Closed Not only birds have wings [Irriari]

[Amelia Cross]

[32nd day of summer 513.a.v.]
[City Center]
[Institute’s grounds]
[Middle day]

As always, the weather was nice. The few drops of rain she had seen in Ravok seemed to be completely irrelevant. Back when she lived in Syliras, she dreamed of the weather of Ravok, now it had become so boring to her. Well, that didn’t matter now. She had a lot more important subject in question, Hypnotism.

Amelia had been struggling with hypnotism for days now. Thanks to her father and a few other encounters within the library, she had managed to understand the concept. None the less, she lacked actual skill within the practice. She was frightened to fail when testing her knowledge out on humans, so she was suggested that she’d practice on animals. The dark haired girl couldn’t imagine herself doing this to fragile creatures as animals. Somehow, it was unnatural for her. Another offer was a kelvic, this disgusted her even more. By the end of her discussion, she had come to a decision that she should practice on something small and wild. A rat or a bird. The thought of finding a rat somewhere within the walls of the institute was unlikely for her, so the young Cross settled for a bird. She had seen quite a few in the grounds, so she decided it would have been one of the best ways to practice. Taking one of the smallest books about hypnotism with her, just like some bread she had bought earlier that morning.

Once she had come out to the grounds. She scanned the perimeter, looking for not only the place she could be more alone than before, but also able to find a bird. After taking ever little aspect of the grounds into account, she settled for a place that was closer to the left, inner wall and bringing all of her so called equipment with her, made herself comfortable. She toke her book into her lap, turning it to the page last left off, more precisely, the chapter about practicing on living creatures.

”At an early lever, one must maintain eye contact with the creature in question…” ”I want to see how I maintain eye-contact with a bird…” she thought as she reached over the bread and began crumbing some of it in her hand. ”here goes nothing” almost a whisper, with the feeling of a prayer as she threw some of the bread on the ground. It toke some while, but soon enough a few small birds had gathered around Amelia. The situation made her feel uncomfortable, but she knew it was for a good cause and so, soon enough she had crumbled some more bread and had it in her palm, hopping for a bird to come and sit on her hand.

A few good moments passed, but no reaction, the birds refused to eat from her palm and so, she couldn’t manage to get them close enough for practice ”here birdy, birdy…I don’t bite, here birdy, birdy” she repeated. Amelia didn’t believe a bird would actually listen to her, but hope dies last. And surprisingly for the Cross, one small, brown bird decided to give Amelia a chance. She was overjoyed and began looking the bird in every small feature, the brown feathers of its wings, the white through and tummy. She especially liked the small detailed coloring of black, white and yellow on its head. However, her joy wasn’t lasting, and before she managed to actually begin her practice, the sparrow flew off. ”Come back!” she called as she stood up from the bench she was on, dropping the book on the ground as it fell off her lap.
ooc*1 loaf of bread, costing 2cm

[Irriari]

Irriari grimaced and cursed in zithanese. The midday sun was the cause of the worst of her headaches, though it was far less bright in Ravok then it had been on the Sea of Grass. As she walked, Irriari reminisced about her travels in Cyphrus. It was impossible to travel by day, and the few times she had tried, Irriari found herself in too much pain to fly for more than a mile. To make up for it, she flew as hard and fast as she could at night, so that she could sleep the entire day away in a cave. The walk to the Institute offered no caves to hide in, and Irriari knew that if she tarried, the commander would have her hide as payment. After her last lesson on interrogation, the commander had made it quite clear that future lessons should be carried out before dusk. To spite him, she decided to spend her first few hours at the Institute trying to catalogue the plants she had seen in Cyphrus. Even if the she couldn’t read, she could easily match up diagrams with dried samples.

When she entered the building, Irriari noted the humans that gathered in the main hall. The majority were paired up, chatting idly about current lessons and how much they disliked their teachers. A few students stood in shadowed corners reading books and scrolls. Ignoring them all, Irriari waked through a long hallway that ended with an exit to the Institute grounds. Before her last lesson, she had heard a few students conversing about the library, and she noted that they were headed this way. Even if her makeshift directions led her astray, the zith knew she would eventually stumble upon the building.

