#aurelientrader

[blightedmikhael]

who? @aurelientrader where? Brewed Awakening when? After Last Night In Aventia

“Somehow, things were simpler when being sent to the Iskaran mines was the biggest of our problems,” Mikhael grumbles as he sits in front of Auri and nudges one of the pints he had bought in his direction. Seeing the faiman had a surprise, but he had been one of his most pleasant employers, so Mikhael had seen no issue in reacquainting himself with him. Of course, after a couple of beers, the topic inevitably moved to the issue that was in everyone’s mind. “The Kossith are odd, and somehow more threatening.”

[temperednuvi]

who? @aurelientrader where? Knight’s Nectar

Shenuvun is not one for artificial scents, or mortal mixes, not really. Most of the time, she mixes her own scents taken from what she has grown; but curiosity is her master and she follows when it beckons. Plenty of the customers at Bacchus had rained praises for Knight’s Nectar, and she had wanted to check it out for herself. Maybe buy a thing or two, if they were truly as splendid as people said. Of course, her curiosity for the shop itself goes flying out the window when she notices who is manning the counter. Aurelién isn’t someone she expects to see outside of Avalon, much less in a mortal-owned shop of all places. 

But then again, does she remember the last time she had seen the young elve? 

For the life of her, she cannot, but it must have been far longer than the eight years. And just like that, her curiosity switches tracks and she makes a beeline for the counter, just briefly glancing at the wares as she goes. 

“Aurelién,” she greets warmly. “I didn’t expect to see you here, but as always, it is a delight. How have you been?”

[rancorasael]

Asael couldn't fully comprehend what he was seeing from the other. When he stood his ground and bared his fangs, that was often enough to have most hesitating at least. He had no formal training, so that brief moment of inaction in response to his intensity was often where his advantage lay.

The threat of a spell, his muscles going taut with the threat of force, his aura of rage were all the weapons his body possessed to fill the gap of his limited mana reserves and Asael leaned on them heavily. So being confronted with nonchalance threw Asael off his game. His hand came down and he watched in dismay as coins hit the ground between them. What else was he to do but bend down and pick them up?

"I'm too busy for games," he says, picking up each coin quickly. Handouts weren't acceptable, but spare change on the ground was like a gold mine to Asael. Still, he wouldn't let himself relax completely. There was no telling what the elvhen's goal was or why he was acting so weird. "I have to survive. Survive to fight, fight to destroy. I can't stop until the Vanguard is no more. I don't exist for anything else."

The concept of satisfaction was lost on him. Asael was a collection of pain and the only times he found relief were when he unleashed his magic onto someone he labeled an enemy. Strength was his lifeblood, perseverance was his creed, violence was his comfort and Asael knew none of that would ever change. When he rose to his feet, the air chilled as he pulled at threads again. Sure, the elvhen dropped the coins of his own accord, but gratitude seldom was rewarded when one lived as a fugitive. "Revenge always has a cost. Pay it yourself or it means nothing. Why would I let someone else do what I need to? It's not good enough for them to die, they have to die by my hands. Them, and anyone who stands in my way." That last part was pointed. While Asael didn't make a habit of wanton violence, he had no qualms about dropping someone into the 'enemy' camp in an instant. The other needed to know Asael wasn't looking to be stopped or helped. The only thing he needed was to see Vanguard of the Light members crushed beneath his ice.

Auri stood still despite the obvious way the other attempted to pull at the threads of magic in the air, hoping for an unnecessary defense against the silver elvhen. Something, something, this dog couldn't stop biting the hand that fed until there'd be nothing but some gaunt and unsightly stub. He understood when the entire world could be against you, but Auri had searched through the cisterns and hidden depths of Iskaldrik, he'd built his own protective employ brick by brick until he'd felt untouchable; if this one could see through the threads of ire, he'd have any chance in the world but for some that was impossible.

There was genuinely no invested personal interest to help them, none of this feral and rabid act reminded Auri of his own testament to survival, but he understood the feeling of being backed into a corner and that sometimes the only way was to blindly claw forward until it felt a bit easier to breathe.

"I'm quite good with games," Auri shrugged and the coins fell haphazardly between them, they'd return to their true matter by the fourth sunset this week but that gave this witch plenty of time to spend such wares and get off freely. Games meaning if this one wanted to play a game of tag, the silver elvhen was brazenly confident he'd win with not a scratch on them.

