Closed Temple of the God (Enola)

[Aenisa]

12th of Spring - 517 AV

Well-worn wooden planks of the table spoke of the regularity by which it had been occupied since it had been put into the tavern. The mug that Aenisa had ordered sat on the table still, it was half-full and she was sure that she wouldn’t empty it today either. Drinking wasn’t her strongest suit and so she had chosen to instead focus on the other people in the tavern, trying to get the full feel for Alvadas. Having tried a few things on her own, it hadn’t really turned out well and she had found herself having to run from that one guy for a while now, it wasn’t good. In the tavern, some people seemed to be engaged in conversations about the festival and most of them seemed to slowly be drinking their sorrows away. Shaking her head a bit, Aenisa took a small sip from her drink. The narrow layout of the Stallion’s Rear was made so that it wasn’t overly private but it was cosy enough and offered at least some privacy in some places from the others in the tavern.

“They spoke of it.” The voice came from a table near to Aenisa, she had tuned into what they were saying, sitting and listening in silence as she was trying to see if there was anything interesting going on in the city. “Of what?” Came the question. “That is the thing, I do not know, they said it was something valuable down under the city.” A pause was called for between the duo, Aenisa could hear them both downing a swig of their drinks before they continued. “Valuable? What do you think is down there? And, where is it?” No words came back as an answer. “What do you mean you don’t know?” Aenisa assumed that the other man had shrugged at the earlier question as he was pushed for an answer. “Those I heard it off never said, only said it was something worth looking for, they had tried but there was nothing to go on and they had given up.”

As the two men continued to conversate with one another, Aenisa had heard enough to know that there really wasn’t much going on in the city. It was time for her to take her leave, leaving the silver coins on the table for the drink and heading for the door. Aenisa disappeared out the door just as silently and unobtrusively as she had entered the tavern a while ago. Once she appeared out onto the street again, she ran her hand over her knuckle, the pain was still there, it was slightly swollen but it had started to die down a little by now at least. Outside of the narrow bar, the streets were packed with festival goers, tourists and citizens alike, all of them moving around like a big shoal of fish. Aenisa watched them for a moment as she was thinking about what she had heard in the bar, she was going to have to ask foxface about it.

As there was nothing much else to do in the city, Aenisa decided that she would head back home for the day and started down the road towards where her key was leading her. The slight tug of the key could guide the Inarta woman along the streets, away from The Stallion’s Rear. However, as she rounded the next corner she found herself facing a completely different location than what she had expected to find, it was a temple in the middle of the city. A moment passed where Aenisa thought it to be a joke, the temple had to be another illusion. It didn’t move and stood before her like a stubborn child does to challenge their mother, Aenisa coming ever closer by the moment. Strange that she had never seen the temple or known of its existence, was it hidden? Did others see it now that she did? It was all a bit of a blur of questions as per usual when Aenisa couldn’t find an easy explanation as to what was going on.

Temple doors standing open as a greeting to all those who came close to the temple, close enough to find it. A welcoming man stood at the door and was greeting those who arrived. Along the path to the temple, small gardens lined it, showing the beauty and care that was taken with the temple. It was a bit of a surprise to Aenisa that it seemed to not be an illusion at all but rather a real structure. Aenisa was going to head inside, she wanted to explore this oddity of a building in the city and she wanted to get some answers from the man who seemed to be greeting everyone.

Before Aenisa could get to the door, the man had snuck inside and out of view. Aenisa however reached the door in her lonesome, or so she thought. Seeing as how the man was no longer there to greet her, she went inside.

LedgerMug of Wine: -5 SM

SPACER

[Enola]

