PM to join [Location: Syliran Fields] Picnic Party

[Nivel]

OocFeel free to join in even if you don't know Nivel, although I am cutting this off after a certain number of people join in since I don't want it to get to crazy

23rd Day of Summer, 515 AV

The twenty third day of summer was the day that Nivel had came into this world as a tiny clay ball and while it wasn’t really celebrated much in the Pyve she grew up in, Nivel felt she would celebrate it like the tall folk of Syliras do. Celebrations in general needed to be shared with friends but seeing as that was a rather difficult thing to do, the pycon did the next best thing. Several days priar she visited the Elegant weave and purchased about a yard of fabric, with it she began to sew mini versions of all of her friends. When the pycon had free time she would open up her sewing kit and start to work on making mini stand ins for her friends. They all followed the extremely basic pattern that she made, which was essentially a vaguely humanoid shaped blob pillow. She would add little details that reminded her of the ones she held dear, like red thread to represent the vibrant red hair of Katelyn, a black feather to represent the raven form of Marrick or a long clump of fluff to represent the squirrel tail of Archailist. She had thankfully managed to finish them all with only a few days left until her big day.

With the guest list taken care of all she needed was a location, but she had little idea where to arrange her party. During her patrols around the city she was lucky enough to overhear many citizens talking about their day trips to the Syrian Fields by the Mithrin outpost for something they called picnics. After finding out that picnics were from her Patron Knight Sera Grey, Nivel was convinced that this was how she wanted to spend the forth anniversary of her first day alive. She promptly asked her Patron to be her escort to the Fields and the Masked women reluctantly obliged.

Thankfully the day was favoured greatly by the Goddess Syna, and her light was warm and welcoming as Nivel and Sera Grey, rode towards the vast fields of the outpost. They carried with them a small basket of food that Sera grey had carefully prepared, a large finely crafted quilt the she had painstakingly hand stitched and a crudely patched together bag of Nivel’s odd looking guests.

The odd pair weren’t the only ones to have this idea, there were a few groups of people who came to bask in Syna’s light and socialize. Nivel and Sera Grey however were by far the ones that stood out the most. Sera Grey had worn a mask that was Nivel inspired, with terra cotta bat wings sprouting out each side to look like her squires distinguished ears, and diamond motifs sewn with green threads like the occasional sparkle Nivel had from the emerald dust she used to mix into her clay covered the mask. The Knight Also wore a light flowing purple robe with a few pieces of silver armour that stood out like a sore thumb against the dull fields of grass and vegetables.

Once Sera Grey had set the Quilt down and started unpacking her food basket, Nivel let her guests out of their bag and set them down in a circle so they could talk amongst themselves. Grabbing the hunk of clay nestled in Sera Greys massive Basket, Nivel began to construct food for her guests to eat from the same malleable substance she was comprised of. She would only stop occasionally to preform a simple dance in order to keep them entertained, she felt the multi armed doll of Sayana would appreciate this the most.

Credit for Boxcode goes to Estrellir Konrath

[Dove Brown]

She didn't have to work until later, so Dove had been checking the edges of the fields for rabbit tracks. The rabbits liked to run alongside the walls, she'd discovered, and the walls also made good anchors for traps. She worked her way along, brushing back the long grass wih her hand. There was a low narrow track beaten into the ground beside this wall, she decided. She measured the width with her hand and nodded to herself. It was too wide to be made just by rats or mice. There were faint pawprints too, but the ground on this side of the wall was too hard and dry for anything clear. She clambered up the wall, using a jutting stone as a foothold and leaned over to see if there was a matching trail on the shaded side of the wall. Without the sun, the soil would be softer and damper, and any prints would be easier to read.

Movement nearby startled her. She jumped, lost her footing and slid down the shady side of the wall head first. She caught herself with her hands enough to slow her fall, but not enough to prevent her falling in an untidy heap near a quilt. Instinct took over as she scrambled back to her feet, and saw the mask and robe and the glint of armour on the human. "I'm sorry, Ser - Sera... I didn't mean to intrude," she mumbled, her eyes flickering left and right as she looked for an escape route. The look on her plain face rather resembled a startled rabbit.

