| Welcome to our home, a world in which anything can happen. From sprawling deserts and vast forests to massive volcanoes and luscious hot springs, Soare and the Scattered Isles are beautiful places just waiting to be explored. For the brave and the bold or the cautious and the wary, creatures of all kinds roam the earth, looking for adventure or for a place to call their own. Species of all kinds - the well-known and the unknown - thrive here, though not always in harmony. Elenlond is an original medieval fantasy RPG with a world that's as broad as it is unique. Calling on characters of all kinds, the sky's the limit in a world where boundaries are blurred and the imagination runs rampant. Restrictions are limited and members are encouraged to embrace their creativity, to see where they can go and what they can do. It's no longer just text on a page - it becomes real. Enter Our World |
| Early Morning; Galena | |
|---|---|
| Topic Started: Jun 23 2014, 01:36 PM (448 Views) | |
| Sophia | Jun 23 2014, 01:36 PM Post #1 |
|
High Inquisitor of Ashoka
![]()
|
Every muscle cried out to her, she could feel sweat pouring from every inch of skin, breath burned the back of her throat. It was pure torture. It was glorious, sweet torture. Her legs were on rhythm alone at this point, their momentum keeping them moving just as much as the effort she was putting in. She had begun taking her runs in Soto mostly for the climate. By which, and this could never be said enough, she really hated, not loathed, not disliked, but hated, sand. It was everywhere. It stuck to your skin, you breathed it in. The extra heat in Ashoka made it rougher to. She was spending more time out of Ashoka now too, although this was more so Orion struggled to keep any track of her (if he tried, she was not sure), which was probably a good idea as the rift between them seemed to be widening by the day. But that did not matter now, the run was all she cared about. Everything else was blasted from her mind. It was refreshing and uplifting. Admittedly, she got odd looks, but that was her choice of clothes she guessed, which was more suited to doing this in the Ashokan sun, which was stupid but if you wanted to be able to endure running in worse conditions, run in Ashoka. Her lower half was fine, admittedly the trousers were tight and clung even closer because of the sweat sticking them to her like glue. She guessed wearing a vest top which left her midriff exposed was more eye drawing... But then again, as she ran by, hair tied back in a ponytail (apart from that one strand which she wanted to smite to a thousand hells) most people probably mistook her for a young man. Which usually would bother her, but not now. Nothing else, just the run. Slowly the runner began to slow down to a jog, and then slower and slower until she was at a slow walk, throwing her legs out in a stretch as she proceeded to stretch the muscles out. She probably should do more but... She glanced and took a few steps over to a fountain, leaning over and submerging her head breifly, before throwing it back with a sigh. Sure, she could use her magic to make her running speed insane. But she had learnt from her time as a cripple it was best to be able to use either her physical body or magic alone if needed. Plus, it felt nice to rely on her body alone. She reached her hand into the water and splashed her face again. It was icy cool, and if her body did not feel like fire it would be unpleasant. It hurt, but she stood back up and continue to stretch her legs, part of her feeling pleased with the muscle as she felt it reach and bend to its limit. When she recovered from being burnt she was strong again, sure, but only magically, and it had taken a while to get her body back in shape to its previous level. But she was there again now, a creature of tight, toned muscle coiled like springs beneath her skin. Or vipers, she liked that idea more. It took her a few minutes as she carefully went through a series of stretches, moving on to ones which she could also feel smugly superior about because of the flexibility involved before she sat, still panting, on the edge of the fountain, There was a slight splash of water on her back. It was.... Nice. Sure, she was probably the most vulnerable she had ever been at this, but if anyone knew which country she would be in, and had managed to keep up with her throughout her lengthy run, well, good on them. It was still early though, it had been dark when she started but no more. People were just beginning to move around. Life. All around her, with her in the middle, exhausted and stuff. She looked up and let out a lop sided grin as her shoulders still rose and feel rhythmically. "Hey" |
| (OFFLINE) PROFILE | QUOTE GO TO TOP |
| Galena | Jun 23 2014, 03:06 PM Post #2 |
![]()
Thy sins, paid in blood...
![]()
|
Galena yawned, nigh cracking her jaws in the process, winced and rubbed one hand across the back of her aching neck as she trudged wearily back in the direction of the hospital. It was no good, she told herself over and over. She'd fallen asleep on her desk again when her apprentice sent her home to much protesting, only for her to dither and turn around, and come right back. It was almost like being addicted. 'I'll just check on Sir Rumbottom.' Or something along the lines of 'I'll just organize these thousand files numerically, alphabetically, and every which way you can think of.' it had become anything to stay there and make herself useful. She knew when she was doing it, knew she had to stop, but just couldn't make herself, this terrible need for a fix, to know that she wasn't a waste of space, that she was useful. When had it even started? When she'd failed to provide heirs to her husband? When her own self worth plummeted after each failure, each death on her hands? It was ridiculous really, but somehow she felt that she had to justify it to herself, if nobody else. The sun felt far too bright and her mouth was dry, tongue gluing itself to the roof of her mouth as she squinted up at the sky. Why did it have to be so lovely outside when she was bound to end up sitting amidst stacks of paper or walking between beds taking notes and assessing people. Sure the windows were tall, bright, but it wasn't the same as being outside in the sun, and the gentle heat of the spring day would undoubtedly set her to dozing again. Perhaps she ought to just pitch a bed in her office, it seemed impossible of late to sleep at home. Maybe she'd make a point of stopping at that shipping office first and ask them to order more of those coffee beans from Angkar...gods but she could use a coffee right now. She covered her mouth with the back of her hand as another yawn squeezed through her teeth, and stumbled on a loose cobblestone, cursing softly under her breath well enough to turn the colour of the air. A sailor would have been proud of that one, she was certain. 'Hey.' It took a moment for it to sink in, that it was her being addressed. Normally it was someone rushing up and fretting about her, that some stupid sod had fallen off a roof, or had been eating paint. Not nearly so casual. Dropping the folds of her pristine white stola back over her sandals, she half turned, blinked, rubbed at her eyes and looked again. No, she was not mistaken. "Sophia?" Several questions flooded her mouth, but the one that tripped off her lips with a genuine smile was "How are you?" They'd not seen each other since the ball, when she'd rather unceremoniously jostled her as she was swept past by the charming Lord Rosevine, though she suspected that was not his name. None of her digging had uncovered one such, and she'd been disappointed after discovering that he was a brother to nature as she was a sister. Sophia had seemed a little off then, wary almost, edgy as if something spooked her. And the time before that she'd been terrifying, and cold. Now though, she seemed worn out, her chest fluttering with each breath and her clothing sticking to her skin. It only raised more questions, but there was a healthy glow to her cheeks, and she looked good for all that she was panting like a hard run dog. Galena scrubbed at her face with the back of her hand, somehow wishing that it would magically remove the darkened circles beneath her eyes, the wanness of her quavering smile. How did she treat this? Was it business or social? Or possibly even just an accidental collision? If that was the case though what was she doing in Soto? It only peppered her mind with questions that in her insomnia, she wasn't quite ready to deal with. She swayed on her feet, then plopped down next to her, blinking blearily. What time was it anyway? "Art thou not cold? What time is it? Something about coffee..." she trailed off into mumbles, blinked and shook her head, and tried to be more attentive on the other woman. |
| (OFFLINE) PROFILE | QUOTE GO TO TOP |
| Sophia | Jun 26 2014, 03:15 PM Post #3 |
|
High Inquisitor of Ashoka
![]()
|
So, the councillor was not a morning person. That was potentially something worth knowing... In what circumstance was not really clear, but sure, it was nice to know. Soph touched two fingers to her forehead in a mock salute of recognition. "I feel good" Sophia replied, not moving, her shoulders still heaving, a grin on her face. Last time she had met Galena it had been at the ball and she had been a bundle of worries and neurosis. Before that she had very firmly been in murder mode, wreaking death and destruction. Whilst both were her, they were but facets. In particular she felt she had to be sterner, unyielding when they first met. Whilst the supposed Ashokan felt good, it seemed her Sotoan (Sophia was pretty sure that was actual, not a lie like her nationality) was mostly just tired. Galena collapsed into a seat next to the High Inquisitor and sort of asked questions. "Not at all. I spent the past hour and a half on a run, I'm on fire and" she raised an arm and sniffed "full of running power. I feel like my forehead could heat a forge" she smiled "and are you just asking for coffee because you know I have a magic portal of stuff?" she nudged Galena and thought for a moment "I have a sack of beans, if that helps" she mused "I have never needed to wake myself up." She thought back to her time in the guild. If you woke late you got hurt. The first time she overslept they had roughly cut her hair with a butchers knife down to the scalp. The second time she had been forced to spar with the rest of the class, alone against them all. That had broken a fair few bones. She had always woken quickly since. Kids learn fast. She ran her hand through her hair absent mindedly, tracing where the one cut had been, although any mark it left was long gone. Indeed, too little sleep had been her problem. The face of Anna Vollney flashed briefly, the persona her sleep deprived mind had created when she passed out from exhaustion. Suddenly, Sophia shouted, loudly and without making much sense. "Awake now?" she asked, smiling sweetly. |
| (OFFLINE) PROFILE | QUOTE GO TO TOP |
| Galena | Jul 8 2014, 02:19 PM Post #4 |
![]()
Thy sins, paid in blood...
