Ashlee to Ashes

Log Info

• Title: Ashlee to Ashes
• Emitter: Cryosanthia
• Characters: Ezil, Iskandar
• Place: Outskirts of Merkabah: Gobber Town
• Time: Monday, February 17, 2020, 7:32 PM
• Summary: Ezil has gone to the new Goblinoid settlement in the outskirts of Merkabah to look around. He encounters an Arvec Nar woman who has a very death like affectation and sugar-skull makeup. She takes him aside to read his fortune, which is more about his past than his future, forcing him to revist choices he made in the Vast Sea of Splintered Time. Ezil remains steadfast and rejects having his fate prophesized. After, Iskandar arrives, and the trio discuss potential trips into the ruins and whether those will respect the history and the dead, or simply be irreverant snatch and grab treasure hunts. Nif bites the Giantborn.

-=--=--=--=--=--=<* Outskirts of Merkabah: Gobber Town *>-=--=--=--=--=--=-
Goblins! Goblins Everywhere!

Green is the colour of the day. The square is packed with a sea of goblinity, milling from shop to shop dressed in outlandish outfits with the strangest of accessories. Most, are regular goblins, short in stature and swift of reflexes. Jutting up are the Arvec, like grey mountains among their smaller bretheren, with an occasional flash of colour. The oruch cut swaths between these, like stern ships as they go directly towards whatever has captured their interest. Standing out is one orange Arvec woman, bright amidst the grey-greens, a sunrise to the nautical allusion.

Central to the square is a platform several times longer than it is wide. At either end, a thick beam curves outwards and upwards as high as a second story building. Multi-coloured lights are strung between these two spars. A curtain crosses the middle between them also, and otherwise it is open on all sides. Actors could move through the partition for either side of the floor. Strangely there seems no 'offstage' area. Perhaps they simply jump on from the crowd. Pot lights are located around the perimiter in pop-ups, and there are hatches and boxes attached suggestive of pyrotechnics or special effects. There is an unusual shimmering to this construction. An obvious illusion, except it appears disguised as itself. The main platform is at head-height to a goblin with the ground clearly visible underneath it, where there is that strange shimmering again.

Packed around the edges of the buildings are temporary stores, stall, carts, lean-tos, tents, and other hastily assembled places of business that frustrate and obstruct the actual businesses located here. In some cases, goblins have built a second goblin shop on top of a particularly sturdy ground floor edifice. Each one has eager vendors scanning the crowd, ready to jump out at anyone that looks their way.

A moment's hesitation and potential patrons are shoved inside while they make up their mind. It's difficult to escape without a purchase, but there are several things worth buying. Deaf Ned's Firearms Emporium is a cart opened up to display barrels of blunderbusses and piles of pistols.

A grey goblin girl sits on a stack of cages beneath a sign advertizing: Maori's Riding Wolf Starter Packages, and the cages hold wide eyed, fluffy pawed, puppies. Aunty Sifila's Temporary Warts is a popular stall, to get everyone in a goblin-y mood. There's a free smooch with every one! Fresh Birds are being hawked. There's a tent labled 'Rainbow Feathers', which sells: feathers. Artificer booths bedecked with glowing globes crowd with shacks selling amulets, skulls and small dried animals. Chili is everywhere, as are pickpockets, and even tinier goblin children that dart around at ankle level like bowling balls.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=  Appearing, in Order  =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Ezil         5'11"    175 Lb     Human             Male    An armored man with dark skin, and grey-blonde hair.
Iskandar     6'10"    335 Lb     Giantborn         Male    Larger than life hero.
-=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=-

It's busy, it's noisy, at all hours. Darkvision has its disadvantages, specifically that its possible to be active at all hours, and when most of the people around you are, it keeps you up. Moving in, moving out, random explosions, the new community is literally banging.

So, even though it's late afternoon, some of the ramshackle stores and shops are closed, because their proprietors were up all night, and others are just opening. As before, goblin heads create an effective mass that taller species sprout out of.