The last time the knights had paid serious attention to her, they'd been escorting her to shelter from the Great Storm with her family and all the other Mithryn Farmers. She was grateful - sort of - but the memory was inescapably entwined with the loss of her siblings in the riots that followed. If that's what knightly attention meant, she wasn't sure she wanted more of it. She didn't have much of her family left. Before she could flee though, her attention was caught by a tiny terracotta figure on the quilt. It seemed to be dancing. She looked, blinked to clear her eyes, and looked again. She wasn't imagining things, but she'd never seen anything like the Pycon before, and her curiosity spiked. Before she could stop herself, her mouth opened again and she whispered, "That's - lovely. What are you?"

[Nivel]

“If you three are going to fight I’m going to have to put you over here” Nivel lectured the dolls of Garland, Arch and Ball, who she placed in a pile to the side of her circle of friends. “There, you can continue your training over here where you won’t hurt anyone.” She nodded her head and went back to practicing her pirouettes.
“the extent of your quirkiness both amazes and fascinates me” Sera grey said as she shook her head. The Knight was about to lift her mask up and feed her self one of the fresh looking triangle sandwiches she had brought for herself when a girl seemed to fall from the sky. The disruptive crash caused Sera Grey to drop her sandwich and Nivel to lose her footing.

Sera Grey quickly picked up the poor sandwich from her lap but didn’t make a second attempt at eating it. “Quite alright dear these things happen” She said to the young intruder. The women was a bit annoyed at the surprise guest but hid it well in both her voice and mannerisms. Wearing a mask on a daily basis made concealing emotions a natural thing to Sera Grey. The seasoned mage felt that keeping control of emotions helped maintain better control of her magic, but if she were more honest with herself it was probably to merely cover her social anxiety.
“You seem to know my name but I don’t believe I know yours, would you care to share it with me?” The masked women inquired in the most courteous way she could muster.

The girl seemed about ready to leave when Nivel picked herself up and continued her dance to the music playing in her nexus. The pycon wasn’t the best dancer to grace Mizahar but she was still an odd enough sight that she could easily catch attention.
“Oh you like my dancing!” Nivel joyfully responded with a clap of her little hands “I’m glad I have a fan”
“As for your other question. I’m Nivel, a mage of the Order of Syrian knights and squire to Sera Grey.” Nivel exclaimed proudly as she used her tails to preform a dignified curtsy.
“I believe she wished to know your race, my dear” Sera grey politely interjected.
“If she wants a race I’ll gladly oblige, I already have a group of willing spectators.” Nivel gestured towards her lifeless dolls that layed just to the side of the girl.
“No..she.” Sera grey put a hand to her masked face then turned to the girl. “Nivel is a Pycon, a race of homunculus created long ago-”
“By the Great Deity of alchemy, Haramous” Nivel interjected “But everyone knows that Sera” Nivel giggled as if her patron had told a silly joke.
“My deepest apologies, My former squire can be a bit much sometimes, Nivel is mostly excited because It is her first time celebrating her birthday.”
"I'm four years old now" Nivel blurted out as she continued to dance around the girl "How old are you?"

Credit for Boxcode goes to Estrellir Konrath

[Dove Brown]

Childhood lessons rattled in Dove's head. Never forget that the knights are in charge. Do what they tell you. Answer their questions. Don't lie to them - they have ways to tell, and they don't like liars. Be polite. Always call them Ser or Sera. She turned towards Sera Grey and bobbed a curtsey, feeling odd doing it in her old clothes. "Sorry, Sera. My name is Dove." She pointed towards the walls of Mithryn. "Dove Brown. I live in the Outpost and work in the fields." She dropped her gaze to Nivel as the pycon danced around her feet and confirmed that both the unlikely pair were in the knighthood. "My father says it's only polite to call all knights Ser or Sera. He says knights wear armour all the time, even when it's a hot summer day." Dove wore a thin linen shirt and trousers in shades of brown, her sleeves rolled up to the elbow. The rolled area hid the clumsy patch on her elbow, but bared the thin scar across her right forearm. She smiled as much from nerves as anything else as she listened to the pycon misinterpret her question. Her gaze darted back to Sera Grey as the knight explained what Nivel was. "Thank you, Sera. I didn't know. I haven't met a - a pycon - before," she explained, stumbling a little over the name.

