A Festival of Mages

[undeadbird]

Colors and scents mingle in a cacophony of stimulation, banners waving in the wind to advertise the wares of the vendors posted around the town square. Lights hovered in the air, small fireworks that mingled with the cries of delight. A small faire compared to the larger cities but even here one could find some useful spell or trinket.

Koivar moves between the stalls, his blue eyes trailing along the trinkets sitting on the stalls. There's nothing in particular he's seeking, but he's always got an eye out for trinkets he can upsell to his rich patrons. Something to increase vitality, or speed - his fingers brush along a pendant on the table.

"Like what you see? Only three silver!"  The vendor called out, as Koivar thumbed the pendant. It was a cat of silver, with two citrine stones set in the eyes that seemed illuminated from within. "Enhance your eyesight - you'll see all the way across the ocean."

Koivar snorts. More likely it's just a simple charm with an illumination spell cast on it. Besides, his brilliant blue eyes saw far enough, slitted now in the bright midday sun. He sets the charm down. "Maybe another time," he intones flatly, to the disappointment of the vendor. Stepping away from the booth, he travels down the center of the pathway.

He's aware of the eyes on him, though he's not accustomed to it. Even in a world of creatures aplenty Koivar stood out - he towered above most, seven foot two even without counting the horns that sprouted from his forehead. He was mindful of his tail and wings, hooking the latter across his breast so they trailed across the ground like a cape. Sidestepping a figure he spins around and bumps into another, reaching out to catch them should they fall. "Sorry-"

[DragonSong]

Her last trip to the mainland had not exactly...gone well.

But she didn't want to hold that against the entire continent--and La'marri was supposed to be a generally more accepting place. Which seemed to be true, from the variety of people she saw around her at the festival. She kept to her human form, as it was simply more convenient for navigating most places built with humanoids in mind. Even so, she usually found that the colors in her hair and feathers often made her eye-catching, even back home. But here, in a place that was all color and light and music, she almost...fit in.

So many thing to see, to smell, to hear--it was a festival for all the senses, and Melisma found herself glad to get lost in it as she traveled through the merchants' stalls collected in the town square. She was so absorbed in the generality of her surroundings that she forgot to pay better attention to her immediate surroundings.

"Oh!"

She nearly walked flat into a broad chest, then found herself being steadied by the stranger as she reeled back. She had to tilt her head back to see his face, already apologizing, "I'm so sorry, I wasn't watching where I...was going..."

As she saw him, was able to process the wings, the horn, the tail, her eyes went wide with realization. She didn't even need his scent to know what he was, and the reality of it threw her.

She clapped her hands to her mouth. "You're a dragon!"

[undeadbird]

Koivar holds the figure in his hands, making sure she's steady before releasing her. He sees her eyes trail along his form, taking in the features that make him stand out,  and his eyes glitter as her technicolor hues widen in surprise.

"My, aren't you an observant one," he says dryly, but a small twitch at the corner of his mouth pulls up into a small smile. His magic sensitivity picks up that slight alteration of her aura that places her as something other than an eccentrically colored human. Most dragons tended toward an isolated existence with their clans, so it wasn't often he found one of his own in the wild.

"I'm from Adela," he explains. "But I heard some useful trinkets could be found at this market." So far he hadn't found anything interesting, but he hadn't visited the blacksmith yet. "Come - do you have a sweet tooth? The baker opened a pastry stall just down the way. Let me buy you something as an apology for my clumsiness." Besides, he was eager to learn more about her.

[DragonSong]

Melly blushed at his dry responses, though she couldn't blame him for it--it was rather obvious. Besides, the way he sort of half-smiled at her made her think he wasn't actually annoyed with her, and that settled her nerves quite a bit.

She smiled back, nodding along with him. To her experience, most of the dragons here on the mainland were from Adela--either military or "wild" dragons in the Thunderblacks (and that was always such an odd term for her to hear, "wild dragon". As though a dragon could ever be properly "tame").

She nodded more emphatically when he mentioned sweets--she did have a weakness for them--but hurried to assure, "Oh, no, it wasn't your fault, I wasn't really watching where I was going."

Chuckling a little awkwardly, she fluttered her wings before folding them in a little tighter to her back and continuing, "I wouldn't say no to the company, though. I, um, I don't actually...meet many other dragons."

[undeadbird]

Koivar nods at her assent for grabbing sweets, and he guides her down the bustling pathway, making sure to pay closer attention to the smaller figures that move before him. "We do seem to tend towards seclusion," he says with a wry smile. "It's no wonder people fabricate so many stories about us. Outside of Adela, the average person doesn't get much of a chance to meet a dragon."

They arrive at the pastry stand, surrounded by a throng of people clamoring to get a sweet. Due to his stature, it's easy for Koivar to maneuver himself towards the front, eyeing a honey drenched pastry stuffed with nuts for himself. "And you?" he asks. "The way you speak of it, I'd think you're not from Adela."

[DragonSong]

"No, I'm not," she affirmed easily enough, rather entranced by the smells from the pastry stall. "I'm from the islands—ah, Yoreiq." She smiled a bit as she caught her own slip. She always referred to the place simply as "the islands" in her mind, never minding that they had a proper name.

"You are, though?" she asked as the vendor caught her eye and she gestured to a fruit tart with a smile and a nod of thanks. "From Adela, I mean. Were you born there? Or, um, hatched?"

Right. Another dragon. She was so used to interacting with humans, she sometimes forgot about the subtle differences in language.