[It could have been so much worse. Very nearly was, as he understands, and he wonders if he ought to be more explicit about what befell (will befall?) her or if knowing she escaped the Lifestream in due time is sufficient. He mirrors her study, watching her in turn and weighing in his mind which path to take. He has already resolved not to say a word about Minfilia unless she directly asks, but it's different when it's her own fate...
It's a moment before he quite realizes that they are both studying each other.]
You have further questions.
[An open invitation. He has a feeling he knows what she would ask, but even if she surprises him with another track, still best to get everything out at once he supposes.]
[Perhaps...not that question, or not quite yet. Thancred's preferred dance is one of storytelling, and Y'shtola would hear more rather than less, so though her eyes keep wandering back to the cloth covering a portion of his face, she relaxes some of the stiffness in her posture and nods to him.]
Is it too burdensome of me to request hearing what becomes of us in the intervening...moons? Between my memory and yours.
[She doesn't like not knowing, even though she will forget all of this in time, and will know it again when it happens. Thancred and his protective streak are like to withhold what he thinks it might be difficult for her to hear, as well, so she will learn a thing or two else from what he chooses to share.]
Lest you worry for the stability of what is to come, I shall tell you what I also told Lyse and Alisaie: when at last I return to Eorzea, all of this fades to less than memory. To nothing. I will know no more in that moment than I did ere I was stolen from it.
[Even if she did...she would make the same choice.]
Mm, I have read as much. It seems a shame to forget so interesting a place, but I suppose it is for the best.
[And then pauses to consider.]
In any case, 'tis not too burdensome, but even glossing over the finer details, it is a long tale as it has been many eventful moons indeed since where your memory leaves off. Long enough that we might wish to to discuss it over tea or a meal instead of books. Moreover, some I would be telling you secondhand from what you and Alphinaud told-- will tell? me of things I was not there to witness.
[Thancred has rather lost track of time in the library, so he's uncertain if it's even an appropriate time for a meal but if it is then perhaps also having a drink will make some of the telling easier, should Y'shtola probe this or that.]
[It has been some bells since the long talk with Lyse and Alisaie at which she ate less than she might otherwise deem sufficient.]
'Twill be unprecedented to receive mine own firsthand recollections from the very person to whom I shall later recall them. What manner of fool I should prove to not pursue it.
[It is less reckless than some other avenues of study. Plus, he said tea.]
We are both like to lose ourselves among the shelves otherwise, are we not? I'd not oppose a meal and drink or two. [Her treat, as Thancred is almost certain not to have any local currency on his person yet.]
[He can't help but grin - of course that is the attitude she would adopt to this whole thing!]
Would you like me to imitate your most memorable scoldings as well?
[He will. Don't even doubt him. But he rises again, stretching his shoulders again. If he didn't intend to return where after their meal, he would take greater care with returning the books to their places, but as it stands he simply stacks them neatly and hopes no one removes his bookmark.]
Shall we then? I am afraid I must rely on you, my lady, to guide us as the one most familiar with this city.
I am not sure whether I should be pleased that you recall any of my wise and forthright advisement or affronted that it comes forth from you as "memorable scoldings" instead.
[She knows the look of Thancred's study desk, and she only straightens the edges of a book or two ere falling into step with him.]
In what manner of evening would you partake? There are restaurants numerous enough to appease a range of tastes and cravings, though the more popular of them are like to be full to bursting with new arrivals and the fussing of their friends.
[So if he wants something stronger than tea, she knows where to go for that, and if he'd like to eat himself silly and stagger to his borrowed bed and not wake until the tenth bell, she knows where to go for that too. It is comforting merely to walk in the presence of a dear friend again.]
[His only response to her first remarks are a grin as he waits for her to satisfy herself with the books. The teasing fades to thoughtfulness.]
Hm, perhaps someplace with good ale, hearty food and corners quiet enough for talk? Failing that, the latter two are sufficient.
[There was ... interesting food on the airship, and he's had a bit of street food since then but he hasn't had a proper full meal since vanishing from Ala Mhigo. Drinks would be a plus, though he thinks perhaps he should not imbibe too heavily on the first night here...]
I can promise you all three. [In pursuit of "quiet corners", though, they'll need to avoid From the Hearth; the restaurant is crowded enough without half the city taking their newly come friends for some fine dining.
Instead, Y'shtola leads the way to a more out of the way locale, of dim lighting and few tables. Nevertheless the bar is clean and the small staff friendly, and more importantly few souls have come here for evening sustenance. She and Thancred are unlike to be disturbed.
For the present, she orders only water and cold tea, intending to judge her need for stronger stuff once she has heard at least something of what promises to be a tumultuous future indeed.]
Does this suffice? [It must, of course, since they are already seated and someone will bring them drinks presently.]
[As they make their way, Thancred asks her questions about the city and the areas they pass by, and when they arrive and orders have been placed (he orders an ale of some sort and eyes the options for dinner, though he thinks he shall wait lest his appetite vanish in the course of wandering the paths of memory), he gives their place an appreciative look.]
Aye, I think it will serve nicely.
[He leans his elbows on the table and threads his fingers together for a moment before shifting to just fold them.]
Now then, I know not what Lyse and Alisaie have already shared with you, nor do I wish to overwhelm you with many moons of details. Therefore, I shall give you the barest of outlines and leave the floor open for whatever questions you might have and what you would like elaborated on.
