the Rift


[PRIVATE] Find Your Mark

Thranduil the Laurelin Posts: 598
Outcast atk: 5.5 | def: 11 | dam: 6.5
Stallion :: Unicorn :: 16.2 hh :: Eight HP: 77 | Buff: ENDURE
Haldir :: Common Cerndyr :: Dark Mist Hawk
#1
Thranduil


The rest of the world could hear nothing. A slight wisp on the breeze perhaps but nothing more. That did not mean though, that the world was still. A flash of gold and steel, and a flying of wood and dirt. Within him heart pounded out a thundering roll, and breath like hurricane echoed in his ears. Muscles trembling but strong round him again. Horned head, proudly crowned in threats dips, ready again. Cloven hooves picked up in the woods above the grasses and head tilted. Then you see it. A flash of steel gripped in the golden mouth. Sweat poured down his back as he reached a full canter barreling towards a pine not far. Then at the last second head tilts, lifting the blade at and upward angle to the tree.

3, 2, 1….Steel slams into wood, sending bark and chips flying. Hindquarters slam down, dirt flies. The force of the hit turns the gold’s head but uplifted as it was the blade slips out of the groove. Using centrifugal force the gold’s head dives down and in, sending the blade, as he slam on breaks, to a down ward angle. The force of the hit helps the gold spin his body tight and taunt, so that within second the blade strikes the tree again, down towards the roots. Again, bark flies, but with the force it slides out of its cut. Finally the golden breaks is gait, and drops his head fully. At last he can’t go on, and the polearm in his mouth drops, clattering over roots, but still not making a sound. Gasping for air the gold at last comes to a stop.

His reason for weariness is plainly written upon the trees. Pine after pine was slashed in a groove, sometimes multiple places. All day he had practiced with his blade, readying it for battles ahead. He also readied himself, building up a stamina and endurance. Those lofty goals now though were a bit less….lofty. Heart pounding in his head the gold wavers. It is several moments before his lifts it again. With a deep breath he lifts his horns and looks out over the forest. That was enough for today, he guessed. Besides, he would need to sharpen his blade quite a bit this night after so many dull hits.

Weary limbs moved over and one cloven hoof picked up to step on his polearm. A button was triggered and the blades at either sides. Only once done did the gold raise up his head and send a ringing call out. To his right a sound echos it, and rustling grasses and leaves signal a bouncing creature approached. There comes Haldir, carrying a satchel and shimmer golden cloak. A weary ease settled over the golden at seeing the babe. Not that he would ever show such emotions before another. It seemed, as much as he hated having another tag about with him, it did bring some comfort to see the bounding fawn come. Not that he would ever even admit it. Sometimes the gold didn’t know though, where his emotions went around his bonded. They seemed to slip in and out. (In reality it was the now growth of their bond that cause such light feelings). Snorting a welcome at the fawn, who would soon no longer be called such, he took his satchel and tied it off about him, and stored the polearm within. Then taking the cloak he tossed it over his back and secured it. Ready now to leave this part of the forest and return to the mountains the gold looks for him, but finds the deer alert. Harks pin, but then lift. Haldir usually heard other before the gold. Standing still in the forest, the gold looks about for what, or who had caught his babe’s eye, and ear. If they were stealing more than glances, they would regret that deeply.




"talk talk talk"
OOC:: @[Isopia], you can come in as a raven or herself. =]


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Isopia the Mountain That Knows Posts: 780
Dragon's Throat Apostle atk: 6.5 | def: 10 | dam: 8.0
Mare :: Tribrid :: 18hh :: 3 - is now aging slowly HP: 90 | Buff: NUMB
Hubris :: Royal Bronze Dragon :: Shock Breath & Frost Breath & Babel :: Royal Gold Dragon :: Fire Breath Odd
#2
the girl.

The girl was watching.

She was mesmerized by how silent the scene below was. Something was illusory, her mind told her, but what? Far below, a golden creature stirred. She could see movement, see him, but she could not hear him. Dirt was moved by limbs that she now called into question, but no sound emerged. The girl didn't understand. She knew such illusion magic existed. She possessed it herself. The girl could become a raven at will, or disappear into the landscape simply by remaining silent. The question in her mind was not if such magic was enforce below, but on what it was acting. Did the magic make him silent? Or was he silent because in fact there was nothing there ?

The girl glided to a lower branch to get a better look, but the show was apparently coming to an end. As the golden whistled, the girl ceased her ruffling feathers and froze. Had she been seen? Had she - a small deer looking creature tottered out of the trees. Narrowing her golden gaze, the girl watched. It couldn't be that the gold was merely an illusion, could it? This antlered creature obviously could see him. Or was the deer the one projecting the illusion?

Hopping down to a lower branch, the girl meant to continue watching, until her avian feet cracked a drying twig, dropping it to the ground. The deer-creature's ears tilted towards where she was currently perched. Exhaling gently, the girl felt a mild annoyance stir within her. She hadn't exactly meant to be seen. The annoyance was followed by intrigue - the silencing magic held by the gold suddenly seemed so much more valuable to the girl. Did he use it for sneaking around silently, as she would if she had such magic?

Swooping down to a branch almost directly in front of Thranduil, the girl's golden gaze inspected him with interest. She had seen him before - in the face of the Moon Goddess just after her birth. She had not been in her raven-form then, but her golden gaze and skull-markings were retained even when in her avian body. Would he recognize her as she was now?

