Musical Serenity (Ellaria, Open)

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At sunrise, Adrain stood at the edge of the waterfall, standing on a stump as a wind blew over him. In his hand was a violin, an item of fine quality but nothing out of the ordinary. Serai, his tiger companion laid down on a rock nearby. Adrain wore a typical black mage's robe over his outfit, the hood down for the moment. As he looked at the fiery sky, he begins to play a mellow tune on the violin. The draw of the bow would be long, his fingers deft as the tune starts out slowly. As the sky brightens, the tune begins to accelerate, turning more lively. The sounds would be exotic, energetic with a tinge of sadness at the lowest layer of the music.

The violin would go on for about ten minutes straight before Adrain would finally take a break from it and pause, looking at the water and closing his eyes with a contented sigh. Serai at this point gets up and walks over to Adrain, nudging his head against his leg pulling him out of his momentary trance.

"Yeah yeah you want your food do you?" he says with a small chuckle, going over to a pack on the ground, opening it up and pulling out a wrapped bunch of meat on a bone, putting the wrapper with meat on top of it down as the large cat begins to gnaw and chew at it. Adrain meanwhile looks on at the water flowing as he holds his hand up, a visible ball of water and wind manifesting in a small storm.

"Life's been exciting the past couple weeks, yeah boy?" he says absently at the cat as he turns to a small pile of wood with a fire crystal in the middle, igniting it and allowing warmth to spread in a small area. He then continues to stand looking down the mountain manipulating the magical sphere. It was a habit he had done quite a bit when he was in the wild, manifesting an active ball of mana and maintaining it.

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Ellaria was yet again set out for Dragon Breath Falls, she wore what she usually did, a pair of fitted black pants, a fitted black top, boots, and her heavy black cloak with Crowley warped around her shoulders. She wanted to get the falls at a different angle and she couldn't wait to see what the water looked like in the morning sun. She had gone a few days prior to draw and had ended up running into a cottage. This time she was dead set on not running into any strangers of any sort. She would find a peaceful place to sit, draw, and read to her hearts content. "I don't see why we are out here again just to sit at a different area. Why not explore a new place? Or better yet. Find a job, so we can find a place to live permanently so we don't have to keep sleeping in a tavern. Set down some roots."

Ellaria rolled her eyes, "Crowley, we have been in Nova for what. A week maybe? We haven't had time to set down any 'roots'. It's going to take some time. So until then. Why don't we enjoy the nature? Explore a bit."

Crowley hissed. "Well yes I do see your point. But don't put it off for to long. The longer you wait the harder it will be."

Ellaria groaned, "And I see your point, tomorrow when I wake up, I'll set off to find something to do with my time besides being an antisocial out of towner. We'll start setting down roots. Sound good?"

"Sounds Fantastic. I can't wait." It was then that both of them could hear the faint sound of a violin being played. Ellaria shook her head and started off in a different direction, opposite of the cottage, and opposite of the music. "Oh come one Elly! Are you that afraid of people? I can just see it now. A Beautiful, well endowed maiden, playing her violin by the waterfalls. In a gorgeous white dress and water droplets sparkling in her hair." Ellaria rolled her eyes and continued to walk away.

"That's it Crowley, you are no longer allowed to read over my shoulder. It's making your imagination grow, and thus filling it with strange images of girls." She chuckled and Crowley hissed again.

"Come on. Elly please. Just this once, lets see if my imagination is right. If you don't I'll escape, and then you'll have to go chasing after me. And you remember how that turned out last time." It was now Ellaria's turn to hiss, her red eyes narrowing at the snake.

"Fine, But I am warning you now. You are not to embarrass me. Got it?" Crowley hissed in agreement, delighted that Ellaria was finally breaking free of her antisocial chains.

She turned, following the sound of the music, knowing she was getting closer to whomever was playing the violin by the volume of the song getting louder along with the sounds of water crashing down. A few moments passed as she continued to walk, when the music had stopped right before she found the source of it; curiosity won her over and she stepped through the last bit of trees and brush to find yet another beautiful scene of the water falls, the water reflecting the morning rays of sun in different oranges and pinks. She then saw a somewhat familiar mage accompanied by a somewhat familiar tiger.

