RP:Madness, Maps and Mysteries
Part of the Surface Tension Arc
Synopsis: Emilia is cold, wet and naked, and wandering around in Cenril. Unwilling 'guardian angel' Skylei Lucindio finds her and takes her to her home which is littered in Underdark and Drow paraphernalia, including a large number of inaccurate maps. The Genasi helps Skylei construct a more accurate map of Trist'oth, chalked onto the wall of her living room. She also tells Sky that she's a Genasi (Skylei does not believe her). As Emilia leaves, she mentions their mutual friend Krice's disappearance and Skylei is privy to a horrible revelation...
Coastal Breeze
Skylei is on her way between the library in the north of the city and her home in the south. It’s not the quickest route back to her apartment, but it’s far more scenic and far less dangerous than the dodgy back alleys she occasionally takes. In her arms, she cradles three or four reasonably sized books; all of which details things regarding to drow, naturally though her bow is conspicuously missing from her person. Clearly the half-blood is on a purely work related trip. As the wall peels away she would pause, breath in the sea air and then keep walking; nobody could say that Skylei’s not a busy woman these days.
Emilia paced back and forth within the same six steps. Six one way and six the other with fingers held together in front of her, trembling as her thumbs twiddled around one another. The small ghostly white woman was surprisingly unclothed, though those long locks of soaking white curls clinging to her frail skin and bone form covered anything that one shouldn’t see. The blue lips of the farmer were bluer than normal even as they were moving as if she was talking, but no sounds were leaving them. Back and forth while drenched in sea water, mumbling to herself, with trembling hands.
Skylei’s tranquil moment is spoiled by the sight of a pacing, glacially coloured woman; a woman that she’s unfortunate enough to be well acquainted with, “What the…” Skylei utters words that are more befitting of Rynvalian pirate than an elf of Sage as she approaches Emilia. Fortunately Skylei isn’t under the grips of human modesty as she approaches the clearly naked, and seemingly insane, woman. She approaches with an unusual measure of caution. Shuffling her books into one arm, the other hand would reach out and tap Emilia on the back as she takes the sic steps in the opposite direction from the one in which Skylei had come. “What are you doing, Emi? Where in the world are your clothes?!”
Emilia literally jumped about a foot into the air when Sky tapped her on the back. If the farmer could turn any whiter she would, but she was already as white as they come. The look on her face was almost as if the Genasi had just seen a ghost or was snapped back into reality around her. Hands were held up as if in surrender for something, something she’d either done or not done, who knows. Slowly, very slowly the look of panic faded out of those ice blue eyes. “They…are…soaked…” The woman said after some time of staring at Skylei with hands still trembling in the air. The little woman was not all fearsome, she was flawed and an extreme fear of the ocean was one of them.
“For the love of Sven” Emilia was either insane, suffering from hypothermia or an idiot. Skylei suspected a mixture of all three. Still, she’s a goodhearted soul, deep deep down, “You can’t just wander round Cenril naked. You’re in -Cenril-.” That is explanation enough. Placing her books down, the half-elf begrudgingly shrugs her trench coat from her shoulders and holds it out to the woman. “Cover yourself up in that and come with me. I’m not that much bigger than you are, so I’m sure I’ll have something that’ll fit you well enough, or at least well enough that you can wear it until you’ll get home.”
Emilia watched Skylei for a moment as she first set her books down then slipped it off and offered it to her. It took the Genasi a few seconds before those naturally frozen hands accepted the piece of garment from the half-elf and slid it around herself. The wet locks of her hair now clinging to the trench coat instead of the nude form of the small woman, “Cenril?” The word rolled from her mouth like it was foreign, as if she didn’t even realize she was in Cenril until now as Skylei offered up the information to her. “Are you sure this isn’t Larket?” Delusional. Insane. Both? Something wasn’t fully right in the head of the farmer.
Oh joy. What had Skylei ever done to deserve this? “Of course we’re in Cenril, Emi. Larket doesn’t have a sea-front. And thankfully, we’re five minutes from my house.” One hand takes the books, pressing them against her hip for balance and the other presses against Emilia’s hands forcibly walking her forwards and directing her around the people that fill the streets and the beach on this lovely day. “What on earth have you been doing anyway? Did you think you’d just go for a swim? Most people choose to wear swimsuits when they do that, so that they don’t scare the children.”