![]()
|
"Good? Good...okay." That meant something, probably. Like not taking her to the hospital for panting wildly and possibly running a fever, high temperature, she looked out of breath too, was she struggling to breathe? She said she felt good though, maybe she was on drugs and just didn't know it. Maybe they should go back to the hospital. Galena caught her train of thought by the reins and halted it right there. She knew when she was guiding herself to go back to work, or deliberately making more work for herself. Often enough there was a simple solution to things that didn't mean they were sick or suffering in some sense. Considering her clothing, the other woman had been running...though for what purpose she didn't know. Maybe she killed someone and had been running away from the scene, though that made no sense seeing as she could just..fly. Running...she let the thought sink in and then shook her head. She'd never really been much for running, except running away, and then usually you weren't paying attention to the wind in your face and the energy in your muscles, more the tiredness, less the surge of sheer joy for the sake of it. And the fear. Of course, the fear. "You possess coffee? I was meant to get...excuse me...I hath been up since..." She blinked blearily, then shook her head. "A long time. They did send me home, but I couldst not find it in me to settle. I did think I should return...and then you were here and..." she flapped her hand wearily, dismissively. It was obvious that this is where they had come to. The sudden ungodly bellow startled her so that she nearly fell sideways from her perch, bracing herself on one hand, her mouth popping open, eyes wide as saucers. She couldn't think of any words to say, the fog of sleep dispersing from her mind, leaving her with that feeling of too little sleep, the tiredness in her bones but not the drowse, almost half drunk on it. A laugh spilled from her lips quite suddenly, burbled bright as sunshine and she pushed herself back upright, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye. "Gods but needeth that, I certainly did. I thank you." Her laughter drained away, and she sat a little straighter, the smile still lingering on her lips. Only surprise, not fear. She didn't seem anything like the cold and efficient killer that she'd run into in Angkar. Quite different in fact, full of life and...very much human. Galena dipped her chin, fiddling with her stola in her lap, winding the material around her fingers as she sought to find courage, then decided that there really wasn't anything to be afraid of. She could ask. She was a councillor after all, and Sophia was the High Inquisitor. It would be like bettering country relations really. And human ones. Still the words crammed her throat, clicked between her teeth and plastered her tongue to the roof of her mouth. The self assurances didn't mean much if you didn't have the balls to back them up. Abruptly she pulled her finger from the folds of light material and blurted it out, afraid she'd half mangled the words with her archaic form of speech. "Wouldst thou wish to join me at my home to break fast with me?" Edited by Galena, Jul 8 2014, 02:20 PM.
|
| (OFFLINE) PROFILE | QUOTE GO TO TOP |
| Sophia | Jul 16 2014, 02:22 PM Post #5 |
|
High Inquisitor of Ashoka
![]()
|
Sophia held up one finger "I possess coffee beans" she corrected "Apparently good ones, because they were meant to go to Orion's guard" she shrugged. Not that she placed much value on it, but she technically had agreed to not do anything big and destabilising to Ashoka. Like, for example, throwing Orion off a very tall tower. She had never agreed never to make life tough with small acts of petty theft and vandalism. That very attitude did make it tough to comprehend Galena's attitude somewhat, however. She seemed to actually take her job somewhat seriously. Weirdo. Although Sophia was sort of jealous. Of the fact Galena had something she wanted to work at, of something to be loyal to. She had... Somewhat more of a life than Sophia did. Although she probably lacked the killer girl abs and ability to tear apart castle gates bare handed, so it probably evened out somewhere. Maybe there was an exchange rate somewhere. Still, it was nice to be asked for a meal. "Sure" she tilted her head a little, not really looking into it at all for now. After all, her body was still mostly concerned with working out why she had ran so much, oxygen had barely begun going to her brain. Although once she answered there was a sudden burst of nerves, like a tingling in her stomach. The sort she usually got rid of by hitting things. Sophia almost literally jumped to her feet, before pausing and lifting one arm above her head. She paused "I do smell a bit thought" she mused, trying to appear nonchalant and not at all like she really wanted to scream and panic and explode and possibly die. "I could always hit up a bath house first?" she asked, as a politeness thing really, because it was rude to just say you will be there later because you are going away now to do other things. Like making sure you are not a literal sweat fountain. |
| (OFFLINE) PROFILE | QUOTE GO TO TOP |
| Galena | Aug 18 2014, 03:24 PM Post #6 |
![]()
Thy sins, paid in blood...
![]()
|
Galena opened her mouth to ask where she'd managed to acquire said coffee beans, when Sophia answered it for her. Well....she knew that the other woman loathed the Moghul, and didn't question that. While she probably wasn't about to suddenly remove all the oxygen in his body and make him shrivel with some kind of internal vacuum or something equally freaky and messy, nobody had ever said that she couldn't make his life a living hell while carrying out her duties. Galena just hoped it didn't get her into too much trouble, the last thing she wanted to hear on the grapevine was that the High Inquisitor had met a sticky end, and just when she was starting to like the woman. It must have been great having so many underlings to do the paperwork at least. Technically she could enjoy that sort of treatment herself but half of her own 'underlings' were apprentices that couldn't roll a bandage properly, and she didn't trust them to handle a pen much less a scalpel. She found herself rubbing her temples just thinking about it. More often than not she had at least one trailing after her taking notes and asking questions, making them do practical assessments and situations themselves but it was really hard when you had half a dozen of them, only one pair of hands and really high standards. Standards sucked, someone should have told her that before, then maybe she'd have been less serious about medical health. The dryad leaned back, easing her shoulders back slowly and feeling more than hearing the rhythmic pop of her shoulders and spine. It was in fact possible that Sophia didn't want to breakfast with her, and that was fine too because she still smelled vaguely like the antibacterial arnica salve, several layers of soap on her hands, blood and sweat and probably vomit on her clothes, she hadn't deigned to actually check. Her mind had been all over the place as if it wasn't apparent. She picked idly at a rusted brown spot on the edge of her thigh, tracked it with her eyes to another, another...when had she started wandering around like a hobo? She was a bloody disgrace. It didn't do anything for her nerves. Calm down for goodness sake...you'll work yourself up and then you know what will happen? That's right, you'll vomit all over her shoes, and she'll hate you and your recently ventilated guts and poke you full of holes. Somewhere there she would have drawn a little sad face after her mental tirade, pinched the bridge of her nose and let her hands drop. "That's quite alright, there is a bath in mine house shouldst thou wish to make use of it. I should take the opportunity as well, soon." Galena blinked. Did you just do what I think you did? She wanted to tell her brain to shut up but it was perfectly right, she'd just invited Sophia to bathe at her house. Well it wasn't the first time a guest had bathed at her house, that was fine, but this was Sophia which was, you know, a hundred times more important. Not just for political reasons either. Look what you've done now, they'll say you've been doublecrossing your country, bathing with the enemy! FILL YOUR EYES WITH HER GLUTES GALENA. MAKE THE MOST OF IT BEFORE THEY TAKE YOU TO THE BLOCK. Carefully she cleared her throat, keeping her face wonderously level, but for a tightness around the eyes. Her overworked, overtired brain was going off on one. It was almost like being drunk, which she took pains to avoid except when alone because as her staff could tell anyone, she had a crap alcohol tolerance. "I...uh...I...did not mean to imply that thou wouldst bathe...with me...in mine bath. Only if it suited thy fancy. THE BATHS ARE SEPARATE." She shot to her feet, almost screeching the last overloud, drawing several looks. Did being drunk turn her into a pervert? She was starting to think so. Oh gods this was awful. Now she couldn't stop thinking about Sophia's glutes. "If thou wishes to find a bathhouse instead, I will not be offended. The pipes do groan awfully when they are engaged." Ahahaha! You are an idiot. "Prithee there is a hypercaust system and it is quite old, forsooth!" Galena groaned, clamped her lips together in a thin white line and tucked a stray wisp of hair behind her ear, very much wanting to curse the spots of colour in her cheeks. She should just shut up before she became hysterical with her anxiety over inviting a woman to bathe with her in a roundabout way. Tilus would have sneered at her blunder. Fuck Tilus. What is his opinion to you? Calmly she clasped her hands before her, and sheepishly turned her mossy gaze onto Sophia. "Might I trade with thee for thine beans? I could give thee directions to the house, unless thy wish is to come with me now." |
| (OFFLINE) PROFILE | QUOTE GO TO TOP |
| Sophia | Aug 31 2014, 02:00 PM Post #7 |
|
High Inquisitor of Ashoka
![]()
|
"I-" Sophia opened her mouth, and then closed it very quickly. It felt like a mind racing moment, but mostly all of a sudden everything was blank, empty. Not as in she had a distracting image stopping her from thinking, it was more like reaching into a cupboard which was meant to be full of jam and finding instead it was a portal to a desolate void. Some people may have also suggested a little blood ran to her cheeks. Admittedly, a fair bit was rushing all over because of her run anyway. Also, anyone who told her that may soon find a rather large traditional Angkarian impaling sword in their eye. Sure, Sophia used communal bath house a lot. Well, sometimes. A couple of times. But she tended to pick times when they would be empty. Was it normal to bathe with other people, as opposed to just having other people around? The thought was terrifying. Being amongst all the normal people with her flat chest and her bruised knuckles, her skin muscled and tough where it should be smooth and flawless... Galena would fit in, sure, but her? She would be lucky if they only mocked her for the tan lines she got because Ashoka was a stupid desert. Luckily Galena seemed to sort things in short notice, no doubt worried an idiot like the High Inquisitor would go utterly the wrong way with everything. But a private bath sounded nice. No other people and, well... It would be Galena's. That was enough to make it a little special. There may or may not be something political happening as a result, but if Galena wanted to manipulate her like that then frankly she was welcome to. To avoid needing to say much the air split as if cut behind Sophia, opening in a tear of swirling blues into which Sophia reached, pulling out a large sack about half as tall as she was. Her telekinetically enhanced strength kicked in almost automatically, and she held it towards Galena. "Is this enough to cover bath and breakfast?" she asked. Which it better be because that was all she had unless Galena had an interest in weaponry, wines or sensitive political documents (both ones Sophia should have and those she had copied, stolen, or made up entirely in case needed). Which seeing as Galena was a fully functioning person and not just a murder machine, was unlikely. "I sorta know where your house is" she let Galena know, before regretting it. She quickly tried to explain "Political leader, area of interest and all that it is shutting up" she squirmed a little but held up the sack of coffee beans in such a way as to completely hide her face. "Don't be angry please" she almost whispered. She heard the mountains were nice this time of year. She should go there right now, and spend the rest of her life as a goat and never see anybody ever again. That sounded good. |
| (OFFLINE) PROFILE | QUOTE GO TO TOP |
| Galena | Sep 28 2014, 02:18 PM Post #8 |
![]()
Thy sins, paid in blood...
