Legend of Ransera

Posted: **Wed May 31, 2023 8:21 am**

"To be fair, I was ten years old," Hilana admitted wryly. "Old enough to know better, young enough not to care. Especially since she was already in my family's estate when I got there and they handed her to me. I was summoned to Tertium for my eldest sister's betrothal party, and because I was doing well according to my tutor's reports, and my father and paternal grandparents had come out to see me a season or two before, they thought that perhaps I'd settled down enough to stay and begin formal education and live there. So the kitten, who had no name, was a bribe. They thought that if I fell in love with her and I was calm enough, then I would just want to stay there so I had a kitten. According to my sisters, I ruined the party because not only did I steal the kitten, which none of them cared about... but I took our late mother's wedding veil and wore it while riding around on Hayima'el's mother, Sakima," the girl admitted. She was perhaps a bit embarrassed by her own behaviour as a child, but looking back... she understood why she had done what she had. "They refused to allow me to touch it because they were afraid that even though I'd been soaked in the baths once I got in, and well before they came home, that I would make it dirty or smelly," Hilana had a bite of her food, her eyes dancing with mischief at the memory. "So when their backs were turned, I snatched it and went for a ride on Sakima. Missed most of the party and Namah didn't wear the veil. Even though my aunt had it professionally cleaned, she didn't wear it at her wedding. Neither did Marah or Athalia. The joke is on them, because I will wear it when the time is right. It's mine now, technically, as the youngest and the unmarried."

When she went to Tertium next season for the Derby... she was planning on bringing it home to Solunarium Proper with her.

She nodded in understanding as he explained to her about the active involvement of the elemental spirits during her lessons as she had another couple forkfuls of her food. That was true; Hilana was fortunate enough indeed that the spirits liked her and wanted her to improve and do more, and more, and more... but when the time came to stop, that pressure was there, their whispers were there. As disappointed as some of them got when Hilana had had enough with giving them her aether and playing with them, as sometimes they seemed to think the girl was a playmate with the practice and exercises that she did, they stayed nearby anyway. "I'm always telling my patients that the body knows what it needs. They just have to listen," she smiled wryly as she had a drink from her glass, and would refresh Æros' as well as needed. "It's one of those times that I take my own advice. The headaches and fatigue mean stop, rest, and recover," she smiled at that.

At his offer, Hilana inclined her head. "I was actually going to get you to do that today, Dominus, but I had a surprise visitor last night who snuck out when he shouldn't have for a quick visit and checking in," her small smile indicated just who it might have been, and if it wasn't clear enough, he could certainly peek through her memories. Finn had blinked himself into her apartment for a snack, catching up, and attuning the mambas to her. "I leave them fairly spicy for others, but they'll behave for me. They'll react well for you, but don't make it permanent," she grinned at him. It was one thing for Tiaz, Fiya, and Lydia to be friendly and relaxed around multiple people; but it was quite another for the venomous snakes that Hilana had a steadily growing collection of.

"I would like to acquire more species," the girl explained. "Especially those from across the Crystal Sea. If they are not native, procuring a cure becomes more difficult, no? You see, venom from different sources attacks the body in different ways. There are four classifications of venom," Hilana was off on a roll now, Æros could likely tell. "There are proteolytic venom, hemotoxic venom, neurotoxic venom, and cytotoxic venom. Proteolytic is present in all snake bites, and what it does is act at the site where the wound was inflicted. It attacks and degrades the muscles and tissue, but it is more at the local source. But as that spreads, that impacts the blood, too. Hemotoxic primarily attacks the blood stream, and therefore the tissues and organs that way. It can cause blood clots or inhibit the body's ability to form blood clots, depending on the specific specie of snake. That is what leads to cardiovascular failure, limb loss, and internal bleeding. Which is obviously devastating, but hemotoxic venom tends to impact its victims the slowest, so with proper attention... you may well survive it. Not necessarily intact, but you could survive it." The girl sipped her drink, tearing up another piece of pita. "Neurotoxic venom impacts your nervous system. Your brain, everything that it controls. This is what causes the muscle paralysis, and can lead to unconsciousness. And due to the very nature of it, since it does less visible damage than proteolytic or hemotoxic venom, it can be harder to detect until you show symptoms or it is spotted with Semblance. And if you collapse and you're unconscious... it's a lot harder to get treatment, isn't it? The last type, cytotoxic, attacks everything. It is like proteolytic venom amplified many times over, I think you could say. Where you receive cytotoxic venom can make the difference between life or death... but because of the damage it causes when it is delivered, the way it attacks tissues, blood, everything local... if it is allowed to spread, then it makes the loss of life much more likely."

