Completed A Hair of Clyde (Clyde Sullins)

[Amolina]

~ Amolina Moletta ~ Continued from Return & Get Back Timestamp: 13th of Summer 513 AV Location: Sullins Residence Amolina Moletta, The “Tool of Rhysol” was on her way to Sullins’ Residence … how COULD the poison maker, that creepy Nolan Parnell in InoVations, belive she was a tool sent to him by Rhysol? She didn’t understand it and she had not dared to ask him. She only knew he had said he believed this and he had told her to gather things he needed from a wizard named Clyde Sullins. Amolina had been so eager to get out of from the poison shop that she had agreed with Parnell at once, and told him she was going to persuade the mage to give her access to his body and let her gather what “bodily materials” she could … In return Parnell would make an antidote for her. If she had dared, she would have quick fixed this mission, with some dog hairs and chicken blood. But she was worried the poison maker might be keeping an eye on her. So she was going to do this the hard way and visit the wizard. She found it best to be well prepared though. Caution was essential in a city like Ravok, and she had been living there all her life. Caution, distrust and constant suspicion was so natural to her that she didn’t even think of it. Because who could she trust ? No one ! It had taken her a couple of days to research hearsay and publicly known facts. Clyde Sullins was well known enough in the city. A skilled wizard and also a member of the Ebonstryfe. Owner of a residence, which meant he was well situated. The analysis of these facts were in short: Sullins was a power to count with. No easy prey. She had different plans she would try. It remained to see how the plans would work in practice and what it would lead to. Perhaps she would persuade the wizard cooperate in one way or another, or perhaps not. If she didn’t succeed to get the materials she would need to tell Parnell she had failed and try to persuade him to give her the antidote anyway. An unpleasant possibility she wanted to avoid at all cost. She had a memory flashback of Parnell’s malicious smile. This motivated her to go on despite how dangerous she feared it could be to annoy Sullins. For a start she knocked on the door of the residence.

[Clyde Sullins]

It had looked to be a quite day at home. Which would have been nice. He had spent the last few days either working, or teaching his new apprentice. So having a day to himself to rest... It was nice. He sat in his lab pondering what he should do. What experiment? Maybe some Glyphing? That was always enjoyable. Doing personal magic usually felt to much like work. So a World Magic at least. He was dressed as usual in his common clothes of cotton, his wooden staff in hand, and his dog Rye laying on the ground next to him. He was deep in thought, when he saw the pitch black dog perk up beside him. Now that he listened, he noticed a knock at the front door. Whistling for Rye to follow, he headed out of the lab, locked the door behind him, and turned to the front door. His common room was just that, common, with little to see but a few benches and paintings around the room, and three doors. Two on the far wall opposite the entrance, and the third on the right hand wall which Clyde had just exited. He headed over to the front door, and opened it, to see who was knocking. Rye let out a growl as he opened the door to see the girl, staff in his hand, as he stood at his full height, and looked her in the eyes. "Yes, did you need something?" His voice was not filled with anger, but neither was it filled with joy or excitement. It was a cold neutral tone, more filled with a vague disinterest than anything. He did not ask her in.

[Amolina]

The man that had opened the door matched the scant descriptions she had been given of Clyde Sullins’ appearance. Tall, very tall, and lean, very lean, yes – but with his common cotton clothes and tanned skin Amolina thought he had the looks of a healthy young outdoorsman, not at all the pale,anemic scholar she had expected. Looking upwards, she met the wizards blue gaze and above it she saw his hair, brown and somewhat unruly looking, like it was the kind of hair that was hard to tame – or perhaps he just didn’t care so much about his hair and had not bothered to brush it. So high up, and so out of reach. In theatre plays of dubious quality that Amonlina sometimes had temporary roles in, wizards used to be old, with long grey or white beards and hair. Clyde Sullin’s only likeness with the theatre wizards was the staff. For he actually held a staff in his hand, and he held it the way people hold tools they know exactly how to use. With self-confidence. At least this was her impression. The dog growled. She gave it a wary glance. The wizard’s voice had that very neutral tone people tend to have when they speak to a complete stranger knocking on the door of their home, for purposes unknown. After all sensational stories Amolina had heard about wizards and their temperamental and deranged ways she felt relieved that Clyde Sullins’ seemed to be so totally normal. There had been stories about Sullins walking out to test things on random innocent bypassers. But now when she saw him face to face she dismissed that as just silly gossip… This might turn out to be much easier than she had feared, she thought optimistically. She glanced around nervously. After the poison maker’s arrogant recount of all the stalking he seemed to have done, she felt constantly scared of being observed. The man’s threats had been so horrible. She was scared. And as far as she knew, he could very well sneak around to make sure she carried out her mission and didn’t cheat him. “Mr Sullins?” She didn’t wait for an answer from him, but continued. “I need to speak with you. It’s important. But not here. I fear I’m being followed. Please Mr Sullins, I’m pretty scared, so could you let me in for a few chimes so we can speak behind a closed door …“ This came out totally sincerely. She didn’t need to act.