Carnage - revenge - maybe it was too late for Auri to turn the other way, but the elvhen was nothing if not morbidly curious. After all, he'd left Avalon behind simply on the pursuit of some golden empire he'd likely never be granted access to within this lifetime. Some feral witch on the street was realistically a dime a dozen out here, so Auri felt compelled to listen to these bizarre entreats even if he didn't quite understand them fully. "I have plenty of people who'd enact your revenge for cheap." With the fall of Iskaldrik and Auri's trading company through such channel, the silver elvhen wasn't picky when it came to the idea of having someone indebted to them if they couldn't cough up coin.

[strigoisak]

Person: @aurelientrader Location: Veil of Veins Notes: Pit stop before the end of the world Isak would like to think that he is a fairly rational person. He is relatively calm and collected, cynical sure, but he has a good head on his shoulders, Vlad had never had to stitch that back on. But even he has his breaking points and he would blame months of frustration for the complete tantrum he'd thrown in his apartments. He'd blame being at Veil of Veins on it, too. Such a place was not somewhere he frequented; he didn't have time for the spectacle of it all. He still doesn't, he moves through the doorway and to the bar, asks for something strong enough to kill a horse, and it's only when he has his pint in hand does he survey the crowd. The dregs of the Progress Day crowd, tourists, fellow vampire stopping in to mingle with the locals, and - "What are you doing here?" He was sitting across from Aurelien in the plush booth the second he spotted him, moving through the crowd with a speed and grace that'd be out of place if they were anywhere else.

[thalindor]

Person: @aurelientrader Location: Mercury's Bazaar, Progress Day BAYBEE Surely he was hallucinating. Of all the places in all of Lysara, out of all the corners of Taravell that he'd already searched, there was the shadow he hadn't seen in nearly two decades. And he was right under his nose. There was no mistaking the curls and the doe eyes, he'd seen them all wide eyed and taking in the sight of the fissures in the cavern to know. He looks....Aurelien looks just fine standing there near one of the booths. And he doesn't know what to make of that, there's relief and yet there's always that thought in the back of his head, the one that's been there for years. What if Aurelien hadn't wanted to be found? What if he had truly abandoned them for this realm? What if he was truly happy amongst the mortals? Would it be selfish to disturb their peace? Thalindor decides that the answer is both yes and no. Aurelien deserves happiness, but their mother deserved some kind of closure. He deserved some kind of closure. But he keeps his approach through the crowd subtle, offers a familiar whistle on his way past, the one they'd use to signal to one another in the cavern and he planned to just let that be, to let Aurelien realize he was there on their own. Except Vee had other plans and the moment the tiny creature caught sight of the other elvhen, he was sprinting down Thalin's arm from his perch on his shoulders and beelining it right for Aurelien. Well, that was one way to do it.

[incubusnero]

Person: @aurelientrader Location: Thee Shop notes: i cannot believe youve done this "Aurelien." Nero actually cannot bring himself to move consider there is a half broken bottle of bergamot in his hand and the rest of it on the floor. It smells wonderful but it is going to soak into his hardwood flooring, and they are going to be smelling it for weeks. "Aurelien please enlighten me as to why I just tripped over a box of vials?" When he gets his hand on that tricky little twink he's going to be firm this time! He won't be tricked by those big doe eyes and bouncy curls!

[rancorasael]

They were so weird. Sure, Auri was using words Asael could understand, but it felt a little like they were having a separate conversation while participating in this one. At the same time. If there was a word for that Asael didn't know it, but words were useless anyway. Responding to unfamiliar situations with anger and confusion got him this far.

"I'm not "underestimating" you. I just know I'm tougher and stronger. If I had you under me, pressed to the ground, there'd be nothing you could do to get out until I was done with you because I workout my body every day. Don't believe me? Well I … that's dumb! A few seconds in my arms and you'd have a broken back. I mean, look at you!"

Two separate people have taken up space in Asael's mind in the same way while in this palace. Was there something in the air? Because now the witch couldn't decide who he wanted to see pinned under him more: Isak or Auri. He typically didn't get this worked up over things unrelated to the Vanguard, but he supposed getting to live indoors for a while softened his instincts some. "Annoying magic from an annoying person," he mutters, having no rebuttal since clearly, Asael had no means to do what Auri could. But that didn't mean he had zero leverage. The witch scoops up all the gold in his arms, huffing in response to Auri's smile. "How could I change the locks? I don't know how to do that and I didn't have any gold. I do now, so you're gonna help me buy some stuff with your power if you ever want to come back to my palace. Do it or I'll fold you and make you."

