Baels pleasant smile fell quick into a frown when she chose to ignore his hand. It wasn't that he was unfamiliar with the rudeness of humans, many judged him on his looks alone. Some on his actions. In any case though, he found it rather unsettling. What intrigued him more though, was how calm she was being. Most people ran, or screamed or prayed to their gods when they saw him. Those were the nice ones, the ones who didn't draw swords or shoot bows at him before he had earned the reaction. She, aside from her curtness, seemed rather unconcerned.
"A lovely name, may dear.." Bael said taking a small step back so that he could give her a slight bow. She may have no manners, but that did not mean he did not. When he straitened he noticed the peculiar ritual with the salt. If he was curious before, he was nervous now. Nervous in that he had a fair bit of knowledge about the magic of this land and the most important part of that knowledge was knowing he didn't know everything.
"Well, that's a shame.." He spoke quietly, his eyes trailing for the salt dust in the wind back to Hashasa. The actual act of sex was only a small part f the purity of a person. There were plenty of virgins out there with impure souls. It was really just an assessment tool. While not all virgins were pure, they had a higher chance of purity than others. And for most transactions, not to mention spells, purity was a must. It would have been so much more fortuitous, Bael thought to himself, if she had been one. But then, the chances of a young virgin girl by herself in the woods? Bael's quiet voice sounded more as though he were talking to himself than to her, "But, I suppose they can not all be winners.. Though, I suppose I could still find some use for her.."
Her question, direct as it was, settled in before he could finish his thoughts on the disappointing turnout of her virginal status. He blinked, brows narrowing down at her as he mulled over the question. He did not like neither the tone nor phrasing of her question. Even still, she had answered his.. "I suppose it's only fair, a question for a question?"
Bael took another step back, his curious frown began to fade as his lips slowly turned upward, "Am I a mage? If you mean do I ramble about this land pulling rabbits from hats or whatever else most bumbling humans with the gift of magic do, then no.. I am no mage.." As he spoke, his hands began to rise along with his lips. In less than a blink of an eye the golden orange coloring left Baels, replaced by an inky blackness light could not escape that covered the entire eye. While it would be impossible to tell where Bael was looking by watching those twin black pools, it was never in question when he was looking at you. The feeling of bugs and worms crawling fell across any surface he looked upon. And his eyes were trained on Hashasa as he spoke.
"But if you mean can I bend the forces of this world to my will? Call upon ancient darkness to fulfill my whims and desires?" His voice began to resonate as he spoke. Black mist running up his arms and coiling into his palms inky tendrils of foggy shadow. His boot covered feet came off the ground by an inch at first, then two though he hardly seemed to notice. Even the air around him was growing darker, as though he was casting an aura of shadow out from his body and bringing shadows in closer to them. His speech, however, may have sounded a little rote if only because it was. It was something he used more when dealing with those in Connlaoth then out in these woods, "Can I call upon immortal magics so old your mind could not comprehend their age? Then yess, child.. You could consider me a mage.."
