Flashback True Identity

[Malefic]

Summer 78, 457 AV

Malefic was confused. He had been here before, he was sure. He felt it in his bones. Or, well, this body's bones.

The basket slowly shifted forward on the crimson cord holding it, Malefic inside it and peering around at this dark surroundings, squinting to see better in the dark. He felt the eyes of several guards burn on his skull. Suspicion, he guessed. This was a species no one wanted to piss off. He leaned forward in the basket a bit,tipping the basket slightly with him. He saw the outline of a building close by in front of him. A large building, suspended in the air. A giant stalagmite. Somehow, he wasn't surprised. He recognized it, already remembering a few things about it. There was going to be something green inside. And something brown. Probably the walls or floor. Malefic wasn't positive though. He could have sworn he was here before, but he didn't remember ever being here. Strange he thought.

He strolled into the stalagmite, and noticed a sign. "The Meadows Public House..." The name itched at the back of his head. Gingerly, he took a few more steps in and gazed around at the building's interior. "I've... been here...I think?

[Poison]

At the time of Malefic’s visit, all those decades ago, the Meadows Public House was already owned by the Aconite Web, by Laudavyn’s grandfather to be exact. The cook was not a human though, but just another Symenestra, one of the many members of the extended family. He was a tall, grey haired man with luminous red eyes, and he was just about to hand a bowl of fresh Bruka to a waitress so that she would bring it to the patron who had ordered it, when the Nuit entered.

While the waitress didn’t pay attention to the new arrival – she was busy doing her job – a few patrons immediately turned their heads towards the door. The cook who had just been about to return to his kitchen stopped abruptly and gasped.

„Nuit!“ he hissed. He had met one of Malefic’s kind when he had been on a Harvest on the surface to bring back a surrogate, and what he had learned about the creature hadn’t exactly inspired trust. „What are you doing here? Who are you? I don’t recognize you!“

[Malefic]

Malefic responded with a face full of apathy. He cared not about racism that the cook had just now invoked towards him, he was already used to it. Normally, he would respond with a hot-tongued retort, but he was caught in the moment of confusion from his recognition of the place. Absent mindedly, the nuit responded. "You're hatred for my race is based solely on what you have seen in the most savage of my kind. Simply because we are forever alive... I think I've been here before...but I'm not sure." He glanced about the guests dining, raising and eyebrow and instinctively measuring each one up to strengths and weaknesses. This one has a slightly lopsided leg, caused by injury. Most likely knows his way around a battlefield. This one is fatter than the rest. Must eat more than fight. Slower... He looked the cook up and down, curious about the Symenstra race. After a moment, he sat himself at the nearest empty table, batting aside any objections the pulsers nearby had.

[Poison]

„I wouldn’t call your kind ‚forever’ alive“, the cook remarked. „’Forever dead’ would be more appropriate. Or do you deny that you don’t have a heartbeat and don’t breathe?“

He noticed the way the Nuit was looking at the patrons and narrowed his eyes. Was he appraising them? For future use? Was he thinking about stealing their bodies and their lives?

„I warn you. If you make one mistake, you are out of here. I’ll call the Ochya.“ As the creature sat down, he made a face as if he were just reconsidering his words and wanted to throw him out now rather than wait for him to make a mistake, but then he gestured for the waitress to come to him.

„Sariya here will take your order. Do your kind even eat?“

Sariya looked a bit uncomfortable, but she didn’t say anything. She just waited for him to make his order. Hopefully he would do so quickly so that she could get away from him again.

It was then that the cook who was still standing there remembered something Malefic had said.

„What do you mean, you think you’ve been here before? Were you a Symenestra when you were still alive? Did you steal a Symenestra’s body?“

At that question the patrons that sat closest to the Nuit stopped eating and drinking again and stared at Malefic.

They seemed very interested in what he had to say.

