[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4615690]Nokeyeor 1[/url] - [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4665587]Nokeyeor 2[/url] - [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4685536]Nokeyor 3[/url] - [url=http://divinus-ii.wikia.com/wiki/Mesathalassa]Mesathalssa Divinus Wikia page[/url] 

[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4715470]Tsoti 1[/url] • [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4725086]Tsoti 2[/url]

[hider=Quick reminder of characters and places]
Dusklands - A land north of Mesathalassa, west of Pictaraika, where light from the sun is altered by Julkofyr's influence.
Oddlands (Pantalei)- Since Ilunabar replaced Julkofyr, the region has been slowly changing as her influence spreads in the form of Glamour. People cannot quite live normally near it, so an exodus has started.
Sunlands/The Coast/The South - Many words used the refer to Mesathalassa in general.

Dzanya - A vague local word used to refer to anything Duskland related. From its people, to its culture, to its fauna and flora.
Pura - Local word for 'Banner', though often used in a synonymous way to army/warband.

Mavadzugji -  A dedicated priest on a quest to guarantee the future of the dzanya lore. Has recently invented a writing code for the Dzanya language.
Tura Topami - A fellow priest and oldest friend of Mavadzugji. 
Tzevami - A priest who loves music and poetry. Has a history with secret societies.

Dzora - A tailor who is currently housing the priest, despite not being related to him. 
Batsami - One of Dzora's daughters. Dreams to become a traveling musician. Has been infatuated with Llapur Dyetzu, despite him being from one of the most prestigious duskland clans.
Mutaraka- A merchant who lives in the southern border, often helpful to any refugee trying to outright leave the dusklands towards the south.
Llapur Dyetzu - A warrior who once fought against unruly clans of the east dusklands but now focuses on protecting the west. The leader of the Tsahi Pura.
[/hider]

[hider=Summary / Might-Prestige Usage]
-After the creation of language, Mavadzugji's influence enters a paradoxical state of growth and waning. While more people hear him now, more people also influence him. The big issue is that he wants to jump into working on the local lore but the group keeps asking for translations. This leads to overworking.
-The group around the priest starts to be called Tsefo, a plant that used to be the staple food of the region on the old days. It also helps the Dzanya flower to grow.
-Suddenly the foreign who had met Mavadzughi in a party a while ago returns and invites him to see his super cool abbey full of tablets. The priest says no to him at first. It would mean losing even more influence on Tsefo.
-Batsami steps in, says she will from now act as the priest's helping hand as she has lost too much sleep over him to allow him to fail. Makes a simple plan for him to follow and he accepts, decides to go south with the foreigner.
-Along with the foreigner, Denolyo and his wife, Karcelli, the trio goes south, past the duskland-sunland border which is actually pretty dangerous. Some intrigues hard to explain in a summary happen.

Mavadzugji =========
4 initial prestige
+10 prestige gained
-2 for the translation of the works he had inherited

12 prestige remaining.
[/hider]

[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/qoyBvwB.png[/img][/center]

Tsoti 3 (63 PR)

Family houses in the duskland are typically doughnut-shaped, with all rooms being connected to a central atrium/courtyard. This shape provides security, ventilation and makes it easy to illuminate a whole home with a single light source. Though the homes are overall larger than the typical Galbarian family home, they also house more people and use fewer materials (in comparison to homes of similar proportion), provided the majority of the rooms are open, with no walls between them and the central atrium. It is usually advised to have at least one closed room, as they are better for storage and can be used in an emergency such as a storm, but richer families typically can afford more of them.

Dzora's house was two-thirds open, though recently, while the number of walled rooms continued the same, the number of rooms that had a vision of the atrium decreased. This was due to a series of blankets hanging from the roof support beams. The arrival of the priest Mavadzugji a good while ago had changed some of the habits of the house, especially noticed by the daughters of Dzora, though with time they had all adapted and got accustomed to the new arrival, all that changed recently, as the priest had been bringing a whole lot of other priests to the home and tensions were high.

Batsami, as the youngest, therefore the one who stayed at home the most, was by far the most vocal on her displeasure over the constant presence of strangers. Even Tzevami, her friend on the bard life, was not free from annoying her. It was just unfair, to her the whole point of having a home was to practice music without worrying about judgment and to relax on a hammock, dressed on just the most basic of clothes, gazing upon the central garden.

To her displeasure, Dzora was actually enjoying it. The matriarch loved guests, and to have the constant flow of guests in and out was like a blessing. She had even increased the house's spending on food, often serving guests with not only the best fishes from the lakes, rivers, and swamps but also frogs, prawns and some birds even, all of them not served on a raw grilled manner but often coated in honey, herbs or pepper and accompanied by mushrooms. There were also many after-lunch treats, from a variety of teas, following the three traditional Dzanya styles of tea but mostly focusing on the root-based earthly ones such as ginger tea, to confections made from the Tsefo seeds covered in honey.

It was awkward to have so many rags hanging around to give the home some privacy, but the issue to her was more on the poor quality of the fabrics instead of the whole situation.

