EliteCommander, Sundered Echo, and Ryonara

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Auriel was bored. Incredibly, soul-crushingly bored. Having the teachers busy with the diplomats and representatives from the various countries of the world meant no classes, which meant nothing for her to do. Other than pestering Deven for a little while, she had been wondering aimlessly or listening to people talk about a variety of subjects in the main hall. Many discussions had turned political, something Auriel just didn't care for. She was considering finding Deven again when she spotted a large black Esyire rush in to the hall alone. Most people had been filtering in in pairs, but finally here was someone alone, and not only that, someone she knew. At least a little.

This particular Esyire was Ssarak, someone who seemed to speak to Jenna from time to time, and since Deven was also around Jenna quite often to time, and Auriel followed Deven to an extent, that meant they had met from time to time.

Along with his name, Auriel had also learned that he was a psychomancer. Obviously her first encounter with Psychomancy had been less than pleasant, but just because Satori was bad didn't mean all Psychomancers were. At least that was what she willing to believe if it meant getting close to such a big, strong man as Ssarak. That, and she had a theory to test with Psychomancy, something she'd though of while taking the blocking class.

She leap down from where she was sitting and slunked across the hall towards the Esyire, who had rushed to one of the table to get food. Once she was right behind him, she stepped close, reaching one hand around his waist and with the other poking him softly between the wings. She was prepared to leap back if he turned quickly, and with any luck grabbing something off his belt as she did so.

Failing to immediately spot someone he knew among the crowd, Ssarak headed to collect his meal before renewing the search. Due to his armor, he did not notice the hand around his waist, but he did feel the slight pressure on his wings. He turned his head slowly and calmly, then looked down to see a relative stranger, a Forest Elf. Her name was Auriel, but he knew little else about her. 

"Hello, is there...something you need?" He asked curiously, cocking his head slightly to the side. He had thought he had become mostly accustomed to the behaviors of the most common races at the college in the months since he arrived, but this behavior was entirely new. 

"Ssarak isn't it?" Auriel said, drawing a hand behind her back - a hand holding the coinpurse of the Esyire. "I've seen you talking to Jenna before. I saw you were alone and I thought we could have a chat. To alleviate the boredom..." She stepped back a little from the big Esyire, one of the rare men taller than she was, though that seemed much less the case in the college. Mostly, she just wanted to be out of his long reach when she showed him that she'd easily stolen his money. Though by the weight of the bag, that wasn't much.

"That is correct." Ssarak responded, still a bit suspicious. Her greeting seemed hardly normal. Most people he had spoken to would not be so forward to touch him. "And you are Auriel, yes? I believe I have seen you around Devan in the gymnasium from time to time. I would not mind a conversation, I suppose." He said, seeing no harm in talking to the eccentric Forest Elf. Turning back around for a moment, he grabbed his plate and his glass of Ember, then looked back to Auriel. "Would you like a meal as well? Perhaps a drink?"

Auriel smiled at the friendly greeting, though it was a little reserved. Her smile quickly turned into a mischievous grin though. "If you're planning to buy me dinner, it might be a little difficult." She held up his coin purse in clearer view. "You know you big men in armour really ought to watch your backs more. Its way to easy to get things from you." She laughed then and tossed the coinpurse into the air in front of Ssarak.

Ssarak gave a faint, low growl. "Perhaps I would care more if I had something of value." He said, his voice distinctly harsher. His coinpurse currently contained a grand total of two coins and a half-eaten piece of beef jerky, so losing it was not much of a concern for him, but her pickpocketing did not help to build trust. "Considering that this feast is free, I do not believe I will be buying you anything. If your intent in approaching me is to get money from me, then you have chosen the wrong mark. One cannot draw blood from a stone; I have nothing for you to take." Based on everything he had seen of her, his opinion of Auriel had shifted to being only moderately better than a common criminal, at least until he learned more about her. He wasn't, after all, simply going to make an absolute judgement based on a first impression. It was difficult for him to draw conclusions on others if their societal expectations were unknown to him, but he was at least mostly certain that taking another's property was not acceptable even in her culture. 

Auriel made a face as Ssarak growled, he wasn't turning out to be as fun as she had hoped. "Oh come on... If I [i]really[/i] wanted to take something of yours for myself, you wouldn't know until [i]after[/i] you'd taken me to dinner." She put on her best innocent look and reached out to hand the light coinpurse back to the black Esyire. "I don't have anything else... You're a psychomancer right? So you can tell I'm not lying." She had to suppress a giggle at the idea she was about to try. Wouldn't want to tip him off about it after all.

