Little Bird Feeder

Log Info

• Title: Little Bird Feeder
• Emitter: Slixvah
• Characters: Slixvah, Zofija
• Place: Society of Progressive Arcanists
• Time: April 14th, 2022
• Summary: Slixvah is undergoing a unique procedure with her familiar Fiadh: concocting some one of a kind potions and feeding them to the little bird. Zofija, feeling a little better after having some time to recover, is working on weeding the bushes on the campus. The Nar gets to see the effects of the spell learning first hand, the little bird bleching a plume of flame before taking a fat nap. Slix explains more about how her magic works, and how it's sort of esoteric. Witch magic and all that, as well as her apprehension about the affect she has on her surroundings. She's a walking lucky charm, and it grows more obvious the longer she stays in one plays. Hence why she moves about so much. Such phenomena is to be tested at a bar later on.

Society of Progressive Arcanists, Midday

It's yet another fair weather spring day, the lazy clouds drifting across the blue sky. The students hereflitting about to various classes and studies. Some with scrolls in hand, potions in boxes, and stacks of tomes held at percarious heights in their grasp.

There was one such person, an eglarin woman with many colorful ribbons adorning her wings, holding up two glass vials and swirling them about. "Okay, baby doll, easy does and easy do, just gotta get this you!" she chirps, shaking the two vials. One sloshes around visciously in a gangly black and violet hue. The other shimmers a yellow and orange hue from the motion. Both were topped with a little metal flower, like that a bird feeder.

"... both of those look disguisting," the little, white plumed thrush chirps in disapproval, them looking up at Slixvah as they rest upon the back of the bench.

"One's bitter, and one's spicy! You like beer, right?"

"... I think so?"

"Spicy first!" She holds out the red-glowing vial out.

Spring was in the air, which meant that plants were growing, or starting to grow, and that meant that there was a lot to be done in the grounds around the arcanist's society.

And wizards were notoriously adverse to any forced physical labor if they could help it. It wasn't a good use of their research time, or some other excuse. But what they could easily do is hire other people to do it for them.

One such person was ducked behind some bushes near a hedge, almost invisible to the passerbies. The only sign of someone there was a few movements, and the occasional weed tossed over and into a nearby wheelbarrow.

A head pops up over the bush, Zofija wearing a white bandana keeping her hair back. "Thought I heard a friend and the cutest little bird that I've ever met." The Arvek-nar chuckles. "Hey Slix, Fiadh, what brings you here? Why are you having beer tastings with your familiar?"

Slixvah blinks and pops her head as there's movement of something tossed. Then someone comes out from behind the bush.

"Oh!" she chirps, mood brightening. "Hey Muscles! What's good?"

Fiadh preens herself, becoming even cuter.

Slix shifts her weight back. "How you feelin'? Last time you weren't lookin' too hot. You at a hundred now?"

She looks down at the brackish drink. More like a sludge than any thick stout. "Oh trust me, shug, you don't wanna drink this. It'll melt ya guts, and not in the fun spicy way."

"It's a good day, that's always a plus. Nice and bright and not too cold." Zofi shrugs. "Is that so? I could be in pretty damn bad shape, but it would be awfully hard for me to not look too hot."

The arvek-nar chuckles loudly to herself, stepping up to brush off the dirt and leaves from the apron she had on over her clothes. "But yeah, I wasn't doing too great, and I appreciate the concern. I'm not back to one hundred percent, doubt I will be for a bit, but I'm in good enough shape to be discharged from the defense, and do some light labor like this."

"So, if it melts your insides, then why are you feeding it to Fiadh? If you're trying to get rid of them, you can always have me take care of them. But I don't think that's what you're up to, so, what is it?"

Slixvah squints at Zofi for spell before shaking her head. "Alright then, but if you pass out, I'm gonna make sure you don't hear the end of it until you're back to a hundred."

The fortune teller laughs, head thrown back as each exhale is a squawking chortle. "Sugar, Fiadh ain't just a regular birb, they a lil magic birb!"

"Gaining new wisdom," Fiadh says in their tinny voice.

