[center][h1][b]Nicolas the Stargazer[/b][/h1][h3]&[/h3][h1][b]Ora the Servant[/b][/h1][/center][hr]The girl had become a woman but the memory of that cave was still fresh in her mind. Later in life she realized that she probably met a god, perhaps a god of magic. She wasn’t sure. What she was sure about were the voices. She had heard a dozen different ones now, throughout her life. With some she had talked for years, explaining who she was and what she did. They talked about everything, including magic. Especially magic, for every time she shared how she created a flash in her hands, a few days later the person she spoke to many miles away enthusiastically told her that they managed to create the pulse of light as well. The same happened to her. Every time someone told her about their magic, she was able to quickly learn how to do it herself. Now she could conjure a small flame in her palm, levitate some stones and ripple water without touching it. Small things, sure. But more than most others could or wanted to do.
 
But their voices faded when their tribes moved on. Just like she moved on. Though every time she reached a place, she could hear another voice or two. And she learned a new thing. Not all voices were that of humans though. Ora had seen memories that stopped her heart and made her yelp in fear. She had severed those connections in an instant. Trolls had nearly killed her when she was young. The god had told her to be nice to everyone she spoke to, but she couldn’t speak to those who killed her family. Others were much more friendly. Though very different. One she met called  himself Jhun. From his memory she saw that his skin was pitch-black and adorned with markings. He told her about rippling water.
 
Tonight she sat once again alone next to her fire. A rock floated gently between her two hands. Every now and then she closed her eyes to send another mental message to someone she was speaking with. Such was the nature of a Servant. The oldest servant, so far. As she had never met anyone older than her.

Nicolas had been sneaking through the night, and while not the best, he had some practice in the manner. However, as he noticed the woman levitating a rock in her hand, his attention slipped and he stepped hard on some twig or something and made a loud snap. 

In an instant, lifted her hand towards where the branch snapped. “I’m warning you I will burn your skin off like the sun!” she threatened as she got up. Night brought trolls, but she could repel those. With her other hand she grabbed her walking stick, which had a sharpened end. “Run away now you ugly troll thing!” She shouted, even though she hadn’t seen the danger but what else could there be out skulking in the night?

“I am no troll.” he announced, before slowly walking in the light of the fire. 

“Oh gods I’m so sorry!” Ora exclaimed as she lowered her arm. “I didn’t know, I didn’t see you!” She let him approach the fire. He looked like a wanderer, like him. Instantly she grabbed a bit of food she was carrying with her and politely offered it to Nicolas. “Again I’m sorry.” She said, a lot calmer now. “I’m not used to encountering people in the dark.” As she handed the food, she made a great effort to look straight into his eyes. As if she was searching for something.

“It is fine. And I am saited, I rarely go without food.” he said, making a big show of grabbing a poisonous berry from a nearby bush and eating it. 

“No no no!” Ora nearly jumped him, but it was too late. He had already eaten the berry. Instead she held her palm over his mouth. “Open your mouth!” She shouted, though the worry was clear in her eyes. “Open your mouth I’m not letting you kill yourself here!” Her magic was already doing its working, though it was horribly unfocused and was just pulling Nicolas’ face towards her hand.

Nicolas had a sudden, instinctual reaction to fight, but he suppressed it. Once he had calm himself, he did find this interesting, he had heard of sorcery before, but he was skeptical of its existence. He swallowed. 

“You need to get it out, now!” She said, as she tried to calm herself down. Damn it, why couldn’t magic heal something!? “You just need to puke, I’m really sorry.” She said, and in an effort to do so balled her hand and tried to punch him in the guts as hard as she could. So he [i]had[/i] to spit it out. Hopefully.

“You don’t need to worry about me.” he said, side-stepping her punch. “I have my own talents.” 

She stumbled next to him, and even nearly fell before she regained her balance. When she turned around she was just waiting until his neck would start swelling and he’d start clawing at his throat. Instead nothing happened. From his eyes she knew he wasn’t like her, a Servant. Yet she hadn’t met many non-Servant sorcerers. Actually, she hadn’t met many sorcerers directly at all. At most she talked with them in her mind. “How didn’t you die? Is that magic? Did you use magic so you can’t die?” She asked, her fear turning into curiosity as she inched closer to him.

“It is a long story.” he said, his eyes shifting to the side slightly, thinking internally it was more awkward than long, “But I have been blessed where I don’t need to concern myself with such things. I started with the less poisonous berries, and over time, I stopped noticing the difference between them.” 

