• Closed • Singing in Vain

[Kalortah]

50th of Ashan 720

Invitations were sent out to various members of high society. Although Kalortah was hopeful that some of those invited would show, it'd be a small dinner party. A few people from the council had received invitations, as well as some wealthy residents that lived nearby Kalortah. Also, Kalortah's immediate family, his sister, father and mother would also be there, given the fact that they lived in his house, it wasn't an easy proposition to exclude them. Not that he'd want to, but... supposing Devin showed up...

He knew the human bard had a penchant for avriel females and dreaded the idea that he might make a move on his sister. The girl was fairly even-tempered for an avriel, some might say tolerant of humans. She was very much like their mother in her attitudes and temperament, with white long hair, yet with the black wings of their father.

Kalortah stood by the door, inviting guests into the ground floor of his towering house. It was nearly nine stories, ten if you included the basement. Kalortah liked two think of the real front door being at the top, where he'd fly to his private quarters. Yet he had to make concessions here, and invite the groundlings through the 'slave door'. It was all fairly jarring for the Athartian avriel.

Kalortah nodded politely to those arriving, "Welcome to my home. Please enjoy some refreshments..."

After he'd dismissed them to their own devices, often enough his sister would flutter up to the next guest curiously, and introduce herself. Kalortah for his part tried to ignore her antics, as she curtsied in her black silk dress.

All the while, he kept his eyes peeled for Devin's arrival. He felt somewhat confident that his fellow Councilor would show. He seemed like the curious sort, and Kalortah's invitation, given their prior disagreements, would probably strike him as curious indeed.

Kalortah would be singing some of his older songs... Truth be told he'd had a bit of poet's block, not having composed a song since leaving Athart. Anyway, most of them were songs that hadn't been heard by the Scalvoran public, and so he felt sure they'd enjoy them.

His eyes searched the faces of everyone coming through. He wondered if Devin would arrive with his lute in tow. It might be interesting to have a duel without the added threat of losing a feather over it. Just a friendly competition, perhaps.

[Devin]

On the 36th of Ashan, Devin Thorn, thief, conman extraordinaire and recently initiated Becomer paced back and forth in his living room, holding Kalortah’s letter in a hand. It didn’t make any sense to him, no matter how often he read it. Why had feather-face invited him? Weren’t they rivals? Had Kalortah forgotten that they were rivals? Did he want a reprieve of their little musical duel? Had he fallen head over heels in love with him?

He needed to find out!

He was just too curious!

So, without further ado, he quickly went into his bedroom in order to get ready, and then he was already on his way.

Since it seemed as if a couple of well-known and influential people, including some of their fellow councilors, would be there – and because he really wanted to outshine feather-face - Devin had put on the most elegant and expensive outfit that he owned. He was dressed in an ensemble of black and gold, with a jacket in a vaguely military style (because he thought it looked cool, not because he was a soldier – soldiering was messy and dangerous, and he didn’t like it at all). He was not wearing a hat with an Avriel feather this time though.

Instead, there was a fancy lute strapped across his back, because he almost never went anywhere without it these trials, and he held a black and golden cane with a handle that was shaped like a bird’s head in his left hand, as if he were one of those posh Rynmere nobles (most of whom had died from the plague). In truth, he had decided to temporarily use a cane because he had had to sacrifice a toe during his Becoming initiation earlier that season. His foot seemed to be healing just fine, but he didn’t want to take any chances just yet.

He walked up to the door with a huge smile on his face that only faded for a moment when he saw Kalortah and greeted him before he smiled even more, but not at him. “You have a really nice house!” he remarked before he realized what he had just done. He hadn’t meant to compliment anything that feather-face owned. The house was just too interesting though with its nine stories – or did it have ten stories? Either way, it was a great house!

That made him a little envious of course. His house only had two stories! That wasn’t fair!

“So, what exactly is this gathering for?” he then wanted to know and raised an eyebrow questioningly. “What will we do? Will there be music? Will there be alcohol? Will there be snacks? Why did you invite me?” He asked the questions in quick suggestion, almost too quickly, in fact, and he didn’t even stop in order to take a breath between them – before he closed his mouth abruptly and stared at someone behind Kalortah.

