Synkkis Kyyneltya
Shaman
"Strange... I had no brace for the aberrant nature of this power."
Posts: 170
Profession: Mercenary Tactician
Affinity: Dark
Profile: Synkkis
OoC Alias: Cyril/Lucien/Landrik/Freya
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Post by Synkkis Kyyneltya on Feb 24, 2015 23:59:22 GMT -6
As much as she was stroking his ego with taking a note of his odd appearance, his fervor for Johanna to know more of him and the man of her brought him to the edge of his seat. This was incredibly exciting yet also extremely rending for his heart. He felt like two sides were pulling on him towards her and against her. The more cynical side would have to rest for the moment.
A laugh escaped his lips as she talked of his home. They never saw much of the trade of the region unless they were to go out and look for it. Most of everything was tight knit and self-sustaining. Yet in his own home Synkkis was a bit of an outsider. He had chosen the life of wandering, even if he had spent the last few months in Ilia exclusively. The country was just big enough to more than easily lose oneself in the crowds or the wilds. The Shaman preferred the latter. "I'm from the Spire to the West. Talvikyla is my village, though most do not know of it. There is not much reason to." Synkkis ended, feeling not much of anything when referencing his birthplace. It was what it was.
"In regards to the oddities, it's mostly just after an important hunt. I've tweaked it for my own tastes and I live with that same flame spurring me onwards. My studies, combat, travel... there are many ways a man can sweat and bleed." the man smirked and his eyes looking down to the table of his implements under his painted mask. "But I'm glad you like it. The elk reminds me of something very strange that happened. I can't part with it."
Picking up the mortar and pestle, he ground the nirnroot leaves and sliced the stem and branches into bite-sized pieces - good to flavor his next meal and give him a bit of a pick-me-up. He thought of his time on the mountain as he hummed his mountain song he shared with another young fellow who journeyed into his dangerous section of the mountains in search of strength. Perhaps Synkkis would find his here also in Ilia. At the very least, it would be in the vulnerary.
"I saw you writing earlier. Family?" he asked plainly, trying to hide his interest. There was a lot one could tell about a person based on how they were with their own family.
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Johanna
Acolyte
The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.
Posts: 26
Profession: Hopelessly Romantic Novelist
Affinity: Light
Profile: Click Here
OoC Alias: Charlie
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Post by Johanna on Mar 8, 2015 21:44:39 GMT -6
Johanna thirstily drank in what Synkkis revealed of his origins. As soon as he spoke his unique village’s name, the brown-haired woman had to stop herself from trying to pronounce the place herself, wanting to make sure she remembered. Tall-ki-vila... - no, that wasn’t right - Tal-vick-kiva… - damn, that wasn’t right either! Maybe she could say it out loud just once, then she’d get it right…
Ah, but no time! Johanna tuned back in immediately as Synkkis continued to describe where he was from. Oh, what little he had revealed about his life had added even more questions than before! She slipped her right hand underneath her thigh, as it was definitely shaking as she ached to write as she asked him more questions. What is the important hunt, why do you go on it, who have you fought, where have you been, what strange thing does an elk skull remind you of, and for Gaea’s sake, how do you pronounce the name of your village again!
Still trying to keep from overflowing with the joyous abundance of questions she had, Johanna had barely noticed that Synkkis had begun humming a strange tune, one unlike she’d ever heard before. She’d had to learn a lot of different hymns and such during convent, and for the most part they were beautiful, though very rarely were they highly varied. There were a few that piqued her interests, but none she could recall captured her interests like the one Synkkis now hummed idly.
Knowing what she wanted to ask next, Johanna found her opening her mouth to speak when the purple-cloaked man commented on her writing. She blushed; damn, she’d been too slow! No one in all of Ilia had ever asked Johanna about herself, so it caught her completely off guard. What in the world would she say?
But thank goodness Synkkis had mentioned her family, reminding her of the reason most people wrote in tea shops and taverns! “Yes, my brother Hank,” Johanna said, smiling in relief. “I don’t see him often anymore since I started traveling, but we’re very close. I swear, we write letters so long to each other they reach the floor from here!” She chuckled, holding her hand high above her head to demonstrate. "I have to tell him about everything I see, since he doesn’t get to travel much.” She pushed her hair behind her shoulder. She was technically telling the truth, considering she did send long manuscripts his way, usually with a short note asking for advice or an edit. Johanna needed to write an actual letter to Hank soon, didn’t she? She missed seeing him an awful lot. Maybe one of these days she could convince him to partake in travelling with her.