"Just uh, put some scrolls into some mucky potions, if I did it right, Fiadh here will know how to use it. They know so I know so we get to know it on jobs and whatever." She holds out the glowing yellow-orange one out upside down, the metal flour spout dripping lightly as it hits the grass.

The grass catches fire.

Slix pretends nothing is remiss as she stamps it out.

"I'm not going to pass out, I'm fine. Just need to not work too hard. And I don't want to worry that blue bird either." The Arvek-nar sighs. "Don't worry about it either, please. I know my limits."

"I'm not even going to pretend I know enough about magic to say if what you're doing is proper or not, so I'm not even going to hazard a guess." Zofi grunts, though she turns to look as the fire was catching. "Careful there, they might blame me somehow setting the grounds on fire during my weeding, and not the entire school of wizards. Though uh, have you done this before? Magic bird or not, I can't say I want them catching on fire."

Slixvah snickers and shakes her head. "Oh no, never tried it!" she chirps happily. "C'mon Fiadh, let's do it for science!"

"Wisdom," Fiadh corrects before fluttering forward to rest on Slix's outstretched finger and Fiadh plunges her beak into the metal flower. And drinks.

The bird woman shrugs once. "If they wanna blame someone, they can blame it on me. Then I'll blame 'em for giving me a faulty scroll. Didn't wanna deal with a lotta little buggers again, so gonna learn a way to fry 'em!"

The little bird drinks. And drinks. And drinks. And the whole bottle is consumed.

Fiadh burps.

A plume of fire shoots into the sky.

"Excuse you!"

"That's reassuring?" Zofi shrugs. "No, they'll blame me. Not knowing how to tend to the plants here and deciding that I need to burn something to get the weeds out. Like I don't know when to burn a field, I'm tending to bushes, not clearing an empty field."

The Arvek-nar picks up the watering can she had nearby, just in case.

They blink when the bird turns into a living flamethrower, and sighs. "I hope that was a good reaction? You feeling alright after that?"

Slixvah tsks. "Burn it with what? Girl there's so many hedge mages here they'd set the bushes on fire. Don't worry about it. Seriously."

The fortune teller snickers as Fiadh chirps out a few more times, flames licking out of their tiny beak. "I'm fine. I..." she trails off for a moment, golden eyes shifting to a yellowish-orange for a moment before returning back to their unnatural hue. "... it is known."

Slix perks up. "Really!? Oh, that's wicked, baby doll!"

"Burn it with something, you know, just a dumb hobgoblin who misinterprets garden work." The Arvek-nar grunts. "Anyways, not going to speak badly about the employers. it's still work, after all."

Zofija breathes a sigh of relief when things seem to settle down, and she sets the watering can back down too. "Glad it worked out alright. Witches tend to be secretive with their magics, so I've never actually seen the process. How'd you even figure out to put the scroll in a potion?"

Slix just drops the topic as she brushes a hand through her crown feathers. "Fiadh told me what to do."

"Sort of," the familiar chirps.

"Sort of," Slix echoes. "Had to figure out the rest. Basically, just had ta like, use the scroll, and right before it goes off, jam it into a potion mix that holds the magic. Fiadh here drinks it and, well, if I did it right, she knows the magic mojo to tell me what's good. And gimmie another day, and I should be able to shoot some fire!"

The bird woman is grinning without lips. Then she softly sighs. "Gonna be real, hon, it's less a secret and more 'how the hell are you supposed ta figure this stuff out'. It's magic like a wizardy folk. But not really. But it is. But it ain't. Fiadh got me started on it."

"Well, if Fiadh isn't smart as well as cute!" The Arvek-nar chuckles. "Well, that's just half the equation. You had to decipher the scroll, and make the potion, or at least infuse said scroll into the potion. And I don't think that's easy, probably."

"Well, the wizards back in Blar didn't like saying if they could help it. But I get it for them, sounds weird, probably don't want to explain it if they can help it."

"So, that's it, is it? Just like that, feed a potion to a magic bird, and you can throw fire around? Seems like a fair trade." She asks, finding a seat nearby after she exits the shrubbery. "And what's the other one for? The not quite beer but kind of like it one?"

