Sorana

"My name is Temeria." She replied, committing the strange names to memory. "Temeria Shenet." Her last name sounded strange on her tongue, despite the fact that she had never changed it to fit the names in Iri better. But now, with her sister around, it had become something more than a reminder, it had turned into a real familiy name again. It might tell everybody who her sister was, and that immediatly placed her into the same house by nothing but affiliation. If that was good - she had no idea if Aln's guild was important enough to protect her, or if it was the other way round. Maybe she had just painted a huge target on her back. Temeria grit her teeth when she realized that she had no way to judge the situation at all. She didn't know enough about the place, about this world and she still felt observed, as if something was there, right behind her shoulder, staring at her, waiting for a mistake. Focus. She chided herself and couldn't stop her head from turning, checking if the alley behind her was empty. It was. Only the shadow's appeared to have moved around a little. The spren was burning brighter, and she found it standing on her shoulder, as if it was proud of something. It was here. Relief that she wasn't completely alone got rid of some of the fear and she took another breath. So far it was nothing but two persons. Mac had been nice. Ignore the shadow's and stay calm. Panicking wouldn't lead to anything as tempting as the thought was. She tried to come with some nice tidbit as well, something like the comment about family names and when she couldn't think of something, went with a question. "Do you live here? Or is this, " She made a gesture along the alley, "More like a connection to a different place?" Too late she realized, that this was probably something everybody knew and that her words had revealed her as being completely clueless. Well, she couldn't change them now anyway. @Ookla the Foxed

Uneasily Temeria looked around. There was only the alley, nothing else. Nothing apart from the shadows that seemed to move, as if they were waiting for her to take a wrong step. Or to stay here alone. Ice cold fear grabbed her heart and she swallowed. Alone. Here. No, it wasn't an option. She could deal with something corporal, something she could use her sword to hack apart. But this - this was something completely differet. She couldn't fight a shadow. The question of the one who had greeted her was no real question, although she supposed she should be glad that she didn't take her hair and drag her away. Somehow she felt as if they were able to do that. "He did leave a message." She finally replied, her voice shaking slightly. Her eyes flickered over to the one with the tail. They were quiet, but that only meant that she wouldn't hear them before they sunk their knife in her chest. She had to be careful. The question hovered in the air between them, while she groped for words, tried to come up with something that was useful and at the same time hid her fear at being left along in this place. And her fear at going somewhere else but back to the boarding house. She could take the spren and run. The only question was where. In the end there was no alternative and she stepped slightly to the side when it seemed as if something was moving towards her. Her eyes. It had to be her eyes, they were playing tricks on her mind. "And yes, I've got some time on my hands. I came here to bring this news and if it is relevant to your superior then I will gladly talk to him." There. That sounded as if she actually knew what she was doing.

A private investigator. You raise an eyebrow at the information, admire the way he dropped it casually into your conversation, taking your sentence, ignoring the hidden meaning and twisting it around. This hidden threat, the offer to work for you. And of course, the way he gently adds you to his web of potential customers. It's beautiful, like a piece of art nobody but you will ever see and you take a moment to appreciate it. Everything else would be neglecting his skill. You place your glass on the counter and consider his offer. Is there something you might need a private investigator for? Not really, but on the other hand, maybe he could come in handy. If he works for you, he doesn't work for anybody else, at least not all of the time. And it's a garant for more conversations. To ensure yourself some nice company now and then - money certainly isn't the issue. The thought is tempting and you tap a finger against the counter, tilt your head a little his way,. Like all your gestures you practiced this one, studied the way it enhances you neck. Add to that a little profile you jawbone will show nicely as well. That your braid slids over your shoulder, is a nice bonus and you know that your hair has a soft sheen in the candle light. You make sure to keep your strands healthy and strong. Pensively you look up, take in his posture. If he hides a weapon on his person, you can't see it and you add that to his list of attributes you admire. The only question left , is if he is working at the moment, or if he is free for you to hire him. "I will let you know should I find a better place to spend your free time. If the quality of their whiskey is the same as their wine," you give a deliberate little sigh, carefully stress the word free, "then there is definitely room for something with a little more class." Now it's up to him to pick up the ball, give it a nice spin and hand it back to you. Or he drops it on the ground. In that case this could easily turn into his last conversation. You can't have someone run around, talking about your secrets.

