2017-09-24: The Quality of Life
- Log: The Quality of Life
- Cast: Riesenlied, Arleph Ardan
- Where: Wayside
- Date: 24th September 2017
- Summary: Arleph explores the village of Wayside, and encounters Riesenlied within.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
In the preceeding weeks since the events at the Guardian Temple and the Aveh-Kislev warfront erupting into unexpected turmoil, rumors have cropped up -- a rumor of relief for those who were seeking shelter and protection from the war. A village had been created, accepting all those who had been left by the wayside -- literally called 'Wayside'.
But somewhat more concerningly, there were also rumors that the inhabitants of this village were not quite... human. And indeed, when Arleph makes his way past a winding mountain trail to a hidden valley covered by two cresting hills, he finds Wayside -- a great campfire surrounded by a ring of caravans, around which several pre-fab buildings have been crafted. Of note was the regular watering hole, a bar with a flashy sign called 'V4L-H4LLA', and a larger building up the hill near to where a waterway has given way to a farming field.
It's... quiet and humble -- and the people are indeed strange. The guards at the entrance... one of them has a Gear piston replacing his leg, and the other one looks like he's replaced his left shoulder with an ammo crate. Nearby, a lady with a refrigerator for a torso and a pair of binoculars walks into the bar.
But Arleph sees someone more familiar seated by the caravans -- the pale-blonde Metal Demon Riesenlied, dressed in what appears to be tribal clothing, with a capelet and dress of earthen colors, reading... a book? Out loud, to several children around the fire.
<Pose Tracker> Arleph Ardan has posed.
There is something that makes Arleph different than most people on this planet. It IS related to the fact that he is an alien. The Federation was a pretty wide place, with many species lviing in it. It's even more prominent when you went to do high studies: Universities are very specifically multicultural. At least, the one he was at.
So while it is quite a curious sight as he enters the outskirts of the little 'Wayside' village, to see at it's inhabitants in various... cybernetic states, he is not horrified, or appaled. He is curious. Besides, if the rumors were true, this is a village for refugees. The last thing refugee needs is the judgement of some tattooed buffoon. By the look of things, this place will very much need some support.
Arleph tips his hat on the way to the bar, nodding at the guards. At first, he imagine dit to be some sort of cybernetics... but it's looking out to be far more peculiar than that. He was about to enter, until he sees the fire, the glare of the flames preventing him until he got closer. He's seen Riesenlied a few times before, or at least heard about her. A Metal Demon, that much he knew.
He adjusts his gloves, straightens his impeccable long duster -- he's always been amazed that nobody called him out on having the same, identical clothes even if they got shredded -- and edges around the fires, hands in his pockets as he listens in on the story.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
"And then, the brave hero realised... what he had sought all this time was no sword," Riesenlied has a pretty good narrator voice, and the children -- human children, Arleph notices -- are pretty rapt up in awe. "Laevateinn was not the magic sword that all the tales made it out to be."
"Now you have learnt the truth, young one, said the magic cucco..." A pause, as she looks towards Arleph and gives him a quiet wave, then expresses, "Hold on a moment, children."
"Aww, no fair! I wanna know what happens!" sulks one of the boys.
She picks herself up and walks over towards the man in the duster, tilting her head. "Excuse me, sir, but you look a little familiar..." A pause. "Oh, excuse me, where are my manners -- my name is Riesenlied. Welcome to Wayside."
Confirmed just like that, like it weren't a name with a half a million bounty on it.
<Pose Tracker> Arleph Ardan has posed.
Arleph didn't mean to be quite so intrusive. He smiles at the story, obviously unfamiliar with it, but children stories have constant everywhere there's human life, it looks like. Is this a local book, or something made up right here, right now?
He nods in her direction as he steps over, removing his hands from his pockets, making sure to make them visible that he didn't have weapons or anything similar. So that /is/ her, then. That do take some amount of gall to be able to say something like that open with a large bounty on your head for being affiliated with marauding 'monsters'.
Of course, he's never seen her before, but heard /of/ her, there and there.
"Doctor Arleph Ardan." the Symbologist replies, nodding his head forward, taking his hat off.
Considering, his thousand Gella bounty on his head is pretty small potatoes.
