Flashback Cats Like the Dark (Poison)

[B'Naomi Tomva]

Season of Winter, 21th. 512av. Naomi gracefully padded along the rough, grey rocks. Sharp gravel occasionally dug into her paws, making her unwittingly produce a low growl. She noted that in human form, this journey through the rocks would have taken ten times as long. The buckles of her travel pack clincked with her every bound. She hoped her fine cloths were not getting wrinkled, she needed them to pull this off. The plan was to look all nice and pretty, then enter the city under the mask of being a wealthy trader's daughter. That way they would risk hurting their business if she would come to harm. If that did not work she always had plan B, which involved claws, teeth, and poisoned Twin Tamo daggers. There it was, the tunnel enterance, apparently the only one traversable by surface dwellers, or so said a questonable man in an inn. The rocks momenterily shined with a brilliant gold light as she shifted into her human form. The bag fell at her feet and she quickly snatched it up, throwing it over her shoulder. She started to walk into the cave, when she rememberd; the humans do not like other humans being nude. She took her fine tunic out of her pack and dressed with haste, smoothing it out on her hips. Satisfied she was presentable, she sprayed some flowery smelling liquid onto her neck. A potion seller said it woukd make humans like her better. She tucked her twin daggers into her sleeves, for protection. She then stepped into the cave. Her pupils turned from slits into large orbs of black as her eyes adjusted to the darkness off the tunnel. 250 meters down, the man had said. Her adventure was only beginning.

[Poison]

It was quiet in the cave that was the entrance to Kalinor. While the entrances of cities on the surface were often crowded with people that were trying to get in, there was nobody here besides the Kelvic. There were no sounds besides the sound of her own breathng and her own heartbeat. There was also no sign that proclaimed that she was about to enter a city. The only signs of civilization were a firepit, a trough filled with some strange glittering dust and a high wall at the very end of the cave, a wall that she would find impossible to climb without help.

~~~

„Alanys! Alanys!“ Demyan Anice, one of the gate guards whispered to his female colleague that was on duty with him. „There is somebody approaching the gate. It looks like a woman! A lone woman, without protection!“

„Nonsense!“ his colleague replied, leaned over the wall and narrowed her eyes. „No woman in her right mind would …“ She broke off abruptly. „Oh my. It is a woman. I wonder if she’s some kind of powerful warrior or just stupid. Probably just stupid.“

„I saw her first“, Demyan reminded her. „Just so that you know in case we decide to harvest her. And now come. I think we should give her a very warm welcome before she decides to leave again.“

~~~

A few chimes passed, and then Naomi could suddenly hear a sound above her. A robe appeared in front of her, and then two people slid down the rope. One was male, and one was female. They were almost deadly pale, had long hands that ended in black claws and wore some strange kind of exoskeleton armor. As they smiled at her, they revealed sharp fangs.

„Welcome!“ the male said in slightly accented Common. „What brings you to Kalinor on this fine day?“

[B'Naomi Tomva]

Naomi walked in the silent cave with no torch, she did not need one. Cats had wonderful night vision, especially non domesticated ones. Her steps were echoed by her heartbeat, which was audible in the dark cave. Was this the right place? This did not seem like a city entrance, or rather, unlike any that she had been to. The ground beneath her feet was well worn, so she supposed this was what she was searching for. A faint sound of shifting rock above her made her stop in her tracks, cocking her head. A rope appeared in front of her, accompanied by dust and a few pebbles. Two figures climbed down the rope, they smelled odd, of venom and flesh on their breaths. The stood in front of her, with bright smiles displaying sharp fangs. They had claws for hands, just like the stories said, though they were more impressive in person. “Welcome!“ one said, in a more male tone of voice. So one man and one unknown. “What brings you to Kalinor on this fine day?“ She smiled at him, revealing equally sharp fangs, along with a few more pointed teeth. She assumed they could see her, as she could see them. “Thank you! I am her on a vacation at my daddy’s request. He wants me to see how the city is doing and report back to him, that way he can decide to continue trading with Kalinor. Is that alright?” she explained, the well practiced lies flowing off her tongue like sweet notes of a harp. She gave them another small smile. Incase they asked, she had papers, that the questionable man made, her saying she was the daughter of a wealthy trader, the last name the same. She felt the knifes in her sleeve, for comfort.

