Closed [The Harbor] Departure

[Languish]

"There are worse fates than death."

4th of Spring, 517 AV

"Archwizard Qiao sends his regards." Farke told the group as they loaded the last of the materials on the ship for the voyage. "He was unable to attend today for...personal reasons. He will hold a counsel with you when you return- as agreed upon- with whomever returns.

"So," He added, glancing at a checklist, "We are all present? I'm counting...3 adventurers and 2 navigators?"

Bull raised his hand first and clapped it on the back of a dockhand, who appeared strikingly like himself, if years younger. The boy nearly jumped out of his skin at the contact, but smiled a nervous smile anyway.

"Me and Kid are ready, Sir!" Bull announced.

Farke narrowed his eyes at Kid, as if sizing him up for a fight. Or, perhaps, he was only squinting at the rising sun behind them.

Kid took a deep breath with which to defend himself. "I'll feel better on the water, Master Farke. I'm just edgy now, is all..." Bare feet shuffled on the shore. "Not a fan of the locals much."

Although it easily could've been an insult to the Nuit, Farke only nodded. He had neither the energy, the time, nor the desire to fight over offense. Once he checked off the other members of the journey on his list, he addressed Kid. "You'll be off as soon as I can manage. Get on the ship if you're ready."

With that, the party could began to board The Spitting Squid. Kid waved to a few others on the dock as they went, his eyes wide and hands shaky with nerves and excitement.

"Wish me luck!" Kid called in Fratava as he boarded, waving feverently to a tall Svefra girl over the flat boat's rails. " Tell Lia we'll be back soon! With shining, beautiful treasures for you both!"

[Sayana]

Spring 4, 517 - Sahovan Harbor

It had taken her quite the concerted effort to persuade the crew that Stardust was essential for the trip. “Call her name lucky, or call her a mere beast of burden, but she goes on this trip, not only to ride but to carry supplies when we land.” It was certainly not her first time planning an excursion but it was probably going to be her longest with so few people at hand. Of course, they couldn’t pack all the food they would need for the journey, especially since they had no idea how long it would take to find the star, but it was foolish not to be reasonably prepared for a long trip ahead.

When the Eypharian arrived at the dock, horse in one hand, she looked hardly dressed for the journey. With a black and red dress and only a simple cloak around her shoulders, but her six arms quite visibly on display. If she was going to be leaving today, she wanted them to remember who she was, and she had two sets of travel durable clothes packed away. Her white mare was laden with saddle bags, and with a nod she spotted her tent tucked away and onboard.

“Three adventurers and three navigators,” Sayana commented with a smile in regards to Farke’s question. “But of course, we are five in total.”

Even though she wasn’t as well adept at sea, once they reached land, she doubted the prowess of the two sailors. She had found her way through forests and up mountainsides before. The only real difficulty lay in how to actually find the star rather than simply traversing the land, and she hoped that Clyde might have a means for that.

With soft words, the Eypharian encouraged her white horse onto the ship using the crossing planks still laid out. At this point she wasn’t even sure if she had added a touch of magic to her commands since her use of hypnotism on the horse had become so ingrained in her routine. She had promised that if the water supply became an issue, she would personally take care of the water for her horse. There were, after all, a few benefits to water reimancy.

In the grand scheme of things, the ship was relatively small. But it was large enough to be ocean worthy. Clearly it was designed for speed instead of capacity and the bunks were tiny things indeed. And with her horse taking up much of the cargo space, she offered to share any small room or space with Clyde.

After safely taking care of Stardust, Sayana found a spot near the bow of the ship facing south. The brisk ocean wind whipped at her hair and the early morning light was refreshing. She caught a snippet of the dockhand’s conversation as she glanced over. She didn’t understand the words per se, but the exchange was obvious. He was a sailor bidding farewell to his lover.

“We sail westwards. West to where the sun sets.”

Credit: Shimoje

[Clyde Sullins]

4 Spring 517

Clyde was once more leaving Sahova. Once more heading out on some expedition or other, for some reason or other. He'd been on quite a few state sponsored expeditions over the years, three of which he could name off the top of his head from Ravok. The Suvan expedition(failed due to the Djed Storm of 512), the Northern Ravok outpost(success), and a odd try at a silent and indirect war against the city of Syliras(failed mostly due to poor leadership). Clyde silently tallied off in his head how each had fared, as he considered the likelihood of success for this one.