![]()
|
Galena worried at her lip as the silence stretched between them in what was fast becoming an awkward situation that there was no political solution for. Maybe not even a normal, social human being solution. Maybe there was a medical solution? By the spots of colour that were appearing in Sophia's face, she was either furious or highly embarrassed, or both. And probably not unware of the enormous blunder that she'd just made. Inwardly she groaned, willing the ground to swallow her up right there or then, or maybe a conveniently nearby tree so that she could travel away really fast and Sophia might just think the tree had killed her and saved them both the trouble of having to interact. Until she had to make an appearance at the Guildhall again, or the hospital or a medical call and then she'd know and probably just split her right up the middle with one of the swords she was so famously adept with the use of. Instead of the ground opening, the air split behind her and Sophia dragged what looked like a literal ton of beans out. Galena gaped, then tried futilely to regain her composure, tucking away a stray wisp of hair behind her ear. There was no way she was going to be able to carry that back to the house. She was simply...frail and feeble as one might expect of a nymph. But to not do it was to look exactly that, completely and utterly weak...which would be an absolute faux pas. "Oh..oh my." She murmured faintly, her hand flitting to her mouth in a gesture that bespoke exactly of the nature of the problem. "That's quite a lot of...when you said...I thought...I don't think I'll ever need to buy any again." Jokingly she added; "I think this more than covers bath, breakfast, board and services rendered." As if she were running some common board house...well she might as well be, she had the rooms and nobody to fill them. "Oh...you do?" Oh my good lords, she knows where I live! I'm important! Of course you are, she scolded herself. For some reason it just hadn't occurred to her that other political leaders might take an interest. She could understand why the leaders of her own country would, when she was privy to the council as well, but somehow always held herself as slightly apart of it. She never really contributed that much but dealing with aid for the sick and poor anyway. Which..was important...she just hadn't thought too hard about it...did the rest of the country reps know where she lived as well? It was actually a little bit disturbing. This must be sort of what it's like to be popular. "Well, that certainly makes things easier. If you'd follow me, I can take us there much faster, it would do me good to stretch my legs and wake up." She offered a hesitant smile, gestured at the sack that the woman was still clutching. "If you don't mind carrying the beans..." She would have rather found a spot well off the road but it was already quiet, being early as it was, and considered taking less trouble as she crossed the square to step lightly from the cobbles into a cluster of trees that had long since disrupted any attempt at architecture. Stray stones scattered loosely, tangled with the roots of the trees that had pushed up through them, and she all but skipped over the gnarled tendrils and waving fronds under dappled light and shadow. "Here. Now just...don't panic. We're going to use the trees." She pointed at a spot directly before the wide bole of an ash, then should Sophia move as instructed, stepped up behind her close enough that her breath tickled the woman's back. "Just relax." She tilted her head, then added as an afterthought, "And try not to vomit." What? It wouldn't be the first time. She expected that Sophia was made of sterner stuff than that, however. She took a deep breath then, folded her arms around the taller woman's waist, and put her back to the tree. Calm wasn't easy to attain considering, but she finally found it, could hear the thrum of energy at her back, the slow processes of the tree, the network beneath her feet sluggishly exchanging information. And she fell backwards, her skin becoming wood, hair tangled with branches as the tree yawned, and consumed them in the pungent stench of fresh earth, ripe sap and split wood, of leaves rotting and the smell of summer, the taste of chlorophyll. Dark, hollow space rushed in silence past them, whipping her hair out as they fell, delicate trails of golden light pulsating in the sap too fast to fix an eye on, blurring into an eye-watering mess of pattern. Doors, thousands of them shot past, cracks of light that gave the tiniest glimpse on scenes both familiar and unfamiliar. Galena swallowed. Time moved differently in the trees, what might take a day within would be a second without, speeding up and slowing down to its own pace. It had been a long time since she'd woodwarped with another in hand, and as the rapid descent slowed, setting their feet down on a network of interwoven tendrils, she moved her grip from holding onto Sophia's waist to her arm instead. "Follow me." She tugged her along, not unkindly, the ground seeming to shift as one step threw them forward a dozen paces or more in a dizzying jerky motion. It wasn't always so swift, but much like the plane of shadows, time and space were of no constraint when you were moving on the LifePath. The portal loomed, closed. It appeared for all the world to be an old cracked door, the paint flaking off and leaving green raw wood underneath, the brass knocker tarnished almost beyond recognition. It didn't so much open at her touch as it simply ceased to exist, leaving the empty frame standing proud by itself. Galena stepped through, tugging Sophia after her, colour, sound and smell assaulted her in a head on collision as reality slammed into her, dragging her forward, left her stumbling out into the rose garden and kicking up bark chips everywhere. It never seemed to matter how many times she did it, the exit always left her breathless and giddy, like she'd been running down a steep hill and didn't know how to stop. It had only been a few seconds, if that, she thought. The sun hadn't moved any by her count, and she whirled to gaze up at the Inquisitor, a devilishly fey smile on her bow mouth, shedding leaves from her hair. "Are you alright?" |
| (OFFLINE) PROFILE | QUOTE GO TO TOP |
| Sophia | Oct 13 2014, 11:30 AM Post #9 |
|
High Inquisitor of Ashoka
![]()
|
With a glance back at the beans Sophia could only shrug. "I confiscated them from a tradesman. I assumed you usually bought bags this size. As I said, not really my thing so much. It is kind of bitter" she slung the bag over her shoulder and every single muscle cried out. She just held her face together so as not to show any reaction. Not because she wanted to appear strong in front of Galena, but because she wanted to appear strong in front of everyone. It would not do to let them know her super strength still meant muscles ached like everyone else, or she could sometimes misjudge how much of a magical boost to give herself. That was it. She was not trying to appear cool and tough at all, that would be silly. She tried to appear not at all concerned about tree travelling for much the same reason. World leaders. Show of strength. Bosoms. Twigs. What was the point of flying cross country and lifting buildings with your mind if a tree made your nervous. The fact she could feel Galena's breath on her did not do anything either. The thought that if Galena moved a little forwards she could wrap her arm around her... Or if Sophia turned they would be so close they could almost kiss- No. That was how wars began, probably. She was the murderous tool of a tyrant, and barely even a person. Galena was showing her basic kindness and she was imagining things well out of order. What the hell would anyone want with her? Coils of muscle and sinew, a flat chest and all the social instincts of a plate. What a prize she would be even if Galena was the tiniest bit interested in other women. Seeing as she had been (or was?) married, it seemed unlikely. No, best to stop breathing (she began changing the air in her lungs to stop the need to) and let the weird tree thing happen. Oh god she had grabbed her waist! And suddenly the world span. Luckily Sophia had done her fair share of transforming, and this was not so different a feeling, but it still left her disorientated and dizzy for a moment. It was weird though. Slightly embarrassed both at feeling so out of place and at her previous thoughts she let herself be led meekly until they were back in normality. "I am... A little off" she admitted, and shook her head, dropping the sack to the floor. Which felt a lot better immediately "It is like turning into air, and yet very, very different" she admitted "Its more violent returning to normality, much less smooth". She paused and had a glance around the house. Well, there were no obvious weapons, bottles of poison or bottles of alcohol (empty or full) scattered around. So yeah, she felt a little inferior. |
| (OFFLINE) PROFILE | QUOTE GO TO TOP |
| Galena | Jan 9 2015, 04:57 PM Post #10 |
![]()
Thy sins, paid in blood...