"Sorry Crowley, but it seems that you were wrong. No maidens here." She chuckled and waved at Adrain if he were to turn around and spot her, stopping to notice he was doing something with what looked like a ball to create a minuscule storm. "Adrain right? Sorry for intruding, but your music caught the ears of Crowley and I. He was convinced you were some lovely wayward maiden playing in the forest." She cleared her throat with her brow furrowed in slight confusion as she gestured toward to ball like thing. "What exactly is that?"

[Roland]

"KAIARU! I finally found you." Shouts a voice as a pale taciturn man in a long black coat and wide brimmed hat clops up the bluff towards the man. His face was still shrouded in its perpetual frown and his violet eyes glowed dimly beneath the brim. "I am out of shape." He puffs, these three months of dealing with house politics and his new marriage had not improved the Dova's physical endurance, and while he was still in fine shape, a hike like this was not light exercise.

As sweat tricks down his brow he looks up at the Arch wizard and narrows his eyes, then as he notices another approach and senses Serai he lets out an exasperated sigh.

The wizard stands up to his full height and looks at the group. "And who are you?" He asks gruffly, clearly not used to social niceties.

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As the quiet was broken by someone joining them, Adrain turns to see who it was. The raven haired phioric with purportedly perverted python that he met at the springs arrived. He smiles warmly, gesturing for Ellaria and her animal to join them.

"Ah welcome, yes I decided to come to the falls today since it had been awhile, a little musical instrumentation for inspiration in my various works. What brings you out here?" he says, having a small bubble of sweat go down, that the snake thought it was a maiden. Iris might get amusement if he told her of this one. Serai raised his head as Ellaria appeared, then lowered it having no reason. The cat knew she was phioric but as far as he could tell there was no communication.

As she asked him what the ball was, he chuckles and waves it, sending it towards her but stopping three feet in front of her, knowing that she was a little skittish and shy at times.

"It is an exercise of magic I tend to do when I am idle in the woods, it circulates mana and energy into a contained system to use for control exercise." he says as he manifests another sphere and sends it towards the first, the two beginning to rotate around each other in a binary system.

"What do you think of it?" he says open-endedly.

Then a somewhat familiar face and voice approaches as Roland emerged from a different point. The fact that he was looking for him both intrigued and bothered him. He had heard Roland had some trouble in his life, not too many of the fine details but enough to know that there might be some greater motive here. As he muttered he was out of shape, Adrain chuckled slightly.

"Oh come now, it can't be that bad. A little exercise keeps mind and body sharp, you should know that better than most." he says, then scowling slightly when he was gruff to Ellaria.

"Manners Roland, this is Ellaria, a newer friend of mine along with her companion...Crowley I think? In any case, what do you seek me out for to come out to the region, or is this just a convenience coincidence of some sort?"

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Ellaria continued to look at the sphere for a moment before looking back to Adrain. "Oh, Um, I like to read and draw. We came here a few days ago and I thought it would be interesting to come back. Different angles and such." She slowly began to trail off as she watched him send the ball her way. Both her and Crowley amused by it. When he made it stop not far from her, she took a few curious steps forward wanting to examine it bit closer. If she was completely honest with herself she wanted to sketch the orb itself now instead of the falls.

As he began to explain what the sphere was her face scrunched in confusion. "Circulate Mana...What? My apologies. Where I come from we don't really practice magic like this. My kind, any abilities apart from the most well known are extremely rare. Some have telepathic abilities, others foresight, and an even more rare few have element based abilities."

As he sent another ball forward to have them spin around each other, her eyebrows raised in a sort of child like fascination. When he questioned her about what he thought of it, she looked back at him her head tilted as she tried to find the right words. "I find it interesting. Like I said where I'm from this type of magic is uncommon so I am not accustomed to it. Even in my travels, I mostly kept to myself so I never ran into magic users."

Just as Ellaria was truly beginning to relax a bit she heard someone yelling and running forward onto the scene. She jumped, completey startled, before tensing back up like her normal self. Crowley hissed, having been startled as well from having his attention solely on Mana Sphere. He tightened himself slightly around Ellaria's shoulders, reassuring her.