Walking along beside him at a sedate pace was a somewhat well learned horse. Clyde had insisted upon having a horse if he was to travel in the wildlands, and one had been supplied to him, albeit a bit older than most he'd seen in action. He figured even if he couldn't ride it well it could carry thing, and was currently wearing an assortment of packs with some of his things along with the saddle he wasn't currently sitting in.

Dogging his heels was Rye, the red eyed hound silently following its master.

As always Cha was in his hand, something Clyde was never seen without even in bed.

Continuing on with his mental work, Clyde ticked off the things he'd packed carefully with the horse. He was wearing his more common cotton clothes and boots, not wanting to pack or bring along any of his finer things. He also had his travel gear: backpack/rucksack, bedroll, blanket, tent, and a lamp with some oil. He had a healing scroll he'd made a long time ago on Mura, filled by a Konti healer. A stone cube he'd glyphed with his own brand of warding he called Stealth Glyphing. A set of djed shackles, with a key to go with it, which he'd Glyphed in Nyka. (just in case it was needed).

He also had his glyphing supplies: paper, parchment, ink, quills, some inscribing paint, chalk, and some engraving tools, standard equipment for a decent Glypher. Lastly he had a few weapons besides Cha, a pair of light hammers tucked into his things, along with a dagger in a scabbard on his belt. The dagger it held was an odd one Clyde had received in Ravok, possibly magical, which he'd received from the Druvin Silvas.

The rest of Clyde's possessions, besides a bit of money and a small stone engraved by an Isur, Clyde had left in his lab.

He arrived shortly after Sayana and headed onto the vessel to stow his gear and beasts before they left the island once more.

[Languish]

"There are worse fates than death."

The boat sat stagnant for little more than ten or twenty chimes as individuals paced the sand. Though Nuit were renowned for their ill sense of time, the Council was so engrained into the bureaucracy and the organization of the island that they were quite the exception. It was only so long before Farke grew impatient.

"It's going to be a long journey. You'll want to get going as soon as possible." He told the captain.

"Sir, with all due respect, she wants to bring a personal horse. I could've tolerated the dog, but I've been on the sea more than a few times and I can already tell you-"

"No use arguing with the Pulsers if they're going to be stubborn." He insisted. "Just take whatever they want to take. If the animals die, it's their fault."

Bull snorted in response, but accepted the wizard's words as what they were- law. "Alright everyone, take your places. Hoist anchor and pull the sails. We're headed out."

As Kid scrambled to follow the directions, grunting and groaning under the weight of the anchor, Bull boarded once more and took inventory of the crew. He was clearly a little put off by the appearance of the group, but a smile took his face as Sayana directed them West.

"Aye," He said, "Syna can show you the way for now. But later we're gonna have to rely on the stars. And of course, we've got Laviku. He's got an even more perfect sense of direction on the ocean, you know." At this, Bull took a gold coin out of his pocket and held it in his hands as if warming it for a brief moment. Then, tilting his head up, he tossed the coin into the water with a whoop.

As if on a cue, the ship rocked away from its spot at the Harbor, lurching only twice before it settled into the soft, soothing rhythm of the waves.

"And we're off, boys!" Shouted Bull.

[Aerius]

In the midst of all the commotion, Aerius managed to get onto the ship following the small amount of work involved in the steps taken to prepare. The Immortal hated two things more-so than anything else in the world. The first was majority of pulsers, and the second was traveling: especially when the travel was done by Boat. In order to take his attention off of the fact that they had just freshly set sail on a journey across the water. Aerius took up something else that occupied him; a woman that was not only striking, but unique in appearance. He watched at a distance, only to pull out his journal, quill, and vial of ink. He dipped the quill approximately four times, and took a seat on the edge of the vessel while he made several notes about the woman.