"You are silent." She observed, the voice of a yearling spilling out of the black beak of the bird.



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Abandon all hope, ye who enter here

Thranduil the Laurelin Posts: 598
Outcast atk: 5.5 | def: 11 | dam: 6.5
Stallion :: Unicorn :: 16.2 hh :: Eight HP: 77 | Buff: ENDURE
Haldir :: Common Cerndyr :: Dark Mist Hawk
#3
Thranduil


He wasn’t in much mood to play. Golden body was still stained with sweat and strain, and all his body felt a dull ach. Especially his head echoed with the sound of steel chopping away at wood. A dull and draining annoyance. So when Haldir’s full attention came to rest on a raven the golden was more than a little annoyed. The dark fawn, with those large white eyes could see more than the golden could. As skilled as the unicorn was in his world, the deer had grown skilled in the world of animals. This raven did not all together look like any raven he had seen. If it was a new creature then all the more exciting. His small black tail began to wag, but then got no further than a shake or two. This bird, it wasn’t as soulless as the others, its black eyes held more than the bottomless songbird eyes. It moved differently. The way its head tilted and inspected. It seemed to notice things, when other birds should never notice. Haldir was right on her trail, not knowing what to call it, or how to name the difference, the small creature could sense it all the same.

The golden was not so convinced. Having never stared with consideration at ravens and songbird he could not, nor did he care to look beyond his first glance. So when the creature leapt to a branch right in front of him he felt his face fall back to annoyance. Once again, the small deer was over reacting at the commonalities of life, such as a raven in a forest. “Haldir…” the voice was laced with his emotions of weariness. “Crebain.[Raven]” It was harsh, and with judgement. The deer had been taught this before, he should know better than to forget such a lesson. But as the golden looked to the fawn, ready to order him to join him in leaving, he found a curious face peering at him. The deer was hard, and stern. Its small cloven hoof slammed into the ground but it might as well have been a downing tree for how much it echoed in the gold. Haldir was refusing.

The coming storm would turn out to be in vain. A voice breaks the tension between the two. The gold freezes. His nerves prickling at his spine because he knew exactly where the voice came from. From Haldir, where a temper was about to rise came only a small smile and a wag of the tail as he looked back to the creature. He had been right for the first time against the gold, and no matter what evil this bird foretold, he would smile at that small victory. The golden had more to be concerned about. Turning slowly he faces the raven perched on the branch. On hark pins back, but the other could not help but lean forward.

It was only once the Raven spoke that the curious features about its face and eyes became noticeable. Thick in consideration the gold speaks shallow, signaling continued deep thoughts. “And you are not….” Talking ravens were not usually a good sign. What good story ever came after ‘one day a raven spoke to me’. Snorting the gold tilts his head. He did remember the babe who stood with such boldness before the Moon Goddess. Remembered the stern voice. The earth and dust colored girl. The righteousness. However, though he noticed this raven’s face, and heard a larger voice come from it, the connection was not made. So as the golden watched this raven, ready to be foretold his own doom, he speaks from a foregone conclusion of ill news. “What ill tidings do you raven bring?” And while the golden sighed ready for some doom speech the small deer by his side was still so pleased with himself as to wag his tail and look up with happy expectation.



"talk talk talk"
OOC:: @[Isopia]


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Isopia the Mountain That Knows Posts: 780
Dragon's Throat Apostle atk: 6.5 | def: 10 | dam: 8.0
Mare :: Tribrid :: 18hh :: 3 - is now aging slowly HP: 90 | Buff: NUMB
Hubris :: Royal Bronze Dragon :: Shock Breath & Frost Breath & Babel :: Royal Gold Dragon :: Fire Breath Odd
#4
the girl.

The girl knew nothing of the small victory won by the antlered creature, but nevertheless its smile created an odd feeling inside of her. It wasn't quite happiness, for the girl had not yet experienced anything even remotely like that, but it might have been close. Whereas the girl hated and shrunk from the adoring eyes of those around her, those who offered friendship and council, she was minimally delighted by the wag of the creatures tail, and its knowing stare. She didn't let herself consider this knew feeling for too long, as the gold was addressing her.

Without missing a beat, the girl responded quickly. "Tidings are not inherently ill, or good." She began, her voice even and academic, as if she was starting an already prepared lecture before a class. "They are just words. Words can express statements which are factive and useful, but there is no good or bad contained in them. That is up to you."

Spreading her blackened wings, the girl tipped forward, allowing her dark feathers to catch her. She glided only a few feet - just far enough that once she became herself once again there would still be ample personal space for all. Angling her body downwards, suddenly the long legs of the girl protruded from the rapidly growing breast of the bird. Black wings expanded sharply giving way to a much larger albeit mismatched set. A mass of reddish hair cascaded from a round neck and rump, and bloody markings replaced the black coat. The girl found this sort of landing was getting easier and easier. It was certainly far more graceful than landing on the ground as a bird and expanding into her form from the bottom up.

Turning her quad-horned skull to face the pair, the girl's bright golden eyes glimmered behind her mask of death. In this form, she turned her gaze to the gold's companion, a small smile upon her lips, silently complimenting the creature on its keen observation skills. Her gaze trailed along the ground and to Thranduil's feet, which showed no special accessories - indeed nothing on him suggested that he would be able to move so silently. Her head tilted.

