Closed Sykan Sifting [Ialari/Gossamer]

[Alric Lysane]

86th Spring 522 AV – The Syka Dock

When he awoke it was with the sense of being better rested than he could remember being for quite some time, if ever. He didn’t realise it at first, but as his eyes flickered open and the feeling hair upon his nose made him wrinkle it sleepily, he realised he wasn’t alone. He blinked the sleep from his eyes and felt the warmth of flesh against his own, realising he had his arm around a woman, hugging her from behind. He cast through his memory but found nothing that would suggest he had become far luckier than he deserved by the feel of the curves under his palms. Shifting he eased his way out from around her and discovered the picture he knew well in real life – Tazrae. There was a brief moment of elation before it was dashed by the reality – curses abounded.

Bloody things…Mathias was right, even more than I thought. Could I survive an entire season of this? No…no this has to end, it’s too much a torture he thought to himself as he raked his fingers back through his hair, kissed her cheek as she stirred briefly before falling back to sleep once more, and pushed himself off of the bed.

Looking around he noted how comfortable the pavilion tent and its surrounding were, which he strangely remembered still from the previous night. In many ways it was far better than his shack in Sunberth, a fact which filled him with a surprising but small portion of shame. He was beginning to wonder how he had ever lived like that, shut away in a dank place all by himself and not bothered by the world passing him by with its wonders. He sighed softly and set about getting dressed, he didn’t bother with a shower of anything as it didn’t matter, the only thing that mattered was getting the job he had come to Syka for done, so that he could actually begin living for once.

“Time to work,” he muttered, glancing back once more with regret at passing up on the beauty of the bed as he strapped on Zhyad after clothing himself in bark brown trousers and azure blue shirt, and pulling on his boots, “something in Syka needs tearing apart” he continued as he stepped into the pre-dawn light, noting the thing sliver of Syna upon the watery horizon and rolling his shoulders to loosen them.

Have you finally decided to accept who you are? the pulse came from Jade, who had been waiting for him he saw as he tilted his head sideways and took in the Gasvik with his azure blue gaze.

I have decided to take your advice and serve them he thought back.

That is accepting

No, it is needing. It is a selfish desire, so that I can have what I want…who I want…without this darkness upon us

You think the your ancestors did not think the same way? That they built wonders purely because they were altruistic? You need to elarn more history Nymkarta

Then teach me, Gasvik

Perhaps…should you succeed came the reply after a long pause and he snorted in response before stepping onto the sands once off the wooden decking and pulling upon his Res, letting it flood out of his lungs and to the floor, seeping into the ground and hardening an inch thick portion of sand into a solid sandstone platform.

What are you doing?

Testing a theory jade, I had thought about it for a while. Since before meeting you. Might as well…embrace who I am, no? he said, laughing as he pivoted the words back and concentrated upon attracting the sand in front of the platform, forcing it underneath and then expelling it out the back as mentally he concentrated upon a slight levitation to the Res underneath the solid platform as he stepped upon it.

With a chuckle he began to move forwards, slowly but surely, until he gathered a bit of speed, enough so that when he was far enough away and began to laugh aloud before stopping it all, letting the Res fall away before he could use too much to be dangerous, he was sent tumbling forwards to roll through the sands before pushing himself up under Jade’s silent gaze. He walked the res tof the way, slowly and quietly, towards the Syka Docks, approaching it slowly and pausing for a fe wmometns to look upon it all before stepping upon the wood and casting his gaze over the Veronica, a well built ship as far as he could see and well looked after. The tied ropes, however, seemed to suggest it had not been used in some time.

“The place where it all began,” he almost whispered, hands upon his hips and raising a thoughtful eyebrow. His memory flickered and remembered what had happened to Mistress Hess and he hummed to himself as he accessed his mark from Ionu to create a shroud of invisibility over the Lykata mark upon his naked hand, just in case there are spies about he had not noticed.

Opening himself to his Djed once more he pulled at his Auristic senses and focused everything slowly, and carefully, upon the Veronica itself, wondering if he would miraculously see anything that might provide and easy solution to Syka’s woes.

[Ialari Pythone]

Traveling through time was not as easy as Tanroa had made it seem when Ialari first met the goddess. Along with the many rules involved came the fact that you could only see what had already happened with no ability to even bend the slightest thing. For Ialari, this often meant an extreme test of patience. That is how she felt now that she'd traveled back to the past several days in hopes of finding out more about the curses that plagued Syka. It had been nearly six bells since Ialari had used the blessings of Tanroa to travel upstream on the River of Time. Unfortunately, with so little time to search, she was only confident in moving about the areas of the settlement she was familiar with which limited the overall effectiveness of her journey. It would've cost too much time to search further and risk being yanked back to the present. A few times she'd traveled back to when the curses started popping up and still had yet to find anything out of place compared to how she'd originally experienced it all. Thus were some of the limitations Tanroa placed on those she allowed to travel through time.

Even with the extra set of eyes offered by Shalla, the ghost who shared Ialari's body, the two had been yet unable to find the source of the curses. They were limited not just in the amount of time spent in the past but also in that they could not entered places with closed doors and no other way to get in unless such entryways were opened by someone at the time.

"This is getting us nowhere." Shalla stated matter-of-factly inside Ialari's mind.

Frowning, Ialari replied with a bit of frustration , "Shalla, my friend, I didn't bring you along to state the obvious...in fact it was for the exact opposite."

"I do sense a bit of irritation in your voice. I thought your people were supposed to embrace patience." Shalla said with a bit of joy in her voice.

Ialari took a deep breath and tried to steady herself against Shalla's barbs. The two were as close as friends could get; quite literally in fact, but it did not make it any easier for her to keep her cool with the ever-present voice in her head.

The crowd of people who gathered at the initial arrival of the Veronica were beginning to move elsewhere just as they had the last couple of times Ialari had witnessed. Everything was the same with little else new observed. The newcomers along with the unique inclusion of children as well as the well-received resupply of goods to the settlement were offloaded and things progressed as usual. Nothing seemed out of place or at least nothing that Ialari or Shalla could see.

With time running out, Ialari turned her attention away from the Veronica and made her way back out into the water nearby where Time's Anchor awaited. It was only a short distance from the beach where the water was about knee-high where Ialari stopped.

"I guess we'll try again later?" Shalla asked in a tired tone. Possession was a taxing activity for a ghost and even though her and Ialari were growing in their abilities to do so, it was still exhausting.

Ialari nodded although immediately realized the absurdity of nodding to an entity that shared her own body. "There has to be something we're missing."

