[Windward Boardwalk] Queer Seed (Hadrian)

by **Oluse** on January 4th, 2012, 11:40 pm

511 AV Winter, 10

Bundled to the teeth in thick bright leather, adorned crudely with scorched designs of sunshine and animals along it's exterior, and frills of thick white fur along it's openings Oluse was at least relativity warm. Warm having become only an abstract concept to the boy since the onset of winter. Even so, he refused to give into the chilling pressure on his joints encouraging him to remain inside by the fire all winter. No, instead he subjected himself daily to the elements in order to achieve one goal or another.

Today's goal, find a replacement for the queer seed he found a few days earlier. He still remembered its beautiful and unique shape in precise detail. Like a riveted pyramid it lay with it's base to the top layer of new snow, miniscule hooks along the base holding it firmly in place against small gusts of wind that would displace it. He had been so endlessly fascinated by the morsel, how even in new snow it somehow remained resting perfectly upon the surface, unburied by the elements. He almost admired the little seedling!

Unfortunately, another notable aspect of the darkly coloured seed was it's sensitivity. Before Oluse had gotten it home to the study, the seedling had combusted, pricking his finger, and expelling a fine white powder, which was quickly lost in the wind and white snow. He wanted to ask about the plant, but wasn't scheduled to help out at the clinic for another few days. He initially decided to wait till then to find out, but his curiosity, and the still weather, had driven him back to the Windward Boardwalk to excavate for a new one.

Three rings time and counting, and not a single sign of the elusive plant, only half a thimble sized in all, had been spotted. His mood all the while shifting to a disheartened doubt that he would find another. Still, he trudged steadily through the winding paths of the tree laden garden, his eyes meticulously scanning the glowing ground, thankful that no fresh snow was falling for the moment.

But then he spotted it, dark, tiny as could be at his current distance of several many yards. Excitement, however, was instantly thwarted by a sensation of panic as he saw the man, seemingly lost in his own thoughts recklessly plowing toward the defenseless plant at a steady pace!

In clear, and loud Vani he spouted to the stranger a frantic warning, as he picked up his pace to a sudden dash in hopes to intercept the man. The odds did not look good.

"Sir! Sir! Stop, don't take another step! Please!"

by **Hadrian** on January 5th, 2012, 2:11 am

It wasn't the first time Hadrian had wished Fire to be his element, but Water had answered his first call, deep and powerful, then Earth, steady and strong, and Air, mutable and clear. Fire might come if he was diligent, having truly learned its value as the apex of his reimancy. His winterbane coat kept him nominally warm, but the thing was stylish, tailored, and would keep him alive if not necessarily comfortable during a Winter in Avanthal.

But it wasn't reimancy that kept his attention today. Instead he walked along the boardwalk from one hold's portal to the next, extruding Shield energy from his right hand. It came out iridescent, but blotchy and uneven, clinging to his hand as he flexed and curled his fingers, attempting to even it out. The energies were supposed to be invisible unless something was attempting to pass through it that oughtn't, but Hadrian's Shields bled light, part of the reason they weren't stable. Yet.

"Oh, for the love of..." he muttered to himself, extruding more energy to replenish what was lost to a novice's atrophy. When his right hand was cocooned in only partially visible energy, more a mitten than a glove, he held out his left hand and attempted to split his attention, maintaining his Shield while willing a small space above his left palm to empty itself of matter and energy. To that effect, he muttered an incantation and made a pulsing, clawing gesture with his hand, attracting that matter and energy to his fingertips and away from that locus until finally the emptiness reached critical mass and a small blot of darkness appeared, a portal into the Void.

Holding his hands closer together, he was able to watch the faint Pull of his portal attract the inexpertly constructed Shield mitten. Gradually the energies pulled away, snaking toward the darkness, orbiting it, and then finally disappearing into that other dimension of existence. When his right hand was naked of excess energy, he muttered another incantation and let the portal collapse in on itself.

