The Possession of Gracie [Satu, Dusk]

[Grace]

Timestamp: The First Day of Spring, 511 AV The Wildlands nearly on the outskirts of Sunberth [Tag] Satu, Dusk It had been days since she'd seen another person, her only company being Jasper and the odd animal curious enough to deny its fear to approach. Grace laid her tools on a tarp she'd spread over the ground and unfurled to her full height with a groaning stretch. Her arms reached over her head and she felt her vertebrae pop in succession as though sounding off for roll call. "Right. Time to move around." She walked over to Jasper and nuzzled into the crook of his neck, leaning her head against his auburn coat. "I think it is your turn to dig, and I will stand here and soak in the sun." The horse whinnied softly, turning its head to nudge against Grace's shoulder, a cue that it was time for a treat. Not one to miss a hint, Grace reached into her pocket and retrieved a piece of dried apple, not as good, or well received as fresh, but Jasper had grown accustomed and was always appreciative. She watched while he gently chewed the treat from her hand, enjoying the velvety feeling of his muzzle. Once he'd taken it she patted the horse on the rump and moved back to her work site. Before folding into a small focused worker, she went through a series of stretches taught to her by Russell, a good friend of her fathers, and the man who taught her to fight. The progression was slow and methodical, paying attention to each muscle that had tightened from lack of movement as she worked. The rhythm of her motions was dance-like, having been a habit for years, they lengthened her muscles to their most extended, leaving them loose and relaxed. The progression of her movement ended with her bent from the waist, flat palmed hands resting on the ground by her feet. A brief sparkle in the dirt caught her attention, pulling her to her knees. All stiffness and discomfort forgotten, she dove back in to her work. Taking a large brush from the tarp, she held it between her palms, rotating it to remove the loose dirt and sand from the glint she'd seen. She blew soft breath over the same spot and watched the displaced earth scurry away like a tiny tornado. Taking up her usual positioning, she moves to her stomach to get the closest view of the object of her interest. Her fingers reach delicately to touch the corner of the buried mystery. "This could be it Jasper, that one thing.." She joked with the horse, as she did every time she dug. Had there been anyone nearby, they might have thought Grace to be shy of a sane mind as much as she conversed with Jasper. A jaunty little tune emerged from full lips as she began to get lost in her search, her voice was quite lyrical, melding more with her sweet appearance than her sly personality. The song is a lullaby from her youth, possibly sung to her by her mother, but the memory was only a scant collection of images. When the song was sung to Grace, she had yet to begin her collection of the details of her life, but the words and melody were there, offered by some mysterious benefactor. The air was so still in the pit in which she worked, that her words seemed to leave her mouth and fall to the ground like petals from a dying flower. The sound seemed to go nowhere. For a brief moment, she looked away from her digging, trying to imagine if she walked to Jasper if her footfalls would make a sound. Something had changed, the world had suddenly become static, a vacuum. The hairs on her neck began to stand and she scanned the area around her. She pressed her tongue to teeth and let out a sharp whistle, hoping to startle Jasper just a little and breath some life into the air, but even the whistle sounded deadened. "Jasper?' He nickered in response, a muffled version of the soft throaty sound. She started scanning nervously now.."What the hell is going on here?" Another glint caught her eye, and finally her attention was drawn to that which she had begun to uncover...her head cocked and eyes narrowed. "Is this your doing?

[Satu]

