Thread: [[Dizzy with Vertigo]] Of Gods and Monsters

It was raining. The road was treacherous with the growing slickness that the water created on its crumbly clay surface. The sky was almost entirely void of light due to the heavy clouds that currently where unleashing a great deluge upon the young mage walking as fast as the elements would allow her on the narrow mountain path, the sea a heaving swirling mass below her. Fear gripped her and whispered to her heart callously, telling her to give up and turn herself in. The young woman, though petite in stature, was not so easily swayed by the such voices no matter where they came from. After all, she scarcely would be alive today if she had listened to such doubts. She would survive this, just as she survived P'annul. And if she didn't? She rather die that go back to such a place of pain.Aleatoria--also known as Aleata--had survived twenty years of being a Select for the City of P'annul, the city of magic, as it was often called by those that knew not of its horrors. She didn't want to think about her history, but as the wind screamed around her, and cold entered her bones, it was hard to keep a scared mind from wandering back to the places it once came from. So her mind recalled the short history of her twenty-three years, hoping to find fuel to continue her journey. As a young girl most of her time was spent swimming in the ice-cold sea. The wyyn on her back would shine silvery-blue against her dark skin much like the color of the fish her father would catch with his big net. Her family had little in terms of physical possessions, though they found themselves rich with warmth and love. Although her mother could not call the fish like most of the women in the village--Aleata could and more. Several times her swims in the sea would call even whales to her much to the horror of the elders, afraid of the large beasts swallowing her whole. She could predict weather, and had a knack for finding healing herbs in the wooded forests that surrounded them. All was well in her life until her father died. The village tried to take care of her mother. Though nothing seemed to ease the sadness in her. Aleata would call the fish for the other fishermen and take back heavy baskets to her mother that went uncooked and would rot in the sun.When the capitol of P'annul called again, it did not come with the criers that so captivated her before. She instead came home with a basket full of fish, only to see her mother talking to a strange man over a cup of dark tea. It wasn't until much later that she understood that her mother sold her to the school in P'annul in the hopes that she would become an actual mage and not just a fish caller. The man's name was Raen D'lia, a seeker for the schools of magic in P'annul, and he was the last lukewarm face she would encounter in her dealings in the Capitol City of the Faeris. It took so long to reach the capitol, and although her new guardian tried to be kind, there was no doubt he was money hungry and she was only a tool for him to gain wealth. Raen ended up cutting a nice deal with one of the seven High Mages of P'annul named Davien Linx--the man who lost the selection of City-Leader many years ago to the Lady Rollian. The seven High Mages of P'annul used to pit their students against each other in friendly competition, which would arise to de facto Selects--mages that showed great promise of being the next City-Leader. That tradition then became the main spectacle in P'annul and soon a dark stain on the bright city outsiders were mostly unaware of. Students were first suppose to show demonstration of their skills--like fish calling, fire dancing, or plant magic--and whichever made the bigger spectacle 'won'. Except when the city tried to abolish the practice, it instead turned into a well known but never talked about, underground. Duels were then set up and many students died from performing feats they could not handle, or being on the receiving end of such. High mages would grow ill under mysterious circumstances, and their students would die in convenient accidents before matches. Linx would ruthlessly train Aleata, even though she was merely more than an infant, and her body bore the scars of fire-dancing and other injuries her teacher and the students of his enemies inflicted upon her. It didn't take long for anyone to realize that war was eminent when the humans started blaming their missing Queen on the Empire. High Mages started to train their pupils for war and even selling them to captains to go out and stop the defilement the humans were causing. Linx had declined the current offers, though the promise was there. Should a captain promise him enough gold, he would push Aleata out of his dueling ring and into war. So she searched nonstop for days looking for anyone who could get her out before finally finding a shady looking human smuggler promising her safe passage back to her village. Some smuggler... She thought bitterly, wincing at the thought. The ship was raided before it could even take off, and Aleata scarcely got away before she was arrested for running away, With nothing more to lose, and the promise of death or worse if she continued to hide in the city, she set off on foot. That was about a fortnight ago, and the weariness showed. Her black cape was stained from rough travel, as well as the leather breeches she wore. Her breasts were covered by an archers vest that was laced tight to keep the perky flesh flat for accuracy. She wore only a plain brown tunic over this, and her golden-brown hair although hacked short in an attempt to hide her identity was matted and ragged. She was unsure of where she was, though as her feet found footing in the path she assumed if she just kept heading south she would eventually find her village. As she came near the summit of the mountain, she was surprised to hear voices. Fear hit her first followed by bewilderment. These were Elven voices--they sounded nothing like her kin in their speech patterns, and there were a lot of them. She continued to creep closer, her eyes slowly adjusting to the dim light of the far off fires. She saw horses and men--soldiers--just resting at camp. She didn't understand why they were here until her heart dropped. She had to have gotten turned around. Instead of heading south, she was heading east. She was near the temple for the goddess of healing. She cursed herself, not only was she heading the wrong way but such a substantial mistake could easily cost her life. If they realized she was Linx's student she would be killed--both because of her crimes and the dishonor she caused by running away--and if she was wasn't discovered they would certainly try to recruit her, which would mean she would die either by an enemy's hand or her captain's hand when she was discovered. Walking as quietly through the trees as she could, she tried to discover if she could see the captain or gain any information about what was going on before she made her next move.