New Heights

A brisk fall evening on the Festival Ground finds it relatively deserted. Gusty winds whisk through the grounds, carrying high clouds with it far above. The moon is well up, a white-silver orb amid a star-studded, midnight blue sky obscured only partly by the whisking clouds.

The beauty of the display is not lost on Seldan, taking an easy walk from evening prayers with a bundle over one arm. He is relaxed and meditative, his eyes on the sky as he enters, and has eschewed all but the most basic of his gear and his longsword. What he's up to isn't clear, though.

The wee Gobbo is dressed a bit more warmly today. Her grey homespun clothing is covered by a long cloak and hood, which she pulls tight around herself. Her usually bare feet are covered by new boots, which she clumps around in. It is easy to keep track of her due to this. "What are you up to out here, Seldan?", she says with a scratchy voice. The man's probably heard her coming for several minutes due to her boots. The wind picks up and she turns her back to it. "Not the day to be uh sitting around in the chill."

Malik is also out in the festival grounds, though he's coming from a different path, his own bundle in his arms. This one he carries a bit more gingerly, though, moving carefully along the paths rather than cutting through the middle, like he normally would. Which brings him to where the other two are currently talking -- or, where Acedia is talking to Seldan anyway. He tucks the bundle under one arm, raising a hand in greeting to the pair.

Seldan seems to be relaxed and in a good mood, better than most days. At this hour, his evening prayers and meditations would be done, and he turns to approach Acedia, looking down at the bundle over his arm. In the moonlight, and up close, it appears to be a garment, a rich purple velvet something with gold stitching along its edges and across it here and there. "I had not had the opportunity to try this out," he tells her, looking down at it. "It was amid the gear that Father had sent to me."

Malik's approach with a raised arm brings a similar raised arm in response.

The wind howls around and blows into Acedia's face, and she squeaks, struggling to keep the cloak tucked 'round her. "Oh?", she wonders, eyeing the garment curiously. "What is it? It looks fancy." She makes as if to touch it, but is distracted by Seldan raising a hand. The Gobbo squeaks again upon seeing the other man, and runs to the him, hugging should he allow it. "Hi Malik! It seems as though Seldan isn't the only one wandering about today in this wind."

Malik gives the gobber woman a small smile, looking around the park as the wind blows at his hair, even underneath the hood of the cloak. "It could be worse," he chuckles. "It could be raining. Or, if you come from the same place I do, it could be raining fire." He shrugs a shoulder. "It really depends on perspective, I suppose." Though as Seldan pulls the robe out, he moves to take a look at it, eyes moving over the threadwork. "It's beautiful," he says. "The color suits you well, I think. Do you think you'll need to have it tailored?"

Seldan looks after Acedia as she runs off to hug Malik, a small smile on his face. "It is not raining fire here tonight, Malik, so I think that we are safe." He seems to be ignoring the wind whipping at his hair, and with nothing to control it, it is quickly becoming wild, but it does not seem to concern him overmuch. Instead, he shakes the item out, and it appears to be a robe of some sort. "No, it is visible with the Sight." He frowns. "It is necromancy, but - it is not evil. I am unsure what to make of it."

"Raining fire? Where exactly do you come from, Malik?", Acedia wonders. "I mean, that can't be a common occurance, can it?" She looks to Seldan a moment. "Necromancy? Hmm, well, some spells count as necromantic but not inherently evil, yanno?" She leans against Malik, shivering lightly. "This is my first winter here and I don't think I will like it."

Malik leans down to pick the little gobber up, wrapping her up in his cloak as he looks to the garment. There's a small frown, there, but not one of disapproval -- one of confusion. "I -- admit that it isn't an area of focus for me," he tells the man. "What I could tell you about it would be extremely limited." Though he answers the woman's question with a laugh. "A place of terrible danger, but surpassing beauty, very, very different from here." Which isn't exactly a complete answer, but it's an answer.

Acedia peers out from her cocoon, and grins toothily at him. "That's not really an answer, yanno!", she says, shaking her head. The Gobbo clings to him then, a relatively warm lump under his cloak. "Are you going to put it on, then, Seldan?", she wonders, raising her voice a little to be heard over the wind. "And what of you, Malik. What's in your bundle?"

"Malik hails from the Vast," Seldan says simply, watching Malik and Acedia before turning his attention back to the garment in his hands. "I suppose there is nothing for it but to try it, is there not?" He turns as if planning to don it, but turns back at the mention of Malik's bundle. "A good question." He studies Malik's burden curiously, his own forgotten for the moment.

