• Graded • Moderated: Cylus Dusk

[Pegasus]

1st Cylus, 721

Cylus Dusk was a festival celebrated throughout Scalvoris and had been for many arcs now. The first dusk on the 1st Cylus had seen the people of Scalvoris lighting a huge bonfire on the nearest beach and celebrating the night away. Each region does this differently, but celebrations are held everywhere. This arc, though, the Faldrass festival was different than usual.

This arc was one for looking back at what had been lost, she knew that. But, also, it was a time for celebrating those who had helped. For acknowledging and thanking those involved. For remembering those who they had lost and - of course - for looking to the future.

The bonfire had been lit - they were congregating on the beach - the enormous statue of The Sentry looking down on them. Invitations had been sentanyone who completed Fire Forged may assume they received an invitation, as does anyone who has posted in the Fallout Tracker out and everything was prepared. There was an area cleared on the sand, where people could mingle and chat if they chose. There were hot drinks, warm snacks being served, gloves and scarves for anyone who needed them - and small packets of sand which were constantly warm given out - sewn into fabric pouches and just large enough to nestle in the palm of a hand or a pocket. There were seats, tables, everything was ready.

And, there was a stage-area.

Braziers burned and people chatted. There was soft music playing in the background - happy tunes and warming melodies. The flames danced into the night sky and above them, now and then, there was the sight of the constellation of stars in the form of a turtle.

OOC Info

• This thread will last for 1 evening
• I'm not going to give a "risk - reward" level. That will depend on you and what you do. The opening idea is unlikely to be such that you all die hideous deaths.
• The way I mod, the NPCs are as "real" as the PCs. Be clear of that and don't be surprised if they react appropriately.
• I will post here again on the 10th February. Thereafter it will be once a week. That gives us plenty of time. If you need an extra day, let me know that's fine.
• No rewards or consequences from this thread are canon until such time as they are approved in the review, or unless I specifically state.
• This thread is a direct result of the Fire Forged Fallout Tracker - and will explain the results of the threads linked there.
• If you need a reason to join invitations were sent out to Fire Forged, University staff, Order of the Adunih Members, Council Members - and there were notices put up around Scalv.
• There are NO skill level requirements for this thread.
• Your first post is your sign up. After the first round of posting, if you wish to join, please PM me.

[Kalortah]

He'd heard about the event, that was to be held in honor of ... well Larza wasn't sure what. The councilor members? The heroes of Faldrass? Or was this yet another memorial service to Kalortah's glorious self? He wouldn't be surprised. Although Devin had exposed him briefly, he hoped that episode would fade into memory. But just in case, he had gone in disguise for the rest of the past cycle, in one or another of his human guises. For this event, he went with the more stable disguise, the transformation gem given to him by none other than the Aeolian of Athart, who in turn had the gem blessed by mighty Syroa before granting it to the champion that was Kalortah.

Of course, that had been a grave mistake on her part, as he failed his mission to out the conspirators against the Avriel. Furthermore, his betrayal of his kind was complete, as he fled the city, journeying all the way to distant Scalvoris.

There, he remained for much of the rest of the arc. He'd become somebody important in Scalvoris, a Foreign Affairs councilor for the Council, and better still, one of the heroes of Faldrass. He'd even had a special memorial service at the Shrine of Delroth, held by none other than the Academic, Devin Thorne. His former rival.

There, the cunning Devin had outed him through his chicanery and base guile, causing Kalortah enough emotional distress at the power of his speech that he let his disguise slip for a moment, long enough to be exposed. Thus, afterward Alsing Van-Der-Ley was known to be Kalortah, and he had to leave that disguise alone for a time, until he emerged later.

Yet even now, he was cautious about using any guise that might be associated with Kalortah. Larza Impre, as far as he knew, was not so compromised. His black hair flowed over his shoulders as he settled near a crowd.

He stood by a gaggle of party goers, speaking in their biqaj pidgin, revolting really. But it helped when he sang for them. To at least shut them up and get them to listen to his voice for a while. His voice was so powerful and precise, that he was able to make a melody on inhales as well as exhales, and never had to pause his song. Perfect for a filibuster...


"Spiraling down, the goldfish sank,
'Neath the hull of the 'Thunderbeak'.