[Malefic]

The walking corpse simply heaved a sigh, and didn't respond do the cook's retort."We don't have to have a heartbeat to live, nor to we have to breath. We simply live with neither." The walking corpse simply heaved a sigh. He slid his finger nonchalantly against the wood of the table, curious to how it was crafted so. Malefic lifted his head and stared at the hating symenestra. " The...'Ochya'? What's the 'Ochya'? I no nothing of this place, other than I remember bits and pieces of things here and there, but nothing else." He watched the face of the cook, and realized just how much he was hated here. As the symenestra female approached, he measured her up, too, though more instinctively rather than on purpose. "I do not eat. It appears you do not know as much about me as you think you do. Symenestra...so that is the name of your race? I've seen your kind before, hunting something in the wilds, but only on a few occasions. I simply have come to study, and learn as much as possible in order to live happily in this world, rather than simply being an animal in the wild. He slid his finger nonchalantly against the wood of the table, curious to how it was crafted so. Malefic lifted his head and stared at the hating symenestra. [b]" The...'Ochya'? What's the 'Ochya'? I no nothing of this place, other than I remember bits and pieces of things here and there, but nothing else." He watched the face of the cook, and realized just how much he was hated here. As the symenestra female approached, he measured her up, too, though more instinctively rather than on purpose. "I do not eat. It appears you do not know as much about me as you think you do. Symenestra...so that is the name of your race? I've seen your kind before, hunting something in the wilds, but only on a few occasions. I simply have come to study, and learn as much as possible in order to live happily in this world, rather than simply being an animal in the wild." The nuit layed back in his chair, staring at the ceiling for a bit. "Steal? Nuits cannot steal a body from the living. And so I haven't. But neither have I taken on the corpse of a symenestra. I recall nothing from my far past, only knowing the wild. I don't want to be an animal anymore. I want to study." He sat upright suddenly, and tilted his head at the cook. "I remember books. Do you have books? Lots of them?" He blinked a few times.

[Poison]

„Live?“ the cook asked as Malefic informed him that his kind lived with ‚neither’. „You do not live. The Ochya are our guards, and they are quite efficient. You would do well to remember that.“ With that he walked off – before Malefic even had the opportunity to finish his little speech. He had more important things to do than talk to a walking corpse. There was something cooking in the kitchen, and he had to make sure it wouldn’t get burnt.

Sariya, the waitress looked a bit desperate as he left her alone in the presence of the Nuit. As he stated that he didn’t eat, her eyes widened, and then she stammered, „But … but … if you don’t eat, why are you here? Do you need a room? Do your kind sleep? We have rooms for visitors from the surface. If you want to stay here for a while …“

As he proceeded to claim that he had come here to study and wanted to live happily, she relaxed - a little. That was something familiar. Symenestra wanted to study and live happily as well. They often travelled the surface in order to gather as much knowledge as possible.

„We … we have a library. I can show you ww … where it is, if you want to. Maybe you ww … will find something that will help you find out more about your past there“, she suggested, still stammering. She was always doing that when she was nervous.

[Malefic]

Malefic ignored the cook as he returned to the kitchen. It was then he noticed that the serving symenestra was becoming even more uncomfortable, but he continued to speak what he wanted. Then he noticed her easing up at the mention of travelling for knowledge. He was pleasantly surprised by this, though he didn't show it. He knew absolutely nothing about the symenestra besides their name and their appearance, which he just now discovered. „We … we have a library. I can show you ww … where it is, if you want to. Maybe you ww … will find something that will help you find out more about your past there“, she suggested, still stammering. She was always doing that when she was nervous. Hmm... she is stammering a lot. Still uncomfortable. On edge. He nodded to her. "Please do. I wish to begin studying immediately. Library, is it? Yes, take me to the library. Does your library have a specialty of some sort?" With this, he rose from his chair to full height, apathetic face a bit more easily seen in the better light.I wonder if this race will ever get used to me.