Emilia was, like a child, being drug forward by Skylei away from where she’d been pacing for hours toward the home of her not-friend, not-family, not-parental figure. “I had clothes on. Then they got soaked. And I panic’d….” The words of the Genasi came in slow thoughtful words as the small woman tried to place together the events prior to her being found by the half-elf. “I can’t swim…” The farmer added almost too belatedly as the pairing neared the house of the elf.
Arril Street
Skylei doesn’t really care what happened to Emilia. She regrets getting involved already but she can hardly leave the deranged woman to fend for herself in South Cenril. Plus she really wants to ensure she gets that coat back; it smells of spider guts and tar, but dammit, it’s her favourite. Manoeuvring the woman into her apartment block and up the stairs, Skylei would push open the door and seat her on the sofa. It’s really the only place left to sit. Maps of Trist’oth, routes out of the Underdark and books about drow litter every other available seat. Even those hideous lilac walls have received a makeover; they’re decorated with randomly sized and placed words, seemingly of some significance; ‘Sage’ ‘elves’ and ‘heroes’ are some of the most notable. Skylei would worry about anyone seeing this mess, but Emi is insane and Skylei doubts she’ll remember this, “Clothes first. Do you want a dress or pants?”
Emilia sat on the couch if only because she was sat on the couch within the room of apartment of the half-elf. “Pants.” She would answer, pretending to not be interested in that which cluttered the room around her. The woman was coming back from her moment of panic, of insanity from trying to swim in the ocean to look for Krice. What did she think she was doing trying to swim when she knew she couldn’t? The moment that the half-elf elf left to fetch the clothing for her the Genasi was up from the sofa to look at the map of Trist’oth that was closest to her. The little woman traced her fingers over the paper following the lines on the map for a moment. A furrow of brows the farmer got up to search the near-by area for something, anything to write with. It was not her place so she knew not where anything was kept. As such, the Genasi looked slightly off going through the half-elf’s things for a writing utensil.
“Pants it is.” Skylei disappears into one of the two rooms off of the lounge. She’s gone for a good five minutes; which should be long enough for Emilia to locate the pot on the halfblood’s desk that’s filled with all of her writing utensils, with ink just sat next to it. Eventually she would return with a pair of leather pants and a shirt in hand. For the human they’d likely be too large, but they were too small for Skylei and it was the best she had. If Emilia was still leaning over her maps when she returned to the living room, Skylei’s arms would creep across her chest and fold in a clear sign of irritation. Eyebrows would rise and she would begin to doubt the benefits of her kindness, “What are you doing?” No accusation creeps into her voice, though there’s a clear hint that she’s not best pleased.
Emilia was bent over the maps with a piece of graphite that she’d taken out of the bucket of items from the desk, this was chosen because if Skylei got made enough at her she could wipe it away easier than the ink. The small little woman was walking her index and middle finger along a section of the map, carefully counting under her breath with each ‘step’ that her icy fingers made. “No, no, no.” The small woman shook her head taking the graphite piece to make a very light and gentle marking on the map to reroute the path that was indicated to have been correct. This was about the time that Skylei returned with arms folded over her chest and tone irritated, “This map is…wrong…” The Genasi said with a very small whisper before setting the graphite down, “Sorry.”
Skylei should be frustrated by Emilia’s meddling. Then again, she’d be more frustrated if she went back to Trist’oth with a botched map, “They’re all different. Nobody on the surface knows bloody anything about the layout of Trist’oth and I’d bet you any money the drow don’t make maps themselves, because they know exactly where everything is supposed to be! It’s driving me insane.” She rubs the scar on her cheek twice before deferring to the genasi, “Why is this map wrong? I mean, I’m fairly sure House D’Artes isn’t there” Skylei points to the left of the map, “But is in fact here” her hand swings to the opposite side “And as for this road, I’ll bet it doesn’t exist. I certainly didn’t see it…” She trails off, “You should get dressed soon. You’ll catch a cold.”
Emilia reached to lightly tap the hand of the elf that was standing next to her, “I’m already cold. I’m always cold.” The Genasi said softly, but wouldn’t argue against the owner of the house about putting on clothing. The leather pants and shirt were taken from Sky so that the frail one could slip into them, they were a smidge big on her underweight form, but they would do better than being nude. “The maps of the under-dark are wrong because they are not done by the drow and no surface dweller has spent enough time down there to map the city out properly. It is a very dangerous place to play, something not easy to do without being able to see in the dark. But the map here is wrong because that road doesn’t exist. And I bet if a drow made these wrong it was so that one trying to use them, one who doesn’t know the land there would get lost and die.”
