• Graded • Unfamiliar Wings (Nightshade)

[Adruria]

10th trial of Ashan, Arc 718

Adruria stood at the edge of what was called The Citizens Market watching the foot traffic. She had wandered here from the Commercial District, where she had looked over some loose gemstones at some of the stalls. Most were of normal quality and all were common stones. Although, she hadn't wandered in too far. The amount of people was dizzying and she was still unsure of the city's layout. Oh well, it all came with a new city and it was better than dealing with demons from the past. Adruria let out a sigh and closed her eyes for a moment before reaching in her pocket and ran her fingers over the strange feathered star coin her mother gave her.

Rumor had it that there was a tent somewhere in this bazaar that had the exact same star symbol on it. The man who ran said tent was extremely elusive. His tent would seemingly appear and disappear in the blink of an eye. Adruria had found the tent several times and lost it just as many. She had just found the tent once again. Her fingers gripped the coin. She didn't dare blink or look away from the tent. Pushing anxiety aside she took a step towards the her destination. Step, another step. She quickened her pace. Almost there, and wings. Wings?!

Adruria came to a complete halt staring at the woman in front of her and her wings. Beautiful back wings. In her mind she was shocked there was another like Kedyrah... No, like father she could call him what he was now. But of course there were others, she had just never seen another one before. Let alone a woman.... The more she watched the woman the more beautiful she found her. Perhaps all those who carried Avriel blood were beautiful? The woman's hands caught Adruria's attention they were talons, much like how she illusioned her own long nails.

That was it, she had to speak with this woman she could fill in some of the many blanks she had. Adruria straightened her back, changing into a more confidant stance. She reached out and tapped the woman one the shoulder, "Excuse me Miss, may we speak with you?"

[Nightshade Eld]

The half-breed had originally wandered into The Citizens Market to inquire about what it took to own and run a shop from those who were already running one. She hadn't the faintest clue and yet she was already throwing herself into the situation, blind. Such was Night's way of dealing with frankly just about anything. Throughout the morning she'd been stopped for various reasons. Anything from insane requests to small jobs she'd actually look into later. She wasn't hard for money, but most of the people who approached her were usually hard for solutions, so going out of her way a little wouldn't do any harm if it meant making one person's life easier. She easily switched between Common and Ith'ession depending on who decided to speak with her. She never really meant to learn the language, but over time she had just eventually picked it up from the people of Etzos. She was grateful, it had made things significantly easier.

Even with all her kindness and patience, the half-breed was starting to wear thin. She was tired and stressed as she had to shoo away some and listen to the babbling of others. Perhaps being noticeable was something of a mistake... It made it hard for the people with the genuinely pressing issues to actually approach her, as they were more often than not swallowed up by those who flocked around her. And she was supposed to be the half-bird. You'd think she'd be the one flocking. In spite of that, she tried to present herself well, her back straight and her head held high. Her wings set and her arms and her sides. When she moved it was with purpose and grace in spite of the weariness that was almost vaguely present. There, but not the focus of her actions. Her legs were barely noticed in a crowd this size, their feathered length and her feet that ended in the likeness of birds.

It took some time and effort but eventually, she was able to convince those around her who did, in fact, recognize her to leave her be and speak with the merchants. She was starting to develop a headache but she was finally alone for a few bits. When there was a tapping on her shoulder. Here we went again. Turned towards the direction of the tap she put on a kind smile and a questioning look. It was a habit at this point so it was too hard to do. Had she been any other of her kind she might have scowled, but it wasn't in the nature of her blood. So instead her eyes showed a steady warmth as the smile actually managed to reach them.

The woman who approached her was curious. Was all she really wanted to talk? That line was usually indicative of someone who wasn't local to the area or someone who really wanted something badly. Wanting to 'talk' sometimes meant wanting to get free stuff. Like Nauta. He had originally just wanted to talk about his bird, and now she was doing his favors at a steady rate every couple of seasons. "Oh? And what would you like to speak about?" She questioned in return. She wasn't going to shut down the conversation immediately but she needed to either sit or fly. Her feet were starting to kill her in a way she hadn't felt in a while. Immortals, she needed to start taking more walks if this was already starting to give her pains at her heels. Of course, walking barefoot likely didn't help much either. It wasn't like they made shoes for bird feet. She always had those commisions, but the talon boots were more so weapons than they were shoes. Not the most fun thing to walk in either.