With that, Ialari called upon Time's Anchor. Her eyes flared a brilliant blue as she raised her hands up and to the side. The water around her began to churn and rise, taking the form of a large sphere that engulfed her. All around her, time began to move forward at a rapid pace while she, and Shalla, stood in place. Within moments, events outside of the sphere began to slow as they returned to the present.

When time had finally returned to normal, the sphere fell away back to the ocean leaving Ialari standing in knee-high water a few yards from where the Veronica was docked. There was only one person in close proximity when Ialari returned as it was rather early in the day with most people tending to wake and be active somewhat later. The individual who was there would see a large swirling sphere of water rise up near the Veronica and quickly fall away revealing a rather short woman with pale, bluish-tinted skin, a slight ridge just above her nose and a black, metallic right arm. She was dressed in a simple black silk chest wrap and black silk loincloth. Around her neck was a number of seashell necklaces with a belt and pouch around her waste. For a moment or two after the sphere or water vanished, the woman's eyes flared with a brilliant sapphire energy that almost seemed to spiral clockwise before fading.

Once they had returned, Shalla said, "Alright, I need to rest. This constant bending of time is wearing on my sanity not to mention my energy. Good luck and happy hunting." With that, the ghost exited Ialari's body and made her way elsewhere to rejuvenate her soulmist. For the onlooker, Alric, with his senses altered by Auristics, what he saw would likely be...odd.

He would first see the sphere of water appear in a dazzling swirl of blue energy; almost like a fire that moved in waves, clockwise before it quickly fell into the water. In its place he would see an aura surrounding a person that almost screamed of the presence of magic and divine-related power. That aura would fade only to be replaced by the feeling of frustration from the person. A moment later, he would see a separate aura split from the first and travel off until it could no longer be sensed. It would be quite clear to Alric that when Ialari appeared, she was obviously a woman and definitely not human.

With Shalla finally leaving, Ialari felt something of a weight being lifted. While she enjoyed the company of the ghost, the experience of being possessed was often quite cumbersome. Shalla said it would get easier in time but Ialari often wondered what time her friend was referring to. With a great stretch; her arms lifted high and her joints popping, Ialari turned to look back to the beach. There she saw a man standing near the Veronica. Immediately she silently spewed a few profanities as she'd specifically chosen such an early time to travel because of the reduced chance of anyone seeing it and thus avoiding explanations that would make her sound absolutely insane.

Taking a deep breath then clearing her throat, Ialari raised her metallic hand and spoke loud enough to be heard over the relatively calm yet still noisy water, "Greetings and good morning to you! Um...I was just out for an early morning swim. What brings you out here so early?" She was frustrated already and now even more so at having been seen. She knew it was a sad attempt at covering for what the man likely just witnessed but it was all she could think of at the moment. Patience, although one of the first things ever on her mind, was melting away quicker than she would have liked. That combined with the stress on the mind of traveling through the fabric of reality did not make for stable thought.

Izurdin give me strength to not do something stupid... She said in a mental prayer.

Words: 1250

[Gossamer]

Syka Bay was peaceful in the early morning. In fact, the waves were so gentle they were hardly making an impact on the soft white sand where they rolled up past the dock. The was built out into the deeper water where The Veronica could come abeam on her port side and moor. The ship was a prominent fixture to the top end of the T that formed the dock stretching out into deeper water. James always secured a bow line and a stern line via large cleats that kept The Veronica snug up against her dock. Additional spring lines were thrown to keep the boat from moving forward or aft with rough seas or heavy wind. Her sails were secured, wrapped down, since James had decided to not make any more trips to Riverfall or Syliras this season with his…. ‘condition’. And everyone witnessing The Veronica’s tie up could see she wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Even her regular crew were ashore or off taking separate jobs for the immediate future until James and everyone in the settlement got a handle on what was going on.

No one was around that would hinder the pair from walking out on the dock or even boarding the ship. The captain would be around later to check on her and possibly update his logs, which he kept daily regardless of The Veronica’s sailing status. James was meticulous with details and even with the ship somewhat stowed as if for the season, she gleamed with polish and looked spotless. The Veronica rode high in the water, her cargo holds empty and with no plans to fill them soon. James was in no condition to sail out again, be it on a paddleboard or a dugout canoe, let alone take the love of his life for a cruise. In a way, he was smart. No harm would come to The Veronica while she was tied up securely in her home port.

The clear turquoise water was sandy here, though starfish could be seen straight through the depths crawling across the warm depths in search of food. Crabs and shrimp could be seen wandering in groups as well, all of them off to someplace in a hurried fashion. Schools of fish darted by, adventuresome near the docks where extra food was often found. There were patches of vegetation here and there, which broke up the long white sand of the bay. Dark shapes occasionally cruised the waters, some ominous with their sharp pectoral fins and some more friendly to the denizens with their perpetual grinning faces. Stingrays glided through the water in groups, nuzzling the sand feeding on worms and bivalves or chasing shrimp and lobster. There were birds everywhere, but they were mostly singing and not talking in the early morning hours.

Alric’s arrival had disturbed none of these things, for it was not uncommon for fisherman to head out to one of the ends of the T to fish near the Veronica of a morning. There were big groupers and rockfish that liked to hang out in the shade of the dock in the afternoon, and one catch could feed a large group for at least a day or two. But in the cool mornings, fisherman weren’t out and about mostly because no one had crab pots or lobster traps set and tossed off the dock today. It was an unusual oddity for mainly the people sleeping in the guest quarters or camped on the beach wouldn’t eat if they didn’t harvest.

There were no Svefra tied up or camped on Swing Beach with their casinors dragged up past the waterlines. Word had spread rapidly among the sea nomads and they were giving Syka a wide pass until the situation resolved itself. No one liked curses. And fewer still liked the rumors of the Gods that may or may not be involved.

Alric’s auristics opening wide didn’t draw him to the Veronica… at least not to the ship itself. Instead, what he noted immediately was a beautiful rainbow swirl of power that encased a smaller swirl of power that was luminous in iridescent colors. It seemed to coalesce from the surrounding area, though there were tendrils of power that snaked out from the Veronica and entwined the swirl of power. It was a distinctive aura, though not a living one. Instead, under Alric’s gaze both with his magesight and with his eyes, a little girl materialized out of the misty morning. The air was warm, warmer than the rain that had fallen upon the ground before both Ialari arrived and Alric had put in an appearance. That heated the standing water and caused it to form brief vapors that danced across the land and dock, caressing the water and licking like semi transparent tongues up the wood of the boat and across her deck.