Enola had been sitting in a shaded corner of the Stallion's rear for a few bells now, a smaller mug of wine in front of her, half finished. She knew her master would often sit in taverns, just watching people and listening. Rebecka often said all you needed was to pay attention to anyone at a bar, and if you kept watching and listening, you'd learn something valuable. Just had to pick someone interesting. She listened in on some men that were talking rather loudly, about something valuable found under the city. Watching from the shadow she sat in, she saw the men that spoke, a bit loudly. One was a mountain of a man, nothing but muscles, hair, and a wild beard. Her eyes moved over his clothes, seeing grey dust all over him. From this angle, she could see some tools hanging from his belt, one of which was a large mallet, and some other strange metal shaped ones, chisels maybe? Enola pondered what this man did for a living. The tools, the muscles, the dust, maybe a stone worker of some sort. But did he build houses? Statues? Something else? She wondered what details might be different between a construction worker and an artist that makes statues. Well his beard was wild and unkempt, ruffling out heavily. His muscles were thick, from constant, heavy work. His clothes were sweat stained and a bit torn in places. She decided that he must be a builder, a construction worker. She then went to cast her gaze to the man he was talking to, when her eyes stopped upon a woman, with a mane of foxy red hair. Why did she catch Enola's attention? It's because the woman seemed to be paying attention to the men as well, while also seeming to remain unnoticed and unbothered. Interesting. Who was this woman? Why was she alone and watching? Was she like Enola's master? She watched the woman put down some coins, and go to leave, and Enola momentarily panicked. This woman had just caught her curiosity and was leaving now? She couldn't have that. Enola put down some coins as well, and slipped down from her stool. She could still see the woman, and wove through the tables and legs, cutting through the tavern more quickly than a full sized person might. The woman pushed through the door, and Enola rushed to make it through as well before it closed. She immediately moved against the wall of the building, so as to try and remain unseen. She kept her eyes on the woman, as she headed toward the corner. Enola ran along the cobble stone, staying next to the wall. Her little clay arms pumped as she moved to reach the corner before the woman disappeared too far beyond it. Once she reached it, Enola peered around it. There she saw the woman, standing in front of a temple. Enola didn't recognize it, but she knew the city was full of little such oddities. Her master used to say that sometimes the city would shuffle not to amuse Ionu, but for Ionu to test you. To see if you were worthwhile of living in his city. Enola watched as the woman stopped, staring at the building, as if... confused? Maybe. Enola wondered if the woman was a foreigner. And if so, from where? Was she not used to how the city moved and breathed like a living entity? Enola took the woman's pause as an opportunity to move across the street away from the corner. She ducked in behind a shop's sign, never taking her eyes off the woman. She watched as the woman stepped into the gardens that led to the temple's entrance, and Enola pressed forward, seeking shelter behind a line of bushes. There had been a man at the door, but he was gone now, likely inside. Enola pushed through the brush, trying to be slow and quiet, but it was a bush, however. So she knew some rustling would occur. If anyone, the woman in particular, noticed, Enola hoped they would think it a bird or a frisky pair of squirrels. As the woman started into the door, Enola once again ran. Full sprint, she stooped down and picked up a stick on the way, as the door started to close. She ran, leaning a bit forward, eyes on the ever decreasing gap in the door. Just before it shut, Enola leapt toward it, stick pointed outward. The small stick managed to get in the gap of the door just before it closed, and thankfully, didn't snap. The gap was narrow, but was enough. Enola pressed against the gap, head and nexus first, as she squeezed through it. It was terribly uncomfortable, and she was worried the door might give way, ending her life instantly. But it didn't, and the little clay woman squelched through. She righted herself, and began looking around, both looking for the red haired woman and discerning her surroundings. It was a very open space, with hardly any adornment, and several benches around a central platform. Hiding probably wouldn't go well. Time to hide in plain sight, as her master used to say. She followed in behind the woman, and would sit next to her should she sit. Enola wondered if this was Ionu's temple, and if the god itself would be here.

[Aenisa]

12th of Spring - 517 AV

She had expected to hear a thud behind her, the door closing, but instead there was nothing but a low crack as the door seemed to close. Aenisa didn’t really bother to look back as she had stepped into the church and thusly she was occupied with other things. Looking around inside, the emptiness of the interior of the temple didn’t seem to fit the supposed god of illusions and then again, maybe it did. Aenisa took a moment, pausing by the entrance as she took in the sights within the building. What if she was the first to see it in its entirety and when Ionu was near it was projected as a grander building. Maybe the entire wealth and splendor of the temple depended upon Ionu themselves. If that was the case, that would mean that Ionu wasn’t in attendance today and this thought deeply disturbed Aenisa.

