RP:We're All Mad Here
Part of the Appeasing Aramoth Arc
Part of the Chasing Lightning Arc
Gemstone Room
Hidden amidst the myriad bookcases of the library is a nondescript door, plainly unassuming and yet somehow intriguing to any happening across it while on the search for books. The room beyond it is not a store cupboard, no - rather, the door opens inwards to reveal an utterly enchanting space designed to appear like a cavern wrought expertly in translucent ice. Upon closer inspection, however, the angled walls of a vitrified bluish hue are actually discovered to be crafted entirely of topaz, sapphire and fluorite, glinting and reflecting a golden glow from above. This deceptive room is decidedly warmer than the rest of the mansion due to its main light source; a clean-cut and particularly rare firestone set in the centre of the domed ceiling provides both a dim light and a certain comfortable heat. Smooth tiles of various materials, namely precious gems, obsidian and marble, create a patchwork of colours and idle patterns on the floor. There's an alcove cut into the east wall that hosts a darkened space in which resides a cosy bed, while opposite that niche is an arched door of fluorite-glass leading out onto a snowy plain, though the chilly view is usually concealed behind a curtain. Dotted about the room are large, plush pillows and cushions and a couch half-drowned in books and furred throws - most of the books, it seems, contain subjects pertaining to the earth and terramancy, or are simply fairytales. A set of shelves in the northern wall, near the bed, is full to bursting with other large tomes and various shiny items of interest. The only remaining wall seems to have been transformed into a makeshift kitchen close to the door, complete with storage and a worktop of granite, and a small wood-burning stove. All in all, it's quite a lovely, welcoming room.
Kirien is never one not to try despite his lack of knowing. His experience with arcane sigils and circles is sparse at best, his only interaction with one being the design his sister once drew in the frost and filled with their magic, to give life to an otherwise inanimate behemoth crafted by his own hand. It is truly an uncharted area for the man, who rarely strays beyond his own specialisations; the spells written in the books dotting his bed full of uncertainties and complicated workings for the terramancer. Still, it seems Kirien has recently become oddly fixated upon this particular branch of magery, if the walls of his bedroom are anything to go by. A thousand etchings shimmer in the dim glow produced by the firestone in the ceiling - mage's marks, runes that pattern Kirien's bedroom in artful waves of dead scrawls that might have been a thousand wards against various things, were they active. But none of them are anything more than graffiti, as he lacks the knowledge or perhaps the training to breathe life into any of them...save the mage circle on the floor. Its smooth curves shimmer with the remnants of a golden torrent, terramantic magic a mossy, earthy tang in the air, thick like the depths of an ancient forest. The circle is empty, however, and Kirien is squatting bemusedly before it with a hand laid over its southernmost point. Here he investigates his work and waits for Satoshi, having sent some of the house's servants to fetch her.
Satoshi finds herself warily led along by an over-eager pair of pandettes--wary, because she hasn't seen them this excited since leading a polar bear into her parlor--around and through the many cases and furniture pieces that make up the library, until at last they leave her before the door to Kirien's room. The kit's expression on uncertainly doesn't lessen, but in fact worsens at this revelation. After all, Kirien's is the only room in the house, aside from the servant quarters, that possesses a source of fire. "Oh hellfire..." With uncertain fingers, Satoshi pushes open the door and, as she's expected, stops dead in her tracks. It isn't an inferno that has locked the foxkin in place, however, instead she finds herself stilled by the sight of walls covered in sigils, runes, and other symbology, all gathered like a papery flock around its golden leader in the center. Spying belatedly Kirien crouched beside the circle, Satoshi straightens before clearing her throat quietly, in an attempt to not startle him out of whatever he's doing.
Kirien is secretly amazed the circle has not blown up on him yet. The books are full of warnings after all, though he does not pay much mind to those. Perhaps he seeks what he's done -right- in order to stave off this unpleasant malfunction, instead of trying to work out what he might have gotten -wrong-. "Hm, feels incomplete," he murmurs to himself, so focused on the carvings and the book at his side that he takes no notice of Satoshi's entrance until she makes an attempt to catch his attentions. Blinking, Kirien twists his head to peer over his shoulder at his sibling, looking so surprised it's almost as if he forgot he asked the pandettes to summon her in the first place. "..Ah!" he exclaims, straightening suddenly as a broad smile of recognition brightens his features and pushes back the shadows in his eye. "You're here." After stating the obvious, the empath hops over the southwestern quadrant of the circle so as to fling one of the doors wide, allowing a breath of Frostmaw's cool summer air to breeze into the room and dip the temperature slightly. He turns back to Satoshi, bright-eyed and expectant.
Satoshi returns the statement, "I'm here~." Despite the letter she received, she's not quite sure -what- she's here for, however. Kirien didn't exactly elaborate, the note instead consisting of various hints about things he wanted to talk about. "That bit of spell with the fluorite worked, by the way." There was that too, of course. Satoshi had spent a fair few moments watching her image dance about, as pleased as only a vain creature can be. She's even kept the letter tucked in her coat so that she might sneak a peek at it now and again. Vanity, thy name is Satoshi. But, as vain as the kit is, she's also terribly curious, which leads to her gesturing widely at the papers everywhere while looking pointedly at Kirien. "Interesting new decor, Bright Eyes. What're you experimenting on, then~?" Satoshi is all too familiar with the what a mage at work looks like, as she's covered a city's worth of walls in her continuous studies too.
