[Victor] A Houseful of Guests
Who: Victor Kruger
When: July 1, shortly after In the Rain
Where: The Rowland House
Invited: Everyone in the house, folks arriving from In the Rain
Status: Complete ( Read more... )
When: July 1, shortly after In the Rain
Where: The Rowland House
Invited: Everyone in the house, folks arriving from In the Rain
Status: Complete ( Read more... )
“Frankly, we don’t know. We don’t really know.” Damn life was easier when he could just call them idiots, now he had to explain shit. He pointed toward himself, “Or maybe I’m just telling you that to gain acceptance and work some nefarious plan from the inside. I expect and want all of Haven to doubt me and question me until my actions speak loud enough to make my intentions clear.”
He pointed at Akkarin. “Anyone who is strong enough to be the least bit of a challenge to me is a threat to Haven in my eyes.” He dropped his hand and looked at Akkarin. “Until they prove themselves peaceful.” Alexei held no doubts that he could take out Akkarin, but it wouldn’t be a pretty fight.
Reply
"The point is that we can't expect that every shadow is going to jump at us or that every person has his hand on the trigger." Kayla paused and thought for a moment. "I've seen the good and the bad, and in my life all of it came from people who were just regular old normal humans, born and bred right here on earth. They didn't need magic powers to decide to take over the world, or kidnap people and place them in slavery, or send them into death camps because they weren't some lunatic's definition of racial purity."
That much, she realized was true. That was partly why she took Xander's instructions and informations about monsters and demons in stride, part of why she was able to accept 'magic' and the abilities of Alexei, Llaeseaf and now, Akkarin. Human history was filled with monsters and power mongers.
"But you live in this world awhile and you learn that you have to sometimes trust your gut and give everyone a chance and the benefit of the doubt."
It was the longest speech that she'd given in a very long time. For some reason, she felt as though she was channeling the spirit of her late mentor, Lu Delgado. "I'm not saying that we should let our guards down and greet everyone with a hug and a kiss and keys to the city, but animosity isn't going to help either."
She wished that Xander or Jonas were here. They had a way of looking at this situations and talking to people that she simply didn't possess.
Reply
He looked up at Alexei, looking directly into the other magician's eyes, feeling the other man's power. Strength he had, although it was impossible to tell how much he might be hiding behind his body's shield, how much he allowed to shine through for others to sense. His confidence suggested that he felt he stood higher than Akkarin's strength, but given Akkarin's own assessment of his strength he wasn't particularly surprised. Perhaps he should have done some of his hunting with black magic to build up a greater store of power in case of confrontation.
Better to avoid the confrontation in the first place though. Far better than succumbing to the temptation to strengthen onesself so far beyond natural limits. His natural strength was slowly returning, after all.
"As for the next guy who comes down the street..." he paused, looking at Alexei. "I'll stand with you to defend this town to the very last of my strength and my life if he proves to be a threat."
Reply
Assuming, of course, that the threat in question could be extinguished.
He looked at Kayla. “I understand your point. Greeting strangers with hostility might cause hostility that never would have been there.” He nodded his head and shrugged his shoulders. “But, not all plague survivors are necessarily nice. I don’t want to see anyone hurt and if that means I have to be the asshole of the town, I will be.”
Llaeseaf nudged Alexei’s shoulder with his shin. “Doesn’t play nice with others, huh?”
“I’ve been accused of worse.” Alexei could sense that Llaeseaf was still nervous. This would be another thing that time would have to settle. He looked up at Llaeseaf. “Perhaps we have some rations we can share with the feast they’re making in the kitchen?”
Llaeseaf hiked an eyebrow. “Me? Cook?”
“No, you pop back home and grab some stuff we can share, please.”
In a puff of smoke, Llaeseaf disappeared. Most likely thankful to be offered a polite escape.
Alexei glanced at Akkarin. “I’m not sure if he’ll be back, magic users make him nervous.”
EXIT LLAESEAF TEMPORARILY
Reply
I wonder... is that something innate to whatever Llaeseaf is, or is it something a magician could learn? Any magician in the guild could levitate, but true flight or teleportation had always been mere suggestions which nobody had ever managed to act upon, and so magic had never had a great deal of use in transportation other than making it safer and more comfortable.
At least Alexei seemed a little more inclined to accept that Akkarin might not be a threat now. Feeling he'd gained himself some breathing room, Akkarin found himself relaxing more, beginning to enjoy the simple fact of being with people again. The last person he'd seen was a farmer who'd observed Akkarin bring down a couple of pigeons with two well-placed forcestrikes. Unfortunately the first Akkarin knew of him was his shouting as he ran away. After that it had been empty country for days until Haven. It was definitely good to have some company - even if some of it was highly suspicious of him and potentially dangerous.
