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Post by Deleted on Aug 30, 2016 10:24:36 GMT -6
Lafiel's brightness dimmed a bit in confusion as she tried to understand what the two humans were saying. Well, she understood them just fine. She knew plenty of languages and this was pretty much just normal Common, which she was perfectly fluent in after plenty of time spent in human villages on the night of the full moon. But the meaning was a bit... confusing. They seemed completely clueless, which was really weird because Taguel were basically like retarded puppies when it came to dealing with problems so they should have had to fight their way through a furry volcano of stupidity to even get here.
"So wait, you guys seriously didn't run into a single Taguel on your way here? No angry birds? No lame paw-related puns?" Her brow furrowed as the lamia raised one hand to her chin, sort of wishing she had a majestic flowing beard to scratch. This seemed like that kind of moment. "Well, um... I've never really had to explain the whole shebang before, just convince some humans that Taguel weren't really baby-eating monsters, but... here goes nothing."
Easier said than done though. At least people on the island knew what a Taguel WAS, just not the specifics. These jokers didn't even react to the word, so they definitely didn't know anything about lamias or their kin. Sigh. "Taguel are... I guess from a human perspective it's basically animal people? Like, you take a guy and you add cat ears to him, and a huge superiority complex, and BAM, Taguel. Oh yeah and superpowers but that's a longer story." It wasn't that she didn't understand the general concept. As a Lamia, by default she knew more about Taguel than, well, anyone from the Great Tribes ever would. That was literally their job. Adaptations, war form, it was all simple and well documented.
But it felt really, really weird to explain it from the beginning, and it was quite difficult to believe that they really hadn't met ANY Taguel on the way here. To be fair, she hadn't uh, exactly been privy to the last five days of Vinland's events, and even before that it wasn't like her kind were especially intimate with current events, but she spent enough time in human culture during her monthly adventures to know quite well that Taguel did not exactly hide their presence on the island. To put it lightly. But talking shop was something she could do, so even if her manner of speaking wasn't exactly professional, the snake continued with a bit more of an official air. "Taguel are split into five Great Tribes - canine, feline, avian..." pausing for a moment when she realized the technical terms probably weren't a good idea, she continued a moment later. "Basically, cats, dogs, rabbits, birds, bears."
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Aug 30, 2016 10:51:29 GMT -6
CALLED IT f**k**g SUCK it nerds from Elibe she was the god damn best at theories. Nayru did a pretty good job of not evincing the sheer immature jubilation flowing through her at the snake's explanation, her arms crossed to keep them from doing anything active and her expression carefully neutral to hide any wide smiles or impulsive yelling, but she could already see the headlines now. 'Local dragon actually does know everything, researchers admit they suck, 'we should have listened to her.'' Friggin' great. Animal people! God, that sounded so dumb, but who was she to judge when dragons could pretty much be summarized as 'lizard people' too.
...Actually that was kind of a sobering thought. Wiped the smug clean off. It WOULD be pretty god damn hypocritical to just call them animal people. Ok fine whatever. Taguel. Name actually did sound a bit familiar for some reason. Five tribes, apparently split between species - Nayru wasn't sure if 'cat' included everything from say lions to panthers or if they were literally just overgrown housecats, but didn't want to ask due to the fact she couldn't think of a non-insulting way to put it. Off the top of her head, the five tribes the snake woman mentioned DID correlate fairly well to the characters in the murals. "That explains the winged people at least," the dragon noted to Remus as an aside - they hadn't thought they were dragons, but it did help to know that there was an actual race of winged people.
Though there was an obvious lack of completeness in the snake's explanation that left Nayru's understanding wanting. Namely... the snake connection. Last time she checked, not only were snakes cold blooded while the rest were hot blooded, but they were more in the reptile family. Closer to dragons, technically, in much the same way that wyverns were. Though snake oil here did have a pretty human(ish) torso, aside from the pointy ears and all the funky markings. Taking a cue from her counterpart, Nayru launched into her own brief and blunt wording. "Alright, but that doesn't really address the snake thing. Are you a Taguel too or something else?"
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Post by Remus on Aug 30, 2016 12:06:26 GMT -6
So wait, you guys seriously didn't run into a single Taguel on your way here? No angry birds? No lame paw-related puns?
The priest rubbed his chin absently in thought. If he had a beard, he'd have imagined that he'd be stroking it about now. They hadn't run into any taguel had they? No, not unless Taguel canines included Mauthe Doog Taguel. This in turn, led to a very grim line of thought as the priests brain connected their zombified counterparts of Elibe to the possibiltiy that the doogs they killed in Elibe were resurrected Taguel. That they were once people. He dismissed the notion though, until he was informed definitively as to the Taguel being doogs. Which, he doubted given that from what she described, they were far more thinking and sentient. But, at the mention of paw-puns the first thing he thought of was the humor of a certain dragoness. The lapis haired priest shifted his gaze to the dragoness in that dark place with a grin and a tilt of his head.