"No I'm not silent ... I can disappear in a way, but that isn't the same. How can you be so silent?" Although she appeared older than she infact was, her questions betrayed her childlike intrigue and curiosity, and hinted at the stubbornness which would follow if her questions were not answered.

Was it magic? It likely was. Were he to ask how it was she could disappear, she would respond that it was magic. Should it really be so surprising if he were to do the same? The girl decided it wouldn't be. Although she would be very impressed if it was simply a skill that he had learned somehow, along the way.




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Abandon all hope, ye who enter here

Thranduil the Laurelin Posts: 598
Outcast atk: 5.5 | def: 11 | dam: 6.5
Stallion :: Unicorn :: 16.2 hh :: Eight HP: 77 | Buff: ENDURE
Haldir :: Common Cerndyr :: Dark Mist Hawk
#5
Thranduil


He expected a tale of some distance doom, which he was sure he would outsmart, but what he got was a philosophy lesson. From a raven. A philosophy conscious raven. Snorting the golden shook his horned head as the feminine voice speaks up. Haldir still didn’t give a damn what else happened. His little tail still just wagged and small smile curled up his lips. For the golden, it didn’t help that this raven seemed to have no clue how words worked. Of course words were good and bad, that’s how the damn gold made his living. Pinned harks expressed just how wrong the bird was, but despite that, it seemed silly to argue with a raven. This whole thing seemed ridiculous. If the raven was just here to give him a philosophy lesson it was barking up the wrong tree.

Thankfully, perhaps, for the bird, it was not just a bird. As the creature moved, those sharp earth caught it, and having been prepared for this worse, he in a swift movement tossed his head up and stepped back. He was the only one to do so, for Haldir only dropped his smile in amazement, but kept that small tail going. The gold was a bit more shocked by the transformation before him. Of course he should know about shapeshifting, but it was always him doing it. He had never seen it. Let alone the fact he did not know what creature to expect from its results. Harks pin and lips seem to lift ready to bar out a vicious bit. But much to his surprise, a familiar form takes shape from under the dark raven. It was her. But realization was quickly taken over by confusion. How she had grown! So much taller, and filled out. Was this how all offspring of the god’s were raised, quick and solid, with no chance to be a free babe of the world? Maybe that was the cause of her high mindedness. Horned head tilted, as one side of his lip curled. He began to remember more of that day, and the raven’s words now made more sense to him. They were spoke in the same tone as those to the Moon Goddess has been.

Snorting the gold only shook his head, silenced by the phenomena before him. His mind playing over how the children of the gods fit in, how the magic worked through her body. Haldir of course was not so hindered by a higher working mind. So when the daughter of the earth turned to him the small fawn did not let the dark tones, and feeling bar him from his own enjoyment. She smiles at him, and having very little such faces look down to him it made the creature all the happier. His affection for her grew there, tenfold. For it seemed to him to be such a special thing that she should notice he, let alone to pay him a smile. The deer had ever rarely been so rewarded (and it affirmed the bold refusal he had shown before). So the deer tip toes closer to her, letting is nose reach out around her scent. His large pale, pupil less eyes looking with more freedom. So that when she spoke again he was quite near and could turn back to look at his bonded being so addressed.

In the silences of the moment, while the golden still considers all things, he notices the change in his bonded deer’s features. It was a hard eye that took in the deer’s happiness, but as always, the bonded’s emotions could temper his. So no reprimand came from the gold. When the girl spoke again the gold shook and looked up, as if woken from a deep thought. He remembered her philosophizing, and it left him bitter. Earth eyes met hers as she looked over his feet, and a smile broke out over the golden man’s lips. He was quite pleased with himself to be honest. The gift of silence was one he had indeed enjoyed. It made him all the more unwilling to reveal it as merely ‘magic’. If you just call it magic, what fun was there? The mystery is gone. Not to mention a secret revealed. However, though he was always slow to reveal a secret, he was frustrated the girl had surprised him, and so felt the showing of his own skill was well deserved. “It is a gift,” He spoke as if it was old hat. His horned head settling in its spanish arc. “Magic.” Of course this wasn’t where he wanted the conversation to go. His mind, much of a philosophizing brain itself, was still spinning on her previous (he considered) error. “But that is not my pick with you. You who are so young take note. Words may by empty from the lips that is true, but how they are taken are very easy to control if you deal the deck correctly. I can make them good or bad for you.” That is, if you stack the deck. The golden, body worn as it was from his work, still had a mind to tell you what he thought.




"talk talk talk"
OOC:: @[Isopia]


Credits: Image by FROSTIE!

[Image: 5381546acbe33]
Feel free to use any force/magic on Thranduil, short of killing him.
Please tag in every post.
Ask Thranduil any question in the world, he'll be forced to answer on his profile. PM with your question.

Isopia the Mountain That Knows Posts: 780
Dragon's Throat Apostle atk: 6.5 | def: 10 | dam: 8.0
Mare :: Tribrid :: 18hh :: 3 - is now aging slowly HP: 90 | Buff: NUMB
Hubris :: Royal Bronze Dragon :: Shock Breath & Frost Breath & Babel :: Royal Gold Dragon :: Fire Breath Odd
#6
the girl.

