Forums » Fantasy Roleplay » Magic, Masters, and Machina (1x1)

How interesting it was, another day within the thick miles of seemingly endless vegetation. Was it unusual for an elf to be wandering such lands? Probably not, but the reasons perhaps were more unique than most. With the term 'Elf', most assumed the tree hugging, nature humping type. So at least thats what Blair had experienced most times in human populated cities. Out here though you could see him in his element persay! Not the tree hugging nature humping type either! A long flowing cowl stretched off his shoulders, the cape like fabric shrouding him from behind as he moved forward steadily through the thicket. A rustle of gear could be heard on his person, the shifting sounds of metal and various clinks of glass tapping together from the vials on his belts. His hood up, not much along the lines of skin could be seen on him. To most he would appear to be just some well suited humanoid figure cutting trails through the woods. There were various glows coming from his body though. From the vials in his belts, strange fluid radiated with an almost mystical like light. On other places though, such as on his gauntlets and along his leather vest, strings of wires too gave off a soft illumination, sometimes of various colors. He certainly wasnt hard to spot out among the mono-color surroundings of green vegetation. The simple and flowing greens and browns of the trees and bushes around him, interrupted by the glowing reds and blues of his wears. More notably than just his wears though would be one specific piece of gear. A rifle. Unique in design, crafted by hand, it didnt look like your average ballistics weapon. It was of a special design which only so many ever got to discover the true power of. Slung across his back and out of the way, the olive skinned elf carried on, pushing small bushes and branches out of his way until coming upon a small clearing, finally able to rest for a moment out of the tangle of the forest.

It had been a while since anyone had traversed this forest. Longer still since she had stood in the presence of civilized company. Not that slaver's were very civilized. She had spent her time with them, under their leash. Learned her 'place'. It was their own fault that they thought that knowing one's place meant they had lost their spirit, their fire. She had escaped when they were trying to move her from one slave trade to another, and they passed by here. It was so easy to hide in these trees, so easy to catch others unaware. She had injured several of her persuers before they finally left her be.

That had been years ago... and now there was this one. Why was he here? Why was he inserting the chiming of his tack and vials into the sounds of her forest?

Curiosity got the better of her as she wandered from treebranch to treebranch, moving as smoothly as the wind, to hide, just out of sight of the clearing. The stranger easily in her view.

There was no question regarding the activity within the surrounding forest. Aside from the small holes through the base of bushes and the tiniest paths of matted grass from woodland animals, there were no natural trails to be had. Blair had probably been following a deer trail for most of his trek through the forest, making it just the slightest bit easier to carve his way though and find the small clearing. A natural grove it seemed, rich with flowers bathing in the sunlight. It was refreshing on the eyes after the miles of endless shadowy green from being beneath the canopy.
"Lets see..." Blair spoke to himself, finding a formation of rocks close by that would be high enough to place some of his gear down on. His rifle, his bag, and something from his pocket. It resembled a small compass, folding the device open and setting it down on the smoothest surface of the rock. A needle, rather than acting like a flat compass, stuck straight up and waved in the air slowly almost like a metronome. After just a few motions back and forth however it stuck straight up, a light blue color radiating from its glass core before the needle leaned to a single direction and stopped, pointing out a new direction for Blair to follow once he set off again. A smile rested there on his lips, happy to know where it was to go next, but, still completely unaware that he was being watched from a guest high above in the trees.

Jherra was fairly familiar with most technology, having been introduced to such as her term as a slave, but this was something different. She had never seen things glow quite like that unless enhanced by some kind of magic or science. A great feeling of curiousity wanted to pull her closer to the stranger, yet she was still a little wary of others... Still, she was far more aware than she had been many years ago when she was captured. It was worth the chance.

Still moving through the trees, she paused just on the edge, barely concealing herself, trying to get a better look. But it was in vain, the rock formation was just not close enought to the trees. With a huff, Jherra dropped to the ground, her landing light. She moved smoothly like a jungle cat, making practically no noise as she neared the newcomer from behind. Warily she glanced at the rifle, she recognized a gun when she wsaw one, but she was confident she could move fast enough to either take it from him or get out of the way of fire if he proved... violent.

