Closed Balancing Relations (Ashar)

[Alyra]

A childish grin emerged on Alyra's face. Her eyes lit up, and now shone with hunger now. Since her arrival in Riverfall, this man was the first to not just allow her investigation, but to openly invite it. "First," Alyra began, leaning forward. "What is Jek?" The way this man talked about this "Jek" made Alyra think it was more of a who than a what. Alyra amended her mistake promptly. "Is that a partner to you? A boss?" Once she was allowed to start, Alyra often found it hard to stop. One question led to another, and then led to forty more. Hopefully, this man could keep up, because she wasn't sure if she could remember the questions she was firing off. "Why the militia? Aren't there..." Alyra squinted as she thought, then sat back as she found her words. "Guards? City guards? You stay there with other militia? Are they all Akalak?" Alyra crossed her arms in front of her chest, then tilted her head to the right. She watched the man, waiting for his responses before she unleashed the next wave of questions.

[Ashar]

Ashar They were a series of sincere and good questions, Ashar found. While most of them were easy to answer, he hadn't given much thought to the composition of the Kuvay'Nas. But before he could concern himself with that, there was still that glaring misconception. Jek? A boss? Hah, if only. "Jek is not my boss," Ashar answered, an amused grin on his face. "Jek is my dark brother, who is part of me but, at the same time, not me. He is the man who shares this body with me, and who sometimes takes control from me. Every Akalak has one, and they are as varied as the personalities you see usually." Oi, protested Jek, gently pouting. You make it sound like I actually try to force control from you. I'm not so crass and impolite. I know, it's just fun to mess with you while I'm in control. "We are the city guards," Ashar continued, not surprised at Alyra's confusion. It was a question he'd fielded often. "It is a common mistake to think that we are not the same, but we are the city's guard and militia. We patrol inside the walls, like I am now, and we patrol outside the walls as well to keep travelers to and from Riverfall safe." Ashar nodded, satisfied with his answer. The next one was a little harder to give, but he did it best he could. "Hm. Currently, I think we are all Akalaks, and I have not seen any other races among our number yet. I don't think being Akalak is a requirement for application, however." It was something he had to think about. Most of the city was Akalak, and since they took their fighting so seriously it would make sense for any military organization to contain Akalaks primarily. But as far as he could remember, there wasn't anything stopping a human or something walking into the lodge and volunteering for a patrol. "We also have volunteer militia, who act out of altruism for this city, or just to get into the Kuvay'Nas proper," he continued after struggling with his horse, who was growing restless. "I was a volunteer for most of my years, and only recently joined the cavalry proper. It's something some of us aspire to, but for those who don't want to dedicate themselves to fighting." His horse again made some scuffling steps at the ground, apparently itching to start moving again. Ashar couldn't blame him, since the sooner they finished the patrol the sooner they could get out of the damned heat. Speaking of which, he was taking a rather long pause from his patrol, which he knew he should be getting back to. Before we do leave, could you make an arrangement to meet with her again? Jek asked. He also was sick of this heat, but this woman was too interesting to just let go after one conversation. I would like to talk with her myself sometime, maybe learn some more. Sure thing. When she's done, I'll set something up. That settled with his dark brother, Ashar waited for the next round of questions.

[Alyra]

Alyra nodded, deep in thought. "What Jek do?" Obviously he had done something wrong in order to be known as the "dark brother." Alyra couldn't imagine someone bestowing such a title onto an innocent being. "Why is your brother in you? That happens in..." Alyra had no idea what the word was for "womb" in Tukant, so she finished her thought with a gesture. Her hand swept lovingly over her stomach just as a pregnant woman's would. What would happen if a woman bore only one Akalak baby in her womb? Would that Akalak then lack a brother? Would that mean that twins in the Akalak society were really four fetuses in the womb, and two were just internalized? Alyra furrowed her brow. It was a strange idea that reminded her slightly of cannibalism, so she shook away that line of inquiry. "Take control? Is that why he is dark?" If that were the case, then Alyra would lose a small amount of respect for the Akalaks. She understood that they loved control and discipline, but dubbing someone as "evil" just because they share control over something with you seemed rather extreme to her. "Proper?" Alyra paused, then continued. "Volunteers are not proper?" Did that mean the volunteers didn't get paid? How did they manage patrolling the city and working for pay? Wouldn't that get tiring? Alyra sighed in disappointment. She was tired often, and she didn't even have a job yet. Alyra watched as the man struggled his horse back into passivity. She hadn't realized it until now, but she was distracting him from his job. Suddenly embarrassed, Alyra's face flushed with color. "You go." She stood, then patted the horse along its neck. "You must work, I am sorry."

