The Iron Dance [Edreina]

by **Razkar** on April 24th, 2013, 10:21 pm

"The Otani are Laviku's eyes and his hands. When one does not please Laviku, the Otani are sent after them. They were created before time began to watch over Laviku's realm."

Razkar frowned as he mulled this over. The Otani he had met certainly did not seem like some agent of divine punishment. More a sea sprite, like the jungle spirits his grandmother had frightened him with when he was a boy. But then he remembered how little his struggles and his blow had hurt it; if anything, his fierceness just seemed to amuse Uleru. If such physical invulnerability could be used in anger... or wrath...

Then the Myrian remembered with a smile the nature of the sea was the nature of Laviku: ever-changing. Sailors would pray for fair winds and calm waves and be answered nine times out of ten; then on the tenth the storm would kill them without pause. Was that divine justice, or punishment, or even evil? No. It was the sea. Laviku himself.

Why would his chosen children be any different?

He smiled warmly when she mentioned Laviku protecting her people. Ah, now, that he did have some common ground with.

"Myri did the same for us," he said, touching his forehead without apparently thinking about it. "She saw something was coming. I do not know how. Do not know if any other did. But she gather all Myrians, thousands, ten of thousand. Order all to caves under Taloba. To hide. We hid. We wait... and wait... and wait... and world died..."

His voice became as hollow and grieving as that time must have been. He could almost see his people in their multitudes, frightened and huddling like rats in the darkness, lit only by torches and their faith. But there was a goddess moving among them, reassuring them, whispering of faith and devotion, holding hands, smiling, threatening, cajoling...

"When we come up... jungle was changed. So much destroyed. But we survive. We survive because of her. Because we are her children."

"What is it like? Growing up a Myrian male?"

Razkar sighed at that question, face a mask of put-upon male hardship that Edreina couldn't help but chuckle at. But there was a... sadness there. No, deeper than that. A resentment that had curdled into an anger, but finally been tempered by resignation and... something else.

Whatever it was, he wasn't letting her look that far.

"It is not easy. But few things are in world. It was big surprise, coming from jungle, seeing Riverfall, and then you people. Men had power. More in Riverfall, with blue skins. Women were..." he shook his head in start confusion "... not important. Was... strange. Wrong, to my think. But, was different place. But men do not have same... chance. Yes... chance. No matter how we try, how good we are, how much we believe, women always get better."

Now that bitterness rose like bile but Razkar choked it back. This was an old pain; an old fight. Such things were easily contained.

"But it is the way of the Goddess-Queen. It is hard, when a man is young. But it grows easier. Your mind... way you see world, grows big. See more than just what you want. See whole people. What they need. So... you know place in world..."

He blinked and like that, night was falling. Bonfires were being lit and tasks grumbled and groused over were replaced by activities. Hobbies. Storytelling and puppet shows. Theater and long, overblown tales. Song and music and Razkar wondered slyly if she had been keeping him talking just to get another story out of him.

A chuckling gaggle of children ran past her and he found himself staring at the way the setting sun caught her hair. Her pale face, with just a hint of shadow. Making it darker, more... Myrian. Almost. He shook his head. Strange thoughts, out here at sea...

"I think it is time for you to tell story." He said with a big grin. "I tell two. Means you owe me at least one..."

by **Edreina** on April 24th, 2013, 10:39 pm

"I think it is time for you to tell story. I tell two. Means you owe me at least one..."

For the first time in many years, Edreina stumbled over a board in the ship's deck. The thought was so off-kilter that it literally tossed aside her balance. Catching herself on a railing, and blushing furiously, Edreina attempted to regain some semblance of grace. "M-me? Tell a story?" Her wide eyes were incredulous. But, at the insisting look of her friend, Edreina groaned and ran her hands through her hair, gripping a hank of it at the back of her head.

"I suppose that you are right... It would only be fair for me to share with you a story, since you have been kind enough to do the same." Her voice was resigned and her teeth quickly went to chewing at the inside of her cheek as she continued to scratch gently at the back of her head, looking around for the smallest gathering possible. With an internal groan, she noticed that it seemed as if everyone wanted to hear stories tonight.

