Off Topic
Sorry it took me SO LONG to reply to this! The general idea of what unfolds below is based on a conversation with Plague in which he described how Pash's Empathy magic could both amplify and support his Elithem-granted abilities. So, here we go. Gonna give this a try. Then Pash is gonna need a nap.
Tio was of the teasing sort, the blond’s sense of humor something that had clearly kept him alive despite the kinds of dangers the tall Biqaj was first-handedly aware he could get himself into. He grinned at the other man’s taunting, not at all worried about the promise of a bit of joking between the three of them, confident in his abilities to keep up,
"B’fore th’ Immortal’s Tongue, though we were separated on th’ expedition no’ by choice." Pash offered a wary smile, his fingers lacing with Kali’s own tightened warmly in a comforting gesture at the reminder of all that had transpired on the island in Ymiden, which felt both far away and yet still near,
"Th’ first time we met was in Scalvoris Square in Ashan, an’ again at th’ World’s End Festival in Almund. I’ll admit ’t took a bit o’ convincin’ for her t’ give me th’ time o’ day after that, but a lil’ persistence seems t’ have paid off on m’ part."
Pash grinned, skipping the details, and opened his mouth as if he had more to say when the rest of the tavern began to come apart at its alcohol-filled seams.
The accidental smashing of a glass tower quickly spiraled out of control in the hot, sticky, inebriated atmosphere of the Ball and Chain. A group of regulars began the fight, but it quickly caught on with the pirate ladies, and then with the rest of the tavern. What was perhaps a little humorous was that most of the patrons in their various levels of drunkeness thought that first it was time to smash their glasses as well, and so a wave-like effect of crashing towers and the somehow satisfying noise of breaking glass filled the entire crowded room with its cacophony of sound, much to the seafaring musician’s unspoken pleasure. He grinned, but as the smashing of glass turned to words and blows, first Arwel slipped away and then he also stood,
"Qes, qua’ma, now’s prob’ly ’s good a time as any t’ leave. I don’ think any singin’ I’ve got can really quell th’ whole tavern, Zanik’s blessin’ ‘r no’. M’haps I can buy us some time, though, eh?" He winked, hands on his lute, casting a sideways, mischievous sort of glance at Tio,
"More a lover than a fighter, aye, this much I’ve learned already, friend." He teased the blond man whom he’d went into the Scalroth jungle together with and yet who went without a weapon,
"Y’ want t’ make your way o’er t’ that mess an’ work at impressin’ a pirate lass? I’m thinkin’ this fight’s best stayed out ‘f, but I understand th’ need t’ make a good impression."
His chuckle was for Kali’rial,
"I’m no stranger t’ a good bar fight, I’ll admit, playin’ taverns like this one for a few arcs now, but Immortals it’s hot an’ I don’ think it’s gonna cool off in here any time soon." As he spoke, the table next to them erupted into the fight, a chair having been smashed into the tabletop with drunken enthusiasm from another patron. Splinters flew, but weren’t particularly damaging. The two young men at the table leapt up with equal excitement and turned on the offenders, one swinging a broken bit of chair while the other swung their fists. Pash ducked a little in surprise, stepping between the fighting and Kali’rial out of protective instinct, fingers beginning to strum a quiet little tune,
"I’ll get us in that direction, though, Tio, an’ then I’m gonna head to th’ door."
He spoke as if he had a plan, though all he began to do was play his lute instead. The song was loud enough to be heard within his vicinity despite the shouting of curses and raucous laughter and breaking of more glass, but the effect was immediate as it filled the ears of those within a small circle around the trio—calm, quiet, and peaceful. Building on the aura his growing, living spark already exuded from its invisible life inside his very existence, the Musical Enchantment granted him by Zanik’s own blessing allowed him to control the emotions of only a handful of people at a time, though as he looked from one person to the next in their immediate vicinity, he could brush their tangles, strumming the threads of those same feelings and enhancing his Immortal-given ability with the Empathy granted him by his spark. The seafaring musician was grinning, the volume of his song growing even as he began to soothe the fervent emotions of the few that surrounded them, slowing their fighting but not necessarily completely taming their inebriated, eager selves.
It was like a little bubble of sound and peace, the eye of a storm, and as he moved, he encouraged Kali’rial and Tio to walk with him, leaving those who’d heard his song to turn back to their fighting in his wake confused but still combative.
No one seemed interested in swinging at
them however, Pash’s music just barely keeping them at bay. If anything, at least one patron swung past them, over Kali’rial’s head with a fist, smashing it into the face of someone behind her,
"M’sorry, miss." He muttered, sounding utterly confused and taking a deep breath for a moment, somewhat brought to his senses for a heartbeat by the warm sounds of the lute that passed by him for a bit or two. He blinked, given only that moment and allowing them to slip by him, before the tattooed woman barreled into him with a loud cackle of laughter.
So, he got to play a little music after all, but it was more than just a little unorthodox in purpose. The tall Biqaj hard-pressed to entwine his magic with his granted gifts, unaided by the drinking he’d managed to do and unable to keep up the enchantment for long, allowing Tio and the dark-haired Sev’ryn their choice of direction before he began to drift as quickly as possible first toward the bar in case Enrick wanted an out and then toward the door of the Ball and Chain where he noticed Arwel was hovering, hoping to slip out onto the searing hot streets and allow others an escape should they choose one before he was forced to shoulder his instrument and join in the exchange of blows instead,
"I’m gonna tack that'a'way." He nodded his head toward the exit,
"If you’re sailin’ with me, let’s go handsomely, eh?"