Blair was not the 'pull the trigger and ask questions later' type of guy. Sure, he was well armed and prepared for conflict so it appeared, but it was for protection, not intentive violence. When the amazon from behind approached be had not a clue until he was picking up his things and managed to catch a sight out the corner of his eye, turning a bit more quickly then but not making any sort of hostile action.

"Whoa! You startled me there!" He certainly sounded a bit surprised, chuckling lightly while patting his chest. His heart felt like it skipped a bit from the sudden appearance of... A very lovely female. Taking the moment to actually eye Jherra up and down there was no hiding that he was observing some features of hers. Not what you would think though! Blair was a man of details and research. When meeting others he looked at everything. Height, build, attire, complexion, so on so forth. Jherra certainly appeared to be a very healthy and woodsy individual if he didn't know any better to say.

"I'm sorry if I might be intruding anywhere. My name is Blair! I'm a researcher." Blair was far from shy, and if you couldn't tell, as friendly as a saint! He made no motion towards the very beautiful Nd exotic individual before him though. He didn't know anything about her and as of now was just hoping that his politeness was good enough to save him from a spear or something to the face! More than able to defend himself if need be, be was mug happier to use words.

Eyes scrunched at the side, showing mirth that she had given him a start, her lips turning up ever so slightly. "It has been a while since I have seen another person. I am surprised it is a researcher. My interactions with others has normally not been so.... civilized." She looked the slightly shorter man over, from head to toe, but it was his eyes that let her relax. This was not a person who had any bad intentions for her or her forest. "And as far as I know, you have not trespassed into anything sacred. It is a... pleasure to meet you Blair. You may call me Jherra."

Not being the greatest at reading expressions, all Blair could go off of was the slight curl at the edge of her lips after he had been startled. So long as it was humorous then it didnt matter to him. He was laughing at it so all was well, right? "It seems like not many people venture this way. I would have never known you were here actually. How long were you watching me, if you dont mind my asking?" Blair quickly assumed that he had not been traveling unnoticed and Jherra probably had been watching him for some time through his wandering in the woods. He wasnt bothered by it. Clearly she hadnt tried hunting him and killing him so that was a plus in his book!

With an introduction given Blair gave a smile and figured maybe now would be a good chance to test boundaries and interaction limits. Taking a step forward he offered a hand out to her, just as a friendly gesture in hope that either she was familiar with such a thing or that maybe he would get some sort of gesture in return. Jherra clearly seemed much more forested than most civilization. He suspected there was a whole culture to her ways. Perhaps even a tribe of similar people? Her exotic appearance surely suggested it and it was very appealing to the olive skinned elf.

Jherra circled the researcher.... Blair, getting a good look at him from all angles now that she was up close. "I was watching for not quite a candle. Since you were a bit past the great willow tree. I caught onto your tracks from there and caught up. You really don't travel very quietly. You should learn to fix that. You give yourself away. If this were my home jungle you would have been easy prey to some of our cats."

She turned her head this way and that looking at some of his items. With a tentative hand she reached for the rifle. "May I?"

There was no denying what Jherra said about his manner of transportation. He certainly was a bit louder than most, lugging around his gear with the clinging of metal and vials often sounding with his steps. He chuckled though, nodding his head. "I suppose, but, i dont worry much about things attacking me usually. The gun is an intimidation technique. I am quite capable of handling myself hand to hand though." He smiled, seeing then as she gestured towards his rifle. "Oh, by all means!" He smiled, letting the odd weapon off of his shoulder and holding it out to her. There was no denying that the weapon was larger than most rifles. This was no standard ballistics weapon. "This is an Aether Rifle. Designed it myself. It uses the worlds natural flow of magical energy from the air and charges it into a projectile." He explain the weapon a bit, pointing out a few key features, such as a battery like cell within the handle which slightly resembled some of the vials on his belts. A type of ammunition? "If you want to fire it you have to hold it tight and have a good stance. This thing can put someone on their ass if you arnt ready for it." He gave a fair warning, having no issue with if she wanted to fire off a round. Judging by the glowing red cell, one would assume that a fire like blast would come forth from the weapon if that trigger was pulled.