Malik just shifts to balance it on one hip. "The Vast," he agrees, looking to Acedia with a bit of a smirk. "What? I can't tell you -all- my secrets, now, can I? It wouldn't be much fun if you couldn't find at least -some- out for yourself. And if you know everything there is to know, how are you going to embellish the songs you'll eventually write of our exploits?" he asks, nodding to Seldan then. Though at the question of his own bundle, a bit of mischief comes over him. "It's a surprise, for later."

"Ooh. That's an uhm interesting place, I have heard.", Acedia says to Seldan as he answers her question. She looks to Malik and grins toothily, showing off many, many sharp fangs and teeth. "But I am finding out for myself by asking the preeminent source of information on you. To do anything else would be snooping behind your back. Something I don't like doing." Her gaze shifts to Seldan a moment. "Though... I could pump him for more information."

The Gobbo nods to Seldan, "We can watch over you." Looking back to Malik, she huffs. "Fine, I can just look into it myself.." She makes grabby hands for Malik's bundle of curiosity.

There is approval and appreciation in Seldan's grin at Acedia. "Well said." He looks curiously at Malik, but nods and half-turns to pull the purple-and-gold garment over his head. It settles around him, a little big at first, but quickly shaping itself to fit him.

What it does next, though, is much more interesting. As the pair watches, it shifts color to his more usual blue and silver, the stitching on its back re-weaving itself into symbols of heaven and celestial beings as it settles around the tops of his boots. And - moments later - there's a ripping sound from the shirt on Seldan's back as a pair of spectacular angel wings burst forth from his shoulder blades, unfurling without warning towards the faces of the pair watching. The paladin staggers backwards as well, struggling for a moment to keep his balance as the transformation completes. "What-?"

Malik wasn't expecting that. At all. He turns just in time to shift the gobber woman out of the way, but not fast enough to move himself out of the path. The wing strikes him squarely in the face, sending him reeling backwards as he falls to the paving stones, the package he was carrying landing off to the side, for now. Looking to check on the gobber and make sure she's alright, he turns back to stare at Seldan, eyes wide and full of wonder as his jaw drops open a bit, completely at a loss for words.

Acedia nods to Seldan and grins. She watches, enthralled, as the clothing changes colours. "Ooh, nice. I've heard of armor and cloaks and such that change colour, and can look like other th..." The ripping sound is a surprise, and she squeaks as Malik tumbles over. She groans as she bounces off of him as he hits the ground, and she ends up with her head towards his feet, and her feet practically in his face. "Uuuhn. Not again.", she mumbles. Her attention quickly returns to staring at the wings. "You uh... you got a little uh angel in you now."

Stunned, Seldan turns around, carefully, trying to get a good look at the robe itself and what it has done to him. He's put one foot backward, clearly trying to find his balance - and not incidentally, looking backwards wide-eyed to try to get a good look at those massive wings over his shoulder. They're big enough to carry him in flight, feathered and beautiful, and seem to somehow flow through the robe instead of tearing it. "I - are you two all right?" He reaches down to offer a hand to help them both to their feet. "What happened?"

Malik accepts the hand, whatever he was carrying now forgotten. He just keeps staring at those wings, reaching out a hand as if to touch them, but then thinking better of it, drawing back. There's a bit of a red mark on his face that will probably grow into a bruise before the night is over, but for now it doesn't seem to concern him. Intead, he looks to the gobber woman, asking, "Are you alright? I'm sorry, I tried to --" But the words sort of trail off, his eyes turning back to Seldan. And specifically to those brilliant, white wings that he's now sporting. "It's like a Temple painting..."

"I'll manage.", the Gobbo mumbles as Malik is pulled to his feet. She moves around in his arm, and settles against his chest, silently staring out at the wings. "So uh, what is the garment called, then, do you know?", Acedia asks of Seldan, before looking to Malik. A wee hand is extended, a white glow shining bright for a moment as she touches the mark upon Malik's face. "It is okay, none of us expected wings to rip out of his back."

GAME: Seldan rolls knowledge/arcana+1: (15)+10+1: 26

"I-I think it's a robe of arcane heritage," Seldan looks down at the garment, wonderingly, finally seeming to find his balance point and stand more normally. "They are - meant for sorcerers like me, but what they do depends on the wearer." He seems as taken aback and lost for words as either of the other two. He still doesn't quite seem to know what to do with them yet, and they remain half-spread behind him.

It's about now that a gust of wind whips down between the arches, grabbing those wings and Seldan with them and pulling him up into the air with a cry. It carries him several feet away before sending him sprawling awkwardly to the pavement below, but he sits bright back up, the trailing edges laid out along the ground and a few white feathers left behind.