[Poison]

„She has fangs“, Demyan whispered to Alanys in Symenos. He was surprised. „Do you think she has some Symenestra blood?“ Alanys whispered back. She narrowed her eyes and looked at Naomi more closely. „I’m not sure“, Demyan admitted and looked at Naomi as well. „She looks just like a human, but those fangs … I’m not sure if we should harvest somebody that might be part Symenestra and have Symenestra relatives. They might get angry.“

„We could ask one of the doctors at the Purging to take a look at her, secrety of course“, Alanys suggested. „They could probably tell us with some manner of certainty whether she has Symenestra blood or is just a freak human. I don’t really believe that she’s here on vacation. No man in his right mind would send his daughter on a vacation to Kalinor.“

Nodding Demyan turned back to Naomi who was probably already wondering what all the whispering was about. „I’m sorry“, he said to her in Common. „My colleague and I were just wondering who your father is and what his trade is. It is of course alright. We can escort you into the city and show you everything since you have never been to Kalinor before.“

With that he called a word in Symenos, and a basket was lowered down to where they were standing. Demyan gestured towards it. Apparently he expected Naomi to climb into it.

[B'Naomi Tomva]

Naomi, with her enhanced hearing, could make out some soft and hauntingly melodic words, probably Symenos, which she had never heard before. She quite liked how it sounded, she wished she could hear more. They expressed their concerns about her father’s trade, but before she could respond, one of the guards spoke and a large basket fell from the darkness above. This was, supposedly, the only way for her to enter Kalinor that was relatively safe. The guard gestured towards it, signaling for her to get in. She picked up her dress and stepped in, explaining as she did so, “He buys gems from here, occasionally cloth too.” The hair on the back of Naomi’s neck was standing on end, and her heart raced as tension built in the air. If they called her on her ruse, she would have to kill them both before they shouted or took a swing at her. Then, of course, her adventure would be over before she had started. Well, how would they know who had been trading with them off hand? They probably would have to check some logbook or something before they could have a hope of catching her at it, and by that time, she could be anywhere.

[Poison]

„Yes“, Alanys murmurred as Naomi informed them that her father bought gems and cloth in Kalinor. „That’s what most traders are here for. But what’s his name? He does have a name, doesn’t he?“ She sounded rather suspicious. Demyan noticed that and nudged her. „We decided to give her a warm welcome“, he reminded her in Symenos. „Don’t ask too many questions or she might run.“ Alanys nodded curtly. While Demyan stepped into the basket with Naomi, Alanys preferred to simply climb the rocks.

The basket swayed left and right as it was pulled up again. The journey didn’t take too long though. Once they had reached the other end of the wall, Naomi was greeted with a miraculous sight. Kalinor was unlike any other city in Mizahar. The buildings in Kalinor were shaped like raindrops and decorated with colourful silk. They hung from the ceiling on thick ropes. There were no streets anywhere. Instead thick strands of silk connected the different parts of the city.

There were hardly any humans to be seen. Most of the people that were outside resembled Alanys and Demyan, pale, and graceful with long limbs, fangs and sharp claws. Some of them were dressed in robes and tunics of silk while others wore the traditional exoskeleton armor. All of them stared at Naomi. It didn’t happen very often that a lone, seemingly human woman wandered into Kalinor. And those few that did usually didn’t live long.

„Where do you want to go from here?“ Demyan wanted to know. He had decided to do most of the talking now since Alanys instinctively seemed to say the wrong things. „We can help you until you know the city a bit better. The roads of Kalinor can be tricky. You might fall down and die.“

[B'Naomi Tomva]

Naomi’s jaw dropped at the amazing display of architecture before her. Teardrop shaped buildings with vibrantly colored patches of cloth, and all of them were hanging from the roof of this large cave! This one view was worth the trouble of getting here. When she finally stopped soaking up the fantastic landscape, she noticed all of the people staring at her. Her eyes narrowed, enhancing her vision so she could identify that most if not all of them were not human. They sort of resembled the guards in general features, the pale skin and claws, which she was confident were lesser to her own. In answer to the guard, she replied,”Hmm, I suppose I would like a place to store my things and rest. Then maybe you could show me where the market is. I do not think I will have too much of a problem with the roads.” After all, she did have amazing balance. Naomi did not like some of the looks she was receiving from the locals. She tightened her grip on the Tamo Daggers, ready to stab an attacker if one came at her. The daggers’ bite hurt, and made the target weak if they even got cut by its edge due to a poison a nice man had given her for a mere 50 gold mizazs! Hmm, the relaxint might make the spider men lose their climbing abilities, though that was only a guess. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end, her ears straining to hear a whoosh of air that would be an attacker.

