Lunatic Wandering (open)

[O'Brien]

5th brightening of Melora

No one knew who he was, where he was from, or what exactly he was doing. "He" was a madman, at least apparently, and he could be seen around Arios rather frequently. Dressed in only some tattered orange clothes, with pants frayed off around the knees, the completely bald man absentmindedly wandered around the island, generally keeping out of the forest and therefore in town. The Ariosans had come to know him as Daladsīn the Mad, named after a figure from a popular children's story about a man who would run around the Empire claiming to be Jalat incarnate, not actually doing anything besides getting into delightfully ridiculous escapades.

There wasn't really anything exciting about this Daladsīn, however. He walked barefoot along the path in between the island's dock and town. In his left hand he carried a fist-sized leather pouch, and he would constantly bend over to pick up a piece of dirt and place it in his pouch before placing a crumb of bread where the dirt once lied. After a while, the trail had begun to take on a rather pretty appearance, with dots of pale yellow and white decorating the otherwise earthen strip of land.

He never quite seemed to run out of bread either, although no one paid enough attention to him to figure out where he was getting the food from. Of course, all the townspeople denied giving him a single piece, and none reported any as stolen from their homes or shops either. Daladsīn rarely received any attention from anyone, even the animals, but by the horribly vacant look in his eyes it didn't seem to matter much. He could have passed for a zombie if his flesh was rotting, but besides being dirty his skin was surprisingly clear.

Occasionally, Daladsīn would whistle or babble as he went about his crusade trading with the earth, dirt for bread. Of the almost drunken things he would mutter (or sometimes shout) he almost always spoke of fish, the sea, or a few other elements related to the island of Arios.

[Necazo Zheunnhin]

Necazo being new to the island, didn't know of this man, and decided to converse with him. She walked over to the man, and watched his strange habit of exchanging dirt for bread in his pouch. She approached him, and spoke.

"Serale, I am new to this island, and would like to know more about it. I was wondering what you could tell me about this island. Also, I was wondering why you are doing what you are doing with the dirt and bread. My name is Necazo Zheunnhin, what's yours?" She asked the man, and then fell silent in lue of an answer...

[O'Brien]

Daladsīn the Mad stared at Necazo with his signature blank look. His pale lips began moving about as he muttered something about bait and a rod - obviously a reference to fishing, which was normal for him. "FISH," he declared loudly, though it didn't seem he was even aware of Zheunnhin's presence. One of Daladsīn's dirtied hands reached into his pouch and fondled whatever was in there for a few moments before he resumed his practice. He was probably either ignoring her or was actually unaware of the Lionoid's presence.

[Necazo Zheunnhin]

Could this man be ignoring her? NO, that would be a foolish thing to do. No it must be some mistake, maybe he didn't hear me... Thought to herself as she moved up next to him and put one of her hands on his shoulder.

"Excuse me sir, I believe that I was speaking to you. I feel that it is rather rude for you to ignore me like that, so could you please answer my questions?" She asked him in very stern, but feminine voice....

[Gareth Gruven]

Gareth Gruven had been out for a stroll, -more like a glide, in Arios to see what the city was like during the day. He had short platinum silver hair, accompanied with a pair of light green almond-like eyes. He bore a slender willowy frame, with a pair of dark-green wings to match his eyes. A cheerful smile had been placed on his face as he fluttered through the streets, watching the small yet diverse crowd of people go about their daily doings.

As he fluttered, glided, flew, or hovered...whatever you would like to call it, he came upon a human male and a Daladsīn and Necazo. Smiling, he glided down upon them, hovering to where he could look them in the face. Grinning from ear to ear, he watched the scene play on until he decided to introduce himself. Turning to Necazo, he smiled politely and said in a light toned voice, "Serale, it's a pleasure to meet you Ms....? I'm Gareth, and I doubt he heard you, but he does look a bit mad...with the whole dirt for bread idea he has stuck up in his head. Perhaps he fell and tripped on a rock, or maybe he is conducting an experiement?" He then glided back to a safe distance, in the fear of being swatted by either of them. He did not think that the man had to pay any particular attention to her, but he also felt that he too would like to know what he was up to. Deciding that this was the only thing that would keep him around the two, he waited with perked ears to hear what the man would say...or wouldn't say.