The little girl was holding something that squirmed in her grasp. She reached down and released what she held, freeing an equally ghostly kitten which immediately started chasing the tendrils of vapor across the wooden dock. The little girl smiled at Alric then turned to Ialari. “I saw you watching the ship as we arrived. I saw you looking hard… looking for something or someone. What were you looking for?” She asked, tilting her head at the Isur woman and studying her boldly. Meanwhile, the kitten had scampered across the dock, towards Alric, then bounced off him leaving an ice-cold impression on his booted foot. The kitten hissed, swiped playfully at another vapor, and then ran through Alric’s foot this time to pounce on another on the other side of him.

The little girl looked at Alric, her gaze cold and dead, even as her long straight brown hair drifted around her head as if teased by an invisible wind. “That’s Sardine.” She said, gesturing at the kitten. “He likes to play.” She added, then glanced back at Ialari.

“You aren’t dead… not like me. But you aren’t alive either… not like he is.” She added, then glanced at Alric. There was wariness all over her face as she studied Ialari. “Where did the other ghost go? I wanted to meet them. I don’t see many around here… except out in the jungle. And most of them talk funny and are from another time than me. They are old… really old. We just came from Syliras and then Riverfall. There are ghosts there that are young like me… we talk. I have friends. But there was nobody here like me… not at least until Mistress Hess arrived. Now she keeps me company sometimes… telling me stories.” Veronica said softly, then squatted down to kiss the air. Sardine stopped what he was doing, whirled, and made a beeline straight for her. She picked up him and the kitten nuzzled her face enthusiastically.

“You won’t find anything on the ship, you know. It’s empty. Father hasn’t even reloaded it for a departure. I think that means we will stay here a while.” She volunteered, liking the attention of the pair and wanting to hold it for as long as she could stay solid.

[Alric Lysane]

To his gaze nothing in particular stood out at first, even with his auristic sight casting as broad a passive net as he could manage without becoming too taxing, his gaze taking in the Veronica and finding it to be as any ship might be. He wasn’t sure what he had been expecting, but the absence of anything was a slight knock to the confidence that he could solve all of the curse business in the next five days. The sands of time were rushing, and he was playing a game of catch up, not yet forward enough in progress to deduce and act proactively.

It was as he was musing upon what the best approach would be that there were sudden flashes, one brighter and more all encompassing and the other, and a rainbow flickering that seemed less powerful, but more intriguing in its strangeness – he closed his eyes for a few moments, counting to five and opening them once more to find the flashes had passed without blinding him. His eyes took in what was a ghost…and a kitten ghost…and then switched to a woman wearing little but smallclothes with a distinctly non-human look about her, an orb of some kind floating our of her before she turned red, feeling hot and the smell of stale sweat filled his nostrils...she was...annoyed perhaps? He would have laughed aloud had he not been so guarded, feeling his Djed crackle through him just in case, preparing his flux and shielding as a last resort. He heard both of their words, raising his eyebrow as he picked out who to respond to first.

“I had wondered what that thing coming out of you was…a ghost…possession? Already Syka becomes more interesting. How is the temperature of the water this time of day?” he flashed a wry smile at the living woman, “I know magic when I see it, though what magic I am not sure. Still, given you aren’t throwing fire at me I’ll take that as a good sign. Come join me, please…you seem interesting enough that you could be good company” he continued before turning to the ghost, bending down to let the ghost kitten toy with his finger, leaving a cold sensation before running back to the spectral youngster.

Her talk of older ghosts, suggestive of even going back far enough as to be able to tell him of his ancestor's days perhaps, caught his curiosity but soon after his curiosity was replaced with a flash of guilty sadness across his face and he sighed, raking his fingers back through his hair, looked into the middle distance as he wondered, not for the first time, whether he was directly responsible for her death. It felt like he was, his letter seemed to have triggered it. He pushed it deep down, there to be covered with the urgency of the current mission for the present, and sighed once more, casting his gaze back at the ghost. She had mentioned her father, which meant as far as he could figure that she was the daughter of one of the Founders…was it, James? Is that the name Cleon had told him? There had been so many, he was having problems keeping up.

“I’d like to meet Mistress Hess,” he said, clearing his throat and firming his voice, “I feel sure she has many interesting stories. As for whether I’ll find something or not…I wish I could, but you may be right. You know of the curses in Syka? Your father probably has one? Well let's just say I have a curiosity in whether they are...permanent. Perhaps, you can help me…a clever girl like you must know many things…have seen many things? Strange passengers, perhaps? Or odd happenings on the last journey into Syka? Someone who might wish to harm the people here? Or…something?”

“My name is Alric," he said to both of them then, "and there are people in Syka I love very much. If you can help me at all then I’d appreciate it. Time is short…you can both fill me in on things I don’t know whilst I…explore the ship, perhaps? I've never been on one before, seems a good opportunity to see one up close, no?” he offered, if they accepted then he’d board and start running his un-gloved hands upon every single railing, plank of wood, mast, stair and bunk that he could find, seeking all the while to see if he could detect the taint of something ill intentioned as he went, and listen as intently as his split concentration would allow along the way.

“I take it you’d rather not be cursed? What is your name? I had a list from a friend, I memorised what the curses were…I hope it wasn’t one of the more terrible ones that afflicts you. You are afflicted?” he turned to look at Ialari then, his auristics vanishing and she would see his eyes change from glistening emerald to more of a sapphire blue even from where she was standing, curious as to what she was doing suddenly appearing in the water, wondering if perhaps she had a similar desire to himself, there were few reasons he could think of to be investigating a moored ship after all.

[Ialari Pythone]

As Ialari slowly approached the beach, she glanced down to see the menagerie of sea-life that populated the area. She noted the somewhat more unnerving shapes that patrolled a short distance away in the deeper water. Although she was born a creature of the land and beneath it, she’d come to love the beauty of the ocean as well as all that it touched. As she stepped from the water onto the mist covered sandy beach and to the dock, she saw the little girl appear close by. Ialari’s mark of death on her left palm throbbed lightly; clueing her in to the now obvious presence of a ghost. The ethereal cat that she was carrying before releasing to play brought the tickle of sadness to Ialari’s chest. She recognized the girl from the rare glimpses she’d experienced over the years. Veronica. It was the ghost that Ialari had wished to meet for years yet never had the opportunity until now.

As she approached the lone man standing near Veronica, Ialari stopped a few feet from them. As expected, the questions came and Ialari had some of her own yet chose to wait. She tried to address the two in turn although the rather odd meeting of the three of them, four with Sardine, caused her to raise her hand slightly, the sickle on her palm clear.

