Fun and Games


 * Snowfall Basin 


 * Located in the north-western quarter of Crown's Refuge, the area known as Snowfall Basin is quite an impressive sight indeed. Delicately balancing nature with culture, Snowfall Basin maintains the Syladris population of the freehold by providing them with a large area that remains suited to needs that have only recently been discovered.


 * Set around the basin itself - a bowl-shaped cold water depression carved into the surface of the bluff that Crown's Refuge sits atop - it is unusual by just how much it differs from the Human residences just towards the east. Open-air pavilions and gazebos provide much of the structures that the Syladris call home, while leather tents scattered between these more permanent structures offer a more suitable means of privacy than the depths of the water should such things be required.


 * A number of deciduous and evergreen species of tree have been planted amidst the area, turning the "Syaldris Quarter" into one small forest around the large stretch of water. Some pavilions stand taller than others, indicative of status within the newly forged cultural identity that the Syladris are attempting to shape, though all that can be seen feature flowing couches and benches that serve to adequately support and provide comfort for such an unusual half-breed race when they're not otherwise coiled around an overhanging branch or lost beneath ripples of icy water.


 * A blanket of fallen leaves and short, lush grasses surround the basin and the various structures and statues that inhabit the area, all contained within a short marble wall that defines the perimeter of this large region of natural beauty and architecture. Paved trails leading towards the east and south lead back to their respective pathways, while the shadow of Tempest Spire looms ever-present towards the southeast.

The basin has its usual quotient of storytelling and fireside chats, Syladris and smiling Wildlanders. It's a typical evening, in truth - though there are more than the usual number of the snake folk out in the lake.

And there's one off to the side, who holds.. a string. That goes up into the sky. Every line of him is tense and happy, Aes's tailtip flicking slightly as he stares up into the night, squinting a little, almost vibrating with excitement.

And joining in the sea of Syladris is... another Syladris! A golden-hued one! Mysra's hands are stained with pie filling, the female happily licking her fingers with her forked tongue as she makes her way along the basin. Amber eyes spot the one Syladris off to the side and she tilts her head, before slithering up to him quickly. "Mysssra hasss not met you yet," she remarks, looking between Aeseyri and his flying string, "How are you doing that?" She reaches out to touch that string.

It's - /tense/. Well. Sort of - it goes up and up to a kite, twisting and pulling a goodly number of feet above the ground, Aes staring up at it intently. "It isss /flying!/" His own wonder is bright and happy and no - he's not even /looked/ at Mysra yet.

The two are off to the side - several Syladris are cavorting in the /very cold/ water, while another story's being told at a fireside among the tents.

It's - /tense/. Well. Sort of - it goes up and up to a kite, twisting and pulling a goodly number of feet above the ground, Aes staring up at it intently. "It isss /flying!/" His own wonder is bright and happy and no - he's not even /looked/ at Mysra yet.

The two are off to the side - several Syladris are cavorting in the /very cold/ water, while another story's being told at a fireside among the tents. (re)

"Yesss, it isss!" Mysra says, her eyes, too, going to the kite, "That isss a very good trick. How are you doing it?" She again touches the string of the kite, marveling at how it seems the small bit of wood and cloth is pulling on it. "Mysssra would like to know how you are doing thisss trick, pleassse?"

Ziavri has recharged! Having spent a goodly amount of time thawing by a fireside, she's regained enough masochistic energy to venture back out into the cold. Now, her fingers laced tightly together behind her back, she strolls in eastward from the direction of the Southern Cross.

Aes leeeeeans toward Mysra - no, he still hasn't looked. "I do not know. I moved very fassst and then the wind came and it went up and I let out the ssstring and now it isss playing and ssswooping and very happy and I hope it doesss not run away."

Oh. Kites. *That* catches Zia's attention. Shifting her folded hands to the relative warmth of her pockets, she heads for the pair of Syladris, who stand aside of the others in Snowfall Basin. Some of those others are swimming in the frigid waters of the Basin, while another group clusters around one of the many campfires to hear a story. Zia pauses beside the pair - if only to state the obvious. "You made it fly."

Aes is as tense as a bowstring, staring up at the kite, tailtip /vibrating/, smile wide. "Yess. I think? I do not know. But it isss /flying/. Do you sssee it dancsse?" He pulls tentatively on the string - and the kite bounces and turns above.

