Beyond the city of Rharne lies the Stormlands, which is home to a number of farms, forests, fields, Lake Lovalus, and the River Zynyx. This subforum also includes the Stormwastes to the south.
Mathias groaned as he hefted the tool box that the Lightning Knights had been able to provide him with to try and repair the armory. It wasn’t much more than a few hammers and nails, a saw or two, and some other instruments Mathias didn’t know the name of. He dropped the kit onto the floor of the armory and it made a loud thud accompanied by some metallic banging. It wasn’t nearly as heavy as the scrap wood had been that he was forced to carry through the keep to the armory once the immediate danger off collapse had been resolved. About a break prior one of the messengers had run through the archery training field screaming that the armory was going to collapse and Mathias ran to help. But how had he bought himself that break to transport the equipment needed to repair the ceiling of the armory?
Magic.
No really, magic. When Mathias arrived at the armory the roof was unstable and beginning to collapse so he got on a stool, pressed both hands onto the ceiling and commanded his ether to help. He felt the stone and his spark told him the stone’s story. The stress that pressed upon it and threatened to make it collapse, but it did not tell him how to fix it. Mathias thought first of how his ether could be used to corrode materials but he quickly recognized that would not help him in this situation. So instead he thought about the harder qualities he’d filed away in his spark- then realized again that he could not transmute the entire wall into something stronger... but Sylvia had once told him of a different technique; one in which you used your ether to reinforce the reality of the object you channeled it into. So Mathias pushed his ether into the ceiling and bolstered it. He could feel the ceiling- well at least the portion that he thought was most likely to cave in, harden and when it was bolstered enough Mathias removed his hands.
He’d been supplying ether to it while he moved the tools into the room but when he set down the tool kit he groaned because he felt a sudden pain in his stomach. Mathias cut off the ether he was feeding to the ceiling and watched the portion visibly crack as it lost its strength. Soon it would collapse- but that was why he’d brought tools to fix it. Moving the weapons out of the armory would have been one idea, but Mathias knew that would only be a temporary solution. There were a few other volunteers mulling around the room as well, those who had seen him going back and forth to the armory or who had heard the same messenger Mathias had, but they’d all contributed different things that Mathias hadn’t quite been paying attention to.
The young healer walked towards the armory where they were apparently working on fixing the ceiling that was threatening to collapse. She was coming in case of injury or anything of that nature. The young healer paused in the door way and looked in at the work being done. The handsome man she had meet yestertrial, Matthias, stood in the room next to a pile of tools. He looked to be in pain at that moment and Genna moved to stand besides him to see if she could help.
Matthias wasn’t alone in the room. Other men wandered around the room looking at things. Gennadiya watched them for a moment and was suspicious that the middle age man might be an engineer. She thought that based upon on the paper and pencil in the man’s hands as he seemed to be taking measurements.
It was then that they all heard a groan as the spell holding the ceiling in place was removed. Genna paused and looked up at the spot where the noise had come from. At the same moment the middle age man with notes started yelling.
“Get one of those beams right here.” “
Gennadiya and Matthias were the closest to the pile of beans and Genna didn’t hesitate. She reached out and picked up the beam as best she could hoping some one would help here since they could all hear her grunt as she struggled to lift up the board.
Just then Genna felt part of the weight being carried by someone else. She didn’t let go but continued to push it into the spot they had been directed to place it. The healer was surprised at how much effort was required to get the pillar into place.
Once it was done Genna stepped back even as the engineer propelled around the beam and the sagging sealing. Genna could hear him mutter about the arch having to be completely rebuilt.
Genna turned and looked at Matthias and said. “It is nice to see you again. It certainly is one thing after another.” She said indicating to the roof. “So are Rharne or one of the other communities?”
Mathias in his own self absorbed mage-holding-up-a-ceiling away, had failed to notice Gennadiya in the armory with him until the order went out to put up a beam and she was the person standing next to him... and the beam. He smiled slightly at how she grunted trying to lift the beam- you had to admire the effort, and then he reached down and helped her lift it. He let her lead them to where they were meant to put up the beam and when they began trying to position it he found himself fumbling with it. Setting the support in place was more difficult than he'd expected and the constant thought that the after effect of his spell would bring the roof down any moment.
Together they got the beam in place, the first of many rebuilding efforts that were beginning around them. The beam was a start, but the armory wasn't saved yet. Mathias turned to go retrieve another beam and before he could he heard Gennadiya's voice and turned to face her. He smiled a pleasant but admittedly empty smile and nodded to her assertion that it was always one thing or another. "It's nice to see you again as well." He said "Rharne. I moved here and was hoping to stay a bit longer. Might not have moved here if anyone told me that there were so many flameborn about." The way he said it made it clear that he meant it as a joke. "But it's a decent place. What about you? You didn't arrive with my group right? Where are you from?"