The priest himself also was not too keen on having everyone in the home, but there was no other way around. No one else that cared about him had a semblance of wealth, not Tura, not Tzevami, nor any of the others the priests who became interested in his work, Tahtse, Gjenyo, Bohifir, Bedju, among others who showed up less regularly. It seemed very much Mavadzugji was far more popular with the younger and non-noble priests.

Of all of those, only Tura and Tzevami had fully learned how to write using the adapted script. While he had suggested The Madja, the flower, as the name of the script, the name that truly struck with everyone was simply Huto Pudji, whose meaning is something like "Word List". It was the first time ever Mavadzugji felt himself on the other end of the conflict between fancy and embellished against practical and proper, it was ironic this was also the first time the latter won without contest.

Another lost battle for the priest had been the division of tasks. To write down the lore of the dusklands was always his primary objective, yet, as he was the only one who knew southern languages, he was asked, if not tasked, to do the translations of a variety of Mesathalassan works first, then set down on writing the lore. It was obvious Mavadzugji was the central force of the circle of Tsefo, yet, with his social inability and Tura and Tzevami's uncanny ability to always sound reasonable, he was often finding himself with considerable less liberty than when he worked alone.

He could not complain, he was happy he now had some voice and a sense he was truly changing the direction society was taking, people now spoke of his circle of influence, nicknamed Tsefo which was a word as tricky as Dzanya, it could mean seed or origin but was also the name of the area near the fork of the great river that ran in the center of the dusklands where some said the first Dzanya civilizations emerged (the mythical status had only increased when the land was overtaken by the oddlands more than sixty years ago.), and as such, the name became associated with the common 'proper' Dzanya ways, mostly etiquette, and then slowly evolved into a concept unclear but well-regarded thanks to the overuse of it by the rich and noble.

The finishing stroke of the symbolism was the fact the very name was also linked with a plant also found in the central region of the Dusklands, it was in old times the staple food of the land, but now it had been overtaken by Cassava and Beans, which were far easier to produce and provided far more food. Tsefo remained being planted because its symbiotic relation with Dzanya Threads, Dzanya was an old word with a meaning close to 'starry twilight with a colorful horizon' and the threads when waved could reproduce such image, however, for such threads to be produced one needed to first plant Tsefo, let the plants go through its natural life only harvesting the edible seeds, then plant Dzanya Madja among the fallen stalks and leaves, once the flood season came and the waters of the sparkling central rivers flooded, the unique sort of lotus flower would bloom. A plantation-worth of those would, at the best of the years, only produce enough fibers for one to barely cover his palm with the fairest of textiles. Tsefo preluded Dzanya, and Mavadzugji hoped that was also the figurative case here.

It was Tzevami who came up with the naming convention, Mavadzugji discovered well after the bard-priest had whispered about the group to everyone under his influence, his knowledge of words and wording was truly something else, but the priest still felt his ways, worldviews, and habits of taking creative liberties, would not be the best to write down the lore and the stories of the land, which was why he wanted to rush forward and do those first and then work on the translations.

[hr]

It was past late-night, the priests were long gone back to their homes, the house had long gone to sleep, yet Mavadzugji remained up, scribbling on his papers while sipping on the fire tea, a drink made from a variety of roots, leaves, and berries, it tasted way too bitter and spicy, but the pungent mix kept sleep away.

"Fi Tsoti va Rin djoh Dzi"

'The history of the stars and the sun'. It was one of the many tales dealing with the Heavenly Realm and its inhabitants. A fairly unimportant tale on first glance, dealing merely with the creation of the stars and the sun, but Mavadzugji noticed two things about it. First, that it was the first of all tales, as most heavenly tales mentioned stars. Second, that it introduced many of the core values of other tales without as much focus on them, the tale of Llunyarin's patience and evenness creating the gentle starts while Hufangjerin eagerness and desire of glory gave the world the blinding sun had a very similar female/male duality as the very core tale of the mythology, the tale of the heavenly twins.

It was thankful he had developed the paper, as he was constantly restarting his project from the scratch, had he been using tablets it would have provided enough material for a palace to be built, surely. This was an easy tale, it did not truly change radically from region to region, which meant he had not to think about the whole and just write it down, yet, each oral telling added or removed certain details at random, wording and phrasing also changed immensely. He would need to pick a path, and any misstep would leave a scar on a very holy text.

He prayed for the gods to whisper the right decisions into his ears, but no sort of muse gifted him with clarity. Eventually, not even the fire tea could keep the sleep at bay, at best keeping the fortress gates barricaded on a last-ditch effort.

"Hallelle. You are going to kill yourself if you keep abusing fire tea like this."

A voice said, and the drowsy priest looked back to see Batsami behind him.  [color=9fc5e8]"Sorry."[/color] was the best he could mumble. [color=9fc5e8]"Did I wake you? I do not remember... making noises."[/color]

"I am a musician, I have trained ears similar to that of a hunter, and to me, that scribbling and the fire on the candle were loud enough," she said, it was a bit of a lie, in truth, she simply noticed the ginseng reserves which she used to keep focus while playing songs vanishing as if someone was using it on a daily basis.