Ezil wades through the sea of goblins, careful and keeping his distance as to not bother the busy construction, demolition, or really... any of what they're doing. It's a visit to see the life that's being breathed into this new community, watching in awe as they go about their work, and admiring the tenacity in which the streets seem to flow with life. He has his lantern for when it's too dark to see, but he just watches, amused and a bit impressed.

At Maori's Riding Wolf Starter Packages, there is no Maori. There is however, Nif, her giant worg that is the size of a horse. He sits there, tongue hanging out and panting, watching goblins go by. He stares for a moment at the human.

Across the way, an artificer is setting up, hanging his glowing globes and setting out some mechanisms and components.

Goblins for the most part are good at avoiding Ezil's legs, flowing around him. He gets a few bumps on the knees, from either elderly gobbers with sticks, or artificers carrying sacks of stuff. Hard, lumpy stuff.

Ezil watches the Worg, raising a brow as he is noticed, but he does nothing to try and spur the wrath of the beast. As the artificer sets up his devices, he does take a few steps away, learning to keep a distance from such things because of Kaelyn. Or, more because goblin devices have been prone to explode. He doesn't know for sure, but he was warned of it. At the bumps and knocks, he simply excuses himself, and gives a smile. He knows well he's the outsider here. "It's lively, and lots of life. I'm glad I came."

>>>BOOOM<<<<

There's a massive explosion down at Deaf Ned's, who has taken to sounding the hour at a volume he can feel. It's immediatly followed by angry shouts, telling him to cut it out already.

Nif whines, then growls, the worg doesn't appreciate it either, it seems.

Slowly coming up the way is a scowl attached to an ashen arvec, who gives Ned her best withering gaze. Having not mastered the abiliy to kill with a look... yet, the overcharging firearms enthusiast survives. When she looks back to her path, she's about to bump into Ezil. Oddly, she has a small radius of free space around her. Goblins give her a berth they don't deign for Ezil. As she gets closer, the why is apparent, she has a cold aura.

Ezil is shaken, jarring visibly at the explosion. He's confused at first, looking every which way under the stars, but as everyone else settles, so does he. "Dragonspitter?" he asks himself, though the one being given a berth quickly draws his eye as she draws near. She looks familiar, but most of the goblinoids do when you don't know them well. It takes him a while for him to learn their features, being a human with only human eyes. He steps out of her way, offering his small smile, and a curt nod. "Hello."

She moves on, ignoring Ezil as if she didn't hear him. As she steps past, she stops mid step, turns her head and stares at him. Her makeup is white against her dark grey skin, and she has several silver piercings. "You've been dead." It isn't a question. Ezil is confused by that exchange, looking after her, but his aura flares a bit as he uses his power to see if there is darkness coming from her. It's strange, but it wasn't the cold giving him chills. These days you can't be too careful. "Have a nice day." he calls, still being civil, but trying to find a place to park himself for a while.

There is something... The chill isn't the sort one feels from the weather. As Ezil moves away she takes one step to follow, raises her hand, one finger extended. To touch or grab. Her arm hangs in space, reaching, reminscent of a painting he's seen somewhere. "I want to hear about it."

Ezil gets the spooks, that's clear. "What do you mean? I have never been dead." though that raises questions in his mind, something about the words causing him to pause. "I have seen in to the realm of spirits, but not.... dead." curious, but wary. Very wary.

She closes distance, watching the man's face. Many Arvec Nar have a lighter patch of skin on their nose, often a different colour to the rest of their faces. The 'lantern flame', and a high contrast can be beautiful. This woman's is black. It makes her face look like a skull. With the white highlights and silver piercings, a decorated one. The stillness descends, "Yes. You were closer than you know."

"I believe you. My body was left on the floor, and I had..." The Tsuran pausing in his words. "Now you have my curiosity. Do you really wish to know?" he asks, looking out over the street once more. "Could I buy you a meal, or a drink? We can chat if you'd like." now committing to listening, despite he feeling he has. The Faring Tales are ripe with such incidents, of men talking with gods, beings, or important figures on a whim. He knows not if this is that moment, but tales are meant to be shared.

"Yes. A drink. Over there." She points up the square, across and away from Deaf Ned and some of the louder touts. The way she points is unsettling, the motion a little too slow, as if invisible strings pull her like a marionette. "Coffee. It's quiet."

