Internal Journeys

Log Info

• Title: Internal Journeys

• Emitter: Ravenstongue

• Characters: Ravenstongue, Stjepan

• Place: A06 - Lower Alexandrian Gardens District

• Summary: After a night out with her cousin, Ravenstongue meets her oldest friend since she came to Alexandria, Stjepan, again. They talk extensively about how Ravenstongue's grown and changed in the last few months since they last saw each other. Stjepan's dealings with Llyranost are also discussed, and Ravenstongue informs Stjepan she will not be assisting the elves if they come inquiring about him. Ravenstongue's ties to her fey ancestor, the Feathered One, and her engagement to Telamon are also discussed, and Stjepan is invited over to the Lupecyll-Atlon home to come hang out at a later date.

-=--=--=--=--=--<* A06: Lower Alexandrian Gardens District *>=--=--=--=--=--=-

The city is divided, unofficially, into Upper Alexandria and Lower Alexandria. The Upper resides further up on the slope of the mountain, and rests to the east of the great river. The Lower resides to the west of it, and if the Lower could be said to have a heart, this verdant park might be its center.

Amid all the bustle of the Lower City, its Gardens District provides a peaceful respite. The warmth of Althea holds sway here, and though Daeus receives the occasional nod, this is clearly Her domain. She shares it with Dana, in the verdant green of this area. Vines and trees, remain green no matter the season and numerous flowers bloom along the park's walkways. Faerie-light lanterns hang from branches and along hedgerows.

A number of shops may be found here, most notably the city hospital, for which the park was originally built. Though now open to the public, the gardens by and large, remain underneath the hospital's care. However, in the Althean tradition, much of the work is provided by volunteers.

-=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=- Dramatis Personae =--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=-
Ravenstongue      5'0"     99 Lb      Half-Elf          Female    Short half-elf girl with violet eyes and black hair.                       
Stjepan           8'0"     534 Lb     Giantborn         Male      Big, blonde jotun.                                                        
-=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=-

Eluna and the stars are hidden partly by dark clouds on this warm summer night, dew clinging to blades of grass in the Lower Gardens. While it's late, it's also a weekend night, and so it stands to reason that people are stumbling home from bars.

There's a pair of half-elves that look almost identical from a distance--pointed ears, dark hair, short statures--but one of them has green eyes and the other a pair of striking violet eyes. The green-eyed girl is taller by a few inches, but probably the most intriguing visual difference between the two is that the smaller, violet-eyed girl has a mark of a feather on her chest, surrounded by interweaving lines that resemble stylized tree roots.

"Lana, Lana, we have to do this more often. It's so fun. I can't believe how many interesting stories you have," the green-eyed girl says. She's grinning from ear to ear and has the fairly unmistakable stench of drink about her.

The violet-eyed girl looks a little bashful as they turn the corner and stop a distance from a house. "Is this your sister's place?" she asks.

"Yup! That's the one," the green-eyed one replies. She takes Lana in for a squeeze--which gets a little squeak out of her--and lets go. "Bye! Thanks for walking me home, cousin!"

"Bye, Addy! See you in a couple of days," Cor'lana replies, smiling as she watches Addy walk inside the home.

After a moment, she sighs and turns around. "Okay. I guess I'll go pick up Grandfather and then head home," she mutters to herself.

Stjepan is not exactly stumbling home from the bar -- he's just out for a walk, taking in the warm weather and what stars can be seen. He is, however, not particularly paying attention -- soaking in that particular privilege after a long time away. He knows it's not entirely smart, but he does it anyways.

Cor'lana's about to start off on her path home--wherever home happens to be these days--when she stops again, catching that tall frame she'd know from anywhere out of the corner of her eye. She squints for a moment--maybe due to the fact she's not wearing glasses--but then she catches a look at Stjepan's face in the lights. A grin spreads across her face and she waves frantically. "Stjepan! Stjepan, is that you!?" she calls out. Not overly loud, mind you--people are trying to sleep, but it's also to be expected around midnight in the city.

Besides the lack of glasses, there's two notable changes in the sorceress's appearance--she's no longer wearing a hooded capelet, for one thing, nor one of the two blue dresses it seemed like she basically lived in for a time. She's chosen a sleeveless dress that matches the color of her eyes and is suitable for the warm weather, low cut enough to reveal the elaborate mark on her chest. Furthermore... No Pothy. Apparently he's not accompanying her tonight.

