The Final Stand of Kauria

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DeletedUser13682

Uwe was glad that Lensni had approved of the choice of restaurant, as he had been uncertain about what place would best fit her while still being appealing to his palette. The list had been narrowed down to this seafood place and a barbeque one, and it was only from the flip of a coin that, fortunately, landed on heads. After ordering a Cornish monkfish with Riesling aperitif, Lensni asked about why he traveled instead of selling out of a fixed shop. That was a question that Uwe had been trying to figure out for a while. "I first started traveling as a necessity," he began, between sips of Riesling. "My mentor, Joseph Oppenheimer, had taught me so much about being an established merchant, and I felt that adequately prepared me to go out and see the world. So, shortly after I turned 18, I set out with what possessions I had left and began to make my way in the world. It was rough going at first, but I found my feet and now I'm doing fairly well for myself. I've gathered more than enough assets to settle down and open shop somewhere, but I haven't had the desire to." Uwe paused to try the monkfish; it was very well cooked and the spices were well balanced and enhanced the flavor. "I haven't found a reason to settle down, I believe. There's so much to see in the world, and I hope to get my fill of it before I settle down. I don't know how much of the world I'll need, but I'll find out when I get there." Lensni's difficulty in questions jumped yet again with her asking how he'd gotten such a quick head start on earthquake protection. It took a few bites of monkfish to determine just how much he could answer without revealing too much, but he finally figured something safe enough. "I've encountered many types of people in my travels, some of whom I've become good friends with. One of my friends is a Havren smith. By coincidence, he's also journeyed to the Unity Games with several other smiths. When news of the earthquake hit, they immediately started designing and fabricating solutions. He sent word saying that I'd be allowed to distribute their product, if I desired. In this case, it was only several fortuitous meetings and coincidences that provided me that opportunity." By this time, Uwe had finished his meal and ordered a grasshopper digestif. "Now, I'd like to hear about you. Why did you choose to open a café? It's very lovely, but I wouldn't have guessed you a café owner, Lensni, if I'd only passed you by on the street."
 

DeletedUser28032

After deciding to go with seafood Srilm led them to a restaurant with a reputation for producing some of the finest seafood dishes within the city by blending styles and flavours used throughout the continent within their food.
With Srilm refusing to use her power and influence to jump the queue; something that earned her more than a few brownie points in Drael's book. The trio seated themselves down in a corner away from most of the other customers, in amongst whom Drael thought he'd seen the human trader from the night before with a Nuseni woman. Once seated they ordered their meals with Drael opting for a smoked fish dish flavoured with Dramoran spices whilst Draenor opted for traditional Nuseni dish that caused her brother to raise an eyebrow in surprise "Draenor...you do know what you ordered right?"
"Yes...well...I think so... its fish right?"
"oh its fish alright" Drael said with a chuckle as he raised his glass to sample his wine leaving Draenor with a worried look on her face that said she was half considering running after the waiter.

"Being unknown has its own problems Mother" Drael responded to the Matriarch comment "...we get saluted by every Dramoran soldier we run into but whenever we try to use our titles nobody believes us" he said with a laugh. Although in certain towns within the human kingdoms Drael still held some infamy within certain circles as a pit fighter, not that he was going to bring that up in such surroundings and company.
It was at this point that Srilm revealed that whilst he and Draenor had been ordering that she'd received a message asking for her to return to the embassy where it was safe which caused Drael to silently scoff at the remark, She’s far safer with me than she'll ever be with a retinue Drinden guardsmen he thought to himself with the look that Draenor gave him saying that she knew what he was thinking and should keep it to himself.
The other part of the message was that despite their best efforts they were still none the wiser as to the origins of the insects that had attacked them "They must have come from somewhere a species like that doesn't just appear from nowhere...you don't suppose they're related to what happened at Vulx?" he asked though linking an exploding mountain and a species of sentient insects was perhaps a stretch "perhaps I'll be able to send word home and see if there is anything mentioned in our histories about them" Drael suggested already suspecting that his people would be none the wiser as to the creatures origins.
 

DeletedUser37114

Katarina
Kat looked woozily over at Roni as the woman grudgingly agreed to go with Jokir. Now they could all get some rest and safety. The Stillblood noted that she'd need some support, though Kat wasn't exactly in any position to provide that to her, with as sick as she felt. Fortunately, Jokir seemed more than able to help them both out, despite being poisoned himself. The awkward situation attracted more than a little attention, but they made it to the embassy without any real incident. A Shade was manning the desk inside, doing some sort of magic thing with the shadows around him, but Kat didn't especially care. She took a chair out of the selection by the entrance, apparently placed there for guests. It was surprisingly comfortable, more so than it looked. Though, of course, that might have just been her aching arm and nausea talking. Jokir handled the actual talking, going on and on and on in the Shade language. Kat just curled herself up into the chair, wiggling her tails around in an attempt to get comfortable. Like most furniture, of course, whoever made these chairs didn't have tails in mind. Finally, Jokir informed them that they were welcome to stay the night as guests, though he needed to go rest, then walked off. They were welcome to come talk with him, of course, but if he was resting it probably wouldn't be a good idea to disturb him. Having seen what kind of abilities the Shade apparently had, Kat was more than a little nervous about getting on his bad side now. So she just focused on curling up into the comfortable position she'd found on that chair and trying to ignore the burning ache and wooziness.

Having sent out messengers using the shadows, the Shade who had been manning the front desk walked around to talk with his guests. Eyes wide and a smile on his face, he asked, "Is there anything I can do to assist you? I am sure your cycle could be more comfortably on a bed than a chair, for example. And fresh bandages for you, miss? Maybe food? I am unsure what you would find pleasant to eat, but we have some supplies in the basement for guests such as yourselves." As Roni accepted the bandage offer, he disappeared, leaving Kat curled up on the chair. Reappearing with a large supply of rolled bandages, he began to quickly and efficiently strip the old ones away from her normal leg and apply the new, chatting all the while. "These wounds are very interesting, I'm assuming that you would have obtained them from these new creatures the Esteemed One described." He finished with her normal leg moved on to the metal leg as he continued to chat. "It's amazing that even your metal leg is bleeding too, are those creatures that strong? It appears they are not fast enough to harm the Esteemed One, except by surprise..." The chat would continue along this vein until he'd finished patching up any wounds or scratches the woman had, including her missing finger. Any interruptions would be smoothly worked back into the chat, almost as if the interruptions were never made at all.

Inn
As Kitten sat there with her cloud of misery raining on her, she heard a voice asking if she was alright. Just like her voice. It was so familiar, that she couldn't help but respond with the same well worn lie. "I'm fine, I'm fine, I just..." And then it hit her that this wasn't her girlfriend she was talking to. And her throat closed up as the tears came flowing faster. She dimly registered the other girl talking to her, but she couldn't bring herself to look over, let alone tell her that she'd done fine. She would have known that, known that she got off more on the control and her partner's enjoyment than... She felt arms wrap around her. Feronia's, they had to be. But she leaned into them anyway. She needed some support now, nobody could begrudge her that, could they? So instead of brushing her away, like she should have, Kitten let the other girl comfort her. Eventually, her sobs died down to sniffles and then just enjoyment of the feel of another person's arms wrapped around her. She liked being held, liked the feeling of being in someone's arms, it made her feel... safe. Happy. Warm. But Feronia deserved an explanation, the poor girl probably thouhgt it was something she did. Or didn't do. "Sorry, you did fine, I really enjoy making someone I... like... feel good and... just..." Her voice ground to a halt as she thought through how she wanted to say this. "I have a girlfriend. That's who I was meeting here, when she makes it through..." If she made it through. If those things didn't make it to the camp, if she didn't get hurt coming through, if, if, if... "So uh... I'm sorry, for leading you on like that and then... uh... cinders, that was your first time, wasn't it? Neither of us should have gone that far and, uh, I'm sorry, uh... you... you okay?"
 