Where he would breathe autumn rain,
Had he gills and mouth to speak.

In darkness 'neath water cold,
His silver blood froze in heart.

The fish, abandoned and old,
met its end on teeth of Shark."

He continued the lines several times, interrupted only by pure melodious tones of his voice. It'd been a long time since he sang that song, and it hadn't been in perfect common the first time he sang it. So he was confident none of those gathered would recognize it.

He continued singing as the bits went on, and people danced and enjoyed the ambient music. Some people even seemed to gather around him to listen to his song.

[Oram Mednix]

Statues that glow in the dark. Each sold separately. By Mego.

When Oram first glimpsed the strange light in the distance, he immediately averted his eyes. It was on the night of this very festival, last arc, that he and Darius and a strange, unhappy man called “Gru” had encountered the siren lights. For a trill, the hunter wondered if that beast were back. As he stood there, steadfastly scanning the deck of the ferry, he wondered what had become of that woman and her dog. It had been injured, he remembered -the dog, that is; he could not be sure if he and the other volunteers had done any harm to the siren lights. He felt a pang of guilt that he did not know their fates, that he had not asked or followed up. At least the diri wasn’t scolding him about it.

The diri *had* been pestering him about coming to this blasted festival, however. Oram was not a festival person. He didn’t drink or dance or sing; Osric was the musical one. The hunter had wanted to pass on the invitation, pretend he had never received it, but Amoach would not leave him alone about it. The infernal thing had quickly figured out that the best time to pester him was when other people were about, people who could not see it, and who would give Oram strange looks if he slipped up and answered Amoach out loud. In the end, loath as he was to go, Oram had relented, figuring it was that or have the townies decide that the crazy gypsy needed to be locked up.

One of the crew prodded Oram on the arm, interrupting him mid-grump. ”Hey! You see that?! I think that’s the thing they call the ‘Sentry’. Will you look at that! I didn’t know it glowed!” Other voices behind murmured agreement, and Oram peered up at last at the light. It didn’t look like much at first; from a distance it was just an oblong glow, seeming to hover above the sea; however, as they sailed closer, the traveler could see that it was actually a statue, tiny-looking at first, but growing steadily as the ship approached.

”Does that mean they finished it?” one of the other voices asked. ”Must have just done so.” Oram turned briefly from his regard of the Sentry to look around the deck. Sailors and passengers alike were all staring at the thing wonderingly. Their breaths steamed in the icy air, and many of them hugged their bodies with their arms and stamped their feet to keep warm. Some were shivering.

They must be freezing, Oram realized. Unlike him any more, who was hardly bothered by cold at all -another legacy of his last adventure on Faldrass. No doubt the induk had meant such changes as boons, and admittedly they were. But they also made the traveler feel that much more odd and isolated around normal, susceptible folk. He had lost count of how many times people had lately given him baffled looks and demanded: ”Aren’t you cold?!”

A gruff voice from farther aft shouted ”Look sharp! You duffers tryin’ to run my ship aground?!” That was the captain, Oram realized, and so, too, did the sailors, who stirred from their admiration of the Sentry and scrambled to get the ship ready to heave to. The flurry of activity made Oram feel like he was in the way, so he went below to get his things.

Once on land, Oram could appreciate how enormous the Sentry was. It must have taken a prodigious effort to build it in such a short amount of time. Either that or magic. Maybe Balthazar and a couple of his mage-buddies could have built it in a ten-trial.

Speaking of whom: would Balthazar be here? He was one of the so-called “Fire-Forged”, after all. What about Darius, or Yeva, or Vaid’ner? Spotting the tell-tale bonfire, at the feet of the glowing colossus, Oram sidled towards the stretch of beach apparently set aside for the gathering. Somebody nearby was singing a song about a fish, and was apparently good enough to draw a crowd. Rather than nose his way into that crowd, Oram stayed on the dimmer, sparser outskirts, searching for familiar faces from a distance.

A woman, perhaps some sort of event staff, approached and asked if Oram wanted a scarf to wear. The hunter shook his head and waved her off.

Aren’t you cold? asked Amoach drily.

”Shut up!” Oram growled, which drew a surprised and puzzled look from the woman. Too late, the hunter realized that he had responded to the diri aloud again.