Kirien is as fond of remaining infuriatingly vague as Satoshi is fond of admiring her own appearance, which the genasi's letter really only solidified further for them both. Somehow, his smile widens even more in delight when she informs him his little spell worked. He answers with a knowing nod and a faintly sly glint to his eye, "I take it tu liked it enough to keep it around?" Moving back across the room to his sofa, which has been shoved against the wall near the bed to make room for his scrawlings, he quickly gathers up the books there and balances them in a precarious pile on one cushion, opening up the other two for himself and Satoshi, which he gestures to absently before his gaze flicks back to the arranged sigils carved into his bedroom floor. "Golemry, Chickadee," says Kirien while scrunching his nose a bit, "though I haven't gotten it to do much yet. I'll experiment some more later, maybe with some gemstones, j'suppose. Anyway." Hands flutter in a dismissive motion and he shifts to sit side-on, one elbow leaning against the back of the sofa, that arm serving to prop his head up as he regards his sibling intently. "I wanted to pepper you with questions, which es why you're here. I hope. Where to start?"
Satoshi accepts the offered couch cushion, after she's paced a full circuit around the arcane circle to inspect the collection of runes, curves, channels, and patterns. Golemry. Now that's a fun aspect of runeology, although Satoshi prefers minor wards and the like, especially diversion wards. Settling herself into the seat, the magus answers Kirien's first question by patting her hand against her chest, where the crinkle of paper can be heard beneath the layer of fur coat, and then simply responds with, "Start with this knight business, eh~? Then your sudden interest in golemry."
Kirien's circle is a perfectly smooth series of channels and curves, each pattern running into the next, as detailed and complex as a spider's web; its craftsmanship the envy of many a mageling, perhaps, as every line is set out and carved perfectly. It's been divided into four quadrants, sectioned by solid central lines drawn to mimic the cross created by the cardinal points of a compass, with an angular marking scrawled in the very centre. An external band of sigils surrounds the entire design, but the four sections within are strangely void of any markings. After squinting at the array once more, Kirien looks back to Satoshi, smiles a touch, and subconsciously touches his fingers to his own chest, too - then he remembers his coat is lying on his bed, the letters in its breast pocket, and snorts. "Ah, well, she wants to swear herself to moi, apparently. I told her I'm only pseudo-royalty, though, et I refused her. Said I'd speak to you about it." Oddly enough, it seems he's trying to be clear about something and vague at the same time, the hand resting on his knee drumming fingers nervously. "So ah, I wanted to see about something like...that. Officially? Hm.."
Satoshi's eyes are on the detailed circle even if her ears are all for Kirien and his words. The drumming fingers catch her attention after a moment, to draw her eyes away and toward the terramancer, where eyebrows a lifted in silent question at his uncharacteristic nervousness. Or maybe she's just spending too much time around Ezekiel and becoming painfully attuned to tiny, nearly invisible gestures of anxiety. She makes a mental note to murder whoever is spreading rumors about the kit eating off faces of those that come to talk to her. The thought draws a smile upon her features, in time to almost be a reaction to Kirien's remark. "Officially? As in, an actual title of office and such?" She looks thoughtful as she leans back against the couch. Still, she's present enough to add as an afterthought, "As a note, it's useful to accept offers of sworn protection from others. We've a nasty penchant for getting ourselves into trouble. It never hurts to have a buffer between you and death, y'know?" Cruel and possibly heartless, but it's a valid means of survival. Satoshi is a firm believer that if someone is freely willing to die for her, she's not going to stop them.
Kirien, not normally one to display signs of anxiety or even to experience such a feeling often, is hesitant simply because he feels he may appear arrogant. He has no desire to go demanding crowns or titles from Satoshi, and most assuredly does not wish to seem such either. However, he manages another smile at the affirmation, nodding once. "Oui. Something like that?" If it's not a trouble, that is. Kirien keeps that part to himself, but those words likely follow silently in his gaze; and even though Satoshi is no empath, it's visible enough she should be able to pick up on it all the same. "She said, 'I am sworn to serve a Crown, but I've found none worthy or those who would have need of me.' In that sense...I didn't feel worthy enough to accept the offer, right there and then. Which es why I said I'd speak to you." A soft frown comes as he thinks of Hilde becoming his 'buffer' against death, but he says nothing of that - truly, in an exceedingly roundabout manner, he's of a similar sort of mind to Satoshi.
Her grin only widens, taking on a vulpine nature as Satoshi plucks absently at a wrinkle in the cushion beside her crossed legs. "I was actually intending announcing something of the sort soon. Likely at the celebration of the academy's opening. After all, most seem familiar enough with the Coterie and where we stand in Frostmaw and Vailkrin, backing such things with the appropriate titles only makes matters simpler, and helps remedy any issues with those ignorant to how we presently operate." Plus, Satoshi just plain loves titles. Now that she's in a position to dole them out, it's twice as fun. "If you like, you can tell this knight on the sly that you'll be in official standing within the city soon, we simply are waiting for the right time to make it public knowledge~."
It is honestly very difficult to contain his delight and excitement at this news and Kirien ends up with a rather foolish grin plastered across his face, in the familiar manner that Satoshi will know means her brother is incredibly pleased yet trying to hide it. As usual, he fails abysmally - for one so perceptive of other's emotions, he's terrible when it comes to concealing his own. Mostly. "That sounds perfect, then! And ah, how is the academy coming along, in fact? Tu know I would help out with construction if there's anything you want doing. I'll let her know, for sure." Smiling brightly, elated, his prior tension seems almost laughable now and Kirien shakes his head with a chuckle.
She can't help matching Kirien's smile with her own, infectious as his delight is. "We'll have to find the proper wording for such titles, of course, but we've time aplenty. As for the academy, it's coming along nicely. Not much longer now, I think, and of course we could use all the help we can get, as there's a great deal of stonework and gems going into its creation." Hint hint, Terramancers. "Although, the thing I find myself in the most need of is ghroundium of the unaltered sort. Not for the school, but a different project. That damned Gikal insists it has to be straight from the earth, probably wants it still muddy, eccentric smith that his is." Insert further grumbling here.
