Open Adapting to Exile

[Yra]

The birds that wheeled about as if to be freedom personified had grasped Yra's attention in a firm grasp that day, and she had been there since the early morning with tireless awe in these messengers of the heavenly gods. Sated in hunger and energy by the sunlight, Yra perhaps emulated a noble statue in her stillness. It was unnatural, surely, and if not for the flutter of her hair or clothes, she might actually been made of stone. It was a thought that, once or twice, Yra fancied. What would it be like to have limbs of stone and to not fade with the passing of time? To not change? These were the idlings that soared through her mind whenever the birds had dispersed and she'd been given a moment to actually look about and express curiosity in something else. It was during one of these times that Yra's eyes alit upon them, collected in their group. In the sunlight, her thoughts had become muddled, like the light was intoxicating in it's delighted radiance, but they cleared quickly when she realised she recognised, even if slightly, one member of the party. Citrine eyes narrowed as she took them in, more curious than she'd been in other things during her reprieves. The man, she did not know his name, but she had glimpsed him within the Alements. Before, she was not curious; her thoughts had been preoccupied in the earlier season with her biting frustration and doubts. Now that the sun had come and cleared the dusty thoughts out, she could be wholly curious. So, Yra was. Eventually, she grew weary with trying to read their mouths and failing. It was out of necessity that she pushed herself to her feet and meandered over, allowing herself to enjoy the refraction of sunlight off her skin before her attention would again be focused. Yra halted her approach when she was within conversation distance of the trio, vastly overshadowed by her quarry now that she was among them. There was a moment before she spoke where she chose to look their faces over, searching for something she couldn't name, before she gave them a smile as radiant as her skin. "I noticed you talking," she said to them, although she offered no excuse and no apology for interrupting. Having arrived upon the name of the woman, given as Aya, Yra inclined her head in greeting. "I am Yra. Did any of you require aid?" That was good. That was intelligent: offer assistance to cover one's own moment of weakness. Yes. Perfect.

[Aoren]

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Ayatah.” He accepted the woman’s hand giving it a shake before he answered her question. “Her name was Kaie. She was an interesting woman. Full of stories. We shared a few and she won a few coins from me in a betting game.”

Aoren smiled. It was a fond memory. It was perhaps one of the better memories that he had during his life in Syliras. There were many good ones but that was among the ones that stood out in his mind. He watched as worry flittered across Ayatah’s aura before settling into the wispy light hue of hope. If it was his words that had brought her some measure of comfort then Aoren was happy with that. The dark haired man, Thomas, however practically radiated with barely concealed misery. The man’s aura, while laced with magic that he seemed to be using, had a hard and bitter taste to it. Thomas felt brittle, stale with the weight of a deeply concealed resentment. Aoren cast the man a glance. His cobalt blue eyes gained a note of sadness. By now he had been silently examining the man’s aura to get just the barest taste of emotions. Emotions that concerned him but he understood were truly none of his business.

What drove a man to be so mired in contempt? Suspicion? Caution? Aoren could venture a guess that it had something to do with his past. He couldn’t read minds. He could only find traces of what it was the man felt. With that, Aoren released his hold on Auristics leaving Thomas to poke and prod as he like. The Healer and Seer had very little to hide and even fewer who cared to take advantage of what they learned. He spoke again to Ayatah.

“If you ever have the time, Ayatah, I would very much like to learn more about your people’s culture. What was it like in your homeland? What are the customs? Kaie touched on some of those things but neither of us had the time to go much further.” He gave the woman another smile before responding to Thomas’s question.

“I think you will find that who you are in Riverfall is of your own making, Master Thomas. The Riverians are a patient people with a great deal of devotion to strength and discipline. That strength and discipline takes many forms. With time, I’m sure both of you will find your way.” Their conversation was paused as another individual joined the group. Her face was familiar. Aoren had seen her at Alements and in part around the city now and then. He inclined his head to her.

“No, thank you, Miss Yra. I was actually just about to take my leave.” He turned to the other two offering a slight bow of the waist to Ayatah. When he righted himself he gave a nod to Thomas.

“If you should ever need assistance, pay a visit to The Sanctuary just beyond the walls of Riverfall. It is toward the Sea of Grass. Ask for Aoren and I will lend what aid I can.” He gave another polite nod before turning and making his way back toward the entrance of the park. The day was hardly over and there was still much work for him to do.

[Thomas Cosa]

Pity. It disgustedly marred Aoren's brightness, the slosh of pink-violet mess decorating the outer edges, slinking towards his own. He sucked his teeth, desperate to keep his boiling offense bottled, not eager to start anything with the other seer. There wasn't, he noticed, any sense of curiosity, or any interest strong enough in the man's aura. He was confused, not entirely sure what Aoren had seen that provoked such pity, but managed to stifle any curiosity.

It was almost annoying.

"No," he thought, his lips cementing into a tight lined frowned, "It is annoying." Who was he, this stranger, to pity him? Thomas was sure he would have seen a flare of magic from the gnosis, a white fan-feathered piece of faith, something if the Sight had been triggered. "Thank you for the information, Aoren," Thomas began, his tone iced with harsh formality, "I wonder --."