"Oh...the adventure here wasn't entirely pun free. I can guarantee you of that. But no..we saw none of these...Taguel...while on our way to this ruin."
His mind attempted to process the notion of these great tribes. He could guess what they were, imagining something similar to Sacaen communities with animal people. The revelation of Taguel however did not rock his world as much as it might've others, given his open mind and already having been shell shocked to learn dragons which were thought to be extinct, were still very much alive. It was easier to accept something new that they never knew existed, over something they assumed was dead for ever and ever and ever. His inquisitive tone made his interest more obvious and he shifted his weight to his left leg while gazing at the female snake.
"So there are different types of these Taguel. How long has it been like that on this island? Great tribes and stuff?"
Remus heard Nayru's question, and would've had to admit he too was curious. Especially because he wanted to learn more about the snake female in particular. However, he lifted his hand and lightly rubbed the back of his neck while his other hand clasped the staff tightly. He curiously shifted his gaze back to the female snake while flashing a usual Remus smile that he always wore. "So..do you think you could show us more of this place? Maybe explain to us alot of the images or runes since neither of us can read them? After all we originally came here just to see what was in this place, since we have no records of...erm..well..anything on this island."
That was Remus. Spilling his soul and their entire purpose to a complete stranger because he was as trusting as Remus should've been. However to ensure he hadn't missed anything he tilted his gaze to Nayru while he spoke.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 30, 2016 19:02:41 GMT -6
"Huh. It's not like Taguel to be that cautious." She'd be lying if she said she wasn't curious, but Lafiel's expressive shrug was genuine - she didn't know or care that much about Great Tribe politics. It wasn't like she DISliked them or anything, it was just transient knowledge that usually didn't affect her life at all and most of it wasn't even worth remembering for historical matters. So she had definitely learned a habit of just assuming it was something pointless and ignoring the subject completely in favor of doing something more interesting... and liable to get her into trouble. Hm. Probably just a coincidence.
The lady asked a perfectly fair question Lafiel hadn't actually gotten to yet, not exceptionally eager to get into explaining all the details but it was a good question that was pretty reasonable by the standards of an outsider. Even if they had met other Taguel, it was unlikely they would know anything about her kind. "Right! I'm from the Snake tribe. Kinda sorta technically a Great Tribe but there's a lot fewer of us, and we don't really get involved in tribal politics, so it's more of an honorary thing." Man, it sounded kinda bad when she put it like that, like the other tribes felt sorry for them or something. "Unlike most tribes, which have a zillion kinds of animals in them, there are two kinds of snakes - Lamias," she ran her hand down her body fluidly as if to emphasize the point, "and Naga." There wasn't quite the same amount of personal pride in the subject but the snake said it with no less respect - which was rather unusual for a Lamia, not that anyone else there would recognize it.
Puffing up mostly her chest in a bit of well-earned pride - which was INCREDIBLY ironic given her situation - snek continued onward, her voice filling with a certain degree of conceit. "Lamias are the keepers of knowledge and guardians of secrets on Vinland! Which, um, translates to us being the only Taguel who know books aren't food." Not ENTIRELY accurate, but she had met fairly few Taguel who lived with any real interest in knowledge for its own sake, and whatever her... qualms with the Conclave were, Lafiel was still proud to be a Lamia. "Purdy lady up top," and she rotated, slithering forwards and around a bit, her stark white of her tail contrasted by the complex red patterns running across its length much as they appeared on her body, "bottom half of a snek. You can recognize us by how awesome we are. ...And the tail. And we're all female."
"Naga are basically the same, except instead of all being chicks, they're all male. And their upper half tends to be more snake-y and less human. You got weird-cool stuff like extra arms, horns, scales, yea? Anyways, lamias are the actual bookkeepers and usually more into magic, naga are guardians and way stronger than pretty much any lamia, and they're a lot more into the honor thing than most lamias." A bit... verbose possibly, but it wasn't often she actually got to explain her tribe to people, what with the whole 'antisocial angsty book nerds who hate fun' vibe they kinda had going on. And she got to show off a bit, which was always nice, certainly a lot better than being the resident screwup!
