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<Zoya> ::Tuesday is mostly a normal day, except that Zoya eats nothing and drinks only water. Shortly before midnight, she leads the way up into her rooms.:: * Marten brings several cots and cushions to the room outside Zoya's workshop, and sets up camp. He then proceeds to bring up two swords, three books, and a small satchel of herbs. <Zoya> ::Zoya has a large sitting room adjacent to a smaller bedroom. Both rooms are fairly spartan, but comfortable. Zoya indicates a rug with bright colors and abstract designs on one wall. Behind it is a heavy oak door, carved with mystic symbols and practically glowing with power.:: <Zoya> I'll be in here. Don't touch the door until after mid-day on Thursday, or the wards will activate. <Glossaria> ::blinks several times:: Oh... my. No fear of that, Mistress. <Lisl> ::Around 10 or 11 on Tuesday, Lisl will knock on the Tower door.:: * Marten answers the door, leaving Gloss to do some more research on herbs and healing with said. "Please, come in. I've set up a small area upstairs..." <Lisl> ::smiles at Marten:: Making yourself at home, I see. I hope your "small area" isn't *too* small... I wanted to show you a few things, myself. ::touching the sword she's wearing over her shoulder again:: <Marten> ::smiles back:: No, not too small. And, worried as I am, Glossaria's an excellent student and apprentice. I trust her to let us know if anything goes wrong... <Lisl> ::nods:: Aye...so...shall we go up? <Marten> ::waves his arm, theatrically:: Of course. After you... <Glossaria> Here...this might help anchor him, once you draw your master's spirit... ::handing Zoya a medium-sized, carefully polished but otherwise ordinary-looking rock. <Lisl> ::chuckles and precedes Marten up the stairs:: * Zoya takes the rock and looks it over, smiling. "Thank you, Glossaria." * Zoya rummages in a trunk and comes up with a set of rough homespun shirt and trousers. She bundles them up, wrapping the rock into the shirt. <Glossaria> You're welcome. ::shyly:: Please... be careful, Mistress. <Zoya> I am *always* careful, Glossaria. Don't worry. ::grins at her:: The Tower will protect me. <Glossaria> ::smiling:: Yes, it will. <Marten> ::ascends the stairs, entering the room:: Almost time, Zoya? <Zoya> Nearly. ::she looks at him measuringly:: Will you be all right? <Marten> ::returns her gaze as he walks up to her, steeling himself:: I'll be fine, Zoya. Please, do not worry about me. Don't worry about any of us. No distractions, love. <Lisl> ::smiling at Zoya:: He'll be fine... you're doing all the hard work, after all. No so unlike childbirth, when you think about it. <Zoya> ::laughs at Lisl's comment:: I suppose not. ::soberly:: Take good care of these two for me, Lisl. <Lisl> ::nodding seriously:: I will Zoya. Just don't bring the Tower down around your ears, and we'll be fine. ::grinning:: And if I have to sit on the big lug over there, I will. * Marten places a hand on Zoya's shoulder, and looks at her. "Take care of you, Zoya. Please." Marten attempts another smile, with minimal success. * Zoya smiles at Lisl's comment, then looks at Marten and her smile brightens. She lays a hand over his. "I'll be fine, Marten." She leans in and kisses him, very lightly, on the lips, then picks up her bundle of clothing and disappears through the door. <Zoya> ::The glimpse of the room on the other side looks less like a workroom and more like a study, but has a door on the far wall.:: <Glossaria> ::lets out the breath she'd been holding in a long sigh, and closing her eyes for a moment:: She's put up the wards. Don't try to open the door until the time has passed. * Marten watches Zoya leave, his hand slowly rising to his lips. He places it there for a few moments, then drops it to his side and turns back to Lisl and Glossaria. "Ladies. It seems our task is just beginning." <Marten> ::to Gloss:: Of course not. I wouldn't risk it, now. <Lisl> Right. ::turning away from a last glance at the door and smiling brightly, with a sly glance in Gloss's direction:: So... orgy? <Marten> ::eyes widen for a moment, then laughs:: Seriously, Lisl. <Glossaria> ::eyes widening:: You mean, she wasn't serious? Just as well... I shouldn't, really, without at least asking Vallel.... * Marten walks over to his pile of books, and picks up two. He looks at them both, then puts one down. The other he takes to Glossaria. "No, she wasn't serious. I hope not, at least, for my sake. Zoya, I think, would skin me alive." He hands the book to Glossaria. <Marten> This is a book of meditation techniques; actually, it's part meditation, part exercise, and part martial arts. But, in whole, they're all connected anyway, aren't they? <Lisl> ::smiles:: I'd probably beat her to it, if you tried. <Marten> ::looks at Lisl, and laughs again:: Yes, I'd imagine you would. <Glossaria> ::accepting the book, lifting it briefly to her nose to sniff the binding:: <Glossaria> ::cocking her head to one side:: Are they? I've come across the occasional mention of "kata," which seems to indicate meditative stretching techniques for warriors...is that an accurate summation? <Marten> ::the book smells old, but recently wrapped in oilskins. The cover feels slightly moist, but for the most part, it is excellently preserved:: <Glossaria> [actually, Gloss would be smelling for more than that...