Could he really take the other in a fight? No, but that wasn't what was directly phrased to Auri which allowed them to bend the truth to what was stated. Still, Asael asked once more and Auri simply shrugged, feeling all too inflated that he seemed to knock the other off his balance, both physically and mentally, Auri noting the way his chest heaved as he tried to regain his breath fully. "I've made it through plenty of instances where I was underestimated," was all Auri could say on the matter, but the other was lean enough which inspired some hope in Auri if Asael was suddenly feeling very prone to fight.

Auri had to take a moment to laugh, however, at the rather colorful way Asael felt wording it; something, something, tenacity, Auri was underestimating Asael here. "What about two arms tied behind my back?" Yes, it was very suggestive but in a more combative and vexing way because that was Auri's brand, the silver elvhen strolling past Asael with little but a glance back on the shirtless witch.

"But I'm feeling like you didn't change the locks, right?" Is all Auri could muster with the faintest smirk, the expression fading into a smaller smile, "Each elvhen is given a mark of the pattern on their soul. Mine happens to deal with gold, though it's not permanent." A gentle warning, for they could con any B-list merchant if they so pleased and get away with it, but time wasn't necessarily on their side for it. "Easier to scoop up gold than your rotten apple cores, however."

[rowanmaxim]

Person: @aurelientrader Location: The Streets of Eterna "It's not looking good, boss." There's no legitimate employment between the two, but it's a joke Rowan takes seriously. But Aurelien is a friend and so he does try to keep him in the loop when there's too many whispers. Aventia had fallen, people were fleeing from Haven, the queen of the Wildlands taking precautions. If Haven fell, the darkspawn would continue to spread and it wouldn't be long til they were at their doorstep.

[strigoisak]

Person: @aurelientrader Location: Isak's Personal Office, Eterna "Come in." Whoever had approached the door hadn't knocked yet, but he heard the footsteps and had a vague idea what time it must be. Going between Eterna and Caer Glass wasn't easy and the sacrifice he'd made was that his personal office was more a glorified study. Meant for note taking, samples, simple things that didn't require a full lab. Most of his time was spent just giving people referrals to other people he trusted in the city. Still, it's not something he entirely minds and he sits at his desk that's surface is organized chaos and he looks up to meet the gaze of whoever stood in the doorway. "Aurelien, right?"

[strigoisak]

Book Edits: Aurelien

Child of the Seven, but one who created his own fortune, bumps came along the way, but the fall of an entire kingdom was, in turn, an entire mountaintop. The only salvation, besides his employ literally saving his life as Aethereon struck down on Iskaldrik, was the thought of his connections in Lysara, the thought of a new tomorrow, and the idea that he was absolutely getting a new ship out of this harrowing trek once they made it to the other side. @aurelientrader

[blightedmikhael]

“That doesn’t mean that Haven needs to end, nor that it needs to end now,” he says gently, not pushing but setting his thoughts on the table for the other to take or dismiss as he liked. He knows there is no changing Auri’s mind, and he does not want to try. Not when the silver elvhen had employed him as his guard at times, leaving Mikhael in doubt of whether he would be helpful in a fight in the first place. And he knows him just enough to understand that offering financial aid is also not something Auri would be willing to do, not now after he had lost so many investments to the Aetheron. “And I would rather do my part at preventing another tragedy, as minuscule as that part may be.”

Oh Mikhael - just as Auri thought, such a read went completely over the cambions head and the silver elvhen just smiled prettily in response. Auri had survived the hardiness of Iskaldrik, and though that could be deemed insignificant when related to the might of the Kossith, Auri was comfortable in his sense of current delusion. "Cities and worlds have ended many times before, we'll be alright," if they attempted to encroach on Eterna or the Silverlands, Auri might be singing a different tune, but for now the merchant was pleased to stay far away from the conflict and let those, like Mikhael, deliver themselves to possible slaughter.

[blightedmikhael]

“Now you are laying it a bit thick,” he says with a laugh, shaking his head good naturedly to the elvhen. Perhaps they had been closer than he had thought, because despite it all, Mikhael is feeling comfortable around his former employer. Some of his usual stiffness is gone, and despite his current doubt of self-doubts, he feels lighter as they speak than he had felt in a while. Even when their topic of conversation isn’t necessarily the most light or comfortable. Perhaps it’s the fact that he knows where the silver elve stands, knows him as a former employer and as a refugee. Or maybe whatever hells they went together through their journey away from Iskaldrik broke some of the ice that had been present before the fall of the country. “And I wish you safety. Things are not simple on this day and age, and we all need some level of safety as it is.”