[Thancred pauses a moment and then launches into what proves to be a very brief summation of events. Escaping Ul'dah, the Warrior of Light, Tataru and Alphinaud made their way to Ishgard where they assisted in unraveling the source of the Dragonsong War and bringing it to an end, engendering a relatively peaceful revolution and change of government along the way. Their adventures took them all over Dravania and eventually to what remains of the Sharlayan Colony - now filled mostly with goblins, adventurers and wild things. 'Tis quite a wonder to see what they've made of it! By the Cenotaph, an alliance of adventurers and goblins have been rebuilding and forming a free city of their own.
Incidentally, Y'shtola's former master is still there, stubbornly sticking to her cave and complaining in one breath about a lack of visitors and that no one will leave her be in the other.
That aside, they also had run-ins with some of the Ascians and their plots, and she should be pleased to know they're apparently down another two. Elidibus, the one in white, continues to be rather more... enigmatic in his meddling, (Thancred makes no effort to hide his distaste) but among other things, through it they've learned rather more about the nature of their star and of Hydaelyn and Zodiark.
And lastly, after the business with Ishgard was settled, they all largely turned their attentions to Ala Mhigo and Doma. He trusts that Lyse and Alisaie already informed her that both are now free from Imperial control, which more or less brings her to what is present for him as well.
Oh - and it is worth noting that Nanamo is fine, and Raubahn, though now down an arm, is quite himself - and quite happy to see his homeland free. Let him just say that Lolorito is a snake, but at least he is one more interested in stability and prophet than overt power and leave it at that.
With that, he wets his throat with a longer drink and waits patiently for the inevitable questions Y'shtola is sure to have.]
[Throughout his recounting, she interrupts him only twice: the first, with one hand raised delicately while the other draws a notepad and pen from one of her belt pockets, turning to a clean page; the second, when they receive their drinks and she can order something sustaining for them both, and give herself a moment to process goblins rebuilding the colony.
It takes all the moments up to "Elidibus" to get through that, really, in her heart, and she writes the Ascian's name ere realizing the strokes of her pen and looking sharply up at Thancred. 'Tis a name she should gladly never hear again.
But by and large she holds her tongue, sipping her tea and then the spiced wine she prefers when a night promises to be long and chilling in places no warm fire can reach. The notes were a thought after talking with Lyse and Alisaie, but she took them later, in recollection of their words; here, writing as he speaks, she finds less room for questions or speculation until he is finished.
Then does she read over what she has written, absently eating bits and pieces from the spread of bite-sized food on the plate between them.]
I scarce know where to begin in return. [Though she has full control of her voice, still, and there is no tremble or weakness in it, Y'shtola speaks quite softly, as if addressing the ink itself. Her hands still, then fold one over the other in full view of him.]
Another time, I might apologize for your time subject to Master Matoya's scrutiny, but I am nigh certain you...we brought such agitation upon ourselves, and must therefore bear the consequences. [It might be the only heartening thing in what he has said, that her former mentor is still alive and well and crotchety as ever. Even the news of Ishgard and Ala Mhigo, freed of their greatest sources of strife, is tempered by what he has not said.
And what she may thus be unwilling to say in return. Thancred does not like to be talked around, even for his own sake...]
What do we learn of the nature of our star?
[That seems the most pertinent - and, given their usual fortunes, the least easily addressed, if what they learn is a problem.]
[Thancred smiles at her not-apology for Matoya, but it doesn't reach his eyes, and he chases it with a drink. Pausing to fiddle with one of the bits of food (though not eating it), he tilts his head in contemplation for how to summarize.]
Recall you some of the more obscure prophecies and legends Master Louisoix spoke about from time to time? It seems some of those are far more accurate than any of us realized.
[He proceeds to relay the story of Hydaelyn and Zodiark and the shattering of the latter and appearance of the reflections of their world.]
Of note, the thirteenth reflection some time ago succumbed to darkness and seems to be what they now call the Void. We as of yet know little of the states of the rest of the Reflections - save the First wherein the balance has tipped too far the other way, though Hydaelyn is working to take the Light unto herself that the world and its people not vanish.
[Thancred is grimly proud that he remains steady and neutral in his telling of what they have learned from Urianger and Unukalhai and... Minfilia. In an effort to divert both himself and Y'shtola from that train of thought, he at last takes a bite of one of the morsels. It is actually quite delicious, so it is less difficult to force himself to finish it. Whether he reaches for another depends largely on Y'shtola's next question.]
[For this, she takes notes in more detail. They may be of little use to her once she leaves this world and rejoins her own, but likewise then, knowing them here will do little harm but to her own preoccupations and musings, and those are hers to put to use as she sees fit.
So. Hydaelyn and Her reflections.
Y'shtola has the very distinct sense that here is something about which he tells much so that he might hide even more. She presses her lips together, and the pen leaves an ink spot or two where she lingers on a thought, but...no. Not yet, at least.]
What do goblins want with the broken remains of Sharlayan? [The colony. Her home.]
[Thancred smirks a bit at the way she says it. He was told she'd been less than thrilled to find them the first time, and seeing her expression now he can well imagine it.]