[O'Brien]

Daladsīn shook his dirty, nearly bald head, as he began to hear the Lionoid's indignant voice. "Oh...oh..." he said, a bit slurred but at least coherent this time, "forgive me madam. You see, I am blind, sometimes it is difficult for me to perceive even when someone is talking to me. I imagine I look rather pitiful right now, but I tell you...I am a blessed man, a man who has seen great things." The man immediately resumed his little ritual once more.

Daladsīn, who seemed never to notice anyone the first time they spoke, completely ignored the sprite - if he was even aware of his presence.

[Gareth Gruven]

Resentment and regret over what he had said immediatly crossed over Gareth's face as he heard with attentive ears what the man said. The poor guy was blind. Sighing, Gareth fluttered over to the guy, and spoke to him casually, with his hand lying gently on the man's shoulders. "Serale good Sir, my name is Gareth Gruven, a Sprite who has recently moved here. Is there anything I can do for you? Would you like me to take you to a Thaumaturgist and see if they could heal your blindness?" the platinum-haired Sprite offered weakly. Gareth smiled and looked at the blind man's face, even though he was sure the man could not look and see back.

[Tiarela Iceglitter]

Another island to explore. These lands, to a fae at least, happened to be very fast and far between. How long had she wandered around now? Who knew. It's not like Tiarela cared anyway. Things were more important than time!.. Like.. exploring.

It was this that was bringing her generally around in no sort of mannerism or set plan at all. She wandered, like all good, curious people do, aimlessly through the air. Of course, being only eleven inches tall, when she spotted a sprite, a lioness and a.. well, a very strange big person, things got a little less leisure-like.

Of course, for someone as absent-minded as such a blue Fae, she had already approached them quite a deal before realizing exactly what was ahead of her. A big furry lioness, was her main concern. People told horror stories of the cat relatives that ate little faeries for lunch! Oh dear, what if this one saw her as a bite sized treat?
And quite frankly, how did Tia always end up in these messes anyway?

Seeing she was too close for the even off chance this big, overgrown hunk of fur and whiskers didn't happen to notice her unless it was like, blind or something... Tiarela gave a loud (for someone her size anyway) "Eeep!" and proceeded to dart around, past the lioness and towards the big person, who gave her a bit of a fright too with his interesting ritual. This was all getting too much for the now jittery fae, and she decided that the Sprite was either collaborating with these two or totally oblivious to the fact that they must be out to get him.
So he wasn't going to be much help.

Seeing how simple the mind of Tiarela Iceglitter happened to be at the moment, she darted around in a zig zag pattern until her nerves wore themselves down. It was only then she was calm enough to assess the situation properly.
Of course it still didn't help too much anyway either.

They were not crazy people out to get her, no.. That didn't make any sense. Sure, the big person and the big cat relative might be dumb enough to try something like that, but the Sprite was closer to her kin. He, no matter how dumb Sprites could also be at times (which of course is directly accountable to their sheer size), out of the three unintelligent life forms before her, Tiarela had concluded this one was the least dumb.
She had also concluded that they were probably rather confused by her display of flight and general fear. The Faerie continued eyeing Necazo, ready to move when the thing thought she was food. Fae are friends, for the love of Orod.. Not food! Stop looking at.. her.. like..

Okay, so maybe she wasn't bent on chomping Tiarela up. The fae could live with that.
It still did nothing for the fact that she was very wary of, well, generally all of them on any account. The blind man and his.. general eccentric ritual thing, the Lioness.. well, she wanted to eat her, didn’t you know that by now?
The Sprite.. He was too tall. And Tia knew them tall people. Silly big people.

Gathering her courage, the fae gave a loud sigh and looked at them all curiously, before clearing her delicate throat and announcing rather sheepishly,
"Er, sorry.. You all gave me a good.. uhm, scare..."
There, now they couldn't be confused, and they didn't want to eat her or something..
Right?

