Arioch
Approved
Level 6 — Barbarian
Posts: 333
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Post by Arioch on Mar 2, 2019 23:35:43 GMT
Every now and then he was still stealing glances back at her, there was something oddly satisfying about the way the blue meshed in with the white of her skin. Though she wasn't really human she was definitely more pleasing to the eye than those half-orcs he had seen. The first time he had seen them he worried. Now, he just kept his eyes on them, they were like walking evidence of savagery and crimes past. Rare as they were, they were not rare enough. With the Genasi it was something similar, and although their origin as far as he had been tell was quite outlandish too it was nothing like the crude reality of orcs.
"Oh, so it goes apprentice - journeyman - master" He quoted "That vould make you a journeyman or a master?"
He didn't ask that as a way of insulting her, or at least hadn't been thinking about that when he finally said it. Just to satiate his curiosity.
"I figure you could still drop some bits of advice here and there, it's alvays a good thing vhen a veteran comes by and throws you a tip or gives you a correction. It's alvays useful."
He remembered the way he regarded the older warriors in his clan, there was some kind of tangible respect about them that wasn't even taught, it was felt. He figured experienced people in any kind of profession would experience that same level of regard.
"Freebloving that vas... vhen you literally blow air into things vith your mouth, yes? I think you said something like that earlier..."
Said as he squinted, trying to conjure the memory to the present, until the subject reached the smith, to which he was rather forthcoming.
"I'm going to go to the arena to try and get myself into the tournament. I know there are some preliminary fights, like a small thing in order to qualify I think next veek. I'm not so sure about the rules but I've seen some of the fights, and I know I can take on them. So I'm not too worried about it... But the tournament is in one month's time and all the good fighters vill be there, I'll be needing some armor for that. I'm thinking I can get some money in the smaller fights and use that to buy armor for the bigger one, if I vin the tournament I bet I'll finally be able to afford that sword I vant so much, but it's not going to be much use if I get ripped off by the smith. Mostly because I'll be too dead to rectify things if he goes cheap in order to save some coins."
He wasn't concerned about the possibility of losing his life in the fight, rather, when he thought about it he was excited. He felt alive when he was fighting like he was making progress. He was measuring himself against someone else. There was a tangible sense of victory, a taste sweeter than anything else that he was sure few people could really appreciate.
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Post by moralhazard on Mar 3, 2019 0:33:11 GMT
“A master,” Thea smiled at Arioch, not remotely insulted by the question. “Being a journeyman is part of the apprenticeship, in a way. I suppose it doesn’t make much sense, but that’s how it’s thought of. It’s more of a courtesy term than anything, I would say. When you’re a master, you’re not tied to anyone else’s shop except by choice. It’s – freeing.” Thea smiled a little more. “And it’s much easier to travel,” she added, giggling.
Thea nodded. She could remember they’d had traveling masters in the workshop in Urmlaspyr; she had always benefited from their advice, their guidance. Thaddeus had always encouraged her to chat with them, especially those who were specialists in freeblowing; it wasn’t his specialization, but he had always encouraged her to pursue it. Even more than in mold-based glassblowing, Thea’s inhuman breath control was an advantage in freeblowing; that, and she had always enjoyed expressing herself in glass.
Still, despite Thea’s big thoughts about being comfortable as a master, it was a shock to think of herself in the role of traveling advice-dispenser. She had always thought of those visitors as older, senior, experienced, wise; Thea herself still felt very new and raw as a master glassblower, hardly qualified to dispense advice while she was still figuring out her own work.
Arioch asked for a definition of freeblowing, and Thea squinted back at him, wrinkling her nose, sensing another trap. “All glassblowing works that way,” she said, finally, reluctantly, aware of the trap and unable to find a way to discuss her profession without falling into it – but trying her best. “In some cases, the glass is – unrestrained, free to take any shape that you want it to. That’s freeblowing. In other cases, you pour the glass into a mold and blow. You still have to be careful and deliberate, but the shape is set by the mold, not your hands.”
Arioch described the tournament that he wanted to enter, and Thea listened, wide-eyed. “Oh, wow,” she was quiet, adjusting her grip on the fish once more. “Isn’t it – dangerous?” Thea asked, hesitantly. “Who would you fight in such tournaments? Other people like you, or…” She trailed off, not quite sure how such things worked.