The Wizard that was on the opposite side of him was his last concern. That damned woman looked far too intriguing, and he wanted to study her. Aerius began the process of counting her arms “one.” he spoke to himself whilst he began jotting down several fast notes. “Skin. - Dark” The Immortal glanced up and down several times over. “Two” he found himself writing down without hesitation, and paid no attention to the remainder of the surroundings. However, as she moved about he found her breasts to be large, round, and wonderful. “Breasts- Medium and possibly large” The sound of his quill scratching against the paper was audible enough to be heard at a close enough distance.

Of the group he was the only one who managed not to speak a single word to any other individual. The wizard looked familiar, but he did not care to learn that mortals name. This woman was filled with surprises, and distracted Aerius fairly easily. “Three, alongside the rib-cage for the remainder totaling -six arms.” He continued to make quick notes and hoped that he would not be noticed. This reminded him of the time when the Lemekor watched him just as much as he watched it. Yet, due to the fact that he seemed to lose track of time often; he had not realized until it was at arms reach distance. “Waist size seems to be slim, Hips somewhat wide. “ He continued to write; albeit poorly therefore his penmanship lacked in several areas.

As he continued to look her up and down, his favorite feature of a woman showed up. She had a wonderful pair of glutes on her. Had it been left up to him; he would not hesitate to grab a hand-full of that lovely firm looking backside. Was this woman associated with the wizard; she certainly did not look like one to accompany that ugly stretched out bastard. Yet, if she was he would certainly be disappointed.

She could warm his bedside at night; after all he hadn't done too much of anything in terms of intercourse in the past thousand years. However, he certainly would learn to morph a particular male body part if she ever did decide to offer herself to him.

[Sayana]

The ocean breezes tossed her long hair and the morning Syna warmed her skin. Sayana smiled at the sailor’s words. They would be in the hands of the ocean, of Laviku, but she did not fear the voyage. In fact, unlike the land travel it allowed her to wear the long black dress with red accents she had on now. The Eypharian took off her cloak and draped it over one arm as she leaned on the rail, still facing west. With a call from the sailors, the ship set sail and she found it hard to tear her eyes from the glistening waters of the sea.

That is, until the word ‘breasts’ was enunciated from behind her. Not right behind her, mind you, but it was distinct enough to hear. She turned slightly, feigning ignorance and instead turned her attention to more open seas to the right while sneaking a glance at the others on board the ship. Clyde had made it on. There was Bull the sailor and Kid the young lad with the lover. And then there was a man somewhat cloaked and scribbling at a note pad. When he next spoke, his voice was of one of the original five who saw the star. The one who she hadn’t known prior.

Sayana took a few calm yet purposeful steps towards the figure with the quill. Not only were her breasts being ‘assessed’ but her arms too. The latter more common amongst humans to comment on but she still decided to get down to the bottom of this. However when she was only a few paces away, the chilling aura of the Immortal hit her and it was as if he was staring at her with scathing eyes.

For a few ticks she hesitated as the sense of wrongness and dislike swept over her. Except, the next moment he uttered a comment about her waist and hips, seemingly unaware of her approach towards him or simply not caring about such and having a complete lack of regard for it. The conflicting emotions of dislike and admiration for her features confused her, and it took her a moment to try to shake the chill that had settled over her. She then closed the gap between them and was soon standing next to the seated Immortal.

Ironically, it was the quill itself that she deemed the most offensive, which she attempted to pluck from his grasp with her high hand. But at the same time she moved to grab his wrist with a mid hand to prevent him from writing further. Daggers hung at one of her hips, but she none of these she reached for. In a cold voice and loud enough to be heard by all members on the ship, she spoke.

“Did you have something you wanted to say to me?”

OOCRight back at you Aer

[Clyde Sullins]

Soon enough they were off, heading out into the waters about Sahova on their way to the next phase of their journey.

After he'd stowed his gear he returned above deck, Cha in his hand tapping upon the deck and and Rye dogging his heels. Sayana was of course along, and the not a nuit he'd met when the not a star fell was about. Apparently he had shown up at the last moment before they'd disembarked.

He wasn't fully sure why, but the man irked him. Perhaps it was his shoddy and wasteful spellcasting, his aura, his not being a nuit but appearing much like one in certain regards, and other things, but he knew something was off about him.

Clyde focused out on the water, on their journey, though he could hear the familiar scratch of quill on parchment in a hurried fashion.