[Clyde Sullins]

Clyde just stared back as she said his name. Well, at least that meant it was not a random passerby, some thought had actually gone into coming here. Though it still left him wondering why she had come here, people invariably wanted something of him or from him when they came, such was the life of a mage. Which meant he ended up being a bit weary of the person, as soon as they should arrive. What with only one of a few things they could be there for. It was a bit better when he met someone at random, but he knew this for sure when someone seeked him out and came to talk to him by name. Or in rarer cases not by name, and simply by description. She seemed nervous upon meeting him, and not just for the dog growling at his side, more like she glanced about like she was looking for someone hiding. A detail he noticed and tucked away. Though that only proved to make him all the more curious. And trepidatious. However she soon directly confirmed his observation, saying she believed she was being followed. He let out a resolute sigh, and stood aside to let her in, making a waving motion for her to come in. As she entered, he barked "Sit" at Rye, he would keep his place, and stop growling, but kept staring at the woman. He would take this time to go and close the two windows on either side of the door, before turning back to the woman, and shutting the front door. Gesturing at one of the benches, he would speak to the woman, "You to, sit as well." It was as much as an order, as a courtesy, and even Clyde would be hard pressed to say which he meant it as.

[Amolina]

Amolina was far too relieved to be behind closed doors and windows to care about the somewhat order-like way Clyde Sullins worded his invitation to her to have a seat. Also, as it happened, she thought to herself, he was not the first man in Ravok that settled for giving her orders instead of asking her politely. That Lush in the House of Immortal Sins, Valerius Nitrozian at KRI, the poison maker in his shop … She tried briefly to think of someone that had not issued orders, but couldn’t remember anyone. Perhaps she seemed like she was easy to intimidate and order around here and there? Come to think of it she had actually been ordered here … Oh, well. She sat down and watched the wizard (and his dog). For a start she would try the easiest solution. Her plan was to act totally confused and on the brink of fainting, then get her hands on a brush or comb where there would hopefully be a few hairs she could snatch. If he used combs and brushes, that was. She had taken it for granted that everyone did. But now when she saw his hair she had started to doubt ... “Mr Sullins” she started. “As I told you, I fear I’m being …observed. And … this is so complicated that I hardly know where to begin …And I was told you are the right person to seek out … But now when I'm here I’m really wondering if you are able … You are way younger than I had expected, to be honest …and ...Lovely dog by the way.” She looked at Rye. The dog had plenty of hairs. “Ooh, I’m so …dizzy …” She put her hands on her brow and managed to entangle her fingers in her hair. The hairstyle imploded and her dark brown hair came tumbling down over her face in complete disorder. “Oh, my … Mr Sullins I’m sorry, I really am … sorry! Do you by any chance have a comb or a brush I can borrow?” She gazed up at Clyde Sullins, looking as near to fainting as she could. If the wizard handed her a comb or brush with a few of his hairs on she would be done in a few chimes … easy case! And he would never know what had happened !

[Clyde Sullins]