“But anyone can write to their family - well, if they were fortunate enough to learn how to write, that is. I’ve only been as far west as Arphen, but never into the actual mountains. What are they like?” Johanna’s eyes drifted off, trying to imagine climbing to the tip top of one of the mountain’s peaks. Lucky for her, she loved to cold, so she could imagine it to be very refreshing.
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Synkkis Kyyneltya
Shaman
"Strange... I had no brace for the aberrant nature of this power."
Posts: 170
Profession: Mercenary Tactician
Affinity: Dark
Profile: Synkkis
OoC Alias: Cyril/Lucien/Landrik/Freya
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Post by Synkkis Kyyneltya on Apr 20, 2015 23:00:59 GMT -6
The man dressed with bones could not help but smile and laugh thinking of his own brother, Alaric, wherever he was. A party animal for sure, he was always fanatically independent. A great trait, but it often led him to roll with the wrong crowd. Not to say Synkkis had a good track record neither. For all his traveling he didn't have much to show for it other than personal growth and a feeling of maturing. Still, he was always displaced from people in general, nevermind women. Perhaps he was giving too much thought into all of this, but the prospect itself excited him. His brother was a different breed, though. He couldn't do enough to keep women off of him.
"I can tell you that your brother Hank is lucky to have a sister like you." The word 'sister' was enough to make him cringe internally given what happened to one of his older sisters that could never leave his mind. Losing a sister and holding on for months, even a few years to hope for her return with dashed hopes left a big scar in his family. It came with the territory of living in the mountains, yet it is a painful loss that couldn't ever be gotten used to.
"Seriously, though. I'm sure he misses you dearly. Especially if you're writing each other novels!" he joked in reference to their long letters, also holding his hand above his head. He'd never written home, but he had made a point of visiting whenever he was in the area. It was always the same story, however, with going out on his own or with Alaric on some two-bit adventure usually with someone getting hurt or killed. Luckily, it hadn't been him though he's suffered his own scrapes and close calls plenty of times.
In reference to the mountains near Etruria, the thoughts of home and all the paths he had walked multiple times as he'd grown up... He could explain what it looked like, but he couldn't explain the ambience, the smell, nor the feeling of it all in motion. The air was certainly different there from here where it felt a bit heavier. Wait, why wasn't he saying this? "Well, it really is and isn't different from here. It's higher up, so I think I can see the stars much more clearly. Perhaps it's a bias of mine. The villages are pretty spread out and the paths are quite dangerous if you're not used to them. Plenty of foreigners come through and usually need help making the trip. For some reason they're Lycians trying to take a shortcut." he laughed, realizing he was speaking of more innocent times. It was really something different now. Not many Lycians came by anymore. Not much of anyone, really, unless they wanted to slit your throat or arrest you for possibly slitting throats. It was a ghost of what the mountains once used to be. Full of life. Now people were just scared.
"Well, what about where you're from?" he asked, switching the conversation around on her.
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Johanna
Acolyte
The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.
Posts: 26
Profession: Hopelessly Romantic Novelist
Affinity: Light
Profile: Click Here
OoC Alias: Charlie
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Post by Johanna on Apr 28, 2015 20:09:51 GMT -6
Johanna blushed at Synkkis’s observation of the situation, especially as he commented on the ‘novels’ they sent to one another. Of course, their letters could be long at times, but the snowy haired Ilian had no idea how on the nose he was with what he said. And he was right that Hank missed Johanna very much, but they both knew that if she set one foot in the manor after everything that had happened, there would be hell to pay – and a potential marriage betrothal to deal with. Being on her own was best for everyone.
Even though the strange man insisted there wasn’t anything too different from where they were, Johanna took what little he gave and imagined the rocky, hazardous paths winding their way up and around the spire-like mountains cloaked in the clouds and blanketed in snow. Up north they had expanses of forests and the sea to look at and observe, but the mountains were merely a thing in the distance to observe and wonder about. Johanna’s sister had painted such beautiful landscapes of the Northern Illian mountains, but unfortunately Johanna had only looked on them, never taking to them like other adventurers she’d met. One day she’d have to, for sure.
Johanna beamed as Synkkis laughed, curious as to what story or encounter he could be recalling. She’d interacted with a few Lycians since leaving home, but they had all been merchants, and also hadn’t responded in kind to her incessant questions of what Lycia was like. Still, even though her experience with them was limited didn’t mean she couldn’t laugh along.