Deleted User - 819397

Despite Kitten's initial attempt to say she was fine, she started crying harder. Feronia knew at this point hugging her had been the right thing to do, though she wasn't sure exactly why the Kitsune was sobbing. In time she quieted, only to tell her she had done fine before following it up with the fact she had a girlfriend. "O-oh..." the Stillblood managed as Kitten went on to explain that that's who she was waiting for and apologizing for leading Feronia on. "I...I'm sorry too...I...this isn't normally me, I don't know why I didn't realize what was happening and back off. I'm usually really good at that..." She felt awful now. She was of the firm opinion that someone didn't cheat, ever...and she'd been a terrible influence on the Kitsune she was still hugging...the young woman had asked her if this was too much, trying to get her to stop...and she hadn't. "I'm...just as much at fault as you...um...you...you can blame me, if your girlfriend finds out...I don't want to be the cause of any long term problems..."

Gods damn everything...here she was trying to keep her own pretty ideals and she'd gone and ruined them for not just herself but Kitten as well. "Is...is there something I can do to help at this point? I know I've screwed things up, but...if I can help make amends I will..." People deserved to be happy, be with someone they loved, living how they wanted...and this had thrown a wrench in the Kitsune's plans for that, obviously. If Feronia could help, she was going to, and damn it all.

It was as she was getting back to cursing herself that the Stillblood started slightly, an idea popping into her head. "I...I just realized...you, um...didn't mention my...my leg. Don't get me wrong, I'm really happy you didn't, but...I mean, my memory's a little hazy there, but...I don't think you reacted at all..." She didn't know how to phrase the question she wanted to ask, and talking more without asking would just lead to circles and issues. So she shut up, hoping the unspoken inquiry would be understood by Kitten...otherwise she'd have to awkwardly explain herself further...


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Park

Anna looked at Tekki with a shocked expression as the Nuseni burst into tears. "I-I'm sorry...I was trying to help, answer your questions..." the young Human looked on the verge of tears herself as she continued, "If you're here, then maybe there're other fishy people somewhere? I didn't go outside the shelter for a while. There were a couple fishy people in the shelter, but I don't know if they're ok. I didn't see them for a long time. But if there were a couple there, maybe there are more?" It seemed almost like she was grasping at straws, trying to get the nice lady to calm down and stop crying...or else she was going to start crying, and that wasn't going to be any fun...she'd cried enough when she realized her thumb was gone...she didn't want to cry more, but she could feel the tears coming...

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Srilm

Drael confided that being lesser known had its own issues, which Srilm accepted with a nod of her head. "It's a problem no matter what your station if you aren't recognized when you need to be, I won't deny that. Still, it's a little tiring to have people wait on me hand and foot as if I was an invalid. I can still handle myself in most situations, I haven't gotten that old just yet...though to be fair I was horrifically unprepared for the attack, so perhaps there's something to be said for having someone around." She sighed. "Of course, if I was a common person I doubt I'd've been attacked in the first place...so in the end there's no true 'better' path. I suppose it all depends on how we handle the cards we're dealt."

The Drinden Matriarch considered the option that Vulx' explosion had to do with the strange creatures. "I can't rule the possibility out, however much I don't believe it...two very unusual occurrences in as many days...it would also corroborate with the story you told me this morning about a Stillblood blaming Vulx for what was to come. Which implies the Stillbloods might know something we don't...I'll have to talk with them first thing tomorrow. Anything you could bring to the table would be most welcome as well, of course...it's completely possible the creatures were desert-dwelling...even the sands can't stop the trees from growing so there'd be vegetation enough...though of course with claws like that I can only imagine they eat meat..." Srilm laughed a little hopelessly. "What can I say? It's frustrating being on the side that knows nothing about the situation...although it looks like our food is here now, so we can put the unpleasantness behind us for at least a while." Their meals had indeed arrived, and after the waiter had departed the older woman smiled at the Dramoran siblings. "Please, dig in...there will be time for conversation afterwards...for now, just enjoy."

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Lensni

The Nuseni woman listened politely as Uwe talked about his upbringing and why he chose to travel, and paid a little more attention to how he'd responded so fast to the earthquake. "Interesting...a very fortuitous cycle of chances then. You're a fairly lucky person it seems." She seemed about to say more when the Human moved the conversation on to herself, asking how she'd decided to start a cafe in Torpolis. "Oh dear, there's not too much to tell, honestly. Grew up in a small village in a lake, fairly typical, all things considered. Family ran a cafe, and I learned how to help from a fairly early age. Turned out I had a bit of a knack for it, improved on recipes, that kind of thing. Made a trip to Torpolis for the games eight years ago and saw that most comparable shops seemed to be of a lower quality than what I was used to. I made the suggestion I open a branch of the family shop here, my father didn't seem to think that'd be a smart business venture." She chuckled, smiling a little. "I was a little headstrong back then and decided I was going to prove him wrong. Pooled my money, rented out the space I have now, and did well enough that even my father had to admit he'd been wrong." Another laugh, this one a little more earnest. "That was a fun letter to read, let me tell you. Asked if I'd consider making my place a chain, told him no. He had his chance, and I wasn't about to give him a solid portion of my profit every month just for the family name. Most people here wouldn't even know his cafe anyway. He's still mad at me over that, but he'll come around." She smiled at Uwe. "Not quite as lustrous as your tale, rags to riches wasn't exactly my path. Still, I'm proud of what I've managed to make of myself out here...not the most popular place in Torpolis, but definitely not the least." Lensni was silent for a moment, then asked, "so Mr. Lundhof, did you have any other plans for this evening, or was dinner as far as you thought?" Her question was casual, no implications in her tone. She was legitimately asking what he was thinking as opposed to hinting towards expecting anything. Another test it seemed.

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Embassy

This. Was. Torture. Why had Roni agreed to this? The receptionist was all smiles, asking if there was anything he could do...beds, bandages, foot massages...he'd do it all it seemed. Ok, maybe not the last one, but the vindictive part of her wanted to try. Still, one look at the makeshift bandages Kat had wrapped around her wounds told the Stillblood they needed to be changed...her bleeding had all but stopped now, so clean ones should last a while. After informing the Shade of this request, he walked off to procure it. "I hate this place..." Roni grumbled once it was just her and Kat. "I can put up with just about anyone...Shades just are too damn polite...none of it sincere of course, but still..." She shut up by the time the guy walked back in with the bandages though...torture being here might be, but he was at least helping between all the smarm.

I regret asking him for help, Roni thought to herself about five seconds later. the Shade apparently decided making conversation was ok, which was correct...or well, it WOULD be if he didn't do so in the most irritating way possible. And why the actual HELL was he referring to Jokir as the godsdamned ESTEEMED ONE? That alone was enough to make her desire to leave overpowering, but she resisted...at least until she was rebandaged. The Stillblood's exact scenario from earlier played out as he went on to be pleasantly surprised even her metal leg had been damaged, though of course they weren't good enough to hit the fricking precious esteemed one. "The leg's a part of me, can't exactly remove it...and if the fight had lasted any longer, he'd've..." The Shade was talking again. What. The. Fricking. HELL. That was it, she had to get out of here. Any longer and she'd be saying things she would completely mean but wouldn't do her any favors. As soon as the moron was finished, Roni managed to get a "thank you," out before standing up quickly, wincing and almost sitting right back down. Looking over at Kat, who looked fairly miserable, she stated, "I'm leaving. You're welcome to stay here, they said we could...offer of an inn room still stands though if you come with me. The poison'll work its own way through you, not a whole lot anyone can do for you there. Either way, I've got to go. I've got someo...somewhere in mind to spend the night where I'll be comfortable." It took all her effort to end her statement there...she so wanted to lay into the self-righteous idiots...but no...too many complications if she did. And the last thing she wanted was any more delays at this point...
 