The girl nodded in response. She approved that he referred to his abilities as a gift, as if subconsciously acknowledging that it was not always his to begin with. The girl thought that fitting. Too much of Helovia was founded on self important entitlement, that it was refreshing to encounter someone who saw through the veil of misguided demands, and called his abilities what they were: gifts. But from whom? Her transformation magic was pure - a creation of the earth merely changing into another. Others she learned, whose bodies were not quite as intune with the world as hers, relied on shadows and light. Either her uncle, the God of the Sun, or her aunt, the Goddess of the Moon. So who was his benefactor?

Pulling her eyes away from the deer-like creature, she regarded the golden prince as he spoke. Her quad-horned head tilted in displeasure as she found his opening remarks quite condescending. That I am young makes no difference, she thought to herself while she tracked his words. Ageism didn't seem befitting of the creature who had regarded the Goddess of the Moon so eloquently before her banishment. It was then in the brief moment she contemplated their earlier encounter, than the girl decided who his benefactor must be. The Goddess. Interesting, but not so interesting as the argument he seemed to be giving.

Listening closer, the girl tried to formulate it. It seemed like he was saying the following: (1) There might not necessarily be an objective meaning to each word. Instead, 'meaning' is merely a consequent of how the word is interpreted, (2) Interpretations can be influenced or manipulated, and (3) The golden was a skilled manipulator. The girl didn't doubt 2 or 3, though she did think he was wrong about the first premise, regardless of her age.

"No you can't." She began, her cool golden gaze meeting his evenly and without fear. In fact, she was already very much enjoying this. She liked disagreement, at least when it was intellectually upheld. Those who were irrational and unwilling to engage were her were simply a bother. "If I point to a tree and say, That's a pretty big stick! you would probably know exactly when I intended to convey. But that doesn't suddenly make stick mean the same thing as tree. It just means you're a competent enough speaker that you have understood me. "

Yep, that sounded right to her. But there was still lingering doubt in her mind regarding the second thing he had said. I can make them good or bad for you. What did that mean? Could it be right? Goodness and badness...those were just concepts that we smear on the world. They didn't exist objectively. In the furniture of the world, when all was stripped away, there was no blob of goodness. No blob of badness. It was like when younglings saw spiders, and immediately screamed ewwwwwwwww! There was no inherent ewwww in the spider, just a smearing of dislike. That was all good and bad were - just a smearing of approval or disapproval.

Right?

"I agree that most can be easily manipulated.." She began, her eyes growing round and distant as she tried to speak and simultaneously continue to work out the argument. "..their emotions and ties to things make them blind to the reality of the world. But .. You can't make things good or bad for them. You can only make it appear good or bad. I suppose that's enough for manipulation ... nothing needs to be the case to convince someone that it is the case."

The girl was convinced that what she had said was right, and yet there was a lingering doubt within her. Was the silent prince correct in his earlier statement, that her age somehow mattered? She reflected on her previous days, when she had thought the world was one way and quickly learned that it was another. Was this one of those moments?

Did the gold know?




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Abandon all hope, ye who enter here

Thranduil the Laurelin Posts: 598
Outcast atk: 5.5 | def: 11 | dam: 6.5
Stallion :: Unicorn :: 16.2 hh :: Eight HP: 77 | Buff: ENDURE
Haldir :: Common Cerndyr :: Dark Mist Hawk
#7
Thranduil


A knee buckled. Protesting. He had stood here for too long it complained, and before that he had worked his whole body too long. But instead of giving in the golden stomps the weak link. His mind, spinning and spinning would not even begin to think of his physical being with such a whirlwind and amusement running through it. Haldir was not so blind to his body. The deer, though growing was still young, and it had taken a toll on his body to walk all the way here and carry the heavy items of the gold through the woods. So while he desired ever so much to near the lady, and gain her favor more, his little body was worn. Walking a few paces he seems to settle into his weariness, and folds his legs under his body. He settles himself, nosing the pine needs and ferns about, before looking back at the two of creatures. His heavy white eyes watching best they could.

The golden was far from being so quiet and relaxed. As the girl pauses for a moment he knows he had reached what he seeks. This isn’t some simpleton ready to throw and answer. This was a serious contender here. She was really thinking. Really laying it out. Oh how it soothed him. A small pleasant look comes over him, content, but with a flicking tail at his hocks. And like beautiful swing of a blade she looks straight at him and demands the opposite. It makes his grin grow all the more. How beautiful this was becoming. This dance of minds and opinions. The laws of nature concerting an opposing harmonies and now crashing to battle it out.

It was more the fact of having someone intelligently present the ideas that kept him from barking out at her in angry rebuttal. Tis was a civil affair after all. So he actually listens, with tail flicking and ears forward. He meets her smooth gaze with one of his own, feeling no threat from her disagreement. And always, a small curl of his lip rising, enjoying it all the more. For now he says nothing, seeing in her, her mind still spinning ready to turn about again. So like a tiger in the bush he waits, watching.

Oh but look, she falters. Her head dips and she looks more inward. The thoughts coming out now were less developed, and the golden’s grin grows the more she pauses. This wasn’t the same tone as before. Where that had been flat and certain this held more questions, more unthought through thoughts. As she finishes he lets his lips fall in a false sadness. “Ah now you’ve lost it.” He sighs and seems to withdraw above the conversation. “You had something. You possessed it, but you are letting it slip.” He turns his head to look at her through the side. “Is it that you are no longer certain in your thoughts, or has another thought questioned them?” Then he turns to the other side. “Or perhaps you doubt you know all the world that you have not lived long in yet?” He settles back into his center straight gaze. “Changing arguments is fine raven, but you need to possess it. Your mind is a beautiful. It, like all others is unique but for your years is more powerful. A pause is accepted, but pause not once your mouth speaks. Or they will think you lost and undone and seize upon you like wild dogs. Possess it.”