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Arioch
Approved
Level 6 — Barbarian
Posts: 333
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Post by Arioch on Mar 3, 2019 1:03:06 GMT
He didn't really sprung any trap on her, he just used that time to appreciate in detail her expression gymnastics. The wrinkling on her nose, the slight, cautious reluctance in the glint of her eye. He just let it pass through without doing anything, looking at her like such things were imagined. For they were. Weren't they? My, she had such a bad opinion about him. And she was already thinking of him saying something like that, which in turn, made her think of something... unseeming. Of course, he was smiling. That was the trap in itself. Far more subtle, but just as enjoyable nonetheless. Playing with that slight disappointment.
It was strange to imagine "wandering masters" of freeblowing around to him, most crafts he knew had a tendency to require possessing your own shop and tools. And most of those were either too expensive or too heavy to just move around, smiths of course were the first thing that came to mind with the forges and their heavy tools. But also carpenters, the ones that made the big works, needed to have ample space and supplies to work properly too.
And, to top it all off, Thea herself was the master, that she had not been expecting to hear. So it was more like a companionship that she shared with the store owner and not a relationship of dependance. So, that meant that her own working all day and all night was self inflicted. Thus, it was indeed a thing of her passion and unrelated to the circumstances of her standing. Well, money certainly played a role, but she was free by the looks of it.
"Vell, yes, I've seen a bunch of people die already. Most of the fights vere decent too, but not that decent to make me feel bad about it."
He then stopped for a moment there and shot a glance here way, arching one eyebrow ever so slightly.
"People... like me? Vhat do you mean?"
It was up for clarification if she had meant it like human beings or fish wielding savages from the north, but that wasn't really what he had in mind when he asked. He really had no idea what she meant by that.
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Post by moralhazard on Mar 3, 2019 1:17:49 GMT
Thea’s eyes widened a little at the nonchalant way Arioch delivered the news. Fighters dying, just – like that? Thea had no experience with arenas; she wasn’t sure death matches along those lines existed in Urmlaspyr, and if they did, Thea had certainly never seen them. What she remembered of underground fighting in Urmlaspyr – it hadn’t been to the death. Had it?
“I mean,” Thea bit her lip, stopping in the midst of the docks and searching for the words to explain what she meant. “When you fight in the arena, I… you don’t fight an animal, or a ghoul, or something like that, do you?” She looked at Arioch. “You fight another person, like you, who maybe wants money to buy a sword or – whatever, and… one of you has to die.” Thea shivered a little. “Is that right?”
Thea supposed – she wasn’t sure if it was strictly legal, but if both fighters signed up, knowing the risks, she supposed it wasn’t wrong either. The genasi just couldn’t imagine taking that kind of risk. Yes, she had pitted herself against danger before, usually with Dom at her back; yes, it had been, then, her magic against something that would have killed her, given the chance. Yes, she had known going in that that might arise. But to Thea, that felt very different from striding into an arena knowing full well that one would have to kill or be killed. Perhaps it was only that she couldn’t imagine taking on such an encounter herself.
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Arioch
Approved
Level 6 — Barbarian
Posts: 333
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Post by Arioch on Mar 4, 2019 0:51:35 GMT
"Most times" He said "Though I vould hardly call an Orc a person. Even if they do valk on two legs and can sort of talk."
It's not like he was trying to view the way he saw orcs and other creatures of their sort, which often included other half-beast people or similar. He was prejudiced against them, having only seen the worst of them before. Seeing them now just walking about peacefully in a city... It just didn't feel right. That image did not fit with everything he knew about them.
But when he was talking about the arena, about fighting and the things he was passionate about there was a special glint in his eye, as the inner fire took over.
"I do. And only the most vorthy comes out on top. If you don't thing you have vhat it takes you dont sign up for it, you don't fight. There are other things people can do to make coin. But it's not about the coin. It's not about vhether you're very strong or not. It's about fear, ultimately."
He said and turned to face Thea, those deep eyes mirroring the expression in his voice. More mature and calm now, but carrying just as much intensity in his belief. There was no stuttering about what he was saying, no doubt about it. He was simply stating things as they were, explaining. It was like a shift in his entire attitude when he did so.
"Like vhat ve talked about when people crash into you. It's about facing your fear. I see it like that. Say you vant something? How much do you vant it? How much are you villing to put on the line for that vhich you want? Most people think they desire something, I think, until that need gets tested and they realise they only vanted it vhen it vas easy. vhen it gets hard, then you know how much are you villing to do for that goal"
There was a small pause in his talk, his eyes strayed away from Thea for a second before inhaling and returning to her once more
"If you really vant it, and are villing to do what's necessary... Then there is nothing outside of your reach. It's really good to know vhat you vant, and how much do you really vant it. To know your passions and goals, to truly know them."