"I'm completely uneducated when it comes to titles, oui...we'll have to find something suitable." The genasi stretches, relaxing against the sofa, though his excitement once again spikes at mention of stonework needing done, and gems, and most importantly...ghroundium. To Kirien, the substance is akin to a particularly large sweet a young child has set his sights on - he is very much a kid in a candy store when it comes to rock and metal. "Gamorg's ghroundium mine es the only place I know where that can be found...et I heard it suffered a collapse." This also translates to 'a meeting with Dami'. "Not that that's much of a problem for moi. I could fetch some."
"It's the one ingredient I've yet to find anyone willing to retrieve, honestly. The mine having collapsed is one obstacle, the rumors that the air below ground turns folks into bloodthirsty killers es... well, another very valid one. Unfortunately, not even offers of gold seem to awaken the sense of adventure in most lately." Satoshi heaves a peevish sigh, although the unhappy demeanor is ruined when she reaches up to tug lightly on one of Kirien's ears. "If you'd be willing, I'd be eternally grateful. I might even make you a prince to show my thanks~." Is this bribery? Probably. "But tell me about your knight, hm? And this golemry business~."
Kirien pulls a face as an amusing thought surfaces. "Could prod Kuzial down there et you'd hardly notice a difference." Apparently the joke backfires on him before he's even finished it, however, for a frankly crestfallen look shadows the empath's expression a moment before he laughs - this time he does not sound quite as happy, a deep tint of a desperate longing edging his tones. "So they say, at least." Of course, he knows there is far more to the drow than the psychotic urge to destroy that he displays so brazenly to the world, but Kirien quickly shakes his head, now toying with his broken amulet. Unconscious movements turn and twist its gold chain, the shards of shattered bloodstone catching the light filtering from above. "That being said, I'm sort of one myself." He blinks when she tugs at one of his ears as if trying to pull him out of the depression he sank into, and Kirien repeats, "A prince?" His eye narrows a touch in consideration. Smells like bribery, indeed, but he's not declining the offer, and actually grins. "I could go with prince. Has a ring to it, non? Prince Kirien. Aha! Et my knight, she...is interesting. Poor thing came across me when I was tossing myself into the sky, though, so she probably thinks I'm half-mad." Maybe he is.
"You're not half mad, Bright Eye." Satoshi's face is blank and somber as she stares at Kirien before she continues, "You're completely mad. As are the rest of your family." A flash of fangs follows in a grin, the kit striving for light-hearted and casual remarks in an attempt to keep her sibling from falling into that dark depression of his, a place he goes to that she can't quite reach to pull him back out of, that abyss of smothering emotion she herself descends into from time to time. And so, it's with another tug of his ear that Satoshi asks in amused tones, "And why, pray tell, were you throwing yourself in the sky?"
Kirien cannot help mimicking that grin, smiling broad enough to make clear his vampiric heritage while a subtle gratitude flares in his chest and warmth floods his gaze, overtaking the faint surprise that had been evident on his features for just a second. He shifts over a bit so as to nudge himself against Satoshi and his arm, which had been resting on the back of the sofa still, winds its way around her shoulders instead for a hug - after he's delivered his own tweak to her nearest ear. "That we are. I've a feeling I'll frighten her witless a lot, what with my tendency to jump off cliffs et make...odd friends. And ah...I was trying teach myself to see off the ground. It didn't really work-- I'm not sure I'll ever see up there." The genasi's nose scrunches and he flicks his most recently abused ear. "As for the other topic, et the golemry, it's not particularly sudden - really, I've been interested in it ever since we made Edgar."
"Your swornshield should always be at their wit's end~," Satoshi pipes in before falling silent to listen to the rest of the terramancer's words. Without thought, she nestles closer when he shifts, as always taking a certain degree of comfort from the shared presence. Arranged as she is, Satoshi finds herself on eye level with the bloodstone pendant, and terribly tempted to give its broken surface a gentle poke, although she resists purely to avoid reminding Kirien of it right now. Instead, she forces herself to focus on the conversation at hand. "Have you had any success yet? It's... not a particularly easy art, although it's terribly fun once you've got the hang of it. And useful. So very useful. Is this what you wanted to talk about concerning the guild? Perhaps locating a book or two to help further with studying it?"
"I thought you'd say that," murmurs Kirien with a soft smile that he buries in Satoshi's hair, along with an affectionate kiss. That, too, loses itself within wintry locks, but he hopes it reached her all the same. The gold jewellery the broken bloodstone is set within survived whatever trauma shattered the jewel, still possessing its etchings of House Stavret's insignia, and the gem itself whispers faintly the House's patron. It is one of many threads; one Kirien treasures so much that he refuses to remove it, despite it being broken. "Concerning the guild...well, yes and no. I've wanted to try my hand at creating my own golem, really, though until now I've never attempted anything - but I've found it keeps me sufficiently occupied during the night." Further weight is lent to that hint that he might not be sleeping by the darker patches under the genasi's eyes. "More than that, I wanted to ask you about joining the guild, et such."
Privately wonders if the terramancer might be able to mend the gem if he bent his mind to the task, or if maybe, just maybe in a corner of his mind, he likes this broken reminder of the elusive drow. She won't ask, though, for while she's curious by nature, Satoshi has developed a knack for not prying into the business of family. People lie when they don't want to share, and she'll not tempt family into giving her falsehoods. They'll speak when they wish it, Satoshi's found. Especially Kirien, the master of half-veiled information that's kept dancing at the edges of your grasp should you attempt to try to catch it. Like a bird, in fact, a lark darting away when given chase and settling upon fingers if they're left in invitation. These thoughts flutter away as quickly as any small bird at Kirien's remark, however, causing the kit to straighten up and blink, startled from musings. "Join? Ah, I don't see why not. The Eldermage himself instructed you for a time, no? Do you plan to ask him to resume that? I've never seen him call up a golem, although I don't doubt he's more than capable of it. He could teach you a fair deal about this branch, I'm sure." Hellfire, Satoshi might be a cryomancer, but even she's very familiar with runeology, and if she didn't specialize in Ice, this would be her signature trait. The thousands of possibilities one can weave with words drawn upon paper, air, or stone, their arrangement producing new results when shifted, or if charged with different types of mana, it calls to her. For Satoshi, it's like composing a concert, finding just the right order of symbols to create a symphony to her exact specifications--but unlike an orchestra, runes have a nasty tendency to backfire violently if arranged incorrectly.
