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Post by Hadjara Astaeldr Er on Feb 5, 2018 7:39:07 GMT
Hadjara smiled nervously and dug her nails together. Any attempt to hide her unease was dashed, however, by the rapid flicking of the end of her tail.
“I, uh, might be biased but I think I'd've fallen on the side 'a humans,” Hadjara admitted. “I mean I wouldn't have fought then an' I ain't gonna now but I don't think we'd've been on the same side.” And damn if that wasn't weird to think about. If she had been born even a hundred years back outside of the marshes she might have hated Gabriel for siding with the Fae. She curled her tail nervously around her thigh and squeezed. “Anyway, I don't see how ya expect me ta fight in close proximity ta no Fae. I think it's kinda clear at this point that I can't come in such close contact with their magic unless ya want a repeat of what happened in the mound.” And Hadjara wasn't sure that wouldn't kill her. She still felt a little frazzled – it was like her personality was melting into her familiars as they were forced into a single person and that was terrifying.
She actually laughed at his musings. “Of course they think they're on the right side! Anyone can justify anything if they put enough thought ta it.” Hadjara kissed his nose and said, “I don't think that most people are as okay with killin' as you are. How'd ya manage ta justify that?”
Hadjara folded her arms behind her back, under her wings and turned up her chin to look him in the eye as she stepped back. “I don't recall gettin' the impression I was invite ta follow ya around. I think ya thought of me as a dumb kid that was alright with a spear an' net.” That's how she thought of who she had been. Suddenly and softly, Hadjara felt the consciousness of Malak coil around her comfortably, a feeling that settled in her stomach and made her feel warm. It was hard to hear his thoughts at their distance but her thoughts were loud and filled with emotion. It was hard not to hear what she was thinking according to him. “What I should 'a done was cut 'cross the savanna ta get right ta the cliffs. Or just gone ta get Lev right away. Lotta should'a, would'a, could'a with how that shook out, love.” It didn't even register that she'd casually dropped his usual moniker.
She just about cooed when he turned into smoke and Hadjara couldn't help it – she coiled around him as her form sparked with enthusiastic blooms of silver and greens. She spiraled out and separated from him but still darted and coiled erratically. “Oh!” She said in her disembodied voice, “Yeah! I can here ya. How fast can ya move? I don't wanna leave ya behind.”
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Post by Gabriel on Mar 11, 2018 5:46:00 GMT
Now there was an interesting thought, Hadjara on the side of the Humans. But it was pointless pondering, because she'd never been like most Humans, and her life could never have followed that course. Gabriel, a member of an interloping species that had chosen to respect that the Fae had been there first, couldn't fathom that decision, especially because he suspected the Litharia he loved would die alongside the Fae.
"Good thing you didn't have to choose. And won't ever, with any luck. They've got a lengthy stalemate going on for now, with the old King slowly going madder and madder and his son new to the throne." New by Daemon standards, and Fae, anyway. To short-lived Humans maybe less so, but the young King did not seem eager to test his mettle in open warfare for now, at least.
"You haven't internalised the Daemon belief system at all," he chided in return, his tone remaining playful.
"Strength rules all. If I can kill someone, they are weaker than me, and thus by definition their death is just. Everyone I kill deserves it because if they didn't, they could have protected themselves." The ancient edict; true, though obviously more complicated than this in practice. The belief held true for born-Daemons though; he'd been raised with this principle, one that stated that the strong thrived and the weak did not. Gabriel, for one, truly did not feel guilt at delivering death.
He tilted his head at her recollection, and smiled, agreeing.
"You were a dumb kid with a spear and a net. That hasn't stopped others from following me around when it suited them." He couldn't remember the details, but if he was in the Marshes in all likelihood he was headed to the Tunnels, where she would not have been able to follow regardless. Half-lost in memories from years past, he still arched a brow at her comment though. Get Lev, naturally, though maybe her familiar magic hadn't kicked in yet. But..
"Why the Cliffs?"