She searched the perimeter of the grounds before choosing the left as her starting direction. Grass covered the ground beneath her feet, and the zith walked slowly, thankful for the respite from the traditional wood and stone that lined the streets and buildings of Ravok. Small worms crawled beneath the heel of her foot, moving the grass and soil before they dove back into the ground. While the sun was still irksome, the shadow of the massive building provided a large amount of shade that kept her headaches down to a minimal amount.

As Irriari turned the corner, she noticed a human woman, staring intently at group of birds that had gathered at her feet. Intrigued, she stepped forward slightly so that she could see more of the scene that was unfolding in front of her. In one hand, the woman clutched a loaf of bread. The other was stretched forward, open palmed, in an attempt to entice the birds to come closer. When Irriari stepped out of the shadows, the birds scattered, flying towards the top of the building for safety. She walked closer to the woman, intrigued by a human who would have an interest in birds.

“Why do you seek to draw them closer? They are not fools, human. They know of how cruel your kind is. Or is it that you wish to fly away?”

[Amelia Cross]

A heavy breath came from the girl as her gaze dropped to the ground. Her eyes glued to the bread crumbles that failed their job, or was it Amelia who was frightening? The young girl was worried, that she might never properly learn to use hypnotism. How could she learn it, if she couldn’t practice? This was like a circle. One obstacle lead to the other, and concludes with her not being skilled enough, to catch birds?! One would never believe it, but turns out, catching birds can prevent someone from learning magic.

Suddenly Amelia heard footsteps come closer, but she didn’t look up. The words spoken for her…now this forced her to look up. What Amelia saw, was not something she had expected. Actually, she had no clue what was the person…creature? Standing in front of her…She had never seen something like this, never. None the less, Amelia’s common sense told her to stop staring, staring at the small figure that seemed to shine a dull grey. Could it be fur? And those claws? Where those wings? Head full of questions, but her manners still toke the best of her, or more precisely, she forced herself into manners.

”Practice, I wish to practice on them…” Amelia smiled as she kneeled down and picked up the heavy book, still holding the leftover bread in her other hand. The other mentioned questions still going through her head, and Amelia used the little time given, to think it through. ”Well, I know we humans are vicious, but…this is for learning, a lector here told me I should practice on a small creature…like a bird” only when she explained, did Amelia realize how bad it sounded. She was using an innocent bird? Monster…

Yet, the words about flying away, managed to stick in her head more, than the idea of herself being a monster. Did she want to fly away? She wanted to get away from Syliras, something there didn’t feel right…but did she want to fly away from Ravok? And if so, where would she fly? Zeltiva to study? Would someone want her there? As much as she remembered from the past, Zeltiva was just as crowded as Syliras and it meant, that she would face the same difficulties there….she didn’t want that, but the library? It was all so confusing ”Flying away…you know, I’d like that…to be free, but…I don’t have where to go, my home now is in Ravok…not to mention, humans can’t grow wings, so I’m left with just the dreams of doing so” she said with a bit of sadness in her voice, just before she looked up at the woman and paid more attention to the wings this creature held.

”you on the other hand…seem to know how it feels, to rush against the wind and be free ” she assumed, but the fact seemed clear enough as it was. Someone who had wings, should fly, no? Not to mention, Amelia wanted to find a way to speak and maybe, pull out a bit more about what exactly she was. Not to mention, she was getting angry at herself for the pointless stares she was giving out, her father would be ashamed. After all, only those worthy and accepted are allowed to enter this building, it meant that this….creature, for the lack of better words, is either a follower of Rhysol, or somehow associated with the sun.

”I assume you are here to study? What classes are you taking” Amelia questioned, for the sake of chit chatting and the chance to look at the odd girl a bit more.

[Irriari]

OOCSorry this took forever! I got busy, and such. I'm back to normal posting speed now

Irriari surveyed the woman from a distance as she spoke about practice and birds. Short of hunting, most animal based pursuits seemed silly to the zith. Animals were meant to be eaten. She was deliberately vague about the content of her studies, though the zith doubted she would understand any of the other classes the Institute offered. Her own classes were difficult enough to manage. Irriari’s eyes focused on the spine of the book that the woman carried. No other location in all of Ravok held a candle to the Institute’s ability to make her ashamed of her inability to read.
Irriari glared upward as the human continued speaking about flying,

“You want to be free? Free?! You humans cover every land you inhabit. Free from what? Do you own brethren scare you that much?”