Kirien's voice is a ghost-whisper when it next comes, like one divulging secrets in the dead of night, or from the very depths of the heart. "It broke to save my life. I'll fix it when we next see each other, after I've made sure he's not broken, too." It seemed he caught an inkling of what she might have been mulling over in that long quiet, or perhaps he's just as perceptive as ever - in either case, he took her thoughtfulness over the matter as an invitation of a kind to give her an honest answer, even if it's a vague one; a half-trilled song from the lark that alighted from a friendly hand to dart away across the sky again. There is much to be wary of when discussing such complexities and Kirien has learned that flighty is best attitude to adopt, for the world will not always understand so easily what he sees in the drow, nor what is shared between them. Satoshi, he feels, is the sort who deserves to know and he trusts to hope that she'll understand, being a kindred spirit and all. Solace is taken from her presence close by and Kirien hunkers down some, until he's effectively snuggling his sister, brushy tail swishing. "He did, for a little. I wasn't going to ask him though, non." He slides her a sidelong look, the corner of his mouth twitching. "It was you, really, that I wanted to ask." It felt fitting. She's always been here; a compatriot and companion, a partner in crime, a kindred spirit; friend, sister, lesson-learner; everything through it all. Who better, then, to become a teacher? "Official-like, that is. You've taught me a lot already."
Satoshi accepts the quiet reply as the brushing of feathers that it is and carries on with the more solid aspect of the conversation. "Me~? Well, I -do- have an apprentice currently, but... I don't see why I couldn't manage the both of you. You're well beyond the basics yourself, so your lessons wouldn't clash with his own, and perhaps, perhaps the two of you might be able to blend some of your abilities and learnings, even. He's a flectomancer, y'see, so he knows metals. Not quite in the same way -you- do, naturally, although you might be able to teach one another traits of it you didn't know before. You're grounded, he could use that. Badly. I swear he's bound to kill over from a heart attack if I so much as sneeze near him, the silly Rabbit. So yes, yes I think I could manage both yourself and Ezekiel as apprentices. Talk to the Eldermage first, however. He might deem your abilities beyond needing the rank of an apprentice, and enter you into the guild as one of the individual ranks. I can still help you, but you won't have to rely on me, y'know?"
Vulpine ears perk in interest as he reclines against the couch, reaching out with his free hand to quickly steady a pile of books threatening to collapse over at his other side. Intently he listens and learns, that newborn smile given cause to grow swiftly. "A flectomancer? Tinker-mages...it would be interesting, oui, to meet him." A laugh then emerges at the imagery of his sister acquiring herself a frightened rabbit for an apprentice, a flectomancer rabbit at that, and once again Kirien brightens visibly at the prospect of it all. "Ezekiel," he repeats in a soft voice, almost bemusedly, tasting the name and finding it eerily familiar, though he can't quite recall -why-. Perhaps he heard it mentioned in the streets. Shrugging this niggling question off, he nods once more. "I'll try and get in touch with him, then. See what he says et such."
"Do let me know, then? The Guild's all about ranks, so we might as well see if he thinks you're suited to joining in a raised rank or not, like I did." She'd preen, if she wasn't so comfortably settled against Kirien. He'll likely notice the pleased tempo her swaying tails adopt at the words, at least. "And if you see Ezekiel and it looks like he hasn't slept in a month, feel free to knock him out, eh? I've told him already that sleep is vital to a mage's ability to functioning." Kirien is given a pointed glance here. "That avoiding sleep will result in his mana burning out, and eventually snuffing -him- out. What with magic essentially being connected to our lifeforce and all. It's why lesser mages have died attempting spells too large for them~."
Vanity is a good look on you," muses Kirien idly. "Odd, considering I'm not fond of it, but you make it seem rather endearing. And of course I'll let tu know. We'll see if I can follow your footsteps, or if I have to start from the bottom of the stairs." Grinning, he flicks at the nearest wiggling tail, any but the black, and remarks, "I'll hit him over the head with a hammer, see if he knows metal like -that-." Whatever laugh might have followed is smothered as Satoshi leads them toward more sombre territory, and Kirien's ears pin back in a clear display of discontent. All of a sudden he looks a bit uncomfortable with the topic. "What if...you just -can't- sleep, even when you do close your eyes? I've...had trouble sleeping, lately. Ever since-- ah..." He trails off and makes a vague motion with a hand, searching for words.
Satoshi's tail, of its own accord, twitches away from the flick even as the silken furs part to reveal a tiny, vulpine head poking out, beady black eyes regarding the terramancer. With serpentine celerity, Asorial rears up and snaps swiftly at Kirien's fingers before coiling back in on itself to rest in a lazy pile upon the tail, the tip of its own tail lashing back and forth in a violently playful manner. The magus glances once at the pipefox that's invited itself into physical existence before replying to her sibling, pretending Asorial isn't present, "As I told him, if sleep eludes, find other means of rest. Meditate, for one. Relaxing in the hot springs, for another. Sitting idle near your element is also valid, considering you're attuned to earth the same way I am to ice. And don't -push- yourself. If you aren't able to sleep and refresh your energies, don't draw on them as strongly as you would. I... can probably teach you a few methods to stretch out what reserves you have, but that's for another time, when you're able to access sleep more readily. It's not for using when you're already evading rest."
