Closed Peculiar Visitor (Alija)

[Belugnir]

''Well if so, it's a good thing they're already dead, isn't it?'', was his blunt reply to her remark, ignoring the question that came before it, as his point still stood. Dead men had no use for pity. And as much as he was concerned, neither did the living ones.''Good.'', was all that he contently remarked when she agreed to take him to the Palsa. Then, not a minute down the trail and she stopped to stare back at him. His first reply was a brief silence and a risen brow.

''Woman, if I knew I had the means to leave the island in one piece I wouldn't be standing here now. Gods know how few ships come this way, and how many of those few often cancel their own voyages 'cause the ship owners are a fair deal smarter than the likes of me...'', he stuttered briefly ''And besides, I could swear on my good right hand that I saw a gigantic serpent like limb of a sea monster rippling out of the water back during the storm... Do you actually have behemoths like that guarding the island?'', in truth, he wasn't certain what he saw, and wasn't wholly certain if it were a nightmare or an awful reality, yet Ein did catch the glimpse of the Lagool last night. ''If yes, then I'll probably be staying here for much longer than I'd personally care to.'', his brashness of his tone was finally yielding a little space to concern.

[Alija]

He wasn't stupid. She could tell that at once. He wanted out, which was more than she could claim. If there was a ship, he'd be out at once, and she'd be left behind, the greater idiot, no matter what she thought. There was still too much on this island she had to learn about, leaving now, after everything she had already been through...

She was such a fool. The woman pulled her hair out her face, and sighed deeply, not quite listening as he spoke as her mind churned, trying to convince herself she wasn't that crazy. It was the island. Or the curse. She had enough things to blame it on. After all, if Elias was anything to believed, their family was cursed by a god... Surely that was her excuse.

"Sea monster?" Her attention flickered suddenly, trying to bring his previous words back before her mind forget them. There was a sea monster? She didn't doubt such a thing, with the thorn hares and other monsters that existed, but this was the first she had heard of it. "What sort? How big? Do you think it's natural, or made by the wizards? Or by the gods?" Her questions rolled out, one after the other, knowing she was just try waste time in between now and the visit and the places they kept the bodies.

And find out too. She was interested too. She had to be - she was Alija.

[Belugnir]

At her flood of enthusiastic questions, the man's right eye began to twitch in idle frustration. How the hell should he know? How the hell would he specify anything about the bloody thing that he was halfway certain was a hallucination? Besides, he wasn't one of them bleeding mages, he had no idea of how they specified and sorted their fuckin' monsters. How in the name of gods' broken skulls would he know if the thing was natural or not? Literally everything on this island was a freak show to him. Though apparently, she didn't know half as much about this place as he originally gave her credit for, else she'd be able to give him a clear yes or no when he asked if creatures like that exist.

''Woman, I don't ploughin' know. I didn't exactly stand and gaze at the bloody thing with a magnifying glass, it was hard enough just trying not to get blown off of the deck... I just saw something moving above the water in the distance. Looked like a giant snake, at least three stories tall. And it looked as if there was a much greater deal of it submerged underwater.'', he paused briefly, as if answering her latter questions actually took him a moment of pondering, though his apparent frustration wasn't any smaller by comparison.''And as far as I'm aware, you're the first thing I met here that has anything to do with the word 'natural'.'', and she was just barely any more bearable than the actual monsters he's had to put up with this far, what with all her questions and enthusiasm. Though he kept that to himself. He would remain silent for a brief while, hopefully following after her, if she became so kind as to lead the way without interruption for more than two dozen steps at a time, though the anxiety did finally rip the words out of him.

''How far off is that Palsa place anyway?'', unlike her, at least in own his eyes, he had a more than good reason to ask this question. He's been trough a literal hell across the last day, and wanted to bloody rest for a while before someone showered him with questions about matters that he barely, if at all, knew anything about.

[Alija]

Maybe she shouldn't have begun to ask him questions, as the man began to twitch with irritation, not knowing the answers, or not caring. The reply he gave mirrored his outward appearance, but Alija absorbed his words all the same, still burning with that dangerous curiosity. A snake, but massive, far bigger than anything she had planned. A giant sea serpent, only even bigger. And not natural, not natural at all.