Muri moves along the pathway from the south headed in the general direction of Aes' tent. By the light of the occasional torch, she searches for the blackscale. Hearing his excitement, she quickens her pace coming within an arm's reach of the syladris.

From the east, at a strolling pace, comes a voice. The voice is first - strong, lyrical tenor carrying through the air a song that likely makes little sense to most. But it sounds good. Quite good, really.

"But his ship it had needed a Captain one day (Oh, me young Ladies, go and kiss him goodbye) He took charge of the rigging and soon sailed away.(Oh, tell him, young Ladies, go and tell him for me, he can marry the Mermaid that lives in the sea.) When three years had passed and his ship had returned, (Oh, me young Ladies, go and kiss him goodbye.) I went down to the sea for the man I had earned.(Oh, tell him, young Ladies, go and tell him for me, he can marry the Mermaid that lives in the sea.)"

The bard seems more than willing to gender-bend in the name of a good melody, at any rate... and the melody is *very* good. He makes his way down to the basin as if cares happened only to other people.

From the south, another figure comes in, this one mostly silent as he walks into the Basin. Sandrim pauses when he's just inside, smiling slightly as he hears the music and sees the kite, making his way down to the source of the latter.

Aeseyri laughs - but doesn't look away - "Muri... do you sssee?" Excited indeed - "It isss ssso /high!/" Event he song can't tear him away, though it tries for a moment, crimson eyes daring to look away to try to find the singer in a mere blink (not enough time!) before he goes back to watching the flying toy.

Zia turns, grinning a broad, cheshire-cat grin at Taran, Sandrim, and Muri before turning back to Aes. "Well, I'm assuming it didn't spontaneously take flight on its own, aye? Therefore, you put it up there?"

Muri claps her hands gleefully as she follows his line of sight. "Aye me! Aeseyri!" she cries. "Dat's de mos' wun'erful thin! How'd ye larn dat?" She giggles and looks over to Zia and Mysra. "G'eve t'ye bof!" she says. "Tis right fine wot 'e do, aye? So much better'n de last time!" Her head moves slightly as the kite moves with the wind and the tugging of the string. "Better'n den Ah've ever seen!" Her eye glitter with pride.

Taran seems willing to forgo music in favor of other distractions, at least at present, and looks up where everyone else is looking. Nighttime kite flying holds an interest all its own.

Mysra has been silently watching that kite this whole time, nowhere near as tense as Aeseyri. Actually, she seems more curious than anything, continually plucking at the kite string and marvelling at how taut it is. "Mysssra likesss thisss very much," she remarks happily, "Mysssra would like to try it sssometime. Could you ssshow Mysssra how to do thisss sssometime?"

The blackscale syladris carefully offers Muri the string - "I jussst went very fassst and the wind blew and it /flew/.. oh it flew.. it isss not me, I do not think. It wissshesss to dancssse." And Aes smiles across to Mysra, tilting his head slightly - "Yesss. I do not know much, but I will ssshow what I know?"

Zia laughs, taking a step back and tilting her face skyward to see the kite better. "You 'encouraged' it then," she concedes. "It wanted to dance, and you /helped/ it to do it."

Muri squints her eyes to keep track of the kite in the sky and shakes her head. "Ah daren't Aeseryi," she says, standing on her tiptoes and trying to give the syladris a soft peck on the cheek. "Ah've gots no dance magic lahk ye." She giggles. "Why not let Mysra or Zia try?"

"Mysssra doesss not know how it worksss," the golden-hued of the Syladris states, "Ssshe would not know how to let it dancsse..." Mysra does, eventually, pry her amber eyes from the toy to look at all of those gathered, "Very many people have ssshowed up! Hello!" And then she goes back to licking the pie filling from her fingers, as though she had forgotten about it until just now.

Taran - now silent - offers a wave at the regard, but seems content to find a patch of grass to stretch out on and watch the moonlit kite-flying. There's the sound of humming, if one listens closely, but it's fairly quiet.

Aeseyri offers the string to Zia, regardless - eyes wide. "Yesss?" He leans down for Muri's kiss, happily so - but he protests, in general, "I have no magic! It isss not me that did thisss thing. I am many thingssss, but I am not /magic/."

"Because I'd crash it," Zia says frankly. No need for poetics or cryptic explanations this time. "Go on, Muri. Take a stab at it. Things won't fly for me--but I'd like to watch."