Another knee buckles, but he again stomps it out. “Now. You are right that the web of ties once identified make all vulnerable. Those ties and similarities which bring comfort are but superficial. The similarities and comforts they pretend are only assumptions of a desperate and lonely creature, and this is the reality they are blind to.” He shifts himself and his argument. There was little thinking through he needed to do, being the cocky vain man he was. “You are also right I cannot make the world good or bad, it is what it is. But, with every intake of the world we balance it with our prior intakes, and judge it. Judgement is automatic and necessary. The world does not exist for us as it is, but only within us. We only know the world by what my senses can translate. That is the weak link to attack.” His grin grows. Did he realize he was divulging what made him so powerful of a spy? Perhaps, but the activity was far too enjoyable to care. “If you can know what prior intakes have occurred, you can determine how to change it. If you can lie the senses, and cultivate a false world you can make it your own.” Here now he grins wide. Most pleased with himself. Of course his wasn’t all he thought on the subject but he had spoken more than enough compared to usual. Content to have said his share he retires his side.




"talk talk talk"
OOC:: @[Isopia]
So much talking ;.;


Credits: Image by FROSTIE!

[Image: 5381546acbe33]
Feel free to use any force/magic on Thranduil, short of killing him.
Please tag in every post.
Ask Thranduil any question in the world, he'll be forced to answer on his profile. PM with your question.

Isopia the Mountain That Knows Posts: 780
Dragon's Throat Apostle atk: 6.5 | def: 10 | dam: 8.0
Mare :: Tribrid :: 18hh :: 3 - is now aging slowly HP: 90 | Buff: NUMB
Hubris :: Royal Bronze Dragon :: Shock Breath & Frost Breath & Babel :: Royal Gold Dragon :: Fire Breath Odd
#8
the girl.

His words pushed her mind, and for a moment the girl did feel unstable. It was more than just her line of thought sinking through open fingers, like so much sand through a strainer, but now she felt pushed and pulled. Dancing on a balance beam, her rhythm was indeed interrupted, her footing less stable. Only ... it was the hint of his smile that made her wonder if it he wasn't the one doing the shaking.

Still, he wasn't wrong. She had faltered, no matter the cause.

Possess it. That was his offering to her, it was what he placed in her jar, and she grabbed at it like a dog for scraps. She would possess it. Once she figured out what it was.

He had asked something else - hinted at whether or not her thoughts were certain - and she felt her mind cascading down a black hole. What was certainty? It was a rigidity of conviction. And what were the necessary and sufficient conditions? Well, surely it was that one couldn't be wrong. It seemed absurd to say, I am certain that x, but I could be wrong about it. To her ears, it sounded like a contradiction of terms. Something in the word itself just meant infallible. Was that it then? Infallibility? Perplexed, the girl sunk deeper into her thoughts. She was a fallible creature - they all were. It came with being finite. Built as she was, she could be dreaming right now. Everything would seem just as real - her mind wouldn't be able to distinguish the difference between dreaming and reality. If that was the case, how could she be certain of any a posteriori truths? Only the analytic - the a priori could be known, both waking and dreaming.

Her mind screamed to continue along this path, but the gold's words snapped her out of it. Her eyes refocused, and she listened.

He is smiling as he concludes, but she isn't. Her eyes have slipped lower, like her mind was using up all the resources available, and holding his gaze was simply a function that did not need to be maintained. Clearly though, she was thinking. The longer she stood immobile, the longer her magic took hold. It was something that even her mind couldn't siphon power from. Her hooves began to sink into the loam and the pineneedles. Moss grew over what now appeared to be merely dirt in the shape of her hooves, and continued upwards towards her knees. Roots began to spread from where she stood, as the earth called her back into itself. All of this happened without the girl noticing. She had bigger things to consider.

"Coherence." She said at last, her voice ringing out with clarity as her eyes rose back to meet the Gold's. "You're talking about a coherence theory of truth. What we know ... as you said comes from our senses. It provides us with a web of beliefs. We assess these beliefs automatically - again, as you said - and check them against prior beliefs. If they cohere, we accept them. If they don't, we reject them ... or ... I suppose some of us try and re-calibrate and do it again. There are lots of things that don't make sense; only the naive throw out those beliefs. " She paused so that she could possess it. Her mind was still working, and while previously she didn't think there was anything wrong with pausing and letting her thoughts flow naturally, the gold had shown her otherwise. Perhaps pausing and disjointed thoughts were a sign of confusion, or lack of certainty. If that was the case, the mere way she presented her beliefs might affect whether or not others believed what she was saying, regardless of the content.

That was interesting.

