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Down Time at the Temple [Open]

Started by Janius Atherius, December 09, 2017, 06:14:07 AM

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Janius Atherius

Janius Atherius was not a busy body by any means, especially have a hard run between three different cities for the last couple of days, but today he just couldn't let himself stand still for any prolonged period of time. He had plenty of food and coin so there was no need to go hunting and although the weather while he had been running his messages had been foul it had cleared up since he had gotten home. He had already shaved off the beard of travel and had made sure to get his tail trimmed the last time he was in a larger city. In essence he had nothing to do and he was bored.

But there wasn't much in La'marri he could do even if he wanted to. The buildings were all too small for him to easily navigate inside without knocking into others so visiting a tavern was a far from good idea and his muscles still felt too sore for a good run through the woods today. The old place of worship that the others visited might work but what would he do there? Write? Read? He had neglected to pick up any new books the last time he was in a larger town and vellum was expensive and not something he felt he could waste on something like personal writing.  Perhaps he could take some leather works he had been treating and tool something creative that might sell decently in one of the cities when he was next commissioned to go to one.

It wasn't a fantastic plan but it would work so Janius gathered the supplies he needed and made his way from his home, making sure to lock the door behind him on his way out. There were few things he had of value to human types but those few things he did have would be difficult if not near impossible to replace. With the door secured he made his way to the ruined temple sticking to the road that led there lest he accidentally trod upon a plant some of the mages and wizards had been hoping to harvest when the time came.

The temple itself although a ruin, was as beautiful inside as he believed many temples were in the cities. He could almost imagine it as it was when it was a place of worship with the roof whole, the plants kept tamed and the wooden floors and pews as if they were new. It was little wonder to him that many would find comfort and peace here even with the building in ruins. So he found his way to a place where one of the columns had fallen over time and used one of the flatter pieces of stone to rest the treated leather on while he worked on his designs. There had been no one else in the building when he arrived but he didn't expect it to stay that way, or that quiet, for too much longer.

DragonSong

Krysta had never been so far from home before.

She wasn't running away exactly, she told herself. After all, she'd told her parents she was going out...she just hadn't mentioned where.

Because honestly she didn't know herself. She just wanted to- to be somewhere else. Away from the palace and the city and Dreamhaven itself, just for a little while. And she was being careful! Very careful. She'd be back home before anyone even missed her.

...Okay, even she didn't believe that.

It hardly served as a deterrent though. She had made her way out of the forest by now, and a world she'd never have begun to anticipate had opened up before her. She was careful not to be seen by Big Folk, darting from one flowering bush or clump of grass to another as she made her way along the little- well, little to them- road.

The temple was irresistible. How could she not go in? A flicker of magic was enough to glamour her into the form of a large luna moth (it was too much of a pain to hide her wings completely), and she fluttered her way into the ruins of the temple.

Whoa.

Who was that?

Shock at the sight of a creature she'd never seen before was enough to jolt Krysta out of her glamour, but she didn't notice as she darted and bobbed through the air, buzzing around the stranger's head as she tried to get a better look at him without holding still long enough for him to return the favor.

Janius Atherius

Normally the fluttering of an insect's wings so close to him wouldn't bother him very much but this little creature seemed intent on staying close without actually landing on him. He was tempted to wave it away as the work he was trying to focus on was delicate and required his full attention but he didn't want to risk harming the thing. It wasn't until he sighed and set his tools aside to look up at the creature that he realized something was off about it. He wasn't as familiar with the insects of the forests as some of the elders had been but this one... moths didn't usually hover like that did they?

So he lifted his hand, offering the creature a place to rest its wings for a little while where it could still see him. "Hello, little one," he said softly unsure if the moth could understand him or was merely attracted by something about him. He wasn't standing in the sun but rather off to the side in the shade. Moths were usually drawn in by light right? Or something bright? He didn't remember. Maybe he'd look it up later if he remembered to do so.

His tail flickered behind him and he unconsciously shifted his four feet though he did his best to stay level if only the avoid jolting the little creature any more than necessary. "What are you doing here? Looking for another to entertain you? I'm afraid I can't help you there. I haven't seen many of your kind in here." Assuming that he was genuinely speaking to a moth and not a magic being that had shifted into a moth somehow. His people had been practical and down to earth creatures. Magic did not run amongst them.

DragonSong

With a small squeak Krysta skittered backward through the air and hovered, narrowing her eyes at the offered hand.

Well...he didn't seem all that dangerous. She hesitated a moment longer, then made a decision and gave a sharp nod to nobody in particular. the last of her glamour faded as she swooped down to land lightly on the palm of his hand. She kept herself daintily up on her toes and tilted her head as she looked up curiously into the stranger's face.