Goblins along the way glance up at her step out of the line of her gesture. Perhaps an automatic anti-spell precaution, but the look they give her suggests it isn't. Even an Oruch finds something to temporarily distract himself, to avoid breaking the path.

"Never developed a taste for it, but I will live." Ezil muses as he shows her the way, leading where she pointed. It's strange, the movements noticed, but he speaks nothing of it. He has committed to the tale, having heard many like it, and seeming to accept this might be one of his own. "You remind me of a story, one that's not too important, but my people are fond of their tales." indulging her as he tries to keep her slow pace. "Are you from here?" he asks, waiting till they have coffee in hand, and a place to rest before talking business. It's always proper to show respect, and courtesy,

It's as if she glides, an impression made even more strange by her clothes. She wears pants, simple and black, loose around her legs. Each foot is lifted enough to slide above the ground, then touches again as her weight transfers. Her pace is just a smidge slower than average for her height. She nods, as he mentions stories, but says nothing while still adrift in the crowd. A table is found, she seats herself, a goblin looks a her and wordlessly brings her a dark pot and a mug. "I would like to hear that story. I am not."

Ezil nods as he sits himself across from her with a softer smile. "I drank a tea, and it sent me to the realm of spirits." he starts, looking to the brew, and taking out a coin to pay. He pours her a mug, motioning for one himself as he sets it before her. "We found demons, playing with life and death. Interrupting the flow of Vardama's order." he offers casually, watching and wondering about that aura he feels.

She pours herself a mug of the blackness, intently watching Ezil as he speaks. Interrupting briefly to say, "I am familiar with that tea." Being close to her is a little like being beyond the Veil. The same way Ezil was ignored on the other side, she seems to be in regular life. Passing gobbers don't look at her, or look past her. It's hard to get the attention of the coffee goblin to pay him. He's always occupied with something else. When she makes an effort, then others react. Her aura is tinged with darkness, but not of an evil sort. It is more like a very mild version of the feelings surrounding Vardama's Reaper. "What bothered you the most there?"

Ezil sighs, his mind having to wander over that incident again. "The grief we knew we'd cause. A boy who didn't know he was dead, and demons controlling the powers of celestials." listing a few things that come to him, though that may not be the root. "Taking a deal with a demon to learn the sources of harm. Too many things that leaves me wondering." honest, and talking not at her, but to her. "It reminded me of other things.... but that was a lifetime ago." noting his discomfort, but shaking it off with a subtle shift in his seat. "I have doubts about the course of our actions, but we saw the order restored."

"Children pass over the easiest." She says, taking a slow sip of her coffee, then settling it down. She watches the impact ripple rings from the center, a nearby light reflecting on the wavy surface. As if discussing a flower, she says, "It is beautiful, in its own way."

The skull impression made by her features and make-up is strong. Her Hair is long and very straight, hanging off her head reminiscent of a hood. She reaches into her pocket and takes out a deck of cards. "Have you seen these?"

She cuts the deck and flips over one, placing it down.

Spring.

"Yes. If they are what I suspect they are." Ezil notes, her comment drawing his raised brow, but he lets it slip passed without a word. The child was resilient, and he would of gone to a much better place than being lost. In his mind. "They are for fortunes, yes? The Faring Folk have such things. Crystals, cards.... seers." his mid racing a bit now as she pulls them out. "Or... did you want to play poker?" asking, but sure that is not the answer. "For fortunes." She says, slowly shuffling the cards. She cuts and interleaves them. They move easily in her hands. Her grim expression doesn't change, but there is a mild humour to her next words, "Crystals do not work for me."

Cut. Shuffle. Cut. Shuffle. "Poker upsets them. The marked deck is better."

She sets the deck down beside her mug, almost daring Ezil to touch it. The cards lurk there while she refills her mug. Continue to lurk, as she raises it to her lips, sips, lowers it again. Her hand extends, fingers slowly spreading. She flips over a card.

Summer.

Is it getting darker?