Gennadiya gentle rubbed the muscles in her arms while she looked at Matthias. She noticed two different things in that moment. The first was that Matthias moved to lift another beam into place. The young woman had thought the one would be enough but as she listened the architect was directing for more supporters to be placed. He was less panicked about it but still had a bossy tone. Gennadiya moved to help Matthias move the newest beam. At the same time she noticed Matthias smile.
It was a nice smile on a handsome face, but there was no depth to that smile. The young man was friendly but reserved. Genna would guess that he had reason to protect his inner being. She still remembered after her sister’s death she had become withdrawn. Especially when she saw how little concern her “friends” had for her and her plight she had become with drawn. It had only been recently that she had begun to realize that her life was missing something bigger.
It was part of the doctrine she was beginning to understand that Ymiden was teaching her. Genna didn’t say anything about what she observed as that was the fastest way to alienate someone. But as they moved to lift the next beam she did reply to the conversation they had started. “I am originally from Lysoria by Ne’haer. Moved to Rharne about an arc ago.” She smiled at him. “It was move hear or deal with pirates.” She said jokingly.
“I came with a group of healers from the city to offer our help.” She paused as they moved the next beam. There was some more lady like grunting but she continued once they were done. “I didn’t expect to start a body building regime.” She finished as they checked to see if another beam was to be called for.
When Gennadiya gave her story Mathias actually laughed, drawing the attention of a few other volunteers in the room who quickly went back to what they were doing. Mathias, for his part, did not move to grab another beam but rather went for a broom to begin sweeping debris from the disaster out of the armory. "No judgment from me, but I'm not sure you made the right choice." Mathias grabbed two brooms leaning against the wall and held one out to Gennadiya as he said "You chose a crumbling hold in a city under siege and a lot of manual labor over pirates. I think pirates could be fun." Granted Mathias hadn't had a recent encounter with pirates, his history taught him that generally the bigger issues came from the crew on the ship. "If you can pick them off before they get to you or talk them into sharing their treasure, that is." That part was more clearly a joke.
Whether or not Gennadiya took the broom, Mathias would indeed begin sweeping the debris out of the room. He never moved so far from Genndiya that she would have to follow him. Instead it seemed almost as if he was just following her lead around the room. "You're a healer? Magical or just the clever sort?" Mathias asked, his interest piqued by that part of her history. "I didn't expect to do this much actual work when I got here either, but hey at least we're not being eaten by those weird frog things." Mathias said. He didn't know if anyone had voiced the opinion that those things with the glowing teeth looked like frogs, but Mathias thought they did. He swept aside a bundle of wood to reveal a sword which had been snapped in half. Mathias leaned his broom on the wall and picked up the two pieces with curiosity and let his spark to it's work.
The silver veins in his hand began to glow brighter and Mathias ran his hand along the blade. It was steel. Forged in a rush but still forged decently. The metal had been put under too much stress by a collapsing beam and broken. It was sad to feel the history of a broken sword but Mathias began to think of ways to fix it before turning back to Gennadiya to await her response.
Gennadiya took the broom that was offered her and started sweeping. She briefly though how much people could change. The Lysorian woman could imagine herself as an adolescent. If Matthias had suggested to her then that she should sweep her withering gaze would have bore into him and she would have walked away. She had grown a lot since then and not only took the broom and swept but smiled at the handsome young man. Since joining the Order Genna had done her fair share of cleaning and other menial labor. Her ambitions were very different now.
Genna laughed with humor at his teasing. “Well that wasn’t the strangest thing I ever choose to do.” She replied grinning. “I chose to become a healer instead marrying some minor noble.” Not that there had been a specific offer, but she had made it clear during her recovery that she was starting a different life. Moving on with the conversation she answered. “Both actually. I wanted to become a healer when my mother died from a sickness when I was a child, and actually started learning after my sister died. Eventually I drew the attention of both Ymiden and Moseke who both blessed me with their mark.” She continued sweep and talk. “I wasn’t expecting to help out side of the infirmary as much as I have, but I don’t mind it. I have found it pleasant to work with others and get to know the people I have the chance to work with.”
