Post #2746689 in Ambar: Chapter 1 - Snow & Ash, a roleplay on RPG

Caught in his own thoughts, Callion’s fingers traced through the seemingly incoherent mess on his arms with a practiced precision as his mouth formed soundless words. Every so often his eyes would dart somewhere, although not to anything in particular. It was almost as if he could see a visual representation of his own memory, his eyes moving from one mental image to the next as he put together pieces of a puzzle only he could see or hope to understand. So lost in his trance like state that he didn’t seem to notice that he was no longer the only guest in the room. There was a soft voice, although in his almost daze like state, Callion didn’t quite get the words. When he looked over, he noticed a woman he had not yet met. She was gussied up, although that was to be expected when attending a dinner with the King, but...had she even said anything? Her eyes were downcast at the table and she seemed to be trying to make herself smaller. Callion leaned in, his eyes narrowing as he fought to see through the mirage of makeup and fancy clothes...who was she? So lost in his concentrated effort to figure out who this woman was, his face mere inches from hers, he didn’t notice yet another individual walking into the room.

“Mara?” Callion repeated after Garos as he sat down on the other side of him. “The farm girl?” Callion looked over once more, his hand rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “Hmmm...I suppose I can see it now. Remove a bit of dirt and the beauty can really shine through, hmm?” Callion stated, a genuine smile on his face as yet another person entered the room. The elf, Cecilia if he remembered correctly. Her tone and message were one of condescension, something he always expected out of the long lived species but still never enjoyed hearing. Used to long years of being able to try and experiment, they often lacked the ambition and drive that made the shorter lived species of this world so amazing. Still, a smirk crossed Callion’s face as his eyes narrowed slightly, almost like he was sizing her up for a potential fight or debate later on.

Still, her striking beauty did catch Callion slightly off guard and he mentally managed to correct himself from the improper staring one such as herself would draw. He would never say he was a ‘fiend’ in that kind of sense, but he was still human and above all else, male. There were some things even years of magical experiments, explosions and failures couldn’t wipe clean.

As she moved to a chair a few seats away, he did hear the tiny voice of Mara speak up once more to greet the elf as she moved to her seat. Before he could say anything else regarding the matter, yet another person joined the fray. The prisoner if he recalled correctly. Technically speaking, they had all been prisoners, but none of them had the misfortune of being treated like this man. As he moved to a spot across the table from the rest of them, Callion’s eyes sized up Thomas like he was one of his alchemist creations; a curator’s eyes appraising Thomas’s worth with a slowly spreading smile. Callion looked around, waiting for someone else to speak up, and when no one else did, he gave a small clap of his hands together. “Well, aren’t we a bunch of cheery folk?” Callion stated, standing from his chair with a flourish, spinning with his robes and standing behind his chair. He placed a hand on both Garo’s and Mara’s shoulders, using them as leaning posts as he smiled at the table.

“Such an event shouldn’t be depressive, nor should it be something to be feared.” Callion gave the slightest of squeezes to Mara’s shoulders as he said this. “If nothing else, we’re feasting like literal kings today, or in the case of the women folk, queens. So turn your eyes up from your laps and enough of this ‘equal or not equal’ nonsense.” Callion released his hold on the two people who had chosen (poorly) to seat themselves beside Callion. “Equality is such a twisted word, because if we were all equal...who would be great? Who would be heroes? Who would be the downtrodden or the kings? A world of equality would be boring. While what we have is not inherently fair, it is by far more interesting than a world where no one has ambition for more than they currently have, yes?” Callion stopped, rubbing his hands together as he seemed to be lost in thought. “But I appear to be going on a rant, my apologies, not my intention.” Callion wandered closer to the hired help, who involuntarily edged away from him. “My intention was to bring forth the light in people’s eyes and hearts...and how do we do that you ask?” Callion stepped quickly up to one of the help, pinning him against the wall with a finger as the man looked from side to side for a potential escape route or reason as to why Callion was suddenly pressed up against him.

“Liquor.” Callion backed away, waving the hired help on. “Go fetch us some wine, we need to be good and loose if we are to truly bond in any form or fashion before our trip.” The help looked between each other, before one coughed.

“I apologize m’lord, but the wine is being presented with the meal. We don’t wish for anyone to be drunk before meeting with our Liege.” Callion glared at the man, an eye so evil it could have caused the apocalypse itself, before he smiled and shrugged.

“Fine, but let it be known that I asked first.” Callion wandered over to the table, picking up a pitcher of water and holding it up. “Would anyone care for a glass of water?” Callion looked around, filling the cups of anyone who asked before looking back into the pitcher. “Should be enough.” He said, placing the pitcher back down on the table and holding his hand over the top of it.

No words were spoken, but underneath his sleeve, a soft glow could be seen from his arm as a small purple sigil of intricate design appeared, floating slightly above the pitcher. Immediately the help started panicking, but before they could get right and properly alerted, Callion scoffed. “Calm your thoughts you plebs. Honestly, what interest would I have in harming anyone here? Or in causing any amount of chaos...what I truly want in this scenario…” Callion lowered his arm, the sigil disappearing as he did so and the glowing from underneath his sleeve leaving as well. He picked up the pitcher and poured himself a cup. Instead of water, however, out poured a purplish liquid. “Was simply a way to lighten the mood and open the hearts of those whose social courage might be failing them.” Callion took the cup and passed it to Thomas before pouring another one and handing one to each member of the table.

“A simple transfiguration spell, nothing more.” Callion explained, pouring himself a cup and standing at his full height. He raised the cup in a mock toast before taking a drink of the wine. It wasn’t the best wine, transfiguration spells often lacked in the flavor department, but he had enough of the base ingredients to make passable alcohol. Finishing his drink, he wandered closer to Thomas, placing a hand on the man’s shoulder as the other held onto his cup. “Now, does anyone want to share their life story, or did I nearly get burned at the stake for nothing but some either horrible Vesian wine or amazing Orcish wine?”

Snippet #2746689

located in The World of Ambar, a part of Ambar: Chapter 1 - Snow & Ash, one of the many universes on RPG.

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