Where had the figure from before gone to? It was a question that Aenisa asked herself as she was finished with the bits and bobs of what was on offer for her eyes to feast on. Shuffling her feet like she was in an awkward situation, it didn’t feel quite right, all of this. Then for a moment Aenisa thought about turning back around and leaving because after all the temple and the god that it was dedicated to didn’t seem to enjoy her company. Whispers seemingly came from the walls, to Aenisa it seemed as if the walls were slowly caving in on towards her. She had to make a decision as to if she wanted to stay and risk only illusionary death or head back out again where she was facing the prospect of abstract death. “I cannot choose!” She suddenly exclaimed out loud as she thrust her arms out, like if she had been pushing an invisible spirit away from herself. Quickly Aenisa realised, she had said that out loud and broke into a dead sprint over to the nearest door that wasn’t out into the city, or so Aenisa hoped. Ripping the door open and hiding behind the open door out of embarrassment of what she had done, she waited for a little bit.

It was a nice place to stand in, rather dark and she couldn’t see if anyone in the temple had noticed her, it was generally just a good spot at that particular moment. What is it that Aenisa wanted to do in the temple in the first place anyhow? She grinded her head against the back of the door as she was trying to remember. Oh, it came to her again, she had come there to give some offering of peace to the god, that was right. It was a complicated matter as Aenisa had forgotten to bring her offering with her, hoping that she might not need to spend money on the god. No doubt the offering she had in mind was still in the possession of its rightful owner. But then if the god wasn’t in attendance this very day, she didn’t have to bring one anyhow. That was always a good thing. She giggled as quietly as she could to herself and then she struck up a conversation with herself as well. Aenisa figured that nobody would hear and if nobody could hear her then why not just talk because you never knew if the gods were listening even though nobody were.

“Stupid woman, don’t make noise, people see you… City be crazy, it cannot be.” The tone she carried was quiet and full of it would seem, venom, almost hatred for herself. Although her sentences were fragmented at best and a pile of junk at worst, for some reason, Aenisa had decided that she was going to use her common tongue as a way of training herself. She shuffled her feet as she looked to the left.

“Someone there? Huh? Who there?” She put her ear to the door as if to listen to voices from within the wood and then she shook her head. Surely if anyone had spotted her when she had first entered the temple, they had better things to do now. With a righteous push of her bodyweight against the door she allowed it to fly closed again and she was once more revealed to those within the temple. What Aenisa hadn't realised was that when the door came crashing against its frame it had released a piercing, crashing sound that echoed around the chambers. Aenisa allowed for her hands to cup her face as she realised her stupid mistake just as the sound cracked out across the temple.

Now there was no time to bother with the dillydally any longer and Aenisa hurried to make something of her embarrassing entrance to the temple. Kicking into a right stride she headed for the nearest row of benches, her feet shuffling painfully slow along the floor, rasping like someone dragging their feet across wooden floor. Thanks to the empty interior and open spaces her rasping was magnified and multiplied and then bounced around for maximum effect. Soon enough however she was seated at the bench and focused ahead, she had no idea what she was doing or how she might start, she invented something.
“Ionu, Ionu, Ionu, Ionu…” She got stuck on the first words. “… Ionu, you are… Ionu. Teach painting to people… teach… painting to… to...” And Aenisa gave up, she fell silent again as she allowed her eyes to scan the rest of the people inside of the building instead. Feelings of being watched had been creeping along with her all throughout, it was weird.


SPACER

[Enola]

