RP:Staying Out of Trouble

From HollowWiki

Synopsis: Emilia has an encounter with the feline residents of Cenril (and Zahrani), and proposes an arrangement to hire the felines to help build and staff her planned healing center.

This is a Healer's Guild RP.


Emilia walked barefooted along the path leading back into town from the beach. The small woman barely reached five feet if one counted the mass of white curls dangling from the top of her head to the ground. The Healer was clad only in a dark blue bikini, yet her every bit of the woman was dry as if she had not actually been at the ocean at all. The odd woman was as white as freshly fallen snow in Frostmaw with the exception of a dark blue with intricate snowflakes of silver tattoo that covered nearly an entire leg, blue lips one might see upon a dead corpse, ice-blue soul piercing eyes, and some dusting of freckles in a silvery-blue. As Emilia made way back into town one could feel the sudden drop in temperature as if winter was approaching. Walking alongside the Ice-woman appeared to be a black spider, upon closer inspection it was a right hand made of black-ice. Possibly the appendage that once was attached to the woman’s right arm where a stump was clearly visible tinged with bits of matching black ice flesh. As the pair traveled the hand scurried around the lady, running ahead before circling back to her, almost like an excited puppy.

Zahrani | The soft pattering of feet along the rooftops could be heard by those with keen ears. Cenril is famous, or perhaps infamous, for its feline colonies. Some called them endearing allies or valuable assets, others called them a nuisance or a scourge. A half-dozen feline children, between the ages of 6 and 12, pitter-patter across the roofs of the city, occasionally stopping to look out at the open market. A muscular adult feline with black fur and cyan eyes sits on a roof adjacent to them, watching them carefully as they explore the only world they've known. Zahrani wears simple garb; it's much less attention-grabbing than her usual plate armor, and she's much lighter on her feet as a result. Blue eyes look down upon the ice genasi, who sticks out like an icicle in a Cenrillian summer. The paladin takes note of the way the locals behaved around Emilia; some would walk nearby to keep cool, but they mostly kept their distance from her chilling aura. Some would likely recoil at the black hand that moves on its own. The 6 feline children on the other roof also take notice, laying down to reduce their visibility. A line of a dozen eyes and a dozen pointed ears trained on the stranger.

Emilia was a monster not of this city, perhaps not of this world either, but well known to the town she walked openly in without a care in the world at the strangers that were taken back by the wandering hand, those who walked closer for a moment of her chill, those who waved that she knew on better terms than others, and no mind to the pattering feet of small felines upon the roofs. The Healer had a good set of ears, however not as well fine tuned as some other creatures, but years of listening to the world allowed her to hear those atop the roofs. Emi had been a hunted being too many times to count. As Rightly ran back to the Genasi the woman gave it a wink while glancing for the most brief of moment to the eyes peering off the rooftop at them. The hand ran a few circles around the woman before taking off ahead of her once more as it had been since she appeared in the open area, but this time it did not return as quickly. Instead, it would find its way up the side of the building until it was walking the edge of the roof toward the feline closest to it, attempting to sneak up on the child and tap the shoulder of the little one. Emi herself paid no attention, however her walk slowed slightly as she waved to a nearby town person.

Zahrani watches the scene unfold with some amusement. The half-dozen children were still watching Emi with great caution. They do not appear to notice the black hand that sneaks up on them. But one lesson of many that the streets have taught them: ~Always have a lookout.~ From the shadow of a nearby chimney, a slightly older feline child hears the subtle skittering of the hand, looking around the brick corner just in time to see the strange autonomous appendage stalking her friends. With a small stick in hand, she rhythmically taps the metal on the roof. 3 of the children who sit prone on the edge turn towards the warning sound, their pupils widening slightly at the strange black creature that was almost sitting on them. One of them makes a ~Yeep!~ sound, and the children all turn. They scramble to move towards the center of the roof, so as not to fall. Feline ears turn every which way, while their eyes remain focused on the hand, waiting to see what it will do. Rani is just there to make sure everyone's safe. The large, athletic panther silently walks towards the scene, her hands casually in her pockets.

Emilia listened more than she dared to look up at the children upon the roof interacting with her stubborn yet harmless hand. By now the frozen woman had come to a stop next to the building where the gathering upon the rooftop was happening, if she strayed too far from her hand it would fall limp to the ground surely scaring the children. Righty stood there at the edge facing the felines, as if it could see them though it had no eyes or mouth or brain, but it moved and functioned well enough. Balancing on thumb and pink it waved three black shinny fingers at the grouping of felines young. After waving the crazy thing started to run in circles around the outside perimeter of the building, always staying a good distance from the group for the most part. Almost too much energy in the odd body part as it would randomly dash in toward one of the children, never touching them yet reaching out with an index finger as if trying to poke them before returning to making rounds about the roof. Taunting perhaps, or simply trying to get the furry people to play a game of tag with it. Emilia herself leaned back against the building, folding her arms over her chest with eyes falling closed, simply listening to see if she needed to intervene or not.

Zahrani | The young felines would very much enjoy playing. After collectively determining the strange thing is harmless, they spread out, across the roof. Sometimes they would take turns trying to pounce on the hand, other times they would coordinate their movements to try and corral it into a place where it couldn't escape. They seem to have "tag" down to an artform. Their play is interrupted by a human occupant of the building. A surly old man throwing curses and random objects in equal measure. "Ye mangy tramps! Git off meh roof!" The children waste no time in free-running over to the next building, closer to Zahrani. One of them, a 9-year-old with snow leopard fur and patterning, gently scoops up Emilia's hand and brings it with him. They decide to descend down to the market, as things were quieting down and many of the stalls were closing for the evening. The paladin feline follows them, making sure they return their new 'friend' where it belongs.

