[Flashback] Shopping Trip (Velarian, Velenor)

[Velarian Zantedeschia]

The smile on Velarian's face froze, turning his pale features into a polite mask. He inclined his head to the other man, ruby eyes resting on him thoughtful before the animator turned away. For a man who rarely came to leave his study, Velenor had a good eye for people. Only judging their intentions Velarian found was not his strength.

"To my understanding I said little enough."

He could have said more, yet the past had shown such attempts were rarely crowned by success. It was not the man's scowling he feared. The Symenetra wasn't sure the younger man would stop at it when angered. Although, anger was relative term for a man like Velenor. He had the temper of an irritated mountain snake at times. Velarian had come to accept his attitude and he let the topic slide. Instead Nisana became the focus of his attention again.

"It is good to see you look forward to your duty." The harvest was a deed to their people not to look down on and the young woman showed the zeal one would expect to find in the oldest daughter of the famous Valvessa Curare. Nisana was older now than when he last had seen her. He wondered however if she hadn't at heart remained much the girl he had once known. Without ever having left the comforting dark of Kalinor she had eager to hunt. In his eyes woman had always made excellent harvesters, with an understanding for their prey men had problems to fully fathom. He also knew Nisana would not rely on mere strength alone, although it was amusing to see the woman tried to get her charm to work on Velenor. Velerian would have deemed the man immune to such things, had the woman not chosen magic as the topic of conversation. Now he was rather curious to see how the conversation would go.

"I wish you luck with your harvest should we not see us again before you leave. However," and now he smirked, "...I would appreciate the chance for a proper farewell. So maybe you will come and stop by before you start your journey. You know where to find me." With that Velarian stepped back to watch the unfolding conversation between harvester and mage. While he wished the woman at least a small victory he knew Velenor was a hard nut to crack. The animator was most curious to see if the man's core might actually be softer than his shell. He doubt it, but even in that regard he was somewhat hopeful.

[Velenor Avenca]

How was it that every time he wanted to shun down onto a conversation, even if it was somewhat meaningful, his pride always got in the way? He could simply not let someone else talk about things he knew better than them. Magic was once such piece of information, a piece which he held close to what normal humans would call a heart. Idiotic sheep, one did not need a heart, when he possessed a brain strong enough to push along over ten regular men, or at least so it seemed in Velenor's mind. „Reimancy is all about elemental power; Wether you use it to build and sustain, or to raze and plunder.... it is a power not to be trifled with. Even a poor reimancer can easily kill any other type of magic user, as long as they are on the same level. The elements themselves are all around us, and inside us... both sources are invaluable, the first one always being favored“ his voice went off, as if he had hit a switch somewhere in his throat. He wondered was this brute woman even worth his breath, nevertheless he found himself powerless to stop speaking; hearts of the sheeps were won one by one after all. Even with all of his pride fueling him to speak about magic, he could not help but put a little hunting in what now promissed to be a long talk: „Hunting? A poor way to waste both strength and intelligence, the art of seduction along with various forms of combat need less effort, but reap bigger fruits. Nevermind that, ah yes, auristics was it? It is basically an ability to read people, it is probably the most valuable defense tool someone can have when faced with a room full of strangers...“ he stopped talking again remembering he had forgotten something else he could talk about. „Harvest is a thing for pawns.... through it they can become queens... but never players... do you people not see the major fault logic claims over such rash actions. All Symenestra need to be proud, there is no point in thining the blood any further“ his mother too gave her life in order for Velenor's blood to remain clean, untainted. He respected that sacrifice deeply, and she was probably the only person in his inner family that he had any respect for.

[Nisana Curare]

"I will do my best," Nisana replied request with a nod of her head. She wasn't sure if she would visit him or not, but it certainly wouldn't be as uncomfortable as her last private visit with him. Those many years ago she was conflicted, and the sting of Velarian's marriage had still been fresh. She would have to think about it more before deciding, but that could come later. For now she was eager to continue to work her skills on Velenor.

As Velenor explained about Reimancy Nisana nodded and listened raptly. She knew some basics of the elements, and she could understand why controlling them would be powerful. It made Velenor seem more like how Nisana imagined a magic user would be like. Not like Velarian and his beautiful creations. Still, it was impressive sounding, and that could be heard in her voice as she replied, "Reimancy sounds impressive. It must take much effort and concentration to command the elements safely."