With a sigh, she decided upon a ship where fellows of her age were known to group, hoping that her siblings would be found there. It was a small ways off and Edreina seemed to plan on taking all night to get there with the pace at which she walked. Razkar must have noticed her plan for her shoved her from behind gently, playfully, earning a smack to the chest and a grumble. "I'm going! I'm going! Sheesh." Grinning despite herself, Edreina rolled her eyes at her friend.

"What do you want me to tell a story about?" She asked, looking up at him. Surely there were things that he had wanted to hear about just as she had. Already her stomach was in knots at the thought of being the center of attention. Among friends, she could ramble on all day. But, when you put her within a group of expectant faces, you would often be lucky to get more than a nervous squeak from her.

Razkar, at least, had the decency to bring up the subject before hand unlike Surai who had simply shoved her into the middle of the light some years ago. Shuddering at the memory, Edreina began to braid and unbraid a strand of her hair, a sign of just how nervous she was. "You suuuuuurrrrree you want me to do this? I'm not a very good storyteller..." She shoved him with her shoulder, glaring up beneath her lashes. "Especially not when I'm being compared to a Myrian. You could describe the jungle in the most simple, boring way and my people would still hang onto your every word. The fact that you are actually good at telling stories will only make me look worse in comparison."

by **Razkar** on April 25th, 2013, 9:25 pm

"What do you want me to tell a story about?"

Only an idiot could have failed to hear the trepidation in Edreina's voice, and Razkar couldn't help but question himself at her tone. Her eyes swept the growing crowd around the bonfire, some of them actually nodding a greeting to him.

"Whatever you think is a good story for a savage." He said, quirking his eyebrows at the self-insult. "I have not hear many stories about Svefra. I know you have much. So, tell one! I not care." He smiled reassuringly at her, but noticed it didn't help much. "I know it will be good."

"You suuuuuurrrrree you want me to do this? I'm not a very good storyteller. "Especially not when I'm being compared to a Myrian. You could describe the jungle in the most simple, boring way and my people would still hang onto your every word. The fact that you are actually good at telling stories will only make me look worse in comparison."

Razkar cocked an eyebrow and twisted his lips to one side of his mouth. Oh, so it was blackmail, was it? Strange how Razkar had no idea how such a thing worked until he'd got into a relationship with a female. They seemed naturally adroit at such things. He scratched under his chin and studied the stars, peering tentatively out of the darkening sky.

"In my people, there is words." He said carefully, twitching to his native tongue briefly. "One thing for another is the root of all things. Means, ah... one thing given, for another thing. So... I make deal. You tell story. Then, after I tell story."

He put out his fist, knuckles facing her, ready to seal their little pact with a sly smile on his face.

"We have trade, mistress?"

by **Edreina** on April 25th, 2013, 10:13 pm

"We have trade, mistress?"

He held his fist out to her, hoping to gain her promise. With a groan, Edreina punched his fist - with a little more effort than necessary - then skulked off towards the center of the gathering. Against the fire, her hair seemed to be alive, part of the fire as the warm gusts it created set it to dancing and twirling about. Her sharp features were brought into even greater standing as her linear nose cast a perfect shadow upon her cheek, the slight indent below her high, proud cheekbones became more predominant.

A crowd of young, expectant blue eyes looked up at Edreina, floating above excited smiles. The deck did not become silent but people had the manners to lower their conversations to whispers as one of their own claimed the center. For a moment, Edreina stood there, fingers tangled behind her back and teeth locked firmly upon the inside of her cheek. As the moment became pregnant, she took a deep breath and stepped forward, gentle, unsure voice ringing out as it contrasted the setting.

"When the Suvan Sea was young, there was an old woman who lived among many others upon a much smaller Flotilla." She noticed a flash of confusion upon many faces as she spoke in Common, forgoing the much more expressive and impassioned Fratava. "She would sit on her deck all day and all night, meditating or telling fortunes. She was never wrong, and so everyone took her tellings as truth." She stepped to the side, smiling slightly as a story finally began to come to her. She had remembered only the beginning up until this point, but as her nerves settled - after all, how hard could talking be? - the story began to come back to her. It was a bit older, but she had not heard it told in a few years.