He stopped for a moment. [color=9fc5e8]"Sorry."[/color]

She shot her eyes up for a moment then glanced back at him. "Why must you write so late in the night anyway? Isn't the whole point of those little infernal reunions during the day to write things?"

[color=9fc5e8]"Yes but... uh... how can I say this... I feel I have more freedom during the night."[/color]

She knew very little of the situation, but she could connect the dots, she knew Tzevami was very active and very prone to taking the lead, after all, he had come into the little bardic group last yet quickly rose as the central piece of any plan or idea.

[color=9fc5e8]"And about the reunions, I am trying to move them elsewhere, the temple is not a good place for this, but there are other similar locations... I know it has been annoying you, to always have listeners to your practicing... to be forced to wear outwear at home... sorry."[/color]

"Well, please do change the location..." she said in pure honesty. "But do not be hasty, it is not the end of the world for me," she added. There was no response from the priest, who just looked at her with a confused sleepy glance.

"Furthermore, you are never going to fix your situation without proper sleep, so no more fire tea for you," she added, confiscating the jug of tea he had made. "I will prepare you a cold passion fruit juice to help your sleep." She noticed how she was copying Dzora's harsh but helpful tone with her voice and she found herself wondering why she was even bothering with all of this.

[hr]

A few days later, an unexpected visit pulled the rope to swing the bell at the front of Dzora's home. 

"Hello. I would like to talk with the priest Mavadzugji." the voice had a thick accent but the pronunciation of the words was ideal.

The one who went to the home entrance was Dzora's husband, quiet man, hard-working, he looked the figure up and down, noticing he was surely not from these lands. Shrugging and nodding to the man, he soon entered the home and stopped by the door to the priest's room. 

"Boy," he said, making a movement with his head towards the entrance. The priest stopped writing and nodded to the man, no further words were exchanged between them. The first time Mavadzugji faced such behavior, he thought it was something personal, but the man truly avoided speaking with pretty much everyone. No wonder Dzora was impressed he thought a whole language to their daughter.

[color=9fc5e8]"You..."[/color] he gasped, seeing the sailor he had met a few seasons ago waiting for him at the door.

"Me indeed," he answered with a wide grin. The joke would go past the priest.

[color=9fc5e8]"Why are you here?"[/color]

"Denolyo." he said. "That is my name. You gave me your name last time, and now I am returning the favor."

[color=9fc5e8]"You got me into trouble."[/color] he sighed, but the foreigner smiled.

"Did I? That little trick I played on you, did it have any positive effect?" The smile turned into a wide smirk.

The priest suddenly stopped and looked up at him, now that he mentioned it, he couldn't help but realize that yes, he making Mavadzugji reveal himself led to him speaking with Dzora which led to him learning the secret of the flower language.

Seeing the boy's wide eyes, he outright chuckled. "I see that it did. Of course, the oracles never lie."

So he was some sort of fortune teller, the priest thought. He did not believe in those, even when they had some sort of result, after all, nothing in the Dzanya lore told about destinies. The Llahin Kiper agreed, saying oracles were little but lucky charlatanism.

[color=9fc5e8]"Well, I guess sometimes oracles get things right."[/color] he told distractedly. [color=9fc5e8]"Is this why you came? To see if your work showed results?"[/color]

The sailor now laughed. "No, no, much better than that. I was going to invite you to my abbey."

[color=9fc5e8]"I have no interest in leaving my faith for yours, may that be understood."[/color] he told in a snappish manner, looking suddenly cold if not angry.

"I know you won't, but you are interested in learning, right? I was in the market earlier and saw you hunting for any information on tablets from the south... I have a few of those at home."

That was more in the line of the priest's interests, but still, he was not sure he trusted the Denolyo at all. [color=9fc5e8]"I have a few too, fifteen works."[/color]

"Interesting. I imagine it is a collection of the essential, but surely you will find some of your interest in my collection, which is on the hundreds and includes works from not only Mesathalassa but also every corner of the world I visited."

[color=9fc5e8]"That... You would need a big home to store all of that."[/color]

"Why yes, it is a big home. But not all of it is clay, I have plenty of papyrus and paper works too. Just like the ones you did. Curious isn't it? How things can be invented by different people in different contexts."

[color=9fc5e8]"Still, I understand you might be generous, but I have met you only once, and while you seem to be a fine person, to travel to distant lands with someone needs a bit more of trust than that."[/color]

Denolyo chortled at his precaution, if he wanted to murder him or enslave him, he could have done that on the first time they met. "Tricky situation, I do not know what I can do to gain your confidence and I will leave tomorrow. Shame! I bet you would have loved some of the work I have in the abbey, Runza's biography, Kivicois poetry... Maybe I could bring them to you later if I ever managed to return here. Though it was so hard to get the local guards to trust me once, I imagine the second time should be easier."