It only meant that wizards had made it - so wizards would know all about it. Making a mental note to ask around about it - perhaps the library would have something, although most likely not in common - she continued to walk, sensing that he was growing impatient.

She had to face it, unfortunately, and maybe delaying it wasn't the best thing to do. Get it out the way, she decided, get it out the way so she didn't have to think about it much more than she already was.

They were met with a large building, the sort of elegance she could only link to a few others she had visited, that towered above and faced them with large sturdy doors. "We're here." Not wanting to go further, she did it all the same, knowing she had come too far to stop now. Her hands lingered against the doors, before she pushed through.

Her eyes fell instantly on the beauty this place held, and it made her sick. Deep blue and gold mosaics lined the walls, intricate scenes that must have taken hours to make before her. Arched doors led to where they kept the bodies, and a large pool sat in the middle, the water not quite water but something completely different.

"I can't... You'll have to find the office on your own. I can't wait in here," she finally let out, stepping back towards the door but not through it. The beauty of this place, every ornate detail - it was too pretty for what it was for. It made her sick beyond belief.

[Belugnir]

It wasn't that long a way after all. Ein began to appreciate the fact that a golem had carried this four hundred something kilograms of flesh for him up the steep way to the citadel, because, by the gods, it was tiring, dragging them around. He was already a step into the building past the girl when she spoke up about not wanting to go in again.

''I don't know how it works with you wizards, but I've never seen those without guts prospering in this world.'', was his reply. His frustration was letting go now that he was finally on the doorstep of this Palsa of theirs, and so his tone finally gained a certain, though distant, friendly note. ''Just don't run off on me for a minute, aight?'', and, without really waiting for an answer, he made his way inside.

Ein was never one to care much about the artistic virtues and aesthetic achievements of other folk, but he too was quite overwhelmed by the sights that this glorified mass grave had to offer. It wasn't long before he was greeted by a hunched, robed figure, no doubt one of the workers or assistants here, the sight of him was rather unnerving, Ein reckoned he was one of those Nuits.

''Greetings. What business have you here?'', the creature asked, bluntly, with a lack of personality comparable to that of the golems Einar had met earlier.

''Ain't it bloody obvious?'', the man replied with narrowed eyes, yanking the rope that hung over his shoulder, connected to the sledge with the corpses. ''I'm 'ere to sell those dead bastards off.''

It was from there that the robed fellow began examining the bodies and evaluating them. None were in quite good condition, what with mortal wounds and being fished out of the sea after drowning, be that as it may, Ein was surprisingly content with the prices this thing offered him, it went between eighty and ninety five gold coins per corpse for the four sailors, a whole one hundred forty for the fat merchant, as apparently, the worker evaluated them by both weight and preservation, and while none of the corpses were in perfect shape, none were outright completely ruined either. What Ein was dissatisfied by, however, was the fact that the overgrown vulture he killed only yielded eleven and some gold coins. Either way, when it was all said and done, namely after some failed attempt at haggling on Einar's side, the man walked out of the Palsa poorer for six corpses, and just several coppers short of being richer for five hundred and sixteen gold Mizas. Needless to say, his stature, his mood, his view of the world, were brightened up tremendously.
With the sack of coin he received nicely distributed across multiple pockets in his backpack and coat, he would've walked out of the Palsa with the proudest of poises.

Had Alija still been anywhere within sight once he was out, he'd approach the girl and aim to hand her a pair of gold coins, as she did indeed save him quite a bit of trouble, and he wasn't ungrateful, despite the impression he might have been giving off.

''For the trouble. Now do be so kind as to take me to that Quarter place so that I can finally take a bloody rest.'', soon, however, he would also remark with ''And I honestly don't understand how you find a crypt that serves an actual purpose to be disgusting, yet you can go 'round talking to folk like the one I just met on a daily basis.'', finally he asked a question because he actually cared for the answer, as it did indeed intrigue him. The worker he met in the Palsa was all but pleasant to look upon.