Ha... haha... anyways. Managing to look vaguely ashamed of herself for not actually having much of an answer, Lafiel twirled one lock of hair between her fingers, looking over to the blue haired Priest. Hmm... he was kinda cute. "I've never been down here before either. This place is, like, MONDO forbidden for some bullcrap reason that's classified so hard I don't even know WHY. But it was -supposedly- once the Snake Tribe stronghold and home to basically all knowledge, at least until we abandoned it for... some reason... and split up and went elsewhere. But HAVE NO FEAR, gentle adventurers! I stol- borrowe- 'acquired'", she eventually settled on, sounding almost impressively unashamed of herself for straight up admitting she'd stolen it, "some information on the floor plans, so just as soon as I, um, broke free with my superior wit and dedication, I was absolutely going to go exploring, and you guys can tag along! Supposedly there was once a huge library here, an archive of ALL lamia knowledge ever collected, and I wanna see if it was real. Thanks for, um, speeding up my inevitable escape."
"And for my handsome savior, I'd be happy to bring you along! My name's Lafiel by the way." Appearing to move significantly faster than might be expected, though it was really more of a combination of a bit of slithering forwards and a bit of a body dive to get her torso closer without her entire body moving anywhere near that far, she was suddenly a lot closer to Remus and her voice a little... softer.
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Aug 30, 2016 19:45:43 GMT -6
So... Lamias and Nagas. Naga? The girl - Lafiel - hadn't actually explained, but if taken at face value, Nayru suspected the plural and singular of Naga were the same word. That was a little annoying, but not without precedent. And not all Taguel were actually animals, if the lamia was to be believed, it appeared that there were technically six of these 'Tribes,' possibly more unmentioned, but she would have hoped that Lafiel would have at least volunteered that information when explaining snakes if there were any. So it didn't TOTALLY rule out the possibility of say, monkey Taguel, but it definitely didn't sound like they were a major force if they did happen to exist.
She did find that she liked the girl and apparently her tribe a lot more after that explanation though. It sorta felt like a kid's excitement, but it was clear that Lafiel believed in her tribe's mission and that it was something Nayru could respect as well; she'd half expected 'we eat puppies and babies' as a mission goal, not the exaltation of knowledge and the pursuit thereof, which was a lot less morally questionable. The dragon nodded appreciatively at the notion. "I respect that. Knowledge is valuable, on its own merit and for what it can teach us."
Assuming the so-called Snake Tribe was actually what it said on the tin, they didn't sound that dangerous, at least not in terms of being an Elibe-scouring threat or anything. Going by Lafiel's words, naga were a lot more dangerous individually, but the comment about honor made them sound almost more like a morality-heavy or at least honorable race than lamias... which was interesting. Lafiel was a lamia - usually races didn't talk about others as glowingly. But she seemed to think they were 'cool' and 'honorable,' more the words of a groupie or fangirl than an egotistical lamia supremacist. Not really her business, but something Nayru noticed and wasn't entirely sure what to think about nonetheless.
Her thoughts on exactly why the f**k Lafiel was down here were suddenly interrupted by the lamia's, er, sudden attack on Remus, though not quite in the literal sense she had thought at first. The thought that the lamia had moved MUCH faster than she had expected to be possible for such a large creature was drowned out by annoyance at the... well blatant simplicity of the girl's goals... and maybe a little bit at being ignored, but that was definitely all that it was, absolutely nothing else to it. "Hey, HEY, hands off the merchandise princess. What were you doing down here, anyways?"
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Post by Remus on Aug 30, 2016 20:22:34 GMT -6
So, Taguel were normally not cautious creatures? This evoked far more questions than it could have remotely hinted at answering. What about him and Nayru might've induced caution? Could they really have been watching us? Maybe they were all out for second breakfast or something. Though if they were supposed to be so territorial, perhaps it was for the best. Foreign relations didn't start off well if you beat up or got beat up by first encounters. Even if it was self defense.
So..snakes were a great tribe too. These great tribes seemed like an interesting notion. Where it wasn't as much land boundaries, though he imagined if their bestial appearance indicated any tendencies then it was likely they were territorial to a degree. However with this emphasis on great tribes, it really sounded like their species determined their territories more than actual land dividers. Interesting in general though. The priest pondered this, tapping his chin quietly as he mentally tried to lay out a foundation of thought. He gazed back to her while she ran her hands along her figure before his attention went swiftly to the snake like features of her. A notion of attraction between opposite sexes lost on the priest as he saw her tail move with her figure. This was still so..foreign to him. Nayru was a dragon sure, but she looked entirely human. So for it to be something akin to half of one and half of another? It was just..so..different. Not that it made it good or bad, but the oddity of it was fascinating.
