Closed Inspiration, Contemplation and Something Unusual

[Kirsi Winterflame]

Timestamp: 67th of Summer, 513AV Kirsi had a date with her carving tools. Finding herself with time on her hands - Garob had sent her off for the afternoon, as the shop had been unusually slow - she had settled on the beach as her ultimate destination. On the one hand, Kirsi was glad of the free time. On the other hand, she felt pressed to be productive. So, she had snatched up her carving kit and set out for the shore. Passing through the sea gates, she managed not to feel dwarfed by the Akalak guards, and considered that a battle well won. Smiling a little at the memory, Kirsi recalled the first time she had entered Riverfall. It had been the beginning of summer, the land gates, and still more very tall, blue skinned Akalak men. Although, to be fair, it was their city. Still, she was here to do something, not to reminisce, she reminded herself, and began scanning the ground as she walked, looking for bits of driftwood with a story to tell. It wasn't the best carving medium, but she had in mind to try a new method or two and the driftwood was free - if she flubbed it, there was no harm done. She spotted a likely looking chunk of wood and stooped to pick it up. Carrying it closer to the water, where she had a good, if distant, view of Laviku's Tower, Kirsi sat for a moment to study the tower and decide on a carving subject.

[Uleru]

Its her!

After watching for over a week for the Vantha woman to come back to the beach, the Otani suddenly has no idea what to do now that she's here. Uleru first noticed the woman days ago only by merit of her being smaller than not only the resident Big Blues, but almost every other race as well. But if that is how she noticed her, she only followed because of her subtly shifting hair, which caught the afternoon light with refections of blue and green and ice; thus effectivly enthralling the moulding. But if thats why she followed her, she only stayed because the woman is a carver.

That afternoon she saw tiny wooden bears and abstract things appear out of driftwood as if it has always been there. Its not like the things the ocean carves itself, with its rounded edges and random patterns, this is deliberate and beautiful and demanded all of Uleru's fickle attention. So after a few bells of merely sitting and watching the stranger as she whittled and crafted trinkets, the monster came to a sudden realization: she really, really wants one for herself.

But she doesn't ask for things. She's never asked for things. Coerced? Occasionally. Begged? Of course. But asked? Never. If someone leaves an interesting thing unattended and within arms reach of the Otani, then it is theirs by the right of petch-you-got-mine. But you cant demand a skill that belongs to someone else, and it cant be stolen. This is a bit out of her comfort zone.

So after noting where the woman has placed herself on the sandy shore, eyes unknowingly focused over Uleru's head to the imposing tower of Laviku, the moulding turns her back and swims fluidly down to the depths. She's going to need some supplies.

She returns less than ten chimes later cradling a large glass jar against her side with one hand, and holding quite a few gold rim coins in her other two hands. The third having spouted Epherian-like out from under her left shoulder when she realized that two just wouldn't cut it. The woman is still where she left her, thankfully. She's studying a piece of bleached wood like she's searching for something in its coiling grains.

Still underwater, a pearl-sized ball of res is pulled from the bed of the tongue in Uleru's mouth. It's smoothly shaped and rolled into perfect proportion before being transmuted to ice by way of Reimancy. A second ball of res is then conjured behind it, unformed and with no shape, before the Otani rises to the surface.

Only her eyes and forehead show above the water this first time, and she reminds herself strongly of a girl hiding behind her own hair. She surfaces only long enough to blow the small ice ball (with a loud pop as she transmuted the res behind it into pressurized air) at the Vantha woman's shoulder before dropping right back under again like a startled fish.

Only after another short chime does she break the water again, this time rising enough to speak.

"Hello", she sings shyly in accented common, dropping back down to her eyes once this greeting is dispensed. When the human looks to her the mouldings body blooms into an icy blue, almost unconsciously reacting to the sunlight catching in her hair.