"One day, a couple came to the old woman and asked her to tell them the fate of their child - their son, they found out. The woman tossed her bones and, after reading them with a grim look, said that the boy would be handsome, but it would be the reason for his death. Of course, the couple laughed it off. How could their son's beauty get him killed? But, nonetheless, they began to worry. She had never been wrong. What could she mean?" Edreina looked imploringly at the audience, shrugging her shoulders at the end. "The boy was born weeks later with eyes the color of the open sea just after Syna sets, a scruff of dark hair, and a smile that would win many hearts."

"Years passed and the parents forgot the prophecy. Their son grew into a tall, strapping young lad with a new lover each week. Because of his beauty, the man rarely saw a woman to be beautiful enough to be seen with him for a long period of time. He thought them dull after only a few nights. After awhile, women began to curse his name, to toss offerings to Laviku, laughing together as they hoped that he be blown to shore in a storm." She had begun to walk, gesture with her hands slightly as she spoke. It was not the most enthralling tale, nor was Edreina the best storyteller. But, the crowd watched and listed intently, waiting to see what spin of her own she would put on the tale.

"One night as this man gazed upon himself in the surface of the Suvan, a laugh from behind startled him." Edreina spun about, grinning despite how she widened her eyes in mock surprise. "There, in Leth's gaze, was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her hair was like starlight, skin also pale but oddly translucent; the man wondered if he was gazing upon a ghost. The gown that flowed about her moved without wind, as if it were alive as well. In awe, the man fell down at her feet, begging her to be his and only his. He tried to make the deal convincing by talking of naught but how beautiful they would be together, how beautiful their children would be." Edreina rolled her eyes, snorting and shaking her head at the man's presumptuous attitude.

"She refused him. She stated quite simply that, despite his beauty, his insides were ugly and the no woman would ever truly love him. He would die cold, alone, and ugly. Her sneers infuriated the man. With a howl, he took his cutlass and plunged it into her heart. But, the blade encountered no resistance as it passed through her ephemeral form." Now would be the point at which, in usual telling, the woman would take the man with her to the bottom of the sea. But, in usual telling, the woman would have been ugly, testing to see if the man was as shallow as she had been told. "Losing his balance, the man fell upon his own blade, slicing open his own face. He lived, but he was quickly seen as deformed, cursed, and ugly."

Edreina hunched over slightly, contorting her face. "No woman would have him, even his parents shunned him for, upon impact, one of his eyes had turned a milky white, an old symbol of Laviku's disfavor. Unable to cope with the loss of his beauty, the man strapped his anchor around his chest and dove into the Suvan." Edreina looked out to the sea, as if seeing the man leaping in herself. She shook her head, pursing her lips in distaste.

"In the end, the old woman had been right. Because he had been so preoccupied with beauty, the man ended up ruining and then taking his own life. Beauty is not permanent. The decisions we make, are." Blushing furiously at her failed attempt at ending the story well, Edreina scuttled off, back to where Razkar had chosen to wait. There was a smattering of applause but, quickly, another storyteller stepped up. Perhaps, his story would not be so bad in comparison.

In frustration, Edreina groaned and laid an arm across her eyes, tilting her head back so that Leth's pale gaze would remove the fire from her cheeks. "I hope you are happy, Myrian." Despite her obvious dissatisfaction with the night's events, her voice managed to retain its playful, teasing quality.

by **Razkar** on April 26th, 2013, 8:51 pm

Razkar listened to every word, face rapt. In truth, he had heard the story before, or such like it. The arrogance of beauty and the adoration of others souring into the death of all one once prized? An old tale. He would guess that every corner of Mizahar had something of its like. But hearing it from Edreina, her voice soft and hushed and filled with foreboding, seeing her flaming hair dance around her face as the light touched it... that was a rare treat.

The Myrian almost scowled when only a smattering of applause greeted her, languid and almost disapproving. Well, what did they expect?! An epic poem from a girl who has never stepped into the storyteller circle before? But then she was next to him and her place in the circle was taken.

Razkar smiled. She was torn, and frayed, and he underestimated how much the tale had taken from her.

"I hope you are happy, Myrian."

