forum Broken Betrothal (O/O Closed)

Started May 06, 2022 by @Bunty group

tune

As Sars was about to ask more about what power value the Esokans had to the Imbers, nothing more than an angry dog on a leash to them, Sars assumed, Kené cut in with his own question, "Can you tell us more about Azfellians? I know my brother once met with the royal family of the elves," Sars sent his younger brother a glare- that was information he didn't like to go blabbering about, given that the elves held themselves up highly in the social ranks, "but we don't know much about Azfel and the culture, besides small bits and stories our mother taught us when we were younglings." Their mother taught them many, many different things when they were young about all the peoples of Yurul, probably because she wanted them to be as wise as she was one day, if that could ever happen. She focused most on the people of Pillax, on the dangers that some posed to them so they would be prepared when a time came to face them, but the most interesting teachings were the tales of wonder and intrigue based in the different regions.

Markos sighed faintly, taking in the question. "We are similar to elves and fae. Same genetic family, at least." he replied, cocking his head very faintly. "We tend to stick to ourselves, and we don't often leave our own holdings. My family was not pleased when I married Mori." he gave his wife a soft smile, then looked over at the two brothers again. "I am…honestly not quite sure what you want me to tell you. Abilities? Physical features? Culture?" he laughed a little. "It has been a long time since I was part of Azfel culture, but I could still tell you some of it."

Kené leaned in slightly, his eyes bouncing between Moriana and Markos as the man talked. "I've always found magic to be interesting, so pray tell," Kené said with an easy smile. Sars regarded most magic users outside of Esokans as some level of danger, even if they didn't pose a threat. Magic wasn't something that could be easily subdued, Sars knew from firsthand experience when others tried to subdue him. His water couldn't be stopped by simple knives and fists. He was blessed to be able to easily extinguish his brother's magic, but it took a great deal of fire power to evaporate his water, he would more often fail from exhaustion before it came to that.

Markos nodded, thinking for a moment. "We have the ability to use glamour, like the Fae do." he did not often use his, as it was tiring to use it long-term. It could be useful, though, when he wanted to disguise himself. "While we cannot ensorcell humans, we can influence them through magic words. We can lie, though it is more difficult than it is for humans." Azfel were more closely related to Fae than to Elves, though all three races had similarities to each other. "Magic can differ from Azfel to Azfel. It tends to be specific, though. Less broad. For instance, one Azfel might have the ability to control animals, but another might have the ability to become invisible. It often depends on the positioning of the sun, the moon, the stars, and even the child's own temperament. The abilities do not show up until puberty, either, which is why most scholars who study the patterns of our magic believe that the child's temperament has more to do with the magic than the solar sky."

The younger Esokan listened intently before glancing between Markos and Everia Imber. "So what can you two do? Or- uh, I don't know how strong -or, dominant- Azfel bloodlines are," Kené's eyes landed on Everia as he asked her, "Can you use magic?" Esokan bloodlines were quite different from most races. When an Esokan and a human had a child, the child would be an Esokan, just with insignificantly less magic and Esokan traits. Their mother had told them long ago Esokans used to be much stronger, almost impossible to stop or control, but since then their race had been mercifully diluted to become an 'average' amount of power, not entirely different from an elf or a necromancer. The Eoiali family was significantly stronger than most Esokans. Their mother was already fairly strong, but the depth of their power was inherited by their father. He came from a long line of exclusively Esokan ancestors, which had its advantages and disadvantages when it came to protecting the tribe.

Eve's mouth quirked faintly, and she glanced to her father for guidance. He gave her a quick gesture, and she nodded, before turning back to the Esokans. She reached up with her hand, and one of the piercings in her ear flew to her fingers, quickly growing and morphing into a small dagger, held delicately in her fingers. "That's my ability." she said, twirling it between her fingers as she watched the Eoiali brothers. "Metal manipulation." she smiled just a little bit. Markos did not reveal his ability; better to leave it a mystery and let Eve show off.

Kené's eyes widened with amazement. "Wow… You could kill someone with their own weapon, just by turning it in on itself- that's so cool," He said, a smile appearing on his face, but then he caught himself and quickly added, "I'm sure it would be good for blacksmithing too, and dozens of other practical uses." It was true, metal manipulation would be quite handy for a family to have. Weapons, stealing precious metals, slicing someone's neck from behind without them ever seeing it coming… It was a new threat that Sars would have to keep in mind about the girl.