So..they were keepers of knowledge? Historians. Librarians. Scholars. There were many aspects of knowledge. Maybe they even had cartographers. So many avenues. Each one fascinated Remus. The priest let his imagination run wild for a moment at the pure possibility while he shifted slightly within that dark place. His staff pressed to his shoulder while he gazed at the snake in partial wonder. An entire population, dedicated to the pursuit of and maintaining, of knowledge. Boy, if his sister found out about that she'd likely move to Vinland in a heartbeat! Then there was the concept of Lamia, and Naga. It was one thing for humans to differentiate like they did. However, to be so vastly different and yet still be part of the same species? It was something he couldn't entirely imagine. Humans were unique on an individual level sure, but they weren't that diverse.
While the Lamia twirled her finger within pink silken strands of hair, the priest flashed a warm smile and chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck again. He almost felt bad for asking now if she didn't know the place as well as they would've assumed. However it was too late evidently to retract the request or try to assuage her of her new obligation as she rather...eagerly seemed to take to the task. Remus wasn't able to hide the sudden slight jump when she moved with rather er...snake like reflexes? He hadn't seen a cat cross a gap that fast, that was for sure. The priest wasn't oblivious either to her sudden softness in tone as she approached such a close distance. However, it meant she was warming up to them didn't it? Being friendly and making friends was never a bad thing per-say so he wouldn't let it shock him much. In part he found it shocking she could move so quickly! it was like a delayed reaction. He didn't really register it right away, what she'd said. Until she commented on him being her "handsome savior,". The priest's visage became slightly flush in the dimly lit blue light while he chuckled with embarrassment.
"I don't know that I've been called handsome before..nor that I could agree. Ahah, but I'm not your only savior! Nayru helped too, and to be honest I wouldn't have been here at all if it weren't for her~! Ah-"
He couldn't really respond further as Nayru spoke up. Nayru chimed in with another question, after a statment of taking her hands off something? Remus was confused purely because he didn't see her touching anything when he looked to the Lamia's hands, but maybe Nayru had seen something he hadn't? Either way, he opted to follow the usual routine of statements to Nayru's questions as far as conversational tactics went.
"I admit that it's really fascinating..truly..that your culture finds knowledge to be so important! That you covet it so highly. My home, Etruria, was once like that. Vast wealths of knowledge. Great magical academies and places of learning. A place where anyone who wanted to learn was best served seeking it out in Etruria! But ah..it's fallen on hard times of late. I'm hopeful these times will pass but..it is it's own trouble."
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Post by Deleted on Aug 30, 2016 21:23:32 GMT -6
Ah crap baskets, busted. Lafiel winked at Remus before withdrawing her upper body back to its upright position around her coiled tail, bobbing back and forth a bit as she proceeded to exist, not looking in the least bit repentant for her actions. She hadn't realized that the woman was, er, actually useful at all though to be honest, aside from one possibly-bullshit comment about punching through the barrier, and possibly somehow getting the nails out of the ground while snek had been blinded by the light, though that could have been Remus's doing as well.
Still, even if her judgement was... at times... somewhat lacking, Lafiel wasn't so self-centered that she couldn't spare at least a little gratitude towards the other half of the party that had rescued her on principle. Turning to Nayru she clasped her hands before her, around the waist, and bowed forwards lightly with her eyes closed in a gesture of respect. Not exactly as, ah, overtly 'friendly' as her overtures towards Remus, but definitely more proper if nothing else. "Then I thank you, Nayru. This is definitely a lot more fun than hanging there."
As for both human's questions and comments, well, they actually worked together pretty well. Had that been intentional? They seemed to be friends, or possibly much more, which would explain the bronzed woman's reaction... hmm. Deciding to be a little more cautious in the future, a resolution that had never yet lasted more than about five minutes, Lafiel grimaced a little at Remus's final comment in particular. "I know that feeling way too well." The lamia sighed, looking to the side as she resigned herself to what was essentially crap-talking her tribe, even if it was god damn TRUE and she was perfectly justified in being a little salty about it. Saltier than the god damn ocean. "You remember when I said lamias are the keepers of knowledge and guardians of secrets? Well, that wasn't hyperbole. Knowledge is literally power in Lamia society, with strict social strata, and so f**k**g help you Gaea if you get caught trying to go beyond your station you are god damn donezo. Subtlety and strategy is supposed to be an art, you can get away with anything if no one can prove you did it."
Focusing back in on her saviors, she continued with a more morose tone. "It's a meritocracy, in theory, but in practice the people in power just try to withhold information even from each other to enhance their own importance. I, er, disagreed with those methods rather vehemently, and..." trailing off, swiveling to the right a bit, the lamia swept her left hand towards where she had been tied up. "I'm lucky I was just exiled for a week, honestly. Mo- mother always puts the good of the tribe above her personal feelings, and even if she did she couldn't have helped me escape unscathed after I got caught trying to break into the Forbidden Archives."