He gulped, glancing around uneasily and avoiding to meet the foreigner's eyes. [color=9fc5e8]"It is not that I don't trust you... Uh... I just really can't"[/color] he told is a sheepish voice.

This actually made Denolyo raise his eyes in surprise, the young man, now looking more like a boy, seemed to have such an interest in so many things, and from what he had gauged by talking to others, he was by far the most knowledge dusklander he had met. "Why is that? I really won't try to convert you, friend," he asked, incredulous.

[color=9fc5e8]"There are... personal troubles."[/color] with the sudden interest in his ideas, in a reformation of Dzanya culture, in the retaking of the temple's tasks to create a unified lore, his group was growing. He felt... he had to be here, to act, even if he did not know how, else he would see his one chance of making a difference slip away.

"Are you sure? My wife is an excellent wayfarer, and she makes yearly visits to the duskland and Pantalei, she could guide you back in less than one year." The sailor turned priest said, he just felt it was a shame, even if he and the boy did not agree on worldviews, sharing knowledge was a must, especially knowing the fate that this land and these people were heading to.

[color=9fc5e8]"I am sure, I thank you again, but I must say no."[/color]

With a mouth pinched and crossed arms, the foreigner sighed. "Well then... if that is your decision," he told is a far duller tone. "I might still be here tomorrow, in case a night of sleep change your mind."

Mavadzugji stood still for a few moments, and only way after Denolyo left that he reacted, sighing and turning around. Two steps in, and he was punched in the shoulder by delicate hands.

"What are you doing?" Batsami asked.

[color=9fc5e8]"What?"[/color]

"Why did you not accept his offer? Are you stupid or what? You spent so much time in the markets searching for those things and you just say no to this."

[color=9fc5e8]"You eavesdropped me?"[/color]

"Details, details. Now come on, explain to me this decision."

[color=9fc5e8]"I... just felt like I am needed here. If I leave now, Tsefo will move on without me."[/color]

The musician for a moment looked like she got it, she made a slight movement that could be easily understood as a nod and then looked away, pensive. The priest waited a moment to see if she had more to say, but then shrugged and turned back to the room where he scribbled things.

"You... are a shipwreck." Batsami suddenly told. "Been talking with Tura, you know? Ever since our talk on that night a few days ago. Confirmed what I feared, you are the dumbest smart person I have ever met. Good memory, good deducing, but by the gods are you witless."

This made the priest turn and tilt his head with a slightly surprised face, this was way too far from her typical teasing and had wandered straight into offense territory. [color=9fc5e8]"I already said I will move the priests away soon, no need to be angry at me."[/color]

"You think I am angry because of that? Oh no no, I could perhaps stand you being such a nuisance if I knew you were doing things right, but, well, you ain't. All my beauty sleep lost, all the times I couldn't play my song because of noise, the fact you took my personal room for yourself forcing me to move my hammock to the room where my other sisters slept, all that for naught." she bemoaned dramatically.

Mavadzugji was simply confused, flinching back slightly, looking around to see if anyone was seeing the scene. Then Batsami regained her composure and handwaved the hair away from her face. 

"Given such circumstances, I am forced to take action. I will be your Manyadjir."

[color=9fc5e8]"Manyagjir!?"[/color] he echoed, absolutely confused, outright opening his mouth. Many families in Dzanya were typically entirely dedicated to one area, there where goatherder families, farmer families, tailor families, and so on. Typically, an easy way to join such professions was to be adopted or marry into those families. However, there were times in which adoptions or marriages worked differently, instead of just getting one more to join the craft, the adopted or married person had been sought for a skill out of what the family did but that was extremely useful to them, such as a hunter joining a goatherder family to deal with predators or a merchant joining a carpenter family, these people were called Manyadjir.

"A... how can I say it, Manyagjir in concept? Do not worry, I won't ask you to adopt me or anything weird like that." she smirked slightly.

[color=9fc5e8]"And you want to do what?"[/color]

"Guide you! I will be your wits and general all-purpose cleverness provider," she told.

His hand rose to rub his eyebrow. [color=9fc5e8]"What are you even talking about."[/color]

"Well. We have a big issue at the first moment. I talked with Tura, and I asked about your first work, a translation of some sunlander thing, don't remember what, but I remember something... You did not put your name on it."

[color=9fc5e8]"Should I?"[/color]

"Of course you should, how is that even a question." she sighed. "If you don't, they will just be texts, but if you do, well, they will be your texts."

He blinked for a moment. [color=9fc5e8]"But they are not mine, I translated them"[/color]

"Yes, then present yourself as the translator, place your name in it, make it so anyone who reads these texts knows your name."

[color=9fc5e8]"It just seems unnecessary, egocentric, we work as a group and I have no need to stand out."[/color]

"Hmmm? Is that so? So you do not think you are the one most fit to craft the first proper lore-books of our own lore?"