[Kirsi Winterflame]

Timestamp: 67th of Summer, 513AV It was easy to lose herself in contemplation out here; something about the subtle noise of the water and the dazzling sun bouncing off its surface distracted Kirsi from even the strongest of intentions. Rather than coax a shape out of the driftwood she now held in her hands, she found herself absently tracing the wood's own surface marks and thinking about nothing in particular. So the sudden impact of... Something? On her shoulder took her completely by surprise. First suspecting rain, she turned her gaze to the sky. Just as quickly, she shook her head - it was a beautiful day, the sun was shining, and no clouds marred the blue of the sky. Nevertheless, there it was. A delicate patch of water speckling her shoulder, though a small one. Droplets split apart to spot her shirt almost like snow from a well-packed snowball. But where...? Scanning the water, Kirsi almost passed over the woman in it, and would have if she hadn't heard a quiet greeting sing out. "Hello." "Hello?" Kirsi responded curiously. She lifted a hand to shield her eyes from to glare of sunlight, hoping to make out the figure in the water. There! But once she spotted the... Woman? Kirsi wasn't sure that she wasn't imagining things. Not generally given to hallucinations, she thought perhaps she'd sat in the sun a tick too long, but... Did hallucinations throw water at you? Giving in to her sudden curiosity, she rose, keeping a good hold on the driftwood, and approached the water's edge. The closer she got, the more curious she became, however. Upon closer inspection, the being - definitely not a woman, or not a human one, anyway - seemed to be made entirely of water. Though only the top of her head and eyes remained visible, they swirled with a cool blue that reminded Kirsi of the frozen waters of Avanthal. "Hello. Hi?" she waved slightly with the hand holding the driftwood. "Oh!" Realizing that might be mistaken as a threat she quickly lowered the wood back to her side and offered a bright smile instead. Still wary, despite her interest, Kirsi stopped well short of the water's edge and waited, more than a little intrigued. Though she had, since arriving in Riverfall, become acquainted with many unusual things, beings made of water certainly topped all the rest.

[Uleru]

The small Vantha woman answers her greeting in kind, waving a piece of wood as if she's warding away an attacking mosquito, before dropping it to her side with a surprised exclamation. But being generally slow to recognize a threat, the moulding neither acknowledged the pseudo-threat nor, truthfully, cared. She's just happy the Vantha said hello. She smiles back and raises herself above the water again, studying this oddity of a human with her head cocked to the side. As if viewing the woman from a different angle will reveal some of the mystery.

"A Vantha girl. A winter girl. You're a long way from home arn't you, Winter girl?" she coos with barely concealed delight. She should show pity for a being so far from its element, but the chance to speak to someone so exotic trumps the human's perceived misfortune.

"Oh, and look what I have for you!" she smiles, hoisting the jar further up her hip as she walks out of the water. The woman isn't very close to the breakwater, and Uleru has lived long enough to understand why. So she stops short when the water hits the top of her legs, to give the Vantha ample space between herself and the sea monster.

Uleru opens the two hands on her left side to show a fistful of coins (thirty-two in total) which she tosses to the woman's feet with a sound that would have alerted an entire tier of buskers in the city. Thus freed both hands dig around in the glass jar, sorting through all kinds of worthless trinkets until they surface with a huge, bleached tooth, and the small four-point antler that rested on the rim.

With these, unlike the coins, she hesitates before throwing. She is quite attached to her things, strange as they are. One is a tooth taken out of the jaw of a close playmate, an orca the size of a small ship, when he died. The other is a recent token of friendship acquired from a boy she met on the Avitar river; the engraving 'Zadok Shadows' can be seen scratched onto the base with the point of a knife. But these too she throws to the woman's feet.

Then she stands there. Her awkwardness has come back and she keeps opening her mouth only to clamp shut again like a broken toy. "I want- can you... A carving on them? For me? Can you carve them for me?" she stumbles through the common like her tongue has been swallowed. This is right, she tells herself. Here we have a trade with monetary gain for the artist. And -if all goes well- there is a commission in that awful stumbling of a request. It is a true and proper transaction.

"Ah...Please?" she adds almost as an afterthought.

