[The Pilgrimage] Setting Sails on a Journey of Hope

[Diem]

30th day of Spring 510 AV Despite all the wrongs Diem had seen during his stay here, all those he had met that seemed to care naught for those around them, the young bald man found he was going to miss Sunberth. Certainly not enough to to stay, but perhaps enough to return. Through all the grit and grime, there were things of of Sunberth that shined. Gemmy for example. The upbeat young woman was quite a cheerful person to be around. Not only that, she was nice enough to offer Diem assistance when he needed it, whether or not he asked either. He had been unable to find her before his departure, but had attempted to leave a message with some of the people who had last helped him find her. Had he more time Diem would have made the effort to find her. As it was the ship was already waiting to leave, and was just waiting on the few people who had offered to pay for passage to board. Even though Diem had come early to stow spot aboard the ship, the horse who actually had no spots to speak of went on with little complaint, he found himself at the end of the line of people, seven or eight in number. The person moving the line along seemed to be checking each and every person for daggers or other hidden weapons. When one such weapon was found promises were made that they would be returned at the end of the trip, for or five days hence, and the weapon was dumped into a rather intimidating looking chest next to crew member. Perhaps they had docked in the lawless town before and had learned not to take chances. Perhaps the captain and or crew had heard some of the more gruesome rumors about the town. Either way, Diem was thankful that the precaution was being taken, even if he doubted they'd get any of the more persistent scoundrels. His time in the town had taught him how dangerous a person with a knife and a penchant for thievery was, and he would remain vigilant throughout the voyage. When the person before Diem was searched, several small daggers turned up. As the man from the ship turned to place them in a bag behind him the man who owned the knives reached into his boot, a spot the crew member had not checked. A glimmer of metal was all Diem needed to realize the mans intentions. A box full of weapons, easy money to be sure with one man on guard. Unlike many of the people in Sunberth, Diem was the not the type to stand by and watch someone get injured. However he was not foolish enough to jump in front of a blade to protect another, there were easier and more subtle ways of doing things. Diem's form of subtly was shifting his leg in between the legs of the person before him and 'pretending' to fall forward into him. The man, having not expecting the interruption, fell forward in surprise, losing his grasp on the weapon he had drawn. The crew member, hearing the commotion, turned around to see Diem standing over the fallen body of the man he had just searched. before he could reach any conclusion's Diem nodded to the knife that had fallen nearly at his feet. It took only a moment for realization to dawn on the man. As the failed thief got to his feet he attempted to reach for his knife. Before he could the crew member picked it up and waved it threateningly at him. Thwarted, the would be thief/murderer ran. Not knowing what else to do with it, the Sailor tossed the knife into the chest with the other weapons he had confiscated. The box seemed to be getting a little full. Just as it was Diem's turn to step up a signal and shout came from above in a language the young man didn't understand. The crew member looked around the dock for a moment before sighing, closing the chest next to him and taking a seat upon it. "It looks like will be a while before setting off, the captains not here yet. I hope its that he simply got to drunk the night before. Last time we were here we never heard from a few of the people that went to shore in this town." Not sure why the sailor was sharing all this with him and not simply letting him on, Diem was still happy to take a seat on the ground and wait. It would give him much more time to try and remember Sunberth, faults and all. Unfortunately one of those faults happened to be the burning pile. Whatever it was that was constantly burning, even here at the port one could still smell faint traces of it. One would think with the sea breeze might freshen up the air a bit, but instead the pleasant smell of saltwater only seemed to merge with the rank odor of the burning pile to create something both that smelled like a burning wet dog. Not a pleasant imagery, but to be fair it didn't smell much better then the thoughts it brought on. The sailor continued talking, as if he hadn't taken such a long pause. "Would let you on meself, but I have to be sure your one of those that paid to go along with us." Diem gave the man a quizzical look, but before he could ask why others had been let on the man gave the answer for him. "I was there when those others paid, at least most of them, but I did not see you strike any such bargain with the captain. It will be a simple matter of waiting for his return to confirm it though." With a sigh Diem looked to the town and began to wonder what it would be like to Zeltiva. Now that the option of going aboard the ship wasn't present at the moment, it seemed the feelings toward missing Sunberth were rapidly fading, only to be replaced by a feeling of home sickness for Zeltiva.

