Old Haunts (open)

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Outer lands and isolation still called to the young mind of Estrella, having a taste for her own company and open spaces, adjusting to the city life would take time, if it ever took hold. Such feelings for abandonment led to her trek to the Bone Temple, an old haunt of the mage. The trip took an hour at most, Estrella ran most of the way and used her shadow hop power when able to cut down on the distance. She only used it in spurts this time around, being midday and less than shadowy as it were and thus drained little of her mannah. She did need a moment to catch her breath however once arriving to the grand mausoleum, her endurance was impressive but so was her exertion. Only a moment later she laid a pale hand upon the wooden door, and paused her slim frame. 

The daylight spun down through the forest surrounding the grand cathedral, the rays highlighting Estrella's golden bob hair, the sun making it so. Her ears pricked as she listened around, chirping of birds, the shift of the wind and small whistles of air passing through the bones of the building made themselves known. Her nose twitched while scents of dust, dirt, the blood of a nearby fox's  prey, and the musk of deserted structures enveloped her. Her lips quivered while the cool moisture of melting snow, and the saltiness of her own sweat slipped along her tongue. She sensed nothing out of place and pushed forward into the temple, the wooden door squealing mercilessly against its iron hinges.

Clad in a deep navy hooded cloak with white trimmings, she was a mere outline against the blackened hallways of the dead. Her leather boots made the oddest echo against the marrow of this place, they reached the knee to a point, capped in the top of an arrow and had silver buckles. Shoved inside the boots she wore slim black cotton stockings with panels of bax sewn long the muscles for protection, a plain purple long sleeved tunic was wore with a leather fitted vest overtop that outlined and covered her budding chest, a supply belt was tied along her waist. It held hoops for her many vials, some empty other filled with various poisons she had leaked from the numerous venomous creatures of Nova, others still held odd powders and minerals, and a small pack was sewn into the belt as well. Inside were various cutting knives, a small stone pestle and mortar, and some flint. 

As she headed for the main hall of the cathedral, her eyes passed unseeingly against the devastating pictures along the walls, but each quiet step she took her staff gently reverberated a rap as it touched the floor, the hilt of her thin sword tapping her thigh in do time as well. Estrella found her way to a dark corner and slid to the floor, at ease within this morbid manor, and reached within her cloak. A secret compartment had been sewn inside in which she stored one of her mother's journals of life and magic.

Her hand stroked the black leather casing, and a flask of anger disrupted her usual apathetic demeanor as she cursed herself for not learning the practice of reading. Sure, manifest and direct energy at will no problem, but make sense of lines of ink to be that of the tongue? It was the only thing that disturbed Estrella in this world and in a quiet defeat she closed her eyes, losing herself to the howls of the wind.

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"Hmmm, I think this is where I was supposed to go." Mumbles a voice from a little ways off. "Ahh~ here it is!"

A large and broad blond man in black and grey linen cloths wandered out from behind a large skull to look up at the temple. His nose twitched a couple of times before a distasteful expression crossed his face. "Ugh, this is not a very pleasant smell." He complains before looking around. Strapped to the man's belt was a long sword in a dark sheath, that in combination with his boots gave him a somewhat martial appearance, despite the baggy pants and loosely fit shirt.

As he continued to explore he noticed another person was here. Hmmm, she does not look like someone coming here to just look around and explore, a lot more deliberate I'd say. Deciding that nothing was gained without being ventured he cleared his throat and decided to call out to the stranger.

"Hello there." He calls as he begins picking through the bones and debris at his feet. "Sorry if I am interupting, but I did not expect to find anyone here."

After a moment he realizes something and says "Oh I am sorry, how rude, I have not introduced myself. I am Deidric Talen."

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Estrella had of course heard the figure approaching long before he made himself known and instead of fleeing like she normally did, she attempted to make her figure smaller in an effort to hide amongst the shadows undetected. This tactic proved to be useless however as the large male called out introductions and the like to her. Her black eyes shimmered as she looked out from under her cloak and with the help of her staff she stood, quickly placing the journal in its secret compartment and out of sight.

She could tell he was a large male from the bellowing of his voice and how much of the air space he took up in this place. Most of what she gained of beings was a guess work of combined senses beyond sight and as such appearances rarely disturbed the girl. In this she moved through life without fear, choosing instead to ignore the masses as best she could and interact as little as possible. Some days human-or near human apparently- experiences could not be avoided, and today seemed as such of a day.

Estrella sent a trickle of Mannah to be released as a sort of probe, testing the life forces around her to gain a better idea of where this newcomer stood. It was such a small amount of mannah however that it did not trigger the blinding glow in her eyes. She turned to him, Deidric, and stared long and blankly with a coal gaze, never blinking. She did this in silence for a good minute or so before opening her lips.