"Common"

"Ith'ession"

[Adruria]

Adruria gave a kind smile and hoped the winged woman would listen to her request, as silly or strange as it would seem it was very important to her, "We're sorry for interrupting you as you go about your day. Our name Is Adruria or Dru for short." She began wringing her hands. "This is going to sound very strange. But... We recently found out that a close relative of ours is half Avian and..." She looked at the woman's feet and hands, they were just like her father's only with darker plumage. Whereas this woman had beautiful black feathers, Adruria's father's feathers were the whitest of white. Dru shook her head. "We're sorry for staring but, you are the first Avian Human We've seen besides... Our relative..." She admitted quietly. She was unsure if she should say she had just found who her father was. Crazier even was that she had known the man who fathered her all her life and was close with him. "You see, we are a Naer and we choose our appearance so we don't look like we have Avriel blood. But we do." Dru let out a sigh, "We wanted to talk to you because we hoped you could just tell us anything about your heritage. It would really help us... figure everything out."

It was true, she really needed to figure out everything in her life that's why she left had left home. As a Naerikk father's didn't really matter most knew who fathered them and anyone else just didn't really care. So why was it such a big deal to her? Was it the fact that her father had always been right beside her growing up and her mother had told him not tell her? It had opened a gaping hole inside her, leading her to question who she really was. Plus the death of her own best friend had wrecked her as well. She hoped this new city would help her move on and help her heal.

As she spoke with the winged woman a few seedy people tried to approach the Avian all to whom Adruria stared down until they got the hint. "For such a seemingly pleasant lady, you seem to attract some... Questionable people..." Giving the market a look around she shook her head and mumbled to the woman, "We take that back.. Almost everyone around here seems... Questionable. We were so focused earlier we didn't notice." She gave a laugh and then preceded to try and block out the sun. "We're sorry we've just had you standing here, if you wouldn't mind talking could we go sit someplace out of the sun? Plus you look like you've been standing here longer than us and our legs and feet are starting to hurt." She motioned to an area they could sit.

It was then Adruria really looked around the market. There was so much hustle and bustle going on around her. Merchants selling their wares shouting their prices and silly little jingles. Customers who flocked the most popular stalls in the market and others who were making their way home. The stall she had been trying to find had disappeared from site again. With a soft sigh, her hand found it's way into her pocket to play with the coin once more.

[Nightshade Eld]

The half-breed listened in silence, not actually saying anything until the Naer had finished with her request. Her curiosity was piqued at that moment as she looked at the other woman in front of her. So she had an Avriel relative, huh? She wondered if this relative had been a half or a pure. Likely a half. Naer were the only female race, right? The ones who kept men as slaves? They were the current top commodity for racist comments on the streets so the half-breed had gotten quite an earful over the last couples seasons. She couldn't remember what had triggered it all that well, she just knew so Naer had come strolling along, without displaying any signs of aggressive tendency to her knowledge, and the people or Etzos being citizens of Etzos decided that they were filthy immortal following hussies as the people of Etzos tended to assume. Ah Etzos, that isn't how logic works.

Nightshade, though it was fair to call her a citizen at this point, wasn't typical to the nature of the rest of the city. She smiled once more at the woman. She would agree, as it was Nightshade this woman had decided to walk up to. But she couldn't help a slight feeling of remorse. She still had so much work to be done... She'd done her best to watch the local merchants in the area to try and take notes. If she really was to start her project then she'd need to know a great deal about the workings of a business. Making a jingle, attracting attention, and getting promoted were the three things she'd learned the most about from the merchants of the citizen's market. It made sense, they were constantly at war with everyone around them for the attention of any poor man or woman who managed to wander past. They needed to make sales, or else they were going to starve. They didn't even have the luxury of a proper building to take up residency in. They did whatever they could to grab the attention of anyone who decided to walk past.

After tossing up a couple of her thoughts she realized she had learned enough for the day and that she wasn't going to learn anything else from an open-air market since ultimately that wasn't what she was going for. She'd honestly learn more from the Captain at this point.

