[IMG]https://picload.org/image/ddggriwa/nimbus.png[/IMG]
[h3]Zerul City, I’onriyi’s estate[/h3]
So, Nimbus figured as she listened to I’onriyi’s explanation of his scepter – “united winds”, apparently, though the archangel had no idea why he spoke the name in the arcane language – his outrage had been about Male’dai treating enchanting as a pass-time. There was perhaps some merit to taking offense from that, considering how important the discipline was to him, but surely he could not expect everyone who dappled in a field of knowledge to hold it in as high regard as he did. There were mages who barely even cared to study magic, painters who could go months without putting brush to canvas, hobbyist archers who only picked up a bow when they felt like it. This did not mean that magic, painting or archery were not things that required time and effort to build proficiency in, but merely that not everyone partook in them for the sake of achieving mastery. To say that something was universally incapable of being a pass-time, no matter how difficult or time-consuming doing anything worthwhile would be through it, could never be true.
Perhaps their perspectives differed as well? It was undeniably a possibility that I’onriyi – a penin – would disapprove more of pursuits that served little purpose outside passing time enjoyably than they did. His kind did have a finite lifespan, after all, whereas deigan were known to never age... not to mention that Nimbus was even a true immortal, incapable of dying permanently and literally with all of eternity before her. It would be logical for him to simply place greater value in time than them, even if penin did live for centuries.
“I’m not sure if I’d be capable of enchanting in the first place,” Nimbus pointed out when their host suggested that they could make something before setting out on whatever journey he had in mind. “From what I can tell from Male’dai’s knowledge it is a discipline that builds on manipulation of matter through magic, and I am unsure whether immortal energy is suitable for it and if it is, whether Male’dai’s skills would even apply to how it behaves. In Heaven all I had to do was call the fabric of reality and it would shape itself to my will... I have never created anything in Reniam.”
She shrugged. “But I suppose I could assist nevertheless, if you wish. I imagine that my divine hand could be helpful, at least.” She would also like a proper weapon so that she was not reduced to defending herself with a dagger when danger arose, but she dared not ask any more of this man. She would make do with the dagger if the situation demanded it.

And then she was back in the kitchen, seating herself back and the table, sipping her tea and idly stuffing little torn-up pieces of bread in her mouth as she stared off into space, frowning to herself. Meeting I’onriyi had gone well... in fact it had gone much better than either of them had expected it to. Or more smoothly, at least, which was what concerned Nimbus now that the tension of trying to make a positive impression on her chosen companion had lifted. Being accepted by the penin had been much too easy.
They had expected him to be much more cautious and curious about them, particularly about their pasts and motivations, but apparently the little man had been satisfied with nothing more than a superficial summary of Male’dai’s background and current state. Specifically, Nimbus was surprised and worried that I’onriyi had showed practically no interest in [I]her[/I] beside the fact that she was an archangel and which abilities she could contribute. He had not at all looked into her motivations, her past, her situation... the majority of his interest had been in Male’dai. How could he not question why she was willing to spend her time and effort keeping Male’dai alive in the first place? Why they were trying so hard to do good? Or why an archangel, of all things, would even be [I]allowed[/I] to abandon her duties to pursue a fanciful adventure such as this?
Did he imagine that she was trustworthy and harmless just because she was an angel? The very thought seemed obscene to her, but they were the “good immortals”, after all, so perhaps some mortals did expect them all to be perfectly benevolent, though such expectations would imply that he had no knowledge of angels or fear or penance, to be sure... or even archangels of Rilon, Frenis or Deliph, for that matter. Since her ascension – her earliest memory – she had learned that angels were not all the same, and some were indeed as terrifying and dangerous as any demon. Even benevolent angels were ultimately soldiers, created specifically to fight in the eternal war that was bound to resume sooner or later. War was the very purpose of their existence, including hers.
If he accepted her so easily, what manner of secrets could these other companions be hiding? If she, whom he knew next to nothing of, was indeed so preferable to their company... just how bad [I]were[/I] they?

I’onriyi was not gone for long, as it turned out, but seemed revitalized when she rejoined her, now clad in more modest and socially acceptable attire. He also seemed eager to leave and find the companions he had spoken of earlier, to “see what sort of explanation these men could possibly have for the situation he found them in just yesterday,” which made Nimbus curious and concerned as to just what kind of situation that had been. When they had met it had been a situation much like that of a beggar approaching a merchant for scraps – at least the initial impression could easily have been as such – and she struggled to imagine what situation could be more unflattering than that.
[I]He probably found them doing something illegal,[/I] Male’dai suggested, sounding somewhat concerned herself. [I]Or something violent, but which for some reason didn’t warrant stopping them... or bar them from being potential allies. There must have been extenuating circumstances of some kind.[/I]
She quickly threw the last crumbs from her plate in her mouth and followed up with a mouthful of tea – which was still too hot for her to comfortably drain the remainder of the cup – before she stood once more, brushing her dress nervously with her hands. She nodded solemnly and followed.

Soon after they arrived at an establishment going by the name “the Drunken Dove” – a name that was quite perplexing to angel and deigan alike – which looked to be quite empty for the time being and look like a battlefield on the inside. Something had clearly happened here, and Nimbus had a grim suspicion that she could guess at least part of it. The inn only [I]looked[/I] empty, after all; they could hear faint, agitated voices from somewhere else in the building, sufficiently muffled to be unintelligible, though at least one of them did sound recognizably feminine. Nimbus also immediately registered a demonic taint lingering in the air that made her feathers bristle.
“Demonspawn,” she warned I’onriyi as she glared past what appeared to be a magically erected stone pillar in the far side of the room, behind which a hallway lead to the rest of the building. Her hand was on her dagger instantly. A thought suddenly occurred to her. “I hope those are not the companions you spoke of?”