[Kirsi Winterflame]

Timestamp: 67th of Summer, 513AV The watery being rose seemingly effortlessly from the waves, returning Kirsi's inspection in equal measure. Kirsi got the distinct impression that she was being studied and cataloged much as she herself studied the animals she carved. It was... Unnerving. Not unpleasant, but, yes... Unnerving entirely. When the creature spoke again, her voice seemed to float along on the air. "A Vantha girl. A winter girl. You're a long way from home arn't you, Winter girl?" Nodding slightly, Kirsi opened her mouth to respond, but too slowly. Before she had uttered a word, she heard: "Oh, and look what I have for you!" Followed quickly by a showering of golden coins thrown from the woman's left arm. Arms? Yes, there were two. Just on the left side. Curiouser and curiouser. But the creature was smiling, and Kirsi couldn't help but smile back. Once more, she opened her mouth to speak - this time more quickly than before. "I am Vantha; my home is here, now..." she trailed off, fairly certain the creature wasn't listening. Her watery arms were busy rummaging in a container of some sort, and it seemed the searching had her undivided attention. Shrugging, Kirsi decided the creature appeared to pose little enough threat, and let the driftwood she'd been holding fall to the ground near the coins. So many coins, in fact. She was unsure why they would be for her; rarely did otherworldly beings appear and shower her with gifts of coin. In fact, never. Still, she stooped to pick them up and stood there awkwardly holding them, unsure of what to do with them. While she pondered, she noticed the woman had ended her search and was now holding... Well, Kirsi wasn't sure what she was holding, but soon had the opportunity to inspect the items. They followed the coins, lightly sailing through the air to land at her feet. She looked out to the creature, baffled, and was treated to the sight of the other woman's mouth opening and closing much like a... Kirsi giggled softly. She looks very much like a fish out of water. But the Vantha kept her thoughts to herself, sure that her humor would not be appreciated. Besides, the woman had found her voice again. "I want- can you... A carving on them? For me? Can you carve them for me?" And then, seconds later, "Ah...Please?" Ah! That explained the what, but not the why. Kirsi fumbled for a moment with the coins, attempting to balance them in her hand, against her side. She crouched down in the sand and picked up one of the items lying by her feet: a tooth of some sort. Whale? Probably whale. The smooth feel of the tooth was wonderful; it had been a very long time since she had worked with ivory. The other seemed to be a horn, or an antler. Kirsi looked up at the creature waiting expectantly for an answer. "I can carve these. What did you want me to carve from them?" And why? And why me? Tired of crouching, Kirsi sat; the sand was damp here, nearer the water's edge, and cooler. Piling the coins next to her, she picked up the antler and inspected it, noticing the inscription on the bottom. It was rough, whoever had carved it had not used the proper tools. 'Zadok. Shadows'. Person? Place? Would the other woman tell her if she asked? Kirsi's curiosity grew with each new piece of information she gathered.

[Uleru]

"I can carve these. What did you want me to crave from them?"
 
"Blue", the moulding responds instantly. She's smiling again, and showing none of the hesitating awkwardness she showed earlier, now that the transaction part of the transaction is over. "I want it to look like what blue is to you. I want it it look like sunsets and the sea and snow and whatever you can think of. I want the antler to look like Avanthal and the tooth to look like the sea. Engrave them. Anything you'd like, winter girl."
 
The woman sits down on the damp part of the beach, piling the coins neatly beside her. Uleru is proud she is excepting her payment. It's oddly satisfying. She steps farther ashore to be closer to the artist, water cascading down her legs, which have turned a molten color of blue and green as she tries to keep up with the shimmering highlights in her hair. The woman is quite lovely, really. She's much more delicate than most of the hardy northern people she's met, but its not the kind of delicate that makes her want to put her on a shelf away from anything dangerous. Its more like a quiet admiration that something so fragile-looking is tough enough to stand alone so far from where it belongs.   
 
She sits cross-legged a few steps away from the woman, letting the breakwater push at the small of her back and slip over her lap. She noticed the Vantha studying the engraving on the bottom of the antler, and feels compelled to explain. If only because she appreciates a good story and assumes a Vantha would too. Maybe they can trade stories later. Is that a kind of transaction? Unfortunately, she doesn't know what the engraving actually says. She cant read, and didn't have time to ask the boy what he'd written.
 
"It's an antler", she explains rather redundantly. She wasn't sure what it was at the time she found it. "I found it at the bottom of the Avitar river where I met a murderer. He was a strange boy, Zadok the murderer. I played a horrible prank on him, withering in his hands like leper when he tried to kiss me. And then turning into a huge Akalak man when he tried to do it again. He was a bit of a ponce", she admits, shrugging like that explained it all. "But he still ended up being my friend. We battled a Krital together and survived. I haven't seen him since."
 