Well, the Illuminati as always are interested in salvaging things to further their knowledge - but the rest of them are mostly interested in rebuilding what they can and creating a free egalitarian state. A true union of Gobbie and Uplander pooling their braincases and so on. I am told the adventurers who have settled there have had great success in cultivating many of the seeds left behind in the Arboretum. Well... the ones not eaten by the morbols, anyroad.
[He shrugs.]
It has been a few moons since last I visited, but last I saw they had reversed a considerable amount of damage wrought by the Calamity already.
[Rather than express disapproval for the pooling of braincases, Y'shtola takes another bite. If nothing else, it shall serve to politeness her mouth shut until she has a handle on it herself. ...It does nothing to stop the slight fitful breeze, though.
The cultivation of seeds and the resettling of the area ought to be good for it, provided the Calamity did not leave it too unstable in places no one can quite see. Y'shtola's frown and furrowed brow thus take on a new task.]
I am, of course, heartened to hear the best of Nanamo, and that Raubahn thrives despite...the misfortunes that befall him.
[the Warrior of Light, Tataru and Alphinaud made their way to Ishgard. She draws a deliberate breath and pushes that to the back again. The hole in his woven web of a story is gaping, fair waving its tatters in the wind, and the prey excised from it too precious to question, here and now whilst plucking the web for other causes, other costs.]
What can you tell me of your reunion with...them? Us?
[Thancred stalls a moment by having another drink.]
Mm, well I did not actually reunite with any of you for several moons... I must confess I was rather lost, and in the process of seeking civilization I happened across a beast tribe - which calls itself the Gnath - and stayed among a friendlier group of ... outcasts of a sort, who call themselves the Vath, for a time. The Gnath have a habit of summoning their primal deity Ravana regularly, and the Vath told me of certain familiar-sounding individuals who'd been through earlier to slay Ravana at least once or twice. I therefore remained in the area until at last I encountered you, Alphinaud, our warrior friend and Krile Baldesion - who had since awoken from her torpor.
[He pauses for a sip, thoughtful. Though he endeavors to maintain a relatively neutral demeanor, he cannot hide his hesitation before he continues.]
You had rejoined them some time prior, after the tunnel was partially excavated, and - I am told - Urianger found your wand, with which he was able to deduce the spell you had cast and whither you had gone.
[The hesitation again as he studies her a moment more.]
Apparently while the Flow had deposited me more or less in tact on the mountainside, you were still caught up in the Lifestream, in its eddies and currents in the Twelveswood. They enlisted the aid of the Seedseers and through them the Elementals to find and retrieve you.
[All of that, she absorbs in silence. Particularly the end, at which she sits straighter until he is through speaking, only to drop some of the stiff posture - if one did not know her one might think her slumping.
Y'shtola touches the wine glass before here where bowl meets stem, with two fingers. That Thancred emerges from the Lifestream with hardly a change - as he assures, and so she can but presume the injury to his face came about later, and 'twould not surprise her for moons spent in the Dravanian mountains with little company and less protection, and primal-minded beastmen about - quells her worries significantly. She knew, from the way Lyse and Alisaie spoke of him, that the sight of him was no surprise in their present...and yet.
But her lips press together tightly, and she glances down at her notes, then some of the crumbs upon the plate, then her fingers, and finally looks Thancred in the eye again. She sighs, but it is gentle and slow enough to be mistaken for a simple exhale.]
'Twas ever a risk. [That she would go forcibly along with him. That she would not emerge even if she did go. ...That he would face a similar fate.] The Twelveswood is not so terrible a harbor for my soon to be drifting soul. And what singular fortune that they are able thereafter to come to my rescue, such as it is.
[Though it has been some weeks now, the events of that night are as heavy on her mind as if they belong to 'yesterday', and none have been able to mitigate that worry; Thancred, though nearly as removed from it as the others, has gone far down the path of undoing those knots.
Likewise does she think she is, perhaps, attributing catastrophe to places where it is not; 'tisn't like her to let her mind run wild so. Y'shtola takes a sip of the wine and puts on a faint, wry smile.]
Pray accept my every apology for the disruption and further danger to your person, Thancred.
[Thancred gives her a sharp look at her word choice, but her wry smile puts to rest he idea that she has already deduced the further change in his aether, and he pauses with his glass halfway to his mouth.]
Y'shtola... [Shaking his head, he sets the glass down again.] Truly, no apologies are necessary; indeed I should be repeating my thanks instead. Had you not taken that risk, the both of us would instead be rather fetching flatcakes 'neath the rubble. Besides, are not disruption and danger our frequent companions in our adventures?
[Shrugging, Thancred picks up his drink once more.] In any case, I have not lost anything I cannot live without. [And then he finishes off the cup.]
[And the sharp look carries its own layers of intrigue. Came she too close to a conversational precipice?
The calm sincerity in his words belies the fierce expression, though, and she finds herself releasing her curiosity until a later time.]
More frequent than the sum of all the others, if memory serves. Courtesy suggests I ought to allow you to question me in equal measure for the interrogation to which I have just subjected you, but I have little and less to share that you do not know already. I am like to pursue further some of what you have shared on the surface, though perhaps I ought not warn you, but at the least you deserve a few moments' respite.
[While she decides whether to ask anything else, and what the focus of the inevitable questions should be.]