As she regained her composure her eyes and lips thinned into lines of suspicion, nodding, "Crowley is correct, and who might you be?" She asked, matching the mans gruff tone.

Crowley hissed reprimanding Ellaria, "You know you shouldn't be so rude to people, even if they are rude to you first. Like the Adrain fellow said. Manners Elly."

Ellaria scoffed as she blew a stray piece of ebony hair out of her face and grumbled, "He started it...." Crowley hissed again at Ellaria wishing he could apologize for her bad people skills. And she had been doing so well not two minutes before.

[Roland]

Roland scowled in response to Adrain's reproach. He looked vaguely remeniscent of a belligerent black bear and his long black coats tassels swirled about in a noticeably unnatural fashion mirroring his annoyance. Though he takes a deep and then a few more as he catches his breath and he slowly begins to calm down. "She is one of your students then?" He asks with a tilt of his head his magical senses extending to see if the girl had magical talent.

After another minute he lets out a long sigh and his scowl softened into a frown. He reaches down and fiddles with a crystalline ring on his left ring finger, a new habit he had not previously possessed. "Excuse me I apologize for you rudeness I know this is a poor excuse but I have had a very stressful last couple of days." His gruff voice softened. "My name is Roland, I am captain of the guard, or at least I was before I left for vacation, it seems some things have changed." He admits as he looks around.

"Anyways headmaster I came to ask you about a couple of things, but I think the most burning question I have is, do you know what this is?" He asks pulling his coat collar aside to reveal the obsidian collar below, the one that had been placed on him before he left and the one that he still was unsure of the effect of.

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"I've always envied those who have a knack for drawing. It's not a talent I've been able to cultivate to an appreciable level so far." he says with genuine admiration. "Perhaps I could see some of your work some time?" he states, then watching as Ellaria and Crowley approached the orb with apparent fascination in their eyes. He listened as Ellaria explained what she knew about magic and where she came from attitude towards it.

"It is just feeling the energy in the air around and willing it to form as a small, circulating system. A common exercise among those looking to maintain their mana control." he states, responding to her first bit of uncertainty. When he was told that she found it interesting, he smiled amused.

"Would you like to learn how to do that? The Arch of Ages is always taking on new students on the path to magecraft, if I remember correctly from the springs, you two are travelers looking for a new path. It is an option to consider." he says warmly, then Roland had crashed the party.

Adrain gave Roland a sharp glare as he began to have mana activate around him in a level of questionable control before he calmed down. Even Roland would likely think twice before letting his emotions get the better of him here.

"Potentially, pending her decision." Adrain says in response to the question about Ellaria being one of his students. He noted that Roland had begun to play with a ring when he addressed Ellaria and at least somewhat apologized. He notes the words he says about the former guard and things changing, but does not address them in that moment.

Then something curious...Roland turned to him asking about a collar. Adrain narrowed his eyes as they took on a luminescence indicating he was scanning the collar in question. "I can't say I've seen that specifically before, it's certainly nothing that would have come out of the Arch as a formal project or product for sale." he states then quiet for a few moments as he analyzed it.

"The magic behind this is unusual, but it seems to actually have an interaction with your soul, traces of curse magic, and some form of will on its own that it can seemingly constrict or loosen without human interaction. Trying to remove it forcibly would be difficult if not impossible and could result in a magical backlash that would kill you worst case scenario."

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Ellaria thought about what Adrain had said as the man Roland spoke with him. Could she even be able to do something like that? Could anybody do it with the proper schooling and practice? The whole thought confused her, as did magic in general. Crowley squeezed her lightly again to get her attention. "Stop doubting yourself Elly. This is a good opportunity for you. Look at yourself, your body has transformed minutely just by being in my presence. Imagine what you could do if you started trying to do things on purpose. You may not be legendary, but you could possibly do some great things. Find yourself."

Ellaria sighed and rubbed her temples, trying not to think about the many valid points Crowley had been making lately. The snake usually wasn't so level headed, and the fact that he was being so at that moment made the albino girl think. "There's no harm in at least trying. Is there?" She arched her eyebrow at the snake around her shoulders, simply nodding in agreement. No there was no hurt in trying new things, as long as they didn't kill you.

