The Drunken Outlander

[Azrael]

68 Vhalar 720 | Azrael Blackfire | Raelia, Abandoned Tavern

"Are you happy now?" Azrael screamed at the air, the stench of alcohol hung heavily on every word that he spewed in his drunken rage. He kicked a chair across the room and shouted unintelligible words for a few trills before he stumbled over to the bar and picked up the bottle of some strange green alcohol he'd bought at a different tavern. He was back at the Three Sister's tavern and it was still empty, abandoned, and decrepit. Nothing had changed in half of the season and the mortalborn had grown frustrated with his lack of progress. "I am waiting for you spirits!" Azrael called out before taking another swig from his bottle. His legs buckled and he dropped, sliding down the side of the counter so that he was sitting with his back pressed up against it. "You told me to find the tavern run by three sisters!" He exclaimed, waving the bottle around a little as he spoke, "So I have... and this is where I'll stay." He went to take another swig only to find the bottle empty. Azrael grumbled a curse to himself and then hurled the bottle across the room, shattering it on the far wall.

"I will not be moved." He grumbled before looking around for another bottle to drink from. He was more or less surrounded by bottles. Some with liquid inside but most were empty by now. Azrael pushed them aside one by one until he saw a bottle leaking liquid and he grabbed it to drink what was left before chucking that bottle at the wall as well. "I am waiting for the sisters..." Azrael said in a somewhat distant, sing-song voice.

"They aren't coming."

Azrael shifted too suddenly in surprise and slipped off of his chair. He crashed onto the ground and groaned a little before the groan bubbled into a loud laugh. "No shit, spooky voice." Azrael said to the air as he decided the floor was plenty comfortable and laid out. "I've been here all season and nothing fucking happened."

"Maybe it's the wrong trial?" A chair scrapped across the floor and a small grunt was emit as someone sit down. Azrael did not sit up, but his head did pop up a little as he looked around and discovered Yanish Col sitting in the chair.

"Do you have some sort of hidden stash in this place? Why are you always here?" Azrael grumbled before laying back down. He and Yanish had not talked a lot since their job went south. Azrael certainly didn't get paid enough for that and he held it against Yanish a little. How could the man have really thought things would go differently? People being forgiving? Never. Not in their line of work. They were moving men and women in boxes and Azrael suspected if they hadn't escaped, Azrael might have ended up in one of the boxes.

"I've been looking for you. I felt bad about the way the job went-" "Good." "-and I just wanted to offer you some advice about the problem you're having." Azrael laughed loud enough to silence Yanish and then slowly sat up from his spot on the ground.

"Which one? The tavern dead end? The kid? Or the smuggler who is clearly hiding something?" Azrael seemed angry but it was mostly the alcohol talking at that point. "Or are you here to do something about my eyes? You know they just haven't been the same since Ashan. All my lights and darks are mixed up."

"I know you are angry, and I am sorry. I thought Leo would let the past be the past and I was wrong. I want to make it up to you." Azrael had saved his life after all... and he had saved Azrael's a few moments later but Azrael would never have been in danger if not for Yanish so... they weren't quite even yet. "I hear a lot of things in my line of work, Azrael. Useful things. Azrael, look at me." The mortalborn's attention had begun to wander but Yanish got it back. "Come back here on the first of Zi'da and my debt to you is paid. Be sober when you do." Then Yanish rose from his chair and left the tavern.

Azrael laid back down on the floor, repeating Yanish's words to him in a somewhat mocking tone as the world spun above him. He laughed, sighed, and fell asleep.

[Azrael]

68 Vhalar 720 | Azrael Blackfire | Raelia, Abandoned Tavern

A cold splash of water woke Azrael from his sleep and the mortalborn sat up, coughing and shivering, to find Adrian holding the bucket. Of course it was Adrian. Why couldn't it have been his far more attractive daughter who came to scold him while he had a hangover. Azrael sat up and wiped his hair out of his face. "Hello there." He grumbled as he pushed himself up onto his feet. "Do you like my bar? Plenty of seating."

"What are you doing?" Adrian asked with no small effort to conceal the disappointment in his voice. It irritated the mortalborn a little. Adrian was not his father or his master/mentor/ whatever they called it. Azrael did really care for the spark Adrian had given him. He'd played with it once or twice but like a child with a toy, he lost interest when it didn't blow things up.