Ssarak reached out, grabbed his coinpurse, and placed it back in its proper place. Her approach did not match that of a common thief, so perhaps she did not have ill intentions. Perhaps she was just strange. In any case, she seemed to be taunting him to try and reach into her mind. Of course, he had no expectations that reading her mind would yield anything useful. He could still only read surface thoughts, so that ability was only useful when his target did not know he was attempting to intrude into their mind. She could control what she was thinking. Still, he found himself curious. It could be that she had been taking the warding classes and wanted to take the chance to prove that she could block him out of her mind. However, she would not know about his frequent private lessons with Satori. She would not know that his psychomantic abilities were above average compared to most of the other novices. "Perhaps." He responded as he began to reach into her mind.

For a moment, Auriel let the thoughts of her not having stolen anything else from Ssarak float to the top of her mind, but very swiftly afterwards she replaced those thoughts with others, and began her experiment. She quickly thought of images of herself, as though she were looking at a mirror, only, in her mind, she was stark naked and posing in suggestive positions. In the real world, her grin changed to one with an amused and slightly sinister look, and her eyes were expectant. She couldn't wait to see the reaction to her idea for keeping people out of her mind. She hoped it would either repulse the psychomancer or bring her to a fun and energetic evening...

Ssarak had expected to have to break through wards, but oddly enough, she seemed to allow him easily into her mind. At first, the thoughts he found were exactly what he would have expected, which meant they were not necessarily reliable. After a few moments, however, her thoughts took on a much more...personal theme. After years of accidental mind readings back in his village, and the few months he had been in the college, he was used to experiencing thoughts that were not meant for his mind. There was a time when he tried to take advantage of it, but he had long since grown out of that phase. He had developed a tolerance to disturbing or suggestive thoughts, but this was different. Unlike most, she was very intentionally creating these images in her mind, knowing they were being seen. She was a Forest Elf, so her body was not exactly what he would call attractive, for the most part. Honestly, he did not know what she expected him to do, and neither did he know how to respond. He cocked his head to the side once more, his confusion apparent. "Was this all one roundabout, strange attempt to flirt with me?" He asked. 

Auriel was a little disappointed with the reaction. She stuck her tongue out at him and started to imagine herself with him, both naked, in very compromising positions. She had seen Esyires naked before so she had a reasonable idea for what to imagine, though of course she couldn't tailor it quite as well to him as she would've liked.

Ssarak was not sure why he had continued to read her mind, but he immediately regretted it. He reigned in his abilities and closed his eyes on reaction, as if that would somehow help. He grimaced subtly, but noticeably. "I suppose that is a yes. Might I ask why you seem so enthralled with me? I do not quite know what you would find so appealing about me compared to one more similar to yourself." He asked. He had no intention of doing anything with this Forest Elf, but he could not help but to be curious about her motivations. He was not one for casual encounters. 

[i]Finally[/i] Auriel thought as Ssarak's face twisted subtly. "What, did you think I would be able to resist a big, strong, handsome man like you?" She said in a sultry voice. She could already tell she wasn't going to get anywhere with this, but at least she could try to make it as awkward as possible for Ssarak before moving on. She reached across for a glass of whatever was in the glass, and took a sip. It was strong, not only that, but searing hot, not something she was expecting and it would be evident by her expression. She couldn't tell if she liked it or not, and took another sip, making a similar face to the first.

As Auriel was quite obviously surprised by the heat of the glass of Ember she grabbed, Ssarak could not help but to laugh. She was evidently caught off-guard by it: a common occurrence for those who did not know what Ember was. "Perhaps your should resist the urge to drink unknown drinks. Ember is a potent concoction and can leave your throat scalded if you are not careful. In any event, perhaps I cannot blame you, but all the same, I do not believe I am interested in the same things as you. Temporary infatuations are not what I am looking for." He explained before finally taking a seat at a nearby table. 

"You are [i]so[/i] boring." Auriel said, her voice slightly hoarse from the Ember. She turned to the table behind her and looked for a glass of something a little less extreme, then downed the rest of the ember in one go, trying not cry out before drinking a little from the milder liquid to wash it down.