[He chuckles a little at that and signals the waiter for another drink. It may be on Y'shtola's dime now, but he's certain he'll pay her back with paying for a meal in the future or in some other way. They've known each other too long to keep careful tit for tat in that regard.]
Thank you, I think. Fair certain am I that I will have questions for you soon enough, but they're more apt to be about this world and your experiences therein than aught else, and I'm not yet familiar enough to know quite what to ask.
Then you may content yourself in knowing that my "experiences" are quite like the sort of ordinary life, such as it is, rarely brushing the daily business of a Scion of the Seventh Dawn. Though the gods of this...this world and her people are very present and prone to swift changes in mood...'tis peaceful. One does not rise in the morning absent the certainty she shall return to that same bed at dusk.
[Which, while not Y'shtola's primary concern most mornings, does come up now and again for all if them, not least because they are called or ordered away upon short notice and with haste. 'Tis part and parcel of the job, as some might say.]
Were the air of amicability not so genuine, and emotions so readily felt or seen such that intentions are less apt to remain hidden, I should wonder at the authenticity of that peace.
Yes, the open display of emotions whether one wishes or no does lend a certain... forthrightness to the place.
[One he's not yet quite sure how to feel about, particularly given his own predilection for obfuscating his true feelings on things. He isn't sure whether their respective control over their emotions will prove a boon or a hinderance here. But that the place is peaceful affords them time to learn, he supposes.]
Well, I cannot say a short break would be unwelcome.
[Except once he's learned all that he can about this place, he'll be at loose ends for what to fill his time with.]
Would you care for some more substantial fare? [Since their plate of small portions is nearly empty and it has doubtless been an extremely long day for him.] Most establishments in the city are sympathetic to the plight of newcomers, especially in matters of food and shelter.
[While he ponders the menu, Y'shtola can scan through all of her notes again, trying not to think of some few particularly heartrending ones.]
That is good to hear, and talking is hungry work. Is there aught you can recommend of the local cuisine?
[Y'shtola generally has good taste - aside from fish which they must agree to disagree about - and as she's been here a month that is surely enough time to start to get a sense of what's good and what's not in the place.]
They have a startling variety of seafood dishes, for an island with no water containing it.
[Y'shtola grins, this time. She was not lonely yesterday, or the weeks before, but there are several things to be said about the easy back-and-forth between old friends.]
I've partaken of a singularly comforting stew here in the past. Perhaps it shall catch your fancy.
[So of course the first thing she suggests is seafood - to which Thancred can only sigh and shake his head. Y'shtola please. The stew, however, sounds excellent.]
A good stew is always worth sampling. I will have that, then, and leave the judgement of the seafood to you. Or skyfood, if the fish are plucked from the air in the absence of seas.
[Though not particularly hungry, Y'shtola orders more of one particular item from their shared plate because she knows she ought to eat more than she has today; unless Thancred probes for information, she'll not say much until their new food orders arrive.]
I have been staying at the welcome center, but if our other friends and you agree, we may be able to share a larger residence. Of course, I'd not push such a decision too quickly onto anyone.
[Thancred contents himself with asking a few idle questions about the island's cuisine while the wait, and when it arrives, he remarks that it does indeed smell delectable. Only when she turns the conversation to living situations does he turn a trifle more serious again, nodding as he shifts a vegetable or two within the broth with his spoon.]
A shared house - if affordable - would certainly be convenient.
[They'd all find ways to make due without, of course, but there is a strong appeal to her proposal.]
'Twould be a sight better than four itinerants hoping to pass one another for breakfast.
[Not to mention the...emotional security, so to speak, of having one another nearby. Of knowing where each was likely to be at the end of a day, and thus when to alert the rest if someone did not return. If there was trouble. It is as easy for them to "go home" as it was to appear.]
A more consistent effort toward affordability would be necessary, but not without our reach, I should think.
[Worse than it sounds? It sounds bad enough already that he'd rather not imagine it further. In any case, he files away the information, nodding.]
Who are the Arehtei? Some sort of local gods? And must we continue such educational discussions here or is there a settlement of some kind nearby we might retreat to instead?
As far as I can tell, they're this world's primals.
[ She uses that explanation for everyone, regardless of whether or not they know what a primal even is. Her scathing tone when she says the words tends to communicate enough on its own, though. ]
There should be somewhere safe nearby, but the rest will have to wait anyway. I gave you the basics, at any rate.
[ Like not getting rid of the amulet that you'll die without, for one. That's kind of important. ]
[The mention of primals has him frowning.] Wonderful. [His tone strongly suggests he finds that information anything but. At least he seems familiar with the term, though?
To the rest, he sighs.]
Very well. Thank you for the assistance, my lady. [He still doesn't know her name and distracted by the thought of another world with its own set of primals, he simply falls back upon habits of speech.] If as a final favor you would point me in the direction least like to lead into a nest of large angry lizards, I would be much obliged.
If you want to keep your face intact, then stop calling me that.
[ Carbuncle squeaks cheerily at Merisia's remark. They both know good and well that most of her threats are empty and are only meant to drive people off. Most of the time.
With a sigh, she jabs her thumb behind her. ]
It's that way. I'm headed in that direction myself, in case you're too scared to go alone.
[Briefly Thancred considers pointing out that his face is already not quite in tact but he pushes the grim retort aside in favor of glancing at the carbuncle and then following the line of her gesture.]
