PM to join [Star's Shadow] Syna's Reach at the Shadow

[Lu Gavima]

35th of Spring, AV 513

It had been three days since the thunderstorm that had sent nearly the whole of Lhavit indoors. Storms of that caliber were rare, but when they came and one found themselves on a mountaintop, best to avoid it. Sure, a brave man likes the sensation of rain on his face, but a wise man knows when to stay out of the rain. Great, thick clouds of gray had followed in the wake of the storm, leaving the city fairly dark and dismal until the current day. On the edge of great Shinyama, at a local bar known as the Star's Shadow, Syna reached out in a majestic singular ray. Her light bathed that side of the peak, the sight so rare that many began to flock to the location.

Lu had walked down from the Monastery, warming his body in Her embrace. The bar was unlike many places in Lhavit as it had no interior. Chairs and stools sat precariously on the edge of one of the many freefall cliffs of the peaks, unfortunate for those who could not hold their drink. The Shinya found it satisfying, as there was a natural consequence for overindulgence. it was his duty to protect the citizens, but it was also theirs to act in accordance with custom. Stepping to the edge of the drop, he sat down, his body and soul drinking in the glory.

Closing his eyes, he allowed his mind to silence, seeing himself become crystal clear and filling as a chalice with sunlight. Each time thoughts would try to invade this meditation, he would simply glow brighter until they were dwarfed by its light. As he was a translucent vessel, he did not cast a shadow. He was not an obstacle to the light, but slowly becoming part of it completely.

[Alses]

The endless canvas of the sky over Lhavit was unsettled and boiling, a bruised charivari of fighting cloud. Heavy and leaden, they had cushioned the celestial city from the light of Syna for several days, ever since one of the rare - but truly spectacular - thunderstorms had lashed the city with Zulrav's electric rage. Indeed, it was only now that Syna seemed to have gathered the energy to burn Her brilliant way through the blanket of iron-gray cloud, lancing fingers of light breaking through to gild parts of Lhavit in near-unbearable light, a concentrated rain of energy from on high.

Alses hurried through the still-darkened and dripping streets, eyes fixed on the glorious sight of sunlight, perfect and pure, unadulterated and blazing, pouring down in shining rays onto the city, each one appearing a gateway to the Goldenlands themselves. Dark and dismal rock leapt to striated, many-coloured fire under Her caress, skyglass glowed with renewed vigour and the thousands of droplets of condensation the heavy moisture-laden air had left on every surface leapt to scintillating light even as they evaporated under Syna's beating heat and light.

A Synaborn Ethaefal, delighting in every touch of sunlight, Alses had been positively starved over the past several days, forced to subsist on the secondhand light which filtered weakly through the cloud layer – and now the chance to feast, richly and well, on unfiltered, untrammelled solar djed was too tempting to pass up. She knew others would have exactly the same idea, and so she made haste, towards the edge of the Shinyama, all ablaze with golden light, hoping to be amongst the first to glory in the rain of light.


A


The Star's Shadow wasn't Alses' favourite watering-hole in Lhavit, mostly because of its policy of being shut for half the year. The honour of her favour, then - if such it could be called - went to the Scholar's Demise instead, on those rare occasions when a craving for company drove her from her cozy room at the Towers Respite.

Nonetheless, it was the Star's Shadow which bathed most completely in Syna's light that afternoon, heavy and golden-toned, and so it was without a second thought she slipped into the premises, a broad smile breaking out across her perfect, distant features at the first warm caress of the sunshine.

Even suffused in infinite glories from on high, eyes effortlessly piercing the reflected glare from almost ever surface, Alses took a few moments to drink in the truly spectacular view, the serried ranks of dramatic peaks and plateaux that made up the Unforgiving rolling off into the blue haze of distance, robed in viridian green on their lower slopes and with their weathered heights displaying breathtaking complexity of shade, layer and hue, mute testament to the ferocity and intricacy of the region's geology, the ballet of tectonic activity which had sculpted millions of tons of rock like it was modelling clay, reshaping the face of the entire region.