She let him digest that information for a moment while she had another bite of dinner. "So keeping this in mind, I want to have a variety of venom on hand so that different crafted poisons can have very specific effects. I want to be able to combine multiple types... like put together a combination of cytotoxic and neurotoxic, for example. Some clients came to my mentor because they wanted something extremely specific in the manner of death, and having a number of sources allows you to craft customized poisons to precisely fit those situations that they want. And because we have no Mendicants here... and there is only so much pesticyte... that leaves healers with normal methods or alchemical solutions. The more sources one has, the better my chances of either successful poison, or successful healing of a victim. Antivenin largely must be from the same species of snake to have the most success at undoing the damage. Make the wrong treatment, you may or may not be successful. You might be able to save part of them, but it's much harder to fix something when the brain is gone, isn't it? Even for necromancers."

Risdra was purring away in Æros' lap, enjoying the fact that she was able to get as many treats from him as she did. Hilana just chuckled, thoroughly amused by the way her big queen had enthralled the star-touched Fae. "I'm quite certain she's saying that you are hers now and you can stay and feed her treats all day from your fingers," the girl giggled. "Khyan may serve you, but Risdra says you can serve her."

Posted: **Thu Jun 01, 2023 7:06 am**

TIMESTAMP: -
NOTES: -

- - -

As Hilana waxed into spinning the tale of her acquisition of Risdra, Æros listened intently, switching between whittling away at his meal and petting the fastidious feline in question. And when she finished, Æros smiled, exhaling a light laugh.

“Knowing you, I can’t say I’m surprised by any of that; I’ve always admired that boldness of yours, even if it was…unhoned as a child,” and though his voice was near to teasing, the sentiment was a genuine one. “I do think it a bit of an insult to your mother that all of your sisters refused to wear the veil– but ah well, that makes it all the more yours, does it not?” When he spoke of the girl’s sisters, he put on a tone of condescension; he genuinely found their reaction to that to be really rather disrespectful to their mother who, to his knowledge, was a woman deserving of veneration from her children.

To Hilana’s indication that she was listening to her body in regards to her limits, he nodded, "…good. I’m glad you’re taking care.”

Regarding the Mesmerization of the serpents, Æros rose a brow at the mention of an unknown visitor. He considered it for a moment, and confirmed the answer through her Symphony; the mention of the other had put both his name and image in her mind’s eye and thus the rhythm of her heart. “Oh? Traversion is really rather convenient, is it not?” He mused, thinking about having the ability to blink around like that; it’d save a lot of time, certainly, though he did have members of his house he could bother when going places; it was coming back that he usually didn’t have as convenient a solution for.

Æros was half expecting a long winded reply when he inquired about what purpose there was behind collecting so many similar snakes, but that was partially the point– he did find it endearing to listen to people speak on their passions, and, well, the information itself was, at the very least, passing interesting to him. And so, silent he stayed, finishing off most of his food by the time this tale waned regarding the ability to craft ‘specialty’ poisons.

“That all is fascinating; have you or Vasilei ever considered Affliction? From what I’ve learnt about it, it’s dangerous gambit, but…I think it would pair quite well with these goals of yours,” his eyes narrowed in turn with a slight, but genuine smile, devious though his expression was. “...and with your mastery of Elementalism, you could store all those little afflictions you’d make in lodestones, which you could then use for…myriad purposes. Sell or use them akin to dragonshards, use them in alchemy, in necromancy, so on. Perfect synergy, no?”