Kirien blinks, startled, lips parting in a silent 'oh' just before he's bitten. It's a little more difficult for him to ignore Asorial now it's drawn blood - peeved, he sucks at the tip of his finger but does not reprimand the wrathful little vixen, though it's not as if he doesn't want to. His gaze remains fixated on the manifestation, however, even as his attentions are wholly Satoshi's. "It doesn't elude. I can fall asleep just fine, but there's no rest to be found in that state. Your options are good suggestions, though, so I'll try those instead." His eye flicks up to catch her own and Kirien offers a reassuring smile and a nudge. "I won't push myself beyond what limits I know I have."
A hand is offered for Asorial to slither itselfs around before Satoshi rises to her feet, her other hand put to use in giving Kirien's ear another affectionate tug. "Good. Remember your limits, and they won't be your undoing, like so many other mages. Is that everything you wanted to talk about?" Although she looks reluctant to leave, the kit does still have duties to attend to and promises to keep no matter how comfortable it is to waste the day away in Kirien's company.
Perpetual chill peels away and a sense of warmth begins to return to Kirien's body when Satoshi rises, but it is not the true warmth he feels comforted by. It's the kiss of fire, of summer, not the presence of family or those kept close to heart. He brushes the thought off, straightening some himself. "Should be all, yes. Thank you." For many things, as usual. After stretching, his expression one of consideration, Kirien too stands and hops over the arcane circle's northeast portion to reach his bed, where his coat lies - he pulls it on, fingers working buttons closed. "I think I'm going to try this medidation thing. I remembered the perfect place to do so." And he smiles, and the bloodstone glints scarlet as it catches the light.
Satoshi throws Kirien a salute in response, heading out of the room afterwards. He's got meditation to try out, and she's got work to complete. Busy foxes are busy.
Glistening Azure Fluorite Bridge
Svilfon is sitting cross-legged on the bridge, seemingly entirely at ease. His eyes are shut and he is motionless; for this was the gift of vampirism the wizard most enjoys. His mind has no distractions; no parts need to keep his heart beating, to keep air filling his lungs. Instead all of his mind can be honed into a single point; a single focus. It was how he has been relaxing of sorts - letting his mind work while his body rests. And there he remains, apparently closed off to the outside world; though with Svilfon, it is always hard to tell how perceptive he truly is to what is going on around him.
Satoshi, coming from the manor and a discussion with Kirien, steps onto the bridge with her usual impossibly light footfall sounding as no more than the faint brush of ice against stone, easily lost beneath the lapping of the lake's waves at the shore. When the meditating wizard is spotted, Satoshi comes to a halt and her ears perk forward in interested reaction. It'd seem most of the Coterie is near home today. Black coils flex about the kit's left arm as Asorial shifts itself to also peer at Svilfon, its tiny, onyx-black eyes glinting with its natural malice--it hasn't forgotten the bite it'd been given trying to feed on the darkness within the man once. Asorial's jaws part to utter a low, raspy hiss, breaking the silence and drawing Satoshi out of her staring as she turns a glower on the pipefox. "Oh, shut it, you little fiend." The creature's response is a similar sibilant sound directed at the magus before it slithers into hiding within Satoshi's hood. Satoshi, whether Svilfon has heard the exchange or not, rolls her eyes and shrugs her shoulders in something of an exasperated apology.
Svilfon was working on the answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, The Universe, and Everything. He was very close; he'd gotten up to number 39, before his thoughts are distracted by the malice coming from Asorial. It causes an unconscious spasm of pain to come from the scar on his stomach, where once the potent weapon tasted his flesh. Pale eyes open slowly, in time to see Satoshi telling off the weapon, its hissing response and Satie's languid unspoken apology. "I see it remembers me as fondly as I remember it." A gap toothed grin is sent across to the snow queen, before Svil pulls himself to his feet with a grunt and stretches out his back. With a sigh of satisfaction, he tips his hat to the snow queen and offers an altogether more nervous smile. "You've not come to scold me, have you?"
Satoshi had, in fact, momentarily forgotten that Svilfon not too long ago nearly killed Kasyr, or himself. Potentially both, if those ominous letters were to be believed. Immediately eyes narrow and that same glint Asorial had consumes those amber flecks. Satoshi takes a step toward Svilfon, hand outstretched and claws half-flexed, poised to possibly claw his eyes out... although her only intention is to tug on the brim of his hat, a tad more roughly than usual so as to yank it down over his eyes, but not harmful by any means. "If you ever, -ever- pull a stunt like that again, I swear I'll rip my way into Hell to drag you -and- Kasyr's sorry hides back, so I can kill you both properly. And if I'm not satisfied, I'll do it a few more times." Clenching her teeth together in a seething expression, Satoshi exhales with a sharp huff before the harsh lines slowly recede from her face, leaving behind a slightly weary, unhappy look. When she speaks, the kit's voice is low with uncertainty and a glimmer of pain, "It's all well and good that we have a habit of nearly killing one another, but those letters..." She didn't know how to react to them, at all. Tell her husband, the one she's promised her heart and soul to at any cost, and betray another that she cherishes and trusts unerringly? Not tell her husband, and feel the traitor toward him while maintaining the trust of the wizard? And above all else, knowing whichever route she took, it'd still happen, and she'd be left waiting, wondering, worrying all the while. Satoshi hates waiting. Above all else when it's waiting to learn the fate of a loved one.
Svilfon doesn't move at all as Satoshi's claw-like grasp reaches out for him, only to stop and tug his hat down over his eyes. It remains there as she tells him off, before he lifts it up and watches her as she speaks again in more hushed tones. When she is done, the wizard nods his head slowly, "You know, lady icicle, I could do this without telling you at all. It would be less stressful. But what then if something went wrong? At least if I have apologized first you will perhaps not hate me so much if I died." He shrugs his shoulders a little, seeming entirely uneasy. "I dislike decieving any member of the Coterie, Satoshi queen. Even just a little. Yet, I will not lie to you. So it becomes either the truth or nothing." A small grin pulls on his lips, then. "And I said trust me! He was fine, I am sure you enjoyed looking after him and having him free from that damned city. It worked out well, lady icicle. For us all... even if I am sorry for the pain it caused you." His smile dies then, and he remains still while watching Satoshi carefully.