DeletedUser13682

Uwe listened and slowly sipped his grasshopper as Lensni told her story about how she ended up a café owner in Torpolis. It was a fairly normal story of a young woman wishing to prove her talent to her family, especially her father. She had been a large success and made her father eat, well drink, his words about the guaranteed failure of any Nuseni culinary enterprise in the city of Torpolis. Daddy Flendls had wanted a piece of that success, but he was rebuffed, and that anger could be felt to this day. She finished with stating that her story wasn't as illustrious as Uwe's own, a misconception he would have to correct eventually. "Please, call me Uwe," he responded after Nuseni had finished and asked what he had planned after dinner. "My father was.. Mr. Lundhof. And I don't think that my story is as illustrious as you think it to be. My mentor was doing well for himself. He actually tried to persude me against leaving. He believed that I was throwing away a lucrative career for a brief foray to the next town over. But I'm still traveling to this day. He knows I'm doing alright now. But I haven't had much contact with him since I left his shop." Uwe finished his cocktail and thought a moment about his answer. The question itself was lacked any hint of expectation that was usually inherent in such a query. But this time it was different. Lensni was showing nothing but neutrality; it was giving Uwe an extremely difficult time at reading Lensni and what she was expecting. But Uwe had been in such tricky dealings before, and had come out on top at least once. He believed he would win this one, he had faith about that one. After a moment, he came up with an answer. "I have several ideas in mind. If you want a more upbeat time, I know of a nearby bar that's very popular around this time. If you prefer a more subdued evening, I still have a few bottles of alcohol remaining from my last circuit. There's a nice, lovely waterette from a Drinden village in the snowy north. An oinos from the wine dark seas that's said to cause visions. I can't verify that claim myself, but there are a few anecdotes to support such a claim." Uwe's shrug was the end of his part of the conversation, allowing Lensni to make the final decision.
 

DeletedUser31931

(OOC: In Aluilleish (name is a WIP still) ‘w’ is a vowel, similar to Welsh. Since theirs is a vowel based language, this will probably happen with a couple of other letters so stay tuned).

The room was quiet. As Jokir sat motionless on the floor, anyone whose gaze could pierce the blackness of the room would only see the slight rise and fall of his chest that indicated that he still drew breath. In the inky darkness that pervaded every corner of the room, the shadows swirled around Jokir, flitting from one corner to another. To the casual observer the room seemed dead, empty, a void of being. To Jokir, as he sat with his eyes closed, tuned in to the flow of the world, the room teemed with energy. The room around him was filled with it, bursting at the seams. He could feel it, the nectar of life that sat around him and as his muscles relaxed he felt the energy begin to seep into him. It was a nice feeling, a calm feeling that allowed him to be at one with the world in a manner which Shades could never quite achieve. The Aluille found in life a wholeness, an unswerving purpose and a call to duty which they could not shake.

They were always a part of the world which they inhabited and they were away of the creatures that they shared it with, they had existed when the creatures had scurried, curling in piles at night for warmth. His kind had witnessed the first humans as they stood up off of their four legs and used two. Had watched the Nyf as they took their first steps down from the mountains. Seen the Nuseni emerge from the waters and stride onto the land. His kind knew the world, knew its feeling and they were at one with it. But they were never quite as joined with the world as Jokir was now. When a Shade sat in the darkness, with nothing but the light of the moon, a Shade knew the world as it truly was. He could feel things, sense things that were hidden to him. The slight vibration in the floorboards, the wind as it quietly whistled through the building, the basic shift in temperature. In this single moment Jokir… was. He did not concern himself with thoughts of the day, of the creatures, of Roni and Katarina and whether they would stay or leave. Instead, Jokir sat upon the floor and he felt the world and experienced it. He could taste the energy around him and as it whizzed, unending in its supply Jokir let it drift into him. As his mind floated free, the pain that had been caused by the poison began to fade even as it remained in his system. It was rare for a Shade to experience time like this, true time.

Wieiwhoeur. The Hours of Introspection. The word that was given to the time of recovery. When a Shade pushed himself to the physical limit of his magical abilities and used all of the shadows that were available to him he had two options. The first was to cease magical combat and rely on physical strength. The second was continue using magic. The second one, however, came at a price. The Aluille were formed of magic, beings sculpted from shadow into living form. Their entire body was made, composed at its very core, of magical energy. It was this magic that bound them together, sustained their physical form. Their magical energy grew over their lifetime, increasing their strength, until on the 120th year of their existence, the energy became too much and the Aluille’s form, unable to contain the energy stored within, dissipated. What this meant, however, was that Shades were magic sources for themselves. If a Shade ran out of shadows to fuel his magic then he was ultimately reliant upon himself. He could use his own body as a mana source. His own life energy. This was what Jokir had done. His magic was highly energy consuming. Though the conjuring of weapons was relatively cheap, moving them was an altogether different story. When a Shade started doing what he had done, using his own life as a mana source, then things began to become complicated. At first it wasn’t really noticeable. They would be slightly translucent, maybe their skin would be visible. As one went further, though, the problems increased at an exponential rate. One would start to fade as the energy that tethered oneself to the physical realm was used up. This was what had happened to Jokir; this was why, if he wasn’t wearing any clothing, you wouldn’t be able to see his shoulder at the moment.

There was only one cure for such an exertion. Thankfully there were no long term ill effects from the practice but in the short term, recovery time was very long and the only way to recover was what Jokir was currently doing. The shadows were the source of life for a Shade and in this way they survived fairly easily. Night would always come but this was better for Shades. Not only did this offer the chance for rest but it offered the chance for wiew. As a matter of fact, some Shades would have a Alueel like this inside their house so that, at night, they could contemplate thing. Many Shades would also meditate under the moon, preferring the outdoors. Jokir had enjoyed both but for now it was primarily rest that he needed. Feeling his strength slowly restore he drifted into his memories.
 
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Apelatia

Well-Known Member
What had happened to her? This excursion to Torpolis had started out as a simple sightseeing trip/survey. The reality had been all the more difficult... Bleeding limbs from mysterious sources, a strange mountain eruption followed by an earthquake, and now the loss of the Nuseni from the land? Though usually able to maintain a calm and positive demeanour, this was all a bit too much at once... Tekki sobbed into her hands for short time, part of her wanting to dive into a body of water and find some underwater cave to let out her whirling emotions. It was not long before she was drawn out of her despair again by the sound of Anna's pleading voice. The little girl had clearly not been expecting anything like this, and Tekki realised that perhaps by bursting into tears she had disregarded her duty to this child. She was the one who had lost her thumb, after all, and at such a tender age. Even if the Nuseni were gone, she would deal with it, and whoever had brought about such unnecessary death would be dealt with. For now, Anna was her priority. Finding her somewhere safe was her duty right now. Pulling out her face once again, Tekki smiled weakly at her young companion. Her face was still tear-stained, but she had lost some of the grey pallor that had previously settled over her countenance. Still smiling, Tekki spoke in a comforting voice. "You did well to answer all my questions, little one. Now we have both cried, haven't we? I think that means that we understand each other." Tekki took a slow, deep intake of breath, then continued. "Finish up your treat, my dear. I am going to take you somewhere safe so that you can spend the night without worrying." Part of Tekki wanted to immediately speed off to attempt to make contact with her people, but that could wait for now. Leaving a young child alone was an unforgivable crime, as far as she was concerned. Anna was the priority. That said, Tekki had not yet decided what to do with the girl. It was not possible for her to become her guardian. The girl would have to be given into the care of someone who could look after her. Perhaps she could decide that in a bit? ...or maybe Anna would have something to say about it? Tekki straightened her back, and watched as the little girl finished her iced snack. When the girl was almost finished, Tekki wiped the tears from her eyes, before speaking. "So, Anna. What would you like to do now? Would you like me to take you to someone who can look after you until we know where your parents are?" She would await a response, before making up her mind about what to do.
 