Æros had learned about Affliction in his time in the academy, as with most other known Cardinal runes, and it’d always fascinated him. However, he didn’t think it quite suited him, so it was…low on his personal list, but, for another? He’d love to see that magic utilized well; he could learn a lot from observing another, and, well, if he ever needed a creative or particularly agonizing death to inflict upon somebody, who better than an Affliction mage with the ability to wield lodestones?

And then to her comments about him serving Risdra, he chuckled. "And I'll serve little Risdra gladly."

- - -

"Vallenor Tongue/Speech"

"Vastien Tongue/Speech"

"Valasren Tongue/Speech"

"Common Tongue/Speech"

Posted: **Wed Jun 07, 2023 1:52 pm**

“Well, as far as they are concerned, I damaged it, I insulted her memory and ruined it,” Hilana shrugged. “It doesn’t smell like camel, it smells like a lace veil and it was misted with the same type of scent she always wore back home, according to my grandmother. So it was their loss. To be fair, it wasn’t this long-established tradition, as it was a veil that my grandmother made for my mother for her engagement. If it had been passed along our maternal line, then I think it would have been the greater insult. They had their own custom-made for them for their weddings, each of them did. I expect my aunt... stepmother... would make one for me as well, but I will wear my mother’s when the time comes. Even if it did get a couple kitten claws here and there and needed to be mended by a kineticist seamstress,” the girl sipped her drink. “Their loss.”

Perhaps it was hers, too, considering how that had really been the nail in the coffin, so to speak, in her relationship with her sisters. But as it was... Hilana was not concerned about it. That wasn’t something that was going to be fixed, by any of them, and not in this lifetime.

“Traversion is interesting, isn’t it? One of these days, I will get it,” Hilana was reflective. “Vasilei has no desire to acquire the Rune of Affliction, however,” she admitted. “His main interest is being able to cure issues caused by it, but if one has Semblance and is able to recognize a Curse as an Afflictionist... there’s connections here in the city. But you are right. There are all kinds of useful connections and implications, aren’t there?” she had half a smile. Affliction was not something she was well-familiar with, but she was learning by word of mouth just what Runes did for what. Still, she knew she had only scratched the surface, but it might well be worth looking into.

His reaction about the cat had the girl chuckling again, and she had another bite of her food. “She may take that quite seriously, just to warn you,” the Vastiana warned him. She refreshed his glass and finished her own plate for the time being. “Shall we go meet the spicier babies?” she offered, getting up. Tiaz would be fine on the table, and Fiya was put into her terrarium in the living room for the time being on the way to the snake room. While Finn made sure that the snakes behaved for her, there was the undeniable fact that cobras would eat other snakes if given the opportunity, and while Lydia would be safe, Hilana would rather Fiya did not look like a tempting snack to her venom producers.

Going through this door was a very different room than Hilana’s bedroom, though this second room was clearly supposed to have been a bedroom - there was a bed there, and a chest of drawers, but the bed had supplies for venom collection - vials, jars, racks, on multiple trays that sat on a smooth piece of thin stone to give it some extra sturdiness. Multiple large terrariums lined the walls, some larger and some smaller. Here were the sources of the multiple symphonies that the master Mesmer was able to pick up earlier. Each of them, he would be able to tell, had been adjusted to recognize Hilana as a friend. “Cobras here, asps, bushmasters, mambas,” Hilana had her collection arranged fairly well, though the cobras had the largest terrariums, and some of them were enormous. She unlocked the sliding door, tapping her fingers to the glass, and opened it as the big snake slithered towards her, rising up so that Hilana could gently lift and support her. “This is Badai. Isn’t she beautiful? She produces more venom than the rest of them, but she’s the biggest and the oldest. I’m hoping that she will clutch for me next season, but we will see, won’t we?” The snake was a darker grey and brown, and the scales almost seemed to be outlined in black. She was massive, nearly as thick as Tiaz, and as Hilana kept pulling her from the enclosure... she was clearly longer.