Genna looked at the sword in Matthias hand and raised and eyebrow but continued to work. “What about you. Besides the bow, and lifting beams” She smiled and winked. “What do you like to do?” Her blue eyes meet him and there was genuine interest in those eyes as to who this man was she was talking to. There was a strange openness to this young healer. Her body language was friendly and welcoming, but there was a expectation of civility about her. Even when she was holding a broom there was something of the lady she was raised to be still about her.
Mathias made a strange face when Gennadiya told him of the other strange decisions she'd made. He gave a soft shrug and said "I don't know, that one doesn't sound so strange. Who wants to be a noble? All those servants waiting on you, a life of luxury and ease- boring!" Then Gennadiya explained that she was both the clever and the mystical sort of healer and Mathias was intrigued. Partially because he admired the effort that had to have gone into her work. Regardless of what people said of his morality, Mathias respected those who worked hard in their field and given the story Gennadiya told- if she was to be believed and something about her blue eyes made Mathias believe her, he figured she was one of those hard workers. "So you've met two immortals? What was that like?" Mathias wasn't asking out of amazement as much as he was asking to find out if they were all asshats like his father had told him they were.
Mathias turned the two broken bits of the blade in his hand again, his spark memorizing the strength of the steel so that he'd be able to imbue it upon other object. He wouldn't have the time to fix the blade now, not that he even particularly cared to- he was an archer after all, but he thought it might be a fun project going forward. Mathias leaned the broken bits of sword against the wall and took his broom back in hand to continue sweeping with the more civilized healer when the conversation turned to Mathias. "Well I'm a mage," Mathias held up his left hand with it's glowing veins. "So I practice magic sometimes. I also like carving things though I'm not any good at it." Honestly he had better luck using transmutation to sculpt something rather than whittling it away with a blade. His face twisted for a moment as he tried to think of something more to say to her but he didn't often think about what he liked to do in his free time... he didn't really have a lot of free time at Strom's Edge and he kinda avoided getting free time in Rharne. Work was a distraction from his problems and past, and it was a good one. "But really I'm all about lifting beams. Trial and night, beams, beams, beams." Mathias joked with an exaggerated brush across the ground from his broom.
Gennadiya clearly caught Matthias’ expression when he replied to her decision to choose a different life than the one she had found herself on as a teenager. She tilted her head remembering the people she had been friends with then. She had way to much free time. She was good at school so it wasn’t much a challenge and so she found way to much time to spend with friends, and friends who really had nothing to do but live in drama. They had too much wealth and were only called on to spend it not to make it. Even Genna’s father only kept his daughters at the edge of his work, not that Genna had ever wanted to be a jeweler. The Lysorian woman was very aware that there were good nobles as well as bad, but if she had changed she would have been one of those pathetic woman who sits there just destroying her life instead of making it useful.
Her sapphire blue eyes were lost as she responded to his observation. “I agree.” Weather he was joking or not she wasn’t. “Boredom is one of the greatest evils in this world. I would rather be busy and helping. I find life more enjoyable that way.” Her gaze came to back to the present as she finished with that.
Luckily the conversation moved on to meeting Immortals. Genna could detect a question in Matthias questions. He wasn’t in awe but was more seeking information. Pausing before she answered she said, “Enlightening.” She didn’t leave it there. “Ymiden taught me the importance of making yourself a better person. He also taught me about forgiveness and how it can set you free from pain. He was source of strength when I was going through a hard time.” Genna had stopped sweeping and was looking into Matthias eyes as she spoke. “Moseke, showed me the importance of healing. She also tested my resolve as a healer, which helped me to be have faith in myself, besides the magical healing her mark supplies me.” She smiled then. “I can’t speak for other immortals but I have grown to be a better person from my interaction with them.”
Genna retuned to her focus on cleaning as Matthias answered her questions about what he liked to do. Her eyes became interested as he mentioned that he was a mage. Genna noticed he didn’t mention which specific fields he studied. He also liked carving. A nice artistic skill. Then he finished with a joke about lifting beams. Genna laughed softly at his humor and shook her head. “So what type of magic do you do?” She asked her gaze curious. “I know there are different types, but not overly informed on the branches. Well except for Necromancy.” Her expression was blank on this last statement. She was sure not everyone who practiced necromancy was evil, but after the past few seasons, well let say she would give everyone a chance to prove themselves, but Necromancy would have a few more hurtles.
Mathias couldn't help but notice how seriously Genndiya had taken his comment about a life of nobility being boring. Maybe there was more to it that he didn't know but he certainly hadn't been expecting that reaction... not that he tried to let that show while the conversation moved on. He had the distinct impression a nobility discussion wasn't one they should have. Mathias killed people for a living, Genndiya hated nobles. Everyone had topics to avoid... but Mathias couldn't help the curiosity he felt growing in him. Another trial. He decided. It wasn't as if it would be hard to find Gennadiya when he wanted to talk to her anyways. Storm's Edge was big, but not that big. So Mathias let the conversation move forward without more mentions of nobility.