^_^] ::Gloss opens the book, her fingers stroking the page lightly.:: * Marten then spends time explaining the finer points of T'ai Chi to Gloss (and Lisl, if she seems interested) demonstrating and teaching at every opportunity... * Lisl is, in fact, delighted to learn. <Zoya> ["Time passes..."] <Glossaria> So... you practice meditation through motion? Interesting. <Marten> Among other means, yes. Often times, by practicing the forms and motions of a set pattern, the rituals of the body, the mind is freed from bodily concerns to focus itself inward. <Lisl> ::nods:: I picked up something similar, from a swordancer. I generally warm up that way, for more traditional bouts. * Marten pauses halfway through a sweeping arm motion. "Sword dancer?" <Glossaria> Hmm...I can see how it would maintain suppleness, as well as focussing the mind.... impractical, however, to practice while reading. <Marten> ::smiles:: Of course. But, the point Glossaria, is that when your body learns the forms, it becomes natural and a subconscious movement... <Lisl> Sword dancer... it's a... hmm... not easy to explain, but it's a, um, ritual fighting tradition around the northern wastes. <Marten> From the movement comes tranquility, and from there, peace. When you've acheived this level of peace, reading about it is pointless. <Glossaria> ::a trifle severely:: Reading is never pointless. <Marten> Reading in general, no. But, there comes a point where you leave the confines of the printed word behind, and trust the experiences of life. "The Way you can name is not the true Way..." <Glossaria> ::thinking:: I've been attempting to gain experience in an effort to better understand what I read... but... ::sighs:: My first love will always be the written word. <Marten> ::smiles:: A noble pursuit, then. It just seems you and I take different paths to the same goal. <Lisl> ::a trifle crossly:: Now that's the sort of thing I have the worst trouble with...do you people take a class in being inscrutable? <Marten> ::turns to Lisl, amused:: Inscrutable? What do you mean? <Lisl> ::chuckling:: You mean you don't even notice it? "The way you can name is not the true Way"? * Marten frowns. "Notice what?" <Lisl> ::shakes her head and sits, laughing in earnest:: * Marten spreads his hands in resignation, honestly amused. "What is so damn inscrutable about that?" <Lisl> Heh... there must be some secret subtext I'm completely missing. It's like speaking in a completely different language, while using one that everyone's familiar with. ::brightening:: Like thieves' cant. * Marten stops and thinks for a moment, then smiles. "I think I might understand. You're having a problem with the self-referential definition, aren't you?" <Lisl> I mean, "way"-- what do you mean? A road to travel? A path of life? A philosophy? Why is it so necessary that it remains unnamed? What's the point? * Marten nods. "It's all the above, and more. The problem is, when you try to explain what it is, you leave out what it isn't. But, it's that, too. It's everything, and nothing. It is duality in everything; empty and full, bright and dark. By defining one, you define the other based on what the first is not. <Glossaria> ::frowns thoughtfully, taking a stab at it:: Perhaps.... everyone must create a life for themselves... if you merely follow what someone else has done, your existence will be pointless... unfulfilling.... * Marten chuckles. "The problem is, Dao is both. And more, too. As much as we talk about it, we can never define it." * Marten nods thoughtfully. "That's part of it, yes. Everything has its Way. Some know it, but most do not. Part of our goal is finding our Way again, and trying to follow it." <Lisl> ::frowning:: Why duality? There's such a stress on numbers...five elements, four seasons, two of everything else.... why can't you just say "the totality" and be done with it? <Glossaria> ::cocking her head:: What's your Way, Master Marten? * Marten looks at Gloss, surprised by the question. "My Way? I don't know, Glossaria. I've seen glimpses of it, recently, but haven't come close to it since... " He looks down slightly. "I think that was part of my restlessness, part of why I left." <Glossaria> ::looking at Lisl:: I've noticed a pattern of a strong belief in numerology, in the texts I've been able to study...there's little mention of gods. * Marten smiles at Lisl. "What is the totality, then?" <Lisl> ::gestures broadly with her hand:: Everything. The universes and all that's in them. There, that wasn't so hard, was