Expecting the explanation to continue Nisana was caught off guard by Velenor's sudden declaration of his opinion on hunting, and her jaw clenched slightly in anger. Who did he think provided the food he ate? Before she could contemplate an angry reply though Velenor had moved on to explain Auristics. Quelling her pride she pushed a pleasant smile on her lips once more, "You can read people? As in, you can understand what they are feeling and thinking just by looking at them? That sounds very useful, especially for those who go on Harvest."

When Velenor then voiced his disdain for the Harvest Nisana began to wonder if the man was taunting her, or maybe he just disliked anyone who was not him. The latter was probably the truth, judging by the way he had spoken to Velarian earlier. That meant that he was even better practice for Nisana as she knew many outside of Kalinor disliked and distrusted the Symenestra.

"Of course we must be proud," she replied with a smile, "But it will not do if that pride leads us to destruction, yes?" guessing that Velenor was born from a Symenestra mother by his words, Nisana lowered her head slightly in a respectful manner, "A few Mothers may make that noble sacrifice, but if all were to do it we would quickly dwindle to even smaller numbers."

[Velarian Zantedeschia]

There were those moments when Velarian found himself wondering about Velenor's motivations. Most learned and worked and died to provide and protect their families, only the other man was striving for power and did not seem to care much about neither family nor friends. The first the animator knew the wizard did not get along with well, the later he was not always sure the man had any. Not after the man's clarification regarding their relation at least. Maybe it came with being the third son. It was rare for families to have one. With the limited number of children a man could sire and with the chance for children to be female, it was not always certain there was a second son even. Where Velarian had been given purpose by the traditions, the other man could only watch his siblings fill their roles why he was left to find his own. Still, it was hard to get along with him at times, despite the animator's tries to find excuses for him.

"Hypnotism might be the most useful power among the arcane arts when it comes to the harvest," Velarian threw in at a moment of silence. "Auristics is not to be looked down on either though." He glanced towards Velenor, wondering if Nisana could coax him into teaching her. In the short run it might even prove more useful than hypnotism. Of course, the woman would need to get him to look more favorable at the practice of the harvest first.

Velarian nodded to Nisana's words. "It is harder for a small population to sustain itself," the man put in for consideration. "You will always need someone to fetch food and to make fabric for clothing, but you wont need artists or writers. Or people who deal with magic, for that matter. You will loose a lot more than mere purity of blood without the harvest."

Of course, even a part of Velarian's family would disagree. His own wife had worried over much the same things. Sahana had never shown much concern for the fate of surrogate mothers, not the way some other woman did, yet she had decided to have her own child. Back then her reasons had been so logic to him, so vivid. They had paled since. Without the passion Sahana put behind the words her arguments had become mere words, not more enticing than the arguments others had. There were even moments he wondered if he shouldn't have disagreed more vigorously when he still had the chance to do so.

[Velenor Avenca]

