Nina
Dedicated
Roleplay posts: 289
Registered: Apr 4, 2021 10:46:08 GMT -5
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Post by Nina on Jan 10, 2022 14:16:47 GMT -5
Every person that Nina had asked for directions had a twinkle in their eye, a dreamy smile as they pointed her onwards, the specifics of which they refused to disclose. 'You'll see,' they said. Was it, the vagabond girl wondered, sneaking glances back at straw hats and salt-eaten cloaks, one of those holy days that some cultures had dedicated to jests and pranks, and would she be sent forever spinning around in circles? As she walked past freshly-finished log houses, barely managing to dart to the side as a group of men rolled yet another log to a construction site while chanting a marching song, she thought. Part of her wished she'd brought her bamboo stick, since making her weakness more apparent would disincline people to send her on wild goose chases. She clenched her fists and told herself it wouldn't be necessary. Nina was proud. But she should not have worried. Soon, the dirt road began to curve, as if the spirit of civilization inscribed in the budding grid of streets and alleyways had met something grander than itself. The road opened onto a large plaza, and Nina raised her arm to shelter her eyes from the bright morning sun.
When she let her arm down, she was in the middle of a snowstorm.
White petals flew in the gentle breeze, stopping around her for an endless moment before the next gust of wind carried them on. In the light, some sparked like fireflies. A subtly sweet scent that lingered like a half-remembered dream enveloped her. In the middle of the square (which stubbornly insisted on being round), a great tree stood bearing a heavy crown of flowers. A bumblebee temporarily alighted on the blue fabric of Nina's shoulder, before drunkenly stumbling back home, heavy with pollen.
Nina was transfixed.
It was the right place and yet, beyond all she had imagined. She was far from the only one, yet she saw no one. She didn't see the unusual number of inhabitants carrying water, firewood or messages were slowly trickling along the sides of the square, by what was likely not the most straightforward route. Some stopped to stare. Two old ladies siting on a log in a yard were crocheting nettle fibers and quietly renewing their vows. A bunch of kids played around, re-enacting what sounded like a well-known Isran story about two sister-princesses, one of Winter and one of Spring, rising clouds of petals in their wake.
Nina's right hand twitched up, trying to reach one of the petals even as she watched them drift between her outstretched fingers. Then it slowly fell back down, with the tip of her index finger feverishly scribbling something onto the palm of her other hand. She had come on a quest; something important, she believed, the beginning of a plan which, to be honest, was too grand for Nina to believe in, but which she followed still because it was one of the few things that gave her old enemy and mentor power to to go on through each day. There was someone she had to meet. Yet, despite that, Nina found herself unable to move. She stood in the middle of the street, as voices and colored linen outfits drifted past her, stunned by the beauty of the tree.
A few minutes later, she found it in her to move her legs, and stumbled to the side of the square, in a patch of grass by a fence. There she took out her drawing block, which she had carried for so long without being able to touch it. She brushed her fingers over one of the few remaining unused sheets of paper, took out one of her last remaining good pencils, and started to sketch. As always, it felt like crystallizing her feelings, in the way preserves crystallize the flavors of their fruits for the winter.
It was perhaps half an hour later that Nina shook her head and, with her pencil behind her ear and her drawing block under her arm, she finally approached the tree. She could feel it as soon as her feet reached the web of roots. She felt it stronger as she approached the trunk. The magic. She'd supposed it had to be – trees that grow in weeks as they would in years are rarely anything but. But there was more. This was not magic that merely built up to the complexity of life, as the dolls had been; this was life that was magic by virtue of being so alive that it explored beyond the normal boundaries of nature. And thus, the traveling painter was bewitched and distracted once more.
Nina pressed her palms on the bark of the apple-tree. She felt its pulse, its joy at the light and its memories, which in any other tree would have grounded it, but in this one were barely a few months old. Its magic was gradually turning into...growth? It felt giddy, perhaps of the season, she thought, a season of generosity, of flowing nectar and many meetings with its beloved winged counterparts. Perhaps because of that mood, Nina dared to do what she did next.
Nina pressed her forehead against the tree. She focused her magic, the little magic she had, in her aura. In her greeting. 'I am here,' her aura was saying. 'Thank you.'
Trees are not known for their speedy reactions. Nina was there a while.
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Sylvanie Autumndaughter
Dedicated
Roleplay posts: 145
Age: 43, though she looks closer to her mid twenties, going by human standards
Appearance: She has auburn hair, like that of fall leaves, that falls down to about her waist, as well as a golden-yellow pair of eyes and pale skin. Her clothing is very nature inspired, appearing to be made of sewn leaves and tree bark, as well as vines for straps and a belt. She usually goes around barefooted(though she has a vine tied around her left ankle) and comes no taller than 5'4" She has a thin frame and clear skin, except for a very slight scar on the top of her right hand, and she bares a pair of translucent wings similar to those of an insect, like a butterfly, though they appear too small to lift her.
Equipment: As she arrived on the Isle she had no equipment to write about, other than the clothes on her back and what appeared to be a dagger made out of wood.
Skills and Abilities: Before arriving here, she could commune with nature and help plants to grow, as well as speak with animals, fly, and cast a variety of nature and illusion based spells. Since arriving, most of her magic has waned significantly. If her spells work at all they take much longer to take hold, her understanding of animals has become much more broken, her flight has left her entirely, and the trees here seem to fall quiet or silent to her ears. Annoyingly, she still seems to hold the allergy to iron and steel that her mother's blood gives her.