[Rei'sari]

1st Cylus, 721

Location: ---


Ari'sora had been stunned when she had received an invitation to celebrate Cylus Dusk on Faldrass. In the invitation, it had said that those who had been at Faldrass when everything had happened, and those who had helped with the aftermath of the eruption were being honored. And Ari'sora had done both. But she didn't feel as though she had done anything worth being thanked for. During the eruption itself, she had been safe in the Spectral Forest, not risking her life the way that so many others had. And afterwards...she hadn't done more than anyone else would have done. If anything, her actions after the eruption were a pathetic attempt to make up for the fact that she had been so incredibly useless while everything was happening.

All the same, Ari'sora had wanted to go. Maybe she could thank the people who really did do something worthwhile, or apologize for being so useless...or both. So she had flown over to Faldrass, and now she was here. The Sentinel was a very impressive statue, and Ari'sora wondered who had built it. It had to be someone who had known Baron Smooglenuff since the statue looked something like him. Ari'sora wasn't sure what she thought about that. There was no doubt in her mind that the Baron deserved to be honored...but seeing the statue like this made Ari'sora remember the rumors about her. Was she really responsible for the Baron's death as well as the deaths of his staff? Would she ever know for certain if she was?

She tried to shove those thoughts to the back of her mind as best she could. Someone offered a pair of gloves, a nice scarf, and a packet of warm sand that she could put in her pocket. Ari'sora took them gratefully, and thanked the person who had offered them to her. She hadn't brought a scarf because the wind was likely to whip it into her face if she tried to fly with one, and one of her own gloves had fallen into the sea on her way here when it had fallen off as she was trying to adjust it. Another person offered her a mug of hot chocolate, and she took that with sincere thanks as well.

The hot chocolate warmed her insides as she sipped at it. The flavor was quite pleasant, sweet but with a minty flavor that she really enjoyed. Ari'sora was content to sip her hot chocolate and enjoy the night, but she was quickly drawn over to a group where someone was singing. He had a beautiful voice, and Ari'sora happily joined the crowd that was listening to him.

Ari'sora frowned as she watched the black haired man sing. She knew him...didn't she? Well...maybe not "know" exactly. But she had definitely seen the man before. She had tried to help him when a bunch of Avriel had attacked him at the University, and towards the end of that, he had turned into a chicken!

"You're the Chicken Man! she exclaimed when she remembered where she had seen the man before.

"How do you do that? Can you turn into any kind of bird, or just a chicken? Can you fly when you're in your bird form?"

Ari'sora would have asked a lot more questions, but she remembered where she was, and she didn't want to disrupt the performance any further. She muttered a quiet apology as she blushed a deep shade of red.

[Balthazar Black]

1 Cylus 721

Balthazar had enjoyed the Cylus Dusk festival last arc even though he'd spent it volunteering with the Elements. This arc he had received an invitation to an event being held on Faldrass and he told Elisabeth about it. They agreed to make the time to go and Balthazar wanted to take Tornado for the flight over. However he was not great at controlling the Scalvwing. He knew how to stay on its back but not how to make it behave and he had a feeling that the crowd would drive the steed wild so he decided it would be better for them to take a boat there and back. He would need to spend more time working on Tornado's behavior before he could fly the horse from place to place. So he and Elisabeth were taking a ship to Faldrass this time and Balthazar deeply hoped that the next time he came over he would be able to do so on his horse.

Now Balthazar found himself standing on the beach with others who'd been invited in view of the Sentry, looking up into the darkness with his cracked, glowing blue eyes. He recognized the face that the statue was depicting from the mansion that had been wiped away by the mudflow. One who had not been saved from death. Just like Zach. Balthazar had taken the small pouch of warm sand for academic reasons and to let Elisabeth use as she needed it. He was not bothered by the cold. There were people gathered all around, some singing, others talking but more or less everyone had huddled into one group or another.

Balthazar, and Elisabeth if she hadn't wandered, found himself standing a little bit away from everyone else, staring up at the glowing Sentry. It had been built while he was away and curiosity scraped at the back of his mind. He wanted to go inside and see what it looked like... maybe find out what made it glow so brightly. Fuego stood in the sand beside Balthazar, looking around eagerly for other diri that he recognized so he could go say hello to them. Fuego didn't like people but he did like the other Fire Forged. He liked anyone who was dedicated to helping Faldrass. Balthazar was more curious about seeing the inside of the Sentry than socializing until the event they'd been invited to began.