In his smoke form he responded to her question with movement, the most natural thing in the world in this form. Being still, Gabriel thought, was impossible. Even on a still day smoke curled and twisted into the sky, seeking ever to rise. He felt no fear, no sense of vertigo, as he coiled upwards - only joy, and with that emotion bright sharp sparks of fire rippled and twirled throughout his smoke column, as though the dust and debris in the air was catching and burning in brief, searing hot moments that were over in the blink of an eye. He could turn, lazily rolling, spiral and twist, and instinct said to go up. Instead, he rolled forward, coalescing and then stretching out, though it turned out his form had limits and held itself together to a pre-defined extent. Gathering speed, soon the ground and buildings below were zipping past below, and he was higher than he'd expected. The feeling was one of raw, unbridled freedom - and freedom, to a Daemon, was priceless. As it turned out, smoke was as swift as the wind, as fast as air - a sister element to fire, perhaps that wasn't surprising. High above the broken world he drifted to a stop and waited for Hadjara.
Fast enough. Which way, though?
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Post by Hadjara Astaeldr Er on Mar 11, 2018 8:32:37 GMT
Hadjara blinked at Gabriel and frowned before her eyes turned into smoke in her sockets and swirled before they reformed, green instead of black for the first time since entering the Shadow World. It took effort but she had a vague feeling there was some uncanny valley effect when her eyes looked like ink.
She wasn't going to fight, not for humans and not for fae. And probably not for daemons either, if it came to that. There was some kind of disconnect between how she thought of herself, how she thought of Malak and this world as being part of who she was, that had made her lose interest in who won or didn't in Litharia. She didn't want it to die, or become ugly and gray like the Shadow World but that was more because she didn't want her brother, and her nephews and nieces to live here.
How the fuck would she explain that to Gabriel? He took it badly enough when he found out she wanted to stay here eventually.
Better just let sleeping dogs lie.
“Yeah,” she finally muttered softly, “with any luck I won't have ta.”
It was easier to express her amusement with his comment on Daemonic ideology. An eyebrow went up and her head cocked to the side before she said, “well ain't that convenient. I still feel guilty 'bout it.” How nice that must be, just being able to get over it. Even people who challenged her to a fight, Hadjara likely would let them live if they asked. Though she supposed she didn't over much worry about what she did here, and devouring a soul could be arguably worse. Hadjara's tail twitched irritably before she forced it to lie still against one thigh.
“So what 'bout people who use poison? I can make my skin poisonous an' kill someone with a touch, an there are people who ain't tough at all that can brew up a poison.”
She shrugged at his question.
“I like the Cliffs, an' they're too sunny for me ta spend much time enjoyin'm now. Never liked the Boil, couldn't go ta the Tunnels before then, the Tangle and Marshes I can see whenever I want. So . . . yeah, the Cliffs. That's where a god gave me my new eye.” Hadjara pressed her thumbs and forefingers together to make a triangle that she used to frame the eye she had once lost and replaced.
“Also,” her arms dropped, “it was super easy ta hunt there. I'm an ambush predator, it works well in the Marshes but it's a food chain niche that's been left empty in the Cliffs.”
Hadjara whooped in delight as Gabriel moved around as smoke, and she trailed after him. She felt no compulsion to move in any natural patterns, and her movement was rough and jagged. “Ain't it amazing?” She called to him in delight. She lit up with shades of green and silver like the sky before a tornado and she curled close to him, familiar in physical contact even without a body. “If ya maintain that speed, we can get there in a couple minutes. Follow me!” Hadjara turned and swooped low, lower than Gabriel would probably like and took off through the streets.
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Post by Gabriel on Mar 24, 2018 0:44:31 GMT
Gabriel shrugged, though his sympathy was genuine. He'd seen enough Humans turned into Daemons to know that the cognitive structures didn't match. Humans were biologically malleable, but they couldn't just shrug off their upbringing and heritage completely, not right away and maybe not ever.
"The curse of being born Human. I'm not sure I can explain just how fundamental that concept is to Daemons." It underlined everything they did; from their attitude on slaves to the very power structure that Gabriel had killed to earn his position within. And she was right - it was certainly freeing, although it didn't make him a psychopath, necessarily. Gabriel still had limits he adhered to. He simply didn't feel bad when operating within those self-defined limits. It felt right.