If she had accused Clyde of ordering her about, well he would have replied that she was asking to come into his home, without even telling her name, or with saying how she knew his... Clyde was suspicious by nature, it was how he had survived as long as he had as a mage. And while he might look young, he had been one since he was five. And one of the man reasons he had lived those fifteen years as a mage, three quarters of his life, was he was careful. Perhaps when he was younger, he was a bit nicer, more giving, more compassionate... But those qualities in large part had been stricken from him while he grew up in Syliras, under the knights constant watching eye. So for the same reason he assumed every animal he saw might be a kelvic... Even his own pet Rye at one time... Why he did not drink out of an ale once he left it unwatched... Why he kept the door to his lab locked at all times, even when he was in it... He was cautious. And he did not trust easily. But above all what his magic had given him, was logic and reason. For after all when your body called for you to use magic all the time, urging you on, you became a bit more conscious of such things, and more prone to reason things out. For that reason his response was a logical one to Clyde, but not at all what the girl likely expected. He would speak at his full stature, standing above the woman in a position of power, a simplistic interrogation technique really, which Clyde was not even intentionally doing. "I see no reason why you would seek me out because you are being followed. I am not some investigator or something, or a bodyguard. If those are what you need, I cannot help you. And while I do not know what you know of me, besides my name, I don't even know yours. You ask to come into my home, and don't even give me your name?" Clyde looked at the woman, not angry, he spoke more as if he was talking to a student who had some flawed logic in the order of their question, and he was simply correcting her. "If the rudeness of not telling me your name is not enough, you then insult me by saying my age makes me inadequate. What exactly pray tell do you think it is that I do, and why would my ability in it be related to my age?" Clyde did not notice the unnamed woman look at Rye, though Rye did, and he once more let out a low growl that at the moment Clyde had not noticed, but likely would be audible to the woman. If she attempted to come at Rye, perhaps to take some hairs, he would likely react by biting her. He was after all a trained guard dog, not a pet meant for petting. At at the least snap at her and scare her back if she got near. "I also fail to see what a comb has to do with feeling ill... Is your hairdo in some way intermingled with your state of health? Perhaps a drink of water would do you better, or some fresh air. Either of which you can provide yourself I am sure." "If you are to sick to continue, perhaps you should go and seek medical attention. So unless you actually have a valid reason for coming here, perhaps you should just go. I don't like having my time wasted." Unlike the rest of his words which were spoken more or less in the same fashion, his last sentence was not. It was spoken a bit louder, and with him glaring at the woman in annoyance. Clearly an attempt at intimidating her, but also just a show of the fact that the entire proceedings were making him aggravated. And Clyde was not the most patient man, nor was he the most even tempered.

[Amolina]

Clyde Sullins towered over her in a most unnerving way. The brush and comb plan had failed. And now Sullins had taken offense because she had reacted to his age. That much was obvious, Amolina thought, when he told her she had insulted him. The other things he said were logical reasoning, or so it sounded to her. As an actress she was used to observe how people behaved, listen to nuances in how they spoke, and speculate about what was behind this. She quickly analyzed what she had observed and heard right now. The way he spoke was that of a scholar, clear, intellectual and logical. He was so not like wizards used to be portrayed in some popular theatre plays – old, disctracted and comically deranged. Clyde Sullins was young, alert and smart. And he wasn’t stuttering and leaning on his staff like he would drop down dead any chime. He seemed to be agile and held the staff like it had not even occurred to him that he could fall. But when it came to his age, Sullins seemed to be a bit more emotional. He had jumped to conclusions about things she had not said. And now he felt insulted, and had started speaking about how she’d better leave and not waste his time. Hurt pride, perhaps? She wondered if that could make Clyde Sullins agree to help her, just to show her how wrong and silly she had been to underestimate him. Many men were like that. Maybe Sullins too. It was worth a try. “My name is Amolina Moletta. I’m sorry I forgot my manners. I didn’t intend to be rude Mr Sullins. I’m just under terrible pressure. I believe someone is using harmful magic on me. And perhaps poison too. Or both.” She paused before she continued. “I only know you are a magician. I don’t know exactly what you can do. I’m here to find out if you are able to help me. And I have not said your age makes you inadequate. It was only an observation Mr Sullins. You are pretty young. You can’t possibly deny that! ” New pause. She eyed him up and down. Mostly up, as he was still towering over her and she was sitting down. This was the way she would act to portray herself silently measuring him and coming to the conclusion he seemed to not be good enough. “I was only thinking that this might be too hard for you, if you don’t have so much experience yet. Perhaps I ought to try to find a wizard that has done a few more years of studies. I don’t want to …waste your time with things you may not even have the competence for …”

[Clyde Sullins]

