Shape-shifting animals (Valerius)

[Iskessah]

Iskessah stared blankly at Valerius as he let on the secret to his cryptography. Using other languages in his codes... that was practically cheating! Why, it was as audacious as...as...as using Dhani venom in your poisons... As much as Iskessah did not enjoy looking the fool, she could not help but admire the cunning of crossing disciplines to confuse those trying to counter them. It proved the importance of being versed in many different realms of knowledge, no matter how little they might interest her. If Iskessah was going to survive, she would have to be useful to Ravok, and if she were to be useful to Ravok, evidently she would have to learn as much as she could stand. Even if it was from dirty inferior human types. "I.." she began hesitantly, loathe to acknowledge the human had anything of value that she lacked, "I am not. My education may have been...unfortunately...lacking." Which was an understatement. It was a miracle she knew as much as she did, having spent the majority of her adult life locked in a cage. "Do the ancient tongue and...Arumenic? Do they...do they ssshare the Common alphabet?" If they did, then learning the language should be just like learning new words in Common, but if there were different symbols involved...it made her head hurt just thinking about trying to untangle a code using such a mess.

[Valerius Nitrozian]

Valerius looked back at Iskessah. He raised his head a little and smiled at her arrogantly. In his opinion using other languages in his code had been rather clever. If he had stayed in Zeltiva, he would probably be a professor by now due to his superior intellect! The freak had turned out to be halfway tolerable, but she was apparently lacking such a superior intellect. That was a good thing. A freak that was his equal in intelluctual matters would have turned his world upside down, and he would probably not have survived the following shock. „Indeed“, he remarked as she informed him that her education had been lacking. „Where did you go to school? Not in Ravok, I assume?“ In his opinion the education system of Ravok was superior to everything else – apart from Zeltiva maybe. Sometimes he would imagine his glorious return to the University where the professors would welcome him with open arms. When he was in his thirties, they would probably make him headmaster. He would become the youngest headmaster since the Valterrian. „The Ancient Tongue uses the Common alphabet, and Arumenic can be written with Common letters as well“, he informed her. „The grammar is different though. Why do you ask? Do you intend to learn those languages? I don’t think that there are a lot of people in Ravok that speak the Ancient Tongue as well as I do!“

[Iskessah]

Iskessah couldn't prevent the sneer that curled her lip at his question about school. The boy assumed that everyone in Ravok had access to formal education. The ignorant brat didn't seem to realize that half the city was lucky they could read at all. With a physical effort, she forced her expression back into a neutral position, which may have come off as a bit stony. She was startled for a moment when he asked whether she intended to learn the Ancient Tongue. In truth, she hadn't thought about it. She was trying so hard just to survive in this treacherous city. She had never really had a chance to think about her future, and it had been far too long since she'd had the freedom and security to pursue her own interests. She opened her mouth to speak, but hesitated. What should she decide to do? This was an opportunity to learn some potentially interesting things. On the other hand, she had a job to do, one she'd already been distracted from by allowing herself to be entertained by this young human. Taking a deep breath, she spoke slowly, considering each word before allowing it past her lips. "...If I...find time to learn...I would...be grateful for...any help you could offer. However--" she couldn't just jump into an alliance like this. She trusted very few people in Ravok, for good reason. Besides, if she started hanging around this boy regularly, it could get back to certain people, and she wasn't prepared to deal with the political ramifications of such information reaching certain ears. "However, I do not currently have the...luxury...to pursssue that kind of...entertainment." She failed to completely remove the sense of bitterness from her voice. She was well aware of the unfairness that led to people like her having to work, not just for a living to preserve her life itself, while other people had the freedom to have hobbies and interests. This imbalance was not news to her, and there was no profit in dwelling on it. And yet, she could feel a dangerous resentment rising in her. She should depart before she did something she might not live to regret. "In fact," she added hastily, glancing around like she had somewhere to be, "I ought to get back to work. Thank you for letting me sssee the Kelvic, but I have to go now." She started edging in the general direction of the docks, hoping that he wouldn't try too hard to stop her. She was confident she could over-power him physically, but in a city like Ravok that was hardly an advantage.

[Valerius Nitrozian]

„I see“, Valerius murmurred as Iskessah refused to tell him where she had received her education. Apparently her school had such a bad reputation that she refused to mention its name. That she might not have gone to school at all didn’t occur to him of course. He couldn’t imagine that there were people who were not as privileged as he was. „That’s not good. I might still be willing to teach you a little though – if you give your best. I cannot stands people that are slow or stupid.“ „How unfortunate“, he remarked as she informed him that she currently didn’t have the luxury to pursue that kind of entertainment. In truth he didn’t care at all of course. „What I do is not entertainment though. Encryption and foreign languages are a very serious form of science. There is nothing remotely fun about it.“ „If you ever want my help, you need to remember that. As I said before I cannot stand fools or people that aren’t serious. But I agree, you should get back to your work. I should go back to mine as well.“ For a moment he considered telling her that it had been a pleasure to talk to her, but then he decided against it. They had turned out to have a common interest, but she was still a freak who talked with a terrible lisp. His offer of help had already been more than generous. He didn’t need to be friendly to her on top of it.

[Alric Wilmot]

Grades Valerius Nitrozian Detection+2 Observation +2 Teaching +3 Persuasion +1 Cryptography +1 Lores: The Freak with the Lisp, Common interests with the replacement Iskessah Kosun Impersonation +3 Intelligence +2 Interrogation +3 Cryptography +1 Lores: Kelvic Shapshifting, Valerius (basic) Notes Secret : Questions, comments, or criticisms? PM me, I'll respond quickly. In the mean time, please edit your post to reflect the fact that your thread is graded. Thank you.