Her shoulder was beginning to ache where she'd landed hard on it and her hands stung a little. She rolled her shoulder carefully, but it seemed to be working as usual. Rather than stoop to talk to Nivel, and make her back ache too, she knelt slowly. She was trying not to kneel on Nivel, but being circled made it hard to see where she was. She turned her head to try and follow the dance. Her braid slipped forward to hang across her body and she fiddled with the end of it, flicking it across her fingers.

"It's a beautiful day for a birthday celebration," she said to Nivel, nodding politely as the knight apologised for her squire. "You're so lucky to have a summer birthday. Mine's in winter. I had a snowstorm on my last birthday. I was fifteen. So you're four now? Happy birthday." She bit her lip as she caught herself babbling, and looked at the row of dolls. "Did you make these yourself?"

[Sayana]

Sayana cantered at a swift pace across the open fields. The wind felt marvelous against her hair and Syna beat down hard on the hot summer day. She was careful to avoid the tender crops as she wove this way and that through the Syliran fields but occasionally she trampled some of the low lying plants.

A couple days ago Sayana heard that Nivel was having a birthday soon. Either Garland or Asen or another squire friend had let on to the fact and so Sayana was curious to find out more. Just yesterday she visited the squire dorms in attempt to find Nivel’s Patron to learn if there would be any sort of celebration. After many questions and going from one person to the next she managed to meet the masked lady and learned that Nivel was planning a picnic in the fields. Now here she was, combing the fields on horseback trying to find where her little friend had set herself up.

The Eypharian continued to ride through the vast fields, always keeping an eye of where Syna was in the sky. It was still morning and she could use it to guide her search and not cross over the same fields twice. Here and there were walls that marked out the fields. The higher ones Sayana had to go around but some of the lower ones she managed to urge her horse to leap over. Giving a firm kick with her heels and a squeeze with her knees, she and the stallion leapt over a low two foot wall and Sayana grinned from ear to ear.

After a few bells of searching, Sayana was almost tempted to go back and call it a day when she spotted a purple robed figure in the distance. Her legs ached from all the riding and even though she had placed a blanket over the saddle to keep her legs from rubbing raw (the trials of wearing her skirt), she was still plenty hot as a result. But she’d try one more time to seek out her pycon friend and thus rode towards the figure out in the fields.

There was a wall blocking the way but she managed to find a gap in it and cantered swiftly towards the person, no, people there. “Nivel!” Sayana cried out brightly as she spotted the little pycon amongst the quilt and toys. “I finally found you!”

The Eypharian leapt off her dark brown horse in one smooth movement. She was garbed in her usual red attire, a top and a long flowing skirt that had beaded decorations covering them. She also had four daggers in sheaths at her hip, attached to her black belt. Not to mention the couple of necklaces she wore and three rings upon her fingers.

“Sera Grey,” she acknowledged with a nod and a smile to the knight. “And who might you be?” Sayana asked of the woman she hadn’t seen before. “I’m Sayana.”

Receipt10 gm for horse rental for the day

[pix]

Pix looked down. She saw people gathered around a picnic blancket. They looked like they were having fun..... without her. "Why do people not trust me" she complained to herself. "Just because my ansestors and reletives and friends and race are evil doesnt mean I am." She smiled to herself "well... i do captor sevants from time to time, but only enemies." She relized she was talking out loud. She hoped they didn't hear her. It would spoil their fun. Of course they would all run away in fear. She sighed. She just wisher people would trust her for who SHE was, not her race. "Mabey they didnt hear" she said loudly. She watched hopefully to see if they wouldnt notice her.

[Alexander Demarcus]

Alexander looked on and smiled, a picnic how lovely. He saw three bodies, barely he might add, as one was very small and looked to made of clay, and another had six arms, the last looked relatively normal. He thought he'd say hi, "just a quick chat," he thought.