Clyde listened for a moment as the girl spoke, learning her name was Amolina Moletta. He let her continue on as she apologized, saying she had forgot her manners. A thing that seemed to be happening a lot around Clyde. Particularly to Clyde. He just stared back in silence as she explained why she was here. She thought she had been the recipient of some sort of malign magic? The first thing that came to mind was hypnotism... Something he had been the recipient of himself... But as he thought it through further, running his mind through the possibilities... Perhaps something with malediction? That alone was a odd magic which one was hard pressed to understand or predict its outcome... Besides that... Maybe some sort of gnosis? If so he would not be able to detect it. And poison? He was uncertain if he could detect such things. He had never tried before when reading an aura. He nodded as she said he was young. Perhaps he was, he admitted, but then age had nothing to do with skill. Not in magic, or really anything else. People assumed that any skilled mage would be a old man, having practiced it for decades and decades to learn what they had learned. Clyde though was above average in that regard, a fast learner, and adept with magic in general. Except for a few things he struggled with... But his main magics were all good. It was just some of the ones he was newly studying, or which he more dabbled with, which were still strange to him and he did not excel at. He was about to speak, as she paused... But before he could do so and respond to her in a civil manner, she spoke another sentence, which was far more insulting than what she had said earlier. What the petch was wrong with people of late, openly telling a mage they thought him unskilled and inadequate, he wondered to himself. It was just like that poisoner he had met the other day. Except he had been working together with him, and more or less protected by a member of the Black Sun. This girl had no such protection. But what kind of mental invalid really came into a wizards home, and acted as such. She most certainly had a death wish. Clyde narrowed his eyes at her as she spoke to him, his grasp on his staff growing a bit tighter. He slammed his staff once on the ground suddenly with a clack of wood on wood as she finished speaking, and glared down at the girl with open malice, a small trickle of rage filtering into his rising tone. "You know, I am growing quite tired, of hearing drivel such as yours drool out of incompetent mouths. You know nothing of magic, that is clear, nor do you respect it in the least. But let me tell you, if you don't respect magic, then you will fear it." "Don't deny it, I can taste the lies as they billow thickly out of your mouth like shyke, trying to deceive me, trying to assuage me, and in turn speaking more lies and drivel. You are lucky I don't roast you alive right here for your impudence, but I would prefer not to let your burnt flesh leave a foul smell to my home. Or do you indeed have a death wish, coming to a mage, and PETCHING INSULTING HIM TO HIS FACE LIKE SOME IDIOT SCUM INFECTING RAVOK, NO BETTER THAN A BEGGAR!" By the end Clyde was indeed yelling at the girl, about ready to show her just what he could do, with a fireball to the face. "I am not to be tested, I am not to be plied with sweat lies. Now tell me why I should not kill you right here and now for your audacity, your disrespect, your all but pleading me to kill you. A mage is not a good enemy to have, Amolina. And I assure you I am a skilled mage. But at this moment the magics I would show you are not ones you want, instead ones of pain and death and wailing into the night. Those are the magics I show to those who treat me as you have."

[Amolina]

The logical scholar had turned into a yelling volcano of rage in no time. Amolina sat like struck by lightning and watched Clyde Sullins instant change of behaviour. He had seemed to be a young outdoorsman with some knowledge in magic. Well, he still looked the same. But his gaze, his voice and his words spoke of something else than had met the eye when she first saw him. He held the staff like a weapon now. Or so it seemed to her. She didn’t panic. But she felt shaken, very shaken. Sullins had reacted with unexpected intensity to what Amolina had thought of as a very small provocation. Now when she knew how seriously he had taken her little taunt she regretted it. The way Clyde Sullins spoke now, it seemed to her like he might be extremely dangerous. “I apologize” she said. “I’m very sorry that I made you so angry Mr Sullins. It was not my intention. Sometimes I don’t think so clearly nowadays.” Glancing at the door she got to her feet : in case the wizard was going to carry out his threats she didn’t want to sit there and wait to be shot at, like a duck on the lake. For a few chimes she had considered the possibility that his words meant he could read thoughts or somehow feel what she was up to. She tried briefly to focus intensely on his hair to see if he would react in some visible way, but the wizard didn’t seem to notice anything. She concluded he had just ranted about lies by mere coincidence. What now? Hightail it and leave empty-handed? It would be safest to just walk out and then run for her life. But only for the moment…She thought of Parnell and his malicious smile. What would happen if she didn’t succeed to get the materials he wanted? The mental picture of the grotesque things he had said about a flayed and decapitated corpse under a mat of crawling maggots popped up in her mind once again, like it had done many times after her visit in the poison shop. If Clyde said something in normal voice she would answer very politely. If he yelled furiously at her to get out she would oblige at once. If he sent a minor shot of fire her way, not to kill but to give her a scare and shoo her out, she would get a burn on her left hand, rush out from the house and head to a medic. If he shot to kill herfor hurting his pride she would die.

[Clyde Sullins]

As Amolina responded to Clyde's outburst, a small smile came across his lips. Less of a happy smile, more of a knowing smile, like he knew something she did not. It would likely be just as intimidating as if he had kept his face passive or in a frown. "Really? It was not your intention to anger me? Really? I think it was exactly your intention, only I did not react as you wished me to. Perhaps I am just more observant than the schmucks you usually try to manipulate, but I am not one of them. If you want to deal with me, do so directly. No lies." Clyde glared at her, and carefully enunciated his next words. "Am. I. Clear?" Another smile came over his lips, once Amelia answered, undoubtedly in some form of feigned admittance to her wrongdoing, or some sort of apology or agreeing to what he had said. Clyde turned away from Amelia, pacing about for a moment, helping himself calm down byt the action, giving himself something to do. Rye stayed were he was, glaring at the woman, a low growl still emanating from his throat. After a chime or so, Clyde would return to his spot, and look back at Amolina. "So, why are you really here? Who sent you?"