Not quite a story in the traditional sense. And she might have raised more questions than answers. None the less she smiles and starts to draw shapes in the wet sand in front of her as if the matter is closed. After a chime she looks up from her swirling pattern, eyes sparkling with some kind of hidden meaning.
 
"Winter girl, you're Vantha... You must have all sorts of stories to tell don’t you? I've been to the Taldera shores before, but never Avanthal. It's too far inland. I never got to hear the Vantha stories."
 

[Kirsi Winterflame]

Timestamp: 67th of Summer, 513AV "Blue," was the creature's illogical response. Except that she said it as though it made perfect sense. Kirsi was immensely glad when the explanation directly followed; not 'blue', then, but Kirsi's own interpretation of the color. This was only slightly less confusing, however, as Kirsi herself had never actually considered what a color might look like, other than its actual... Well, color. But she understood she was being given a rare gift. Free materials, free reign to interpret them as she saw fit, and payment. The carver in her was thrilled. Kirsi registered no danger now, as the other woman closed the distance between them bit by bit. Perhaps this is a mistake, but the commission of her carvings implies otherwise. Kirsi offered her a friendlier smile as the other sat, still among the waves, and began to speak about her antler. The tale had all the makings of a good Vantha story, but was told with far too much brevity. A Vantha storyteller would have embellished, making up details if necessary, to bring to life the Krital - whatever that was. To make the boy/murderer seem sinister or innocent or insane; whichever option best suited the atmosphere and audience at hand. But this watery creature did none of those things, delivering only the barest facts of the encounter and nothing more. It was a story, Kirsi supposed, but it answered virtually no questions, and inspired a handful more. Maybe that was the intent? Kirsi spared the other woman only half a glance as she began drawing in the sand. The antler, the inspiration for the tale, would be her first carving. She set the tooth near the coins and fished her carving kit out of her pack. Carve Avanthal, she thought wryly. Of course. But, as she thought about it, Kirsi realized she could carve Avanthal; at least her memory of it. In her mind, she could see exactly how it would lay out; the flat of the tundra as it butted against a wall of ice, Morwen's icy palace, the swirling flow of Morwen's lights... Intent on her thoughts, Kirsi nearly missed the question; and when it registered, she wished she had. Vantha stories. It was expected; if you're Vantha, you tell stories. And you tell them well. Except that Kirsi didn't, not really. She could re-tell stories that she'd heard, but as far as her own gift with words - it was practically nonexistent. "The Vantha have stories aplenty," she agreed, before slightly redirecting the conversation, "we have legends and tales and cautions. But I have heard nothing of a woman who looks like the water...?" Kirsi hoped the creature would be led by the gentle question; curiosity was a burning thing inside her.

[Uleru]

Her social skills might be negligible, but Uleru understands when she is being brushed off. The Otani blows out her cheeks but decides not to pursue the subject. Maybe she will ask for a song instead. If she doesn't tell stories, she must sing at least? From what she has heard the Vantha have saturated themselves in every conceivable art over the centuries.
 
A bag of carving tools is extracted from a bag, and the moulding iridescent eyes follow it with a spark of interest, eager not only to see the finished product, but the process from which it gets there. But a question on the woman's lips makes her glance back to her eyes with something like amusement. And then Uleru starts to laugh. Her color shimmers across her body as she giggles and the sunlight through her back throws relief of blues and greens across the Vantha like the reflection on a cave wall.
 
"I don’t look like water, winter girl, I am water. I am made of water and dijed and the hand of god, naturally. I’m Otani. We are Laviku's loyal servants", she finishes proudly, sounding like a brochure for the oceanic way of life. 
 
It occurs to her to ask about the Vantha's god, for she isn't quite sure who has laid claim over the hearty northern people. But she finds that she just doesn't care. Other religions have never stirred her interest as much as other people. She goes back to drawing in the sand.

Though after a moment, she remembers a human custom she had previously forgotten. Nothing is sealed without a handshake and an introduction, is it?

"Uleru", she pronounces, offering out her hand with the kind of guillotine motion she has observed from captains and Akalak on the dock. Where they respond to everything in a gruff, manly way while sizing each other up like they are waiting for the other to flinch. She understands this custom in a bare-bones kind of way, and she understands that woman typically don't display this kind of alpha behavior while conducting business. But Uleru learns by imitation; this is the only type of business she has observed, so it is the only kind she knows.