Birds circled lazily over the heights, their lonely hunting calls audible even here, bouncing and reverberating along the dramatic, deadly valleys of the region beyond Lhavit's relatively safe Misty Peaks, carrying effortlessly for league upon league.

A stray impulse struck her, and rather than moving straight to the sheer panoramic drop on three sides of the courtyard, Alses instead made a beeline for the bar and the single worker there. It was late enough to be acceptable, surely.

“Good afternoon,” she murmured, most of her mind still occupied in celestial exultation. “Would you kindly mix a cocktail for us?”

A professional smile, along with a suave, practiced bow, was her reply. “But of course, blessed one.” Alses had to hide a scowl; 'blessed one' seemed to be becoming the citizenry's title-of-choice for an Ethaefal, and she for one wasn't over-fond of it. “What can I get for you?”

She smiled; he obviously expected her to choose from the list discreetly placed over the bar, nestled amid the ranks of bottles and fruits. She had her own tastes, however, honed through augmented senses practiced on the finest cuisine the starry city had to offer.

“Attend, please. We would like, in an ice-stacked champagne glass, one measure of spiced vodka, then made up to the halfway mark with lychee juice, topped off with champagne and then drizzled with rose-petal syrup, if you could.” She added a smile at the end, for good measure; it seemed to have the desired effect, for he blinked, stupefied for a moment, before recollecting himself with an insouciant grin and busying his flamboyant self with the bottles, running over the instructions in his head even as the glasses and liquids danced.

The cocktail she'd asked for had no name, as far as she was aware, an invention of her own specialised tastes and an obliging – and insistent, admittedly - Ethaefal proprietor at the Scholar's Demise. It tasted – not to blaspheme – divine, however, a complex melting and mixing melange of flavours swirling on her tongue and lighting a warm fire at the back of her throat, enough to put a satisfied smile on her face for a bell, at least.

Drink gloriously in hand – having taken care of the annoying business of paying for it, and at a price which made her glad such things were treats rather than necessities – Alses padded off to the precipice that formed the perimeter of three sides of the Star's Shadow, stopping only at the very edge and letting the infinite energies of Syna and their endless exuberant warmth mix and mingle with the auristic impressions of the delicious cocktail in her hand, catapulting her from a state of mere 'happiness' to something fast approaching 'exultation'. The experience of the sun on fire-opal skin was a near-religious one, a reaffirmation of Syna's regard and love both, and coupling that with one of the best fireworks ever to meet her phantom tastebuds made for a powerful combination.

It was only after she'd stood there for some time, drinking it all in, that she realised she wasn't alone; next to her, a figure silhouetted against the glory of afternoon light, cross-legged on the bare rock just before it fell away into open space, face serene and with the inklings of the same joy Alses herself felt at the sun's caress.

“Glorious, isn't it?” Alses said, a sentence only half-meant for the man next to her, unable to stop herself, or the smile widening on her face as she turned it once more to the sun, looking unblinking into its burning gaze. “To bathe in Syna's radiance and feel Her regard with every mote of light and heat. Especially given the foul weather of late.”

[Lu Gavima]

The gentle caress of the mountain winds was a pleasant mix with the caress of Syna's embrace. Lu kept his eyes of flesh closed, while his inner sight looked over his body as it sat on the edge of oblivion. His vision traveled over his arms, which he used so often, though the subtle aura showed him the remnants of the old trauma where the one had been fractured. He wished to lament, but the living warmth which enveloped him did not allow for such weighty thoughts. He was light.

