Every Heart a Crypt [For Ezre]

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The Six Kingdom's most prestigious university and the de facto cultural capital of Anaxas.

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Melody
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Mon Jun 03, 2019 9:29 am

10 of Intas, 2719
The Church of the Moon
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Objectively this day wasn't particularly different from the day before, or the double handful of days that had preceded that. Bone chillingly cold and windy, it was enough to make Melody think longingly of the much warmer winters of her childhood. She hadn't passed a restful night, plagued by shadowy forebodings and a jittery restlessness that was reminiscent of having drunk too much strong coffee too late at night. Had the weather permitted it, she'd have liked to go for a long rambling walk that'd tire her out, but that option was clearly out. She felt closed in in her room, and all the common areas available for students were bound to be crowded with students. God but the Anaxi were loud as well.

After some thought she had decided she was most likely to find distraction as well as quiet at the Church of the Moon. Now she sat in an empty rosewood pew and tried to figure out what ailed her soul and heart. She closed her eyes and breathed in the smell of incense, they were using something with the scent of cinnamon, perhaps an offering from her home. Exhaling out she imagined all stress and tension flowing out from her body along with the breath. Meditation was inevitably taught as an aid to concentration and focus in the first few years of a galdori's magical education. However only a smaller percentage of the students found it useful enough to persist with it past them. Melody had realised that regular meditation practice helped with establishing a clearer understanding with the mona. Additionally, she'd found it helped her work through issues and regain her equanimity. Ever so slowly, muscles held tightly eased and her mind stopped darting randomly everywhere. Feeling calmer, she opened her eyes, only to see a passive quietly polishing the pews nearby.

That, that was what had upset her equilibrium. Her meeting yesterday with Professor Keye's.. assistant? servant? passive? Fionn. The interaction with Fionn had brought forth a lot of thoughts about passives that she wasn't easy about. Yet it also wasn't a situation where she had any control. She sighed, then stood up, making her rounds of the alcoves where the ten gods were represented. She stopped in front of Hulali's alcove, wondering what wisdom if any the God of All Waters would have for her. Perhaps the way forward was to be like the waters, move past what she couldn't change, and in time the water would carve a new channel for itself. Nature had a way of correcting the balance, and Mugroba did cleave to its policy of no-interference in matters of other kingdoms. Perhaps that truly was the best way?

Moving clockwise she moved to the alcove which housed Bash. Surprisingly the alcove was occupied by another student, but respecting the privacy of a fellow worshipper was a common courtesy, and she simply went on with her own devotions to the patron god of Hox. She lit incense, and began softly humming a simple Hoxian devotional tune.. Melody had a soft spot for the god and the Hoxian culture, having spent a lot of time with the Dreckz family. This had been cemented by her two year stint at Frecksat. Perhaps Bash had some wisdom for her as well.. To hold the convictions of her beliefs and morality strong, like hard rock.. To change those based on what was comfortable surely wasn't admirable.

She was soon done with the circle and felt much calmer for the ritual of it. Time. Time was what would be needed. Nothing would be resolved, in the world or in her heart in the space of one day. She'd do well to bury these uncertainties and thoughts within her heart, to be unearthed later at some future date. She still wasn't in the mood to go back though, or study either. Perhaps this was a good time to check the famous Crypts out? Her father had mentioned they had an illustrious ancestor interred there, maybe she could track that down and send a sketch of it in her next letter home?

She looked around for a sign to direct her, and not finding any, for someone who seemed available enough to direct her in the right direction..
Last edited by Melody on Tue Jul 16, 2019 8:24 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Ezre Vks
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: better with the dead
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Mon Jun 10, 2019 3:58 pm

Church of the Moon
10th of Intas, 2719
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Ezre did not actually consider himself to be the most religious of Hoxians when it came to the expected level of devotion to Bash, the Lord of the Mountain, if only because he considered all of the gods and goddesses of the Circle to be of equal influence and value. Of course, so many of his prayers for guidance and so many offerings of his efforts were to Naulanon because he worked so closely with the dead, but his homeland of Hox was nestled in the Spondola Mountains as if Bash himself had cupped his hands under the Kingdom and lifted them in shelter.

It was the stillness that the boy found himself always seeking from his Kingdom's patron.While so many assumed mountains to be immovable, growing up in the smoke and shadow of Vroh Guar was a reminder that even rock could be made to flow like water with enough power, under the right kind of pressure.