"He doesn't seem nervous around you," Akkarin pointed out. "Perhaps he just needs to learn that I can be trusted not to harm him."
Reply
Aleila didn't know what suprised her more; the fact that she'd spoken up or how steady her voice had sounded. She hadn't ment to speak up, the words seemed to have slipped past her mouth-brain barrier without her having any say in the matter.
She once more fought the urge to run and hide, only ducking a little deeper into her chair. The constant tention in the room was starting to seriously wear on her defences and the memories of weeks without anyone around her seemed more and more appealing. She was used to a lot, her family far from perfect, but it seemed that her defences had ran thin over the last weeks... Or had it been longer? Had she become weak and dependant on the protection of Damiens shields?
Reply
Reply
Reply
"The last time I had a fight with a magician in a building, neither roof nor furniture survived. Strikes which miss or rebound from shields don't distinguish between enemies and innocent scenery when they hit, unfortunately." This, at least, was something he and Alexei could agree on. They both knew Warrior skills, that was certain.
"Please my assumption of humanity," Akkarin said. "I gathered Llaeseaf is something else, but... on my world humans are the only intelligent life and the only creatures with magic, although it is far from a universal gift."
Reply
“I’m a Syirim.” Alexei didn’t expect that to mean anything to Akkarin. It seems his race or would it be species? Regardless, it seems his kind of being only existed on his world. “In the event that you have heard of us, the legend lies. At least with me.” Never once had Alexei kidnapped children, poisoned a town or raped people. And he’d never do something like that. The thought of preying upon the weaker turned his stomach. Children were to be cherished and fostered. Those with weaker natural abilities were to be protected. Alexei would succeed where his master failed. He would.
Reply
He read the signs of relaxation in Alexei's posture and felt relieved. Perhaps they could learn to become more comfortable in each others' presence.
"Perhaps we could take some time tomorrow to discuss magic," Akkarin suggested. "There may be things which we can teach each other."
Reply
Alexei scratched the back of his head. “Syirims.” This was tough. He knew hardly anything about his race other than the legend. “What we are depends on who you talk to. Since most of us are exterminated in adolescence, there’s little known about adult Syirims.”
"Perhaps we could take some time tomorrow to discuss magic," Akkarin suggested. "There may be things which we can teach each other."
Alexei nodded. The only way to figure out if Akkarin was a threat or not was to get to know him. “It would be interesting to witness some magic from another world.” They probably had similar spells, but worked them differently. It would still be interesting as well as show Alexei some of what Akkarin could do. "Do you do much work with enchanting objects?"
Reply
"Do you do much work with enchanting objects?" Alexei asked, and Akkarin's thoughts immediately flashed to blood gems. Harmless enough in themselves, but they were traditionally considered to be things of black magic, and Akkarin still felt uncomfortable using the blood-related higher magic without good cause. He hoped it didn't show too much on his face.
"Some," he said. "Much of central Imardin is magician-made, the stone infused with our power to shape and strengthen it. We have doors which admit only those whose identities are imprinted in the enchantment, and the city's sewers and harbour are kept clear with spells which are laid into the stones, although they need renewing to maintain their effectiveness. Most of our work is direct, though, requiring a magician in order to conduct it at the time that it's needed."
Reply
And the hostility in the room did indeed go down a bit as the two of them agreed on that one stupid issue and actually started explaining things...
'Guys...' Aleila couldn't help but think, but she did relax the tiniest bit. She listened intently at what Alexei had to say. She'd never heared of... Sairims or whatever they where called, but she did know what djinnies where. From childrens books, true, but still. They where like ginie from Alladins lamp, kind of... Only this djinni appearently could only use fire magic...
The news of their non-human herratage did explain a few things however... Like who they 'felt' different from normal humans, and, of course, their looks. She had long ago learned not to be suprised by anything - in a school for the magically gifted, that's one of the first things one learns after all - but this was definately something she had not heared of or seen before.
Also, now that she had started to settle down a little, she had the time to wonder about the freedom and ease with wich magic was spoken off. As far as she knew, she and the other students with her, kept their magical abileties a secret outside school. Yet here magic was talked about as if it was the most normal thing in the world. It seemed so strange... Not bad though, the thought of not keeping her empathy a secret any longer did sound appealing.
Reply
Reply
Leave a comment