aionchat | Pleroma Only

Entry tags:

Pleroma Only

Hello.

[ The voice is clear, and despite the fact that she's rarely spoken through communion, surprisingly clear, and with no lack of authority to her tone. ]

I have discovered that there are some among us who have come into some sort of magic, or abilities, since arriving. Some even have a gift from before they arrived, that has thus gone unutilitzed. [ Rand. ]

If we are to be at war -- to win against a foe with greater resources than we have, then we should utilize every advantage possible. I know I've spoken to others here, who have a great deal of competency with the arcane. I believe it would be best, if we pooled our resources, to teach those among us who are not so practiced. Whether it is powers granted in this realm, or... [ said with a bit of a laugh: ] simply magic, there are methods to make them simpler to call, or with practice, they can take less effort to use.

While I'm no professional instructor, I have advised others on the use of magic when they were new to workings before, and any sufficiently trained magister can instruct another on at least the basics, and I think we should do so before we find ourselves on the field again. Even if you are practiced with your gift, I am sure there is worth in working together, to learn how our respective talents can work together, before we allow each other to be exposed, or even worse: injured or killed.

[ A pause. ]

Consider this a...statement of intent, if you will. I normally favor staying in Godsblood, but given the...volatile nature of unpracticed magic, I think I will find myself an appropriately sized clearing near Greentruth, if others wish to join me. A scant few days of instruction, if you will. I do not think it will be hard to find, if you are in the vicinity in the next few days. If others are willing, perhaps it will be of use, to make this regular for practice.

[ ooc; I'll be intending to put up something of a loose open log for magic-based folks to collaborate/help out any characters who are just coming into new powers, want practice or instruction, or just want to strategize with magic-related combat in general later this week! ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Was it always this easy? She wondered. If she had made the effort, back then, would she had been living a different life altogether? She wasn't keen on falling back into old habits, given everything that she'd lived through, but the fact that someone was just simply asking her if she wanted to join him on a journey -- to find information?

It's almost... astounding, how she finds that she does like it. Being asked to be a part of these things, part of the grand design, instead of the opposition to whatever direction the waves are moving. ]

Yes, I think I would be. I suspect that if there are scholars there, I could learn quite a bit from them. I also have a great deal of knowledge, if it is of interest to them -- although I don't know how interested Seekers would be in tales or stories from another world.

I'd value your perspective, if you're up to it when the time comes? It might be a bit before we're ready, but... when there's a quiet moment to start thinking about going-- I'd like it if you were there.

[ for a variety of reasons, not least of which is he thinks that it would be good for her, too - a thought that seems emboldened by the expression in her eyes as he watches her now. he can see it, a sense of contemplation in her gaze that reminds him of the depth he'd seen in them while traversing her memories weeks ago.

and as they reach the crest of the incline, Abel's destination seems obvious: a small seating area overlooking the city below, a resting place for busy folk to take a breather among the din of Godsblood under the shelter of several trees providing shade from the sun.

Abel is gesturing for her to take a seat and make herself comfortable, smile at his lips. ]

Now~! Here we are... please make yourself comfortable, would you?

[ She nodded in acceptance of the offer. ] I think that would be useful. You can consider me on-board, when the time comes. Thankfully, I don't seem to have that much happening, so I'll be perfectly one board when the time comes.

[ That seemed to settle that, at least. She had been so used to doing things alone that she hadn't even considered roping others into her own investigations. Catherine would have told her it was obvious, perhaps...but Akua was simply different than the other woman. Greatly so, really.

She smiled, when they crested the hill, and — it was a beautiful sight, wasn't it? ]

What a view. [ She commented, as she moved to sit where he'd pointed. ] Do you come here often?

[ he waits until she's made herself good and comfortable before sinking beside her; Abel doesn't wait overlong before digging into the bag he had brought with him, pulling out a little tin filled with various fruits and some dried cheeses (haphazardly sliced, but one needn't pay attention to such details). ]

Ah... yes, actually-- this is one of my favorite places to take a breather! It's quite breathtaking at sunset, too...