DeletedUser37114

Inn
As Feronia explained that she was sorry too, this wasn't normal, and how she'd take the blame if, if, she found out. As if that were ever up for debate. If Kitten tried to keep this a secret from her, she'd figure it out in under a week. No. And piling the blame onto Feronia was just as bad. "There's not really anything you can do to help, plus taking all the blame is a no go. I'm more at fault than you are, I should have known what I was doing, I initiated, and I'm not going to lie to her about it. She'll decide what to do from there..." That was a bit of a scary thought, actually. They'd never promised that they would never stray, but the implication had been there and she wasn't sure how the woman would react. Kitten had been more than a little possessive of her in the past and she wasn't sure if that ran both ways... Feronia spoke up again, saying something about her leg, how she didn't react, as if there was some reason she should. "Your leg?" she asked, thoughts still rushing through all the different possible reactions she might have. "Is there something I should have reacted to?" She hadn't noticed anything unusual there, so what could the girl be asking about? That moved her thoughts in a different direction, mainly toward how hungry she was feeling. It was sort of starting to move toward evening, her partner was usually hungry after fun time... "I'll bet you're hungry, want some food?" That was more of a rhetorical question than anything else, since she followed it up by wiping her face and bouncing up off the bed toward the door. It wasn't like she was fine already, far from it, but the trip would give her some time to process and hopefully refuel a bit. Barring any commands to stop, she'd be out of the room and on her way downstairs in no time at all. Feronia probably needed some space anyway, she'd been through quite a lot in the last few days.

Embassy
Kat's memory started to turn hazy as the pain and exhaustion of the day began to catch up with her. She watched with dull eyes as the Shade came around the counter and started talking, though figuring out what he was saying was too much effort. Then he left, came back with bandages and started helping Roni, with actual bandages this time. That reminded her, she should probably check on her shoulder... A quick peek at her shoulder revealed large red blotches, like fresh flash burns, should probably put a salve on those when she got back. She always kept a supply, working with fire had its dangers... when had she been working with fire, though? She didn't remember actually casting anything besides that flash of light when those creature things attacked so why...? Figuring out the answer was too much effort. Returning her attention to Roni, who she needed to keep an eye on, better to make sure that the woman was okay and... something else. Something about the Stillblood owing her something. She wasn't keeping up with the conversation between Roni and the receptionist either, something about an esteemed one and that metal leg and... The Stillblood looked right at her and said she was leaving, that she was welcome to stay here or that the offer of an inn room stood. And... something about the poison and how she had to go. Kat didn't quite keep track beyond that point. She didn't want to get left behind though, the woman owed her a night at an inn apparently, and inns in Toropolis were nice... most had free food... "Wait," she groaned before wobbling to her feet. "I'll come with you, need to..." she wasn't sure what she needed to do. Something to do with Roni. Either way, she wasn't going to let the woman leave her. But when had she ended up next to Roni? And when did they end up outside? She vaguely remembered seeing the Shade receptionist opening the door, following Roni out...
 

Deleted User - 819397

It seemed Kitten wasn't willing to hide the fact she'd cheated on her girlfriend, saying she'd just tell her what happened and hope for the best. She still sounded worried about this approach, but there wasn't any helping it. Feronia wasn't willing to do anything without permission in this scenario, so if the Kitsune wanted to take the flak that was the end of the discussion. The Stillblood WAS, however, completely taken aback by the utter dismissiveness of the tentative question about her leg...it was an anomaly, something that absolutely everyone commented on...and yet somehow Kitten had completely overlooked it. Something was up there...though before she could probe, the young woman mentioned getting food before leaving without another word. The fact she'd left without waiting for Feronia to get dressed told her she was going alone. Not unexpected, but still a minor slap to the face. For her part, the Stillblood just sat in her bed, trying to clear her head. That had taken the cake of events the last few days...she'd thought she'd been working to get the woman who knew SOMETHING about what had been happening to open up...but had she really? She might have just been deluding herself...plus, she didn't do that...she wasn't like the people back home...and then she'd gone ahead and potentially ruined a relationship. Good job, Feronia...good job...fairly unhappy with herself, she fell back onto her pillow. She did need to eat, but she'd give Kitten enough time to get her food and get out...no sense making it more awkward then it already was.

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Park

Anna looked somber as Tekki pulled herself together. "I'm sorry," she said again, but didn't elaborate this time. She dutifully finished her iced treat when prompted, then gazed at the Nuseni woman as she asked probably the most difficult question yet. "I...I don't know anyone here. I'm not supposed to talk to strangers. I know you. You're nice. C-can't I stay with you?" Tekki's expression looked like an answer enough, but still the young Human waited for a verbal confirmation. She didn't know anyone else in Torpolis save the woman in front of her, and leaving her felt...scary somehow. She didn't want to leave her for now, but...if Tekki thought it was best, she would. After all, she was a nice adult, she could trust her...

------------------------------------------

Restaurant

Lensni smiled slightly as Uwe laid out a couple options before asking for her opinion. "Always prepared, I see." She was quiet for a moment, considering. "I must confess I'm not much for the party scene, and if we went there it'd be too easy to lose track of time, which would be a poor choice since I need to open the cafe tomorrow. However, I have enjoyed conversing with you, Uwe. If you're willing to sacrifice some of your supposedly legendary wine I would not be averse to continuing our discussion." The Nuseni businesswoman closed her eyes, then shot him an aside look. "Of course, with such high expectations cast upon it I shall enjoy discerning if it's truly worth that praise. Shall we then?" It was up to him to determine whether or not she intended to come with Uwe purely for wine and talk or not, but regardless she had evidently enjoyed herself enough to be willing to extend their evening beyond dinner, so he had done something right, at least.

------------------------------------

Streets

Roni almost immediately regretted giving Kat the choice to come with her or not...the girl was still in a bad way because of the poison, and they were embarking on a cross-town trip. Not that the Stillblood was doing much better, but she was choosing this herself. She'd more or less influenced Kat into coming, and that she felt bad about. "Feel free to lean on me if you want, I'm a little more stable than I was," she told her Kitsune companion. They moved fairly slowly through the streets, Roni guiding them with purpose despite their pace. A couple times they made what was, according to the young woman, a wrong turn, a couple curses mixed into the description. They were making terrible progress...Roni didn't have a ton of strength at the moment, Kat didn't look like she was doing much better, and it just wasn't much fun for either of them. It didn't help that the Stillblood kept walking past other inns. If the girl next to her pointed them out she'd deflect, saying something about it only being a tavern, it being known for its bed lice infestations, it being out of business...any number of excuses could come forth when prompted. The layout of Torpolis had changed somewhat since the last time Roni had been in it, as evidenced from the missing medical station from earlier, so her normally keen sense of direction was off enough to cause some problems in reaching her intended destination. Not that that was going to stop her. She'd nearly died a couple times and forced to tolerate the damn Shades for a while...she needed to know if the day was getting better...or far worse. One way or another, she wasn't going to give up now that she was so close. If it weren't for Kat's state she'd've tried to keep up some sort of conversation to distract herself, but it wasn't much of an option when the Kitsune was a little out of it...
 

DeletedUser28032

Drael hadn't considered the idea that the Matriarch could have been targeted having simply assumed that they'd just been in the wrong place at the wrong time. But now that he thought about it those insects made for a very effective assassination weapon and the Matriarch’s death would have caused more than a little disarray within the Drinden ranks which begged the question as to whether they really were a race or simply a weapon?
With the arrival of their meals Drael put aside all thought of the mysterious insects as he started to eat. Though if this meal was anything to go by then he may just have to start eating fish more often as this was very good indeed.
 

