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To Ul'dah We Go [ooc welcome]

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Naunet Naunet Find all posts by this user Visit this user's website Leech of the Aeons Posts:1,749 Joined:Jul 2013 Character:Antimony Linkshell:Hipparion Tribe Server:Balmung Reputation: 108 RE: To Ul'dah We Go [ooc welcome] | #3 12-08-2013, 03:49 PM (This post was last modified: 12-08-2013, 03:49 PM by Naunet.) Ulanan Ulan and her companion time skip because they have shit to do, man! Antimony Jhanhi is not a timelord. The next day  found Antimony and Ulanan up bright and early, well rested and fed and ready to set out on the road once more. A slight chill lingered over the town still, though this would dissipate quickly as the morning went on. “We should be able to reach Ul'dah tonight,” Ulanan was saying, standing out in the open plaza of Horizon. Antimony nodded, adjusting her hat over her ears once more. "I'll trust your judgment on that. I hope the roads are as clear as they were leaving Vesper Bay..." A short distance away, a young miqo’te's ears twitched. “Huh? Thought I heard someone familiar...” “Or at the very least, the signs are better,” Antimony added with a small smile, stretching her arms briefly before straightening her brown robe. “The peistes sometimes decide to cross the bridge,” Ulanan cautioned. “But we will be able to notice that a mile away. The Brass Blades usually are quick about taking care of those.” “Goin' ta Ul'dah?” A new voice intruded. “The... peistes? You don't think we'll... ah?” Antimony’s words cut themselves off in confusion, her ears twitching at the nearby voice. When her eyes cought up with her ears, she went very quiet. Ulanan squinted at the young miqo’te suspicious. "I don't think we are acquainted." There was a moment of silence, and then the new miqo’te staggered back. “K'piru?!”   Ulanan looked between the two women with mild confusion. “It is you! Aint it?!” The youngster persisted, tail wagging excitedly. Antimony's own tail shivered and her ears pressed as far back as they could manage with the interference of her hat. “I... I'm sorry. You must be mistaking me for someone else.” “Really? Ya look like me old teacher.” Not managing another word, Antimony turned then and moved to start for the chocobokeep, steps brisk, maybe a little panicked. “Mm?” Ulanan questioned, “Are you an accountant too?” The young miqo’te watched her walk away before, “Anyways if yer goin' ta Ul'dah, be careful, the Piests are very ornery taday.” To Ulanan’s question, she added lackadaisically, “Naw, I'm a white mage.” “Oh. Then you are probably mistak-oh, ah, Antimony! Don't rush off!” Suddenly distracted, Ulanan hurried to catch up with Antimony. The other miqo’te made to follow them. “I am headin' back ta Ul'dah anyways. I can help ya get past em.” Antimony paused, but only for a moment to speak in a strained voice, "I'm sorry, I'm in a hurry today and need to get going. Thank you for the warn--warning and please stay safe." “Oh... an if ya see K'piru, tell her I hold nothin' against her. I still want ta be her student.” The girl beamed at Antimony’s back, and the woman felt it as though it were a sledgehammer. Ulanan bowed her head slightly to the girl. "Please excuse us. Have a good day!" “Ya too.” Antimony's ears drooped further, hesitated in her steps, and said in a quiet tone, "I'm sure I don't know who you mean," before continuing on. Ulanan retrieved her chocobo in silence and mounted up. She double checked her satchel to make sure she did not magically lose anything, whilst Antimony forced a smile at the chocobokeep and went about the business of getting her own bird back. Her hands shook as she held the reins. Ulanan gave her a thoughtful look. “Place your mind on something else. If you are distracted, you might run off a cliff!” Antimony looked down at Ulanan after a moment and half-smiled, "I'm quite alright. Just worried about the peistes." She paused. "And the cliffs now." The pair wasted little more time in leaving Horizon then, heading out across the desert once more. They were a ways out when Ulanan finally spoke up, “Did I ever told you about my sisters?” Antimony hesitated and then shook her head. "No, you've not said much about your family." “I have two sisters! Let's see if you can pronounce their names. Laonon and Mienen.” Antimony looked up over her chocobo's head, catching the distant silhouette of Ul'dah's towers peeking up from behind cliffs. "They sound like less of a mouthful than Ulanan, at least." She winced “... Ah! Not that your name is bad…”  Ulanan pouted and frowned. In that order. “What's that supposed to mean? Anyway...” “What is there to tell about them?” Antimony encouraged, welcoming the change in topic for her thoughts. “Laonon