Although her accent was thick and some of her words not spoken in the Common Tongue, Ialari spoke slowly and deliberately; her meaning mostly clear despite her slightly broken grasp on the language. “My apologies for my rather…unexpected arrival.

Although there was little in the way of what Ialari had come to know as a traditional greeting among humans, she somewhat welcomed the change. She often grew tired of the normal social traditions of non-isur. It was the little girl who offered the first question that struck Ialari most. She remembered when the ship arrived earlier in the season. She was indeed looking for somewhat particular.

Kneeling down to the little girl’s level, Ialari smiled. It was not the smile she normally wore; the one of awkward attempts at fitting in. It was a smile she rarely carried on her face; one of caring, a tinge of excitement and a dash of sadness. In response to the girl’s question of what Ialari was looking for, she said softly, “Veronica? I was looking for you.”

Indeed, Ialari had looked upon the ship that day hoping to catch a glimpse of the little girl. Over the years, during the times she’d visited Syka, she hoped to see the ghost though only caught those rare few glimpses. She’d heard rumors related to the girl and her death and the sightings of the ghostly child but did not know much more. Whether it was the mark of Dira upon her, her growing interest in souls and spirits or the fact that she herself was broken, Ialari found herself drawn to such things.

“I’ve seen you before…briefly but I’ve felt your presence often during my visits here. I have wanted to meet you for a long time. Until recently, I didn’t feel like I was…in the right place…to be able to talk to you.” Being touched by Dira, Ialari felt a strange connection to ghosts, one that she was just beginning to realize. It was almost like she could feel the things that they no longer could. What she felt from them was not unlike what she felt when looked upon the pieces of her own broken soul; a feeling of loss, a feeling of being incomplete and always yearning for something even though what that something was, remained elusive.

When Veronica commented on Ialari not being dead yet not being alive either, Ialari lowered her gaze for a moment. “No. I am not dead or truly alive. I am somewhere in between.” She looked back up at the girl. “I’m trying to fix that.”

In a manner most unlike her, Ialari dropped any pretense of subterfuge or vagueness when she spoke to the girl. “The other ghost…that is Shalla. She is my best friend. I saved her from…a terrible end and she has saved me a few times. She had to leave for a little bit though because we have spent a long time…possessed…I think is how you put it. She needed to restore her soulmist. I think she would enjoy meeting you as well. Other than for me, she has nobody else here.”

Ialari was amazed to hear that there were other ghosts out in the jungle. She hadn’t ventured very far from the settlement and other than Shalla and Veronica, she knew of no others nearby. The mention of Mistress Hess as a ghost…that was something quite new and offered an incredible amount of possible information.

It was then that the man, the living one, spoke up. He’d seen Shalla leaving. It took but a glimpse at his eyes to realize how. Ialari was familiar with the use of Auristics; she herself had dabbled in its use. She silently cursed herself for her bad luck at being seen by one who was able to manipulate djed. It was something she had a hard time getting used to with Syka being as open to magic use as it was.

She rose from her kneeling position and looked at Alric. “The water is…warm…though it is always warm here. As for magic…well…it isn’t exactly magic. What you saw was…Time.” She accepted the invitation that followed to join him.

The man began questioning Veronica, all of it related to what was currently going on in the settlement. Ialari let the questions go for the moment until the man finally introduced himself. While she still saw it as an odd order of social interaction, she found it refreshing in its awkwardness. She could see that he was not from a place nearby as his mannerisms and way of speaking was of a different place; perhaps quite some distance from where they currently resided.

Ialari again, raised her hand a bit as if to pause the current moment in time. “I do think we should slow down a moment or two. While time is limited in this, I assure you, we still have enough to do what is needed.”

She turned to Alric, “My name is Ialari. I’ve been something of a visitor to Syka for many years. Recently I chose to make it more of a permanent residence. My curse…I am trapped in a rotting corpse that only I can see and feel.” She offered a dry chuckle. “It is ironic to me although that is a long story for a different time.” Ialari looked back to the ship briefly before returning her attention to Alric and Veronica.

“I have been gifted by Tanroa, Goddess of Time, with the ability to travel to the past. Myself and Shalla have been trying to find the source of these curses. So far, we have found nothing not normal; at least not normal for Syka. My ability is limited though and I can’t see everything.” Ialari held a look of frustration on her face.

While she admired Alric’s desire to move quickly, she acted with a bit more reserve. “Veronica, our new friend here is right in our needing to figure out what is going on and in needing to do it with some…haste although he may want to maintain a level head while doing so. If you could help us in anyway in our search for what caused the bad things to happen here…the bad things to happen to those we care for, I would be so grateful. In fact, in return, if it is something that you would like, I would be…I believe the word is honored, to let you possess me…to be able to feel what it is to be alive again; to feel, taste, hear, smell and see things as the living do with no..re..restrictions…for as long as your mist will allow.”

Ialari turned to Alric, “I’ve heard of you…the man with the sight who had the answer. That is about all I know of you other than you arrived from someplace far away. Myself, I can’t begin to explain who and what I am. Do know that I am connected to this place in a way that will not allow me to let all of this continue to its…I believe I’ve heard you humans call it an…endgame? The gods…at least those who have a care…seem to want to act from a distance. In my experience, this means yet another blasted test. As much as I love them, I would love even better throwing their test back in their faces. Shall we?” Ialari held out her hands to both Alric and Veronica. She felt a little weird in trying to speak with inspiration but a big part of her was beginning to tire of feeling like a victim.

Ialari accepted Alric's offer to search the ship assuming Veronica was willing to help them.

Words: 1489

[Gossamer]

Sardine batted at Alric’s outstretched finger before his little girl called him back to her. The kitten was a whisp of unlife, playful, and vigorous much in death like he had been in life. And it was clear that there was true affection between the pair as the little girl scooped up Sardine and cuddled him. The colorpoint kitten seemed to glow more vibrantly, take on a stronger form, as Veronica handled him.

“Mistress Hess is newly dead.” Veronica said with all seriousness. “She doesn’t have much… knowledge of being dead. She is waiting for her sister, you see, before she moved on. She was going to tell her things. And she claims Lily will help her be stronger. I would introduce her, but she’s not strong like me. She doesn’t know how to do the things I can do.” The little girl ghost told the Isur and the Human. “She’s mostly just a thought on the wind, a whisper in the palms… there’s not much too her. Not unless someone helps her… someone that knows what they are doing.” Veronica added looking thoughtful. “I don’t know if anyone around here does.” The child mused, looking rather adult in her thinking.