"Thanks you for your welcome. I had to see this place with my own eyes."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
The tome isn't familiar, and the worn quality that it has suggests that it might be something of personal importance to her. "Ah, a doctor...? Might I ask what you are a doctor of?" Riesenlied's smile is gentle and guileless, as she bows her head in turn. She really didn't seem like the 'Deceiver' that the posters all make her to be, but... well, perhaps appearances can be deceiving?
It would be one heck of a long con to have a village like this and have it all be a ruse, though.
"I feel I have seen you before ... was it at the Lacour Tournament of Arms?" she reminds herself, then nods. "I think so. You fought Mister Ethius, didn't you?"
She looks around and gestures. "And please, feel free to look around our village. We don't have a lot here, but we have basic services for Drifters available..."
<Pose Tracker> Arleph Ardan has posed.
Rumors tends to be something that is hard to struggle against, Arleph found, titles being one of them. He's almost scared of finding out what might be told about him in that department. If he makes a wrong move, will he be labelled as a Warlock that poison wells?
"Symbology. I also know quite a large amount in chemistry." The man replies, returning the smile. Well, if he is being Deceived, he'll deal with the consequences as they come. Trust is important to at least offer on some degree.
His hands remains clear from his body as she mentions the tournament, fingers separating further. "That's correct, I was a fighter during the tournament. I am afraid I did not go very far, myself." He nods again, placing his hat back on his head, squeezing it down by pressing on the rim. "Mister Ethius and I was our first battle and I am afraid it was not a good showing. I suspect he was holding back on me."
He looks around at the gestured village, before looking back at her. "Thanks you, but I came specifically to this place to verify it myself. To see what came of the refugees I've heard about."
Arleph refocus on her, tilting his head to one side. "You are in need of a lot."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
"Symbology..." Riesenlied nods, having seen Ethius' own magic with her own two eyes. "I profess not knowing that there was such a thing as a doctorate in Symbology, but it makes sense." She bobs her head and says, "And yes, I remember what happened... I was deeply concerned at what he might have tried--"
She gestures. "That same spell... he used it to heavily damage the Golem Diablo during the Adlehyde Fairgrounds."
Which is, in the end, relieving that nothing happened. She looks around the village. "Yes, there's much to be worked on... currently, we're relying on the ARM water purifier for our trade." She points up the hill around the large house, where there's a curious device that's intercepting a stream of water from the cliffs.
She tilts her head. "You... were also present during one of the battles the Drifters had with my brethren, were you? You mentioned something to the effect of-- our leaving Filgaia."
<Pose Tracker> Arleph Ardan has posed.
Arleph have seen what Ethius' symbology can do. Much of it is not something that is found here, or developed here. Even fewer would earn him a hunt by authorities with their applications. "Symbology is a realm of study, Ms. Riesenlied. One that requires mastery, much like any fields. It merly have a more... applied field to it. There are some... fields in it that are less savory or are agreed that are more dangerous than others, or unethical." He replies, "I've heard of what he used. I've seen it." Elsewhere, Arleph adds mentally.
He returns to look around the village, frowning for a moment. "Then the biggest worry I've had is resolved. That's good. Water purification is an important thing. You can go without full meals for a while, but water is quite a different story."
He returns her gaze, nodding. So open and blatant about that. Is she able to defend herself doing like this, or worse, keeping it secret? "I was." He answers. "I've also come to the conclusion that if you could leave, you would have, by now. Which changes the question:"
His eyes focuses into her's. "What keeps you here, in an hostile ecosystem?"
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied nods at Arleph's appraisal of Symbology. That makes sense. "I can't say I've seen too many others. Miss Jacqueline is a crest sorcerer, and others practice in different disciplines... they are beyond me, I'm afraid, as interested in magic as I am."
She looks to the purifier again and nods. "We've begun the work of growing our own crops too. It's hard to say what will grow in such desert-like conditions... but I have hope."
There is a moment of silence, and then expresses, "Filgaia is my home, Mister Arleph. It is hostile to us, and the powers that support it view us as anathema... but I've no other place to go, no means to do so. A long time ago, before I was created, our ancestors came here seeking shelter... and we, the Hyadeans of a new generation, bear the wounds that our ancestors bear."
She sighs. "This village is but one way I am trying to keep the hatred from spreading further. To show these younger folk... that there is more to life than battle, than hate."
