Closed Gnolligator

[Khafra]

Lakali
Spring 35 124

For where there was man, there was sure to be work. Lakali had spent his days traveling southwards from the badlands and into the forests, tracking disturbances in the earth. There were men in these woods, and Lakali was determined to find them.

The bog of Hesperia was rather nice to Lakali as he traipsed its swamps, comforted by the mushy loam beneath his bare feet, and the cool water he waded through. Compared to the scorched lands he had spent the last year hunting within the bounds of, this was a welcome change. As he trudged his way through, a canoe floated into view, and Lakali sank to his hackles in the mud like an alligator.

The eyes of a man swept over him.

They thought him an alligator, until they did a double-take.

By the look of him, Lakali figured he had never seen a Gnoll before. He felt bashful, eyes casting aside their predatory gaze as the human began to huffle-puff and spittle in fear, paralyzed. Voice rasping, the man paddled frantically to turn his canoe away, and Lakali slowly waded forward, following the helpless man through the bog, walking about as fast as he could paddle.

"Lakali says 'hello' to this one," called the Gnoll in the Common tongue. "Please do not fear, Lakali brings no trouble."

"Gnolligator!"
"Gnolligator!" the man shouted.

"Gnolligator?" Lakali smirked, laughing at the man as he trudged. Together they walked like this for hours, Lakali keeping a respectful distance.

Finally, the man began to calm. "I don't know what your game is, Gnoll, but there's nothing for you here in Hesperia," he said. "Begone, beast!"

"Lakali looks for mercenary work," said the Gnoll, tilting his nose down to blow bubbles in the loamy water. He figured the man would at least lead him to more civilized humans; this one was a bit savage! "Take Lakali to your employment office," he said.

"Fucking pesh-on-a-kitsch-you dumb animal, don't you play pretend! The magi will deal with you soon!" snorted the scrawny, bearded old man.

Lakali leered. He hated being called dumb. With a wave of his paw, he pushed a slurry of water forward to help the canoe move a bit faster, prompting the man to whimper and groan, dropping his oar in fright. Walking up to the canoe, Lakali began pushing it through the bog while the man contemplated striking him with the oar, but the soaking wet gnoll did not look amused enough to risk such funny business. "Hehe-HA. Lakali will help the silly human," Lakali said.

. . .

As they arrived in Hesperia, mages descended upon Lakali like buzzing gnats, swarming him with small spells that would make a Warband laugh. They took their shots at him, but he turned to ice in the town square to assess as the humans gathered around him. Their local lawmaker affixed shackles to his statuesque form, and they brought many mages to check upon his form. Like this he could not speak, but he did not have high hopes for employment now. Rather, he was contemplating leaving to try his luck elsewhere.

The humans of anarchy were kinder than these men and women who seemed so frightened. What luck. As the men brought a sledgehammer for him, he blew them away with a calling of the wind, and the crowd dispersed in total pandemonium. Was there a sensible person among them, or would he be leaving shortly? Perhaps he should call a storm to show his worth, maybe that would impress them enough that he might earn their respect?

Glittering symbols of Magemarks shone upon his shoulders like this, dim blue lights in the ice. Six marks, in total, one for every Galdr save for Summoning. He was but a glimmering, gleefully grinning statue with big teeth, icy-cold to the touch yet not at all melting in the warm air of the bog.

 

[Velho]

༺༉❁ April 4 year 124 of the third age ❁༉༻
<notes>

Though Hespæria was dotted with a small smattering of settlements throughout the whole of its territory, its largest city by far was its capital, Thokkmyrr. The whole of it was a Grove, dutifully watched over by Hespæride and her agents, so when it was that a strange, Gnollish mage did deign to freeze himself solid in one of the city's squares, such an event did not escape the notice of those to whom it may most concern. Still, it was not so serious that the Witch of Weaving Spiders would show herself– and she didn't need to.

Rare as it was for him to leave his home, her son had been out that day accompanied by his Fælnir pet. The sight of such a beast, strange as it was, attracted the attention of both of them– in particular when that strong gust of wind sent a man flying past them as they walked through the streets. Once the wind died down, Velho, though slow, approached the statuesque Gnoll with the support of his cane. He moved with a confident sort of grace despite his frailty, and Æhti followed shortly behind him with a straight, yet almost hesitant posture and features painted with a confused, yet curious expression.

The Æld'Norai of the approaching pair was ornately dressed in layers of fabric befitting his status, showing no signs of his own magics, while his Fælnir companion's choice of sleeveless tunic revealed two of his own Magemarks– Terra, Aqua– sat atop one another upon his left deltoid. The young man's original mark, Abation, was just barely visible if one were to look at him from behind to see the top of the circle, as it had been drawn on the nape of his neck. Further curiosity was incited within them both once they neared enough to spot all of the Gnoll's Magemarks. And though both the Ferrier and the Gnoll were similar in height, the contrast of their builds became ever the starker the nearer he walked– one as a mantis, wiry and insect-like, while the other, though runty for a Gnoll, dwarfed him nigh completely.

"...my, my, what a strange sight–..." Velho began, his voice soft, velvety, bemused.