It was only then he heard someone shouting in Vani behind him. He didn't speak Vani very well, but he froze, turned around, eyebrows skyrocketing upward in curiosity.

by **Oluse** on January 5th, 2012, 2:58 am

He came to an awkward halt with his last few steps, legs wide lending extra hops to try and keep from displacing too much snow toward the delicate seed. The last of the difficult steps carried him clumsily into the man towering above him. Oluse put out a mittened hands, pushing firmly against the man's diaphragm to finally steady himself. He hoped one day he would grow accustomed to running in the traction void snow, but that day had not come as of then.

His hand still lightly on the man's diaphragm the short boy bent around his makeshift pillar, squinting his eyes at the snow on the opposite side. Yes! The seedling remained intact. His heart leaped. "Oh thank you, Sir. Oh thank you. It's ok." Then he looked up from his still half bent over position. His eyes ascended upward, and up, and farther. Oluse standing, when upright, just at five foot, and a newly grown one inch, couldn't believe his eyes. A giant of a man stood before him!

He made a deep guttural gulp, and immediately straightened up. "Oh I'm so sorry, Sir." He continued his muttering in Vani. His eyes looked awkwardly at his hand still on the man's chest. Quickly he withdrew the hand, trying to look innocent and apologetic he looked up at the man.

That's when he thought it. Wow... this guy has intense eyebrows!

by **Hadrian** on January 5th, 2012, 5:48 am

Hadrian knew the Vantha did not hold great stock in personal space, but suddenly a short young fellow was leaning up against him as he fished something out of the snow underfoot and continuing to chatter on in Vani, which meant Hadrian caught a word or two. But he didn't push the lad away, didn't freak out. He merely held out his hands, an unconscious pulse of hypnotic calm rolling out from his aura to interact with the boy's own. He grit his teeth for a moment, thinking he was going to have to discipline himself away from using it like that for moral reasons, although calm and clear-headed people tended not to fight as much, which was a worthwhile cause, he thought.

"Please," he said in Vani, one of the handful of words he knew. "Stranger." He pointed to himself. "No speak."

That said, he attempted a bit of Common: "Do you speak Common, perchance?"

But his eyes erred down toward the seedpod or what have you that the lad seemed so hellbent on acquiring. If the lad spoke Common, he could ask about that. He was no great herbalist, but he had an academic interest in just about everything.

by **Oluse** on January 5th, 2012, 6:13 am

Oluse's sensation of embarrassment faded slightly, and he worried that perhaps he was growing callus to other people's feelings. He had practically assaulted the man before him for selfish reasons and suddenly he didn't seem to care. He calmly made a mental note to think on that more later.

"Of course, Sir." His accent was foreign, obviously Denvali to anyone who had encountered the people before. The word "Sir" came out sounding uniquely Denvali with little relation to same word in common. This left a ambiguous opening in the sentence to imagine the boy calling the man pretty much anything he could think of.

Overall his common, though heavily adorned with Denvali dialect words, and a heavy accent was understandable, if a little difficult to follow.

He considered continuing to apologize in common, now realizing the man's lack of Vani understanding, but in his newly attained calm he decided to just forget it, and skip to introductions. It was, after all, very important to introduce yourself to every person you interact with, an introduction is the root that a health relationship be is romantic business partner patient or just acquaintance sprang from. Or so his father would have him believe.

He took a step backward, and held out his hand, keeping an eye on the seedling encase the oblivious giant decided to take a step back of his own. "My name is Oluse, I hail from Denval, to the south." He smiled at the statement, realizing pretty much everything was to the south of Avanthal. "I hope you're injured not. Accident I made, for wanting the seed." He motioned his other hand toward the snow, making sure the man was aware of the delicate plant.

He couldn't get over how calm he felt, considering the circumstance. He decided he liked this giant, though he reserved the right to change his mind depending on his introduction. He liked how he felt around the man, like meditating. At that thought he offered the man a serene smile, looking him in the eye.

by **Hadrian** on January 5th, 2012, 6:52 am

Hadrian had a little skill in linguistics, and he bent it toward understanding the young man's Common. At first he only caught words there too, but when he said Denval, it all came together and Hadrian even smiled at the revelation. It was just that his syntax was all muddled, possibly as a result of learning Vani. Language acquisition could be a funny thing.