“Yes, I know of the curses. That’s why we are not reloaded and leaving soon. That’s why I can’t see my friends at other ports. We’re stuck here because Father gets lost on the open sea. We… we almost didn’t make it back.” She added, a frown curling her lips. She was upset, that was clear enough, and she didn’t like what was happening in Syka at all. She didn’t like it because it held her here when the only thing here for her was James and Sardine.

“The curses are permanent?” Veronica mused, then shook her head, but paused, and looked thoughtful a moment. “Not right now, at least I don’t think so. But they will be I suspect, if what is behind them gets its way.” The girl said, glancing between the two. Then her eyes settled on Alric and they narrowed. “Don’t treat me like a child to be bribed with flattery, Aaaalllllrrriiiicccc. I’m older than you are.” She said drawing out his name in a way that was almost sinister, before she glanced at Ialari who obviously had more experience with ghosts.

Then she turned back to Alric.

“You should stay off the ship. It’s my Father’s and you don’t have his permission to board her.” She said, angry now… so angry that Sardine hissed slightly because she was gripping him too hard. She released the kitten immediately and then shook her head. “I didn’t hang out here for strangers to make demands of me. Who are you to tell me that you need to be filled in on anything? Ask Father before you go aboard or else.” She said, deciding she didn’t like Alric one bit. He was bossy, alternatively demanding and flattering, which didn’t set well with her.

Sardine moved around to flank Alric and began to grow. His fangs elongated and his colorpoint hues grew more prominent as his feet became huge and claws sprung free from his paws. He swelled even larger, growing to the size of a cougar then surpassing one, muscling up as his canines became long wicked daggers that clearly outlined his Sabertooth nature. He hissed protectively and paced across the front of the gang plank before he sat down on his haunches, blocking Alric’s ability to enter The Veronica.

Veronica herself simply smiled. “Sardine is such a good kitten.”

“We all have people we love. Some living, some dead… but you must let the living fight their own battles. It is far to often that the dead can’t help.” She added, then turned to Ialari. “Yes, I’m Veronica. You are the one with the other ghost. I don’t know her name. I had hoped you would have something to give me, but I can tell from Shalla that you aren’t much of a spiritist, are you? It’s okay though. I see you are other things instead.” Veronica shrugged, glancing at Alric dismissively before she looked back at Ialari who was on her level now.

“You’ve never visited the ship and asked for me. I would have sat a spell and visited.” Veronica told Ialari. “Sardine likes meeting new people too.” The girl explained glancing to where the sabretooth was now eyeing Alric like he might become the big cat’s next meal. “And I don’t mind meeting those Dira Marked. I can tell you are healing, at least a little, inside. There are places on you that feel newly mended, rewoven, like a tapestry that has been slowly repaired. But there are still tatters… are you crazy?” Veronica asked boldly of the Isur that was knelt down before her.

“Shalla. So that’s her name.” Veronica said thoughtfully. “Send her to the ship. We’ll talk. I’ll be her friend. She can’t be as weak as Mistress Hess.” Veronica frowned. “You should take better care of Shalla if she is your friend. I was going to ask you for soulmist, but I don’t think you have what I want nor do I think you can make it. If she had to leave to recharge, then that tells me I am right. You can’t.” Veronica shook her head as if that was the saddest thing she’d ever heard of.

Veronica became quiet as the living spoke to each other. She listened attentively but didn’t interrupt.

She did, however, wrinkle her nose at Ialari when she offered to let her possess her. “I don’t need to touch things or feel things or pretend to be a live anymore. I like being dead… like this… watching over Father and spending time with Sardine. I don’t need to possess you. I do like talking to you though.” She said, meeting Ialari’s gaze, though she glanced at Alric as if the verdict was still out on spending time with him.

“No. Not without Father’s permission.” Veronica said, as Ialari took Alric’s hand. She didn’t join them, being rather stubborn about the fact. “She is our ship, not yours, and no one but one of her sailors or one of the Founders or me should board her uninvited. Bad things happen to those who are uninvited.” She said, shaking her head. “The ship is blessed by Laviku himself.” The little girl said, and gestured.

Sure enough, her bow was etched with an almost identical mark of waves with dancing dolphins in them that wrapped around her front where the wood was raised as if it were embossed. They’d seen the same etchings – gnosis marks – on dozens of Svefra that came and went from Syka like it was some sort of port of call. “You’ll anger The Sea Father and my own father if you tread where you were not invited.” She said, knowing it was true.

“Time stretches forever, you fools. Both of you should know that. You living are the only ones that see the start and end of it and feel its passage. The dead do not. We hardly care.” Veronica snapped, unhappy, and obviously out of patience. “Go touch other things…. if you must touch. Or ask me your questions, if you have them. Yes, I’ve seen strange things… I saw a little boy swimming out in the middle of the Suvan and Father picked him up and added him to the other children, but he wasn’t another child. He was something else…. newly born, newly placed into the world… and he’s still birthing himself into the world. He picked the name Luke, but that isn’t his real name. His real name is Lukavialastu. He’s one of Laviku’s children. And when he grows, he will be the stuff of tales.” Veronica said, shaking her head. “Right now, everyone thinks hes just a little boy.” She looked thoughtful as Sardine lifted a paw and gnawed at a claw as if trying to sharpen one.

“The other children I do not know… they don’t see me or won’t see me. I hate that. The younger ones know I am there, but they ignore me. They don’t want to be different than the older ones.” Veronica all but growled, mad at this. “One of the older ones saw me too. But he won’t talk to me at all.” Her voice was almost a sneer now. She wasn’t happy about the situation with the children. She wasn’t happy at all.

[Alric Lysane]

As the woman came closer it became even more apparent that she was not human, for starters she was almost a foot shorter than him and had a skin tone that seemed to blend with her black garments, except for the silvered veins that showed here and there with varying hues. A ridge of some kind across her face and an arm that reminded him of obsidian more than flesh merely served to confirm the fact, even as the white glow of various gnosis marks flared before his auristic vision faded and he took her in simply as she was. She could have been deemed pretty if one were inclined towards her species, well-toned and slender with a face not unbecoming despite the jawline stronger than an ox’s. When she spoke, it was in a half-broken and slow form of Common that he had to concentrate upon to follow and discern fully.

As he listened his eyes scanned the gangplank, and something caught his eye as the kitten stepped between him and the ship and began to grow. Even so he leaned down and pulled something shiny from a gap in the wood, brushing the dust and sand off of it, finding it to be a gold charm of some kind, clearly meant to hang off of another piece of jewellery, in the shape of a snake, coiled with its head reared up and mouth open, delicate tongue flicking out as if captured mid-taste. He smiled to himself, being reminded of Twilight and knowing he had spent too long away from the Musurrana already, a pang of guilt forcing him to make a mental note to pick him up when he could. He had left plenty of water and food down, but much time had passed.Slipping the charm onto the bracelt Lys had thrown to him the previous day, he pushed himself back up and returned his attention to the other two fully.