Fiadh, smartly, says deadpan, "I have approximate knowledge of many things."

Slix just pats them atop the little head with a finger as she holds up the brackish potion towards the bird. "Aw, naw it was difficult as could be. Pain in the tailfeathers, really. Almost bungled it a couple of times."

She shrugs her shoulders as Fiadh drinks. Takes a pause to shudder, then resume. "Wizards can be rude and onery about sharing. And snooty sometimes. Really my stuff is just same half done tricks and near magics that get the job done."

She looks to Fiadh. "Ah... well, it's a bit more involved than that. Fiadh and I have an agreement. I try ta help people, and they give me some means of doing so. Prolly a little bird from Althena or Serriel. Probs. Don't think too much about it. Showed me a few things to nudge luck in the right direction when it's most needed. Sure you've felt it 'round me." Her wing rubs at her shoulder.

"Ah, well. Bit more than a magic potion, but yeah, pretty much. If I do it right, Fiadh can figure it out, which means I can figure it out. This one is uh. Well. Sometimes some people need some backwards healin' if you catch my drift. A little Slix trick," she winks.

"I'm not saying it was easy, just saying that it was both of you, and not just you know, Fiadh doing it all. Gods know you're smart enough for things like this, wizard or not." Zofi chuckles. "I'm sure most people would have trouble figuring out things you were."

"Messenger of the gods? Could be something like that. Interesting if it was, kinda like a cleric in another way, kinda like a wizard."

"I did notice being a bit luckier at times. Couple lucky blows, finding some coin I didn't know I had, things like that. Just an extra bonus of hanging out with a friend, right?"

"I get what you're saying. opening wounds, not closing them, sometimes you need it." The cavalier nods. "I'm sure you know when to do that."

Fiadh finishes up the potion and shudders, coughing a few times (that sound like little squeaks of a toy). "Ugh. Next time put... something sweet in it to balance it out. But..." Their eyes shift to a sickly looking black and purple before going back to their golden hue. "... I got it."

Slix snaps her fingers. "Most excellent. Good job baby doll. You get a lil' sleepy sleep."

Fiadh doesn't argue that, as she deposited back into one of the hanging shawls and, almost immediately, passes out.

The witch shrugs lightly. "Could be. More like a wizard with a source of the gods. Still arcane mumbo jumbo, though. Sure if I put my mind to it I could figure out wizardy stuff. But I'd rather do what I do than that."

She sighs a little bit. "... sorry if that gets annoyin', Muscles. It's right good to use in a pinch, but sometimes uh... well. I have this /thing/ were luck gets a little weird 'round me. It's..." Her voice drops a little softer. "Kinda the reason why I roam 'round lot. Can get really noticeable after a time."

"Glad you got it sorted, Fiadh, have a good rest." Zofija offers, giving a smile to the bird before they pass out. "It's complicated, isn't it? Magic always is. Just saying, you're a lot smarter than you let on, which I understand."

"If I had the time, I wouldn't have minded learning magic, but it is what it is. I may not be some witch, but the gods gave me muscles and the drive to improve, so, if they want me hitting things hard then that's what I'm going to do, you know?"

The arvek-nar chuckles again, she sighs. "It doesn't seem like a bad thing, I'm not annoyed in the slightest. Sounds like you think it can be a bad thing though, Slix. Why's that? I've got time to listen, if there's something you want to get off your chest."

Slixvah nods slowly. "Yeah, right complicated. Though, I am a bird, I ain't got a bird brain." She taps the side of her head. "Oh trust me, sugar. That's part of the ruse. If everyone thinks I'm just a lil' ol' weakling, they get surprised when they get the rug pulled out from under them. They're so focused on you or Robby Bobby they don't see me pullin' the strings."

She stashes the bottles away and sighs once more. Hands get shoved into robe pockets and weight gets shifted onto another foot. "'cause it's weird. Well, not to me. But others. Back home I used ta do trade deals with my Aerie and the local Khazad. Lived in their mountains and what not. Was kinda terrible at it, to be honest. Then after I met Fiadh, well... way, waaaay too many things went right. Negotiations that ain't gone anywhere in years suddenly worked out. Shipments that were delayed arrived early. Local beef between clans got smoothed over. It was all too weird, too lucky, too outta tha blue. So..."