"But hey, at least they left me some clothes, right? Anything else back there? Food, water, a knife for good ol' fashioned ritual suicide for dishonoring my family, maybe a map to a volcano to jump into?" She was obviously joking, but there was an actual air of despondent dark humor to her words rather than simply friendly joking around. It was clear that she wouldn't actually be surprised if either or both of the last two were actually there.
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Aug 30, 2016 21:42:56 GMT -6
Yeah, a little respect went a long way to making her feel a bit less salty. Nayru got the distinct feeling that her pink companion - oh god, Elly flashbacks - was more sorry about getting rebuked than about anything she had actually done, but as long as the two of them didn't start banging on the ground in front of her, or laying eggs in Remus's stomach, or whatever the hell snake people did to reproduce, she wasn't going to press the point too far. And- it wasn't like she was Remus's marital guardian either. He was a grown-ass man, he could... not take care of himself, at all, but unless the snake ACTUALLY ate him, there wasn't really much she could do about any sort of, er, metaphorical eating.
The lamia's little backstory went from bad to worse surprisingly quickly, taking Nayru's reaction from slightly-exasperated patience to actually feeling kind of bad, both as a person and for the snake. As always, there was the possibility that it was just a generic sob story engineered to draw some level of emotional reaction, but the combination of matter-of-factness and hesitation were almost perfectly tuned for genuineness, and... at the risk of sounding a bit insulting, from what she had seen so far, the dragon honestly didn't think that snek here was capable of pulling off deception that impressive. Not meant as an insult per se, Nayru was thoroughly aware that lying wasn't her strong suit either, but she at least had the sense to rely on half-truths and lying by omission to make up for her failings; Lafiel seemed to almost just speak whatever was on her mind regardless of the consequences or wisdom thereof, and it was incredibly clear that that approach had not gone exceptionally well for her.
But while it was kind of silly, what really got to her was the reference of the girl's mother. Mom. That was what she had heard, what the girl had meant, before correcting herself, taking refuge in politeness. The woman she was talking about wasn't just her biological sire, but someone that Lafiel saw, or at least wanted to see, as an actual mom. Though it appeared that was not in the cards for whatever reason. Without intimate knowledge of lamia society, Nayru didn't know how bad the story actually was, but it sounded as though they had their own issues to contend with. No culture was perfect, after all, and it had perhaps been naive to assume from the snake's initially glowing commentary that hers was anything unusual in that regard.
Intriguingly, the story simultaneously explained and utterly failed to explain why her clothes... and the swords, for that matter, had been back on the altar. Lafiel apparently didn't even know the swords were there and had just assumed it was her clothes, which suggested that she had expected to be set free - the 'exile for a week' comment supported that - but did little to explain the weapons. Though it did seem that she had been unnecessarily worried about those. "No volcanoes around here, but you can always jump into the pit." With a wry grin, Nayru jerked her head towards the edge of the platform as if to suggest she did so. She wasn't ACTUALLY saying it, of course... probably. "And there were a couple swords back there. I assumed they were yours."
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Post by Remus on Aug 30, 2016 22:17:49 GMT -6
He didn't precisely know how to react to the girl winking at him before retreating back to her original poise and location. SO, he merely chuckled quietly and smiled to the female before rubbing the back of his neck. His gaze found Nayru soon after as he tried gauge a standing for her while the female, Lafiel, apologized. Once the female taguel began to speak though of the similar path her people took, he felt a pang of sympathy and even a kindred remorse. She probably had it worse than him though in the regards of situations, given that knowledge was so vital to her people. The priest spoke up, vocal as he often was when speaking of philosophy or ideology; just as with Nayru. If anything, the female dragoness and him had such conversations that this was now almost an instinctive process to him. The scruffy blue haired Etrurian chiming in after a moment of lingering silence when she spoke of her tribes decline.
"Knowledge..in my opinion..should be something for all. To educate. It's the problem we face in Etruria, as I've said. The destruction, or alteration, or hiding of knowledge so that the general public do not learn of it or for the sake of leverage. What good does it do, to learn, if none can make use of the wisdom it might inspire?"
He cut himself off though before developing a longer string of thoughts. After all, if him, and Nayru especially, got going on this they might all die of old age within that dark forgotten place. At-least, he would. He had no idea how long Taguel could live, but he imagined it was longer than humans. He knew Nayru would out live him. So he'd die of old age before they got roughly half way through the conversation. If they kept it going that was.
The priest felt for this Lafiel. Truly, he wanted to help her. It was shocking, no doubt. The fact that he wanted to help someone. Nayru would be so shocked! That was just how it was for him though. The priest wove his hand through the air to clear his thoughts, before speaking up with gaze directed at Lafiel. After all, it seemed like she'd been an individual who was down on her luck. How could he not help?