Skylei continues to pour over maps, taking a piece of charcoal herself and marking block onto the map “Tell me about” she in reply to Emilia’s comment about always being cold as she sketched; though it’s something quite different indeed, Skylei often finds herself unable to feel her fingers and toes due to the much more boring cause of poor circulation. Once she’s finished she would gesture across the page, “Here’s the deal. All the maps basically highlight this central area as the same. Most highlight one or two of the same entrances too. I’ve found three; I would guess there are five, six, seven, Sven knows how many more.” She would sigh and then highlight the rest of the map in a large block, “It’s the outskirts that differ. I told myself it was due to change over time, or whatever, but I doubt it. I think it’s a ploy to get people lost on their way out; or to stop them from reaching the centre at all.” Skylei shakes her head, “Or it could be that the cartographers are damn fools who can’t see jack in the dark.”
Emilia shrugged her shoulders watching as Skylei draw on the map herself, making Emi feel less bad about drawing on it to begin with. “I’m not human, Skylei. I’m an Ice Genasi, which makes me nothing more than a creature of cold. I don’t remember anymore what it is like to not feel cold, frankly I only know I’m cold because others tell me as such and that I leave frost behind if I am not careful.” The female moved then to join the half elf at the map looking over what she had changed on it. “I agree that the center of the map is mostly the same in the maps that I have seen. I think it part it is to entice people to wanting to reach the center. Like luring a mouse to a trap. But look at this…” The former blonde said taking another map and laying it over the drawn on map only twisting it so that it was turned to a different angel, a 45 degree difference focused on the out-skirts of the city, “They nearly like up now.”
Skylei gives Emilia a look that simply reads ‘don’t be stupid’. “Genasi’s are like the most ridiculously unusual phenomenon. You see one, maybe two, if you’re lucky in a lifetime.” Skylei pauses, “Well, in a lifetime like yours. I might see a couple more, but eh. Halfbreeds don’t get lives like elves anyway” Her attention is drawn back to the maps as Emilia shifts and shuffles them. Her expression changes to one which appears calculating as she debates the possibility of the genasi’s suggestion, “Maybe there are bits of truths in all of the maps. I doubt you’d be lucky enough to get a full map, but perhaps enough of one that you could scrape by...”Now that the war is an open secret, Skylei feels little need to hide her involvement any longer, hence her willingness to discuss. Skylei turns to the wall that isn’t littered in phrases, till armed with charcoal and begins sketching out the newly interlinked portions.
Emilia would pick put a piece of grapite and bring it over to Skylei after she’d moved to the uncluttered wall. When Emi would hand it over to the half-elf only this item that was being offered over was frozen over in a thin layer of ice, “If you don’t believe me, then ask your good friend Hildegarde next time you see her or send her a letter. She will tell you point blank that I am not human. You just have to face facts.” Once the frozen item was taken the Genasi would walk back to the maps and carefully shift through them, leaving the two that were currently linked alone for Sky to draw. The farmer was ever so careful with the paper to shift and turn them around them the central point of the paper. There was a small determined look on her face as she shifted the pages until she could find another place that over lapped with another section. “I think if we work slowly from this center point here, the maps if adjust align in bits with one another, the center is not always the same direction though.”
Really what difference did it make if Emilia was an ice genasi, a human, a dragon, a shadow gnome or a figment of Skylei’s imagination? The latter would be unfortunate, but the truth of the matter is that it neither endeared nor opposed Skylei to Emilia anymore that she already felt. But still, she clearly felt passionately about this and so, as the iced charcoal would pass hand, the half-elf would mutter, “Sure, fine, whatever,” and nod. Once her back was turned though… “Yeah, and I’m made of pure fire” she mutters solely to herself as she lights a flame in the hand that holds the charcoal to melt the frozen casing. Once it’s back to its original state, Skylei would place it on the table and continue to draw the map upon her wall as Emilia fiddles with the original map, “That is, unless it is yet another drow trick to fool foolish surface dwellers like ourselves”
Emilia had twisted all the maps that Skylei had until she had found a link together with them all, there she left them like a pinwheel flower of a map put together. “The drow are smart, but do you think they would really think that any half-elf would be able to put together a few maps to realize that sections link and overlap together? The drow think you are a worthless piece of trash…” Mind you, Emi wasn’t the fondest of Skylei either, but she found the woman more than a piece of trash. “I should, however, probably get myself going.” The Genasi shook her head slowly sending half damp curls dancing around her. “Also, from experience I know this section…” The Genasi pointed to a small section from an unmarked entrance, “with the overlapping is nearly correct. A few changes and its actually, right.”
