After Hours (Hadrian)

Kassan catches a man wandering the North Quarter after dark, but there is more to him than at first sight.

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Known as the Celestial Seat, Nyka is a religious city in Northern Sylira. Ruled by four demigods and traversed by a large crevice, the monk-city is both mystical and dangerous. [Lore]

After Hours (Hadrian)

Postby Kassan on July 3rd, 2012, 12:32 pm

Kassan continued to listen, remaining quiet. It was clear this man was curious, in spite of some of his words.

"Come," he finally said, rising from his seat and heading back out into the night air.

Never looking back to see if the man followed, Kassan made his way through the Quarter towards the bridge, walking at his own pace, glaive clamouring on his back.

He felt the Aperture as he neared. It seemed to call out to those who came near its inky depths. Finally, at the very edge he had descended during his trial, he looked down into the darkness.

Still, he didn't turn, but he spoke aloud. "What do you feel?" He inhaled. Smoke and obsidian. "This is where I descended into the abyss."
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After Hours (Hadrian)

Postby Hadrian on July 4th, 2012, 6:08 am

Hadrian hadn't actually expected an after hours tour of the Aperture, but he knew better than to question Kassan, one of the few Nykans who showed any real interest in him, even though he was clearly showing interest in Nyka and its way of life. He rose and followed the shaved-pate man, out into the night and across a bridge and to a looming void. His stomach flipped about within him, his body reacting strangely to the magic of the place. It felt somehow like a grand portal to the Void, yawning beneath, and yet full of things invisible and terrible and wonderful.

"I... It defies description just now." He blinked, trying to focus on what patterns he might find, the Lormar symbol on his left hand glowing as he attempted to read the local chavi, too. He wanted, above all, to understand.
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After Hours (Hadrian)

Postby Kassan on July 7th, 2012, 8:30 am

Kassan finally turned, noting Hadrian's awe as he gaped into the Aperture, Nyka's very own Heart of Darkness.

"Now you see. It can never truly be explained, for it presents itself differently to each person who ventures into its depths. For me, it presented the past - painful memories designed to test me. But there are living things down there too, as real as you and I. Monstrous creatures."

The monk bowed his head for a moment, before laughing aloud.

"Nyka is no Syliras or Zeltiva. This city is wilder, darker. More dangerous. And yet... it is beautiful for all its faults."
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After Hours (Hadrian)

Postby Hadrian on July 8th, 2012, 7:53 pm

Hadrian nodded. He might have argued that all places were dangerous, that only the face of the danger changed, but there was something to the monk's words. This Aperture was so much potential. It reached out into something ancient beyond words within Hadrian, some part of his soul from incarnations previous, and told him to look away.

"I... I can't. I'm not supposed to be here. Not yet." His hands started shaking. "It isn't time for me. I need to go..."
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After Hours (Hadrian)

Postby Kassan on July 16th, 2012, 5:31 pm

Kassan watched silently as the most cruel of mistresses painted itself across the man's face. Fear. A darkening of flesh, a blinking of eyes. Hadrian moved back from the precipice.

"Now you know," he said slowly, his lesson taught to the foreigner, "now you see the true beauty - and terror of our cities depths."

Kassan watched as the man stumbled into the darkness, not quite fleeing, yet moving quickly all the same. Nyka was not to be taken lightly. It was the Mother city. But just as birth was one of the most powerful forces of life, so too was death, and the destruction it wrought.

No man could look upon the Aperture and walk away unchanged. It was so. And it would always be so.

OOCBring to a close?
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After Hours (Hadrian)

Postby Hadrian on July 18th, 2012, 6:11 am

But it wasn't fear quite that quaked through Hadrian, rather recognition that he hadn't the words to express clearly even to himself. He would be back someday. He knew this, though he didn't know how, perhaps some aftereffect of the vision water from Mura. But all the same, Kassan's words rang true, the beauty and the terror.

Once they were a safe distance away, he straightened, smiled. There was something almost ecstatic crackling beneath his skin, and a monk might recognize something like zeal, though not the same as his own.

"Thank you, Kassan," he said finally. "I think I begin to understand now."


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After Hours (Hadrian)

Postby Liar on July 26th, 2012, 2:06 am

EXPERIENCE AWARD


Kassan

Skill Points
Leadership 1
Philosophy 1
Rhetoric 1
Investigation 1

Lore
A Clear Mind is Paramount
How to Treat a Foreigner

Notes
Rhetoric for explaining the nature of the Aperture, philosophy for discussing Nykan worship, leadership for asserting the law and guiding Hadrian, and investigation for questions asked and answers earned. :)


Hadrian

Skill Points
Investigation 2
Philosophy 1

Lore
A Monk’s Mercy
Uphis: The Deity of Absolution
The Aperture

Notes
Investigation for everything he learned about Nyka and the Aperture, and philosophy for his reflections on it. I considered rhetoric and meditation, but your skill points seemed too high to warrant it. Feel free to PM me if you think otherwise. :)
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