Beacon is a small village just outside Scalvoris Town which has grown from a few houses to a small hamlet in its own right. Made up of small houses, Beacon is the home for those who are working as "Trainees" in the Cally's group of businesses, be that Cally's Restaurant, Luna's Dream Orphanage of the Scalvoris Town Soup Kitchen. Those who live here do so for a period of time where they are provided with medical care, food and clothing while they are learning a trade. In turn, they are expected to work hard, study and to share their skills both in their job and in the Beacon community
"And I'll keep it in mind, your Immortal does have some domains that agree with me after all." Balthazar replied to Devin when he stated the invitation stood about the mass. As if to give a little flourish to his words, the wind around Balthazar and Devin kicked up slightly in a spiral. It only lasted long enough to blow their hair around however it seemed to whip a little more violently in Balthazar's face. He hated that mutation. It almost always messed with his balance in battle but he was getting used to it... slowly. Devin seemed to leap at the opportunity to hunt treasure with Balthazar and the mage listened passively to the story Devin told.
Balthazar didn't know the creature Devin spoke of, and so he more or less believed it to be as terrifying as Devin had said it was, however Balthazar didn't seem particularly impressed. There was a little concern raised when Devin commented that hopefully it would go better than his last but Balthazar didn't choose to comment. If he went, he'd do his best to ensure it was better than the last one. "You didn't tell me about that one, but I suppose you have now." Balthazar replied with a shrug. "I you find a lead on another treasure, feel free to find me before you go after it. Otherwise I don't think I'll have much time to find leads for you- busy enough finding crimes to solve." He admit.
Then Devin produced the most curious object, a small stone horse that supposedly would turn into a regular sized horse... Balthazar wondered if it would turn into another animal if he reshaped it into said animal with Defiance... or would the horse just deform horribly? "Is the real horse stone too?" Balthazar inquired as he gave the small stone figure a look over. "If so, I think it would be more comfortable to walk. If not... sure."
word count: 336
Visible Mutations/ Marks
Mutations
Defiance: Skin always glows faintly and he is warm to the touch. His is also the center of a field of static electricity so people get shocked touching him on occasion. Rupturing: Orange etheric cracks spider-web up his arms to his elbows. His eyes and the glowing cracks going down his cheeks glow dark blue. Transmutation: He has a series of emerald, glowing cracks on his right pectoral.
Marks
Bellinos: His fingernails are always black. The color fades into his fingers. Celarion: A dim glowing ring surrounds his left forearm. Palenon: A silver lightning shaped mark about the size of a hand stretching up towards his torso.
Scars
Oops, Oops, Ouch: Balthazar Black has twenty scars across his back from a lashing as well as scars on his hands and arms from jagged rocks on Faldrass. There are two scars on the sides of his abdomen from being stabbed and a slash across his back which blends in with the whip scars.
“Huh“, Devin made as the wind around them temporarily picked up, and his eyes widened. A moment later, it was already over again though, so he didn’t dwell too much on it, but turned to the matter of treasure hunting. Contrary to what Balthazar thought he had mentioned his past unsuccessful treasure hunts – in fact, he might have thrown a little temper tantrum when he had realized that there was no treasure in the center of the mirror maze. It suited him very well that the mage didn’t remember that episode though, so he didn’t say anything, but just nodded his head and confirmed quite eagerly,
“If I find another lead, I’ll let you know! There are probably lots of treasures on this island, considering the high number of unusual phenomena!” Some people probably considered that to be a somewhat faulty conclusion – rainbow-colored animals, blood-red rain and the walking dead didn’t necessarily lead to gold, silver and gems – but to Devin such made perfect sense. Balthazar was wondering about his Stone Horse though, so he decided to talk about the treasure that he already had rather than the treasure that he had yet to find.
“Oh, no”, he replied, laughing, when the other man asked if the real horse was stone too and set the sculpture down on the ground. “Riding a horse made of stone would be pretty uncomfortable, and your butt would be sore after only a couple of bits. It’s … just watch!” he decided as he didn’t want to spoil the surprise. So, without further ado, the Mortalborn made a step back and grinned at Balthazar before he turned to look at the horse.
For a moment, nothing happened. And then the sculpture suddenly started to grow – and grow and grow. Stone turned into soft fur, and then a white mare with a luxurious mane was suddenly standing there, whinnying softly. “Touch her!” Devin encouraged Balthazar, still grinning because this was so much fun. “She’s made of flesh and blood, just like the two of us. She doesn’t need a stable or food though because she just turns back into a sculpture when I don’t need her anymore. Isn’t that great?”
He looked at Balthazar for a moment before he approached the horse, grabbed the reins and put a foot into a stirrup (not his injured one, because that would be pretty unpleasant) before he swung his body across the back of the horse, looking somewhat acrobatic as he did so. A moment later, he sat up straight though and beamed at Balthazar.
“So, do you want to ride back to Scalvoris Town with me?” he asked. “It’s much better than walking!”
word count: 459
Appearance
Due to an encounter with a magical tree Devin has bright violet eyes.
Devin has fancy black claw-like nails. The Grafter Rakvald made them from the spines that grow on the dubaebo's back and attached them to Devin's hands.
Items
Devin owns a Ring of Reversal. He's always wearing it, unless stated otherwise.