"Physical toughness, raw power, these are not the only types of strength. I...we..respect power in all its forms. Methods don't matter. If you're smart enough to use what skills you do have to stay alive, and to fend off threats, that's a kind of power too." It was hard to sum up a complex social system in this way. Gabriel knew he wasn't even coming close to capturing the nuance; how could you condense a lifetime's worth of learning and innate belief into a description? But it was important to try. Hadjara was a Daemon now, and a damn powerful one at that. This time of knowledge could unlock even more power; it gave context, let you understand the ways other Daemons would tend to behave.
Gabriel was intrigued by her connection to the Cliffs. He had the places he loved in Litharia, but the Cliffs had only ever ranked as neutral. He spent very little time there relative to some other places, but he did understand nostalgia, and connection. Surprisingly spiritual, Gabriel also remained connected to places where important events had happened, and was not entirely dismissive of the Litharian Gods, either.
For now, though, Gabriel was caught up in seeing this world from a whole new angle. If he had to be here, he mused, this was the way to do it. If only he didn't feel so exposed - a raw nerve, almost, floating high above the world, he couldn't help imagining himself as a kind of magical beacon as waves of power rippled through the smoke and lit his form from within with bright fiery sparks - then he might really enjoy it. But it was still an improvement on trudging through the disjointed, strange, broken world below. He hung for a moment, marvelling at the height - he'd never been worried by heights, particularly, but nor had he had any affinity for flight - now, though, the dizzying sight of the world far below felt freeing instead of frightening. He was hooked, and followed Hadjara joyfully, gathering speed and testing the limits. There was a very real drain on his power, obviously, but apart from that none of the usual physical limitations imposed by a corporeal body applied. He didn't feel dizzy or sick from the speed, his vision didn't blur. Heading downwards seemed a shame, but he followed anyway, aware even as he did that he probably couldn't hold the form too much longer - the magic was too new. Still, Hadjara had said minutes. He could do minutes.
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Post by Hadjara Astaeldr Er on Mar 24, 2018 23:22:38 GMT
A shrewd look crossed Hadjara's face for a moment – something that had once been entirely uncharacteristic for her even six months ago. That was some pretty powerfully ingrained culture, and she wondered how much of that stemmed from the father Gabriel mentioned sometimes but never talked about. But she knew better than to dig. Instead she gave him a grin and said, “ya might wanna have a word with some of them Daemon healers, then. I've run inta more 'n a few. Wouldn't want them ta go an' undo all that hard work now would ya? Unless kindness is a strength too.”
And she was genuinely curious about what he'd say to that.
But none of that was half so interesting as curling through the towering city as smoke.
Hadjara moved with the speed of a hurricane, and she made sure that a few of her tendrils remained close to Gabriel as they flew for the same reason that fish schooled. With any luck anyone who saw them race by would see a Singular, Large Adumbrate and not a misplaced living thing and . . . whatever Hadjara actually counted as now. She was, she though faster than Gabriel in this form and he'd be hard pressed to lose her.
Well, at least until Hadjara full speed flew into air she couldn't pass through. It was like watching smoke crash into a clear panel of glass, suddenly rippling out and dissipating before Hadjara pulled back and gathered herself up again. To anyone else, Gabriel included, it was regular air. Not even a static shock that belayed shield magic would give him pause when he passed through the space Hadjara had collided with.
For a moment, Hadjara's form turned jagged and flared with particularly jerky, unnatural motions as an unnatural fury coiled inside her before she forced herself to calm. She wasn't a predator on a hunt right now, she was just leading Gabriel to where Shadows would be hiding and she'd done that.
“Land out here so we can talk,” Hadjara said as her smoke pooled to the street before she walked out of it, her body forming rapidly with every pace in a way that made her look like a figure walking out of thick fog. If, instead of becoming clearer as the figure approached the figure just absorbed and assimilated the smoke drifting around them.