[ Abel has always been fond of a good view, had a healthy appreciation for sights like this one. there is something comforting about it, he feels - the spread of life ongoing beneath them. ]

Where do you find yourself spending most of your time, Miss Akua? Is there somewhere in particular you like to go to unwind? Horos can be a rather gorgeous place to explore, so I'm a bit curious!

[ Akua eyed the cheeses -- noted the way they were cut -- but Abel is lucky that she likes him -- and so she didn't say anything. ]

Mm, I suppose... [ She considered, for a moment. Akua hadn't chosen any haunts -- and really, had she ever? She'd always been so focused that the next thing, the next, most important thing, always preoccupied her time. Whatever workstations she'd set up had always been the place she had been -- and while she'd seen marvels... she'd never taken enough time to well and truly appreciate them. ]

I've mostly frequented the places I've been scrounging together money. [ She admitted. ] I've explored a bit from above, but...

[ Wait, above? ]

[ oh... wonderful, she truly is too kind to him, do not make fun of his completely professional knife skills. bless u,

but that definitely does earn a quizzical look. at first he assumes she means metaphorically - like bigger picture? - but maybe she means magic...? ]

Above? You don't mean... ah. Literally, do you?

[ ......DO YOU, Akua?! ]

[ Akua smiled a mysterious smile. ]

I do mean it literally.

[ She does not elaborate. ]

Have you been walking all this time?

--What do you mean?! How are you going to go and... and say it like that, like the alternative is--

[ he's growing flustered, leaning in a bit and looking at her pleadingly. AKUA?? ]

Just how have you been getting around, exactly?!

[ Akua, with an ever-mysterious smile says: ]

Oh, I can fly.

Now where is the wine...

[ So casually, like it's nothing. She certainly doesn't have wings. ]

Oh! Oh, she says. She can fly, she says. No, no-- no wine, I'm afraid, until we clear this up. Mm?!

[ in fact!!!!! he is now plucking up his little offering of snacks

and maturely holding it just beyond her reach with his lanky arms. wow!! finally a use for these things...!! ]

[ Holding it out of her reach, she looked at him, and her nose scrunched up, a little miffed. ]

Cruel! [ Her tone was teasing. ]

Very well... [ A wave of her hand. ] I'm a sorceress, it should be no surprise that I can turn into a swan, if I want.

[ Ok, it was a power that had returned, but still... ]

Oh! Right. Why didn't that occur to me? A swan, yes, that's perfectly normal and natural in the grand scheme of things.

[ see, this is why they get along..... they can talk about the most dire of subjects

and also tease one another with flawless transition. perfection. ]

Are you telling me this is something you can do on command...? Just-- turn into a swan. A swan? Why a swan, also? I have a great deal of questions about all this if you couldn't tell.

[ Akua smiled, a touch of mirth in her eyes, when he started going on about it.

Well, of course it wasn't normal, but Akua could admit, she didn't think it was normal to do this, at least not in this way.

When she'd last taken the form, she'd been a shade, able to change her appearance because she was dead, not a flesh and bone body. ]

It's a form I chose, when I was... incorporeal, and I wanted to move around. [ With her poise and posture, Abel, would she be anything other than a black swan? ] Apparently I still thought of it here, and... I can do it again.

[ it's talks like this that make him realize how much he has to learn, how big a gap there is between his life experiences and those around him. but it isn't intimidating or frustrating as much as it awes him.

the world is a fascinating place. his world had been filled with wonder, too - but Horos and all the worlds represented by the Aions in its midst... it's truly something else. ]

I can't believe this is just something you can do, [ he's still going to be Dramatic about it?? that's a given. ] But you chose it? You mean, you had some agency over what you could turn into?

I --

[ She paused. ] I did when I was home. I could have chosen any form, but it seemed...fitting.

[ She straightened, slightly, and placed her chin in her hand. Akua was nothing if not pretty, and choosing a swan would be the choice to make. ] I was dead, after all. I could change what I looked like, as well, you know. When I was dead.

Less now.

[ Then, she rolled a shoulder. ] I don't know if I so much as chose it, as... perhaps I knew instinctively what I would want to be? I lost the ability when I regained my body, but... I have the form once again.