Muri wrinkles her nose and gingerly tries to take the string from Aeseryi's hand. "Ah don' know, Aeseryi," she says, giggling. "Is way up dere, taint it?" The wind gusts and tugs the line from Muri's hand. "Oh!" she cries as the line dances away. She steps forward to try and catch the line while the kite shivers with the loss of the line's tautness. "Aes!"

She tries to catch the line, managing to tangle herself up in the spool of thread. She turns in completely the wrong direction as the kite dances jerkily higher and higher. She's completed covered in line loops and the kite? Is rapidly making its way over the basin all by itself.

Mysra... is more concerned with pie filling than the kite now. She wanders away from the group and settles down at the Basin's edge, continuing to lick her hands clean. And once that's done, the excess is washed off in the lake. The golden one looks up at the sky and smiles, before ending up in a position similar to Taran's. She watches the clouds and the stars, getting lost enough to where she doesn't even notice the others anymore.

And Aes? Aes is laughing, a hissing, happy thing, as he pursues Muri there, watching the kite, and the woman, then the kite - and in the middle of dithering, accomplishing little beyond helpless, merry laughter.

Taran seems quite pleased to divide his attention between the flying kite and the bathing Syladris female. There's even a snatch of the song he was singing earlier, to go with it:

He looked o'er to the waters and what saw he there But a beautiful maiden with gold in her hair, She had gowns made of seaweed and a crown on her head, As he stared at the Mermaid she quietly said.

"I have followed your ship for many a mile. One day the sea reflected your smile And I'll give you my kingdom, eternally, If you'll marry this Mermaid that lives in the sea." Faintly sung, but in good voice...and water carries sound.

Zia grins, taking a step forward to keep Muri from falling into the lake... and to take hold of the loose line of the kite before the thing can get /too/ far. The string goes taught as she takes hold of it, and the kite swoops, dips, plummets towards the lake... and flies upward again as she lets go of the string. "Ai! *Told* you things wouldn't fly for me." She sighs, and tries to start disentangling Muri.

Muri, eyes wide with alarm, flails and manages to catch a bit of the line in her hand. Breathless she hauls on it mightily. The kite bucks against her then loops left, right, down, left and back toward a cluster of tents on the far shore. She tugs on the line once more and the kite flips, tip downward, tail fluttering moon-wise toward the open flap of a tent. "Nononono..." she cries.

So as Taran serenades Mysra down by the water's edge - and the kite goes on exploratory ventures into Syladris dwellings - Aeseyri enters the fray.

The trouble is.. Aeseyri doesn't really seem to have the logic of getting someone /untangled/ down. Instead? He's got ahold of a trailing bit of string, and with a few sinuous wiggles does his best to wind it around both women, himself, and a nearby stump, all under the happy guise of being helpful. "It isss thisss way?" A turn, a tug. "No - perhapsss it goess over?" At least he's earnestly helping. really!

Sandrim wanders slowly into asin with a thoughtful frown, before he has to pause and just /stare/. "What is..." He shakes his head, then starts for the tangle of kite, syladris, and women.

"That isss very pretty," Mysra says with a smile to the bard, rising up again and approaching him slowly. She weaves in time with the melody, before settling down again by Taran, "Mysssra cannot sssing. Ssshe hasss tried before, and it wasss very bad. You have a very nicsse voicsse."

Taran looks over as the string takes on a life of its own, but he shrugs and smiles and lets the syladris have his fun. He's much happier to turn his attention to Mysra. "Thank you. I do work at it. I was not expecting the song to be quite so applicable, though. You are very pretty."

String! Here... there... everywhere else besides. Zia tries to duck out of the strings, ends up tangled in another loop, and in a worse knot than she was a minute ago. "Ai!" is all she really has the presence of mind to say, as Aes makes steady headway in tying a complicated knot, and the kite drifts happily downward toward the water.

The string finally catches, looped hopelessly around the two women, the syladris, and an innocent bystanding stump. With one last jerk, the kite swoops over the water into a large tent, where startled voices are heard along with the clattering of crockery and furniture upturned as the residents try to flee the sudden appearance of what is certainly a Syladris-eating night bird.

Muri desperately tries to lift the tangles off her body, turning and twisting, tripping over the Syladris tail and bumping into Zia as she's turned by Aeseryi's efforts. No question, she's not going anywhere, anytime, any quickly. "Aes!" she cries, laughingly. "Stop that! Yer makin' it worse!"