Where she was from… well, Johanna was only really shy talking about her writing, so she didn’t see a reason to stray or hide anything besides that. “Hmm. Well, I’m from north of Edessa, just far enough from the sea for shrubbery and flowers to be able to bloom for the two or so months a year we aren't covered in snow, but close enough that you could smell the salt and tides in the air. The name probably doesn’t mean much to you, but my family are the Notares; my father is the head of an estate and a small expanse of land where I'm from. The land itself is really a stretch of plains between the northern forests and the eastern sea, like a piece of the canvas Gaea decided to leave bare.”
She shrugged, smiling as she began thinking of her brothers and sisters, changing the subject slightly. “It’s the people that make home for me, though. Hank and I are the closest, but I have three other siblings too. Harriet’s paintings make you wish you could live in the world she sees – so colorful and beautiful. Alexander is an officer in the Army, and good at it from what Hank tells me, and Eddie is busy learning everything he needs to know for whenever my father isn’t at the head of the house any longer.” Which is soon, hopefully, Johanna selfishly thought for a moment. Even though she didn’t wish any ill on the man, the sooner he stepped down and let Eddie manage the house, the sooner she could visit home again, breathe in the damp, salty air of her childhood again.
“Were you from a big family, or was it just you and your parent’s growing up?” Johanna launched another question at the man, thoroughly enjoying their back and forth so far.
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Synkkis Kyyneltya
Shaman
"Strange... I had no brace for the aberrant nature of this power."
Posts: 170
Profession: Mercenary Tactician
Affinity: Dark
Profile: Synkkis
OoC Alias: Cyril/Lucien/Landrik/Freya
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Post by Synkkis Kyyneltya on Oct 1, 2015 23:11:11 GMT -6
The pale Ilian rested his chin in his hand as he muttered "Notares" to himself a few times over. He perked an eyebrow and stared at the ingredients on the table in a moment of silence as he pondered the name. Kyyneltya erected himself again, with the small defeat of unable to picture much from the name.
"I'm not aquainted with the area, but I do know that the Notares family certainly hails from there. Including some lesser royalty. Your family must have plenty of coin made in the lower countries in order to afford land from the crown." Synkkis again shuffled the vials as his mind wasn't easily reposed.
"I'm sure it's beautiful, though. You make it sound like a place to truly call home. I may have to visit just for the view... or is there other things in the area you'd like to recommend?" the shaman asked playfully.
Johanna shrugged, noting a change in the discussion. She brought up her family in a more positive and perhaps nostalgic light. Synkkis made sure to answer her truthfully. Something he wasn't accustomed to. Why did he have no problem spilling his heart out to this woman? There was just something about her...
"Well, I'd like to say it was a big family. We lost one of my older sisters. A storm or bandits, we'll never know. She rode pegasi like our mother. My oldest sister still rides, but not for the army. She's a cleric. I haven't seen her in quite some time. It's my brother and I who are closest. We've been on a few stupid adventures together and saved each other's skin. We tend to find a way apart but always back together. It's strange..." He paused, thinking of his brother's face - the charming devil. They always found trouble even if it didn't seem like there was any to find. It was perhaps just an affliction on their family.
"Even so, I'd prefer it to keep that way. I can easily say I love him and want the best for him. It's hard when he's so used to bumping into situations with his nose rather than his hands." Bad analogy? He'd think so if he were talking to anyone else. For right now, he had no thoughts of it. Just locking eyes with this woman made his mind and his mouth mush.
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Johanna
Acolyte
The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.
Posts: 26
Profession: Hopelessly Romantic Novelist
Affinity: Light
Profile: Click Here
OoC Alias: Charlie
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Post by Johanna on Nov 25, 2015 15:39:52 GMT -6
Johanna smiled gently as the man imparted what little knowledge he had of her family. It was strange to think of her family having coin, seeing how she had come across so little of it. The fact never bothered her - after all, it didn’t cost much for parchment and ink - but the lavishness of home always made her feel, well, not at home. The cloistered woman really did mean it when she said it was her family that made home for her.
“Oh, I’d love for you to visit it, it’s simply wonderful! There’s nothing like walking the long stretch of beach, the sand between your toes...” Johanna’s exuberant reply somehow made her wistful for home again, despite the fact that she couldn’t go back, at least for now. She had to believe one day she’d be able to see the beautiful sunset over the water, smell the fragrant lilacs as they bloomed in the spring garden. She sighed, knowing it had to happen, it just had to.