Satu felt it all in her Heart, the emotions of her companions. Over and over, and over her HeartSense picked up the shift and weave of feeling as their waves intertwined with her own distinct emotions. There was no help for it, so closely they traveled together in the small group. At times, the wash of feeling threatened to confuse her, but the Konti was better now and more focused then she once was. Satu knew she could not afford to be lost again, not with Sagallius’ task important task before her. In an effort to remain balanced in her own eyes, Satu had taken to leaving the party for brief periods of time everyday to walk amid the silence of the world, and give her HeartSense a short reprieve. The Konti relished this time alone to think… of Him, the Puppet God, without the distraction and pull of emotions from all sides. Lost in thought, Satu continued thoughtfully, but the sound of singing pulled her from this obsessive cycle. The song was a pleasing tune… the suvai fighter crouched down, and her hands automatically reached for her weapons, fingers soft around the smooth shafts. Satu’s faraway eyes saw nothing; there was only the sweetness of the tune and the woman’s voice who sang. Intrigued, Satu moved closer into a small campsite. Supplies, a horse… and a hint of something else in the air… but she could not put her finger on where the odd sense came from. The woman’s voice faltered, and her song slowed and stopped. Stillness filled the air and Satu frowned. The air in the clearing felt odd and she looked around with a wondering gaze. What manner of magic was this? For what else could it be except magic? Magic changed things, made the world different. The Konti did not trust it, and became nervous. Her hold on the suvai tightened. Was this woman a user of magic as her old friend Kamalia, or even Arianni? This felt different though than what her friends did, more out of place. She was hesitant, magic was something Satu knew nothing of, and certainly didn’t understand. Satu’s eyes searched for the singer, and finally rested upon her within a pit in the ground. It was a puzzling thing to the Konti that the woman would be in it, and she flowed forward for a closer look. Moving forward and driven by curiosity, Satu approached the pit. Perhaps the woman was in need of assistance? She blinked slowly, as the question surfaced in her mind, and a chill traveled along her spine. The Konti did want to help those in need. It was her Calling! Who else was willing to teach the hard lessons others could not? Very few. So very few... One hand stayed lightly up a whale bone suvai, while the other pushed her hair back out of her eyes with a scale covered hand. To assist was a sacred trust! Her eyes blinked softly again as she stepped closer and called out in Common, though it was accented with the small chiming accents of Konti Island, “Hello…? Are you in need of assistance?” For what would a woman be doing in the dirt like that… Unless she burying something? Or trying to hide something? Satu stood straighter as she looked upon the woman in the pit. And her gift of HeartSense flowed outward to feel the state of the woman’s heart.

[Grace]

The unidentifiable charge in the air still had Grace confounded and on edge, so much so that when the lyrical voice floated to her from the lip of the pit, it took a moment for it to break through her fascination. The effect was one of surprise, so foreign to Grace that she quickly rolled onto her back and reached for her swords, ending with them crossed over her chest defensively even as her mind processed the crux of the words. Hello…? Are you in need of assistance? Smoky eyes lifted to greet the source of the voice, and a smile gripped the corner of her lips as she realized the grand scope of her over reaction. The strange energy still saturated the air, knocking Grace's senses off kilter, but when she looked at the face of her inquisitor, there was a clear complexion of confusion rather than aggression. The woman who looked back at her was breathtaking, unlike anyone she'd ever seen before. Grace's inner voice chastised her for her response, however odd she felt at the moment, there was no excuse. Aggression is the LAST response, never the first. What were you thinking? In the next breath, she lowered her swords and sat up, resting her elbows on dusty knees, her swords crossed over her ankles."My apologies, I was caught in a moment of thought." Her smile flashed sheepishly as she waited for her heart to return to its normal rhythm. "Do I need help?" She glanced around at the expanse of the pit, trying to imagine what the woman thought she might need help with when the answer illuminated in her thoughts and she laughed softly. "To get out, you mean? No, I meant to be here, and chose by my own will to crawl into this pit." Her face had become animated, not in a patronizing way, but with amusement at how she must appear to a casual passer by, covered in dirt and dust, laying at the bottom of a pit so wrapped up in her own concentration that words could hardly reach her. "I can see why you might think that though. You are not the first to believe so, and a strange location has not always been the reason for those thoughts." The swords found their way back into their role as perceived defense rather than active threat, and Grace pushed off the ground, extending her hand toward the woman at the edge of her pit. "Grace Cady. Please accept my welcome, and apology for brandishing the blades." Her head cocked to the side as she really looked at the woman. Her intrigue was evident, and she made no secret about her clear appreciation of their differences. Grace was in no hurry to rush the discovery of her guest, so she waited for the woman to speak again, taking the opportunity to look at her.

[Satu]