Satoshi's expressions quickly shifts into a peevish one in the face of Svilfon's logic. Damn him. He speaks the truth, however much she dislikes the taste of it. It doesn't quite stop her from muttering a petulant, "If you die for any reason, I'll thoroughly hate you." Because she'll be damned if she won't find a means of clawing a path into Hell to retrieve him back, as readily as she would for Kasyr or Kirien, and she'll be doubly damned if she won't hate every second in a land of fire and brimstone, searching for that missing soul. Her quintet of tails lash in reflection of her thoughts and mood, although the venomous heat she carried seconds before has long since died down into brooding embers. "You're right, of course, he -is- fine, for the most part, and it did get him out of Vailkrin and back home." Where she didn't let him out of her protective sight for a couple days. "But what about you? Are -you- all right after... whatever happened?" Kasyr hadn't recalled the specifics, writing off chunks of it as a bad dream, and Satoshi wasn't willing to press him for details after the state he'd arrived in.
Svilfon knows Satoshi well enough to read her flickering expressions well. Though, he is altogether wary enough not to let the small smile be given life on his face, he is brave enough to offer her a tip of his hat. "I've spited that bastard Death for a long time now, lady icicle, and by Sven's mighty balls I'll not let him take me out of this world just yet!" The grin can no longer be hidden and he flashes gaps and fangs at Satoshi in equal measure. "I am sure it will end well, lady queen." He tips his hat again, before thinking over her question. But instead of giving it a direct answer, he instead lifts his hand and points out towards the cave. "Shall we walk, lady icicle? I've been stuck inside too long." He takes a step forward, before lifting his hand and briefly grasping Satoshi's shoulder. When he speaks his voice is quiet, the words rushed. "They think they are tired, yet I keep it inside of me too. I have no time yet to rest, but soon enough I will..." He reaches into his robes, then, and pulls out a small piece of paper. He hands it to the queen and says, "I'll need to if I decide to send that out." That said, he stands still, waiting to see if she wishes to walk through Frostmaw proper.
Satoshi reads and rereads the paper, to make sure she's understood it correctly. Her only response, as she's handing it back to the wizard, is a soft, "Ambitious." Whether she agrees with it or not, isn't readily visible on her features, although the prospect is intriguing enough to send her tails into an entirely new dance of excitement, and even coax Asorial to poke its head out to hiss curiously. Without further words, Satoshi gestures toward the cave's exit in acceptance of Svilfon's invitation, and sets her pace to carry her along at his side, neither a step ahead of behind him, as is only proper for a pair of Magister Templi.
Faux Twilight Cavern
Svilfon wanders out of the cave beside Satoshi, before spending just a moment rubbing his eyes as the Frostmaw weather makes itself known. The always blowing wind is not so fierce today, and through the village often rests amongst the clouds, it is clear enough that the sun shines down upon Frostmaw proper. It is not very warm, mind you; it never is. But it is pleasant enough to earn a smile from the wizard. "It is not personal ambition which wrote that letter, Satoshi queen. Not entirely." He looks at her for a moment as they walk out into the day. "As you know my loyalties in this world are very clear. Yourself, The Coterie, our... your kingdom," He grins then at the unconscious slip, "and the Mage's Guild. I care very little for else in this world, lady icicle. I desire this for the Guild. I truly do... and what I seek from the Coterie has nothing to do with fueling it. I promise you, Satoshi." He flashes her another brief smile then, as they begin to make their way into the village.
Satoshi stands, whiles Svilfon pauses to rub his eyes and speak, and tips her face toward the sky, eyes closed as she allows the weak sunlight to fall upon her. The ghost of a smile creeps its way onto her features then, turning her whiskers up, the kit obviously taking pleasure in the simple presence Frostmaw has to offer, the songs its snows sing to her, the rumors its winds whisper in vulpine ears, the chaotic chorus of heartbeats big and small from those nearby. This is her kingdom, her home, and her heart, and through it, she understands Svilfon's words. No, it isn't personal ambition that drives him, in the same way it isn't personal ambition that makes her so steadfast a guardian to this land's existence. It's a desire to preserve what is and what should be, to keep strong what it is they both hold dear. And so she knows what the wizard means, her expression saying as much when Satoshi finally opens her eyes and looks toward him, no response required. Instead, she says, "I've been thinking, since the last time we spoke. Your book. You said you needed from me a means of sealing it, yes? Perhaps I have a way. ...I think." Just the slightest flicker of uncertainty is voiced. While Satoshi is confident she can charge into hell and back, face the Time Lord with ease, and many other dangerous tasks, the prospect of putting the Azure Flames to a delicate and deliberate use is something she still can't be certain about. They've a terrible habit of eluding her, when she attempts to bring them under her control.
Svilfon hears the words Satoshi doesn't speak more clearly than any she could have spoken. He knew she would. It is why he showed her first, rather than his usual means of do now, ask questions later. But like her, he doesn't speak his gratitude to her understanding. He knows she will hear them anyway; words are not often required between these two. When she asks her question, he nods his head, before taking a moment to bend down and pick up a clump of snow. Very carefully the wizard begins to mould it into what will later be called the personification of snow-ball perfection. His agile hands, a necessity of his wizardry, craft the spherical weapon until all of a sudden the vampire spins on his heel and hurls it through an open window. A sound which can only be described as an avalanche giggling, a curious noise that can only come from a single source, echoes from the room. Within moments a young frost giant charges out of the door to the house. Though he is far younger than Svilfon, he is already much larger and the wizard is wise to leap forward out of the way, for the child throws a veritable boulder of a snowball back in retaliation. The wizard flashes the giant a crooked grin and a tip of his hat, which is replied to with a bow to the two walking friends, before the wizard once again looks at Satoshi and says, "I fear I'll regret the day he doesn't miss." With a wink to Satoshi and a wave to the young giant, Svil speaks again. "What were you thinking of? I have been giving it much thought, but an answer eludes me. You and your magic are so tightly bound, it is beyond me to even begin to unravel its source."