![]()
|
"I don't usually buy them myself. Oh my I suppose that sounds quite...pretentious..." She sighed, frowning at the choice of words, though not untrue. No, usually someone else tallied what they needed and had it written up. They just gave her the bill afterwards. She probably had someone who literally took a cart with them to reload the pantry. It wasn't like she ate it all herself anyway, that was what the staff were for. "I think that's part of why people drink it." She remarked absently. It was like doing one of those things you didn't really want to, but had become a normal routine because if you didn't then you struggled to function, and god forbid they found out you did in fact have a hangover not just a need to wake up in the morning. It was hard not to show the kind of appreciation that turned into the kind of adoration that turned into the kind of fiction that had Smutpurn glossed in big curly letters on the cover. It wasn't everyday that you got to see a woman just casually lift a sack of beans like a toy. Galena made a mental note to make more friends who could do that sometime, and not because they looked good wearing only bowties at parties either. Galena kicked at the mess of leaves scattered around the base of the roots, the grin fading from her lips into confusion. "You can turn into air?" She'd seen her fly. Actually had rather abruptly been lifted into the air and...were it any other situation, kidnapped, at shocking speed. It really shouldn't have surprised her by now. She found herself idly wondering why the woman before her didn't just vaporize the Moghul if she hated him so much. But, that was her business, and she'd not interfere. There wasn't much she could do anyway but try to seduce him, or force seeds in his throat and make them strangle his organs or something. And that would be a long way from ever happening. She had no beef with him, so to speak. "Here, allow me." Still buzzing from the effects of her wood warp, she stretched to her toes and pressed the tips of her fingers against Sophia's temples. For a moment, the scent of fresh pines and oranges intensified about them, a coolness tingling from her skin to the taller woman's, soothing away the nausea, and sapping a little at her own strength in return. Just one of the benefits to being a physician. She'd be lying if she said she'd never done that to herself when she had a hangover. Wobbling, she steadied herself by gripping Sophia's arm, then gently settled back on her heels, and waggled her fingers somewhat mischievously. "Feel better? I threw up the first time I did that, all over my sister no less." She might have thought not to say things like that once, but there came a certain point in the business of tending to other people, that you stopped caring. After you'd mopped up so many floors it ceased to be a thing of great importance. She still had noble ladies for tea sometimes, but most of them behaved as if the female population were incapable of so much as farting, much less behaving like normal humans. "Do not worry about the beans. I shall have someone collect them at once." Confident on her own home turf, the dryad strode across the short expanse of lawn, gravel crunching under her sandals as she stepped onto the small porch and rang the bell. When the door opened, the doorman raised his brows and doffed his cap, gaze flicking to Sophia and back. "Mistress, we did not expect you back quite so...promptly." "I encountered an acquaintance who did change mine mind, Marco." "Glad to hear it Ma'am." "Please send someone to collect the bag of beans under the tree over there, and attend to the baths at once." The wondering look found Sophia again, and then vanished with a hasty 'Yes ma'am' into the cool shade of the hall. "Please, come in. Might I send for refreshments to thine tastes?" |
| (OFFLINE) PROFILE | QUOTE GO TO TOP |
| Sophia | Jan 11 2015, 04:26 PM Post #11 |
|
High Inquisitor of Ashoka
![]()
|
Things still felt a little funky, which was odd. She was pretty sure she had put herself through weirder, but she supposed it was different having someone else do it to you than it would be to do something to yourself. She guessed some people probably felt odd flying, but to her it was so normal now. She even got past the whole thing of noting how pretty the night sky could be above the cloud cover eventually, although it was pretty cool. Sophia closed her eye briefly and finally let out the breath she had been holding for time now, with assistance. "Air, a swarm on insects and other stuff" she discussed casually "It was one of one of the first skills I learnt, melting into the wind. It was all wind and air to begin with. My more famous" she used the word with a slight hint of distaste which hinted that she did quite believe it was the right word "Telekinetic abilities sprang from it. Once you begin moving things with gusts of wind it does not take much of a mental leap to ask why do you need the wind to do that? Follow it through and, well, me. Its honestly nothing special" She kind of meant it. She was not a natural talent at much of what she did, but she had worked hard to her. Her sense of rhythm and movement had assisted her swordsmanship, and perhaps assisted in the direction her magic took, but she was no magical prodigy by any stretch. Enough hard work and anyone could do what she did, or equivalent. The one thing she allowed herself some pride in was how she mixed her physicality and magical skills together to the point it was sometimes hard to tell quite where one ended. Take her lifting the beans for example, it looked all her, but she had enhanced her muscles to allow her to do whilst exhausted. Not so she could do it with one hand to impress Galena. At all. The touch to her forehead was appreciated, and it removed the lingering traces of weird. Having Galena so close, resting her hand on her though... It made her heart race a little. A smile broke out, soft, gentle but genuine. "Happens to the best of us. The first time I killed someone I was violently sick for months when I thought of it..." she trailed off. Those were not happy memories. She had been young, too young, and part of her regretted that kill. Despite the fact if she met someone like that now, she would have strung out their death in the worst ways she could think of, hell, she would of got a committee to help think up no ideas. But, he had been inside her head. She did not kill him because he was sick and twisted and everything, she killed him because she loved him and he was throwing her away. Or something. It made her feel cold to even think of it, remembering him in front- No. He could haunt her no more. Regardless, Sophia had often smashed peoples faces against walls until their skulls collapsed and brain ran down her arm. A little talk of vomit did not get close to freaking her out. Unless it was a baby. Babies were weird and scary, like people but tiny and useless. Regardless, she followed Galena, and enjoyed the not so approving look the... Door person? Gave her. She must look quite the savage. She grinned at him, making sure to show plenty of teeth. That's right, antagonise the staff. Stupid, stupid, stupid! "I could drink something" she offered "get me some fruit and I can smoothie it" she extended a hand and suddenly clenched it. "Although, you may want glasses too. Elsewise, I don't know. Does custom dictate we are ladies that take our tea in the shade?" Sure, trying to impersonate her won't make you look at all like a jerk. I bet she will be flattered you are trying to fit in. Fuck it, was it too early for wine? "If so can I call myself Lady Orjtarn? Ms gets so old" |
| (OFFLINE) PROFILE | QUOTE GO TO TOP |
| Galena | Jan 31 2015, 05:11 PM Post #12 |
![]()
Thy sins, paid in blood...
![]()
|
"Do not undervalue thyself..." Her gaze softened a touch, a little perturbed at how Sophia seemed to shrug off how amazing it was that she could separate her physical being into something that could essentially be everywhere, yet still retain herself to pull it back together. "You are incredibly amazing, you know this? I expect you must be told it many times a day anyway, but for what it is worth, you are an incredibly accomplished, and verily, quite astounding woman." The dryad beamed with sincerity, but thought better of patting her on the arm. While she was quite content with familiarity of touch, others were not, and she was conscientious enough to not do it too often without permission. Being connected to the earth all the time tended to sometimes breed a need to simply reach out and connect with flesh, to better sample the emotions of others in much the same way that she did with trees in particular. She flushed with delight as the taller woman finally cracked a smile, though guilt wracked her as it faded, some lingering memory stealing it from her face once more. She shouldn't have spoken, made her remember... Galena wrung her hands together, then decided that moving with some purpose would help, as usual, to forget the troubling things, until it no longer mattered. As it had always been, and so it always would. As long as her hands were doing something, be it fletching arrows to oiling a bowstring to setting a bone, she would be fine. Perhaps that was why she'd chosen to heal, why the shock of the first kill had faded and the subsequent following ones were not quite as bad. It didn't mean she couldn't cry over her mistakes, or her failings. She was at heart, still as soft a creature as her flesh implied, even if her head often disagreed. How many people did you have to kill before it became a normal thing? She wasn't exactly unfamiliar to blood, no, she considered it with a practical mind, but much like Angkar, a blatant slaughter upset her on a deeper level. She could only imagine what it must have done to make her new friend so cold to it. But then, you didn't get a reputation like hers for nothing did you? Galena smiled lightly, stepping through the door and into a cool, welcome dimness that the hall provided, and let out a dirty great snort, only half masked as her hand flew to her mouth in a most unladylike gesture. "Only if thou really must. Personally I prefer the fruit of the vine...but..." she hesitated. Was it correct to tell someone things that you really shouldn't? Was that a political weakness, perhaps? Well not unless someone spiked her next drink really badly, she supposed. It wasn't like she was going to poison herself, unless she managed to damage her liver from overdoing it. The sometimes-wild-parties that happened here were sort of a well kept secret among those invited but she expected that if the High Inquisitor of Ashoka cared to, she'd find everything out without having to tell her anyway. Was that why she knew where she lived? "Bacchus knows that I am a terrible drunk. I suppose that is true to mine nature at least..." A terribly filthy lecherous drunk. For shame! Downcast eyes, she twiddled her fingers together as she spoke, brow wrinkling in the slightest of frowns. Best not to venture further down that path. She was doing well at not touching wine but for a glass in the evenings now, not since she'd married Tilus had she felt that she needed to drink to keep herself mostly sane. Parties was another thing, but sometimes the thirst was there. The staff knew to ration her to only so much should she ask, and that was becoming better. "You are a lady, Lady Orjtarn. Oh, oh watch this!" She skipped gleefully to a plaque hung from the wall in the entranceway, a series of little bells dangling from hooks, each of them rigged to certain areas of the house. There was one in the kitchen, and the serving quarters too. "I love doing this. Never gets old." She tugged on the length of braided silk, an answering jingle somewhere off in the house, very faintly heard. But a moment later a boy of perhaps twelve summers came skidding haphazardly around the corner, caught himself, frozen in startlement to find that he had an audience. "Um." "Martin, thou doth know better than to run in the hall. What if you were to fall?" "I won't." "I saw you." She placed her hands on her hips, her stern composure only broken when her lips quivered into an irrepressible smirk. "Please send some glasses to the peristylium at once, and a selection of fruit." The boy's eyes peered curiously past once more, at Sophia, then he pointed with little decorum; "Who's she?" "It is disrespectful to point...especially at our most esteemed Lady Orjtarn." He looked about to ask another question, his mouth opening with potentially a dozen of them on the tip of his tongue when the councillor made a shooing motion, and he dashed away again. Galena spread her hands apologetically, and started across the vestibulum, pausing to smile back at Sophia. "We can take refreshments in the inner garden whilst we are waiting for the baths." The slap of her sandals felt oddly loud as they passed through the open atrium, the enclosed courtyard opening onto a small collonaded walkway that encompassed the peristylium. A simple gravel path bisected what was otherwise grass and neatly pruned shrubs, though the center was dominated by a tall slender tree, small sweet oranges nestling high among the greenery. Technically, they could have walked right through it but...that would have been most disconcerting, and simply wrong where this particular one was concerned. Like sticking an arm through her own chest. Within a moment the boy was back, walking as carefully as he dared with the glasses rattling on the tray, positively overloaded with fruit. He set it down on the edge of the stone bench that she had perched on, then stood there, chewing his question until it escaped. "You dress funny." "Martin!" "Are you from Angkar? Miss is from Angkar, she said people walk around with no clothes all the time, and paint wiggly lines on each other. You're not gonna walk around with no clothes on are ya? Only Miss said that's right bad manners." The dryad pressed her palms to her cheeks as high spots of colour bloomed there, and breathed deeply. She didn't remember telling him that at all but he'd ever been free with his tongue, like that time the woodsman came by and he'd buzzed with questions about his axe and how many people he'd savaged... Gods..give me patience. |