Yet thre she sat, with a playful tone to her voice that told him much about her. The Myrian weighed his options as he studied her exhausted face, mostly hidden by his arm. Much to be risked, but... they had an understanding.

His face darted forward with the same precision he would use for a sword thrust, and Edreina froze as she felt a brief, solid peck on the cheek.

"Much."

Before he arm had fully swept from her face the Myrian was already on his feet, grinning teeth gleaming in the firelight. A few Svefra who had already heard his stories put up a short cheer, and when he put up his arms... he heard the whispers.

The Myrian... The Myrian with the stories...

"Do you wish to hear story from savage?!"

His laugh was eclipsed by the roar of approval, though his shoulders shook in a way that told all what it was. He glanced around and found himself drinking in their approval, their latent adoration, their eagerness to have this dark and scarred savage regale them.

Razakr felt a moment of disquiet. Why had it not been this easy in Riverfall?

Probably because you were too busy trying to kill people.

Yes. That would be it. But now, there were more important matter to attend to, and as Razkar's gaze swept the crowd of all ages, he wracked his brains for a story. Many flashed before him. The first Tiger Rider... the Kraken Slayer... the Jungle's Vengeance... but then his gaze fell on a watching, still-surprised Edreina... and he found his inspiration...

"Most story start with long, long ago," he said, starting slowly but voice raised to all could hear, "But this story was not. This story is close in time, where men still remember, can see with own eyes. Though it is story of Sea Maiden..."

He swept around and made the children crouched at the front row, face twisted in a rictus of unholy aggression, writ large by his piercings, ink and the firelight.

"... and daemon of the darkest jungle..."

by **Edreina** on April 27th, 2013, 3:13 am

Edreina felt herself stiffen up as Razkar's lips alighted ever so briefly upon her cheek. The surprise of the action sent shock-waves rippling through her body and raising the fine hairs on her arms. Utterly incredulous, Edreina lifted the arm that had been veiling her eyes to see him already up and walking towards the firelight.

Edreina covered her eyes again before she could catch herself admiring the strength in his stride, the rippling muscles in his back... Gods it was already too late... Shivering the now-familiar feeling from her limbs, Edriena sat up with her arms crossed atop her knees, slouching forward to watch Razkar with purposefully innocent interest. Just as she had manage to regain composure, the Myrian turned the heat of his warm brown eyes upon her, warming her cheeks.

"Most story start with long, long ago. But this story was not. This story is close in time, where men still remember, can see with own eyes. Though it is story of Sea Maiden... and daemon of the darkest jungle..."

The fiery haired Svefra cocked her head to one side, eyebrows arched. The forest-dweller would tell a story of the sea? Or... was it only related? Nonetheless, Edreina settled down to watch and to listen, eager to hear what would be said. Occasionally, he would catch her off guard by shifting his dark eyes to meet hers briefly, always inciting a blush and causing her mental control to slip.

Wink at him! Bite your lip! Fiddle with your hair! Something! A part of Edreina screamed mentally, tugging at its metaphorical hair. That part was so sure that he had feelings for her, but was simply having to suppress them for the sake of honor. However, as always, that voice was glared into submission by the part of her conscious that always wore its hair in a tight braid.

by **Razkar** on April 27th, 2013, 11:53 am

Telling stories was not the point, Razkar knew. Not really. That could be done through any medium, a mere... transfer of information. No, what a storyteller did was paint a picture. Set a scene. Embody the characters there and re-enact their pains and triumphs.

That as what he endeavored to do around that bonfire.

"A fair Sea Maiden, with skin like white sand and hair like..." he gestured to the bonfire and flashed a glance at Edreina "... like fire, was caught in storm. She pray to Laviku for help, for him to save life, and giant hand of water-"

He reached upwards, flexing his arm muscles as if lifting a great weight.

"-picked up boat and pulled from storm. Boat washed onto land... and Sea Maiden, who always love new things, new places, she step onto sand and saw... jungle..."

He crouched back to the children, voice a shade softer, almost reverent.