Enola stayed several lengths of the woman's stride behind her, watching, waiting. She watched the woman shuffle her feet, as if nervous. Why would she be nervous within the temple of the city's patron? Was she a nonbeliever? A heretic? One who strayed from the fold? Enola didn't even know what it meant to be a follower of Ionu. She tried to think of how to honor Ionu. But everything that was... obvious, was in fact that. Surely there was more to the god than artwork and seemingly randomness, more than a simple god's amusement. So what did it mean to be a follower of Ionu? Or even an enemy of Ionu? Enola had no further time to consider these questions, when the crimson headed woman shouted out suddenly. And with that, the woman sprinted out a side door like a crazy woman, which Enola was beginning to think truly was the case. That was... disappointing. There was nothing interesting about madness, about giving up your ability to choose. Those that were insane were nothing more than animals, and like animals, wounded animals, they deserved nothing more than to be put down. As her master used to say, people are tools, and if a tool is broken, it is a detriment to all. Best to simply remove it. Enola moved slowly closer to the woman, moving to keep her little clay feet, as silent as she could. It was made easier by her small size, and that this woman seemed to be rather oblivious to her surroundings, outside of what was right in front of her. As Enola crept closer, sticking to the shadows cast by the wall, when she heard the woman giggling, and then further speaking to herself. Yep, definitely a mad woman. The woman then spoke as if she'd heard Enola, and for the briefest moment, the Pycon thought she had. But it appeared to just be more of her madness surfacing. Disappointing. She thought this woman would be interesting, a curiosity. But there was nothing here. She watched the woman rush to a bench, sit down, and continue her mad ramblings, and Enola simply shook her head. No longer caring about stealth, Enola walked to the middle of the temple, then down the rows toward the front door, shaking her head judgmentally the whole time. What a waste of time. She supposed she'd just head home and find something else to sate her curiosity, or at the very least, keep her busy enough to not dwell on this disappointing matter. Small step after clay step, she made her way to the door.

[Aenisa]

12th of Spring - 517 AV

Aenisa was sunk into deep thought as she was sitting by the middle of the temple, her mind worked much clearer now that she had her head wrapped around it. Within herself she found that the words flowed freely.

“Ionu, god of deceit, god of illusion and god of mine. Hear my words and feel my reverence. Honoured through art and public displays, your word the law, your wish, our worship. I offer myself to you, willing to serve and protect, obey and follow. I will be an agent of illusion, a servant of the unknown and a preacher of your voice.”

It was decidedly easier to formulate oneself within your own head, Aenisa had decided at that very moment. It hadn’t gone more than a few moments after her words had finished that she could hear something above the silence within the great hall, it sounded like quiet clattering of something against the floor. It didn’t really resonate with her at first but it grew annoying after only a short moment, what was it?

Turning around to look for where the sound came from, she spotted a tiny, clay looking golemesque humanoid moving on its own down the middle of the temple. Absolutely stunned at this new creature that seemed to be moving on its own, Aenisa looked around to see if anyone else within the temple had noticed the creature’s sudden appearance, nobody had. Shuffling herself towards the middle as well, Aenisa quickly stood up, doing this as silently as she could, in case it was a sign from Ionu or something that was an illusion. The tiny figurine was shaking it’s head as if it was a real sentient being, moving like a tiny machine, a tiny golem through the temple, Aenisa allowed for a smirk to spread across her features. She had to see what this little figurine was doing here, if it spoke and what it was. It wasn’t the same as the ghost, Aenisa could see this one for starters.

A few quick and long steps, long in comparison to the tiny clay figure. She was rather quick to pass the tiny figurine by and then she spun around, like a delicate dance she sunk down, knees touching the floor in a smooth, silken motion. Eyes inspecting the tiny figurine as it was coming closer and closer, it had a face and all the features that a real person has, only, it was itty bitty tiny! A smile on her face and Aenisa tried to ask the short figure a few things, she spoke in a quiet voice as to not draw too much attention. Her eyes seemed to dance between the clay figure and the rest of the temple.

“Hello? What are you? You work here?”

The question was in fact two questions, Aenisa allowed her hand to come down in front of the tiny figurine, figuring that if she answered, she could ask, if she didn’t, she could take. It was a curious tiny human this, it wasn’t even made from flesh, she could get in anywhere she wanted to. That could be useful, keyholes and tiny windows and all the good stuff. Aenisa added on to her question rather quickly.

“You know this place? I think the god is listening to everyone here.”

She seemed sure of this, as if she wanted to calm her own nerves from her earlier actions to a total stranger in the most normal way that she could figure out. Her rather big eyes now loomed over the clay figure.