| (OFFLINE) PROFILE | QUOTE GO TO TOP |
| Sophia | Mar 13 2015, 03:54 PM Post #13 |
|
High Inquisitor of Ashoka
![]()
|
Sophia looked away uncomfortably as Galena complimented her. She was amazing? Sure, she guessed so, reasonably speaking she was amongst the top handful of swordsman in the whole world, if not the highest, and on top of that she added brute force telekinesis of a similar and levels of other magic which, whilst nowhere near as remarkable, where still notable and would realistically have allowed herself to make a name for herself alone. On paper she was pretty fantastic. Of course, theory and reality differed a bit. Hell, her burning showed that for a start, on paper she should have been able to win that fight with plenty left over. Instead she barely survived, and had to brute force a dangerous healing to get back to normal, and even then she was still in the midst of rebuilding her muscle tone to its highest level. To become an exceptional human she had discarded her humanity. She struggled to connect with other people, and whilst she wished she could say it was because of her gifts, it had started long before that. Her isolation from the rest of the world had pushed her to where she was now. It had become a cycle, almost. She was cold, isolated, detached. She wore the skin of a human, but she was something so much less. How dare Galena compliment her? It took her a few moments to understand what Galena meant with fruit of the vine. Partly because she had never heard of wine referred to in such a way... Or had she? If so she did not realise. "Me too" she tried to reach out, find a common ground with the councillor. Pretend to be like her. "I have not been drunk more than once or twice though" she confided "In truth I am a little afraid of what I could do" which was a stupid thing to admit. Which she supposed was not too bad but OH GOD A KID. WHAT WAS IT DOING! She did not almost shoot about a thousand swords at his face in shock. Nobody could prove it. Just, be calm. Take a seat. Smile nicely, fruit is here. Grab a handful, precise, calm telekinesis. She calmed, relaxed. This was nice. She clenched her hand and the small collection of fruit suddenly was crushed into a tiny area, unspeakable amounts of force crushing, pulling, twisting, tearing and... Well, liquidising it until a liquid swirled, before dividing and falling into a couple of glasses. Calm. Super chill. She needed to act as cold as she made sure to appear on the outside. "I don't think anyone wants to see me naked" she chuckled "Although I did live in Angkar for quite a while. It wasn't really Angkar like it is now though" she admitted "It was coming together, though. It made it a good place to hide" she admitted. She took a sip of her drink. It was... Refreshing. She guessed. Maybe she had been a little too zealous crushing it down, although she stopped short of falling into another internal crisis over it. She was trying to be calm here. She looked at Galena. She did look pretty in the garden, she thought, with those little spots of colour. "Although if I recall your lady has as well. Was this a custom you were part of?" she asked, lightly teasing her "Because I might be ready to admit I was missing out a little if so. Am pretty sure any onlookers would have just thought I was oddly tall for a thirteen year old boy, though." She looked the lady up and down, and her mind wandered for a moment. She did not realise that the fact she was so inexperienced at hiding the fact she was mentally undressing people showed. |
| (OFFLINE) PROFILE | QUOTE GO TO TOP |
| Galena | May 29 2015, 03:02 PM Post #14 |
![]()
Thy sins, paid in blood...
![]()
|
"I suppose it must be a frightening thought when you put it like that. Perhaps we ought to pass a law that those with a magical inclination ought not to be allowed to drink." She frowned slightly, pressing her knuckles to her lips. The thought of some errant mage getting shitfaced and accidentally flattening half the city was not appealing. Why had nobody thought of this sooner? Perhaps because they didn't want the rule to become something like Ashoka. What a worrying thought. Galena plopped gracelessly onto one of the stone benches opposite Sophia, swinging her feet out as she did so and wriggling her toes. Strange how nice it could be to just sit sometimes, company aside. It wasn't the same as sitting when you were doing work because there was concentration involved. Not that she wasn't concentrating now on the woman opposite and the effortless way she pulped the presented fruit in a way that the dryad could barely comprehend. Don't stare. Staring is rude. Her mental chiding wasn't having much of an effect, and she tore her eyes away to focus on her hands, clasping between her knees as she swung her feet idly. Her brows rose minutely, swallowed as colour bloomed back into her cheeks again as the glutes returned. Is she doing it on purpose? Stop thinking about her backside, forsooth! "You do yourself no justice." She reached for a glass, sipped at the pulpy juice, then took a longer swallow. She hadn't even begun to realize how much she needed something, anything to drink. All well and good to be a physician, but one should pay attention to one's own needs too. If she could stop getting distracted by every little thing, that might be possible. She choked on the juice as Sophia continued talking, half inhaling it until she slapped the thing back onto the bench beside her, liquid sloshing carelessly over her wrist, the warmth of the sun spilling from the open roof above quickly turning it to a sticky mess even as she attempted to void her lungs of the obstruction. It didn't look so appealing either, coughing into her slick hands, the front of her stola soaked and stained with the beverage. "Miss?" "Verily," she gasped, "I am fine." She swatted lamely with one hand until the boy retreated, then caught her breath, her ears afire with embarrassment. "Martin, please fetch me a clean cloth." "Right." He dashed away, running as she'd told him not to, and for a second she thought of calling after him and telling him not to, then decided against it. He'd do it anyway, even if he fell. She knew that had the roles been reversed, she certainly would have. Galena cleared her throat, plucking at her soiled stola, then sipped at the drink slowly, her eyes straying up from the juice to linger on Sophia. Sophia who was bluntly eyeing her in perhaps the most flattering fashion. Or perhaps she was imagining it. The lack of sleep, that was what it was. "I may hath...participated in certain rites, revering the Gods. There was not much reason to wear clothing in the middle of the jungle, really." She spoke a touch defensively, drumming her fingers on the side of the glass in a rhythmic clinking. It was all before she'd become civilized of course...not that she didn't often go wandering in the garden in nothing but her skin. There were plenty enough trees for cover, and it was private. Searching for something else to diffuse the tension, she coughed wetly into her hand, then summoned up a wan smile. "Wouldst thou care to see the baths?" She drained her glass, then rose and silently beckoned the taller woman with one hand. it wasn't far, crossing the inner garden and on the left. She walked a little ahead of her guest, still stewing over the look, turning it this way and that and trying to decipher what exactly it meant when they reached the door. Tiles of alternating blue and white spanned the floor, the walls predominantly white, interspersed with a complex mosaic of the sotoan gods that ran around the walls, each in their own setting. The baths themselves were currently empty, sunken into the floor, but she lead Sophia across the room to a tall simply carved wooden screen, dividing a smaller space where several copper tubs sat. Two were being filled by her maids currently, heating the water in the heart of the exhedra next door. It was faster than going all the way to the kitchens, and at least the water would still be hot when they got in. "The screens can move, for additional privacy. The hypercaust beneath the floor does work, but for two of us...it wouldst take much longer, and doth make such a terrible noise." She giggled at that, then gestured at one of the women. "Alethea, wouldst thou activate the hypercaust one moment, then turn it off again?" "Yes ma'am." The dubious look she received said exactly what she thought of her mistress' eccentricities, and that it wasn't the first time she'd made the request. After a few moments there was a godawful rattling, groaning sound that made the very floor hum. Abruptly it stopped, and the maid returned, a smile cracking her stern facade at the impish giggling it elicited from her mistress. "Really, I must get that attended to." |
| (OFFLINE) PROFILE | QUOTE GO TO TOP |
| Sophia | Jun 9 2015, 02:14 PM Post #15 |
|
High Inquisitor of Ashoka
![]()
|