The zith laughed, mockingly. These cite bred humans truly had no concept of freedom.

“Yes, I’m quite free. Free, but hated. I’m constantly attacked for surviving.”

For the third time, the woman in front of her tried to make conversation,
and the zith decided to acquiesce. So far, the human in front of her had been kind, if ignorant. She wasn’t an akalak or a drykas.

“I study poison and interrogation. I cannot read, so I know little of the other courses the Institute offers. What do you study, that you would need to entice birds to your hands?”

Irriari hoped that her attempt to be civil would not be lost on the woman. Aside from Torrel, few Ravokians were bold enough to approach her. For now, she would suspend her malice.

[Amelia Cross]

Amelia wanted to stay around the unusual representative of the unknown to Amelia race, but she seemed to start regretting that decision, as she began glaring at her and accusing her of the sins humans commit, at least, that’s how it felt. However,she was thought to approach conflicts with a calm mind and a wise word. ”yes, if you wish for me to be honest, it does scare me…as we take so much and don’t bother to give back…that’s why I’m in Ravok, a city that doesn’t destroy the lands of Caiyha, they don’t meaninglessly kill animals…or others” ”only when needed,…only when needed” she repeated in her head, As she was familiar with the cruel way Ravok dealt with imposters and rebels.

But the laughter discouraged Amelia to speak freely. If it had been a human, she’d fight back with words, but this creature seemed to frighten Amelia now. ”isn’t…isn’t that the price of freedom? The rest are jealous, especially humans…we hate the ones who have something we don’t…that’s why so many despise the Konti, for they can breathe underwater and live up to hundreds of years” she didn’t give up on a conversation. ”they are jalousie of your wings..”

”poison? That must be an interesting course” she stated, feeling the creature a bit more, acceptant of her attempts to chat ”I study hypnotism, but I just stated, so I can’t really work with humans or any other races, not even big animals…so my instructor said I should practice on birds and mice…” Amelia explained ”as you see, I’m not good with catching birds” she stated with a bit of a mixture between shame and amusement in her voice.

"if you don’t mind me asking…how do you exactly study, if you don’t know how to read?” Yes, the girl was curios. She just hopped, she wasn’t being rude. Well, at least she wasn’t staring at her like she was so freak of nature! She was trying her best to be polite, and avoid silly questions like whats your race and how come your hatted!

[Irriari]

Irriari chuckled lightly. It was an odd thought to see a human that was afraid of the practices of her people. The colony had always painted humans as blood thirsty idiots who had the numbers to sustain their ideals and racism. After leaving, she had meant many people who challenged this belief, but the majority of humans still hated her kind. If they didn’t have numbers on their side, Irriari was sure her race would overtake them. Still, this human woman was kind enough. At least she understood the cruelty of her race.

“I don’t know who Caihya is… but it’s the way of things. Some killing is needless, but it does serve a purpose. You learn to hunt, and eventually, something else will come along and eat that which you’ve abandoned. I don’t worry about such things. You should worry more about yourself being killed.”

She smiled at the comment about jealousy. Her wings and claws were what elevated her above humans, and any mention of them was enough to make her forget her troubles, if only for a brief time.

“Poison is my weapon of choice. I use my claws too, but poison is a wonderful weapon. It’s beautiful, in its own way.”

Irriari’s brow furrowed when the human mentioned her own studies. What was hypnotism? Sevrai had joked about hypnotizing her so that she would stop brewing poisons and sleep, but the concept hadn’t made a lot of sense.

“Hypnotism? What is that? I’ve heard of it, but I don’t understand it at all. Is it a weapon, or some sort of defensive strategy?”

Irriari blushed lightly at her ineptitude. Humans seemed to know so much about the world around them, and the culture of the cities they resided in. The zith didn’t bother thinking about the question before replying.

“I listen to the professors, and mimic what they do. For poison classes, a book is useful, but I’m just starting my classes so I don’t need them so much.”