“I hope you are right," he responded to Ialari first, the friendlier option, "because the season’s end approaches and as has been stated already, when time runs out then things will become irreversible, though I’m not sure anyone knows exactly what that means. Still, I’d rather not give ground to the darker forces at play here, not without it costing it dearly,” he scratched his chin thoughtfully and looked at Ialari more closely, pondering upon what he had overheard, “so you have many gnosis, one of them Tanroa, the other Dira…both names I am not well versed in. I saw more but I won’t press. And you are alive, but not alive…it would seem that there is a long conversation there, probably requiring wine and a roaring fire for several evenings. I hope we get that chance come Summer, Ialari. You can perhaps tell me of your people, and then I can tell you all about me, though the story may not be as interesting as hoped” he offered by way of a better, more genuine greeting.

“For what it’s worth I remember you from the list, I did think that it was one of the more…torturous ones. If it is a mockery designed to undermine then that would mean you are strong. You’ve survived this long, and if I have it my way then you’ll suffer no more soon enough. Honestly, despite the scattered unity some have told me of before this season, I would think that if anything Sykans should be proud they resisted as long as they did…some longer than others” he sighed, clearly wishing none of it had ever happened before turning his attentions back to the cat – now larger and hissing at him – and the ghost of Veronica.

He wasn’t sure why Veronica was so annoyed and defensive, even with the suggestion that they needed to board the ship. It made little sense to him, he was there trying to help and yet was facing barriers, almost as if Veronica didn’t want things to be resolved – though with her words about not being able to leave and her father being affected it made even less sense that she wouldn’t grant permission to try to help where he could. There were no guarantees of success, and he knew that she didn’t know him, but there was no time to form a larger bond that might mollify her irritations. Certainly, he didn’t think he deserved a spectral, hissing beast trying to stare him down. The corners of his lips turning up with slight mischief as his fingers wriggled and his own spectre rippled into existence, larger than Sardine but an almost perfect imitation, moving the same way but with no noise, a silent play partner.

“There Sardine, have a playmate, all cats need playmates,” he said with a snort before eyeing Veronica and wondering why she intoned his name that way given he wasn’t being a threat, before addressing her, “what Ialari says is true Veronica, the gods are having a show down and their using humans as the game pieces. You know what that means, right? Everyone, your father included, will be torn apart in interesting ways perhaps, if we don’t solve these curses. I flew from Sunberth on a Wind Eagle, halfway across the world, to try to help. If Syka fails in this…test as Ialari puts it…then no more ship voyages, no more visiting far away friends. Just here, forever. Maybe you wouldn't mind that, but even if that were the case then your father and everyone else suffers. The ship Is the first port of call for this series of curses, whatever it was that caused it came in on your ship. If you don’t want me to board and try to figure out who, or what, it is, then so be it…but I am only trying to help. I'm sorry if I offended, I just don't think we have much time left. If your father were here I'd ask permission, I was hoping he might be so I could talk to him about his journey and then buy him a drink for that long discussion...but it is your ship, as you say”

“As for the gods,” he said, speaking to them both now really, “in my experience they call things tests but really they just want others to do their dirty work for their family squabbles. This whole thing is little brother Rhysol deciding to test big sister Kihala’s patience, and you all get caught in the crossfire. The gods don’t want to get directly involved, either through fear or caution. One day, if the good ones don’t make a stand, then the evil will take ground bit by bit. Evil doesn’t play by rules” he sighed, watching Sardine and his illusion paw at each other experimentally, testing and finding nothing harmful before they set up a patting rhythm with gusto that made him smile slightly.

He listened to Veronica’s irritated tones, talking about asking questions but before they had chance to offer any up launching into a diatribe about children, clearly irritated at the majority of them and likely not wanting them in Syka, let alone on the ship for the journey – probably deferring to her father’s decision at the time, he assumed. There was one portion which flared his interest and the hairs upon the back of his neck raised as they were wont to do when there was a puzzle about. He let her finish but as son as she had he had words and further questions, just after sharing a glance with Ialari and raising an eyebrow, asking her a compeltely unplanned qustion now.

“You found a child in the middle of the Suvan? And he is not really a child but a magically created being with great future…and no one thought that this was something worth exploring? No one questioned anything about it? The children have ben here how long exactly, the beginning of the season?” he asked, clearly incredulous that something like this had just been left for nothing but pure acceptance and lack of speculation, but at last finding some common groung of symathy with the dead girl with her words on being ignored.

“I can imagine that it is annoying to be ignored, believe me I know. Years as a street rat doesn’t lend yourself to being important to others. I’m not trying to dismiss you, but we do need to know…is this the only strange thing you saw? A boy like that doesn’t seem like he would cause curses…surely?” he asked them both that question, turning to look at Ialari once more, trying to read her eyes and see what she was thinking, “what abut others upon the ship? Not the crew, perhaps, unless there were new members…but were there other passengers? Adults who might have strange markings upon them…or carrying items that seemed…odd? Or were…magical? What do you think Ialari? Anything strange that you’ve noticed since these kids…this Luke…turned up at port? Apart from the curses, of course”

[Ialari Pythone]

Ialari narrowed her eyes at Alric’s mention of her marks and of stories to be told around a fire. Her absence from the world had produced so many unexpected oddities; one of them being the idea of human interaction. The way these humans speak is…confusing. She thought to herself.

He went on to speak of her curse from the list one of the other residents of Syka had created. Veronica also spoke of Mistress Hess and her having become a ghost. Her comments about someone being needed to help the spirit in her new form of existence, one who knew what they were doing, felt like a jab to Ialari although she let it pass.

The interaction between Sardine and Veronica was something that Ialari found remarkable. The way the two interacted and the connection they shared; were they close in life or did they bond in death? The thought was something she would hopefully be able to approach later.

The death of Hess was indeed sudden and quite troubling; something that shook everyone in the settlement. Death was somewhat rare in Syka even though the jungle never ceased to threaten all manner of terrible ends upon the people who lived just outside of it.

As Veronica responded to the mention of the curses, Ialari could see the growing frustration in the ghost as she mentioned how she was unable to leave port. Her frustration grew more into anger when she felt like Alric had been talking down to her. There was something of a vibration in the air that raised the hairs on the back of Ialari’s neck.


