Open Candied Salutations

[Estlin Holde]

Estlin Holde 5th of Winter, 514 AV Shortly after Dusk Rest Estlin didn't much like taverns. They were alright by his standards, and the Svefra had spent many a night in such places when he was younger, but his tastes had grown since. Or maybe they had shrunk, his palate becoming more childish even as he aged. His fondness for ale growing into the desire for all things sweet. Estlin had always had a sweet tooth, but his need for sugar seemed to have increased with age. He often found himself wanting something candied, caramelized, or otherwise made with sugar, the sweeter the better, and he cared not for any food or drink that wasn't such a confection. He sauntered past the taverns, making his way through the winding roads and alleys of Lhavit. It was a nice city, he had admitted that the first day he arrived, but the roads and angles of the walkways were incredibly confusing, and the sailor was at a loss among the many domed buildings.At least he had been in Lhavit for a season, and probably knew the streets as well as he would ever, but he was still hopelessly lost in mere chimes. Undeterred, he continued walking, hands in the pockets of his long coat, head constantly bobbing to scan the surrounding buildings for anything that looked vaguely sugary. The man nodded greetings to many of the other people wandering Lhavit, though he knew none of them. He had kept to himself since arriving in port in the fall. He had focused on his work, tinkering away at locks and animations. Estlin had scarcely ventured into the city, and that inactiveness made him antsy and eager to spend a day out. He didn't even mind that he was lost, the port was always easy to find so he could wander freely and probably make it home. He might need some help finding sweets though. Estlin might be comfortable in the mountain city, but he didn't know its people very well (he didn't know very much about the city as a whole, if he was in an honest mood). It was high-time he remedied that. Plan formed, Estlin found a likely citizen of Lhavit and approached them. He took care not to get to close or stand in a over-bearing manner, but the tall, wind-blown half Myrian could be a bit intimidating at times, though he rarely realized it. "Pardon," he said, flashing a quick smile. "Could you help me a moment?"

[Aldebaran]

There was a strange beauty in lying down as Symenestra and waking as Ethaefal. Even before opening her eyes, Aldebaran knew she had grown, her body had gained in muscle and strength, her appearance dipped into the colors of the night once again. She took a deep liberating breath before getting up.

That night didn’t hold any duties for her, so she let her feet carry her, drifted here and there. A faint mist lay high over the peaks, adding white patches to the inky night sky. Sometimes it hid the moon, other times the clouds contrasted its faint light. At nights like that, Aldebaran couldn’t help but wander around staring at the sky in awe. While her midnight blue cloak faded into the shadows between city lights, silver eyes hardly ever saw what was before her.

Looking around after some time, she realized her feet had returned her to one of the larger peaks, bustling with activity. The night was ripe with cheerful voices, laughter, the smell of hot food and alcohol. The Ethaefal had arrived at the outskirts of an area bursting with restaurants and taverns. Now she turned around to meet the glassy gaze of a giant Okomo. Standing tall with one hoof bent and the other three planted firmly on its socket, the statue lifted its head as if it wanted to pierce the Ukalas itself with skyglass horns. A tribute to the star lady and Her gifts, no doubt. Aldebaran admired the signs of Zintila’s favor all around Lhavit, but in her heart no god or goddess stood above Leth. The way those horns pointed at the night sky reminded her of the divine rift, so she looked away.

Into a mortal face. Taking a step back, she observed the stranger, his smile. The hood of her cloak, only loosely cast over her head, had slipped off to reveal white hair and curved onyx horns not unlike those of the Okomo she’d been looking at. She was tall, but not nearly as tall as him. Moonlight was dancing on her skin, reflected in quicksilver eyes. “Can I? That depends on the nature of your request” she said eventually.