it? * Marten smiles like a cat who's cornered a mouse. "But, what about nothing? You've left out the Void then, the source of all things. This, too, is part of Dao." Marten sighs. "I've been having this discussion for years, Lisl. When you define Dao, you cannot define all of it." * Marten thinks for a moment. "Dao is both something and nothing. Again, the duality. But, it is also everything that neither something nor nothing define. Like a well-greased eel, Dao is a slippery concept." * Glossaria glances out the window at the sun rising through the sky, puts her hand against a wall, and pulls it away, rubbing her fingers together. "Hm." <Lisl> ::shakes her head:: I didn't leave it out! Nothing is part of something, too. Just not the other way around. ::shakes her head:: Aerdrie, you're going to twist my brain into knots at this rate... and for what purpose? <Glossaria> ::piping up:: Learning, M'lady Lisl. Scholars don't learn new things unless they speculate about what they already know, and think they don't know. <Glossaria> ::giving Marten an accusing look:: Although the Eastern philosophical practice seems more aimed at exposing how much we *don't* know. <Lisl> ::holding up her hands:: I give up... I'm outnumbered. <Marten> ::to Gloss:: Not what we don't know, Glossaria, but what we've forgotten. <Glossaria> But... you just admitted you didn't know what the Dao was! <Glossaria> And what one has forgotten is the same as what one doesn't know, unless there's a way to retrieve the forgotten knowledge. ::smiling:: That's where I generally come in. * Marten sighs. "No, I didn't admit that. I said that I can't /explain/ what it is. I know what it is; I've experienced it. But, to turn that experience into words is like trying to explain taste to a rock." <Marten> And, as for the 'forgotten knowledge'... It's knowledge we've forgotten collectively. Who we are, and where our lives should naturally progress to. <Glossaria> ::scowling furiously and blinking as she tries to follow his logic, and then smiling as her brow clears:: Oh! It's like sex, then! * Lisl collapses in laughter. * Marten looks at Gloss, stunned, then smiles. "Yes, a bit. I can admit I've never thought of it that way..." * Marten shakes his head, chuckling to himself. <Glossaria> And collective knowledge is my specialty. ::Gesturing behind her, in the direction of the Tower library. As her arm slides free of her sleeve, the others note that as the sun rises in the sky, Glossaria's hair has started to stand on end.:: * Marten looks at Gloss, confused. "Glossaria? Are you okay?" <Lisl> ::dissolves into a quivering ball of silent laughter:: <Glossaria> Hm? Why? Is there something wrong? ::looking around:: * Marten shakes his head. "Nevermind, milady. It's nothing of consequence." <Glossaria> ::shrugs and looks puzzled, absently stroking her arm as she lowers it:: <Lisl> ::gives Marten a quizzical glance:: <Marten> ::Marten, Lisl and Gloss discuss philosophy well into the evening...:: <Zoya> ["Time passes..."] <Lisl> ::yawns hugely and wakes from a short doze, standing up and stretching. <Marten> ::Marten hands Gloss two or three books on T'ai Chi, meditation and the like, and proceeds to work sword forms with Lisl:: <Glossaria> :;sometime in the middle of the night, Glossaria wakes from a snooze of her own, blinking and looking around with a slight frown, as she appears to be listening:: Oh. ::settling back into her chair for another nap:: <Lisl> ::at some point in the wee hours, Lisl pauses to draw her own sword from her back, and demonstrates several different Western forms for Marten's benefit...for some reason, she seems to know alot of them.] <Marten> ::as Marten gets tired, and as he becomes more involved in the sparring with Lisl, he starts making mistakes. Leaving himself open. Making moves that would only make sense if his arms were longer, his shape... different:: <Glossaria> ::sometime midmorning, Gloss wakes again... her hair is back to normal, and she starts glancing with increasing frequency towards the sealed door:: * Lisl narrows her eyes, watching and gauging Marten's movements alertly. <Marten> ::eventually, Marten's exhaustion catches up with him - having not slept the night before, he finally collapses with exhaustion:: <Lisl> ::watches him teeter, and sheathes her sword in a smooth, quick movement to catch him before he hits the ground, supporting his bulk easily:: * Lisl deposits Marten in the most overstuffed of the chairs and pulls a light blanket over him. <Marten> ::Marten stirs slightly, but not enough to wake him. He sleeps, but mumbles incoherently in his sleep:: <Glossaria> ::an hour before noon, Gloss sits straight up and turns to look at Zoya's door as if someone had just knocked on it.:: <Zoya> ::The rug hanging before the warded door shifts, and Zoya stumbles through. She is hunched over, hands clasped to her throat, and barely able to walk. As soon as she's fully in the room, she