She rolls a hand. "I left," she finishes lamely.

"I've known a few khazad in Blar, those that were brave enough to open up trade there." Zofija nods. "They're hard to barter with, since they're usually looking for the best profit they can manage. Not exactly the best for a struggling city state trying to get back on their feet. And No one wants to put themselves under the thumb of another in the process, so it's a balance. I can imagine how everything suddenly going well would be strange, yeah."

"Still seems a weird thing to get hung up on, but I understand. Could be pride, could be frustration with one's abilities, all sorts of things. But doesn't seem like a bad thing to me, everyone can use a bit of luck now and then. It's how opportunities get made we don't even think of."

At that Slivah frowns. It's in her eyes, the way they pull down some. "Sugar. Imagine the gods ain't give you your gift and you ain't got your muscles, and imagine like, all of a sudden stuff that you couldn't lift just manages to move out of the way in just the right manner when all your life you've been mediocre at it. Or, every time you say somethin' that should be a blunder, ends up being the right thing to say? After a long while of people knowin' you ain't the best at talkin'? It's like that. It's unnatural, and people don't like unnatural stuff. Weird. Ya feel? My Aerie knew I was an odd bird that got their beak in a lot of business. Suddenly all the odd stuff starts workin'? Yeah, lotta raised brows and back talking. So I wanna get a better handle on this stuffs."

She ruffles both wings out slightly. An idle tic. "Workin' on bein' more subtle with it. Though that shit day I had to do a lot of luck bending."

"I guess that makes sense. Just, doesn't seem right. Like I'm supposed to be pissed off at some cleric because they manifest magic and I didn't? Same thing, just different form. And you said it yourself, you feel compelled to do good, so it's just more of that, is it not? Even less reason."

Zofija stops, and she sighs, putting one hand on the Egalrin's shoulder. "Still, trying to control it better, I can get that. I'm just, sorry you had to go through that. You're not a bad person, and it's not fair to you, luck or not."

Slix is looking a bit exasperated at explaining it once more. "Babe, yeah, it ain't right. Just people don't like what they don't understand. So I gotta get it down 'fore I go back. Tone it down, smooth it out. Might take a while. Make a good name for witches and other arcane mojo users."

She blinks, then relaxes under the hand, leaning into it somewhat. "Thanks hon. I'm glad to hear that. I try my best, to be real honest. Kinda hard. Shoving all that luck around is really, really tiring."

"Yeah, sorry, It's probably not the best to have you repeating it. I get it, really." Zofi grunts. "Witches haven't been around before the fall of animus, at least in any large amount. There's a lot of unknowns, and things to prove. Least I know you'll give them a good name no doubt."

"You don't need to worry about it all the time though, yeah? Don't worry about shoving it around when I'm here, I don't mind, no matter what way things go. Let yourself relax a little bit, it's important now and then."

"'course! I'm the best there is! Or, will be. Dunno! We'll see how far I get," Slix hums. "Lotta unknowns. Because I sure as shit wasn't sure that potion trick was gonna work!"

The Egalrin gives a soft sigh and nods slowly. "... aight. I'll keep it lax 'round ya. Just... know that stuff might get a little odd. Ya dig?"

"We'll see. Hell, some chance huh? Witches start showing up, and you have the chance to go down in history as one of the best there are." Zofi chuckles, nudging the egalrin gently. "Maybe they'll even mention the dashing skyguard knight that you adventured with in some capacity in some of the books."

"You say odd, I say interesting, and I can always let you know if it gets to be too much." She continues to laugh.

Slixvah makes a sputtering sound. Odd as it was, since she had no lips. "Pffft. Honey you know how those stories go. They'll have us in bed by chapter two," she nudges Zofija back.

She gives a little whistling sigh. "Alright. Please tell me I do. Trust me it can get a little... weird. But I'll cut loose next time we're around."

"I was thinking more history books, and less raunchy crimson pen fiction." Zofija snorts. "I'd be flattered if people thought I was important enough to write about regardless I suppose, but I'd rather keep such writings to reality, you know?"