“Okay,” Hadjara said as she set her hands on her hips. “So ya can see what I mean when I say I can't get in. They're got seals that work on adumbrates an' none of us have figured out how ta get past, obviously.” Or there would be no shadows left. “Once ya get in, that's it. I can't follow ya but they –“ Hadjara noticed then that the plant-creatures hadn't kept up. Unsurprising, she supposed.
There was a little pop before her vectors teleported to catch up and as soon as she appeared, Hadjara plucked Shauri out of the air and held her out to Gabriel.
“Like I was sayin', Vectors can get in an' out just fine even without teleportin'. Take Shauri since she can speak common. She's smarter than ya think she is, too, so either ya take her or I tell her ta follow ya.” Shauri made a soft coo of protest and half heartedly waved her tentacles.
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Post by Gabriel on Apr 8, 2018 3:55:29 GMT
Gabriel smiled.
"There's no harm in healing. If anything, it reflects only on the person who failed to do the job properly in the first place. We don't always have to fight to the death to assume dominance, though...it's inherent to the Daemon Lord title, so I gravitate there much more often than average, that's all." And, of course, Hadjara's unspoken thoughts were right - the decades of being raised and shaped by someone who was a genuine psychopath had left its mark. But he wasn't about to go there, either.
"My avoidance of healers is entirely a personal affliction, nothing to do with Daemon heritage or culture. I'm not good at giving others control over me." She already knew that much, though.
Hadjara had had much more practice at this than him. Gabriel, though exultant in the freedom that he'd suddenly found, was aware that holding the form was becoming challenging. Something tugged at him to return to familiarity, to become grounded, and he could feel the burn of magical energy being consumed. He wasn't as quick as Hadjara, nor as confident with manipulating the form, so he shot past her when she collided with some unseen barrier and it took considerable effort to coalesce back into a shape that he felt like he had command over. Curling, he descended and let the magic go, resulting in a rippling effect over his entire form that took just a few seconds before smoke was once again replaced by a more regular, solid form. He eyed the effect Hadjara managed to create as she moved more slowly from one form to another, retaining elements of both at once. Intriguing. He'd have to practice that, if only for the undeniable sense of drama it would lend to an entrance.
He couldn't feel anything of the barrier Hadjara talked about, but he wandered closer obligingly until he assumed he was across the invisible line she couldn't cross.
"Where should I look for you once I'm done?" Gabriel was unsure how long this would take. If he even found the Shadows, which was a big if as no doubt they were skilled at remaining concealed if they wanted to, he had no idea if lengthy diplomatic talks or a fist fight was more likely. It was a chance he couldn't pass up, though, so he stared at Shauri for a moment then nodded.
"Fine. I'm not carrying...it? Though. I assume I shouldn't mention you, since obviously you're one of the things they want kept out?"
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Post by Hadjara Astaeldr Er on Apr 10, 2018 4:14:10 GMT
Hadjara's eyes swirled with curiosity at that thought. Literally swirled. They briefly turned to smoke and rotated in their sockets with a flicker of green before they reformed. “I don't get how getting' patched up is givin' someone else control over ya,” she finally said, “Usually it's just usin' pastes and pushin' bones back where they're meant ta go and stitchin' the skin back up like ya do with leather.” Healing had never been Hadjara's strength as a human, but she had learned the basics so she could return home with a broken leg or a gored belly. Now she had magic to fix herself up with.
“Why don't'cha learn how ta heal yaself up, then?” Then, after a pause her eyes lit up and she perked up. “Oh! Is that why ya don't let me heal ya? I mean, I know that ya hate ice an' all but is it just 'cause ya got that domination fetish?” She thumped one curled fist into her open palm to emphasis her point and she coiled her tail in smug satisfaction for having cracked the case.
She straightened up a little when he asked how to find her an she pointed neatly at Shauri. “Well with her of course. My vectors can teleport so she can come get me once you guys get out and I'll come getcha. Do you understand?” The last part was directed at the vector who hummed and twirled in response, her tentacle-roots fanned out as she turned. “Good girl,” Hadjara said before she looked back at Gabriel sternly.
“And be nice ta her, don't make her cry or nuthin. She's a darlin' an' don't ya forget it.”