[Poison]

„I don’t think our library has a speciality“, Sariya replied. „I’m not sure if it can be compared to the libraries on the surface either.“ She was stammering less now because she was talking about a topic that she absolutely loved. „We call it the ‚Cribellum’. Every Symenestra can write something in the books there. We work on them together. All the knowledge of the Symenestra is recorded in the Cribellum.“

„I’ll finish working in a couple of chimes. I can take you to the Cribellum then. Are you sure you don’t want to have anything to drink in the meantime?“ Sariya furrowed her brow as she asked this. The Nuit looked mostly human. If he had a human body, he probably also had a tongue, a stomach and all the other parts you needed to eat and drink.

So why didn’t he?

No matter what Malefic’s answer was, the young Symenestra would go back to serving food and drinks for a while before she returned to his table, looking just a little nervous again.

„I … I’m ready“, she informed him. „It’s not far. Come with me. M … maybe you could contribute to the library as well. I don’t think a Nuit has ever written anything in the books.“

If Malefic decided to come with Sariya, he would soon find himself in the Cribellum.

OOC: A description of the Cribellum can be found here.

[Malefic]

He nodded curtly. "Good. This "Cribellum" of yours sounds decent. All the knowledge, huh? I would have guessed that at least some of it would be hidden from the public's eyes?" He shrugged nonchalantly. "Why yes, sure. I would like some water." Living beings tend to trust things they can relate to. One of which is thirst and hunger. I have told them that I do not eat, but I haven't said anything about drinking. This should gain some trust, even if only a bit. Malefic shone the least horrific smile he could manage, trying his best to seem as friendly as possible. At least for now, he wanted to be recognized as an ally here. The dead one idly picked at his disgusting nails, patiently waiting for Sariya to return to take him to his future palace of knowledge born from the minds of the Symenestras. This should be interesting. Very interesting. Upon her arrival, he flashed his unsightly smile and followed her into the Cribellum, whistling at the sight of the many many volumes and tomes stocked in the shelves. Malefic was getting excited, and he was doing poorly at concealing it. "Ah! Knowledge! Where shall I start? History, perhaps? No, maybe science! Or psychology, or geography!" He snickered to himself, Sariya's presence beginning to fade into the background alongside everything else that did not contain the precious information he seeked. He plucked a random tome from a nearby shelf, opening it to a random page. To his dissapointment, it was written in a language he knew only very very vaguely. He could make out only a few words. A rather large frown shown on his face. "Damn it...." He grumbled to himself for a bit, realising he now had the opportunity to learn this language. He snapped back to reality, and faced Sariya. "Would you...err...perhaps be willing to...teach a wandering soul how to speak this...language?" Excellently presented, indeed. Maybe he should start on social research first. Oh well, it was a bit too late.

[Poison]

„Oh no“, Sariya replied. „Most of the information in the Cribellum can be accessed by everybody. That’s the whole point of it. What use would a library that only a select few can acess be? Nobody in the city would be able to get a decent education.“

She looked quite shocked as she said this. As the Nuit decided to order some water after all, she was relieved. That was something normal. She smiled somewhat shyly at him and immediately retrieved a glass full of cool, fresh water.

Kalinor was special when it came to that. In most cities on the surface people had to go to a well if they wanted fresh water. In Kalinor, the water was delivered right into the houses through a series of pipes.

~~~

As Malefic looked around, Sariya followed him, but she didn’t say anything to him. She simply watched him as he took a look at the different books and scrolls. There were a few Symenestra in the Cribellum, writing or quietly reading. As they noticed Malefic, they stared at him, but after a while they went back to their books, reluctant to disturb the silence of the Cribellum.

It was quite a change from the tavern.

„T … t… teach?“ Sariya’s stammer was back as she heard his question. „I’m not sure … I’ve never taught anybody. If you are willing to bear with me, I can try though. Symenos isn’t that hard. But maybe there are books that are written in your language somewhere. Some of our human visitors have contributed to the Cribellum as well.“