Velenor stood proud between the sheep. Oh, how blissfully ignorant they all were, knowledge brought power, but that was not the only thing it came accompanied with, the Symenestra knew that, he knew it well. He tried his best to filter the parts of the conversation that had nothing to do with him out of his head, but still failed significantly. Their annoying yammering could not be tolerated easily… weak willed… pathetic beings… Deciding that ignoring them was impossible for now, he actually tried to litsen to their petty arguments, not that they made much sense to someone as superior as him, but they were still enough for a good laugh. Such a pathetic breed most of the Symenestra these days were… pathetic indeed. He could now hear Nisana speak well of the reimancy, and she was right to do so, still it all seemed like idle flattery… and he could not help but wonder should he take her words seriously or not. Still a praise was a good thing, even if it was meant to mock it’s target; That meant that you were at least worth the time to think of a joke…. Not that such values were high anyway. He spoke again, in a solid voice: “Reimancy is the stuff of legends and many heroic stories woven into the past of the world… it is not nearly as significant as some other branches of magic. But what it is, would be extremely flashy… and there is nothing better than a little flash when winning the crowd. Truly such idiots make for corner stones of the masses” he stopped as suddenly as he had started, not wanting to go too far on a single argument, not only was it boring him, but these part wolf – part sheep people with him would probably never understand. How could they, they probably weren’t even pure. He dwindled in silence for a moment longer, as more sentences were flying at him one by one; He stored them patiently, taking his time to fabricate answers or reactions to each and every one of them before he could speak. He nudged a bit as he realized he was quiet for … A bit longer than expected, he spoke slowly, as if he had all the time in the world, and who knows… maybe it was the truth: “In theory, yes. At higher skill levels you should be able to do a full sweep into someone, but a beginner is limited mostly to random insights of no higher significance… but we all start somewhere I guess” his voice disappeared again as he could not help but wonder just how idiotic could this woman be to just know learn of the noble art of auristics. She was probably one of those slow people. She continued to bother him with things his mind had long obscured, useless things… like the harvest…. and the siring of offspring with tainted blood. Velenor could sustain the cold posture and tone he always had until Nisana pushed his ego a bit out of balance with her whole “for the good of the race” sentiments. His voice gaining some of the passion he almost never used, came out quieter, more subtle, as if he was forcing them to pay extra attention in order to hear him: “Destruction? Such divine things don't concern us mortals… not yet. Of the dust we are, and to the dust we return to after our years are counted. If we live without pride, we are better off dead and forgotten like all those forgotten gods and civilizations that came before us. We are all born to be superior, so why except anything less? Our fore-fathers were chased down here like animals, and yet we did nothing. We are soon to go extinct they say… yet they do nothing; NO! The old world is powerless along with all of it’s rules and numerous ways…” his voice trailed off slightly as he knew what was the right thing to say next, but still he struggled a bit with his mind in order to fabricate a more “desirable” version of the truth. He failed, he knew that much as his lips parted: “My mother undertook the sacred sacrifice, and she did not even consider it a sacrifice, she considered it a privilege. One life became three… and prosperity reigned over our web. Little did my father understand, he was pathetic…. solemn and lonesome. He called it love, and he said that life without her was misery, ignorant fool, such rash words in the face of his loved one’s pride. Such an illogical fool did not deserve to live like he did. I must admit, I curse the fact I was born from a seed of such a weakling…” his voice became somewhat what normal beings would call sad. He did not find it sad, he simply find the whole thing not making much sense. His words rang too long, and he could not help but switch towards the next topic of conversation. The change might have been awkward, but his confident nature made it seem almost natural, if a bit rushed. The topic of his family was not forced on him, still it leaked out, and for it he blamed Nisana, of how would he like to hurt her now, if she only knew. Turning his blood lust off almost in an instant he spoke again, cold and detached once more: “Hypnotism is for liars. I do not condone of such actions, my pride would never let me. Still, I would be a fool not to recognize such power, fear is what we were given to stay clear of such things. For you are always afraid in the dark…. until you are the deadliest thing in that dark, that is” he ended his sentence properly, but could not help and wonder just what was Velarian trying to accomplish by adding oil to the fire. Seriously “the good of the race” was bound to get the conversation nowhere fast, and it would hardly be a good idea to take such a road. He had to protest once more, not to do so would be wrong, it would be illogical: “The lack of pride is what drew us all the way here… to the edge of existence. We gave our land away almost as if it was free, almost as if we owed it to someone, something; Almost as if we had stolen it in the first place, and that my friends was a mistake. A dire mistake, and all we do now, hundreds of years later is talk about the consequences of our failures, yet nothing ever changes” he stopped, losing breath for the first time in a while, taking his time to breathe in and formulate his next sentence, the last of his lines, for now: “You might look upon me like I fell from places unknown to both man and woman alike, and might come off as a complete idiot now, but one day….. I will change this place… from it’s roots. One day I will be a legend, or I will be a legendary failure who died chasing some crazy dreams… but what is life if not a rush of adrenaline. I would rather cast my own life away, one spell at a time, then shackle myself to a bed and await old age to claim my body back into the cycle…” as his voice lingered in the air a bit longer, he knew he was right once more, he never made mistakes after all.

[Nisana Curare]

Nisana listened quietly as Velenor spoke again, giving a small nod of her head to show she was listening. The way he spoke in conversations was certainly not a way that she was used to, but that had merit in her mind. Who outside Kalinor would speak as the Symenestra did after all? The way he spoke of crowds and idiots made it clear though that he viewed others unfavorably. It also convinced her to not ask for a demonstration despite how much she was interested in seeing such interesting sounding magic.

Velenor's words about Auristics drew out her curiosity tough, despite his disdainful words, and she gave a polite bow of her head, "Auristics does sound that it would be very useful for when I go on my Harvest. Perhaps you would honor me with some lessons before I leave?" he already seemed to look down upon her, and while that pricked at her pride having another skill to help on her Harvest would be beneficial.