Biography: Born of a human father and a fairy mother, Sylvanie was known in her world as a Faeschild. Raised by her mother in the world of magic the fairies inhabited, she learned many things about nature and magic, such as the fairy's ability to commune with it, the animals' nature as a part of it, and humanity's great fear of it. She was always quite naïve and fiery, her heart thirsting for adventure. However, she didn't get the chance before...it happened. She isn't entirely sure what it was, or what happened, but the next thing she new, she was coughing up seawater on the shore of a strange island. Who knows where it'll take her next?
Registered: Apr 9, 2021 0:02:55 GMT -5
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Post by Sylvanie Autumndaughter on Jan 10, 2022 15:08:18 GMT -5
The tree stood silent for a time as it soaked in Nina’s thanks, loose petals drifting down around her. Eventually though, something would come to the surface in response. An aura that didn’t seem to form into words or specifics, but seemed to instead be filled with vague feelings that, not unlike a child, the tree did not seem to know how to express. Feelings of warmth, of gratitude, and of wonder. They were faint, but a mindful individual would be able to pick up on them easily.
Soon, however, the serenity of the moment would be interrupted by a rustling amongst the leaves and flowers above. As it descended from the upper branches, the sound would be accompanied by what seemed like light footsteps, as if someone were prancing on the branches themselves. Eventually though, the sounds would die down, as if they had stopped moving. It was only then that the top half of a humanoid figure would burst through the canopy, hanging upside down as the auburn haired woman’s legs pinched a branch between them to keep her within the tree, her fairy-like wings fluttering to help her keep her balance.
She looked around for a moment, before spotting the beginnings of an apple budding from one of the flowers. She would lean into it and whisper something in an unknown tongue. Upon hearing whatever it is the woman whispered, a slight yellow glow the same as the woman’s eyes permeated the bud as its growth sped significantly, soon growing into a full apple. Satisfied, she smiled, picking the apple and hoisting herself back into the canopy, taking a bite of it.
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Nina
Dedicated
Roleplay posts: 289
Registered: Apr 4, 2021 10:46:08 GMT -5
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Post by Nina on Jan 14, 2022 16:44:21 GMT -5
For a tree, to do and to be were so closely entwined as to often be the same. To flower, to fruit, was to become flower and fruit. To communicate was to change into an entangled system, I-and-the-bumblebee, I-and-the-roots-of-grass, I-and-Nina. Nina deeply cherished the voice she heard, for it accepted her, and tried to follow its example. To change. To be. To exist in the moment did not come as naturally to a human, but perhaps because of it the experience marked Nina even more. And thus she was changed.
Plink, plonk, the branches above her rattled with a sound not unlike rain. Nina was startled, but lost enough in the connection that she could still feel part of the tree's attention drifting away. It felt – although translating plant into human reactions was bound to confound them - like leaves drifting in a familiar breeze.
Nina looked up, just in time to see a winged figure drop from between the branches, and disappear back in the pastel haze of the canopy before she could rush to catch them. An apple was grown in moments, magic swirling into crystals of sugary sweetness. Nina's eyes were still dazed by her encounter. The figure had been a young woman, with rich auburn hair that reached down to almost a within Nina's reach, with wings that looked so fragile that Nina almost twitched. It must be the person she had been hoping to find.
Nina gently let go of the tree, hoping to return soon. She noticed that her palms had moved across the bark to embrace it.
“Hello!” She looked up, noticing that this close, the younger buds had a warm pinkish hue. But she saw no trace of the apple tree's inhabitant, apart from perhaps the faint sounds of an apple cracking open somewhere. “Lady in the tree!” She would repeat variations on her greeting a few times.
“Hello.” Once she'd get the other's attention, the girl with colorful beads in her hair would beam a smile. “My name is Nina. I am a traveling painter. May I talk with you about magic?”
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Sylvanie Autumndaughter
Dedicated
Roleplay posts: 145
Age: 43, though she looks closer to her mid twenties, going by human standards
Appearance: She has auburn hair, like that of fall leaves, that falls down to about her waist, as well as a golden-yellow pair of eyes and pale skin. Her clothing is very nature inspired, appearing to be made of sewn leaves and tree bark, as well as vines for straps and a belt. She usually goes around barefooted(though she has a vine tied around her left ankle) and comes no taller than 5'4" She has a thin frame and clear skin, except for a very slight scar on the top of her right hand, and she bares a pair of translucent wings similar to those of an insect, like a butterfly, though they appear too small to lift her.
Equipment: As she arrived on the Isle she had no equipment to write about, other than the clothes on her back and what appeared to be a dagger made out of wood.
Skills and Abilities: Before arriving here, she could commune with nature and help plants to grow, as well as speak with animals, fly, and cast a variety of nature and illusion based spells. Since arriving, most of her magic has waned significantly. If her spells work at all they take much longer to take hold, her understanding of animals has become much more broken, her flight has left her entirely, and the trees here seem to fall quiet or silent to her ears. Annoyingly, she still seems to hold the allergy to iron and steel that her mother's blood gives her.