I suppose I shall accompany you then, as I am positively terrified.
[His tone is as dry as the Sago'ii there.]
Lead on, then. [He pauses and then less dryly:] My name is Thancred, by the way, and the least violent way to avoid any further 'my ladies' would be to give me something else to call you by.
Perhaps the cargo hold or engine room, if the airship has one? If the lion is trying to hide from passengers, it will undoubtedly make for the least populated area, and such places would offer myriad hiding places.
[If only they had a blueprint of the ship or something!]
[Hm.... If she were a tiny lion trying to hide where would she go...? .... This is stupid.
It helps her come up with the answer though which is more stupid.] The cargo hold then which I presume it must have. There could still be people in the engine room maintaining the engine so if it truly did not want to be found I should think a cargo hold would be the best choice. [Not many people would wander in there, after all. Not while the ship is in motion at least.]
And I think I may know where to find it. [She motions for him to follow and leads the way to a door tucked under the stairs leading towards the captain's cabin. It doesn't have a sign on it but when she opens it there's a long staircase descending into pitch black.]
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timeasmymeasure
Intro Log Overflow - Y'shtola
Date: 2017-08-24 05:50 am (UTC)[He nods with a bit of a sigh.]
As am I. As am I.
[It could have been so much worse. Very nearly was, as he understands, and he wonders if he ought to be more explicit about what befell (will befall?) her or if knowing she escaped the Lifestream in due time is sufficient. He mirrors her study, watching her in turn and weighing in his mind which path to take. He has already resolved not to say a word about Minfilia unless she directly asks, but it's different when it's her own fate...
It's a moment before he quite realizes that they are both studying each other.]
You have further questions.
[An open invitation. He has a feeling he knows what she would ask, but even if she surprises him with another track, still best to get everything out at once he supposes.]
no subject
Date: 2017-08-24 01:15 pm (UTC)[Perhaps...not that question, or not quite yet. Thancred's preferred dance is one of storytelling, and Y'shtola would hear more rather than less, so though her eyes keep wandering back to the cloth covering a portion of his face, she relaxes some of the stiffness in her posture and nods to him.]
Is it too burdensome of me to request hearing what becomes of us in the intervening...moons? Between my memory and yours.
[She doesn't like not knowing, even though she will forget all of this in time, and will know it again when it happens. Thancred and his protective streak are like to withhold what he thinks it might be difficult for her to hear, as well, so she will learn a thing or two else from what he chooses to share.]
Lest you worry for the stability of what is to come, I shall tell you what I also told Lyse and Alisaie: when at last I return to Eorzea, all of this fades to less than memory. To nothing. I will know no more in that moment than I did ere I was stolen from it.
[Even if she did...she would make the same choice.]
no subject
Date: 2017-08-24 09:33 pm (UTC)Mm, I have read as much. It seems a shame to forget so interesting a place, but I suppose it is for the best.
[And then pauses to consider.]
In any case, 'tis not too burdensome, but even glossing over the finer details, it is a long tale as it has been many eventful moons indeed since where your memory leaves off. Long enough that we might wish to to discuss it over tea or a meal instead of books. Moreover, some I would be telling you secondhand from what you and Alphinaud told-- will tell? me of things I was not there to witness.
[Thancred has rather lost track of time in the library, so he's uncertain if it's even an appropriate time for a meal but if it is then perhaps also having a drink will make some of the telling easier, should Y'shtola probe this or that.]
no subject
Date: 2017-08-24 10:09 pm (UTC)'Twill be unprecedented to receive mine own firsthand recollections from the very person to whom I shall later recall them. What manner of fool I should prove to not pursue it.
[It is less reckless than some other avenues of study. Plus, he said tea.]
We are both like to lose ourselves among the shelves otherwise, are we not? I'd not oppose a meal and drink or two. [Her treat, as Thancred is almost certain not to have any local currency on his person yet.]
no subject
Date: 2017-08-24 10:23 pm (UTC)Would you like me to imitate your most memorable scoldings as well?
[He will. Don't even doubt him. But he rises again, stretching his shoulders again. If he didn't intend to return where after their meal, he would take greater care with returning the books to their places, but as it stands he simply stacks them neatly and hopes no one removes his bookmark.]
Shall we then? I am afraid I must rely on you, my lady, to guide us as the one most familiar with this city.
no subject
Date: 2017-08-25 06:47 am (UTC)[She knows the look of Thancred's study desk, and she only straightens the edges of a book or two ere falling into step with him.]
In what manner of evening would you partake? There are restaurants numerous enough to appease a range of tastes and cravings, though the more popular of them are like to be full to bursting with new arrivals and the fussing of their friends.
[So if he wants something stronger than tea, she knows where to go for that, and if he'd like to eat himself silly and stagger to his borrowed bed and not wake until the tenth bell, she knows where to go for that too. It is comforting merely to walk in the presence of a dear friend again.]
no subject
Date: 2017-08-25 07:16 am (UTC)Hm, perhaps someplace with good ale, hearty food and corners quiet enough for talk? Failing that, the latter two are sufficient.
[There was ... interesting food on the airship, and he's had a bit of street food since then but he hasn't had a proper full meal since vanishing from Ala Mhigo. Drinks would be a plus, though he thinks perhaps he should not imbibe too heavily on the first night here...]
no subject
Date: 2017-08-27 03:09 pm (UTC)Instead, Y'shtola leads the way to a more out of the way locale, of dim lighting and few tables. Nevertheless the bar is clean and the small staff friendly, and more importantly few souls have come here for evening sustenance. She and Thancred are unlike to be disturbed.