She had laughed awkwardly when Dru brought up the people she attracted. Night was well aware of the fact she attracted poor people desperate for any living person on the planet to help them. She was only going to make it worse if she actually did half of the things that went through her mind on a daily basis. Chucking onxy nels at poor people was a bad idea. She was aware of this. Did she still want to do it? Of. Freaking. Course. Though, giving that money to a charity would without a doubt be money much better spent since it would be organized efforts and she wasn't likely to accidentally bean someone well off. She just needed to wait a little bit longer, after everything was set up she could start reaching out to charities through her business.

"Of course, I'd be more than happy to help you out with your question. Though I'm not sure how much I can offer you, I'll tell you whatever I know from experience or whatever I was taught by my father. And, true enough, I've been out here for a while and my feet aren't the best in the world for walking. Lead the way," she said quickly with a small laugh. When the thought of sitting down was placed on her head all of the nerves below her knees started screeching at her in agreement with the Naer. "In exchange though, I ask you tell me a little about yourself. You don't have to go into anything personal, but I've always been curious about the Naer. Of course, if there's the potential you could get in trouble you don't have to." The half-breed smiled warmly once more, trying to emphazise the point there was no pressure on telling her anything.

"Common"

"Ith'ession"

[Adruria]

Adruria raised an eyebrow and smiled, "Knowledge for knowledge eh? Fine by us." She could already tell she was going to like this woman. Adruria settled down beside the Avian trying to decide where she should start, the beginning of it all seemed to lead up to everything she wanted to know. "Alright, we'll start at the very beginning when we became who we are. we apologize if certain things must be whispered as dumb as that sounds. Because 'they' are mentioned in all creations. Speaking their names in history should be different than worshiping them as these are facts written down by races."

She cleared her throat and began, "Before the Great War, there were human who lived in the southern parts. One of 'them' kept watch over the settlement. But things were good. Then came war and the world caved the south peoples sent forth a huge hunting party taking all the men and boys with them to find anything to sustain their families and neighbors... But rock and five consumed them swallowing them up. Many of the women left behind perished some lucky above ground. The one who watched from the shadows saw this and called out to the darkness of the world, of heart, and of her ether and brought back the woman who had died above the land. But the woman were not of flesh as they once had been. They reemerged as shadow beings hungry for the taste of life and in the black darkness of night they hunted and sought their revenge on this new world. The one who watched from the shadows was please with what she had made and watched the terror they brought to the night." Dru looked to the woman. "Those were the first Naerikk, untamed shadows lurking to kill, all women who had been reborn."

Adruria continued on,"Another of 'them' say these creatures and sought to stop their killing by illuminating the sky at night, as the shadows could not survive with light. The shadowed watcher was furious with this and gave a gift to humanize her children of darkness. All was doused in ether and a runic language was given allowing the to present and illusion of humanity with beauty unmatched. And so the custom of receiving ether tattoos began shielding us from the sun and light. Thus we were born." She pulled her shirt exposing the back of her shoulder to the winged woman, "These are our markings, they cover our entire back. Perhaps one day under the right circumstances you'll get to see them all." She laughed.

"Now the Naerikk as people... Like we mentioned before we are shadows, living shadows. It's only in absolute darkness we can appear as we really are. A shadow of the blackest back. Only our white eyes are seen. Our arms appear longer and end in long claws." She looked at the Avian woman's arms and talons, "Much like your arms and hands.. But we're whispier, our whole bodies are... Our wrists are about this big" Adruria made a circle with her fingers to show the size. "And my arms are about this much longer than yours and our claws more like this.." Dru continued showing and comparing her arms to her newfound (she hoped) friend. "Although we can change how our true form looks. We appear as normal at most times, however when someone needs and deserves punishment we can contort our self to look ghastly and nightmarish. However, we feel at our most vulnerable as our true self, it's shedding everything away."

She cleared her throat again, "All that you see of us is an illusion we have personally created to make us look like we do. We took the visual likes from the men and other Naer we saw. Most of our features we took from our father... And one from our best friend, but he's not with us anymore. To hold our human looks we need ether tattoos if we don't... The light swallows us up leaving our bones charred. we are afraid of the sun and light. In Augiery a spell holds and no marks are needed. Many tattoos are needed to make us look this way. if you want anymore specifics please go on and ask. There is much to my race."