Biography: Born of a human father and a fairy mother, Sylvanie was known in her world as a Faeschild. Raised by her mother in the world of magic the fairies inhabited, she learned many things about nature and magic, such as the fairy's ability to commune with it, the animals' nature as a part of it, and humanity's great fear of it. She was always quite naïve and fiery, her heart thirsting for adventure. However, she didn't get the chance before...it happened. She isn't entirely sure what it was, or what happened, but the next thing she new, she was coughing up seawater on the shore of a strange island. Who knows where it'll take her next?
Registered: Apr 9, 2021 0:02:55 GMT -5
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Post by Sylvanie Autumndaughter on Jan 15, 2022 16:34:27 GMT -5
The canopy above would go silent once again, aside from faint rustling caused by the winds. A moment or two passed before once more it would come alive, moving in tune with some songless dance its inhabitant did as she came back down to the bottom layers of branches. Again she burst out of the petals above, hanging upside down as she looked at her new visitor, eyes glimmering as her smile beamed.
The young woman, the half of her which Nina could see being clothed in large leaves and branches woven together, waved vigorously at her. “Hello!” She would exclaim as she did so, her wings fluttering slightly to try and help keep her stable. “It is so so nice to meet you Miss Nina! My name is Sylvanie!”
She would bring her other hand down to bite at the apple in it, but would stop before sinking her teeth in. “Oh, sorry! Do you want one?”
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Nina
Dedicated
Roleplay posts: 289
Registered: Apr 4, 2021 10:46:08 GMT -5
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Post by Nina on Jan 24, 2022 13:09:39 GMT -5
'Frolicking.' It was one of those words that only ever got spoken by books, wasn't it? Nina had never been sure of what it meant, until she saw Sylvanie and then it jumped headfirst into her mind; along with, perhaps; 'sparkling' and 'bouncing off the walls'. She stared at the other's wings, having no context for dragonfly-like wings on a person. They looked like crystal lace. She would have stared at Sylvanie's face, but the latter's current position made Nina's usual trick of pretending eye contact, by fixating on a point just above the bridge of the nose of whoever she was talking to, rather confusing to pull off.
“Miss Sylvanie?” The visitor checked. It was unusual for someone about her age to address the vagabond so politely, but when she closed her eyes for a moment, it almost felt like talking to a child. “I prefer being called Nina, but Traveler is also fine.”
Traveling through lands where addressing someone with the wrong suffix could get her whipped had done wonders for making Nina mindful of different cultural practices.
“And no, thank you –“ Nina replied, staring at the newly-ripened apple, “-the tree grew it for you, after all.” Her stomach accompanied her with a long, pitiful squeal.
“Correct me if I'm wrong, but you have been growing trees for New Isra, have you not?” She asked, hurriedly. She smiled, for Sylvanie was radiating so much good-will that Nina couldn't help but reflect some in turn. Even though she was wondering why the nature mage would be asked to grow trees, instead of food. Even if the rumors had been wrong. The magic she'd seen just then, along with the fact that the winged woman could wear such fragile clothes without slipping into her birthday suit, likely placed Sylvanie as one of the most powerful openly-practicing magic-weavers in Port Argentium. Nina wrung her hands.
“My...mentor and I, we're interested in getting a couple of people together, to talk about magic, in a couple of weeks' time.” She explained. “Sort of like a class, or a round-table discussion. He...” She hesitated. “We are interested in the basics, the aspects which are common to all paths of magic, as well as the points where they split up. There are people around here who are came from different worlds, so we're all likely to have different approaches.” With some considerable struggle, Nina's gaze finally zigzagged closer, until finally meeting Sylvanie's eyes.
“I was wondering if you would be interested in joining us.”
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Sylvanie Autumndaughter
Dedicated
Roleplay posts: 145
Age: 43, though she looks closer to her mid twenties, going by human standards
Appearance: She has auburn hair, like that of fall leaves, that falls down to about her waist, as well as a golden-yellow pair of eyes and pale skin. Her clothing is very nature inspired, appearing to be made of sewn leaves and tree bark, as well as vines for straps and a belt. She usually goes around barefooted(though she has a vine tied around her left ankle) and comes no taller than 5'4" She has a thin frame and clear skin, except for a very slight scar on the top of her right hand, and she bares a pair of translucent wings similar to those of an insect, like a butterfly, though they appear too small to lift her.
Equipment: As she arrived on the Isle she had no equipment to write about, other than the clothes on her back and what appeared to be a dagger made out of wood.
Skills and Abilities: Before arriving here, she could commune with nature and help plants to grow, as well as speak with animals, fly, and cast a variety of nature and illusion based spells. Since arriving, most of her magic has waned significantly. If her spells work at all they take much longer to take hold, her understanding of animals has become much more broken, her flight has left her entirely, and the trees here seem to fall quiet or silent to her ears. Annoyingly, she still seems to hold the allergy to iron and steel that her mother's blood gives her.
Biography: Born of a human father and a fairy mother, Sylvanie was known in her world as a Faeschild. Raised by her mother in the world of magic the fairies inhabited, she learned many things about nature and magic, such as the fairy's ability to commune with it, the animals' nature as a part of it, and humanity's great fear of it. She was always quite naïve and fiery, her heart thirsting for adventure. However, she didn't get the chance before...it happened. She isn't entirely sure what it was, or what happened, but the next thing she new, she was coughing up seawater on the shore of a strange island. Who knows where it'll take her next?