<Pose Tracker> Arleph Ardan has posed.
Arleph watches her. His eyes are faintly narrowed, looking above his optics. Sharp, focused, another example that he might not actually need them to see. There is something of an appraisal in his gaze, if not judgement. He nods subtly to her, in the end, perhaps a little to himself as well.
"So I am being led to believe." The Symbologist replies, breaking the gaze for a few moments to look over at the water purification. He'll have to trust that the device works correctly with microbes and other polluting agents. "I have seen and spoken with some of these powers you mention. It is facinating in some aspects. I do not thing I've ever seen -- imagined that the world had beings one another plane of existence attached to Filgaia."
He almost forgets, sometimes. He have to talk like a native, not like he's a man that's seen dozens of worlds just like this.
His gaze flies back to the children, nodding slowly. "It is a good step. But there will need to be more to be done about that."
Arleph pauses for a moment, before asking without looking back at her. "Is this what your people call themselves? Hyadeans? Is it the name of the world that your ancestors fled from?"
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
"... words can only convince people so far," Riesenlied expresses gently, knowing that it isn't going to happen overnight. For all she knows, the device is fairly sophisticated... its origins are a mystery to her, but it was one of the strongest reasons she chose this site.
"Yes, that was the name of our world. Hyades. Legend speaks of how at the brink of disaster, our holy saviour, Mother, brought our people and swam across the sea of stars and promised us a new home here, in Filgaia..."
A pause, and she tilts her head with a furrowed brow. "But the reality is a lot bloodier than that. ... the Guardians and my kin wage war of a grudge a thousand years old."
She lowers her head. "And every time battle is struck, it is Filgaia that suffers. If nothing is done... we may not even have this world left anymore."
<Pose Tracker> Arleph Ardan has posed.
Hyades. Sounds a lot like 'Hades', Arleph muses. That's probably a coencidence.
"I agree. Actions, such as theses, are a good step." Arleph agrees on, still keeping his hands spread at his side, immobile. She's seen what he can do, if she saw him fight. It's probably not needed, but he at least don't want to worry her further.
He nods at her brief tale, frowning for a moment. If this is true, this do mean that they were on another world, which explain their alien phisiology compared to most of the stuff that exists here. And this mother... The 'Mother'.
"This is what usually happens, when competing ecosystems clashes into one another." Arleph murmurs for a moment, frowning further. A saviour. So, this means that this 'Mother' is actually not the progenitor of their species. Merly a saviour.
A saviour that brought them /here/. Why here? Is there something specific on this planet? Or did it get caught like he have and cannot escape?
"Tell me." He says, refocusing on her. "This 'Mother'. Your species existed before her apperance, then, correct, by your stories?"
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
"Indeed, though at this point in time, we only have the scant myths and stories to go on," Riesenlied expresses in return, as she watches some of the children start to play as they gravitate their attention from her story. One of them's put a bucket over their head and fingerguns, and the other has a stick they're swinging like a sword.
"Not even the events of a thousand years ago are well known to most of us," she remarks. "... I've revered Mother as a kind, gentle figure who is all-accepting all this time... yet..."
The reality does not necessarily match, does it.
<Pose Tracker> Arleph Ardan has posed.
"It does not match reality." Arleph sumrises her hesitation, focusing back into her eyes. Again, unlike many people, Arleph have the advantage of having a wider view than most people on this planet. He knows that there is more out here. He knows history, to a degree.
"A thousand year of being talked about, of your species being saved from another world, brought her... where you fought with the local Higher Powers, to make this place yours. After all, the Holy Mother brought you here... And you have nowhere else to go."
He lifts an eyebrow. "Is that the gist of it? Did the 'Mother' speak ever since?"
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied is on touchy ground here. Yet, it is not a secret that Mother has not yet awokened fully yet -- that was why the elders urged the Drifters to seek the Guardian statues, after all... their plans were no longer exactly secret.
"Just once," she admits. "... she was distraught. Her voice was full of wrath and anger..."
She sighs weakly. "... I can't stand by and see another Adlehyde happen. Many of my brethren are driven by their loyalty and faith to Mother, as I am..."