Vaguely interested with nothing else to do, he glanced to see the source of the sound to find it was the not nuit. As he looked up and down repeatedly Clyde noticed his focus as he wrote, Sayana across the boat. He couldn't hear his words if there were any from where he stood, but the way he looked at Say told him as much as words.

He was a keen observer, and knew what a look or a stare could mean. This one didn't bode well, seeing as they'd only just begun their trip and he was to travel with him in the group. His repeated looks eying her up and down, his staring, even a not so keen observer would understand what he was about.

By a combination of willpower and subconscious desire Clyde made his intent manifest, a pair of tendrils of aura sight lashing out as subtly as a master burglar entering a home.

One quickly latched onto the not nuit, the other a half moment later felt the much smaller aura of the paper in the not nuits hands. His intent paramount, the visual sight of both fell into his aura sight, allowing him to read the paper as easily as the one writing on it.

The words did little to assuage the rage beginning to boil in his gut, as the paper quite clearly described Sayana, her arms, skin, and other bits that were none of this ones business.

Focusing on a blank emptiness in his mind with a single flickering candle lit but with a fire that didn't pierce the darkness, Clyde pushed the rage down within himself and replaced it with cool indifference and calm. He breathed in and felt the rage pushed in upon the air, he breathed out and felt the excess unreasoning flee. A calm that was far more dangerous for its logic than the rage from before.

Walking slowly but steadily he headed over to his two companions for the journey. His aura sight still grasping the paper and the not a nuit, Clyde sent out another tendril to grasp at Sayana, giving him an awareness of where she stood and how in relation to himself.

Once that was done he began crafting a baby spell inside of Cha, focusing his res and building and shaping it, emitting it within her in the not a niche that wasn't physically there but that he could reach with his intent and mind. A small cloud was pressed flat and then pulled long, spun and shaped as it rotated, leaving a toothpick long bit of res a bit thicker thicker than a sheet of parchment. Its shaping done Clyde transmuted it into lightning, but as he did willed it to slow and freeze, storing the tiny spell within.

He'd never done the particular spell, at least not in that particular fashion and scale. However his intent in his mind was clear, and in his calmed state he didn't doubt that his skill and ability would allow his intent to bear fruit with the creation he intended.

Appearing to all other parties disinterested and calm, Clyde sidled up alongside the pair, keeping within reach of either but without either getting between him and the other. Where Sayana's voice was cold and emotionally harsh, Clyde's tone and voice and mannerism were as one who had no more interest in the events happening than a turtle did about a bunny living miles away which he'd never met.

For a half moment bunnies and turtles chased around Clyde's candle in his dark spot, before being lost in the darkness and leaving nothingness but the burning candle.

Clyde allowed both to speak, hearing Sayana's words, and giving the not a nuit a chance to respond while continuing his essence of not caring. He heard, but did not listen, he understood, but did not care.

In the end he would speak, using the same monotone and uncaring voice as he did when in such a state, speaking as matter of factly as if he was pointing out the sun cast light and rain fell from the sky. Whatever either party did or said he felt his actions were inevitable, and intended to do the same regardless, though would allow both their time and place to act and speak.

“My name is Clyde Sullins. I am a mage. We are all on this journey together. I am a good friend to have, and a bad enemy to make. For now we act together, for united purpose. For now, we are on the same side. I am a good friend to have, and a bad enemy to make.”

Done speaking Clyde would gently hold up Cha as if he was presenting the staff, not as if he would strike anyone with it. And indeed he had no intent to. Instead he would bring the staff's head up slowly towards the not nuit, aimed at lightly prodding the paper within his aura sight. Before it would hit though he would release the stored spell, letting the toothpick of lightning arc off of Cha's face directly into some target or another.

His intent was the paper, but then Clyde knew well enough when dealing with other living beings that plans didn't always work, though with all about clearly highlighted and positioned inside of his aura sight, he could see them all quite clearly.

If it hit the paper the spot where the arc struck would likely instantly burn through the inch or so of material immediately about it, quickly starting a fire that would likely lead to the entire paper burning quickly enough, and perhaps some burnt fingers if the holder refused to let go.