He found himself wandering with his initiate, towards the large bonfire, looking out towards the fire while his mind turned thinking about the last arc and the arc ahead.

[Elisabeth Black]

1 Cylus, Arc 721

Faldrass.

Balthazar had told her of the place. The night he had agreed to initiate her into Defiance, he had told her stories of his life and Faldrass had been one of them. The details had been vague and, in the moment, she hadn’t pushed him further. The very fact that he had shared anything was something of a miracle to her. It had also been the same evening he had confessed not wanting to lose her…so memorable all around.

Much had happened since that time. So much so that the last cycle felt like a whirlwind. Everything looked so much different, but the inescapable fact was that Elisabeth was happy she was getting to spend time with the mage. That was the only reason she had agreed to the journey in the first place. The raven-haired young woman could have easily justified that her training needed to continue, and it was easier to do so in his company but that would have been a lie…and she didn’t lie to Balthazar.

The boat ride had been cold but pleasant. Upon arriving, he gave her a small bag of warm sand that she immediately wished she could have ten more of. Having grown up in Viden, the cold really didn’t bother her much but Cylus was something of a different creature. That and the frigid wind from being on the beach was enough to keep her on edge a bit.

She watched him silently, smiling as he looked up at the Sentry, curious what he was thinking. Elisabeth was always curious about what the mage was thinking. Sometimes she asked. Sometimes not. Sometimes he offered information. Sometimes not…. but she never tired of watching him. Nudging a bit with her body, Elisabeth wrapped her arm through his, smiling as she looked up into his glowing blue eyes curiously. “So, Faldrass. How does it feel being back?” In their time together, she had learned much about him and his moods. Copper Prince. Mummer’s Ball. Initiation. Each step of the way, Elisabeth gently tried to show him that she cared about his thoughts and feelings without being intrusive.

With absolutely and undeniably no inclination to wander whatsoever, she stayed close to him and glanced around at the people assembled. The raven-haired mage didn’t recognize anyone else, but the night was still young. She did, however, recognize a few things when she closed her eyes and concentrated. At different points, she heard the warm whispers, as well as soft laughing….and something new. Grinning a bit, she immediately recognized the new sound, knowing exactly where it came from…. but that was a matter for another time. Interesting.

Slipping the warm sack of sand into her pocket, Elisabeth wrapped her cold hands around his gently, giving them a squeeze, teasing him a bit. “You realize that I prefer your hands to sand, right? They are much more readily available and just as warm?”

People around them were having fun, enjoying the setting. Having had such precious little time to relax, she was hoping that for one evening, they could.

[Alyssia]

Alyssia giggled as Novus barked and tried to jump on her to like her face. The teen had been so happy since she received her puppy from Devin when Saoire was doing her gift exchange. As the cycle had progressed the teen tried to get to know the pup better. Though that did not go as fast as she had wanted it to go. After all, as the puppy’s owner the girl had to start teaching it how to do thing. But Alyssia did not know anything about training animals so it had turned into more play time with him than anything else.

Running to the front of the ferry, the teen looked out and saw Faldrass island up ahead of her. She felt her blood run cold for a moment as her mind went back to the last time the girl had been brave enough to go to the island. It had almost cost her life, now she was once again going to the island. Gulping, the girl tried to keep her emotions from running away with her. Novus whined gently and nudged her hand looking up at her with his big beautiful lavender eyes. Alyssia looked down and smiles kneeling down hugging him.

“It’s okay, Novus. I’m just a little nervous,” Alyssia stated and rubbed her face into his fur before standing up.

The teen was shocked finally looking away from the island seeing none other than a giant statue. Squinting her eyes, the girl tried to see who the face was of. As the ferry got closer, her eyes widened. It was appeared at least in her mind to be none other than the Baron that had been lost when the manor collapsed. A pang of sadness gripped her heart the teen had failed to help him protect his home. In fact, it was his home that had almost crushed the girl to death. Alyssia smiled when her mind drifted to Sovar who had kept her and Ari’sora company till it was safe for them to return to Scalvoris.