Veronica turned down Ialari’s offer for possession while commenting on her lack of skill dealing with ghosts. When Veronica asked if Ialari were crazy, she chuckled, “I guess it depends on what you think crazy is. I ask myself the same question from time to time but the answer is always different.”

Ialari considered Veronica’s offer to meet with Shalla. “I do think Shalla would be happy to meet you and I promise she is anything but weak. She’s been around for centuries although she’s been a ghost for only a decade or so. Also, I would like to maybe have that long overdue talk.”

When Veronica took on the look of disgust at the idea of needing to possess someone to be able to feel, Ialari quickly realized her error in thinking. Veronica had been a ghost for quite some time which meant she’d likely learned a good amount of control over her unliving state; even learning how to manipulate and experience the living world in a more solid way. The fact that the girl expressed a liking for being dead was somewhat troubling though and was something Ialari wanted to speak to yet kept to herself as it wasn’t exactly the time for such things.

At the mention of investigating the ship, Veronica’s anger became quite tangible with much of it focused on Alric. When Veronica released Sardine and the kitten hopped away only to come up behind Alric, the sudden transformation forced Ialari to take a step back. The ghostly kitten-turned-much-more moved to block entry to the ship with a threatening hiss.

Although obviously upset, Veronica still managed to answer some of Alric’s questions. The revelation that James had picked up a young boy swimming in the middle of the sea was odd enough but that he was a child of Laviku was not something she’d expected to hear. The mention of one of the older children not wanting to talk to her seemed like something important.

It was then that Alric decided to do something…unexpected. With a few a few motions of his hand, a larger ethereal duplicate of Sardine appeared as if to taunt the ghost.

He then seemed to give into whatever internal conflict was troubling him as he proceeded to erupt in a bit of a verbal tirade in response to Veronica’s own growing anger. He pushed back against the ghost and even invoked Ialari and commented on the struggles of the gods themselves. When he finally turned to her and asked Ialari what she may have noticed, a heavy frown dominated the woman’s face.

At that point, she’d already taken a few more steps back away from Alric after his outburst. At one point, she’d wiped her hand across her face and uttered, “I can’t believe I have to do this…”

Before the man she’d just met and the ghost she’d been wanting to meet could embrace their anger any deeper, Ialari stepped between them.

“I can see this is getting us nowhere fast.” Ialari glared at Alric and then turned her gaze, albeit softer to Veronica.

She then looked to Sardine and said, “Sardine, my apologies. Alric here is obviously feeling no small amount of stress from what’s been going on around here. When someone is stressed, they tend to do…STUPID things.” Ialari emphasized the word as she turned her head briefly to Alric.

“Get rid of that thing and calm yourself for a moment. Yes, there are many things to consider here and information to take in. There is much stress and a lot weighing on us. Yet, we don’t need to needlessly insult someone who didn’t have to appear to and speak to us in the first place. Also, while I don’t exactly enjoy or understand the methods of the gods, I don’t take kindly to blasphemy.” She spoke with a deliberate calm in her voice although inside she was burning with frustration at what the situation was in danger of becoming. Her accent also punctuated some of her words with her own hidden anger in a way that sounded rather harsh.

Ialari then turned to Veronica and said in a more sympathetic tone, “I am sorry if we’ve upset you. I can’t speak for this man, as I don’t really know him, but for myself, I tend to forget what living humans call…etig…etiquette. Maybe it’s too much time spent consumed in my own strangeness. You are right, we shouldn’t have thought to trespass. This whole situation has caused all of us to not think right.”

She considered for a moment the information Veronica had shared. “Thank you for telling us about the child, Luke. From what you speak of though, I don’t feel that he is related to what is going on. Unusual yes and quite interesting but it doesn’t sound like the makings of curses.”

Ialari took a deep breath and reached in mentally to get a hold on being calm. Although her own frustration wasn’t nearly as apparent as it was with the others nearby, it was still there.

She hoped that Alric would heed her words and dismiss whatever the thing was he’d created while also hoping that both he and Veronica would not allow themselves to be too consumed by their own frustration and offenses.

“Veronica…please, if it isn't too much more to ask, who was the older child who wouldn’t talk to you? I would imagine that a child would either be frightened or excited at seeing you. To simply avoid you…is it possible he sensed your ability to see things in a living person…kind of like you saw in me? Maybe he wished to hide something.” Ialari thought Veronica’s comment about the child wishing not to speak with her may have more meaning.

Words: 1230

[Gossamer]

Veronica felt she was being perfectly reasonable, barring the strangers from the ship without her Father’s permission. She didn’t know them. They were strangers. And even Ialari didn’t have Shalla there to vouch for her. The ghost had left. And just because one ghost liked a person didn’t mean another one would.

She nodded in response to Ialari’s answer to her question on crazy. That made sense. The little girl was no dead child. She understood what the Isur was saying.

Sardine had done his part to be scary and bar their way. When Alric created the visual illusion of a second bigger sabretooth, Veronica saw it like a card game. She’d played her hand and Alric had laid down one a bit bigger, better, and was smug about it. Adults sucked. He was mocking her on so many levels and downplaying how fierce Sardine could be. The cat sneered at the illusionary cat – it having no smell, no sound, nothing but the visual - and casually sat down in the middle of the gangplank on its rear like a dog, still barring away, letting the illusionary cat do what it wanted. It eyed Alric like he merited watching, then exchanged glances at Veronica. “Sardine can really hurt you if he wants too. He’s special. And he doesn’t need a playmate. He has one already.” She added then held out her hands.
While Alric spoke, the Sabertooth jumped back up on all fours, passed through the illusion, and brushed past the two intruders. He shrank down as he ran, then jumped up into Veronica’s arms, turning back into a kitten which she cuddled close.

“You are a jerk.” She said when Alric got done speaking. “I don’t care if there’s ten chimes left for everyone to live, there’s no cause to be rude or bully people. And my Father says showing off is a trait that speaks of a weak character.” She added, narrowing her eyes at him. Sardine hissed as well, as if reflecting Veronica’s thoughts. “I would have told you if anything else was odd. Nothing was.”

Veronica widened her eyes at Alric’s rant about the Gods and how they behaved. She glanced around, seaward, then skyward then backed further away from both of them on the dock. “Luke is my friend.” She said defensively, with Alric raising his voice. Her father never got like this. Her father was only ever reasonable and calm. Veronica had tried James’ patience’s many a time and he’d calmly dealt with her each and every instance. She didn’t like Alric’s incredulous tone nor that he was implying that her father and all the other adults were negligent.