SPACER

[Enola]

As Enola neared the interested, she heard the quickly approaching footsteps of someone, probably the mad woman since this place was rather void of many others. Enola stopped, and the woman passed by her, and she watched the mad woman drop to her knees before her. Enola stood with crossed arms as the woman stared at her like she'd never seen a Pycon before, smiling like a child that had just found a piece of jewelry. Enola watched as the woman's eyes danced from her, all around, sensing a bit of paranoia. But when those first questions were asked, and Enola learned that this woman had indeed never met a Pycon before, she decided to have a little fun with this made creature. After all, this was Alvadas, and anything could happen. She was tempted to pretend to be Ionu, but she figured if anything were to draw a god's ire, it might be to claim to be said god, whilst in his temple, in his city. She cocked her head to the side, pretending to be confused by the woman's questions. "Hello... Surely you know me? Have known me for a while now?" She then laughed lightly, looking away as if in disbelief, "And no, I do not work here. I work for you." Enola really did not like to be touched or picked up. But, for the sake of this amusement of hers, she decided to go with it. She touched at the woman's extended hand gently, pressing the fingers in a direction so as to guide the woman to open her palm, if she desired, so that Enola could walk upon it like a platform. But before she did, "Everyone knows this place. And of course he is. This is her house. You seem... lost, though. Would you like my help to find a way?" She moved to walk upon the woman's hand if she'd allow it. After that, her fate was somewhat in her hands. Literally and figuratively. Enola began pondering what story and lies to come up with for this mad woman. She'd been speaking off the cuff just now, but how could she press it further? Claim she was a baby yukman? No... that might get her attacked. That she was a statue that this woman's parents had on a shelf that watched over her, and came to life in her time of need? Maybe. So many options to choose from. But she needed more information from this woman. "What has made you so lost?"

[Aenisa]

12th of Spring - 517 AV

The tiny clay statue that stood before her eyes had her arms crossed, it was all very peculiar and at the same time, very exciting to Aenisa. How did this all work? Was it a machine or some sort? She had heard of masters who have created machines capable of things, of what things, she could not remember. At first it seemed to Aenisa like the clay figurine were actually thinking about something and then it looked at her, it seemed to Aenisa to hold a rather dead look in its eyes. After she thought about this for a moment she realised that she didn’t know how a clay figure could have looked at her in any other way except with that look.

After the brief pause it startled Aenisa to learn that the small person in front of her spoke, it spoke rather weirdly, to her ears, but it did actually speak. What was even weirder than the tone of the voice of the small figurine was the fact that it seemed to know Aenisa, it spoke as if they had known one another for a long time. Further conversation even revealed that the minor person were working for Aenisa, working for her doing what? Her left hand came up to scratch the side of her head slightly as she was trying to figure out what was going on, it was a bit confusing. Cracking a smile she chose not to think harder about it and ignore the fact that it seemed that they knew one another. If they knew one another, it would have had to be long ago, she might be going slightly crazy but she wasn’t losing her memory, unless… she had. It did occur to Aenisa that it might be a test by the god to see what she would do with an illusion and it seemed as if that might actually fit with what the little figure was telling her as well, she was going to have to test the waters.

The conversation went further and Aenisa could easily strike the test by Ionu off the list, or so she thought at least once the little figure had started to talk about the temple itself. A small gesture allowed Aenisa to know that she should open her hand for the tiny woman, she allowed her fingers to lay against the floor, palm facing upwards. Like a man climbing a steep hill, so it seemed the small clay woman climbed her hand to sit in it and Aenisa found herself standing back up, allowing the woman to hover around her face.

“I know you? What is you called? You know name of me?” The question was coming in deliberate chunks to match the questions and answers that the woman had been giving Aenisa before. “What we do? At work? I am…” She paused, trying to figure out the name for what it was she wanted to say, she had it on the tip of her tongue, Falconry, Falconry her head was screaming to her, her tongue didn’t find it and so she continued anyways. “… hunter with bird.”

Not quite sure why the little woman had thought that Aenisa was lost, did she indeed look lost? “I is not lost. I want find Ionu. Talk to Ionu. I think, maybe here. I think Ionu be… playing… trick on me. You know where to find Ionu? Priest know?” Aenisa allowed her eyes to act the same way that her index finger would have as she sent a look across the temple towards the priest. She arched an eyebrow and then focused back at the wonder in her hand. She wanted to know what the little woman was. “What is you?”