His ears of flesh heard movement and conversation behind him, no doubt patrons of the establishment. Already loaded drinks would somehow enhance the sensations of Syna's glory. Lu felt it was energizing and soothing in its pure state.Another thought was invading, this judgment only another way for his mind to fight the oneness of the experience. The sounds melted away, evaporating like mist under Her sight. His vision returned to his torso and legs, equally important to him, though he had not placed his attention to them as he had their upper counterparts. As they were folded beneath each other, they longed for the kiss of Syna as well. Lu aimed to give them just that.

In the same respect as he would give to his hands, he slowly began to allow his astral feet to rotate and work themselves free of the flesh. As they were on his thighs in the lotus, his auric vision watched them wiggle and move, like sea creatures waking from a deep slumber. As his training and experimentation had shown him, the astral body was not impeded by the fixed system of bone and sinew. Once his feet were free, his calves began to follow suit, stretching and bending until they were pointed out at angles, in line with the mortal knees. While he remained seated in the same position to most, those who also trained their inner sight would see his astral legs sticking out from his knees, moving and undulating like petals of a flower, seeking sunlight.

His ears brought the attention from his work to a voice. It was one which carried over the air much like Syna's touch. He nodded slightly. It was glorious. Lu's face remained pointed toward the light and heat which washed it. "To some, the storm was as beautiful, in its own way. We are all blessed to live here so close to the clouds. To Syna, to Leth and of course, our gracious and most esteemed Hostess, Zintila." His devotion to the three grew every day that he was allowed to live here in his birthplace. His attention returned to his knees.Joints took care and caution in their separation.

[Alses]

“To some, indeed,” Alses replied with a wry smile, thinking of Mr. Secretary and his delight in the Slap of the World's fury. “We confess to some appreciation of the primal roar of Zulrav's rage, but generally only so long as I'm not required to be out in it. We can appreciate the artistry of a storm just as well from the other side of the glass, and preferably curled up by a roaring fire for good measure.” She paused, eyes half-lidded and heavy with delight, still gazing up at the sun.

“No blessing for Tanroa?” she murmured after some little while, curious. The city held a grand – although deeply unsettling – temple to Her, after all; Her worship was surely important to Lhavit. “Surely it is Her dominion we have to thank for the very passage of time itself, the shift of day to night – from Syna to Leth - and of sunshine to storm and back again?”

All religious concerns were forgotten, however, when she turned to look at her thus-far-unseen conversation partner. Even with the lesser Sight granted to every aurist, whether they liked it or not, there was something beautiful – if not a little troubling – shimmering there, a limning filigree-work delineating what looked remarkably like legs, waving and undulating in phantom breezes.

A glance at her companion's face showed no pain or fear, rather a deep-seated concentration and contemplation, as though working through a complex philosophical problem, bathing in the abundant sunlight as he did so.

Drink forgotten, and with even Syna's pulling influence dimmed by the new puzzle, the new conundrum, Alses bent herself to understanding. Nowadays, it wasn't as if she had any sort of mental switch or lever to throw, any one singular command for synchrony, for a greater expression of her powers; her djed was well-habituated to her by now and rose with the merest flicker of thought, spiralling and dancing through the dark Yggdrasil-esque tracework of her body to lie, glimmering and shimmering with all the pure potency of personal djed, on her skin, an extra layer of prismatic glory to complement her fire-opal hide.

From there, it was laughably simple to integrate, as only a formally-trained aurist could, her personal djed with the whorls and conduits of the ambient all around, the mantling corona of light and colour and shade and hue, of sound and touch and taste and smell in all their manifold manifestations swelling to a glorious crescendo inside her head and before her eyes, djedic synchrony hotwiring her senses and letting the artist unseen paint the world in a million feelings.

Djed roared and thrummed up from her soul and back to the depths, the conduits shining to her own internal Sight, suckling at the reservoirs of her reserves, banked close about the bright blaze that was her soul, her identity, the very focus and wellspring of all that she was, streamers and tendrils of it hooked into every facet of her being. A little twist, a widening of the rivers which fed her talents, and deeper synchrony was hers, the engines of auristics within her brain turning djed into ephemeral connection, weaving self and non-self djed together until they mixed and melted and merged and the world gave up its secrets on a silver platter.