Registered: Apr 9, 2021 0:02:55 GMT -5
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Post by Sylvanie Autumndaughter on Jan 30, 2022 17:52:03 GMT -5
“Yes indeedy I have!” Sylvanie responded, beaming at the well traveled woman as she spoke. She thought for a moment as she listened to Nina’s proposition, face scrunching in thought. Then turning slightly red. Sylvanie tried to blink off the strange feeling in her head as blood rushed down towards it, but instead she simply lost her grip on the tree, tumbling out and landing on her back(thankfully flat enough to not hurt her wings.) She let out a childish giggle as she recovered, standing on her bare feet as she regained her senses. “That was a bad idea.” She giggled to herself, before turning back to Nina.
“Oh, that sounds so fun!” She said, teetering back and forth on her feet. “I don’t really know all that much though, and something about this place seems to make me worse at it.” She frowned slightly, remembering the mist and her sorry attempt to fly when she first arrived. Within seconds she brightened up again. “But my mom and the other fairies taught me as much as they could! I’d love to talk to others about that sort of stuff.”
That magic was all she really had left of them. The thought crossed her mind as she finished speaking, and her thoughts began to turn towards that path. Practicing those silly rhymes had been one of her favorite things to do with her mom, and the cool things they could do around them only added to that. She tried to remember her mother’s smile, her eyes, her laugh…but that one she couldn’t. She didn’t remember her mother’s voice. She tried hard to dig in her memories to find it, just one faint hint of her mother’s laugh, but no matter how hard she tried she found nothing. It was gone.
She was gone.
Why? Why was she gone, why were all of the fairies, her family, gone, while she wasn’t? What had she done to survive when the others were so much better, so much nicer, and now, they were…
No, don’t think about that. Stay happy. Stay positive! If they had taught Sylvanie anything, it was that she had to stay positive. For their sake. She shouldn’t worry about it, it was their nature to be carefree, after all. She should just focus on what was in this world right now. She shouldn’t even worry about it, just think about this fun magic talk Nina was talking about! Sylvanie wiped the tears just beginning to well up in her eyes, renewing her wide smile. “I’d just love to join you!”
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Nina
Dedicated
Roleplay posts: 289
Registered: Apr 4, 2021 10:46:08 GMT -5
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Post by Nina on Feb 5, 2022 14:47:11 GMT -5
“Are you o-”
'-kay' got lost under her breath, as the laughter seemed to answer that. “Are you okay,” she repeated, as much as in a daze as Sylvanie. Nina mechanically folded her arms, that had reached towards the falling woman, back by her sides. Fairies, she said. In her world, fairies were magical princesses who lived in lonely castles, or magical old ladies with names like the days of the week, who lived in huts. They also didn't exist.
First elves, then fairies? This new world was clearly one of stories.
And yet...and yet. Nina imperceptibly shook her head. Sylvanie was not a character. She was a person. The traveler's gaze darted away, uncertain of how to react to the hint of emotions. Family, huh?
“For me is was dad,” Nina said. “Who had the magic. Though he'd really hoped I wouldn't catch it as well.” She smiled, and briefly looked behind her, towards the sea. A new beginning, huh? “Thank you. I would be really happy to have you there.”
For a moment, Nina looked thoughtful. “The issue with magic, I noticed it as well.” She suddenly spoke. “I'd thought it was because I drank water condensed from of the mist. It got...better, after I didn't have to anymore, but still not...” She shook her head. It was hard to think of the months spent traveling on the endless sea. Carefully she unclenched her fingers from her trousers. “Did you?” Drink the mist-water, she meant.
Was it a general thing?
It was almost unbelievable that this was really happening. She'd gone along with the idea of the seminar because it was the only thing that seemed to bring life into Gray's eyes, and she needed him alive, not even out of kindness at this point but because the man owed her answers. Closure is a myth, he said, yet she couldn't walk away. Still, when she talked to people, they took her seriously. And part of her was afraid, really afraid, for people like Sylvanie, who might be taken advantage of if they met other magicians. But together they also had the opportunity to be stronger.
“About the meeting...Is there any subject in particular you'd like to hear more about?” Nina asked.
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Sylvanie Autumndaughter
Dedicated
Roleplay posts: 145
Age: 43, though she looks closer to her mid twenties, going by human standards
Appearance: She has auburn hair, like that of fall leaves, that falls down to about her waist, as well as a golden-yellow pair of eyes and pale skin. Her clothing is very nature inspired, appearing to be made of sewn leaves and tree bark, as well as vines for straps and a belt. She usually goes around barefooted(though she has a vine tied around her left ankle) and comes no taller than 5'4" She has a thin frame and clear skin, except for a very slight scar on the top of her right hand, and she bares a pair of translucent wings similar to those of an insect, like a butterfly, though they appear too small to lift her.
Equipment: As she arrived on the Isle she had no equipment to write about, other than the clothes on her back and what appeared to be a dagger made out of wood.