"Hello." Her voice was soft- though she thought she was speaking louder than normal- and had a silvery quality to it that was common of the fae, her kind in particular. "Mind if I ask what you're doing?" she asked curiously, twisting on his palm to trip her way to the edge of his hand and peer down at the leather he was working.

Janius Atherius

The moth... squeaked? The mouthless moth could squeak? What? But then it shifted shape into a tiny creature, a tiny woman with fluttering wings that fluttered to land in his palm and it had taken every ounce of Janius' will to keep his hand steady lest he accidentally crush the little woman. He hadn't heard of a being like her. Perhaps the few scholars amongst the tribe had known but most of their people hadn't. He stared for a minute, studying her little shape and look while she talked and he shivered as if her words had been followed by a touch to his ear. There was an odd note in it but it wasn't something he recognized.

Then she sat on the edge of his hand and peered down at the leather he was working on. "Hold on," he said quietly in an effort to avoid startling her, and waited until she had done so before he moved his hand slowly (for him anyway) toward the makeshift table he was using so she could walk on the stone if she wanted and see for herself the material he was working with. "I am using tools to create designs in the leather. This will make the value of the item I make the leather with increase as the design makes the item seem more decadent." At least that's what he understood of it.

After a moment of contemplating how to phrase his question he just decided to go for it. "Forgive me asking but I have not seen one of your people before. What are your people called?" He presumed they were all a magical folk of some kind, tied to the ether and magic of world in some way but he didn't know for sure. Might as well take the opportunity to learn something new today.

DragonSong

Krysta squeaked again, quietly, but manged to hang on as he lowered his hand. Once she was close enough, she skipped off his palm to flutter down to the stone. She tiptoed around the edges of the leather, head tilted curiously.

"Oh, I'm a pixie," she told him easily over her shoulder, carefully watching the way he scored the designs. Her wings, when at rest, sort of flattened against her shoulders and draped down her back, almost like a shimmering cape.

Curiosity truly sparked now, she twisted to look up at him and beamed, returning the question. "What exactly are you, then?"

Janius Atherius

A pixie? Was that the people or the race within the people? He had seen quite a few new peoples but most of them in the cities were relatively the same size. He had never met a people who were the size of insects or butterflies. Oh well. The very nature of the Mother was that She had created all kinds for all kinds of purposes. It was not for him to question why the little girl and her people existed no matter how much it was going to bother him until he was able to come up with an explanation for himself.

He went back to tooling while she watched him work, careful to make sure his tools didn't catch her from where she stood. Janius was expecting her question and had an answer ready. Mostly. "I am what is called a centaur, or one of the hooved tribes," he said, "my people normally live deep in the woods and keep mostly to ourselves. I would be what they would call a world walker, an outsider and likely would not be well accepted into another tribe if they were to venture near the village." Especially when they heard the news of what happened to his own tribe.

"I did notice, though, that you did not answer my question, little pixie. What brings you to me today? Not that I don't appreciate your company, of course, but I imagine you had a purpose for venturing so far?" Well "far" was relative. It might be considered far for a person as little as her. Who knew how far or how fast those fancy looking wings could carry her. He focused on a more delicate design, the individual quill lines of a bird's wing on the leather, and was quiet for a time while he worked. 

DragonSong

"Oh, I'm just..." Krysta waved a hand airily, though she was blushing. Hopefully the...centaur would be too busy to notice. "Out. I'm just out. Taking a bit of a fly- er, going for a walk?"

Quickly she tried to change the subject. "My name's Krysta, by the way. What's yours?"

Janius Atherius

It took a little while of pure concentration to get the last of the bird's feathers done and only once he was done did he focus on the little faerie's words. Out for a "walk". He might have done the same in this beautiful weather had he not all but run for the last several days straight. Still he felt better now. Perhaps they should go for a "walk" together outside the village? The wild life should be relatively calm and the people of the village knew him well enough by now to not shoot him on sight if or when they came across him in the woods. He wasn't so sure the little one could be hunted so easily even if she was the kind of creature some of the magic types hunted.

Either way Junius was not entirely rude. When she gave her name he gave his. "My name is Janius Atherius," he said in reply, offering her his fingers as he wasn't sure if she wanted to shake one of them or try to shake his whole hand. She was about the size of it. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance Lady Krysta." The way she spoke was the same speaking pattern as one of the educated amongst the humanoid types. Perhaps her own people were similar? Only the wealthy were educated? It was hard to tell. "I am almost done with my designs. Shall I take this home and we go for a walk of our own? The woods nearby are nice this time of day." And the way the sun shone through the leaves was always comforting. It reminded him of happier days

DragonSong

Krysta warily placed her palm against his fingertips and did her best to make a shaking motion. She glanced up at his face when he offered a walk though, head tilting curiously.