Emilia | Righty enjoyed playing with the feline children upon the top of the roof. Running in circles, zig-zagging around their feet, faking being caught in the corner only to scurry around the edge to the other side of them. It was the moment a voice hollered out at them while throwing things that ended the fun did Righty settle down, allowing the little snow leopard lad to carry it. It was now that the eyes of the Genasi flashed open, anger laced in the depths of the faint blue. How dare anyone throw things at the young. “Oh, shut it ya ol’ geezer and let the youth be!” the Genasi yelled back at the angry old guy in a tone that stopped many of the people still packing up their booths for the evening. Snapping two fingers together a gust of ever frozen air swept through the streets, slamming the shutters shut to the window where the man had been hollering and throwing from. “Grump,” the Genasi muttered to herself before pushing off the building. It was about time she introduced herself to the littlings that had her hand as a playmate. Crossing the open market the Ice-woman met up with the lad with Rightly, “Careful little lad, Righty there will give you a nasty case of frostbite if you hold it too long,” she spoke in a voice opposite of her snapping moment, soft and sweet like the first falling snow. Truthful words, that had was made of black-ice and just as cold as the wintery lady standing before the felines.

Zahrani joins the 6 children that had stopped in front of the Ice Genasi. The snow-leopard child lets go of Rightly as soon as the cold becomes unbearable. He looks down at the pads of his paws; no frostbite, fortunately. His ice-blue eyes meet Emilia's, gazing with a combination of caution and wonder. The adult paladin walks up and gently places a large paw on the lad's shoulder, before turning to the stranger and saying, "My name is Zahrani. What is yours?" The boy offers a sheepish grin, idly staring at his paws and quietly saying to the Genasi, "M..my name's Amir." The boy pronounces his name "ah-MEER." The other children are mostly quiet, or they've gone off to play something else. As always, one remains above and out of sight.

Emilia lifted up Righty in her good hand and set the thing atop her head where it curled up on her curls. The Genasi offered the lad a soft smile on those frosty blue lips before her gaze lifted up to the adult in the pairing, “I’m Emilia, co-leader of the Healer’s Guild and Head healer of the Adventurer's Guild, but you can simply call me Emi,” she replied while offering her good hand for a shake first toward the lady and then second to the little lad, granted her hand would be cold if either shook it, possibly leaving traces of frest bits of frost behind. “It is a pleasure to meet you both. I am happy to hear it sounds like you and your friend enjoyed wearing out my right hand,” this time she was solely speaking to Amir.

Zahrani nods, shaking the hand offered by the Genasi. It was certainly cold, and it left frost behind, but it evaporates quickly from the paladin's own divine aura. Amir reaches up to shake Emi's hand as well. Perhaps it was due to his lineage, and/or perhaps a natural potential for magic, but the snow-leopard child does not seem as bothered by the cold as the others were. He speaks a little more clearly, "Well, I hope your hand had as much fun as we did." He then giggles as he gets tagged by another friend, and the two subsequently chase each other through the streets, skillfully staying out of the way of the stallkeepers packing up crates and leaving for the day. The paladin watches while remaining close to Emilia, before saying with a content smile, "As much mischief as they get into, they've done well keeping each other safe and out of serious trouble. They even help each other find work running errands, like I did when I was their age." It's not an easy life for the feline colonies of Cenril, but they make it work, however they can. Turning to Emilia, the panther says, "I've been a paladin of Cyris for 20 years. My duties with the Chapel and the Guild take me all over Lithrydel, but I always take some time to come back here, to where I started."

Emilia nodded as she listened to the feline woman speak while watching the children run off and play some more. For a moment the Genasi was silent trying to remember what it was like to be young again, yet her memories of life were dark and twisted leaving her to find reality very quickly. Turning eyes back upon Z the Healer smiled, “I am in the midst of a large project here in Cenril and in due time I am sure I could use some helping hands from the older lot if they would like to earn some coin. The younger one too, I am sure there is a job for everyone in the coming months with this project. I cannot say I can be on the same level as the littlings, but I do remember living off the streets as a small one and in the woods without having a trade in which to keep a steady earning.”

Zahrani's ears turn towards Emilia as she speaks of a project, "I can pass the word onto the colony matrons." The cats of Cenril are a hypersocial group, and because the men are more likely to bring in resources by fishing or taking more dangerous jobs, the governance of the colonies is largely left to the older and more experienced women. "What kind of project?" the paladin asks.

Emilia nodded slowly, “I and the Healer’s Guild are working at with the town to build a new healing center in in Cenril, much like the one in Larket called Ara. I find that as of late I am being called more and more to this city, but there is not a proper enough place for me to work in this city, so a large proper building is to be put into place. I will be needing helping hands in various ways in the building process and even afterwards I may been some help then too with fetching supplies from in town. Plus, there is always open classes for them to attending to learn basic wound care once it is up and running.”

Zahrani raises a brow with interest, "Now ~that~ is something the matrons will wish to speak to you about. Some of our people have the potential for being healers, and they are looking for a place to improve their own practice, and a place to work." Away from the two women, the children had left the market square, returning to the colony for a meal and sleep. The paladin smiles, "I think you'll find many here eager to help." With a polite bow, the panther adds, "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to make sure the cubs made it home safe. One of the Grandmothers should contact you in the coming days." A more endearing name given to the colony matrons, since many of them were old enough to be grandmothers.

Emilia nodded to the other woman with a soft smile, “The Guild would be happy to have them learning within our ranks and working with us. There is always room within our ranks for those wishing to learn. I look forward to hearing from one of the Grandmothers...until then, take care, Miss.” There was a nod as the frozen woman turned to head off back on her way, contemplating to herself what this term grandmother meant on her trip back to her room at the Inn.