26th of Fall, 520
The light did not do Sunberth any favors, pointing out its glaring flaws. The grimy streets, patchwork homes, and the few ruins that remained scattered around the city stood as a testament to its lack of order. The soft moonlight, however, acted as a concealer to the city's flaws, masking those unsightly shelters and allowing the flickering candlelight to shine through their close windows. It gave the streets a warmer feel, like a grandmother setting down for bed. But, as is the way of the world, when the parents and authorities go to sleep, the children and mischief-makers wake up. The City of Anarchy thrived on the silent streets as parcels changed hands in the lamplight and blades flashed within the silver pools shone by the moon. Those that valued their safety and lives huddled within their homes, waiting for the light to wash away some of the sins that infested this city. Only those that had an unsavory task to complete, we're looking for some fun, had nothing left to live for, were out and about. The barest shadow of a woman silently drifting from shade to shade checked two of those boxes.
Alice moved among the streets without a sound, disturbing no air in her wake, feet barely brushing the ground. Having wandered in from the mess of tents sitting just outside of where the walls should have been, she soon ran into the river that cuts through the heart of Sunberth. With a purse on her lips, she lifted further off the ground to coast over the slightly disrupted waters of the river. She came to rest on the other side while habitually dusting off her ethereal dress. She then cast her gaze around as she took in the few ramshackle stalls set into loose rows, recalling this place to be known as the Castle Commons of Sunberth. Very few people were wandering about the market place at this time as many merchants had closed for the night. None of the stragglers noticed the pale ghost that dissolved into the night air.
The only sound and light within the market drifted from a square building with a simple sign that hung from a strand of rope, reading off as The Pig's Foot. Drawn to the light and sound from the tavern the ghost silently drifted over, curious to what type of crowd Sunbearth at night attracts.
"Probably not a good crowd," Alice muses to herself as she comes to a stop in front of the wooden door. Before entering the tavern, Alice reached out to her misty edges, twisting them in on herself, having the loose and wispy strands of soulmist compact and reinforce one another. The end result gave a sense of weight and solidity to her otherwise ethereal form. The imperfect, flickering body with hazed edges set, she reached out at the spherical doorknob, wrapping a tendril of feathery soulmist around the knob before attempting to twist it. Instead of the expected click of the latch, Alice's eyebrows furrowed as the soulmist slipped off the handle's rounded shape from the uneven pressure she exerted on it. “What?” Her confusion evident in her voice as she, once again, twisted a strand of her shroud around the knob, clamping down on the metal. Already feeling the strain in her mind as she had to push the knob from both sides. Gradually, she turned the knob, watching it rotate so painfully slow, and, after a few more seconds of concentration, she heard the latch begin to turn over. The bolt of excitement that raced through her, especially at something as mundane as turning a doorknob, was genuinely shocking. The sensation causing her tenuous hold on the door to fade as the emotion agitated her soulmist to an unstable state.
Alice floated there for a second, lifting her semi-solid hands to her eye level. Giving them a hard look before flicking her eyes back to the knob, perfectly round and mocking her in its simplicity.
“You don’t belong here,” It seemed to say and she believed it for a split second. A flash of anger searing through her mists as her form broke down, great rents forming in her body as the carefully condensed soulmist poured out, dematerializing her.
“Gods damn whoever thought a rounded knob was a good idea!” She fumed at being thwarted by such a simple household object. An object that acted as a reminder that she was the anomaly here. She seethed by throwing weightless punches and kicks into the air, the lack of resistance doing nothing to settle her mind. Blinking through the door was now out of the question, simply for the fact it has become a personal affront. “If I can’t touch the door, I’ll just find someone who can.” a sly fox-like smile crossing her face, banishing the anger as her mist shot back like a squid, disappearing into the moonlight.
The light did not do Sunberth any favors, pointing out its glaring flaws. The grimy streets, patchwork homes, and the few ruins that remained scattered around the city stood as a testament to its lack of order. The soft moonlight, however, acted as a concealer to the city's flaws, masking those unsightly shelters and allowing the flickering candlelight to shine through their close windows. It gave the streets a warmer feel, like a grandmother setting down for bed. But, as is the way of the world, when the parents and authorities go to sleep, the children and mischief-makers wake up. The City of Anarchy thrived on the silent streets as parcels changed hands in the lamplight and blades flashed within the silver pools shone by the moon. Those that valued their safety and lives huddled within their homes, waiting for the light to wash away some of the sins that infested this city. Only those that had an unsavory task to complete, we're looking for some fun, had nothing left to live for, were out and about. The barest shadow of a woman silently drifting from shade to shade checked two of those boxes.
Alice moved among the streets without a sound, disturbing no air in her wake, feet barely brushing the ground. Having wandered in from the mess of tents sitting just outside of where the walls should have been, she soon ran into the river that cuts through the heart of Sunberth. With a purse on her lips, she lifted further off the ground to coast over the slightly disrupted waters of the river. She came to rest on the other side while habitually dusting off her ethereal dress. She then cast her gaze around as she took in the few ramshackle stalls set into loose rows, recalling this place to be known as the Castle Commons of Sunberth. Very few people were wandering about the market place at this time as many merchants had closed for the night. None of the stragglers noticed the pale ghost that dissolved into the night air.
The only sound and light within the market drifted from a square building with a simple sign that hung from a strand of rope, reading off as The Pig's Foot. Drawn to the light and sound from the tavern the ghost silently drifted over, curious to what type of crowd Sunbearth at night attracts.
"Probably not a good crowd," Alice muses to herself as she comes to a stop in front of the wooden door. Before entering the tavern, Alice reached out to her misty edges, twisting them in on herself, having the loose and wispy strands of soulmist compact and reinforce one another. The end result gave a sense of weight and solidity to her otherwise ethereal form. The imperfect, flickering body with hazed edges set, she reached out at the spherical doorknob, wrapping a tendril of feathery soulmist around the knob before attempting to twist it. Instead of the expected click of the latch, Alice's eyebrows furrowed as the soulmist slipped off the handle's rounded shape from the uneven pressure she exerted on it. “What?” Her confusion evident in her voice as she, once again, twisted a strand of her shroud around the knob, clamping down on the metal. Already feeling the strain in her mind as she had to push the knob from both sides. Gradually, she turned the knob, watching it rotate so painfully slow, and, after a few more seconds of concentration, she heard the latch begin to turn over. The bolt of excitement that raced through her, especially at something as mundane as turning a doorknob, was genuinely shocking. The sensation causing her tenuous hold on the door to fade as the emotion agitated her soulmist to an unstable state.
Alice floated there for a second, lifting her semi-solid hands to her eye level. Giving them a hard look before flicking her eyes back to the knob, perfectly round and mocking her in its simplicity.
“You don’t belong here,” It seemed to say and she believed it for a split second. A flash of anger searing through her mists as her form broke down, great rents forming in her body as the carefully condensed soulmist poured out, dematerializing her.
“Gods damn whoever thought a rounded knob was a good idea!” She fumed at being thwarted by such a simple household object. An object that acted as a reminder that she was the anomaly here. She seethed by throwing weightless punches and kicks into the air, the lack of resistance doing nothing to settle her mind. Blinking through the door was now out of the question, simply for the fact it has become a personal affront. “If I can’t touch the door, I’ll just find someone who can.” a sly fox-like smile crossing her face, banishing the anger as her mist shot back like a squid, disappearing into the moonlight.