He gritted his teeth and slightly blushed. [color=9fc5e8]"I just think, others don't have the full scope... How does that relate to translations, anyway?"[/color]

"Oh everything. Let me break it to you. Nobody will care about the lore-books of our own culture. Translations of foreign works are interesting and new, transcriptions of the local tales mom used to tell to me before I slept, however? Yawn! Only a few, such as your breed of priests, will want to read those in the current situation. The rebellious sorts too, like Tzevami."

[color=9fc5e8]"But... then what? It cannot be..."[/color]

"Halllelle, do not stop me. Now imagine, you start to translate all these fascinating works, and all the nobles who have the time to learn how to read start to pick them up in a desire to fill their boring lives with exciting distant lands and foreign empires, they see your name, they remember it, and then, when you make the lore-books and present your theories, you will have actual ears, well, eyes, interested in what you have to say... write."

He stopped for a moment, pondering over her plans. [color=9fc5e8]"But one whole year away..."[/color]

Batsami laughed. "The advantage of your paper, is that it is easy to transport. Ask the foreign man, see if there is a constant trade route between his home and any duskland city near here, send those papers to me and I will give them to Tura who will turn them into proper parchments. So, while you are away, you can still have an influence."

[color=9fc5e8]"That... could actually work. I already have much of my own collection translated, just not inked down into parchment yet. But, are you sure it will not generate tension within the group..."[/color]

"Nope! Because the priests are interested in your translations as well, they already think of you as the guy who knows a lot about foreign things. I imagine Tzevami might notice the effects it is having eventually, but the problem of being of the slippery sort is that you can't quite grab at things, he will have little option but to play along. Though one day you will need to address this, you dislike the high clans but you attract the people who hate them."

Then there was silence, awkward enough to make the wide grin Batsami had slowly melt into sheer confusion. Finally, after pondering very much, Mavadzugji patted her head. [color=9fc5e8]"Thanks. I need to run after someone, excuse me."[/color]

Batsami smiled, then smirked. Wonderful, just wonderful. First of all, for the amazing profitability chances of Mavadzugji's work, then, for the prestige, surely, if all things went right, even someone like Llapur Dyetzu would be within her reach.

[hr]

After initially being excited about the unprecedented journey, Mavadzugji now, as he hugged the long neck of the creature in front of him, feared he might not have what it takes. The distance between him and the ground felt like it increased each time he looked down.

"I already told you. Do not constrict the horse's neck!" the tall woman next to him told, brushing the head of the animal gently and whispering something in a foreign language. "This is the most patient of them, but even she has her limits."

[color=9fc5e8]"S-S-Sorry."[/color] the priest told, trying his best to stay still while riding the animal. 

The boat trip had been so easy, so simple, it was just him, the foreign ex-sailor Denolyo, and his wife, Karcelli. The later had the clear looks of someone from north mesathalassa, Evemen, as Imga texts called them, tall, pale skinned, brown hair which sometimes had hints of blonde or red. Karcelli, in particular, had simple brown hair, though it barely appeared as she always wore a cape fashioned from a gorgon's leather, the head working like a grotesque looking hood. Her looks had filled the priest's heart with odd bitter feelings since the first time he saw the sunlander.

Now they were almost at the Duskland's borders, the sky above was already very different from the one he was used to, many stars even when it was not twilight, the sun shone brightly and the ambient light was no longer that grey, dark-bright one, most other lands experienced only for a few moments after sunset or during overcast days. Instead of taking the boat route deep into northern mesathalassa, the path most merchants and settlers took, they were now riding horses through a different route.

"I think he is getting the hang of it," Denolyo said, with a smile.

"Nah, I'd say the mare is getting a hang of it." she chuckled.

The gesture gave away to the priest he was probably being mocked, they spoke with each other in a foreign language not even the priest knew, but he could pick tone and stares, furthermore, he was a bit paranoid with people laughing near him.

He expected to be able to talk a lot with Denolyo on his path down to the south, however, the man had been moderately sick on the first few days, coughing and with a sore throat to the point Mavadzugji became worried. To his surprise, it was apparently something common for people not from the Dusklands to develop those symptoms while there. 

"It is why nobody truly invaded your land. That, and the harsh frontier."  Karcelli told. Making him wonder about the bandit group that had raided that woman's caravan. He knew they were rare, but now he had been giving even further reasons for why that event was so odd.

[hr]

A day later, as they approached the frontier, it seemed the two foreigners had a bit of a fallout, the priest was not sure, but he felt those words were a bit more bitter than the usual, it was not something that seemed like it would last, but the two seemed to be a harmonious couple usually so to him it was a surprise.

"Say, Mavadzugji..." Denolyo suddenly said, making the priest almost yelp as he rightened his position. "I have always wondered..."

[color=9fc5e8]"Y-Yes?"[/color]

"What does Tsahi means? Saw a lot of people under a banner of that name going south to defend a few settlements, and the word just eluded me."

The priest tilted his head. This was all in native Dzanya language, so the wording of the question was just odd. [color=9fc5e8]"What it means? I think the Sunlader words are something like, winged?"[/color]

"That would be Tsatahi, no? Like, Tsatahar..."