Stjepan turns arms, jarred out of his reverie. He blinks, "Cor'lana?" He blinks again, like he's trying to summon cont-- He blinks a third time, "Hey, it's been a while." The dimples come out, the smile lights up, as he puts on a mask and starts processing. "It's been a while -- you're looking well!" Eyes flit around, looking for Pothy, and maybe a little more wary, like he's remembered himself and some of his more pressing concerns.

Cor'lana bounds over closer to Stjepan, grinning up at him once she's close enough to get a decent look at him. She's not squinting anymore, at least. "Yeah, it's been so long! Gosh, so much has happened. Where have you been? Everything okay?"

Still no sign of Pothy. The white raven would surely accost Stjepan for snacks if he was around, right?

Stjepan's lips press together for a moment, "I've been away, and things are different now. I think they will be okay." He's got the slightly gaunt look that long expeditions full of exertion and field rations tends to produce, and hollow eyes. He nods. "Yes, so much has happened." There's a pause. "You really have changed -- are you okay?"

Cor'lana nods, looking at Stjepan intently as he explains. There's a look of concern in her eyes that's... Well, compared to the girl named Ravenstongue from all that time ago, who seemed so anxious and easy to overwhelm, there's a certain weight in that gaze. A calculation, even, like she's trying to figure out what's happened and what could be done. "I see," she says. "Well, let me know if there's anything that I can do to help. I'm still no Madame Sandy, but I'm not a helpless little lady anymore, either."

There's actually a rather confident smirk on her face, and an interesting way that her violet eyes twinkle, as Stjepan asks the question. "Never been better," she says. "I know who I am. I have all my memories back, for better and for worse. And, well..."

The smirk turns into a more bashful smile as she holds up her left hand to reveal a golden ring with a diamond flanked by two amethysts--tasteful rather than gaudy. "Telamon and I are engaged to be married. Hopefully, once this business with the wights is all done and taken care of, I'll be Cor'lana Lúpecyll-Atlon."

Stjepan's smile freezes for a moment as he processes. He opens his mouth, kills the thought, closes it, and then says: "Hey, congratulations!" There's a pause, and his next question has a touch of sadness in it. "When the business with the wights is all done?" He takes stock, "You wear it well -- self-knowledge looks good on you. And thank you, no, some of what I'm in is beyond me, though we had... some resolution. I'm afraid, though, if elves are looking for me that you let me know before you help them."

Cor'lana nods, looking a little annoyed for a moment as she says, "Unfortunately, the business with the wights have put a bit of a damper on our plans to have the wedding out in the Mythwood. Tel's family is from there, and I wanted to have the wedding there not only for them, but to make it a little easier for my Grandfather to come. He's going to be officiating the ceremony for us... But, of course, can't really leave the city at the moment."

There's a strangely wry look in her eyes as Stjepan brings up the elves. "Oh, is it the situation Sir Seldan was talking about? I should have figured. Don't worry. I have no intentions of helping anyone from Llyranost, and I highly doubt they'll want anything to do with me, considering I'm the reason that my stepmother, Ainasse Son'doriel, is currently being held in the Mythwood for kidnapping and attempted murder."

Stjepan nods. "Yes, the same." He exhales, shaking his head. "Strange days, these are." He shakes his head. "I think, though, all of these things are of a piece -- wights have been threatening for some time, and it's all tied up with the Void and suchlike. I... hope you get your day." There's a pause. "Your Grandfather." He blinks. "You guys are talking?" He's got some catching up to do.

The sorceress snorts. "Well, of course it's strange days. I, of all people, managed to win the heart of a man far more socially adept than I am. Although I've gotten better on that front. If the world ends on the day of my wedding, then you can blame me."

Cor'lana puts her hand to the mark on her chest, smiling in that confident manner with her eyes twinkling as Stjepan mentions Grandfather. "Yeah, we are. You probably know him better as the Feathered One--the fey noble that was sending me all those birds a while back."

The feather mark shimmers in an interesting way in the light as Cor'lana takes her hand off it. "Well, he's my ancestor. I call him Grandfather, and he calls me his child. He sends a messenger so he can spend time with me on the mortal plane from time to time. Between him and discovering I have cousins on my mom's side of the family, I have a family again--not to mention Tel's parents and relatives, too. They're all wonderful people."

Stjepan nods slowly. "That sounds wonderful." His eyes glow as he looks at Cor'lana's mark -- specifically, not the setting. Absently. "I'll probably blame Heth the Death Dragon or Taara. Unless you're really Taara in disguise." He grins at her as his eyes stop, and he straightens up. "I remember the Feathered One."

Cor'lana's always showed up as grossly magical, but Stjepan can easily tell with his arcane sight that she's grown in power judging by how incandescent the veins running in her body are now.