Adruria shifted how she sat, "As for why we asked to speak to you... We may have more in common than you know.. Our father's name is Kedyrah and he's half-Avriel. We are an unknown granddaughter of an Avriel and we know nothing of our heritage." Her smirk faded. " We never knew until recently he was our.. father. Our mother kept it from us, kept him from telling us! He was beside us all our life, and never a word. And then we realize... We know nothing about us. We are Naer it shouldn't matter. but it does... so much! We feel robbed of any time with our father. We don't know who we are and yet our illusion mimics his looks. His white hair and feathers, his beautiful eyes, and even his talons. Our main ether tattoo is a pair of wings. But we know nothing."

[Nightshade Eld]

The half-breed nodded along quietly as the woman spoke, her attention completely focused on Dru. Interesting. There were a lot of things there that she didn’t know about. She was extremely interested in Dru’s use of the word ‘they’ in reference to what she could only assume were the immortals. She mentioned something about it being due to the names being spoken as history instead of in reverence. The gods must have truly been gods in her eyes, in contrast to the half-breed who went so far as to slander the names of certain immortals with every fiber of disdain in her being. She never believed the immortals as great and powerful beings. She had a distinct lack of fear compared to many others she’d met. It didn’t help that most of her interactions with immortals she hadn’t been treated how one might assume a god treats a mortal. Then again, the only one she’d dare to say she was truly ‘devoted’ to was the noble snake. And even then, she wasn't a servant as much as she was a willing aid. She didn't 'belong' to the immortals the way that some did, especially races spawned from immortal intervention. She was independent and she wasn't giving that up.

She paused in contemplation when Dru gave her the option to ask questions. “I don’t have anything in particular that I was curious about, just curious in general. I might probe for information a little later for more information if I become glaringly curious about anything in particular, but nothing glaring comes to mind. I suppose I’m sated in my curiosity, so I’ll do what I can to appease yours,” she said with a small nod as she tried to think of everything she knew about the Avriel. There wasn't as much as there could have been for someone of pure breeding, but her father had filled in a great many of the missing details for her.

“Well, first of all, I suppose I should start with the creation of the race. Long ago where the city of Athart now stands there were a group of mortals who lived with birds and gave great respect to the prideful one,” since Dru didn’t name any immortals she wouldn’t either. Guessing by the fact they were shadow people she could place which immortal created the Naer, but she wasn’t sure how much Dru knew about the immortals so she would try and be a little more specific without giving away any names. “He loved the beauty of the birds, their pride. That was why he felt so strongly for them and grieved when death struck the people and birds living there,” she scrapped at the corners of her memory trying to summon up everything her father had told her. For a moment, she looked vexed as she tried to recall certain details.

“Much like the mother of Naer, he brought back those that died, but he brought them back in combination with the corpses of the birds..” Her voice trailed off as she thought over her words carefully. “They were monstrosities by every definition of the word. The first Avriel, they were beings that struck fear into the heart of their creator. Fearful and prideful, he fled and disassociated himself from them, refusing to acknowledge the fact that these beautiful, prideful, chaotic beasts were of his creation. He abandoned them and left them to hopefully die out,” there was a small amount of sorrow in her expression. Sometimes she wondered what might have become of the Avriel if Delroth had cared enough to try and set his mistakes straight. What would have become of Idalos should he had worked up the courage to destroy them with the aid of the other immortals.

“Then the chaotic one found them. She saw potential and took them under her great, terrible wings. The Avriel slowly became more civilized, though they still retained a chaotic and animatic nature. They saw her not as their god, but a patron. They respected no one and didn’t even acknowledge the being who had caused their creation. For better or worse, they inherited his beauty and his pride,” she laughed bitterly for a moment and there was a slight spark of spite in her gaze as she continued. “They bid themselves better than all other races across Idalos, taking humanity for slaves and disregarding the existence of any other as their equal. Half-breeds were an affront to them, worth nothing more than death. A waste and an insult to their ‘superior’ genes. A lot of half-avriel die before they ever get to live, their parents either killed, enslaved, or imprisoned for their mistake. The worst fate of all, though, would have to be the avriel who get clipped, their wings cut off leaving them earthbound for the rest of their lives.” She became quiet towards the end as her thoughts wandered for a moment. She couldn’t help but think of Noth…

She straightened her back slightly. “But there are always the few of us lucky enough and stubborn enough to make it out alive, despite being hated by literally every race on Idalos. Literally. That isn’t even a joke. I’m fairly certain even the peaceful and less racist, if there are any, races hate us because we’re half-avriel. And the avriel hate us because we’re half anything that isn’t avriel. On top of that, it’s a little hard for strangers of the race to tell a half from a whole apart, so I’ve been called “avriel” quite a couple times,” there was a look that crossed her expression like calling her an avriel instead of a half-avriel would be an insult. A very offensive insult that was best avoided.

