Seekers of Flowers and Fortune

Filled with people both proud and poor, the Imperium is a land of ambition, glory and a belief in the power of the mortal spirit.

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Hector
Posts: 355
Joined: Thu Jun 02, 2022 4:19 pm
Location: Gel'Grandel, Gelerian Imperium
Character Sheet: viewtopic.php?t=3187
Plot Notes: viewtopic.php?t=3339
Character Secrets: viewtopic.php?t=3335

Special

TIMESTAMP:
NOTES: Hunter's Bounty 1, Glade 123
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Image
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Having spent a few seasons in Gel’Grandal, Hector’s comfort level in the city was significantly higher than it once was. At first, he wasn’t sure if he’d ever be able to consider that place home, but when he’d shed the shackles of Zaichaer’s memories, the Imperium became the only home he ever knew. And being of the Inquisition, he would walk the city’s streets almost as if they belonged to him– but in a way befitting of somebody as oblivious and aloof as he was.

Vergil wasn’t adapting as well; he’d spent his entire life in Zaichaer, and he was quite a bit older than he looked. Letting go of it would’ve been difficult even if he’d moved of his own volition, but being forced out under such destructive circumstances, he’d become…somewhat of an odd hermit. And then there's the culture shock. As such, he spends nearly all of his time either at home in their apartment, in his lab, or working. Perhaps this habit was becoming unhealthy, because he’d also become reliant on Hector’s comfort with the city– Hector did nigh to all of their errands.

This was something Hector was happy to do, even if it was a crutch, and today, he was out buying a small variety of herbs the other vampyr liked to use in his Ichor. Because he wasn’t working, he wasn’t dressed like an Inquisitor; rather, he wore a loose fitting, but well made, black button-down shirt over fitted woolen pants that matched in hue. The leather shoes that stopped below his ankles were also black, if one looked, his socks were of stark contrast. They were brightly colored, as if sewn after a painting; from a distance, one likely couldn’t tell, but they had little animals on them– tortoises, not unlike the Emperor's in design. The Emperor's affection for that creature tickled Hector immensely. He was dressed with thicker fabrics than what was standard for Gelerian Glades, but...the seasons had yet to change. And lastly, he’d neglected to put on the pendant he’d been given through the Inquisition to hide his Aura; it wasn’t really that big of a deal, since most local Semblers wouldn’t recognize Vitalis at all, but it was a foolish oversight all the same.

The elf had been told that he was raised in an apothecary, one not unlike the place he went to when he bought his companion’s ingredients– but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t conjure up the memories. The funny part is that he did, with no context, remember a lot of the plants’ names and properties; the sorceress’ spell was odd in that way. All of his knowledge stuck, but the context? The story of his life? Gone. After buying what Vergil needed, he found himself lingering in the store, distracted by surroundings he recognized but couldn’t remember.
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Aidolon Speech
"Kathalan Tongue/Speech"
"Vallenor Tongue/Speech"
"Common Tongue/Speech"
"Mythrasi Tongue/Speech"
Last edited by Hector on Mon Jul 31, 2023 2:11 pm, edited 1 time in total. word count: 615
"And as you lay down your grace to me,
the skies begin to bleach red,
and the stars begin to fall,
I feel myself changing,
as my world starts dividing–"
User avatar
Carina
Posts: 169
Joined: Mon Sep 06, 2021 1:16 am
Character Sheet: viewtopic.php?f=43&t=2099
Character Secrets: viewtopic.php?f=20&t=2111

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Carina slipped into the apothecary's shop absolutely fuming. Her face was neutral, and her demeanor was shy, but she was angry — her attempts at getting charter to Kalzasi had failed, and she wasn't sure if she could yet successfully vault herself there. The slipspace coordinates became fuzzy in her head from that distance, and while she knew where Kalzasi was, she wasn't sure of how to get there all the way from Gel'Grandal. Perhaps it had been so long since she had been there that it skewed her memory, but given that she had much of the Southside locked in her head, it felt unlikely. She needed a fresh source of dragonshards, and for her purposes, wanted to inspect and harvest them herself. The first deep of the Warrens was rich in dragonshards, but it was dangerous, and she had thought to find a mercenary to take with her once she arrived. If she arrived. Imogen was busy doing who knows what, but she checked in on the Orkhan with some frequency to make sure she was okay.