married an officer of the Immortal Flames. Quite a gentleman, not tainted by Ul'dahn businesses. They are always away from home, though, so it's hard to visit them.” Antimony furrowed her brow. "Away from home? How did your family manage then...?" “Oh, mother and father had a lot of replacements,” Ulanan explained. “What--replacement children?!” Antimony looked baffled. “Is that a... normal lalafellin thing?” “Well, of course! How can you create a dynasty without children? You need lots of them,” the lalafell nodded matter-of-factly. “I'm the youngest, so I guess I'm the last replacement.” She laughed. “Oh, well, of course. I thought you meant... Ah, nevermind.” “Everyone's happily married. Father made sure of that.” A pause. “Well...except Mienen. But she's never happy. She probably wanted to marry the general, and even then she'd complain about it.” Ulanan thought, then shook some thought off her head. Antimony gave Ulanan a thoughtful look of her own. "Except you, hm? But then, you're busy wandering with your Oschon and olives, I suppose?" She chuckled faintly. Ulanan scratched her head. Or rather, her cowl. It probably would have been better if she scratched under it, but she didn’t do that. “That was...um... Mienen married a wealthy man. He owns a mine somewhere. He tried to move to the Ceruleum business, but he lacked proper funding and support. So he's now not as wealthy.” Antimony's ears swooped back uneasily, "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to imply anything or... well." “Well, I -was- happy! Very happy. And then I wasn't. So...I guess you're accurate.” Antimony furrowed her brow sadly at Ulanan, not liking the sudden turn of things. They were far too familiar. "I'm sorry. You don't have to speak of any of it if you don't wish to." “I guess everyone hates some part of their past.” Antimony didn’t respond to that immediately, instead looking across the bridge they had come up to during their talk and gesturing, "That looks like some kind of outpost. How much further, do you think?" “Mm. Maybe an hour?” Ulanan suggested. “There are no facilities to stay there, unless you don't mind sleeping outside.” Antimony chuckled briefly. "I don't, but... I feel we should hurry to the city if we can." Ulanan nodded. “I hope you like stairs.” “What?” “You'll see!” She did, indeed, see. After roughly an hour at a steady, but unhurried pace on their chocobos, they arrived at the base of a stairway the likes of which Antimony had never even conceived of. It seemed to go on forever and dwarfed the city walls high above. Ulanan posed with her chocobo there, gesturing upward. “... Oh,” Antimony muttered a bit fainly. “That is... a lot of stairs.” “The Eighty Sins of Sasamo, we call them! There's a fun story about why they are named like that... but I wouldn't want you to laugh, fall off your mount and break an arm!” Antimony chuckled. "Do you think so poorly of my balance? I'm not that old." Ulanan chuckled back. She looked up. "The city is just on top of the stairs. Let's go!" As they climbed, Antimony kept an eye on the looming walls of the city a bit nervously. They seemed to grow in size as they approached – a trick of the eye that made the whole city seem much more ominous. After a while, she forced herself to think of something else, “Ah, so... what of your other sister? La... Lon...” “Almost there! I'll be honest. This is the reason I wanted chocobos,” Ulanan laughed, not responding to Antimony’s question. “I was not looking forward to that climb.” Antimony laughed in turn. More time passed, and then, “Almost there! Wait...I said that...” “You were right this time, it seems,” Antimony commented, as true enough, they crested the final flight of steps moments later. Ul’dah stood before them now in its full glory, impossible to take in all at once. Antimony’s nose twitched at a heavy, dirty smell on the air. “We should leave the chocobos here,” Ulanan suggested, gesturing towards a set of posts meant for tying up mounts. “Someone will pick them up.” Antimony leaned her head back to take in the massive gate and felt for a moment as though she would topple back down the stairs. She righted herself quickly. "... Ah, yes, of course." Ulanan left the chocobo...somewhere! Antimony sent the chocobo flying off into the abyss! That business done, Antimony turned back to the gate. "It is... rather impressive." “Come on, I'll guide you to the inn. After a night's rest you'll be ready to take any duty they gave you!” She began to make her way into the city, passing a guard along the way who offered a rather rude, unwelcoming comment. “Why don't YOU move along, you red-linen jerk?” The lalafell gestured in frustration. Antimony took a deep breath, secured her satchel, and started towards the city. She winced at