After Meirin had taken her share of food and drink, she had hoped to find someone else to talk to and spend today's evening with. With any luck it'll be another Weaver, but the first person that caught her eyes was Ssarak. They haven't really spoken much since the opening feast, but she thinks that they could be considered friends, or at least good acquaintance. If nothing else, surely he wouldn't mind if she came over to say hi, which she did. [b]"Ssarak? It's been a while, hasn't it?"[/b] Meirin walked over to Ssarak, her arms casual crossed behind her back. Unlike some of the others here who dressed in fancier garments than usual, Ssarak looked to be in his armor. Even had his weapon of choice, a fairly large battle axe fit for a giant of his size. It didn't scare Meirin though, as many students of the college tend to be armed and armored half the time. From what she understood, many of them came from a noble or warrior background, so old habits die hard. [b]"I hope the feast has treated you well."[/b]

Just as Ssarak was about to begin his meal, he heard a familiar voice behind him. Turning his head, he saw that it was Meirin who had approached him. Auriel was still present, though it seemed she was focused on drinking away the burning sensation of the Ember. "Oh, greetings, Meirin. To be honest, I have only just arrived. I went for a run, as usual, but I accidentally fell asleep after stopping to rest. I rushed to get here in time after I awoke. This would not be my normal attire for a formal gathering, you understand. At any rate, I am doing well. My classes are progressing smoothly and I am enjoying my time here. What of yourself? It has been some time since I asked you about your progress"

[b]"Well enough. I'll have to admit, Weaving is much different from what I'm used to. But I'm told that I have a natural talent for it... I doubt it's that so much as it is that I'm just fairly used to moving my body anyways. But it's good none the less."[/b] Meirin than began to ponder something. Ssarak ran while wearing full armor? Seems strange. She could somewhat understand in a way why he may want to do that, but it didn't seem very comfortable. He also mentioned how being in armor would not be considered "Normal" as formal attire, though she wasn't sure if he meant for a place like the college or culturally as an Eysire. [b]"Do Eysire have a sort of formal attire? I've heard in most warrior cultures armor is more than suitable for these sorts of occasions."[/b]

Ssarak nodded. "Well, yes, depending on the event, but I was more referring to this area's expectations of formality. I am not in my homeland anymore, so I reason it is only appropriate that I adapt to this new culture. I do not believe it would be right of me to expect others to adapt to my traditions. It is not easy, by any means, but I try. If you remember the rather awkward encounter I had with Aruna when we first arrived here, you can see how I have...failed, at times. Anyway, would you like to join me? Have you eaten yet?" He asked while motioning to an empty seat beside him. 

Meirin took Ssarak's offer for the seat and sat down next to him. [b]"I've already eaten, but thank you for offering."[/b] Ssarak mentioned his first encounter with Aruna, her roommate, though Meirin did not quiet remember if that happened, or if she was there when it happened. She in fact did not even know that Aruna and Ssarak were even acquainted, though she supposed it wouldn't be too surprising since Aruna had Lues Mageblood. Aruna was a Noxomancer though. [b]"I think that was more of a misunderstanding rather than any sort of culture clash."[/b] She couldn't really say that was true since Meirin might have not had any memory of it, but hopefully it would console Ssarak a little bit. She decided to move onto another subject.

[b]"Adaption is... Good, but you shouldn't be afraid to flaut your own tradition sometimes. The college does not seem to be a sort of place that would punish you for keeping up with some facets of your old life. Granted, value dissonance is always in effect. Back at my home, it was highly looked down upon for those in position of leadership to have children. I was taught that being a leader but also having children made it possible for nepotism. It would make them bad leaders, and harm the community. It wasn't wrong per say, but it would not be advisable for such a law to be enforced outside of my own home. On the other hand, my home also allowed each individual to go about their daily business with the tools of their arts, such as craftsmen with hammers or martial artist with their weapons. But I can understand how other places wouldn't take to kindly if everyone went about with their tools, even if it was part of their crafts."[/b]

After her information dump Meirin twiddled her fingers. She had let herself ramble again so she tried to think of how to get Ssarak a chance to talk. [b]"S-so what sort of things did you used to do, back where you came from? As an Eysire, I mean. Not that I think that they're nothing like everyone else, but... Well..."[/b] Meirin began to loose steam as she seemed to dig herself deeper.

Ssarak began on his meal as he listened to Meirin explain some of her own background. He did not know a great deal about her history, but from what she described, it seemed interesting. She also seemed curious about his own past, though she appeared to be having a hard time finding the words to express her curiosity by the end of it. He held up his hand and gave a slight chuckle, along with a reassuring look. "Do not worry, I understand your meaning. Truthfully, there is a lot of my culture I no longer desire to follow, but that isn't to say there are not redeeming qualities. Esyire culture is much like Human culture in that it is not one cohesive entity. Each of the six clans have their own customs and traditions. There are some elements we all share, of course, but they are all very distinct. My own people, clan Dyre, are very much a warrior people. Along with clan Xhoth, we are among the proudest warriors in the Scorched Lands. However, my own experiences have given me somewhat of a...different view on warfare than others in my clan. Essentially, I approve of our traditions in regards to fighting. Our styles of weapons and armor, our tactics and martial arts. I enjoy how our focus on physical well-being has given me the drive to train and improve my body. In as dangerous of a world as we live in, I believe those things are important, but warfare...I despise. I believe that warfare between clans, nations, and whatever else, causes nothing but destruction."