He blinked quickly towards the party, he smiled at the women, " hello woman of clay, pleased to meet you and what a lovely party, i would shake your hand, but," he lifted a ghostly hand. He then turned to the human, " hello, It's very satisfying to find another Human in my company.", lastly he turned to the six armed woman. "Well i belive we gave met before." He smiled at her with his most flattering smile, the woman looked at him no emotions showed though, Alexander felt anger radiating from her.

[Nivel]

“What a lovely name, It is a pleasure to meet you Dove.” Sera Grey replied, A small smile appeared on her face but was obscured by her odd looking mask. The young girl reminded the Knight of a childhood friend she had growing up, mostly in looks but they also shared a few subtle mannerisms. The two unfortunately drifted apart once Grey became a squire, and she wondered what could have happened to that girl since then.

“The pleasure is mine as well!” Nivel nodded her head rapidly “What sort of work do you do on the fields?” The pycon’s had little knowledge of Agriculture other than knowing a bit about wild herbs and their affects. She failed to grasp what working in the fields really meant and a assumed the girl was only talking about the location of her job.

“Oh right I guess there aren’t to many of us that visit the Out post or even syliras for that matter” Nivel realized “but you should see Pyconia, It’s an entire city made of clay sculptures and tunnels. Everyone comes in different shapes and sizes and dress their clay up with crushed gems and ash.” the pycon explained with great energy and enthusiasm.

“Is your shoulder okay?” Sera Grey interjected “forgive my rudeness, you fell right in front of us and I failed to ask you if you were at all injured.” The knight felt a little embarrassed that she neglected to ask until now, even after being startled the well being of citizens should always be of top priority in her mind.

“hrm, Her arm seems attached and she doesn’t seem to be leaking anything, what could be wrong with it?” The clueless pycon chimed in, making her ignorance known two the other two. Nivel was still having a bit of trouble with human biology since it was so different to her own. She walked closer to the girl and gave her a more though look to see if she had missed anything.

“We are not all as durable as you Nivel and sometimes injuries can be internal, it’s always polite to ask if others are okay if they have been in an accident.” The knight lectured, Nivel may have not officially been her squire any more but Sera Grey still felt an obligation to teach her as many life lessons as possible.
“Oh right, Sorry didn’t mean to be rude” The pycon bowed her head down in embarrassment
“Quite alright” the knight waved her hand dismissively.

“Wow you must be full of wisdom at your age” The pycon looked at her in awe, a her tails swayed back and forth in curiosity “Thank you, I did sew these, I wanted my friends to be a part of my big day but I didn’t want them to have to fit it into their busy schedules so I made them into pillows instead. Do you like them?”

Before Sera Grey could give Nivel another lector on social etiquette, A familiar voice called out the pycons name. The tiny homunculus rapidly turned her head to the source of the voice and let out a gleeful cheer “Sayana! you came!” Nivel proceeded to run over and hug her friends foot.
“You look really nice today by the way, I really like the bead work on your dress” The pycon complimented her many armed friend as she let go of her foot and allow her freedom of moment.

“It is nice to see that you found your way here, I hope you didn’t have much trouble” Sera Grey politely enquired. “Have a seat and make yourself comfortable”

As Nivel walked back to the quilt with the others, she suddenly sensed something odd in the air. She turned around to see the apparition of an imposing tall folk with particularly large feet. She jumped in alarm certain she this was another one of Ionu’s followers up to there murderous tricks again.
“You don’t fool me with your Illusions!” She shouted at the Ghost.
She used her Auristics magic to try and figure out the source of the illusion hovering in front of her but what she quickly discovered instead was that it wasn’t an Illusion at all but a Aura that was untethered to a physical form.
“Oh…you’re just a ghost…Very sorry for my rudeness…I thought you were something else” the pycon bashfully apologized and glanced briefly back at Sera Grey to confirm that she had followed acceptable social protocol. “You’re more than welcome to join my birthday party”

Sera Grey sat by cautiously, not knowing how to proceed with the otherworldly guest. while the women was used to dealing with mages who were known to be unpredictable or even slightly mentally unstable, Ghosts had a much worse reputation. The Specter seemed friendly enough but she wanted to wait a little bit longer before she could be sure things were safe.