Eve smiled again, nodding as the dagger shrunk and turned back into her earring, which she easily popped back into her ear. "It has quite a lot of excellent uses." she agreed, picking up her fork and taking a bite of food. "I find it more useful than some other abilities I could have had." she really did love her ability; it meant she never went anywhere unarmed, even if she didn't have a sword or dagger strapped to her side. Metal was everywhere. Even if someone took all the metal she carried on her, it was unavoidable that it would be somewhere nearby.

Sars found his eyes quickly dashing over Everia, trying to catch any bit of metal on her. It wasn't like he could do anything, but he couldn't stop himself from analysis. Kené shot him a glance, and that was his cue to go back to eating. It was a hard balance- trying to grant his brother's wishes and relax a little more, socialize, and play nice while trying to obey his chieftess' orders to protect the younger Esokan. Given Sars' nature, it was incredibly difficult to do both. He was too much like his father sometimes, unable to feel compassion and appreciation for the small things like getting to know someone. Sometimes it was simply much easier, much more efficient, to learn someone by seeing how they acted when they stared death in the face.

Eve kept eating her food, smirking very faintly. She knew that Sars was stuyding her, knew that now everything she did would be second-guessed and judged by Sars as untrustworthy. But that was fine. She didn't mind. It added a little more excitement to her days, and gods knew it would get boring soon enough. Trapped in Esol'a Vera while they discussed the marriage. She was already bored of it. "So, what abilities do you two have, again? You asked my father for information about the Azfellian, but you haven't provided any about yourselves. So, tell us about you?" she raised her eyebrows at Sars, then at Kene.

Mori cleared her throat faintly, a soft warning to her daughter to not be rude in her questioning. Sars and Kene had been well within their rights to ask for more information about the Azfel, and Eve was within hers to request the same about the Esokans. As long as Eve was being polite about it, it was fine.

Eve kept eating her food, smirking very faintly. She knew that Sars was studying her, knew that now everything she did would be second-guessed and judged by Sars as untrustworthy. But that was fine. She didn't mind. It added a little more excitement to her days, and gods knew it would get boring soon enough. Trapped in Esol'a Vera while they discussed the marriage. She was already bored of it. "So, what abilities do you two have, again? You asked my father for information about the Azfellian, but you haven't provided any about yourselves. So, tell us about you?" she raised her eyebrows at Sars, then at Kene.

Mori cleared her throat faintly, a soft warning to her daughter to not be rude in her questioning. Sars and Kene had been well within their rights to ask for more information about the Azfel, and Eve was within hers to request the same about the Esokans. As long as Eve was being polite about it, it was fine.

Sars had to focus to keep his face stony and unchanged at Everia's look. He would play nice. He would play nice. Kené opened his mouth to speak, but Sars beat him to it, "I have an affinity for water, and Kené has an affinity for fire." Short and simple, not any more information would be given than what was asked for. That was how it should be.

"Yeah! It's really cool, I can spark flames from nothing, and I can't get burned either. We can both silent-walk too." Kené just had to go on blabbering, didn't he? "It's a little ability that Esokans have, we can basically mute our movements, like breathing and walking. It's not really important for most Esokans, but some choose- well, some choose to put themselves on the market as assassins, given that-" Sars stepped on his brother's foot, and Kené frowned slightly before continuing, "It's really not useful for most Esokan in our tribe. Sars tends to do it without noticing." Kené shot him a brotherly grin, like a youngling who just tattled on his sibling. Sars had seen that smile quite a few times before.

"All of our magic isn't very useful in these days," Sars said, his eyes dancing over Everia to look at Markos and Moriana, "I got very lucky with my abilities. It's extremely important that each tribe has at least one water user, two is better, simply from a survival standpoint." The fire users and sand wielders inherited magic that was needed many centuries ago, when Esokan lived a different way of life. Now, it was used for cooking food and, frankly, fun. The days when he and his brother sparred for enjoyment were very fond to Sars.

Eve listened, eyes narrowing very faintly at this reveal about the silent-walking. That was a danger. If she could not hear them coming, then it would be far easier to get the jump on her. Sure, the Esokans were not overly tall, but they were still taller than she was, and the height was enough to give at least some advantage over her. "I see." she replied slowly, trying to think of another question. She knew why water abilities were important; the Esokans came from the desert, after all, and you needed water in the desert. "That makes sense. About the, ah, water abilities being important for survival. It's…not really something that is needed here. We have almost too much water, here, if you don't like the ocean."

