Talent Scouting
- The Colosseum, Morning
Another grey and cloudy day, fall weather making its appearance known. The great fighting arena of Alexandria is covered in a shadowless shade. There is a duel ongoing right now, the stands are packed as the noise is a dull thrum of staccato cheers. The two fighters circle one another, a Lucht woman with a rapier facing off with a makari that prowls on all fours and has two bucklers strapped to their forearms.
A clash happens, and cheers erupt from all around.
However, sitting in the stands with their hood drawn up and in a familiar green hued buckle jacket is none other than the mute coach of no team. Beside heris a stack of papers, a pen tracing over a clipboard in her hands. A quick look at the paper easily show that it's a flyer. "New team tryouts for Coach Aryia's bench this weekend at dawn in the Colosseum center!"
Another clash of steel, a groan goes through the crowd. The Lucht has been disarmed!
The mute glances up briefly.
GAME: Thoth rolls Stealth: (18)+4: 22
Arriving on site, Thoth has taken its time to consider the match going on so far. But by the time the Lucht gets disarmed, the avian seems to believe the battle is already open. Not even considering the chance of a comeback. Instead, it finally continues its pace to the promised meeting place.
Its little click-clacking toes are hidden within the crowd's cheers, but also the only thing announcing its arrival before it sits down right next to Aryia. On its shoulder, Ra seems to actually be aware. Normally, the magical creature is well asleep around this time of day, but it seems it wished to witness this particular matter as well.
It clacks its beak a few times after seating besides Aryia, carrying a pencil and paper this time. Just in case Aryia had run out of paper or something along those lines. Notably, it's looking a lot better than last Aryia had seen it - though its wings are an exception to that rule.
There is nothing wrong with grey or cloudy. That simply means that one fights in the shade. After the current match appears to be culminated, or at the least turning very poorly for the lucht, Aya begins to descend the stone seats/steps nearer to the colosseum floor. This is also nearer the voiceless teamless coach. "Are either in consideration for your wisdom?" she asks once near.
GAME: Thoth rolls Spellcraft: (1)+12: 13 (EPIC FAIL)
The match looks decided. The blackscale makari raises both of their bucklers in an attempt to slam-- and the Lucht flies up, latching onto their face! The crowd yells in surprise. "By KOR!" "GET EM!" "DON'T LOSE ME MONEY!"
The mute's lips flicker into a smile at seeing the turnaround. Seemingly pleased about herself about something or another. But the faint, mechanical click clacking undertone gets elf ears to flicker in the hood-- She blinks at Thoth's constitution. A hand rises, points and twists in a fluid motion. A gesture that while seemingly foreign, carries with it the gist of her intentions. "You look better. I take it a proper artificer looked you over?"
But someone else that looks very nearly like Aryia in several ways actually /manages/ to get her to flinch. Then- broadly smile. She nods once to the mul'neissa woman and points out to the Lucht. Who is currently riding the makari's shoulders. She pats the bench beside her. <Handspeech/Tongues>
When the Mute begins to move her hands, if its a finger. A quick casting of Comprehend Languages follows, allowing it a better understanding of Aryia. It seems it has picked up on the fact that her hand-motions are actually a language.
"The Other is correct." It answers Aryia. "An artificer designated 'Schara' looked over this one. It has since moved into the Artificer's Guild and been able to perform maintenance upon itself." It explains to the woman in a very matter-of-factly manner.
It then turns to look at the other woman approaching, then back to Aryia.
"Twins." It decides, as if this is just normal.
"This one is uncertain what wisdoms it can dispense. But this one could attempt to assist." Thoth then dutifully adds to Aya.
Aya gives Aryia a smile and claps a hand upon her shoulder as she returns the smile. When the construct speaks, it is almost as if she is noticing it for the first time. "Hello," she greets Thoth. "I was referring to my sister's wisdom," another pat on Aryia's shoulder while her other hand gestures to the field, "for the combatants."
Aryia raises a brow at the arcane gesture. But doesn't comment on it. "Schara, I know them. They do good work. If a bit of a pain to work with at times."
She looks back at Aya after being called twins. She silently snickers. "Close enough to be twins. Anyways-" She hands Thoth a stack of empty papers. As well as a clipboard with simple, large lettered font on the page affixed to it. "-Here, thirty copies of this, and we're even."
She nods along with her sister. "Keeping an eye out for talent. That Lucht has been in many of my sessions. She doesn't know it, but this is her test." <Handspeech/Tongues>
Said Lucht has been thrown off, them tumbling on the ground! The crowd cheers!
GAME: Thoth rolls Craft/Artifice+2: (3)+14+2: 19
"This one found them easy to work with." Thoth answers Aryia 'One' patiently, followed by a click-clack of its beak. It then looks down at the papers and the clipboard and its font. And begins to copy.