“There is no shame in a woman defending herself… your apologies are unnecessary,” The Konti replied in her lyrical voice, and her hands lifted from where they rested so lightly upon her own weapons. The suvai were so small compared to the swords that had been raised against her the moment before, while her dancer-like form appeared anything but threatening. The HeartSeer looked past the woman’s physical form to read her Heart, with its Confidence and Strength. The emotions caressed her HeartSense, entwining softly and easily with her own feelings. Grace would not know it, but they were the best possible qualities with which to meet Satu with, and the Konti responded well, and offered a radiant smile to the woman. Even in the travel stained dress, Satu carried herself proudly, with her own air of confidence. A scaled hand reached down to clasp Grace’s dirt covered hand, yet she did not seem to mind the earthen dust, or even notice as she held it between her own cool palms. Her HeartSense also felt the woman’s intrigue, and Satu relished it. Her own gaze was direct, with a slight sense of out of place innocence, as if she did not belong in the Wilds alone. “And I am called Satu,” she said simply, her face light with interest. How odd it was to meet another woman alone in the middle of nowhere. “Do you dig or bury?” Satu wondered, still not understanding what Grace was doing in the pit. “Are you sure you do not require assistance? It is my special Calling to be of service to others...” She stepped closer to the pit and lowered herself smoothly to sit near the edge, long legs folded beneath her. Listening to the blond woman, Satu mused, “Strange locations…” And she lifted her eyes from the woman in the pit to look around her campsite site. The very air was strange. She did not have words to describe the energy she felt all around them. Without judgment, the Konti hazarded a question, “Are you a magic user then? Have you bewitched this place?” And her gaze returned to rest upon interesting woman, trying to see the magic within her in Heart.

[Grace]

Grace was still getting past seeing another person -here-, that it was another woman, who on the surface seemed as out of place a her, was almost a comfort. "Satu. Very pleased to meet you." Dig or bury. Grace smiled at the question. "Dig, though there was a bit of a hole here when I arrived." Her smile was genuine as she looked around the massive hole, and she tried to figure for a moment, how long it would have taken her to do that which nature had started so handily. She heard Satu pose the question of assistance once more, and to confirm she needed no help in extracting herself from her dig, Grace carefully slipped the toe of her boot into a foothold, and reached up to grab a length of rope she'd secured to a tree trunk set back from the lip of the hole. She coiled the rope around her narrow wrist and with little effort pulled her body up the sheered wall, scaling it with a cat-like ease in her movement. When she had climbed over the edge, she beamed brightly as her hands moved to brush the film of dirt and dust from her clothes. She met Satu's gaze and spoke quietly. "There you see? Safe and sound." The air still felt charged with a skin tingling force and Satu's question proved that though strangers, they were of a like mind. "Of the two of us, you look to be far more magical than I." Grace's smile brightened as she took another opportunity to look at the beautiful stranger. "I had thought to ask you the same thing." Gray eyes strayed to the bottom of the pit to focus on the protruding mystery Grace had just began to uncover. " Since we neither take claim of this..magic.." She looked to the woman for confirmation, nodding her head once. "Yes, magic...I suspect it has something to do with that." Her chin lifts toward the focus of her eyes and she crouched down near the edge of the pit, once again compelled to scrutinize her find. She spoke with her eyes locked as she slid back down the rope, pulled by some irresistible force to continue her work. For a brief moment she looked around, fully aware of the lure of her curiosity, but typically it did not pull her from a live person. Be wary Grace, something is not right.A quiet voice sounded in her subconscious, but without explanation, she shrugged it off and looked back to Satu, doing her best to make up for her rude disengagement. "What brings you here Satu? Not to underestimate you, but you seem to be...very alone, not alone, but...without companionship where it seems there should be just that." She smiled, not usually at a loss to convey her thoughts. "Not that your company is not entirely welcome." She shook her head with a rapid and subtle movement. "I must sound as though I've been sipping the spirits." She laughed, crouching down to brush some fine dust away from the exposed 'relic', for lack of a better word. Again, just a little surprised that she strayed from conversation to devote more attention to this dig. This time she did not look up at Satu, but continued to speak to her. "Would you care to help me?" Her gray eyes peered up from the pit, sparkling with anticipation. Something about the energy in the air made her want to invite the stranger to stay, and the usually cautious Grace, could see nothing wrong in that...

[Satu]

