[The Heartlands]The Return[Mirage]

by **Annalisa Marin** on July 27th, 2014, 8:46 pm

“For the last time, no I am not particular interested in the color the sun is in the Heartlands! I can see that it is petching red! You know how I can see that? I have eyes that actually function! Now what is your name?” Anna barked, her patience at its end.

It had been about two bells since her first interview and in that time she had looked over most of the familiar types and found each one irritating beyond all belief. This particular one, an Avavali with an extremely absent mind and unhealthy interest in the fact the sun in the Heartlands looked red, was driving Anna up the wall. Krawlek was suppressing a smirk just barely and the Warden didn’t bother to contain her amusement. The red cloud of gas swirled happily in the air as though Anna had not just yelled at it and spoke.

“Oh! Right, my name… um… okay I know this one. I just had it. …Woah! Did you know the sun here is red! Neato!” The gaseous creature chirped.

Anna groaned loudly and slapped a hand over her face, yelping in pain as she touched her injured nose. Krawlek seemed to think the wizard had reached wits end and forced the gas cloud back through the portal. The sorceress mentally made a note that Avavali were on the definite ‘no’ list in terms of bonding. Perhaps it would have been wiser to just go with Krawlek’s suggestions; in fact Anna could bet that the headache would be far less painful. Still, she stubbornly refused to just let the familiar win a victory today over her and simply glared down at the swirling vortex.

It shifted violently in a few more chimes after the dismissal of the Avavali and from the watery depths emerged a block of some metallic substance. Anna had seen Krawlek, so she could infer that this creature before her was a Kirt. The being seemed to take a moment to get her bearings before focusing in upon Krawlek. When the thing spoke its voice sounded decidedly feminine, a bit smoother than the other familiar, rather like two slabs of marble being rubbed against each other.

“Krawlek? My my, it has been some time.” The block of metal said by way of greeting.

“Vexelidrina? Here I thought you would have separated into two by this point.” The other Kirt greeted.

“Not quite, though it seems as though I get closer each day. In any event is there any particular reason you summoned me to this world?” Vex inquired.

“Indeed, I was attempting to assist Miss Marin in finding an agreeable familiar. I did not expect to find you.” Krawlek answered.

The block of metal seemed to notice Anna for the first time and spent a good long while shifting her attention to the wizard. Anna meanwhile was going over the possibilities in her mind, knowing full well that her association with Krawlek might not be a good thing for Anna. However she couldn’t keep stumbling through interviewing familiar after familiar, she’d need to make a choice eventually. So she opted to keep an open mind with this one, this so called Vexelidrina couldn’t be as bad as the last one she had seen.

“Then this lovely wizard must be Miss Marin. I am Vexelidrina, Kirt of Fyrden. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.” The Kirt said.

“Annalisa Marin, Initiate of the Heartlands and Wizard of Sahova. I don’t suppose you could tell me why I should consider bonding with you as a familiar?” Anna said, cutting right to the heart of the matter.

“Well, if you are associated with Krawlek you should have some idea of what a Kirt is capable of. I can take on most any shape and am quite durable besides that. I would also consider myself to be of at least above average intelligence and an excellent conversationalist.” Vex replied.

“Interesting. I can also assume you are loyal?” Anna inquired.

“Miss Marin, if we are bonded then your life and mine are bound together. If you die, I die. It would seem rather counterproductive to betray that which is also bound to your life no?” Vex answered, her tone rather matter of fact.

The sorceress was somewhat pleased to have come across a familiar that had some modicum of intelligence and was not overly arrogant. Anna drummed her fingers across her chin, wondering if like Krawlek this one was manipulative. She could deal with that as long as she was pleasant to work with and was not going to be a hindrance. Durability was also rather important in the Heartlands as Anna had just experienced firsthand. After a bit more deliberation the sorceress finally sighed and nodded to Krawlek.

“Settling on Vex eh? A good choice, she is rather agreeable to work with.” Krawlek stated, moving away from the circle and returning with a document of sorts.

“This contract will bind Familiar and Wizard in an eternal bond. Your lives, bodies, even your minds will be linked together. It is an unbreakable bond mind you. If either of you possess any reservations towards this arrangement you may wish to bow out now.” Krawlek stated, handing Anna the contract.

The sorceress looked over the contract, here and there as she gazed over the fine print of the document. With that done she pricked her finger and slowly signed at the bottom of the document before handing it off to Vex. The Kirt signed the document after giving it the same once over, the document dissolving and the bond taking full effect. The sorceress didn’t feel any different at first, though Vex was able to leave the Summoning circle.

“Can you hear me?” Vex’s voice sounded in Anna’s mind, causing the tall woman to jump slightly.

“I- yes. I’m assuming this is what Krawlek meant by our minds being linked?” Anna mentally inquired.

“Mhm. Not to worry Anna dear, as I said the last person you need to worry about is me.” The Kirt assured the sorceress, the familiar’s form changing into that of a small woman about the size of a small bird.