Still.

This apothecary was small and local — there were larger, more expansive inventories to purchase fresh and dried herbs from, but Carina made a point to visit them and be friendly because they were owned by a prolific smoker, and this prolific smoker liked to mix his Imperial tobacco with other herbs. Cloves, lavender, and rose petals were among her favorites. While cigarettes she often preferred from Kalzasi, this man's herbal blends and pre-rolled packs were quickly rising in the ranks.

Carina made her way to the counter where the man was already pulling down a box of cigarettes that she had placed an order for a few days prior. She handed him a bank slip for the cost and placed the box gently in her featherlight bag, where it took up very little space, and she was about to leave when the almost-familiar sight of white-purple hair caught her eye. She instantly recognized the aura as Hector's, a man she had taken on a little thieving trip in the department store, though he seemed even more powerful than he had before — and his magics were more recognizeable. It was difficult to determine what exactly the blood-scented rune did, but she had smelled it on him before.

"Hector, do you remember me?" she said, sidling up to him where he perused the selection.
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word count: 418
User avatar
Hector
Posts: 355
Joined: Thu Jun 02, 2022 4:19 pm
Location: Gel'Grandel, Gelerian Imperium
Character Sheet: viewtopic.php?t=3187
Plot Notes: viewtopic.php?t=3339
Character Secrets: viewtopic.php?t=3335

Special

TIMESTAMP: -
NOTES: -
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Image
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Prone to losing himself in his own ruminations, Hector existed completely oblivious in the shop. For the moment, he considered vigilance to be largely unnecessary and therefore didn’t notice when Carina entered– or any other customers coming in and out, for that matter. So when she approached him, the elf visibly startled at her words. Turning his head to face her in an odd, almost avian manner, he’d blink a few times quickly, processing what she’d said. This took a second, given the fact that he absolutely wasn’t listening to his surroundings at all.

“Oh- I do, yes…” he trailed off for a second, mining his memories for her name. He remembered the odd encounter the two of them had; she was one of the more interesting people he’d come across just milling about the Imperium; most strangers wouldn’t rope you into elaborate magical thievery off the bat like that.

“Carina?” Hector would ask for confirmation when he’d managed to pluck up the name. "It's been a while…what have you been up to?"

If Hector recalled correctly, the last time he'd met with Carina, she'd whisked him away into her little scheme– this wasn't something that the elf minded, no, but it'd caused his partner at home some concern since he'd been expected back far earlier than he actually arrived. And though today he didn't have any real plans, he'd also said he wasn't going to be out for long. A little detour couldn't hurt though, provided it wasn't something similar to the last time. And it wasn't as if the other man was any sort of controlling, it was more that Hector had…questionable proclivities that would often lead to the endangerment of himself and others, and, well, if he lingered out too long he was liable to be doing just that.
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Aidolon Speech
"Kathalan Tongue/Speech"
"Vallenor Tongue/Speech"
"Common Tongue/Speech"
"Mythrasi Tongue/Speech"
word count: 427
"And as you lay down your grace to me,
the skies begin to bleach red,
and the stars begin to fall,
I feel myself changing,
as my world starts dividing–"
User avatar
Carina
Posts: 169
Joined: Mon Sep 06, 2021 1:16 am
Character Sheet: viewtopic.php?f=43&t=2099
Character Secrets: viewtopic.php?f=20&t=2111

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Carina nodded at the confirmation of her name. She'd given random names to random people for ages, but it was no surprise that she'd given another Zaichaeri in a foreign land a name that she actually responded to. She adjusted her jacket and her bag before answering, flipped her hair over her shoulders — it was a rare moment where it was not in a ponytail or tied up somehow — and began to fiddle with her ring. She had a lumicite pendant 'round her neck, something that was not uncommon for mages the past season. But sunlight had returned the day before, and with it, magic. It seemed to be extra insurance.