[Estlin Holde]

Estlin Holde Estlin was taken aback a moment after the woman turned her face towards him, and his surprise was clearly written on his face. Moon white hair and night black horns were revealed, and shining silver eyes; this was no creature he had met before. Normally he was prepared for unusual circumstance, he sought after it, even. But he hadn't quite expected this woman, who could have been any normal Lhavitian woman a moment ago, to be so...beautiful. So extraordinary. Otherworldly even, and he didn't consider that often. Of course, Estlin had met many beautiful women in his lifetime, but he was wholly unprepared for the celestial beauty of what stood before him. He really hadn't given her a good look before pouncing on her with his request, and now he was paying for that. Estlin tried to keep a suave, charmingly Svefra demeanor, but he was caught off guard and his confident aura failed. His mind stammered through several unworthy replies, most of which were incoherent, before he wrestled himself back into order. He gave another flash of a smile, which was genuine, as all his smiles were, but it barely brushed his bewildered eyes. Eyes which finally managed to meet the womans silver irises. "I was just looking for something," he said, waving a hand in a half-dismissive manner. He was quite sure this woman wouldn't be interested in helping him anyways. She was fascinatingly unusual, but...distant. Like a star. He continued despite this thought. "A market, actually. Probably a market, at least, or maybe a shop....something that sells food. Specifically sweet food." His eyes slid away the moment his tongue stopped, and he nearly started to edge away. Was he embarrassed? Or simply confounded by a beautiful woman? Probably both.

[Aldebaran]

As he was taking in her appearance, Aldebaran did the same with him. Although insanely tall, the man was suddenly losing a large chunk of his earlier confidence. That coupled with his tanned skin and handsome features cut a rather strange figure. There was discord. She wasn’t one to judge other people, but she did think it quite imprudent to approach strangers without preparing carefully the question he wished to ask. Obviously he was a foreigner, not a Lhavitian, but she wouldn’t let him excuse his behavior so easily. Likely he didn’t even know the significance of the statue that pierced the night sky behind her back.

Crossing arms in front of her chest, Aldebaran listened. He even dismissed his request as insignificant, changed his mind and stuttered. Silver eyes narrowed as she was waiting for him to make up his mind. The longer it took, the more impatient she grew. The time listening to his little speech could be spent doing things more worthwhile… like admiring the beauty of a Kalean night, reading or practicing.

Still, she’d urged him to voice his request which came with a certain obligation. So she took in his words calmly and hesitated a moment to search her memory for a suitable place. As obvious as his status was, Aldebaran would make sure he got what he was looking for, hoping it’d keep him from making any more clumsy requests.

So she nodded, quirking a corner of her mouth. “Sweet food we can do. My favorite place, the Sunrise Nook, is already closed, but there are others. We should head to the shops and booths at Surya Plaza.” She immediately set out for Zintia Peak without waiting for him to follow. As she walked, her hands lifted the hood again and then went into her pockets.

Despite the way he’d irritated her earlier, the Ethaefal couldn’t deny a certain curiosity. Strangers were rare in the city above the mountains, after all. His height and statue suggested he wasn’t entirely human too. “You can call me Aldebaran if you like. What brings you to our lovely Star of Kalea? It’s quite a feat to get through the Unforgiving in one piece… unless you came by water.” Looking back at the man, she wondered if he had. Sailors were tanned like that, but his eyes were more akin to rain than the sea.

[Estlin Holde]

