Looking for the Antswer

by **Ines** on July 24th, 2019, 3:51 pm

wc: 532

Ines nodded at the suggestion she should cover herself up. The kelvic had been so drawn up in the events that she had forgotten she was unclothed. She may have been safe from the animals, but plants don't decide what they touch. That mistake had been already made and she itched for a week afterward.

Kamilla's answer to her question did little to sate the kelvic's curiosity, but she suspected that would be the case. She could only name a few settlements and cities, and they were all in Falyndar. This woman did not look or act like she was a native. Other cities must be terrifying if she thought a man walking on the beach was such a threat.

Or maybe I'm just not as prepared for this as I thought.

"What is Zeltiva?" She inquired, asking at the same time that Kamilla started asking about Taloba. Ines let out a kind of scrunched-up nose giggle at the idea they were both thinking the same thing. "I will answer first."

"Taloba is the city I grew up. Deep in the jungle, and ruled by our queen, Myri. The goddess of war. That is where all of the Myrians live, and my family. It is beautiful and strong." The kelvic turned and faced the woman while she spoke, the ant invasion once again put on hold. This woman could easily pass for a Myrian with a change in behavior - other than her height, she had the same olive complexion and dark features. She also had a cute, soft face that was usually only seen on Myrian children before years of hard work forced it away. On instinct, she moved a piece of hair out of Kamilla's face and behind her ear, matching the other side of her face. The action soothed an anxious feeling in the pit of her stomach she hadn't even noticed until it was gone.

"In Taloba, my clan raised elephants, like the Ashta and the Tskanna. Tskannas are twice as large as the Ashta, with six tusks. They were a gift from Caiyha..." Ines raised her forearm to show Kamilla her gnosis. "This is my gift from Caiyha, and in it, you can see them." Just as the kelvic said, the mother and calf tskanna walked through an unidentified portion of the jungles, the scene misty with rain. A green snake was visible in the trees near the front, slithering along a branch. Colorful birds and troops of monkeys were chirping and chattering amongst themselves. "That calf was nearly the size of me when he was born."

Ines had no qualms about sharing her vision of Taloba, but after previous encounters, she was unsure if the people outside of the city saw it in the same light that she did. "Your turn, Kamilla. Tell me about Zeltiva?" Ines was leaning in towards the woman as if she were about to tell a terrible secret. Her full attention was towards her and her response.

"Are all of the women in Zeltiva as pretty as you?" This final comment slipped out, and the bat's cheeks flushed when she realized she had spoken what she had been thinking.

by **Kamilla** on August 5th, 2019, 11:18 am

Kamilla Circe Gordon

Relieved to not be returning to the jungle depths that had already tried to claim her three times in the previous season, Kamilla turned her attention to the unusual woman from 'Taloba', suddenly hyperspace of the itching feeling in her throat. It seemed that Ines was just as ignorant about Zeltiva, though Kamilla had no idea how exactly she'd explain the port city, beyond being a city built around its harbour. She was grateful that the other woman had decided to go first.

The way Ines explained her home caused Kamilla's face to brighten slightly more, another city inhabited by a God, like Riverfall, though she'd never heard of Myri, Goddess of War. She'd be sure to remember her from that point on. It was the city of thr myrians, did that mean Quzon came from Taloba to? She could remember if the savage reimancer had ever told her where he was from.

When Ines reached forward to brush the hair from Kamilla's face, the mage's body stiffened in surprise, having been caught off guard but ending in a slightly confused expression. Only her grandmother and mother had ever done anything of the sort, and it had been many years since their passing, so the behaviour was very unfamiliar. Her own fingers traces over the passage Ines' hands had just traveled, finding and securing the rogue strand to ensure it remained in place.

The woman went on to describe her clan and it's purpose in Taloba, raising Ashta and… Tskanna? She'd never heard of these creatures, but they must have been absolutely gigantic if they were twice the size of the already giant Ashta. Ines went on to show her the tattoo on her forearm, Kamilla only now noticing that it eas alive, much like Sophia's. "Another person marked by Caihya… Sophia has one too." Perhaps gaining a gods favour wasn't as rare as she'd originally thought. It was curious, how different Ines' mark was to the svefra's. Where Sophia had a sea of grass, resembling the northern parts of Cyphrus, Ines had a dense jungle with two creatures that resembled Ashta somewhat, she assumed they were the aforementioned Tskanna.

For a few moments, Kamilla was completely mesmerised by the moving images on the woman's forearm. A beautiful raining jungle scene played out before her, a snake slithering through a branch. It eas truly… "... beautiful." It was only when Ines asked her own questions, adding that she found Kamilla 'pretty' that the mage's focus on the gnosis mark was broken, eyes meeting the naked woman's in surprise.