Skills and Abilities: Before arriving here, she could commune with nature and help plants to grow, as well as speak with animals, fly, and cast a variety of nature and illusion based spells. Since arriving, most of her magic has waned significantly. If her spells work at all they take much longer to take hold, her understanding of animals has become much more broken, her flight has left her entirely, and the trees here seem to fall quiet or silent to her ears. Annoyingly, she still seems to hold the allergy to iron and steel that her mother's blood gives her.
Biography: Born of a human father and a fairy mother, Sylvanie was known in her world as a Faeschild. Raised by her mother in the world of magic the fairies inhabited, she learned many things about nature and magic, such as the fairy's ability to commune with it, the animals' nature as a part of it, and humanity's great fear of it. She was always quite naïve and fiery, her heart thirsting for adventure. However, she didn't get the chance before...it happened. She isn't entirely sure what it was, or what happened, but the next thing she new, she was coughing up seawater on the shore of a strange island. Who knows where it'll take her next?
Registered: Apr 9, 2021 0:02:55 GMT -5
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Post by Sylvanie Autumndaughter on Feb 6, 2022 22:33:29 GMT -5
“Hm?” Sylvanie seemed confused at Nina’s questions, tilting her head to the side slightly before giggling again. “Oh yeah I’m fine!” She reassured, rocking back and forth slightly on her heels. “And no, I don’t think I did drink the mist, just the normal water.” She brought a hand up to her chin, the tip of her tongue sticking slightly out of her mouth as she thought. “I think it’s just something about this place, but I don’t like it. I can’t even fly now!” She exclaimed, fluttering her wings again as if for emphasis. “If there were some way for me to learn how to do that again that would be amazing.”
She thought back at what else Nina had said. What had she meant when she said her father hoped she wouldn’t ‘catch’ the magic? Was it like a cold where she was from? Maybe it was a human thing, she pondered. Despite her mixed heritage, being raised exclusively by the fae kept her isolated from anything the humans dealt with. Both a blessing and a curse, it seemed.
“You said your dad taught you magic, huh?” Sylvanie asked, her rocking fading away as she fell to an uncharacteristically calm standing position(which, for others, would simply be called ‘standing still.’) She began to think back to her own dad…or at least, what she had heard about him. Without even noticing she began to think out loud. “I never really met my dad.” She told Nina, the excitement usually native to her voice seeming to become more subdued as she spoke. “All I got out of my mom was he was a pretty important human, back from when they tried to live in the Fae Forest too. She really didn’t like to talk about him, so I decided to stop asking her. The others would tell me a little bit more though!” She tried to regain her normal cadence. It didn’t really work.
“Apparently the fae and the humans didn’t really get along. But we were willing to give them a chance.” She detailed, looking up towards the sky as she recalled what she was told. “So we told them they could be there as long as they respected us and the forest. They say that for a while that worked fine. The fae didn’t really come to like the humans, but they didn’t exactly hate them either.” She paused for a moment, trying to remember what came next. “Apparently the leader did something really bad right after though, and then the fairies banished the humans from the Fae Forest. Sorta just used their magic to ‘woosh!’ them away.” She made a snaking motion with her hand and arm to help clarify her wooshing. “They would never tell me what he did though. Then, a little under a year later I came along.” She shrugged, not sure where to go next with her tale. “I guess if I needed to know, they’d tell me.”
Sylvanie’s eyes widened as she realized how long she’d been talking, and how disconnected it seemed from the reason Miss Nina was here. “Oh my goodness I’m so so sorry for rambling.” She apologized as she brought her hands up near her chest. “I dunno what came over me! Anyways, what do you mean by ‘catch it?’ Is magic like a cold or something where you come from?”
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Nina
Dedicated
Roleplay posts: 289
Registered: Apr 4, 2021 10:46:08 GMT -5
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Post by Nina on Feb 24, 2022 4:28:55 GMT -5
Could it be that magic was muted in these lands? Nina supposed so, for she had heard of leylines, places or paths where magic was focused, and it made sense that the opposite was also true somewhere. But the scale of it was unnerving her. She had gone days to the sunrise without sensing a change in the air (although it might be vanity to assume she would), and Miss Sylvanie regularly traveled outside Port Argentium.
“Has it felt any different when you went out of the village?” she asked. Some former Conclave members had completely lost their magic, she remembered. Clenched a fist. She couldn't exactly share her second hypothesis, it being that people's magical aura was slowly being engulfed by an ungodly entity with tentacles masquerading under the name of Grandma. Not without proof.
They'd had to invite her to the seminar, too.
A thoughtful, neutral expression adorned the traveler's face as she listened to Sylvanie's thoughts on magic, and the same when presented with the deeper, darker secrets the half-fairy carried on her person. Nina nodded, and blinked a bit too fast.
Nina suspected, but didn't want to assume. It's not as if men were only capable of one kind of evil.
“Well good riddance to the ba- bad fellow.” She swatted at the air with a flick of her wrist. 'Bastard,' she figured, would be a most unfortunate word in the context. “Sorry.” Nina rubbed the back of her neck. “I...I guess it's understandable to feel nostalgic, even about people you may not have liked if you knew them.” She shrugged. “Sometimes the world is crazy. Our minds long for the familiar.”
For a moment she wondered whether it would be presumptuous to offer Sylvanie a knife, and in which words should she phrase safety to a young woman who may not understand it.
But Sylvanie's question distracted her.