After telling Synkkis of her family, she listened empathetically to the man as he described his own family. A small frown overtook her smile as he spoke of his sister, wondering what could have happened to the poor woman. But it came to her again - albeit a bit sadder than before - as he spoke of his own brother. Seems both of them had strong fraternal bonds. For a moment Johanna wondered what it would have been like to have Hank with her on the road. She’d asked him time and time again to join her, but he never obliged - what if he did on day? Would they have adventures like Synkkis and his brother?
Finally a giggle found its way out of Johanna, wondering if the analogy Synkkis used was some sort of colloquial saying she wasn’t familiar with. At the same time, she tried to sound out his home town in her head again, still wanting to remember how he’d said it. Foreign words always sounded so much better from the mouths of native speakers, which was something that she’d noticed was nigh impossible to convey through the written word. She could try, but it never seemed to come across the way she meant.
After a moment she realized the bone-covered man had finished speaking, but had not broken his gaze with hers. At the same time, she also realized she’d been completely distracted by talk of themselves. She’d said she’d help him, no? “I just realized, I haven’t been writing the new instructions down like I said I would, have I? One second-” Scrambling from her seat, Johanna went back to her own table, rummaging through her bag for a blank piece of parchment. Bringing back the parchment, her quill, and her small inkpot, Johanna sat back down, setting them down on the small corner of the table before dipping the tip of the quill in the ink and starting to write, transcribing the recipe with better measurements. Though it seemed she penned quickly, the scribe’s handwriting looked is if meticulously practiced.
A few lines in, Johanna looked back up, cheeks flush with color again, though more from her clambering about than anything. “You didn’t get any tea when you came in, did you? Gams has the best yellow tea in Ilia; I can get us a pot, if you’d like.”
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Synkkis Kyyneltya
Shaman
"Strange... I had no brace for the aberrant nature of this power."
Posts: 170
Profession: Mercenary Tactician
Affinity: Dark
Profile: Synkkis
OoC Alias: Cyril/Lucien/Landrik/Freya
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Post by Synkkis Kyyneltya on Dec 26, 2015 6:40:35 GMT -6
The shaman noticed that he was starting to really hit a lot of notes with the studious woman. Even if she tried suppressing her dramatic and expressive emotions, her face still lit up like a candle with a bright smile. It was her simpering lips and her attentive eyes that melt his heart. He couldn't put words into his mouth or mind that would be able to capture such beauty and a pull at the strings in his heart. If they were to hold hands again, he was worried that he wouldn't let go. Even more so, he'd want her to be closer. The warmth he just found in this cold world lit the pilot to a passion he wasn't sure he could hold. The only thing consuming him more was his curiosity about who this woman was. The more she spoke it just widened the well into his desire.
The thought of anything between his toes was more discomfort than anything. He remembered the terrain in Sacae as being nothing desirable unless he were near any creeks. It just didn't speak anything to him. He had heard good things about Lycia, but in his head he could only compare it to his time in Bern. A time he would rather not relive. His mind dwelled on this for a moment while she jotted down her notes. Being able to step back from the trance of her eyes he was able to really soak in her beauty. It was something he just could not pull himself out of. Her hands, her handwriting, the way her clothes rested on her form, her reddish tinted hair... He wanted to imagine himself embracing her with her arms. The fantasy continued as he looked out the window and visualized the two actually leaving the shop together to wherever there was to experience next. It was her question that broke through the vision.
"Oh, ahmmm... No, I usually don't come through here and stay for long so I haven't tried it. Didn't you have a cup yourself?" he replied shyly. He liked tea, but it wasn't on his mind when he entered the shop. Before he could say more, a voice rang out from the back, but wasn't far away. "Don't worry about it. I've already got a potful ready. I'll bring it out for you two!"
He just knew she was listening into their conversation and it made him as red as ever again! His mind was in utter agony with embarassment. The only way he felt he could mask it was to do something of busywork. He pulled his rucksack off the table and set it next to his chair opposite of Johanna. He then organized the ingredients lined up as if troops ready for inspection. There was more than enough room on the table for a simple kettle and two mugs, but it was really just to unclutter his head. Ergh. He now just covered his face with his hands by resting his jaw in his palms. 'nothing to see here, just two people having a friendly conversation!' Synkkis' mind ran amuck. Looking over to Johanna he could see she had about the same amount of color in her face. It was cute. Something he wished he could tell her.
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