That deep in the obscured mysteries of the world, the beauty hidden from all but a handful, she could See what her companion was doing more clearly – the filigree shimmer-work around the edges of the shapes resolved themselves into tight whorls of soul-stuff, djed of the highest clarity and potency, wrapping and cradling phantom limbs. The lower half of his legs, in fact, Alses noticed, vaguely admiring the curve of a foot and the sparkling nubs of toes all limned in humming light, a deep and patient thrum that resonated through his entire aura, not just whatever he was doing to his own body.

Even as she watched, rapt, another part of him began to shimmer more brightly, tiny prominences of djed beginning to glow patchily on his skin, winking in and out of existence and running together like flowing water under sunlight. “Syna bless our Sight,” Alses murmured, eyes still fixed on the half-done Projection. “What are you doing to yourself? More to the point,” she added hungrily, “How are you doing that?”

[Lu Gavima]

The knees began to worm themselves free, eager to join the rest of the astral body. Lu could have as easily just pulled them, but the physical body's marriage to the astral body was delicate. It was no thing to be trifled with. Should he be needed immediately, or should the person next to him decide to push him, he could find his limbs numb and flailing. It wasn't a good place for such carelessness. Her words were true but they did sound like one of the many citizens who used their bodies rarely, preferring a mental or social connection over anything else.

All Shinya knew that all parts of the body were important. " I respect Tanroa and her timekeeping of Syna and Leth's dance, but I am more concerned with the present. Both past and future are only shadows of the eternal present moment." With his knees free, his thighs could begin the separation process with little to keep them, short of the torso. Lu had never worked beyond the hips. His presence on the edge of the cliff was an excellent motivator for caution.

His torso was a constant topic of internal debate. he had felt that while the limbs were an important place to begin and focus, that parts of the torso, specifically the joints, could aid in a different type of movement. He had never heard of what he wanted to do, so he had no one to ask about it. Well, that wasn't entirely true. The truth was that as it had no applications to his duties, he suspected her would be told by superiors not to dally with it at all.In his current position, it was far from a dalliance. Once his thighs were free as well, Lu could open his eyes, his focus on his Projected limbs not as important for the current moment.

His eyes slowly opened, fluttering and squinting beneath Syna's gaze. Hearing the other speak of his Projection, Lu found himself also hungry for knowledge. His head turned as his legs began to open close astrally, keeping their movement limber for the next phase. It should not have been surprising to him that there was a child of Syna near him, with her admirations and blessings of her mother's presence. She was as lovely as sun on his face was warm, her horns shimmering in her mother's love. "It is the art of Projection. All Shinya are trained in it. The physical body is also inhabited by the astral body. Projection lies in training the astral to separate from the physical, in order to achieve feats which may not be possible otherwise."

His head turning back to his legs, Lu stretched them out many lengths over the cliffs and then retracted them. he could not feel them in a physical way, but he could feel a strain when they had stretched to their limit. Exercise was exercise, in any event. His question came next.

"How can you see it? I thought only Projectionists could see their legs."

[Alses]

“This is Projection? It's beautiful,” Alses murmured, still close and gazing at the shining, ephemeral limbs moving gently in the mountain breezes – or at least, appearing to. “We've seen its results before, of course – usually from the guards when thieves decide the city's a soft touch - but never close enough to see the cause, or at least, not like this.”

Glittering like the heart of winter to her augmented senses, glinting in her sight under Syna's abundant light, the phantom limbs seemed so very innocuous, innocent, almost – a far cry from what Alses knew they could so easily do. Even as she watched, the shining Projected legs and feet – a part of the astral notion of the soul itself, a layer deeper than the auras her magic read so hungrily – twisted and stretched, impossibly long, freed from the boring constraints of the purely physical and soaring out into the cloud-wreathed abyss beyond the terrace for a few shining moments. Such a glorious, obvious expression of personal power - or perhaps it was an expression of vanity, showing off for the untutored - seemed to take a toll, however, since this grand extension and flexion lasted but a few ticks before the glimmering limbs of highest-order djed retreated, retracting back to a much more normal, pedestrian size.