It takes its pen into its hand, and starts slow. Getting a feeling for what they are doing. But it's clear that they're treating this like artifice and architecting. Making less 'flowing lines' and more straight lines. Then adjusting the font after laying down the groundwork. It's methodical. Its arm moving in very precise manner that looks... eerily machine-like.
It's a copy, but it lacks 'artistic contribution'. There's no addition of 'soul' or 'love' to it.
It then looks up to the Lucht for a moment, halting its copying. "This one wishes to see consistency in act, not performative performance. Correct?" It inquires with Aryia 'One'.
One corner of Aya's mouth curls upwards in a half-smirk. "Near enough to twins, now, after all that effort..." she admits as she avoids Aryia's gaze. She regards the Lucht briefly before nodding, as if approving of the choice, or perhaps the Lucht's facehugging technique. Perhaps familiar with Makari younglings or kobolds?
A thought strikes, twisting smirk towards frown before she shifts her focus to the copying of flyer. A brow arches. "You hired a scribe, Sister?"
Aryia doesn't hold back the eyeroll. Of course the overly precise artificer would get along well with the mechanical Thoth. "Easy for you, then," she ends up signing before watching the writing. She raises a brow. At least it's just words, and not something artistic. And that settles with her just fine. "Correct. But also more. I want to see what she does backed into a metaphorical corner. Before, she really disliked getting paired up with tall folk. Now this is a real test with real stakes."
She glances up to Aya, a smile cresting her features as she gently punches her sister's arm in jest.
The frown gets a brow raise, but she answers- "No, Thoth wants to pay me back for a little bit of work I did on them. I don't really /need/ anything, so I gave them some busy work I was going to do." <Handspeech>
The Lucht duelist leaps for their rapier just as the Makari makes a massive swipe with their tail, her rolling and scooping the weapon up. Only for the tail to come back around on the backswing and launch her into a stone column with a CRASH!
The mute leans forward.
"This one understands." Thoth remarks, considering the Lucht for just a bit longer. As a four-foot-nothing War Golem with broken wings, it very much understands the difficulty of taller enemies. Luckily, it relies on magic and longer ranged attacks. But every time larger foes get into its face, it's a struggle.
"Does this one have any recommendations on how to get out of trouble when..." CRASH.
"The enemy is not going to let the other gather distance?"
Thoth then returns to scribing. Mechanically scribbling the font upon paper, moving from paper to paper. Slowly increasing in speed. It's clear that it scribes rather commonly. But then, being the wizard type, this is to be expected to some extent.
Aya ahs softly at Aryia's explanation... or is that an 'ow' from the soft strike? A nod follows as her eyes track the continuing competition. She could offer commentary on the battle, but instead notes to the copying construct, "You are right to repay your debts. Also, size can be a hinderance as much as an advantage. Larger tends to be slower, less agile."
Aryia crosses her legs and watching the fight closely, her signing off to the side. "Size can be an issue. I am smaller than most, I have to use that to my advantage. But like my sister says, larger can mean slower. But if someone isn't giving you space, its better to carefully retreat. Or, if its impossible to get out-"
The Lucht looks dazed against the pillar, head lulling as the makari builds up speed to close the gap.
"-Overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer. Enemies are weakest when they are at their strongest."
The makari slams down! Dust kicks up, obscuring all!
It clears. The bucklers are wedged into the stone. And a tiny, thin rapier pokes out from the between them, the Lucht having slinked further down to avoid it. The tip pokes the blackscale's throat.
The crowd erupts into a mixed flurry of cheers and jeers. "And that's match!" the announcer declares.
Thoth doesn't look up, but Ra is clearly watching. Thoth is listening however, and when the Makari slams down but the Lucht comes out as the winner, Ra lets out a hoot. This gets Thoth to look up for a moment.
"Barely won. Not through her own skill, but the lack of care in her opponent. Had she fought a more careful opponent, this means she would likely have lost." Thoth analyzes with a rather neutral tone. It's not being pessimistic, as much as it is worried for the Lucht's future. "This one believes the Lucht needs more training. As does this one."
It then turns down again and continues its copying. Ra kind of hoots and flaps its wings in upset at its summoner, but Thoth doesn't seem to understand it should celebrate the win instead.
"And this one agrees with Other Other Aryia." It then notes. "Debts must be repaid. Master always taught his property this."
Aya cannot help but grin as the dust clears and the perceived underdog is revealed as the victor. "You have a good eye, Aryia, as ever..." She then turns to Thoth. "Anyone, everyone, can always make use of more training," she notes. "All can make errors, suffer for them, and, perhaps, learn from them."
Her eyes narrow at mention of property. "I hope that you are now beholden to none but yourself... and you may call me Aya. I am not my sister, and she is not I. No matter how much either of us may aspire to be."
Aryia is quiet as she watches the two fighters pick themselves up and shake hands. Her brows knit. "I don't care if she won. She could have gotten her ass beat. I care about..."