"Alright, you hold still," Sandrim says with a smirk as he comes close. "Aes, stand still, and I'll get you all out of there." He offers a hand to the tangled group.

Aes doesn't, of course. His coils roll out, 'accidentally' aimed at Sandrim as he 'struggles' with the string - if the farmer's not careful, he'll end up in the middle of that tangle too. The Syladris's smile is wide. "It isss a /messs?/ Maybe if it isss thissss way.."

The golden-hued female preens, completely oblivious to the chaos over there. "Thank you!" Mysra replies to the bard's compliment gleefully, "Mysssra isss very happy when people think ssshe isss pretty." Her hands clasp together in front of her as her eyes go back to the sky, "The night isss very pretty, too, yesss? Mysssra likesss to watch the ssstarsss and the moonsss and the cloudsss."

Taran gets a surprised eyeful of perky wet bouncing Syladris breasts, and... looks up at the *other* moons. "Indeed," he says, perfectly calmly. "... My apprentice might disapprove, but at the moment I am quite glad my master used to take a rod to my back to get me focusing on the voice lessons. Mmm. Yes. And I may be getting into things it would be *just* a bit tricky to get out of. So, madam, I will happily sing for you another time - but for now, I will go to bed."

And with that, he gives her a light bow, and a cheerful wave to Aes' tangle, and heads off.

Okay, sometimes he's not so bright. Sandrim wasn't expecting /that/. "Aeseyri!" he cries out as he's tugged into the mess. "You... Incorrigible!"

Too late, Zia thinks of reaching for her knife, only to discover her arms tangled too tightly to reach it. Stretch and squirm and writhe though she might against the knot of string and stump and decidedly *unhelpful* Syladris, she can't reach it. "Cut myself loose," she mutters. "And... gah! Aes! You are *so* doing this on purpose." She turns her glare on Sandrim instead. "And *you* are getting way too much fun out of this!"

Muri takes a breath and glances around, the dancing Syladris bent on tangling everyone up, her two friends and that poor stump drawing closer and closer, and her eyes narrow, an eyebrow raised. Ignoring all else, she lunges toward Aes, attempting to raise her arms and somehow catch him, while trying to firmly kiss him on the lips. Distraction. Her best and likely only bet at this point.

Her aim is good, but the string is too hindering, and in all likelihood, she is headed, facefirst toward Aeseryi and if he doesn't catch her, well, there's always the ground.

Mysra waves merrily to the departing bard, before her attention finally turns to the tangle of people. She laughs, but stays out of it. It is, after all, a highly entertaining show to watch. Besides, she doesn't want to be added to the knot!

As if he'd let her /fall/. Nonono. Aes drops that bit of string that's left, letting it bounce away and to the side - blinking and hissing as he does catch the flinging Muri... and the kiss he gives her in return is unashamed and laughing. Yup! distracted. But there /is/ a moment when he gives Zia a plainly wide-eyed and innocent look that falls so far short of the mark it's a wonder lightning doesn't strike him down right there for the sheer gall of even trying.

Sandrim stumbles back, breaking free when the opportunity presents itself, and clears his throat at Zia's accusation. "I was caught!" he says. "Aes, you're just horrible."

Zia just gives an exasperated sigh, fidgeting against the stump. "Ai, this is not *fair*!" she complains, but not seriously. Her biggest problem now is the twig digging into her lower back. With a final determined grunt, she twists, wriggles, catches the knife and manages to cut some string, somewhere, that loosens its grip. With an ungraceful lurch, she stumbles free of the mess and re-sheaths the knife.

Muri can't help but giggle as she's kissed, caught as she is in the knots and Aes's arms. After a moments linger, she draws back and looks into Aes's eyes. "Aeseryi," she says. "Ah don' thin' Ah should try dat agin." She moves her shoulders against the cut string and the remainder falls away. She turns her head and looks mournfully toward where the lost kite was last seen. In the distance, two Syladris are turning the kite over and over between them, looking skyward and chattering at each other excitedly.

Mysra laughs again and approaches the group, then, amber eyes gleaming with mirth. "That wasss very funny!" she remarks, looking from Zia to Sandrim, and then to Muri and Aeseyri. There is a grin, there, and she asks, "Are you going to play 'put thingsss in Muri'sss holesss'? That isss alwaysss how that game ssstartsss, yesss. It isss very much fun!"

