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Thread: Blood Red Trees

  1. #61
    Legend

    EXP: 59,606, Level: 10
    Level completed: 51%, EXP required for next Level: 5,394
    Level completed: 51%,
    EXP required for next Level: 5,394


    Stare's Avatar

    GP
    150

    Name
    Avis Tsakaka
    Age
    16
    Race
    Kenku / Tengu
    Gender
    Female
    Location
    Corone
    “Do you have anything you need from me before I go though?” Nevin directed his gaze back to Vitruvion.

    The god paused, and looked up to Nevin before shaking his head. “If you need to go now, then at least take some breakfast with you,” he gestured at the table. “That or eat and I will prepare you a marble.”

    He saw the look of confusion in the humans eye. Grunting once, Vitruvion tapped Stare on the shoulder and then held out a hand. She blinked, and he blinked at her.

    You still have the longer distance marble from yesterday, yes?

    She gasped a little when she realised what he meant and dug into a pouch at her belt. From it she drew the darkest blue marble, but one that was dim and no longer beaming with light. When Nevin did not move Vitruvion gestured more fervently at the table. “Sit,” he insisted.

    As the marble in his hand began to glow again.

    Ventrua scowled before rising and grabbing a plate of her own. “Brother, you are always a spoiler of good fun.”

    Nevin slowly moved to pick up a plate and begin gathering food, he was not about to argue with Vitruvion in his own home. Even if he was edging into something more than human - well, Vitruvion had always been that way, and a disagreement between them would inevitably end with Nevin coming out the worst of the encounter. He swallowed nervously and nodded. He sat down and began to eat, his mind churning a bit as he did so. Abruptly he looked up, a strange look in his eye.

    "Now that I think a moment longer, I'd offer a trade with you, if you're interested Sir Ellsmith. I have need of, well, business help. I seek to force the alchemists guild in Radasanth to get rid of some of their more harmful practices. Perhaps in exchange for expertise from someone in your group, you would like me to prepare and provide a stockpile of healing agents, in readiment for the upcoming event at the Brewery?"

    With a raised eyebrow Vitruvion threw a glance at Stare. But Stare was … cautious, careful to not think about Nevin much, just that she would need to say goodbye to him soon, and trying to think of pieces of small talk. Like the weather. The states of the roads. How the quality of hemp had changed over the season … The god smiled with amusement for a moment, knowing that it was all to distract herself from what Nevin had said earlier. In all honesty, it was good the alchemist went now, today, rather than stay around and make this situation more awkward than it was.

    At least the boy had a girlfriend now, even if she was a cat.

    “Raevin is currently making his way over. He and others will be staying at my Radasanth home in Bottleberry Avenue … if you go to them they can help. I will inform him and he will be grateful of any assistance you can give.”
    Crows: Old nursery rhyme "One for sorrow, Two for mirth, Three for a funeral, Four for birth, Five for heaven, Six for hell, Seven for the devil, his own self."

  2. #62
    Senior Member

    EXP: 61,139, Level: 10
    Level completed: 65%, EXP required for next Level: 3,861
    Level completed: 65%,
    EXP required for next Level: 3,861


    Nevin's Avatar

    GP
    3,657

    Name
    Nevin Aimaparapoiitis
    Age
    22 / 37
    Race
    Human (Godling)
    Gender
    Male
    Location
    Corone
    He sucked in his breath and kept his eyes on Nevin for a moment, wondering of what really to say. “Alchemist … Nevin. You do understand the importance of the secrets here? The fact that I cannot control what the natural gods of this wretch of a planet … world will do to you if you say … nevertheless. You will be in danger from both them,” he paused, then decided to add. “And me.”

    His lips curled into more of a deviant smile, eyes glimmering for a moment with a hint of the power behind. Stare looked up to him, her eyes massive and startled, and he simply dismissed her.

    I am not his friend, just because he knows who I am, Stare. I am still me.

    Nevin raised his eyebrow and folded his arms together in the table, staring at Vitruvion silently for a long minute. When he spoke again, his tone was soft, matching Vitruvion’s.

    “I already told you, Vitruvion. I have no intention of spilling secrets that are not my own. Everything I learned in this house are the secrets of this house, and shall stay as such as long as I have control over my involvement in the matter. With or without additional encouragements or warnings, my lips are sealed on the matter. And as for the gods - what matter they to me? I grew up in Salvar, where I was ridiculed for wishing to learn magic to help others. Any concern I might have had about that lot is as dead as my - well. Quite dead.” Nevin slowly pushed his way to his feet and sketched a low bow to Vitruvion.

    “But I think I should not tarry here any longer. I have affairs to get in order in Radasanth, and I do still have to find out whether I properly have a girlfriend. By your leave?” He raised an eyebrow, watching Vitruvion carefully.