[color=9fc5e8]"Mmmm, it would. You are right, but the idea is similar... how can I saw it. Uh, think Tsataha and Tsaha, then."[/color]

"Tsaha I know well, bird-like, cute name. Tsataha... would be winglike? 

[color=9fc5e8]"Right. Like the formations flocks of birds take in the sky or the shape of a peninsula. Both are Tsataha... You mentioned Tsatahar, angels, Tsahar would be more like... bird people."[/color]

"But back to Tsahi..."

[color=9fc5e8]"Oh right, well, you get the idea, don't you? Tsatahi is winged."[/color]

"And Tsahi is what? Birded? Incorporating the aspects of a bird? Are birds Tsahi?"

[color=9fc5e8]"That would be like saying water is wet, or, well, 'a winged butterfly, a winged bird, a winged bat', you only use those words to add quality where said quality is not usually present, now, Tsahi, I guess the word is up to the interpretation of what you consider to be bird. Is it agility? delicateness? the wandering? ..."[/color]

[color=9fc5e8]"On the Tsahi Pura's case, it's because of the arrows, as in, they deliver a sudden and lethal death from above, like a hawk swooping mice."[/color]

"Ugh, would hate to have to translate that, 'here is a word, it might mean you are small, frail and love to eat worms or it might mean you are fast and agile or maybe it means you sing a sweet song..."

"Attention." Karcelli suddenly cut them both from their idle talking, she was as quiet as ever, even the sore-throated Denolyo spoke more than her. "Put your hoods on, we are at the border."

Looking forward, the priest saw very little at the moment, the thicket of grey-green trees in front of him was obscuring much of his view... Then it ended, the whole forest simply stopped as if cut by a razor and in front of him the priest saw an expanse of stones and gravel, some brooks, a bit of grass, but the whole thing was mostly lifeless and plain. The greatest surprise, however, was the sky, as if cut by the same blade that had shaved the forest, the dark grey skies of the dusklands simply collapse in front of him, the light blue of the Sunland in stark contrast on the other side.

Then came the wind, and it was lucky he had a hooded cape, as the strong gale brought with it a dusty grey cloud filled with small flying rocks that crashed against the travelers constantly. No wonder he had been instructed on how to follow others and what pace to keep under heavy fog, though the wind at the moment couldn't be more different from the cold and humid mist it still caused a similar visual impairment, only made worse by the gravel.

After a time that felt both short and way too long, the cloud was gone, the strong wind remained. "Faster pace now. We are near the cliffs, if a cloud hit us, we stop." the woman explained.

"Are you sure? The footing is not great no matter if you are moving or now..." Denolyo questioned. She looked back and simply nodded, the ex-sailor nodded back.

While he focused his attention more on the unspoken trust between both, the word cliff caught him by surprise, making him look around. It took him a while, but he finally saw it, the land was a monotone rocky grey from his point of view and the sunlight covered by the clouds did not produce enough shadows, to him, it all seemed like flatlands, but the truth was different, simply saying he was wrong was an understatement. 

[color=9fc5e8]"It's a cliff...? How... How did I not see it before."[/color] he gasped, almost slowing his pace, but remembering he was asked not to do so.

"Mirage," Karcelli explained. "The rocks here trick your eyes, somehow... Something to do with the heat and the colors."

[color=9fc5e8]"Couldn't we pick a better time to cross then? I have no rush to get through."[/color]

Despite the lack of a reaction in her expression, the priest couldn't help but feel a sense of annoyance in that deadpan gaze. "There is none. We need to wait until the sun is under the duskland clouds so the heat in the region is manageable, so it cannot be crossed in the morning, however, with the gentle eve also comes ferocious winds and heavier clouds. At night, it is too cold and you cannot see the proper path, leaving us only a small window where conditions are favorable."

[color=9fc5e8]"I had no idea such a terrible place existed..."[/color]

"There are safer routes. On the coast to the west the passage is simple, then there are the cavern and rivers routes that make trade possible between north mesathalassa and the dusklands, the route most refugees take too. Under such conditions, it is no wonder people no longer mention how dangerous the border truly is." Denolyo added.

Finally, it came time to traverse one of the phantom cliffs, Kercelli led them around what really looked like a road, though could not be one because the woman had made it clear the zone was unbearable past a certain the time of the day. It was a good thing the horse had been trained so masterfully for Mavadzugji himself was having trouble following the route with his eyes, something about the high contrast of darkness and light, grey and green along with the alternations of grey shades of the even textured rocks made it so his eyes couldn't keep much of a focus on the path ahead.

The strong wind became stronger and once again the dust rose, the green of the Sunland was lost to his eyes, so was the bottom of the cliff, yet he could clearly see the two in front of him so it was not much of an issue. Karcelli suddenly looked to the side, sniffing that terrible air somehow. 

"Let's pace up," she ordered.