[ instinct... yes, that seems about right from what Abel knows and understands about their existences as 'Aions' here. so much seems to come to them as instinct, and those who had no supernatural or magical abilities, no extraordinary skills, seem to develop things that come naturally to them... like an extension or growth of their person.

it makes him wonder...

but he reaches for the wine and glasses she's brought, and he will do them the service of beginning to pour as he keeps the container of snacks between them, no longer holding out on her. ]

What is it like? To fly above the city like that unknown, it must be beautiful. Terrifying! But beautiful, I'd think.

Terrifying?

[ She asked, her eyebrow lifted. ] Maybe it's because i was dead when I first did it, but it's not really... all that scary. It's simply another mode of transportation.

[ To be fair...from the things she's seen, flying isn't really all that impressive. ]

It is beautiful, though. Especially at sunset, when the sun reflects on the water, and the boats are all in the harbor, so all you see is this... long stretch of unending water.

It reminds me of home. Most of us have never traveled across the Tyrian Sea.

...That truly does sound gorgeous.

[ there's a creep of admiration and awe in his eyes as Abel clearly begins to picture what Akua's described; flying above the world, bathed in the orange-and-pinks of the setting sun... it is incredibly vivid an image. it's been a long... long time, but he can still recall what it is like to feel so free.

he's passing her a glass with a little smile. ]

Are you fond of the water, then?

[ She raised the glass in a small salute, before she took a sip. ]

No, but it's...novel. Praes is... deserts, as far as the eye can see. Our land is so dry, and farmland requires... a great deal of hard decisions, to make it usable.

[ Hard decisions.

Human Sacrifice. ]

It's one of the reasons why we've taken over our neighbor so many times. We must, to feed our people.

[ And oh, Callow hated them for it. ]

[ Abel's smile becomes slightly muted at that, fading around the edges; he understands, even if he wishes he didn't. their first talk had touched upon such subjects... and after his dip into her memories in Venera, he cannot help but grasp with totality the dark places Akua had been willing to go, along with others in her world. ]

Have things come to be any easier with time...?

[ things had been changing in her world from what he could garner - and with the defeat of a great evil prior to her waking in Horos, maybe that would tip the scales in the people's favor? make their lives a little less... harrowing. ]

Feeding our people?

[ She shrugged. ] Dread Empress Malicia had certainly prioritized keeping Callow under our control, and it's... worked rather well. Better than trying to control the weather with sorcery. The amount of power required was exorbitant.

[ But... ]

Whether it will be different, in a new age... [ That distant, sad look, again. ] I suppose we'll never know.

You might, yet.

[ Abel cradles the glass in his hands for a moment, gaze traveling beyond the rail to where the beautiful expanse of the city lies below. ]

We don't know what the future holds for us, what becoming an 'Aion' means for us should we find our way back home. It very well could be a second chance, Miss Akua-- don't you think?

[ It's all...so hopeful. Akua isn't one to the bouts of despair or malaise that would lead her to fall to the Kenoma, but even so... she felt like she was still straddling that in-between.

She didn't know if she could truly believe that she could go home.

Not when she wasn't sure if there was a Calernia to go home to. ]

We can hope.

Although...I do wonder. What if there are worlds of ours that are gone? There is the possibility that we may be here for a long time.

[ mm... Abel is mulling this over as he takes a bit of cheese and jerky from the assortment of snacks between them, turning it over in his fingers. ]

It's... possible. A possibility, at least, we can't take off the table.

[ but... ]

But even if it were, there is nothing that says those worlds are lost to us forever. Without understanding how they'd even be destroyed... believing there is no undoing, saving them-- that is a little hasty of us, don't you think? Especially with so much we don't know, haven't yet discovered about being in Horos.

[ Her fingers held a piece of cheese, and she worked it between her fingers. ]

I suppose...you may be right. [ Her lips quirked. ] I should be used to impossible odds, we lived and breathed them, when we were marching on the Dead King.

What's a few more?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Pleroma Only

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject