[Extai]

Extai walked along the used dirt road, in the distance she could hear the up heaving of a full town and the waves of the sea. When she breathed in through her nose she felt the sting of the salt water that laced the air. Extai would have breathed through her mouth if it has not been for the taste of salt, fish, and sand that would plague her mouth. She had learned quickly that the smell was better than the taste. A couple people passed Extai giving her strange looks as she smiled at them, before walking on. Most of them were young and appeared to be rushing away. Why Extai could not fathom, Marport she had heard was a rather peaceful place that was full of life and had great fishing markets.

Rounding a bend Extai could see Marports gates come into site. They were made of wood and had metal enforcers that looked to be designs that reminded Extai of the sea from this distance. Outside of Marport many people could be seen walking towards the gate and many appeared to be stalling on the outside deciding whether or not to go in. Puzzled by their actions Extai stopped about 20 feet away from the city's gates and pursed her lips. Looking up she closed her eyes and listened in on the conversation of two men, of what race she couldn't tell.

"Strange things are going on in there I tell you."

"Aye. Did you hear about the latest murder?"

"Yeah, the one where the old man nearest to the dock was found clear across town with his guts hanging out?"

"That be the one. I heard tale that there's a Gytrash hiding in the woods and taking the appearance of a woman"

After that they stopped talking as loud and stated to whisper. Extai couldn't blame them. She was a woman, who was tilting her hear back in the middle of the road next to them, with her eyes closed. Straightening her neck after is started to ache she opened her eyes and turned her head to the men. She smiled and nodded to them, of course they were a little startled that she did such a thing and it made her giggle. Turning back to city she noticed something move on the left side. It didn't match the natural patterns that the shadows made. Turning her head to it she squinted, trying to depict what it was. Finding nothing out of the abnormal Extai blamed it on all the strange talk the city seemed to be infested with.

She would have stuck with that thought if it had not been the fact that the disturbance again appeared. Stepping off to the side Extai focused her energy in shifting the winds a little. Making the wind blow the opposite direction than it was originally. While this could be dangerous and a bad idea Extai managed to mimic the winds only perfectly. While holding the air current she again studied the area. Looking for the shadow that didn't follow the knew flow. The unnatural one.

[Ionia]

To Nia's surprise, the Dardanan variant of giant scorpion didn't live entirely in the desert. In fact, they thrived best in volcanic dirt made softer by the shores of Marport. The ones that Nia and her league friends encountered had been entrenched in the dirt before Talia made the mistake of stepping too close to one. Three more of those things had popped out within seconds. The creatures had been a pain to fight, not in the least because of the hard carapace and threatening tails. Everyone was exhausted by the end of the battle, and they were left with three scorpion carcasses; the fourth had fled the scene. They'd split the goods from the scorpions. Nia and and Rawwayn each took a tail and pint of venom. Talia, after recovering from the scorpion poison, left with two of the carapaces, and Simon gathered the legs.

Scorpion-hunting wasn't a common activity, and scorpion venom was more often used for nefarious means than anything else. Because of this, Nia had waited until dusk before setting on the trail back to Marport. She'd coiled the tail into a thick canvas and tied the bundle over her back. As she neared the city, she gathered shadows around herself, just in case. The task was made easier by the darkness cast from the setting sun, and she managed to craft a thin cloak of neutral-to-dark-gray shadows. The guards probably wouldn't give her much trouble, but if possible, she'd prefer to simply slip past the gates without question.

What had been a light breeze suddenly picked up into a gust of wind. Gagging at the smell of salt and sea, she frowned and sped up her pace. The gates were getting close, and the sooner she got back to the inn, the better. Trent was waiting, and hopefully he found the sundrops that he wanted.

[Extai]

Finding nothing in her search Extai shrugged and let go of the current. The air seemed still and that's when Extai noticed that her 'perfect' mimic to the wind was off. By a lot. The people around her who were having to pick up their things gave her glares and angry mutters. Some were really colorful and left Extai blinking in shock. Thinking to herself that could have gone a lot worse she gave the air currents a little push to go pack into the usual cycle and turned back to the gates.

Actually getting a better look Extai noticed that they indeed did have wavy patterns for the metal work and fish carved into the wood. It was unlike a lot of things she had seen and it amazed her. The craftsmanship on it wasn't a Dryads. No it had to be a water race of some sort. Extai shook her head at herself, it was probably just a very good craftsman that did it. When Extai had finally decided to actually walk closer to the city a quick gust of wind went by her. Like someone has passed her but when she looked she didn't see any one. "Maybe I'm the one going crazy."she muttered.

None the less Extai put a smile on her face and glided to the gates. The sun was starting to set and Extai needed to restock on food. Maybe a nights stay at the inn with food and then a trip to the market in the morning would do her well. Setting on she walked to the gates. Only to be stopped by a young rugged guard. The older one stayed where he was but Extai could see him roll his eyes.

"What brings you here Nymph?" the man asked.

Extai smiled fondly at the man before answering,"Well, I happened to be traveling by when I noticed that I had run out of rations. I had asked around the the local folk said that Marport was the closest place to restock." Inside Extai rolled her eyes, maybe she could get by the guard without too much trouble.

"Now you don't think we can let trouble makers like you into town now do you?" Extai almost lost her smile. Almost.

"I'm sorry, did a little trick of wind scare you?" Extai mimicked, getting a little ticked at the guard.

The man just shrugged and went to reply but the older gentleman whacked him on the back of the head,"Ignore em' miss. Go on."

Extai said her thanks then scatted by the rude boy and kind guard. As soon as she was in and about 14 feet away from the gates she stopped. She had no idea where she was going, God dammit." she muttered. Turning in the different directions of streets Extai stopped and closed her eyes. Feeling for the wind Extai was bewildered when she felt nothing. Nothing at all. Opening her eye's she groaned. She was so not going to get dinner now.

[Ionia]

Trailing the edge of a group of travelers, Nia passed under the familiar wooden gates of Marport. She did not waste time in noticing the fish patterns in the wood or how twin green crystals dangled on either side of the columns. Instead, as two guards paused to converse with a nymph, Nia took the opportunity to ghost her way past the gates. As she blended into the shadows of a tall carriage, she noticed that there were over a dozen guards standing within the gate's vicinity. When she'd left Marport a mere three days ago, the gates had been manned by only seven guards. Wondering what might have happened after her departure, Nia's eyes narrowed with concentration as she pulled her shadows closer. She would tire more quickly this way, but right now she needed to pass the guards without being noticed.

Pacing partially down one of the main streets, Nia turned down one of the side streets that would lead to The Glass Clover Inn. Given the time of the day, Trent would be enjoying food in one of the restaurants, no doubt. She hadn't exactly given him notice of the time of her return, just that she would return today. He'd better bring back food, for once she reached the inn, she would be in no mood for leaving the room. Eat, bathe, sleep.

The tug at her legs signaled her fatigue at maintaining the shadows. She'd borrowed the ones at the gateway and would need to release them. As the skotadi loosened her hold, the shadows draped toward the ground. Conscious of potential passersby and the weight of the scorpion upon her shoulders, Nia quickly placed a hand on a nearby building. Darkness washed quickly over her arm to spread over her like a cloak. As she tilted her wings slightly to stretch a muscle, she heard the skitter of something along the cobblestones. Glancing toward the noise, she saw nothing but some Zanaryan selling flowers to a family of Elysians. But Elysians did not skitter.

No matter. Stray animals roamed the streets of Marports, and Nia could care less about what the critters were up to. Nevertheless, she gathered her shadows closer and hurried her pace.

((Not sure what kind of creature is out there...does it already exist, or are you thinking of creating one?))

[Extai]

((Sent a message on subject))

Extai turned to a street that held the most drunken and most men. Deciding that the inn was best to find in that direction she started forward. Something caught her eye. A slight shift in the shadows as they trailed back. Trying to find the source Extai only got a glimpse of a large bag before it seemed to disappear. Things like this just don't seem to happen. Piecing together that this matched the disturbance of shadows before Extai continued down the street. Something was up and she wanted to know, maybe she could find the killer. Snickering to herself she continued on.

Her finding the murderer was less likely than those men back there to come within the net day asking her to marry them, and her actually saying yes. Giggling to herself she continued on. Things were already raveled up, it was like a constant fixation on her. But in truth it was on the whole town. The air carried not only the sea but the weight of death, suspicion, tenseness, and most of all fear. The air was a little heavy and made it harder to breathe, Extai didn't like it. It was worse than the air near bonfires.

Continuing on Extai found herself playing with the air currents to move her three pebbles. giggling once again to herself she plucked the unnaturally wet blackstone and played with it. Out of all of them this was her favorite because it held the more unnatural terms for rocks. It never seemed to dry out and it was curious to her. She had gotten it out of the creek that lay around her house and it always seemed to stay as damp as when she had grabbed it from its watery grave/

Extai found no shadow disturbances for a while but she never stopped looking. Not even when an inn came into view. But she did accidently loose control of one of her air flows and cause a nice blast of cold wind to shoot through the city. Again attention was brought on her and she blushed and pulled her head down a little

"Oops." she mumbled.

[Ionia]

Shoulders cramping from the weight of the heavy bag, Nia tugged at the straps of her backpack to alleviate some of the burden. The inn was a mere few meters away by now. Cast in shadows by the setting sun, the modest inn was tucked in between two other stores, and its clover-shaped sign swayed as a sudden gust of wind passed through the street. Glancing behind her, Nia recognized the nymph from the gates among some of the other wanderers. The nymph appeared slightly flustered, which immediately made Nia suspicious as to the true source of the wind. Tch, the Faeth should train their kin before letting them out into the rest of Elysia.

As Nia pushed open the front doors, she was greeted by the noise of boots clomping upon the floor, utensils upon plates, and the general chatter of voices blending together. The inn wasn't usually this packed, but Tessiminas was special—the close of the year was when families gathered, and when people migrated south of the Espur channel as winter covered the mainland. Her shadows dissolved like sand in the wind as she stepped into the building. Striding to the front counter, she hoisted the heavy bag onto the desk. “Please store this somewhere secure and chilly for the guests in room 6B. We'll retrieve it when we check out tomorrow.” Trent was mostly accepting of Nia's trade of business, however he would become terribly whiny if he had to spend the night with leftovers of a scorpion in their cramped room.

Deciding that the smell of roasted chicken and hot cider were too enticing to ignore, the skotadi turned toward the restaurant section. It didn't take long to order some of the chicken, and soon she was seated at an empty table near one of the pillars. As she sipped the hot cider, snippets of the other tables' conversation floated in the room.

“...seems like a good time to visit my family up at the Three Sisters...”

“...yeh, I'm from Espur. We sail down once a year to sell our glassware..”

“...it looked morbid. The guards have been all over the docks yesterday and today...”

[Extai]

Extai busted on, she had put away her pebbles and had kept her mind focused on following what small lead she had. Running into someone Extai hurriedly said her pardon and continued on. Not glancing or paying attention to them she continued on, whether they had been upset or flustered mattered not to Extai.

Watching the Inn doors open with no one to do so and then a peek of the same bag seemed to fade into sight. "Got ya." Extai whispered to herself.

Picking up speed Extai rushed inside before the door could fully close. The inn was packed with men an mistresses alike and conspired in an uproar of noise. Flinching at first Extai took a deep breath and scoped over the people. Catching a glimpse of the bag again Extai found her eyes landing on a small woman with what appeared to be purple hair. Extai giggled and willed it to carry on the inns air to flow around the purple haired woman. Extai stood and watched as the woman spoke to the innkeeper before walking to what appeared to be a dinning hall. Curiously Extai followed, as she entered the area the air seemed heavy with meat and spiced cider. Extai almost tripped as she was too caught up in the smell. Looking around and checking to see no one had noticed Extai sighed. She was quite reckless today. Turning she saw a man walking away from a side she couldn't see fully and stopped him, Hi sir. He stopped to look at her and raised a brow at her smiling face and manners, Have you seen a small woman with purple hair around? She's a dear friend of mine and I was told to meet her here. Knowing her she's probably hiding." It wasn't a full lie Extai mused, she indeed was looking for a woman with purple hair, and she probably would be hiding. The room still had some dark area's and this woman seemed to be able to use them to her advantage.

The man simply nodded and pointed to the opposite corner Extai had been looking at. Stating her thanks the man made to move but she stopped him, "And you think I could also get a cider?" Again the man nodded and this time moved away.

Now on a quest to meet this mystery woman Extai weaved through the men and woman. As she passed a man with blood shot eyes walking with a rather dwarf like man Extai caught a him saying, "Things are just wrong. I tell you Hermin, I was gonna marry her." Extai paused and pretended to be talking to the people beside her as the dwarf like man replied, "She was a good girl. But that's in the past, fellow by the docks was found clear across town with half his body gone."

Extai smiled inside, men and their tall tales. Turning her focus back to her original task Extai scoped for the woman. Catching a glimpse of purple hair Extai pursued. She had found the shadow lurker and planned on instigating, or making friends. After reaching the table Extai smiled at the woman and giggled, "Caught you. Mighty a gift it is to bend the shadows isn't it?" Extai was only going on a hunch but it was a good one. Pulling out a chair Extai sat, "I''m Extai. E-X-T-A-I but sounds like Extaia."

[Ionia]

Listening idly to the conversaions around her, Nia was drawn to the news about some gruesome happenings beside the dock. Apparently a monster was out loose, and the man at the docks hadn't been its first victim. Having seen the plethora of guards at the gates, Nia huffed with irritation as she realized how the harbor would be even worse, since it was where the victim had been found.

She'd gotten through half of her cider when a buzz on the tabletop drew her attention. Setting the cup down, she leaned into the back of her chair as she pulled the COM off the table. Upon the lit COM screen was Trent's text: “Out with an old friend. Will be back late.” Tch, that social butterfly. He'd spent the day negotiating sundrop trade with zanaryans, met up with therians for bithanium, and was now chatting with someone somewhere. Well perfect, she'd have the room all to herself for a couple more hours. As she responded with a quick 'ok', Nia noticed a woman step into the periphery. She'd hoped the woman would move on, but instead the nymph from the gates pulled out a chair and joined her at the table.

The first thing Nia noticed was that the girl was very giggly. The second was that the girl must have been following her at some point—how else would she know about the shadows? Not liking either of her observations, Nia raised an eyebrow as she pocketed the COM into her jacket. “I'm Nia,” and because she wondered about the stranger's motives, she asked neutrally, “You were looking for me?” The greater question was, why?

[Extai]

Extai's smile brightened when the woman stated her name. Extai stated it a couple times to get the feel of it. Nia . She repeated it a couple times. But judging by this woman it didn't seem the full name. Going on her hunch Extai opened her mouth, "Is Nia short for anything. As lovely as a name it is it just seems to short for you." Extai thought over the fact that this woman was acting neutral but she had the air of suspicion. Extai's lip quirked a little when the woman asked her if she was looking for her.

Extai shook her head and peered around taking note of things around her she giggled a little bit, "No looking for you per-say. You see I'm an Ayad, so I read and follow the winds. And when a wind of particular distinctness caught my attention I followed it. It lead me here and then I found a rather strange disturbance in the air. Not only did the air and wind fill heavy with salt but also Mystery. And as the folks over there," Extai pointed to a group of ladies in skimpy clothing sitting close to the fire,"Are concerned it comes in claws. So when I saw a disturbance in the shadows I attempted to shift the cover. I didn't notice anything but as I studied them again I caught glimpses only twice more of you. They led me straight to you. So I guess I was looking for you but only because you caught my interest." Extai of course wouldn't tell the woman that she had caught a glimpse of the woman's bag as she had shifted shadows. Or nor that she knew the room number of which Nia had connections with.

Getting uncomfortable with her backpack on Extai slipped it off and unconsciously pulled out one of the pebbles and started to play with the air currents around it. Seeing as the Inn had many gusts in the room her mind chose the smaller one that was around Nia. Nia would feel a slight denseness in the area around her left shoulder if she were paying attention to her surrounding and knew how to pick up on the air and it's gusts. As Extai noticed what she herself was doing she giggled, Nia would very likely not notice as she probably knew nothing of how Ayads saw the air and its gusts.

[NPC]

OOC: Played by Emma.

Layla didn't particularly enjoy dancing in taverns or pubs. Men got far too grabby once they had a few pints in them, and Zozeko was the possessive sort - though not, she felt, for the reasons a wife might enjoy such possessiveness. As far as he was concerned, she was his property, so if he ever discovered the work she did to pay their bills and supplement his income, he would be furious. Since she had no intention of ever returning to Zanarya, or letting her daughters grow up as she had, Layla was content to let him believe that her jewellery was shiny enough to draw the kind of profit she was earning.

Dressed in silks, no doubt what Elysians considered the quintessential Zanaryan outfit, she stood in a corner of the room and swayed her hips to Nasira's flute. Zozeko's sister was an amateur, having picked up the instrument from a Nymph who lived down the street and sometimes danced or played with them, but it was better than dancing to silence. Air swirled around her, carrying a tumult of colourful powders to better display her command of the wind. The show was meant to be about her element more than about her body, but some of the greasy stares sent her way bypassed the dyes altogether.

A disturbance in the air currents sent a swirl of red dye crashing into the blue. Layla stumbled as she focused her efforts on separating the colours, red stare sweeping across the crowd to find the source of the sudden eddy. At her feet, cross-legged Nasira warbled a note in the wrong place, her own gaze darting from face to face. They both spotted the Nymph - for she could only be Nymph, wingless as she was - at the same time, but it was too late to recover. Layla let the air whoosh and the powders drop in a colourful mess, and Nasira ended on a sighing note that tried to at least make it look like the dance was deliberately over. No one was really paying any attention to them, anyway.

As they packed up, Layla nudging the draft to sweep the dyes under the crack in the door where they would be swooped up by the natural breeze, Nasira continued an argument they had begun earlier that day. “I still think we should go to the Guard, Layla. You know I heard what that symbol means. The fact that it is on our own front door frightens me. Zozeko is not home to protect us.”

“And what will the Guard do, Nasira? You know how they treat Zanaryans here, like we are second class.” She kept her voice hushed. Though they could have spoken Zanaryan to make sure they were not overheard, they both naturally defaulted to Elysian now. They had to make a conscious effort to speak their native tongue when Zozeko came home. He was already growing furious that their youngest children acted more like Elysians than their own people. “They will merely say we deserve the mark. And who is to say it is not just some veiled threat because we are Zanaryan?”

“That is possible,” Zozeko's youngest sister sighed. She shoved a lock of white-blonde hair behind her ear, brown eyes narrowing with distaste as they passed the table where the Nymph sat. “But with the children at home, can we take the chance that the mark is not that of the monster hunting our streets?”

[Ionia]

“Nia short for Ionia.” She'd never thought much of her name, it was just something people used to call her by. For those who cared though, she'd been named after her her great-grandmother who'd been named after some character in some long-forgotten fable. Listening to the ayad's ramblings, the skotados raised an eyebrow when she heard Extai mention the murders again. How horrific could it be, if so many people were talking about it?

Her lips pursed in annoyance when she heard the reason why Extai had followed her. Lifting the cup of cider, Nia responded, “As you can see, I have no claws, nor do I have the abilities to produce one at will.” She could understand why her shadows drew suspicion though...but why would Extai care enough to investigate? She didn't look like a bounty hunter, let alone a Guard. As Nia drank her cider, the wooden floorboards creaked nearby as a waiter placed a side of chicken in front of her with some silverware. Nodding with a word of thanks, Nia dug into the chicken as the waiter asked the nymph for any orders.