Temeria took a step back when she saw the ears and the tail. Her foot caught on something and she stumbled, but when she looked down nothing was there. Maybe one of the cobbles. Her head jerked back to the second figure, the one with the ears and the tail and she realized that her hand was back at her weapon. "I did." She started to explain, when the spren was there, sat down on her shoulder. Reliefed that she wasn't alone anymore she lifted a hand as if to touch it, but then remembered the burn marks it had left and stopped herself. Danger. A warning. The spren had followed her, only to deliver a warning. Spren didn't do that, and that this one had done it. There was a deeper meaning to it, there had to be. The spren had followed her around for a while now, so there had to be a reason. Temeria looked back at the two figures, she wasn't sure about the human part with the ears and tail and forced herself to concentrate on the situation at hand. She could figure out what to do with the spren later. "I did say knew." She started a second time. "He left. Said he would never return. And then he vanished." She wondered if she should mentioned the coin, or maybe the house, wasn't sure if she should do it. Maybe they would take it away, and she wanted to keep them. It was a reminder, of his kindness, of the other words he had left her. Those about making a difference, but these words had been directed at her, and she wanted to keep them for a while. She shut her mouth, finally decided to stay quiet and not explain anything more, worried too late that her hesitation most likely had given away, that there was more.

Lena smiled at her. "Hello. We are here to ask about different ways to treat slightly injured people, as well as the use of fabrics or motivators to get this done." She replied quickly and then held out her box with pancakes. "Do you want to have a pancake?"

Sure! *looks them up* Okay! Done! Thanks a lot!

I have no idea. But then I don't know that many kinds of dogs.

You answer his gaze calmly, admire the way he's playing the game, how he uses his body to challenge to stress his words. "My, my. You are assuming." You reply and give your voice just the right amount of disappointment, draw the words out a little. "I never said, that I treat injured ones, did I?" Lifting your glass to your lips you take another sip of the wine, let it roll down your throat and smile at him. "But I agree, building a city, it will attrackt all kind of people. It will attract the hopeless. It will attract the strong, those with malicious intent and those looking for a real chance in life." A small smile touches your lips while you rest your eyes on his again, you enjoy this conversation in a way you hadn't thought possible before. "The only question is who will you meet?"

Shana climbed into the car as well and sat down next to Rob. "I know. The earlier we kill them, the better." With a sigh she clasped her hands together. "Less people they killed and maybe we can even prevent them from tumbling into whatever it is completely." And yet, it felt wrong. To kill instead of saving. "I simply, how does it fit? It's life before death. Not kill to safe lives." She stared at her red hands, red. Nearly red like blood. "I know that it works. because Mahad is still here, but at the same time, I ask myself, if it's right. How can I place one life above others? How can I decide who to kill?" Her voice shook and she tightened her grasp on her own hands. "I know that it's the right thing. But it feels so wrong." ========= @Ookla the Ocelot @Ookla the very snazzy @Ookla the Random

Temeria jumped in surprise at the voice, it seemed to come from all sides at the same time, and she whirled around again, her heart beat calming a little when she saw the two of them. They looked positively human, at least as far as she could see. Of course they were. She chided herself. Mac had looked like a human as well. All the rest - it was only her imagination running wild. Change the sky a little, add some creepy shadows, and trust her mind to paint monsters everywhere. "Hello." She repeated, shifted her weight from one feet to the other, something about these two made her uneasy. She couldn't pinpoint it, just like she couldn't pinpoint anything here, but something about them - maybe it was only the way they held themselves. "Yes, I called." She replied, surprised by how steady her voice sounded. Slowly she forced herself to removed her hand from her sword, tried to appear more or less relaxed. It was always better to try to appear strong in unknown territory. "I am looking for somebody who knew Mac."