[Amelia Cross]

”I believe in killing with a purpose, everyone has a bell of death waiting to ring above their heads. Its natural, but humans and a lot of others kill for the sake of fun, I don’t like that at all…” Amelia confessed as she looked up at the sky, and then back to the girl in front of her ”And Caiyha is the goddess of nature, wilderness is her domain. People have taken so much from her, I think it’s even worse that we go further and further into her lands, like we didn’t have enough at our feet already…” it was true, on some topics Amelia could really go in deeply, one of them being the gods, probably because she had traveled between Syliras and Ravok. She knows how different look upon a single god might be.

Amelia saw the girl smile as she commented on humans being jealous of her kind’s wings. She meant what she said, as she herself would wish to have such wings. Strong and being able to fly off high, high into the lands she had heard so much about…like Avanthal…or Mura… ”I always though of poison as a smart weapon. There are no traces left, no blood and no mess to clean up…” this sort of thoughts have come to Amelia thanks to her father, who thought of poison as a sophisticated weapon. It toke just the right words to gain the opportunity of dropping a deadly concoction into someone’s glass of vine.

Once she was asked about hypnotism, she felt a bit confused, as she had never had the need to explain such things, most knew of it ”Hypnotism is a weapon and a tool and a defense…it’s a type of personal magic, that drains your own powers to control others” the concept seemed a bit frightening, so she decided to explain a bit further ”you see, once you have managed to use Hypnotism at an early stage, you can suggest things to someone’s mind. Like now I am trying to tell these birds to sit calm, and failing. But My teacher would have no problems ordering me to dance around like a chicken. It’s a type of magic that can help you avoid death, by controlling the one who is trying to execute you…” the way Amelia explained it, she felt like it was confusing, but she had no clue how to do it better ”but it has it’s own limitations, since it takes power from your own…err…essence? It takes power from your own djed, meaning you can easily kill yourself while using it, if you use it too much…I’d say it’s bout highly convenient and dangerous”

”wish I had such good memory, If I didn’t read everything over and over, copy the texts and everything my mentors say…I’d probably have no point in being here at all…” Amelia was sincerely jealous of the girls memory. But still, the fact someone didn’t know how to read or write, made her feel bad, she thought those were skills that everyone should possess. Especially if they are eager to study, as Amelia cherished studying as one of the highest things. ”mm…I’m not trying to sound rude but…If you want…I could try and…teach you how to read? And write? it was clear in her voice that she was worried about the offer, as she didn’t wish to come off as rude, or appear as if she thought of herself as better ”I’m not much of a teacher, but I could try…?”

[Irriari]

Irriari smiled briefly. While killing others for the sake of fun was something that was oft taught by the Elders, Irriari found that terrifying and playing with her targets was far more fun.

“I’ve never thought of death as a bell sitting over my head. It’s punishment for a mistake in fighting, or awareness, to me.”

The zith had nothing to say on the subject of Caiyha. The goddess reminded her of the first time she had heard about Viratas during her time in Kalinor. The more humans she conversed with, the more Irriari learned about the gods and goddesses. None mattered other than Rhysol, though it was interesting to see what deities’ humans placed their belief in.

Irriari laughed at the woman’s mention of poison being a weapon that left no trace. If only it worked that way.

“While you can leave poison in a cup and it will dissipate, many poisons have a signature effect. It’s rare for someone’s tongue to swell up to three times its normal size without poison. But, as long as you don’t get caught as the poisoner, you’re golden.”

Irriari’s eyes followed the retreating finches as the woman described hypnotism. The entire study sounded like a joke. Why would you need magic to control someone else when intimidation worked just fine? And what was magic? What was essence? Djed? The words floated across her mind as she attempted to make sense of the strange words and terminology the woman used. By the end of the description, Irriari had settled on the two most important questions.

“What’s magic? And what about djed?”

When the human woman mentioned helping Irriari learn to read and write, the zith was taken aback. Was she being tricked? Why would any human offer to teach her anything? Her teachers at the IHL taught her because they were being paid… but she hadn’t offered any coin to the woman in front of her.

“I would love to learn… but I don’t have much to offer in the way of mizas. I bought a house at the start of summer, so if you’re expecting payment, I can’t help you. I can offer you protection, or make poisons for you, but you seem to have hypnotism to get out of precarious situations. What is it that you would want of me in return?”