"I am Hadrian Aelius," he said, not using the alias he had used in Ravok. Here there was no need. "Originally from Syliras, though now I wander. I'm uninjured." His Common was spoken slowly, a subtle blend of Syliran and Zeltivan dialects, and clearly educated. He could even converse in Nader-canoch if he had to, and get by in Sultros with his Isur if they would let a human into one of their citadels.

The serene look in Oluse's eyes tipped him off to what he was doing with his Hypnosis, but the lad seemed happy enough so Hadrian just maintained a gentle calming nudge. If the lad was dead set on being ornery and angry, he could tear through the gossamer net of Hadrian's emotional suggestion, but if it was all the same to him, he could relax.

"What is the seed?" he asked, always curious.

by **Oluse** on January 5th, 2012, 7:28 am

Oluse was overjoyed he had asked. "I want to know myself." He turned his attention to it, slowly walking around to the miniature interest. "I discovered one, days three before now. But, it exploded." He lowered himself gently into the snow beside the seedling. "It shaped like pyramid, and bottom has hooks. Look." He beckoned the traveling to get down as well.

"You don't touch. It explodes." He warned Hadrian, lending him a very serious look, as he pulled his hood back, exposing his dark straight hair. Then quickly lowered his face down.

"You know plants?" He left the questions hanging in the air, as he continued making observations of the seedling, one of which that it might not be one at all.

"This perhaps not seedling. It perhaps fruit." His heart pushed against the light influence of hypnotism over his emotions, uncomfortably growing within its confinements. Following in suit with Oluse's personality his emotions tried not to break the blocked, but condense, to fill other areas and shift around it. As a result the emotions began to change and morph. His body shifted uncomfortably within his clothing. His face relaxed as his attention drew inward.

His heart was beginning to beat faster as though he was growing excited, but he couldn't feel the emotional sensation, it continued to speed, but it didn't alarm him too much. He looked to Hadrian again, his face beginning to flush with a fresh darkened red with the speeding heart rate. "I thought they Angiosperm. Now I think they Gynosperms trapped in delicate fruit exterior?" His voice slowed as more and more of his mental facilities went to dealing with his emotions, trying to find places to redirect the energy so as not to break the hypnosis over him, which he mistakenly perceived as his own creation due to his ignorance of the magical art. "Angiosperm have shell cover. Gynosperm stay naked." He stopped to take a deep, slow and calm breath, to offer more air to his racing heart, the crimson spreading farther across his nose and cheeks.

All the while his own mind began reinforcing the barrier keeping him calm, trying to make sure nothing within him broke, including what was, unbeknown to him, foreign.

Secret :

by **Hadrian** on January 6th, 2012, 8:28 am

Hadrian crouched down to observe the thing along with young Oluse. His eyes were keen and attentive, but he occasionally glanced to the chattering botanist to nod his understanding. The thing was dormant, its aura a tiny thing, an ember or a cinder that flickered gently within the realm of his consciousness, and he could tell it was delicate, though he wondered if he might not move it safely with magic. More observation was necessary.

"I don't know as much as I would like," he said ruefully. There was just so much to learn. "But if it's native to Taldera, its form and functions should be adaptive to the frozen environment. Everything that thrives here must love the cold."

His attention was so focused on the seed and their discussion of it, that he didn't yet notice the changes going on within Oluse. Generally people either calmed down or fought against the outside influences, but since he was at least outwardly calm, the inner workings of his psyche remained hidden to him. The flush, after all, was a familiar thing. When Hadrian began to talk animatedly about something that excited him, his pale skin went pink or red.

by **Oluse** on January 6th, 2012, 1:42 pm

Oluse's mind slowed as blood flooded into it. This slowed his thought process considerably, and as such slowed his speech. His eyes fluttered heavily struggling to remain open. He now fought well along with the hypnotism to stay calm, to not let any feelings of excitement or fear overtake him. He, after all, felt that his intuition wanted him to remain calm. He tried at all times to listen to his intuition.