She blinked in surprise as Velenor spoke in detail as to his feelings of the Symenestra and how they should be. While it was good that she had managed to get him to speak more it had certainly not been her intention to agitate him as he seemed to be. When he spoke of his mother Nisana's eyes shifted to Velarian for a few moments, remembering what had happened to his wife. While she could somewhat understand the reasons behind such action, there was no purer or sacred ties as a Mother who bore her own child, but what good was such a birth if the mother died as the result? Viratas spoke of the sacredness of blood. Why should a Symenestra shed their own blood for new life when someone not of their noble kind could do it just as well.

She did not think voicing such things would be beneficial for her goal though. Velenor seemed to be very passionate about it, and very determined to disagree with almost any other Symenestra. Pushing the issue further would only agitate him more, and that was not what she was seeking. Smiling at Velenor's declaration for his goals in life she gave a small nod of her head, "That is a very interesting, and impressive, way to live your life Velenor. I will look forward to see what great things you accomplish in your time."

[Velarian Zantedeschia]

"One day I shall introduce you to my grandmother, Velenor. I have the feeling you two would get along."

The old woman despised half-breeds and was only slightly more favorable when it came to Symenestra with surrogate mothers. To bad for her, that's what most our family compromises of, Velarian thought with a half glance towards the other man. Yes, Velenor and the ancient spider he had never dared to address with anything less than her full name fit well together. They were adamant in their views, so sure of themselves. Velarian could not claim similar poise when it came to his estimation of family and harvest.

While the animators own mother had been Symenestra, the man knew his ancestry too well to not be aware of the surrogates in his lineage. Small and delicate their names had been added to his family tree, like petty footnotes. On the parched papers holding his web's history some older names where barely readable anymore, lost in time, unimportant. He had always found it a pity.

Thoughtfully his eyes came to rest on his fellow explorer of the arcane arts. "You are exaggerating. No one chased us down here but the Valterrian. It seems someone decided that surviving in utter darkness in a wet desolate cave is better than not surviving at all. I happen to agree." The zeal which could be heard ringing from Velenor's words was missing in the older man's voice. He spoke calmly, dispassionate even as his eyes wandered over nearby rolls of fabric. "Our land as you like to call it, is not home to some usurpers. Neither is the land around the city. You should look around outside at some point. There are no giant trees out there, no jungle. There is a swamp to the south, mountains to the north and wildness all around. No one stops you from settling above, there are miles and miles around Kalinor unclaimed. World is an empty place I tell you."

He shook his head. "Your arguments are none. Pride alone will not let us survive. Swallowing it however might. Individuals might turn to dust, but cultures live on, even through events like the Cataclysm. Humans aren't more prideful than us, nor wiser. Still they survive. Why shouldn't we? They are not superior to us." There was no reason for them to walk the world while Symenestra culture vanished in the tide of time. Ruby eyes came to settle on the other man once more. "I would not mind change if it ensured survival," he admitted mildly. Velarian only had trouble to imagine Velenor as benevolent savior of their kin. He didn't want to say the man would not archive his goal, the animator just doubt he would like the out come of it.

Briefly he looked into Nisana's direction. "Anyway, why don't you give us a display of auristics, Velenor? A little demonstration of your power?" Velarian did not usually care to stroke the man's already overgrown ego, but for the sake of peace and quiet he would jump over his shadow once in a while.

[Velenor Avenca]