“And who is she, by the way?” he continued. There was an Avriel woman greeting some of the other guests and curtsying to them politely. She was absolutely gorgeous. She had snow white hair (he had recently discovered that he had a thing for people with white hair – young people with white hair like that hot and electric mage Balthazar he had met in Beacon; he didn’t like old people, thank you very much), and what more, she had the most magnificent pair of wings. What was her name?!

[Kalortah]

Eventually, Devin did arrive. And did he seem - unusually clean and good-looking? Yes, there was something different about the Academic, from when Kalortah last saw him. Nevertheless, Kalortah swept the wonder from his eyes and steeled himself for what might prove to be a tense and annoying encounter.

He walked up toward the doctor, and bowed his head briefly, "Academic Thorne. Welcome to my house and..." Did Devin just compliment his house? What was he playing at? Maybe he wanted it for himself! Well, Kalortah wasn't having that, he.

Then Devin went on to make his rapid-fire queries, ending rather unsubtly with the operative question that must have drawn him here. "Why did you invite me?"

Kalortah smiled and scoffed lightly at the question. "Of course you received an invitation. I wanted everyone who's anyone to attend my party. Although it appears to be less densely populated than I'd hoped. I..."

And who is she, by the way?" Devin asked, pointing rather rudely at Kalortah's sister.

The avriel turned his head to look at her, and he blanched. Had Devin set his greedy eyes on his sister!? Perhaps this invitation would backfire sooner than he anticipated.

And just then, Lenuzie finished greeting the previous guest and looked up at Devin and Kalortah. She smiled demurely, and almost floated over toward where they were. "Hello Brother, and who is this handsome fellow?" Lenuzie blushed as she said it.

"Er..." Kalortah began, and then sighed, "This is the Academic, Devin Thorne. Academic, this is my sister, Lenuzie."

"Oh! You're on the council with my brother!" She exclaimed, then blushed some more, "It's an honor to meet you?"

Kalortah squirmed on his feet, and muttered, "That's enough Lenuzie, you can go play with the other guests..."

"That's alright, Brother, I'd rather stand with you and Academic Thorne... I've never met a professor; I'm sure he can talk about a wide range of subjects." Lenuzie turned her gray eyes toward Devin, and smiled slightly, "I want to go to the Academy, but my parents won't let me, and brother agrees. What do you think, Mister Thorne?"

Kalortah was about ready for his skull to burst when he felt a rustling in his breast pocket. Frowning, he plucked whatever was causing the disturbance out of the pocket. It was Ibudo, his tunawa companion... "Ibudo... Academic, Lenuzie, will you excuse me?"

It was against his better judgment to leave his sister alone with the lecherous fiend Devin, but he had no choice but to give Ibudo a piece of his mind.

"Ibudo!" He rasped, walking away from the pair, "What are you doing here?"

While waiting for the tunawa to reply, he cast a glance or two over his shoulder, to make sure that Devin and Lenuzie hadn't gotten out of sight.

[Devin]

“So, who else did you invite?” Devin wanted to know when Kalortah told him that he’d wanted everyone who was anyone to attend his party and turned around for a moment in order to take a look at the other guests and see if he recognized anybody before he faced him again. “And why are we celebrating? Not that I have a problem with celebrating for the sake of celebrating – in fact, I love that – but still …”

He didn’t finish the sentence, but immediately lost interest in his rival and focused his entire attention on the beautiful Lenuzie the moment that she approached the two of them. “I’m honored to make your acquaintance as well, Lady Lenuzie”, the Mortalborn remarked in his best imitation of a noble lord’s tone of voice and bowed, grinning slightly, his eyes twinkling, as he did so which gave the gesture a somewhat light-hearted touch.

He didn’t correct her and tell her that he was not a professor, but just a student that occasionally taught other students because that’s what you had to do when you wanted to get your Diploma, of course. Instead, he remarked, “I know a lot about a lot of different subjects. I’m a doctor as well a naturalist – and quite a masterful lutist on top of it, and what more, I speak several languages”, he continued, smiling brightly.

“If you are interested, I can tell you more”, he offered. “As for your parents and your brother refusing to let you attend the Academy”, he spoke, casting a brief glance at said brother and frowning a little. “Nobody should be denied the chance of getting an education, especially not someone that is as lovely and obviously intelligent as you. In my opinion, that’s a crime!” he remarked in a firm tone of voice.