[Alija]

Alija waited by the entrance impatiently, trying not to look at anything. Not the building, not the nuit who entered. But her mind kept shifting back to the dead bodies, bloated and disfigured but still people, and about how they were shirts now. Nothing left. If she died, she was going to burn her body, destroy it so these dead things could never use it. To think of being nothing more than a shirt....

The man came out a little while after, no bodies with him which almost horrified her more than when there were some. That meant they were taken - that they actually bought bodies to give them to the nuit. It took everything in her not to be as revolted as she wanted to.

"Keep the money," she batted his hand away politely, knowing two coins was nothing to her. She liked money, but she didn't need it. She had enough that she could show the others how much she had. She wasn't scraping for every coin. When she earned money, she did it for a reason. "That's not worth it."

At his request, she began moving swiftly along the side of the building, heading for the Quarters that lay so near. However, with his next words, she stopped so suddenly, spinning on her heel and giving him a glare that was full of trembling fear. "I don't talk to them because I want to," she began, not sure where to head, "I talk to them when I have to. When I don't, I stay as far away as possible." Locked up in a forge or workshop, she wanted to add, but it was too late to add anything.

"At least when they are like that," she swallowed, speaking softly, "I can pretend they aren't dead, just ugly." She squirmed on the spot, wondering what he wanted from her. Then, a tick later, she had turned again, walking even quicker. "Let's find you somewhere to stay."

The Quarters were an odd place. The rooms were small and empty, on the most part, with only the occasional Pulser residing in them. And a Nuit, sometimes, but that was rare, and something she didn't understand. Most rooms were offered to them, but she didn't know whether to enter them, what the rules were. She had one, but a golem had taken her to a specific one. Were the ones that looked empty really empty?

"Pick a room, I think," she finally decided, gesturing to the cells they had to call home, "Not too many people live in them. Most sleep in labs. It's easier, quicker, more convenient for the Nuit." She paused, wondering how he was going to spend his time on the island. "Will you become an apprentice? A warden? I'd pick something before you're made a slave, or worse."

[Belugnir]

It was almost unfathomable to him that someone would decline any payment for so much as showing a stranger the way, then again, not all folk of this world grew up begging on the street. The man shrugged, placed the coins into the inner pocket of his coat, and started following after the girl. As she led the way, then stopped to frightfully rebuke his question, Ein's brow rose skeptically. At that point he was wondering why the hell she even came around to this place of her own will if the undead frightened her so much, but decided that asking about it wasn't really worth the hustle. ''Yes, lets...'', for a moment he had the urge to apologize, though that moment passed quietly by as they kept on walking.

Once at the Quarters, Ein couldn't help but find the place greatly reminiscent of a glorified prison. The rooms were indeed as small as broom closets, dark and dusty, still, it beats sitting under a tree branch outside when a storm comes roaring, and it certainly wasn't any worse than that one crumbling shack that he'd spent his childhood in. ''You lot of wizards can keep your labs and your walking corpse tutors and whatever is convenient for them. This'll suit me just fine, especially if the neighbors are as scarce as you say.'', less people meant less hands reaching for either his purse or his throat.

He was already dumping his backpack into a corner of one of the narrow rooms as she asked if he was going to look for employment on the island. It actually had him quiet down in thought for a brief while. Gods know when will he be able to leave the place, and for all the prideful bragging that he wanted to reply with to the warning of slavery, he knew it'd be best to keep his gob shut about it.

''Whatever would a warden be, mind you? Because I am certainly not about to go study under some freak.'', he finally spoke in reply, holding back an enthusiastic ''And if they do go and try enslaving me, they'll need a whole bunch of new bodies to wear.''

[Alija]

When the question of employment came, it was clear Belugnir hadn't thought ahead. He asked about wardens, and Alija stumbled over her words a few moments, rubbing sweaty hands against her clothes in an attempt to calm herself. She wasn't certain, that was the truth. Wardens didn't interest the wizards, while the wizards didn't interest the wardens - that was how it went. "They clean the mess up, for wizards. They look after the Testing Grounds, make sure they are safe. They hunt, and it's big monsters too, the ones that get loose." Her words fell, unsure whether she had really been the right person to tell him.