[Necazo Zheunnhin]

Necazo was stunned to hear that the man was blind. She had never really thought that the man was blind until he spoke. Rather than feel sorry for the man, she actually sort of smiled. He may have looked like a dirty old man, but he knew what he was doing...

"By having seen great things, do you mean with your eyes, or with some other sort of method. I know that there are some people that can see through arcane methods. I have just moved here, and you are one of the first citizens of Arios that I have talked to..."

All of a sudden a second Fae came fluttering, but this one started spazzing out tremedously. She was going back and forth, until finally she calmed down. She actually thought that maybe this small fae had a death wish, but she wasn't going to oblige that thought.

"Settle down little Fae, settle down..." Necazo said as she turned her attention back to the older gentleman...

[O'Brien]

Very slowly, Daladsīn nodded, though it was unclear exactly what he was confirming. His unbathed stench permeated the three's nostrils, and it was none too pleasant. "A Thaumaturgist, you say," he said in the direction of Tiarela, though presumably he meant to be facing Gareth, "that's a curious suggestion, for I myself am one of those mages." In odd contrast to his previous behavior and slurred voice, Daladsīn was now acting rather proper. One must have wondered if he was perhaps a noble before his apparent descent to madness. He now had a polite manner about him, making his claim to be a Thaumaturgist a bit less ludicrous.

The madman then turned to Gareth, but again, it seemed he was facing the wrong person, as he answered Necazo's question. "Quite astute of you, madam," he said with a smile, "you could say that I saw with Arcana, but I swear to you it was with my eyes that I first saw these great things, and indeed those great things are what caused me to become blind." He paused, as if to reflect on something, but said nothing further.

[Gareth Gruven]

The Sprite raised an eyebrow at the antics of the Fae, and quickly flew upwards. He thought she may be a thief by the way she zigzagged in a fast state, and thought it would be safe if he simply was out of the way. "Slow down Miss, you'll cause yourself to get a headache like that," he said with a grin as she eventually slowed down. However, his attention suddenly snapped back to the blind man.

"So you are of the Thaumaturgy Arts..." the Sprite muttered under his breath. "Are you at a high enough level to heal your blindness? At least temporary?" he asked, wondering if this was possible, he himself didn't know the spells of Thaumaturgy. However, the conversation got even more interesting when the man spoke of how he lost his sight. "You were blinded by these great things?" Gareth asked curiously, his interest peaking at the flow of things. "Surely they would not be great if they stole your eyesight from you...could you...describe them a bit more?" he asked politely, hoping not to upset the man.

[Tiarela Iceglitter]

Settle down. Oh right, sure miss Katta lady, settle down was easy enough to say. But she was right. Tiarela really could use a bit of settling down before things got out of hand. Sighing, the little fae pushed back strands of her black as night itself hair.
"Sorry," She managed to utter, before losing herself to the curiosity of what these 'great things' were? And how did they make this big person blind? .. Was he really blind? Yeah, right, he was just lying to them, of course!

Tiarela fluttered around when he finished talking, seeing if the wings would have caught his eye. If he was really blind though.. The man couldn't see them at all. What a shame, really. It was almost enough for Tiarela to feel sorry for him... Almost.

The little fae gave him a curious glance and then pursed her lips at the Sprite's questions for him. Great things were not great if they stole a person's eyesight? Folly indeed! Poor Sprite, he was like a little big person, and that was why he was having problems thinking smartly like all faeries do. It could be forgiven.. for now. But still, he was missing the point. Great things were still great - perhaps, even more great if they stole a person's sight. This meant that they were so unsermountably great, that seeing them took away the sight. It also, now that Tiarela thought about it, helped the man keep in mind these great things for a long while.

