Closed A Risky Return (Nirvesca)

[Traverse]

The woman paused in her gnawing to respond. "It doess not hurt at all, in fact it feelss quite wonderful. Have you ever cracked a bone, or your neck and felt a sssense of relief? That iss what it iss like, but along our whole bodiess, like one long sstretch. I do not prefer my human form, though it isss nice when you need to be quieter than the large sssnake that I am." She smiled, and took her time answering Nirvesca's next question, ripping off a few hunks of meat and chewing them thoughtfully.

"I usssually prefer to eat in eithere of my more sserpentine formsss, asss it makes eating easy, I sssimply sswallow my food. Occasionally I enjoy the novelty of...chewing, however." She grinned at Nirvesca, bits of meat sticking out between her human teeth before she continued.

"Sssnakelingss learn their formsss sslowly. We are all born ass ssnakess, without ability to change form, when we are adolesscentss we learn to change, to grow our armsss, and change our ssize. Changing into a a human vissage is far harder, and when you learn thisss you are marked ass a fully adult Dhani. It comess at different timess for different Dhani." She shrugged.

Nirvesca did not provide the fount of information the Dhani was expecting, but this was probably for the best, as much more speech of the senselessness of their fighting might have resulted in an eruption of anger. "They might know more if they had not fled the jungless when the Myriansss had begun to rissse in power." But rather than argue more with the Symenestra, the Dhani simply shook her head, swallowing most of the rest of her half of meat, bones and all. "I will resst now, you should ssleep as well, we will have a long day tomorrow."

And with that Nirvesca's savior curled up int he crook of a tree, and promptly drifted into a state of unconsciousness.

[Nirvesca]

Nirv listened intently to her savior shed the light of understanding on many of the unknowns. Not averting her eyes even, but merely lowering her lips to the carcass to sip and lick more of the nutrient laden stew. The spider gave her a doubtful look as to the merits and happy-feelings neck-cracking brought. In fact, the mere thought of her doing such things to her neck almost instigated a migraine headache. She rubbed her neck appreciatively.

"Oh. That makes perfect sense. My kind consider those who possess respectable levels of stealth to be blessed," she said with a nod of her head. It was a paramount skill to the success of the all-important harvests.

Nirv gave her a fangy-smile, but then shook her head sadly. "Alas, though I can chew, the novelty does not help with my digestion. I envy you, Savior." She promptly went back to slurping, though perhaps a bit less enthusiastically. But the thought of simply swallowing her food whole made her want to choke. She touched her throat and imagined wolfing down a whole person much like the Dhani did.

Having finished drinking what was in a drinkable state, the lithe Symenestra dragged her leafy mat for sitting over to where the Dhani was . She dropped it down and laid down on her stomach, propping her chin in her hands whilst leaning on her elbows, legs bent at the knee to dangle behind her. Large Amethyst pools reflected Leth's light and also shone with curiosity.

She found the Dhani's talk of their young extraordinary. "It must be so weird to be one thing for so very long and then change to... something else," she said thoughtfully, moving her legs languidly as she crushed a bug that was far too large for her liking, trying to clamber onto her arm. "No climbing Nirv today, bug!" she said with a snicker and brushed the dead bug a preferable distance away.

The spider sensed an anger come over the Dhani when she talked about her people's departure from the jungles. Her tone was thick with resentment. Nirv did not know what to say in response. She doubted anything she had to say would erase whatever wrong her savior felt. Instead, she applied a distraction tactic. "We've been together all this time and I don't even know your name. What should I call you, Savior?" She asked with an adoring smile.

Eventually the Dhani announced it was sleep time and curled her body in the niche of a tree. Nirv found herself alone once again with the noises of the jungles for company. She edged her leaf mat as close as she dared, curling herself up next to her savior. As exhausting a day as she had had, sleep claimed her nearly as soon as her head hit the ground.

[Traverse]

As an afterthought, the massive serpent turned to Nirvesca, long moments after the question of her name.

"My name isss Hasslinashorassyl. Sssince it iss eassier, you can call me Rassyl."

And with that she disappeared into the underbrush, leaving Nirvesca to rest for the night.

Nirvesca had learned to be a light sleeper in the jungles of Falyndar, but the pace at which Rasyl had pressed her the previous day took its tole upon her body. She dipped into slumber almost immediately after laying her head down, and seemingly an instant later woke to find herself moving.

It took a few ticks for Nirvesca to come fully to her senses, but she realized she was aloft, held by two scaled arms like one might cradle a baby. She could catch a good view of the beauty of Rasyl's scales being embraced by them, they seemed to be a hundred different shades of green, patches and splotches of indistinct and shimmering patterns crossing her scales. It made her naturally better at hiding in the jungle than most of her peers, and something the Dhani Constrictor had taken full advantage of growing up in the cutthroat caverns of Zinrah.

Piercing yellow eyes darted down from up on high, spying that the Symenestra was now awake. "Foolish of me not to think of it sssooner, you are light asss a handful of dirt, and thiss way we keep my pace. Ssleep well little spider?"

oocAll of Nirv's possessions are being carried by Rasyl as well, wherever you feel they would best fit

[Nirvesca]

Nirv stretched her arms out and yawned nearly as wide. She had dreamt a most awful nightmare that she was tortured once again to a life of constant running. The Jungles knew no end and she knew no respite from mile upon mile of tropical tree prison. It took her a couple of ticks to focus on her surroundings which just happened to be moving! Nirv felt suddenly nauseous with the waking locomotion. She brought a hand to her parched lips and belched something awful smelling. The Symenestra moaned and peered around. She was being held like an infant in the Dhani's arms. After a time of watching the land of vines and buzzing insects around her go by, Nirv felt somewhat recovered enough to add some of her own commentary to the travel. "Where are.........we?" She asked between yawns. To the spider, the jungle all looked the same. She wondered how her savior-- Rassyl could tell the difference from one direction to the other.