Naive. That was what he was. Either that or a very good actor. After all, she had startled him at her approach, and she had been simply curious. If she had been hostile, he would be dead. A jungle cat could be just as stealthy as she was, and there was no doubt in her mind that they were always hostile.

She shook her head. Such a young thing to see the world through rose colored glasses. Ah well....

Taking the offered rifle she looked over the modifications with interest. This was different than guns she had seen before. Guns she had used. She understood the concept of them, she had even shot them before... she just was not very fond of them. They were a powerful weapon most often found in the hands of the unworthy.

With a sigh she took a stance to brase for kickback and took aim- almost like a practiced sniper. Sighting along the weapon she picked a dying tree she had meant to mend but had forgotten about it. Taking aim she inhaled, then pulled the trigger as she exhaled. The strength of the kick was a little surprising, but she had brased for that, and so stood her ground. The ball of energy was what really surprised her, and the amount of damage it did to the tree. She held out the weapon to Blaise, then looked up at him. "I hope you do not have to use that in my forest."

Relieved of the burden of such a thing, she moved over to the tree and laid a hand on it, a slight frown on her features. Then, quick, she unsheathed a knife from her back and cut her palm. Dark green blood came forth, thick and wet. Carefully she smeared some of it on the damaged tree, and in but a few moments new growth started to sprout from it. After about a minute or so a yound tree was fully sprouted from that of the old one. "Grow well little one."

Naive? Possibly. Confident in himself? Very much so. Blair was a traveler of the world and he had seen mostly all there was to see. He had interacted with and experienced many walks of life, and in regards to angry cats in the forest, he had certainly handled much worse. This was all knowledge to himself though and not of the exotic native before him taking his rifle.

"I never enter anywhere with the intention to do harm. Such weapons are for protective purposes only." He nodded his head, gazing upon the smoldering wound left in the tree after the molten blast of red plasma that had been slung forth from the rifle. The surrounding wood next to the impact would be greatly charred by the heat and flames licking from the blast. The nature of Aether though, and the chosen setting Blair kept the rifle on, the fire quickly extinguished on its own and caused no extensive damages.

"I dont mean to be nosy, but may I ask what sort of magical feat that is, if it is one?" Blair couldnt help but take notice of the growing tree that she had sprouted forth from the dead wood she had shot from. Such acts are what impressed him, and honestly, it was exactly what he was a researcher of. Magic was his science, no matter what shape or form it was in. Seeing Jherra display such an act had more than just his attention, but his interest as well. Here coming from such a lovely and exotic individual as well. There was no doubt that the world was full of boring individuals. Here he felt like if Jherra might be willing to share any details he would be getting the best info there was to be had. What better than someone who probably lived with such things and used magic as part of every day life, rather than the luxury others used it as? It was like technology. For some things it was absolutely necessary, but too many people out there exploited the use of such advancements to their own pleasure. "...does your hand need any attention?" He looked approached her, his rifle back over his shoulder, looking at the slit on her palm. Reaching for his belt he pulled out one of the glowing vials, this one of a glowing sky blue color, very enchanting on the eyes. The assistance he seemed to be offering obviously wasnt of a technological origin.

Another drop of blood fell before Jherra could stop it. A flower sprung up from the earth as she brought her hand up to her mouth to lick away the dripping blood. She listened to Blair's questions, hand still pressed to her mouth. His offer to heal her hand raised her brows. "It will healin a few days, but if you wish to ply some skill I will not object." Offering her hand out to the stranger she contemplated her answers for his question. Thankfully the blood flow had stopped for the most part, so she was in no danger of dropping enough to make another tree underneath them.

"My people are said to be favored by an earth or nature goddess. Some say we are her creations. At the beginning of our existance we lived together in harmony, but after we grew in numbers our people started to split into tribes and move about what was once a plain. Eventually one tribe started to fight with another, and they dragged in the fellow tribes until it was an all out war..."

Observation alone told the elf that her blood possessed some sort of supernatural quality. He had seen aspects of the aether achieve similar feats, but coming directly from her blood suggested a natural origin point of the naturis aspect. Listening closely to what Jherra was explaining to him, Blair uncorked the small vial and poured the light blue fluid into his palm. Closing his hands together then, the gems embedded into the surface of his gloves started to radiate with the color of the fluid, the strange substance seeming to be absorbed now into his gloves.