"Each person has their own focus." Ezil says, tense as he watches her cut the cards and begin her reading with the deck. He was tempted to touch it, something about this familiar to him from his people, but he dares not disturb the order being set here. The atmosphere seems to change, and the hair on his neck stands tall now as he sees the first card. "That's a little promising." knowing a bit of its meaning, but he does not yet celebrate.

"It is a nice season." The ashen Arvec woman says, running her hand from her eyebrow through her hair, tucking it back over an ear on one side. She has a short black jacket, in a simple style and made from cloth. Underneath, a shirt that seems woven in one piece, closer to the grey of her skin. It has ties across the front, black strings, making a faint impression of ribs.

The cards are taken up again. Shuffle. Cut. "What did you feel when you took life." What, not how. Shuffle. Cut.

She draws a third, placing it down. The first two cards were in a line, angling away from her. The third goes down with a larger gap, sideways and parallel to the second card.

Fall.

"All life is precious, and taking life... gives me pause." Ezil says openly, looking away after having taken a hard look at her. That made him uncomfortable, shifting again as her actions seem to cause suspicion, but then the truth is the only answer. "It makes me feel like a failure. I know it is necessary, but we're all siblings of sorts in this world. The strong should not prey on the weak." but that's just a defense given to him by his tenets. "Demons are one thing... but those that dwell on this realm? I always regret it. Even if it's the only choice."

"You are uncomfortable." She states, watching through his hard examination and the glance away. The deck is placed down again, closer to the black pot this time. Her mug is raised, another long, slow slip before it descends again. She picks up the deck once more. Shuffle. Cut.

"And when your friends kill?" Her voice raises this time, a sign of life, making it an actual question instead of a statement. Shuffle. Cut.

Unlike the other times, she keeps shuffling as she waits for an answer. Perhaps if no answer is given, she might shuffle until the end of time?

Shuffle. Cut.

Shuffle. Cut.

"Yes, I am." Ezil promptly answering her first question. "I don't like the flaws the questions make me see in myself. What you ask, I ask myself too. One has to do ask themselves." letting out another sigh as he tries to relax. Her use of cutting the cards is a tension he can feel. There is belief in those traditions. It runs deep through his Tsuran blood. "My friends killing is the same. I regret they must make that choice, and I too wonder if it could of been prevented. I don't like killing. It's...." a memory there causing him to pause, taking a long look at the cards laid out..

"I would rather no one kill if it were possible, but the weak would die if we did not stop what we could." Ezil's answer complete after a moment in his thoughts.

Winter.

She places the inevitable card, flipping it and setting it down. The four seasons are now arranged in a V with her as the point. Her clothes hang off her frame, her slow motions imparting no flutter to them. There has been very little motion to her, except the shuffling.

Which has stopped.

She deals the next card from the top of the deck, between the two arms of the V, breaking the straight lines and making it more like a curve, a bowl with her at the bottom. She flips the card.

Doors.

A bowl, or a hill. The deck is placed within, she withdraws her hands to the edge of the table and places her fingers together.

"You never chose. Are you sure you are not still in the Vast?"

A flat stare. It's intense as his body goes still. Those words and the cards sending a chill down his spine. The danger is now real to him, his breathing ceasing for a brief moment after he inhales. He only lets it loose as he speaks. "Yes. I made my choice. I chose not to accept those doors." simple, and direct. "Your cards have told you were I have been. This is not the future. This is my past." though he's unsure of a few things, but not about that connection. It's about where this discussion will go next.

"You see much, and know things others can not. The Tales warn me, but to run from this is to admit fear of one's choices were wrong. No, I rejected those doors, and was blessed for it. I will not forsake Telmentar, and what she has gifted me. No matter how unworthy I think I am of it." Ezil's answer given, but he foes not look away. "When we get to my future, I will not blanch."

"The future then, is now." The ashen Arvec states. She extends a hand, one finger leading, arcing down to land on the top of the deck. She slides the top card towards Ezil, slipping her thumb under it when it is half off the deck. It remains unflipped, in contact with the other cards.

"You still made a choice. To not decide. What if I flip it. Do you want to know."

She is deathly still. Her, the table, the cards, Ezil. The rest of the world has retreated away.