Temeria walked along the street, carefully keeping away from the fast carriages and close to the wall of a nearby house. Aln had told her to walk into an alley, and Mac had did that and vanished. So it should be rather easy. Walking into an alley, sounded like something she could do. She paused at a crossroads and looked around, then randomly chose a small street to her right. It was narrow, the houses left and right casting it into deep shadows and she paused for a moment, took some time to collect herself. The sister she remembered was no brave person, but in the end, she couldn't discard the fact that her warning might have some merrit. Bracing herself for whatever might come Temeria took a step forward. Her foot hit the ground with a soft sound and she carefully took another step, then another. There was a man lying on the ground, obviously begging for money and she tried to avoid his glance, his dark eyes, combined with the shadow's of the houses made her uneasy. Quickly she passed him, wondered when something would happen, where the huge unseen danger was her sister had been talking about. She was halfway through the alley when she realized that most likely she had gotten something wrong. Or maybe there was a rule as to which alley to choose. Exhaling her body relaxed when nothing jumped her from the dark and she continued to walk, randomly turned left and right. She could always ask for her way back later - had no idea how to get back to the boarding house in the first place. She would have to get a new set of cloths somewhere, something that fit this world better and maybe she would have to spend some time thinking about getting another weapon. Something less conspicious than a sword. Lost in her thoughts she didn't notice the change in her surroundings, had stopped paying attention a while ago. Back in the army, someone would shout if an attack neared, it wasn't her role in the middle of a row to think of these things, and sometime between considering what to do and realizing that nothing happened, her attention had wandered. Deadly on a battlefield, but on a battlefield something happened. You weren't walking through a city, waiting for some magical stuff to happen. When she looked up she sky was gone, replaced by something she couldn't find words for, apart from the fear in quietly instilled in her heart. Swallowing she forced her gaze away, her hand closed around the handle of her sword when she tried to understand what had happened, looked back the way she had come and only saw an alley, stretching a lot farther on than the last turn she'd taken. Sweat covered her palm and Temeria swallowed, forced herself to try to keep up a brave facade when something she couldn't even point at scared her to the bones. "He-" Her voice shook and she stopped speaking, slowly took another hesistant step forward. "Hello!" She finally shouted. "I am looking for somebody who knew Mac." The sounds echoed strangely and she flinched back at them, as if something unseen was sneaking up on her. When she whirled around, nothing was there, only the sky, that seemed to suck her up, and again, she looked away, as if pretending it wasn't there changed anything. "Come on." She added quietly. "Anybody, I don't care. Just let me get over with this." And then she could turn around and go away. Temeria clung to the thought, although a nagging voice told her, that maybe this time going home wasn't as easy as asking for the right way. @Ookla the Foxed

Temeria sighed when her sister rushed off and forced herself to finish her meal. Well, it had been expected. They hadn't talked that long even back on Roshar. To have a little distance till they would talk again - it would be good for both of them. Try to establish their relationship slowly. See if it might work. She gave the waiter a sign and paid, using the spheres Aln had left and added a little money of her own. The food was expensive - but as she didn't know how much you usually paid for food, she didn't bat an eye and secretly grit her teeth when her meagre ressources shruck a lot. When she got to her feet she noticed the spren sitting on the windowsill and she smiled at him "Hello little one." she looked around and picked up a candle from another table and placed it next to spren. "It's an unusual palce for you. I thought you liked to be around flames?" She observed it for a while longer, and then grabbed her sword, slung its belt around her hip. One thing after the other. "You know, Aln told me I shouldn't do this." She pensively looked at the spren. "But I will do it anyway. My sister was always a coward. If she thinks it dangerous - I have to do it. If only to show her, that I don't need her to survive in this place." Which probably wasn't entirely true, but she would rather eat a shoe than accept this. So far it was easy. Take care of the strange carriages and expect them to be fast than you were. The rest she could sort out in time.