Credit for Boxcode goes to Estrellir Konrath

[Dove Brown]

"No, really, Sera, I'm fine," Dove assured the knight. She wasn't so sure herself, but it worked well enough and she didn't want to attract any more knightly attention than she already was. That desire fought with the lesson not to lie to them, and she added hastily. "I mean, I'll probably have a bruise there tomorrow, but that's all. Nothing serious." Her hand rose unconciously to touch the old thin scar on the left side of her jaw for a moment, then dropped back into her lap.

She turned her attention back to Nivel. "I work wherever one of the farmers needs extra help," she explained. "At this time of year, it's mostly mending things or weeding. Or muckspreading." She wrinkled her nose at the memory. She'd noticed Nivel had misunderstood some of the other things she'd said, so she went on, "The crops - the plants - get their food from the ground. Muckspreading is sort of - putting extra food down for them, so they grow well. It smells very," she hesitated, then finished, "strongly."

She listened to Nivel's talk about Pyconia, her smile relaxing a bit, although she was still nervous. If pycons were all Nivel's size and Pyconia was made of tunnels that suited them, she didn't think she'd see much of it, even if she could get there. The subject was just changing to the dolls when a woman rode up and Nivel ran to greet her. Dove blinked a moment and her gaze flickered from the woman to the multi-armed doll and back. No, the newcomer did have six arms, and pretty red clothing, and jewelry, and knives. The woman introduced herself as Sayana, and Dove was just opening her mouth to reply, when Nivel started shouting.

Dove sat back on her heels and looked up at - well, through - the translucent figure of another human. A ghost. The hairs stood up on the back of her neck, but she tried to keep her smile in place as Nivel invited the ghost to join the party. She wasn't sure how well she succeeded. She closed her mouth, swallowed, and started again. "I'm Dove," she introduced herself to the newcomers. She glanced back at the wall behind her wondering if it was climbable from this side, then at the dolls again. "They're certainly - unusual," she told Nivel and indicated the multi-armed doll with a finger. "That would be - Sayana? Maybe you should show Sayana to Sayana?"

[Ball]

"My Speaking"

My Thoughts

Ball decided a short trip out to the outpost would be a nice way to relax and remove himself from the toils of city life. Mounting his lovely dog the two ventured out, into the fields of the mighty food source of the great fortress, seeing a six-armed figure he met the season prior Ball grinned, he wasn’t sure who the masked individual was but the event was soon obvious. Pausing though he slid from the dog’s back and had it lay still as Ball turned his attention back to the crowd. They were several ticks away, and he was sure they couldn’t see him from this distance and he did his best to sneak up to them.

It wasn’t long though before he found himself amongst a crowd of carictures of people, stuffed imitations of them all and amongst them was a weird pillow that had a single eye. He looked at Nivel, “You know Staring Pycon, if you wanted me to show up all you needed to do was ask.” Nudging the stuffy forward as he stepped out from between a few of them, “Besides, who better to celebrate… This uhh…” Ball paused and looked around, he realized he had no idea what they were celebrating. Shaking his head he waved a hand slightly, “Doesn’t matter… Must be one of those weird mage things.” Ball recalled his nexus ache from the flux training last season too. It was enough for him. Looking at the masked individual he nodded, “You must be her patron… I am Ball.”

Though he wasn’t sure who the last was, she smelled oddly like the dirt he treaded upon, “You… You must be a dweller of the outpost.” He frowned, his face creased in concentration or confusion Not one of those foul beasts I hope… Those…Those… Earthen monsters. His monocular eye narrowed as he looked close at Dove, his hands flexing into small tightly rounded fists but he made no attempt to strike.

OOCThose Earthen Monsters are yukmen.

Credit :

Created goes to Raus for aiding in the photo manipulation, Myself for color and transparency manipulation as well as box code. Character is accredited below