[Sers Yisa]

He hadn't been in Sunberth long, maybe ten minutes at most, but the Charoda man instantly found himself frightened of the place.Typically he was curious enough to explore the places he visited, but this place has a smell to it. There was something in the air that made the softer under layers of skin tingle with anxiety. Unlike in most places he had been, which is still quite a few, his instincts picked up and told him that this was not the place to wander and try to learn anything. No, this place was violent, a thing he had only seen, was never quite the target of, and for that he was fortunate. Sers wasn't exactly following a map or trail around the world, he moved by the water, in this case, it was the coast. He pulled himself from that sea/ocean only an hour ago, stepped into town about fifteen minutes ago, and was now looking to get out as soon as possible without back tracking. There, there was a boat not too far away. A boat was somewhat like him. Following the water to go from place to place. Sers had seen boats several times in the past, merchants would sail out to sea and meet with the Charodae to trade and exchange information. Those sailors were typically nice (probably hired BECAUSE they knew how to act around the naturally distant Charodae race, keeping them always ready for another visit), so surely they were the same on this boat right? He would find out soon enough. Sers Yisa stepped into the line to be searched for weaponry about the same time that Diem had begun his plan to disrupt the crime-soon-to-happen. Sers did not understand what was going on, and probably just as confused as the man that Diem fell on top of, he assumed it was an accident, couldn't understand how else or why else a man would want to fall. Sers's life under the sea, mostly in Charbosi, was so different from the dry world that most of these little occurrences made no sense to him. What was the value of a chest filled to the brink with weaponry? Why take everyone's weapons in the first place? Why did people even carry them? Was a knife the fee for riding the boat? These are the sorts of questions that Sers was wondering, rather than why the man ran off or what caused Diem to trip and fall. The Charoda watched Diem with his large empty-looking black eyes. He seemed kind, his voice was soft and he had no obviously threatening gestures, even the man sitting on the box talked casually with him. Sers assumed Diem was trustworthy (which wasn't too much of a compliment since everyone seems trustworthy at first glance for the Charoda). The sailor stopped taking weapons and chatted with Diem, who also seemed to ignore the Charoda man, maybe he just didn't notice him yet, maybe he was waiting for the Captain. Whatever the case, Diem, who Sers was now basing his actions off of, sat down on the ground. Assuming that he was supposed to do the same, Sers moved next to Diem, sat down beside him, making sure to mimic him as much as possible. Sers stared at Diem, even if the human took notice of him and caught him staring, he would continue to watch, for any motion, for any sign that he should do something else, and out of curiosity. The Charoda was unaware it was impolite to stare. However, he caught sight of something on the man. His tattoos. A thing he had seen on the occasional sailor to visit Charbosi, but never had a Charodae had such a thing happen (unless it was the rare case that they were gifted with a Gnosis Mark just like Diem, which Sers had never seen). The designs intrigued him, somehow, in his blackened eyes, they appeared like the various natural shapes of coral, a thing he was very familiar with, but had no access to now, and in his native tongue, without intending to, he spoke. "Coral" It was supposed to be a faint whisper to himself, be he had been forgetting his language, without the assistance of water, sounded much more cruel and painful than it did under the water, which was quite beautiful. His single word sounded something more like a faint, but insanely high-pitched screech instead of a beautiful song-like note. It even caught him off guard.