For the present, she orders only water and cold tea, intending to judge her need for stronger stuff once she has heard at least something of what promises to be a tumultuous future indeed.]
Does this suffice? [It must, of course, since they are already seated and someone will bring them drinks presently.]
no subject
Date: 2017-08-28 02:34 am (UTC)Aye, I think it will serve nicely.
[He leans his elbows on the table and threads his fingers together for a moment before shifting to just fold them.]
Now then, I know not what Lyse and Alisaie have already shared with you, nor do I wish to overwhelm you with many moons of details. Therefore, I shall give you the barest of outlines and leave the floor open for whatever questions you might have and what you would like elaborated on.
[Thancred pauses a moment and then launches into what proves to be a very brief summation of events. Escaping Ul'dah, the Warrior of Light, Tataru and Alphinaud made their way to Ishgard where they assisted in unraveling the source of the Dragonsong War and bringing it to an end, engendering a relatively peaceful revolution and change of government along the way. Their adventures took them all over Dravania and eventually to what remains of the Sharlayan Colony - now filled mostly with goblins, adventurers and wild things. 'Tis quite a wonder to see what they've made of it! By the Cenotaph, an alliance of adventurers and goblins have been rebuilding and forming a free city of their own.
Incidentally, Y'shtola's former master is still there, stubbornly sticking to her cave and complaining in one breath about a lack of visitors and that no one will leave her be in the other.
That aside, they also had run-ins with some of the Ascians and their plots, and she should be pleased to know they're apparently down another two. Elidibus, the one in white, continues to be rather more... enigmatic in his meddling, (Thancred makes no effort to hide his distaste) but among other things, through it they've learned rather more about the nature of their star and of Hydaelyn and Zodiark.
And lastly, after the business with Ishgard was settled, they all largely turned their attentions to Ala Mhigo and Doma. He trusts that Lyse and Alisaie already informed her that both are now free from Imperial control, which more or less brings her to what is present for him as well.
Oh - and it is worth noting that Nanamo is fine, and Raubahn, though now down an arm, is quite himself - and quite happy to see his homeland free. Let him just say that Lolorito is a snake, but at least he is one more interested in stability and prophet than overt power and leave it at that.
With that, he wets his throat with a longer drink and waits patiently for the inevitable questions Y'shtola is sure to have.]
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Date: 2017-08-29 04:54 am (UTC)It takes all the moments up to "Elidibus" to get through that, really, in her heart, and she writes the Ascian's name ere realizing the strokes of her pen and looking sharply up at Thancred. 'Tis a name she should gladly never hear again.
But by and large she holds her tongue, sipping her tea and then the spiced wine she prefers when a night promises to be long and chilling in places no warm fire can reach. The notes were a thought after talking with Lyse and Alisaie, but she took them later, in recollection of their words; here, writing as he speaks, she finds less room for questions or speculation until he is finished.
Then does she read over what she has written, absently eating bits and pieces from the spread of bite-sized food on the plate between them.]
I scarce know where to begin in return. [Though she has full control of her voice, still, and there is no tremble or weakness in it, Y'shtola speaks quite softly, as if addressing the ink itself. Her hands still, then fold one over the other in full view of him.]
Another time, I might apologize for your time subject to Master Matoya's scrutiny, but I am nigh certain you...we brought such agitation upon ourselves, and must therefore bear the consequences. [It might be the only heartening thing in what he has said, that her former mentor is still alive and well and crotchety as ever. Even the news of Ishgard and Ala Mhigo, freed of their greatest sources of strife, is tempered by what he has not said.
And what she may thus be unwilling to say in return. Thancred does not like to be talked around, even for his own sake...]
What do we learn of the nature of our star?
[That seems the most pertinent - and, given their usual fortunes, the least easily addressed, if what they learn is a problem.]
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Date: 2017-08-29 05:44 am (UTC)Recall you some of the more obscure prophecies and legends Master Louisoix spoke about from time to time? It seems some of those are far more accurate than any of us realized.
[He proceeds to relay the story of Hydaelyn and Zodiark and the shattering of the latter and appearance of the reflections of their world.]
Of note, the thirteenth reflection some time ago succumbed to darkness and seems to be what they now call the Void. We as of yet know little of the states of the rest of the Reflections - save the First wherein the balance has tipped too far the other way, though Hydaelyn is working to take the Light unto herself that the world and its people not vanish.
[Thancred is grimly proud that he remains steady and neutral in his telling of what they have learned from Urianger and Unukalhai and... Minfilia. In an effort to divert both himself and Y'shtola from that train of thought, he at last takes a bite of one of the morsels. It is actually quite delicious, so it is less difficult to force himself to finish it. Whether he reaches for another depends largely on Y'shtola's next question.]
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Date: 2017-08-31 04:39 am (UTC)So. Hydaelyn and Her reflections.
Y'shtola has the very distinct sense that here is something about which he tells much so that he might hide even more. She presses her lips together, and the pen leaves an ink spot or two where she lingers on a thought, but...no. Not yet, at least.]