She shakes her head with a tired-sounding sigh, feeling something stir in her head. She looks a bit dizzy, and she breaks out with a quiet cough. Curious, that a Metal Demon should exhibit human-like symptoms of illness. "--sorry. ... while it may be true that she saved us from the brink of annihilation... I can no longer ignore that we are inciting more destruction in a bid to resurrect her from her prison."
She looks to the skies. "I choose to seek the truth of the past. I must know... what it is that happened a thousand years ago. What led to all of this grief, this hatred between the Guardians and my brethren."
<Pose Tracker> Arleph Ardan has posed.
This is also a precarious line of questioning for Arleph. While he is certain that she wont attack or try to silence him for his questions, it is best to not go... TOO insistent on theories. Still. This is a chance.
"I see..." The Symbologist says, daring this time to lift a finger to scratch at his chin, frowning. "On this, we are in agreement. I do not wish to see Adlehyde happen again." He sudden tiredness attracts his attention, his frown deepening, this time in worry. She seems sick. Perhaps it's just fatigue, considering what is happening around him. Building a camp, taking care of refugee. This is tiring work.
"Pardon me saying so." Arleph adds, more softly. "There are irregularities with the story you gave me. A saviour, bringing to another planet, to conquer it, then falls asleep. There is... something bizzare about this." Arleph appears to be good at staring with a firm gaze. He have a presence to him. "I will support you in your quest on discovering the truth. There is something world with this world, Filgaia, something that must be discovered. There is more."
His eyes flies back to the children and his softness returns. "I may also be able to help you, more directly."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied clears her throat, and adjusts her seating for a moment as she lowers her head. "The Guardians sealed her. I don't know what happened in the war, but that was its outcome," she expresses, deciding that there's no use hiding this. The Baskar Colony elders know this, and they've told the chosen Drifters of the Guardians as much. "I've heard of those that came to the Temple being charged to seek Guardian statues out, that they may protect them from my brethren."
There's a quiet sigh.
"... do keep this hushed, but as you might be able to imagine... I won't be pursuing those statues myself," she remarks. "I cannot openly oppose them, powerful and armed as my elders all are. It is not necessarily my skill, but a measure of subtlety is necessary right now."
She laces her hands together and looks to the children again. "Thank you. And... ah? What did you mean, with your direct help?"
<Pose Tracker> Arleph Ardan has posed.
Arleph gives her another nod, still looking at the children for a moment. He's been pretty stiff during this conversation, alert. It is at this point that he is starting to relax, his stance not growing as tense. "Sealed her... Legends do say that it was because of destruction, the land dying. Like it is right now."
He looks back at her, shoving his hands back into his pockets to stand more causally than before. "It is just another secret to keep. Spreading knowledge of this will result in problems for me, anyway. It is safe with me." He lifts a hand out, waving his hand, demonstrating with it. "I am a Symbologist, dear. I can make things for you that you might need. Water seems handled -- and I would like to get a look at it to make sure it is doing well -- but I can provide some construction for you. Quality of life. Light."
He frowns for a moment thinking. "Which brings me to my next question. What IS the difference between you and your 'elders'? Beyond age. Obviously."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Is Filgaia's dying solely the work of Mother? Was that what truly happened? There were so many other things to consider... such as the role that the Elw had to play, the Zeboim civilisation... so many secrets hidden beneath the earth, in the Ruins. "Thank you," is her clear, simple, yet empathic expression.
She nods at his offer of construction to say, "I didn't know Symbology could do such a thing -- but that is brilliant. We certainly could use some more assistance making shelters for everyone."
She blinks once at that question, before she comments, "Other than age, well... the Hyadeans that you see here are what they deem... 'Tainted'."
A pause. "You know of the Day of Collapse, nearly five hundred years ago? At that time, the world was brought to its knees... and my ancestors were not spared. They faced a shortage of resources..."
She bobs her head one way, looking at the children scuffle amiably amongst themselves. "They lacked the materials to build 'normal' Hyadeans. Those that were conceived during that time, including myself, were of exceptionally poor health and ... quality, due to the impurity in the materials."
She holds the clawed hand of hers up. "We were weak and deficient, in many ways, compared to our brethren. They cast us aside, for we were not deemed fit to fight, to the bottommost pits of our hometown."
A guard passes near, limping on one leg that doesn't seem able to support his weight. But he carries on, as his partner supports him on his shoulder.