“I see.” She said, as she slowly returned to her own sack of goods and sat down before the fire. She bid him to sit down as well. “I think we have time.” She said with a friendly smile, before she prepared her barrage: “The night is long and calm, for the most part. We’ve got time. I would love to hear the story of how you got blessed. What god blessed you? Can you do other things than eat poisonous berries? How did it feel? How did he look, your god? Do they really walk amongst us like the stories say?”

Nicolas walked closer to the fire, but didn’t sit down. “It has been many years since I have encountered a god.” he said, still looking as youthful as ever. “Though my god, he is not here on Galbar, he is there.” he said pointing towards the stars. “If you look carefully, you can see some of them are shifting, more than the others.” 

“You can sit if you want to. I’m Ora, by the way.” Ora said as she laid down fully on her back to stare at the stars. They were beautiful, always. Though she never understood them. They moved, or so she thought. Were they following a path, or was it all just pure chaos? It was fascinating, though she felt like she rarely had the time to observe them. Most of her free time she spent on helping Servants, or trying to learn more magic. Yet there was one thing that echoed through her head. “Do you think they’re all stay up there, the Gods I mean?” Then she turned towards him. “Also, how old are you?” He looked far too young to even use the words ‘many years’. Ora herself was only nineteen winters old.
“From my understanding, the gods go where they please. As for my age, have you ever heard the story of the dying star? I was witness to it.” he replied. 

Ora sat up straight at the mention of a dying star. “They can die!?” She said, full of surprise. To her they just looked like tiny, little ethereal, eternal fireflies high in the heavens. They always seemed constant. To have seen one die, it felt impossible. “H-How can you…” She tried to understand. Then she remembered a story. One told by a very old lady. People never believed her flash in the night sky. To be so old, in an instant she shot up. “Are you a god!?” It would explain everything. The eating of poisonous berries, the strange distance he seemingly kept, his age, his knowledge of the gods. He just could’ve lied about being blessed.

“I am no god, but I do have the trust of one. I have only sparsely talked with him, but he has informed me that no more stars will fade from the night sky. If you wish, I could demonstrate that I still bleed red.” he said. 

She looked up at the stars again. “That one time must have been very special then.” She muttered. But then the offer came for the stranger to draw his own blood. “No. No I believe  you.” She said. Though then then quickly asked: “Though, if you really want me to believe you, then perhaps you could tell me your name?”

“It is Nicolas.” he replied, with his eyes still fixed on the stars. 

Nicolas, she would tell the others his name. Perhaps they would meet him as well. But then the question remained of what he was doing here. “Nicolas. That’s a very odd name.” Ora said. “So why were you blessed, Nicolas?”

“Only the gods can answer that. What I do know is that I must travel west, across the great waters. And that I must assist others in a way I am not currently cognizant of.” he answered. 


“But there is nothing west. That’s where the world ends. At the Great Waters.” Ora said but then she realized who she was speaking to. Could someone like Nicolas believe in folly? Did his god play a cruel trick on him? Or was he given knowledge of something different entirely? “Right?”

“I have seen the lands beyond the great waters, or at least one of them. A land of gentle, rolling hills and graceful, colorful animals. However, for the time being, it might as well be another world, for any attempt to swim across that domain would lead to certain death.” he replied. 

“Magic could help.” Ora offered. It could, maybe. She wasn’t sure. It couldn’t right now. Nobody knows enough of it. Yet someday it could be strong enough in everyone that it becomes useful to everything. Including to a God-Blessed.

“Well, I must be off. The night is still young.” he said, slowly walking away.

She wanted to stop him and go with him, but then quickly realized she had to sleep instead. If he still had to travel, then he probably often traveled at night. She couldn’t. Her duty laid with the people she spoke to. Those awake at day. So instead she said: “Safe travels, Nicolas! And if ever find someone with my eyes they’ll help you however they can. I’ll make sure of that.” And she would, because she already sat down and closed her eyes to tell everyone she was connected with the story of the night wandering, gold-blessed stranger: Nicolas.

[hider=Summary]Ora is camping in the woods. Nicolas disturbs her and she mistakes him for a troll. To make up for it she offers him food but Nicolas has his own and eats a poisonous berry. Ora doesn’t know he cannot be poisoned so tries to get it out of him. In vain, though, she believes him that he cannot be poisoned. The two talk about the gods of Galbar and the stars. For a moment she thinks Nicolas is a god himself, but he quickly assures her he is not. Finally they talk about his purpose in life and he tells her about the far away land across the Great Waters. Then they part ways, though Ora promises that anyone with her eyes will help him if he asks for it.[/hider]
[hider=Prestige][b]10K Characters[/b]
  The Servants >> +5 Prestige
  Nicolas The Stargazer >> +5 Prestige[/hider]