What do goblins want with the broken remains of Sharlayan? [The colony. Her home.]
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Date: 2017-08-31 05:09 am (UTC)Well, the Illuminati as always are interested in salvaging things to further their knowledge - but the rest of them are mostly interested in rebuilding what they can and creating a free egalitarian state. A true union of Gobbie and Uplander pooling their braincases and so on. I am told the adventurers who have settled there have had great success in cultivating many of the seeds left behind in the Arboretum. Well... the ones not eaten by the morbols, anyroad.
[He shrugs.]
It has been a few moons since last I visited, but last I saw they had reversed a considerable amount of damage wrought by the Calamity already.
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Date: 2017-09-01 11:54 pm (UTC)The cultivation of seeds and the resettling of the area ought to be good for it, provided the Calamity did not leave it too unstable in places no one can quite see. Y'shtola's frown and furrowed brow thus take on a new task.]
I am, of course, heartened to hear the best of Nanamo, and that Raubahn thrives despite...the misfortunes that befall him.
[the Warrior of Light, Tataru and Alphinaud made their way to Ishgard. She draws a deliberate breath and pushes that to the back again. The hole in his woven web of a story is gaping, fair waving its tatters in the wind, and the prey excised from it too precious to question, here and now whilst plucking the web for other causes, other costs.]
What can you tell me of your reunion with...them? Us?
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Date: 2017-09-02 08:02 am (UTC)Mm, well I did not actually reunite with any of you for several moons... I must confess I was rather lost, and in the process of seeking civilization I happened across a beast tribe - which calls itself the Gnath - and stayed among a friendlier group of ... outcasts of a sort, who call themselves the Vath, for a time. The Gnath have a habit of summoning their primal deity Ravana regularly, and the Vath told me of certain familiar-sounding individuals who'd been through earlier to slay Ravana at least once or twice. I therefore remained in the area until at last I encountered you, Alphinaud, our warrior friend and Krile Baldesion - who had since awoken from her torpor.
[He pauses for a sip, thoughtful. Though he endeavors to maintain a relatively neutral demeanor, he cannot hide his hesitation before he continues.]
You had rejoined them some time prior, after the tunnel was partially excavated, and - I am told - Urianger found your wand, with which he was able to deduce the spell you had cast and whither you had gone.
[The hesitation again as he studies her a moment more.]
Apparently while the Flow had deposited me more or less in tact on the mountainside, you were still caught up in the Lifestream, in its eddies and currents in the Twelveswood. They enlisted the aid of the Seedseers and through them the Elementals to find and retrieve you.
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Date: 2017-09-02 07:10 pm (UTC)Y'shtola touches the wine glass before here where bowl meets stem, with two fingers. That Thancred emerges from the Lifestream with hardly a change - as he assures, and so she can but presume the injury to his face came about later, and 'twould not surprise her for moons spent in the Dravanian mountains with little company and less protection, and primal-minded beastmen about - quells her worries significantly. She knew, from the way Lyse and Alisaie spoke of him, that the sight of him was no surprise in their present...and yet.
But her lips press together tightly, and she glances down at her notes, then some of the crumbs upon the plate, then her fingers, and finally looks Thancred in the eye again. She sighs, but it is gentle and slow enough to be mistaken for a simple exhale.]
'Twas ever a risk. [That she would go forcibly along with him. That she would not emerge even if she did go. ...That he would face a similar fate.] The Twelveswood is not so terrible a harbor for my soon to be drifting soul. And what singular fortune that they are able thereafter to come to my rescue, such as it is.
[Though it has been some weeks now, the events of that night are as heavy on her mind as if they belong to 'yesterday', and none have been able to mitigate that worry; Thancred, though nearly as removed from it as the others, has gone far down the path of undoing those knots.
Likewise does she think she is, perhaps, attributing catastrophe to places where it is not; 'tisn't like her to let her mind run wild so. Y'shtola takes a sip of the wine and puts on a faint, wry smile.]
Pray accept my every apology for the disruption and further danger to your person, Thancred.
do they even have pancakes i have no idea
Date: 2017-09-02 11:43 pm (UTC)Y'shtola... [Shaking his head, he sets the glass down again.] Truly, no apologies are necessary; indeed I should be repeating my thanks instead. Had you not taken that risk, the both of us would instead be rather fetching flatcakes 'neath the rubble. Besides, are not disruption and danger our frequent companions in our adventures?
[Shrugging, Thancred picks up his drink once more.] In any case, I have not lost anything I cannot live without. [And then he finishes off the cup.]
they do!
Date: 2017-09-03 02:38 am (UTC)The calm sincerity in his words belies the fierce expression, though, and she finds herself releasing her curiosity until a later time.]
More frequent than the sum of all the others, if memory serves. Courtesy suggests I ought to allow you to question me in equal measure for the interrogation to which I have just subjected you, but I have little and less to share that you do not know already. I am like to pursue further some of what you have shared on the surface, though perhaps I ought not warn you, but at the least you deserve a few moments' respite.
[While she decides whether to ask anything else, and what the focus of the inevitable questions should be.]
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Date: 2017-09-03 04:13 am (UTC)Thank you, I think. Fair certain am I that I will have questions for you soon enough, but they're more apt to be about this world and your experiences therein than aught else, and I'm not yet familiar enough to know quite what to ask.