"Manipulation then ... it's an art. You need to first know what web someone has - their intakes. Once you know that, you know what will and won't cohere. You know immediately what they will accept right off the bat. It is why children are so easily manipulated. They know so little, that everything coheres with the little they do know. "




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Abandon all hope, ye who enter here

Thranduil the Laurelin Posts: 598
Outcast atk: 5.5 | def: 11 | dam: 6.5
Stallion :: Unicorn :: 16.2 hh :: Eight HP: 77 | Buff: ENDURE
Haldir :: Common Cerndyr :: Dark Mist Hawk
#9
Thranduil


The golden’s mind might have been a flurry of activity, but his body was straining with the weight of it. After finishing his speech, and in her pause the golden finds the strain finally too loud to ignore. Of course he wasn’t one to give in too easily. With slow creaky movements the golden rounds and comes to rest his side on a slashed pine tree. Haldir had sense closed his eyes to the world, and given in, but the golden was determined to hear the girl. Did she have a name? He could remember them exchanging them. However, in the current climate of affairs where he was so often one creature or another, it suited him quite well to go on nameless, on both sides if need be. Though he did wonder why she left her side of the story blank. Why she did not state it a clearly a fact as the others she seemed to know. He her to come from Kahlua, and the Earth God, and her personality to be frank and brave, but not personal. Most certainly he began to surmise, their meetings (the two of them) were far from chit chatting on likes or dislikes. Perhaps unless you brought it up to her she did not tell? It never occurred to him that she did not have one at all. Everyone else ended up with nickname or other anyway. Raven fit her very well. So that was settled.

Her inner anxieties were nothing to him, as he simply waited for her answer. He was rather pleased with himself after his ‘round’ and so was happy to wait and let his sense rest against the murdered pine. If he had known her struggles with what was certain, or truthful, he of course, being the egotistical man he was, would have been happy to set her straight. In his mind, though of course unthought at this moment for it was unmentioned, it did not matter if what was happening now was real or dreamt. It was happening in a place that affected us, so we must react. I think therefore, I am.

At last the girl speaks up. The golden’s ears pick up and his earth eyes refocus onto her. When it did a most curious feature almost made her words obsolete. Haldir, hearing the girl’s voice had picked up his little head, and his large pale eyes too noticed it. A bleat of surprise echoed under the girl’s words. The dark deer looked to the golden, and tried to question it, but the golden was far too busy trying to balance the observation and her words. In the end, her words won out. The golden’s attention was drawn back up to her face, and kept there. Coherence. Yes, he supposed that was a neater way of placing it. He nodded one, agreeing to the re-calibration. Not all experienced such traumatic mind shifts, but then, especially her in Helovia it seemed to happen more. He was left silent as well when she paused. But his attention was directed by Haldir, who still could not understand what was happening to this most wonderful friend. His little bleat came again. Distant, but firm the golden whispers back. “Angol” [Magic] The deer seemed to be put at ease by that. Magic was becoming more and more normal, and the girl didn’t seem wounded by such things as were taking over her.

It still of course made the golden unease to see the one he was talking to begin to meld in, yet there were more important things a foot. She speaks up again before the gold can, and what he finds is more in tune with him than before, and all the more agreeable. So the golden nods, and a smile grows back on his lips. “Though you must always be wary of children. They might be easy to manipulate, but their instincts are stronger than their older counterparts.” Yes, children and companions were always a pain to work around. They seemed to always know something was up. The golden lifts himself off the tree, his side rough with the torn bark but body glad to ease itself with movement. “There is more to this than just words.” He begin to walk forward. Not knowing if she would allow it but trying his hand at this trick anyway.

Slowly with as much smooth grace as his worn body would allow, the golden comes to her. His head tucks tight with the spanish flare. “There are some manipulations words can not accomplish.” Would she let him come closer? Only one way to find out. The golden aimed to come up close and pass her. His golden hide still steamy from the workout. His hot breath rolling out in bellows. “Some mares are not like you raven, their minds thing differently. So that…..” As he hoped to be by her side he lifts his head. His whiskered chin reaching to try and barely grace her spine. “Caresses and whispers, do more, than a thousand love poems….” He lets his voice trail, and then goes silent. If she had let him close, he would lean into her. Then he stole away. His steps silently carrying him past her and around. He turned till he looked at her, facing her side. Though he could not quite read her face yet, he expected the romance to not have the slightest drop of effect on her. If it did, he might be a tinge disappointed. “Words are not the only thing to be manipulated. What say you to that?” The smooth tone had gone harsh and dark, but a smile still played at his lips.

The golden slinks back to in front of her. Letting his voice carry on. “But raven, I have only told you my side.” He stops and looks to her, his earth eyes sparking with the thrill of pursuit. “Now you must tell me yours.” The golden tilts his crowned head, finally looking deeply enough into her to gauge where she stood. “What does the raven say to this?” He chuckles, his life twisting wickedly. “You’ve never been short of an opinion.” And again he jumps to what he thinks he knows, having seen her only twice. Still he is quite content, and curiosity keeps his weary body going.




"talk talk talk"
OOC:: @[Isopia]
So much talking ;.;


Credits: Image by FROSTIE!

[Image: 5381546acbe33]
Feel free to use any force/magic on Thranduil, short of killing him.
Please tag in every post.
Ask Thranduil any question in the world, he'll be forced to answer on his profile. PM with your question.

Isopia the Mountain That Knows Posts: 780
Dragon's Throat Apostle atk: 6.5 | def: 10 | dam: 8.0
Mare :: Tribrid :: 18hh :: 3 - is now aging slowly HP: 90 | Buff: NUMB
Hubris :: Royal Bronze Dragon :: Shock Breath & Frost Breath & Babel :: Royal Gold Dragon :: Fire Breath Odd
#10
the girl.