"Have you seen jungle? True jungle? Is... not easy to know. Masses of trees, hundred of feet tall. So thick that sun is blocked from eyes. Creatures... Beast you cannot imagine. All slither and stalk in half-light of jungle floor. Always noise, from bug and bird. But Sea Maiden, she looked into dark of jungle... and was not afraid."

Razkar drew himself up as if squaring off against some distant treeline, and strode a few steps.

"She went into trees, and she walk... and walk... and walk... but soon, Maiden was lost. Jungle swallow her, and Syna began to sleep." His face took on a worried expression, one hand trembling by his mouth. "But Maiden, she afraid, but she fight fear. She keep moving. Until... she see fire..."

Razkar crept around the bonfire as if uncertain of it, peering around a mast.

"She saw fire. Great bonfire, like this but huge, huge. But no person. But jungle as cold and she was cold and fire... fire was so warm. So she sat... and then-"

His voice became a booming challenge in an instant, sending a shudder through the crowd.

"You come to my fire! You come to my jungle! None walk or crawl or fly here without my saying!" There was the sigh of metal on leather and the Myrian came back from the flickering shadows, stalking with his weapons drawn. "I am the Fire of Jungle... and you are not welcome."

Razkar swept his weapon around, moving so his shadows dwarfed him many times over, flickers and wind gusting at it so it seemed like he had wings and horns.

"Daemon! Daemon was in jungle. At tall as mast and broad as Tsk..." Razkar paused, realizing that those present would have no idea what a Tskanna was. He rallied, mind racing, "... as great shark! And with many teeth! Many as shark, so when he spoke, all she saw was gleaming fang. Sword and ax were in hands with claws. It was black and red, like murder and flame..."

Razkar adopted that outraged expression again, voice lowering, grunting, growling, words seeming to come from a mouth with far too many teeth in it.

"But I see you are of fire hair... so I will give you chance... prove yourself! And Maiden, she drew sword that was like silver, was like second Syna and made daemon flinch."

Another glance at Edreina, but this one came with a lightning smirk. She frowned, still not-

"And whip, she carried. Like..." his eyes seemed to glaze and he made an arc with his gladius "... like water on hilt. It moved so fast in air, that even daemon growled. Beast made itself tall. It smile..."

And so did Razkar. A grin that made some of the children squirm and even the adults exchange looks. Something dark and powerful and hungry, and Edreina wondered if this was a remembrance or a channeling.

"With roar, and fire and Sea Maiden scream to Laviku, they charge!"

by **Edreina** on April 28th, 2013, 1:35 am

As Razkar told his story, Edreina felt herself blushing fiercely many times. It was as if he was describing her. Was this really a Myrian story or was he making it up on his own, using real experiences from his life to make it all the more real? When he drew his weapons and stalked back into the firelight, Edreina trembled, struck by both a natural fear and fascination. The way that the fire made the chiseling in his form stand out and his tattoos seem to be the color of absolute darkness, as if someone had carved designs into his very existence, caused Edreina to admire him again.

Gods if I could have just one night... Without him there directly, Edreina allowed herself to fantasize. But, just as her mind began to wander deliciously, Razkar flashed a smirk at her, as if hearing her thoughts. She frowned slightly, chewing on her lower lip. Refocusing her mind, Edreina became immersed in the story once more. The Maiden in his story also used a whip, causing Edreina to arch a brow. Obviously, this was based partially on her. Even some of the other Svefra began to notice as they occasionally looked back at Edreina, wondering how one of their own could have made such an impression on a Myrian. Unable to fight the blush that the glances garnered, Edreina pointedly continued watching Razkar.

When Razkar described the daemon's grin, a nefarious one landed on his face and seemed to harbor an ancient darkness. Edreina wondered if it was a darkness that truly existed within her friend or something that he had heard so much about that he could channel it on his own. Either way, she shuddered at its intensity.

by **Razkar** on April 28th, 2013, 2:41 am

He swept and ducked. Cracked a whip that wasn't there and still made his audience flinch. Hacked and punched and played out a fight that could have leveled a jungle. Iron flashed so much that he seemed surrounded by light, roaring his narration as he moved.

"Daemon and Maiden fought for bells! Where his ax and his sword touch, they burn and make flame! Jungle was on fire! Maiden whip of water quenched flame and made steam like fog that filled all! But no fight could win! Whirl and snarl and cry, but when bonfire burned down, still they stood both!"

