PM to join We need to talk... [Kelski]

Life has been mighty weird at the Midnight Gem since Vel has 'happened'. It's about time he has a heart to heart with the woman who owns his home.

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We need to talk... [Kelski]

Postby Aer'wyn Grisghul on August 24th, 2018, 8:00 pm

Kelski’s smile was met with one of his own. It was so strange to him how easy it was to open up to her. Perhaps he saw a lot of himself in her. Perhaps the feeling was mutual; or at least he hoped so, not because he wished anything bad to happen to her, but purely because empathy was such a scarce and precious thing. And she seemed to give it out like it was bread not gold. How could he not be grateful?

But it wasn’t just empathy she was so very adept at. There was nothing but comfort in the Kelvkic’s presence. Even in the way she had reached out for his hand and locked her slender fingers with his bvattlehardened stumps, there was no pity. Or at least none that he saw. Instead of demeaning the proud akalak with such things as pity she made a genuine effort to connect with him on a level he understood. Unlike Kynier she hadn’t scolded him for his very real fears nor had she rejected him or called him a fool. And in all honesty that was precisely what he expected. Thus Vel felt little else than genuine gratitude to have, and perhaps for the first time in a long time, somebody he could open up to. Her presence in that moment meant much more to the warrior than she could ever come to understand.

Little acts of kindness formed great ripples in the lakes of memory.

“Communicate?” He echoed Kelski’s question as if such a notion was a great revelation. “We can we just don’t. Such a thing as talking is unnecessary when I can see everything he does, know everything he feels and vice versa. And believe me actions speak a great deal more than mouths ever can. If there’s anything he had proven himself over the years, that is a lier. You know, your friend Kynier had called him out on it more than once. And more than once he had brazenly lied to the man. I’m not talking simply omitting details but bold faced lies. I understand you may want to trust a man like that, but I… simply cannot.”

Vel was slowly coming to accept many things about her. One of which indeed way the naivety she so boldly displayed, or at least such was his take on it. The notion that perhaps generosity had laid in him ever letting his light brother pine over a mage had anything to do with generosity, was foreign to him. He had simply been far softer a man in the past. But time had beaten that softness out of his bones. The other thing he had learned of the Kelvic was her great scope for understanding things he would never have accused a Kelvic to understand. Quickly enough he learned to stop underestimating her.

For a while to come he had kept quiet, listening to Kelski as she spoke of the great many things on her mind. As the topic of magic came to her lips, he throned visibly but left his gaze soft still. A friend looking at a friend, not pleased but lacking any sign of hatred building in his heart. It there was anything in those icy blue eyes, it was perhaps pity over how mislead about magic he believed her to be.

It was only once she mentioned she knew some of her own that Vel rose abruptly from her lap as looked back at her, both suspicion and disappointment painted in his features. In that moment any justification she gave her thoughts had fallen on death ears. One such a simple statement left the akalak zoned in on it like a vulture, feeding off the carcass that was the fear and distrust inside his heart.

He hung his head for a moment, growing more and more weary of the woman as moments passed. In his mind Vel looked for any reason to omit that one little fact, to spare Kelski his judgement. He physically wanted to forget what she had just confided in him and retain her close to his heart where a friendship between them could bloom. But it was not to be so. As she had said earlier; he had his principles. And those were forged in iron, for without them, he’d have nothing.

But as Kelski had done him the privilege of trying to explain her views, so unlike Kynier had, it was a duty of an honourable man that was Vel to repay with the same. A little spark of hope in his heart remained that perhaps she’d see the light and listen to reason. For in Vel’s mind, he was certain her was the voice of reason indeed.

“I don’t… fear… magic.” He said, very quietly and very carefully, trying to find the best way to persuade her to the undeniable truth which he thought he was sure of. Vel’s whole body had shifted to the other side of the couch, eyeing her at a distance. Though doubtful she’d mean to do him any harm in that moment, he still felt far more exposed than he wished to be without his weapon, knowing full well what Kelski was capable of. He’d seen her in a fight after all. What he said was his own olive branch. A one final gesture of the real intention for friendship, before the hope for any such a thing would be severed forever by rejection.