DeletedUser31931

(OOC: Aluilleish is now called Alurhaile – Literally translating as Language of the shadows)
(OOC: Parts of post relating to Dramoran society and culture discussed and cleared with Braet).

Memories flashed through Jokir’s head. He stood within the confines of his own mind and images, portraits of the highest possible quality stretching out in front of him infinitely. Memories. The entirety of Jokir as a person, every event that had been, every moment that had brought Jokir to the place where he stood now, his Cycle. It stretched out before him, infinite and yet compressed in a single moment. He stepped forward and a portrait flew towards him, landing in front of him. With a slight smile, Jokir stepped through the painting and his mind filled with images of years past, of things that he had lived many years ago.

“You worry too much!” The girlish laugh permeated the room. The voice was belonging to a female Dramoran and she stood, resplendent in a white dress. Jokir smiled into the wall, keeping his gaze fixed. His hood was down, a sign of intimacy between a Shade and another person, and his head bore the black solid hair, fixed in the style that Jokir wanted, that all Shades had. “I still can’t believe you’re doing this.” He chuckled as he spoke. “A wedding incorporating an element from every race on Kauria, only you would come up with something quite as mad.” The girl returned the laugh and lent in and gently kissed the side of his neck, causing the Shade to bring his neck in. As Jokir went to turn his head to return the favour he found his head obstructed as she placed a hand on his neck. “And that means all of those elements. No peaking at the dress! Not until next week.” Jokir sighed and muttered something under his breath in Alurhaile. “What was that?” The inquisitive tone was accompanied by a nip of his ear. “Nothing, just moaning humans and the customs of their Cycle.” With another laugh, he heard some rustling behind him and then a closet door closing. “It’s safe to look now!” They were staying in Jokir’s house for the moment which he had bought shortly after he’d become the official Shade ambassador to the Dramoran Vult Clan (even if they didn’t precisely call him as such). That, combined with his other… duties had meant that he’d be living a more settled lifestyle than most which had led to him making the investment of purchasing the house. It hadn’t started as much but he’d called in a couple of favours and had the place done up properly and now it looked like a proper house. It had a main entrance room, a small kitchen in case of guests, a bedroom and the top of the house opened up to be a veranda. Of course, tucked away under the stairs to the roof of the bungalow, there was also an Alueel but that went without saying. As Jokir looked round, he gazed over the form of Marjanna Vult, his bride to be. Though Shades didn’t have an innate sexuality, they did appreciate beauty and Marjanna was most certainly beautiful. Unaffected by the tail and other features that other races found off putting Jokir found himself entranced in her firm, toned body and the ripple of her powerful muscles as she moved, lithe like a dancer.

Jokir’s thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. Standing up, he went to get the door as Marjanna put on her regular clothes. He opened the front door of the house to find a snarling Dramonan who went to muscle his way inside the house. Jokir, however, stood firm and the Dramoran snarled at him. “Let me see my sister, foulblood.” Standing to one side, Jokir watched cautiously as the Dramoran stormed his way inside the house. Exiting the bedroom, now fully clothed in her regular outfit of loose fitting desert clothing, a look of surprise crossed Marjanna’s face as she saw the other Dramoran. “Foze? What are you” Marjanna didn’t get to finish her sentence as her brother shouted at her. “How dare you?! Does honour mean nothing to you?! Marrying him!” Foze jabbed a finger in Jokir’s direction. “You’ve always been interested in other races but this is a step too far! I can’t believe father is allowing this! Seems I’m the only one in this family who’s willing to stand for some semblance of order. You’re leaving.” Foze went to open his mouth further when he felt a tap on his shoulder. Spinning round he launched a fist at Jokir which the Shade easily dodged, stepping backwards. “Keep out of this foulblood! I’m only not killing you because you’re the advisor.” The last word was dripping with scorn and Jokir stared at the man for a moment and the shadows in the room seemed to flicker as something near to rage crossed in front of Jokir’s eyes. “I know what I’m doing Foze. And I don’t give a damn about your bloody honour. It’s time we stopped pretending that Dramor can continue on its own. Sure Clan Vult might be doing fine now, holed up in Dehja making weapons to export for humans as its primary source of business but we’re not going to adapt if we don’t bother to try and integrate with the other races.” Foze’s only response was to growl and mutter under his breath. “Pathetic foulbloods don’t deserve integrating.” Jokir coughed politely and Foze spun round with an angry “What?!” Jokir calmly examined him. “I would like to propose a way to settle this conflict.” “And what are you going to do for me, foublood?” The words were spat across the room, disgust evident in his voice. “I would like to propose a trial by single combat. No magic shall be used, except for summoning my weapons. Not to the death but to the point where one of us has the other defenceless and is able to kill him or one of us surrenders. If you prove victorious, I will renounce the marriage and forgo any ties with Marjanna. If I prove victorious, however, you will not only renounce all opposition to the marriage, but you will give it your full blessing as the brother of the betrothed.” A look of horror crossed over Marjanna’s face as Jokir spoke his terms and an evil smile crossed Foze’s. “Hang on a minute! Don’t I get a say in this?!” Marjanna rushed out the words in a desperate attempt to stop it but it was too late. “Not anymore sister. Your beloved has proposed a pact and I am more than willing to accept. You’ll have your duel Shade. A week from now, the fighting ring two streets from here, sunset. Don’t be late or I’ll assume you forfeit.” Without another word, Foze strode out of the building. Marjanna ran to Jokir and smacked him across the face as the door slammed shut. Jokir winced slightly as her hand connected with his face. “Don’t you have any idea what you’ve done? He’ll trounce you!” Jokir grimaced but he extended his arms and hugged her. “If you break the pact between the two of you now… that’s an act worse than murder here.” Jokir squeezed her. “I know. I know what I’m doing. I will win the duel, trust me.”
 
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DeletedUser37114

Inn
Kitten kept moving as she left the room, making sure to close the door right after she made it out, and move downstairs with a reasonable amount of speed. The place was crowded, of course, with serving folks weaving between tables carrying trays of steaming food. Dinner tonight was some sort of soup and bread dish, not what she would have preferred. It was the height of summer, serving a cold weather dish like this was insane, but she wasn't going to turn it down. Especially when the heat of a dish like this wouldn't bother her at all. Besides, it smelled better than she would have thought. Since she didn't feel like dealing with Feronia's colleagues, Kitten slipped over toward the kitchen, running into a skinny, greying lady who turned out to be the head cook just inside the door. Explaining that the food was for both herself and Feronia got her a smile and a tray with a pair of meals and left her well on her way back up to their rooms in a shorter time than she would have believed. "I've got food," she called as she maneuvered her way through the doorway and into the room. The sight of Feronia just sprawled out on the bed was... unexpected. The girl hadn't gotten dressed yet, much to her guilty enjoyment, and was just laying there looking miserable... was this her fault? Should she have stayed a little longer? Maybe waited for her to get dressed before running down for food? Setting the tray on the floor, Kitten sat down next to Feronia's head. "You okay?" she asked, her voice soft. "Sorry, I should've waited for you to get dressed and come down with me, shouldn't I?" She wasn't sure when it had happened, but her hand had started stroking Feronia's hair. Probably not a great idea, but it would probably make the girl feel better. She didn't want to end up doing any more things she might regret, but Feronia was obviously not okay, as much as she would deny it. And even if Kitten's conscience was having a field day with how much she'd screwed up already with this girl, she'd feel even worse if she didn't at least try to comfort her.