A pair of fancily-dressed Zanaryans walked past her table, and again the monster of Marport was mentioned. Frankly, Nia wasn't too worried about the monster, not in the least because her ship was scheduled to leave within the next two days. Anyway, the clawed creature was most likely just a gytrash, and there were enough Guards in the city to ensure its timely capture. They'd find it even sooner with a hired hunter. At that thought, Nia glanced toward the two zanaryan women to memorize their faces. If the bounty's reward was good enough, she'd want to talk to them first.

[Extai]

Extai smiled at the name, or continued to smile. Extai could feel that Ionia was weary of Extai but she didn't mind. She had no reason to cause harm and saw no use in feeding such thoughts. To help sooth the woman Extai went to place her hand palms up on the table. Only to cause a small gust that held red dust to fall on her hands and across her lap. Extai's eyes widened. She didn't remember grabbing red. Giving Ionia a red hand she quickly turned to scope the room. Finding a flustered pair of woman who had colored dust on them Extai frowned. She looked back to the area around Ionias shoulders and frowned. Turning between the two area's Extai finally gave up. She doesn't know how she managed it but she did and now the horned creatures were clearly upset.

Turning back to Ionia she caught on that Ionia had opened her mouth to speak again, “As you can see, I have no claws, nor do I have the abilities to produce one at will.”Extai simply nodded. She was still trying to piece together how she had taken a gust from the woman when she simply remembered pulling from around Ionias shoulder. It simply made no sense. Behind her she heard talk of the monster who lurked the town again but dismissed it. Trying to piece together how it happened Extai pulled gusts from the cracks in the building and lifted the red dust that lay on her. Ignoring the looks ,if any, from Ionia; Extai focused it around Ionias shoulder and then paired it with the gust the flowed there. Watching as the red moved wide spread from the area Extai slumped down in her chair. Briefly loosing control of the gust and allowing some red to fall on Ionia,"Opps."Extai pushed the rest of the dust over to her side and unto the floor. Soon it blended in with the dirt and Extai turned just in time to see the woman start to head to the door.

Scrambling out of her chair and sending Ionia a quick excuse Extai went to catch up to them calling,"Ladies! Entertainers. Oh gosh dang it. zanaryan women! Extai paid no heed to the onlookers giving her weird looks and such but only unto the woman she had caused trouble and seemed to be in trouble themselves.

[NPC]

Layla paused, then glanced over her shoulder as Nasira drew to a stop just ahead of her. Eyeing the young woman who had called them to a halt, the Zanaryan huffed but pasted on her "entertainer" smile. She almost expected the girl to reprimand her or something, either for quitting early or just for being a Zanaryan, but nevertheless waited politely. Perfectly groomed eyebrows, as white as her hair, arched and Layla made an elaborate gesture, meaning, "elaborate". “Can we help you?”

[Ionia]

White hair was one a Zanaryan norm, so Nia immediately dismissed those traits as she tried to memorize their appearances. One of them petite, and by her air-dancing, a djinn. That was the most she could notice before a gust of powder scattered over her face and shoulders. “censored!” Shaking the red from her hair, she cursed with a fluid string of anyeli. It didn't matter that Extai tried to pull it away again, she'd just about had enough crap from the day.

The nymph had already left hastily to speak with the Zanaryans, but Nia didn't give a damn. Leaving her half-eaten plate on the table, she stormed toward Extai, wings roiling with shadows. “What the Hel was that!” She growled as she confronted the ayad. “Control your air, or go back to the Fae.” Huffing, she brushed past the two zanaryan women before exiting the establishment. She'd been looking forward to bath and sleep, but now she wanted to go out there and...she didn't know! Kill another giant scorpion or something.

Pausing under the large clover sign, she glared into the dark skies and growled again. Curse Marport and curse Dardanos, she wanted to go home.

A foreign sound started in the distance. It had sounded like a cat until the noise was drawn out and increased in octaves. Undoubtedly and unfortunately, it was the wail of the frightened.