[Docks] Silence of the Sea (Annalisa Marin)

[Gybe]

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Timestamp 78th of Summer, 515AV

Light had not yet hit the edge of the distant horizon over the sea, yet Gybe woke up. Every day since his birth it seemed, he woke up at this time. The city was silent as it normally was at this time. A deep breath filled his lungs and his eyes slowly crept open. The crusted tears that filled his eyes, sealing them shut, now were broken and he rubbed his eyes as he yawned. A stretch rocked his body forward as he reached down to his toes to stretch his achy back.

“Nnn…” he groaned as he sat back up. Gybe was youthful but his body certainly could get sore on days that he could not find fish; it took a lot more effort to hit his quota. Coming to a stand, the man stretched upward and scratched his chest, tugging lightly at the hairs that adorned his upper torso. With lazy movement, he let his eyes adjust to the room, seeing everything seemed to be in order, he moved to grab his cigarette that he had left on the table the night before. He used his flint to light some tinder and lit up his cigarette; puffing it to maintain the heat. Now it was time to go. Stripping off his shirt, Gybe grabbed his dagger, slid it through a belt buckle, and then grabbed his net.

It was a short walk from his home to the docks, and even with a slow gait, the man seemed to reach the docks quickly. The rocking boats in the subtle waves of the bay made a lapping sound that was unique to the area. Many of the boats were tied up on the shoreline, but some were on various docks.

The Haversham’s boat was one of those, and as Gybe headed down to the docks, the monks took notice of him approaching. There were a small number of them down at the docks and he gave them a silent nod as he continued past. They knew that Gybe generally was not in a good mood when he first woke up for some reason, but gladly would talk to him when he came back from the sea. Walking down the dock he tossed his net into the rowboat and gave his body one last stretch to prepare for the rowing it was about to endure.

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Other's Words -- My Words -- My Thoughts

[Annalisa Marin]

The balmy summers of Nyka were quite agreeable to the Zeltiva born Annalisa Marin as she walked through the city streets. It was familiar to her and really almost felt like she was home. Well, aside from the hostility she received from the natives. Still compared to Sahova the place was downright agreeable. No insane hypnotists trying to murder her, no hidden schemers plotting her downfall, and no shambling corpses walking around. The sorceress therefore was rather in a good mood as she made her way through the city, her hands behind her head as she walked towards the direction of the Docks.

It was the one local in Nyka that continued to draw her, reminding her of home really. The smell of the sea and the gulls crying over head as fishermen sailed out to the ocean… it was enough to draw a sigh from her. Never would she have imagined she would miss Zeltiva. Now she knew well that there were far worse things in life than a quiet life in a pleasant city. Her gaze turned towards the endless blue sky and she wondered. She wondered how the University was doing, how her old students were, and most of all about her house. Was it a crumbling wreck now? Had moss and termites made a home in it? Had robbers ransacked the place, taking anything not nailed down? Probably. She had just left it and it had been two years. Two long years.

Anna was no doubt something of an odd sight to most. She was dressed rather commonly, her tunic and trousers being rather plain and her sandals as road worn as they came. Her dark hair was pulled into a high ponytail and her posture was rather relaxed, more so than might be true for a typical foreigner. Over her right eye was a black leather eyepatch studded with silver bits, her left eye was a stormy grey color. It looked distant, like she wasn’t even really all there at the moment.

As she arrived at the docks the sorceress took off her sandals and set them aside, rolling up the legs of her trousers to reveal a golden anklet upon her right leg. She dipped her feet into the cool water and smiled from the sensation, her nerves calming right down. She watched the fishermen getting ready to depart, a slight spark of curiosity rising in her. It must have been a hard line of work. Her father had done it but he hadn’t really complained too much about the hard work. Anna found it nicely ironic that she had never done their job in her life but could probably catch more fish with a wave of her hand than they could in a day.

“We come here often.”

The voice of her familiar cut through her thoughts, earning a sigh from Anna. “That we do.”

“Feeling a little lost?” Vex inquired.

Ever the insightful one, that was Vex. It was almost creepy how good she was at reading Anna. Conversely, the sorceress couldn’t read the Kirt at all. Sometimes she was downright friendly, other times she was as cold as a winter breeze. Usually when Anna did something she thought was particularly foolish. Regardless the sorceress couldn’t deny Vex’s words.

“I suppose I am. I look around at these fishermen and I think to myself ‘would my life be easier were I like them?’” Anna projected.

“You are not like them. You are a wizard, a very powerful one. You would not be content with such a mundane existence. Cast such thoughts from your mind.” Vex said rather forcefully.