Irriari stared at the woman intensely, knowing that what she requested in return would make or break the deal. She had done her best to control the excitement in her voice, but she knew that it had likely been apparent to the woman in front of her. As she waited for a reply, she imagined all the recipes and techniques she could unearth if she knew how to read.

[Amelia Cross]

Amelia smiled as the girl spoke of poisons, it seems as if she really likes them a lot and finds them fascinating. She’d probably have a lot of common with her father. But, that isn’t the discussion now, is it? ”True, but that’s why one should possess other knowledge, to accompany the knowledge of poison making. If you know how to use a sword, it would only make sense if you know how to use a shield, no?” Still smiling like a little child. How was it that she found it so easy to talk with this woman?

Ah, Amelia wasn’t as detailed as she hopped to be, that was in deed a shame. After all, she wasn’t good in teaching or explaining. Now was time to pull together and remember everything the professors and Clyde has told her about magic and djed, to explain it. ”magic is…well to start off, there are 3 types of magic…personal magic, world magic and divine magic” she began, thinking over every word she said ”Personal magic, takes energy from yourself, that energy is called Djed, it’s like the essence of life. Hypnotism might not be the best example of it, but Reimancy, uses this essence and transforms it into elements of nature…it takes that energy and turns it into water, fire or wind..” already thinking over the next part ”World magic uses djed as well, but while personal magic takes it from you, world magic takes it from the world around you, in order to communicate with ghosts, craft magical items and such…” a little pause so the girl would have some time to have the words sunk in ”divine magic however, is a magic that is handed to you by a god, when he acknowledges you…but, I don’t think I can explain that…you should see an acolyte of the black sun, they could explain divine magic better”

”Djed, is…well, it makes you…your djed is…what you are, it’s your identity. The essence of you…and…it…kind of…when using magic you transform it…to fit your needs, accompanied by hand gestures and enchanting” Amelia didn’t know how to explain djed, she understood it, but had no knowledge to share it…maybe someday

”oh, see, I liked to…teach, I want to be a teacher someday” she began explaining, as she felt obliged to do so, from the woman’s reaction ”I don’t ask for anything, but knowledge in return, I enjoy to hear stories about other races, lands and hear…try to copy, other languages… if you could tell me about your race…some more, if you could…tell me your language and help me learn it, I would love to help with reading” probably a characteristic that Amelia gained from the time long ago, when she was so close to studying, that she almost lived in the library of Zeltiva.

[Irriari]

Irriari smiled. It was rare that a human would speak so openly about poison, especially to a zith. The situation intrigued her, and she found herself wondering how the woman had been raised to encourage such an attitude. Earlier in the conversation, she had seemed afraid, if only slightly. From that, Irriari knew that she was hardly stupid. Perhaps she simply wanted conversation. Everything up to this point pointed to that, though Irriari knew it would take many more conversations before she could understand the dark haired woman with the soft voice.

The woman’s description of magic was thorough, though Irriari’s mind caught on certain words and definitions. Personal magic was what this woman studied. Of the three, it seemed the most like the fairytales that the slaves had told around the fireplaces. World magic reminded her of the crafting that her colony mates had taken up. While her brothers and sisters were not the most artistic of her race, they had produced beautiful weapons and sculpture over time. Djed was even more confusing than the three types of magic that the woman had described. How could a substance that she hadn’t even known about contain her identity? She was a zith. A warrior. Shaking her head at the thoughts, she decided that she would have to see magic used before she could understand such a weird concept.

“I can tell you as much as you’d like to know about my race- though you might not be too happy about some of the things I’ll tell you. I enjoy it when people show interest in my people. We’re more than bloodthirsty bats.”

Pausing, Irriari recited a simple sentence in her own tongue, knowing that the woman would see nothing more than moving lips. After a second, she continued speaking in Common.

“That was my language. Unless you can hear the language of bats, you won’t be able to learn Zithanese. Additionally, there is no written language I can teach you. We have no use for such things when we have slaves to copy our stories. If there is anything else I can teach you, I will try, so long as you don’t attempt to cross me. Oh, and before I forget, my name is Irriari.”