"Well...if knowledge is a huge factor for your people..then maybe we can help eachother? We want to learn more about this ruin. More about Taguel in general. On Elibe..we've no idea what Taguel are or that they even existed. So perhaps in exchange for this..we can help you by answering any questions you may have for us? AFter all, living on Elibe, we might know things that your people don't and can help you learn things only you would have a way of knowing? If you do not wish it, I understand, but just a suggestion mayhaps?"
Then he heard the rest of her tale. He also heard the bit about her jumping into a volcano or other such grimm thoughts and realized that it was like speaking to a snake version of Nayru in that regard. Even when Nayru responded in kind, the priest let her explain the swords as the only thing there before chiming in again quietly. "Er..well..yes..I'd appreciate it if you didn't jump into the abyss below. Especially if we've just met you as a new friend. But ah..yeah.."
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2016 0:41:59 GMT -6
"See? You get me!" There was no hiding Lafiel's giddy glee at Remus's comments, his views aligned with her own. "What's the point of knowing everything if you don't DO anything with it? How is anyone supposed to learn anything from the past if they don't even know what it is? Time flows like a river, and history repeats - but it doesn't have to be that way!" Her voice was filled with the frustration that had gnawed at her for years and led to more than a few less-than-ideal decisions, but two decades of life in lamia society had not left her a great deal of outlet on the subject, so actually getting to talk about it with someone who didn't immediately assume she was retarded for not wanting it for herself was incredibly gratifying to say the least.
Her bountiful chest heaving from the momentary outburst, her, ah, physical condition still not quite ideal for getting super excited and mobile, Lafiel took a moment to catch her breath. It was a LOT easier to have an emotional outburst than it was to actually think about the wisdom of it beforehand. "Um - sorry. And word of advice, if you happen on any other lamia conclaves, don't say that. It doesn't end well, trust me." Speaking from the heart, that one. The consequences pretty much spoke for themselves.
"Anyways!" It was almost eerily quick how fast she bounced back, her attention span swinging violently back to the topic at hand. "Information exchange I can do. I don't know much about tribal politics, but biology, abilities, adaptations, skills, history, tactics for hitting on catgirls..." Her neutral expression betrayed little as to how much of a joke that had been, and given their interactions with her, it was anyone's guess.
She totally wasn't kidding though. That was the secret!
Nayru's comment about swords was surprising though. She had assumed the naked bit was some sort of bonus torture on top of the whole being chained to a goddamn stake for a week angle, like... super torture. Tortureception. But if they had assumed she would be alive at the end, it kinda made sense they had left her clothes there on the off chance she did survive, so she'd taken the gamble. The swords though... Lafiel didn't really have any swords. She liked them plenty, but didn't own them. "Huh, that's weird." Who would give her swo-
"Don'tmindmeI'lljustbeaminute" she blurted out with sudden urgency, swerving quickly in place and slithering rather rapidly back towards the gigantic golden altar. Lafiel had an idea all of a sudden, and she wasn't sure if it was a good one or a bad one, but she did need to find out - now. The darker skinned woman had been right as it turned out; three blades did lie sheathed atop the altar, slender things in oblong brown sheathes, wrapped in ofuda, that she didn't even need to touch to recognize. It took a moment to even gather the courage to touch them, and longer to pull one just an inch or two out of its sheath before quietly replacing it. Hehe. It seemed lamias weren't the only ones with secrets. Lafiel couldn't hide the sad smile on her face as she looked down at the weapons in her hands, more than vaguely aware of what they meant.
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Aug 31, 2016 2:39:31 GMT -6
Feeling a bit like the third wheel in a two-person conversation, Nayru stood there in stony silence as Lafiel addressed Remus brightly, talking about how great knowledge was. She didn't exactly disagree, though - it seemed they all had fairly similar views on the subject... though Nayru knew better than perhaps either of them the value of secrets. 'Oh by the way dragons are still here' was NOT knowledge that the people of Elibe particularly wanted, or needed, to hear right now. Some people could be trusted with it, and Nayru believed that someday it would be fine - she had to - but right now, it wasn't.
So in some ways, she couldn't quite agree with Lafiel's idealistic beliefs. "...I'm all for better education, but some secrets are hidden for a reason. Not everyone can handle the realization that part or all of their worldview is false. Just blowing every hidden truth out there is bound to lead to a lot of innocent people getting hurt," the dragon stated bluntly. Perhaps it was egotistical and self-centered of her to consider her own benefit and that of other dragons even over her ideals, but she and practicality had a pretty good thing going on these days, and Nayru for one didn't intend to give it the boot. "Change takes time. I sympathize with your ideals, Lafiel, more than you can know - but sometimes the world is an ugly and complicated place."
