It's a Beautiful Day for a Test!

[Edreina]

51st of Fall, 513 After the Valterrian
Zeltiva, The Sylira Region
Just Before Midday

If ever there were a day perfect for swimming and frolicking in the waves, this one would have been it. Syna shone, Zulrav blew, and Laviku's seas were an especially vibrant shade of blue. Men and women were taking advantage of this moment of peace, running errands and fraternizing in the streets. Young couples kissed in the shade of eaves, drawing smiles fond smiles from men who still remembered their days of conquest and rolled eyes from the women who remembered how quickly the young maiden's heart would take flight. Everyone seemed more amicable on this odd day of warmth upon the fringe of the fast approaching Winter. Men with their horses and carts and good stopped to talk with the blue-eyed sea-folk as they wandered away from their creaking, swaying homes. Even the gulls seemed to be enjoying the day; preening in Syna's glinting light distracted them from their daily game of seeing who could poop on the most unsuspecting Feather-less.

"Are you sure this is going to fit?" Edreina asked ever so patiently as the woman at the other end of the table they held continued her attempt to finagle the massive, and arm-achingly heavy - especially when one found oneself doing the majority of the work - table into the door of her home. Edreina was not a weak woman, but her lithe, sinuous arms were already screaming their displeasure. The elder woman, with her graying hair and age-folded eyes had beckoned to Edreina as she passed. Despite the fact she now dressed unlike most other women with leather pants, high leather boots, and a torso bare of all except for the linen that bound her bountiful chest. With the tattoo dripping from her ribs down to her chest, leaving trails of murky ebony ink that wove and danced together, and the scar on her shoulder, the only thing out of place was the bright yellow kerchief that held her flaming mane aloft.

"Well, it has to. My son Norman helped me get it out and would have helped me to get it back in, but he had to go work at the stables." The younger woman was sure that, somewhere in the elder's bloodline, there must be a bit of Svefra; was not often that landstriders saw fit to demand help from a stranger. After a few more sways and rocks, the table's legs were through the door and, from there, it was a simple turn and then the table was inside.

Both women leaned on the roughly hewn table for a few ticks to steady their arms. "Why did you take the table outside?" Came a question from the woman with bright blue eyes. It had not been planned and it was likely not polite, but she was too curious to care.

"There was food and bits stuck in the grain. I wasn't going to clean that in here!" Her tone suggested that to do so was akin to scrubbing oneself in a dinner pot. Already wrinkled features curled in on one another as she considered ever doing so. "Anyhow, thank you so much for your help, dearie. Please, take this for your troubles." A loaf of bread from the cupboard was offered and, of course, Edreina could not say no! This woman had a knack for getting her way, it seemed. "If you'd like, you can stop by for dinner sometime and meet Norm! You're such a lovely young lady..."

Fighting the urge to cringe, the freckled lass politely said that she would be sure to do so if ever she had the time. Silently, though, she vowed never to come near this area of town again. Next thing she knew, she would be pulling a cart of groceries for the woman; it was the best chance for her to make an escape.

And escape she did at a quick trot until she felt entirely safe in her course of avoidance. The loss of that area of Zeltiva was not too horrid, there was still much for her to see.

(c) Wanda Endust

[Ignotus Everto]

"Hey! You!" squeaked a male voice. Evidently that part of Zeltiva was a touch larger than anticipated.
The voice belonged to a lithe Denvali boy of fifteen years, with sandy blonde hair and earnest blue eyes... Who was scurrying after Edreina. "Yeah! You! You're that girl that... Who does the... With..."
He frowned as he tried to articulate the fact that she had been seen often with a powerful sorcerer, and must therefore be just as powerful a sorceress, because that's how logic works.

"The point is," the lad said, shaking his head like a horse bothered by flies, "You can help me!"
He bit his lip then, quietly hoping the Svefra wouldn't decide to turn him into a newt or something instead.

[Edreina]

The Gods hated Edreina. Apparently, well, obviously, that much was a fact of matter and substance. Substance being an obviously overly excited young man who, even more obviously, lacked the ability to form a complete sentence. Does the what with the who? she wondered idly, resting a hand on her hip as she attempted to allow him to finish even a single idea. Her mind wandered immediately to Razkar and all of the things that she did do with him. Poor girl just could not help the train of her thoughts at times nor the way that her cheeks grew rosy and smirk a bit more seductive than was appropriate. The magic of being young and in love and frequently satisfied (Emotionally! Get your head out of that gutter.) could hardly be contained by a mortal vessell.

Sadly, the thought that the boy decided to complete was one requesting aide; Edreina truly needed to grow a spine or hers would be broken by yet another table. With a sigh of barely conceived exhasperation, the Svefra nodded and motioned for him to show her what he needed help with.

(c) Wanda Endust

[Ignotus Everto]

A nervous grin appeared immediately on the lan's face. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!"

'I um... have this... Well, she's a really good friend." he said as he toed the ground, "Her name's Valentine. And I really, really like her! But she's got this nasty beau; Victor. He likes to bully 'little folks' like us, and he doesn't respect her, and I just want her to see what a turd he is, but I can't do it."