The Konti watched as Grace descended the rope and dropped into the pit. The fighter within Satu was impressed with the woman’s display of agility and ease. Grace appeared to be a different kind of woman then the often timid ones she had previously met along the road. Satu approved, a woman should be strong! So closely did Satu study the woman, before she answered humbly, “I am only a simple Konti… my talents are few, though I try to help where I am able.” Her speech sounded formal, even in the Common that she spoke; it was apparent she was not a native speaker. “I have known users of magic…” she began then stopped. Grace’s grey eyes had wandered back to the pit, and almost immediately, her body followed. Satu was quick to observe her movements again, as she lowered herself smoothly down the rope. How easily her limbs moved. Did she fight as well as climb? But more importantly Satu wondered… what did she see? What drew her back so readily to that hole? Her attention was obviously fixated upon the hidden object in the pit. Curiosity swirled about the woman’s Heart, which in turn made Satu curious also, as wonder filled the Konti’s face, and made her appear almost fairylike. Satu’s precise footsteps followed the women to the edge, looking in. “What is it?” she asked, interest also in her eyes. The air was electric, static, magical… and somehow her scales registered the odd vibration intimately. “I am never alone,” it was Avalis’ Gift to the HeartSeer, to be forever linked through feeling to the people around her. “It is at times a welcome to be away. A balm to my spirit,” she answered, avoiding the question of companions, “The constant turmoil of others becomes draining after a time… Though it can also be pleasant to meet people unexpectedly…” She smiled almost shyly, her eyes downcast, before she looked up again surprised, as Grace joked about drinking. Satu’s dark path had left little room for lightness or jokes. Laughing lightly, she answered, “Yes… yes you do. I should perhaps do more of that…” “But this… why? What does it mean?” Did Grace have her own Golem within the pit? Was this Sagallius’ doing? At the thought of the Puppet God, Joy swelled in the Konti’s Heart, and filled her face unexpectedly. It was a sign! Satu must help Grace! As others had helped the Konti upon her road. The HeartSeer chose her words carefully now, “It is not my wish to disturb you, or keep you from… I’m sorry…” unsure of her words, she paused, “I do not understand what you do, though I would join you. If you would welcome the company?” She held her body with an awareness that seemed to extend beyond her, and Satu climbed down the rope. She was not nervous, but neither was she as graceful as the woman before her while she lowered. White skirts billowed about her legs, lifting feather-soft in the descent. But the Konti managed without incident to join Grace in the pit, for her arms were strong, and she was in excellent shape. Upon landing, she reached out a pale hand; it was a womanly gesture, a show of support and an offering of friendship; if Grace would only take her hand. “Please, show me… I would see…”

[Grace]

Grace's focus was pulled from the ground as Satu climbed down to join her, and when a pale, delicate hand was extended to her she grasped it without hesitation, not even taking the time to brush away the dirt and dust. A friendly half smile curled one corner of her lips as she offered an apology. Usually one to keep safe distance, something about the combination of the charged air and the beautiful Konti had disarmed Grace's usual defenses, relegating them to a passing thought that garnered virtually none of her concentration. With all the care of a parent leading a child, Grace guided Satu toward the mystery at their feet, feeling the delicate hairs at the back of her neck rise as she got closer. Before losing herself in the discovery once more she looked Satu up and down, tapping the tip of her finger against her lower lip. Grace stepped close and smiled at her beautifully pale companion and after unbuckling the belt at her waist; she pulled it free from the loops of her trousers with a brisk snap. "May I?" She smiled at the Konti, looking for any sign of resistance before continuing, then, with all the care and delicacy of someone used to dealing with great treasures, Grace threaded the belt around Satu's waist, securing the buckle at the front. She continued without speaking by reaching toward the ground and gathering between her fingers, the hem of the flowing gown, just at the back.With every effort made to remain proper and unobtrusive she carefully threaded the skirt through her ankles, lifting it in one motion to tuck into her belt now resting on Satu's waist, creating a makeshift pair of pants, more practical for the activity to come. All the while, she wore a bright smile and kept her eyes on the Konti's, and when she'd finished, she stood, taking a step back to contemplate her handiwork. "This will make it easier to move, as well as keep some fo the dust and dirt off of you. I hope you don't mind?" When she had a moment to reflect, Grace was once more surprised at her own actions, but never questioned what was at work to make her carry them out. Strange... "Now, I will try to explain.. this." She made a sweeping gesture around the pit before bending to retrieve a nearby journal. "I look for clues." She paged through the well worn book in search of something specific, still speaking, and periodically looking into the porcelain face of her companion. "You might call me a historian." She nodded at the word of her choosing. "Yes, a historian. I piece together the clues of the past and record them here.. Ah!" She'd found what she was looking for and moved next to Satu to show her. The images and words contained in the journal were a detailed documentation of a dig she'd completed, a day by day history of each discovery and her interpretation of it's significance. Her eyes grew bright as she shared her livelihood with the konti, her heart and mind were clearly invested in her work, almost to the point of obsession. Once she'd made Satu familiar with the results of her work, she quickly set aside the journal and took her hand, leading her to this latest, magical, mystery. "Now we have this.." She dropped to her knees without any warning, bending over the inscribed protrusion, speechless now. She blew a soft puff of breath over the spot, carrying away any loose sand, then pushed her glasses onto the bridge of her nose, curling over her own legs to get closer. "This is new...' Her voice was lifted by a lilt of wonder, and held quietly to a rich whisper in deference to what may be uncovered. With no forethought, she pulled Satu's hand into her lap holding it there like a little girl as she stared. "It feels like magic." She flicked her gaze to the Konti, then back to the ground. "Don't you think?" Her own hand snaked beneath her hair to rest on the back of her long neck, holding a shiver in check as the hum of the air penetrated her skin. "This.. tingle.. is new." She looked around for any other sign or source, but her attention always came back to the point on the ground by her knees. Before continuing, she grabbed a newer, leather bound journal and scratched a few lines of text onto a crisp parchment page. When she'd taken her notes, she placed the book near her hip and turned to Satu."Shall we?" She flashed a wide grin, and then, using a large soft brush, began to uncover more of the treasure.

