RP:Two Flames Are Better Than One

Part of the Surface Tension Arc

Synopsis: Irthos and Skylei meet when the former is fascinated by the latter's pryomanic abilities. After brief bonding and mini-pyromancy lesson (unsuccessful), the pixie offers to join Skylei on the upcoming trip down into Sage. She tentatively accepts.

Frostmaw Tavern

Irthos rockets in through a door just as someone walks through. His fiery aura a warm breeze as he goes by the patron causing them to look around for the heat source. They didn't have to look around long for a large stein soon erupted in flames and the strong drink was invaded by the flying mini-mage. The pixie flips out of the drink and runs around on the table on fire, while most patrons got a chuckle out of seeing a small fireball running about, until someone tossed a well aimed snowball at him putting him out. Irthos lays there on the table panting and relaxing in the cold water as steam comes off his small frame.

It’s been a long day. Elven meetings grow longer and longer and more and more tedious by the day. Admittedly, the topics of conversation have grown more interesting though the elves have grown increasingly argumentative leading to meetings growing prolonged and increasingly tense. It is from this environment that Skylei comes, choosing to forgo the elven camp for the arguable pleasures of the main town. She moves like a woman with the weight of the world on her back and the chill of Frostmaw’s air in her bones; that is to say slowly, as she heads through the doors mere seconds after Irthos. Like the walking fireball, Skylei seeks heat and thus heads to the fire pit, kicking off her snowboots and letting her waterlogged socks dry out, courtesy of the fore wyrm. Still, that warmth is not enough, and Skylei creates her own little fireball in the palms of her hands to ease the snow bite that she’s always left with in the City of War.

Irthos notices the half-elf woman's ability to control he fire like she did. He jumps up into the air and flits on over, his wings already dry for the water sizzled off them. "Ooooo, how did you do that?" the novice mage exclaimed. "And why do you look so glum, chum?"

“How do I do what?” Skylei looks down to her own hands and is struck with realisation “Oh? This?” Manipulation of fire is as natural as breathing or bleeding is to the half breed. It’s been something she’s been able to do, with admittedly some element of failure along the way, since she can remember. It’s in her blood, after all. “I just, uh, think warm and then…” Skylei’s hands glow a little brighter as she speaks. “And as for glum, you’d be glum if you were forced to sit through day after day of meetings where no one does anything.” Skylei rolls her eyes, “Boring.” Irthos 's eyes brighten as he watches the woman's hand glow, "I can't do that. Not without a ton of practice. If you saw my display with the fire and all that might be a bit apparent." The pixie giggles, "I have a long way to go before I am awesome. So what kind of meetings are these that bring down such a nice lady? Must be very bad."

Skylei offers a little advice on the art of pyromancy; not that it’s an art that she’s a particular expert in, of course, “Just, y’know. Keep thinking warm. Once you can think yourself warm, the fire comes easily. “ As for the matters that have driven her away from the elven camp, Skylei plays the honest but careful card, “Ah y’know. Elves and drow, can’t ever play nice can they? And all that leads to is elves arguing about this and that, and then this again.” Skylei shrugs, she’s loathe to give away too much information. “Like I said, ain’t nothing interesting.”

A puzzled look comes across the pixie's face, "Why must you fight? Can't you just get along? This way no one dies, and you can have a party together or something. What is a drow anyway? Is there any way I can help?" So many questions all at once, and not to be stopped once the cascade rolls. "I'm sorry, I tend to get very inquisitive on things I don't understand. Now as for fire, I think warm and then I turn into what you saw. Like a shooting star or something. It is certainly a fun way to travel, but I am getting a hard head from my crashes." He knocks on his head and it sounded like some tapping an acorn. "See?"