Having said that, he turned to face Lenuzie again, still smiling that absolutely radiant smile. His rival seemed to be occupied with something else for the time being – he seemed to have a problem with his breast pocket, or maybe he had an itchy rash on his chest (he was hoping for an itchy rash - an incredibly ugly itchy rash). Either way, he would take advantage of the fact that he wasn’t paying attention to his sister at the moment.

So, without further ado, he gestured for the young woman to walk with him, so that her annoying and controlling brother wouldn’t be able to listen to them or watch them and remarked, lowering his voice slightly as he did so, “If you are determined to go to university, there may be a way. I’m working on getting a number of scholarships for talented students established, and I have no doubt that you would qualify for at least one of them. I might be able to help you in regard to the application process.”

“What is it that interests you the most, Lenuzie?” he wanted to know. He didn’t just ask that because he had some sort of professional interest in her and wanted to help her in regard to her education. He was, as Kalortah had correctly concluded, a lecherous fiend.

He wanted to get to know Kalortah’s sister better – a whole lot better – and offering her that which her cruel, cruel family had denied her so far seemed like the fastest and easiest way to win the winged beauty’s heart.

[Kalortah]

"Well, I..." Kalortah began to answer Devin's question, but then he was distracted by the Ibudo situation, and Lenuzie took it upon herself to distract Devin while the avriel went to sort it out.

Lenuzie blushed as Devin leaned down to kiss her hand. Her hand lingered a trill or two in his, before she retrieved it to clasp with her other hand in front of her.

She listened to him talk about how many subjects he was acquainted with, and knowledgeable about. Her eyes dulled a little when he mentioned music and the lute, but she nodded politely at his assertion that he was very good at playing it. "I play the lyre, it's like a harp, but with lingering mournful tones..." She sighed.

When he expressed an interest in what interested her, she nearly burst with excitement. Nobody had ever asked her what she was interested in before! More often suitors would praise her beauty and grace and musical talent, without actually asking what got her up in the morning. Lenuzie was a dreamer, and though her family forbid her from education, trying to groom her for selling off to a rich and influential husband, she still maintained hope that she could find her own way. "I love mathematics.. I mean I don't know much and am not very skilled, but I very much would like to learn about technology, and the counting of figures." She nodded fervently as he expressed the opinion that it was criminal to stifle her potential.

"Oh, Professor Thorne, I wish I could attend University, but as long as I'm under this roof my family would never permit it. Perhaps if I had some form of income to support myself in the meantime, I could make it work..." She sighed, "But I'm not begging you for help. Sometime I suppose an opportunity must come along..."



While Lenuzie was chatting up Devin, and Devin had slipped out fo sight of Kalortah, the avriel bard was busy and distracted, berating his backup singer and bandmate, the pocket musician Ibudo. "Really, Ibudo, I told you many times this is a function for higher society..."

Ibudo shrugged, "I thought you might want some backup singer, in case you choose to entertain our guests. Besides, you'll barely notice me. I'll just be over there... sampling the appetizers... Speaking of dishes, where is your nice sister? She was talking to that Professor, last I saw her?"

What color was in Kalortah's face drained from it, as he realized how he'd been led away from Lenuzie and the lecherous fiend and dastardly charlatan, Devin! He let Ibudo down to the floor, and went off into the crowd, pushing his way through.

Yet he couldn't find them, short as he was and unable to look over the shoulders of his guests without flapping his wings and taking flight. But that would just be unseemly!

"Lenuzie Satravial! Where are you?" He raised his voice, catching the attention of several guests.

Lenuzie meanwhile, heard his voice, and clutched at Devin's upper arm, "Oh please, Professor Devin, let's go someplace to talk a while... My tyrant of a brother can wait!"

[Devin]

Lenuzie blushed adorably when Devin leaned down. The Mortalborn placed the gentlest of kisses on the back of her hand before he straightened himself again, smiling at her. She listened to him quite attentively when he told her about his countless accomplishments. Her eyes only dulled a little when he mentioned music, he noticed – which was why he decided to not talk about that particular topic further, lest he ruined his chances with the winged beauty, although he didn’t understand why she had a problem with music. Was it because of that evil brother of hers? Had he ruined music for her?

That bastard!

How dare he!

He briefly turned in the direction of Kalortah, glaring daggers at him (or rather at his back as his rival was currently facing away from him) before he looked at the much more beautiful and appealing Lenuzie again, listening to her with rapt attention until she mentioned … Fates, had she really just said that she loved mathematics? Mathematics was the most boring and pointless subject ever, apart from Attunement. How on Idalos could she like that?