"Oh, I've been doing odd jobs. I've been considering opening a transcriptionist business... I write quickly and have good handwriting. I think it could be good." She paused, trying to figure out how to word her request carefully. Hector had the aura of an Inquisitor, with far more confidence than the average resident — there was just something she had been able to pick out in auras as she observed Inquisitors. Especially so she knew who to avoid. But this man was also easily influenced, or at least, easily curious.

"I was going to find some transportation to Kalzasi or Zaichaer or some such. I have business in the Warrens. I was wondering if you knew of a... way to travel?" She didn't feel Traversion on him, and she hadn't yet dedicated the minutes of Semblance to determine if he had recently portaled anywhere from someone else.

"Most places aren't operating at full capacity." She gestured to the sky above, though they were in a room right now. "And I heard the Warrens is absolutely crawling with trouble now..." She, being almost a foot shorter than Hector, had some difficulty leveling her gaze as she had to look up a bit. But she met his eyes, "But maybe you'd be able to help me out? You could come with, too! Who knows what we could find?"
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word count: 351
User avatar
Hector
Posts: 355
Joined: Thu Jun 02, 2022 4:19 pm
Location: Gel'Grandel, Gelerian Imperium
Character Sheet: viewtopic.php?t=3187
Plot Notes: viewtopic.php?t=3339
Character Secrets: viewtopic.php?t=3335

Special

TIMESTAMP: -
NOTES: -
- - -
Image
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Hector had always considered himself to be somewhat of a small person, because for a full blooded Hytori? He was. Compared to some other races, say, the winged men who composed the Imperium’s Kathar? Tiny, in that case, too. He was also lithe in figure and, at this point, spent a lot of his time alongside one person in particular– that man dwarfed him, especially weight wise. With humans, it certainly varied, but some of them were…particularly small, even when compared to him, and he always found it weird to look down when speaking to somebody. Carina? Well, she was certainly in the latter group, and the elf found the difference somewhat strange– but he was determined not to act weird about it.

He blinked when she mentioned having good handwriting, his lips flattening in time with an exhale– a stifled laugh. “That’s certainly a useful skill…my handwriting’s not unlike the scrawl of a child,” Hector replied. It wouldn’t be clear whether or not this actually bothered him.

But then, the woman would smoothly transition the conversation in a direction that, at first, sounded like she was intending to bait something out of him; however, she didn’t pursue that route, because at the end, she ended up outright asking for his assistance.

On instinct, Hector’s eyes would light up; clearly the idea excited him. He’d open his mouth to reply, but then, just as quick, he’d stop himself, pausing with his lips still parted. His brow would furrow as if thinking about something, and then, “...the Warrens, huh?” He mused, these words yielded in lieu of an actual answer.

His gaze would dart off to the side briefly, looking at nothing in particular while he considered a real response. “I…do have a way to travel in that vicinity, but, um…that method isn’t a vehicle, it, rather, he, uh…is a person; a Traverser.”

At this point, his gaze would shift back onto Carina. “I, for one, would love to come with, but I…I’ll have to clear it with my job, although that shouldn’t be hard, especially if the destination is the Warrens,” he stopped himself, realizing explaining this was somewhat irrelevant to her. The Inquisition would give them a pass for most things if they thought the two of them could collect either useful information or dredge back dragonshards or some such useful quarry, though.