“I’m sorry Baron. I failed after I promised to help you protect your home,” Alyssia whispered and got ready to disembark with Novus.

The invitation to come back to the island was a surprise. Alyssia was not even aware of anyone that had known she had gone. Of course, there was a lot of people that were in three different groups, plus Devin and Ari’sora from base camp. Though she was not good at math that was plenty of people that would know about her. But finding her was a surprise. The teen tended to stay away from crowded areas as much as she could especially with Novus now.

“We are almost there, Novus!” Alyssia stated excitedly seeing the island getting even closer.

Upon arrival, the girl and puppy were the first ones off and exploring. The bonfires were beautiful to look at with the suns hidden from the sky during Cylus. Looking around, the teen saw many people had already arrived. A few caught her eyes one appeared to be Ari’sora causing the teen to jog over to her with a smile.

“Ari! Do you remember me?” Alyssia asked looking at her. The girl hid her smile so that the woman would not feel bad if she did not remember the girl. They had not seen each other since their time with Sovar.

[Darius Baer]

Arc 721, 1st of Cylus

Darius had sailed at night before. Usually, it required a reliance on the light of the moon or following certain constellations to ensure they were navigating their path through the water correctly. And in the season of Cylus, with the night skies so clear and the stars so bright, this was especially the case.

But this night was different. As the Libertalia elegantly scythed through the calm waters of the Hollow Sea, her crew was not staring into the heavens, but towards their eventual destination. Faldrass had changed significantly during the previous arc, and one such change was serving as a guiding light: the Sentry. The giant, glowing statue ensured nobody heading towards it could lose their way. As the brig made its way over the waters, the sailors aboard her stared in awe at the immense structure.

Darius, too, was momentarily awestruck by the giant protective figure. This would be the first time he had observed the Dusk Festival anywhere other than on the main island of Scalvoris.

It was hard to believe that an entire arc had passed them by since he and Oram had patrolled the main beach of Scalvoris Town. They had tried to save the life of a man whose clothing had caught aflame when he had strayed too close to one of the bonfires, and they had succeeded in rescuing a dog from a Siren Light...and since then, much had changed for the bearded blond. He had become a ship captain; a FireForged; a best friend.

From his position on the prow of the Libertalia, Darius turned, his dark eyes scanning the deck for Yeva. Her resurrection still seemed impossible, and yet there was no denying that she was very much alive. He had offered to take her to Faldrass as any friend with a ship might, and had been pleased to be able to enjoy more precious moments with his friend.

As he looked around, another figure moved close to him. Astra Miawynn, half-biqaj beauty and first mate of his ship, reached out, her gloved fingers gently taking hold of his own. Their relationship, burning slowly like the embers of a small fire, had grown in a way that neither of them had expected.

Darius looked at her with a warm grin, blushing as he always did, and turned back to look up at the statue.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Astra whispered.

Darius wasn't sure if she was referring to the glowing lights of the Sentry itself, or reflecting on their situation with each other, but he realised that it didn't matter. Either way, she was right and he nodded in agreement.

It was about a break later when the Libertalia arrived at the Faldrass docks, by which time Darius was back in his quarters and Astra was issuing orders to the crew. As the anchor was dropped, Darius emerged from below deck and ordered that the Lady Jean be lowered into the water.

After climbing down into the rowboat, he waited patiently for Yeva to join him and helped the redhead into her seat, before taking up the oars and dipping them into the water. The small boat obliged, and slowly guided them towards the onshore gathering.

[Yeva]

1 Cylus 721

Beneath the deck of the Libertalia, Yeva lounged in the quarters she had been offered as a guest of honor, flipping through Friell's book she had been given her season's past. Cross-legged on the floor, papers surrounded her, all with snippets of stories she had deemed, by some manner or the other, different. Perhaps it was the inconsistent misspellings or the way the writing was formatted upon the paper. Yeva was looking for patterns, clues, a rhyme or reason to the tug of instinct that tickled the back of her mind telling her it was more than it seemed. Through cross referencing and a bit of cryptography, she felt she was on the right path. Having removed the misspelled letters from one story, she rearranged them in a variety of ways, hoping a bit of transposition might do the trick, and it had... sort of. One word stood out, but it was written in the patterns of Ancient, a language she was far from fluent in. Laying aside her word scramble, Yeva wished she had brought the gift Zuny had given her, sure it would have paved the way for the discovery she sought.