“No worries! Uhm...My mistake.” She scratched the nape of her neck, and pulled on braid adorned with intricately carved coral beads. “No, magic is not like a cold. Well, most of it ain't. The kinds that are tend to be rather...dangerous.” Nina's lips narrowed, and her voice lowered to near imperceptible. As if she struggled to recall something. “I caught that too, but that's another story. What I meant is...” She took a deep breath. “I meant that my dad hoped I wouldn't express my magic. Like, you know, how a child may inherit a knack for something,” she said, snapping her fingers, “ like numbers or music, from a parent, but that gift may not reveal itself unless the child is taught? Dad didn't teach me magic. I learned later. I don't blame him.” A pause. “Anymore.” She looked past Sylvanie, eyes clinging to a patch of blue sky between white petals, and smiled a quizzical smile.
“His magic was rather hard on him. It ate away at his personality.” She felt guilty, rude, to share something of a parent who was sane and loving. To complain. “I guess it's part of the reason that I want to do this. I'd like to make it easier for people with difficult gifts to cope with them.” 'And also to gamble on their lives and get them out of the woodwork, before the witch swallows them whole behind my back,' Nina thought. “I imagine being unable to fly anymore is certainly difficult,” she mused. “Could I have a look?” Nina's magic shined in sensing the fine details. “Could you...Try to fly, but stay in place as much as possible?” Her eyes seemed to lose focus, as if they were gazing at something both very small and very far away. “Thank you. I'll have a think.”
“Would you be able to carry the word around?” Nina asked, after that was done. She gestured towards the shore. Petals flew by and she got distracted pawing at them. “I'm preparing to journey all the way to the Twin Cities – a trade ship is leaving the day after tomorrow, and I'll be up in the sails.” Up, she gestured, poking a white petal. “Not sure if I can make it to all of the lumber camps when I return. The people there might not be able to make it to the seminar either way,” Nina sighed, thinking of lingering economic inequality, “but...let them know they can ask me things. At any time.” Before she forgot, she made sure to mention time and location.
“Although, if you have any questions in the meantime, you're also free to ask Gray. He looks kinda scary, cloak, giant sword, expression of someone who could outstare a rock,” Nina mimed. “But he knows his stuff.”
Nina very carefully didn't say that there was nothing to be scared about.
At least she was pretty sure that Gray wasn't eating magicians' souls behind her back.
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Sylvanie Autumndaughter
Dedicated
Roleplay posts: 145
Age: 43, though she looks closer to her mid twenties, going by human standards
Appearance: She has auburn hair, like that of fall leaves, that falls down to about her waist, as well as a golden-yellow pair of eyes and pale skin. Her clothing is very nature inspired, appearing to be made of sewn leaves and tree bark, as well as vines for straps and a belt. She usually goes around barefooted(though she has a vine tied around her left ankle) and comes no taller than 5'4" She has a thin frame and clear skin, except for a very slight scar on the top of her right hand, and she bares a pair of translucent wings similar to those of an insect, like a butterfly, though they appear too small to lift her.
Equipment: As she arrived on the Isle she had no equipment to write about, other than the clothes on her back and what appeared to be a dagger made out of wood.
Skills and Abilities: Before arriving here, she could commune with nature and help plants to grow, as well as speak with animals, fly, and cast a variety of nature and illusion based spells. Since arriving, most of her magic has waned significantly. If her spells work at all they take much longer to take hold, her understanding of animals has become much more broken, her flight has left her entirely, and the trees here seem to fall quiet or silent to her ears. Annoyingly, she still seems to hold the allergy to iron and steel that her mother's blood gives her.
Biography: Born of a human father and a fairy mother, Sylvanie was known in her world as a Faeschild. Raised by her mother in the world of magic the fairies inhabited, she learned many things about nature and magic, such as the fairy's ability to commune with it, the animals' nature as a part of it, and humanity's great fear of it. She was always quite naïve and fiery, her heart thirsting for adventure. However, she didn't get the chance before...it happened. She isn't entirely sure what it was, or what happened, but the next thing she new, she was coughing up seawater on the shore of a strange island. Who knows where it'll take her next?
Registered: Apr 9, 2021 0:02:55 GMT -5
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Post by Sylvanie Autumndaughter on Feb 26, 2022 0:11:28 GMT -5
“Not really, no.” Sylvanie explained, thinking back to her travels to the lumber yards. “It got a little better when I got near the forest, but not really all that much.” She considered it further. What was it about this weird place that kept her from using her magic as well as she used to? She hoped Nina would be able to figure it out. She seemed like she could at least.
The faeschild just listened as Nina weighed in on her ramblings, smiling through it. She had never given it much thought, but the way Nina spoke about it made her think she had picked up on something that Sylvanie had not. She tried not to think about it. Perhaps it was another thing better left out of the mind as she looked towards the present. She decided she wasn’t interested in continuing that conversation any further.
What she was interested in, however, was listening to Nina’s own tale. She found it quite odd, in truth. Why didn’t her father want her to have magic? In her community, magic was such a big part of life that to wish for someone not to have it was like wishing a fairy didn’t have wings. It was just confusing and mean. Only upon hearing what his magic had done to him could Sylvanie begin to understand. She had heard before that often, magic for humans had a cost, in a way that it usually didn’t for fairies, but she had always thought it was something more simple, like a trinket or a doodad that had to be given in order to use it. For magic to cost her dad something like that…well, it must have been some pretty powerful stuff. No wonder he didn’t want that happening to his kid. “Oh, I see.” She said, rubbing her arm and casting her eyes slightly to the ground. “Uh, I’m sorry about your dad. That couldn’t’ve been easy.”