His eyes widened, but only for a trill or so, before he smiled even more and promised her in quite an enthusiastic tone of voice, because she was just so lovely, “If you are passionate about mathematics, I’ll help you get a mathematics scholarship so that you can study mathematics at an academic level. I’m quite interested in technology as well, especially in regard to how technological advancements can help the medical field!”

That was true. He was actually quite passionate about medicine since he had conned himself into becoming an actual doctor somehow.

“And if you need a place to stay, I’ll help you find something. You could also move in with me though. My house is quite big, and there are a lot of empty rooms”, he offered. She was so lovely that he just couldn’t resist, and she had such magnificent wings! “You could work as a research assistant, for example. The requirements aren’t that high. I’m sure that somebody would employ a woman that is as intelligent and passionate about science as you”, he told her. “I’ll even write a recommendation for you if you like.”

It was just then that Kalortah’s voice that was much more beautiful than it had any right to be rang through the room, and the sister stealing fiend’s gaze darkened instantly. Upon hearing Lenuzie’s plea, he quickly took her hand in his and firmly told her, “Come with me! I’ll save you! Let’s leave quickly, before he notices us!” he urged her and attempted to pull her through the crowd in order to find a hiding place.

[Kalortah]

"Oh you could do that? It wouldn't be any trouble?" Lenuzie's eyes lit up with admiration for Devin, as he promised to give her the academic scholarship. He could almost see her thoughts darting to and fro behind her eyes, as she thought about the possibilities. She could learn mathematics, and get out from under the thumb of her oppressive parents and brother! She wouldn't have to marry up for them! Really why should she? Kalortah was already pretty rich, he could set them up for life somewhere. She heard Faldrass was nice and warm year round...

But then Devin said something unexpected, and which prompted her to draw backward ever so . He was offering to put her in his home? Like a mistress? At first she balked at the notion. Lenuzie, though she liked to flirt was rarely serious about her intent. Then again, Devin was oh so handsome and kind and dashing. She did want to get to know him better, but rushing things wasn't the best way.

She glanced from side to side, and then took Devin's hand when they heard Kalortah's voice ringing through the crowd, "Come with me! I know just the place..."

So she led him upstairs through the spiral staircase in the center of the room. Past the kitchens and servant operations place, upwards through yet another spiral staircase. Here, they came to what appeared to be an indoor's amphitheatre that encompassed the entire level. At the far end, the amphitheatre itself, which had plenty of places for them to hide.

Lenuzie dragged him along, her wings giving a slight flap in anxiety. Then she showed him to the stage. "We can talk safe here..." She said, taking a seat at the edge of the stage. She smiled at him, waiting to see what he'd do.



Kalortah meanwhile was enraged. How dare Devin abscond with his family member? Did he have no decency, no class!? To disrespect him so in his own house, this was unforgiveable!

Well the avriel thought he knew where Devin would kidnap his sister to. So he ran outdoors. Once he cleared the door, he looked this way and that, jumping into the air to take flight. He scanned the area, for signs of their passage... Nothing. They had not come this way.

Rage coursed through him, as he descended, then alighted to the ground. He folded his wings behind him, and scowled to himself. It was then, he felt the sharp pinch of a gemstone in his breast pocket. A transformation gem, Alsing's... He slipped it out of his pocket, and looked at it a moment. Then he smiled to himself. He knew just how to thwart Devin, now if only he could find him...

[Devin]

“It wouldn’t be any trouble at all”, Devin assured Lenuzie with a smile on his face. He could almost read her thoughts and hear them – there was something about her face that was just so very expressive. He liked that though, and her excitement about the things that he had promised her made her even more appealing than she already was in his opinion. “A woman that is as passionate about science as you should be supported in any way possible. It would be such a shame if you weren’t allowed to become the great mathematician that you are destined to be just because of your family’s strange views”, he told her emphatically.

There was nothing sarcastic about the way that the Mortalborn said those words, and nothing about them was a lie, either. He really believed that Lenuzie might be quite a talented mathematician. The way that she talked and acted made it obvious that she was intelligent. Besides, her brother, as much as he hated to admit it, wasn’t entirely stupid. Sometimes, such things could run in the family. Of course, he would never tell Kalortah that he might possess a sliver of intelligence, after all, at least not if he could help it!