"Miss Yeva," a man's voice called from beyond the barrier of her door, "We'll be laying anchor in about a break,"

"Thank you!" she called back, lips pressing into a thin line as she leaned forward to gather her work and pile it into her bag. Tightening her ink pot and tugging on her boots, she slung her pack across her shoulder and climbed the stairs to the top deck, slipping on the cloak Elisabeth had given her upon their first visit. It glowed a soft white and took away the bite of winter. Now that she wasn't Fire-Forged, Cylus had once plagued her with a regular chill.

Above deck, the stars blanketed the sky and she took a moment to lean her head back and admire the view, small puffs of her breath rolling from her lips. Lovely. Apparently she wasn't the only one who thought so. Spotting the captain and friend, Darius Baer, Yeva took a step in his direction just in time to hear his first mate comment on the view and-

Take his hand?

Yeva's mouth dropped in shock and she backpedaled quickly, face flaming when she realized how close she had been to ruining a special moment. Darius Baer and a woman? Her mind was racing. Why didn't he tell her? This was huge news! Then again... she hadn't told him everything in her personal life... But a large part of that had to do with the fact she died. They hadn't seen each other in seasons, apparently she wasn't the only one who had changed! No - Darius was allowed to have privacy. They might have been close but that hadn't entitled her to every detail of his life... Then again, she had written him when Cassion had come to visit!

Scrambling before she could be noticed, Yeva rushed back down the stairs. It wasn't like a glowing cloak was exactly the most inconspicuous attire. Yeva decided to wait it out. She could pretend she hadn't seen anything... Let him tell her in his own time. But oh my gods, he had found a lady! She wanted to know all the details of this epic romance! Gah! Since when? How? Astra??? Yeva spent the next expanse of time, bouncing at the thought, turning over every possibility. Darius Baer, who had once nearly crippled a woman dancing, was now suave enough to charm a woman like Astra Miawynn?

...Impossible!

She was pretty convinced the biqaj merely tolerated the presence for the medic, as they had never shared more than a handful of words despite Yeva's best efforts. Now it was all starting to make sense. "Just act normal. Nothing's changed," she exhaled, took a deep breath, and made her way back to the deck, "Oh. My. Gods." First Balthazar, now Darius. Who was next? ORAM?

Had her demise sparked some international romantic phenomena?

With the anchor set down and the rowboat prepared, Yeva could not shuffle about any longer. She made her way back to the deck where Astra now stood giving orders. Darius was having the Lady Jean lowered into the water. When she came running up, the smile on Yeva's mouth was too wide, too eager. She had to bite her lip from saying anything, buzzing from the news. Did everyone know? Was she the last to find out? How had the crew taken it?

"So..." Yeva climbed the rope ladder, careful with each step until she was safely settled into the vessel. It was easily shifted and so she was careful to move slowly, "I heard baby baers are really popular in the spring."

Grinning, Yeva turned to admire the water and the Sentry, which stood like a guardian against the shore. She decided to let Darius be for now, her focus shifting to the night's festivities. Had it already been an arc since her journey to Scalvoris? As they closed in to the shore, Yeva's eyes lifted again to the statue, wondering who had been the architect behind the dedication. When it was time, she took a deep breath. Yeva the Dead had returned.

Her mirth faded slightly, although she was satisfied to see progress had been made in her absence. Life had continued on. Yeva spotted a few faces she recognized, illuminated by the bonfires and waved, nervous now that she was so close. Her insecurity at her own failure lingered; where she should have been helping people and fulfilling her vows, she had been trapped in the Beneath. Should she even be here?

Once they reached the shore, Yeva would help Darius with the Lady Jean before making her way towards the fire. She took the offered supplies, cradling a steaming mug of hot cider and tucking a scarf around her neck. She smiled and waved to those she recognized but didn't seem to approach anyone directly. Instead, Yeva was drawn to the fire and then, remembering the night she had been summoned forth to Idalos, found herself glancing at the stage where a familiar voice was singing. A woman -Ari'sora? - began to heckle him and Yeva turned back to face the flickering flames, consumed in thought.