But that feather mark that was previously only on her heart before with magic sight is the same above and below the skin. It's a font of power. It's an anchor of sorts, a powerful magic bond--a pact. But there's nothing necromantic about it, nothing that seems malign in nature. Otherwise, why would Cor'lana be wearing it out in the open?

The sorceress rolls her eyes. "No, not Taara in disguise. I'm pretty sure Aryia would have already socked me and left me for dead if that was the case," she says. "And, umm--sorry if I'm blinding you again." Obviously, she's noticed the arcane sight, and she has a look on her face that suggests she's anticipating questions.

Stjepan grins at Raven. "No, I couldn't look at a goddess like this. Even a shard of Animus really isn't good to look at." A pause. "That's far more comprehensive than it used to be. It looks like it's been good for you." There's a pause. "So, Grandfather is a source of your power?"

"Partially," Cor'lana says with a nod. "I've become more confident in who I am and what I am because of his influence--well, that, and having a social butterfly for a fiance who pushes me to get out of the house even if I just want to stay inside and write poetry all day. And our arrangement has resulted in me gleaning some insight and some unexpected boons."

She smirks a little. "For example, I don't need to eat. Pothy's a fan of that one because it means he can eat all of my food. Currently he's at home with Tel--they get along pretty well, especially since we can both understand Pothy's true voice now."

Cor'lana gets a little bit of a sad look in her eyes. "Speaking of which--the real root of my sorcerous magic comes from my mother. Nadina Branfeax. Pothy was her familiar, just as he was her father's familiar, and so on and so forth. My mother's bloodline has a strange sorcerous connection--someone or something gifted an ancestor on that side of the family with incredible arcane power and what was supposed to be a repository of knowledge--but I guess Pothy ended up specializing in food knowledge along the way. He remembers things if he happened to be eating something at the time. Either way, only one person holds Pothy and the power at a time--and when they're dead for good, Pothy goes on to the designated heir, who must be of the bloodline."

Stjepan tilts his head. "You... don't need to eat." There's a pause as he flushes. "Well shit, didn't need to worry about that, then." He nods slowly. "Oh, interesting... Pothy must have the most interesting memories."

Cor'lana laughs a little. "No, well, it was good to worry about me eating back then," she says. "Not needing to is a... recent development. Even then, Tel makes sure I eat, too, so you didn't need to worry about me not eating while you were gone."

Then Pothy's brought up. She rolls her eyes and sighs. "Well, yes. He remembers my mother, and he remembers some more of the recent inheritors, but he seems to conveniently forget things, or only remembers food-related things. He considers it his solemn mission to record all of the food-based knowledge in the world. Long story, but I've been to his mental library, and that place is massive. It has records of every inheritor's life in there, and... echoes, of past inheritors, too."

Her hands link together in front of her, and she gives a little sad smile off to the side. "I got to reunite with my mother. It's not really her--it's like an after-image--but it was nice."

Stjepan nods slowly. "That's... a lot." A pause. "Good. I hope it was what you needed." He pauses. "I'm sorry -- I don't know how much Seldan told you, but that journey was strange, and it was a lot. It was... a very internal journey in some ways."

Cor'lana looks back up at Stjepan and nods firmly, that resolved look returning to her eyes. "Yeah. I guess we both went on those kind of journeys over the past... What has it been? Half a year? It feels like it's been shorter and longer than that at the same time."

She smiles. "Just don't be a stranger, you know? Telamon and I have a home in the University District--I can give you directions if you'd like. We have a garden and two pixies that attend to it--Tel planted it and then they showed up, calling me 'Lady Lúpecyll' and him 'Lord Lúpecyll-to-be'. Pothy would be so happy to see you again, too."

Stjepan nods slowly. "Pixies!" A smile. "Yes, please do. It'd be nice to sit in a garden that doesn't whisper to you." A laugh, "That ...a house. Clearly, I've been spending my earnings irresponsibly." He pauses. "I don't know how to answer the question of time. There are some holes, you know?"

Cor'lana rattles off the address and brief instructions for finding the place. "There's a really nice coffee shop a couple of roads down, too," she says. "Addy, my cousin on my mom's side of the family, runs the Cheerful Corvid--she didn't know I existed or that I lived a couple of streets down, but she remembered meeting my mother and Pothy when she was a kid, and it stuck with her."

She nods. "I know about holes," she says. "I don't have them in my memory anymore, but it was... difficult to reconcile. And even more difficult to deal with the answers I got. But they made me who I am now, and I'm pretty happy with who I am these days."