The idea of anyone imposing a law stopping her drinking? She did not like that. Although in truth she had only ever been truly drunk three times in her life. She drank regularly, but never a great amount. She had been an assassin in training who was subjected to cruel tortures when she fell short, and then she was a wanted criminal who was even more hated amongst the same sections of underworld she would have naturally wanted to hide in. Following that she had been in too dangerous a position to ever be so vulnerable. She had never really been allowed, and by the time she could allow herself it had become learnt behaviour. "I guess the issue is anyone powerful enough for that rule to need to be used for is" she gestured to herself "Well, they are not going to be easily made to follow it unless they want to. And if they want to, do they need a law?" It was an interesting legal point. Legal points were good because they were really boring and almost instantly made parts of Sophia's brain shut down and not think about anything. Which was useful seeing as she had raised nudity. She really could only look away and try not to blush now. And avoid painful memories. How much of her life was avoiding painful memories? At what point did he life, her achievements, end up being anything more than running away from them? She continued drinking and tried not to feel awkward as Galena spilt her drink and then briefly showed off some of the internal politics of the household. At least the kid went away. Maybe he would fall and break his neck and stop freaking her the fuck out. That was mean. Galena liked him, maybe he should just injure himself heavily. And quietly. Who said she could not compromise? "Religion's seem so exciting. I was taught somewhat, different things when I was younger. I think I would have been skinned alive for doing something like that" literally. Another girl lost a strip of skin from her back for being indecent in public. She assumed that was a sort of religous thing, what she had been taught about herself seemed to gel with it, although a lot of it blended together. A bath would be nice. It was getting all nakedy here. She was still looking at Galena. She should stop. She merely nodded and followed. Tearing eyes from Galena she-nope. Back to her. It was certainly tasteful in here. Or tasteless? She knew fuck all about decorating. She assumed it was polite to think the former. "Anything would be wonderful, thank you" she nodded politely, before smiling "It also seems quieter. Sadly I do not have water heating powers. I imagine I might be somewhat more welcome in the bath houses if so" admittedly she had banned herself from the bath houses. She had no desire to share water with a man, and she assumed any woman would see her preferences as making her dangerously predatory. She guessed she could not blame anyone for thinking of her as an abomination, she certainly did. "I have certain... Preferences I assume would not be liked" she added, as way of an explanation. She had come way from when she thought it made her less than human, a monster in human form as she had been taught, but it still felt somewhat wrong. Hence why she felt she should mention it at least, Galena might not want someone like her using her water, she had been taught the way she looked at other women was breaking every law of nature in Soto. Galena was Sotoan, it did not feel like a leap to think she would share such an opinion, and whatever else she did not want to abuse the woman's hospitality like that. She also killed people, but she had no problem with that. It was fun. That made her a monster too in a way she had not even begun to challenge, but she had made something of a peace with that. The world was full of killers, the world needed them. Filthy creatures like her were different, they subverted how the world should work for their own empty, perverse ends and dragged everyone around down to rot. Better slit her throat now than ever dare to think of another girl like that again, she would call it a moment of teenage curiosity, the taint of evil, and she would accept the punishment and never mention it again. Mentally she balked, hearing words from long ago in her head like that. No. That is not what she thought, not any more. "I should probably have let you know earlier" she added, avoiding looking anywhere near Galena hands playing with the hem of her trousers, hooking the thumbs into a pocket as she used one foot to rub the back of her other ankle. |
| (OFFLINE) PROFILE | QUOTE GO TO TOP |
| Galena | Jul 29 2015, 12:10 PM Post #16 |
![]()
Thy sins, paid in blood...
![]()
|
Galena decided there and then that she didn't want to really think about how many people were probably wandering around with such a buildup of magical energies in them. It had not happened yet, and well...just the thought made her a little nervous, really. All it took was one person to lose it and level an entire city. And if you did try to impose such a restriction on them to stop them from doing something so utterly crazy, they'd probably flatten you too. Mm, those were thoughts that could keep you up at night when you thought of the welfare of the country as your personal responsibility. She had to wonder then, how the woman opposite her felt about Ashoka. No, she wasn't its Moghul, but she was the High Inquisitor. She couldn't know all that went on, but a good chunk of it. Was she happy, or even content with such things? Most people this far south regarded in a wary light, with its lockdown on mages and women in general, the religious fanaticism that it seemed to be rife with. It hadn't always looked like an uncompromising prison from the outside. The City of Oracles seemed free-thinking enough, within limitations of course... "I suppose we couldn't stop them, really. Except to berate them about the safety of others...I suppose that's the politician in me trying to rear its ugly head." She wrinkled her nose in distaste. No, no strictly off duty now. She was supposed to be resting, taking a break, but even that was hard. When her mind wasn't lingering over the sick and wounded, it was debating the various machinations to keep the nobility picking at each other, rather than at herself. "Perhaps thou ought to try it sometime...nobody need know. One could simply...off with the layers and dance to thine own tune..." Actually the thought of Sophia stripping down and letting whatever wild spirit lie chained within her body loose, was enough to discomfort her all over again. "It is the tiles. They somehow shut out more sound from the outside, yet give wonderful acoustics within." Her mossy gaze flicked towards the woman with some amusement. Preferences? "Well...everyone looks at everyone else...one does not have to...ahem...lurch across the bath and grab another woman's breasts. Soto is a little more...lax...in those areas, and sometimes that behavior is not unappreciated. Still, it is nice to have one's own bathing chamber." A silvery laugh tinkled from her as she stood with hands on hips, shooting Sophia a suggestive look. "Verily, it is best to at least ask their name before thy hands wander..." "Nonsense." Her tone softened as she turned her gaze on the tubs, watching the water sloshing over the sides and scattering light where the droplets made a mad bid for freedom. There was something about nymphs and water, that just got her excited in a way that always ended up with her sitting in the garden pond with a terrible headache the morning after, picking comfortable frogs from her cleavage, and lily pads from her head. "Thou may be shocked to find there are others who share those tastes..." She nodded to the maids as they curtsied, sweeping past, their skirts whispering barely louder than the clouds of steam issuing forth from the tubs. Smiling, the dryad drew a screen between the tubs, more for Sophia's comfort than her own, and winked at the taller woman. Politely she waited til they were each on one side of the divider, then carefully loosened the sash at her waist, and slid the stola from her shoulders, puddling around her feet and leaving her bare. "I was married for a time, merely a matter of convenience. I was not unaware of mine husband's tastes...neither was the rest of Madrid. He could have at least been discreet about it, but no..." Galena braced her hands on the side of tub, stepped over and sucked in a breath as she slipped first one foot into the tub, then the other, standing there a moment to allow herself to adjust. It was hot enough that she felt positively scourged, her skin too tight, alabaster turned rose at the temperature. She could have sworn but she bit her tongue, and slowly levered herself down into the water. Perhaps her voice was a little higher when she spoke next. "A few people are aware...but as thou knoweth, being a widow is a good cover." Her lips curved in a bow smile as she leaned back, fingers curling around the rim of the tub. "So...thou art not alone, Sophia. And thou shouldst not feel ashamed of thyself...one is as thy nature determines them to be." She rolled her head to one side, watching the play of light and shadow, movement on the other side of the perforations in the wood around the top of the screen. "Thou must have noticed Councillor Hesperés? I swear he'd tumble anything with a skirt to lift or pantaloons to drop...and verily, he is hardly subtle about it." |
| (OFFLINE) PROFILE | QUOTE GO TO TOP |
| Sophia | Jul 29 2015, 02:20 PM Post #17 |
|
High Inquisitor of Ashoka
![]()
|
Sophia looked at Galena sideways. It was almost endearing that she thought the way to stop powerful, dangerous people was with words. Sophia doubted it was possible, which was sad, the world would be better if it were true, but the world was a cruel place. "I have always thought the best way to stop that type of danger was being, badder and able to stab them in the head if they tried something" she chuckled "Peace through superior firepower" she shook her head "It is not right, but is is effective. Of course, it means I am pretty much a giant weak spot but I have never had any problem with me. If I did then I would by all means get you to give me a stern talking to" She smiled and played it as a joke, but it did worry her. If she truly slipped into being some sort of monster, who could stop her? Groups of people may be able to defeat her, but she doubted there was much anyone could do to stop her retreating from a bad situation, and then striking at a time of her choice. She tried to avoid thinking of it. She had never been smart, and analysing herself was not likely to prove productive, but it was a worry. As Galena commented and spoke as they prepared to bathe Sophia was quiet, uncomfortably so. It was a difficult subject for her, and she felt nervous around it. It took a lot of courage for to say what she had, and that had been hard won through seeing that her fears were not as serious as she had been taught. She made small noises to show she was listening until they were alone and the screens were in place. She stripped slowly. "I grew up in Soto, you know" she spoke slowly "For most of my childhood anyway" she finished undressing quickly, based on her limited clothing and placed a hand on her side, running down slowly. She was probably more manly than Galena's old husband had been. One thing about having hearing as unnaturally attuned as hers, you could hear what people said behind your back. Which was in her case, quite a lot, and none of it nice. With a little hesitation she placed one foot over the water, and then decided just to go for it and for straight in, letting out a small yelp as she did so. "When I was very young I came here. I was taken by what I guess you would call an assassins guild" she relaxed, lay back. She was glad the partition was there. She did not know what made her want to talk, but she found it hard to stop now she had started. "There was a building just outside this city. We were all lost children, but I was different, I guess. Even then I was separate. To date I still do not know all the reasons, but they trained us, hard. We were taught, too. Not a lot, more a worldview than anything. To covet someone of your gender was... Wrong. It was a corruption of the soul that damned you. This was drilled into us, we never questioned, none of us dared to. I asked a question once, it... Was not pleasant, and we had a warped standard of what pleasant was. As I got older I began to realise I had certain... Feelings. Not even feelings really. It was barely even a crush, I do not think there was that much life in me. In some ways it made sense, the things that had happened, every wrong that had happened to me was my own fault because there was this corruption in me. I hated it. I hated myself for feeling, well, anything. One of the instructors occasionally called me a harlot as it was, part of me feared proving him right and showing everyone else how sick and twisted I was. I am not sure what it was that made me tell her. Maybe I was sorry. She had just come back from an assassination, and had been forced to leave most of her clothes behind to get away. She was scared, gad to be alive and glad to have succeeded. She was so pretty, I can see her face even now. They hurt her. To show so much flesh in public was a grave sin. They made her a pair of gloves to wear to keep covered up in future, made from skin peeled from her own back. She didn't like me, really, but we spoke a little, sharing our pain and I said a bit more than I should. All of the other recruits avoided me from then on. Whatever sense of companionship we had was gone. I had been pitted against all the rest before, and they had always been happy to hurt me, but it got worse. They had held back a bit before, maybe seeing me as a fellow student, I don't know. But it proved it. A while later word spread to the instructors and... I would rather leave that." She was silent. "So, that is what your Sotoan tolerance has been to me. Even now, when I know the world is not like that, part of me still lives by those old lessons. I know its wrong, but I know, in my bones, that I am just as wrong" Edited by Sophia, Jul 29 2015, 02:20 PM.