“Um, anyways, the actually difficult part would be convincing the mage I mentioned before to help. We could do that part today, he’s just liable to think the idea is, ah…reckless? Dangerous? Pointless?” Hector tilted his head and narrowed his eyes after listing these things, as if concentrating. His eyes would widen back to normal again, “…and he’d ask to come with us, but honestly, for the Warrens, that’s for the best. Should we get hurt, I’ve yet to see a wound he can’t heal.”
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Aidolon Speech
"Kathalan Tongue/Speech"
"Vallenor Tongue/Speech"
"Common Tongue/Speech"
"Mythrasi Tongue/Speech"
word count: 606
"And as you lay down your grace to me,
the skies begin to bleach red,
and the stars begin to fall,
I feel myself changing,
as my world starts dividing–"
User avatar
Carina
Posts: 169
Joined: Mon Sep 06, 2021 1:16 am
Character Sheet: viewtopic.php?f=43&t=2099
Character Secrets: viewtopic.php?f=20&t=2111

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"Ah, yes. I'm also a mage of that procilivity," She replied, though she didn't have a reason to be quiet about it; after she was arrested, she was forced to register with the government and the magic governing body. "But I don't think I could make it there without getting lost, as it were, in slipspace. So I hoped for an alternative, and wasn't able to find one myself. I'm familiar with that mode of travel, though." She nodded.

She noticed the shifts in his attention as she sembled him, but they never drifted towards hostility, anger, or even worry, really. Curiosity and a hint of nervousness, but not so much at the idea of entering the Warrens. It only popped up with the idea of convincing his friend. Carina wasn't so used to sembling people, though, and she was not quite in practice of reading the nuances of such things.

"I think we could convince him." She said affirmatively. "I am looking for more than dragonshards down there, anyway." To claim that she wanted to recklessly cross the continent and delve into a dangerous layer-cake of things that wanted to kill her because she was bored and restless was true, but not something that she would simply say out loud. She brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, and then pulled out a box of matches and one of the herbal-mix cigarettes she had purchased just now and took a drag.

"And a healer at that." She didn't ask many details, but it seemed ideal, especially if they continued to delve. "The slipspace is odd inside the Warrens, we'd have to go to Kalzasi first and enter there. Inside, I've been able to portal while on a single deep...but not much more than that. And you seem strong." She said, apropros of nothing that one could figure with just eyesight alone. He was a lithe elf, with not much in the way of visible muscle, but she could see in his aura how his aether was well-used - and how he was not unused to violence.

"Make your purchases and meet me outside- if you give me a location, I can take us there. I know Grandal well."
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word count: 389
User avatar
Hector
Posts: 355
Joined: Thu Jun 02, 2022 4:19 pm
Location: Gel'Grandel, Gelerian Imperium
Character Sheet: viewtopic.php?t=3187
Plot Notes: viewtopic.php?t=3339
Character Secrets: viewtopic.php?t=3335

Special

TIMESTAMP: -
NOTES: -
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Image
- - -
"Oh! Well…I won't pretend to understand how navigating Slipspace works at all...but what I can tell you is that he's conjured portals to Kalzasi for us before, so that much, at least, I know he can do," Hector clarified on the subject of Traversion. It was actually a good thing she understood it, since he'd be unable to answer questions about the rune if she had any– his knowledge was limited solely to vague concepts he'd picked up from watching Vergil wield it.

Hector had heard all manner of tale about creatures and things lurking in the depths of the Warrens, though he himself had never been. "What more than dragonshards do you seek?" He inquired, equal parts curious about what specifically she wanted and also about what one could find down there in general.

"He's not unreasonable, but that's a double-edged sword," Hector continued regarding the prospect of convincing Vergil. "On one hand, he's amenable to a sound argument, but on the other…abstractly wandering into the Warrens at the whimsy of a stranger might be, um…unreasonable in his eyes." He'd pause, then think to add, "...he does have his own proclivities and I'm sure there's…something down there that'd draw his interest."

Hector was glad that Carina didn't press him about the methods Vergil employed to heal, because while his boast was an honest one, for now, he'd refuse to elaborate beyond, perhaps, vaguely stating Necromancy. It did, however, catch him a little off-guard when she commented about his potential strength. He certainly didn't look physically strong, and his Aura was blo– wait. The elf froze for a moment, realizing now that he'd forgotten to put on his warding pendant; had she Semblance? This worried him, but given the fact that she hadn't reacted with disgust or horror or any which way, she likely didn't recognize his Vitalis, at least.