Once again, I apologize for being so terribly late. Meaningless and pathetic all their voices were to his ears; He could hardly make out what they were saying, lost deep in thought as he was, but still he was aware enough to pick up certain outlines of their reactions. Years of ignoring people do that to a man. They were disagreeing with him, no big shock there, after all, individuals that were more grounded than his magnificent self could hardly grasp the importance of a superior force, a superior being, Velenor. Spinning his thought in an endless circle he wondered what his reponse should be. He had a few options, and they were the same as always; He could yell at them for being so stupid, but that would not change a thing, and they would still be stupid anyway. With the first choice out of the picture, he thought about playing along with their game, but he could feel his pride pulling at him to snap out of it. Finally discarding the feeble thought, he went with the third option, the line of lesser resistance. Nisana was a suck up, there was no way he would ever doubt such an obvious thing; She will be interested as long as she gets something to see, learn or do; As long as those options please her, that is. Still, he grinned ear to ear for a moment, as he could hear Velarain opposing his every thought. It was atypical of him to step up for himself with words, at least such was the case in the past. Velenor started laughing in a silent, yet creepy demeanor. So his scholar “friend” had finally grown a pair, momentarily at least. He could not blame him though, it was hard to stand up to ego as big as the one that Velenor had under his sway. To most people this could very well count as an insult, but to stubborn researchers like him, this was as good as compliment could get. It was a good idea to come down here? The world was empty? Such rash and idiotic notions transpired out of the thick head of the man, but still, at least his sudden outburst of words could be respected as yet another obstacle. Nudging a bit when he was asked to demonstrate his power in auristics, he hesitated for a moment, still not letting any of his confidence away from his face. He was not in the best shape lately, and it would hardly do him justice to try and pull off a needless stunt like this one, just for the sake of it. Sighing slightly he raised his right hand in front of his face, closing his eyes for a moment. He would do it, he would show them how a true mage does his business. As he opened his eyes, he could see both of their auras, colors shifting, defying his sight and making him smirk a bit. Velarian’s aura was the same as ever a somber, constant, ever present shade of slight blue with streaks of black across it, it was simply…. Boring to look at. There was no other way to put it. And besides he already knew almost everything about the man, and that which could concern him could easily be perceived without any magical assistance. The next aura on his list was that of the strange girl in front of him; heck, they were all strange to him. The girl however had a bit more complex aura around her. The djed was moving all around her making spiral movements; The strands were circling one another while moving in opposite directions. He could see all shades of white and green moving about, but what caught his attention next were slight edges that looked blackened, almost as if they were burned out. Focusing his all of his senses onto the perceiving of this shield like substance that surrounded the woman, he was tingling his fingers, seemingly through the air, at least that was what it would look like to a normal person. As soon as he touched the aura, he could feel a lonesome place, the smell of the aura was that of stale air. It was hardly anything worth mentioning, but for a moment he thought he had heard something yelling out of the aura, as he was unsure, he disregarded it even as a hint. His eyes finally closed again as he dragged his hand over his face. Such gestures were needless in theory, but they helped him concentrate, so why not? He looked at Nisana, smirking a bit, but this time it was not to see anything; the feeling of an incoming headache was only supported by a firm grip of pain on his brain. Biting his lower lip a bit in order to stay in check and not to show weakness, he had understood that this was a close call, or even a slight case of overgiving. It would be extremely foolish to try and do anything of this sort in the next few days he thought. “Strange disturbances in your past. With my current power I can not make out subtle details, however, I can feel loneliness present within you. I can also sense that you are weaker than me and in physically good health, but that is of lesser importance now. What got my attention though was your quite strong feeling of curiosity, as it was your dominant feeling with a tad of skepticism. A word of fair warning though, it is extremely unwise not to cloak your feelings in the face of a power like this. Do make sure that you are better prepeared in the future” his voice trailed off for a moment before he spoke up again: “So how about you try it? Just close your eyes and concentrate, both of you can do it actually, but I do not believe you will make it in your first attempt” mostly ‘cause you are idiots “but since you were curious enough to ask me, I have told you. Concentrate, close off your thoughts, but keep your mind open. Meditate, calm both your body and your soul until they are one, and then finally imagine the soul as a body to itself, a sentient object. Picture it glowing around you and everything else, picture it as if the essence of all things alive and dead is dragged out over them and pulled in front of your eyes, just for you, forever. When you do open your eyes again, you will either be the same simpletons you already were or you will gaze upon the world with the same eyes I have, eyes of magic, eyes of eternal truth” his voice disappeared once again as he shrugged slowly, not really having anything to add. It was a strange thing to give speeches to idiots, but still, magic was his thing, he could not let them soil it with lack of perfection when talking about it.

[Nisana Curare]

Nisana listened quietly to Velarian's response to Velenor's words. Though she agreed completely with Velarian she did not say anything to that effect. She had as much desire in her to continue debating with Velenor as she also had for going and bashing her head against the cavern ceiling. She had a feeling both would be as fruitless and headache inducing for her.

Velarian's suggestion that Velenor provide a demonstration of Auristics, along with Velenor's apparent acceptance, brought back her full attention and desire to pay attention to the aloof Symenestra. As she watched Velenor's actions she was reminded of those many years ago when Velarian had shown her Animation. Like then she was surprised that there seemed to be little obvious to her as to what was going on. Was all magic so simple in outward appearance?