Her expression softened and she leaned back, folding her arms nearly behind her back and she smiled pleasantly. “Yeah!” She said, “Well, if it wasn't a problem ta have them know who I am ya could still be walkin' around shirtless.” Coyly she tugged on his shirt, toying the fabric over where she had cut her name. She turned to smoke quickly and pulled up into the air where she reformed her torso that billowed into smoke below her hips while her body still had a shimmering quality that made her seem more like a mirage than a person. “There shouldn't be anyone but shadows in there, and ya best find them before they're done scavenging and that safeguard goes down. As it is nuthin' bigger an' badder than a Shadow should be in there.”
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Post by Gabriel on Apr 14, 2018 4:07:58 GMT
Gabriel shrugged, his expression coloured with suspicion.
"Sometimes they have magic to knock you out with, and then who knows what they might do." Gabriel, who did not feel pain, couldn't fathom willingly allowing a stranger to put you under just to prod a few injuries around.
"I don't know..it's not logical, I know it's not, I just don't trust them." A personal quirk indeed; everyone had their own irrational anxieties, though, and this just happened to be his. He grinned at Hadjara's deductions though, abruptly amused and light-hearted once more.
"Okay, miss clever detective, nice guess. But no. With you, I just hate the ice." And he would never admit anything different, either.
Enough banter though. There would have to be a break from the fun for a while, and Gabriel looked momentarily despondent at the thought. Truth be told, he didn't want to be away from Hadjara while in the Shadow world. He hated this place; hated the broken blankness, hated the dull weight it threw over him from not being able to use magic. Mind you, if the Shadows wards kept things out, he should be free to switch it back on once inside...then again, he could just imagine finishing up and finding a bunch of hungry adumbrates pressed up against the invisible barrier, waiting, when he got done. Maybe still safer to keep it off, especially if - as Hadjara alluded to - the warding was temporary. He sighed, hugged Hadjara briefly, and gestured impatiently at the vector.
"Okay. Let's get this over with. I'll see you on the other side." A crooked grin, and a wave, and the Daemon Lord turned and walked into the darkening street, where Hadjara could not follow.
He would honor her request not to be unkind to the vector. Gabriel was not typically needlessly cruel, and although he didn't understand the vector he knew it experienced emotions in some way. Instead, he ignored it, gaze sweeping the streets ahead. He walked through a city block, this one less destroyed than some others though still crumbling, and the towering buildings that stretched forever over his head made him feel claustrophobic. Everything seemed deserted, deathly quiet, and he moved silently in the rubber-soled shoes he'd found in the shop earlier so nothing broke the eerie atmosphere except for the soft sound of his own breathing. Gabriel did not know what to look for so he simply walked at random, and eventually it worked; the gentle clatter of stone rolling over stone, like someone had dislodged rubble as they walked. His head snapped around, eyes narrowing, instincts ever-predatory, but he did not try to conceal himself as he followed the noise. The whole point was to be seen, to be found, after all.
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Post by Hadjara Astaeldr Er on Apr 14, 2018 7:17:31 GMT
Hadjara hummed curiously and she coiled her tail teasingly along her leg then his, twisting it playfully. “Oh so it IS about power an' control then?” She hooked her fingers under his chin and let her body turn to weightless smoke just enough that she was tall enough to turn up his face and kissed him. “Well, I think it's sweet that ya let me take it.” She meant, obviously, their latest tryst in the fair grounds because he might be reluctant to hand control over but she was more than happy to take it.
She landed delicately as her feet reformed and she purred affectionately. She understood his dislike of ice. Before she became cold blooded her ice could be lethal to even herself if she used too much magic at once. The ice crept into her bones and ruptured her cells once, now her body was capable of surviving being frozen solid thanks to her amphibious powers.
“Have fun!” Hadjara said before he stepped passed where she could follow before she let predatory instincts creep in and sink deep. She curled into smoke and sped off at a speed only adumbrates could manage – off to find such shadows that, brazen and foolish, sought to hunt an kill her and her ilk outside of their protective little wards. They would be her prey, even as Gabriel himself found one to ally to.