Estlin Holde Estlin fell into step with Aldebaran, catching himself before he outdistanced her. Though she was polite, the woman was still obviously irked at him. It was normal for people to find him annoying though, so he simply tucked his hands in his pockets and sauntered along beside her. He was truly surprised that she was helping him, it must have been some sort of Lhavitian hospitality that kept her from walking away. Maybe he had been a bit forward before, but the man scarcely realized it. He found it easier to talk to Aldebaran when they were walking, and her bizarre horns were covered. He wondered for a moment if all Lhavitians had horns and he had simply been blind before meeting Aldebaran. He dismissed the thought, he wasn't insane as far as he could tell, nor blind. His gaze fixed forward, he continued the conversation. "Call me Estlin, if you like," he said. "And I did come by sea," he paused to pull a face at the thought of traveling over land. "I'm Svefra, and I'm just...wandering." He accompanied the sentence with a roguish grin. He boasted about being Svefra to many, but only those who he didn't expect to know much about his people. Those who were familiar with his kind might find him a less than exceptional seafarer. Aldebaran didn't seem like the kind of person that would be found loitering about docks, not that there were many Svefra in the region in any case. He glanced down at her, trying to gauge her reaction before moving on. He felt he shouldn't ask Aldebaran anything personal-though he was often a poor judge of what was personal and what wasn't-he tried to take care with his questions, skirting around the interesting ones and settling on those that were more general. "It certainly is cold here. Is it like this often? I really don't like the cold, but its still nice here. The sailing is good when its not too stormy. Have you ever been sailing?" The jumble of questions and comments on the weather were probably pretty bombarding, but at least he was making an effort not to be rude. Though he had a difficult time focusing on any one thing. It was all to distracting; the city, the cold, Aldebaran, his stomach growling at him petulantly. He really needed to get out more.

[Aldebaran]

“Nice to meet you, Estlin,” she replied with just a hint of sarcasm. Although he was unfamiliar with the city, she couldn’t help it. His next statement surprised her just a little. So he was a sailor after all. If she remembered correctly, it took quite some time to sail around Falyndar to the south, but who knew. It was possible he hadn’t been sailing for Lhavit, but merely trying to circumnavigate the entire continent and happened upon the Star of Kalea on the way.

In any case, he admitted that he was a wanderer himself. Did that mean he had no goals, nothing he sailed or strived for? Aldebaran thought it not only imprudent, but less than exciting to live this way, but she wouldn’t criticize. Pale eyebrows were drawn together as her mouth twitched a little, but that was all.

Now direct questions weren’t as easy to avoid. When he finished, a gust of wind ruffled her hair and tugged at their clothes as if it had heard his complaints. Aldebaran, however, smiled a little. “It is winter, you know, and winter in the mountains tends to be harsh. We’re quite high up here, so the wind adds to the temperatures.” A moment of hesitation. The little boats with their white sails certainly were a pretty sight, swarming around the docks at the foot of the peaks. Just like he suspected though, Aldebaran didn’t have reasons to go down there often. “No, I haven’t. Is it difficult? It must be even colder and less comfortable out on the waves, although I guess your people are used to it. You must’ve seen many places from the deck of your ship, no?”

They had passed over a square that opened up to a wooden bridge swaying in the wind. It connected one peak to another, creating a way to pass over a yawning abyss of darkness. Aldebaran, of course, was used to traversing Lhavitian bridges and set foot on it without hesitation. She even looked back as she walked, to amuse herself with his troubles or help conquer them, whatever her mood dictated. “You’re really here for no particular reason? Just looking around?” Eventually her voice hinted at some of the disbelief she felt.

[Estlin Holde]

