A Stroll in Tusa [Ian and Moriel]

Moriel was strolling through the crowds of Tusa with a smile, looking at e merchant stalls here and there, headed nowhere in particular. She had the hood of her cloak up, but that was more to keep the sun out of her eyes and the heat off of her face more than anything else She had dressed in her lightest gear specifically for this trip; despite it still being cold enough to be winter everywhere else, Tusa was still as hot as ever, and you wouldn't want to catch yourself passing out from heat exhaustion in these streets; she learned this the rather difficult way some time ago. This time around, though, she was more prepared, and at the very least had an objective for the trip. The Shop was running low on ingredients and plants native to Tusa and it's climates, so what better way to restock than to go yourself and try to see what the merchants managed to grab? Pf course, there was also trying to check the desert herself, but that was a no-go with the bandits and thieves that lived out there. Not to mention the creatures that also inhabited the obviously uninhabitable lands. If you weren't fit to be out there, then it's best not to go out there at all.

She had just been glancing at what another stand had to  offer when she caught something out of the corner of her eye. She followed it quickly, eyes scanning the bustling crowd now. Didn't she just see... Ah, here! Heading off now, seeming somewhat confused, was a familiar face from Iadlain. She couldn't quite put a name to the face yet, but she had definitely seen him around. What was he doing here in Tusa? Her curiosity getting the better of her, she started to make her way through the crowds to follow the familiar man, but not before summoning one of her ravens to lend her a  hand. "C'mon Tan, see him? With the red hair and the big sword strapped to him; keep an eye on him for me! I'll catch up with you two soon!" Moments later the bird was off in the sky, following the man to wherever it was he was going.

When he finally stopped to rest off the path between two buildings, Tandion decided to o the same, choosing a stack of crates towards the middle of the space between the buildings to perch on. He tilted his head curiously at the man; it didn't seem he had even noticed him fly in from the top and stop there. He decided to try an experimental "Caw!" to get his attention; perhaps seeing the face would assist his master in figuring out just who the familiar face was.

The Raven tilted his head curiously at the man once again when he finally noticed him. He was actually deciding to speak to him? It was Tandion's knowledge that most humans and elves wouldn't speak to birds- animals or summons-, so what was this one thinking? Well if he wanted a conversation, he wouldn't get much of one, because his Master was practically around the corner. He stuck a wing out in a type of gesture down the alley behind him, hoping the message would get across. He held the humans gaze intently, waiting to see what he might do next in response to this. 

_{((SORRY IT'S SO SHORT I JUST WANTED ANOTHER SMALL BREAK BEFORE RUSHING MORIEL IN))}

The raven watched the man curiously as he started to walk by. OH, so he did h=get the message? Well, he had still seemed confused, but he was headed the right direction nonetheless. He hopped to turn around on the stack of crates, and just as the man was reaching the end of the alley, Tandion let out a single "Caw!" as if to say, "Wait up" or "Hold on", and took of from the pile, approaching the man at a relatively quick speed. Whether or not the man decided to move was up to him, as once he got close enough, Tandion quickly beat his wings to get over the mans head and to the end of the alleyway just in time to meet someone who was stepping in, landing neatly and easily on her shoulder. When she could see properly around the corner, she let out a little, "Oh!" and even pulled her hood down since they were between the buildings shade, giving her a chance to look at the face more properly now.

"Well, there you are!" Moriel said with a chipper smile. "See, I thought I might have recognized your face walking around! Well, rather, it was a case of being relatively unsure at first, because there's plenty of people who can look like another person in the world, but--" She chuckle now, shaking her head. "Sorry, I'm probably coming off as really confusing now. Let me start over..."

She looked back at the Man now with another, somewhat calmer now, smile. "You, I've seen you around Iadlain before, right? That's why you seem so familiar; I recognize you from home...! What's your name again?"

Moriel looked at the man before her—Ian now, she supposed—and her smile got just the lightest bit quieter. Oh, he tripped on his words just then. A lot. Was he trying to hide something? Well, even if he was trying to hide something, it wasn't polite to pry; the truth might come along eventually on it's own. For now, she just gave him another brighter smile and a nod. "Oh, well, my bad then! If that's the case then, I'm Moriel Merilindes, and I'm actually sorry to have just bothered you so suddenly, but... You seeded a little lost back there—to be honest, you still seem pretty lost, haha."

She looked up now, putting a hand over her eyes so the light didn't hurt them; even between the buildings, the sun's light reflecting off of the tops of them was pretty strong. "Hmm, It's another hot day out today, isn't it..." She started, glancing back at Ian. "I wonder why you didn't try wearing any lighter gear while traveling to Tusa? I mean, surely you must have known how hot it could get here, unless you've never actually been here before?" Her question was half asked to see if he was a new traveler, and also to see if he'd needed any help. She already knew how to get most of he things she needed, but why be in any kind of hurry to get back to an empty shop...? That, and there was nothing wrong with lending any extra hands to anyone who needed them.