The kid seemed to deflate slightly before looking up at Edry, "But you're pretty, and you're always around that wizard, and you look like a nice person. Maybe you can... I don't know... Convince her? Or reveal Victor for what he is, or..." He bit his lip again, "I know you don't know me, but can't you please do it for Valentine?"

[Edreina]

At the end of his request, Edreina sighed lightly, moving so that her feet were squared, chin lifted slightly and her hands on her hips. Unconsciously, she was mimicking her mother and every other woman who ever had reprimanded her. Ignotus had made it clear to her that she should not speak of his art, nor her own. But, before even that came into play as she mentally composed a response, her own theologies were at the forefront. "Look..." she hesitated, allow him to insert his own name if so he chose. "I don't know who said I've been seen with some wizard, but they were misguided. Even so, I will not interfere in this matter..." Despite herself, her stance softened. "You have to trust that so long as he is a bad person and undeserving of her, he will be found out and she will move on. But, poisoning someone against another rarely works in your favor. If anything, she may resent you for ruining what she thought to be picturesque. If her eyes are open, she will see what is there. If not, you cannot force them open without putting yourself under scrutiny as well." Again she shifted, putting her hand on his shoulder.

Djed-heightened concern flared in her eyes as they met his, hopefully impressing the importance of what she would say next. "My advice is to be there for her. Do nothing to promote or to poison her current relationship. When things go South, be there for her more than ever. Your concern will endear you to her." Her smile brightened, a sense of hope warming her eyes as well. They both had to know that the world would work itself as it was meant to, and hope that such would be in their benefit. If not, he would have to move on and plot a new course.

(c) Wanda Endust

[Ignotus Everto]

Pavel- as he let her know when she allowed him- did not like the sound of that at first, but Edreina was earnest, and persuasive, and, perhaps more than anything else, looked like she cared. A smile soon came to the boy's face, and he said absently, "You're right... Thanks lady!"

Soon afterwards he blanched, mumbled a goodbye, and dashed off, apparently staring at something over Edreina's shoulder. "I didn't know you liked kids." drawled a familiar, amused voice.

Ignotus had to avoid chuckling at the little lad's fright: he knew his actions on the 1st of Fall would generate an interesting attitude towards him, but he didn't expect one quite so blatant.

[Edreina]

The way in which the young man left may have been a bit odd but, slowly, Edreina was learning that everyone around here was. It was probably because they lived in still buildings and that caused their minds to wobble instead of their bodies wobbling on the sea and their minds being a bit stiller. It was a ridiculous thought but it amused her in the tick it took for the boy to leave and another voice to catch her attention.

"Children are... iffy... I like them when they are young but the entire angsty teenage stage is an annoyance," she said with a smile, turning to face Ignotus Everto, her mentor of sorts. Well, alongside Razkar, who taught her the physical arts. "But, I also understand being hopelessly in love. I don't want him to mess it up." The statement was followed by a light shrug and a smile. Her lips pursed, and she glanced thoughtfully in the direction in which the man had disappeared. "What was with that, anyway?"

(c) Wanda Endust

[Ignotus Everto]

"Oh, you have no idea..." Ignotus muttered at the mention of love, thoughts turning to Gale. The fool was a disappointment on many levels, but it was hard not to at least feel pity for the seemingly gleeful way Lhex murdered his sweethearts.

The Nuit shrugged at Edreina's question, "I had to break one of the rebel leaders to end Denval's coup." he said as casually as one would describe squashing a spider, "No doubt the boy heard a second hand version of the story, where I turn into a giant snake and breathe fire."

The Hypnotist chuckled softly, "I can't blame him. A wizard at the height of his powers can be an intimidating sight for almost anyone. Especially those that don't understand them."

[Edreina]

"Why did you have to break them?" Edreina asked. Obviously, it was because they refused to lose. So, she decided to restate her question. "What was wrong with what they were trying to do? I was not present in Zeltiva at that time, so I am not aware of the details." Almost unconsciously, she started to walk away from this area again. If Ignotus followed, she would stop when she came to an area less clustered by buildings.

If he did follow her for some reason, she would turn to him, smiling, and ask what today's lesson would be. There was no reason for him to have stopped her, or gone looking for her if that was what he had done, if he did not mean to talk to her, teach her, whatever it was. And, as she had quickly learned with Ignotus, he rarely did things without reason.

(c) Wanda Endust

[Ignotus Everto]

"They wished to overthrow Zeltiva's elected government, and install a military regime." Ignotus answered, walking beside Edry. "Not unlike the Syliran Knights, but without the moral obligation. I stopped them to protect my people's way of life. As a child of Laviku, you can appreciate the importance of such a thing."

The Nuit's brow furrowed faintly, "Though I confess, I didn't expect the poor girl to react quite so poorly to a compulsion. She was a bit of a sadist; I suppose she couldn't tolerate being the weak one for a change."

Edreina would notice the Nuit's upper lip twitch in an unconscious expression of scorn then.
He knew weakness. He knew powerlessness. And he had long since transcended it. Now the narrow-minded animals cowered before him.

As they should.

He shrugged, and in response to Edreina's question of lessons, he said, "One might not call this a lesson, but it's an important question to ask nonetheless."

"How far are you willing to go? When what's important to you is in danger, just how much are you prepared to do in its defense?"