SPACER

[Enola]

Enola sat comfortably in the woman's hand, watching the woman's reactions as she hovered and stared. This was mildly amusing so far, it was a game her master used to play with people. Enola could feel a pain inside her when she thought of how her master disappeared, dead or alive. There was no warning, no hints, nothing. She was just left alone, given a taste of the life her master wanted for her, but never quite getting there. Cocking her head to the side as the woman asked her questions, "Not yet you don't, but you will. This is when we first met." She reached out and touched the woman's cheek, trying to feign being comforting, "You never told me what you're called now, but later you'll tell me to call you Shiraya, for both our safety. You can call me Lola." Enola was giggling inwardly at this, trying to convince this woman that she was from the future. Thankfully it wasn't hard to keep a straight face when people don't know how to read Pycons. She moved further along the woman's arm, gripping the cloth of her shirt and climbing up onto her shoulder, slipping once on the fabric. Once there, she sat with her feet dangling down, letting them tap against the woman's arm. In response to her further inquiries, "You did always love your birds, and used them often in our work. We were... problem solvers. You were particularly good at it. I've never seen such ferocity, except from your giant bird... what was his name...? Vero I think. He was huge. And mean as sin. Do you have him yet?" Enola took some of the woman's curly, red hairs in her hands and mulled over them, finding the texture of hair so odd. Humans were so weird. So many unnecessary things, like hair. But still, they were entertaining, and plentiful. "Ionu probably is playing a trick on you. He does that for everyone. But no, I don't know where he is. No one ever does. But he's always there. You can always see signs of him but just have to..." she trailed off as her eyes caught sight of something on one of the pews. It was a long black scarf, draped over it quite neatly, with no one around for it to seemingly belong to. She stared at it, confused. It was the exact same scarf her master always liked to wear when they would travel through the town, looking for a new job. Her master was never sought. She always found what the client before they knew what they wanted. Part of Enola was hoping that meant she was back, from wherever she disappeared to. Another part of her was worried that such hope was a dangerous road. But this was her style. To not return all at once. She tried to ignore it, trying to keep at her ruse. The woman's broken speech suggesting she was a foreigner, she made a guess, "How long have you been in town now Shiraya? Have you been to..?" Then she leaned back behind the woman, pulling out her collar, pretending to look down her back, "Oh no scar, so no you haven't. Oh well, you had fun there. So why are you looking for Ionu? What makes you think he can be found? That he wants to be found?"

[Aenisa]

12th of Spring - 517 AV

There was nothing that made sense any longer, it seemed that there might have been a rift in the time of the world, somehow, she seemed to be talking to someone from another dimension. Aenisa didn’t really know how to put two and two together, she had never seen a tiny clay statuette speaking before and didn’t know if it was a prank or it was real. Aenisa had another name too in the future, a name that she knew nothing about yet, it was all very weird, who had chosen that name, had she chosen it herself? So many questions came welling up from within as the tiny creature spoke to her. Shiraya, she tasted the name within her own mind for a moment, like she would a fine glass of wine, yes, it was right, weird but right.

She stood, watching as the tiny figure in her hand started to move further up her arm, like a tiny mouse would, a tiny and trained mouse at that. It was weird to feel a tiny statuette made out what seemed to be clay make its way up her arm like it was a tiny human, so many questions again came to mind. This had to be some magic, Aenisa knew that, would she put herself in danger if she exposed the magic though? She shelved the idea and continued to listen to the little woman. It was surreal to Aenisa how the little figure knew her so well, she spoke of the bird, she had known of her nickname, something Aenisa herself hadn’t known about. There was also a giant bird that she didn’t know about in the picture, weird, Ignacio was the only bird that she had with her right now, would she leave Ignacio or would Ignacio leave her? Would she get a bigger, meaner and better bird?

She didn’t know where Ionu was at least, she knew so much but didn’t know about the god that nobody seemed to know about. Aenisa heaved a sigh as she looked away from the tiny statuette again out towards the innards of the temple, the priest was still there, seemingly speaking to one or two people. For a moment, it crossed her mind again, maybe the priest would know, why had she been distracted with this tiny sculpture? She knew the moment she had asked herself why, it must have been destiny, must have been.