The priest's heart sank, he knew this was it, it had to be it, something bad was about to happen, she was doing the opposite of what she had told before, she had told them to stop if the cloud reached them... He dared to sideglance at the cliff below and saw the dull grey abyss that blended with the sky and the horizon. His eyes widened and he blinked multiple times to make sure his eyes did not play tricks on him, they did not, that void was rising, creeping up the cliffside.

Then it was upon then, the thick dust fog so intense all he saw of Denolyo was his silhouette, Karcelli fully lost to his eyes. Bellow, the horse's hooves raised from the grey depths and then sank back into them, only a shadow remaining. If not for the cliff to his side, he wouldn't be able to tell the difference between being up or being down.

"Stay calm, Mavadzugji." the sailor told him in a calm tone, stopping to cough the dust out of his mouth. "No sudden movements. Stay in line."

It was easy to say so, not so easy to follow it, but the priest was doing his best not to stray. Tears traveled down his check, not from fear, but from the irritation caused by that grey dust, he could barely keep his eyes open, not that at this point it would help.

The straight parts of the path were bad, the curves, however, were beyond bad and terrible, they were something else, crafted by whichever god hated humanity the most. Facing the endless abyss below, his only reference being the walls to his side and the shadow in his front, it almost seemed inevitable one wrong step would be eventual. 

[color=9fc5e8]"Stop... I want to stop."[/color]

"You may if you wish, we will continue, as this cloud won't open up until its too late," Karcelli told, voice loud enough to stand up to the howling wings but still maintaining the collected mannerism typical to her.

Time dragged on and on, every single step a challenge, a test to his will of survival. The walls to his side disappeared and if not for the line he would feel it was over and he was about to fall, the last security left to him now fully gone, only featureless mist remained. 

With nothing to see, no anchor to keep him, Mavadzugji felt increasingly more paranoid, just waiting for the moment he would meet his end. Despite clear orders telling him not to do so, the priest leaned forward and in panic hugged the horse's neck, as if that would keep him from falling. 

Green. The looked down and did a double check, blinking as he made sure his eyes did not deceive him. They did not. Green, the color was slowly revealing itself under the hooves of the animal he rode. Retaking his position, he looked around, tears still forming in his eyes, the droplets gaining a white tint as they absorbed the dust that clung to the young man's face.

Slowly, very slowly, the dust started to dissipate around then, until, much like the treelines, it opened up as if cut by a razor. If Mavadzugji's eyes, had not been already half-closed they would be now, in front of him, shining with radiant colors, were warm shades of green and blue he had never seen before. Even as little but blurs in his vision, the Sunland was stunning.

[hr]

"Do not worry, your vision will adapt, you just need to stay awake the whole night, see the morning for yourself, it helps," Denolyo explained, having noticed the priest still adapting to the environment, constantly rubbing his eyes or squinting.

Mavadzugji nodded, it seemed all the combinations possible to hurt his view had been made. Yet, instead of resting, he stared intently at the fire, it had an orange light that he had never seen before, not that fire in the dusklands was less red, but it was more of an... he could only describe it as 'internal color', while the external light was a white that was a pale yellow at most.

"I noticed you were staring at Karcelli..." 

The priest immediately rose his eyes up and faced the sailor gasping, then quickly started to babble in his defense trying to explain how he had it wrong. The sailor himself seemed surprised.

"Ah sorry, bad wording. It's easy to learn many foreign languages, sometimes the wording escapes me. Do not worry, I know well you are absurdly devoted to your ways, and even if you weren't, I would still have little to worry." While his words spoke of trust, he couldn't help but see a smirk that implied the priest himself was no worry at all in such matters.

"But, it's also that lack of explanations that makes me curious."

[color=9fc5e8]"She reminds me of someone."[/color] Mavadzugji told, now calm enough to pace his voice.

"Oh? Someone you knew?" once again the sailor cringed at his words, that was not what he wanted to ask at all, it was obvious that it was someone he knew...

[color=9fc5e8]"Not really. It was someone I never met."[/color] 

The sailor had curious eyes now, it was as if the priest had proposed him an enigma, someone he could be reminded of but that he did not know.  Before he could ask any more questions, Karcelli was back.  "Your turn to bath. Go before the night gets too cold." she made a little signal towards the lake that was partially hidden by trees and a rock outcrop. The dust covered Denolyo nodded and was already walking away.

Mavadzugji had been curious about why the couple didn't just bath together to save time, at first he had thought they feared to leave him all alone with their things, but it seemed by now they knew his ways well enough to not fear such behaviors. 'It's also that lack of explanations that makes me curious,' the words echoed in his head, until he concluded they likely truly did not want to leave him alone, not of worry he would do something, but of what something could do to him. That was good, he did not trust himself on that aspect either, it was reassuring to think they cared about his safety.

The woman sat near the fire to heat up after the dip on the lake. Upon closer inspection, with the lively colors of the Sunland making her face more clear and the change from leather armor and a gorgon head hood to an awfully simple tunic in the typical careless Sunlander style she seemed far shorter and less imposing. Nothing like her beyond an ethnicity...

[color=9fc5e8]"Sorry."[/color] the priest said, he had been wanting to do that for a while.