Upon hearing talk of her flight, Sylvanie perked up again, rocking on her heels as she listened. “Oh, of course!” She said, taking a more stable footing as she began to flutter her wings, channeling her magic into them. While to most the relatively weak, uncondensed magical flow may be invisible, Nina’s sensitivity may reveal its color, amber-yellow as Sylvanie’s eyes, as it travels back towards and through her wings, even extending past them as if to create a larger phantom of their shape around them. However, it was incomplete, filled with shifting holes and flickering like candlelight, making her unable to take off no matter how much she tried. Sylvanie considered jumping into the air to try and help the process, but considering what happened last time she decided against it. Tree roots would probably hurt a lot more than beach sand. She let out a breath as she stopped, her magic returning to its normal state as her wings laid still again. It was obvious she wasn’t used to putting that much effort into flight. “No thank you Nina! It means a lot to me that you’re looking into it.”
“Of course!” She responds upon hearing the traveling painter’s request. “I’m heading out to one of the tree yards tomorrow, I’ll tell them then! And I’ll keep an eye out for Mr. Gray too, thanks!”
Sylvanie began to think, trying to make sure she didn’t forget anything. “Oh!” She says, remembering to try and be a good host. “Do you wanna come inside before you leave? I don’t have much, but the tree and I could get you water or something.”
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Nina
Dedicated
Roleplay posts: 289
Registered: Apr 4, 2021 10:46:08 GMT -5
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Post by Nina on Mar 12, 2022 16:05:11 GMT -5
Always dancing with the fire, trying not to be engulfed by the flames. “He was happy,” Nina said of her father. “I didn't realize until later that children don't normally feel that they've been partially raised by the weather, though.” But his was a different story altogether. Nina closed her eyes and focused deeper on Sylvanie's wings.
A spark that ignites kindling, but struggles to reach the sticks and logs piled around it. A creek that falls along a complex system of canals, with soft-clinking bamboo pipes that balance across it, with assorted waterfalls, all spaces meant for a larger river, but instead the creek dries to nothing in the desert soil, its body split into more than it could handle. Trying to run, with a scarf wrapped tight around your nose.
These images flickered in Nina's mind in counterpoint to the magic. There were no proper words for magic that she had.
And they all told her that Sylvanie was right. In her simple words. There was no wound or disease that Nina could sense marring the complex weave of the fae-born's magic. The problem was in the world itself.
“I think you're right. About this place being wrong.”
Her face went pale. She shook her head, and raised her fingertips to her lips as her stomach rose to her throat. Her awareness had been a very small point, and so the movement of wings felt like being repeatedly slapped in the face by an earthquake.
Briefly, she wondered whether her father would have been happier in this world. But Sylvanie's invitation to stay pulled her out of that melancholy, and Nina's eyes widened. How would the tree give them water, she wondered. And wonder the idea filled her with.
“I'd be honoured,” Nina said, and realized she was pressing her forehead against the bark of the apple tree. Her breathing was heavy and it tickled her nose as it went through the cracks in the bark. She smiled and, unsteady on her feet, stepped back to take in the fluttering pinkish-white canopy. Her hand reached down to her belt, and she handed her lasso to Sylvanie. “Only if it's okay with you...” She quietly added. “Could you tie this to a branch, higher up? I may need some support.”
She thought that it all looked very much like magic.
/exit stage. Thank you for the story!
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Haamiah Gadreel
Established
Roleplay posts: 11
Age: Ageless
Appearance: A traditionally attractive woman, with a moderate bust, wide hips, flowing white hair, and a regal countenance. Clothed in white robes and blessed with a large pair of white wings upon her back.
Equipment: A large golden scepter.
Skills and Abilities: A wide array of angelic abilities, and can directly compel Thuratiphel to do what she wishes.
Registered: Jan 15, 2022 7:15:51 GMT -5
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Post by Haamiah Gadreel on Sept 6, 2022 15:13:06 GMT -5
Finally, she had found it. This blasted tree had taken Haamiah ages to find, apple trees weren't exactly uncommon in these parts. Either way, she had found it. She rapped a knuckle on it's trunk, hoping to get Sylvanie's attention.
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Sylvanie Autumndaughter
Dedicated
Roleplay posts: 145
Age: 43, though she looks closer to her mid twenties, going by human standards
Appearance: She has auburn hair, like that of fall leaves, that falls down to about her waist, as well as a golden-yellow pair of eyes and pale skin. Her clothing is very nature inspired, appearing to be made of sewn leaves and tree bark, as well as vines for straps and a belt. She usually goes around barefooted(though she has a vine tied around her left ankle) and comes no taller than 5'4" She has a thin frame and clear skin, except for a very slight scar on the top of her right hand, and she bares a pair of translucent wings similar to those of an insect, like a butterfly, though they appear too small to lift her.
Equipment: As she arrived on the Isle she had no equipment to write about, other than the clothes on her back and what appeared to be a dagger made out of wood.