[Kura Wolfsdotter]

Kura was at the gathering on Faldrass, viewing it more as a memorial than a celebration or any other such thing. She knew it wasn't really meant as such, but with all they had lost because of the disaster at Faldrass and how bad it had gotten, she wasn't exactly feeling celebratory. Still, the Cylus Dusk festival was a time honored tradition and she had been given a special invitation for the one on Faldrass island. Perhaps looking back at what had been lost would be good for her, after all. Still, she sat a bit away from the bonfire and the crowd around it, quietly smoking her pipe.

"You're quiet tonight. I mean, compared to me, you're quiet all the time, but you're really quiet right now." Cally said. The ghost was sprawled out on the ground next to Kura, looking for all the world like a normal citizen of Scalvoris, provided you ignored the fact that she was quite noticeably glowing. "Most politicians would be out doin' whatever it is that you political people do. Schnooling or somethin' like that, yeah? But here you are, sittin' on a rock and lookin' like your dinner didn't taste right. Which I know it did, on account of I made it. So come on, what's eatin' you?" she asked, looking up at her friend.

Kura sighed, letting a long billow of smoke out before she looked down at her friend. Cally had been dead over thirty years, but had only been known to be a ghost for two or three, and had been a Wisp for less than that. She had spent most of that time as a silent observer who could only watch as Kura, who had been her sole anchor for all that time, went about her life. It appeared all that had given her a level of insight into the Mortalborn that most lacked. "Well, you're right, dinner was quite good." she said, before looking back out towards the sea.

"It's a time to look back at one's life, this celebration. I've lived a long time, and it takes me a while to do that." she said, half-wondering if Cally would let it go at that. The expectant, and unusual, silence from the ghost indicated that wasn't the case. "I guess I'm feelin' my age tonight is all, Cally. There's times when I'm very tired, usually when I'm lookin' back and rememberin' all those that couldn't have made it here to stand beside me." she said, her voice reflective. "Don't you be worryin' none, though, lass. It'll pass and I'll be back to my usual self by mornin' light." she said, smiling slightly.

Cally laughed at that. "Yeah, just in time to figure out what bottom-feedin' wastrel decided to take advantage of the celebrations to break themselves a few laws, I don't doubt." she said, getting a full grin from Kura for that. As the two spoke, a large speckled owl swooped in from the dark and nestled beside Kura. Cally looked over at the owl and smiled. "At there you are, Speck. You look all well fed." Cally said.

Speck, who couldn't speak to Cally, nodded at the ghost as best an owl could. The owl had been out hunting, but had joined them now. Phelan, Rahmet, Ornery, and Ignia were all around, but they were giving the trio by the rock some quiet and distance. They were all newer to the group, and recognized the need for the three to be alone. Speck, who had been with Kura for over two centuries, leaned into the Mortalborn. "Our people are celebrating life and mourning death at the same time, it seems. It's a good feeling, especially after all that's happened here." the owl said in Kura's head.

Kura nodded. "It is, aye." she said, reaching into a small bag at her feet and pulling out a bottle of whiskey, two glasses, and a little shot glass for Speck, filling all three and handing one to Cally. "And we should do the same." she said, holding out her glass. "To friends and family long gone to their rest, and to the lives we lived together." she said.

Cally held out her own glass. "To the friends we have now and the ones we'll make goin' forward." the ghost said, smiling brightly.

Speck held out a wing, as owls weren't designed disigned to hold glasses. "And to those of us who will always be together." the owl said, with Kura repeating for Cally.

The three friends emptied their glasses, and then Kura and Cally stood up. "Well, time to be more social, before someone decides to come investigate what we're doin', aye." Kura said, smiling slightly. Cally nodded and Speck hopped up on Kura's shoulder as the three headed towards the bonfire. As they headed for the group, Ornery settled on Cally's shoulder and Phelan materialized to walk beside them. Rahmet, who was a Sev'ryn spirit and couldn't materialize, gamboled about them regardless. Ignia, who was still a secret, flapped around the group. It was an odd little congregation, Kura thought, but it was hers and she wouldn't have it any other way.