A small smile of agreement found its way to Sars' lips. "Yes, it is indeed quite different from the desert here," He said softly, his head turning towards the direction of the ocean as if he could see it through the castle walls. "I imagine it has its own survival difficulties, no?" Sars asked, his eyes landing back on Everia. He hoped his brother listened well as he continued, "Sea creatures that manifest in the depths, so many borders with the other regions, pirating ships to compete with?" Entirely different threats to an entirely different way of life. Sars only briefly heard sailor's tales from travelling to markets and from some elven ships' captains, but what he did hear didn't seem very pleasant or easy.

"Yes. The creatures are probably the ones that are the biggest pain in the ass, but they are also a rarer difficulty." she replied, shrugging a shoulder. "More common ones are other ships, and also hostile ports. We don't control all the ports, clearly; we just have a large presence in many of them, so some are unfriendly. That's an issue if we need to resupply food or fresh water supplies." she was trying to locate a potential crew member who could filter the salt from the water and create fresh water from ocean water, as the lack of fresh water was one of the larger issues that they faced, when out on the ocean. She reached over to absently adjust one of the sleeves of her dress, letting out a soft, faint sigh.

"I didn't even think about the fresh water you'd need," Kené said, leaning forward slightly as he spoke, "Sometimes we take for granted how Sars can get rid of the sand and grit from our water without having to boil it." Sars lowered his head. It was his obligation, not something to be acknowledged like a gift. "What you need is an Esokan with an affinity for water on your crew. I'm sure we could contact another tribe who has people looking to move out of the desert and-"

"They don't have any to spare," Sars cut in, his voice gentle but firm. He looked to Everia as he explained, "The number of younglings who can control water is getting fewer and fewer with each passing year. Most tribes hold their water users close; you'd have much better luck finding a water Esokan looking for work in Varesia than you would in Pillax." Though some would say his response was cold, it was just brutal honesty. He had a better scope of all the tribes in Pillax, Kené didn't and that was simply the truth. Even though their tribe was probably the strongest, and was looked too for leadership amongst all Esokans, once Kené got married off and Sars was gone, they would likely dissolve into other tribes. Kené couldn't lead, he was too focused on things like herding the oxen, or exploring neighboring villages, or admiring a beautiful castle in an entirely different region.

"It's similar to your lives on the dessert, in terms fo water, I suppose. And, ah, I can find a water user without taking one from Pillax." she replied, shaking her head a little bit. She could tell that Sars did not like that idea, so she wasn't going to press it. She didn't want to piss off either of the Esokans, after all. Her parents would be furious if she did that so early, they really would be. So she would make an effort not to, though it meant being as polite as humanly possible to them. Which was fine. She could do that.

Mori nodded faintly. "We will find a water manipulator sooner or later. It is not one of our highest priorities, as Eve has been fine so far without one. There are enough ports and fresh water sources that it is all fine as is."

Kené frowned slightly at Sars, but he gave him a knowing look and the younger Esokan submitted. He knew he was right. Sars supposed he couldn't blame him- at one point in time, he too would forget to check logic in order to please a beautiful woman. But there was a difference. Sars did it out of- love, or something like it. Kené was only here out of social obligation, and a bad obligation at that. "I'm sure you will," Sars said softly, taking a drink of his water and offering a small shrug.

"In the meantime, though, I'm sure my brother can help out if you take us out on your ship," Kené added swiftly, that same excited smile on his lips at the thought. He was almost like a puppy- easily excited and typically pleased. He could be a good husband, and Sars had to make himself try to imagine what it would be like if Kené truly did get married to this Imber.

Eve tipped her head faintly, gaze moving from her parents to the Esokans. "Perhaps. I don't know if we would be able to take a long enough voyage for a water restock to be necessary, but I should like to bring you onto my ship at some point." she replied. "After all, it is a big part of who I am." it really was. She could not imagine being parted from her ship or from the sea; she had grown up climbing rigging and furling sails. She had gotten her sea legs before she got her land legs, so to speak, as much of her early years had been spent at sea, or here at Esol'a Vera.

That much seemed clear, given the Imber's location and stake in the oceans of Islilia. Sars swirled his water in his cup, partially by physically swirling it but partially helping it along with his mind, as he let the conversation float away from him. Islilia was probably a beautiful region to explore. Mermaids' castles buried deep beneath the waves, hidden monsters to keep in the back of one's mind to keep someone on their toes, being able to see all the regions through sailing from place to place… it wasn't the desert, but it was an adventure that Sars would only ever consider taking if he wasn't- if he wasn't who he was. Even if it was a bad idea, Kené would do those things. Even though the details still needed to be handled, and mercifully nothing was set in stone yet, Sars knew it was likely that this whole arrangement would work out, and Kené… The younger Esokan would probably enjoy it, if Sars was being honest.