Sweat pearled her companion's brow, as though he'd been exercising; she felt its phantom presence on her own forehead, a fringe benefit – and sometimes hindrance – of her powers. In focusing on him – or more precisely, his Projection – so fiercely and well, her senses and his aura were closely intertwined; she felt what affected him, at least in some respects, and especially when it came to physical sensations, given her skill with that particular branch of auristics.

After a moment, savouring all the sensations all around – the soft humming thrum of skyglass, divinely self-satisfied, the rainbowed panoply of colour and scent that marked the Star's Shadow bar with all its manifold spirits and liqueurs behind her, the bright spot of swirling motion that she read as an uncertain soul: the barman - Alses throttled her greedy synchrony, letting go of many of the grasping tendrils which writhed and thrashed inside her, directionless and cut off from their giving source, before falling away harmlessly, dissipating back into her reserves. Never any sense in going deeper than was necessary, using more djed than required – auristics might have been a soft option in terms of safety, but it still held dark traps for the unwary and incautious. The discipline was simply more likely to take your mind than ruin your body, and so considered 'safe' by the masses – and often, other wizards.

With a shake of her head, Alses brought herself back to the present, just in time to hear the surprised – yes, surprised was the right word, she decided – question her companion directed at her. Then again, how was he to know, after all? Auristics wasn't flashy and flamboyant, like much of reimancy or indeed many of the other branches of personal magic.

“I'm a sorceress,” she replied with a fey smile. “Lhavit's lady magesmith, in point of fact, although the power which lets me see your astral Projection hasn't anything to do with magecraft. I have some small skill in the field of auristics – the art of seeing the unseen and reading minds, to the layman - and we hone it as an apprentice to the Dusk Tower. You are familiar with the concept of the layered soul, yes? We can see the bright glow of all that you are, read the energy radiating from your spirit, your feelings, sensations, hopes, dreams, desires, fears...” She tailed off, then lightened her tone and the atmosphere both with: “Provided I have enough djed and enough time, of course.”

Alses nodded at his phantom limbs once more, opening and closing in seemingly-ritual motions – whether that was something to do with the discipline or a personal training regime she couldn't say.

“How did they teach you?” she asked, curious – it couldn't be that difficult, surely, or else it would surely be restricted to a highly-trained cadre of the Shinya rather than spread across the guard force entire. "I take it you are one of the Shinya, yes?"

[Lu Gavima]

A lone eyebrow raised in curiosity. Lu had thought of Projection as many things, though rarely beautiful. The only exception would be its cerulean aura against moonlight. It seemed at those times, when Leth smiled upon the Shinya, that his own gaze was in perfect synchronicity with the astral body. As he brought his legs back in, he suspected he might be as interested in conversation with this woman as much as this exercise.

He had learned the points he was seeking and could easily follow up later in the evening. Best for now to rejoin the legs and speak more with this daughter of Syna. His thighs were already settling back into their spots, the knees all too eager to feel the prickling sensation as they became alive once more. Retracting and reforming always seemed easier than the opposite, as one knew their own body well enough to know how it should feel. It was a mold, ready to be filled.

The calves and ankles were silding in as well, only leaving feet and wiggling toes to follow in this spiritual parade, back to their home. Lu felt everything back in its domain, unfolding his legs with his hands and laying them out flat, bending at the waist and stretching to his toes, rubbing the muscles and joints to allow for a quicker and easier transition. "Magesmith? What is that? You make magic items?" It seemed the logical conclusion. If that were the case, Lu could imagine all sorts of applications. Better yet, perhaps both the Auristics and the Magesmithing could be something he could learn from her.

