Legend of Ransera

12th of Searing, Year 123 of Steel

Kaus, Ceran, and Indric had only agreed to venture out of the Citadel once Asallon agreed to stay back with Kala. She and the sorcerer had agreed to sit at opposite sides of the small garden so they could each read their books, pretend to be alone, but still keep an eye on each other. The Avialae boys would be a novelty in Solunarium, but they had less to hide than Kala herself. Even so, they were accompanied by Sentinels, at least one of which was an Assessor who would prevent arcane delving into their thoughts. Asallon sat on a bench, purporting to read a book of Names supplied by their hosts, though Kala suspected between its leaves was some local pulp fiction. She was perusing the Radiant Chronicle, trying to better understand her desert cousins. That was, after all, the greatest reason she had come.

Of course, Phocion had invited her to his homeland when she had played the diplomat in Kalzasi. Of course, she wouldn't mind returning to Kalzasi with a trade deal negotiated and requiring only Kalzasern signatories. But to learn the logistics of godhead, to learn how elder Moritasi had attempted, succeeded, and failed at their divine paths—that would be invaluable to her.

She looked up, narrowed pale eyes against the glaring sunlight reflecting off the space between them. Asallon was dozing.

Kala smiled to herself, then let her gaze fall back to the holy scripture she was attempting to read in Vastian, though she had another copy translated into Common beside her. The Sentinels knew much about her, though they didn't know the half of it. To unknowing eyes, she looked like a demure, diminutive, and studious young lady with a strange, far northern complexion. Her Astralarian garb had given way to lighter, more local attire, though she was clearly not Vastian. Her wings were hidden by Torin's marvelous cloak.

All the same, even with that and her own Semblance tuned to show a relatively mundane human woman, she couldn't help but feel eyes upon her, real or imagined.

"‘No matter how great the Hunger, a shared feast better sates the soul.’"

Though many things were muted to her senses arcane, she was still open to the world around her and could feel muted shapes moving around her. When one approached, she looked up without alarm. This place was nigh as safe as Varvara's bosom, though she supposed that could be a dangerous place as well if the Lady of Chains so desired. The woman who approached seemed friendly enough, and Kala had learned the ways of the court; she could read people without sembling. Her garb reminded her of home, albeit the colors and cuts were clearly those of the nomads she had studied before arriving. But there was a wildness still to her mountain folk as there seemed to be to those desert folk who largely abstained from city life.

There was a charming lack of decorum that reminded her of home as well. Her family was respected, but only stood on ceremony when it was necessary.

Kala smiled.

"Kala Mizal of House Leukos," she replied with a gracious nod. Marking her place, she closed the book in her lap. "Salve. My Vastian is a work in progress, but I would be happy for some tea."

Without glancing at Asallon across the garden, she insinuated her thoughts into his somnamulant ones, assuring him that she would be fine and close at hand. In any case, he had expressed a desire to meditate upon the sands to treat with desert spirits and it were best he did so before the heat of day reached its peak. She didn't fear for her Siltori sorcerer; he could dowse for water, conjure clouds, and call breezes to cool him should the need arise. It was strange how his summoning and her mastery of the elements overlapped.

She stood, smoothing her skirts behind her. Though self-possessed, she didn't look like much beyond a quiet young noblewoman from far away. Her coloring, were she Re'hyæan, would have trended toward that platinum ideal, but her ears didn't peek out from her hair.

"Lead on, please."

"Salve, Tiaz," she said softly, bending slightly toward him but not so quick nor so close as to alarm Hilana's reptilian adornment. With a little smile, she followed the strange woman - of course, almost everything about Solunarium was strange even after spending time entertaining their delegation when it came to Kalzasi.

The book in question remained in her hands. She considered.

"Sacred texts... require time and meditation," she said. "'Tis easy to make academic decisions about them, but the meaning only comes clear after allowing them to bloom like flowers. Hm. Parts are poetic, parts patriotic, and parts quite dense. I do enjoy the challenge of empathizing with cultures that aren't my own."

In the kitchens, she sat as the brightly-plumaged woman rattled off combinations of teas and tisanes, dutifully taking the scent of each. They all charmed.

"I would be best pleased with whichever you most desire yourself. 'Tis an unhelpful answer, I know, but my movements here are circumscribed, so I would prefer to learn as much of Solunarium and its people as possible from this position."

Of course, she had been to the Palatium Umbarum, but only via portal. Kaus was able to walk the streets with Sentinels following, but Kala's wings and her unfurling soul had to be ... contained. There were games of politics being played between Luxium and Umbrium, as well as games between the Divine Twins and the draconic dynasty. She was a stranger in a strange land, being careful as possible not to make a faux pas that would endanger her relationship with Avaerys and Varvara, her friendship with Phocion, nor her nation-state's standing with the desert power.

"I suppose I should taste it without accouterments first," she ventured, "and then decide whether I would prefer it adulterated." She smiled. Even back home, people were particular about their tea. "You remind me of a Hytori man who lives in Kalzasi, the apprentice of a learned alchemist who blends teas on the side. He is also... the apprentice, I mean... a skilled summoner, and he brews with a bit of magical panache. Water elementals pull pure water out of the air. Fire elementals heat it to a rolling boil. Air elementals keep the whole show aloft."

As for breaking her fast, she considered.

"I don't tend to eat a great deal until luncheon, but I generally try to balance a bit of sweet with a bit of savory. Sometimes a bit of umami, as well."

She wondered whether Master Len'Myren didn't have the better idea, mastering the elements through wild spirits, but also being able to commune with other spirits as well. She had opted for direct access to those elements, which she supposed was better in some ways, though there was a charm to summoning.

Her nostrils flared as she took in the scents emanating from Hilana's stores. Some were familiar, some foreign. The cooks at the Citadel were adept indeed, and if she was uncomfortable with the idea of slavery, she was also slowly coming to terms with the idea that she was more than human, more than Avialae even. Soon enough there would be less difference between slave and Shokaze than between any mortal and her.

That was something to digest.

"We have the elements in common, then," she offered. That Rune had come to her early, as well as Semblance. But Kala had been lucky, primed, educated, and initiated with care. But, "I wonder, though. Runic initiation is dangerous. Statistically speaking, not everyone can survive it. But Solunarium... well, I am only exposed to a selection of its citizens: Sentinels and the like. Perhaps it only seems more widespread here."

Kalzasi welcomed magic, hosted the Circle of Spells, and generally anyone in power there had magic at their beck and call. In Solunarium, from what she gathered, it was necessary for some types of standing within the culture.

While she felt the urge to help, she schooled herself to stillness, allowing the Vastian woman to do what she had offered to do. Kala would certainly show her appreciation.

"Yes," she answered, smiling. "I do enjoy dates. And we arrived on the 8th, dined in the Palatium Umbarum on the 9th, and have been given rooms there, as well. But I do enjoy the monastic quiet of the Citadel. It is a refuge from the city proper, much as home is a refuge from Kalzasi proper. The space and the quiet afford the opportunity to reflect. Everything is perfectly splendid and, even if it weren't, would be an entirely new experience for us. I do enjoy learning.

"My brother has more access to the Luxium, though even he is escorted by Sentinels. I do hope eventually to see it, but secrecy remains paramount." She hadn't yet the wisdom or the power of the Divine Twins, and so the control of information about her was necessary, as well as the ruse of remaining entirely mortal. At least here, far from most Avialae, her wings were no more exciting than a Rathari's.

"If... Daemon returns," she mused aloud, "perhaps we both might visit his realm and attune to the Light."