X
If Gabriel gave Shalla minimal attention, the small flower creator paid him even less. She drifted into buildings they passed and examined things that caught her interest. Things like interesting rocks, a strange skeleton with a knife stuck in its skull, a lava lamp in someone's bedroom that was still struggling to function without power. She as only gone for a few minutes at a time, but she kept one of her feelers in the general direction of the man her adumbrate seemed so intent on keeping alive. Why, Shalla didn't understand but there were a good deal of things she didn't understand about her half living adumbrate.
She noticed the shadow first, before she moved the pebbles. She felt the mind of the shadow, her strength, the cold weapon she held as she stared through the scope of her rifle. Danger . . .
Gabriel was already staring after the noise when she popped out of thin air next to him. It was easy to share information with her adumbrate, but she still provided him with the information she had gathered. Not by speech, but by thought and codded into senses that Gabriel didn't have. Shalla had no eyes, ears, or nose so the thouht Gabriel would suddenly presented with was two layered images, one was black and green in a rough impression of echolocation and an image that was the area but in ribbons of red that was how she detected magnetic fields, all filtered and distorted by white noise.
Whether or not Gabriel needed time to process that information was irrelevant, because with a frustrated hiss Belladonna Crane stood from her hiding spot.
She had been on the roof of a single level market with a gravel roof, one that she had been raiding before she made her way to the roof to check her wards before returning home. She hadn't expected to see a stranger, and his lack of horns gave away that he wasn't a shadow. Her own antlers raised high and proud over her brilliant blue hair.
Her rifle was pointed at Gabriel and she stared through the scope to get a better look at the Daemon.
“Hello, stranger,” Bella called down, “who are you and what are you? This thing's loaded and I've got a clean shot.”
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Post by Gabriel on Apr 14, 2018 7:39:34 GMT
Gabriel didn't expect the vector to try and communicate with him at all - so when it found some way of planting images in his mind he reeled, shocked. Gabriel himself had this particular power, and used it freely, but he didn't think he much appreciated being the subject of it. Fortunately for Shalla, he was still trying to regain his equilibrium and didn't have time to snap at her to stop it before he was confronted by a rather annoyed looking, very brightly coloured Shadow, pointing a mysterious metal stick in his direction.
Having absolutely no context to perceive this as any kind of threat, Gabriel took his sweet time getting around to engaging with said Shadow. After shaking his head a couple of times - a futile gesture to rid himself of the confusing images from Hadjara's vector, which suddenly disappeared of their own accord after a few more seconds - he blinked and tilted his head while appraising her. The only Shadow Gabriel had met in Litharia had been a man called Nathaniel, and he had been nothing like this woman at all.
Although he didn't know what she was holding from experience, he did recognise a weapon when he saw one even if he didn't know how it worked. He could also read body language, and he'd pissed the woman off thoroughly by the looks of it, before he even opened his mouth. Good start. Presumably, she was reading him as a potential threat, so he raised both hands in the air to show her his empty palms.
"My name is Gabriel. I'm unarmed." Not true, of course; he was never unarmed. No Daemon was, and beyond the claws and fangs (currently carefully hidden), Gabriel's reluctance to use magic because of the attention it might attract was far outweighed by his desire to protect himself if she did attack him. For now, though, he tried to look as unthreatening as possible - no easy feat for a Daemon, given they were specifically designed to read as predators. He smiled though, falling easily into a relaxed charm that came naturally even when his magic wasn't helping him out. Damn shame, that, but not the end of the world. He could negotiate on the back of his own diplomatic skills and political nous.
At least, he would try.
"I'm a visitor....from another realm. Dimension. World. Whatever you want to call it. Litharia, it's known as...your people visit there in your sleep, I'm told. Now I'm visiting in return, and I'd like to talk to someone who represents the Shadows."
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Post by Belladonna Crane on Apr 14, 2018 8:25:04 GMT
“Oh yeah?” Bella retorted skeptically at his assurance that he was unarmed. Whatever he was, everything in this world was dangerous. She remained stock still, gun still level with his head. He was a stranger, and she had a family she was forging for that she had to get back to.