On skin it would be less kind, burning a spot through protective clothing to release its energy into flesh, leaving a burnt and charred bit of flesh perhaps a half inch wide, but besides being quite painful not doing much more damage than to the surface skin and tissue.

[Aerius]

Why? Aerius often found himself questioning the decisions of mortals, why they lived, why they breathed, and why they bothered struggling to live in the first place. However, in this case he had not only the woman that he chose to study, but the gnarled bastard that traveled alongside her approached him as well. The wench tried first to grasp hold of him, and without so much as a thought the Immortal panicked. In the split-tick of time required for her to reach his wrist, he unintentionally activated his newest discipline of magic. Leeching, and that was a magic considered to be “dark” in comparison to several others. Not only did it introduce toxic, foreign djed into the body, but if it was not released immediately the harmful effects of the initial absorption became worse. Whether or not she would notice; the moment she came in contact with his flesh a small amount of her djed transferred into the immortals body. Albeit a small amount, she was likely to notice due to the fact that she might’ve been a practitioner of magic.

In that very moment, Aerius experienced an immense pain that came unexpectedly. A massive amount of pressure built up in his skull all at once. He found himself immobilized, and the amount of pain he was in, should have been obvious from the moment she came in contact with him. His facial expression changed to one of agony: His eyes were wide, and became bloodshot in a matter of ticks. By the time she managed to speak he could hardly utter a word before Clyde made a move. If he had the capability, Aerius would have made an attempt to escape. He did not care for the name of the ugly, stretched out gnarled mortal. The entirety of his speech had been ignored, save for the fact that he referred to himself as a “good” friend and a “bad” enemy. All of his words, every single word was useless to him.

His arrogance could practically be felt with each and every word he spoke. Aerius could do nothing beyond watch as the staff fell upon the journal only to burn through the page rapidly. The quill fell from his hand, and into the journal only for the immortal to close the book prior to the burning paper having the opportunity to spread. The Immortal took a few ticks to respond to either of the two before him. One of them was an arrogant mortal who would ultimately die. The other, a woman like he had never encountered before.

“If you like your djed, I suggest you stop touching me. However, yes there is something I would love to say to you. I’ve never seen something like you before, and I find that you are quite gorgeous. I was documenting your features for later use in a morphing project of mine. As for your mortal dog, keep him away from me. The fact that he is a mage does not excuse him endangering your lives. What if I had moved and he struck the ship? I’m not like anything you have ever encountered on the isle. I will heal if I am wounded. I hope you two can swim if he decides to attack again.” Aerius concluded his speech and waited for the woman to release her grip on his wrist. The longer she held on the larger amount of djed he had to absorb and release.

“Let me go, quickly. The longer you hold me here, the more poison my body takes in! Release me! Please! He exclaimed at the top of his lungs as the pressure in his shull only grew more immense. The Immortals expression only became ever more intense, and obviously excruciating with each passing tick. He began to tire, and as per usual what appeared to have been an elaborate pattern of ice in the shape of a headband, began to form around the length of his skull. If she chose not to let go it was likely that he would be completely encased in ice.

Ooc[*]As a result of severe overgiving, Aerius will suffer from spontaneous production of ice on his body, which will worsen as he tires. If not regularly taken care of, this may burn and damage the skin.

[*]Aerius will suffer severe symptoms for the next season as a result of the new leeching abilities. He will experience fierce pains at seemingly random times, but especially when trying to perform Reimancy. He will feel very tired after performing Leeching- sometimes to the point of passing out.

[Sayana]

When Sayana grasped the Immortal’s wrist, it had been to make a point and to stop him from writing. The latter was achieved when she plucked the quill from his fingers, since he had made no action to stop her. But something else happened which caught her by surprise. The very moment she touched him, there was a feeling of ‘pulling’ and ‘leaving’. It was only after a couple of ticks did she recognize the unexpected sensation of energy loss.

The Eypharian immediately released his wrist and gave a quick bat at his hand as if it would somehow stop the foreign and strange spell from continuing.

Still recovering from her surprise, she noticed that Clyde had made his way over to the pair. Yet there was something exceptionally vacant about his face. It was as if he was watching an aura, but even more so. When the mage did speak, it was monotone and expressionless, which gave Sayana more of a chill than if it had been spiteful or with rage. It was even more unnerving than the uncomfortable feeling near the cloaked man.