Whatever the case, standing was paramount. Taking the time to answer her first question in a delicate manner, Lu had more time to stand up properly. Hasty reunion was dangerous. His knees were almost there, his ankles a bit slower. He began to bend his knees up slowly until they were close to his chest and then relaxing. This naturally urged his ankles to bend, aiding in the rooting of astral to flesh in the lower extremities.

"It is a strange and wondrous process. Unfortunately, it must be taught, it cannot be happened upon through meditation. I am understanding it more and more each day. Perhaps once I have reached the ability to teach it, I could do so for you." His limbs were capable, though still a bit sluggish. Lu pushed through it in order to rise and look upon this lovely Ethaefal before him. Or look up at, rather. "And yes, I am Shinya. I am Protector Lu Gavima. At your service." He bowed three quarters to her, his eyes remaining on her own.

As he rose from the position, he recognized her from the unfortunate business at the beginning of Spring. "Ah, my fellow investigator. You'll pardon my not recognizing you initially." Lu smirked slightly.

"The Sun was in my eyes."

[Alses]

“All magic is beautiful to us,” Alses said by way of explanation, noticing his raised eyebrow. “Especially when seen through an aurist's lens.” She'd have liked to watch his shining Projection for longer, just to appreciate the glimmer of phantom musculature sculpted in high-order djed and the fluid movement unconstrained by the physical, but it seemed her companion had finished his exercises for the present, his astral body collapsing in on itself, sinking quickly back into the mundane flesh it normally steered, the bright glory of it veiled once more in a sack of flesh.

He aided the shrouding with fingers and massaging hands and gentle movements, drawing light back into himself as though shrugging on a heavy suit, his movements over-careful and sluggish, as though there were some disjunct between conception of action and its execution – a side-effect of Projection, perhaps? Alses had no way of telling.

Still, the fading of the Projected body did mean he seemed a little more grounded in the present, a little more there; she felt a little more confident that he'd take her answers on board, at least. “Magesmiths are the practitioners of the paramount magical craft,” she replied, eyes shining; magecraft was her calling after all. “Difficult, dangerous, intensely technical and hideously expensive to practise, it's quite a rare skill, all the more so because it requires a fully-equipped laboratory to do anything.” Alses smiled wryly at that, and added: “Which, in truth, is the way we like it; too much competition would drive down the demand – and the price - for our services. Magesmiths do indeed make magical items – the correct term is 'artifact', by the way, to distinguish the products of Magecraft from the pale imitations made by Glyphing. A Magecrafted artifact will last forever and never lose its properties, whilst a Glyphed item, like a scroll, is only magical as long as its runes and sigils remain intact.”

She sniffed, disparaging. “Comparing one to the other is like comparing a candle flame to the sun.”

Alses listened attentively, all the more so when he mentioned teaching; wizards could generally be relied upon to seek power and knowledge, after all, and she was most definitely no exception. “All magic is strange and wondrous, don't you think?” Her voice turned speculative. “It must be taught? How very strange...we wonder, then, how Projection was first discovered? Still, no matter...”

Alses' voice trailed off as her brain processed what he had said. Did he not understand the value of magic, of what he was offering? Men had killed in pursuit of magic, or even the prospect of learning magic, and here was someone offering up their skill on a silver platter. Most wizards – the Towers of Lhavit were a remarkable exception – jealously guarded their knowledge, demanding total obedience and slavish devotion for the merest scraps of arcane lore. Then again, her companion was a citizen of the starry city; the culture of the Diamond of Kalea accepted magic as a useful part of life, when properly managed. Wizards were welcomed, accepted as valuable members of the community, and their prevalence perhaps lent a skewed view of the value of magical knowledge to the citizens.