He said with fire in his voice
"And so I think hardships and fear diminish little passions but increase the great ones, just as the vind extinguishes candles but fans a fire. If you truly crave something, you don't just give it up. In the face of vhat? Vell that just vhat defines you as a person. I don't think anyone is born brave, I really don't. And I think the only vay to get there is by facing vhat you fear the most. To put your life on the line is the ultimate challenge, the ultimate test to your vill. It's vhere most people draw the line, though not all. To fight risking death by choice... It is then vhen you know, inside of you, vhether you truly believe you have vhat it takes or you don't. There is no in-between, you can't lie to yourself. Then vhat truly divides the strong from the veak is not the strength of your arm, but your ability to change yourself. The willingness to do that. To face fear. And take vhat you vant."
Arioch said vehemently, his eyes fierce with passion fixed upon Thea, his pace slowing down just enough so the message would be driven home without any interruptions, without any accidents or misinterpretations.
"And fighting is one of those things... I think."
He finally said relaxing his posture a bit as they continued, with a small sigh on his part
"I think... It's really easy to forget vhere you live in, or vhat do you vant. To forget yourself in your own cowardice, to live it safe, to not take too many risks. But if you act too much like a covard because you're afraid to lose something... You become a covard, no matter vhat you tell yourself. You start to find excuses. To meekly accept vhat is freely given and be afraid to take more, because simply you're afraid to lose something in the exchange. You don't make much noise. You stay quiet. Live a life of forgiveness and being content, justifying to yourself vhy you don't do else. It's a slow and insidious killer, that kind of monotony."
Said, more thoughtful than before, this time looking straight ahead. He found it hard to explain exactly why fighting, why killing was not a taboo for him. Or for other people, as far as he was concerned.
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Post by moralhazard on Mar 4, 2019 1:10:20 GMT
It was a serious subject, in truth. Thea would have thought less of Arioch if he had given her a light-hearted or flippant answer or rather, if she thought the answer deep inside him was light-hearted or flippant. They had only just met. While had been an eventful afternoon, and between everything that had passed and the intensity of conversation between them, Thea felt she knew him well, he owed her absolutely nothing, and certainly not an answer.
But – Arioch gave her an answer, to the question she had asked and the questions she hadn’t. He turned and looked at her; Thea had already stopped walking, and she met Arioch’s eyes seriously and fully, giving him her full attention, and carefully keeping pace with him when they started walking again. The fish in her hands, the people walking past? They faded away; for that moment, there was only Thea and Arioch, the fire and passion in his voice, a gentle and neutral curiosity in her eyes.
How much did she want? What was she willing to put on the line for those desires? A breeze danced down the wharf, tugging at the edges of her clothing, and Thea shivered a little. For Arioch, it seemed, what he wanted was something in himself – some kind of strength that he thought needed to be forged in combat. Thea wasn’t sure she understood what had driven him to where he was now, but she thought that his belief was one she could respect.
A coward…
To live a life of forgiveness and being content. Thea swallowed, hard. She doubted Arioch would understand it, if she could even begin to explain, how much what he was saying described the life she had lived, back in Urmlaspyr. She had worked hard, through her apprenticeship and her journeyman years – very hard. She would have said that she had sacrificed for her glassblowing, and surely she had; there were plenty of hours when she could have slept or laughed with friends and she had worked instead. But she had never regretted them, and – in truth – Thea had always enjoyed her work.
No – it was romantically where Thea had been a coward. How long could one plead ignorance? She had been blind to the worst of it for a long time – until she hadn’t, and then she had forgiven and tried to forget, and it had been a relief to have that time come to an end. But – there had been plenty else that Thea had looked past which should have made her run. Arioch’s words struck a deeper chord than Thea might have wished, a painful reminder of how much of a fool she had been.
And had she fought? It wasn’t an easy question to answer, and Thea shied away from it, automatically, turning her attention back to Arioch, hoping he hadn’t noticed the distance her mind had gone.
“Thank you for sharing that with me,” Thea stopped walking again, forcing Arioch to stop as well. She balanced the fish, very carefully, and let go with one hand, reaching out to set her hand on his forearm, giving a gentle squeeze. The grip didn’t linger though, not least because Thea needed to grab hold of the fish again fairly quickly.
“… What is it you want to find, in the end?” Thea asked softly. “In yourself. To be rid of fear?”
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Arioch
Approved
Level 6 — Barbarian
Posts: 333
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Post by Arioch on Mar 4, 2019 20:22:45 GMT
He stopped alongside her, realising whatever she was going to say if she had to stop walking was probably important. The first thing that would stand out at the touch of his forearm would be that the clothes did not give any space inwards. Sometimes, particularly in arms and legs there is a bit of air between the clothes and the skin, and a bit of softness afterwards. His was like steel, without giving any space when she pressed, without any tenderness to the warm flesh beneath; only it's hardness standing out. Were it not for the warmth of it, and one not knowing that was his arm, it would have been possible to think it was armor.