    The god rolled his eyes partly, feeling ire from Stare and entirely ignoring it. Turning to her smiled as he glanced at her again, as if her unhappiness made him more amused. He paused for about thirty seconds, letting Nevin hang there before he opened his hand. Within was a deep blue marble with an intensely beating heart of light.

    “Be quick,” he told Stare, holding it out to her. “We have things to do today.”

    Her body was tense but she took it and got up. Twisting around she left Ventrua and Vitruvion there, gesturing to Nevin fast.

    One minute you're actually nice, the next you’re a dick. You can be an utter bastard you know.

    Vitruvion chuckled a note of laughter as she left, actively trying to pull Nevin away. The god picked up his newspaper and went back to reading. All the while his sister fumed.

    “Sorry,” Stare said quietly, when they were far enough away. “His mood can ...change. Suddenly.” She flinched with worry about what the day would bring, but that was hers to deal with, not Nevin. So strange, the idea of Vitruvion loving her at the same time as his cruel methods.


    Nevin coughed and followed after her, wondering what on earth was going on at this point. He would have thought that Vitruvion would be thrilled to get rid of him, and instead it seemed like the man was using his departure to tease Stare? Or maybe dangling what she couldn’t have in front of Ventrua. Oh, Crimson. He had said where he lived in front of the blonde. He just hoped that her irritation with her brother was enough that she hadn’t been paying attention to him. He did not need a leggy, stacked blonde showing up while he was trying to figure out his feelings for a petite cat-woman. His eyes refocused on Stare when he realized she was speaking to him - at him, at first, but she wouldn’t know that.

    “Well.” He looked around, making sure that there was no one else but them around in the hall. “They do say that the whims of the gods are often capricious. I can only hope that whatever is happening to me doesn’t make me as flighty as all that. I have been feeling a bit more…. Agitated, of late. Perhaps that is a concern.” He frowned and rubbed his chin - then realized that his hair had dried enough from his shower that he could tie it back. He wasn’t working on any alchemy any time soon, but even so, he was used to having his hair tied out of his face and off his shoulders.

    As the two of them walked, he fished a thin cord of hemp rope from his pocket and began dragging his hair back and away from his face and neck, and began tying it up behind his head. He gave the finished ‘product’ a few experimental tugs, and nodded when the string didn’t come loose. An errant strand of blood-red hair did drift in front of his face, and he blew it away with an irritated huff. Minor grooming maintenance dealt with, his attention shifted back to Stare, who had watched all this with an amused eye.

    “What? It’s too much hassle to cut it.” He folded his arms across his chest and assumed a mock-affronted look. After a moment he broke it with a shake of his head and a slight grin. “Did you need something from me, Stare? Or just want to say good bye from Ventrua’s prying eyes?” The redhead didn’t bother mentioning Vitruvion - in all likelihood, the white-haired god was keeping an eye on this conversation through their bond.

    “Well I wanted to say goodbye properly? If I'm allowed to from one of my only friends,” her eyes danced with a happiness and the idea of friendship. For her it was the foundation of the better part of her life.

    She looked away as she opened one of the huge doors of the front entrance. Light burst into their eyes from the glorious weather outside, with a beaming bright sun ... and she found herself scowling slightly. Under her breath she muttered. “Vitruvion is now able to have influence on the weather now, and every day is warm. One day I'm going to moult.” Screwing up her face she was gone for a moment in discomfort, but then looked to Nevin.

    She paused, then held out the deep blue stone. “It's like the one I gave you before … ah yeah I need that back. Basically you hold it, think just that you ‘want to travel’ and it will get you to the place programmed … With Radasanth he has a habit of getting you to the harbour, out of the sight of people. And it only works the once. He has to 'recharge them’.” With an awkward look in her eyes she looked down, then back up.

    “I'll see you … I guess, later? I should meet … Eteri again.” She stood there in the bright light, the brilliance glinting off her still damp feathers.

    “Of course you are.” He shook his head. “There's no way I'd stop you from saying goodbye. That'd be pretty damn stupid of me.” He smiled slightly and shook his head. When she mentioned the other marble he blinked and began digging around in his pockets before finding it.

    He swapped them, picking up the new one with slender fingers and dropping the short range one back into her outstretched hand. He held it up to one eye and gave it a somewhat critical glare. “Don't know why, but I am not particularly a fan of this method of transit. I've dealt with a couple different kinds now, and I always seem to be ill afterwards.” He sighed and grasped it firmer before looking at her, then stepping forward and pulling her into a hug.

    “Be safe, Stare. I can't have one of my few friends dying on me. And I hope to have you over, maybe by the time you're free I'll actually know if Eteri and I will be together.” A final squeeze and he stepped back and away, the glanced at the marble held in his clasped hand.

    “So just think ‘I want to trav-whoa!” A wrenching sensation in the pits of his stomach and with a rather startled expression, he was gone, Stare alone now in the light of early morning.