Moriel watched Ian as he spoke, that polite smile still on her face, and the curious look still in her eyes. Oh, he was certainly stutter-y, alright. He seemed so nervous about this all, and rightfully so, she supposed(if a random stranger approached her in a side alley without really explaining who they were and offering to help, she would be a little wary too), but still... His stuttering seemed to be for a different reason. "Ah, so it is your first time here after all; thought so!" She answered, maybe a little bit more chipper than was necessary. "You seemed hopelessly lost enough, and though it is a good defense, not many would choose an alley to cool off in. Seems a little suspicious really, and after the most recent... "Incident" concerning the Founding Festival, I'm sure suspicious is the last thing you'd want to come off as."

She laughed a little bit to herself, and shortly afterwards, she watched him go to his pocket to pull out a... Handkerchief? It looked worn enough to be one, and Moriel probably would have gone on thinking so if Ian hadn't specified that it was some type of instructions list. She stared at it as he held it out, eventually going to grab it, but pausing to look at him and ask, "May I?" Once she had proper permission, she took the paper and looked at it more closely. And then more closely by holding it horizontally one way. And then the other way. And then upside down(Though she herself was positive she was holding it right-side up). Eventually, she looked back at Ian with another little smile, offering him a nod.

"Yes, I think I recognize the names on here. I could try to show you to the place, if you'd like?" Of course, she was lying through her teeth; she would be stunned if anyone managed to read the smudged gibberish on that paper that might have once been words. But it wasn't a complete lie; he did recognize at least one word on there, and she was pretty sure that she had seen that name somewhere else during the Founding Festival. Not quite sure where, but it had to be somewhere around the square where the festival was held, right? o that would be their next stop. If he agreed to come, that is.

_{((The journey begins))}

"Great then, lets go!" Moriel agreed, starting to head out of the alley. They were on the same page now, so getting to the square and finding that first name should be a cinch. Standing outside of the alley, only half listening to Ian's words and throwing a "Yeah, sure is" out to agree with his statement, she started to look around. Now, just which direction was it from here...

She stopped mid though, though, blinked, and looked over at Ian. Huh? Pay her? "Well, if you ask me, that seems a tad silly, doesn't it? I approached you, after all, so If anything, I should be paying you for putting up with me!" She laughed a little bit, and looked up towards the sky with a hand shielding her eyes. The skies were clear enough so that the ground wasn't obscured by any moving clouds... If they wanted to move freely to their destination without getting lost, they might need a little help. She turned around quickly, opened the pouch around her waist, and quickly drew out s piece of chalk. "Just a moment— I'm gonna summon something to give us a hand so we don't get lost." She started to draw some symbol on the side of the building, and then another, and then a third, all while mumbling something in a different language. She soon connected all three images with a double circle, and, almost immediately, it started to glow, and grow dark in the center. Moments later, she put her arm up beside the—portal, it looked like—, and, with one last line, some black figure hopped out onto her fore arm, the "portal" shutting behind it. Giving it's wings a few beats, it became easy to tell that it was a Raven that had hopped out, and it looked and cocked it's head at Ian.

"Well, glad you made it out alright Cao," Moriel started, smiling at the bird. "This here's Ian, and we're gonna be helping him out today. Can you take the skies for me, and relay information to Tan for us so we don't lose our way?" The Raven looked back at Moriel and gave an affirmative "caw", Soon after taking off from her wing, going high into the sky. Moriel looked over at the other Familiar now with a nod; almost as if it had received a silent command, it took off from it's stack of crates, landed on her shoulder, and gave Ian... Was it a look?? Before he had time to question it though, Moriel looked back at him as well with a nod, looking out towards the streets again. "Well, we'd better get moving while we still have daylight on our sides, right?"

Moriel laughed a bit, looking this way and that as they moved through the crowds. "Well yeah, it certainly is handy. Even the circles disappear after a summoning is done, so I never have to worry about defacing places or anything. Of course, sometimes there's the worry that something you don't want or need at the moment will crawl out of a portal; there's always so much excitement to get off of The Fields, but... Well, I've gotten the hang of things since then." She stops for a moment, looking intothe air at her oother Raven, and not long after, the one on her shoulder went into a small flurry of sqwaks and squabbles, and Moriel nodded with a smile, looking at Ian now and pointing in a direction. "They're saying that we have to make a right soon."

As she walked on, she was silent as she considered Ian"s question, but it wasn't long before she answered. "How long have I been a Summoner for.... Well, ever since I was young, I was always had a very strong inspiration of sorts get me wanting to be a Conjurer. And, even after that inspiration was... gone, so to speak, that strong desire remained. I worked hard in the beginning, came across a small accident along the way, lost my motivation, met even more inspirational people, and got back into the desire to keep working at the goal again. Before long, I was a Summoner, and capable of handling more Summons! Of course, that only happened Lind of recently, so I can't say that I'm great at controlling a whole lot of them at once, but I'm definitely working on it." They made it to a place where they could go right now, and Moriel looked over at Ian with a smile and a nod as they turned. "And what about you; what class are you and what are you aiming to be?"

((Husssssh it's fineeeee don't worry about it~!))