He didn't reject her touch, didn't move away; physical contact was a natural thing to him and the brush of another's skin against his, the close proximity of another, was not something alarming or out of the norm. Arioch met her expression with his undivided attention, with the seriousness the situation demanded of him, however brief it was.
"I don't think anyone can be rid of fear." He said, grimly "But I do believe it is possible to live a life in vhich you are not influenced or controlled by it."
Arioch inhaled
"Ve all fight different battles. Right now there are boys too afraid to talk to a girl they fancy. Girls too afraid to defy the vill of their parents. To someone that has been past that, it seems like something petty, unimportant, ridiculous. At the time, hovever, it vas the greatest challenge yet. You only get courage to live free of fear after you challenge the situation, not before. And not all rise to the ocassion. And not all those vho do triumph. I only despise those that don't try, for those that don't are little more than slaves forevermore, shackled perpetually by their own veakness. You see, it's not vinning that gives you courage, but simply doing."
His thoughts turned back to the arena and the coming feeling of facing someone to the death, steel in hand, knowing full well it might be the last thing he did. What kind of life would he lead if he changed his mind now, and was too afraid to do it, too afraid to take such risks, too afraid to...
"In this life there are people vho can, and people vho can't. So far, I have found there is no in-between. Only excuses."
It was a harsh thing to say, but he really believed it. Either someone had what it took, or it didn't. It was a philosophy that seemed anathema to the concept of pity, or mercy.
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Post by moralhazard on Mar 4, 2019 20:38:01 GMT
Thea shivered a little; there was an intensity to Arioch that was – disconcerting. It wasn’t just his directness, nor was it just the strength of his beliefs, but the two together plus something she couldn’t quite define was… well, a lot.
“I see,” Thea said, quietly, and she thought, in fact, she did. She wasn’t sure she much cared for Arioch’s definition of the world, if only because – she thought, perhaps, with an aching heart, that she might be one of those who can’t. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling, not remotely. As much as Thea tried to defend herself – she had become an artisan, she had left Urmlaspyr, she had taken hold of her storm sorcery and learnt control – she couldn’t help feeling like she was, in the end, something of a coward.
They started walking again. Thea tried not to let her thoughts show on her face, keeping up a polite smile as her eyes scanned the warehouses next to the wharf. “Well – for what it’s worth, I believe you can,” she said, glancing to the side at Arioch, and then back to the businesses. It seemed like the polite thing to say, even if her opinion likely didn’t matter much – and, more importantly, it was true. Thea had little doubt that Arioch would prevail in any contest in the arena; she didn’t know what his skill was like, other than that he was excellent with a fish, but she thought perhaps she had had a taste of his will.
“Oh!” Thea stopped, abruptly. “This is it.” A wooden sign marked the Shipwrights’ House, with carved female figureheads on either side, both well-worn from their former lives on ships. Thea took a few more steps, and stopped, smiling, as she spotted the next sign down. “Helmstar Warehouse,” She turned back to Arioch. “Thank you for walking me here.”
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Arioch
Approved
Level 6 — Barbarian
Posts: 333
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Post by Arioch on Mar 4, 2019 20:56:55 GMT
By the time they started to walk again his thoughts had continue to drift into what would the future hold for him, and what would the fights at the arena would be like. It was a frightening thing, but he was alright with that kind of fear. He was eager for the fights. He was eager to face that fear and jump into the flames. A trial by fire, of his own choosing. It had taken him quite a bit of time, and defeats to even reach that conclusion, and to find that kind of courage. It was a small thing but once he reached the decision, it had become an unstoppable fire within. It gave him purpose, and turned shame into a lesson.
He began to smile again, a shallow smile, a faint gesture lost on the way he hid his face from onlookers the same way he had been running away from his embarassment. A tool it was, but also hypocrisy at it's fullest, and something he would have to face eventually too and was postponing as much as he could.
"You should bet on me then, easy money"
Said, cocksure and eager to regain his earlier mood, much more relaxed and light. Once they finally arrived at the Shipwright's House, he gave a small chuckle, but not before appreciating the art up on both sides of the wooden sign. He had seen one of those on one of the ships he came to Waterdeep in. He wondered what was their purpose.
"Don't mention it" Said then stopping by to take a look at her face. "Vell" Said then, not really being good with farewells. "See you around" Said then, and gave out a small salute with two fingers and turned around and began walking back where he came, onwards to the outskirks of the city.
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