collapses onto the floor. The front of her shirt has streaks of blood running down it, mostly dried, but still sticky and red under her hands at the collar.:: <Lisl> Zoya! <Glossaria> Mistress! * Lisl 's nostrils flare at the scent of blood, and she crosses the room swiftly to kneel next to the mage. * Zoya makes a low moan in a voice none of those present have heard before - a raspy, throaty *woman's* voice. * Marten jumps upright, eyes bloodshot and wild. He looks at Zoya, and stands as quickly as his legs will allow. He walks over, and kneels at Zoya's side. <Glossaria> Wait... I can help her.... ::kneels next to Zoya's body and fumbles a small scrap of paper from her pocket, popping it into her mouth as she reaches out to touch Zoya's neck. <Lisl> ::eyes widen as she hears the sound issuing from Zoya's throat:: Calm down, Marten... she's lost a good deal of blood. <Zoya> ::Under her hands, the blood is slowly oozing from four puncture wounds, sized and spaced as if they'd been made by claws.:: * Marten mutters quietly, almost angrily. "Akiyata Yo. M'cha t'nara, ich? M'cha?" <Glossaria> ::touching the holes on Zoya's throat lightly, deliberately coating her fingertips in blood, Glossaria starts to speak... the words spill from her lips in ghostly-solid form like wraiths, floating down to cover Zoya's body and sinking into her blood-soaked clothing:: * Lisl glances at Marten sharply, but says nothing. <Glossaria> ::the bloodstains begin to evaporate, floating over Zoya's still form like a red fog... slowly, slowly, it starts to coalesce around her throat:: * Marten looks at the blood stains, and the puncture wounds. "Akiyata, illa gron t'nara. Illa risara, risara jubai. Illa ni kilmar, Akiyata." * Zoya eases slightly as Glossaria's spell slows and then stops the blood. She is shaking all over like a leaf in a hurricane. <Glossaria> ::still whispering a chant of her own, Gloss gestures with one hand...the blood starts to flow *into* the wound, and the holes close, as if she's being injured in reverse. <Glossaria> ::four dark-blue indentations remain on Zoya's neck, like an actor suggesting a horrible wound with makeup, and the spell falling from Gloss's lips moves to cover them with a magical tattoo of blue sigils. Gloss stops, and heaves a sigh. <Zoya> ::As the wounds close, Zoya opens her eyes and looks around dazedly. She focuses briefly on each of the three around her, stopping finally on Marten. She smiles, then sighs and closes her eyes again.:: * Marten places his hand on Zoya's shoulder, gripping it firmly. Tears are starting to well in his eyes. "Akiyata, illa ni yana ti elient. Illa ni, ni elient..." * Lisl takes Marten's arm. "Shhh... shhh. She's alright, m'chara. She just needs rest. * Marten places his head on Zoya's shoulder and slowly falls back to a deep sleep. * Glossaria looking at Marten wide-eyed, scrabbling for her notebook and pencil as soon as he drops off. "Akiyata... illa ni...." She murmurs as her pencil flies over the page. <Glossaria> ::winds down and sticks her pencil behind her ear, seeming to realize for the first time the position everyone is in.:: Ummm.... <Lisl> ::smiling tiredly:: I can lift him if we need to, Gloss, but I'm not sure your Mistress should be moved.... tho' that floor can't be comfortable. * Zoya shifts slightly in her sleep, the arm under Marten squirming free just enough to wrap around him. <Glossaria> ::smiling:: That's alright, I can handle it. ::puts her fingers between her teeth as if to whistle, though no sound comes out...in response, eight of the small, dancing lights of the Tower staff wink into being:: The Mistress and Master Tenbones need to be put to bed, please. <Lisl> ::raises her eyebrows, scrubbing a hand through her hair with a bemused smile:: Now that's what I call service.... <Glossaria> ::the eight lights circle around the couple for a few moments, flickering as if they're discussing the problem amongst themselves. In a body, they swoop down in a ring, and attach themselves to Zoya and Marten's heads, hands, and feet:: <Glossaria> ::They bounce in concert for a moment, and then the bodies float easily upward, to a height two or three feet off the floor. Slowly and gently, they drift to the bed on the other side of the room, and settle there. The lights detatch themselves, and the covers rise to settle over the pair. * Lisl grins. "Neat trick." <Lisl> ::points at the grate:: Can they lay a fire, too? <Glossaria> ::with a small "poof", a fire springs into being in the fireplace:: <Lisl> Thanks. Goodnight, Glossaria. Get some sleep...you've earned it, too. * Lisl smiles at Glossaria as her form shifts and melds into that of a large silver wolf. The wolf trots to the fireplace, turns around three times, and settles down on the carpet. * Glossaria shakes her head and smiles, closing the door behind her softly as she retreats to her Library to sleep. |
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