"Hadrian," he said slowly, almost a whisper, beginning to form the idea that the feral browed man might be some fancy of his intuition, thus causing his odd feelings. "Who are you?"

After the words left his mouth, and reached his ears he realized how silly and incoherent they must have seemed to the stranger. Despite this he didn't know how to correct the question, for he didn't know exactly what to ask. His mind struggled to remain logical in his quelled state, while maintaining his calm. He wanted to know why he felt this way about the man, like he must remain calm, cool and calculated.

"I mean. Forget that." He decided that Hadrian likely had no realization of his effects on others. Instead, Oluse decided to invite him along for his investigation of the plant. This would allow Oluse the chance to further investigate these odd urgings of his mind, and awkward reactions of his body.

Shifting back into a sitting potion, bottom against the heels of his boots, in attempts to preserve his decency, he focused on trying to lower his heart rate (in order to relocate some misguided blood flow.) He focused his mind on Wind Sun and Water, trying to find these elements around him, to filter his unwanted thoughts out, as his meditation usually required of him. Embracing this calm came effortless, however, even without fully focusing on the elements. A satisfied smile crossed his face at this, and he looked Hadrian in the eye.

"We should find a way to gentally move the Cold Loving specimen somewhere we can isolate it, and identify more of it's features." He had listened to Hadrian's observations, and could tell he had a similar scientific curiosity toward the seedling as he himself had. This would be perfect common ground indeed. "I have a room at The Warrens if you'd like to bring it there, and get warm."

He looked back to the seed, receptive to a response but not waiting. "But, how do we move it without damaging the protective casing. I wonder if hear or pressure triggers the combustion."

Leisurely he scratched his head, mind now calm and contemplative, heart beat steadying as he embraced the calm.

Seed notes:

Secret :

by **Hadrian** on January 7th, 2012, 7:57 am

The odd question brought those eyebrows up again, chlorine blue gaze piercing. He was the sort of person who seemed to see too much, and indeed he often did, whether with eyes, logic, and intuition, or Auristics and other means. But even as Oluse waved it off, he slowly eased off on the hypnotism. It was unnecessary now, and he often found himself using that most basic of skills, calming those around him in order to prevent conflict, the opposite of Kendall's Azenth, which dredged up those repressed things and let them erupt all over everyone. But he and Oluse were speaking about something intellectual, and so he doubted the calming was necessary. Still, he didn't want Oluse to know he was skilled at hypnotism, and so the subtle, slow release was necessary to cover himself. With luck, the lad would think he had imagined it all.

As for moving it, his mind, both logical and intuitive, came up with a plan. He raised a finger for a moment of silence to concentrate, and held his hands out over the seed. After a minute or two of intense concentration, the Shield began to fall over it, an uneven dome of mostly invisible energy that only really flared for a brief moment when it came into contact with the snow, forming a sphere around it with just a little hole at the top. With another minute or two of concentration, he managed to even the energy out a bit more.

Pointing both index fingers over the hole that Oluse could not see, but he could sense even without his Auristics, his left hand finger began to glow a bright blue, his right hand finger a pale, delicate yellow. Yellow energy began to swirl into the invisible shield, and when it was full, the snow began to slide up the sides of the sphere, glowing blue as it was attracted by the bright blue point of light at the end of his finger.

In this manner, he sucked the snow out of the sphere and filled it with gently roiling aeromantic energies, strong enough to defy gravity, but gentle enough not to damage the seed. It floated within the center of that sphere now, and when the transfer was complete, the glowing tips of his fingers ceased, the Shield closed over its hole, and all Oluse could see was the seed floating in a sphere of yellow light, the which Hadrian directed up to the level of his solar plexus as he stood, cradling it with hands that didn't quite touch it at all.

There was a film of sweat upon his brow, but also a weary smile of accomplishment. This was delicate work, and coupling it with Shields, which were not his forte.

"Lead on, then," he said.