"Yes, everything you do tends to be driven as very laudable," Mikhael seemed rather pleased at this obvious read, so Auri didn't wish to knock the cambion down from this high. "I wish you good fortune on your journey, but this may be the last we see each other till the tides shift," Auri wasn't about to step foot in Haven, despite all the wolves had done when it came to welcoming the Iskaran's when none else would. They'd always been a rather selfish creature and none of the more hospitable oaths of the elvhen laws could ever change that about Auri. He wondered if his father's nurture, or lack thereof, had warped him enough to stray from what was expected or if he'd been simply born polluted with the decay of humanity, doomed to wander from the great tree and fizzle out with no family nor namesake to claim.

[rancorasael]

"I'm saying the quack ran off without a word and hasn't been back in weeks. If he wants to take his place back, he has to show up and beat me." Asael shrugged. That's how it was on the streets of the lower city. If someone took the dirt patch you slept on or took the scraps you scrounged up, then that was your fault. You had to be present and able to fight to survive. It's not his fault that Isak walked away from his palace while Asael was there. As far was the witch was concerned, this was functionally his place now.   "I'm not a liar," Asael growls while glowering at the other. "He said he'd help me, then he left. I don't have to prove anything to you except how far I can throw you. And that's pretty far." Now that Asael had access to the gold Isak left behind, he didn't have to steal for food. Now that he was eating more he could work out for longer. "I do pushups, and situps, I can do squats too. I'm very strong…" This guy showed up out of nowhere, calling him a liar and smiling at him for reasons Asael couldn't quite place. He was starting to get annoyed. "Do what you want! I don't care. Waiting for the quack is dumb. He's the liar!" Asael threw the door open in a huff and stomped away to a nearby door frame. Leaping up to grab it, he resumed his reps. A few pull-ups would help calm him down. Who was this guy anyway and did he know something about Isak that Asael didn't?

Their brow crinkled in confusion, head craning in a feeble attempt to peer behind Asael; he could see small groupings of mess, completely untidy in comparison to the medical office Auri had met Isak in. "You're saying it's abandoned?" Maybe by the looks of it, it'd appeared a touch haphazard, but Auri could sense the other was lying, and their arms crossed petulantly as they called Asael out. "I'm not normally fond of liars, but that's mostly because I'm bound by the truth myself." It'd made business dealings a touch difficult, but they'd learned how to weave around truths and fit them to their own narrative. Before Auri could even finish being critical, they shook their head in slight amusement when Asael led to the fact of when the owner gets back.

"And how have you been getting stronger? Eating your three meals a day and sleeping eight hours through the night?" The amusement was clear on their face, but it was mostly because they were focusing directly on Asael and ignoring the mess hidden behind the witch. "Color me jealous," an off-handed comment, but certainly not false, "Are you going to be a gracious host and invite me in or what?"

[rancorasael]

"Nuh uh." Asael's protest came out with such force he almost lost his balance. He was mid rep too, so there was hardly enough air in his lungs to speak anyway, making his obstinant retort come out sounding strained. Asael lived in the lower city of Eterna since he arrived in this country, and on the streets too in his most recent years. Day to day life was very rough and tumble, having scraps with other street urchins over the best piles of garbage or dirt. And Asael oftentimes had self-inflicted injuries to overcome in these moments.

The idea that some clean, posh little twig could take him on compounded on his already mounting frustration. Who did this guy think he was? "I could flip you on your head, fold you 'til you break, and pummel your ass with one arm tied behind your back. You really think you could take me?" Asael pushes hard with his hands, returning to a standing position. He was shirtless, right? Skinny arms over there could see his muscles, right? And he could still do more reps too!

"He's so bossy, he made me take a bath when I didn't want to and he lifts me up like I'm some sort of animal…" Grumbling, now annoyed at both his recount of Isak's behavior and the elvhen skeleton who was making suggestions on his life, Asael paused his workout to walk over. "Hey I'm not some patient guy for him and I'm not a guest. This is my palace because he left it. I … took it from him, just like I took his gold. This isn't a handout like you wanted to give me. I don't owe him anything, so no I don't have to pick up my trash. What are you even—" Asael moved to jerk Auri by the shoulder when he noticed the pile of gold near his feet. Mesmerized and temporarily distracted by the gilded apple cores, Asael reached down to grab one and look at it closer. "How'd you do that? I've never seen so much gold at once!"

"If I wanted to, I could take you," Auri smiled at that because they were definitely talking about a fight, right? In any case, Asael didn't necessarily scare him in the sense that his bark was arguably worse than his bite, least where Auri was concerned; he didn't wish to think of who Asael had struck when they met him, and they were indeed delusional enough to think that they were safe from any magical harm currently. Auri couldn't quite help himself as he stared down in mild horror at the mess before him; left out food, clothes strewn about, blankets tossed wherever.