Estlin Holde His lips quirked into a half-smile; her sarcasm was amusing, and he was glad to hear her displeasure voiced. Even in the quiet bite of her sarcastic words. Still, he didn't know what to make of someone so...polite. Most people he managed to rub the wrong way usually started throwing punches, slaps, or tankards. Sometimes chairs. Aldebaran was obviously more mature and sophisticated than the people he usually hung around with. She also obviously knew Lhavit well, and in such a way that she could barely conceive his confusion. The city was one of the more baffling places he'd been to, save maybe Alvadas. The Misty Peaks, the Star of Kalea, it was just as fanciful as those names described, more so, in his mind. Because really, who built a city hundreds of feet above the port? That was inconceivable. Though he honestly hadn't considered the consequences of a mountain city. Lhavit had seemed so exotic and unreal. He had expected soaring skyglass domes and glittering jewels. He had not expected it to be so cold, or windy. It had turned out to be far less inviting than he'd figured. At least the locals are welcoming, he thought sardonically. "Ah, yes, mountains. Misty ones are the coldest, I've found. Though I probably would've come even if I had known that." He commented lightly as Aldebaran took a moment to survey the port. He then bypassed her comment on how much worse the weather was at sea, he could only think that this was not the Suvan. "Aye, I've been many a place." He let his voice lilt slightly into a more Svefra accent. He fancied it made him sound more reminiscent. "Riverfall, Alvadas...Kenash. Other places too. Anywhere you've a desire to visit?" Estlin decided Aldebaran seemed like a born-and-raised Lhavitian. He wondered if she'd ever left the city. "Anywhere you've been? Wind Reach, perhaps?" He hadn't been to Wind Reach himself, yet. Her last questions were unexpected, and didn't have a defined answer. There were many reasons why he was here, most of them weren't very viable. He had never been to Lhavit, so it sounded interesting. It was also supposedly built, and steeped in magic, although he had yet to find any Animators. His kind of wizards were as uncommon here as anywhere. "I'm here because I needed to learn." He said earnestly. "When you travel a lot, like I do, you develop a desire to go further, travel to places you've never been and do things you've never done. Things like getting lost in a mountain city and meeting a lovely lady." A strange, horned lady who just about glowed in the moonlight and wore a dark hood. "Obviously," he added jovially, "I am also a wanderer and general mischief maker as well."

[Aldebaran]

Aldebaran lifted an eyebrow in surprise at his statement. He would’ve come to visit misty, windy and wet cold mountains just to see how they were like? There was someone special, facing adversity just because they could. As she took the wooden steps of the bridge one after another, she chose her words with similar care. “It tends to be unpleasant in winter, but once the mist clears, the sights are breathtaking. When the sun is out or when you can see the moon and stars above and all of Kalea below, then you’ll start to understand the appeal Lhavit holds to us.” Extending her arms, she included all residents in her gesture. Her eyes were sparkling, growing more akin to warm quicksilver.

As soon as she stepped on solid ground again, her passion died down and her expression sobered. If he’d been many places, didn’t that mean he couldn’t settle down anywhere? It sounded uncomfortable to be restless all the time, that and exhausting. Perhaps it felt good to him though… sailors seemed to be a different kind of breed altogether. She shook her head at his question, revealing a bit of black horn. “No, I’ve never even seen a reason to visit Wind Reach or other places. I have no desire to leave the peaks too. But tell, if you’ve explored so many places… which did you enjoy the most?”

For a tick, her voice turned bitter. Lhavit was the only place she could feel close to her moon lord, she felt with certainty, the only city that attempted to touch the sky and nearly succeeded. It was still exile, of course, but at least she felt closer to Leth wandering the peaks at night.

When Estlin talked about learning, her eyes widened. She’d never seen it like that, a search for knowledge, but she could see the truth in his words. His casual compliment, although noted, remained unanswered. “I wonder,” she whispered to the starry sky above.

Her solemn silence was destroyed all too soon. Aldebaran snorted. “Obviously. If you wish to make mischief, this should be the right place.” With that, they came out of a wide street towards a large square. Located just in the middle of Zintia Peak, Surya Plaza served as meeting place, central hub for entertainment and even festival location. To their right lay Koten Temple, to their left the Amaranthine Gate. The Ethaefal turned to Estlin. “Now we can look around for a booth selling sweet stuff. We can also visit Mhakula Tea House which, as far as I remember, serves dessert as well. I can recommend the tea, it’s a Lhavitian specialty. Which will it be?”