[Ashar]

Alyra's question confused Ashar, though it was due to a misunderstanding arisen from the question's phrasing. The Ethaefal had slipped in her tenses, so Ashar thought she meant what Jek did in general, something he found terrible confusion from. He had no idea that it was in response to the dark label his society had given him. "Jek... is Jek," he said. "He does what he does. He is like me, just with a different personality. When it's his turn in the body, for example, he usually goes to the library because he's a lot more boring."

Hey, just because I like to think a bit more than a rock doesn't mean I'm boring. Think about how much you were listening to her, compared to how much I've been.

Ashar chuckled to himself, enjoying the mental sparring the two went through on a regular basis.

"Womb?" offered Ashar, noting the location of Alyra's hand. He didn't realize that his words could be mistaken in such a way until he said them aloud, and only Alyra's confusion helped him realize how truly alien the dual souls must seem to those who did not know the Akalaks well. You would be much better to explain this, brother.

Give it your best shot, Jek replied. I don't want to go through explaining it all to her when she'll have no idea we switched places. This heat is too much for me to take much more - I'll explain it to her better next time we meet.

"Jek is..." Ashar began, then stopped as he thought to himself. He didn't want to just leave Alyra hanging, though Jek was right in that switching now would only make things more confusing for her. Until next time, he would have to do his best. "Jek is my other soul. He also lives in this body. You'll get to meet him next time, he'll explain it to you better then."

Just then, the horse made another sudden move, and this time took a little longer before calming down again. As much as Ashar wanted to talk at length about the Kuvay'Nas, he also had a patrol to finish for them and this heat was unbearable. It was clear Alyra had many more questions too, though Jek would be better able to answer those next time. "Don't worry," he said to Alyra, smiling. "I enjoyed talking with you. I usually train at either Sasaran during the day, but Jek likes to hang around the Valkalah library. He'll meet you there."

The horse made a move again, and this time Ashar did not stop it. He turned and waved to Alyra as the horse trotted off, smiling. "Goodbye for now, Alyra. I look forward to next time we meet."

That done, Ashar looked back ahead of him and steered the horse so that it returned to the path, and from there followed it along through the rest of the park. Alyra was a welcome distraction from the tedium of his work, but he had a job to finish nonetheless. Overall, Ashar was feeling pretty good - if boiling in the blasted weather - and continued his little patrol through the park. It wasn't until much later, when Jek brought something up, that Ashar realized he'd forgotten something. You forgot to set a date for our meeting, jakri. How will she know when to go to the library?

...petch.

[Mayhem1]

You're an excited PC roaming around a thread.

You're not paying attention that the story's over.

Then...BAM! You're hit with a Grade.

I'm Mayhem, the ever-present Junior ST of Cyphrus. If you have any questions or concerns regarding this grade, please don't hesitate to shoot me a PM! And please, please remove or edit your grading request once you see this. Thank you!

 

Alyra

XP

• Acrobatics - 2
• Socialization - 5
• Observation - 2
• Investigation - 1

LORES

• Ashar: Patrols for the Kuvay'nas
• Kuvay'nas: Militia of Riverfall
• Jek: Ashar's Dark Brother
• Akalak: Have Dark Brothers
• Kuvay'nas: Also City Guards
• Kuvay'nas: All Akalak
• Dark Brother: One of Two Twin Souls in an Akalak

 

Ashar

XP

• Riding - 1
• Observation - 3
• Socialization - 5
• Investigation - 1

LORES

• Jek Knows Flowers
• Alyra: An Ethaefal
• Ethaefal: Have Horns
• Ethaefal: Fall Through a Hole in the Ukalas
• Alyra: Once With Syna
• Ethaefal: With Syna or Leth

A very nice thread, I enjoyed reading Alyra struggle with Tukant and Ashar get impatient while waiting for her to come up with the right words. Jek's commentary in the background was also on point. Loved it.

With Regards,
- Mayhem