Street
Roni said something about leaning on her, how she was more stable, which was obviously crap. The woman couldn't have been that much better off than she was, she'd had a difficult time walking earlier. So why was she leaning on her as they walked through city? And why were they walking right past a decent inn? She'd eaten there before, on a whim after a particularly good day and... Oh, the beds were apparently really awful. And another one over there... which was apparently out of business, which was odd considering the number of customers going in and out. She really wanted to check that one out, but with Roni walking onward and her not trusting her ability to find her again if she let go... She was sweating too, she couldn't remember that last time... the last time she was sick, actually. It felt really awful to be super sticky like this, and she was probably getting sweat all over Roni, which was kinda gross, though the woman didn't seem to be complaining. She wasn't talking, must be trying to focus on figuring out where they were going, finding a decent inn, so Kat couldn't exactly complain. The burning sensation in her shoulder had started to fade, which was good, though the rising sensation of nausea wasn't. It really wasn't. "Roni, I kinda need to sit down, or I'm really not feeling..." She hoped she wouldn't have to explain that bit, she was, "feeling bad enough about sweating all over you already and needing support and..." Did she just say all that out loud?
 

DeletedUser31931

The days had slowly counted down from that fateful meeting. Marjanna had tried not to show her worry but Jokir had picked up on it nonetheless. The wedding planning had proceeded regardless, Jokir determined not to let the impending duel ruin their special day, especially given how much effort Marjanna had put into it. Foze, for his part, had refused to even speak to the pair with Marjanna desperately attempting to bargain with her brother. Jokir had awoken one night to find her missing and had found her sat on the doorstep of her brother’s house. That had been last night and now, as the sun began to lower in the sky, Jokir stood on the sandy floor of the arena. Marjanna sat in the audience, her and her family being the only audience for the fight. Foze apparently knew the owner of the arena and had been able to ensure privacy for the match. Marjanna’s father seemed to already be trying to console her for Jokir’s eventual loss. Across from Jokir, on the sandy arena, stood Foze. His Dramoran Sword shimmered in the moonlight and Jokir stared across the sands as a gentle breeze blew through the arena, ruffling his outfit. He’d had to secure special permission from Clan Vulx to allow him to use magic in the settling of the duel to summon his weapons but as he stood across from the other man, Jokir wondered about what he was doing, and not for the first time. Still, now that Foze’s sword had been drawn there truly was no returning from this point. “You know the rules foulblood. We fight until one of us surrenders or one of us executes a killing blow upon the other. I’ll try not to finish my killing blow, though I make no promises.” Jokir nodded calmly, merely observing his opponent. With a cry Foze charged at Jokir. The shadows whipped to Jokir and a steel quarterstaff appeared in his hands, the entire body of the staff covered in the film of shadows, Jokir’s hands seeming to mould with the weapon. Foze reached his opponent and took his first swing, and Jokir reacted. Stepping backwards, he spun the quarterstaff, bringing it up so that it blocked the katana, the loud clang echoing through the metal arena. As they pulled apart, Foze and Jokir locked eyes, Foze’s face burning with hatred for Jokir. “Imagine when you lose Foze.” The words were calm and measured, Jokir’s tone neutral and maintaining the lyrical flow of an Aluille. “Marjanna will be my bride, my conquest. All because you were unable to stop me.”

With a snarl of “I won’t.” Foze went to plant a kick on Jokir’s chest. The Shade, however, sidestepped the attack and sent the quarterstaff flicking up, catching Foze in the chest, sending the Dramoran stumbling backwards. Shaking himself off, Foze launched himself again at Jokir, his swings made wild with anger. Jokir blocked the blows, being steadily forced back. As Foze went to extend his reach, Jokir blocked with the quarterstaff and pushed the blade backwards, using a sudden increase in momentum to force the Dramoran off balance. Slipping his staff between the blade and the Dramoran’s arm, Jokir felt the sting as the blade sliced into his shoulder. Ignoring it, however, he flicked his wrist out and the quarterstaff spun, connecting with Foze’s hand. The Dramoran cursed and stumbled backwards, dropping the blade into the sand. Jokir’s left shoulder stung and as he gripped the quarterstaff a pain shot through his left arm. Dropping the weapon, he let it dissipate into shadow as a sword formed in his right hand. Standing up, Foze looked at his own blade and at Jokir, who stood gripping the hand and a half sword, ready for Foze to strike. The two hesitated for a moment, warier of the other’s abilities now that they had clashed blades. Foze could dive for the weapon, but that would expose himself to Jokir whilst Jokir could advance but, should Foze get past the sword, his weak left side would leave him exposed. Foze, deciding that taking the initiative was the better idea, charged forwards and Jokir went to match. Rather than going for his own sword, however, Foze kept going as Jokir moved forwards, intending to charge his opponent. Realising the change in the Dramoran’s intentions and, unwilling to take the risk that a blow would stop the Dramoran’s charge, Jokir dived to one side and the sword slashed out, catching the back of Foze’s calf as Jokir rolled away. Keeping on rolling, Jokir let the sword fall out of his hand between him and Foze, hoping to use it as bait. Picking himself up first, Foze dived for Jokir’s sword. He grabbed it and leapt at Jokir, bringing the sword down on the Shade. As the sword went to make contact, however, it dissipated and flowed back into Jokir as shadows and Jokir rolled to one side as Foze hit the dirt. Jokir pushed himself off the ground and lunged forward, his fist slamming down towards the Dramoran’s throat, pausing a few inches off of Foze’s throat. “I win.” The words were calm and neutral, in the same tone. Marjanna jumped over the fence and ran over as did her father. Foze could only stare at the spiked knuckle duster that sat with the tip resting on the top of his neck, ready to plunge in. He had no choice but to admit defeat.

Jokir stood up and walked away from Foze as the Dramoran lay on the floor in shock. “Get back here foulblood!” The words were shouted across the arena as Foze picked himself up off the floor. “I demand a rematch! That was” Foze was interrupted as a fist connected with his jaw. “You damned fool Foze. He beat you. Now honour your promise and legitimise our marriage.” Marjanna’s words were angry. “This is what I’m talking about. You let your hatred of the other races rule you and you let him get on top of you. If we don’t adapt to work with the other races and if we don’t treat them with the respect that they deserve, then idiots like you deserve to lose.” As Marjanna stormed away from her brother, the shadows in the arena slowly spun around Jokir, coating his upper body, and he felt the wound in his shoulder close. With a brief nod to Marjanna’s father, he slowly made his way out of the arena, leaving the family to be with one another. He knew, despite his victory and despite Marjanna’s best attempts, that he would never truly be accepted and he was at one with this. He loved Marjanna and so long as they did not openly oppose the marriage, he could live with their dislike even if it did sting. The Dramorans and the Shades had many unclosed wounds and though the Shades had never openly participated in what had widely become known as the Dramoran Invasion Wars accusations had always been levelled, squads that had vanished on patrols in the woods at night, supply caravans that had never made it to their destinations, poisoned water supplies. The Aluille didn’t fight wars conventionally and to the Dramorans this was seen as a dishonour. The fact that they were made of magical energy only made them more suspect. Beings whose very existence seems to contravene the Dramoran code and society who appeared the whole world over, made from shadow. It wasn’t a surprise that many hated them. Foulblood was a phrase that applied to every non-Dramoran race but Bloodless was an insult reserved for Aluille and even then it was reserved for those deemed the most dishonourable. Still, Jokir thought to himself as he walked out of the ground, I’ve shown my strength and beaten Foze, forcing him to give the marriage further legitimacy. Finally, I can be with the woman who loves me and who I love. I can bring her into my Cycle and then we can join together, true to the Shade custom.
 