“At the very least fortune is kind enough to give us some boons. I myself have my flight. And even though I can’t see wind currents the same way that other halves or pure breeds could, I never went feral. Oh, right, I haven’t mentioned that yet. Going feral as I call it is something that happens to most adolescent avriel. They’re released into the woods and function on extremely basic natural instinct. A lot of them get themselves killed or captured. Parents don’t usually care either way, family means nothing to them. A funeral is rarely met with tears. Again, that’s just another way that half-breeds are different. Most of us aren’t as prideful or hateful, in fact, I have yet to meet one that’s anything like an avriel. And I’ve met quite a few other half-breeds,” she said as she leaned back, her wings curled towards her slightly as she shifted, her fingers unconsciously messing with the pitch feathers.

“Is there anything in particular that you want to know about?”

"Common"

"Ith'ession"

[Adruria]

Adruria leaned forward, listening intently as the woman spoke nodding to herself and mulling over each fact in her head as she tried to commit them all to memory. The Prideful One, that was Delroth... Right? Yeah he liked birds and beauty... "So the Avriel were abandoned... That's horrible and really sad." Dru had heard that the Avian race rejected the Immortals, she understood why now. She reached over and gave her friend at pat on the back when she notice her expression change, she wasn't sure what the woman had on her mind. But she wanted the woman to know she was there for her.

"Beauty and pride...Slaves... Superiority. Well it sounds like the Avriel and Naer have quite a bit in common." Adruria gave a noise of disgust. The Naer thought for a moment of what was know about Avriel back home. " Avriels are quite exotic and expensive slaves.. Very unruly and can be hard to handle. But your explanation of going 'feral' might be a clue to the things that happen. Or it could just be the added stress of the city being underground. We've never seen an actual Avriel up for sale as a slave. We guess they must be claimed before anyone gets to see them. The Vices most likely take them... We're not even sure how my mother was able to get our father, all we know is he was in bad shape when she bought him. But you have no idea who or what the vices are so we'll explain."

"There a seven Naerikk who govern Augiery. They are known as the vices or as the Wicked Council. These seven are the favored daughters of well, you know who. They all govern a specific task within the city. The Vices are hand chosen for their roles. As a girl we aspired to be one, to be a chosen one." Dru shrugged, "But apparently that wasn't in the plans, and here we are. Anyway the Vices are made up of Odessa, Aurelia, Runash, Casia, Tanvi, Lomela, and Sanja."

"Odessa is most fearsome of the seven. They say she could one day take 'our mother's' place. She is the Vice of Combatants and Slaves or more often called the Vice of Wrath. She is most brutal and harsh with the male slaves or the Txerriak. The Txerriak is the system of slaves in Augiery. The city has prospered under her rule as a Vice."

"Aurelia is the Vice who oversees all the gold and wealth of the city. She is Vice of Economy and Commerce, always insuring trade deals benefit the city and we take no losses. Also called Vice of Greed."

"Runash is the overseer of the city navy, her ship is the Emerald Serpent. By law every Naer must serve a handful of years under her on her ships. The Vice of Navies, or the translation of her sea name Vice of Greed. We spent our time on her ships already. Her fleet is admirable."

"Casia, tend to the art and theaters. She chooses the sculptures by the finest artists to be displayed around they city. The Vice of art. She attends a majority of theater openings and has private art shows for the higher ups. She is also called Vice of Vanity. We really liked her growing up. You didn't have to go gambling or to watch the slave fights to catch a glimpse of her."

"Tanvi tries to spread good word of our city showing others why the should love it. She travels pretty often. The Vice of Diplomacy. She also brings gifts from our city to outsiders. Also called the Vice of Lust. The male brothels and Egonkors another type of slave are under her rule."