"But it's better than a slave. Or test subject. I've heard... stories, their screams. It's terrifying. I'd make sure that it wasn't me." Which was what she had done. She shivered visibly at the thought of what might have happened if she hadn't passed the Judgement, if someone had gotten hold of a live Pulser quicker. No matter who this man was, what he had done, what he would do, she would never wish that fate on anyone.

She shivered again, resting against the open doorway to his new home. Her mind fell on her old home - homes - the place she had lived all her life in Zeltiva; the large, always full shop in Nyka; even the room she had rented in Ravok. All of that had been better than here. But none of those places could give her what she wanted.

"Is there anything else you need? Or do you just want to settle in?" she asked, ready to leave but also willing to stay. Letting go of this trace of life scared her, more than letting go of cities teeming with it. But then again, it was only now that she understood how much she needed it.

[Belugnir]

''So they'll pay me a wage to go prancin' about and killing off some deformed walking buggery every now and again?'', so essentially he'd be a glorified town guard, only here he imagined he'll be putting to rest something barely short of a tree coming to life with an added mouth of sharp fangs rather than a tavern drunkard... still, Ein knew he was no scholar, and that his array of skills and 'usefulnesses' would hardly impress anyone of importance on this wretched island. He and the men who raised him knew barely one way to get by, and that was to sell their sword arm for whatever wage will allow them not to starve. And besides, he'd take being a back alley whore over being a warlock's lab rat any day.

''Needn't tell me what's better or worse than being a slave...'', the man mumbled in his thought, half aware of the fact that he was speaking out loud, hardly caring if the girl would hear him or not.

''Pretty much done all the settling in that I'm going to do.'', he spoke up, gesturing towards his rucksack in the corner with a slight shrug. ''But pray tell. Where am I to look if I do wanna do their 'wardening'?'', his tone easily betrayed that he didn't take kindly to the idea of having to do anything for or with the mages, yet he knew that if there ever was a situation that took away a man's right of being picky, it was the one he was in right now. ''Just tell me what rotten bastard's name do I need to remember and where to go come the mornin' and you'll be royally free of my buggery.'', he added after a moment, with the faintest shadow of jesting in his tone. Ein still couldn't believe that he met someone who went out of their way to show around and help a complete stranger, and one of rather lacking manners at that, and that he met them on Sahova of all places.

Meanwhile that one grain of sand housing both his compassion and his gratitude just barely made him notice the girl's nervous poise and the fact that she was likely at least as exhausted as he was, and that he should probably let her go and rest lest she might feint right around the corner and then he'd have more buggery on his own hands, never mind her.

[Alija]

He asked for a name. Alija blinked, taking a moment to remember if she even knew one. The wardens were not something she knew. Not something she wanted to think about particularly, either. She was always far too busy with the wizards and their politics to think about anything other than that. That and her magic and her blacksmithing.

But she had to know a name, at the very least. Had Arios ever mentioned something? Had the wizards ever spoken of a warden, no matter their rank or ability? Anything - "Kierra," the name slipped out without any control from Alija, letting it fall from her without an idea from where it came, "I know there is one called Kierra. I don't know much else, I'm sorry. But she is definitely a warden."

She signed, looking down as she searched for anything else she knew. "You can find all the wardens in the wilderness on this island - that is to say, not in the Citadel. I'm sure if you look - if you ask around, maybe - you'll find one. And if not..." The apprentice trailed off, not certain whether an offer of help from her would actually be helpful, or if it would only slow him down. Deciding to offer it anyway, she smiled softly as she did, "Come find me. I'll be in Arios' lab. Lab 8, but you'd be better off asking."

With that, she gave a short nod, confirming that was all she knew, all she could help him with. Pulling herself from the door to his coffin, she let herself stand there for a second, enjoying the pulsing of his aura. "I have to go. Feel free to visit, whenever you can, okay?" So what if he was rude, a random stranger, who sold bodies for some coin? He was alive, and that made him worth something.

"Goodbye..." her words trailing off, she realised she was staying too long. She really did have to go. With another curt nod, she turned, marched down the corridor. Back into the lifeless citadel where she worked and lived. Back into the lifeless citadel she had to call home.

But at least there was some life there. And at least she knew about it.