"Well I was having a drink in private but men keep finding me so I think I'm going to go home." Azrael said as he walked over towards the door. A stiff wind blew and the door slammed shut. Azrael turned to find Adrian with his hand outstretched. "Why couldn't you have taught me that?"

"Defiance is a magic I'd only trust to a committed student. You have shown neither discipline nor commitment." Adrian said sternly causing Azrael to laugh.

"And yet you made me like you." Azrael tapped his temple to draw Adrian's attention to his eyes. "You know, the voices get really annoying when you're drunk. You could have warned me about that."

"You need to learn to control your magic. Let me show you how to attune, how to hide yourself from other mages and Immortals. Let me show you the power I have given you." Adrian insisted like he had insisted many times before and the only reason this time was any different than the last was because Azrael had a hangover and a small hope the magic would help him cure it. Azrael nodded and crossed his arms.

"Fine, one lesson."

[Azrael]

68 Vhalar 720 | Azrael Blackfire | Raelia, Abandoned Tavern

By the time Azrael's clothing and hair had really begun to dry, he and Adrian were sitting across from each other on the floor of the abandoned tavern with their legs crossed. Adrian had explained the basic principle of the magic again and this time included a small summary of the difference between actively attuning and simply picking up a frequency again. It more or less boggled the mind of the mortalborn but he nodded along. What he took from it was that if he wanted to really mess with someone, he needed to be attuned actively to them. Moreover Adrian had just begun to really explain what attuning to an individual did in terms Azrael would appreciate.

"It is not the ability to read another person's mind so much as it is the ability to read their intentions." Well Adrian was off to a bad start. That did not sound useful to Azrael. "Attunement allows you to see all the pieces that make the person or thing you've attuned to and with time and practice you'll be able to understand what makes each piece unique. Learning a note is one thing, but learning to interpret how that note applies to each frequency you find it in is another entirely."

"Okay but what can I actually do? You shut the door with wind, can I do that? No wait, you said Defiance. That is different isn't it?"

"It is a completely different magic. For this lesson, I'll show you how Attunement may be used to make you a better fighter. Now, attune to me." Adrian waited and Azrael looked at him with a rather plain expression. He took a deep breath and tried to do as Adrian had asked but he heard nothing. The whispers were always there but something about making the effort to listen to Adrian's seemed to escape Azrael. Adrian grinned and then suddenly it clicked. He attuned to the other mage and a sea of whispers washed through Azrael's mind.

"Static?" Azrael asked, having been told of the ability to mask yourself in a prior lesson. It was the only reason he could think that Adrian's frequency had suddenly become clear. The superior mage must have been using the ability beforehand.

"Not anymore, now tell me what you hear." Adrian confirmed and ordered. Azrael listened carefully at the voices that weren't quite forming words. He listened for notes the two of them shared in common. The spark. Magic. Violence. Desire. Yet... they were different in Adrian in small ways that Azrael did not fully understand and would not for a little while longer.

"I hear everything."

[Pig Boy]

Azrael

Experience: 10 You may use these points for attunement xp.

Knowledge: - Attunement: x 1, Discipline x 3, Resistance x 2,

Renown: none

Skill Usage: You only get the ability to sense other sparks when you're an expert Attuner, I believe. So unfortunately I cannot grant you the knowledge of a spark's note. Therefore, overstepping penalties incoming... Otherwise skills were fine here.

Loot/Losses: none

Injuries/Conditions: Moderate Overstepping: Temporary Loss of Attunement ability, which clears up by the next thread

Temporary Overstepping Corruption: Dark Cloud: When Azrael performs active attunement techniques upon another person, he will find his head surrounded by a dark mist. This can be soothed permanently should he reach expertise in attunement. But for now it will trouble him in that it makes it obvious when he's using his magic. The dark cloud only makes it obvious that he's using some sort of magic. He can still see fine through the dark mist, and it in fact obscures light enough that he can see quite well, in fact.

Consequences: none

Comments: This was an interesting set up to the next thread, which I suppose we'll see what happens now... I like the dialogue of this thread, it's really a strong point for Azrael threads, imo. The humor and frustration come through loud and clear in Azrael's tone.

Let's see where this leads us now...

I was glad to grade this finally... Sorry it took so long. But, now we get going with the real tasks. I will start posting to the next thread very soon.

If you have any concerns about this review, please PM me about them.