I wouldn’t… or you wouldn’t? It was something Anna opted not to project back to Vex, filtering it out. It was hard to tell how much of what the kirt said was for Anna’s benefit or for her own. Maybe it was all selfish. Vex wasn’t human though she was a very good and reasonable speaker, skilled at twisting words around and talking her down. There were times Anna wondered if she was actually the mistress in their relationship or if she was just the fool being taken by soft suggestions.

Even with such words said Anna turned her gaze to the fishermen again. She pursed her lips as she watched a number begin to prepare to head out into open waters. The tall woman removed her feet from the water suddenly and picked up her sandals, walking towards the nearest man who looked about ready to cast off and head out. No reason not to satisfy her curiosity and who could say? Rhysol’s seed of corruption could be planted in the most seemingly trivial of places and still breed results.

“What are you doing?” Vex demanded.

“Trying something new.” Anna shot back shortly.

“Wasting your time is more like it.” The kirt asserted.

“Enough, I am going to do this. If you don’t like it that’s too bad. I’m the wizard here, Vex, you said it yourself.”

Vex fell silent for a moment. “Very well, Annalisa Marin. Do as you wish, I won’t stop you.”

Their mental connection went silent as Anna walked up to the fisherman, passing by a group of monks. She ignored the cold looks she received from them and stopped near him as he was readying his boat. The sorceress licked her lips and cleared her throat slightly to gain the man’s attention. She offered a pleasant grin to the man, clearly being something of a morning person or at least that was what it seemed like. She didn’t exactly scream Chaon of Rhysol, but it was a poor Chaon that did.

“Hello there, friend, I don’t suppose you’d mind taking me with you when you cast out? I have some interest in learning a bit of how one handles a boat. I promise my weight in fish as payment. I might know little of boats but you could say I’m a… proficient fisherwoman.” Anna stated, her tone warm and friendly.

[Gybe]

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Perhaps a bit too observant in the early mornings, Gybe was on guard, and managed to see the woman come down to the water’s edge. His initial glance was primarily just to see if she was a monster of some degree creeping past the guards, but the situation was normal. Not many people, foreigners and fishermen alike seemed to want to come out this early as it was still dark out. Many waited until the sun hit the edges of the mountains. Gybe however was not as superstitious as many Nykans. While he had seen plenty of things to make him creep out while living here, he never considered anything would happen to him. He was not part of the city, he was set against it. Perhaps that was why his knock was uneventful. In his initial scan of the woman he noticed her eye patch and calm demeanor, which was why he shrugged her off in his mind as he prepped his boat.

Not many fishermen were getting their boats ready. Out of the numerous vessels that lined the beach and the docks, there were about three fishermen, and Gybe was the closest it seemed to Annalisa. As she approached, the light flare of a cigarette could be seen and amid the black water and dark star filled sky a puff of smoke arose. It had a smoky wood smell to it as it drifted toward her in the light breeze. It was much like the smell of a cigar, but was a rolled cigarette hanging from his lips. As she got closer to him in the dark, she could see the blue colored rowboat with the name Matil, written in a cursive hand upon the bow of the vessel. She could also see the bag Gybe was pulling from the interior of the boat. He seemed to be feeling the weight of the rocks.

As she drew closer Annalisa could see him place the bag back into the Haversham’s boat, seemingly approving of their weight, and then began to fiddle with the rope the boat was tied with on the dock. She also could perceive that the man’s right side was facing her and he had a dagger with a beautiful setting of precious stones and gems in the hilt. The dagger seemed a bit out of place as he wore neon yellow pants that were a bit dirty and no shirt. As his arms moved she could perceive also that he had a tattoo upon his left arm.

Upon letting out a cough, he looked back toward her. Ultimately, being crouched he could feel her walking down the pier as it sent vibrations through the wood, but he thought it might be one of the monks. Hearing her announcing cough he had to glance at her feet. In sight before him now was her chain and he wondered what she wanted. Gybe looked grumpy and a bit fierce, even though he was youthful.

“Yes?”

He had the look of a Vantha and yet upon her speaking to him, when he spoke, he had a clear common accent, if not a bit Nykan. In all appearances he seemed Nykan. He was very bland in tone, not being inquisitive or curious at all, and perhaps even a bit standoffish at first. She inquired in a friendly voice to have him take her out on the sea, him, a stranger. Not having a good look at her before he now turned on the balls of his feet to get a better look at her. She initially looked blind to him, although he couldn’t be sure seeing how it was still a bit dark. He took in a deep breath eyeing her a bit; not sexually, but just to see what she was like.

After a few seconds he turned back to his rope to finish untying it and said, “You don’t look like much of a fisherwoman.” he paused in thought a second and considered his life in the last few weeks. He then added, “You’ve never been in a boat before?” He was curious and his tone seemed to indicate that he actually wanted to know. He cast the rope into the boat and climbed aboard it. It began to slide in the water away from the dock and with an outreaching hand he took hold of the dock so it wouldn’t drift anymore. Regardless of her answer he would beckon her to climb aboard in a silent manner. He then would take a seat at the front of the boat and let her sit where the oars are.