He had only seen one etheafal before, and even under the chains of slavery he'd been too beautiful to describe. Unearthly, a treasure confined forever to the bowels of the Citadel, to the whims of the undead nuit. He'd remember seeing him shift from the disgusting phase of mortality into the beauty of a fallen divine. Thomas had been shut up then too.

The shock of her, something so instinctively perfect, distracted his spell, forcing his world around mundane and boring -- aside her, obviously. She sparkled marble, delicate and nobile, impressive in her form. She was shorter than him, Schon, he remembered, had been quite taller; he wondered if the etheafal had any similiarities beside ther god-given beauty. It was amazing too, how simply out of place she seemed, how the world around her became so much less.

He nodded simply at Aoren's goodbye, stuck dumb momentairly. "A pleasure, Yra," he paused, a stirring in his stomach as he tried to cast again, the shock waning, "I suppose you wouldn't mind telling us," he motioned to the Myrian and himself, "About your experiences here? About the city and it's peoples?" His voice was much warmer now, less intense, less threatened. He shot a glance at Ayatah, "And you? I forgot to ask why you left the jungles, for here of all places?" Thomas wondered at her, not entirely sure how he placed the Myrian. She was very quite. And Sahova had taught him early on those were the ones you watched most carefully.

[Ayatah]

Riverfall seemed incredibly hospitable, that much Ayatah could not deny. Two strangers had now offered their aid to her and the pale man who named himself Thomas. It was a promising sign; the doubts that had been eating away at Aya's conscience started to melt away.

But back to the here, back to the conversation at present: "Kaie..." She murmured the name quietly to herself, reawakening her memories of Taloba. Slowly the fragments of memories formed the face of a woman, a young woman who Ayatah had met only once or twice. "Yes, I think I may have met her in Taloba." It was a long time ago, though. Ayatah was unsure whether she would even recognise Kaie from a line up of generic-looking Myrians. "And of course, I'd be happy to share with you any stories of my homeland." She nodded and smiled politely, trying but ultimately failing to conceal the flurry of eagerness that bubbled in her voice. With a final inclining of her head, the Myrian bid farewell to Aoren.

To Yra she turned next. "Thank you for the kind offer." She regarded the Ethaefal with an appreciative smile. They were a fascinating people, though her knowledge of them was limited to her previous interaction with only one such individual. Their appearances changed day and night; that much she knew, and they had an otherworldly beauty to them. The woman in front of her now was no different. "How long have you been living here?" She attached her question mildly onto the end of Thomas', not wanting to overwhelm the other woman but at the same time being genuinely interested in her story.

Ah, and of course there were questions for Ayatah to answer as well. This was to be expected. "I actually left Taloba a while ago," she replied selectively, choosing to evade the why of Thomas' question and instead answering the unasked when. "I lived in Zeltiva for nearly two years and then moved here after adopting my son." And why had she moved to Riverfall, of all places? That was a question Ayatah still had to consider herself, let alone know how to answer it. So she shrugged helplessly, "My son said he liked the name Riverfall when he saw it on a map once. It seemed as good a reason as any." It wasn't a complete lie; Kuame had said Riverfall sounded like a nice place, but she expected her answer was not what Thomas had in mind as a suitable answer.

[Yra]

Yra followed Aoren's departure with curious eyes, noting his parting words even though they hadn't been directed at her. With a languid blink, she returned to the remaining two, and her eyes moved between them as if to assess them. Although they spoke mainly of places Yra knew nothing of, she bit back her questions in favour of not having information repeated. To her knowledge, there was a library in Riverfall; she could scrounge for information there. When she decided the moment opportune to answer their questions, having allowed the man and woman their bit of conversation still, Yra took it. "I have been here since I was returned," she said sweetly, her eyelashes lowering to suggest the smile in her tone was honest. "The Rivarians are a good people, as far as I have been witness. We are open to all people who come with civility in mind, and I believe you both to be civil people." She spoke nothing of the past trials she had suffered by her own hand during her stay in Riverfall. The shadow that had loomed over the city was done and it didn't belong with the newcomers who sought Riverfall for their home. "Would you both like to come with me for a drink? I know of a tavern, and I would love to hear of you both in a setting more suited for conversation than this," and she gestured to the birds, to the people who had come to gawk at the birds. "I will buy for you, if you are up to it," she added on, hoping to take advantage of what she hoped human greed had given these people.

[Thomas Cosa]

He caught Ayatah's subtle half-lie, the human already careful to her answers. Thomas wondered if she'd left out the why for the same reasons he'd left any mention of Sahova -- perhaps her reason was too dangerous to let out, something people might hurt her for, or worse, something that might make them go after her son. Still, her leave-out fed his already hungry curiosity, and hearing Yra's invitation, Thomas was all too quick to say yes.

"That sounds wonderful, Yra," He beamed, partly excited the Ethaefal offered to pay. The mage had so few mizas to his name already, any offer to pay for anything was automatically taken. "I wonder if all of your kind is so generous."

Thomas stood up, more than ready to leave the bird infested cliffside. "What bar is it? Is it popular with the locals?"

OOCSorry for the short post! I didn't give you guys much to work with -- I promise the next one will be longer. And Yra, feel free to control Thomas in him following you to the bar! Can't wait to see what all of our PCs get in to.