She was not sure what to expect when Velenor spoke, but what he did say caught her off guard. She blinked several times in surprise at him, her mouth hanging ever so slightly open, and found herself being reminded of unpleasant things. Velenor had learned all that just by looking at her and wiggling his fingers in the air? It left her feeling... exposed and vulnerable. Auristics was not a beautiful art like Animation, but she had to admit it seemed even more useful for the Harvest.

"I... That is impressive," she said softly as Velenor finished his explanation with a suggestion, "And thank you for the advice," when Velenor then suggested they try she gave a brief glance to Velarian before giving a small nod. It would be useful to know, but she doubted it was something she could just pick up here in the middle of the market.

Taking a slow breath Nisana listened to Velenor's instructions. The first was easy enough, even a fool could close their eyes, and with her eyes closed the idea of closing off her thoughts while keeping her mind open seemed similar to some of the hunting exercises her Mother had taught her for picking up on subtle sounds and smells. From that point it got confusing, much more than Velarian's instructions had been when they were children, but she did her best to try and follow along with Velenor's instructions.

As she tried to envision things as Velenor said Nisana's thoughts turned to Velarian. What would his soul look like? Breathing slowly she pictured Velarian in her mind, and then tried to draw out from the imagining an essence like Velenor was describing. She almost felt like she had something, and she cracked her eyes open slightly to peek at the Symenestra near her. For a moment it was almost like she could see something around him, a swirl of colors and light, but as she opened her eyes the rest of the way she realized it was just the fabrics that Velarian had been standing next to.

"Well," Nisana gave a small smile to Velenor, "Thank you for the instructions, but it seems I do not have the talent as you do," she bowed her head respectfully to the man, "And thank you for the demonstration. Perhaps some time I could ask the favor of you giving me a demonstration of Reimancy? Not now of course," she gave a soft laugh, "I do not believe the market is a good place for such a thing."

[Velarian Zantedeschia]

Surprise had to be near noticeable on Velarian's face, when the younger mage did not speak up against his assertion, merely letting the topic fall to the wayside. As if it wasn't all that important to him. The animator however knew it was, and it made him just more curious regarding Velenor's motives. He could not imagine the other man had just succumbed to the logic of his words. Maybe he had just lost interesting in the subject all together.

Seconds only Velarian reveled in the deserved, although stale sensation of victory, then he concentrated on what his friend said about Auristics. It was not one of those fields the older Symenestra knew much about. In fact the only arcane art he could claim a certain amount of knowledge in was Animation. Sometimes he liked to think he had exceeded the knowledge other members of his family had in the area, yet he was also aware he was still missing much to climb the heights his father had looked down from. Magic had not done the old man any good and Velarian knew he should take his father's fate a warning, yet it was hard to not follow the magic's allure deeper down the road of learning.

Velenor made Auristics sound easy, he came to realize the longer he listened. Reason told him there should be more to it and that the other man left out crucial points just to see them fail, yet he could not quite believe it. Their instructor could not be aware on how much his student actually knew of the art and he would not risk to look stupid leaving holes in his instructions. The younger sorcerer might have been able to describe things more in depth had he cared to, but essentially all ingredients must have been offered.

Velarian still did not try. Ruby eyes came to rest on Nisana, reading the concentration in her face. She actually tried, despite the noise of the market and the thought made him smirk just a little. The young woman did everything to hone her skills as a harvester and nothing seemed able to get her off course. Determination was an admirable trait in those setting out to bring surrogates home, it made sure they would not stray from their path.

Almost he was a little upset when Nisana pointed out it had not worked. He knew it would have been nigh impossible given location and missing preparation, yet he had hoped the young huntress might prove successful. He tilt his head to the side. "Maybe you can try another time," Velarian suggested. He was tempted to do so himself and knew at the same time he would be too busy to pursue Auristics.

"And yes, the market is not be the right place for such endeavors."

Something told him Velenor might not actually mind so much where or to who he presented his powers – or even who got hurt in the process – yet Velarian was not willing to risk as much as the other man. A long moment he eyed the younger Symenestra, a warning to watch his words on his tongue. He did not appreciate to be called simpleton, nor did he like the other man's arrogance. He did not speak up. It would have been of little use he felt.