Satoshi watches the snowy exchange with a half-amused look, most of her thoughts turned inward in an attempt to organize her words and meaning before she can hope to explain them to Svilfon. "You've seen the Flames I conjure, no?" As she speaks, Satoshi's hands gesture in the air, the vaguest wisps of fire dancing between her fingertips. The color is so pale a blue as to be almost translucent, only the shimmer caused by movement of Satoshi's fingers allowing them to be seen, but at least they're present as she attempts to call them up while conversing. "It is my magic made solid. It is a part of -me-. I think... that's what you're looking for, oui? I know I can create golems and creatures of ice that function when away from me... by all rights, I should be able to do the same with the Flames. To create something solid for sealing your book, that will continue to exist after I'm separated from it." Ears droop slightly as the fires flicker and die on her hands... or perhaps they flicker and die because of the kit's despondent expression, tied to her emotions as they are. "It's just a theory. I haven't actually attempted it. They... don't come easily, when I want them to." It's always been under dire moments of stress, or when the magus' mind is truly resonating with her magic, that the purified element has awoken to come to her aid.
Svilfon slowly lets the smile melt from his face as he begins to think over Satoshi's words carefully. He nodded along to them; he does indeed know of her azure flames. In the wizard's mind, he always thought they were a manifestation of the frost queen's soul. Though she is most asuredly frosty in nature, there is also within her a fire that burns much like Svil's does. Much like one burns within the Sublime Master and Archmage. That burning which fuels them to reach ever further; to summon and control their world with the magic they spend so long perfecting. It is that he is sure which forces them to deny death so often, and as such he is somewhat reluctant to agree. "What if it.. harms you, lady icicle?" The wizard's face frowns as contingencies flicker through his thoughts. "That is your magic unbound; freed. Tied to you much as you are tied to this place." Svilfon stops his walking just briefly, to gesture at Frostmaw Village and also to the surrounding mountains which challenge the sky with their frosted peaks. "What if in separating yourself from it, even if only to hold some of it for me, stops you using them again?" He is silent for a moment, but speaks before Satoshi could yet reply. "And I can induce moments of stress, lady queen. Though, whether I can survive it.. I don't know. You are indeed formidable."
Satoshi stares down at her hands while they walk, a slight frown creasing her brow from concentration. In response to her focus, once more the Flames spring back into life, this time is a sphere of fire, small but solid and bright, merrily dancing to its own breeze. This she shifts from hand to hand, the kit's reply to Svilfon coming without her looking up. "I only intend to give you a piece of it. A spark of myself, in much the way I bring my creatures to life. But unlike them, I intend to mold that spark to exactly what is needed, instead of opening the gate and allowing it to grow and build as it so chooses." For that is how she breathes life into her critters of snow, letting whim and chaos shape their bodies and their personalities without specifications. However, for Svilfon's project, Satoshi will need a great deal more finesse, her creation needs to be precise else she's no doubt it will fall apart the moment the tie is severed. Hell, she's half-convinced it will crumble anyway once she breaks the connection. "This is why I'm not sure how to proceed. It's not out of worry I'll lock myself from my magic. I -am- my magic, so long as I exist, I won't be without it. The question is, if the Flames rarely show up in full potency except when I am in great need... and I require flawless concentration to weave what is necessary, how do we manage both? There has to be a balance somewhere. A way to provide just enough stress to call on them, but not so much that I resort to letting my magic run on instinct and whim, foregoing order for results."
Svilfon once again carefully listens to Satoshi's words, and like before he nods along to them. "If only it were as simple as what's the worst that could happen, lady icicle." The briefest ghost of a smile flickers into life, before fading away again. "From the others I took what was needed, because it cannot be given. But if you feel this will work, I will trust in your judgement. I will admit, Satoshi queen, I understand far more about the others of the Coterie than I do of you." Though, he has spent far more time with Satoshi than any other member of the Coterie, and he knows her as she knows him; so very well. They were family after all. The wizard has never begun to solve the riddle of what exactly Satoshi is, beyond his understanding that she is entirely good at what she does. "I am not sure how to make such a situation... beyond the two of us fighting something formidable enough that I can keep it at bay long enough for you to work your magic... Yet... if the situation grows beyond our control, the results could prove fatal for us both..." The wizard falls into silence, then. Letting his mind wash over the possibilities, both good and bad. "I do not like the idea, and fear were it you and I in battle with each other... without my entire concentration on the fight, I would not survive long." The wizard holds little illusions about the results of fighting Satoshi within her kingdom.
Satoshi gives Svilfon a look that plainly says, 'You say that like -I- understand what the hell I am. I don't. At all.' She never has, and doubts she ever will, truly understood what she is. Born of chaotic whims and susceptible to the influences of her environment, the kit has seen too many modes of existence, and only once been able to properly identify herself, in that short span of time after she'd been reborn, molded by the hands of her homeland's divinities. Even then, she hadn't turned out quite as they'd intended, for Asorial had intervened to add its own vulpine traits, thus producing the kit-vampire. And now? Well, now Satoshi has her doubts whether or not she's even a vampire anymore. She's certainly undead, albeit the trademark bloodlust has vanished since consuming Wetutherag's heart. Had that infernal meal permanently quelled the urge to feed? Or had to altered something in her core? Satoshi doesn't know. It makes Svilfon's problem that much trickier to manage on her end, definitely, but at his proposal of finding something dangerous for them both to face... an impish grin appears on the kit's face. "We produce the unthinkable, when we fight beside one another instead of against, wizard. Let's try it. After all..." Satoshi pauses, glancing sidelong at Svilfon as she holds up an index finger, the ball of Azure Flames hovering above it. "What's the worst that could happen then~?"