Althea shrugged. "We could agree on destroying it right here and now." She placed the idea in the room again, although it had been flying around for a while. "That would also solve the problem." She looked up, at the crude stone wall with all the beads. "Even if we distribute it now, we will run into this problem again and again. Everytime one of them produces a new bead, we are back at this discussion. Or we hand out mining rights, have a neutral party mine it and distribute it." It lead them to an endless cycle of discussions, of dooming war. Destroying this place. It would solve all of them. But it would also mean, that this treasure just disappeared. Althea's eyes rested with Adren, counting the beads and she suppressed a sigh, kept her face professional. To destroy it - it was an easy way. But usually the easiest way wasn't the wisest one. "And I agree with you. The government isn't suited to deal with this."

"Only four are left." I reply and wonder if the other two teamed up as well. If we - get rid of them, then it's only the two of us. Swallowing I push the thought aside. There will be a solution. "Let's give it a try." I turn around try to follow our footsteps back to the oasis.

"Do you want to go back? Attend the feast?" I ask and look around. "If you can remember where we're supposed to go that is."

@Rushu42

Hello and welcome to the Shard!

Hello and welcome to the shard!

Pensively Althea considered Karin's words. That she doubted that the DA could keep the Atium save without starting another guild war was an interesting tidbit of information, she filed away for later use. You never knew when it might come in handy. A part of her delighted at the discussion, at the situation, that they had to find a solution to the problem, one that made everybody happy. And another part wished they had never found this. "TUBA isn't even here." She replied, "At least not officially. Nor are many of the other guilds. And I don't know about you, but I can't argue on their behalf and I'm that if we call in a huge council with everybody, we will only complicate the situation further." Although it might be neccessary if they really wanted to devide it in a fair way. She rested her eyes on Karin. "What do you propose? Can you think of something else?" It was easy to rip apart ideas, but to come up with something better was a lot more difficult. "Apart from destroying all of it." It was another option, but one she wasn't entirely sure if the others would go along with. Adren adressed her, asked, if she could take someone with her when she elsecalled and she moved a little, so that she could see both him and Karin. "Yes, I can. Why do you ask?" @Ookla the Foxed @ElephantEarwax

Why???

"Because if your organization takes it, we can take it out of the equation." She replied and added an explanation. "Infinity plus is still infinity." Hopefully Karin would be able to follow her trail of thought. The DA was outside the balance, all in all so incredibly powerful, that the atium wouldn't be able to upset the balance. Because there was no balance between the DA and the others. It would strengthen them, but in the end it didn't matter. The whole world existed because of them. Give or take some atium, the situation itself wouldn't change. "Additionally I would trust you to keep it out of the hands of others." She extended her hands to indicate the whole cave. "Like you said, the potential that rests here can easily destroy the balance we maintain between the guilds and it can upset our economy. To collapse the cavern is only a short time solution, I agree with you in that regard. The easiest way to prevent all of this is to remove the atium from the table completely." And we are already at your mercy anyway. She finished her sentence silently. She didn't really mind, it was just the way things were. The DA was a part of the world, just like letters were a part of writing.

Mike looked around at those standing around. Lusk was here. He stepped a little to the side, felt shaken, although he couldn't quite pinpoint the reason. He quietly looked around, there were so many people and he was - pain ripped through his chest and he pressed a hand to his chest, leaned against a wall. It was fox, he realized, when he peered into that dark space that was his mind. Fox, and out of fox mouth - Mike gasped and ran towards fox, not caring that snake took over, his eyes turning into a bright green with dark slights, scales covering his skin. Snake looked around, and flicked a rude gesture at Lusk, there was no reason for her to be here, then she turned around and walked out of the building. Mike rushed towards fox, his eyes on the little thing fox held in his mouth. His hands shook and he could only watch in horror as Fox deliberatetly laid down a little body in front of him. Fox turned around dismissively while Mike fell to his knees and gently picked her up. Fox teeth had left deep holes in her body, and her tentacles were lifelessly hanging around. Squid wasn't moving anymore, wasn't holding on to his hand, or floating in the dark room. She had been kind and cautious, a wonderful soul and she had centered him, had given him strength when he'd needed it. Mike held her to his chest, her limp body slowly dissolving in his hands. tears ran down his face when he tried to save her, but it was too late, he was too late. Fox had killed her. He had even ripped one of her arms from her body. Weeping Mike held her body, until nothing was left, but air.

