At The Gates [open, but it helps if you understand the Old Tongue]

The everyday life of the inhabitants of the Grey Tower. This board is for general daily roleplay around the Tower, in the corridors, rooms and halls that make up most of the building.
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Ashfalcon
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At The Gates [open, but it helps if you understand the Old Tongue]

Post by Ashfalcon » November 24th, 2021, 4:41 am

Darthalien looked back at the cart, but the old man made a shooing motion that needed no translation. He turned back to the stone wall, with its gatehouse and heavy wooden doors, and the two men standing to either side of it. "Ce loc este asta?" he asked, not really expecting a response at this point.

The two men, both equipped with bills, exchanged a glance. "Is that a darkspawn?" asked the first one.

"Maybe?" answered the second. "Sort of looks like one."

"What do you want here?" asked the first man, looking directly at Darthalien.

He shook his head, baffled. The words they were speaking were obviously familiar to them, but they sounded like nothing that Darthalien had ever heard. "Nu te înțeleg. Are cineva aici?"

The two warriors were clearly baffled, too. Behind him, the horse was moving again -- the cart, and the old man driving it, were departing. It probably didn't matter, though. The villagers had obviously thought that it would be better to have him here. Whether they were trying to help him or get him killed was an open question, though. "De ce nimeni nu vorbește propriu?" he muttered to himself.

"Well..." said the first guard, "Maybe he's, like, an emissary. Like one of the Aiel, but... farther away. Seanchan?" He looked at Darthalien again. "You Seanchan?"

"Or that place on the other side of the Aiel Waste," said the second guard. "Could be one of them. Maybe they all look like he does over there."

Darthalien was still shaking his head. Ar fi trebuit să las țestienii să mă execute. "Cu siguranță că cineva poate vorbi cu mine."

"This one's too weird for me," said the first warrior. "I'll keep watching him. You go to the Halls of the Brown and find someone who's good with languages."

The second warrior nodded, then turned and departed. Darthalien had no idea what they'd been saying, but if the Creator had any mercy for him then maybe the man had gone to find someone who could speak properly. AŞA SĂ FIE.

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Matty
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Re: At The Gates [open, but it helps if you understand the Old Tongue]

Post by Matty » November 24th, 2021, 7:47 am

If the guard thought he was going to get a Brown who was any good with languages, they might be somewhat disappointed. But that was a problem for future Darthalien.

But it wasn't the fault of the guard. How was he supposed to recognise that the man in the Brown quarters was the Keeper? They all dressed the same, to him. And none of them were friendly, so the guard didn't even flinch when the tall, limping man frowned down at him.

Murdock was heading from his rooms to perform the usual Keeperly duties when he was accosted by some guard who thought that a weirdo speaking another language was his problem. Never had Murdock given any indication that he was inclined to help, but the guard seemed to assume he would drop everything to do this. Ugh. Didn't he realise how many stairs Murdock was going to have to limp down? He clutched onto his stick, the one Elia had made him from Heartstone. That meant it wouldn't break when he smacked some sense into this idiot. Still, the man knew he had to help because "it was the right thing to do" and he was "a good person", et cetera.

So off they went, Murdock taking his sweet time, muttering to himself about drunkards and the ineptitude of guards to perform a simple task. His black Asha'man uniform was smart, with a hint of brown beneath in the form of a warm wool shirt. Darker than that were his eyes, which levelled on anyone who got too close as he made his way out of the Grey Tower proper and towards where this problem person was. Was it really worth fetching a Brown, of all people? He doubted it. Alright, so as he grew closer the Keeper acknowledged that his appearance was, ahh, somewhat singular, but that wasn't enough to set any alarm bells ringing in his head. (Besides, if this was a product of the Shadow he would bloody well know about it, thank you very much.) Murdock made his way over, shooed the guards away to mind their own business, and leaned on his stick as he gave this visitor a very obvious look up and down.

