A Sea of Whispers

[Azrael]

3 Ymiden 720 | Azrael Blackfire | Melrath Waters

"So what do you think? " Azrael asked Tali and Thorn as the settled into their room on the rather large ship. Azrael's funds were running low these trials and he realized he was going to need some work that paid well. He was hoping he might find that sort of work in Rharne while he was there. Tali tagged along to see more of the world and look after Thorn. She didn't quite trust Azrael to do a decent enough job on his own and she had other reasons for going. Talissa's father wanted her to keep tabs on Azrael to ensure he returned to Melrath. It was the only way he could be sure his investment didn't run off and never return. Azrael had suspicions about that but he didn't mind. Everyone was out for themselves, that wasn't anything new to him.

"It's... large enough." Talissa measured as she entered the room and set her things down in a corner opposite Azrael's things. The benefit of hem traveling in a group was that they got an entire room for themselves on the ship rather than one of the many hammocks lined up in the hallway for the crew... then again maybe all of the paid passengers got better living spaces than the crew.

"Pew." Thorn agreed as he waddled towards one of the two beds and climbed up it. He struggled to pull his body up for a few trills, leaving his feet to dangle in the air before Azrael helped lift him onto the bed.

"It's the best we're going to get. I'm not exactly swimming in nels right now." Azrael confessed knowing it wouldn't be news to Tali. She'd been there for the grendel and the skinning costs so she knew he was running on broke... and Azrael still wasn't convinced the captain hadn't let them on just so he could steal the grendel hide while the crew slept. "You two should get some rest. I'll have a look around." Azrael suggested as Talissa began beating the dust off of the blanket on her bed.

"You're not going to see much." Talissa commented as she laid down. She seemed to shift uncomfortably for a few trills before settling into the bed. What was there to see but endless water stretching in every direction? For Tali, nothing. For the recently initiated Azrael... well... there was plenty to see.

"Then I should be back soon." Azrael said as he shuffled through the rucksack with the belongings he'd brought aboard. He had to leave some things behind but he took what mattered. Azrael secured his father's spring loaded dagger to his forearm slowly while Talissa and Thorn seemed to shift in their beds. Tali was trying to sleep but Thorn was trying to see how high he could bounce on the bed without actually jumping. Once the blade was secured, Azrael tied his shortsword to his belt and walked slowly out of the room.

[Azrael]

3 Ymiden 720 | Azrael Blackfire | Melrath Waters

Azrael had been plagued by an irritable murmuring ever since his initiation into Attunement and while he didn't have the practical means to explore what the noise meant, Azrael was going to try. Azrael couldn't sit still to clear his mind, he felt a compulsive need to walk and so that was what he did. Azrael walked the length of the ship below deck before heading above deck to keep walking around. He took slow breaths to try and clear his mind from the distractions he heard all around him. Sounds that most people would have loved- waves crashing against the ship, drunken crew members singing sea shanties- Azrael only saw as irritating distractions so long as the murmuring persisted.

So he moved to the edge of the ship and looked out towards the water, taking deep breaths in through his nose before blowing out through his mouth. Clear my mind. Get outta here, thoughts. Azrael wasn't having a good time trying to clear his mind. Another breath, another blow out thought, and more silence. Silence... but not true silence. He still couldn't get over the murmuring he heard at the back of his mind. He still couldn't banish it from his thought process... so when he felt his mind was as clear as it could become, Azrael decided to try and listen to the murmuring. If he couldn't silence it, perhaps he could understand it?

So he listened closely with his ears. That was how he discovered the sound was not coming from somewhere near him, it was coming from within. So how do I listen to that? Another distracting thought emerged and Azrael took a deep breath to force it away. Just... listen... To the crew who went back and forth performing their duties it would look like Azrael was simply watching the waves crash against the side of the ship but the mortalborn was doing something much more complicated. He turned his focus inward to try and make his new spark speak it's secrets. Enough whispering! Talk! But the spark was not so easily coaxed and Azrael did not realized that which mattered most- he didn't have to attune to himself.