You purse your lips a little and shake your head in a tiny, perfected motion. "If we leave everything as it is, nothing new will evolve. I don't know if we need a city or not, or if it will lead to something great. But at least it's a chance." Pointedly you look around the place. "And this is not a state this place should remain. A city. It could attract trade, while it's proximity to the middle of our world stresses our power. If there is an official center, more people are likely to flock here, bringing wealth and knowledge. That in turn can lead to an improved infrastructure, which leads to a higher standard of life in general." You take another sip of your wine and let your gaze rest on the people in the room for a while. Observe them, their actions. The one you had chosen earlier is drunk, and you judge from the way his friends push him, that he will leave soon. It's your opportunity to leave, to go on with your project. You consider his face again, take care to look at his arms, at the way he moves. Good body. Not too destroyed from working yet, he's got a couple of years let where he can move without pain. He's perfect. Then you turn back to Sloane and forget about the man, instead your eyes rest on a young girl that must have walked into, while you were looking at Sloane's drink. She looks to young to be in that place, and you quickly add her to her list of people you want to keep an eye on. She is either very, very stupid, or very very powerful. "I think, that we should give change a chance to show if things can change for the better." You resumed your previous trail of thought. "If we stop the natural change of things, then we end up with a boring, old society." You don't really know why you argue for the city, you don't really care if it's being built or not. Mostly you do it, to tease Sloane, to see if he will agree on a nice discussion, or just shrug it away.

Althea turned to Karin when she climbed out of the Well again and listened to everybody talking. Max was coming, well, at least that offered another possibilty to solve this solution. He could easily get rid of the Atium here without the need to collapse the cavern. "Karin." She started, carefully considered her words, while staying where she was at Wes side. "Do you think those you associate with would be willing to take it?" She asked, tried to remain vague about Karin's affiliation. She wasn't sure how many knew, although if the others had followed Karin's actions and her abilities it would be easy to guess. The atium was powerful, but onyl as long as it ended up with people willing to use it, or with those that needed the edge. If it stayed with those, that could make use of it, but didn't need it to maintain their place in the balance of power, then that might be a good solution. They were so powerful already, she doubted that the atium would really change anything if you considered the larger picture. At least it was one, that prevented a war between the other guilds and she wasn't sure if they could come up with something better soon enough to prevent a huge leak. Additionally the DA was the one guild she trusted to keep this cave save from intruders.

"But you don't run around and harm people, do you?" She asked instead, although she knew the answer already. Of course he didn't. Otherwise he wouldn't be here with her, had agreed to take her as an apprentice and had tried to help the poor dead guy in the alley. He was a good man, and his magic was a tool. And she supposed that it was like with every tool. There were good people and there were bad people. Those that abused the power they had been given and those that didn't. But in the end, it all came down to one single fact. You were responsible for your own actions. Wita remembered something and she got up, started to look through the cellar. The man had kept so many records above, and then all the older newspapers they had seen. She looked around and really, there were several boxes with older ones, sorted by date. Kneeling down she heaved one of them out of the shelf that contained records from about ten years ago. Her hands shook slightly when she tried to stop thinking about what she was doing and focused on the numbers instead. He hadn't kept everything, only some and then sometimes only a part but still, she felt numb when she saw the one she had been looking for. She averted her eyes from it's cover, it was thin, as if he had only kept the first few pages, but she bit her teeth, forced her self to reflect on that and at the same time to stay as she was, storing only a little bit. Carefully not looking at it, she got up and held it out to Marcel, nearly pushed it into his hands. The cover was dominated by a picture of a burning house, and in short sentences, full of words fishing for attention it told the story of several houses that had burnt down completely. The reason for the accident was unknown and many had died in the flames. The firefightes called themselves lucky to rescue a child trapped underneath a burning log, and mourned one of their own that had died fighting the flames. For days the street had been covered in ash, blinking lights and every now and then more flames.