Skylei sighs. She’s not very good at aging pixies, but from his naivety she would guess that Irthos is young; certainly young enough not to have lived through any of the really horrible wars. “It’s not that simple.” It never is. Especially not when it comes to the drow and the wood elves, “Unfortunately the fighting has been going for many years now. It has intensified of late and…” Skylei probably shouldn’t be telling a stranger that she met in Frostmaw tavern these things, but the pixie seems harmless enough and it’s unlikely that he’s in cahoots with drow bastards given his seemingly youthful ignorance, “Well, I think it is all going to come to a head soon.” Much easier is the magical advice, “You’ve got to control the warm. Don’t let it burn, just let it simmer.”

Irthos takes a deep breath and relaxes, then he starts to think warm. An aura of fire started around the small frame of the mini-mage, then it started to get hotter, and more intense. The pixie reigned it in with his imagination trying to see it only as a soft glow, comfortable to hold in the hand, but not too hot. Once he lets out his breath however the he looses control again and the air around him feels as hot as a desert sun. "Oh darn it," the pixie curses. The pixie calls out for a glass of the famous Ever-Chilled Water they have up here and he dips into it so that he could cool off, and try to maintain an element of control this way. Th water steams but doesn't boil with his presence. "So would you like some help in this? I know we just met and all, but you seem really nice. By the way I'm Irthos. Shhh, it's a Secret. Also I think the Queen up here give me a nickname. I believe she called my Firestarter when she tested me for the Mage's Guild. That was fun."

Skylei watches as the pixie tries and fails to keep the burning element under control. He fails, but that is natural. Failure is part of success, if only one can see it that way. Once he had recovered, the pix offers help. Lethally stubborn the half-blood’s instinct is to refuse the offer and back well away. There is one thing that makes her reconsider. Irthos’ magic has the potential for power, though he had little control over the element as things stood. Her own mana was likely significantly less powerful, but far better controlled and much more easily channelled. The two combined? Well Skylei was sure they could be lethal… And so, in spite of her better instincts the half-elf nods, “You fancy a little trip down into Sage? I’ll keep you safe, of coure. See you back up to Frostmaw when we’re done too.” As for his nickname? Well, she’d once been called Flame’s Daughter. Flame’s Daughter and Firestarter had a nice ring to it, no? “Ithos, eh? Folks call me Skylei. Nice to make your acquaintance.” She holds out a finger. How else do you shake hands with pixies?

Irthos brightly smiles with excitement, "Oh sure that sounds like an exciting adventure." He takes her finger with both hands, still warm to the touch. "And it is a pleasure to meet you, Skylei. What will we be doing?"

Skylei cocks her head to one side and then to the other, “That, I can’t tell you, yet. Probably reconnaissance and the like. Nothing too dangerous, nor exciting, I’m afraid. It all depends on where the council send me and what they require me to bring back.”

Irthos nods his head, "Okay I can live with that answer." The pixie now cooled off alights to the air, and zips around the room a bit to dry off his wings from the cool water. "I'm so excited for this. I just hope I don't have to resort to using my peppers. They helped me survive against the Queen of the North. You thought I didn't have control now. Once I eat a slice of pepper the chemical reaction inside me burns me up much more so, that the spell she used against me to freeze me melted away. Lucky for the HCt they had the fire dampening spells."

Skylei laughs as the pixie recounts the tale of peppers and Snow Queen’s. It’s rather a funny image after all, though it makes her laugh. “Bring your peppers. Just in case.” Whilst she wears a smile, the scholar’s voice betrays that she is serious about this request. Who knows what kind of dangers they might run into down in Sage after all. That said, Skylei should be getting back to her jobs and her duties; namely, attempting to note down the decisions made by the council; a boring, thankless job, but somebody had to do it. “I should be going, Irthos.” Before she does, she details instructions for the half-elf and pix to meet and travel to Sage together. That done, she would wave a hand, pull on her toasty warm boots and head back out into the unforgiving cold of Frostmaw.

Irthos quickly gives Skylei a quick hug as best as he can, "Be safe in your travels."