Skills and Abilities: Before arriving here, she could commune with nature and help plants to grow, as well as speak with animals, fly, and cast a variety of nature and illusion based spells. Since arriving, most of her magic has waned significantly. If her spells work at all they take much longer to take hold, her understanding of animals has become much more broken, her flight has left her entirely, and the trees here seem to fall quiet or silent to her ears. Annoyingly, she still seems to hold the allergy to iron and steel that her mother's blood gives her.
Biography: Born of a human father and a fairy mother, Sylvanie was known in her world as a Faeschild. Raised by her mother in the world of magic the fairies inhabited, she learned many things about nature and magic, such as the fairy's ability to commune with it, the animals' nature as a part of it, and humanity's great fear of it. She was always quite naïve and fiery, her heart thirsting for adventure. However, she didn't get the chance before...it happened. She isn't entirely sure what it was, or what happened, but the next thing she new, she was coughing up seawater on the shore of a strange island. Who knows where it'll take her next?
Registered: Apr 9, 2021 0:02:55 GMT -5
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Post by Sylvanie Autumndaughter on Sept 7, 2022 18:56:16 GMT -5
A moment would pass. Then another. Soon, though, she’d here the rustling of the leaves above, shaking and falling above her head, then behind her, until it stopped again. Soon after, a tap would land upon Haamia’s shoulder, followed by a cheery voice. “Hi!” Sylvanie would say to the angelic woman. “This is my tree! What do ya think?”
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Haamiah Gadreel
Established
Roleplay posts: 11
Age: Ageless
Appearance: A traditionally attractive woman, with a moderate bust, wide hips, flowing white hair, and a regal countenance. Clothed in white robes and blessed with a large pair of white wings upon her back.
Equipment: A large golden scepter.
Skills and Abilities: A wide array of angelic abilities, and can directly compel Thuratiphel to do what she wishes.
Registered: Jan 15, 2022 7:15:51 GMT -5
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Post by Haamiah Gadreel on Sept 8, 2022 15:57:32 GMT -5
A moment would pass. Then another. Soon, though, she’d here the rustling of the leaves above, shaking and falling above her head, then behind her, until it stopped again. Soon after, a tap would land upon Haamia’s shoulder, followed by a cheery voice. “Hi!” Sylvanie would say to the angelic woman. “This is my tree! What do ya think?” The woman turned around, surprised, then promptly trip on a root and fall upon her rear. For being a... presumably angel, she was awfully clumsy. She rubbed her rear in pain as she stood up. "Oww... hello.. Sylvanie, I believe it was? It's a very nice tree indeed."
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Sylvanie Autumndaughter
Dedicated
Roleplay posts: 145
Age: 43, though she looks closer to her mid twenties, going by human standards
Appearance: She has auburn hair, like that of fall leaves, that falls down to about her waist, as well as a golden-yellow pair of eyes and pale skin. Her clothing is very nature inspired, appearing to be made of sewn leaves and tree bark, as well as vines for straps and a belt. She usually goes around barefooted(though she has a vine tied around her left ankle) and comes no taller than 5'4" She has a thin frame and clear skin, except for a very slight scar on the top of her right hand, and she bares a pair of translucent wings similar to those of an insect, like a butterfly, though they appear too small to lift her.
Equipment: As she arrived on the Isle she had no equipment to write about, other than the clothes on her back and what appeared to be a dagger made out of wood.
Skills and Abilities: Before arriving here, she could commune with nature and help plants to grow, as well as speak with animals, fly, and cast a variety of nature and illusion based spells. Since arriving, most of her magic has waned significantly. If her spells work at all they take much longer to take hold, her understanding of animals has become much more broken, her flight has left her entirely, and the trees here seem to fall quiet or silent to her ears. Annoyingly, she still seems to hold the allergy to iron and steel that her mother's blood gives her.
Biography: Born of a human father and a fairy mother, Sylvanie was known in her world as a Faeschild. Raised by her mother in the world of magic the fairies inhabited, she learned many things about nature and magic, such as the fairy's ability to commune with it, the animals' nature as a part of it, and humanity's great fear of it. She was always quite naïve and fiery, her heart thirsting for adventure. However, she didn't get the chance before...it happened. She isn't entirely sure what it was, or what happened, but the next thing she new, she was coughing up seawater on the shore of a strange island. Who knows where it'll take her next?
Registered: Apr 9, 2021 0:02:55 GMT -5
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Post by Sylvanie Autumndaughter on Sept 11, 2022 17:44:18 GMT -5
A moment would pass. Then another. Soon, though, she’d here the rustling of the leaves above, shaking and falling above her head, then behind her, until it stopped again. Soon after, a tap would land upon Haamia’s shoulder, followed by a cheery voice. “Hi!” Sylvanie would say to the angelic woman. “This is my tree! What do ya think?” The woman turned around, surprised, then promptly trip on a root and fall upon her rear. For being a... presumably angel, she was awfully clumsy. She rubbed her rear in pain as she stood up. "Oww... hello.. Sylvanie, I believe it was? It's a very nice tree indeed." "Yep, that's me!" She said excitedly. "Come on up, then we can talk!"
The faeschild hops up and grabs onto the branch, swinging herself up onto it and sitting, waiting for Haamiah to follow. "You wanted to talk about Mr. Thuratiphel, right?"
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