Instead of acknowledging any of that internal monolog, however, "...I do possess magic of my own, yes; I think he and I combined could help you with whatever it is you seek…provided we find a way to convince Vergil." Hector said his name without much thought, though it wasn't a big deal– just that he'd forgotten to connect the name to the identity.

"But I already bought what I needed. I was just…trying to remember if I'd forgotten anything and, well, I haven’t. We can go now," he'd say, and then afterwards he'd tell her the address of the building he lived in.

Should she make a portal there, he'd follow her through it. Vergil had actually made a portal for him to the shop, just that because he'd decided not to come with, Hector had intended to walk back, making this remarkably convenient.
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Aidolon Speech
"Kathalan Tongue/Speech"
"Vallenor Tongue/Speech"
"Common Tongue/Speech"
"Mythrasi Tongue/Speech"
word count: 592
"And as you lay down your grace to me,
the skies begin to bleach red,
and the stars begin to fall,
I feel myself changing,
as my world starts dividing–"
User avatar
Carina
Posts: 169
Joined: Mon Sep 06, 2021 1:16 am
Character Sheet: viewtopic.php?f=43&t=2099
Character Secrets: viewtopic.php?f=20&t=2111

.
"Rare herbs and the like can be found aplenty both in the first deep and the second..." She trailed off, wondering that if his friend was a healer, he'd be interested in such things. "But personally I seek to..." She stopped. "It doesn't make much sense. I'd have to show you." She could not find the words, in Kathalan, Common, or Synskrit to explain how she could memorize entire cities and large swathes of space just by their auras, but it was something that once shown, it was more easily understood.

Carina took another drag on her cigarette as they walked outside, on a small side-street off of Wintergarten Circle, not far from where her new Transcriptionist Services office was going to be upcoming in Searing. She walked a bit down until they reached an alleyway, and between cafe chairs she focused on her mental map of the Southside. With a flourish, she opened a portal to the closest she could approximate of his apartment, and pulled him through by the wrist. The portal closed quickly after him, and the cafe was closed and empty. Given he was an Inquisitor, though, it was likely that she could be pardoned from most trouble with his word.

On the other side, before they walked up into the apartment building, Carina's hand remained on his wrist. She projected the aura of the apothecary they had just been inside into his aura, allowing him to view it as she could — glowing blueprints that lived on the back of the eyelids, visible with closed eyes and faint with eyes open. The aura comprised of everything from his storage and herbal drying rooms to the contents of his till when they had left and the doors that were locked. She had been in there enough times that there were even accurate points of what in the building needed to be repaired now, and what would need to be repaired soon.

"I'd like to map out parts of the Warrens like this, if that makes any sense. It would be useful to me and others if we could find our way... or note any changes." She released his wrist, and the aura would fade from his vision. "If it helps, that would mean we certainly wouldn't be lost."

Her aether was focused on the building now, even as she talked, and as she wove through the walls of the building she found the apartments with the correct numbers. The entrance was locked, but barely warded, and Carina hopped up the steps and opened a portal from the front door to the apartment, holding out a hand to welcome Hector through it. Through the portal he would be able to see the door.

Continued here.
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Last edited by Carina on Wed Aug 02, 2023 9:44 am, edited 1 time in total. word count: 471
User avatar
Hector
Posts: 355
Joined: Thu Jun 02, 2022 4:19 pm
Location: Gel'Grandel, Gelerian Imperium
Character Sheet: viewtopic.php?t=3187
Plot Notes: viewtopic.php?t=3339
Character Secrets: viewtopic.php?t=3335

Special

Review

Carina

Points: 10, magic exp ok
Injuries/Ailments:
Loot: None

Hector

Points: 10
Injuries/Ailments:
Loot: None

Notes: let's goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
word count: 64
"And as you lay down your grace to me,
the skies begin to bleach red,
and the stars begin to fall,
I feel myself changing,
as my world starts dividing–"
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