Anna opted to keep the fact that she was not too certain of that fact to herself, she barely knew Vex after all. She had made her decision based on practicality and the fact that the familiar did not seem entirely unpleasant, not so much on personality. Still, with her new familiar bonded to her Anna looked to where she last saw Kierra to await new instructions. She suspected that she’d have some training in mind for her now that she was fully initiated.

by **Mirage** on July 29th, 2014, 3:56 pm

"Then that is that." Kierra said, uncrossing her arms and standing straight from where she had been leaning against a tree before. The Warden came up and leaned on Krawlek's shoulder, but the Familiar did not seem to care or mind, "You have your Familiar now, and the training will begin tomorrow."

Krawlek dipped his head in a short not to Vex, "It is a pleasure to work with you as we once did Vex. It really has been far too long."

Kierra rolled her eyes and looked at Anna, dismissing the Familiar's entirely now, "Now there are just a few rules you will need to abide by while you stay within the Heartlands. The first is perhaps the most important. Do not, under any circumstances, sleep on the ground or in the fog. Find a place high in the trees when you can, and when you have chosen a place use that same tree and same position each and every time you rest." She raised two fingers, "Secondly, do not shift or move anything in the Heartlands you do not have to. Do not break any limbs, disturb as little on the ground as possible. You are free to kill whatever creatures you find, but the plans and rocks and other surroundings... leave them be." She raised a 3rd finger, "From time to time you will see what looks like an old man walking along the paths. Avoid him. Do not speak with him, do not approach him. Do not interact with him at all. But most importantly... Do not let him see YOU." She stared sternly at Annalisa on this point before raising a 4th finger, "While you may fish in any of the ponds or creeks here, stay clear of the one far to the north west where the waters are a purple tint. Should you have need to go in that direction, do not speak with the fish that lives in those waters." She said this as if it were a simple matter of fact, not odd in the last like all fish could talk if you gave them time to think of something to say. She raised her thumb then, "Finally. If I tell you to do something, you do it right then without question no matter how insane it sounds or how dangerous. My word is your life line, and you will follow it if you wish to stay alive."

The Warden then stretched her arms over her head, bending back to reach a better angle, "If you follow these rules then you should survive without much trouble, so long as you do not die in the training. I will find you when it is time to begin, until then I suggest you rest and get to know your new familiar."

by **Annalisa Marin** on July 29th, 2014, 9:08 pm

With the task of choosing her familiar apparently done, Kierra came away from her previous position and addressed her again. Anna held back a wince at the word training, if the training was anything like what she had just experienced the sorceress wondered if she’d make it a few days. Her experience, up until now, had been entirely on more scholastic forms of magic rather than combative. Certainly she had used her reimancy to destroy things and people, but actually getting up close and fighting someone was something she did not do well with. So it was very much a case of her being a fish out of water.

Kierra began first by going through the few rules important in the Heartlands. The first the tall woman was only too glad to follow, after her previous dealings with the mist it seemed unhealthy to be around. Anna was not overly fond of the idea of sleeping in a tree, but if it helped keep her alive she’d do it. The second rule was also rather easy to follow, Kierra had off handedly warned her about it earlier if she recalled. She made a mental note to watch her steps in the Heartlands as much as possible. She doubted there was a more embarrassing death than being killed by a forest for snapping a twig underfoot by accident.

It was the next rules that the tall woman considered to be downright bizarre. First off the tall woman wondered why an old man of all things would be wandering the Heartlands. Secondly she wondered exactly why she was not to be seen by him, though Kierra seemed to stress these points so Anna opted to simple bank on the safe side. The fish bit was even stranger and the tall woman was considering pinching herself to ensure she had not stepped into an Overgiving brought on hallucination. However the throbbing pain from her earlier beating dismissed that possibility.

“I wonder what could be so dangerous about those two thing… On an unrelated note, what is a fish?” Vex mentally projected to Anna.

As Kierra spoke the last rule Anna thought about how best to describe a fish to the Kirt, before simply opting to send her a mental image of a Kovinus Koi. Vex not being a native to Mizahar was understandably a bit ignorant to things that were considered common knowledge. Besides it was likely Kierra’s rules also carried over to her familiar, so it was best that Vex know exactly what the Warden was talking about. The Kirt fell silent; likely considering the image it had just been shown.

“Very well, Warden. I shall keep these rules very close in mind in the coming days. As for dying during training, I have little intension to die so easily or so soon after returning to the Heartlands.” The sorceress said, inclining her head to the Warden respectfully.

by **Mirage** on October 31st, 2014, 5:17 am

Annalisa

Unarmed Combat	+2
Negotiations	+2
Investigation	+2
Familiary	+1

Lores :

Injuries :

Rewards :

Truth Hidden by a Mirage :

Closed [The Heartlands]The Return[Mirage]