"...are you here on your own accord, Gnoll? Or have you a master…?" The ælf continued, his sleepy, purple gaze meeting with the Gnoll's easily enough.

Æhti simply watched with silent interest, waiting for the Gnollish Aboteur to free himself and respond.

Of course, the humans of the crowd had not all fled– rather, the crowd had only shifted a bit. Though many of them still looked afraid of the Gnoll, there were many more that bore curious expressions of their own, now. Most in Thokkmyrr would recognize or at least know of Velho, and to see him intervene was a markedly strange sight. Those that still lingered were the nosy sort, wanting to see how this panned out.

 

[Khafra]

Though Lakali's eyes could not move, he could see all within his peripheral. And so he saw the Æld'Norai encroaching upon him, and he knew then that there was a hint of danger now.

Every Ælf was immortal. Nearly every Ælf was a talented mage. From the few Ælven slaves Lakali had spent time with, he knew at least something about their culture, and a good deal of their language.

Bless the whores who taught Lakali his tongues! Bless the vices for his pursuit of them!

The gnoll let Velho study him, studying the Æld'Norai in kind, and his companion.

Slick, icen hide receding to the warm, dry fur of his body, Lakali's smiling jaw of thick, bonecrushing teeth moved as soon as it could, and his Magemarks disappeared beneath the thawed-out robes upon his shoulders.

"Yes!" Lakali spoke in Ælvish with a high pitched bark, bringing his shackled paws low to clasp them like a thrifty merchant. His maw was locked in the perpetual vice of a smug grin. "HAH. Lakali work for dragon in fire territory, so says he! More work down to here. Work for Ælf. Lakali is Exodii and Chosen by Aether; he reasons: work for two, twice the pay, yes-ye-hehehahaha?"

The Ælvish he knew from those scant few years ago was starting to come back to him, now. Sadly he hadn't many opportunities to speak the language in all that time..

Stepping back, Lakali slapped his chest with a hollow thud as he bowed. Then, he rose with a sharp, whining laugh, but his paws again stayed low, tail tucking behind his bent, chained hyena legs. Remarkably, he was rather clean, having shucked all the mud and water out of his fur just as he'd come up out of the swamp. "Nearly did Lakali leave, he thinks... Humans not seen Gnoll before."

"Lakali did nothing wrong except try to find work, he does not mean to bring trouble. It merely finds him." His shackles rattled, and he couldn't help but giggle-snort. Was the Gnoll anxious? "If he is not welcome, he will leave. But if the Æld'Norai is open to business, then should we go somewhere private?"​

His tail began to wag slowly, a hopeful gesture.

 

[Velho]

༺༉❁ April 4 year 124 of the third age ❁༉༻
<notes>

Velho stood straight, patient, with hands clasped together at the small of his back while he awaited the Gnoll's response. Æhti eyed him strangely, his own gaze flitting between his master and the monster before him. Every day it was something so very strange, so it would seem.

The chittering laughter of a Gnoll was enough to cause a few more of the onlookers to scatter– or, in the case of some, to cower and hide, though apparently unable to tear their gazes away entirely. The Ferrier's patient though curious expression remained largely static as the creature explained himself, only tilting his head in consideration at the end. It would be hard to tell exactly what he was thinking in those few moments of silence.

Then, he chuckled, a mischievous grin drawing itself onto the lips of the ælf, his brows a bit raised and drawn together in an expression of bewildered amusement. "...the dragon in Veiðrbrand, huh? …how fascinating."

Velho's mind immediately pinned this dragon's identity, as there was only the one in recent history who'd bothered to stay there for longer than a few months. "Cælum, I assume? …I gave him his Seeming...small world, eh?" he said with a wan smile, words delivered in no hurry.

"...but, to the point: Hespæria welcomes all that claim to be chosen by Aether; and I see that for you, this is more than a mere claim," he continued, punctuated with a short nod.

Leisurely, he gestured down a road that led out of town– though it forked towards Själasalr before one ever truly left. "...walk with us, then, and business we will discuss."

Æhti wanted to be surprised at this turn of events, and yet, somehow, he wasn't. He wanted to say something, but his thoughts stumbled when it came to coming up with anything that didn't sound horribly out of turn.

But then, just before Velho turned to walk down that path, he placed a hand on Æhti's shoulder, however briefly. "...I'm trying to see if this one might be 'chosen' by Aether as well; only time will tell on that, though~..." And Velho smiled, something strangely sweet, before his gaze fell once again upon the path ahead.

To Æhti, the Æld'Norai's tone was bizarre– the comment was, too, and he didn't quite know what to make of it, only that it confirmed his suspicion that Velho fully intended to force him through every Galdr initiation at some point, much as he did not want that. His lips pressed into a hard line, but he didn't comment, his gaze averting from both the Ferrier and the Gnoll as he moved to follow the former.

 

[Vicissitude]

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Velho

+9 XP (930 WC)

Lakali

+10 XP (1,022 WC)

As cute as Lakali was I do look forward to writing with Aster! & perhaps these two will interact again eventually with Lakali as an NPC...​

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