He started growling in his native tongue, knowing that none would be able to follow it but knowing more that it would create the barbaric effect he wanted.

"You dare?! You dare defile what was mine since time was time?! You invade and usurp, but here you will find naught but death and nightmares! And I shall be your doom, your fear and your end!"

The crowd seemed to shudder at the roaring Myrian, but then his countenance changed. Inch by inch, the snarl of unholy fury softened, straightened... until it looked about in horror...

"Then daemon... he looked... and he saw jungle he loved was ash. All he rule... all he care for... his rage... his hate had killed all..."

Clattering that was as loud as a thunderstorm. His weapons dropped to the deck as Razkar's face twisted in agony.

"Sea Maiden, she see his pain... and but he is enemy... she lower her weapon... she step... like child to tiger... and she ask, was it worth it...?"

The question hung in the air and only silence greeted it. Razkar looked around and found all eyes on him, some even moistened, but all hanging off his words. Finally his gaze fell on Edreina, as a long sigh fell from his lips...

"It as not, the daemon said, and with flick of wrist, his weapon were gone. You have teach me lesson, daemon said, and with one hand he made new seed, new sprout to replace dead jungle. With other, he made ground under Maiden tremble... rise."

Razkar mimicked his story. One hand wound and twisted, as if conjuring and planting with the same movement. The other rose, steadily and surely, his voice now hushed and respectful.

"Reward for teach is proper. So, I send you to sea you love. And daemon said words in oldest tongue, from when world was made and gods walked. With words, jungle under Maiden leaped-"

His hand shot out as if pushing, spiriting the fictional maiden far and fast.

"-and carry her to shore, back to ship and sea. Now when Maiden pass by the shore, the wind from jungle is still, and beast there not harm those crew that land for food and water... and when rain from sea storm fall on jungle, daemon looks to sky..."

Razkar did the same, arms spread as if receiving a benediction in the raindrops.

"... and he remember price of rage. Of hate..."

Another hush. More silence... until he spread his arms and bowed. Then the crowd began the clap. Slowly at first, then more, and more, like a rising storm, until the bowing Myrian was surrounded by it, buffeted by it. He straightened and found a a crowd clapping and roaring around him. He nodded again, determined to retain some kind of modesty before them, as befitted a true teller of tales.

But Razkar did spare a glance at Edreina, clapping and smiling with the rest.

He nodded to her, low enough to be a bow.

There. Something for something, Sea Maiden...

by **Anchor** on May 6th, 2013, 4:07 pm

Loot

Razkar's Find :

Edreina's Find :

Sorry I'm way late on this grade.

Though a pattern is beginning to emerge, it's still fun to read, and your charavters still do progress despite the almost formulaic sequence of events. It's a good indicator of growth over time despite this becoming more or less 'everyday' life, something I don't see often. You two are a good example of how you don't need a unique happening each day to make a fun thread about it. I do, however, have some notes.

First thing that I noticed was that Edreina was pushing the boundaries of novice skill. I understand that Razkar is holding back, but Edreina pulled out a whip-like leather (not sure they have those on ships) and then dual-wielded it with the gladius without any prior introduction or practice or even precursor. I awarded points anyway, but it will not happen again. There's only so far I'm willing to believe natural instinct. Sorry for sounding so stern guys, but I just busted an intervention on two players for excessive godmodding a couple weeks back, and I really can't be hypocritical in my stance on that. I won't intervene on the whole thread because there's much more to it than just combat, but I will withhold any experience that would otherwise be awarsed in skills that are godmodded.

Aside from that, nothing serious. Just questioning the logic behind a crowd gathering on one solitary deck on the exterior of the Flotilla when there's a whole training and sparring thingamajig a few decks down. I saw the note in passing about Edreina's suitor, and I'm still a little iffy on how these family dynamics work among the Svefra and on the Flotilla are being represented. There are no husbands, and the Svefra especially aren't particularly tied down by a set marriage system that the existence of a suitor would suggest.

Aside from that, great post and looking forward to reading more!

Open The Iron Dance [Edreina]