the aeduna. [elijah, the silver crown SL]

Elijah
It wasn't that he had planned on meeting Kiara, he had just planned on going to the chantry and callin g her, like a dumbass, to propose that they go off into the fray and possibly get themselves killed with Henry because there was adventure to be had and-0

Oh, he realizes at this point that, perhaps, this is not the best way to pitch that he wants to go on an adventure. So, he came to the chantry to draft a proposal. An axctual, legitimate proposal with pros and cons and a by line and... uh... he had to look up what the Hell one of the Aeduna was. He had just nodded along at that part, but then had been thoroughly confused later when he realized he was going to have to run that by Kiara and he didn't know all of the specifics.

Elijah walks through the door of the chantry, cavalier as ever- helmet is deposited at the front door backpack is slung off his shoulders and he makes the arduous trek to-

well, let's say the back deck. It's a lovely day, and he could use the sunshine without having wind in his face for just a little bit. Who knows, maybe he will actually go and stare at the node and consider getting in after he's got the guts of his message in. Attire is simple- jeans, button down shirt, suspenders, vest. The belt was just for show,t he suspenders were actually functional.

Kiara[Awareness time.]

Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (1, 1, 3, 3, 10, 10) ( success x 2 )

KiaraIt smelled like the turning of the seasons in Morrison. Especially surrounding the Chantry property, the trees beginning to quiver as they shed their leaves and stood, bare and protruding on the hillside, the ground covered with a fine layer of foliage that slowly curled up, becoming brittle and dried through even as it offered the world brilliant oranges and golds. There were small piles of leaves here and there that had been raked up by some kind soul (Annie Pierce, perhaps) and when Elijah steps into the ranch, he finds it still and surprisingly quiet.

There's music playing somewhere, though. Quiet and unobtrusive, spilling out from a phone set on the kitchen counter by a small granite bowl. A heaving mixing tool of some kind set down beside it. It was a beautiful looking bowl, black and smooth to the touch; the scent of earth; of soil and leaves was faintly stronger around it and a glance inside the mortar (for it was without question what it must have been) evidenced some notion of what Kiara Woolfe was in the midst of doing.

There was crushed leaves inside it, and a small collection of bags stacked neatly there seemed to contain more of the same. When Elijah passes out onto the deck, he finds his quarry in the Verbena. There's a rake set against the ground and another pile of leaves drawn together near the node; the brunette in the process of collecting leaves and examining them before setting them into a small basket she's balanced against her hip. In the afternoon sunlight; Kiara Woolfe almost seems to glow where it touches her skin - or, perhaps that's no illusion and the woman really is subtly illuminated.

(In truth, her dose of Paradox had begun to wane, though the aftereffects lingered on in a modest flicker-pulse now and then that seemed to give Kiara a strange, otherworldly aura). She's in what many have come to consider a trademark of her wardrobe, the pagan, jeans and boots; the heels of which lightly sink into the ground as she reaches for more leaves to turn over in a palm.

The sweater she's adorned is loose, striped with large, cream and grey lines in a horizontal pattern and it lilts over a slim shoulder as she senses Elijah and lifts her face, smiling, in his direction.

"Hey, stranger."

Elijah"Hey," the desire to write a freaking proposal wanes. Considerably. He takes a look at her face in the leaves and the grass and she's out there collecting the first vestiges of fall, pick up the last signs that the summer court was losing its hold and, instead, the year would turn about.

She looks like sunlight, has a halo, seems to glow and it makes him smile. She makes him smile for fondness- and why would he not be fond? Why would he not think anything but good thoughts for the woman who calls him kid and takes him into the woods and to bars and they share moments of quiet thought and find themselves syncing up on the same page at times even when it doesn't seem possible.

They both look to a world beyond this one, more real than real and spoken in metaphors.

"Henry and I are going to go on an adventure, wanna come?"

Straight and to the point.

KiaraSuch is the life that they lead that this is not the strangest proposal Kiara's ever heard. Nor the first lot of news for her week which had, one could argue, begun on a rather spectacular note. She'd thought, more than once, about contacting Elijah once she got back. About excitedly texting him to tell him all that she'd seen and experienced on the other side - she's still, to be honest, not certain why she hadn't. Perhaps in some way, it felt too personal a thing.

Her first step into the Umbra. Her first taste of the storm that had devastated so many.