“Ever row before?” he puffed on his cigarette with a sly grin on his face, now looking into her paled eye with his Svefra blues, though likely they were too dark to see.


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Other's Words -- My Words -- My Thoughts

[Annalisa Marin]

Anna found the man to be simple looking enough. A person she might well jostle shoulders with in a crowd and never think twice about. Such anonymity had its uses she supposed. The dark made things a little more difficult to see though she was used to darkness. Anna smiled at his words. Likely her method of fishing and his were two different things entirely. She looked out at the water around the docks. With a few gestures she could probably create a vortex to drag the boats to the bottom of the waters and drown those around her. She could, but such senseless destruction would serve nothing.

She chuckled slightly. “Looks can be deceiving. As for having been in a boat, I have though I’ve never navigated one personally.”

With a pleased sigh the sorceress accepted his invitation to step onto the boat, looking at the oars at her sides. She had seen them used many times in the port city of Zeltiva though had never actually used them herself. She shook her head in response to his question regarding her having used them before. Carefully she took both in an awkward hold, frowning as she lifted them up out of the water. They splashed back down dejectedly without having provided any propulsion to the craft.

She frowned. Normally she might just propel the craft with reimancy, using water reimancy to push the craft along but the whole point of this was to learn how to actually handle mundane tools. With her tongue in her cheek she pulled the oars back to her, pushing the craft backwards slightly. Her movements were awkward and her control over the oars was shaky at best. It was a tad embarrassing that she could manipulate the fabric of reality quite easily however when it came to rowing she was a painful novice.

Eventually she released her grip on the oars and sighed. “Any advice? I fear we may be here a good while should I be the one in control without some manner of guidance.”

Asking for help always sat bitterly in her gut but in cases like this it was necessary. She had to turn her head slightly to get full vision with her solitary eye. The eyepatch was sadly required at this point; it was unwise to strut around bearing Rhysol’s holy mark. Besides, it tended to have many mistake her to be half blind. A false handicap was quite the advantage in and of itself really.

[Gybe]

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Annalisa’s words rang in his ears. “Looks can be deceiving.” It was as if she read a deep personal thing about him and brought it out into the open. She of course was speaking about fishing but it made the man pause a moment and consider. He was indeed deceiving, sometimes doubting his true purpose here. How was he going to succeed in such an insurmountable mission. It was not logical, but he didn’t care. Piss on the Nykans and their jolliness.

Anna mentioned that she had never navigated one personally and he nodded at her from the bow. “Alright. Well you are personally navigating one today.” His tone was stern, like a teacher, but not malicious. He could tell that the woman could see by his gesture to get on his boat and even though she looked blind, she seemed to manage. He watched as she sat down backwards in the seat and took in a deep breath. “Shyke...gonna be one of those mornings.” The girl frowned however and seemed to inquire of his help. She was splashing, not cutting gently into the water and even went so far as to push them closer to shore.

“Alright…” he said sternly once more, rising from where he was sitting. The boat wobbled a bit, but Gybe tried his best to lean back on the wooden bow so that he didn’t get flung off into the water. He took a puff of his cigarette before putting it out on the edge of his boat. Then then walked over the couple seats between them and plopped down on one opposite to her. The girl certainly didn’t seem seaworthy, but he respected a woman who sought a bit of independence and learning of the world.

“So first of all, come sit here next to me. You want to face the back of the boat up here. Too much weight in the back and it sits low in the water. Sitting low means more water in your boat, water is bad.” He chuckled slightly. Obviously he was playing a slight bit. He held up his hand, “Ya I know, how can you see where you are going...but it works better this way. You get to use your biceps instead of your underarms.” He patted his biceps and then his triceps in example, bringing them up more into the light of the torches in the distance. The light showed that his right arm was normal, but his left had a dark blue oceanic tattoo, however as he moved his arm and smacked it, it was almost as if the water of the tattoo was reacting to his slap. “Anyways, you look over your shoulder like this while you are going, just to see where things are, and then visualize it in your mind.” He demonstrated quickly and then he then stood up, waiting until she seated herself next to him to go take her spot. He then handed her the oars.

“Now, take your left and right and lift them out of the water by pushing down.” He demonstrated with his arms. “Now if you want to turn toward your right, you put that left oar into the water and pull backward toward you. When you lower it, you want it to be like this.” He leaned far forward and took ahold of her hand on the oar and cut down properly into the water and showed at which angle. “Then when you want to turn to your right, give a good tug toward you.” He kept his hand on hers, keeping her hand steady so that when she pulled she didn’t yank downward too hard and could feel what a good stroke was. Satisfied the man returned to his chair.