'Well, he's not quite offered up his knowledge,' Alses reminded herself sternly; he'd admitted he wasn't in a position to teach yet, but still...Alses cleared her throat, picking her words with care. “We should be honoured – and eager – to learn, of course.” Whilst she was trying to find the right following sentence, something that would cement the admittedly vague and conditional offer, he continued, and it was with a sharp jolt of realisation – and chagrin; surely she should have recognized his aura, if not his features, obscured as they were in her auristic vision, that she recognized him; the Shinya who'd been of not-inconsiderable help earlier in the season.

She swept a half-bow to him in return for his own genuflection, acting mostly on automatic as the thoughts squirrelcaged around her brain. 'How did I not recognize the touch of his aura on my skin? Are we so blind?' No time to ponder it further, though.

“The Sun?” Alses blinked in confusion at the bright orb for a tick or two before the answer came to her. That he was smirking, however slightly, made her suspect there was some joke there which had sailed over her head, but as it had done so Alses had no recourse but a serious response:“Ah. I do sometimes forget Syna's not quite so forgiving to mortals. No matter, no matter; the fault is also mine.” A blush stained her cheeks as she looked down and to one side, averting her eyes from Lu's face for a few moments.

“We should have recognized you from the touch of your aura, if not your features. I confess, I was far too preoccupied with your magic to pay a great deal of attention to your physical form, but even so we should have known who you were. A pleasure to meet you again, Protector Gavima, and this time under more cordial circumstances.”

Casting about for some way to alleviate her embarrassment – which was mostly, she admitted to herself somewhat later, due to her wounded pride as an aurist – she asked brightly, gesturing with her own, hitherto-unregarded glass: “Can we get you a drink of something, perhaps?”

[Lu Gavima]

It sounded like a suitable Wizard's answer to Lu. 'My school of choice is the paramount craft of all crafts. Others pale in comparison.' Lu's mind tried to imagine the top of the Tower as it exploded a year ago. He wished he could have been with his Brothers and Sisters that day, but he was in another world with his Star Lady.

Nevertheless, her knowledge would be helpful to him and her eagerness to learn of Projection would aid him in his own desires. "I admit, I know little of either. I could do well to learn of Glyphing, though." He knew that it could aid in the use of Projection. She did not. Lhavit was a place of trade. The Shinya meant no harm, though. He did mean to make an impression, though. One that even the dullest of senses could perceive. "Who indeed learned Projection first? We may never know. However, its source is the same source as you and I. The Gods. All schools of magic came from a higher source. Just as you and your kind did. Just as our benefactor and hostess, Lady Zintila did."

Once there was this glimmer of recognition, Lu softened his features, stepping away from the long fall. Stepping closer to the oasis of mixed drinks and benevolence, he even smiled at her. "Don't take me wrong. I just believe that Wizards should understand their place as guests here. I have heard stories of other places in this world and I suspect they are not as forgiving. Last Spring, when the Storm came, many Wizards went out of their minds, destroying much." His strides carried them both toward the bar. "Many of the Shinya died as well, trying to protect the citizens and the City. It is not a grudge I hold, but a perspective. One that begs caution as well as tolerance." Once they arrived at the bar, Lu took a seat.

"Just tea for me. If the Shadow is as stocked as I hear, hopefully they will have a cup of dula tea, with a pinch of taka moss." He looked at the bartender, a hopeful eyebrow raised in anticipation.

[Alses]

OOCThat excess italics code in my last reply will teach me to double-check my posts more carefully in future! Sorry about that .

'Glyphing?' Alses echoed, internally. She blinked; that was a new one on her. Most people, upon presented with any sort of prospect of learning about magic, all-but ignored Glyphing if there were any other disciplines on offer. “Glyphing? It's a useful support discipline, to be sure, and awfully good at communication across language barriers with other wizards, but we do have to wonder, what use does it have for a Shinya guardsman? Coded messages, perhaps?”