She straightens as he speaks and is carrying her basket back toward the table, scooping some of the heavy mass of hair of hers over a shoulder with a twist of her wrist; canting Elijah this slightly bemused, eyebrows-lifted smile as she does, setting it down and dipping her hands into the bowl; the aroma of earth, of rich, cloying scents lifts from its depths.

They were her tokens of death, of course. Her focus for Entropy workings. A part of that cycle, as intricate as all others.

She draws out a large leaf, flushed dark red with a vein of green-gold still thriving on in its center. Balances it on the back of her hand and turns her face a little to study it; her dark eyes ticking up to Elijah's face to study it, then, in turn. "That depends," she starts with a supple little flex of her lips into a smile, "on two things: the first, where are we going," Kiara twirls the leaf and gestures at him with it.

"And the second, why are you going?"

ElijahMost of the people Elijah has met use the physical presence of another- touch or blood or some token of the living, to make them aware of the beating hearts and cascading light of life. Elijah was not one of those people, found that touch- that a physical presence and a sympathetic connection made him more aware of how it broke down. How the world fell apart. It reminded him of something, or rather it did its teachings well- it demonstrated the interconnected nature of living and dying and living again.

He's still green, no red ticking through the edges of his form, or perhaps his edges are starting to turn, not some ugly brown but a vibrant sunset. Perhaps he was not as green as he seemed, but it was hard to think of him as anything other than young when he's looking at her with delight

"We're going through a shallowing into the umbra," barely contained delight, "Henry said that he would take me someday when we first started studying together and it's actually freaking happening."

A wave of his hand, backpack discarded by the edge of a nearby table. His eyes drop to the leaves, smile still on his face- he doesn't reach forward.

"Beyond just the umbra we don't know yet, we're looking for an artifact- it's called the Crown of Souls. It belonged to a priestess named Amara Renata, who Henry said was one of the Aeduna but I don't know what that is and... uh... I forgot to ask, so, if you know, that would be doubly fantastic."

KiaraThere's a flicker of surprise that registers on the Verbena's features, then. When Elijah mentions the Aeduna. Mentions an artifact that had belonged to one of her midst. There's surprise and, as the brunette's eyes return to the leaf in her fingers and twists it by the stem, to and fro, delicately touching the outermost edge, perhaps a tiny registering of suspicion.

Less of Elijah, perhaps but Kiara had been there once before when Henry had uncovered treasures with the help of Grace, Kalen and herself and she knew enough the temptation when it came to the coveted items considered lost to the Umbras. In Kiara's private opinion - some things lost to the spirit wilds were better left lost. "The Aeduna are my ancestors. Our - the Verbenae's." Kiara nudges one of the deckchairs out and settles into it, pushing her basket to one side gently.

Stroking at the side of her face with her leaf in an idle, thoughtful manner. "They were the first of our Tradition to really become a part of the world. To walk among people, rather than just watching from the outskirts." A beat, Kiara's eyes rove Elijah's face intently.

"They were the children of the Wise Ones. What we think of as the Wyck. The first true Awakened. The first who could use the Craft. The Wyck were - " There's a little motion, to the sky, below them. "Gods, depending on how you consider such things. They were the first and then came the Aeduna. They were the beginning, for a lot of us. Not just Verbenae but - others, too. If Henry is seeking something of theirs - he should be very careful."

Kiara's expression registers interest, then. "I would like to see the other side again, though and if you're looking for an artifact of ours - you might just need me. I'm in."

Elijah"It's got an overlap in history. I'd say that it was probably originally one of the Verbenae's artifacts," he hasn't sat down yet, probably couldn't sit down if he wanted to.

There were gestures. Gestures and the moments where he walks and he talks and he's wound up, doesn't know where to start, doesn't know how to start, but he's excited, listening to the rather heavy implications of what she is going through. This was one of their artifacts, a part of her history as much as it was his.

"The way Henry explained it was that there was a massive battle, her enemies came in and stole her crown and, supposedly, Amara Renata died. Time passes, shit goes down, the Nephandi get ahold of this artifact that, no shit, supposedly gives mortals godlike powers-"

he stops and plants himself, gestures outward and keys in to Kiara, "from the story, my personal thoughts are that it just makes you capable of existingf in multiple places at once and grants limited omniscience, y'know, standard godlike powers but... y'know... not too big?"

He's trying to convince himself that it isn't too big.