At his admission he was from Litharia Bella's brows knitted together. “I'm familiar with Litharia,” she said flatly, “I'm speaking your language.”
Waking up naked in a strange land where she was so horrendously out of place had been terrifying and it was disconcerting to know she was so different as a woman without memories as she was with them.
“What are you then, Litharian? I know of your many species so which are you?” Bella held off from telling him that without horns they all looked the same to her. The fact that they recognized one another by their faces was, in her opinion, an inconvenience born of species that had no better way to tell who was who. “How did you get here? Your people don't dream of this place.” Her finger lightly brushed the trigger as she debated how likely it was he was a memory stealing parasite with a knack for imitation. If he was then she had to give him credit, most were barely able to shamble about and string together a coherent sentence. And they never imitated Litharia's creatures.
She cocked her head at his confession he wanted to speak to a representative of the shadows, and that baffling statement alone was enough to make her lower her gun. She kept it ready, but it was aimed at the ground.
“Well, there's your mistake,” she said, a hint of her amiable nature sneaking in through her suspicion. “Haven't you met a shadow before? Well, I suppose they wouldn't remember even if you had.” Bella's pink eyes flashed and she grinned broadly. “I'm Belladonna Crane and we don't have a government. If you want a representative for our people then you're s – o – l, stranger. We've been living in total anarchy since the apocalypse.”
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Post by Gabriel on Apr 14, 2018 9:11:32 GMT
Of course she was. Gabriel smiled a little wider on recognising that, if she was speaking the common tongue of Litharia, it had to be because she was one of the Shadows who could visit. He knew so little of them and the details around this were sketchy as best - could all Shadows travel, or only some? Did they have a choice, or was it a life that was thrust upon them unwillingly? He was maddeningly curious, but first he had to convince her not to...shoot? He presumed the weapon was ranged, or holding it up trained perfectly at the centre of his forehead would be pointless.
"A Daemon. Their Lord, as it happens." Gabriel, though vain and arrogant at times, did not say this to boast. He really did want to speak to the Shadows, and he hoped having a good reason for doing so would help in achieving that goal. Along the same lines he was making every effort to prove himself as a non-threat - he kept his palms up in a gesture of appeasement as he spoke, and answered her questions without deceit or preamble.
"I teleported here. I have magic to move between known dimensions, and I know of the Shadow world so this is one of the places I can come to. I've been once before, but this time I wanted to try and find the Shadows. I saw none of your people before...you are skilled at remaining hidden."
He didn't, though, give the other reason for his visit. He didn't know how to describe what Hadjara was, or why he'd needed to bring her to a dimension he was so uncomfortable with. Fortunately this woman, though understandably wary, did not seem like she would be impossible to reason with. He lowered his hands when she lowered her weapon, breathing a short sigh of relief.
"One. His name was Nathaniel. I think, though, you have trouble remembering this world when you come to Litharia, because although he was kind and seemed to want to be helpful, he couldn't tell me much at all about the Shadows or this place." He'd said as much about the Shadows not having a government, though, and lacking any kind of central organisation. Never mind...even if all Gabriel achieved today was confirmation of the fact right from the source - a Shadow still in the Shadow world, and therefore in possession of their memories - that was enough. If the Shadows could not be rallied into any kind of organisation, that went for the Angels just as much as for the Daemons.
He wasn't giving up just yet, though. No matter what happened with political talks, he was still deeply intrigued by this new alien race.
"Lovely to meet you, Belladonna Crane." Gabriel wandered closer, taking care not to move in a hurry, keeping his movements measured and relaxed so as not to emphasise the predatory grace and speed he was capable of. This way of presenting himself wasn't new - he did it for any Humans he met with on an official basis, too, and at times checked himself in this way even for the Fae and Shifters. In some circumstances he didn't want to emphasise his differences from those he was talking to, and one of Gabriel's genuine skills was connecting with people, making them comfortable, offering a persona they would enjoy spending time with - maybe even trust.
"I'd heard as much. Nonetheless, I'd like to talk a little about what is happening for the Daemons in Litharia, and see if there's anything we can find common ground on. And I'm interested in knowing more about the Shadows, even if that's not the case. Would you speak with me for a time? Answer some questions? I'm happy to answer any of yours, should you have them."