Dammit. Now she felt like the responsible party in the conversation, and that was seriously not her gig. Remus and Veigue were supposed to be the rational actors while she was the wild card that solved everything with witty wisecracks and brutal beatings! Totally out of character for her. She blamed the island. And the god damn lamia, who kept jumping around like a friggin' rabbit with a staff up its ass. Apparently she was in a serious relationship with her three best stabby friends in the world... or not... Nayru was honestly just a bit confused as to exactly what the hell was going on, but it was rapidly made clear, after she followed the snake-in-the-box to the altar, that the weapons meant SOMETHING to her.
Not quite wanting to ruin the moment with a shitty joke, the dragon turned her head to Remus to see what he had to say, assuming he did. He usually did. Whatever the deal here was, it was probably wiser to let the guy dedicated to healing do his thing.
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Post by Remus on Aug 31, 2016 13:57:54 GMT -6
Remus felt her energy. It was contagious! Well, an energetic mindset was still contagious in general. Her's however just seemed so genuine, so he couldn't help but chuckle with a warm smile as the Lamia began to expound her thoughts on the matter. Everything she said about the flowing of time and the things about people learning from history, it was exactly how he felt. Though she seemed unable to handle the sudden up-rise in excitement and passion with her body as it was, for she began to retract and apologize. The priest chuckled, laughing quietly as he dismissively waved a hand through the air to shrug off such while tilting his head. It sounded like, to a degree, she was to the Lamia what he was to Etruria. The priest tapped his staff against the ground quietly in thought before speaking up in the dimly lit chamber.
"Ah, haha. You need not apologize for speaking your thoughts. Fret not though, as Nayru can attest..I know what it is, to quiet your voice and thoughts in a place where they are considered slanderous. Etruria is not overly friendly to thoughts of improvement where it sees no need for it. It is in need of an...ideological revolution."
Nayru began to speak of a need for secrets, to which the priest quietly nod his head. A single hand combed through scruffy lapis locks while he tried to blend the sentiments together into one fairly adhesive statement and thought. His tone probably the most upbeat there, even compared to the pink haired Lamia who had been a bundle of joyous energy a moment ago. "No, your absolutely right Nayru. At times, it does make sense for things to be kept secret. Some things should, I just think too much is horded for the sake and name of power as opposed to you know..learning. A good example being well..what happened with Hargus. No one. No one should have access to that which allowed him to return...or to have the power he did. So many died...but there's a middle ground there that we need to find! Ah..hmm?"
She started speaking of the things she could do. Exchanging information. Which, made total and complete sense. Given what they'd just learned he figured she'd have wanted to, and thus why he had offered. Then she began speaking further but much faster and scurried off back to the alter. At this point, it left him and Nayru there to stand idle in the softly lit blue light of the magical flames while she examined..something. The swords mayhap? While Nayru gazed to the priest, he gazed back after a moment and shrugged. There was a passing silence, and he hesitantly took a few steps forwards before calling out to the Lamia with a calm, inviting tone which obviously held a probing curiosity.
"Um..Lafiel...is everything alright?"
The priest examined further ahead to see the snek-lady, curiously gazing to her while she held the blades. Was there something special about them?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2016 19:26:37 GMT -6
"Hee." Blinking back something in her eye, obviously just dust and absolutely nothing more, the lamia turned back to her companions with a bright smile written on her face, clutching the swords to her chest. "Everything's fine. Just realizing I have a bit of a guardian angel." Glancing down at the trio of blades again, Lafiel tried not to think too hard about who had left them there - she had two ideas, one didn't make sense, and the other was even dumber than anything she had ever done, which was saying something. Also braver.
It wasn't that they held tremendous cosmic power, or that they had been custom forged for her, or anything like that; it was the meaning in the gift as much as the weapons themselves. The message implied in their presence. The sort of secret that you only knew was there if you already knew what it meant. A promise and a challenge in one. But for now, she had other things to deal with; she could think more about it in her own time. Moving the Three to one hand that dropped to her side, Lafiel turning her attention entirely to her guests(?) in the great hall. This was TECHNICALLY, kinda, sorta lamia territory, so it would be rude of her not to at least try to be a gracious host, after all!
"You have a point about knowledge," she admitted - the thought had occurred to her before - "But it's a slippery slope. Who gets to decide what gets to be secret, and for how long? Lamias, and this... Etruria, both seem to have started the same way. Keepers of knowledge. Benevolent. For the good of all. When Taguel culture could have been lost, we saved it. We have the originals of every legend... but if you believe that knowledge truly is power, and power corrupts..." The snake trailed off, caught in the ideological divide that had hounded her for most of her life. She COULDN'T disregard lamia culture. She knew, as Nayru has said, as Remus as said, as mother had said, that not all knowledge could be let loose freely. Even if she didn't like it. But when was enough? Who decided what had to be hidden?