    There was a flashing swirl around him, and Nevin felt like was churning end over end. He really, really hated teleportation magics. None of them seemed to fit quite right with him, and they always - he landed on his feet with a stumble, and had to fight back the urge to retch off the side of the pier. It took him a few moments to calm the churning in his stomach, and when it did finally settle he looked around..

    This stretch of the piers was thankfully deserted, with only a few ships sitting in their moorings. He was about to stand up and walk away rapidly, when he realized he recognized one. He hadn't realized that Lady Philomel was back in the city. He would have to swing by and say hello later.
    Last edited by Nevin; 01-03-2018 at 05:16 PM.
    - "We are born of the blood, made men by the blood, undone by the blood; Fear the old blood."

    Nevin: Formal, thoughtful, nurturing, bearer of tropey tentacles.

    "More threads! More! Threads for the Crimson Thread King!"
    A member of the NevCrew:
    Nevin: Thread count: please, don't try.
    Erik: Thread count: five or six. Maybe seven...
    Huntsman: seven. Maybe eight. Shhhhhhh.
    Telli' thread count: zero. I just can't get into writing the little hellion.
    Ronnel: Not even approved yet.

  3. #63
    Legend

    EXP: 59,606, Level: 10
    Level completed: 51%, EXP required for next Level: 5,394
    Level completed: 51%,
    EXP required for next Level: 5,394


    Stare's Avatar

    GP
    150

    Name
    Avis Tsakaka
    Age
    16
    Race
    Kenku / Tengu
    Gender
    Female
    Location
    Corone
    She watched with a growing sadness as he vanished into the portal of magical creation. His form slowly and gently melting away out of sight, into a world beyond that which she could grasp. Some shimmers of illumination, a couple of winking stars and then he was out of her life. Again. He who knew who she was. Who understood why she could never leave Vitruvion.

    It took her time to walk back into the house. Her footsteps were reluctant, and closing the door was hardier and the object heavier than she ever had noticed before. Gradually she came back to the dining room and slumped down in her seat to sit there, eyes dropping to gaze at her half-eaten meal. A soft sigh came from between her lips, and she was aware of quiet conversation happening between Vitruvion and Ventrua. A discussion of where they all sat now, a guarantee of truths and responsibilities.

    “The responsibility lies mostly with him now,” Vitruvion said. “I warned him of the consequences should he even hint to his … cat girlfriend. He knows of who is involved.”

    “Yes, all the gods of Althanas,” Ventura commented. “Well the major ones. The others had to really go along with their decision.”

    The white-haired man breathed in slowly. “Indeed,” he replied with a dry tone. “Do you actually remember if any fought against the decision, Ventrua?”

    The half-goddess shrugged. “I am not sure brother. At least you found …”

    And some other things were said, but Stare was not listening then. Her eyes slid closed, and she pressed her body to the table. So many things had happened. The discovery that Vitruvion did not hate her soul, but rather had a love for her. A love more than an owner to his possession? Likely. And Nevin - Nevin knew of everything now. What she was, where she had come from. Well, he knew everything apart from one specific secret, but she was never going to admit that to her best friend was she now?

    She paused. Best friend? Was Nevin really that to her? She thought of all the other good people in her life - Raevin, Mer … no, wait, forget her as a friend, Brer, Nosdyn - they were all friends but not in the same way as Nevin was … she thought. He had called her sister at one point. Maybe he could be that, a sibling to her. It wasn't like either of them really had one themselves. Well aside from Vitruvion but he was different in every situation.

    “Stare.”

    She barely noticed the word.

    A sigh, then, Stare.

    Hmm? she glanced up, eyes bright and filled with hope at the idea of a surrogate brother. Soon she would forget Nevin's admission that he had liked her more than a friend. That would forever be in their past, she was determined.

    Vitruvion had an eyebrow curved. “Right. Now, we have things to discuss.”

    It was then Stare noticed that Ventrua had gone. The half-goddess had left her chair and gone out of the room altogether. With a quick scan of her eyes the kenku found that she was not in the near vicinity.

    “Firstly, you are right, a relationship in your case with anyone would complicate things. Anything. If you need to have a brief connection with someone in the future, that we can discuss, but a relationship would cause too many problems. A conflict of loyalties for a start.” He paused, “So I forbid you from seeking out one, or having one. Call it your punishment for the idiot action with the fire.”

    The dull eyes bore holes into him. “I wasn't going to seek one anyway.”

    “Well, it determines where we stand upon it. And I will adhere to my own promise not to use you as I did in the Hollow. With that we have an accord. It is not your use to me.” He slid a hand smoothly to tuck hair behind his ear, and smiled delightfully at her. “Yes?”

    “Yeah,” she grunted in reply.

    His smile warmed.