Ezil thinks on those words, eyeing the ashen Arvec hard and long. "No. I don't need the future to decide what I will do. I didn't then, and I don't now." his words coming having confidence. It's as if something has washed over him, most of it being relief. "You reminded me of my path... that it's best not to know. I am happy with this fate, and I will walk it as I always have. Blindly." that last word added with a smirk. "Thank you, Seer." moving to check on her mug.

"While your offer is kind, I do not think it necessary. I once saw many futures... none of them kind. I will make a future for myself now. That just seems to be what is best." The Tsuran again choosing that unknown path, managing to kill that fear and tension with his choice. "Telmentar's touch will see me kill my fear."

Her question hangs in the air. Could she chose for him and seal a fate. Does she even need his willingness, or would it descend like a curse, weaving a future from the dangling threads he left behind. Even if he looked away, the universe would know. If she flipped it now, the unfinished tapestry would complete.

She lifts it away. It is held in the air, still horizontal. The slightest motion would turn it.

She withdraws it with her hand, slides it into her pocket. "I will take your card from the deck. No one will ever draw your future."

Those words cause Ezil's brow to raise once more, filling her cup if it needs it, but he takes a moment before he responds. "I fell I should thank you again, but my thanks might not be enough for the gratitude I feel." it's something akin to that, but he can't explain it in just words. As the session seems to draw to a close, he looks to that Arvec once again with a renewed interest. "Can I ask your name? If the Tales ever speak of this, I should have something to call you."

The Tsuran's relief is still evident, but as he calms it seems he realizes this is about over, and that too brings with it a sadness of sorts. "I imagine you have far to travel, but your stop here will be remembered for my lifetime."

>>>>BOOM<<<<

Shock and shockwaves, as Deaf Ned sounds the hour. The spell, if it was one, is broken as the ashen arvec jumps in surprise. Her knee hits the underside of the table. The coffeepot tips, and spills, a brown lake washing across the surface, towards the hill of doors. The cards. Towards the cards. "Blood! Blood! Blood!" She says, with real and lifelike emotion in her voice as she scrambles to get her deck out of the way of the flow. They're swept off the table, cascading to the ground as she slams her arm down to soak up the coffee.

There is another swell of angry goblin voices, shouting at Deaf Ned, who obviously ignores it with ease. This has become the new normal, an hourly boom followed by jeering, angry complaints and a ringing that might never go away. The din dies down to normal levels. A level that seemed absent when the cards were out but is noticeable now. The merchants selling their wares go back to shouting what they have. Gobbers. Gobbertown.

"Ashlee." The ashen arvec answers, finally having corralled all her cards. Well, her name could be Blood but that seems... unlikely. The loud noise and the flood has shattered her poise. Her movements no longer seem driven by strings. Despite that, a creepy chill remains around her. "Ashlee Twilight. Use Ash in your Tales. We have met before."

Running her hand through her hair, she tucks it behind her ear again. Her piercings are touched next, like a small ritual. The silver decorations do contrast nicely with the grey of her skin. The coffee dripping from her sleeve somewhat mars the image she is seems to want to present. "They are simply cards. The ones you skipped have no hold on you."

"Same for doors."

Having jolted at that boom, Ezil startles and looks for a towel, a kerchief, anything to save the cards, deciding to use his arm. It's only coffee, and he bought new clothes anyways. "We have!" He says with a smirk, not caring for the ruined sleeve of his colorful shirt as she had hers. He just wanted to buy her time to gather everything. "I will remember your name, Ash. I just.... nevermind." dismissing the aura from before, and realizing some things are not meant to have proper answers. The Tales say so, and so it is accepted. "I will remember that lesson, and remember it well." smiling kindly and offering a sheepish shrug. "From the Fernwood, right?"

She nods, "Yes. Alexandria is interesting but I am not sure I fit in. I do not here, did not at home, did not at my studies." She shrugs, still no smile, although she seems relaxed. Mildly unsettling appears to be her default setting. "Thank you, for saving the cards. A new set would be hard to come by."