" Estrella Shadowend." She spoke in a flat and emotionless tone, not too keen on having her alone time disrupted but was somewhat thankful for the distraction of her rare pity party " What is it you seek?" She inquired in the same detached voice.

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As Deidric gets a better look at the figure he was surprised what he found. Smaller and more skitish than I expected, He thinks to himself his nose twitched as he smelled something off. As his expression sets A mage... When the mana prob stretches out to him a sphere about three feet in diameter around him vanishes from the probe.

"Sorry to ask if this it is awkward, but what is the spell you cast?" He asks his hand reaching down for towards his belt and his muscles tensing, but he did not make any moves immediately. "I am sorry to need to ask, but unfortunately I do not really have any means to identify the effect," his words were smooth and did not convey any hostility, more a sense of curiosity as if he would be fine with any answer he got.

When she went on to introduce herself he relaxes a bit. Most people who wanted to start a fight with a sneak attack did not go on to introduce themselves before attempting anything. However what actually catches his attention is the question she asks. He considers giving a more reasonable or toned down response, Then again where is the fun in that.

"What do I seek is kinda personal question, but I suppose it is pretty straightforward. I am seeking, new knowledge, new experiences, new challenges, interesting objects, new connections, in short I am seeing just about everything." He replies with a smile and a voice brimming with confidence and wonder, not unlike a child's.

"And what is it you seek?" He asks in a cheerful voice, he seemed to be relaxing as he spoke.

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A strange barrier was felt after her probe was sent as it is came upon a wall and with that a tiny frown embellished her features. It was not common for her Mannah to be blocked especially when it was not one of ill intent but all the while she let it pass, if there was danger here she could very easily escape but he seemed friendly enough of a fellow. Estrella listened quietly as his questions were asked and the grip upon her staff tightened ever so slightly. She was not fond of explaining herself or chatting much in general so even though this Dedric character was pleasant a quiet flare of annoyance spurted forth inside. With a little huff of air she rolled back her shoulders and attempted to meet his gaze as best as she could guess.

" I was cursed as a baby in my mother's womb, I cannot see with my eyes like most so my Mannah is my sight-I send out little trickles, not a spell but feelers so I can know whom or what is in my company. " As with before her voice was one of detached means and despite the content it was an emotionless response. Estrella had a harden core from a life of disappointment and near isolation and she was not one to easily laugh or cry or any extreme of emotion and she most of all excluded herself from self pity, quick to dispel any sent her way.

As Dedric answered her question with more enthusiasm and romantic ideals than expected she stifled a roll of the eyes-cheerfulness was an irritating thing when the world was bleak and a thing to be survived but at least he held a purpose, even if it made little sense to the girl. Life is just a mass of the memories made but her life was dedicated to Caster and her mother's journals and she sought nothing more than that. His wonderment seemed to want to be shared but it was drink of perception Estrella just couldn't stomach.

"How queer... how can you possibly achieve any one of those things if you're looking for all?" Even if he seemed kind and honest with his words she thought him somewhat feeble for it; she was s tick to a single mission type so to hear of one willing spread himself so thin of over all it appeared tiresome and flighty. She kept these judgements inside not looking for a fight today.

At his own question she quirked an eyebrow, a little surprised to be asked. Many did not ask for her opinions upon much of anything being a girl and young one at that and so with it and her unwillingness to display any of her personal life it took her awhile to respond.

" I seek...I seek information that is beyond my reach. [/colour]" Was all she said upon the matter unless pressured further, he free hand went to lightly grip the hidden journal within her cloak. Estrella was tempted to reveal more but she was not close with this man and thus kept herself silent for the moment.

[Selkiris]

"Where are you going you stupid thing!?"[/color] Selkiris's voice echoed through the halls as he chased after a small pure black creature.The creature looked human enough though it walked on all fours and had claws two inches long. The creature made growls and screeches from what one could only suppose to be the head of the thing as it rushed down the halls, trying to catch something. Selkiris was on its tail though he could never seem to catch the thing. It has near limitless stamina, where is it going? The creature kept running until it made it made it to the main hall. The creature stopped dead and lifted up its head. It sniffed the air. Selkiris finally caught up to the beast and caught his breath. "Now what is this all about you-" Selkiris froze as he saw the other two in the room. He sighed and spoke in his normal apathetic tone. "Oh, you were merely tracking the scent of these two....impressive finding it in this place, but you have thrown us off track, you are no use to me right now." Selkiris raised his left hand, it was heavily bandaged, he waved it in front of the creature and a dim dark light shone for a brief second on the back of his hand under his bandages and the creature dispersed into wisps of darkness.