The sudden burst of lightning, small but so near, caused a startled jump as the book burst into flame. Only to be quenched the next moment. The quill she still held in her high hand, and at that point she decided to toss it point first over the side of the ship.

She was about to make another grab at him, yet his words of protest came out loudly and she recalled the sucking, draining sensation she had felt. Had he really somehow taken her djed? The Eypharian kept her hands to herself at that point and the dark wizard, or reimancer, had the gall to continue speaking to her. There were a few times in which her eyebrows narrowed, but she did actually let him finish what he had to say.

“Look. You clearly think I’m attractive, gorgeous even. And yes, I am bloody gorgeous.” Sayana began to reply, her focus clearly on the dark wizard.

“But then you have the nerve to take my djed, to steal it from me. I don’t know what sort of magic did that, but had you ever considered what sort of magic I wanted to use my djed for?” Her tone fluctuated as she emphasized specific words, not impressed by the wizard’s actions.

“But since you obviously think I’m attractive, we’re going to play a game.”

By now she had stepped away a little from the two, partly so as not to have an accidental touch with the dark wizard and also to give them all a little breathing room. However, at the word ‘game’, Sayana caught the dark wizard’s eye and pushed out a faint wisp of djed. The subtle use of hypnotism was targeted to instill a sense of curiosity. A simple emotion and something easily achieved even during conversation.

“It’s my game and my rules. And since you decided to steal from me, you now have to guess one of my magics. And yes, I do have more than one. If you guess right, I’ll give you a kiss. If not… then Clyde can do whatever he wants to you.”

The Eypharian paused and instead caught the eye of Clyde Sullins. “I’m sure you have something eloquent in mind?” Her gaze lingered on his for a few ticks, watching for any unexpected reaction. She had seen him be completely and utterly calm and she wanted to be sure he stayed that way until he was given the chance. Clyde, unfortunately, she could not hypnotize to steer him in the right direction, but this new wizard she could.

With her next words, she infused a burning sense of lust, channeling more djed to fuel her hypnotism. “It’s my game and my rules so I’ll be the one doing the kissing. And don’t you lunge at me like some wild animal.” Despite the contradictory words compared to the hypnotic feelings of lust she gave them, it was something that rolled off her tongue with ease. Lastly, and maybe most importantly, she caught the dark wizard’s eye to provide one last suggestion. Clyde, the other mage, is competition.

“You might know auristics and won’t even have to guess.”

Part of her wanted him to guess wrong and see how Clyde would handle things. She hoped the mage was also interested in that option. But part of her… Well she’d have to find out.

Should the dark wizard guess correctly, Sayana would beckon him forwards with a finger. If not… then Clyde would see to that.

Credit: Shimoje

[Clyde Sullins]

As the not a nuit was within the focus of Clyde's aura sight, he noticed immediately as the djed within him flared. Flared a grating sound to his flesh, one he vaguely recalled having known before.

He didn't see any physical manifestation of the djed, nor any surging within the not nuit indicating an internal magic. He also didn't feel anything upon himself. That simply left Sayana as the likely recipient. Reaching out another tendril of focus he latched onto her aura. Familiar as he was with her aura sight he knew it as hers right away, and quickly delved deeper.

Looking for anything similar to the active grating sound of metal grinding on metal he heard from the not nuit, he looked upon the hypnotist for signs. He likewise felt djed upon her, active djed from her, but couldn't know if it was from the not nuit or herself.

Turning his focus back to the not nuit, he still felt the surge of djed. Weak but there continually as it had been for some time. However as he looked upon his aura he noted its edges, oddly frayed and damaged like someones knees who had slipped and slid on them in some gravel when they'd tripped at a run.

Not destroyed, but damaged to some degree. For a moment Clyde stumbled through his memories, shuffling about in his mental cabinets full of papers, each one a different aura and magical experience. After a moment he narrowed it down and found the correct memory, recalling the Ethaefal he'd met in Ravok who had used a magic that stole his djed. That being had also had a similarly frayed and damaged aura.