The Lucht starts to make her way back to the staging area to get looked over after the fanfare dies down. She looks back to the stage, her shoulders slump, and says something to herself, smacking a fist into a palm and shaking her head.
The mute sighs deeply. "... fuck. Failed my test. Sister is right, and you are right Thoth, she needs more training. She's too much in her head."
The mute rubs her face, glancing up to Thoth, a little flicker of amusement from the mixing of names. "Thoth was made to serve some kind of arcanist a long time ago," she supplies. <Handspeech/Tongues>
"This one's Master has unfortunately passed, this one predicts based on their estimated lifespan." The War Golem answers Aya with a tone that finally breaks from that evenness, and instead tilts its head down as it mourns its master for a moment. "This one still considers itself property to its Master though, and it must not permit undue damage to come to its Master's creation." It points out.
"Understood. Adjusting adjustments from Other - Aryia-One and Other - Aryia-Two to Aryia and Aya." It decides, before it turns to Aryia as she mentions the Lucht failing. "In her head?" It asks, trying to understand this statement.
In the meantime, Ra is still hooting and cheering for the Lucht.
Aryia clearly disagrees with considering oneself property, but this wasn't a time or place to voice that. Or, sign that. But she can't help but snort at her sister being called Aryia-Two. "Yes. In her head," she signs, wiping her nose with the back of her hand. "Fear is gripping her. Dictating her. She's beating herself up mentally. Thinking too much. All of that. She has much to learn, but she's gotten much, much better."
The hooting and cheering doesn't go unnoticed. From below, the Lucht cranes her neck up, scanning for the sound. Eventually landing on the owl's vocal approval. A little cheery smile breaks across her face, her waving back to them. But that smile drops at seeing the coach beside Thoth. Aryia stares back.
The Lucht rushes into the locker room. "She knows she fucked up," the mute gestures, shifting a bit to pick up a bag behind her. <HAndspeech>
"What occurs if a person 'beats themselves up mentally', or is 'gripped with fear'?" Thoth inquires. "This one too, thinks a lot. But this one does not know when it is thinking 'too much'." It provides to her.
It then looks to Aryia. "This one will remain here and finish this job. This one understands you wish to chase after the Lucht and resolve the issue she is having."
"Being aware of her mistake is an important first step," Aya notes, in some defense or praise of the lucht. "I know many who did not realize they were fools until the damage was done... and I count myself among them," the last is added after the briefest pause.
A brow arches at Thoth, though its (his? her?) nature may make the question not so surprising. "One is often one's own opponent. Fear of weakness or failure, overconfident belief of superiority, and many other thoughts can make failure certain before a fight has even begun."
Aryia regards Thoth, her seemingly unfazed by the odd questions the little metal bird inquires. "Imagine you're faced with difficult calculations, and many variables keep making the options change too much to the point where you become indecisive," she elaborates. Perhaps she's worked with War Golems before? "Her calculations are her emotions. And it's making her freeze up. It's not healthy to get mad at yourself over and over. It begets bad mindsets. I hope that answers it somewhat, I know flesh and blood woes are difficult to understand at times."
She glances up at Aya, her understanding the underlying meanings with as a reassuring hand rests on her sister's arm. "Sister speaks true. Half of a battle is in the mind."
She rises, turning towards the exit that the spectators are flowing towards. "Very well Thoth. You can give them to the ticket booth downstairs when you're done. They'll put them on my desk. Thank you for doing that. I need to go speak with her before she gets too frustrated. Have a good one."
With that, the mute coach flashes a light smile towards her sister and slips into the crowd. <Handspeech>
"This one does not suffer from such inefficiencies." Thoth remarks with certainty after Aya and Aryia explain this, followed by tilting its head back and running its beak along its broken wings. Nipping at the broken feathers and spokes, trying to adjust, bend, or otherwise adjust them. Like a bird preening at its wings, except these are useless. It then turns to face Aya again with confidence.
"But this one understands now. Too many options and variables can slow down processing of a situation. And if one analyzes too many variables, it will cause problems." Thoth nods its head. "Though this one has not experienced that half of the battle is in the mind. But perhaps this age contains more enemies that attack brain tissue through psychics." Seems it understood /90/ of the statements.
"When this one is done, this oen will return to the ticket booth downstairs." It then notes. And then nods its head in farewell to Aryia.
Aya bid Aryia farewell with a lifted hand to wave. If any can correct and help her, she is confident that her sister can. She then turns back to Thoth, initially nodding at its repetition of what it understood... and then simple stares at him a long moment. She did just say that being aware was the first step? Maybe that is enough awareness for one conversation.
"Yes... well, I will leave you to finish your obligations here, and I should tend to my own. Well met." With that, she turns to follow the dwindling spectators towards the exit.
-End Scene-