[Satu]

Grace’s dusty hand found Satu’s and with the touch, invisible Cordas threads attached to the blonde woman. They settled along her limbs and upon her skin. The HeartSeer was pleased, and her eyes shone with purpose, which could easily be mistaken for care. When the strings would feel Satu’s pull, she did not know but they were in place, waiting for her manipulations. Her help had been promised, and to the seemly innocent, but very mad Konti, she knew her assistance was not always welcomed. Too often people fought what was best for them. Luckily, Sagallius’ puppet strings took misguided will out for the equation. Gazing upon Grace, Satu felt a lovely kinship, for through her touch Sagallius’ Cordas’ would soon help this woman in some form. And the Konti so loved to help others along their paths… Unknowingly, Grace led her towards the object, only to pause. Satu held sill and silent beneath the woman’s study, unsure of the woman’s intent. Grace’s smile offered to put her at ease, though it was her Heart that ultimately did so for it carried no aggression or violence within it. Slowly Satu’s smile brightened to match her companions, after all Satu held the Cordas strings, and there was no doubt she could use them to defend herself. But as she looked down and watched as Grace worked, Satu laughed to see herself wrapped in the makeshift pants, “I approve!” the Konti exclaimed. For a moment the joyous girl she had been so long ago in Mura peeked out. “Though it is likely my dress is already travel stained… ” But her smile was offset by the strange energy within the air. She felt lighter, charged within and her scales reverberated with the tonal sound. She looked at Grace’s book, taking in the images, the notes. “So much detail…” she mused, looking up, “you must be very smart, to put the puzzles of the past together.” Studying the pages, her HeartSense felt Obsession radiate about the woman. It was thick, and so strong… Satu perked up, interest sparked. This was something new… “How far back? How far back have you been? Into the past?” she asked, her words filled with light curiosity as Grace again fell to her knees, obsessed with the object. This is new… and Satu’s hand was pulled into the historian’s lap. It did feel like magic! “Yes, Grace… I think it is…” the words trailed off. But while Grace looked intently at the thing in the ground, Satu watched Grace’s pretty face just as intensely. The Konti’s features hardened as images of the old wars filled her thoughts; visions Sagallius had shown her of the terrible wars, filled with terrible magicks… This woman could not know. How could she understand the destruction when she had not seen it herself? How would she understand it wrapped in obsession as she was? And this thing… changed the very air… Grace must be saved, from herself! Satu was very much needed here! As the woman took quick notes, the Konti’s face shifted back to beautiful innocence filled with helpfulness. And when the woman turned to her grinning and asked, “Shall we?” Satu nodded her acceptance slowly, for she was unwilling to leave the woman alone with this unknown object. Taking up another soft brush, Satu bent to brush as lightly as Grace had, “Like this?” she asked, her words so willing to help, to please. And then she added conversationally, differing to Grace’s knowledge, “How old do you think it is…?”

[Archelon]

Thread Award "..." And the Results!!!!: Gracie : SkillName 1-5 How/why? Archeology 2 digging in the dirt counts Singing 1 Acrobatics 1 Stretches count Persuasuion 1 interrogation 1 Lores: Mysteries of the past may be hidden beneath the dirt. Satu : SkillName 1-5 How/why? Interrogation 1 Suvai 1 Stealth 1 archeology 1 using an archeologist's toolbrush Lores: Mysteries of the past may be hidden beneath the dirt. Would you like some extra turtle sauce ? : Interesting thread . Shame you lost your mod for it. Any questions,comments,or concerns please feel free to send me a nice pm.