. Do I seek adventure? No, I'd really like to settle down. It is not the money, for I can survive quite comfortably with my own skills. Perhaps... an answer? I seek an answer, an answer to the premonitions and visions that we had. Perhaps, I seek an answer to this... 'Why us?'"

by **Anselm** on July 13th, 2012, 1:58 pm

The Nuit considered this for a few moments and said, “In my experience, 'Why' questions are rarely fruitful. They too easily lend themselves to flights of philosophical or theological speculation. 'Why us?' is, in all likelihood, a question without an answer.” He paused for a few more moments as though lost in thought. “Or if it has an answer, it is one that would make sense only to the gods. Perhaps you would be better off asking a 'What' question, such as the question I asked.

“Consider the oracle again:

Wind above, entering. Thunder below, active.
Acting so as to enter gradually,
entering without either rushing or lagging.

“This suggests action, which the two of you are obviously taking. But circumspect action, action with careful consideration, action with clear objectives. It appears to me that you have engaged in an arduous and dangerous quest with no clear idea of what you want to get out of it. A quest without a goal is an odd thing, don't you think? Perhaps you should decide what it is you seek before you seek it."

OOC :

by **Eridanus** on July 16th, 2012, 6:18 am

Eridanus found the Seer to be extremely obscure, and if he were an impatient man he would have already lost his temper there and then. However, centuries of experience had mellowed his being, and instead he rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he pondered the Oracle once again.

The first bit he could not quite understand, and so he put that aside for now. Howeve, the second and third lines suggested moderation, and of measured thought and action.

Neither rushed nor lagging, neither fast nor slow. At the optimum timing, at the optimum speed.

"And so it suggests that we take a measured pace in this Quest. If we go in with ignorance, it is rushing for we are simply tempting fate. If we wish to collect information and analyze everything, the expedition would have continued on without us, and we would have been lagging."

"Some sort of moderation... some sort of balance must be reached somehow. Is that what the Oracle is trying to tell us?" The vantha looked up for any hints from the Seer. By now he was not even sure of what he was asking, for their conversation had meandered without a goal, without a designated end-path, and they were simply all just going along with the flow.

by **Anselm** on July 18th, 2012, 2:07 am

“Yes, yes,” said Anselm, slapping his hand on the table with a bang. “Of course the oracle counsels caution. Balance. All things in moderation. The golden mean. Courage is the golden mean between cowardice and recklessness. And so on and so forth.” He waved his hand dismissively. “Even a child knows this.” He folded his hands together again in front of himself and left his outburst hanging in the silence between them.

He spoke quietly now, almost in a whisper, and slowly. “But that only tells the wise man how to proceed. It does not tell him what he should proceed toward. Before you embark on a quest, be sure you know what it is you are seeking.” He paused. “That is all I have to say on that subject.”

He looked directly at Nira'lia. “You, my dear, have a magical object in your possession. I am curious as to what it is.”

by **Nira'lia** on July 18th, 2012, 6:13 pm

The Konti looked back and forth between the two as they exchanged words. Her lips were a thin line as she refused to put in her thoughts about anything. Anselm spoke behind veiled words. His approach reminded her too much of her own mother.

Soon enough, Anselm chose to confirm Eridanus’s thoughts. The impatient way the old man responded was indeed much too similar to her mother’s own reactions. A sheepish, awkward expression met Nira’lia’s mind as she compared her youthful looking mother to this strange, hooded old man.

The thought almost caused her to giggle, but she stopped herself.

It took her a moment to realize that Anselm was talking to her now. It was true; she had something with her that she was thinking of showing him after they were done. She looked at him blankly, wondering how he could even tell. Since she was not familiar with most magical disciplines, nor did she know what had happened, she was left in the dark on that aspect. “How did you…? Well, yes, but… do you mean this?”

Brushing her thoughts aside, Nira’lia rummaged in her belongings and brought out a small velvet box. It was an item she had purchased back in Alvadas as a whim. The Konti didn’t know how it worked, all she knew was that it had a delightful side to it—but in the end it was useless to her.

Instead of telling him about it, she decided to show him. Gently, she opened the box to show that it was hollow inside. However, a soft and enchanting humming filled the tent. It was a sad melody, but it was captivating as well. The Konti closed the box again, and the voice was gone.

“It was a silly purchase,” she said with a smile. “You may have it if you wish.”

Nira’lia pushed it towards him, and she didn’t ask for anything in return. Unbeknownst to the both of them, she would be asking for his help in the future, in return for this gesture.