Angol. Did everyone here know another language? It certainly seemed that way. Nearly all who she had come into contact with dropped a word or two here or there in a dialect that she had never heard before. It both excited her mind to know that there was so much more in the world for her to discover, as well as frustrated it.

As he mentioned children, her blood-soaked shoulders shrugged. She hadn't given much thought to the very young - she had advanced through that age category far too quickly. That being said, the children she had met seemed ... well, other than Zero, poorly informed. They went off the say-so of their parents, and had no real thoughts of their own. To be fair, Zero did almost the same thing, but Isopia blocked that out. She wanted to view him as being different, even when part of her knew that he wasn't. The openness of his mind and his willingness to investigate the world weren't enough to keep him elevated above her general consensus that children were uninformed and closed minded. She didn't necessarily ascribe any blame to them for it, but nor did she think they were worth much thought.

As Thranduil began to move towards her, all thoughts of children disappeared from her mind. Her muscles tensed defensively as his neck arched. His words glistened in her mind like the sheen on his coat, and still she remained frozen in place. Her golden gaze constantly flickered from trying to watch him without moving her skull, and staring straight ahead as if the tenuous proximity he was establishing wasn't bothering her. Internally, her mind was screaming. She hated when others drew near her, regardless of the circumstance. The girl hated nursing with her mother - perhaps that's where it all started. Without experiencing emotion, the intimacy and feelings of contentment that physical touches could bring only instilled a sense of heightened awkwardness and dislike in her mind.

Some mares are not like you raven, their minds think differently. So that… "I-" She began, dark lips falling open to speak. Isopia had meant to tell him that she already knew that most mares weren't like her. In fact, none of them were, from what she could tell. None matched her stature physically, and her mind was an apex that they could not possibly hope to summit, much less see on their own. All of this she meant to convey, with a well-inflected I know, but she could only get the first syllable out before his whiskers graced her spine. Without her mind's approval, her body involuntarily reacted to his touch. The pale skin along her back twitched slightly, sending a not-entirely unpleasant shiver through her whole body. Her ears pinned back in response, but flickered forward uncertainly as his bulk pressed against her own. It was the strangest sensation ... she knew that she was larger than he, and while she was an inexperienced fighter, she had twice the number of horns that he did, and wings. If nothing else, she could evade him completely and yet ... Yet with just the smallest of touches he had somehow made her feel vulnerable. He had distracted her mind and fixed her body in the place (as evidence by the amount of growth which had spread), and he had done almost nothing.

While the girl was relieved to have his presence pulled from her, she was impressed nonetheless. This was ... something the girl hadn't even considered before. As he asked her opinion, the girl realized that her breathing had grown faster during his little tour of her. Concentrating on slowing it, she also forced her muscles to relax, and, as she did so, the pain that etched through her shoulders and haunches was more than she had expected. She had tensed up far more than she thought she had.

How did you do this to me? She demanded in silent wonder as her hard golden stare met his. Taking his previous advice, the earthen-girl remained silent while her mind tried to work out what had just happened.

She knew now how manipulation with words worked, and it made sense to her mind. A coherence theory was plausible and reasonable, and one that seemed fairly easy to manipulate given the right inputs. But ... but physical manipulation? Previously she might have associated physical manipulation with intimidation ... something about using your body to your advantage to make someone do what you want ... but it had never occurred to her that it could be done like quite like that. Still, there was no reason why not. He had used his body to his advantage ... but perhaps the difference was that he had managed to turn hers against her in the process.

So that's it.. She concluded silently. This sort of manipulation relied on manipulating someone's body, as well as their mind.

But how?

The girl knew ... next to nothing when it came to issues of romance or sexuality. She felt neither, and had spent no time investigating or watching interactions of either. Without a baseline, it would be impossible to replicate but ... did she even have the capacity? The girl had always thought of herself as something of an oddity. She was physically different than most, and, if some reports of others were to be believed, her height made some men feel inadequate. Still she was feminine enough, or so she had been told. Beautiful perhaps. Though she had never placed much thought into it - her mind was what she valued above all else, and it was that aspect of her that she thought others should covet. It had never occurred to her that there were other aspects of herself that she could utilize.

Re-focusing her thoughts and pulling her mind out of itself, she narrowed her gaze upon Thranduil. What about the golden allowed him to manipulate her in this way? Was it something physical? Her eyes scanned his physique - the sweat on his sides, the curve of his shoulders, the crest of his neck. Was that it? Mere physical attractiveness? She supposed that wasn't out of the question - whatever base instincts they all had in common would naturally be drawn to appropriate mating partners. Was that why her body had reacted? Reproduction? But something else nagged at her mind, something she couldn't quite touch. Confidence? Proximity? What?!

But more importantly, whatever the what was, could she learn it? Could he teach it?

Insecurity rolled over her like a frigid wave as she stepped forward. Proximity was part of the equation, she knew that. She could eliminate the distance between them as he had - and yet it didn't feel the same. There was .. a tension he had caused between them when he had moved, and yet when she did, it was mere geometry. They were closer together now physically, but not in the way she had intended. Her golden eyes searched his face as if trying to lock onto something that would give her some clue as to how to replicate his movements. Briefly she considered reaching out to brush his shoulder - her eyes fell to it and one of her wings stirred - but she remained still otherwise. Physical contact was not something she enjoyed, and she was still far too awkward and new at this to try. Although she wanted to learn, she didn't want to display her ineptness if it could be avoided.