[Thresh]

Thresh picked her way along the waterfront carefully, her horse Dune walking quietly by her side. She had only arrived in Sunberth a few days prior but had kept mostly to the outskirts of the mining town and until now had avoided the main settlement. Sure, it had seemed like such a good idea at first. Leave Syliras and make a new life in Sunberth. The two places were as different as day and night and surely if one didn't work the other would provide her a place to fit in, a place to make herself useful. The kelvic frowned; she had never been really useful to mother. No, she was just a burden back home.

The cool breeze off the water filled her nostrils with the smell of salt and fish. That combined with the hundreds of other scents from the boats, homes, and various people on the docks that morning was making her instincts go haywire. She wanted to smell EVERYTHING...but no, that would simply not do. Her mother had always told her how strange that was, to always be literally sicking her nose into the business of others. No, she would have to content herself watching by inconspicuously. That's what the "normal" people did.

Thresh slowed her walk as she approached all the people waiting and working on the docks. One boat in particular had seemed to gather somewhat of a crowd around it. Taking in the supplies that were being loaded and the rather diverse group of people waiting, Thresh guessed that it's main cargo was going to be passengers.

Thresh stopped walking completely to watch the dock workers. Maybe she could get hired here once in a while helping to load the ships? While she carefully scanned the crowd looking for someone that looked to be in charge of the workers a horrible screeching noise made her yelp.

"AAAAhhhhh! What the...!?" She quickly covered her ears with her hands and looked to the source of the noise, which she identified as a Charoda who was sitting nearby. The Charoda hadn't spoken loudly but because the note had been so high it was actually painful to the kelvic's sensitive ears. Irritated by the sound she left Dune standing a few feet away and walked straight up to the Charoda. Ignoring the bald man by his side she addressed the Charoda in an angry tone, "Excuse me? Do you mind not making those awful screeching noises? I have pretty sensitive ears and you're causing me actual physical pain!"

[Diem]

Diem nearly jumped to his feet at the high-pitched screech. The sailor who had taken a seat had a more restrained reaction, as if he recognized the sound but hadn't been expecting to hear it. Three sets of eyes fell upon the Charoda as another person wondered over. Diem did not have much interactions with the race even though his time before coming to Sunberth had mostly been spent on a boat. In fact the only time the young man had met a Charoda had been a in the winter. A female who had quite literally dropped into his camp. What he knew of the race was that they were pacifists, which was something Diem could relate to, though pacifist was a little to kind a word for him. He preferred simply not to solve problems with violence, that didn't keep him from doing so should no other options remained. Still Charoda as a whole seemed kind enough. "Please, I am sure he meant no harm." The young man said to the female that had just spoken up. With no less then his usual amount of caution, Sunberth had apparently changed him more then he would like to admit, Diem offered his hand to the creature before him. "Hello good sir. My name is Diem. Is there something I can do to help you?" The bald young man had offered his right hand, on which lay a mark composed of seemingly swirling light. He gave no notice to the mark, as if it was a regular thing like any one of his other tattoo's. In truth his mind was never far away from the light the mark provided.

[Sers Yisa]

Sers turned his head to look at Thresh as she spoke, who spoke a little quicker than he could translate. He knew the tongue of 'common' speech, but he did not excel to the point where he spoke it fluently or quickly. The rubbery blue skin glistened faintly in the sun, but there was a shifting of color, in the tips of the tentacles, as well as his fingers and what would be considered toes, all turned a bright red tint. Charoda did not blush like humans, but had a similar effect, such as what had happened just now to Sers. For a few moments, Sers attempt to unjumble the common tongue that Thresh threw at him, and gave up shortly after. Diem had offered his hand to shake, but it was a void action. The Charoda did not understand the greeting via shaking hands, he did, however, take notice in the mark of Diem's hand. The glowing coloration that lit up the tattoo. Sers's face, which appeared to have no mouth, though could be barely seen if you were up close and looking for it, split open, exposing almost shark-like jaws, and with teeth to match it. He muttered with difficulty towards Diem. "Hello... Dem." It was close, but he mispronounced the name. He was obviously distracted by the mark though, his entire head was facing the outstretched welcoming hand. And instead of grasping it with his own, the Charoda extended a single finger, slowly inching closer, wanting to touch it. "What? What?" Sers spoke again, his wide lip-less mouth then closing shortly after, and his mouth sealed so tightly (a process to avoid as much water loss as possible) that his mouth once again seemed to vanish. The Charoda actually meant to say something along the lines of 'What the hell is this?', but his amusement with it might have been enough for a wise man.