He'd assumed it had something to do with that particular race, and after meeting a non-fallen one assumed it was related to the fallen members of said race. But in this case he didn't think this not nuit was a Ethaefal, so perhaps his earlier assumption on that had been wrong.

As he worked through these thoughts he felt a strong sense of something from the not nuit, though he wasn't sure what besides that it unlike the other things had nothing to do with magic. He wasn't attuned enough to the aura to tell more, and even then he didn't doubt it would have been tricky.

Not caring as much about other things, Clyde focused in on the djed and magic, the frayed bits where normal djed traces/residue would lie, signs of past magic use of a personal magic variety in Clyde's experience.

His mundane eyes upon the not nuit, he was somewhat dissatisfied to see him snap the book shut and eventually force out the small fire. The neighboring pages would likely be destroyed he thought to himself, and some further ones damaged, but the entirety of the paper hadn't been destroyed. Still, pushing aside the emotion he'd felt for a partial moment, he'd done his intent which had been to burn the offending page.

The not a nuits comments seemed to simply confirm Clyde's suspicion, though as before he kept calm and detached as if he was watching events from far away with people he didn't know. He didn't appear overly threatening or violent, and no more risen to action than an innocent bystander on the events.

His calling Sayana "something" bounced in his head for an extra moment, but he simply slotted it away as further information for processing his decisions, and didn't rise in reaction to it.

If he decided to incinerate the not nuit, leaving nothing more than a pile of hot ash, he'd have fully reasoned it out and decided on its validity as a course of action.

A less centered Clyde would have simply acted then, likely without fully reasoning things out. For the moment he was calm, a cool island in darkness floating alone and apart rather than integrated with the others.

Calm Clyde also noted the word morphing, a revelation of another magic the not nuit used.

A forced smile crossed Clyde's lips, not properly coming across as an expression as Clyde was so heavily suppressing himself and his emotions, and so likely came across more frightening and intimidating than anything. His words came out just as calmly as before, flat and bored.

“Struck the ship? Perhaps you overestimate your abilities, or underestimate mine. You speak of things beyond your ken. I however do my best to properly estimate both my own abilities, and others, and don't let myself become blinded by improper assumptions of potency and greatness. Some people know how to properly control Reimancy, unlike that stuff you did that you think is Reimancy which frightened off a bird.”

“Perhaps if you listened and learned as well with the skill you think yourself to have, and tempered your arrogance, you'd learn a thing or two from those actually holding the skills you believe you have.”

Though his words were of a more critical type, they did not vary from the earlier tonality, and continued on with the same calm remarks as before as if discussing nothing of importance or interest, a statement of a fact.

The not nuits mentioning of healing did bring some side interest to Clyde, a though process splitting off from the conversation on it. He'd met various things/beings with healing abilities, such as the mouthless beast which he'd fought with Reimancy and forced to flee. That thing had an aura of potency, one which made the not nuits appear as a candle flame before a bonfire.

He was interested in knowing how such a thing worked, how it was done, though noted he clearly had a mouth and lacked the potency of the mouthless one.

The more current bit of his attention however was on the conversation at hand. He was interested to hear fear in the not nuits voice, along with a mentioning of poisoning being caused by the theft of djed the not nuit purported to be performing. A side effect of the action? The mechanism was unclear, but from the feel of his aura some magic was taking place in the action of taking djed.

The forming of ice on his head was noted along with a secondary indication of live djed on his aura, though of a different tonality than the first.

At Sayana's presentation of a challenge and a statement to Clyde, he simply shrugged non-noncommittally and spoke more facts as he saw them.

“I would be interested to know the mechanism and limits of said self purported healing. I've met other healers before, it would be interesting to have another to rank and compare against, and to perhaps learn the source of said healing. Although this one doesn't seem to stop feelings, as he clearly feels pain and fear. A weakness as compared to the last healer I interacted with.”

“Just to be clear, not nuit, I have met djed stealers before. Or whatever the thing you do is called, the term I admittedly am unaware of. The last time it was used on me without permission I was none too happy, and neither in the end were they. I do promise this though, if you steal my djed without my permission, I will remove the offending limb whether it grows back or not. Are we clear on that?”