Ulanan's retort to one of the guards. Once inside, Antimony felt nearly overwhelmed by the chaos of Ul’dah. Walls vaulted at every turn, voices raised in shouts to be heard over the din, and a certain, unavoidable stink assailed her senses. Ulanan paused to point towards a few archways across from them. “That's the coliseum. I bet you are not interested in seeing skimpily dressed men battling each other. But I guessed I should mention it.” Antimony wrinkled her brow, feeling a bit dizzy, and looked up and down the wide street. "Ah... how am I ever going to find.... what?" She blinked rapidly at Ulanan. “Find?” Ulanan questioned, and then, “I have the feeling they didn't give you much direction in this task.” Antimony looked past Ulanan, towards where the lalafell had indicated the coliseum, and gave it an odd look before shaking her head. "Ah, the individual I'm supposed to be looking into. But it's no matter. Miss Carceri gave me a name and an... office, I believe. But in a city like this...” “We can look it up in the morning,” Ulanan decided, to which Antimony could only nod. “The inn is this way.” She beckoned as she began to move again. “Oh, good. I'm... not sure I'm up for sightseeing tonight,” Antimony muttered, pulling her arms close to herself as they wove through the crowds. She caught sight of a number of ill-looking, poorly dressed individuals crouched on the sides of the street, but couldn’t bring herself to look too long at them. Instead she forced her gaze upward, only to find herself dizzied by the dense buildings spiraling up and up. “Try to not gape too much at Ul'dah's grandiose architecture.” Antimony had only been mildly gaping, and she focused on the street at Ulanan's words, hiding some embarrassment. “It certainly is... different from Limsa.” “The city is basically a semi-circle. Many of the inner streets and alleys aren't places you should go alone,” Ulanan cautioned as they walked. “I will keep that in mind…” “The Avenues are mostly safe, though.” That ‘mostly’ wasn’t exactly comforting, and Antimony looked around suddenly a bit nervous. The pair came to a stop then, seemingly at a random point in the middle of the road. “And we are he- where's the inn?” Ulanan looked around. Antimony blinked and followed Ulanan's searching gaze. "Ah... I don't know? Is it supposed to be here?" “Oh! It's...uh...nevermind, not here. Let's move along before someone thinks I'm lost.” “Would that be bad...?” To Antimony, that only meant a greater likelihood of eventually reaching her location, hopefully by way of some helpful soul. “Only for my pride.” Antimony laughed at that. “Well, I certainly couldn't think less of you for it.” They walked a short ways further before Ulanan paused and looked lost in thought. “Aha! That's the Gate of Thal. The inn is right in front of it, as I recall.” “Gate of... Thal? They worship...?” “The god of the underworld -and- of commerce.” Antimony winced, and Ulanan continued, “I knew you wouldn't like that. I better avoid showing you the Ossuary!” She climbed up the stair with a faint laugh. “I... suppose it makes sense.” She knew of Nald-Thal, of course, but she hadn’t known an entire civilization had constructed a mode of worship around it. The thought disturbed her, but then, so did most Twelve-worship. “I don't really like to think about the implications that the god of the dead is also the god of commerce. Makes me think those who are gone are just piled like coins.” Ulanan stopped and pointed towards broad, double doors. “Inn!” Antimony took a moment too shake Ulanan's imagery from her thoughts before following her gesture to the large building in front of them. "Oh, good," she sighed. "Let's find a meal and a room then." “Yes. Let's head inn-side.” Antimony did not catch Ulanan's oh-so-clever pun. Strangely enough, Ulanan didn’t catch it either! “Mpf. Of course they don't have a small stool for other lalafellin here, either,” Ulanan groused, looking about the establishment, but she paid for a room anyway. Antimony smiled apologetically and then went about reserving her own room, adding at the end, "Ah, and here I've a signed and stamped notice from the CRA to pass on all expenses to their accounts. If you would? Thank you." She bowed her head and accepted the room key. "Song dogs barking at the break of dawn, lightning pushes the edges of a thunderstorm; and these streets, quiet as a sleeping army, send their battered dreams to heaven." Hipparion Tribe (Sagolii) -  Antimony Jhanhi's Wiki

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To Ul'dah We Go [ooc welcome] - by Naunet - 12-08-2013, 02:57 PM RE: To Ul'dah We Go - by Naunet - 12-08-2013, 02:58 PM RE: To Ul'dah We Go [ooc welcome] - by Naunet - 12-08-2013, 03:49 PM

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