As Emilia twists, Skylei sketches until her living room wall is covered with a nice neat map of the Underdark. Sections are missing here and there, to be completed later but the body of the work is done, “Yeah, really stupid. So damn stupid that…” Skylei stops herself. Some things are really better kept between friends, or even between allies“…that I can’t even put a couple’a maps together, right? Idiots. That’s why I’m their worst nightmare. Imagine the day the drow are pushed back from Sage thanks to a halfblood.” She cackles a little. Then, Skylei pauses and looks over to Emilia, at least a little willing to give her some credit for the creation that is taking place upon Skylei’s walls and on her dining table and desk, “And an… ice genasi, of course...” Then she offers a final change of topic, “And you shouldn’t be wandering around below ground. It’s really not safe; especially not currently. If they think you’re a surface ally, they will kill on sight.”
Emilia was slightly surprised that Skylei gave any credit of the map with gaps on the wall to her, but having been down there she was able to see on the maps where things lined up and where some things were correct. “I’m sure Krice would have a lecture for me and then some if I wandered down into the underdark, especially right now. Yet…now I can’t even find Krice. He seems to be missing. I’m worried. If you see him, please let him know I’m looking for him.” The female pulled up the leather pants that were slightly too big on her as she turned to head toward the door, but she stopped. “Also, having white hair and a second layer of skin made from skinning a drow ever so carefully helps to look more drow and less ghostly white ice lady wandering around.”
Skylei’s face falls as Emilia heads to the door; not because the genasi is leaving, naturally, but because of her words regarding Krice. With a look to the ceiling the half-elf exhales deeply “I- I think I know where he is. Or where he could be. Well, he could be two places, but I’ll know soon enough which of the two is more likely.” Naturally the half-elf blames herself for this disappearance. She could have stopped it; she –should- have stopped it but she didn’t and it’s another chip on her shoulder. Skylei grits her teeth and moves towards the door so that she can close it once Emilia leaves, “I’ll have him write you when I find him.”
Emilia came to a dead stop, fully dead stop the moment Skylei spoke up that she knew of two places that Krice could be. “What two places could he be at? Name them now.” The look in those ice blue eyes were deadly serious that she wasn’t going to wait around for Skylei to have him write her when she found him. If the half-elf knew where her best friend might be at it was worth the time of day to listen to and then promptly venture off to search for the warrior she’d failed to find in their usual spots of meeting.
Skylei clasps at her forehead in exasperation, “In Aramoth’s name, like hell I’m telling you that. You want to waltz into Sage and get blown to smithereens, or into the Underdark, or Kregus or Vailkrin or the Dark Forest? That’s a sure enough way to make sure you’ll die and if, AND EVEN IF, you choose the right place Krice’ll get killed for your audacity. Hell, Emi, he could already be dead.” Each word is punctuated for emphasis. “Look, I’ll talk to the council. If you want to be involved, so be it, but you ain’t doing jack until you’ve got escorts. Even I’m not that stupid. Can you wait a few days? If he’s not been killed, he’s unlikely to die in that timeframe.”
Emilia glared at Skylei if only because she was right. Emi would stupidly waltz into danger if only to save the life of her best friend. “Two days. Three max! If I don’t hear from you and your council I’m going underdark to look for him by myself. Got it? Three days max! I’m not sitting around letting him suffer or die while I wait on your council.” The Voice of Genasi raised as she gave Skylei the limit of days that she was clearly not very happy with the situation at all. “I’ll meet you in three days. Send word of a location and I will be there.” Then the Genasi stormed out of the apartment off to wherever it was she was going while she not easily waited Sky’s reply.
“Good luck with that,” the halfblood shouts back sarcastically, “Because that’s not where the keep the slaves they catch in Sage…” Emilia could go look in the Underdark all she wanted; that’s not Skylei’s first port of call.