She had been so wrapped up into listening to Crowley pep talk her that when he finished, she realized she had completely tapped out of the conversation after Roland had apologized. "Um it is something that I would be interested in. If it won't kill me." She blinked, also realizing that she spoke up out of no where. She blinked, clearing her throat, embarrassed. "My apologies. Crowley was talking to me."

[Roland]

Roland's frown deepened in response to Adrain's explanation. Not very useful, he thinks to himself as he stops and tilts his head looking at the girl. He could feel magic within her, though it felt different... A Dova?...No...something else...oh well

"I am aware the collar is not from your arch, I don't think you routinely build crap like this and no student is going to be building a binding I cannot remove." He grumbles, though it was more out of discontentment than scorn or anything of the sort. "I was more hoping you could give me a clue as to who made it, or how I can get it off, or even better specific limitations to the spell." He explains, though he trails off as Aveline's scolding face flashes through his mind. "...please," he finishes quietly, the final word being very uncharacteristic of the mage.

As Ellaria speaks up Roland's attention focuses on her again. "Magic training does not kill anyone if their instructor knows what they are doing, and Adrain is probably the best instructor on theory in the kingdom." Roland assures her, the gruff manner making it a point of fact as the coat he wore finally came to a rest and his messy mop of hair settled down.

"If you are talking to the snake you've probably got some level of talent for nature or shape shifting magic." He points out then trails off before asking "what's your name anyways?"

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"Excellent, I would be more than happy to show you everything you need to know and if you decide to become a formal student at the Arch I'll enroll you in the scholarship program assuming you can meet the minimum criteria. It'll allow you to study without the financial burden coming over your head and give you a place to stay which would be better than staying out in the cold, assuming you don't have another arrangement anyway. But don't worry, you are perfectly safe as long as you follow instruction and don't try to cast well beyond your ability." Adrain says warmly with a smile as he puts that thought process on hold when Roland spoke.

"Well, I am using a more cautious scanning right now to avoid having your head pop off like a cork in a bottle of wine under too much pressure. Where exactly did you get that collar from, anyway. It is definitely outside the bounds of the ethical item creation policies of the Arch. Maybe if you tell me the source, I can try to guess what mages are of adequate power to try to make such an abomination." he says, holding an obvious distaste for the item and what it represented.

He acknowledged with a nod when Roland stated that he was one of the best instructors on theory. He then remains quiet for a moment, trying to scan Roland's collar again to see if there were any other details he overlooked the first time.

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Ellaria was beginning to feel sorry for this Roland, being stuck with a collar around his neck that, from her understanding, was cursed. But then he opened his mouth and she realized the more he spoke the more it made her jaw clench in slight annoyance. "As already said, My name is Ellaria. And it is not a magical spell or casting or whatever the correct term is. It's a natural born ability that my kind have. It's not something I'm doing on purpose or even willingly." She finished a slight edge in her voice. She really couldn't place her finger on it. But something about him just put her in a bad mood.

"I swear Elly, if I could roll my eyes at you I would. I can't take you anywhere. You would think that growing up in the family you did, you would have learned some kind of etiquette." Crowley said as he chastised her again for her rude attitude towards the stranger. His tail flicking back in forth in annoyance with is companion.

Ellaria ignored him turning to listen to the men tell her that if she did as instructed and wasn't stupid she'd do alright. That sounded a million times better than trying to transform. A small smile began to form as she listened to Adrain as he roughly explained how she would go about to become a student. It was sort of exciting. Crowley couldn't help but be relieved, "Now let's just hope you can learn what you need to, to be able pass the entrance exam. I have all of the faith in Teair that you can though." He hissed, constricting his body around her shoulders gently.

"That sounds fantastic!" And then she stopped, her roll of being talkative coming to a halt. She scratched her head, "Ahhhhh, Wheeeen?" She asked, wondering when she could begin this said learned, but also saying the word as if it was the right word choice. Crowley hissed a sigh, thinking that she really was hopeless with her people skills.