Again, sillyness. Can he heal is blindness. How utterly silly was that! Poor Sprite, poor poor Sprite.. It was spending too much time around big people.
"I'm no expert and I've probably missed a ton of this already, but if he could heal his blindness don't you think he might have by now? Or maybe he doesn't want to? Loss of sight, after all, is not loss of all." Prodded the little eleven inch fae. She had half a mind to stick her tounge out at Gareth too if she was right. Pity that such a fae-tastic mind was being wasted on the pursuits of being like the big people.

Arcana was something the faes were familiar with. At least, the version of fae Tiarela came from. They had an affinity for the stuff, she was told. But it wasn't like she knew any certain sphere herself yet, or was unbound. Affinities for things were great - especially when, at the current moment, they proved about as helpful as a bird on a dog's head would be.

She asked no questions, for she was not totally aware of who and what was going on. Sure, she probably confused the poor guy with the fact that a third voice had entered the scene, and he had no idea who or what she was.. But trying to outwit other people was something Tiarela revelled in. This sprite here was giving her one such oppertunity, and.. it was rather fun!

[O'Brien]

Necazo stood by silently, pondering his situation, as the Fae folk continued to prod at Daladsīn. The madman looked at Gareth as he addressed him this time, though this was probably no indicator of his recognition of the sprite. More than likely it was a fluke. "I am talented, if that is what you mean," he said cautiously, as if he felt a bit threatened. "Let me assure you though, sir, that I could not heal myself...no, no mortal man could. Perish the thought."

He then turned to Necazo as he addressed Tiarela. Okay, so he wasn't going to get them all right. "You're right though, little girl," he noted, obviously misinterpreting the high-pitched feminine voice he heard, "in that I certainly would have fixed myself up if I could. Or would I? No, on second thought I do not know that I would. After the great things that I saw, I doubt that I would ever want to lay eyes on the mundane bits of the world again." Apparently the name Daladsīn the Mad was well deserved. What in Aeternia was this man talking about?

[Tiarela Iceglitter]

Tiarela hmph'ed and crossed her arms in irritation. Little girl? What was this? Did she need to bop this guy over the -- Oh wait, they were just discussing his blindness, weren't they. Okay, so he could be forgiven. She didn't need to correct him, maybe just drop a hint she wasn't as young as she sounded. Besides, in hindsight, Tiarela would rather be called little than old.

Shrugging it off, the little one stuck out her tongue at the Sprite in obstinance. She was right, she was right.. Tiarela just proved the smaller the fae, the smarter the fae! Take that, smelly Sprite! Giving a big grin, the Faerie decided to investigate a bit more. Great things he had seen... He had seemingly mentioned these before, perhaps a bit more than she knew. But maybe they could be described? What were they about, anyway? Curiousity could kill a little fae.. so she asked away once more.

"Okay, thought so." Answered the faerie, and then went on to ask about these great things he'd seen. "They must'a been pretty great for you not to even want to see the world again. We may not be able to understand fully because we've not seen them.. but can you tell us about them, perhaps? What makes these things so great, and what are they dealing with?"

It struck Tiarela as odd that apparently no one had even asked about these things yet.. They were more concerned with the blessed man's eyes.. But eyes were not everything, no no.. Especially if these visions he'd had were as wonderful as he claimed. Hopefully they weren't going to get some cooky 'You cannot see and will not believe' answer. Not understand? Pah! Tiarela was more intelligent than the lot of them! In all her patterns, she'd thought, heard, witnessed wonderfully magnificent and horrific things. It comes with age. Therefore, she was most likely the oldest, and consequently, the wisest -- as a given. Her not understanding would be like calling a Dragon docile or a Dracon trustworthy! Silly big people indeed.

[O'Brien]

Far from a dodging or sketchy answer, Daladsīn showed a great grin that was humorously at least as big as Tiarela was. "Don't be silly, child," he replied, holding on to the fallacy. "I can tell you well enough what I saw - but there would be no way that you could understand the greatness and majesty of it all, and you may not even believe me." Alright, so the playful little Fae had called the answer pretty well.

If he was already known as Daladsīn the Mad, perhaps he may have needed a new epithet, namely the Madder, based on his claim. "You see, child," he said with his silly, dirty grin, "I have seen Ioannes."