"Did the war extinguish much of your race?" He suspected it did, seeing as he had never met an individual such as be before. Either there were very little or they just hid very well. "...you're going to feel a mix between hot and cold for a few seconds..." He told her before sandwiching her hand between his own lightly. Upon contact the blue glow would return to her hand this time, Blair taking his hands away then to leave the strange magic to do its work. "It's called Puris. It's the worlds natural aspect of purity and healing. When used in such simple ways you have one of the strongest healing agents I've personally ever seen." He figured she would like to know exactly what he was doing. It was clean and safe though, and in no time at all would start doing its job. "Please... Do tell me though if you start to feel anything in your breasts, naval, or legs. I'm still doing research on it, but puris also ties into fertility, reproduction and individual sexual drives... I would not recommend using this stuff on groups of individuals at once. Probably have a series of pregnancies following soon after..." He chuckled lightly, brushing his hands off on his legs and replacing the vial on his belt. He looked back to her then curious of the results.

Her hand was glowing. Interesting. Bringing the appendage closer to her eyes she noted the flashes of hot and cold from the slashed flesh. She eyed the wound as it seemed to start heeling, wondering if she would get the other side effects as well, or if the fact that she was already a fertile being. The whole beloved of a earth/nature goddess and such.

But no matter, she had a story to finish.

"Many died, yes. So much that our plains seemed to be drenched in the dark green of our blood. Our goddess wept at so many of her beloved people dying, so many gone from her for what seemed to her as no good reason. So, she changed something. A gift for those left, and for those who had passed. Our blood started to spring up flora... rather quickly. It is said the jungle that resulted came about in no more than half a candle mark. The surge of growth so strong it is said to cross the dimensions. My people... their clans, were separated. Their feud could no longer continue. With the obvious disapproval of the goddess, they made a truce. At first it was uneasy, but eventually the new land proved to be too much of a struggle to survive, and their petty squabbles were forgotten." A small smile played on her lips. It had been a while since she had spoken of her people. "I miss my jungle. But I think... I have changed too much- I do not have a place there anymore. So I am here. I still love the earth. Love nature. It was agony to be away from it when I was a slave. But that is a different story."

Flexing her hand she noticed it no longer smarted, and that the glow seemed to be fading as it did it's work to heal her cut. "I do not feel much different, but then, I am a carnal being. Perhaps it will not have as much of an effect on me."

With such a story to be told, Blair listened in closely even while the healing effects of the puris took place. She seemed to respond perfectly fine from it, which was good. It was sort of hit or miss when it came to the possible after effects of the healing properties. If you were aiming for those results though, puris could very well be used in such a way. It all came down to how you handled the aether and what you willed it to do when using it.

"That sounds rather poetic, actually. A beautiful forest, born from the blood of battle. Im sure it something that no one else of this world could ever be familiar with." He responded to what she had told him about her people. "Im sorry for your loss though..." He bowed his head. He personally wasnt quite familiar with such losses, but he could still sympathize, right? "Puris is random with those after effects. Ive seen men sprout a hard on within a couple seconds of touching the stuff, as i have seen women damn near tackle men under the urge to reproduce. Since i was using it for its healing aspects though its nowhere near promised that you would have any side effects. If you want those effects though, this stuff doesnt care how carnal of a person you are." Blair chuckled, fingering back through his vials and making sure the rest of them were organized to his liking.

"Did... you say slave?" His thought went back to that small bit she had mentioned. He had brushed it off at the time, listening in with the rest of the story, but now that they seemed to be floating with the direction of conversation, that seemed to be something lurking on his mind. Slavery wasnt something he approved of. He was too free spirited of an individual to ever think of condemning another to such a life. Looking at Jherra, he couldnt imagine why someone would want to enslave such a beautiful girl. Sad to say, ignorance was bliss. He had no idea what sort of slavery Jherra was wrapped up in previously in her life.

Jherra shrugged. "They named it the Amazon in this world. It is where my kind got our names. I am sure there is some kind of gobuldy-gook scientific name for us, but Amazon Demons is what we are called." She flexed her hand as the glow vanished leaving her hand whole once more. "As you say. I will take your word for the side effects." Sex was not something she needed, it was just something nice that happened every now and then.