Malik blinks at the bright light, momentarily blinded, though the red mark all but disappears. He reaches up to rub at his face, unable to keep the chuckle to himself. "No. I suppose we couldn't have." He looks the gobber over, making sure that she's uninjured as well. "I'm glad you weren't hurt," he tells her. "As small as you are, you might have flown all the way to the pond." He flashes her a teasing wink with that, though bundles her back up under his cloak to fight back the chill of the wind, remembering that she was cold. Malik reaches down to collect one of the feathers, staring at it wonderingly, though this time it's his turn to offer Seldan a hand. "And your father sent you this?" The tone of his voice suggests that that fact alone is even more amazing than the fact that they have him grow wings. Though as the wind starts to pick up a bit, he asks, "Do you -- know how to use them?"

Acedia squeaks as the wings take Seldan up into the air, and she breathes out a sigh of relief as he lands mostly intact. "Well uh, I guess then that you have something angelic about you, in your blood. Isn't that where sorcerers get their powers?" She looks to Malik and makes a happy sounding noise as he bundles her back up. "I am not good at flying, and I would be most unhappy being cold AND wet.", she says. "Yeah... you just flap them!", the Gobbo calls out to Seldan.

Seldan accepts the hand up, a little unsteadily, the nighttime breeze ruffling the feathers on those wings and making their leading edges quiver. "I - do not," he admits to Malik, a little sheepishly. "They change my balance." He frowns in concentration, and they obediently furl, pulling closer against his back, although far from flat, they're too big for that. "I - think this will take some experimentation." To Acedia, he nods. "I had suspected from what I was able to learn of my ancestors, but this confirms it." He smiles, a real and genuine one that reaches his eyes.

Malik still seems to be in a bit of awe, looking the man over. "So you really are touched by the gods," he whispers to nobody in particular. "I knew it." He still holds that feather in hand, though there's a warm smile on his face now, meeting Seldan's. "And if they didn't change your balance, I would be worried." He looks to the gobber, asking, "What, you don't want him to take you for a ride? You're small enough I bet that he could carry you, once he figures out how to keep from crashing into things." Reassuring, that thought. "I bet the view would be spectacular."

Acedia does eye the wings with a look of awe, and she nods to Seldan. "Well, then... does this mean you're a sorcerer? I thought you were a paladin." She looks to Malik, her eyes wide. "I don't know if I would like the heights. I kind of rather enjoy feeling the ground under my toes. Or being held by people named Malik." She grins to him, and looks back to Seldan. "Be careful when experimenting, yes? You don't want to find out that it has limits and see yourself plummeting to the ground."

"I am both, Acedia." Seldan watches the byplay between Acedia and Malik, blinking once or twice. "Yes, I serve Eluna in Her Silver Guard, but - She does not forbid Her faithful from studying the arcane arts. In fact, it pleases Her when we do so, and - I had to tame it as a boy." He sighs, looking down, the smile fading. "I will." Another gust of chilly wind whisks down the Festival Grounds, causing him to stagger. "Perhaps this is not a good night to do so, though."

He looks up and nods to Malik. "I look forward to it - but on a calmer day might be wise."

Malik listens to the exchange between Seldan and Acedia, nodding. "He is both," he agrees. "But he's still Seldan." He shifts the little woman's weight on his side, studying the man curiously. "He might look a bit different, but I think that he looks like a knight out of the children's tales, from long ago. The outside merely matches the inside, now. Nobody can deny what he is, anymore." That last part said with a meaningful emphasis. Though he looks to Acedia, grinning. "I'll remember that, then, the next time I need some leverage. You look like you could be easy to toss!" And just for emphasis, he tosses her up a few inches, easily catching her again.

The Gobbo nods to Seldan, rubbing at her chin. "Well, can't say that I am all that religious, or at least, a regular scholar of the gods. I know Tarien, and a few others. So, it is interesting that your god allows you to pursue magical power as well as being her holy soldier." Her eyebrows raise up at the mention of taming. "Oh, you had to ignore it in favour of swordplay lessons?"

Acedia nods to Malik then. "Well, of course he is still him. I just find that magic and metal armor are usually in opposition of each other... much like a martial person is not often also a user of magic." She squeaks when the man tosses her up. Acedia grabs for him and clings.

Some of Seldan's smile returns at Malik's comment, along with a embarrassed-but-pleased blush, but he pauses, frowns in concentration, and after some hesitation, the wings furl more fully and, slowly, melt away into nothingness. His smile expands, clearly pleased with himself, as he rolls his shoulders. "Very good," he adds, then turns back to the subject at hand. "Yes, Father was unhappy about it, but had little choice. It takes practice to manage, but there are metals for armor that are less bulky and difficult to manage than steel, and it can be done. I was - able to do both."

"I can confirm that Seldan is extremely skilled with a blade, and equally skilled at magic," Malik tells Acedia, that mischief in his eyes again after the toss, watching the little gobber cling to him. But something Seldan says makes him consider something once more. "It seems strange," he tells the man. "From what you've told me of the man, I would have lost a great deal of money on a bet that he would send you such a thing."