Clock's Eve beneath the Church of the Moon, deep in the forbidden parts of the Crypts, had taught Ezre that when under similar pressure, he still had much to learn about how to flow well. He and Lilanee had made it back safely enough, but there was a nagging regret that haunted the boy like the restless spirits in the dark, compelled already to return as soon as he had the chance.

He'd re-lit the candles that had run down in the small alcove located on one side of the main sanctuary, five on each side devoted to each of the ten gods of the circle. Settling into a comfortable seated position, legs crossed and tattooed hands folded in his lap, it was just a simple matter of clearing his mind. Dark eyes closed and the Hoxian had gathered his field, pulling the invisible magical particles close around himself like a familiar blanket. Shoulders relaxing, breathing slowed, Ezre reached out in silent prayer first, seeking to find himself in the quietude of the Lord of the Mountain.

He'd drifted into a state of thoughtless calm by the time he felt the brush of another student's field, someone else making their offerings. He didn't open his eyes, but he'd somewhat lost track of time and used the sensation of another galdor's presence to rouse him from his meditation. The other person lit incense, hummed a hymn he found familiar despite it's modern tune, and seemed to stand for a few wordless moments. He opened his eyes as he felt the stranger slip away from the alcove and move on somewhere else, breathing deeply and stretching like some lazy animal. Standing slowly, the Hoxian gathered his things and smiled down at the burning herbs, memories of his home of Kzecka and the glorious religious library there awakened by the scents that danced in the smoke.

Turning, he noted the other student was still standing in the open hall between the pew-filled sanctuary and the small devotional alcoves. There were any number of students Ezre had never met before, both because he'd not been at Brunnhold for long but also because he tended to be rather insular when it came to socializing, if he socialized at all, and the young woman looking around as if a little lost or concerned was yet another stranger.

He'd spent more time in the Church of the Moon than he cared to admit, the Hexxos acolyte feeling a personal sense of connection to all places religious, and so he cleared his throat softly, slipping back on his shoes while he offered in a tone just slightly above a whisper,

"Are you looking for an Everine? There is a bell in the north transept that you can ring and one of the acolytes will surely hear it." He pointed with an inked finger in the direction he'd spoken of, stepping closer to get the blood flowing again in his legs after having sat for so long, "Unless you are looking for something else?
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Melody
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Sat Jun 15, 2019 3:31 pm

10 of Intas, 2719
The Church of the Moon
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Melody felt the merest brush of a field against hers, and so wasn't startled when addressed softly, but she was surprised to see who it was. A lithe, delicate figure, rich black hair worn away from a fair, sensitive face, she once again stood in front of a Hoxian. Almost instinctively she checked if her emotional shields were up, it would be both a mark of incompetence and rudeness to broadcast every sway of her emotions through her field in the presence of the boy in front of her. Yet she couldn't quite help the surprise from flashing momentarily in her eyes, or a surge of nostalgia from leaking into her field for a second or two.

For a moment it was almost as if she had never left Frecksat, never transferred to Brunnhold. The sounds and sights of Brunnhold, after a mere two weeks at the place, were much more a stranger to her than the much quieter halls of Frecksat. Of course, the lesser cold was welcome. Lost in the past, she almost forgot that she had been asked a question, and suddenly came to with a slight start.

"Zie. I was looking for the entrance to the Crypts actually.." Her reply was almost as softly spoken, an instinctive wish to not disturb the calm and peace of the Church with loud voices. The offer of help had been implicit in the student's words, Melody had learned to identify some of the subtleties of the Hoxian mannerisms, but certainly not all, and this was not someone she knew, so she might still have understood it wrongly..

As a somewhat younger student of 14 or 15 years of age, it had surprised Melody when her peers hadn't proved as adept at keeping their emotions out of the field.. Through observation she'd come up with a theory, even if everyone was taught the same way, a field reflected the arata's personality. Someone impatient and quick-tempered rarely managed to keep their field clean. Neither could people who were easily embarrassed or hurt.. It seemed you needed to have the ability to keep the world at a slight distance to attain conscious control over it..

Now having seen students from three universities, she could see that Anaxi were probably the worst at this, the Hoxians the best. Their very culture incorporated the concept of a public and a private face, was it any wonder their fields were more indectal than not? Witness the field rich with perceptive and clairvoyant mona that the young man held with such precise control.. It was a little surprising to find no detectable trace of static in it, but upon a moment's thought, not really. There was surely more to everyone than the specialty of their kingdom's magic.

This wasn't the time to get lost in thought, she mentally chided herself though the pause if any must have lasted only bare moments.