Iskandar strides through the crowded market without much effort. He towers over the gobbers. He's tall enough to stand head and shoulders above even most Arvek. The gobins obligingly shift out of his way as he approaches, then come back together behind him without much fanfare. Iskandar's waist - and therefore his belt and coinpurse - are just out of reach of most of those he passes. That might explain why he's not taking particular notice of his immediate surroundings and instead gawking about like any newcomer to a a sight like this would. Or it may be that he's just used to such conditions and has honed a sixth sense that lets him be alert to the dangers of thieves and pickpockets, without concious though or visible care.

Ezil smiles and shakes his head, wringing his sleeve a bit as he stands from where they sit near the cafe. "No need to thank me. I would of done it for anyone, Ashlee." pausing as the giant born comes in to view, spotting him easily coming down the way. "Well, that's giving them something else to look at." he muses, though he can't complain, as the time with Ashlee had made him mostly invisible to the others. "Adventurer! What brings you here?" he calls, at least trying to be friendly, not minding attention now that he isn't the only one drawing it.

The merchants eagerly shout out as he passes, "Giantborn! Big Sale!", "Huge Discounts!", "Climbing rings for your friends!", "All you can eat! I'm just going to throw it away." Some are a little more diplomatic, "Gunpowder Chili!", "Spiced Gunpowder!", "Coloured feathers, every one in the rainbow!", "Dead animal things!" A few run up to show off leather belts, in case he wants some wrist straps, or capes, if he's looking for a handkerchief, and so on...

Ashlee follows Ezil's gaze, and nods. "He is a friend of yours?"

There is a giant worg that seems happy to see something on his own scale. He 'wuffs' at Iskandar as he passes by.

Iskandar returns the smile and adjusts the direction he is walking to bring him towards Ezil. The change is accomodated by most of the gobbers who continue to part for him to let him by. One female is distracted by a gobber-child she's pulling along by the hand and doesn't quite notice. Iskandar smoothly steps around the two without looking, and this brings just close enough to give the worg a scritch behind the ears. This draws a quick bite from the worg and a hearty chuckle from Iskandar. "What brings me here?" he repeats as he finally draws near. His voice is naturally loud and with all the sounds from all around them, it's just the right volume to be heard above the other din and racket. He spreads his arms out to indicate everything around them. "Why...here! A few associates of mine have been talking about the ruins, and the market that has sprung up here. It was enough to make me come and see for myself!" He gives the Arvek a quick look and a polite nod, before returning his attention to Ezil. "And you? How many times have you been here?"

"Just today. I wanted to see it with my own eyes. It's a community of sorts." Ezil says with a subtle smirk, looking to Ashlee. "Not at all, but it's always nice to meet new people." having challenged himself already with the fate he takes control of, looking back to Iskandar. "I am Ezil, All-Friend, and Sentinel." motioning to his grey, and oddly adorned Arvec companion. "This is Ashlee Twilight." yes, he makes introductions and offers the giantborn his small hand. "Amazing here, is it not?"

"Ash." Ashlee says, shuddering. She stands, so she doesn't have to look quite so far up to face the giantborn. She directs that to both of them. "Please call me Ash. I dislike Ashlee and hate Twilight."

Iskandar takes the hand - or rather the forearm behind it, in a warrior's hand-clasp. "Well met! I am known as Iskandar!" He offers a hand to Ashlee as well. "It is amazing. Like several places in the city, only different. Less planned, perhaps. Less managed, certainly." He chuckles and glances back towards the worg. "And yet still organized, in its own way." He lowers his voice just a bit. "Always seems to happen when Arvek are near," he flashes a wink at Ashlee.

Ezil smirks again at Iskandar, nodding. "They can slap a wall up in the middle of nowhere in hours. I can't say I'm not surprised." his hand taken back as he looks to Ash. "Apologies." noting her preference again, and giving an apologetic glance.

"You're well met, Iskandar. I am in agreeance... it's just amazing." the Tsuran says with a bit of admiration, taking another look around as it's mentioned. "I wonder what will come of all of it."

Ashlee takes Iskandar's hand and shakes it. There's a little bit of a chill to her, not like cold weather, something else. Her movements are conservative, she shakes with some strength. No smile to speak of, but then that's Arvecs. "We do prefer things that stay up, and not blow up. I am impressed with gobber energy, I will admit."