"Lomela is the Vice of Agriculture. She makes sure none in the city go hungry, not even slaves. Growing food underground is hard and for a long time the population suffered. But she gave us the odol laborantzas, or "blood crops". How everything is done is secret all we know is all our crops are red and they are grown by the blood of certain very healthy slaves. She is called by some Vice of Gluttony."

"Sanja, is the least spoken of, as a girl we wondered if that made her sad... She's Vice of Health and Wellness a very important yet easily overlooked issue. Many believe the strong should survive and all else perish. But Sanja believes all should be healthy woman or slave. She's also called Vice of Sloth."

Adruria thought for a moment, "As for questions, we are curious of you... You mention speaking with your father who is Avian. How did you survive if it's not too personal. We wish to know what it's like to fly. Also we wish to know your name?"

[Nightshade Eld]

Hints of crimson colors the half-breed's cheeks as she laughed lightly. "Ah, have I truly forgotten to state my name?" She asked with another small laugh as she shook her head at her own forgetfulness. "My name is Nightshade. My last name is Eld, which is actually a name taken from my mother's family. My father never spoke much about his own," she explained. She was sure at some point he'd told her his last name in case it came in handy. It was written down somewhere, perhaps signed on a piece of paper she'd kept. Scratched roughly in the written language of the Avriel, but for the immortals, she couldn't remember exactly what it was as she scrapped every possible recess of her mind for the information.

"As for why I'm alive where many other half-breeds have passed, that is a very long and complicated story. I'd have no problem indulging if you believe you have the time," the half-breed said. Her eyes had taken on a misty appearance as she took a deep breath trying to force the muscles in her shoulders to relax. They had tensed the moment the question was asked and she'd taken up so much time answering the simple question of what her name was so that she could deliberate with herself if she actually wanted to answer this question or not. Eventually, she straightened her back slightly and allowed a long breath to slip through her teeth as she started her tale.

"A long time ago my father was very similar to any other Avriel in Athart. He had a lot less savagery in him than the others did, but that didn't change anything as he still held strong to their beliefs. Humanity was better off as slaves. My father, Evaryin, however, saw the importance of knowledge and one day wandered far away from Athart to suite his lust for information, leaving behind his family which honestly could have cared less. He never told me much about them, but I know for certain they weren't low class if any of his stories hold truth. After he left home he quickly came to realize he didn't know anything about the world outside, he got beat up by the first animal he saw. My mother, a woman named Karmin, for some reason decided to come to his aid. She took him home with her and healed his injuries against the requests of her family. Long story short, as payment for taking care of him she demanded that he help her see the world!

"Unfortunately Karmin was very sick and after a couple arcs of exploring the pair had to settle down somewhere. Of course, somewhere along the way, they'd become a couple. They found a small town not too far from Etzos and eventually I was born, but it took my mother's life to bring me into the world. I suppose the reason I got to live was because my father never had to get me out of Athart. A lot of half-breeds who end up dead, end up dying because they have to be snuck out. Most of the ones that live aren't born within Athart, or like my beloved have a lot of luck protecting them. Afterwards my father took care of my long enough for me to learn how to fight, so by the time 'half-breed hunters' got wind of my 'offensive' existence I was already too strong for them to lay a talon on," there was something proud in her smile as she finished her story and puffed her chest. Too strong to 'lay a talon on' was left up to the imagination but there was something obvious in the movements of the woman that gave away the fact she was very familiar with combat.

"And finally, what is it like to fly..." her voice trailed off slightly as she tried to decide what to say. After all, she wanted to be able to do the action justice. "In my opinion, there is nothing in this life more beautiful or freeing than the ability to fly. To be unbound from the earth, you can travel the span of the world in what amounts to trails! There's total control of your actions and as long as you can fly fast enough the ability to escape anything. It is exhilarating and freeing, beautifully mysterious, and often times rather cold. But, that's just because the higher up you get the colder the air temperature gets. I've gotten used to it most. It's hard to properly put into words just how amazing it feels!" There was excitement and pure joy in her tone as she spoke.

"I've got another question actually, why do you speak the way you do? You say 'we' instead of 'I'. Is it something all Naer do or is it something you learned?"