Aes laughs, softly - "It isss alright, Muri - let them wonder, yesss? It isss very nicssse, but I remember much about making thingss. Perhapsss I can make another. I think I can." He's a bit festooned, yet - more atangle than the rest simply by sheer virtue of having more to get tangled, coils shifting a bit as he tries to shrug out of the mess and fails, miserably. Mischievously, even so, he looks across to Zia. "It isss cheating to ussse a sssharp thing."

And then Mysra asks that question, and Aes blinks to look at her. Utterly shameless, he considers that gravely. "Perhapsss, if ssshe wishesss? It isss a fun game, and ssshe isss very warm."

Sandrim blinks, staring between Aeseyri and Mysra, before shaking his head. "Grab a tent first, please," he says.

Zia laughs, quietly, ducking her head for Muri's sake. Looking up? Totally innocent, of course! She grins at Aes, patting the knife. "It is 'cheating' to tie me to an old tree stump!"

Bright as the red moon in flight, Muri's cheeks flame and she ducks her head. "Ah... Ah...Ah..." she stammers. "We... He... We've never... not... yet... Aye, me." She laughs nervously, very nervously, and puts a hand to her neck rubbing it. "We slept, yes, together," she starts, then giggles. "He's warm... Ah'm warm.... But he..." She lifts her head and presses her lips together, trying to suppress another nervous giggle. She looks over first to Mysra, then to Zia, then to Sandrim. She lifts a hand and gestures helplessly. "Yes, I imagine we'd need a tent... at some point. And nay, Mysra, Ah don' thin' ye c'n watch dis time." She bursts out into laughter again.

"You have not played that game yet?" Mysra asks of the the embarrassed Muri, lowering herself closer. Much closer. 'No personal space whatsoever' closer, "Why not? It isss very much fun. And it can be played in many waysss, too! Mysssra could teach you if you do not know how it isss played."

Sandrim looks thoughtfully at Muri, now. "So... It's Aes you like?" he asks. His expression actually looks a bit relieved at that prospect.

And Aes is /right there/ on the other side, kissing Muri's cheek with a gentle laugh... not at all helpful. But it's Zia he eyes, still covered in string as he is. "No. It wasss not. Becaussse they are my rulesss, yesss? And a knife isss not fair becaussse you were caught fairly."

Zia eyes Aes. "You would've left me there all night!" she accuses. "It's called 'self-preservation', and of *course* it's fair." She smirks, and holds up her hands to Muri, grinning. "Not helping you out of this one," she says, completely unhelpfully. "And, actually, I think I'd like to get some sleep, myself. Hope you enjoy the night." With a wave, she thrusts her hands into her pockets and starts up a whistling, merry tune as she sets off back towards the Cross.

Muri is still helplessly giggling, tears of laughter running down her face. She looks first to Mysra, who bobs interestingly on one side of her, then to Aeseryi, before closing her eyes and sniffling her nose. "Ah knowd well enough wots done wid wot where," she says, her voice still light with laughter. "Ah jus'... dinnae thin' he... we... Ah..." She opens them again and quirks a brow at Sandrim and nods. "True enuff, Messer," she replies as she wipes her cheeks. She looks at Mysra and sighs. "Ah'm well," she says, reaching for Aes's hand.

Sandrim smiles brightly at Muri. "I see... Be happy, then. That's good for you."

The golden-hued female grins and rises up to her normal height, then, nodding approvingly. "Mysssra hopesss you two have very much fun, yesss!" she remarks brightly, before looking about absently. "Mysssra ssshould find sssomeone to play with. Mysssra hasss not played in a while."

Aes points at Sandrm, brightly - giving Mysra's tail a nudge with his own (string covered) one. And he tugs on Muri's hand, heading for his tent down by the water. "You will ssstay, yesss?"

Muri leans against Aeseryi, stepping clear of the cut strings and following him to his tent. "Go gentle on him, Mysra," she calls. "He looks a bit... breakable." She chuckles and squeezes Aeseryi's hand gently.

Sandrim shakes his head with a smile. "It was good to see you, but not tonight," he says. "I have someone I need to check up on. Take care, all of you." He waves and turns, heading off to the south.

Mysra doesn't seem all that upset at being turned down, merely waving, "Good night!" She drifts off thoughtfully, before seeming to get a bright idea. "Mysssra can play with herssself!" she declares proudly, before darting for the water to, well... do just that.

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