Only a scant hour or two ago, she'd been craving silence, and a respite from the loudness of life here, yet now that she might be directed to the entrance and politely left there on her business, she found that she didn't find the thought as appealing as she should have.. Even introverts needed the occasional company they could be fairly sure wouldn't prove too much for them..

"Have you been to the Crypts yourself by any chance?" Impulsively she added, the ghost of the request for company almost as well hidden as she'd have hoped for it to be.

Last edited by Melody on Tue Jul 16, 2019 8:24 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Ezre Vks
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Tue Jun 25, 2019 11:09 pm

Church of the Moon
10th of Intas, 2719
The girl in front of him replied in Deftung and the Hoxian blinked, slowly, obviously caught off guard by the shared language because he was quite aware it was considered a dying one. Then again, Ezre was comfortable around death.

A brief flicker of a smile crossed his otherwise unexpressive, delicate features and he tilted his head in the direction of one of the archways that lead from the sanctuary of the Church of the Moon,

"Ziedek. It is not often I hear the old words of my people here in Brunnhold. I can show you where the Crypts are—" Tatooed fingers straightened the collar of his green-dyed uniform, lingering over buttons before drifting downward to settle into the pockets of his jacket, "—but only if you tell me how you know Deftung, Miss. My name is Ezre Vcks and I don't think we have met before."

The Hoxian arched a slim eyebrow as if to emphasize his curiosity, caprising the younger student's Static mona-laden field without rude imposition so much as simple greeting, "I have been beneath the Church and into the hallowed tombs of long-dead Anaxi often, yes. Part of my studies require the research that can only be found under Brunnhold instead of simply in the library and part of my interests ... are my own."

Ezre led the way down the hall, lowering his voice and bobbing his head in a bow as a pair of Everine passed them, their faces covered, hidden from view and their robes long, whispering along the polished stone floor. They said nothing and for a few extra moments, the dark-haired boy said nothing either, considering his words while he led the other student toward the main entrance to the Crypts. There were other stairs and entrancess, smaller and mostly off-limits elsewhere in the Church, but did the Hoxian know of them? Yes. Maybe a few. It was an unspoken goal of his to see more than he was allowed to see before he left Brunnhold behind.

"Are you a new student? Or perhaps transferred from elsewhere?" Ezre had no reason to ask, but he couldn't help it. Small talk was somewhat awkward for the foreigner, especially with strangers, but he'd learned to make efforts to appear friendly lest Anaxi make assumptions about his otherwise calm, emotionless forms of expression,

"May I ask what you're hoping to find? I may be able to give you directions if it is something specific."
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Last edited by Ezre Vks on Thu Feb 06, 2020 11:01 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Melody
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Tue Jul 02, 2019 1:20 pm

10 of Intas, 2719
The Church of the Moon
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The ability to convey much, but to only those who paid the closest of attention (or were raised in that culture), was one of the quieter charms she's found for herself in the strange new world of Frecksat. The young man had indicated both his pleased surprise and the direction to the crypts even before he spoke, and Melody had already started to nod back even as he began speaking. Her eyes glanced at his tattoed fingers, and though she was curious she made no comment, She could be wrong, but she would be surprised if the tattoos turned out to be merely decorative.

She flushed at the indirect compliment though, and the gaucheness of not offering her name. "Melody. I'm Melody Amberleigh, 9th year, and I'm very pleased to meet you." She bowed a little, then continued, "I spent two years as a transfer student at Frecksat. So I learnt a little Deftung there, just the basic simplified version they teach to foreigners." She gave a small wry smile, "It is by no means enough to carry on a full conversation." She paused for a few moments, then went on, "Meeting you.. It was... like being back there for a few moments."

Was that admission too much? Oh well, it wasn't as if she was required to abide by rakhor quite as strictly as the Hoxians were. She'd admit that her personal sensibilities were at least in some way inspired by it, what she'd understood of it went well with an introspective, reserved personality like hers, but to worry about loss of face and such with her half-understood concepts was surely foolish.

She gratefully accepted Ezre's offer of showing her to the Crypts' entrance, but she was curious about what sort of studies required regular research there. And the allusion to interests that were specifically 'his own' was... cryptic. She suppressed a sudden desire to giggle at that thought, and nodded respectfully, almost bowing along with Ezre as the pair of Everine passed them by. Perhaps, she'd ask his specialisations later..