"How?" She said at least, realizing that admitting her ignorance was the only way of proceeding at this point. She had come close to him - as he had done with her, but nothing happened. It wasn't the same.

If the girl was to achieve balance in the world, she needed to utilize every tool at her disposal. It hadn't occurred to her that this sort of manipulation would likely be looked down on by others, but even if she had, she wouldn't have minded. Results mattered, not means.




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Abandon all hope, ye who enter here

Thranduil the Laurelin Posts: 598
Outcast atk: 5.5 | def: 11 | dam: 6.5
Stallion :: Unicorn :: 16.2 hh :: Eight HP: 77 | Buff: ENDURE
Haldir :: Common Cerndyr :: Dark Mist Hawk
#11
Thranduil


Let’s be honest. The golden loved to talk, to tell a tall tale, or a whispered secret. So to see him leaning against his tree, waiting, wanting, listening, for another’s opinion, was very strange indeed. Perhaps if the girl before him knew the golden better she would be impressed herself. Impressed that the golden was giving a complement. Her opinion was worth hearing. Worth making room for. Even though his tired body protested even more, the golden stands his ground, or rather now leans against the shredded tree, to listen with a devil of a smile on.

It turns out though, now back to facing her and seeing her full expression, he was most unrewarded. The curl of that vicious grin falling slightly. She was deep in thought again. A long sigh rattles through his lips to see it. Though thinking through thoughts was indeed suggested, there was also a certain tact for answering in timely manners. And even if you didn’t know the answer there was always a bit of fun in making them up. Shifting in his place the golden waits, watching with a lazy notion her still and silent thought.

Then the girl does a most funny thing. She looks up and at him, but to him, at him. Twin horned head tilts, waiting, curious. What was her mind thinking? The golden could have little guess. While he thought he knew the straight forward no nonsense girl, all this waiting and thinking didn’t fit his picture of her. And why was she looking at him, her eyes moving over his body. The golden was rarely ever shy to another’s gaze, but truth be told, to have her stare upon him made that tasseled tail flick at his hocks. What was she getting at? What was she trying to see?

The raven then steps forward. The spell which wrapped her in the nature fell away and he saw her form more clearly, but didn’t clear his thoughts. Still she seemed to search. She was looking for something. The golden began to wonder, had he actually affected her? He had not thought of it in so many moments for it seemed, to him to be so impossible that her feelings could be tampered with. Did she even think of such things? Yet, here she was, confused, and trying to return the favor? Or failing? Or confused? Clearly something had been affected. Something had been awoken that he hadn’t anticipated.

Despite a most confusing awkward moment, the golden remains still, with his body slumped against the tree. He was now considering the most curious state of the girl. In the end, he was a little disappointed. Not of course in his skill. Of that he was most impressed to have made some effect on even her. It had not been at all his intention. He had thought the move would be taken as a joke. She would find humor in him even trying to get to her. Clearly more was left unexplored in her than the golden thought, if she was confused by this even small moment. The fact that she was letting it do so to her, did dampen his mood. The wide grin now settled to one of mild satisfaction. He had after all managed to touch what he thought to be the untouchable.

Then she speaks one little word. How. Despite his disappoint in her inability to explore the more physical needs of her body, the golden laughed. For in the end, it was his most favorite thing to see the stumped look of faces. To see them come to realize they were not immune. To have then see just a glimmer of his touch and wonder at its effects on them. Though for a moment he is silent, looking at her waiting. He had up to this point, let himself give all the information she asked, or that arose. That was a great deal of trade secrets mind you. Many of it he hadn’t spoken in years for lack of a horse who understood it. Now though, with the train of the conversation halted through realizations and pauses, he thinks more deeply on what it meant to tell her. Of all the skills, this was the most valuable. To pass it along, felt more like an exposure of a secret, something his was puzzled on whether to do.

Let it not be forgotten she was close to him as well. Though the golden always gave touches, receiving them was, less than standard procedure. But he was a good liar. Any tension brought by her closer presence, and there was in fact a little, was masked, and swept out through his twitching tail. She had asked a question though, and it was now his call to answer. Did he even have an answer? For the first time in the conversation he golden was stuck, pausing in searching for an answer. How had he first learned that his body held sway of mares? It took him to places he did not wish to go and so quickly the golden returned to this place, without a lesson ready. His eyes going to hers masked with calm.

Finally he settled on a turn of phrase that would give him the satisfaction of answer, without really answering. Always a favorite answer. “Unlike the mind Raven, the body speaks a completely different language.” He pauses, and looks her own body, eyes glance over her winged sides and rust and earth dustings. “A language with a different purpose, and one more open to interception.” The earth eyes looks back to hers. Pausing as he thought over his own words. For once not really sure if he was satisfied with them. He wanted to be off that topic, to move on. He had so been enjoying their conversation before. This discussion of body language, though he knew it well, was not as explored. Perhaps, though he would not say it, because even he could be manipulated by it, a fact he did not enjoy. So to move it on, to press the issues back to her, he tilts his crowned head with a smile. “Why?”



"talk talk talk"
OOC:: @[Isopia]



Credits: Image by FROSTIE!

[Image: 5381546acbe33]
Feel free to use any force/magic on Thranduil, short of killing him.
Please tag in every post.
Ask Thranduil any question in the world, he'll be forced to answer on his profile. PM with your question.


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