“Kelski, you’re right in that magic is a tool. But much like money, magic can corrupt too. It will corrupt. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. And you must have seen it too, I’d be damned to believe otherwise.” A piercing gaze watched Kelski like a hawk watched an eagle. Even her breathing won’t go unnoticed. “You’re a kind soul now, but can you guarantee that greed had no place in your heart just like hatred doesn’t. And if so, if it truly is the Kelvic’s nature to never feel such human things, can you say the same for Kynier? He’s no Kelvic after all. And I’ve spoken to him, he’s no monster now but I cannot guarantee he won’t change the more powerful he becomes. I cannot guarantee the same of Aer’wyn either.”

He truly wanted to be careful with his words. The last thing that could benefit the tension of this situation was badmouthing the mage which Kelski clearly had an abundance of affection for, but things came out as they came out. And once words were said he could no longer take them back. “Thats what magic does. It changes people. It makes monsters of greed and ambition.”
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Aer'wyn Grisghul
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We need to talk... [Kelski]

Postby Kelski on August 25th, 2018, 4:57 pm

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Vel was a hard personality to understand. He was really driving home some things with Kelski though… the concept of souls, of how the body was just a housing, and how hate could warp a person deeply. She wasn’t certain they were things that Vel wanted her to learn, but it was what he was teaching her anyhow. She could see the issue… two people that didn’t like each other and who didn’t have the first clue about how to share. She hated that, but inherently knew that she couldn’t ‘fix’ them with a talk, certainly not after all these years living together. She wasn’t sure how old their body was, but Vel talked about being sixteen like it was a long time ago, so she assumed he was middle aged at least.

She felt compassion for them, and could definitely be sympathetic to their situation. Sometimes good people didn’t get along. And there was nothing to indicate that Vel was a bad person. And Vel told her Aer’wyn lied to her repeatedly, but Kelski didn’t often believe what people said anyhow, expecting more lies from them than truth far too often.

“Just because you see everything he does, knows everything he does, and understands what he feels doesn’t mean you know the why of it.” She said gently. Kelski spoke from a perspective of someone who was very observative but didn’t often understand what she saw… especially when it came from human behavior. They were confusing at best, evil at worst, and a whole parcel of trouble she tended to keep her hands off of.

“I’ll talk to Aer’wyn about his lies. Maybe he has a good reason. But its unkind of you to call him out when he’s not here to defend himself… not in the way others could… explaining immediately.” Kelski said softly, shaking her head. It was one thing the Kelvic was big on and that was loyalty to friends. Aer’wyn was more than an employee to her. He was a friend. And if he had good reasons, she’d forgive him lies. People lied. It was their way. She just didn’t understand why Vel was trying to hurt him deliberately and sever the ties of friendship when he could simply say nothing and let Aer’wyn stand on his own with the people around him.

Kelski’s eyes rounded as he sat up, pulled away, and retreated. He moved to the other end of the couch and put distance between them. It was a wound to her, a sort of betrayal, because she could see in his eyes the taint he felt in her. Kelski loved connecting to people, touching, comforting, and caring for them. She hadn’t known she was a caregiver and comforter, but since The Gem had come along, it was so true. And when he hung his head and looked… so put upon, so taxed… a rage grew in her. A heavy anger that he judged her for something she knew and not who he was.

She braced, ready for violence that always seemed to follow judgement, and was slightly surprised that he spoke instead. He called magic a tool but one that corrupted. He likened it to money. Kelski closed her eyes a moment and flinched at his words, not for the reason he might have thought though.