Svilfon remains quiet for a long time, before he stops walking and flashes Satoshi a crooked and altogether jovial smile. "Ah, lady icicle, you are right. What's the worst that could happen?!" He tips his hat to the queen. "When I am done with Kirien," He lifts his hand quickly, "I'll be gentle!", and with another grin he carries on, "I will come and we can put your theory to test. I'll try to be a touch more... careful... with your servants next time. I fear I excite them with my comings and goings." Svil shrugs, then. "But I do try not to upset them." With another nod he asks, "And I did forget to ask, how are you, lady queen? It's been quiet of late; I've not heard nor seen any of the leech or his pets. Is all well, then?"
Satoshi, were she not walking, would rock back on her heels in that casually thoughtful method she adopted from Kasyr. Instead, she turns her gaze toward the sky and hums a short tune to precede her answer. "I wouldn't say it has been quiet, so much as... mild. The Leech hasn't put so much as a fingernail in my territory. He seems to be keeping himself and his own in Gualon. The warlord Eboric has been keeping watch on that area, and seems determined to take them out himself before they can spread out again. In Frostmaw itself, the only trouble has been an increase in the devils in the ruins causing trouble. They seem... a little put out, by what I've done out there." Satoshi's steps falter slightly, as she remembers something more. "Also, Emiur is missing..."
Svilfon listened to Satoshi's words with general interest; he would stop in to see Eboric at some stage, and also was thinking about heading out to inspect the devils, before Satoshi's final words are heard. Immediately a thin tendril of smoke wraps around the wizard, but with a gesture he waves it away. He wasn't really sure how to teleport to a couatl, despite it being his instinctual response, and with visible effort he restrains himself. "When did he go missing? Is he in danger?" It is rather clear the wizard, despite being exhausted, is ready to go destroy anything that hurt his most magestic of friends. He is almost tempted to reach out and touch that feather on her hat, but he doesn't - instead he waits with ill disguised impatience.
Satoshi thinks over the questions carefully. She even consults the feather of Emiur she still wears, as if it might provide answers. But it lies dormant, as it has been since Emiur's disappearance. "I don't think he's hurt. Or in danger. He's alive, I can feel it through his feather, but he doesn't want me to know where he is or what he's doing. There's a... a barrier? He's sealed me from tracing him through it, at least. I've heard rumor there is a pair of couatl around Venturil's forest." Satoshi's expression sours suddenly, lips pursed in an annoyed set. If one didn't know better, you'd think she was jealous.
Svilfon remains quiet for a long time, before he begins to laugh, the sound rich with good humour. "No wonder he's gone missing! Good ol' Emiur." It is clear the wizard is most impressed, his earlier worry fading like morning mist. "His barrier is to stop you snooping in and giving him a complex with your jokes. He's far too friendly to be fighting another couatl, and I doubt two are flying around just to impress their lizard cousins down below." With a snicker the wizard carries on, heading slowly through the village, not really aimed at any location. "You stop your pouting! You've still got Trebel to look after you." Svilfon can't help but snicker again, then. He is only just restraining himself from asking whether or not Trebel had been overly protective, or whether he'd forgotten the wizard's last words.
Satoshi looks toward the heavens for saving. "I need a guardian from that angha-turned-guardian! You'd think I was made of glass, the way he's always ruffling himself up to get between me and someone else. He'd fight the wind itself, if it mussed my hair, I swear it." Admittedly, Satoshi has learned she can escape Trebel the Mother Hen by feeding him a large meal of fish so that he falls asleep soundly, still being young and prone to such bouts of unconsciousness for the sake of growth.
Svilfon smiles a bright grin filled with gaps and fangs. "Good! I'm glad he listened." The wizard nods once before tipping his hat. "It was good to see you again, lady icicle." The wizard moves the pair around the other side of the village as they walk, winding them back to the snow queen's home. "I am glad you didn't scold me too bad. I was a little worried." He looks at her for a moment, before carrying on. "And I will try not to break Kirien. Just if you have some spare time, think over what we spoke about today. I will do the same..." In truth, even after a short walk the wizard looks more tired than before; a drain that almost seems to dull his already pale eyes. "And we will meet again soon enough to discuss it... and also, if you like I can wander out to the ruins and see if I can offer any aid. I do not neglect my wizard-knight duties in light of my personal and guild related ones, lady queen." The wizard pauses to dip into a bow filled with flourish.
Satoshi matches the wizard's bow with her own, including a sweeping off of her hat to add to the dramatic flourish. When she straightens and returns her hat-twin to its proper place, the kit is all whisker-tipping grins, determined to put on a jovial front despite the gnawing worry she carries, produced by Svilfon's worn expression. Each of the Coterie seem to be harboring dark shadows, always manifesting as that same haunted, drawn look in their eyes. For herself, it's the life-long scars left by that nightmarish wraith. For her husband, a thousand and one black shards. For Kirien, whatever happened to him in Vailkrin. For the wizard... Sven only knows. Satoshi will just have to content herself with the promise that what doesn't kill them, only makes them stronger. "Whatever you choose to do, wizard, just be safe, eh? I'd rather not go to Hell unless necessary, tu sais?"
Svilfon grins at the snow queen, before offering her a final tip of his hat. "Rest assured that little of what I do is for personal gain, lady queen. Perhaps that is the closest to a promise I can make? But I will be careful. Or at least, careful enough. You would truly never forgive me if you singed one of those fine tails you wear so well in the ever-burning fires of Hell..." With that said the wizard walks forward with a smile and once again briefly squeezes the snow queen's shoulder. "You fare well, lady icicle. Do remember that I take my duties to your kingdom as seriously as I do any other. Do not be afraid to call upon me if you need it." That said, and a final grin and tipped hat later, Svil wanders back inside the snow queen's home; heading now to her library so he can sit down and enjoy a quiet moment reading before he begins to prepare in earnest for Kirien.