She got an opportunity sooner than she thought, when Ezre asked her if she was new. "Yes, I'm new, I transferred here after Frecksat." She paused for a beat, she had technically answered the questions, but her answers were probably confusing. And it wasn't as if she was aiming for a mysterious air. "My family lives in Thul Ka actually. I moved away to Hox when I was," she paused for a second to calculate, "sixteen. My parents were surprised I think, especially my mother." Her smile held something bittersweet, but not painful. How did you come to study here?" She asked in her turn. It was surprisingly comfortable to walk along. She wasn't sure but she thought he must be within a year or so of her own age. The Hoxians did tend to act more mature than their age, so he might be younger she supposed, but she didn't think so.

She listened, and found herself absorbing some of the peace and calm and stillness that seemed to wrap itself around the perhaps deceptively delicate galdor. At his question, she found herself stammering a little, her plan now sounded a little.. well.. silly. She could choose to deflect the question, but what was the point? Even if the boy thought her a.. ninny.. well he would be too polite to actually say that. She might as well take advantage of this unlooked for opportunity to leave sense behind and admit to whimsy. "Well.. It isn't so much that it's a secret.." She took a breath, and let herself smile, "Truthfully I was in need of distraction, and I remembered my father mentioning there was someone famous from our family buried in the Brunnhold Crypts. So.." She shrugged. "I thought I'd see if I could track that down, so it's perhaps a bit of a treasure hunt.." Her smile and voice both turned rueful, "Except there isn't likely to be any treasure at the end of it.. If I even find the specific crypt I mean."

The need for caution asserted itself then. "It was a silly idea, I doubt it's a good idea to go on such a treasure hunt on my first venture under the earth, and that too by myself." She shook her head, "I guess I'll just take a look around and come back.. like every other tourist." Her mind may have insisted on safety, and won, but the trace of longing in her eyes and her field wasn't too hard to discern. The heart sometimes wanted to break free, and return to the time when adventure hid beside the shrubbery, when a handful of river smoothened pebbles could substitute for treasure, and a whole afternoon beguiled away tracking down the mystery of the ghost in the maze. It was a simpler time, and it had been a quietly happy one.
Last edited by Melody on Tue Jul 16, 2019 8:25 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Ezre Vks
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Mon Jul 08, 2019 10:19 pm

Church of the Moon
10th of Intas, 2719
"You have lived in Frecksat? Zjai, Hoxians speak more Estuan now in every day life, and Deftung is a dying language among my people. Though, I am from Kzecka and we keep the memories so that religious texts can be read for generations to come. It is a difficult language for conversation if you were not raised speaking it." Ezre conceded with the hint of a smirk and the bob of his head. He had no expectations for anyone other than another Hoxian to care about rhakor or even abide by any of the fine points of zkratas this far from the mountainous northernmost Kingdom.

Melody was also a ninth form, but she clearly didn't share his focuses, as he'd never met her. Perhaps he'd seen her at a formal dinner or an assembly. Perhaps he'd shared a lunch table with her once or twice. But he certainly hadn't noticed her,

"It is easy to miss Hox, but hard to explain why, is it not?" There was a smile, perhaps encouraged by the other student's not so subtle level of enthusiasm over his homeland. His words were perhaps still esoteric or strange to most, but he found himself nodding again, "I would like to travel to Mugroba and study at Thul'Amat for my post-graduate work. I hear that the desert Kingdom is known not only for it's Clairvoyance studies but also for unique ways of preserving the dead."

Yes, those were strange admissions, but they were his passions. She asked him more questions as the pair walked and he realized their lives were similar in their opposite fashions, "I came here to begin my sixth year as well. I have always heard impressive things about the Crypts and their impressive collection of preserved knowledge. I have not been disappointed."

His tone was aloof, mysterious, and Ezre looked away from the Mugrobi girl to make sure he'd turned them down the correct hallway, "There are plenty of treasures beneath the Church of the Moon, but the faculty is not simply taunting students when they advise caution in the depths among centuries of long-dead galdori. There are many internationals who chose the Crypts as their final resting place, mostly because of their personal connections to Brunnhold. Was your family member a professor or a politician or something else?"

He paused at the stairwell that led down toward a set of double doors. There were small folded maps, candles, and a large placard full of various warnings and advisories about going into the glorified graveyard beneath the holiest place in Anaxas. Some of the warnings spoke of restless spirits, ghosts, and warned of not being destructive to mausoleums or graves. Other warnings spoke of where to travel and where not to travel, giving advisories on what parts were off limits to students. Finally, there was a silver cord meant to be pulled in cast of emergencies, and the sign with the hook that held the cord read:

Pull in case of possession.

It was, for most students, a source of constant amusement.