[Diem]

Diem looked to the mark for a moment and his smile changed, expressing a happiness and pride that was perhaps a bit unusual for someone who had just spent so much tie living in Sunberth. Diem seemed to focus for a moment and suddenly in his hand was a small ball of light, perhaps as big as a torch. The sailor behind them cursed and moved closer to look. "By the gods, what is that?!" The light only lasted for a moment before Diem let it fade. He felt calmer now then he had a moment ago, and better about leaving Sunberth. "This mark is the mark of Priskil, the goddess Radiance, Hope, and Vigilance. When I was younger I attempted to flee a rather dangerous situation, and nearly died because of it." Diem paused for a moment, recalling the first time he had seen Priskil. "She gave me the hope to continue, and this mark to give that same hope to others." The sailor looked at the mark for a moment more before going back to his seat, perhaps not believing the sorry he heard. Diem was to busy looking at the mark to notice, apparently thinking about something. "I'm going now to a pond named after her, a pilgrimage of sorts. If you want you can join me, I'm sure Priskil would welcome one of your kind."

[Thresh]

When the Charoda blushed Thresh tilted her head to one side in confusion. Was he angry, afraid? She wasn't familiar with this particular species although she had heard of them. He did not bear his teeth or move in any manner that Thresh could identify as challenging or threatening and she was so taken back (because she had in fact been prepared for an argument, which wasn't difficult to find in Sunberth) with surprise that she forgot for a moment what she was upset about in the first place. By the time she was regaining the momentum to speak up again the bald man had offered his opinion, stating that the Charoda had meant no harm and had even extended his hand to him.

Thresh watched as a ball of light grew in the stranger's outstretched palm. It was mesmerizing. Thresh had heard stories of people that were capable of working such miracles but had never known anyone who had seen it first hand.

"You say your friend...Priskil? She saved you and gave you the power to control light? That is remarkable..." The kelvic leaned forward slowly and tried to inhale inconspicuously so that the man wouldn't notice her trying to smell the magic on him. She was almost completely lost in thought when he mentioned to the Charoda about the pilgrimage.

"You're going on a trip...by yourself and possibly with this, er...person? Are you in need of any sort of assistance on your journey?"

[Sers Yisa]

Sers continued to watch the tattoo, and soon after the glowing light, with an almost hypnotized gaze. Perhaps his solid black eyes would not appear so to the human though. Sers wanted to touch it, expecting some sort of soothing warmth, but he also felt it was sacred, which is was, and ultimately decided to continue to watch without disturbing the occurrence before him. Eventually the Charodae man broke his gaze and turned to face Thresh briefly before watching Diem once again. "Goddess Priskil..." Sers spoke slowly, almost a whisper, and his pitch seemed almost too low, as if trying to mimic the voice of Diem, but striking two full octaves lower, straining on breaking and being too soft to hear. Speaking without the comfort of water swirling through his body was a new situation to him, one which he would take a good amount of time trying to learn. Regardless, Sers both understood, but refused Diem's offer, shaking his head slowly, Sers felt that he had enough of the dry air for one day. He slowly walked towards the ship (not to get on, but more towards the water), and with a single wave back towards Diem, he dove in the water, leaving behind nothing but a faint splash of water, and he was gone.

EditedYeah, sorry for the mix up. I will not be going on the journey after all. I don't like how Sers is and I can't imagine him surviving anything but very minor tasks.