"Common"

"Ith'ession"

[Maltruism]

MOD BOMB!!

It was entirely possible that either Night or Adruria, or both, would notice a young man approaching. His nervous mannerisms, indicative of worried haste, marked every facet of his appearance. He did not know either of them personally, and Adruria not at all, but he gave her what degree of a kindly nod to her as he then focused on Nightshade.

His voice was a hiss. Not one borne of malice, but rather of a failed attempt to keep his whisper quiet under stress, "Miss Night, what are you doing? Why are you discussing these kinds of things so publicly?" He made a gesture to indicate the naer with her. "You know her race is currently under more scrutiny than most. And her speaking so freely of Augiery in such a case is not a good idea. Even you, giving accounts of avriel history is not going to be viewed favorably out here in the perimeter."

He looked around, "I'm from the Old Guard office. My name's Herrick. I wasn't exactly sent here, but there are quite a few of us that go around looking to prevent escalations of bigotry." His double-take toward a trio of ugly, ex-military looking men suggested that he had arrived just a bit too late. One of the men nodded to something or someone beyond Night and her two companions, and turning to look would reveal an additional pair of similarly attired types.

Night could, of course, fly away easily, but Adruria and Herrick had clearly already been marked as targets. Herrick did not appear to be armed, the drain of color from his face seemed to support this assessment.

The center-most of the initial three spoke up, "You Immortal-loving bitches - and I mean you too, sissy boy - have to swear an oath at the gate not to talk about devotion to Imp-whores like Audrae and Syroa. I lost friends in Oscillus last arc to those two, and now you're breaking your oath to promote them?"

Though it was not performed with military precision and timing, the sound of drawn steel rang from all five men, as they both spread out, and closed in, to cut off escape. "I know you were there, flapper! If you want to leave, I guess we can live with that."

[Adruria]

"We use Gravokian Plurals. Naerikk speak Gravokian and use 'we' to speak for not just the individual but us as a whole." Adruria was about to answer Night again when a flurry of what she could only describe as craziness happened. First appeared a frightened man who announced as himself as Herrick and then a bunch of foul mouthed men appeared claiming that Nightshade and she were bigots? What? No really, What? Wearing the most blank confused look she tried to understand what was going on. Now they had targeted this Herrick too. She'd try and deal with them. They may have grouped Night and Herrick in this, but Dru had a feeling this was more about her and her race.

Standing up extremely slowly hands slightly raised at the men, she carefully guided Herrick to go behind her using one hand. Hey Amethyst eyes never left the ring leader of the group. "My name's Dru and apparently I'm the one you have the problem with. First off I'm not armed or I would be showing it in defense at you right now." Adruria watched a child frightened by the men run to their mother for safety. "Second off I would like to reprimand you on your choice of words used in front of the local children. Not to mention your swords are scaring them. Third if you know so much of our conversation, you would know that no praises were sung and no names hailed. I apologize I must of read the sign wrong when I entered, I thought it said 'Leave your Immortals at the door.' I must of not seen the fine print of not being able to speak about one's life, heritage, and home. To not share knowledge with one another! In fact no Immortal names were named between Night and I. YOU sir, are the only one whom has spoken Immortal names." Dru had dropped her Garvokian plurals and spoke loud enough that the gathered crowd could hear her. "By mentioning their names not in a historic setting or just in mentioning them at all shows you did not leave your beliefs at the door. You sir are guiltier than us many folds. Also all of the people in this crowd heard you and just look at the ruckus you caused! Before you and your men came everyone was going about their business as two close friends shared their knowledge with each other so that they could better understand each other. We made no big commotion, we simply sat here enjoying the fresh air. No one flocked around us or ran in fear, we were just two young women talking."

She paused a moment and held out a finger as to say she was not done speaking, "If publicly bullying us for our race wasn't enough. You drag in this poor guy who did nothing. Who is your superior? I would like to have a word with him about your dangerous public persecution." She stepped back blocking Herrick from the men and turned to Nightshade, "Night, my dear sister do you have anything to add?" Deep down Adruria hoped Night understood her Naer term of deep friendship and kinship and also hoped she could keep everything civil. But these men weren't looking for civil or a mature way to end this Dru feared. Maybe Night's influence could help, she seemed well known.