By the time that Aenisa got her eyes back on the tiny figure, the head of the clay statuette was focused elsewhere, in the distance. Aenisa tried to figure out what might have caught the attention of the tiny creature but all that she could even spot in the direction was a few pews, a scarf and then nothing really besides that. She looked back at the little woman again as she asked something.

“Uh… Not long.” Aenisa said shortly, she thought that the tiny creature must know, if she knew everything. It wasn’t like she was going to offer up anything just like that, even if she felt like she had known the clay creature for a while already. And yet, even as she had thought about it, she opened her mouth and started to reveal what the little clay statuette had wanted to know. “Maybe…” She brought her hand up and started to count the days that she had been in Alvadas, thinking back as she brought up one finger after another, counting for herself under her breath. “One… Two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine.” She paused, she stopped and then she looked at the tiny figure on her arm and nodded a few times before she repeated herself. “Nine days.” Never mind the fact that she had wanted to keep it a secret to test the little one, she figured that the clay statuette must have known anyways and it was a way for her to enjoy herself. “You?” She added on as a question at the end. Aenisa on the other hand had no idea how long the little creature had spent in Alvadas. She had no way of seeing the past or the future on her own.

“Where do I go? A scar? What a scar?” She asked rather curiously at the tiny woman and then she carried on, she was like a well just bursting with questions. Before she could continue up her little mental checklist of what she needed to ask, she had to explain to the creature why she wanted to find Ionu. Aenisa explained; “I need find to Ionu. Ionu runs this city, they maybe help me in my life. City is making problem for me, I think, Ionu might fix? Ionu’s temple, this is. Maybe Ionu is here?” She tried her best to make the rather difficult sentence somewhat coherent for the tiny figure and hoped that she might have succeeded in doing that.

“How you know so much of me? I really know you? Where from?” It didn’t really sit right with Aenisa, her head didn’t seem to want to accept the fact that the tiny figure existed in her life. It was all very confusing in the end and she needed to make sure that it was really what it seemed to be before she could feel safe. “I am Aenisa. Shiraya… I pick that?” Somehow, she seemed quite happy when she was asking if she had chosen the name herself, like she had liked the name herself.

“I want to speak with priest, you want to come?” Aenisa asked this as if it had been a choice for the little clay figure but she was already headed down back towards the centre of the temple again. Aenisa had set her sights on the priest, she felt like she needed to see what light that he could shed on the situation now that she was in the temple. As she had started down the middle again, the temple had seemed to thin out a little on people which was not to say that there were many there to begin with. Less was always nice however.

SPACER

[Enola]

Enola looked at the woman a bit confused. Nine days? Surely not. Surely this woman had been here longer. No one was ever brand new in the city. She recoiled a bit, to feign surprise, "Only nine days? I would've guessed longer. You never talked about those early days much." At the follow up question, she forced a laugh, "It's so weird, you not know what you will know. I was born here, several years back. This is surreal." This woman certainly was entertaining for the moment, and it was good for Enola to practice on her. Though maybe she was an easy target, since her Common was clearly subpar. Who doesn't know what a scar is? "Scar, like when you get hurt and it leaves a permanent mark. You get yours when we're in Ahnatep, nasty thing, had you laid up for a long while. That dirty Inartan bastard," she shook her head in fake disgust, shaking her tiny fist angrily. Enola smiled at this woman's barrage of questions, deciding it was something else she could use to play on. Laughing once more, patting the woman's shoulder, "So you were always so full of questions, not just after we met. That's good to know. As for Ionu, it's not easy to answer that. Ionu is anything but predictable. The city is, and always will be challenging, even if you've been here for years." Then the woman was re-asking questions, which Enola found mildly irritating. "I already told you, we become partners, though it seems I came back to a bit before we met last time. Last time, we met on very different terms. After that, we worked together, even traveled together. Partners in crime. " Again, she bounced in false surprise, "Aenisa? What a pretty name. You never did tell me why you would keep your name hidden. Or how you got the name Shiraya. You just introduced yourself as that to me." Then the woman started over toward the priest of Ionu, taking Enola along for the ride. Enola continue to pet at the woman's hair, whispering, "Even though I didn't mean to come back, I'm glad we met this way. Much nicer." She scooted closer into the woman's hair as they arrived at the priest, and Enola was genuinely curious as to what the man might have to say.