"Eventually the Order manages to pry it out of the Nephandi's hands, cleanse it, stick it in an umbral realm somewhere and are like okay, that's gonna stay there. So, I figure that if we go and look for it, at the very least we can make sure, y'know, that it's still there and that the defenses are still there and utterly terrifying and can I just say that I'm really glad you're coming because we really need you because I kind of don't want to die with my mentor the first time that we go into the umbra together because we're both like hey, what's this? And dead."

KiaraThere's this little verging smile that plays across Kiara's lips as Elijah speaks and gestures and, eventually, sits himself down across from her.

She's leaning back in her own chair for her part; her legs neatly crossed at the knee and ankle; one boot rocking lightly against the edge of the other as if keeping harmony with some unheard music and she's studying the leaf in her fingers for several moments before she realizes that Elijah's finished. She lifts the leaf and carefully sets it back into the wicker basket with the others; destined to become part of the earth witch's arsenal for casting.

"The Nephandi," she murmurs with clear distaste at first, settling back and cupping her fingers over her knee. "The Fallen Ones are a disease, I'm glad it's not in their hands anymore." There's a beat, her teeth sink into her lower lip and worry it a moment. "That being said, if they did fight over this crown, the power it offers has to be pretty substantial.

You can count on people on one thing, kid and that's ambition for gross power." Kiara's expression softens a touch. "But of course I'll help. At the very least, I can make sure you get home in one piece."

ElijahHe puts his hands up, like he's surrending, "I swear on everything, I don't want it. Hands down, having gross amounts of world altering power literally on top of your head seems like a terrible plan. I can't be trusted to pick out breakfast cereal."

A beat. A moment.

"Should we, uh, like, tell Ian or something that we're going into certain peril, or do you think that would give him a conniption? I've gotta tell Jenn and designate an if we don't come back you tell her person yet since my go-to guy is actually traipsing into the umbra with us. "

KiaraShe laughs under her breath at that, the Verbena. "I'm not worried about you, Elijah. I know you wouldn't want all that." She doesn't say how she knows, or why but there's no hesitation or second guessing in Kiara's dark eyes as they settle on him and her mouth retains that curl of humor. "Henry on the other hand - " She sits a little straighter as if anticipating his protest. " - he's a sweet old man but I've seen how he covets treasures. I don't doubt his intentions, but I also don't know him that well.

I don't know what we're walking into. You and I both know the Umbra isn't the same as here. If something that powerful was put under lock and key," Kiara's brows draw together, she adds slowly: "It's highly likely what's keeping it there is more than just the Umbra."

Should we, uh, like, tell Ian or something.

Kiara's expression shifts, it's a careful, cautious thing. A slightly less open variation taking its place and she averts her eyes from Elijah's face; lets them flick toward the Node. The afternoon has found a breeze in its midst and it finds its way to the back patio; stirs their hair; places where the warmth has stuck their clothing to their skin; the basket of leaves.

A memory, too. A discussion with the Orphan in question, her admittance she wasn't very good at goodbyes. His quiet plea that she at least give that to him, if the day ever came. Don't leave without saying goodbye. Please.

"Ian will understand why I have to go." It's not really an answer either way, but there's a smile when Kiara's eyes tick back and she rises from her chair. "I'm going to take these inside," she gathers up the basket. "If you feel like sticking around, I have plans to make salad in a bit."

Elijah"Dude, he's got some crazy stuff, he's like a very genial little dragon of a man.  But he's a great guy, I think if it was really bad he wouldn't bring it back. I mean, I've dusted most of the library and I don't think I've run into anything that's cursed," that he knows of. He could have run into something cursed by now, though he has asked a couple times. Cautious of some of the more unwieldy looking things that just seemed to radiate I will ruin your day.

She says that Ian will understand, and he seems to take it at face value, perhaps because he wants to. They've had discussions before about the things he does. He's been called out by strangers at that- he does not take his life or well-being for what it is truly worth. Takes risks because he can, has the response to become bulletproof when he realizes that he is fallible.

Is that not what our will is for? To make up for the cracks in our armor and let us know when we should embrace the faulty pieces of ourselves?

"Salad sounds fucking fantastic," he said, "also, I need to get all my fucks out because I don't think Henry knows I curse as much as I do."

Elijah, you're twenty-one. He's fathered children before, he knows how much you curse.