Closed The Snake and the Sorceress (Ssari)

[Annalisa Marin]

25th of Spring, 514 AV

Long strides carried Wizard Annalisa Marin through the Courtyard of the Sahovan Citadel, mist swirling and ebbing as the eerie whispers of the ghosts trapped there cried out. They were afforded no notice from the tall dark haired sorceress, her steps carrying her through the path designated to avoid any unpleasant encounters with the spirits within. The occasional tugging and pulling at her clothes occurred but overall she was fine, no real issues in dealing with that as it was accepted as a commonality of Sahova. It wasn’t long until the tombstones and mist gave way into a large entrance hall wrought with ancient stonework.

Anna was dressed rather commonly today, a simple brown tunic, trousers, and leather sandals adorning her body. A pair of small glittering golden earrings dangled from her earlobes, one in the shape of a sun and the other of a crescent moon. Her form was better fed than the majority of pulsers on Sahova, though still a little slimmer than her normal weight due to her meals only being once daily. Long dark hair was pulled up into a high ponytail, bangs parted to the side to grant her a more groomed look. Upon her right ring finger was a silver ring encrusted with glinting rubies, the sigil of a burning scroll upon it to grant her the designation of Wizard rank in the Citadel.

The tall woman walked through the rather vacant Vestibule, passing the broken down and non-functional TAR with not even a second glance being granted. The need had arisen to head down near the Harbor for a bit of reimancy research, specifically regarding Para-Elemental research and development. The Common Labs were too easily destroyed or damaged by the sheer power of her magic, besides she would have access to more water for uses in those particular combinations. It was a good walking distance but the trip and path was familiar.

The entrance hall of the Citadel gave way to a long flight of stairs, Syna’s rays shining down upon her as she started down the steps. At the bottom the ancient stone gave way to a well-traveled dirt road that seemed to be swallowed up by rocky terrain and trees. The occasionally cry of beasts from the Testing Grounds sounded out, a common thing when walking outside the great Citadel of Sahova. Anna was not overly bothered; the creatures would not dare come so close to the Citadel with the number of golems around to defend the place.

Her sandals fell upon the mixture of dirt and fine rocks with a crunch, followed by the clack of the leather hitting the bottom of her foot. A familiar sound as she walked slowly down her desired path, her mind engrossed by possible combinations of the elements and she mostly oblivious to the world around her. She knew that through Glyphing some interesting combinations were very possible, such as creating water that served as fuel for fire. However Anna had to wonder what she could achieve by just mixing fire and water with no outside interference.

The para-elements were an interesting aspect of Reimancy, she had already achieved mastery over three and control over the four elements themselves. Part of her wondered if through reimancy once could create endless combinations, countless possibilities being opened for destructive purposes. Possibly constructive as well depending on how that element ended up being utilized, it was all up in the air at this point in time. Hence the need to be near a body of water to possess more resources than she normally would with reimancy, she disliked wasting unnecessary Djed.

The day was rather nice for such research anyway, she decided, the warmth of Syna wrapping around her comfortingly and dispelling the chill of the Citadel. Being surrounded by walking corpses for so long was enough to make one take comfort in almost anything, even mundane things like the warmth of the Sun. Anna took what she could get really, Edreina being locked up in her room was proof of that desire to possess some form of contact with other living beings. The tall sorceress shrugged it off, pleased at the least that she would be unlikely to encounter any Nuit during her time outside of the Citadel.

[Ssarisiphaniss]

It was a rather unpleasant place, Or so it seemed. A foul scent filled the air, Accompanied by silence which gave the place a deserted and evil demeanor it was certainly unpleasant, But what was more disturbing was the lack of animals quite strange she thought, no place in mizahar could be so empty unless.. A Island? Yes! A remote rock, that is why they crossed water at first she and thought it was to dock into a coastal city, but why trade corpses? What creature or thing, could have such a need for human corpses.. She had slipped away while they were unloading the caskets, and now she was slithering her way to distant shapes, a building or castle the ground was harder than usual, dirt and gravel scraped against her underbelly as she moved, causing a bit of discomfort but it wasn't anything she couldn't handle, She could feel it but it didn't do anything much more than that. Soon the loose dirt and stones were difficult to traverse as a snake, especially since she was climbing a hill usually a snake could just slither on through over anything but the ground was too free it broke way and molded with her if only it was sturdier she would've reached the top already, Perhaps it was time to change form.. A dhani form would be what she wanted but she didn't know what kind of hostility she'd encounter from that. A human form would probably be best though even then she didn't quite know.. Perhaps she should stay as she is, It was more natural anyways and she wouldn't be easily spotted.