|
| (OFFLINE) PROFILE | QUOTE GO TO TOP |
| Galena | Nov 26 2015, 02:07 PM Post #18 |
![]()
Thy sins, paid in blood...
![]()
|
She might have been a little indignant at the gentle teasing jibe, but a wry smile worked its way onto her lips first, perhaps a touch rueful. There was no denying it was a rather childish notion to hope that one could talk down a charging bear if they had to. She'd never truly thought of herself as the best diplomat, only the one who picked up the pieces when the bigger, badder people were done smashing their heads off one another. She could fire a bow with decent aptitude, and with the right training she could probably learn to fight, really fight, but she knew she'd never be in Sophia's league. She was simply too small, too weak. And she was alright with that. It was alright to be afraid, to not be as strong as those who used their body and not their voice to make their point. She'd not expected to be more, but she refused to be less for the fact either. "Sometimes it is those who have the courage to step forward and do what is 'not right' who are truly doing the right thing. Words may only take one so far...and what happens if thine enemy is deaf? Mayhaps thou ought to teach me how to be bigger and badder than anyone else. Though...I believe I would need some large shoes, to start. Or perhaps stilts." Submerged in the hot water, her skin tingled, extremities tickling until it almost felt as if they didn't exist, only the subtle movements of the water slapping against her flesh to remind her they were still there. "The Deadly Silence...?" She said little else then as Sophia spoke, as though the words, more than she had heard her ever use in one sitting, began to trickle, then to pour through the screen to her ears. In silence she absorbed Sophia's tale, her horror, sinking into the pores of her skin and making her itch more than the heat ever had. How could people do that to a child? It was...barbaric... Her fingers curled over the rounded edge of the copper tub, knees rising as if she'd get out of the bath there and then, but knew she could say little to make it better, nothing more than empty words that the taller woman would undoubtedly brush bitterly aside. The dryad bit her lip, shook her head slightly, setting her curls to bouncing about her face. No, there were no words that could ever make it right for what had been done to her. While her own experience had been a relatively mixed bag, she could not begin to compare it with Sophia's. No words. Galena almost slipped as water sluiced onto the floor, her bare toes curling as she sought a better purchase on the tiles, cool against her soles after the heat of the bath. Her fingers wound her sash tight about her hand, and after a moment, eased around the edge of the screen. Maybe she'd slap her, she couldn't say she'd blame her. "Sophia?" One green eye peeped through the lattice work, then she slid into view, her face a picture of uncertainty. Carefully she detached herself from the screen and padded around it, kept her eyes locked on the other woman's face and settled her hand on the edge of the bath. "I do not believe there is a...corruption in thee. Neither do I believe thou art in any form...wrong. You are you." She lowered her voice a notch, her gaze softening as she did so. "Do not let anyone tell thee different. I think no differently of thee. See?" And with that she lifted her leg and stepped over the edge of the bath and into the water, feeling the heat grip her leg with instant regret. It didn't stop her from swinging her other leg after it and standing opposite Sophia in the small tub, a faint smile on her face. "Thou shouldst not fear thineself so." She took a moment to unwind the sash from her hand, then lifted it and pressed it across her eyes, tying it behind her head. "I do not fear thee, and will not judge. If thy wish is to look, then look, but thou should not despise thyself for such a little thing. For thine comfort I shalt wear this..." She pointed at the makeshift blindfold, her smile growing a touch as she sought the edge of the bath, trailing her fingers across the smooth metal, then lowered herself slowly into the water with a wince. It wasn't so bad when your feet had already been in it, but it still smarted the backside. "Verily, I shalt not stop thee from leaving if I hath overstepped mineself. Thou hath bathed with other women before...think no more of it than that." Her lips curved into a smile that she hoped was at least a little bit reassuring. |
| (OFFLINE) PROFILE | QUOTE GO TO TOP |
| Sophia | Jan 9 2016, 03:27 PM Post #19 |
|
High Inquisitor of Ashoka
![]()
|
The woman shifted a little bit, although she knew she felt uncomfortable because she had been more open than she really felt comfortable, rather than because she was not seated relaxingly. In truth she was a little surprised that Galena was so aware of Deadly Silence. They were... Not exactly public. By nature she supposed. As far as she knew they tended to operate in small cells, or at least she had been assigned to one. It could be that there was a lot of variance, but she would likely never know. The specific people she had known where all dead now, in a couple of cases by her hand, in most not. An assassin rarely lived long. She was truly an anomaly. That was actually sort of something to be proud of she guessed, albeit in a twisted way. She was not sure what to say when Galena came around to her. Mostly she struggled to keep brain functions working as her mind instantly ran in a hundred thousand directions, none of them making sense. She opened and closed her mouths a couple of times before pausing. Her breathing slowed as she tried to retreat into her mind a little, remove herself from the situation and act logically. Or at least be able to act at all. "Thank you" she said, eventually once Galena had sat down. "I know now that I am not" she paused, tasting the word for a moment "Wrong, but knowing it and feeling it are different things. I will keep trying though." she tried to smile, despite the fact Galena would not be able to see her. Probably for the best, she was not very good at smiling. She was a assassin, a High Inquisitor and a generally mean lady. That did not give her much practice, although she had tried in a mirror once. Her face just looked weird. It made her nose look a little crooked. And then she laughed. Not a little laugh, a great belly laugh that made her shake uncontrollably. It was just so absurd, wasn't it. "Look at me. I would happily face down any division of any army in the world and win without so much as feeling worried. But at the same time I can't get over some thing that happened when I was a kid" she shook her head before throwing it back "Imagine how dangerous I would be if I could get my head sorted out." she glanced at Galena, and with a minor hand gesture removed the sash and threw it across the room where it settled and folded itself atop Sophia's own clothes. "Call that stage one of growing up" she smirked, although she was feeling self aware. She slightly shifted one of her legs in a way she hoped was subtle. "Please forgive me, but I do have a tendency to overthink things and then panic. You are, of course correct. Still, it felt good to say all of that. I keep it pretty private, honestly I do not know if anyone has heard as much as you did." she paused "Well, not from me. I suppose some records exist probably. Maybe." she looked at Galena. Her gaze dropped a little and she was suddenly very aware that Galena was also naked. For a few moments she froze and her mind raced. She faked a cough and looked away, her hair co incidentally falling in a way that hid her face from Galena. She did not use any telekinesis at all and would stab anyone who said she did in the bladder, then the face and then do other stuff. It just happened randomly to hide her blushing face. Wow, how much blood was in her cheeks at this point? "Nice... Tiles. I like your tiles. The tiles. On the wall. Over here. Where I am looking" |
| (OFFLINE) PROFILE | QUOTE GO TO TOP |
| Galena | Jan 20 2016, 03:12 AM Post #20 |
![]()
Thy sins, paid in blood...