[Kirsi Winterflame]

Timestamp: 67th of Summer, 513AV Something about Kirsi's question has thoroughly amused the creature, and she laughs. Beautifully. Her skin shimmers and swirls, as though all the colors of the ocean were trapped beneath. It has a mesmerizing effect on the Vantha, and it is moments before Kirsi registers what the other has said. "I don’t look like water, winter girl, I am water. I am made of water and dijed and the hand of god, naturally. I’m Otani. We are Laviku's loyal servants" 'Otani'. She says it like a title, Kirsi thought, not a name. It is something she has never heard of; Avanthal's stories did not often focus on the Sea God, and Kirsi is immediately curious. The Otani - or just Otani? Kirsi still wasn't sure - has gone back to drawing in the sand. Kirsi holds her tongue - her questions can wait. Taking out a piece of charcoal, Kirsi began to roughly sketch the design she intended to carve. Orienting the base of the antler down and the prongs up, she marked out the sweeping lines of tundra, the sheer glacial ice. The prongs would hold stylized depictions of Morwen's ice palace, her dire kelvic bears... And perhaps snow. Wintry, crisp snowflakes like those that flew through Avanthal year-round. Already lost in design, Kirsi's focus was interrupted when the Otani suddenly brought her hand down, in a fair imitation of an Akalak handshake. "Uleru," the creature announced. No more. She's almost like a child playing at being grown, Kirsi thought. Confused, amused and charmed by the other woman, she couldn't withhold a small chuckle. Setting down her charcoal, she took the Otani's hand - Uleru's hand - and shook it. "I'm Kirsi Winterflame. Its a pleasure to meet you, Uleru, Otani of Laviku." Formalities tended to, Kirsi reached into her carving bag for one of her smaller knives - antler was not the softest material to carve, but she had been taught to always keep her tools sharpened. Thankful that she had not fallen into a lazy habit, Kirsi set her blade to the antler. Before slicing away the outer layer, she turns the object to face Uleru. The Otani should have final say in the design - its her commission. "I've marked off the design I chose. This," she indicated her lines, pointing with the blade of her knife, "is the frozen tundra, the flat plains that meet up with sheer ice faces. And here, I've put in the lines of Morwen's palace, the bears of our ice watch. And snow - for Avanthal, there must be snow," she finished with a smile.

[Uleru]

"Charmed, I'm sure", the Otani simpers with a devilishly accurate Turkant accent, the corner of her mouth turned up and thinned out to keep from smiling. There is no Akalak that would be caught dead uttering such a phrase.

A stick of charcoal is fished from the carvers kit and a rough sketch blooms beneath the Vantha's fingers. Delicate lines and bold swipes knitting together to describe glaciers, tundra, snowflakes and giant bears. Uleru feels a pang of jealousy at being unable to create such art herself. Really, many types of art seem well out of her limited reach.

When the Kirsi is done her sketch she turns the antler to show Uleru the progress of her work, describing the different parts that make the whole. Uleru leans in for a better look but doesn't touch it. Her constantly wet body wreaks havoc with charcoal art. There is a very old Symestra named Torias somewhere that still begrudges her for ruined work, she is sure.

And as she stares and listens to the quick explanation of the work, Uleru comes to a realization:

"Ha! You do tell stories, winter girl. I can see it here", she points to the interlocking lines of form that flow seamlessly from one piece to the next, it seems to spiral up like a flame, only to burst at the end of the prongs like fireworks. Much like a story in composition, with its woven ambiance and rising climax that tell you much of the place being carved.

"Ooo, I knew you were special. I love it." she commends, sitting back with a smile. She was right to seek out this carver after all.

And as she sits and thinks, she wonders if she could do something like that. Well, she cant carve, but something similar. What if she could grow her own sculpture?

Determined to try, the moulding cups her hands in front of her and fills them with pale, opalescent res conjured from her palms. She's made ice turtles and whales with her reimancy, but maybe she could do something better. The Vantha woman works as her inspiration as she works to make her own ice sculpture, her mind fluttering with all the subjects she could mould.