"Alright, let's get this over with. You have the attention of the Keeper, second to the M'Hael, congratulations. Who are you, where are you from, and how much have you had to drink before I throw you at the Yellows to cleanse... inside and out?" Murdock had his own ways of Healing as well, but those were generally frowned upon. Still, despite this, he was a very good Healer in his own right using the traditional methods, so if it came to it he could call upon those less interesting skills.
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------ Murdock -------------- Nathaniel --------------- Maever -------

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Ashfalcon
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Re: At The Gates [open, but it helps if you understand the Old Tongue]

Post by Ashfalcon » November 24th, 2021, 9:22 pm

Well, this was interesting... a tall, slender man in a black jacket and pants, with just a hint of brown trim. The guard had clearly fetched someone to come and deal with him. Someone better educated, though? Or just higher ranked? It didn't bode well that he'd begun by speaking the same incomprehensible gibberish as everyone else here. Still...

Speaking carefully, Darthalien asked: "Ma poti ajuta? Îmi puteți înțelege cuvintele mele?" Then, focusing on the walking stick that the man was leaning against, he gasped: "Este piatra inconjuratoare?" If that cane was what he thought it was, this man must be fabulously wealthy... which made him much more likely to be some sort of scholar or historian than any sort of officer of the guard. Though maybe things were different here, and they paid their guards ridiculously well... or maybe the Stone Unbreakable was as common as bricks in this place. Who knew?

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Matty
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Re: At The Gates [open, but it helps if you understand the Old Tongue]

Post by Matty » November 25th, 2021, 12:27 pm

One might refer to the following moment as "awkward" where Murdock gave the mysterious stranger a blank look. But it wasn't awkward for Murdock; he didn't really care for the social intricacies of such things, and instead he was trying to place the man's speech. It wasn't Common (duh). It wasn't the Old Tongue either, but it was closer to that than Common that much Murdock knew. He wasn't a scholar of the Old Tongue necessarily, his work was more about the human body, but they used enough terminology in the Library and in his studies that he was sort of familiar.

That didn't really help him in this situation though. Hmph. Why did they ask him to deal with this? He wasn't a babysitter. "Alright, you can't understand me, and I can't understand you. I'll talk anyway as exposition for the reader." Murdock looked down at his stick, figuring that might be a starting point. "Este piatra inconjuratoare?" he repeated, his accent very much still common. Maybe it wasn't a starting point after all. The Keeper made a deliberate show of pointing to himself. "Murdock," he said. Another jab of his thumb into his chest, "Murdock." Then he pointed at the stranger, expecting him to say something. He didn't ask for much.

The Keeper beckoned for one of the guards, who sidled over. "I need some children's toys, the sort you get in a dollhouse. A bed, some pretend food and drink, burn me get the doll as well. Take them to the Infirmary, one of the free rooms there, and tell Maever and I'm doing his job for him."

That sorted, Murdock looked back at Mystery Man. "Come," he said, just the one word. Better to keep it simple for his sake, though as he turned away Murdock muttered to himself about how he had important things to do, and this was more of a job for the Yellows in his opinion. Never mind the fact Murdock could Heal as well as most of them. He had deadlines of his own and the Shadow wasn't going to accept "a random albino visitor" as an excuse for tardiness.
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------ Murdock -------------- Nathaniel --------------- Maever -------

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Ashfalcon
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Re: At The Gates [open, but it helps if you understand the Old Tongue]

Post by Ashfalcon » November 25th, 2021, 5:58 pm

Darthalien looked at the man uncertainly, then touched his chest and said, "Darthalien." He pointed with his hand. "Murdock." He started to point to the cane, intending to pantomime trying to break it and failing, but the expression on the other man's face was pure impatience. "Darthalien come," he replied, hoping that meant what he thought it meant.

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Matty
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Re: At The Gates [open, but it helps if you understand the Old Tongue]

Post by Matty » November 26th, 2021, 7:43 am

"Ah! Darthalien." Murdock nodded his head approvingly, though this was somewhat ruined by the slightly irked expression he wore as he limp-walked back towards the Grey Tower. Thankfully the strange man knew enough to follow along. So he was not raving mad or a true simpleton, this was as good a start as any. Murdock did intend on Delving him later, to see if there were any maladies of the mind, but that wasn't something he had any true aptitude for. Better for someone more delicate to take a look there.

Helpfully, or at least to pass the time, Murdock pointed at things with his stick and named them as they went. "Flower." That was, well, a flower. "Tree. Sky- stupid Novice!" he growled, as a girl scampered into his path and nearly bowled him over. She started to curtsy in a flustered manner, but Murdock shooed her off before she could articulate herself at all. "Bloody children everywhere," he grumped at Darthalien, "watch your step. Why am I talking to you when you don't understand me? Oh well."