"I promise, swear on my honor as a knight, and as your friend. I'll look forward to it, really. Might give you some interesting insights into how far you've come even, you know?"

Slixvah giggles. "Yeah yeah, I getcha. We'll see how we make our mark. Right now I'm more concerned about gettin' through the day."

A feathered brow raises at the promise. "Okay, okay shug, I understand you're serious. No worries, honest."

She sighs, and thinks for a moment. Then she seems to relax her shoulders somewhat. "... alright. You know what? Let's start now."

She subtly glances about.

Nothing out of the ordinary yet.

"Just making it clear. I can live without the recognition, but you know what is nice, if I can get some royalties on the printing of those books. That'd be swell." Zofi sighs. She raises a brow, and nods. "Is that so? Alright, lets see it. If something happens, I'll let you know. But it'll probably be obvious. And it works while Fiadh is out like a light like that?"

Slixvah snorts. "Yes, yes, I want some of that coin too~"

She gives a small nod. "Yeah. It does, either if baby doll is out or not.. Sorta just..." she puts out both hands and raises them in a shrug.

As she does, a wandering leaf from a tree settles into the palm of her hand, despite the chances. "... happens."

The fortune teller is unfazed.

"Oh don't worry, I wouldn't take it all, or all the credit." She grunts. "So it's you as well as them, got it."

The Arvek-nar blinks, and smiles slightly. "That's lucky, yeah. Thanks, saves me raking it up later!"

Slixvah chuckles, letting the leaf go. It floats about on the wind, falling to the ground. Only to get swept up and placed on the pile where the weeds were being tossed. "Mostly me, to be fair. Fiadh just teaches me new stuffs when she's got an idea."

She stretches her wings out some, getting that twelve foot span out wide before she rolls her shoulders. "You wanna see weird stuff? Lemme camp out at an inn for a few days. Let the luck *really* seep in. It'll be something right outta a book. Trust me. Gotta change inns every other day."

"I'm still not sure why you'd need to change inn's so often. Is it just bad for people around you with enough? Maybe you should just buy a house in Alexandria, so it's not a worry, and you could probably sell it off for a good price if you had to. Still, getting to be lucky in places is probably fun, still. And if that's an offer to go out for drinks, I'm happy to accept after I'm done here."

"With or without the luck, depending on what you want."

Slixvah sighs some, letting her wings rest easy behind her. "Because people start askin' questions and superstitions form when things start going too good, sugar. We've been down this road, muscles."

She rubs the side of her beak. "... maybe eventually, but I gotta get it down first before I settle anywhere 'fore I even think about that. But yeah, drinks sound good. Let you get used to what it's really like 'round me."

"Yeah, yeah, people can't stop and appreciate some good luck." Zofija sighs. "I'll leave it there. Sounds good, I'll buy some drinks and we can have a prty somewhere without a lot of people. Sounds good to me. Though, luck or no, I'm probably pushing it sitting here and talking to you for so long. Don't want to get in trouble for that."

Slixvah gives a soft sigh and nods. She steps forward, stealing a hug with both arm and wing before pulling off. "Gotcha Muscles. Catch me later 'round our usual joints, yeah? I'll get the food and you get the drinks."

Zofija returns the hug, and slides away, moving to her feet with a small grunt of effort. "There's a lot of joints, but I think the Fernwood has some good food for a picnic. The Tarrace has a lot of, experimental fare. Not bad, but better for a sitdown meal."

The Arvek-nar grins and gives the egalrin a thumbs up. "Invite some other friends if you want even, but I'll be happy either way. Take care, Slix, and make sure Fiadh's doing okay after those potions."

Slixvah snaps a finger gun off towards Zofi. "Sounds good. Catch you at the Fern then, Muscles. And don't worry about Fiadh, they'll be fine."

There's another small burp. And some smoke starts to come out of the shawl. Unfazed, Slix pats down the cloth with a hand quickly. "Bye!"

With that, the fortune teller turns and walks head first into a group of passing students.

Except she doesn't collide, instead her passing right through a gap between all of them as she ambles off like nothing happened.

-End Scene-