“It’s not as if they haven’t done anything. It’s not as if they aren’t diligent. Luke isn’t the problem.” Veronica hissed, not unlike Sardine, backing up a bit more in the face of Alric’s questions. “Father picked him up and took him with us as he was ASKED to do. You don’t say no to certain people.” The spirit added, certainty across her face. “We made port the tenth on Spring on schedule. We haven’t left since. Father can’t.” The ghost said, glancing between the two adults, the kitten nuzzling her head with its own, as if to comfort her. Even now, the two adults could see the hint of fang poking out of Sardine’s lip. He kneaded at Veronica’s shoulder with paws that promised to be huge once he was full grown.

“The ship was full. We had all kinds of passengers. There were so many some were sleeping on the deck.” Veronica said softly. “I didn’t think any of them were strange. They all seemed nice. Father vetted them. He wouldn’t have asked them to Syka if he didn’t see into them.” The ghost added, looking from one adult to the other, and still backing up away from them on the dock.

Veronica stiffened when Ialari turned to her, expecting more of the same that Alric dished out. She didn’t like mean people, regardless of the excuses they gave for being mean. The little girl looked like she was about to turn and bolt, but something in Ialari’s voice held her there. She didn’t leave, but lingered, clutching Sardine and looking rather angry. It was almost like she didn’t want them to board the ship at all, and expected them to do so despite her telling them they couldn’t. But she didn’t say anything, not really, and simply watched the duo until Ialari began to speak.

Then, she listened, with her kitten in her arms, wide-eyed. She did keep backing up, away, from the duo as if she wanted nothing more for them but also not quite willing to leave. She didn’t verify Ialari’s suspicions about Luke nor did she deny them. Veronica felt she’d said enough on that subject. She turned, glancing at the gnosis mark on the ship, and said nothing more about him. She’d showed them. She’d told them. Now they needed to just believe her.

But they wouldn’t. Adults never did. “A lot of people come to Syka and have secrets. That doesn’t make them bad. Nesra has a secret. Gracelin too. Many people in Syka have secrets. Two of the children did. One wasn’t even a child. But that didn’t make her bad. She’s just scared. We’ve all been scared. I played with Senora on the way here. She saw me and smiled at me even though she was scared. But if you learned her secret, you’d kill her… everyone … no anyone would.” Veronica said firmly.

Then she turned and looked at Ialari. She thought about the Isur’s question for a bit and said softly… “There’s Kyle and Kelton… they both look the same age, but one is older. I don’t know which is which.” She said, looking at Sardine for a moment before nodding. “One has a scar on his face, through his eyebrow. I kind of liked him?” She said, hesitantly.

Then she and vanished, leaving the pair with only each other on the dock.

[Alric Lysane]

Alric said nothing, in fact he barely moved and simply sighed internally in frustration at events and how they had deteriorated. Wriggling his fingers behind his back, clasping the hands together, if only just to keep them still and in a non-threatening position to the pair who were intent on criticising him, his illusion dissipated shortly after Sardine barrelled through it and back into Veronica’s arms. He simply listened, whatever he said or did seemed to make them both more frustrated with him, so he chose silence as the only other option open to him for a time. Syka was a maddening place so far, it seemed more interested in rules, manners and protocol than actually solving the problems they had.

Perhaps they don’t want to solve things…strange as that sounds? Or maybe I’m just from somewhere that doesn’t care about someone’s feelings? I mean I’ll admit that I don’t think myself the strongest of characters…but at least I’m bloody trying he thought to himself, privately continuing to speculate upon various tangents of thought involving tales of cutting noses off to spite their faces. The fact that it also seemed to apply to him on this occasion was not lost upon him.

Still, the fact that a ghost who claimed to be older than he was and yet still acted just as much the child she claimed him to be was somewhat amusing, if in a bleak way. All he had wanted was to try to read the ship, to help Syka, and she had said no to the entry. Had she done just that he’d have done little else, but she had threatened him, what was he supposed to do? Beg on his knees to please let him help the people she seemed to care about? No, that was too far and so she could bar his way all she liked. As for the blasphemy, he wasn’t sure what he had said that reflected that. His personal experiences with gods had been a riddle game and a kidnapping crossed with a requested assassination. He could only assume that Ialari had been treated with more deference that he had, which seemed to make sense given circumstance. He simply nodded at her and met he half-glare with as much blank stoicism he could manage, that should have been shown earlier, perhaps.

The discussions surrounding Luke, Kelton, Kyle, Senora and the general make up of the passengers for the ship’s last voyage was something he listened closely to. Honestly, he didn’t think Veronica had any reason to lie, though that didn’t mean she was correct in everything she said. Yet something tugged at him with the discussion – they were children. One might be older than the others, another have some secret or other and Luke might be Laviku’s child…but still that didn’t seem to track for him with being a Priest of Rhysol, as Mathias had suggested. It felt…off…as if yet more was needed to fill in the puzzle properly for the solution. That was why he had asked about the adults, though it seemed as if Veronica had seen nothing about them that was odd, which left him wondering…had it truly been the ship’s arrival, then? It made the most sense, the timing of the 10th and the curses falling the same day, a neat little fitting…but was that correct? Had it been a wrong assumption the whole time?

My head hurts… he thought, massaging his temples as the last of the conversation between Veronica and Ialari ended and then Veronica vanished, leaving them together, and he felt sure she didn’t really want to be around him, but hoped she’d stick around for the sake of the curses, at least.

“And then there were two…I hope we bump into James later, I can apologise and ask permission to board. Though, if we are lucky, maybe we’ll have made strides towards solving it all by then,” he said after a few moments of silence, letting the tension dissipate before speaking to Ialari, unsure if she’d even wish to discuss things, “I don’t suppose you know where this…is there and orphanage here? For the children to sleep in?” he asked curiously.

“Something feels off though, children being responsible for these curses? Would a child be a Priest of Rhysol, if that is what is responsible?” he scratched his chin thoughtfully, “and Laviku sends a son, but just to watch? Wouldn’t the child curser know him for that, somehow? Divine insight, perhaps? So, the curses started on the 10th…shortly after the ship docked…did anything else happen that day that…stands out to you?” he asked, hopeful for perhaps another lead that had yet to be considered, thinking for a few more moments before sighing and raking his fingers back through his hair, meeting her gaze once more.

“Look, I’m sorry, I understand if you’d rather pursue things yourself, but Veronica was right about one thing, even if tacitly, I am a stranger here. I don’t know the customs, places or anything else. We could tour the entire settlement and I’d happily read everything while we discuss matters, but I’d not even know here to start. Any ideas?”