Closed [Alements] Colliding Tactics (Caelum)

[Eselle]

Timestamp: 65th of Fall, 514 AVThis date is arbitrary if you want it changed just let me know, although I would like to keep it past the 55th

Eselle slid into the Alements. Her footsteps were gentle but the sheath of the bastard sword across her back grated against the doorframe. She was getting better at walking with the weapon, her gait was smoothing out again but that didn’t stop her from knocking things. The day had been quiet but the brawl from ten days past still reverberated in her ears. No amount of tenacity could make up for skill. She hadn’t thought, she hadn’t planned, she had only thrown herself into it even if the reason was justice. It was so unlike her.

The Konti looked down at the chair she had sat in during her last visit. She couldn’t sit with the sheath across her shoulders, she tugged at the straps across her chest unbuckling them and leaning the weapon on the adjacent chair. She needed clarity, the serenity that had come so easily just last season seemed to be an eel in her grasp; as soon as her grip firmed it slipped away. One thing, that required less thought was the bastard sword. It was time to learn to use it, not just learn to carry it. It had done its duty, people had not harassed her as much since she took to wearing it every day but she needed a plan to make it more than an ornament. That plan would begin with a cup of a tea.

It was divinely quiet this early in the day. Eselle had learned over her season in Riverfall that Alements wouldn’t remain that way, it seemed to be a favorite of a number of interesting individuals. She had read the fortunes of a number of people now but one of the first had been here.

Her plan for tea was forgotten as she stared at the sheathed sword laying across the chair beside her. Pushing through ideas, how to learn the weapon in a meaningful way. The Akalaks were warriors, no doubt one among them used this kind of sword… still this season had made them seem somehow malevolent. Would it be wise to let such creatures teach her a martial skill? Not without knowing a healer, she concluded.

Consulting the cards seemed wrong, when ever before it had been right. She was scared to doubt their message as she never had before, what seed might that bury for the future? No whatever was affecting her mood, she needed to sort it out first. Eselle would not taint her craft that way.

[Caelum]

The clear glass alembic was nestled on the stove top. Caelum stood before it, hip shot, with one arm wrapped about his chest while he squinted at the water. Dressed in a pair of dark brown riding leathers and a long sleeved, cream colored tunic, he was in his usual dressed-down state. Due to the incredible appearance of his day form, he leaned toward plain attire. Sunshine splashed into the kitchen from the kitchen side door that was propped open with a high backed chair. It afforded him a view of the bay as Alements was located at the far end of the third tier, and the curving edge of the cliff face. Up front, Elise bustled comfortably about the tavern, a vision of graceful competence, but back in the kitchen Caelum was literally watching water boil. A ceramic crock of sea salt, a burlap sack of conifer needles, and a trio of sterilized glass tubes waited on the granite countertop. They were the remaining components for a rather standard eyewash intended to assist in clearing vision. At Caelum’s advanced state of learning wherein medicine and herbalism were concerned, it was surprising that he knew so very little about the actual philtering of medicines and tinctures. He could create an herbal antidote better, and probably faster, than almost anyone; but ask him to concoct a simple lotion to soothe chapped skin and he would fumble and possibly fail. This was undoubtedly due to the fact that he had spent the majority of his years back on Mizahar in a state of near constant travel, and up until he had settled into Riverfall he had rarely had the necessary tools on hand for philtering. His focus therefore had been directed at finding strictly surgical and herbal methods of healing the wounded bodies he came across. To that end, he was well versed. The result was that while he could safely perform an appendectomy in the middle of a mud fight, he had trouble concocting a simple saline solution. “Caelum, Eselle’s back,” Elise’s voice interrupted his brooding. He blinked up, surfacing. “The fortune teller,” she prompted and she gave him a long look. “Right, sorry.” Caelum cleared his throat and turned about, forgetting entirely about the alembic and the slow simmering water in order to snatch a fresh kettle off the back burner. A cup of peppermint black tea was poured and set to steep and he added a blueberry tart to the edge of the saucer before carrying the lot of it out of the kitchen and into the tavern proper. “Good morning, Eselle. Or afternoon.” Golden eyes skated toward the brightly colored windows and back to the konti as he arrived at her table. The cup and saucer were set down and he tilted his head at the sword strapped to her narrow back. “Expecting trouble?”

[Eselle]

Eselle glanced at Caelum oddly, confusion clear on her face. It wasn’t at all that she had never seen the Ethefael, oh indeed she had. It was from Hirem’s memories that the face sprang. This horned man looked nothing at all like the Drykas she had met in the past Summer. She spoke, “You are Hirem Son Of Rapa’s adviser…” half to herself, half to the strange cosmic alliance that brought the factors together in such a fantastic way.

It was only after a long moment in spent pondering in revelation that she recognized a question had been posed. “Oh the sword.” She stated still regaining presence of mind, “Yes. This season has not been kind, but it’s only a prop.” Even had she the ability to wield the blade, her bruises would have slowed any attempts. The brawl ten days past had left her hip severely afflicted, in the morning light of her apartment the blues were only now fading into purple.

The tea was a clue. Somehow her preference was known, “Have we met before?” The seer inquired. His voice wasn’t so far from the Caelum she knew but the faces simply didn’t match. Perhaps this man had met her at the Inner Eye, though the seer tried to recall every patron. Surely the horns would have made an impression.

Little about the young woman had actually changed since last they met. Her white boots were yet again cleaned, although travel wear never completely disappeared, and her black pants hid the consequences of inexperienced combat. Her manners returned, she stopped staring. “Thank you for the tea.” She nodded at the opposing chair, for the second time she unknowingly offered the owner of the establishment a seat that was already his. “If you would like, no one is sitting here.” There was a boldness as she spoke now, that contradicted their previous meeting like Syna and Leth. She had been terrified of interacting on a personal level when they had first spoken and that fear seemed to have dissipated with the Summer heat.

She tried to shake off the confusion and return to the present. “Has the season been more peaceful here?”

[Caelum]

"Thank you." Same as the first time, Caelum simply took the offered seat with a smile. It was an old leather armchair, the sort of furniture peace that the foolish failed to cherish as time gave the leather a special sheen and a few chips and scars to the polished wooden feet and back mouldings merely added character. He leaned comfortably forward, forarms folding to rest on the edge of the table and deep auburn hair splashing into his face a little too long. It was need of cutting. One boot angled back under his chair and he reached over to break in half the blueberry tart he had set on the edge of her plate. One half was offered her on fingertips and the other he popped right into his mouth, chewing thoughtfully. An eyebrow ticked up, and he swallowed. "You know Hirem." It was half a question, and half a statement. "Yes, I suppose I am... that." His advisor. Caelum smiled a little to himself, marveling at the title the Benshiran had clearly chosen for him. "How do you know him? He's a good man, is Hirem. One of the best." That high opinion came with slow narrowing eyes, derailed from his original thought process by the soft beating of need against the base of his skull. He sucked a bit of sugar from his thumb and then dropped his hand to flatten it on the table between them. On its back was the pale gold gnosis mark of Rak'keli, a divine design no Konti would be capable of not recognizing. He turned it over, palm up and fingers curved in invitation. "You're injured," he stated calmly. "Please, allow me to help. If it's serious, we can step into my infirmary --" He tilted his head toward a short hall at the end of the bar. "And see to it in there. Eselle --" Humor crinkled the corners of his eyes and sharpened the line of his smile. "I'm Caelum. We've met before. I wore the skin of a Drykas then, my face for when Leth rules the sky. I'm an ethaefal, and we change both with the days as well as the seasons. Alements is mine. That's how you found me here." His eyes traveled over the length of her sword, considering.