The turned her eyes to focus on him, a slight hint of confusion. "For what?"

[color=9fc5e8]"Well... everything. Slowing you two down, screaming on the cliff, constricting the horse's neck..."[/color]

"Ah... no," she told with a deadpan expression. 

Her tone was hard to decipher. No what? No, a simple sorry isn't enough? No, there is no need to worry? The only thing he knew is that if he asked her about it, he would become a nuisance for sure, and then he would need to say sorry again. 

For a moment, he remembered Batsami once scolding him and then imitating what she called 'his comfortable voice' which she said he used whenever someone uninteresting or someone he knew showed up. He wondered if he spoke like Karcelli or Dzora's husbands with those close to him, he also wondered why he knew spoke softly to strangers because he did not like causing trouble to others, he also knew he sometimes spoke while distracted. He could not believe someone like Karcelli could be distracted, she always seemed focused... But maybe being focused was also a form of distraction, much like those rays of light that formed in the clouds only when the day was dim or the sun was setting, the attention was focused on something at the cost of being distracted from all else.

"Are you fine?" she asked without much concern.

Mavadzugji snapped out of his thoughts. [color=9fc5e8]"Sorry... I was distra... no, focuse... uhm..."[/color] he sighed. [color=9fc5e8]Maybe I should skip the bath and just sleep, not like the white dust is noticeable on my hair anyway."[/color]

"No. You would get sick without cleaning the dust away."

He waited a moment to make sure there would be no follow up. [color=9fc5e8]"Why did we take this route anyway? It seems much harsher than Mutaraka's one, with the boats and the caverns."[/color]

"There are reasons, I wanted to avoid... Susah, the whole region really. This is also faster, not too dangerous either unless you are stupid."

He guessed he was stupid, which seemed to be close to the truth in his view, at most he hoped he was the good sort of stupid. 

[color=9fc5e8]"You are from here, right?"[/color]

She took a moment thinking about it. "Depends on who asks, for your questions and your 'here', yes."

[color=9fc5e8]"Wait, so if someone else asked you could say no?"[/color]

She rolled her eyes. "Obviously."

Mavadzugji narrowed his eyes and rubbed his chin, after he just did not seem to drop the thought the woman was forced to sigh and then answer it. "Come on now, you know the answer to this. If I asked 'are you from here' when we found you in that village, what would you answer?"

[color=9fc5e8]"No... I was not born there."[/color]

She nodded. "Yes. But to someone from the north dusklands, he could be asking about the region. And to a foreigner like me 'here' could mean the whole of the dusklands."

[color=9fc5e8]"Oh, I had never used it in the context of a village. So that was why you were confused. I see now."[/color]

Karcelli nodded and then suddenly stopped, now she was the one tapping her chin as something seemed off. "I am back." suddenly declared Denolyo. "It is getting cold, you should rush, priest-boy." he said smirking.

There was a moment of silence.

"Cute of you to have that little earth elemental helping Mava." he smirked.

She stared at him. "I was more worried about a horse I spent so long training falling off a cliff. Do not think I am approving of your decisions."

He sighed. "There you go again. I do not see the problem with helping others like this. The boy wants to know the world, I can respect that. You shouldn't let something that happened half a continent away and a whole generation ago, even before you were born, have so much influence over your actions."

"I was born right after it, I saw a lot of the direct effects and the survivors, I even saw [i]her[/i]... You will understand when you get older."

Denolyo laughed with sarcasm. "I do not have that much time left to get older, still haven't seen a glimpse of your reasoning. Neither do you, by the way. I do not know how you can bear the idea of taking so much to the grave. You know Sotali would like to be just like you, yet you turn her away, much like so many others."

"Sometimes I wonder if I should have waited until that bear had finished its business with you. Sotali is better off away from all this, do not twist my decision into a showcase of disregard. The same applies to Lite and everyone else." 

"She has the right to decide for herself. All you did was to make her more curious. She would have given up back when she was a child if you had tried to give her the training, you know her, she doesn't deal well with harsh routines."

"Unlike you, I leave no room for gambits. Your oracles have made you delusional to the reality of things."

The sound of the fire kept crackling was once again the only sound at the moment, as the two stared at each other with some tension. Then it suddenly eased up, as Karcelli casually said. "Oh, speaking of oracles, I think I finally got what yours for the duskie was. That one stray signal you found and could not understand..."

"Ah, yes. I noticed that already, back in the boat really.  Why? Don't tell me you only discovered it now?"

"Don't be a show-off." she sighed. "I suspected it. Something about his eyes, and the shape of his face. But I couldn't confirm it. It just unsettled me."

He smirked and moved closer to her, holding her hand. "Curious how fate works, huh? Of all the people for me to find in a party... Should burn my current oracle really, it is starting to get presumptuous after only a few uses. More curious than that, Mava stared at you earlier for that reason. Guess you kinda fit the description he heard."

"Bah, I wish I did."

[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/keHkG8m.png[/img][/center]