Closed Taking in the night (Ari'Ellin)

Adal tries to be more independent with what she learned last Spring.

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The Diamond of Kalea is located on Kalea's extreme west coast and called as such because its completely made of a crystalline substance called Skyglass. Home of the Alvina of the Stars, cultural mecca of knowledge seekers, and rife with Ethaefal, this remote city shimmers with its own unique light.

Taking in the night (Ari'Ellin)

Postby Adal Karelyn on July 14th, 2022, 12:34 am

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20th of Summer, 522 AV (Shortly after dusk rest)

It was just after dusk rest that Adal found herself outside of Mhakula’s tea house, sipping a small cup of chilled matcha. After another blistering hot day, this was just what she needed to cool off and relax though she couldn’t stop at just the free sample. She had to buy another two, one for her to enjoy, and the other for her imperial watcher that she’d had since she was a young girl. His name was Drooly, and blessedly was back to his usual self which significantly relieved Adal. It was hard to travel without her guide dog by her side, and now that her mother was gone, he was practically her closest friend. Of course there was Nilen, but she had more important things to do than look after a blind girl and Adal didn’t fault her for a moment for that. She was beyond grateful for all that the woman had done for her in her mother’s absence, and had made the previous season so much more bearable with her timely gift.

Smiling slightly to herself, Adal reached down to scratch Drooly behind his ears and continue sipping away at her cup of matcha. She liked standing outside listening to the people as they passed by in and out of the establishment. The tea house itself was rich in a diverse range of scents that ranged from calming to what she could only describe as eccentric, which was a nice way of saying that not every scent that drifted out of the establishment agreed with her nose. Still it was nice standing there, enjoying the warm dusk evening with Drooly by her side. She wondered if she ought to continue exploring or start heading back home but it felt a bit too soon for the later. Her night was just getting started, and she wanted to explore more of the city while it wasn’t so oppressively hot out.

That gave her the slight nudge she needed to finish her cup of matcha and gather up the one Drooly polished off to return to the tea house before she set about walking along the outskirt of the plaza in the opposite direction of her apartment. Of course that took a bit of orienting around the threshold of the tea house which she touched again in order to remember exactly what direction she came in at. When she was satisfied she was generally pointed where she wanted to go, Adal let go of the wall and started walking hesitantly out onto the street with Drooly hugging the side of her right leg as they walked. After a tick she got a little more confidence, but it was fledgling and lasted all of about a chime when someone jostled her roughly.

“Watch where you are going!” A man grunted as he sidled past, and Adal’s hand went reflexively down to Drooly’s head as the imperial watcher started a growl that abruptly ceased at her touch.

“Its okay Drooly. It was my fault. Lets stay out of the way close to the side of the street shall we?” She whispered softly, reaching out with her left hand to find the wall, any wall and eventually stumbling across something made of solid stone. Feeling the reassuring solidity beneath her fingers, Adal gathered herself up against that wall as she turned about listening for foot traffic that continued to pass all around them. She ended up waiting there for longer than she originally meant to as while she continued to wait for a break in the foot traffic she got the idea to reach out with her senses as Chiona had told her. Just how to do that was no simple task though as she had only done it once when she was lost in thought sculpting.

However this time she had the benefit of sort of knowing what it felt like to use djed. All she had to do was reach a certain stillness of mind and thats where her charm came in. The one Chiona had given her in the shape of an x that allowed her to bring a memory back to focus as if she was experiencing it all over again. She brought up that moment she had first felt the tingle of magic through her body, the strange vibration she felt from the soapstone. Only she didn’t want to feel this time. No, she wanted to tap into one of her other senses. Smell perhaps. Adal concentrated all her efforts on pooling her meager djed around her nose and to a part of her it felt a little like water trickling up though that wasn’t quite the right way to describe the sensations that were washing over her.

Heat. She could smell it. Like a fire burning, but instead of being bitter it had a sickly sweetness to it that was made all the more overpowering when someone passed by her. Other new scents blossomed into existence as she continued to channel the djed around her nose, trying to sift through the cacophony of smells as they came along to her. Soapy. Cold iron. A spritz of citrus. Rotten apples again. Bread baking. Something akin to a privy. A fierce coppery smell. Adal wrinkled her nose as her head started to swim and she let go of her tenuous hold on the djed, allowing it to finally dissipate with the smells following soon after. She felt the beginnings of a headache too at the back of her head as she squeezed her eyes closed and rubbed her temples, wondering what it all meant. Perhaps it hadn’t been the best decision to stand on the edge of the plaza reading random auras as they passed by. She certainly didn’t feel like she had gleaned anything helpful out of the experience aside from the beginnings of a splitting headache.