Posted: **Tue Jul 18, 2023 3:06 pm**

TIMESTAMP: -
NOTES: -

- - -

Æros scoffed at what Hilana described her sisters’ reactions to have been. “Correct, that is their loss. You are your mother’s daughter as much as they are– and honestly, from what you’ve told me, more so than they are. I suppose, in the end, it’s fitting that the veil will be worn by you and you alone.” He saw that as somewhat of a silver lining, though he wasn’t quite sure if she would.

“One day I, too, might consider Traversion…if only because I’d no longer have to rely on others for portals.” He knew not when that day would be, though, given the other runic endeavors he had in his head.

On the subject of Affliction: “If Vasilei does not wish to have it, then, well, I think it is worthy of you to consider. One of you having it would do wonders for your business, I think. Plus, it must appeal to the same part of you that’s drawn to poisons, does it not?” His voice sounded almost like he was goading her on to get it, and intentionally or not, the empyreal influence of his Mesmer quirks would make him all the more compelling. In the end, however, it’d still be her choice– though he’d endeavor to make it ever the more tempting.

And at the notion that Risdra would take him seriously, he smiled, a breath of a laugh escaping him. “She’s already stolen a bit of my heart, if nothing else,” he would say.

When they finished eating, he would watch as Hilana put little Fiya away, then stand when she gestured they move to the other room wherein the ‘spicier babies’ lurked. He wasn’t concerned about Lydia, given his own skill with Mesmer. Should any other serpent near her, his Symphony would weave in melodies of both calm and contentment, as well as drowning out hunger; they’d leave the little one alone.

Entering the next room was fascinating. He’d heard the Symphonies of the serpents through the walls, sure, but here they were much louder. Animals sang differently than people, and Æros spent most of his time ‘round people– this was an interesting change of pace for him. Visually, the animals were striking, too, and he found his gaze restless, moving repeatedly between different snakes and the various vials, sundries and such that she had laid out.

When Hilana opened the terrarium of a particularly large snake, Æros pulled himself from his thoughts and walked over to where she stood to get a better look– again, unconcerned because his own Mesmer would keep him safe.

“She is beautiful, I agree. What does her venom do to the body? What’ve you used it for? Do you sell it?” Then, giving her a somewhat mischievous expression, “...have you ever personally used it on anyone?”

- - -

"Vallenor Tongue/Speech"

"Vastien Tongue/Speech"

"Valasren Tongue/Speech"

"Common Tongue/Speech"

Posted: **Sun Jul 23, 2023 9:33 pm**

Affliction was certainly something to think about. His Divine Radiance had told her that if she wanted to work towards balance, then she needed to consider harming. He wasn’t wrong… and Affliction went hand-in-hand with poisons and alchemy. She who could make the substance, and its antidote… and summarily inflict it on others… that might be something to consider. Especially since an affliction might be more difficult to fix than poison. But all the same… it was a matter of being smart about it. One might be stopped by a Ward; the other might not. One might be careful with one, the other might slip through. In any event… it was a good idea to have access to both.

It was something to think about for later.

But as she handled Badai and the big Queen cobra kept coming, and coming, and coming, Hilana stroked the back of the snake’s head. The serpent was definitely watching him and paying little mind to her handler, but her hood was at least folded down. “Cobras produce neurotoxins and cytotoxins, and a bite from an adult to another adult can be enough to cause death in 30 minutes or less,” the Vastiana offered. “The first thing to happen when you are bitten is your nerve system is under attack. Your vision blurs, you could get vertigo and nausea, severe pain, and eventually paralysis. You can fall into a coma and then respiratory failure. In the meantime, the cytotoxins spread and attack the rest of your body.” Badai’s tongue flickered, and Æros could tell that she had scented Lydia, and Hilana coaxed the big cobra back towards her. The snake may have eaten a few days ago, but big as she was, she wasn’t opposed to another meal…