Not wanting to bring down both of their moods, Ssarak elected to quickly continue on to explain other aspects of his culture. "But being a warrior was just my profession. Even for Clan Dyre, there [i]is[/i] more to us than just fighting. Just as you would expect from any people, we have our own arts, sports, stories, history. When I was not training or fighting, I did have a few hobbies. Sports had an obvious draw for me. I do not believe we have any of the same games as Humans do, but they have similarities. One of my favorites is simple in concept, but rather difficult to play. You start with two teams, usually of four each, and in the middle is a...there isn't a word for it in this language, but it is essentially a long stick with a ball attached on the end. On each side of the field are two hoops about thirty feet off the ground. All you have to do is make sure the ball goes through the hoop on the opposite end of the field. It takes a lot of skill in flying to play effectively...and a good amount of pain tolerance. As you can imagine, you end up hitting the ground rather frequently. Beyond sports, I also took an interest in music, at least when I was young. Specifically, I learned as a child to play the diranak. It's a stringed instrument, about as tall as I am. It has been many years, though, and I am quite out of practice." 

Meirin listened as Ssarak was thankfully able to make more sense from what she tried to ask than she did. When Ssarak spoke at first of his clan, he seemed rather proud of their martial ability, but spoke negatively about war. She could understand why, but she had her own opinions about war. It was never a good thing, but it wasn't better taking it away. She kept quiet though as Ssarak explained other things about the Eysire, such as a game they played. She tried to imagine how the game was played, with hoops high above the ground, this "long stick with a ball attached", and all the players flying. Flight was actually something she's never witness first hand. Back at Djarkel she lived high into the mountains, so heights never scared her. But she always had a firm grip on a solid surface when that happened; to be in the air with no visible means of standing was a frightening thought. Like that previous incident with Locas. Being elevated off the ground didn't scare her, walking off however made her worry for her health, even if Locas had a way to make sure she wouldn't get hurt.

[b]"You know, I have never flew through the air before. I've stood on top of mountains and found myself a thousand feet over the ground, but I've always had my feet firmly planted on the ground. How is it like, to be able to fly?"[/b] 

Putting down his drink, Ssarak smiled. In the few times he actually did speak to humans before arriving at the college, that was a rather common question. Sensible, considering that it was something they had no real way of experiencing, normally, at least. "That is actually a rather difficult question to answer. For Esyire, flying is a natural part of who we are, just like walking. It is normal. I could just as easily ask you what it is like being unable to fly. I can attempt to explain what it is like for us, though. It is not something that causes me any more fear than walking. It is true that making a mistake and landing too hard could be fatal, but just the same, it is possible to trip, fall, and die by hitting your head the wrong way on a rock. I am just as afraid of the latter as I am the former, which is to say I do not often think about it while flying. It also affects the way we view the landscape. Heights are not something we think about often, as they are usually irrelevant for us. In my village, if we stayed in one place for long enough, we would build fortifications around our camp which had no entrance on the ground. It could keep out dangerous creatures without hindering us at all. That is what flight is light for us, but for you, however, I cannot even begin to imagine what it would be like. It is not an ability you were born with, so the experience would be completely new. The only way you could really know what it would be like for [i]you[/i] to fly would be to experience it yourself. If you ever felt that you wanted to, I could help you to satisfy that curiosity." He offered.

[b]"Yes, I suppose that does make some sense..."[/b] Meirin quipped when Ssarak mentioned how flying and walking were just natural things for Eysire to do. She also wanted to mention how it was also "Natural" for everyone to be covered in scales and live in a land where even weeds don't live, but she felt that was unnecessarily and tastelessly sarcastic. Thinking that Ssarak wasn't willing to talk about it, he instead offered to satisfy her curiosity instead. If that's what she thinks he meant, she started to feel a bit excited. Hopefully this would turn out a bit better than what Locas tried, and it won't cause either Ssarak or Meirin to go to the Infirmary. [b]"I... I don't suppose you could show me right now. Tonight. If that's okay with you, of course..."[/b] Flight, that certainly would be something to experience.

"Certainly. After I finish my meal, I would be more than happy to take you on a flight. I will just need to return my armor to my room first. I would not wish to attempt to carry both you and my plate armor at the same time. I look forward to showing you the skies. I imagine it will be similar to the first time I saw a lake." Ssarak responded.