Adal took a long pull of her water skin, and leaned back against the stone wall at her back. She belatedly realized that this was probably someone’s shop, and she certainly hoped that they would not mind her waiting her for a couple chimes longer while she collected herself. At her side, Drooly whined, sensing her unease which Adal answered with another scratch on his head and a playful tug on his left ear. “I’ll be alright. I just need a moment.”

She perked up as Drooly stood, and she listened to the unmistakable sound of footsteps heading straight for her. “I’m sorry if I’m being a bother. I’m just taking a little break is all.” Adal said quickly to the stranger as she suddenly started to feel flush with embarrassment. “My name is Adal. Do you need me to get out of your way?” She was wearing a light green dress and a pair of sandals and had neglected to put on most of her jewelry aside from her mothers ring and the bracelet on her wrist that couldn’t be taken off. It was simply to hot to bother with the rest, or shoes for that matter. Though without them, she felt rather naked in front of this stranger. A peculiar sensation that she didn’t currently have the time to think through.

“Oh! And don’t worry about Drooly. He’s really kind.” Adal added with a bit of a hesitant smile, patting her dog as she waited to see what this stranger would say.

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Taking in the night (Ari'Ellin)

Postby Ari'Ellin on July 31st, 2022, 10:13 pm

The heat was too much for the Konti. She had spent the past few days cranky and too hot, finding it hard to sleep in the uncomfortably high temperatures. Granted it seemed to suiting parts of her work well. Herbs were drying quicker than she had expected them to, the solid oils were melting much easier than usual, and mixing things using those oils was a lot less troublesome than racing against time in the winter. Even with those benefits, Ari’Ellin still hated the heat.

She found the back of her neck frequently wet with sweat and had resorted to pinning her hair up with her comb just to let even the slightest breeze attempt to dry the back of her neck and prevent her shirt from becoming soaked through.

Frowning to herself, she finished moving some dried herbs into a jar and handed it to Kita so she could label them.

“You look uncomfortable? Too hot” Kita mused and Ari’Ellin couldn’t help but sigh, shaking her head before nodding discontentedly at the circumstances of the city.
“I think mountains not so hot meant.” she chewed the inside of her cheek. “Higher is more wind but now no wind and only heat. This happen many times before?” she questioned Kita.
“No, it’s not happened many times before. Normally summer is warm but not like this. It’s usually more pleasant than this. Usually just a nice heat that doesn’t dry you out quite this much.” the woman said and Ari’Ellin nodded. “Anyway, it’s well past time you were on your way. How about you go for a walk, calm off a little before you go home? If you wear yourself out enough you won’t need to worry about the heat while you’re sleeping.” Kita suggested and Ari’Ellin smiled slightly, nodding and letting out a slight laugh.
“Do things active so sleep easier?” she chuckled and mirrored the nod that soon came from Kita, waving a goodbye to the woman as she headed to doorway of the shop, bracing herself before pushing the door open and grimacing as she stepped outside into the still hot but slightly cooler air.

She couldn’t hold back a groan as she rubbed the back of her neck, frustrated at the effect that the heat had been having on her. She’d always thought she liked hot and sunny weather, but the current weather in Lhavit was proving that there was a limit to the heat that the Konti could handle.
It was as she was walking through the streets that she spotted a girl leaning against one of the buildings, drinking from a water skin. She looked the girl up and down, noticing the dog close to her, reacting to everything and seeming to have a close bond with the girl.
She slowed down slightly, watching the two and then jumping slightly as the girl suddenly spoke. Ari glanced around, seeing that she was the closest to the pair and then chewed on the inside of her cheek for a few moments, trying to translate everything before the girl spoke again and she managed to find her words.
“No, no. Not bother. You is okay.” she stated suddenly, stumbling through her sentences. “Adal? No move need, can stay. I is Ari’Ellin, but people say Ari.” she explained looking the girl up and down again, noticing the lack of shoes and frowning slightly before hearing the girl speak about something else, presumably the dog. “Drooly is dog, yes?” she asked, tilting her head. “He like his head to be pat?” she asked, tentatively holding her hand out from herself waiting for some indication of permision.

She kept her eyes on the pair, looking them up and down again and furrowing her brow as she noticed the cloudy, milky nature of the girls eyes, before turning her eyes to the rest of the street, noticing a few people stepping around her, before she stepped closer to the wall, keeping a little distance from the dog until the girl gave permission to touch it.
“Oh, you no wear shoes? Is ground no hot? Or is no shoe good because ground not keep hot?” she questioned, wondering whether she had been causing extra suffering to herself when simply removing her shoes would have been easier and cooler.
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