The young bowman found Gennadiya's response about the Immortals equally interesting. Ymiden taught her that forgiveness freed you from pain? That was a lesson Mathias needed to learn but one that he practically ignored when Gennadiya said it- the very action hidden by Mathias's sweeping. He could forgive Sylvia, he could forgive Perseus, but he could never forgive himself... his father... and so he wouldn't be freed of the pain that drove him to work as an assassin. He'd destroyed the lives of his friends and everyone close to him to meet a demand he knew he should have refused. He knew he wasn't ready to do what Perseus asked and he did it anyways... and he had known what would happen when he failed. "That's... pretty cool. Were they tall and glowing? Someone told me they were all massive and glowed like the sun?" He through that out so she'd know he'd listened. He'd learn the hard way that it was important to respond to everything someone said lest they take offense and yell at you once you show up to volunteer aid.
The lesson Moseke taught the young healer was another one lost on Mathias. He did indeed understand the need for healers- having been forced to visit them more than a few times in his life, but he didn't have a desire to become one and so part of him couldn't really comprehend the importance- neigh the necessity of healers. When Gennadiya concluded with the thought that she had become a better person for meeting the Immortals, Mathias mused- in his mind only, that he might have liked to get to know Gennadiya before she met the Immortals. Then he wouldn't have had to feel like everything he said to her was a half-truth. "Well if I meet one of the others, I'll be sure to let you know what they were like."
When the topic moved back to him and Gennadiya inquired about the type of magic he used. Mathias looked down at his hands. Every time he told someone he was a mage and showed them his hands, they asked him that question. But Gennadiya had said something far more attention getting than anything Mathias could think to reply with. "Why do you know about Necromancy?" Mathias asked before he realized she was waiting on an answer as well. "I'm sorry, caught me off guard with that. I practice Transmutation which is imbuing properties in materials and a little Hone- which is pretty much magic letter writing. I used some of transmuation to help with the repairs and haven't used the latter in a while." Mathias had a complicated relationship with the parasitic spark his father had forcefully latched onto his soul. He felt like training that magic honored his father and he hated the man so he avoided it... but he also wanted to improve. He was still driven to learn more and so Mathias found himself perplexed between his hate of his father and his innate curiosity about the parasite on his soul.
Gennadiya didn’t really thing anything of it as the conversation moved on from her comments. She was very well aware that her comments would have resulted in either the conversation moving on or a focused question about it. Matthias didn’t strike her as the kind of person who would want to know all of someones deep dark secrets right away. Not that it was a secret, though Genna usually only shared it with people she called friends. Though Genna would have been amused that he though she didn’t like nobles. Laziness was more of her irritant then nobility.
Genna was surprised by the man’s questions about the appearance of the Immortals. Her eyebrow went up and her lips twitched as she fought a laugh. She controlled her self and only someone who knew her very well could have guessed she found the question both surprising and amusing. She did shake her head and said. “No Ymiden looked like an ordinary person.” She said and then continued, “Though at the time I was to emotional distraught to really give you any details.” She paused for a moment, this actually was more of that part of her which was painful. “I had just watched my sister killed in a botched robbery.” Her voice was soft, “I had almost just killed the boy who had done it in revenge. At the last minute though I saw my sister’s killer for what he was. A boy, a desperate and hungry boy.” Genna voice was actually very kind as she spoke of the poor robber. “It was then that Ymidden marked me, and helped me bring my sister’s body home. There was no grandeur, no worship, just strength to do what was right.” Genna was quiet for a moment then. She then looked up and smiled again.
“Well I would love to hear about any experience you might have with them in the future.” Genna believed that they would live beyond this event so she spoke as such.
“Not much really. I have a basic understanding of the premise of what they do, and the general nature of their practitioners.” She said. “I learned about them when helping my friend Faith when she and the Knights battled with the Lich Ellasin, but didn’t learn much about the other branches of magic.” What she didn’t mention was that she had been a part of the group that retrieved the potion that could affect a Necromancer’s spark. Nor did she mention she had copied the potion and one of these trails might actually try to make it. Genna nodded her head in understanding. “When we have a bit more time I would be interested in learning more about them. The Transmutation sounds interesting, but I am still a bit unclear on what exactly you use Hone for.”