It was, for Ezre, a very real reminder of the truth.

"Did you need someone to come with you? So long as your relative is within the approved sections of the Crypts, I am happy to assist you in navigating." It wasn't as though he wouldn't have eventually made his way down there this evening, anyway, but he wasn't about to admit that at the moment. Regardless of what had happened on Clock's Eve, it seemed impossible to keep the Hoxian away.
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Melody
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Mon Jul 15, 2019 1:54 pm

10 of Intas, 2719
The Entrance to the Crypts
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Melody smiled and nodded at Ezre's comment about it being easy to miss Hox but not so easy to explain the why of it. But that was perhaps true of anything that spoke of a connection without a clear reason. What did one miss about a place? An atmosphere perhaps, or perhaps the memories associated with it, or perhaps your own emotional state in that place and time. A place by itself, empty of any emotional weight, would not even be worth remembering. When she had left Thul Ka for the first time, she had missed many things indeed. Yet none of the memories had been weighty enough for her to return to Thul'amat after her two years at Frecksat had been up.

The thoughts and emotions that flashed in her mind were echoed oddly by the young man she walked alongside, Ezre mentioned wanting to go to Thul'amat for postgraduate studies in Clairvoyance. Wait a minute... She mentally ran through his words again, sure she must have misheard. She couldn't not ask about this. "Clairvoyance, and ways of preserving the dead. That is an unusual combination of interests... Forgive my curiosity, but what is your chosen career?"

Ezre led her through corridors and hallways, it seemed as if the entrance to the Crypts was deeper inside the complex than she had suspected. It made sense she supposed, she doubted the school administration or the Everine would appreciate casual visitors just tromping through the tombs of the dead as if it was a museum, and the graves something to be gawked at. It was a good thing she had remembered to pay attention to their route, she likely wouldn't be graced with a guide if she needed to return. Ezre was apparently well versed with the Crypts, which made sense given his avowed interest in the ways of preserving of the dead.

"Oh, I.. I did not mean treasure of that kind.." Melody was flustered, "Quest would probably have been the better term." She didn't connect Ezre's mention of internationals with herself till he asked about her illustrious, long dead, ancestor. "Both my parents are Anaxi. In fact, my father's family seat is on the outskirts of Dorhaven. I will perhaps visit it once the weather improves.." Uh. Why was she talking about her plans to visit? It wasn't as if that was interesting or relevant to their conversation. Nor was Ezre likely to want to know her family history. She absently adjusted her bag's slight weight against her back, and tried to remember the details about the dead ancestor.

"I don't really remember his name, I vaguely think it started with W... Weston? Winston Amberleigh? Something like that anyway. He was a monic theorist some two hundred years back I believe." She frowned and tried to remember more, "I think.. I remember my father mentioning he took my mother to see the crypt when they were students here..."

They had reached a stairwell, this seemed to be the official entrance to the crypts. There were candles, maps, advisories about areas accessible to students, and prominently displayed warnings about ghosts and restless spirits. She wasn't sure if they were meant to be taken seriously, but she couldn't quite see the school administration endorsing something they knew was superstition. The very fact that there were warnings probably meant there was some truth to the warnings, it couldn't be an elaborate prank after all. Ghosts. Was she scared? Not really. Students always told stories about ghosts and haunted places. Such stories talked to the irrational, instinctive part of people. It was the creeping horror that hinted at the mysteries beyond death. She wasn't scared in the light of day, but the idea of ghosts was just plausible enough that she couldn't quite dismiss it once and for all. If there was a soul, and an afterlife, and a cycle, and the soul could be born again into life... Well, theoretically it allowed for ghosts, didn't it.

She'd have kept staring at the various placards and the ironically humorous sign beside the silver cord if Ezre hadn't spoken at that moment. "I'm not sure if the crypt is within the approved area.." She raised her hands a trifle helplessly. "But if my parents were able to visit it as students, it ought to be?" She looked once again towards the various warnings, before continuing in a lower voice, "And even if it isn't, the odds, and caution, would dictate that the approved areas be checked first." She pulled one of the little maps open, noticing that even the areas deemed accessible to students seemed to be fairly large. Melody looked up to meet Ezre's gaze, "I'd indeed be grateful for your assistance, and the company." She smiled at the almost formal tone of her acceptance, and then promptly ruined that effect by adding, "How does one navigate the Crypts anyway? Is there a system to it, like the library system perhaps?" She paused for a second, then rather weakly offered the caveat, "Not that I mean to imply graves are like books, or not exactly..."
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