Azrael was trying to reach out in order to look inwards and that would never work. He had to simply listen. So Azrael struggled in silence for a few bits while he tried to understand how to make the parasitic magic inside of him work. A lesson from Adrian might have gone a long way... maybe even a single sentence about how he was supposed to attune to things- but Adrian had left Azrael intentionally unprepared. After a break of watching the sea shift and failing to hear even one of his own notes, Azrael returned solemnly to his room.

[Azrael]

3 Ymiden 720 | Azrael Blackfire | Melrath Waters

Much later that night, Azrael tossed and turned in his bed. He wanted to blame the subtle rocking of the sea but it was not the water that troubled him so. It was the constant murmuring that plagued him. He had known no silence since the initiation and he had to learn to live with it. Azrael turned his head, looking across the room at where a candle burned to keep Talissa from scarring the child with her true form. Azrael had seen her shadow form once before... well as well as one could see in pure darkness which is to say not very well. She'd explained, in some basics terms, what she was to Azrael one trial not too long ago.

Her tattoos created an illusion that protected her true form from the light. What he saw was not entirely what she was. Unfortunately he'd only been able to tell her he was human because Azrael did not yet know the truth. He couldn't deny he had questions for Tali that were a little less... decent but in the end Azrael decided to save them for a night when the two of them could have a few drinks to relax first. Alcohol always made things less awkward... until it made them more awkward. Even those thoughts weren't enough to completely distract Azrael from the murmuring that persisted.

So Azrael gave listening another shot. He took more breaths to try and quite his mind, then focused inward on the murmuring. For the first time that trial, Azrael heard the whisper of comprehensible words. It was there- lying in bed that he realized it would require more than simply listening to understand the murmurs. It would take focus, will, and effort. So Azrael closed his eyes and took his deep breaths, trying to do as he'd done before and clear his mind. That was always going to be the first step. However once his mind was clear this time, Azrael didn't try to silence what came into his mind. He listened. He listened as his soul spoke it's qualities to him. Azrael had no way of knowing how long he was lying there- with a cleared mind, time seemed to melt away.

Desire. The word came into his mind, a whisper in a familiar voice... his voice. The first note his spark would commit to it's growing memory. As the word crossed from Azrael's mind into the memory of his spark, the newborn mage grinned. Success. He'd done it. Yet in that moment of triumph a new murmur arose that Azrael tried to focus on. Now that he had one, he didn't want to stop until he understood all the notes inside him. It would take the whole night, but Azrael didn't mind. With success came fascination... who needed sleep? What more can I see? So Azrael kept his focus inward, digging through his frequency for the whisper of notes that would help him progress with Adrian's curse.

Ten bits later, Azrael heard the next whisper inside his soul. Guilt. Guilt? Why guilt? Azrael didn't feel guilty. No. Not guilt. You're wrong, sparky. Azrael insisted but the sparks truth echoed the same in his mind. Guilt... okay... he was a man of desire and guilt... is that what the whispers meant? What did these mysteriously spoke words mean? What did they reveal? Without Adrian, it was going to be hard for Azrael to figure out anything about the magic... perhaps he needed to look into it when he reached Rharne. Surely they'd have a library with something about the magic?

All he knew was it wouldn't be solved tonight.

[Doran]

Azrael:

Knowledge:
Attunement: Note - Desire
Attunement: Note - Guilt
Attunement: Searching your own frequency for notes
Mediation x 3

Loot: -
Wealth: -
Injuries: -
Renown: -
Magic XP: Yes, for Attunement.
Skill Review: Appropriate to level.
Points: 10

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Comments: Thorn is adorable! The scene where he was bouncing on the bed made me grin. I bet that Azrael didn’t expect to end up with a little Ithecal (and a Naerikk companion). I also found the description of Attunement and the sounds within Azrael interesting, and I liked that he struggled to figure out how it worked. I wonder if he’ll eventually return to Adrian and ask him to help or if he’ll continue to try and figure things out on his own – and where that guilt is coming from …

Enjoy your rewards!

P.S.: I might have added “Detection” to the list of skills used.