"Really?" She buzzed up to be about eye height with him. "Well...If you don't mind..."

Janius Atherius

Janius jumped when the little creature flew into his face, the horse shoes he wore sparking slightly as one of them slipped just a little bit on the stones before he regain his footing. He pressed a hand to his chest in an effort to calm one of his racing hearts and forced himself to take a deep breath before speaking. "I don't know if your kind often go for walks in these parts. I have not seen your people around when I have been here." Which had been sporadic, granted, thanks to the nature of his work when he was nearer the cities. "But I have an idea of a path we might take."

He gathered the tools and leather he had brought with him, mildly annoyed he wouldn't get to finish what he had come here to work on but also intrigued by meeting someone, something, new in this world ha hadn't heard of before. With everything in hand he motioned for the faerie to follow him as he walked out of the temple and away from the village proper to where his cabin was. It wouldn't take long to set his things down but it still needed to be done. While the leather itself was replaceable the tools were expensive. He couldn't afford to replace them if he had to.

"Have you traveled the woods here often?" he asked the little fae as they got closer to his home, a cabin of awkward looking dimensions to a human that he had made himself. Human houses were far too small and cramped for his kind so he had taken the chance to build his home himself. He had poured a lot of his grief and anger that had been inside of him so soon after his tribe's passing into the place. He almost hoped, if there was an afterlife, that they saw and were proud of the life he had built here even if it was with the humans and humanoids rather than his own people.

DragonSong

Oblivious to the way she'd startled him, Krysta flitted up to hover by his head as she bobbed along beside him.

She smiled a bit to herself at his question. "I know the woods. But my people don't leave them often." Or, well, ever, as far as she knew. "I like it out here," she chirped, spiraling up, trailing a few motes of sparkling magic. Pixie dust. "The sky's so big. Not hidden by branches or anything."

Janius Atherius

The sky was large but the fact that she spoke of it as if she never really got the chance to see it unobscured... "Do your people never fly beyond the canopy of the trees? Above them?" Not that he could climb the trees even if he wanted to. His weight alone was too much for any tree to handle and hooves didn't exactly help with the matter. But if she wanted to see more of the sky unobscured by trees then perhaps a walk through the woods wasn't the best idea. Wasn't there a meadow nearby? Or a lake? Someplace where he didn't have to pack to travel for a few days unnecessarily. He was good at moderating his supplies but to use them up without reason was not smart.

When they reached his home he wordlessly removed the keys from among his things and opened the door, not bothering to close it completely behind himself as he stepped into the large open space that was his home. There were no walls to separate the rooms except for his latrine which he kept meticulously clean in hopes of staving off disease that could come from such things left on their own. He brought the leather and tools to a work bench he had against the far wall sitting by a window he had carefully used panes of thick glass to both let in the sun and keep out the cold. The leather went into a chest beneath the bench and the tools went into a drawer he kept specifically for them at the bench. "Would you like some water before we leave? I drew some this morning before I left the house for the temple and have already treated it." Meaning he boiled it and let it cool before drinking it.

DragonSong

"No. Well, I don't fly that high, at least not often. Some of our scouts do, though." She shuddered a bit as she bobbed along beside his shoulder. "They don't always come back..."

She shook herself, then smiled politely at the offer of water. "I'm quite alright, thank you." Goodness knew he probably didn't have any cups that would suit her size anyway.

Janius Atherius

With the kit he had with him put away and his clothes plenty warm for the weather Janius thought about where he might take her so she might see more of the wide open sky that she seemed to like so much. The market was likely someplace she had never been and as long as she stayed close the people of La'marri shouldn't bother her he would think. Or at least if they did try he could and would do something about it. He didn't think he needed anything at the market though and although just the thought of those crowded streets made him uncomfortable it was something he knew he would have to get over sooner rather than later.

Either way the market was a better choice than the meadow at the moment. He went there to pray when he had time and was on the road and was a place he associated with peace and solemn memory. Or the remains of his tribe's camp despite the area having been cleared for their people to build their homes in its place. Despite the fact the plague had long since passed he didn't want to go back there for some time still lest he stir something to awaken that horrible disease again.

"The market of La'marri should be relatively busy today," he said, "bustling with people and merchants. Would you like to see for yourself? Or is there someplace else you would like to go? I know my way around these parts well." For his occupation would require him to know all the best and quickest routes from one village, town or city to the next. When he was called upon of course. He hoped he'd be able to get a few days' rest before he was called upon again at least.

DragonSong

"Oh!" She buzzed up in a little circle around his head. "I'll go anywhere, really. I don't get out much, it's just nice to see...well, something new!"

Krysta fluttered down to perch on his shoulder, smiling pleasantly.

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