He didn’t want to think about that stupid, terrible feather-face too much when his much lovelier sister was next to him though, so he simply held Lenuzie’s hand and went upstairs with her, still smiling so very brightly because he was enjoying himself tremendously at the moment. He hadn’t thought there would be anything or anybody worthwhile at Kalortah’s party, but Lenuzie was quite a fascinating young woman. He did occasionally look away from her in order to study his surroundings though as he wanted to see what his rival’s house was like (and make sure that they weren’t being followed, of course).

When they reached what seemed to be an indoor amphitheater, his eyes widened for a moment, and he couldn’t help but be a little envious. Why did Kalortah have an amphitheater in his house? He didn’t have one. He just had a small dental clinic in what had been his second bedroom once upon a time. On the other hand, he had a magnificent treehouse in his garden (with a rope swing and such – and actual windows and a door) – and a zombie in his basement. He doubted that Kalortah had either of those things!

With that thought in mind, he took his lute off (it had been strapped across his back until then) and sat down at the edge of the stage, smiling brightly at the young Avriel woman. “I do hope that we will be able to talk safely here”, he remarked. “Lenuzie, I meant everything that I said to you downstairs, and I’d like to get to know you better”, he added in a rather serious tone of voice before he abruptly cracked a smile and let his fingers glide across the strings of his lute (a masterfully made lute with lots of intricate carvings), coaxing a number of brilliant, beautiful and complex chords from it.

The sister-stealing fiend had decided to serenade the winged beauty after he had tempted her with science …

[Kalortah]

But Kalortah could not find them, and despite his best efforts, his mind clouded by anger and panic. Panic over the inability to spot the kind of fox he'd let into his henhouse. But try as he might, turning one rock over after another (so to speak), he couldn't find his sister or the lecherous fiendish tarouz. His hand clenched in a fist around the transmutation gem he held in his hand. It was the transformation that held the form of Alsing. He thought to use it to distract his rival, long enough to turn his attentions away from his sister, but what could Kalortah do if he couldn't find them?!

The minstrel flew up into the air, eager to blow off some steam while in flight. Once he made it to the living quarters, which were separate from the lower levels, he descended to the Chamber of Reflection, which he could use to look at himself, basking in his own glory. It was just about the only thing that could calm him down at this point...



Lenuzie meanwhile was fawning over Devin, and marveled at the magnificent lute he showed her. When he strummed the strings, her eyes lit up as if she'd never heard an instrument quite like it. And she hadn't. While all manner of instruments were heard in Athart, they had their own style that seemed separate, playing to different notes in another way. Playing more to the eyes than the ears at times.

"Oh, Devin! What a beautiful instrument! What is it?" She dared to touch the golden filagree on the etched wood of the instrument. "Can I touch it?"

She asked with a sly smile.

[Devin]

The moment that he sat down at the edge of the stage, with Lenuzie by his side, Devin stopped thinking about his rival completely because his sister was much more interesting than he was, anyway. Before, when he had talked to her downstairs, she had seemed a little ambivalent as far as music was concerned, but she was obviously fascinated by his song. So, he played for her, a wide smile on his face, and his violet eyes shimmering brightly, nearly letting his fingers fly across the strings of the magnificent instrument.

He only stopped when she asked him what kind of instrument it was. He didn’t wonder too much about how it could be that she had never seen a lute before as he was too busy serenading her and trying to steal her away. “It’s a lute”, he said and beamed at her. When she asked him if she could touch it, he nodded and carefully placed the instrument into her arms. “An archlute to be exact, with fourteen courses”, he explained.

That circumstance made it harder to play than normal lutes with six or seven or even eight or nine pairs of strings, but it greatly expanded its range – which was something that he did not tell the winged woman next to him as he didn’t want to bore her too much with too many technical details (such might lead to her losing interest and leaving him again).

Instead, he simply offered, “I could teach you a few things. I could also play another song for you though. There is a song that I think you will like especially, about the sky and the moon and the stars and how much beauty there is in the world”, he told her in a soft tone of voice and smiled at her before he plucked the strings once more.

Whatever Lenuzie decided on, whether she wanted a little impromptu music lesson or simply listen to him play a song for her, or do something completely different, he would go along with it, until her evil brother found them, or until the end of the trial, whichever came first, and he would forget everything around them in the process and live in the moment.