“Got it?” he nodded toward the right oar now. “Okay, turn us back straight.” Once she did that he would direct her, “Okay, now pull both of them with the same slow steady strength, keep them oars deep in the water when you pull.” If she didn’t, it was likely to splash up into the boat, dependent on how hard she was pulling.


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Other's Words -- My Words -- My Thoughts

[Annalisa Marin]

Anna frowned as she stood, her balance wobbling to and fro as she threw up her arms to try and stay standing. She all but stumbled her way over to Gybe, sitting down where she had been directed. The boats she had been upon had all been much larger than this one by far and balance hadn’t been much of an issue. She figured such a small craft could easily be propelled via water reimancy. Her musings were brought to a halt as the man started up his instruction and Anna listened as closely as possible to avoid any rookie mistakes.

Her brow knitted slightly as she looked down to her own arms. No real muscle to be found there. She was as average in build as they came and had abandoned much of physical strength in exchange for the metaphysical. As such when it came to the arts of Djed manipulation she was second to very few but in terms of actually doing manual labor she was lacking. For some reason that bothered her more than it had when she had resided upon Sahova. If she was to be an effective tool for Rhysol she should be much more well-rounded.

His teaching was simple and brief, not exactly comprehensive but enough to get her on the right path. With a deep breath the Chaon gripped the oars and turned the boat straight once more, grunting as her rarely used muscles protested the action. With that done she started up a slow and steady movement with both oars. It was still rather sloppy of course, often the oars would move at different times due to her poor coordination with this which meant she was constantly correcting herself. Not only that but she had underestimated the strain this might have on her body.

With grit teeth and a stubborn desire to succeed the sorceress kept at it, ignoring the initial discomfort in her arms as she finally managed to clear the docks. Slow progress but it was progress nonetheless. In the slowly rising morning light rising over the waters one might well see the gleam of silver upon her right ring finger, rubies glinting brightly in the pattern of a burning scroll. The one thing she kept, not as a mark of office but as a sign of all she had overcome upon the island of Sahova. Logically it would have made more sense to toss it into the ocean however she could not bring herself to part from it.

As she rowed she looked to her companion for the trip and smirked. “The name is Felicia by the way. Who will I be spending this fine morning with, if you don’t mind the asking?” She inquired politely.

Annalisa Marin was a name she rarely went by anymore. It was a name that would no doubt draw the attention of the agents of Sahova. Felicia the Reimancer was nobody. She was no one the council need look into, just a dark haired one eyed cripple with a moderate talent for magic. Once using anything but her own name would have grated at her, now however the simple lie was praise to Rhysol.

The more she rowed the more tired her arms became, feeling like lead after too long. Her movements grew a bit more sluggish and it didn’t take long for her to start huffing and puffing with the effort. A little embarrassing but such was the way of things annoyingly enough. This is what she got for ignoring the training of her body, ending up as weak as an infant.

[Gybe]

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It was not a wonder that the person who wanted to come along with him to learn couldn’t display the common sense to walk wide footed as she shuffled through the bottom of the boat. He supposed that land walkers just never understood simple things like the Svefra did. “Wide footed wide footed. Not close together or your weight will make the boat a bit more unstable.” he said as she took the seat.

Eventually she began to row, and he studied her doing so. She was weak of course, it was no wonder, he himself was not the strongest man, but even a child could row a rowboat to some degree. Therefore it wasn’t a wonder when they started heading out into the bay and away from the docks. “You are getting the hang of it.” he said with a slight smile as they went. He watched her pump the oars backward and would correct her if she started to get off in direction. He after a while took his hand and waved in the water hydrodynamically as they went. It just looked like he wanted to have a hand in the water, but what he was really doing was feeling the sound of the ocean and observing their surroundings in the bay for weather changes. He could see in his mind how the currents ran and where they zipped around the rocks below.

“Name is Gybe. Pleasure” he said. It was the name of a sailing maneuver and was pronounced the same. He wasn’t one to really be chatty in the morning so he just left it at that.

Having traveled a little while he would stop her when he felt they were over an area that would likely have fish. “Okay…” he removed his hand from the water and looked around to where they were, “I think you can stop here.” He moved without fear through the boat, causing it to list slightly as he grabbed his net.

“So as you can see, this is my net. It’s folded in such a way, that when I let it go with a toss, it should spin out and widen, causing a circle….here, you might want to hold on, this can rock the boat a little.” With that he spun his body so that the net was behind him, and he then cast it out at an arch with a spin, causing the net to splash into the water about ten feet away in a nice looking ring. Gybe grabbed the rope and began to pull it in. He could feel that there was some jostling, so he handed her the rope.

“Feel that shaking? That’s some fish. Want to pull in the first catch Felicia?” He said, showing that he indeed was listening to her as well as paying attention to the area around them.


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Other's Words -- My Words -- My Thoughts