![]()
|
When she didn't speak, the uncertainty hit her like a stone falling into a still pool. Well...it was not as if the Silence were the only killers-for-hire. It could have been anyone. They were simply the most talked about, the most...speculated. And widely considered little more than a child's fancy. Perhaps she ought not to have spoken at all. It wouldn't have been the first time she'd made a fool of herself with someone in private, simply because she let her guard down. Curse the romantic in her, she supposed. She always did enjoy a good story, but the best of them always had a grain of truth to supplement the boatload of lies they towed along with them. Part of her, defiantly, told herself she didn't care, that was what made it exciting. The rest of her was uneasy. Sophia was so hard to read... Just the slosh of water as a limb moved, or the trickle of water as it ran down the side of the tub to hit the floor with a gentle plip. Plip. Plip. "I understand. It is not as though it is...widely accepted. And verily, there will always be those who..." She shifted uncomfortably at the thought, in particular, the sudden heated discussion inbued with too much wine that ended up with her giving the High Priest of Ashoka a mild concussion with the dinnerware. She had as little tolerance for them as they apparently did for her tastes in partners. Not that it was any of their business in the slightest. "I know not how you stand it, in Ashoka I mean." She blurted suddenly, colour rising to her cheeks. To think of being there day after day in a baking sun with little water, and all that dust, and then to feel so...oppressed. It was more contested there, was it not? She'd felt as though stepping out there, that a hundred eyes pinned her every time she left the cover of a building, as though everyone knew. Or maybe she simply meant under Orion. To live, knowing that you loathed someone above yourself, day after day, when you could just walk away...she couldn't imagine the pressure, the strength it took to withstand it. "I didst strike the High Priest with a plate and knocked him unconscious. I had to make a most generous donation to his holy faith after that." She muttered, only vaguely surprised still that that was all. If he weren't still concussed by the time she left, he'd probably have been howling for blood. And of course, Sophia had been in attendance, guarding the Moghul. Still, it was good to hear the other woman laugh. She didn't think she'd ever heard it before, and now, blind, she felt her own lips parting in a grin in response, the sound that much fuller, richer as it bounced off the tiles. The sudden light made her eyes water and she blinked rapidly to clear them, squinting at Sophia. She didn't want to say, 'Some scars run too deep to heal.' She doubtless knew that much. Instead she leaned back, feeling the hard edge of the tub press into her shoulder blades. "Thou doth not seem so dangerous to me." Quietly spoken, it slipped out almost as soon as she thought it, unfinished, her eyes wandering to examine the fall of light through the lattice instead. A year ago she'd never have said that, not standing on the dockside in Zedrin, with blood liberally decorating the stonework, and bugs of all kind crawling, choking and scuttling across the dying, the dead. The thought still made her blood run icy cold. That thrill of danger was still there, but it wasn't the same. It was simply like...a necessity, a part of her as much as anything else. One could look at a bear, and appreciate it was dangerous, but it was simply the way it was. Maybe it was the wrong impression, but she no longer saw Sophia as a threatening entity. One who could obliterate a human being at the drop of a hat perhaps, but probably not without a reason. "Verily, I will not speak on it." The dryad snorted a moment, her green gaze dancing back to hold her, flashing with amusement. "Doctor-Patient confidentiality." Her gaze skittered away, words piling up behind them as she thought how to return that confidence, just to speak something that made her uneasy with herself, felt them seizing her throat and winding tight into a lump. Yet, instead of forcing that gall beneath her ribs once more, she unwound a string, thoughtfully edging it out. "I confess...your strength is much admired. I wouldst say it is alright, really....to be afraid sometimes. Everyone doth hath at least one thing...but I am a coward...words are all I have. Given the chance...I wouldst rather run, than fight another, where no peace may be made." Eventually Galena turned her face back to look at Sophia, curiously hidden behind her hair as she spoke. Her lips twitched, barely able to keep the laughter from her voice as she rested one elbow on the side of the bath and propped her chin in her hand. She was all hard planes and angles, but there was a feminine softness there too. Maybe not so much in the flat muscularity of her, but in her shape, and her body language. "I always thought they were rather vulgar. Perhaps I have no taste, and the admiring guests are not merely being polite." The laugh ripped from her in an ugly trill, a strangled songbird choking on a mouth of seed. It was so ridiculous. The mosaic of a satyr chasing a flock of nymphs through a grove, while artfully done, did not quite fit the playful style of the scene and instead she thought, rendered it almost vile, the colours not quite right, the shapes imperfect and strange. It was more modern, they'd said. She'd wanted to hurl a chair at them, but her then-husband had thought it the height of fashion. She giggled shamelessly, pressing her fingers over her mouth to stifle the outburst, one hand raking her blonde curls. "For the record, the satyr are much hairier than that. One would have to shave him for hours to get him so...." She hiccuped with laughter again, "smooth." |
| (OFFLINE) PROFILE | QUOTE GO TO TOP |
| Sophia | Feb 15 2016, 04:03 PM Post #21 |
|
High Inquisitor of Ashoka
![]()
|
So Galena did not understand how Sophia managed to stand Ashoka either? Well, it was nice to know that Sophia was not just being over sensitive to the sand and the fact she found Orion an incredibly tough person to work with. "I probably could stand it better than most. Macho military bravado seems to be a popular style under my most esteemed boss" the sarcasm dripped off her tongue." she thought "High Priests are not an exception, and I did so enjoy watching you humiliate him" she thought "Even my own Inquisition is more Orion's animal than mine. But I have had tougher fights, did I not just tell you about the nightmare I grew up in?" Sophia felt a little ashamed when Galena mentioned running. "I should have ran" she replied "Not always. But I fight a lot, and I fear perhaps I am too ready to do so. Maybe there should be something between the two of us" she paused. "Like a place where we met. In the middle. Ideally. I mean our ideals. I mean we don't just do me" "Screw it" she sighed and placed her palm to her forehead. "I fear I am being a vulgar guest who is trying to sound polite" she paused, and then tried to work out if Galena was trying to make a comment towards her when she mentioned the satyr's rather... Hairy nature. She shifted her legs a little, embarrassed mostly that Galena had been studying her much closer than she thought. She thought, and was quiet for a moment, trying to relax as she played comments made back and forth for a little. "I appreciate you letting me do this, by the way. It is not often I get to relax and be as open as I am now. I guess I am feeling pretty comfortable right now" she exhaled "I... Do admire you too. I have never been able to help anyone without hurting someone else, and all my solutions involve violence. I try to do good, and end up Orion's lapdog. You are so... You heal people, how much better is that? You help run a country with words and thoughts not swords and threats. You may call yourself a coward, but I know enough to know its not true. Plus you are so" she thought "outgoing. Look at this!" she waved on arm "Look how comfortable you are at those parties. You are so much more of a person as well, and I" she bit her lip "I think you are quite pretty. Especially when next to me. I think a younger me would have been quite smitten with a younger you" |
| (OFFLINE) PROFILE | QUOTE GO TO TOP |
| Galena | Apr 1 2016, 01:01 PM Post #22 |
![]()
Thy sins, paid in blood...
![]()
|
"I think many people did...that doth make it that little bit worse for mine reputation." An impish smile turned the corners of her bow lips and she rested her chin in one hand, the other dangling over the edge of the tub, fingertips brushing the cool tiles. "Thou art mighty, Sophia. I hath no doubts that thou wouldst take most anything thrown at thee in stride. Thou art possessed of a spirit most indomitable." "That is doable..." She tilted her head, green eyes wandering from the patterns of light falling through the lattice, back to Sophia again, the smile growing less vague, more focused. "I wouldst prefer thou by thyself. Please...do not stand on ceremony just for me." Galena didn't quite know what to think with the sudden flood of compliments, worrying at her lower lip with her teeth. Healing people seemed a lot grander when you didn't take into account the screaming, the thrashing. People never talked about having to tie down a patient because they wouldn't stop moving, they never talked about having to forcibly sedate someone because they'd cracked, because they had no time to retreat through the doors of sleep, or perhaps because it wasn't enough. They didn't speak about the times when you had limited options, or no anaesthetic, when you had to take away a piece of someone to ensure that an infection didn't contaminate the rest of them. They never spoke about the moral implications, or what right one had to steal a man's arm in order to save his life. Would it really save his life if he were made a cripple, unable to earn, to feed himself? It would be like cutting off a musician's fingers. That alone, would starve him, and bleed him dry as surely as simply cutting his throat. And then there were those that were probably better off dead. The code didn't allow one to discriminate...it was a duty...you helped them, because they needed it. It didn't matter if they wanted to stick three feet of steel in you... "Sometimes violence is a better answer. Sometimes there are no other ways. Sometimes you have to hurt to help. Often...you have to hurt, to help. They do not understand then...they curse you after...perhaps forever...is it worth it?" She averted her eyes, lest Sophia see how deeply it struck her, shoulders stiff, fingers tapping a disjointed melody against her cheek. Some of them would be better off dead, than what they had to live with afterwards. The dryad barked a short laugh, sardonic smile twisting her features as she turned fully to look at Sophia. "The parties are merely a farce...one must keep in good faith with the nobility...they are a valuable source of information, if little else. That is only a mask..." She waved her hand before her face, her expression switching from wry, to ecstatic, to sorrowful in a flash. "One wears many masks in their life, but must never forget that it is only a mask. Forget, and it becomes you." She dropped her hand, her expression sincerely weary. "For the nobility, for the council, for the public...but here in my home? No. One cannot wear them every place. It is too tiring. It eats at you, in here." She tapped her breastbone with her fingertips. "We are still young...no?" Galena offered a coy smile for Sophia, drawing her legs to her chest as she did so. "I like the lines of you. You have much beauty, and grace, even if you do not see it. Best, when you do not see it." |
| (OFFLINE) PROFILE | QUOTE GO TO TOP |
| 1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous) | |
![]() ZetaBoards gives you all the tools to create a successful discussion community. Learn More · Register for Free |
|
| « Previous Topic · Madrid · Next Topic » |


