“There are no guarentees in life. That’s what trust is about. You are convicting Aer’wyn and now myself and even Kynier for crimes we have not yet committed… for things we MIGHT do in the future. How high you stand on your lofty perch, Vel. But the truth is there’s no certainty we will. Just because you’ve seen it happen, doesn’t mean it will. I work very hard around here. Do you know the Gem is likely to pull in about five thousand mizas a season? In my mind that’s true wealth. You might as well say I need to stop working hard because the mizas – using your own example – will eventually corrupt me and make me into someone YOU WONT LIKE. You should listen to your bitterness and hatred. It’s getting in the way of you having true friends. I want to be your friend, Vel, but I won’t let you sit there and judge me for something I might do someday because I have money or magic. You can’t see the future. You can’t know what will happen even though you are predicting the future like you can see it. I trust Akajia, who lead me here. I trust Kynier who was also someone Akajia put in my path. I like your brother. He doesn’t judge like you do, or if he does he keeps it to himself. He can lie to me all he wants because in the end it doesn’t matter what he says… it matters what he does. And hes a good man. I think you have the capacity to be a good man too, but I’m not going to trust that you will eventually be a good person. As of right now, you are committing the worst crime of all… you are assigning situations and actions to people that they haven’t done, assuming they will… and then you are trying and convicting them without even letting them live and be people.” Kelski said, angry now, though she didn’t let it rise up into her voice.

Only her eyes hardened.

“Even this very building is magic. Its infused with it. It’s alive in a way I don’t exactly understand because I’m only Kelvic and not some great mage of the past or someone with a magical knowledge like Kynier has. It has needs, fears, and hungers and thirsts just like a person. It shelters you and I find it wholly ironic that it wants to comfort you even right now… right in the middle of your pain… when you are hating the very thing it is. Vel, you are making so many mistakes here. I cannot believe that you are so … judgmental and angry. And with myself and The Gem being so welcoming to you.” Kelski rose, shook her head, and balled her fists up.

She looked him over and shook her head again, finding that she was speechless at her frustration and anger. How could he? How could he say she would terrible things because of magic? Because of money? “I am not those people. I won’t do those things. I promise you, though I know you won’t listen.” She said adamantly.
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We need to talk... [Kelski]

Postby Aer'wyn Grisghul on August 26th, 2018, 3:59 pm

Kelski’s statement came with silent disagreement from the Akalak. In his mind the ‘why’ of it all was meaningless. The world was black and white in the eyes of the dark brother. A bad deed was a bad deed and even if done for the right reasons, it still marred the character of the man committing it. A sin was a sin. And in his great hypocrisy, the superiority to mere mortal humans and those with shorter lives than his kind, he was so blind to the sins of his own past.

But it came a great relief to him that she was at least willing to talk to his brother about it. If Aer’wyn didn’t listen to him, refused to steer his life onto the path of righteousness, then perhaps she could convince him. After all the Kelvic seemed so persuasive that even Vel fell pray to her charm.

And if she couldn’t talk some sense into the light brother then it only served as yet more proof that his worthlessness made him redeemable and thus Vel’s resentment justifiable. Either way Kelski was at least willing to entertain his point of view in the abstract. And that was all the Akalak could ask of her for now.

But as Vel ripped himself from her comfort, ta great chasm began to open up between them. A difference of opinion to Kelski. But to Vel is was more than that. A difference of morality. A profound disagreement in which he took no part of in his eyes. The sudden disintegration of their relationship he laid completely at her altar. A wall of cold, hard iron rose up on his side of the boarder. Eyes frozen. A choice he’d come to regret in days to come.

The anger In Kelski seemed to match that of Vel, though she was far more tactful in it than he. With lips pressed in a tight line, he listened to her. But words fell on death ears.

And though she was so very right in everything she said, Vel was the world differently. He blamed the longevity of his kind. Chucked her lack of forward thinking on a lack of experience, almost convinced that had she lived a few decades more she’d certainly come to see the world the same way he did. Suffice to way empathy wasn’t his strongest of skills. Not when his vision was obstructed by years of anger and resentment.

It was what she said next that was the straw that broke the camel’s back. The building is magic.  How could that be? For all the fear of magic in his heart, he also had almost next to no understanding of it other than the many dangers it carried.

Nowhere was safe. Not anymore. In a city where being a mage meant certain damnation, they had surrounded him and in that moment Vel felt so very small. A mouse backed into the corner by cats. As Kelski stood up, so did he, his own hand, now a mirror of her fist, towering over the Kelvic like a seven foot shadow.