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Date: 2017-09-03 05:48 am (UTC)[Which, while not Y'shtola's primary concern most mornings, does come up now and again for all if them, not least because they are called or ordered away upon short notice and with haste. 'Tis part and parcel of the job, as some might say.]
Were the air of amicability not so genuine, and emotions so readily felt or seen such that intentions are less apt to remain hidden, I should wonder at the authenticity of that peace.
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Date: 2017-09-03 06:24 am (UTC)Yes, the open display of emotions whether one wishes or no does lend a certain... forthrightness to the place.
[One he's not yet quite sure how to feel about, particularly given his own predilection for obfuscating his true feelings on things. He isn't sure whether their respective control over their emotions will prove a boon or a hinderance here. But that the place is peaceful affords them time to learn, he supposes.]
Well, I cannot say a short break would be unwelcome.
[Except once he's learned all that he can about this place, he'll be at loose ends for what to fill his time with.]
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Date: 2017-09-04 01:12 am (UTC)[While he ponders the menu, Y'shtola can scan through all of her notes again, trying not to think of some few particularly heartrending ones.]
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Date: 2017-09-08 10:28 pm (UTC)That is good to hear, and talking is hungry work. Is there aught you can recommend of the local cuisine?
[Y'shtola generally has good taste - aside from fish which they must agree to disagree about - and as she's been here a month that is surely enough time to start to get a sense of what's good and what's not in the place.]
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Date: 2017-09-09 03:19 pm (UTC)[Y'shtola grins, this time. She was not lonely yesterday, or the weeks before, but there are several things to be said about the easy back-and-forth between old friends.]
I've partaken of a singularly comforting stew here in the past. Perhaps it shall catch your fancy.
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Date: 2017-09-18 09:08 pm (UTC)A good stew is always worth sampling. I will have that, then, and leave the judgement of the seafood to you. Or skyfood, if the fish are plucked from the air in the absence of seas.
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Date: 2017-09-19 12:19 am (UTC)I have been staying at the welcome center, but if our other friends and you agree, we may be able to share a larger residence. Of course, I'd not push such a decision too quickly onto anyone.
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Date: 2017-09-19 05:51 am (UTC)A shared house - if affordable - would certainly be convenient.
[They'd all find ways to make due without, of course, but there is a strong appeal to her proposal.]
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Date: 2017-09-19 04:11 pm (UTC)[Not to mention the...emotional security, so to speak, of having one another nearby. Of knowing where each was likely to be at the end of a day, and thus when to alert the rest if someone did not return. If there was trouble. It is as easy for them to "go home" as it was to appear.]
A more consistent effort toward affordability would be necessary, but not without our reach, I should think.
Intro Log Overflow - Merisia
Date: 2017-08-24 09:44 pm (UTC)[Worse than it sounds? It sounds bad enough already that he'd rather not imagine it further. In any case, he files away the information, nodding.]
Who are the Arehtei? Some sort of local gods? And must we continue such educational discussions here or is there a settlement of some kind nearby we might retreat to instead?
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Date: 2017-08-28 01:23 am (UTC)[ She uses that explanation for everyone, regardless of whether or not they know what a primal even is. Her scathing tone when she says the words tends to communicate enough on its own, though. ]
There should be somewhere safe nearby, but the rest will have to wait anyway. I gave you the basics, at any rate.
[ Like not getting rid of the amulet that you'll die without, for one. That's kind of important. ]
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Date: 2017-08-28 01:51 am (UTC)To the rest, he sighs.]
Very well. Thank you for the assistance, my lady. [He still doesn't know her name and distracted by the thought of another world with its own set of primals, he simply falls back upon habits of speech.] If as a final favor you would point me in the direction least like to lead into a nest of large angry lizards, I would be much obliged.
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Date: 2017-08-29 03:29 am (UTC)[ Carbuncle squeaks cheerily at Merisia's remark. They both know good and well that most of her threats are empty and are only meant to drive people off.
Most of the time.With a sigh, she jabs her thumb behind her. ]
It's that way. I'm headed in that direction myself, in case you're too scared to go alone.
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Date: 2017-08-29 04:37 am (UTC)I suppose I shall accompany you then, as I am positively terrified.
[His tone is as dry as the Sago'ii there.]
Lead on, then. [He pauses and then less dryly:] My name is Thancred, by the way, and the least violent way to avoid any further 'my ladies' would be to give me something else to call you by.
Intro Log Overflow - Alisaie
Date: 2017-08-25 10:09 pm (UTC)[Lalafells who wish to conquer, clearly!
But Thancred ponders for a moment or two.]
Perhaps the cargo hold or engine room, if the airship has one? If the lion is trying to hide from passengers, it will undoubtedly make for the least populated area, and such places would offer myriad hiding places.
[If only they had a blueprint of the ship or something!]
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Date: 2017-08-31 02:16 am (UTC)It helps her come up with the answer though which is more stupid.] The cargo hold then which I presume it must have. There could still be people in the engine room maintaining the engine so if it truly did not want to be found I should think a cargo hold would be the best choice. [Not many people would wander in there, after all. Not while the ship is in motion at least.]
And I think I may know where to find it. [She motions for him to follow and leads the way to a door tucked under the stairs leading towards the captain's cabin. It doesn't have a sign on it but when she opens it there's a long staircase descending into pitch black.]