[Poison]

„If you need a place to stay, you should go to the Meadows …“ Demyan began, but stopped abruptly as Alanys nudged him. „If you tell us where your father usually stays when he does business in Kalinor, we’ll take you there“, she informed Naomi and bared her fangs. „By the way, what was his name again?“ It had occured to her that the girl still hadn’t told her. She exchanged a look with Demyan, and her colleague nodded.

Maybe it was all a lie. Maybe she didn’t have a father who was a trader. But why was she in Kalinor then? Suicidal tendencies?

„I think Kalinor will have a new surrogate soon“, she informed Demyan in Symenos before she turned back to Naomi. She had just noticed how the girl had tightened the grip on her daggers. „Let go of your weapons“, she told her. „We Symenestra don’t take well to such a hostile attitude. Besides, nobody is going to hurt you unless we give them permission to do so. For now you are under the protection of the Ochya, the guards of Kalinor.“

For how much longer remained to be seen though. It all depended on whether Naomi could come up with a story that would satisfy Demyan and Alanys and what she told them about her supposed father.

[B'Naomi Tomva]

“His name is Calvin Jacques, sired in Zeltiva,” Naomi said proudly, as if she was happy with her father’s accomplishments, “Father told me that he stayed in the Meadows Public House, in a room named after a flower. I think it was on the red strand road, relatively close to here.” She had trouble pronouncing his last name at first when the sketchy man had her rehearse her story, but she got it in the end. Now the word rolled of her tongue like her own name. Calvin was a semi well known trader that resided in Syliras and dealt in Kalinor’s wares regularly. Supposedly, he was the sketchy man’s relative, though she did not know for sure. The guards called her on gripping her daggers tightly. How could they see them? Did their night vision allow them to see through clothing? “I have this weapon for protecting me on my travels, though I suppose I do not need it anymore, now that I am protected,” she said, pulling a knife out of her pack and offering it to one of the guards. For her it was mostly a butchering knife though. She hoped that they would be satisfied with her knowledge of the city, and not pester her for the remainder of her stay. She had heard that the spider’s could get quite nasty, especially to women, but she did not know what that could mean. If only she knew some of their language, then maybe she would know what the guards were talking about behind her back.

OOCThe daggers are tucked into her sleeves, out of view.

[Poison]

„Do you know anybody named Calvin Jacques?“ Alanys asked Demyan. The young man furrowed his brow as he thought about it. „The name sounds vaguely familiar, very vaguely“, he finally replied. „I don’t know why any trader in his right mind would send his daughter to Kalinor though. If he is a trader, he should know that we harvest women.“ „Maybe he wanted to get rid of her“, Alanys suggested and grinned wickedly, baring her fangs in the process. „Shall we do him the favour?“

„We probably should“, Demyan replied. „It took her a while to come up with his name. There’s something not quite right about her story. I don’t think we should drop her into the Nest right away though. Let’s take her to the Meadows Public House, make her think she’s safe and send for Doctor Hellebore to examine her as you suggested. We can lock her up so that she can’t escape while we verify her story.“

Alanys nodded, turned to Naomi again and switched to Common. „I’m sorry about that. We were just discussing what to do with you and how to make you feel welcome in our city. I hope you aren’t thinking that we are plotting something evil behind your back. It’s just easier for us to talk about things in our own language. By the way, the next time you think you need to defend yourself, try to be a little less obvious.“

She accepted the knife from Naomi, handed it to Damian and extended her hand again. „All your weapons please. We’ll keep them safe for you while you are staying in the Meadows Public House in your father’s favourite room. Can you see that building right over there?“ She pointed at a house that was not too far from the gate. „That’s it.“