But he hadn’t harboured the same hatred for her that he felt for Karisa. Threads of kindness which Kelski had showered him with still left marks on his heart that he couldn’t shake off. They halted words of spite in his mouth, tied his fist by his side there it was. “I pray you keep your promise.” he whispered. It was all he could muster with his mind torn by confusion and disappointment, feeling like he was slowly loosing control over himself. It was in his eyes, cast onto the floor, the way he breathed, the soft pinch of fingernails against the inside of his palm. With a huff the Akalak turned on the ball of his heel and made his way to the stairs. Like a wolf with his tail between his legs. In a standoff between two predators, he was the loosing side but he’d be damned if he surrendered. His opinions, his ideals, his honour… his hope. It was all the Akalak had. It was all he ever had. He wasn’t about to give it up for a friend. 58 years he’d gone without friendship he could go 58 more.
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We need to talk... [Kelski]

Postby Kelski on August 26th, 2018, 7:13 pm

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She sat there for chimes watching him look her over and probably retreat to that same inner land that Farris had taught her all mages had. Perhaps Farris was wrong though. Perhaps it was just all men... because the Akalak left her sitting on that couch alone many chimes before he actually got up and left. And Kelski just sat there, feeling the weight of his judgement for things she had not yet done nor wasn't likely ever to do. She noticed the emotion in his eyes, witnessed his mental retreat, and caught her lower lip between her teeth as he rose and stalked off.

He only said one thing to her. He'd pray she'd keep her promise.

Kelski picked up a pillow off the couch and hurled it in a random direction, hissing in irritation long after the Akalak was gone. It was all the same. They were all the same. In that moment, Vel taught her an acute and important lesson. It wasn't just humans that had some major flaws. It was Alakaks as well... probably all races. And maybe all males. The Kelvic really liked Aer'wyn. But Vel said he lied to her? Was it even for a good reason? The Kelvic buried her face in her hands, the long loose locks of her ombre hair whipping forward and hiding her features. She drew her knees up onto her chest and up on the couch, released her face, and wrapped her arms around her knees in an attempt to hold herself. Her forehead rested on the top of her knees and she hissed repeatedly beneath the screen of her hair.

The world was a cruel unfair place, but she didn't blame it for Vel's opinions. Nor did she think she blamed Aer'wyn for Vel's issues. It was that everyone - every single one of these people - were full of pain and anger and resentment more worried about what others had instead of what they could have for themselves through hard work.

Vel was lazy. He was more willing to blame his problems on everything but what his actual problem was... and that was himself. Kelski shook her head, hissed, and decided she wouldn't feel sorry for any of them. She didn't see him staying at The Gem. She didn't see him letting Aer'wyn stay. Kelski decided the only thing to do was start posting advertisements for a new guard... one that was strictly not crazy... or maimed... or so willing to hate.
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They laugh at me because I am different.
I laugh at them because they are all the same.


Painted Sky Jewelry (The Wildlands) | Crossroads Jewelry (The Outpost)
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We need to talk... [Kelski]

Postby Kelski on December 25th, 2018, 12:12 am

G R A D E S
Kelski

Cosmetology +5, Architectrix +1, Rhetoric +5, Philosophy +5, Logic +5, Interrogation +4, Teaching +3, Hostessing +1

Cosmetology: How To Properly Comb Out Hair, Cosmetology: How To Khol One’s Eyes, Cosmetology: Plaiting Hair, Cosmetology: How To Shave A Man, Cosmetology: How To Shave A Mohawk, Philosophy: It wasn’t just Humans With Asshole Complexes. Omitted: Lores for Aer’wyn/Vel Due to PC retiring.

Aer’wyn

I’ll gladly grade if you ever unretire.




PM me with questions or concerns.
Image
They laugh at me because I am different.
I laugh at them because they are all the same.


Painted Sky Jewelry (The Wildlands) | Crossroads Jewelry (The Outpost)
User avatar
Kelski
Freedom is earned. Fight for it.
 
Posts: 1598
Words: 2015452
Joined roleplay: July 3rd, 2014, 11:08 pm
Location: The Wildlands of Sylira & The Empyreal Demesne
Race: Kelvic
Character sheet
Storyteller secrets
Plotnotes
Medals: 11
Featured Character (1) Featured Thread (2)
Mizahar Grader (1) Trailblazer (1)
Overlored (1) Donor (1)
One Thousand Posts! (1) One Million Words! (1)
Sunberth Seasonal Challenge (1) Power Fork (1)

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