He kept the other man close to hand as they made their way to the Infirmary. Thankfully the guard had listened to his instructions, for when they arrived there was a room set aside for them, with the items Murdock had requested. Jolly good. Be far easier to send him to Viadulo, Murdock thought as he shut the door behind them and eased into one of the seats at the table, maybe it's something in the skin that makes the colouring of the hair so singular. A low priority query suited for another time. Thus settled into his seat and into his duty, Murdock picked up a cup, currently empty. This would not do. He seized Saidin and roughly threw together some Water and Air, so the cup was soon half full of water. It was a lazy weave, barely worth the effort it took to perform it. "Water," he said to Darthalien. "Let's start with yes and no. Yes?" he made a drinking motion and nodded. "No." He shook his head and put the water down.

"Yes," he repeated, nodding and lifting up the water. "No." He set the water down. Murdock was assuming that they had a language structure not dissimilar to Common and once they had a few basics down, he could perhaps articulate... well, anything really. Where he was from or how he got here, whatever it is people were supposed to care about.
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------ Murdock -------------- Nathaniel --------------- Maever -------

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Ashfalcon
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Re: At The Gates [open, but it helps if you understand the Old Tongue]

Post by Ashfalcon » November 27th, 2021, 3:50 am

Darthalien gaped. He couldn't help it. Some part of his mind was trying to follow the man's words and gestures, but the rest of it was entirely weighed down with trying -- and failing -- to grapple with another man so casually using the Dark Power. "Tu faci asta aici?" Then he stopped, wondering why he bothered asking questions when the other man clearly didn't understand him.

It couldn't be, and yet he'd felt it: a weave of the Dark Power, employed with a sort of casual control that could only come from practice. How had the Weavers not come to execute this man? Did they not have Weavers here? Or had the men taken over in this place, and outlawed use of the Bright Source? No, that couldn't be possible either. That would be a nightmare unleashed, and the people of this place didn't seem half terrified enough for that to be the case.

The man -- Murdock, he seemed to call himself Murdock -- paused in his pantomime, and Darthalien said, "Water yes," and held out his hand. When Murdock handed him the cup, he held his free hand over it and tried to mimic the sense of water flowing down out of the air and into the cup. "Water silit?" He paused, then added. "Murdock a făcut water?"

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Matty
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Re: At The Gates [open, but it helps if you understand the Old Tongue]

Post by Matty » December 4th, 2021, 8:46 pm

Murdock handed the water over to Darthalien and let him do as he pleased with it. He hadn't thought much of channelling in front of him, and honestly hadn't considered any sort of response to it. Wherever he was from, did they have channelling? Who could say? The Brown clicked his tongue, a little vexed with the language barrier, but he thought they were getting somewhere. Possibly.

"Ahhh... Murdock... channels." Murdock made a gesture like he had over the cup. "Murdock..." he pointed to himself, "channels..." he wriggled his hand again. "Fire." He seized Saidin long enough to make a small flame appear in his hand. "Murdock channels light." He made a small ball of light form, which he then set on the table. It would pop harmlessly if it was held firmly.

"Darthalien channels?" he asked. It was hard for him to get a sense, bloody men and their inability to really tell when someone else held the Power. Murdock held onto it then, in case the other man recognised that aura of quiet menace.
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------ Murdock -------------- Nathaniel --------------- Maever -------

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Ashfalcon
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Re: At The Gates [open, but it helps if you understand the Old Tongue]

Post by Ashfalcon » December 19th, 2021, 5:05 am

Darthalien hesitated, then nodded slowly. If this man used the Dark Power openly, then surely he wouldn't condemn Darthalien for admitting that he could use it as well. "Darthalien... channels." He made no move to demonstrate, since it was still light out and could barely even sense the power, much less wield it. He didn't add anything else, but instead took a long moment to look at the ball of light on the table, and the careful threading of the dark power that created and sustained it.

Could I do that? Most of what he'd managed so far was either completely simple, or totally outside of his control. And this man touched the power while the sun stood in the sky, which shouldn't be possible... but maybe these people were different.

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