She smiled at his assertion of magic being gifted from on high. Certainly true for some disciplines, of that she was sure, but auristics was a subject she felt qualified to speak on. “Actually,” she demurred politely, inclining her head towards Lu “-the modern consensus on auristics is that it's an exclusively mortal-oriented discipline, one brought about through experimentation and practice rather than any form of divine gift – although we do understand it was once attributed to Avalis.”

Alses froze for just a second as Lu continued, oblivious. She swallowed, fought back insistent, pressing images, and then coughed, gently, to get his attention even as she made up the small distance which had grown between them. Her voice was quiet, almost monotone – absolute control exercised over emotion, the sign of long practice with a painful issue. “May we assume you've not spoken much with an Ethaefal before?” Not waiting for an answer, she continued: “It is...painful...to remind us of where we came from. Focuses the mind to dark places where it's not a good idea to stay too long.”

As they approached the bar together, Alses swept up in his powerful strides, she looked away, a shuttered expression flitting across her face at the mention of past events. “We were here when the djed storm hit,” she replied, voice quiet and low. “As a novice in the Dusk Tower. It did...strange things to us; I can't recall a great deal.” That wasn't quite true, admittedly, but there were some things too precious and personal to blithely mention.

“I do remember it turned half the Tower into a charnel-house, though, and we still have to steel ourself to face the poisoned auras of the Dawn Tower and its grounds whenever our work takes us there. Events – powerful ones, that is - linger on in auras for a long time after they've happened,” she added, by way of explication. “Still, I was fortunate. More fortunate than the Twilight Tower's initiates, and most definitely luckier than many of the Dawn Tower's disciples.” She smiled, wanly. “Praise Zintila for the skyglass, saviour of us all.” Absently, she stroked the smooth skyglass of the bar, briefly admiring the shine which skipped and danced through its translucent interior. “And for the valiant efforts of the Shinya, naturally, our stalwart protectors.”

“Guests?” for some reason, the comment tickled her, brought forth a chuckling burst of laughter from her lips. “An unusual view, to be sure! I doubt the three Towers would take kindly to being called guests in their own city. Besides, Projection's a type of magic, so every Shinya guardsman is a wizard, too. I hardly think we can call our defenders 'guests' either, no?” She became pensive, eyes slightly distant, looking through Lu's aquiline features.

“Lhavit has the best method for dealing with its mage population I've seen, though. We're not locked up or hounded out of town or outright killed, but we are recorded, our skills a matter of public knowledge if it becomes necessary.” 'Necessary to eliminate us,' she didn't add; it wasn't necessary, since it was the Shinya, as with so much else, who were called to remove overgiven threats to the good order and serenity of the starry city. Lu, as a member of that august order, would be only too aware of all the duties heaped upon the city's guards. “Which is only fair, of course, given the capacity for destruction a far-gone sorceress has at her fingertips. That reminds me, I really should update our listing at the Registry sometime soon. It's been too long since I paid...paid...” she snapped her fingers in annoyance, hoping to call the elusive name to the fore. “...oh, what is his name? Hanei? Since we paid Hanei a visit.” In one fluid, unconsciously-graceful movement, Alses slid onto one of the barstools and perched languidly against the skyglass, smiling winningly – if a little distractedly – at the barman even as he set to work on Lu's rather pedestrian order.

'Tea in a cocktail bar? Even we know that's not usual.' Still, who was she to comment, drinking her own concoction through her eyes, a supremely frivolous use of magic. Fortunately, the drain from that particular skill was infinitesimal, or her instructors would doubtless have come down hard against it.

“You're right about caution, though – magic is a beautiful and useful tool up to a point and then you die,” she quoted softly. A humourless smile split her face for a moment, turning it from sunny beauty to something much darker and starker, a split-second flash of what she would perhaps look like if she ever became one of the Forsaken. “And quite often, everyone else around you dies too.”

A thought struck her, and she tilted her head, quizzical. “How do the Shinya deal with overgiving?” she asked, curious. “It must happen every so often, after all, whether in training or battle.”