"ANYWAYS!" Wending her way back to the group at a pretty normal place this time, Lafiel swayed to the left a bit, trying to make sure she had her bearings right. "As fun as it is to stand here in the dark on the edge of the abyss, I'm pumped to check out those archives. There's all sorts of questions i want to know the answer to, and maybe there're answers to your questions, too. I gotta work out these kinks anyways before I turn into a snake pretzel."
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Aug 31, 2016 19:44:38 GMT -6
"You did mention a library, yes. There's only so much trust you can place in books, but they are valuable resources nonetheless. I'd definitely like to see it." She did a pretty good job of emitting a cool, disaffected air, Nayru was pretty sure, but inwardly the dark goddess Ruin Mode Nayru was awakening from her eternal slumber, phenomenal cosmic power and curiosity even greater yet pulsing like twin beacons in the darkness. All weird metaphors aside, she WAS pretty interested in seeing this so-called repository of ALL lamia knowledge - while she had her misgivings about why these ruins had been abandoned so long ago and if the books and such would still be there, it was definitely worth checking out if nothing else.
Whatever Lafiel's deal with the swords was, it didn't seem that they were going to get much more out of the snake on the subject for the time being either. Which was sort of annoying, Nayru didn't like not knowing things, but as long as the snake woman didn't start whipping out crazy dark magic and turn into a giant dragon-snake-demon-thing, she supposed that she could let the girl have a bit of privacy. Whatever the reason, the teenager(?) seemed to have taken pretty strongly to them, in a way quite reminiscent of how Nayru would have been back in Arcadia if Erim had given her something. Was there actually a similarity there - like she was looking at a younger, happier, version of her - or was she just looking for comparisons where there were none? Not everything had to have meaning, but reactions and emotions came from somewhere - if you understood your reactions, your thoughts, you understood yourself.
At least that was the idea. She'd been trying for a few hundred years and still wasn't there yet. It did bring another thought to mind though, something that had been on her mind since they found the snake; how strong was the reptilian connection? Or rather, to put it simply, were lamias some kind of dragon offshoot? Nayru had never SEEN one, but she'd read about so-called 'eastern' dragons, mostly from Sacae and Ilia, whose transformed body was far more like a snake's than a typical dragon or manakete. Was it possible they had come to Vinland and... devolved... into these creatures? Evolved? All dragon pride aside, she had no idea how to actually classify the idea of mixing human and dragon attributes to that level.
"...So Lafiel, are lamias connected to dragons in any way? Beast Taguel I can see being their own race, but from an Elibean perspective, 'reptile people' was solely a dragon thing."
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Post by Remus on Aug 31, 2016 21:19:13 GMT -6
A guardian angel? The priest didn't quite understand what she was implying but it wouldn't stop him from being grateful that the girl seemed to have a turn of luck. After all, how could he not? She'd been introduced to them in such a negative way with her poor situation. To know that there was some positive aspect or outcome to yet be had of this gave him brighter spirits than he already had(Which was impressive in its own) despite their surroundings. This place truly had a very overwhelming atmosphere. It took situations like this to aspire something truly comforting within the chilly cold earthen temple.
Lafiel voiced a very important question. When was it enough? Who did get to decide? That secondary one was by far the most difficult to answer. To this end, the priest chuckled, and flashed a warm gaze and smile as Lafiel further elaborated her thoughts. "I think the question you raised is perhaps one of the most important of all. Who should get to decide. It is indeed a very precarious position. Needless to say, I agree entirely with your concerns. Their ones that I wish Etruria's leaders would ask itself more regularly. Ah..haha..questioning their rights to that openly however would certainly get me killed. "
The azure haired priest chuckled before gazing at Nayru and then back to the Lamia. The idea of moving couldn't have been better. Certainly, excellent! The priest lifted his staff quietly in an ill contained excitement before channeling the internal power of his spiritual magic to his side. A pulse of light burst forth before the priest allowed his magic to channel once more into a brighter beacon in the form of a great orb and extended his hand. It traveled down the length of the bridge and came to rest near the base of it beyond the radius with which they would be provided light from the brazier flames. Remus tilted his head, ensuring he followed alongside Nayru and Lafiel, standing partially between and behind them still adhering to the rule that Nayru would lead and he would follow. He spoke up quietly while adding in his own question.
"Did..er..Taguel fight at all in the scouring, or were they not part of the war? We have no records of taguel..at all on Elibe. So um..well..yeah."
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