"You've seen my brethren -- for they are proud. They do not tolerate failure lightly. Those that are injured in battle, those that cannot cope with the stresses of war... they too are labelled 'Tainted', and I often see that they're cared for, where our elders do not."
<Pose Tracker> Arleph Ardan has posed.
There is a lot left to be known. That's why Arleph is trying to not make too many assumptions. He is not of this world, a world that apparently have a very rich, hidden story and history. Secrets hiding in unexpected places. Things that he should know, like this 'Day of Collapse'. This is something that he should know... yet he does not. "Symbology will be more able to offer you items. Applying it to construction might be more intensive that it might be worth. However... small, portable chairs. Containers to keep food preserved and cool. This, I can do."
He listens to her story, furrowing his brows. Of course, the first thing that come to mind is how precisely new 'Hyadeans' are made. Is it sexual reproduction? They do appear to have genders of some sort. Something else, completly? He looks down at her claw, frowning for a moment, refocusing. What a curious physiology they have... He can't imagine something like this that have evolved naturally. Were they created, modified, corrupted?
"I see the tendency to cast aside what do not please you, or remind you of what you could be, of 'failures', is not only a human trait." Arleph says, mildly, smiling at her sadly. He gives the guard a brief glance. Wildly different physiology. "I've seen your fellow. Harsh, hard, assured in their power... and powerfull, they are."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Ah, so there are size limits... that was curious, but understandable. "Ah, food storage containers would be great. And ... indeed," Riesenlied can't help but agree with that assessment. "We are at our core a martial race, one borne of continual discipline and self-perfection in the various arts. And thus, to be unable to effectively contribute to the war effort..."
A pause.
"... but that is why we are here. Trying something new, something different. It is markedly dangerous, but... I think you would find most people here say that even crossing the desert and flirting with the disaster of being caught in Aveh and Kislev's war to try to seek a new home is preferrable to how we were treated back home."
To seek improbable hope, perhaps, was better than to languish in certain despair. There's a hardiness to these people, the kind who are struck down, and get back up again, time and time again.
"Thank you for listening to our tale, Mister Arleph," she expresses her gratitude again. "Understanding cannot happen without communication -- whether between individuals, or between cultures or even species... and I feel happy to have spoken to you such."
<Pose Tracker> Arleph Ardan has posed.
Size is not the problem. It just becomes quite costly. Not that she needs to know that, at the moment. "What a culture decide is relevent is... difficult to modify. In the end, it is influence and circumstance that can change a society's views." The Symbologist says, shoving his hands back into his pockets, this time to start fishing around. "Warriors tend to fall off without support, and when they have strength, they can impose the support that keeps them afloat to continue. Change comes from pressure and the need to change. If their strength fails..."
Arleph lets that fall off, giving her a smile. A refugee camp, growing into a city with multi species... That could be interesting to support. Risky, yet it could become something new, something familiar to him.
"You are welcome, Riesenlied." Arleph replies. "I agree. Communication is essential to understand and bridge people together. In this case, silence will serve us well: I doubt many of either of our kind will appreciate our conversations."
Arleph takes out an hand out of a pocket, holding a small little cardboard square. "Take this. It is some kindling I have been experimenting on: it should help igniting a fire, without needing much fuel, for a night or two."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied knows that quite well. She's seen it many a time amongst the neonates, after all. The fresh-faced Metal Demons, pumped full of iron doctrine and the blessings of Mother, charge headlong into the many battlefields of Filgaia... and when their strength fails them...
"... then the Tainted are there to catch them," is what Riesenlied expresses softly. She smiles at his reply, then looks towards the square with some curiosity. "Oh, interesting... that would certainly come in handy -- it's also very light, compared to wood or other flammables."
There's a whine and a nag from behind, and one of the kids goes, "Miss Rieeese, are you still talking?? Come on, finish that story already!"
"Just a moment...!" Riesenlied expresses gently, then looks to the square again, and puts it away. "Thank you again, Mister Arleph. Please feel free to stay at the inn, or at one of our caravans -- and do let me know if you need anything else."
She bows her head in thanks and comes back to the fire, smiling brightly as she resumes the story as the children pile to her side. Even Riesenlied might not have fully noticed how the genuine emotions she's showing to the children are, nurturing them, caring for them...