His question on if she’d used any of Badai’s venom made her pause. She already knew full well one didn’t mention customers who bought poison, and as her Great-Aunt told her, once it leaves with the client, it’s no longer her business what is done with it. Just because they make it does not mean that they are the killers with it. Thought had things not fallen through with her ex… “We use it for antivenin, mostly,” Hilana decided was the safest answer. He could likely tell that there was more beyond ‘mostly’ that was bound to be a far more lethal concoction, or multiple combinations thereof… but the girl was creative with everything else in her life, and this was surely no exception. She went over to the bed where the supplies were and selecting a glass jar with some sort of thin, waxed cloth over the mouth of it. The outside of it was padded with leather, for some reason. The wide-mouthed jar was fitted into a metal stand, and the Vastiana shifted the snake to get her attention before wiggling the apparatus which she could hold in her other hand. The cobra’s head followed it, her body tensing and her hood flared. “Illisus,” she urged Badai, and suddenly the large snake struck the jar, her fangs piercing the cloth, as venom began to fill the jar. The padding made sense to see it in action, as it helped protect Badai’s mouth from the violence of striking.

“Sometimes when you have two people or smaller snakes, it’s easier, but with Badai and the other cobras and the mambas… safer to do it this way. Sometimes they miss on the strike, and it’s better that it’s not your hand,” she admitted. “I do keep antivenin on hand for each of the species… but better safe than sorry, right?” The snake just kept going, the venom pooling in the jar as a result.

Posted: **Tue Sep 19, 2023 7:27 pm**

TIMESTAMP: -
NOTES: -

- - -

Æros watched as Hilana continued to handle the large serpent she’d called Badai, though his gaze did flit between her and the sundry supplies she’d left out. Badai was a beautiful thing, though he couldn't blindly admire her. He’d detected in her Symphony that she’d caught on to Lydia’s presence, and thus did his focus shift. He was prepared to redirect the snake with his magic should the predator's song rise, but he did trust Hilana when it came to handling snakes– if Lydia were in any real danger, the Vastiana would say something.

In response to what she said about cobra venom, “...part of me is curious to see that effect play out, but I doubt it would be easy to find a volunteer.”

The process of collecting venom from a snake was an interesting one, made easier by the fact that she could order Badai to bite down with a command phrase. The patrician's eyes became gilded when Hilana had started this process; there was more to see beneath the surface. The musculoskeletal system of a snake wasn't incredibly complicated; one could even compare them to ropes of muscle if one wished, but it was the anatomy related to envenomation he was interested in as the snake was commanded to bite the jar.

“Perhaps a touch morbid, but I wonder how much of that it’d take to do anything to somebody like me. I’d prefer never to find out, but I am curious,” he asked, his eyes on the jar and its ever increasing contents.

“I’d imagine safety being paramount when doing this, yes– I can offer assistance, if you’d like? They are already charmed, so I’m not sure what more I can do, but if it’s easier with two people as you say, I’ll offer.” That, and he found the process itself interesting, and thus, so was the idea of participating.

- - -

"Vallenor Tongue/Speech"

"Vastien Tongue/Speech"

"Valasren Tongue/Speech"

"Common Tongue/Speech"

Posted: **Sat Oct 07, 2023 1:06 pm**

“That’s part of why I was encouraged to get Semblance,” Hilana admitted. “My Great-Aunt wanted me to take it years ago, she felt it could make things easier to see and understand on the body of the victim. I watched through auraglasses instead, so you can see part of it that way, but it’s not quite as thorough as well-honed Sembling sight.” She didn’t seem to have a problem holding onto the heavy-bodied snake, bearing her weight with a practiced ease. There was a great many way to get victims, such as it was, be they sentient or bestial, depending on what one wanted… but for the most part, Hilana left that up to her great-aunt. Either way, they were declared sacrifices to the Founders of Solunarium, and the testing and practice began. From there, too, she learned surgery, autopsy, and medicine: cadavers had their uses.

However gruesome the observation in this case: waste not, want not.

She sized him up when he remarked on what it would do to him. “Depends,” Hilana admitted. “On many factors. Your own constitution. The size and age of the cobra that bit you and how much of a bite they were able to get on you. Where you were bitten counts. Whether or not you are able to get care and how fast. If you were bitten on a limb, and have no other care, you’d probably want to amputate it to try to keep the venom from spreading. Closer to the torso? That’s much harder.” She shrugged. “Raw venom versus something that’s been enhanced is another factor. Plain poisons versus alchemy… but Badai’s could kill a handful of people just like this. Dip a blade in it, plunge it in. An average person would not make it.” She was rather admiring of a snake that could quite easily take out a number of people. And perhaps, through her provided venom, she already had.