[Estlin Holde]

Estlin Holde "I do not doubt your word," he said, "though I might be tiring of such damp cold." Estlin always preferred warm, sunny climates. He was familiar with damp, however. The Kenashian swamps where he spent his youth were extremely humid, thus he really shouldn't have been complaining about the damp of Lhavit in comparison. He really would have liked a less obscured view of Kalea, the sight did sound incredible. Estlin peered cautiously over the edge of the bridge; the height didn't bother him, but the eerie misty chasm beneath them intensified his shivers. There were surely many wonders to be seen in the mist shrouded forests, though he was, in that moment, glad to be far above in the city. Estlin was warming to the cloaked Lhavitian woman, especially as she became more animated in their conversation. Perhaps it was more than a sense of obligated hospitality that urged her to guide him this night, she might, in fact, be curious. "It must be," he said, "that there are wonders enough in this city to satisfy you." He continued after a moment; her question was an easy one to answer. "I have always favored the sea." If anything was true to his heart, that was. What was, he wondered, the truth to her heart? The tall Svefra noted the lost, longing look of Aldebaran, but couldn't understand where it came from. Though like the lost Ethaefal, he was a long way from home, and the closest he felt to that which he'd lost was exactly as he'd said. I belong on the sea, he told himself quietly. He was shaken from his thoughts as she snorted, and he laughed at her remark. "I'll need food before I can come up with any mischief." Estlin then thought to himself for a moment before answering Aldebaran properly. Finally, he said "The tea house." He'd learned over the years that you always listened to the locals when it came to food.

[Aldebaran]

“You can’t have everything,” she retorted. Decisions couldn’t be avoided in the long run, but she could understand his desire to get to know as many angles as possible before settling for one thing. If one didn’t understand the entire problem, the process couldn’t be called a decision at all. Aldebaran abhorred laziness.

Estlin surprised her with a bit of a gift for words, a suggestion that rang true in her ears. As she tucked a white strand back, she realized with mild surprise that he was right. Lhavit posed the best place to be for her, up in the air, close to the sky and the moon lord. At the same time, its residents shared a bit of her spirit, her reverence for specific deities and her thirst for knowledge. They mistrusted her by day, but she couldn’t blame them. After all, she resented her mortal form too. Excluding that, there couldn’t have been a better place for her to fall.

Still, it didn’t lessen the pain of having fallen at all. Wherever she went among the Misty Mountains, it would never feel like home. Home had been lost, but she was all the more determined to get it back.

So the Svefra felt like that at sea. Aldebaran still didn’t quite understand, but was that even possible? Perhaps not since she’d never sailed, never felt the salty wind on her skin and waves beneath her. The only memory she had was of the fall, that horrible feeling of utter loneliness and gasping for air as the waves crushed her. An experience she didn’t wish to repeat. “That’s not really a place though,” she protested slowly, not quite wholeheartedly. To her it was the absence of home, the opposite of a place.

Nothing she could do about that, so she pushed it aside and opened her quicksilver eyes wide to Surya Plaza. At night, people were milling about, lanterns cast yellow and red lights on the street, laughter and animated voices rang everywhere. Aldebaran led her guest through all that without a second glance at her surroundings.

Mhakula Tea House was nestled into a modest corner, shrinking into the shadows of higher towers. In fact the first thing they saw were patches of green and brown, the garden, and then various statues of the star lady. Beyond that, a domed and gilded building, with lovely accents at columns and windows, beckoned them to come closer. Aldebaran entered with a lack of flourish that revealed her familiarity with the establishment. That early in the night, they had enough free tables to choose from.

Sitting, Aldebaran observed the sailor. “There’s a variety of food you can order with your tea, dips, lunch and, of course, dessert. I dare say this tea cannot be found anywhere else. The business has been around for a long time. The family who runs it also offers unarmed combat classes down there.” Her finger pointed to a staircase in the corner.

When the waiter arrived, she decided on a cucumber sandwich and a blend called Spring Harvest. Leaning back, she waited for Estlin’s order with mild curiosity. The order told a lot about the person. At the same time, she reviewed everything he’d told her so far and couldn’t help but feel something was off. A part missing.