Vibrations coursed towards her, Flicking her tongue out she could smell the changes in the air, Something was approaching, feeling the vibrations she knew it wasn't too big, but that doesn't mean it wasn't dangerous she wanted to flee and hide somewhere but the land was mostly barren and she didn't want to stray from the beaten path. It was getting closer, she had to think... A normal snake? Get killed, especially a viper like her as they would likely think her as just that.. A normal snake, but a Dhani form? Dear gods, That'd be worse, she'd be treated as some monster, a great beast that needs slaying. She only had one option, Human, She started shifting..

First she sprouted little infant legs, her scales started forming together into smooth skin, Her hood started breaking apart into hair, she started growing in size her little legs growing into adulthood, Arms sprouted from her sides, and her entire face broke and shifted into a humans skull and skin: The worst part. By the end of it she was completely human, or as long as anyone would know she was completely nude but it didn't bother her, She stood rather short and petite, Milky white skin and completely hairless except for her long black hair. Her eyes were green almost in a unnatural way, and she waited for what approached if it was a hostile thing she could shift into a Dhani form, and use her strength and speed to fight whatever was there.

She waited a good minute, She miscalculated how far it was. Almost trance-like she started walking again, curiosity struck her and she looked head on eventually it came into view, Or rather she came into view, A tall woman human for sure or perhaps something else, She looked like a commoner but the glistening earrings said otherwise, A commoner wouldn't wear such jewelry, She tilted her head at the woman almost studying her. What threat could she pose? Ssari didn't know much of this Sahova but the strange machines at the docks said that there was some magic to be found her, Perhaps she was a wizard... Which could prove fatal for Ssari, Vipers can only be so quick, she stopped moving, and faced the woman not bothering speaking just seeing what she would do, If she would ignore her or attack her, or even talk to her.

A sense of uncertainty overwhelmed Ssari, maybe should just attack her, Get it over with? Perhaps she'd win, then she could continue and slither her way to the structures ahead, no.. It'd be to dangerous to attack, she couldn't think on what to do, she almost felt afraid, It was this place that got her this way, she wasn't weak, Just uncomfortable and uncertain she had no idea what this place held and truth-be-told it did frighten her a bit, all of this was unnatural and if that doesn't scare someone then what does? Silence lingered with Ssari, wondering what the woman would do...

[Annalisa Marin]

Anna’s path so far had been rather pleasant, so much so it almost seemed to make her ponder just getting in a bit of quick meditation within the trees that lined the path. The tall sorceress mentally shrugged, figuring she could do the same thing once she arrived at her destination. There she would be able to focus upon the waves crashing against rock to clear her mind of distraction, to assist in greater concentration and dispel the clutter rife within her skull. Grey eyes were fixed upon the path ahead, her little stroll seemingly just the perfect thing on a rather perfect day outside of the Citadel.

Those same grey eyes widened by fractions as, further up the path she was confronted by a rather unexpected sight. A petite form of naked pale flesh was staring at her, dark hair loose about her head as the naked woman’s eyes were also upon Anna. A slight flush rose to her cheeks and her jaw slackened ever so to signify that of all the things she had expected to encounter along the way to the Harbor this was most certainly not one of them. Green eyes stared back at her, the other woman apparently not in a hurry to react to the tall woman.

It was rare that Anna’s mind froze for any length of time, or to see her overly flustered and this naked woman was getting to see that. She stayed frozen in that state of surprise, recovering with a blink and slight shake of her head. So there was a naked woman on the way to the Harbor, that in itself was odd though the sorceress supposed it was likely she could be one of Riyanna’s initiates. The Prairie Warden and her Initiates were rather… free about displaying their bodies though that was understandable given their magic worked in altering the body. Anna herself was satisfied with incinerating those things placed in her path.