“You are wearing Lydia, so that may not be the best, not with a cobra. They’ll eat mammals since I provide those…. But in the wild, they eat snakes and other reptiles. She’s already noticed her,” Hilana looked back at the jar. Once the droplets had stopped, the girl wiggled the jar slightly. “Dimittis, Badai,” she instructed her to let go, and the enormous cobra lifted her head and with Hilana angling the jar, was able to retract her fangs and settle them down, draping her torso over the Vastiana’s arms while she set the jar and the holder down. “You’re just the biggest girl, aren’t you?” She crooned at the cobra, using her fingers to scritch her jaw and encourage her to open her hood for Æros to see. “I’ll put her back and you can help with a mamba. They don’t eat snakes, so they’re not going to pay attention to your pretty purple baby.”

And Hilana would do exactly that, guiding the enormous cobra into her large enclosure on the wall and letting her settle in before locking it up once more and reaching to use a longer snake hook to retrieve one of the black mambas. Like the cobra, he could tell it had been charmed, but it was a lot smaller than Badai had been with an equally menacing look in its eyes. But the two of them could repeat the procedure, and Hilana was all too happy to keep talking about one of her favourite-ever subjects.

Posted: **Tue Oct 10, 2023 8:07 pm**

TIMESTAMP: -
NOTES: -

- - -

With regards to what Hilana said about her getting Semblance, Æros smiled. “I’m glad you’ll have plenty to make use of your new Craft with,” he started. “Whether it’s just looking at your serpents or examining the effects of their venom, I bet you’ll hone your Sembling sight quickly,” he continued, genuinely sounding encouraging of and excited for her.

“Honestly, I find myself using it more often than I ever imagined; I use it nigh as much as my Mesmer.” Æros would add; the rune had quickly become tied with that one for his favorite, despite how much history he had with Mesmer.

The starlit elf would listen as she described the many factors that played into the lethality of that particular venom. It, frankly, did not sound enjoyable for him to test it out– even though he was really curious about how resistant he was to venoms and poisons and the like with his Fæ constitution.

“Well…I suppose that will have to remain a mystery unless another half-fæ earns your ire; I’d…rather not experience limb loss or death,” he’d respond with a somewhat awkward sort of laugh.

When Hilana mentioned the other snake’s interest in Lydia, it only reinforced that which he had heard in the creature’s Symphony. For that reason, he had thus far kept his distance, and with this warning, it was cemented that that had been the correct decision. “She is very pretty, unfortunate she’s a risk to little Lydia,” he’d say as he moved closer to Hilana once Badai had been guided back into her enclosure.

This snake, the black mamba, was a beautiful creature and he looked on to the animal with fascination. “Tell me about this one,” he’d say, happy to listen to her continue on like this for ages.

- - -

"Vallenor Tongue/Speech"

"Vastien Tongue/Speech"

"Valasren Tongue/Speech"

"Common Tongue/Speech"

Posted: **Tue Oct 10, 2023 10:25 pm**

Review

Name: Æros

XP: 10 Points, no magic
Injuries/Ailments: None
Loot: None

Name: Hilana

XP: 10 Points, no magic
Injuries/Ailments: None
Loot: None

Notes: That was an interesting thread. Hilana definitely got to bring Æros into her own world some more, and Badai got to come out and say hello!

Legend of Ransera

Into the Den of Snakes [Æros]

Re: Into the Den of Snakes [Æros]

Re: Into the Den of Snakes [Æros]

Re: Into the Den of Snakes [Æros]

Re: Into the Den of Snakes [Æros]

Re: Into the Den of Snakes [Æros]

Re: Into the Den of Snakes [Æros]

Re: Into the Den of Snakes [Æros]

Re: Into the Den of Snakes [Æros]

Re: Into the Den of Snakes [Æros]