"Aw, look at him blush!", Acedia says with a giggle. The vanishing of the wings has her wide-eyed again, and she leans back and forth trying to see where they go. "Well, it does appear he has accepted your decisions." She nods at Malik. "I don't doubt his skill, just pointing out that it is kind of rare. In my experience." She peers at him. "What are you planning?", the Gobbo wonders suspiciously.

"In truth, I think he felt a little badly," Seldan admits, not elaborating on the statement. Acedia's teasing only makes him blush more, and scuffle his feet like a child. "I do not know why he would have sent me such a thing, or if he did not, who did. But - I am grateful." He looks down at the garment, wonderingly if a bit confused. "It takes a great deal of work to master both. I - was fortunate."

At the question of what is being planned, though, he looks up, eyeing Malik.

Malik looks between the both of them, looking a bit confused now. "What are you talking about?" he asks them. "I have no plans. It's not even my plans we should be discussing," he reminds them. And very briefly, his expression changes a bit. "Seldan is the one that we should be asking about plans. This -- is a major event for him." Setting the gobber down, he moves back along the path, picking up the thing he was carrying before and resting it against his hip again, remembering that it was there. "I think that this might change many things for him."

The Gobbo looks greatly disappointed at being set down and she pulls her cloak tight to her again. "I meant the mischievous look in your eye. But sure, we can talk about this instead." Acedia looks from Malik to Seldan and back again. "What is it that is going to change things?"

Seldan watches Acedia briefly, then holds out hands to her, offering to pick her up, and if she accepts, will do so much in the way of picking up a child. "I cannot say." The Myrrish-tinted answer is hesitant. "I do not know why he sent that to me, any more than you do, Malik. It is possible that one of my aunts or Grandmother had a hand in it, but," he shrugs. "Yet another mystery to understand. What of yours, Malik?"

Malik listens to what the others say, looking a bit distracted at first as he does so. Though he does have to laugh a bit at Seldan's comment about his family. "Well, I suppose the upside is, whatever your family sends you is much less likely to explode or be confiscated by the guard than what mine would." He puts on a little 'silver lining!' face there. But at the question of the package, it's his turn to blush. He hesitates for a moment, then unties the strings, revealing a box under the cloth, which he opens to show what is now a very squashed cake, the red and white layers standing out as the thing fell apart. "A Myrrish woman in the market told me that this was popular in Seldan's home. I think she called it Crimson Silk. I figured it would be nice after dinner tonight."

Acedia blinks at Seldan and very shyly accepts being held. "Well, perhaps it is an acceptable mystery? More important is learning how to make use of the garment." She looks to Malik then and she chuckles. "Now that is something you and I have in common. My parents are, if they are still alive, gunsmiths. Something was always exploding around them." Her eyes widen at the sight of the cake, and she squirms in Seldan's arms. "That looks and smells delicious."

Surprised at the squirm, Seldan misreads it, and gently sets Acedia down. "Forgive me, I had not intended to trouble you." The cake, though, brings raised eyebrows. "I have not had Crimson Silk in some time. A fine choice, but - what happened to it?"

GAME: Malik rolls Bluff: (16)+11: 27

GAME: Seldan rolls sense motive: (3)+10: 13

GAME: Acedia rolls sense motive: (7)+5: 12

Malik gives Acedia a smile. "I'm sure it tastes the same, even if it doesn't look as pretty as it did when I bought it." He shrugs a bit. "I've eaten worse on the road. We'll make due." Though as Seldan asks what happened to the cake, the briefest flicker of confusion lights up Malik's eyes, before clarity seems to come over him. He gives a nervous chuckle, looking down at his feet. "You know me," he tells the man. "I was so surprised that I tripped over my own two feet. Dropped it." He offers an apologetic shrug. "Incurably clumsy, some days." So not a total lie. Just a convenient omission of certain details.

The Gobbo peers up at Seldan and shakes her head. "No, it's okay, I am just excited for some cake." She grins toothily and looks to Malik. Acedia peers at him for some time, before nodding. "So you dropped it on your way here? It didn't explode or anything?" There's a small note of disappointment in her voice. "So what is it made of? What's it taste like?" She looks from Malik to Seldan. "And when is dinner? Or uh, was that just supposed to be you two?"

"It is a very rich dessert," Seldan answers with a smile for Acedia, focus returning to the cake. "I would hope it did not explode, it seems a waste of good cake. Dinner seems like a fine idea, although it grows late. Perhaps we should find some."

Malik nods, closing the box. "I think that we can cover three," he tells the Gobber, nodding down the path. "Come on. Let's go get something to eat. And then we can find out whether the cake still tastes ok."

Grinning, the Gobbo hops alongside the two. "But what does it taste like?"