    “We have to start organising how things will run now Raevin is not here. And ... I have a guest coming in a month. I need you to ready the house for him. I received his letter yesterday but obviously other issues became more important.”

    With that she looked up, brow furrowing. “A guest?”

    “One that I invited some time ago, but it seems he has time now.” He leant back, taking up his coffee. “He's from Hernsford city. The port.”

    Hernsford. Stare suddenly felt the blood drain from her face. “Hernsford?” she questioned, unbelieving. “You mean?”

    “The same one,” he nodded. “The only Hernsford, that there is. And the man who is coming is the very same merchant.”

    The one who had arranged everything for Vitruvion's official ownership of her. Stare groaned loudly, feeling ugly, horrible and sick.

    “He knows of who you are, and the circumstances, Stare. Our arrangement.” He straightened. “Anyway, what we need to do is …”

    And the next several hours were spent organising what precisely a visiting political official’s needs were, in a foreign city. From another that depended entirely on slavery.
    Last edited by Philomel; 01-03-2018 at 08:32 PM.
    Crows: Old nursery rhyme "One for sorrow, Two for mirth, Three for a funeral, Four for birth, Five for heaven, Six for hell, Seven for the devil, his own self."

  4. #64
    Senior Member

    EXP: 61,139, Level: 10
    Level completed: 65%, EXP required for next Level: 3,861
    Level completed: 65%,
    EXP required for next Level: 3,861


    Nevin's Avatar

    GP
    3,657

    Name
    Nevin Aimaparapoiitis
    Age
    22 / 37
    Race
    Human (Godling)
    Gender
    Male
    Location
    Corone
    Nevin let a long, heavy sigh as he pushed the door to A Single Drop open. He had been told a message about his greetings and well-wishes would be passed on to Lady Philomel, who wasn't currently present within the ship, off on some business he was not to know of. So he had simply thanked them for taking his message and left, making his way back to his store. Which was dark, and quiet. The alchemist closed the door behind him and latched it - he was in no shape or mood to deal with customers tonight.

    He slumped back against the door, his eyes drifting shut in the quiet shadows of the Alchemy store. He had become used to being around other people at this point, customers were constantly filtering in and out of the store whenever he had it open, and in the day he had business to take care of in the city. And for the last couple of days, he had literally been spending nearly every waking minute with his closest, dearest friend.

    Who was firmly set in some kind of relationship with a god. The warmth had been laced with a strong possessiveness, an almost desperate attachment, but it had definitely been love. Nevin didn't know what had happened to Vitruvion that the other god refused to accept it - the alchemist paused and went back over his last thought in his head.

    The other god? Nevin shook his head dismissively. Even if he was slowly transitioning in that direction, he was not a god, or godling, himself. Not yet. With a ugh, he pushed himself away from the door and began trudging his way into the back of the shop. He dropped his bags down beside his kitchen table and slumped down into a seat, staring across the table.

    “It's too quiet here.” He slowly dropped his head down into his arms, resting them on top of the table. He had no idea how long he stayed there - he wasn't sure if he fell asleep, or if the quiet darkness just held him in its grasp for hours. It was strange to him - he was a reclusive person, or at least he thought he was. So why, instead of just feeling alone, did he feel.. Lonely?
    - "We are born of the blood, made men by the blood, undone by the blood; Fear the old blood."

    Nevin: Formal, thoughtful, nurturing, bearer of tropey tentacles.

    "More threads! More! Threads for the Crimson Thread King!"
    A member of the NevCrew:
    Nevin: Thread count: please, don't try.
    Erik: Thread count: five or six. Maybe seven...
    Huntsman: seven. Maybe eight. Shhhhhhh.
    Telli' thread count: zero. I just can't get into writing the little hellion.
    Ronnel: Not even approved yet.

  5. #65
    Viator Mundi

    EXP: 155,108, Level: 17
    Level completed: 18%, EXP required for next Level: 14,892
    Level completed: 18%,
    EXP required for next Level: 14,892


    Shinsou Vaan Osiris's Avatar

    GP
    7,753

    Name
    Shinsou Vaan Osiris
    Age
    34
    Race
    Telgradian
    Gender
    Male
    Location
    Corone

    View Profile
    Stare receives 4225 EXP and 350 GP.

    Nevin receives 4460 EXP and 350 GP.

  6. #66
    Viator Mundi

    EXP: 155,108, Level: 17
    Level completed: 18%, EXP required for next Level: 14,892
    Level completed: 18%,
    EXP required for next Level: 14,892


    Shinsou Vaan Osiris's Avatar

    GP
    7,753

    Name
    Shinsou Vaan Osiris
    Age
    34
    Race
    Telgradian
    Gender
    Male
    Location
    Corone

    View Profile
    All rewards added.




    Raiera
    Last edited by Philomel; 02-06-2018 at 01:21 PM.

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