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Post by Belladonna Crane on Apr 14, 2018 10:24:44 GMT
Bella's understanding of Litharia was limited, but she knew what a lord was. Curiosity began to swell within her, because what in all the universes was he doing here? Well, he told her but Bella herself didn't full understand what his ultimate goal was.
“You've been here before?” She asked.
She was unsurprising that he had trouble finding her kind. While Daemons where the apex predator of their world, Shadows were just about the bottom of their food chain. “Well, hiding's generally why we survive here. Those habits die hard even when we can't remember why they formed. And . . . well, Litharia itself doesn't seem too keen on us. It's not like we can stick around in one place too long.” She'd managed to travel a great distance and make minimal contact with any intelligent Litharian life.
“Okay, that tracks,” Bella said. If he knew about their memory loss then he likely had spoken to another of her kind in Litharia. “I'm afraid I don't know any Nathaniel. Do you know what he was? Here, I mean. If it's him you're looking for I can ask my family if they've met anyone by that name. Although he could very well be dead. In litharia and here.” So don't get your hopes up was left unsaid, but the weight of the sentiment still hung in the air between them.
For a moment she regarded him before she shrugged and said, “I suppose so. I'll answer your questions as well as I can if you tell me why you're so keen on knowing more about us. I won't help you if your goal is to eradicate us – we already get enough of that here.”
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Post by Gabriel on Apr 28, 2018 1:00:36 GMT
Gabriel nodded.
"Just once. This world seems unfriendly to those with inherent, non-native magic, though. I can't say it's all that comfortable being here." Understatement of the century, that; he'd been complaining about coming pretty much the moment his feet had landed here, and if it wasn't for the need to untangle Hadjara's magic he wasn't sure even the lure of speaking to the Shadows was worth it. He tried not to look uneasy, though, despite constantly feeling exactly that. Edgy, tense people did not put others at ease when interacting with them.
"I'm impressed with your wards. I couldn't feel them, I guess they don't recognise something like me. But I've heard they protect you from the worst of the worst over here? I've been worried about running into something like that since I arrived. It's a relief to be a bit safer for a while." Gabriel, wandering casually closer to Belladonna all the time, now took a seat on a crumbling concrete wall, although he couldn't have said that was what it was made of. The unnaturally smooth, stone-like surface was spiderwebbed with cracks, but made for a comfortable enough perch.
"I haven't seen him for several years," he admitted, realising he knew next to nothing about his only Shadow contact from the past.
"And I know very little about him, except that I liked him well enough." He had no expectations of ever seeing the nervy, uneasy Shadow again; although it would have been an unexpected and pleasant surprise, the odds seemed far too long to hinge any real hope on.
Gabriel's expression relaxed into an easy, pleased grin at Belladonna's agreement to speak to him, and he shook his head quickly in an attempt to assuage her fears.
"Not at all. Actually, its the Daemons that are under threat. Do you know of the Angels, in Litharia? Absolutely hate us. Order versus chaos or whatever. It's too early to know what level of threat they actually are to us, but I know for a fact they're attempting to form alliances and their single-minded goal is Daemon eradication. I want to know first and foremost whether the Shadows are, or would ever, ally with the Angels. If not, I'd like to know if you would ally with us instead. And failing that, I'd really like assurances of neutrality in any future war." It was a succinct summary of an extremely complex political situation; he hoped Belladonna would follow, despite the Shadow's rumoured difficulty with even the concept of things like alliances.
"I also know that the Shadows' presence in Litharia is tenuous, at best. Your magic is alien in that world, like mine is here, and others can feel it. The Gods have banished your kind before and might do it again. I have connections throughout the power structures of Litharia; I hear the whispers. Maybe I can be of help to the Shadows, assuming you even want a continued presence in Litharia." He assumed they did, though, glancing around at their incredibly dangerous, dying world. Gabriel's own world was thriving and yet he'd never give Litharia up. For its faults, it was still one of the most unique and incredible worlds he knew of.
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