"So, he's a bit demanding," Auri found appeal in that, but he didn't quite say it out loud, shrugging as he stated this to the witch. "Whether you're his patient... or his guest... don't you think picking up your apple cores is the least you can do as you toughen up?" Auri tried not to scrunch his nose as they stated this, kicking a core into the small pile in the corner.

"You're the one who didn't take my gold," not that it'd have lasted this long, but Auri smiled at Asael despite him still being in a makeshift handstand, the silver elvhen focusing on the mountain of apple cores, concentrating momentarily as they fell into a jingling sound of gold. Auri turned back to Asael smiling somewhat smugly, "If you want to go to the markets, you have a few hours."

[blightedmikhael]

“So I am that obvious, huh?” He asks, a lip curling into a light smirk at Auri’s reaction. It’s not much of a surprise to realize he is predictable, not when he has always stuck to his own morals and has refused to budge despite everything the world had thrown his way. He wanted to help, maybe to make up for the sin of being born, but he wanted to help. Desperately. Most of the time, he can supplement his desire to help with his bounties, but this time? This time he was doing it just because it seemed like the right thing to do. “I care for him, yes, but it's more than that. Haven welcomed us freely when we needed it, so I want to return the favor if I could.”

"Ah," it was all Ari said at first, snippy as ever, but the elvhen eventually elaborated curtly, "Of course you're going there." Mikhael was always very white-knight, broody type; if the Kossith took Haven, it'd only be a matter of time before they advanced further into the spoils of Eterna, taking the Queendom brick by brick. Perhaps it was a kinder approach than what the Aetherian mages had done, having simply torched Iskaldrik and everything within to smithereens. "And you care enough of this human to put yourself on the line?" Auri didn't favor the idea of showing his own worry, but he'd already lost most of his coin, had to build his business up from scraps, and would likely crash out if the Kossith managed to force him to start over yet again. If ever his father, one of the Sinarian Seven, were to do anything with his spoils, now would be the time, though Auri knew no aid to him would ever come from the man.

[rancorasael]

Breathing through his exercises, Asael continued to pull himself up so that his chin went over the lip of the doorframe. He knocked them out one by one, never losing his grip or slowing in pace. For all the harm he'd done to his body over years of untrained, unrestrained spellweaving, Asael had absolute faith in his physical ability. This was why. Even when he was suffering from self-inflicted cell necrosis or vomiting up blood, he always found a way to do some strength training. To him, a strong body led to strong magic.

"I'm gonna prove it anyway. This is my home now. If you see how strong I am, you won't get any dumb ideas," he grunts out as he suspends himself pulled all the way up the door frame and held his position there, another display of how strong his arms alone were. "The quack is built like a stick too, but he's strong. Stronger than me. For now. What if you're the same, huh? Better to show you this way that I could pin you no matter what you're hiding." Asael says all this with some strain before slowly lowering himself down and then dropping to the ground. A couple heavy breaths later and he's balancing himself into a handstand so that he can begin lowering his face close to the floor then pushing up, over and over.

"What? It's just a little mess," he counters, watching Auri while upside down but not stopping his workout to have this discussion. "I don't know how long he's been gone. A couple weeks? He doesn't tell me anything except when he's bossing me around. Sit, strip, take a bath, he's so annoying. I'm gonna be so strong when he gets back that he'll be crying mercy when I lock him in a stranglehold." Yeah, that thought motivated Asael a lot. He threw one hand behind his back and continued his handstand pushups singled armed. "Count the apple cores and I can guess how long I've been here. I almost used up all his spare gold so he better come back soon."

Auri blinked, and then blinked a few more times, their brows knit in a very confuddled expression; for their own strange path in life, Asael had certainly been through stranger, and it only made Auri all the more curious. The doctor seemed a hard egg to crack and yet he'd taken Asael within his home easily, masquerading him as a patient and nothing more or less. Auri, of course, didn't buy such label and here they were rooting around for more, only to discover that the doctor was gone and that he'd apparently left rather quickly.

Asael strode away from the door and Auri could hear the soft motion of the witch leaping up to a nearby doorframe, the inevitable huff and puff as Asael began to do pull ups. "Hey, you've nothing to prove to me on your reps," stated casually as Auri walked in, their nose crinkled inevitably at what had to be all of Asael's doing. "How long has Isak been gone for?" Saying they were appalled was an understatement, trash littered one corner of each room it seemed, and Asael was certainly making himself at home. "I..... what did you do?!" Within Avalon, Auri had lived amongst the wilderness and within Iskaldrik he didn't often have four walls and a roof surrounding him, but even Auri knew how to keep a place tidy.