Deleted User - 819397

Feronia started a little as the door to her room opened, but her attempts to cover up ceased when it proved to be Kitten...she'd seen everything already, so no point in being shy about it. It seemed the Kitsune was back with food for both of them, which offset her lines of thinking completely...the young woman wasn't mad at her, why'd she bring her food if it were otherwise? This thought was further proven by Kitten putting the food down before sitting on the bed, stroking the Stillblood's hair and asking if she was ok. Again with the mixed signals, it seemed...despite having revealed her girlfriend and her own trauma over having cheated on her, she was still willing to be fairly intimate...which was all sorts of messed up. "I'm fine...was just...my kind are a little freer about sex than a lot of others...our reproductive rates suck as it is, so they encourage it...part of the reason I left was I was sick of getting propositioned by strangers...I didn't want to just jump into bed with someone I didn't know...I always wanted it to mean something...and I'm not blaming you, I'm just as at fault, but now not only have I gone back on that, but I've thrown a wrench in your relationship. I just don't get why I more or less gave in to the desires so quick." Feronia sighed. "Still, what's done is done...I was also afraid you were mad at me, so I'm glad that's not true. I'll throw something on real quick and then we can eat, ok?" As she sat up to start looking for where her clothes had gotten off to, turned away from Kitten, rubbing her eyes as if to clear drowsiness from them. The moisture that came away from her face was quickly pressed into the sheets in hopes the Kitsune wouldn't notice. No sense dragging the mood down any further.

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Restaurant

The rest of the meal went amicably, everyone eating with obvious relish. Srilm paid for everything as she had said she was going to...she'd invited them out and although it had been more interesting of a night than what any of them had expected, she still wanted to uphold that. They had left the restaurant and were on their way back to the Drinden emissary when a scream cut short caught their ears. Moving as quickly as her age would allow, the Matriarch followed the sound to see...more of the creatures who had attacked her, three of them this time, more lightly armored and more agile looking. One was standing over a prone figure, the darkening sky not quite hiding the crimson pool forming around it. The other two were darting at a woman who was incoherently sobbing. Srilm raised her hand to interfere only to have the triumphant insectile being notice and move on the trio. The Matriarch turned her attention to the attacker, who had very little time to react before the adjacent building promptly grew a long tree branch and skewered it. The elderly Drinden stumbled and nearly fell at the effort required, and it seemed the damned thing wasn't dead, as it hacked off the wood before resuming its attack. The woman on the other end of the alley's crying had stopped, and the other two creatures were now approaching. "Drael...Draenor, I hate to ask you to protect me again, but..." she panted, legs trembling from the loss of energy from her spell. "And please...see if either of them are still alive..."

--------------------------------------------

Streets

Kat wasn't doing well. She needed to rest, apparently. Judging from her rapidly rising temperature, Roni agreed. Plus, despite her bravado, having a Kitsune who was practically fully grown lean on her after the amount of blood she'd lost was taking its toll. She helped the girl to a table at an outdoor cafe and ordered them both water. "I'm sorry, I know it's hard," the Stillblood intoned. "I promise it won't be too much farther. There should be a good place within a couple blocks from here, we'll try to reach it once we've both recovered a bit." Damn this wasn't ideal...the poor girl had chosen to come with her, probably to make sure she stayed safe, and here she'd been dragging her all over town. She needed rest, not this. Thus, when the waiter came back with their waters she excused herself and pulled him aside, asking him a couple questions. When she returned, she set into her drink with gusto, then informed her younger companion, "I was right, the place I trust most is about another quarter hour away from here. We don't need to get there immediately, but once you feel up to it, we should get it over with, ok?" She wanted to keep going now, but Kat didn't look like she'd be able to comply with that desire...and Roni was a lot of things, but cruel to those who had shown themselves to be friends was not one of them. She could wait for another few minutes...right?
 

DeletedUser13682

There was a pause that would seem worrisome to quite a few people, but Uwe had interacted with people long enough to understand that this pause was a quiet contemplation and only indicated that a decision was being formulated. It was a common sight customers gave shortly before the conclusion of a deal. After a few moments, Lensni finally made her decision, opting to retire to his hotel room, to discover whether this mystical oinos really did contain the ability to induce illusions within the heads of those who consumed it. "I have a nagging feeling that the oinos isn't quite as potent as its makers claim. I've still managed to offload more than enough to make a nice profit, with the understanding that there's no guarantee that its claims are completely based on reality. Unfortunately, there hasn't been word sent back to me about the oinos from anyone who's bought it. I'm loking forward to finding out its true qualities." Uwe asked for the check as a group of Drinden passed by. "Two of those Drinden are diplomats. They're staying at the same hotel that I'm staying at. We might run into them there. Interesting people, those two. Not sure who the third one is, but I would guess that she's a diplomat or politician of some sort. Are you ready to go?" Uwe offered up his arm and walked with Lensni back to the hotel. The night had grown comfortably cool, at least for Uwe, but if he thought that Lensni was feeling the chill, he'd offer her his jacket. "You've done some impressive things with your life so far, Lensni," Uwe started, in an attempt to fill the walk back to the inn. "What of the rest of your family? How have they carried out their lives? I'm sure they believe they've done interesting things as well. Have they actually led interesting lives?"
 

DeletedUser28032

The meal had been enjoyable and Drael would certainly look at returning should he ever have the chance to do so; even Draenor was pleasantly surprised by how good her meal was once she got past the concept of tentacles.
Despite his best efforts Srilm insisted on paying for the meal in its entirety though Drael was sure to leave a pair the fat Dramoran coins upon the table as a nice surprise for their waiter before following her out onto the street.

It was as they were escorting Srilm back to the Drinden embassy that the evening was split by an ear piercing scream. With hands already on their blades the siblings dashed around the corner to find three more of the strange insects in the process of attacking a group of people. However unlike the ones they had encountered earlier this day theses were lighter armoured and seemed far more nimble; though even that armour was impressive as one was skewered by a tree branch only to cut itself free and re-join the attack within minutes.
Drael and his sister needed no instruction from the Drinden Matriarch to know what needed to be done as they drew their swords as one and moved to engage.
The battle was fast paced and deadly as the five combatants became a blur of motion with nothing more than minor injuries being inflicted with the insects seemingly impervious to pain.
High on battle lust and eager for the challenge of defeating such fearsome adversaries as these, Drael didn't notice the ground becoming slick with the creatures blood; a result of him severing a limb and Draenor removing an eye during the course of the battle, joined by the plethora of tiny nicks they had all suffered. Had he noticed this small and seemingly insignificant detail then the battle may very well have taken a different course but alas fate had a different plan in store for him.
Ducking to avoid losing his head as the half blind creature took yet another wild swipe at him Drael spotted the opening he'd been waiting for as one of the insects exposed a weak spot in its armour. It was as he was making his lunge that his boot slipped upon the blood slicked ground; dropping him to one knee as his blade found flesh at last. Unable to extricate himself from this precarious position Drael could do nothing but watch as his sword arm was neatly severed at the elbow with his life only being spared by Draenor's timely intervention; driving the creatures back to re-group before attacking again "Well... that was unexpected" Drael muttered as he casually shook his severed limb from off of his sword so as to wield the blade with his left hand; an inconvenience but not one he couldn’t overcome "Drael, we need to get you out of here the...the Drinden...they could..."
"No Draenor, it is over...I'll never make it as far as the embassy and you know it...now...I'll hold them back whilst you get Srilm to safety"
"No Drael! Please! There must be another way"
"THERE ISN'T! Now go! Warn our father, warn our people...a storm is coming and we need to be prepared if the Dramoran race is to survive!" he roared pulling himself back onto his feet as blood continued to pour from the unnaturally clean wound.
Sobbing loudly, Draenor fled the alleyway and then hopefully the city to carry out his instructions, he could have made her promise him but there didn't seem to be any need, his death would render any such obligation null and void anyway.