"I'm not sure, I'd like to think my features are somewhat unique, at least in Zeltiva." After all, there weren't many people with her combination of complexion, and dark hair. At least, she hadn't noticed any. "And Zeltiva is…" She began, examining her surroundings for ideas. She spotted the settlement in the distance. "Well, it's nothing like Syka, it's easily more than ten times larger, filled with hundreds if not thousands of people. It's built around a giant harbour, where there are almost always ships arriving or leaving from. And… the people there like to think they're a lot more important than others, very concerned with their appearances and social standing." She shrugged, what else could be said about the city? She had no clue. After all, it eas only one of the many cities she'd lived in.

"So, perhaps we should head back to Syka and save the investigation for some other time when we're better prepared?" The ivestigation seemed to be at a dead end for the time being. She wondered what they would have discovered at the source anyway, surely even someone marked by Caihya would have trouble understanding the actions of insects.

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by **Ines** on September 30th, 2019, 1:35 am

wc: 404

”If you was tall, you could be Myrian.” The kelvic offered in response to the mention of unique features. Perhaps she looked unique in the city of ships, but if she saw this woman from afar and was told she was a Myrian, she wouldn’t have questioned it. Ines considered Kamilla’s description of Zeltiva, wheels turning. Taloba was large, too large for its still considerable population, but they did not have a harbor, just small boats on the Kandukta Basin.

”Taloba is like Zeltiva. But no boats. Taloba is too big for the people.” She finally replied. "Taloba, if you are a woman, you are strong. Men, not as strong." This was the gist of it as the kelvic understood it, though many of the complexities of that society had been largely ignored by her. She simply worked and received whatever she needed from her clan in exchange - it was how all of the unbonded kelvics were treated in her clan.

It was now nearly noon, and Syna was beaming on them from high. Water on the beach was lapping gently, the tide having been slowly receding and leaving small pools on the rockier bits of shore. The kelvic wasn't a sea witch, and she felt far less of a connection with tides and pools than she did in the middle of the jungle. With her distraction from the fire ants task, the witch realized that it was time for her to check on the Tskanna, but not before she threw more questions at her new friend.

"What is your job?" asked Ines, now heading towards the commons. The woman dressed strangely for the locale, and the most the bat could gather from her demeanor and appearance was that her job was most definitely not hard labor. "I am at the saw mill, for the tskanna." The bat said, anticipating that she would ask the same question back at her. Surely she knew of the mill and the ashta, if she had anything built out of wood whatsoever.

"I spent too much time looking at ants." She said, looking at the small shadows they made on the beach. The kelvic was brushing whatever excess sand was left on her body as they walked. By now the sand was totally dry and fell off with her movements and light touching. "I hope to meet you again soon, Kamilla, when it comes time for that."

by **Kamilla** on October 1st, 2019, 1:13 pm

Kamilla Circe Gordon

According to the naked stranger named Ines, Kamilla could pass for myrian, if she were taller. The mage wondered which of her features had given the petite woman that idea, thinking back to the time she'd met the savage Quzon, she supposed they shared a similar skin tone, as well as dark hair. She supposed it should be taken as as compliment, but she responded with nothing instead. The woman went on to explain a bit about Taloba, the city apparently too large for its inhabitants. She did like the idea of a matriarchal city though, the Gordon family consisted only of women, so she knew they were capable.

"That sounds interesting…"

Of course she had more to ask than that, but despite the itch in her throat, Kamilla managed to stay restrain herself. Her curiosity was unnatural and she knew that, the uncharacteristic need to learn everything she could about people she'd only just met had never once been something the mage had been interested in before just recently. She didn't like it, and more than that, she hated that she had no idea what was causing it.

"What is your job?"

The woman's words pulled her from the daze of concentration required to keep herself from prying into the shorter woman's life. Brown eyes went to meet Ines' bare form with a subtle look of surprise, also for the first time taking note that her own chest was somewhat larger. An odd thing to think about, but eventually she'd realised that a question had been asked.

"Oh, I'm a seamstress… I could probably, uh, make you some clothes if you ever need them." She understood that Syka was a clothing optimal settlement, but she figured that Ines would surely need to wear something sometimes. "Perhaps I could make you a dress or something." Her words came out somewhat awkwardly, after catching herself comparing assets with her new acquaintance. "Oh, you work with Lars? That's interesting." She tried to imagine the small woman dealing with the giant creatures that lived around the mill, the tskanna seemed daunting even in comparison to a full grown man. She found herself impressed with the woman, though she could really place her finger on why.

Before Kamilla could say anything else, Ines seemed to realise something, suddenly ready to completely forsake her ant quest, seemingly remembering that she had something else in need of her attention. Kamilla offered the naked woman a small friendly smile, "Goodbye, Ines. It was interesting to meet you. Be careful of that man, or men in general." As she watched the woman turn to leave, Kamilla couldn't help but wonder why Ines had been so unusable blunt, her explanation of Taloba sticking out the most. Was it just a language barrier? Or was it the way Talobans spoke? Suddenly Kamilla felt as if she could kick herself for not asking, a hand going to scratch at her throat, as if she could reach the itch from outside.

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