Despite the lofty position being a bit precarious, she found herself warming up to this method of travel. It surely beat the usage of her own legs. Nirv's sore feet welcomed the change too. Something else that was interesting was the gentleness in which the Dhani carried her. She had thought the snake-lady to be callous and brutal after her marathon march. It was unexpected to say the least. But not unwanted. She doubted she could last another day of the running. Though the nutrition of last night's feast had revitalized her, she still felt a bit disorientated. It would be many days before she would regain the vigor in which she left Kalinor.

She beamed a bit at having finally been given a name to attach to her savior. Hasslinashorassyl. That was her full name and Nirv had the Dhani woman repeat it more than once to store it to memory. Nirv felt it a necessary responsibility to learn the name. Even if it was easier to call her Rassyl, she would not forget her true name. There was power in names, her father had often lectured her. "How much farther until we reach the city? I am so looking forward to it. There are so many questions. Would I have a spacious apartment? Not that I require one overly large. I would love to know more about what knowledge the Dhani have about poisons. It's sort of a profession of mine. Already I've uncovered many new fungi that I cannot identify. Do many of your people work with poisons?"

[Traverse]

Rasyl smiled a knowing expression that reached all the way to her gleaming eyes.

"It isss not too much farther to Zinrah at this pace, a few daysss at mosst, asss for what your accommodationsss will be, that will depend highly on the Dhani who purchasesss you out of the dungeonss of the city." She gave only the slightest of pauses before continuing as if the ownership of one's own life was a matter of quite little importance. "The Conssstrictorsss of Zinrah do not often dabble in poisons, but the Viperss of the city are well versssed in ssuch artss, asss they naturally produce a potent toxin of their own. I personally conssider it a highly underhanded practice."

She continued her voracious pace through the foliage, looking out over the jungle thoughtfully.

oocSo in the next few posts I'll be drawing this thread to a close and we'll railroad the few days more of travel needed, if Nirv has any pressing questions or whatnot, now is the time to throw them out!

[Nirvesca]

It was a thrilling way to travel, by Dhani. Nirv pointed at things in the jungle that made her curious and her savior supplied suitable responses to at leat half of them. But one answer in particular had her flustered. "Purchased?" She echoed back, her eyes widening, amethyst irises darkening in shock. "What did you just say, Rassyl?" Surely she must have been mistaken. The word just sounded like "purchased" because of the quick rate in which they traveled. That was it.

Much to Nirv's horror, she had heard her Dhani savior correctly. The callous and casual way in which Rassyl discussed it inflamed the Symenestra very deeply. Her dreams of bringing two peoples together in a most exciting intellectual harvest was quickly spiraling into a nightmare of her being a prisoner-- a slave. "Let me go! I want to go now!" She cried, fangs dipping below the curve of her lip as she repeateldy slapped at the Dhani's iron like hold on her. Tears were in the little spider's eyes, clouding her vision of their surroundings.

"I thought you were my friend. How could you do this to me!! Let me go!" she wailed hysterically.

NoteAlrighty! I'm ready to wrap this colossal thread up. Thank you for the wonderful moderation. I enjoyed it immensely.

[Traverse]

A familiar rumbling chuckle reverberated throughout the Dhani's body. Nirvesca could tell, as she probably had already known that her struggling was utterly futile, and she was more likely to break her own bones than was the Dhani about to let her go.

"I ssaved your life, but that doesss not qualify asss friendship little sspider. It meansss your life isss mine, and I shall make a pretty Miza off of you when you are ssold to ssome lessser Queen. Symenessstra are ssso rare in Falyndar, to have one trying to get to Zinrah? Well it wassss my lucky day wasssn't it? Now ssstop ssquirming, your great adventure hasss not yet begun."

She laughed again as a mottle green form holding a tiny pale woman disappeared into the mass of foliage in the center of Falyndar's great jungle.

Nirvesca

Experience:

• Acrobatics 1
• Endurance 3
• Interrogation 2
• Intimidation 1
• Land Navigation 1
• Observation 5
• Persuasion 1
• Rhetoric 2
• Running 5
• Shortbow 1
• Socialization 5
• Wilderness Survival 3

Lores:

• The Difficulties of Keeping Clean in Falyndar's Jungles
• Nandhai: A Large Insectivore of Falyndar
• Being Attacked by Myrians
• Myrians and Dhani: Mortal Enemies
• Dhani Transformations = Cathartic
• Dhani Prefer Eating in Serpent Forms
• Dhani are Born as Snakes, and Not Considered Adults Until they can Transform into Human form
• Hasslinashorassyl or Rassyl, the Name of Nirvesca's Dhani 'Savior'
• Being Taken as a Prisoner and Slave to Zinrah

Additional Notes :

So apologies again in my huge delays to post to this thread. It was an enjoyable experience, as you don't very often get a chance to see a PC so new and untrained to the threats and dangers of Falyndar, so that was very fun. If you feel there was any XP missed or a particular lore you wanted let me know!