The Collection and Payment of Debts [ooc welcome]

[Illira]

((Just a short in-game RP scene to help set-up/flesh out these characters))

 

***

 

Burned Cypress leans back against one of the posts holding the awnings into place, still and quiet, the woman watches the other refugees from beneath half-closed eyes.

 

 

Aiswys Moenmoerawyn manages to offend some refugees by wearing her mask in front of them. She assures them it's not because of any 'stench' or otherwise, and questions them about trinkets and ghost stories. This offends the refugees more than her mask.

 

 

A man nods at Burned Cypress as he passes. "Good evening."

 

 

Burned Cypress's gaze seems to be following one of the guards, a fellow Roegadyn who walks the perimeter of the camp, as indicated by the movements of her head, that seem to follow her. She breaks away from her stare, as a man speaks to her. She opens her mouth as if to say something, but he has already passed by, and so she closes her lips, so that a slight frown now graces them.

 

 

Aiswys Moenmoerawyn spends just a few moments with the refugees before turning around looking for more interrogation targets. She finds one and approaches her. “You look out of place.”

 

 

Burned Cypress slowly lifts her head up, as a shadow crosses over her. "Should I not be?" She turns her eyes back down to herself, as if looking for something out of turn.

 

 

Aiswys Moenmoerawyn: “Perhaps not. How long have you been in this camp? I'm looking for someone who used to live here.” Her tone is tired and mildly monotone.

 

 

Burned Cypress ceases examining her garb, "How long? I... sometime. I suppose."

 

 

Aiswys Moenmoerawyn kneels, extending one hand towards Cypress. In her open palm lies a necklace of bone and a rusted medallion, or perhaps a very large coin. “Can you tell me anything about these?”

 

 

Burned Cypress sits up a bit, so that she isn't slouching against the pole. She extends her hand to take the items and look at them closer.

 

 

Aiswys Moenmoerawyn stands up, gazing down at Cypress. The necklace is made of small bird bones, pieces of the neck, most likely. “I'm trying to find the owner. I don't know his name, but he came from the Shroud.”

 

 

Burned Cypress shakes her head, slightly. "Bone necklaces are.... common. But this one is less so, fragile as it is. Its not from the mountains, surely. But no. I'm sorry. These don't mean anything to me.” She tries to hand the objects back to the woman.

 

 

Aiswys Moenmoerawyn: “If I had to guess, it's probably some Miqo'te tradition. Perhaps that tiny bird was the man's first prey. Even if it was quite a weak creature, it has emotional value.” She recovers the objects. "So I guess you didn't see any male Moon Keeper wandering around the camp."

 

 

Burned Cypress frowns, "A moonkeeper? One passed through a few nights ago. Kept to himself and left quickly."

 

 

Aiswys Moenmoerawyn: “Could you describe him?”

 

 

Burned Cypress: “Not well. Pale with ears and a tail. The stripes on his face were vivid though.”

 

 

Aiswys Moenmoerawyn chuckles, the sound muffled by the mask and becoming a non-descript noise. “Yes, all Miqo'te have ears and tails. Did the marks on his face call your attention enough to remember their shape?”

 

 

Burned Cypress lets out a breath, closing her eyes, "They were... long stripes. Curling in over his face, promient. They were tawny colored."

 

 

Aiswys Moenmoerawyn nods slowly.

 

 

Burned Cypress: “Why... are you looking for this Moonkeeper? Does he owe you? That is something that seems common around here.”

 

 

Aiswys Moenmoerawyn blinks and keeps quiet for a moment. Then, she says,“You could say he has a debt, yes, and that I am here to collect.”

 

 

Burned Cypress: “You might know this then... why are you people so keen in debt collection? It is not like it can be taken with us in the end.”

 

 

Aiswys Moenmoerawyn directs her sight to a side. She sighs. “We might not take it with us, but what is leant to us is missing somewhere else. If the debt is not repaired, that empty spot in the world will remain empty.”

 

 

Burned Cypress: “So it is not better off elsewhere? To remain even when... The world moves on.”

 

 

Aiswys Moenmoerawyn: “Some can't move on until their debts are collected.”

 

 

Burned Cypress: “Do you speak of yourself?”

 

 

Aiswys Moenmoerawyn: “I speak of everyone. Life is a barter. You take something and give something in exchange. Some try to only take from the world and leave others in need. A debt is created. A debt that must be payed.”

 

Burned Cypress: “You are devoted to your cause. An admirable thing to be. To live without the doubt of one's purpouse is... comforting. Reassuring. Without it we are left to wander.”

 

 

Aiswys Moenmoerawyn: “Sometimes you have to make your own purpouse. Is that why you are here, between the rot and dirt? Are you a refugee not because you have no home, but because you have no purpose?”

 

 

Burned Cypress shakes her head. "I lost it. In the end it meant nothing. And so I'm here with nowhere else to be. Hoping that such a thing will be rectified.”

 

 

Aiswys Moenmoerawyn squints. Perhaps she's smiling under the mask. “You know what they say. When you are adrift in the middle of the seas, don't just pray to the gods; you also have to move your hands.”

 

 

Burned Cypress shakes her head, "Thats why I left. There was nothing more to be done."

 

 

Aiswys Moenmoerawyn: “Perhaps. But, if you ask me, now you are adrift, waiting for a merciful ship to come by and pick you up. But instead you are just going to get eaten by the sahagin. Perhaps you should move your hands and swim in any direction.”

 

 

Burned Cypress: “Can you not see that I have done so? I... left my post. Do you not realize what such means to one as me?”

 

 

Aiswys Moenmoerawyn: “I can tell you have a debt and are waiting for the gods to collect it. My advise is: don't. Try to repay it in someway. In anyway. Make amends for the duty you broke. Sitting here is, sadly, not repairing anything in the world. There's an empty space you created, and you are not doing anything to fill it by staying here.”

 

 

Burned Cypress: “There is no where to go. I watch and wait and learn, for now. But of this, I suppose you are right concerning the debt that I owe. I left and there was none to take my place as I took my grandfather's.”

 

 

Aiswys Moenmoerawyn: “Life's a barter. You took something, you must give something in exchange. Back where you took it or somewhere else. The gods do not care as long as you pay. I will leave you to think about it.”

 

 

Burned Cypress closes her eyes momentarily, "Of course. And I suppose that I should offer thanks for your insight."

 

 

Aiswys Moenmoerawyn: “Only if you give use to it. I'm Aiswys, lest we forget about formalities before my departure.”

 

 

Burned Cypress glances around, blinking before slowly standing up, "And I am Burned Cypress. I wish you luck on your quest Aiswys.Though perhaps what was stolen has found a new place.”

 

 

Aiswys Moenmoerawyn: “Sometimes they do. Maybe you will find your place one day. Farewell.” She taps Cypress shoulder once as she leaves.

 

 

Burned Cypress nods her head, letting herself sink down the pole, and back to the ground.