That smile on the sorceress's face is genuine. "I'm Cor'lana Lúpecyll, inheritor of Apotheosis, child of the Feathered One, betrothed to Telamon Atlon, and a formidable enchantress. That's a long way from who I was when I came here."

Stjepan deadpans. "Name like that, you guys aren't related at all." He nods slowly. "That's good -- you seem happier than before." A nod. "Really good -- making a name. It's funny, we might have defied a god, but I feel more lost now coming back than before."

That gets a laugh from Cor'lana. "Well. Her name's Adelaide Branfeax--but she prefers to be called Addy. She doesn't like how her name feels like an 'old lady' name and has been dreading her thirtieth birthday for a while--both of her twin sisters are married and she's been single until recently. Telamon and I introduced her to Tel's cousin, and she seems to like him an awful lot. It's nice to know that mom's family has perfectly ordinary people to make up for me, the latest bloodline inheritor, being... Well, me."

Then she tilts her head. "Lost?" she asks. It's telling that she isn't even reacting to 'defied a god'. Either she's heard a bit of the story or it just doesn't register for her. "You want to talk about it?"

Stjepan nods slowly. "Keeping it in the family," he asks teasingly. A nod and a shrug. "Its hard to. Many of the tasks, in the end, were inside the mind. Our minds, others' minds. It was disorienting. Plus the Forest of Whispers was a profoundly unpleasant place. It slipped its fingers into your soul and pulled out the unpleasant pieces as a matter o.. well, as a defence, really."

"Well, she asked if Tel had any brothers, and when I said, no, but he has a cousin..." Cor'lana can't help but snicker. "His cousin's a pretty quiet guy, and she likes to talk, so it's working out pretty well based on that alone. He's content to listen and she doesn't have to deal with being interrupted every five minutes."

She looks strangely... not surprised about the Forest of Whispers. "Well, when I was in Llyranost last," she says, "we had to deal with the borderlands of Quelynos to save a powerful nymph from herself. We dealt with the beautiful and the nightmarish--and we dealt with her rage and sorrow."

Her hand goes to the mark on her chest again, and there's that knowing smile on her face again. "That's sort of how they work, the fey. Everything is beautiful and strange, and your emotions, your head, your heart are laid bare there or in the places where they touch. I was lucky, I suppose. I had an ancestor whose feathers were waiting for me in a great, big hug, who loved me from the moment he saw me as a baby and named me--so it was meant for me to be there and to be confronted with all of those things, and to be reborn again."

She gives a few blinks. "Whoops, sorry--I didn't mean to get all poetic there."

Stjepan nods slowly. "Its interesting. There was some of that. Some, and other things as well. Gates to the void, and such. I hear the wights are back, which means the void dragons are back, hm?" He shakes his head. "Yes, there was nobody waiting in the dark. We were the cavalry, and nobody to save us but ourselves." He pauses, and shrugs for a moment. "It's always weird coming back here, though, the hub of the wheel."

Cor'lana folds her arms. "Well, you may have seen one thing--but Stjepan, you know that, even if I'm not quite at Madame Sandy's level yet, I can still help, right? Nobody exists completely on their own. But I get it. It's always odd to be around normal people and think, 'If only you knew what all was out there.'"

There's a sound of wings beating from overhead. That seems to get Cor'lana's attention. "That must be Grandfather," she says. "And as much as I'm sure Grandfather'd be happy to meet you... Tel will be worried sick if I stay out much longer." She offers Stjepan another smile. "Like I said, come visit, okay?"

Stjepan glances up, and smiles. "Don't worry, I will. After all, I'd like to congratulate Telamon too, you know?" He grins for a moment, and shakes his head. "I won't argue with you -- some things, though, might not be yours to solve though." He opens his arms as if to offer a hug. "I'm glad I ran in to you. See you soon."

Of course, Stjepan gets a hug. Cor'lana gives him that that, although she's comically small compared to him as she hugs him. She doesn't seem to mind, though, and she lets go quickly afterward with a smile. "I'm glad, too. See you soon," she echoes.

She turns the corner and walks for a few more steps before a black raven swoops down from the sky and lands on her shoulder. This would make most people shriek and leap five feet off the ground, but Cor'lana was clearly anticipating it. "Was that your old friend? The one with a crush on you?" the raven asks, his voice deep and melodious, a tonal quality to it like the ringing of bells.

Cor'lana sighs deeply. "Really, Grandfather--you and Tel keep saying that, but I just don't see it. We had one picnic together. We're just friends!"

Fey 'grandfather' and feytouched 'grandchild' talk into the night as they make their way home.