"And pirates." Balthazar added when Devin said there was probably lots of treasure on the island given the high number of unnatural phenomenon. Balthazar figured pirates would lead to treasure more than the rainbow sheep he'd written to the Council about. Ugh, writing. Balthazar hated writing letters because once he had a word on the page, it seemed to dance around to mock him. He could hardly form straight sentences, let alone properly connected ones. He'd resorted to having Isabella write for him more and more. But back to treasure- Balthazar was pretty confident any real treasure would come from a pirate... or maybe Emea if they could find a fracture. He didn't voice that thought though as the bard before him hardly seemed the Fracture delving type.
Balthazar took a step back and watched Devin present the stone horse. It began to grow larger and larger, the stone seemed to fade into fur and life came into the inanimate statue. Balthazar's eyes widened but he tried his best to avoid letting his surprise show too much. It was hard. He'd shot lightning from the tips of his fingers, he'd burned swarms of undead bees with fire from his hands, he'd caved in portions of the Crags in Yaralon to make a more comfortable slide, but Balthazar had never seen a stone horse come to life before. "Impressive." He said as he Devin mounted the horse somewhat acrobatically. Balthazar cast a small glance towards Scalvoris Town. He knew exactly the way he'd come but he didn't know how long it would take for him to fly there... nor did he know if he'd be faster than Devin's horse... and he didn't mean to test it totrail.
"Alright." Balthazar gave in but he didn't reach out for Devin's help onto the horse. "Watch your head." Balthazar bent his knees a little and leapt into the air, the wind around him churning and lifting him a little bit higher so that he landed on the horse in a more of less decently mounter position behind Devin but he had to adjust a little as he had landed uncomfortably close and almost kicked Devin in the head on his way over. "Sorry."
word count: 386
Visible Mutations/ Marks
Mutations
Defiance: Skin always glows faintly and he is warm to the touch. His is also the center of a field of static electricity so people get shocked touching him on occasion. Rupturing: Orange etheric cracks spider-web up his arms to his elbows. His eyes and the glowing cracks going down his cheeks glow dark blue. Transmutation: He has a series of emerald, glowing cracks on his right pectoral.
Marks
Bellinos: His fingernails are always black. The color fades into his fingers. Celarion: A dim glowing ring surrounds his left forearm. Palenon: A silver lightning shaped mark about the size of a hand stretching up towards his torso.
Scars
Oops, Oops, Ouch: Balthazar Black has twenty scars across his back from a lashing as well as scars on his hands and arms from jagged rocks on Faldrass. There are two scars on the sides of his abdomen from being stabbed and a slash across his back which blends in with the whip scars.
“And pirates usually have treasure!“ Devin cheerfully remarked as Balthazar reminded him of what else could be found on the island before he extended a hand and looked at the white-haired mage expectantly, smiling all over his face because this was going to be fun!
“Huh?” he made a moment later, his hand still extended in order to help Balthazar onto the horse’s back, when the mage warned him to watch his head. That was a rather strange thing to say, everything considered.
Did Balthazar plan on sitting on his shoulders while they rode back to Scalvoris Town – or did he plan on climbing across the horse’s head and across his head in order to reach its back?
That would be really weird!
When Balthazar bent his knees and leapt into the air rather than climbing onto the horse in an extraordinarily unusual manner, the Mortalborn’s eyes widened, and his mouth proceeded to form a small “o”. A moment later, he laughed out loud because he had never seen anything like that before – only to stop laughing again abruptly and let out a loud “oof” when Balthazar landed behind him and almost kicked him in the head in the process.
That was not what he had been thinking of when he had wanted to get closer to the mage!
His irritation didn’t last long, however. Once he had recovered from the mild shock of almost being on the receiving end of a headbutt, he turned around, looked at Balthazar, his violet eyes sparkling, and remarked enthusiastically, “That was really amazing! Was that your magic?”
“Let’s go”, he announced a moment later and gently pressed his knees into the sides of the horse in order to get it to move. Devin was not a masterful rider. In fact, he knew just enough to not immediately fall off the other side of his horse after mounting it and get it to go where he wanted it to go. He’d learned to ride a little bit when he had impersonated a noble once – because most of those nobles seemed to know how to ride.
Of course, he didn’t tell Balthazar that. Not that he was not an absolutely extraordinary rider and not that he was not only a Becomer, a bard and a priest, but also a seasoned conman and liar.
He seemed to be brimming with confidence.
word count: 403
Appearance
Due to an encounter with a magical tree Devin has bright violet eyes.
Devin has fancy black claw-like nails. The Grafter Rakvald made them from the spines that grow on the dubaebo's back and attached them to Devin's hands.
Items
Devin owns a Ring of Reversal. He's always wearing it, unless stated otherwise.
This thread was entertaining and the character interaction was awesome. It showed many things about both PCs. Devin's self-centered inability to take in that Balthazar showed all signs of not being interested. Balthazar's inability to speak up and say no in a straightforward and honest manner and how he resorts to deception. I can understand that Devin's deafness to Balthazar's signals of disinterest and how he enforced the witchmark watching annoyed Balthazar and made him feel entitled to prank Devin to get rid of him. Devin still dealt with the prank without losing his dignity and they didn't end up as enemies.