A smile flashed accross her face in mirth at the pause and then notice of her statement. "Yes, I was a slave for several years. My first Master.... was pleasant I think... the memory is fuzzy. My other Masters fluctuated. Some were pleasant, others not so much. But such is life."

Demon would not be his choice of names for her or her kind. He knew the amazon title very well, but she didn't look at all like a demon to him. "Well it sounds like who ever came up with such a poor title for your people was very misguided in their opinion." He looked Jherra up and down again. Blair couldn't convince himself of such a title as 'demon' for her. "How does it feel?" He gestures towards her hand then, seeing that the glow had faded and her wound was healed.

Once on the slavery topic though Blair took a rather deeper interest on the subject. He had never met a slave before, or rather, ex-slave. She didn't sound too sour on the subject though. Perhaps it was not as bad as one would initially think? When Blair though of slavery he thought of hard labor and whips being cracked. Jherra said her first master was pleasant though. It sounded like and odd use of wording for a master, but then again he didn't know the lifestyle. "So how did you get to where you are now? I don't imagine that someone just gave up their slave..." He was curious, leaning himself back against he side of a tree now while they spoke. Crossing his arms lightly under his chest, the good was down off his head and Jherra had the olive skinned elfs full attention.

All there was to do was shrug. She did not name her kind, but the generic name most likely came for the fact that they could do other things than your average human, and were therefore different and evil. But that is humans for you, always ready to judge and condemn.

Evil is in the eye of the beholder.

"Feels, well... It feels healed." Once more she flexed her hand, stretching out the newly healed skin and marveling at the wholeness of it. There wasn't even a visible scar.

An ear twitched at the question, her tail swishing a bit behind her. "I have a rather dominant personality. Depending on the Master, I was normally a higher slave. Why? Because I would follow orders... mostly. I did not have an issue with punishing other slaves if I had too, I thought of the larger 'homes' as a kind of suido clan. We all had our place. However, I was still a bit too willful for my Master's. I knew too many uncany things, so they returned me. I had gotten a reputation in that area, so they thought to bring me somewhere else and see if I couldn't sell there. They had never moved me before, and were foolish. They forgot that once we left the confines of the slave trade, they took back the power nuetralizer. I waited, and I waited. I would not make my move until the most oportune moment- for I also had to wait until I could get my belongings. No Amazon will ever leave without her stone...." Jherra stroked her necklace, the gem embedded in the main skull winking in the sunlight. "Needless to say, I escaped."

His interest turned more so into a facination with every word she spoke. How she applied her nature to the status of slavery was a remarkable technique to say the least. Viewing the other slaves as clan members and using her dominance to stay high up on the ladder? Brilliant! It was everything of a very intuitive mind, crossed then with the obvious survival abilities she knew. "Jherra... That's amazing, if you don't mind my compliments. I hate bombarding you with questions, but my curiosity keeps getting the best of me. You mentioned clan life and the such but you escaped from slavey. What do you do with your life now? Are you on the run from the slavers, or just out living your life?" His tone certainly sounded the part of being genuinely interested.

Blair lived every day surrounded by modern life and social structure. Jherra was the complete opposite. His way of life turned backwards in a way. It was fascinating to him, really. "What does the stone here represent to your people?" There he was with another question! Damn researcher couldn't stop himself! "I'm sorry! Don't answer that. I feel like I'm prying." He shook his head turning sideways from the Amazon for a moment. "Maybe flip the table here. Please, is there anything you wish to ask me? I feel like I'm interrogating you or something." He ran a hand up through the back of his hair, gazing back upon the tall exotic beauty before him.

Mirth sparked in her eyes at Blair's enthusiasm. "I hunt. I listen to the trees, to the animals and birds. I sleep out in the sun, craddled by wood and leaf. It is a simple life, but it fills that part of me that needs nature." Looking down at her necklace she tried to decide if she wanted to tell him of it's significance to her. To her people. "I may tell you another time, what it means... Now, I do find myself missing civilization. Has it changed much? Where do you originate from... and what is it like?"