After a chime the tall woman cleared her throat, regaining her composure slightly at the odd sight and figured that compared to other things it was not so odd. Anna had grown up in Zeltiva though, so usually public nudity was something she shied away from. In private it was a non-issue but in public this was not the case most certainly, clearly this other woman did not possess the same views. Perhaps it might do well to figure out exactly what she was doing here?

“Ah, um. Hello there? Are you one of Warden Riyanna’s Initiates? Or do you just typically under dress along roads?” Anna inquired, not exactly the most subtle way of phrasing it but subtlety left Anna precisely two missing pieces of small clothes ago.

The sorceress did allow her eyes to rove over the smaller woman’s form, embarrassment and surprise giving way to appraisal. The woman was short, much shorter than the tall woman and almost resembled a girl in her teens rather than an older woman. If she was one of the Prairie Warden’s then Anna was starting to wonder over the Morpher’s preferences and if they were geared towards… younger women. Considering how awful Sahova was the dark haired woman wouldn’t doubt it out of hand, the woman was a Warden after all.

“Heading back up to the Citadel?” Anna inquired, crossing her arms under her breasts.

It was rather obvious that was the other woman destination giving her direction; however Anna was more looking for a reaction out of the shorter woman. One could tell a lot based upon how easily annoyed another person was, a short temper or even ignorance could be rather useful. Anna had already assessed that the naked woman was likely living, she lacked the defining traits of the Nuit and had a visibly noticeable rise and fall to her chest. So at the very least the tall woman knew she was dealing with another pulser. That was a start.

[Ssarisiphaniss]

“Ah, um. Hello there? Are you one of Warden Riyanna’s Initiates? Or do you just typically under dress along roads?” The woman spoke, Ssari stared at the woman for a minute, Studying her reaction to her exhibitionism, “Heading back up to the Citadel?” Ssari was silent, she had to think well before she was going to speak it had been a while before she spoke in the common tongue, She didn't want to make a horrible mistake afterall, It might reveal her origins.

"No," her words were hinted with a accent, A accent not attributed from a location she was raised in but simply a natural thing, It was rather faint almost like she was feigning it, It wasn't so. Common was rather hard for her, She had yet to learn it in full, her grammar was fine or should be but there were a few words she didn't understand nor knew how to pronounce them.. She couldn't read or write either, She answered her first question, now she had to answer the latter "I ssuppose" a hiss came out of that word, not so much at the end, It was a softer S at the end not much emphasis but at the start, Well, lets say it was rather noticeable like a scared person drawing out a word while saying it, but this wasn't the case she wasn't scared, in fact Ssari seemed rather wary, almost defensive with a bit of curiosity from the way she was standing and the way her eyes, and head were tracing the womans movements as well as studying her extensively, She had one leg: her right placed just a inch behind her left one, like a brawler would do, but otherwise she remained rather calm and normal with her behavior she didn't glare or clench her fists, and she was rather loose.

She parted her lips, like she was going to speak but she didn't only a small gasp came out, she blinked twice rather quickly then closed her mouth, she tucked her lips back into her mouth, licking them getting rid of any dryness before swallowing a glob of spit, and clearing her throat

"I am new, what iss Thiss plase?" She looked down and shook her head, She was hissing to much, Especially with the word PLACE. PLACE PLACE PLACE She thought, PLACE Not PLASE She started growing worried, She didn't know how welcoming the woman would be to a Dhani, In fact she'd prefer to not be suspected of being one, Its certainly a hostile world.

"I am. S.AM, I wanted to come here to find S.OME new experien.C.esess She put a period before every S to stop herself from hissing, except for the ES at the end of experiences, but that wouldn't be noticeable it was hardly noticeable to herself.

Though she stopped from hissing, She worried that stopping in the middle of the words would be even worst than hissing. She shifted in her stance and waved her hand towards the woman "You?" she looked ahead at the 'Citadel' that's what she called it, So that's what she'd know it as.

A little awkward, Just a little.