Iskandar laughs as if Ash made the greatest joke. "Energy! Yes!" he grows just a bit more serious and then turns to gaze in the direction of the ruins. "I would think that how it all ends," he turns ever so slightly towards Ezil, enough to indicate he's answering him, "Depends on how it all ends with the ruins. So long as they are here this market will remain."

"Well it will take some time then, hopefully. It's a boon to them though. It might be what Goblintown needed though. A lot of them were out of work till now." Ezil's words low, but it does bring a smile to his face. "They're industrious, and seized this opportunity pretty quick. I had to see it." motioning to, well, everything.

"So there will be expeditions into the ruins?" Ashlee asks. She wraps her arm in a towel to dry off her sleeve by wringing it. There is a wistful tone to her voice. "That might be nice, at first."

"I would be shocked if there weren't." Iskandar does indeed look a bit surprised. "A ruin, in the backyard as it were of Alexandria, city if adventurers? City of artifice?" he adds a bit later, glancing back towards a floating piece of land - and perhaps a bit of built structure - off in the distance. "It is only a matter of time," he assures Ezil and Ash.

"I can't even imagine what will be in there. It's going to get busy here, and in Alexandria for a bit." Ezil says to Ash, and Iskandar. "I'm looking forward to it." his musing coming as he looks where Iskandar's glance goes, following it as he takes in this place once more before he sighs. "I have to make the trek back tonight, but it was worth coming down for."

"It would be nice to see things while they are still. Before they are disturbed. Picked over. It is a graveyard. Many lost their lives when the city crashed. Turned to dust. The dust spread. Mingled. In death become entangled with their neighbours, their ashes mixed with ashes. Rich, poor, now peers in the after party. Silently sharing themselves. Resting. No end, no beginning. United." The ashen arvec says, winding the towel tight on her arm. It turns brown as the coffee is squeezed from her clothes. She release it, unwinds it. Folds the wet rage and places it on the table. "A peace that will be disturbed by boots tromping through, looking for baubles. Oblivious to the ones they disturb."

"Well..." Iskandar begins, imperturbed as if he's well versed in this particular line of thought. "...It's not all treasure hunting. And not all adventurers seek baubles - 'loot' as they say." He quickly raises a hand, palm open, to forestall the immediate response. "Many do, and the so-called Explorer's Guild certainly does nothing to discourage such an agenda...but at the most base, it is about exploring. Understanding history. Discovering what there is to learn from ancient cultures that no longer stand, just as we all learn from the cultures that remain." He gestures broadly, sweeping with one arm towards the market around them.

"It's why so many travel to The Vast, and the caravans there thrive." Ezil mentions, looking up to Iskandar from where he stands. "To understand the impossible that happens in the Sea of Sundered Time. To know of the world before the changes that left it this way." smiling as he can not help but feel a bit of mirth, and shifting lightly on his feet, hooking a thumb in his belt. "The treasure seekers, the loremasters. It brings all sorts when these things are discovered."

"Some of those sound nice." Ashlee admits quietly. She looks around at the goblins, goblinoid culture. What her eyes take in is unknown, perhaps it is too vibrant and fast for her.

Iskandar gazes off towards the ruins once more and then turns away from them, with a sense of finality. "I'm heading back to the city." He glances at Ezil before adding, "By way of the river that is. And before that the mines. I wanted to visit a few other associates, while I am in the area." He nods to Ashlee and then Ezil. "Farewell to you both!"

Ezil nods his head, watching after Iskandar. "It was." he comments with a small smirk, turning to look down at Ash. "I have to be going soon myself, but... I get a feeling I'll see you again. Be well, Ash." his tone sincere as that small smirk turns to a wide smile. "I think I feel better."

"Your aura is clearer." Ashlee says, drawing a circle in space at Ezil's head. "I will be here. Tell Merek hello."

No smiles, only directness, perhaps some lightness in tone. "I should change clothes. I dislike being wet."

And life goes on in goblintown.

Ashlee
https://tinyurl.com/vtfcgsb