Later they would find his corpse beside those of the insects, his hand still clutching the hilt of his sword; the blade having long turned to dust as he stared blankly up at the night sky. But that was later. At this point in time Drael Va'Naharis the future heir of clan Naharis stood his ground against a far superior and numerous foe with a smile upon his face. The pain in his arm had faded away to nothing more than a dull ache and before him the evening sun burned blood red as it slowly sank into the shadows of night as Drael's final day on this earth came to an end...today was a good day to die
 

DeletedUser37114

Inn
Feronia's reply about Stillbloods was about what Kitten expected. She'd known about the race's preferences when it came to sex, she should have known Feronia would have some hangups over that. The bit about it meaning something stung particularly bad, as much as she wanted to protest that, it wasn't going to make it any less true. She was normally the same way, getting naked with a stranger just sounded weird to her. As the girl proposed that she should get dressed, Kitten almost protested, a reflex from her own relationship. But it would be weird to insist that Feronia eat naked so that she'd have a great view and easy access to... Yeah, that would be a bad idea. So instead of doing something else she'd regret, Kitten turned her back to give the girl some relative privacy, moving down to the floor and grabbing a meal off the tray. It was probably a good time to start making repairs as well, couldn't leave Feronia miserable if she could do something to help. "I'm not mad at you, you haven't done anything wrong. My girlfriend always told me I knew exactly what to do to get her going." It was hard to keep a note of pride out of her voice at that. Not when her partner had jokingly told her that she hated when Kitten was in the mood to play because that meant they'd both end up naked in no time, regardless of her own mood. "So don't blame yourself for giving in, I know I got you really riled up." She ripped a hunk out of her bread and dipped it into the soup before stuffing it into her mouth. Probably still too hot for Feronia, but plenty nice for her. It was really good, too, the soup needed more salt, but that was just about the only fault she could find. "Food's really good, you should try some," she called back, trying not to look and see what was taking the girl so long. Better to keep temptation at arm's length.
 

Deleted User - 819397

Once Kitten had turned her back, Feronia rose and headed to where her work clothes had gotten off to. She'd just slipped her underclothes back on when she realized that she wasn't supposed to be working for the rest of the day, nor did she feel up to it. With that obstacle out of the way, there was really no cause to wear the fancy suit with its lack of free motion. Instead she made her way to her drawers, grabbing a loose top and a pair of her typical casual pants, cut off at the knee as she preferred. It didn't take long to opt out of socks, but she still lingered before heading over to where the Kitsune had busied herself with her food, especially since the young woman was explaining how her girlfriend lauded her for her ability to get her riled up, and that it made sense that the Stillblood had fallen prey so easily. Sure, she could say that, but that didn't excuse the actions...Feronia could have done any number of things to stop what had happened, and she hadn't...expert lover Kitten may be, but that was for the missing girlfriend, not her.

The Stillblood was knocked out of her musings by a suggestion that she come have food. Not wanting to appear rude after the Kitsune had gone out of her way to bring the meal up, she limped over to her tray, sitting cross-legged across from Kitten. The soup was still a little hot for her, but it did taste good...Dawn's cooking pretty much always did. She ate silently for a moment, taking small bites to compensate for the heat, then spoke up, voice soft. "I'm not sure I should be asking, but...what causes the weird wounds that you and the Stillblood from last night have? Is that something your girlfriend will have when she shows up? Or, no..." she fell silent for a moment before backpedaling. "I shouldn't be pushing right now, I know it's not something you like talking about...I'm sorry. Um...why don't you tell me about your girlfriend? What's she like?" It's not like shifting to the topic of the conspicuously missing partner was a good choice, especially not when Kitten had been going out of her way to minimize conversation about her, but it was fricking hard to come up with a conversation when everything she knew about the woman was either tied to something she didn't like talking about or the fact that she'd blown her mind in ways that Feronia didn't really want to discuss at the moment. At least she was trying to make conversation...that had to be worth something, right?
 

DeletedUser37114

Inn
Kitten mostly focused on her meal as Feronia finally came over to join her, apparently having changed into something more casual. It made sense, the girl wasn't likely to be doing any more work today, and the outfit looked much more comfortable than her uniform. The new lack of a view was disappointing, of course, but... temptation. She should probably steer the conversation to something safe, something light and impersonal. Maybe talk about the food or Feronia's job or something. But before Kitten could get the chance, Feronia broke the silence with something about as far from safe as she could have, asking about her wound. And whether her girlfriend would have something similar. She hadn't thought about it, but odds were pretty good that if she made it through at all, she'd end up missing something. Possibly something more significant than just an ear. She didn't know, they were probably refining the process, but... The Kitsune's face paled as Feronia backpedaled to what might have been the next worst thing, what her girlfriend was like. Swallowing carefully, Kitten set her bowl down to try to compose herself, have some semblance of a conversation. "The thing is... uh... I... Kinda..." C'mon, you don't need to answer that second part. Deep breath, just ignore it, explain your ear...

"The process they used to send me over has some side effects," Kitten found herself saying. "There's only so much space for you and if any part of you is sticking out..." One of her tails flicked down in front of her and she mimed shearing off the tip with her fingers. "My girlfriend will probably have something similar, end up losing a hand or a bit of a foot but hopefully... uh... nothing... important..." She didn't want to talk about this, didn't want to talk about the possibility of her partner being maimed like that. They'd survived long enough just traveling together with only a few scars, it didn't seem fair that escaping would hurt them both more than that... It just didn't seem fair... Conversation, Feronia will think something's up, steer things away... "So what's it like working here?" she asked, her tone cheerful and obviously interested in anything Feronia would tell her. Kitten picked up her food again and began to wolf it down instead of taking smaller bites, making it clear that she wouldn't be answering except in grunts and motions. Not the smoothest segue she'd ever made, but not the clumsiest either.
 

Deleted User - 819397

It seemed that Feronia's questions only served to unnerve Kitten, to the point she lost coherence and visibly paled as she considered how to answer. This was unusual...typically talking about someone's significant other was a source of stress relief, something easy to talk about and reminisce over, especially when the two were close. Seeing as the Kitsune had been willing to wait with a bleeding head wound for her girlfriend, it wasn't a stretch to imagine how close they were...so why was she so nervous talking about her? The confusion only deepened as the young woman instead turned to answering the first question the Stillblood had posed, which she'd figured would be far harder to discuss. It would seem however they 'got here' had some gimmicks and if anything went wrong, you simply lost a part of yourself. It was a macabre concept, and one that Feronia hated on a level she couldn't articulate...it was that kind of circumstance, one without choice, that had robbed her of her natural leg. It was an awful thing to think about, and one that the Stillblood would have never expected to learn from her informant without a lot of pressure. Especially when Kitten was explaining in a calm tone that she expected her girlfriend to be missing something more crucial than an ear...how the hell could she be so dispassionate about that? And why in the world was it so easy to talk about when normal conversation about the missing woman was too touchy of a subject to consider?

Before she had a chance to voice these thoughts, the Kitsune changed the subject once more to something unrelated to her girlfriend, asking Feronia how it was working at the inn. Frowning now, the girl responded, "It's alright, Adin and Dawn are nice enough bosses, even if they do tend to coddle their employees. Not a big people person, but I do enjoy cooking so they tend to have me in the back...that way I'm still helpful without being forced to interact with hundreds of customers directly. All in all I can't complain, especially not when they give me this room on top of everything else so long as I keep working." The Stillblood was silent for a moment, taking the opportunity to take another few bites of food, then looked up at Kitten a little intently. "Why is it you're so reluctant to talk about your girlfriend? I've been trying to help get your mind off things by guiding the conversation to something that should be comforting to think about, but you've been downright dodging the topic every time it comes up. Hell, if you're more willing to talk about how she might be injured than say anything about her..." Feronia's tone softened, her expression taking on a concerned look instead of the frustrated one she'd held. "Is there something I can do to help? It's just...it's rare you find someone who's so unwilling to talk about someone they love...typically it's the opposite." She wasn't sure why she cared so much, but if apocalyptic topics were more comfortable for Kitten than her girlfriend...that was really, really weird...and seeing as the Kitsune had been so freaked out about cheating on her, she cared enough about her that most people would have loved the chance to gush...something was up.
 
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