WELCOME TO SOLVUNN!

[abraxasmods]

WELCOME TO SOLVUNN!

Welcome to Solvunn! Bright suns and merriest of welcomes to you! The portal opens in a vast field on the western side of town surrounded by cattle, with a distant view of the bustling marketplace. The first impression of the settlement is one of idylic, country charm. There are no looming structures or crowded streets. Instead, there are cozier houses on wide streets and community buildings made of stone and wood. A gentle breeze rolls across the field and the sun is high in the sky.

There's not as much magic here as in other locations, but it's there. No one will be stopped from entering Solvunn, though suspicion will be cast upon new arrivals. Citizens will be friendly and welcoming, but curious about their new visitors. It isn't often that they welcome new folks- especially not so many at once!

With tensions between the other communities, Solvunn will not be keen on ratting out those who fled Thorne, but with the knowledge that sanctuary will not be given for free. Everyone does their part, whatever that part may be.

Asking questions will result in being told to find Rowan March, one of the council members, somewhere in the marketplace.

Comments

[extremethirst]

It's funny when a person thinks you want to kill them, it tends to make them upset.

[ Nero chuckles to himself, however. He is in good humor; the Elezen, he realizes, doesn't know how he comes off to people. The elf realizes that Estinien speaks honestly and without any flourish. However, because Estinien speaks so honestly that he doesn't comprehend what it sounds like he's saying.

He really is still a kid. He lightly paps his own cheek with his hand. I'm the adult here so I should be more understanding. ]

No, I don't. I'm fine with it. Fuck, I would be fine with it if you wanted to try to kill me, too. [ His shoulders lift and lower. ] I wouldn't even fight back. All I want is for you to accept ownership for your actions.

[ His tone shifts to patient, as he explains his stipulations. ] If I die, we're both to blame. Don't tell me that you're gonna view it only as my fault, like you aren't the one that lit the match.

If you can't do that, then, we'll forget the request. How's that sound, cousin?

[coerthantorment]

[To some degree, Estinien can't help but feel like Nero is seeing right past him, towards something conjured by his own mind. He can't really understand it - why Nero wants to talk to him when he is obviously aware that Estinien dislikes him, to the point that he would expect a murder attempt. Why he's so fine with dying, just as long as he ensures some kind of emotional reaction that he'll never see.

To think any differently than what Nero is requesting seems foreign to him. He's taken ownership of every life he's ever taken, the ones that haunt him and the ones that don't.]

Why would I claim differently?

[It's an honest question. He doesn't know how he'd walk away from that thinking it was purely Nero's fault, or why he'd even need to.]

[extremethirst]

[ Nero feels a wave of exhaustion crash against his chest. He can tell that it's an honest question which makes him even more tired. The man had to have it be explained that everything he was saying came off as a death threat, and the issue the elf had was that Estinien wasn't owning up to it.

Even explaining it to his cousin, it didn't change anything and he wasn't even given an apology. Sure, Estinien may not like him and he accepts he himself is a shitty person, but he expects the barest minimum of manners. Hell, he even said sorry first.

He sighs, long and agonizing. The exhaustion weighs down heavily on his shoulders. ]

Because you don't seem like a person that would.

[ The elf pushes himself up to stand up from the stool. Another sigh comes out and it eases his exhaustion some.. He lightly pats the man's shoulder. ] You really gotta figure out how to talk to people better, cousin.

[ Nero gives him a pitying look. Emrys appears with a bowl of what appears to be borscht. The elf leans forward over the counter to ask for a drink, but the bowl is put down in front of Estinien instead and Nero is waved off. ]

Fine, fine. I get it. [ He's still tired and turns to leave. ] When you're able to ask me for a favor, I'll give my answer, then. [ It's the best answer that he can give as he saunters back to his table so that he can go back to lying half on it. ]

[coerthantorment]

[Nero wants him to swear that he won't lie to himself... because he's the sort of person who doesn't seem like he would in the first place? Estinien feels his own sort of exhaustion at this conceptually. He doesn't see what part of him would ever give the impression that he needed to make deceitful excuses and doesn't feel that Nero's immediate accusation was earned. He isn't going to apologize for what, to him, seemed to be an unreasonable assumption.

He doesn't know where Nero would get off demanding manners and respect from anyone, anyway, considering the way he acts. Even this barkeep doesn't want to serve him - though, through some mercy, he hasn't yet kicked him out of the establishment entirely. The things Nero said in their first meeting would warrant a duel in Ishgard, he's fairly certain.

It doesn't matter anyway, he decides. He'd wanted to see if Nero's boasts were true, to see if his own magic was just that much weaker Thorne's, but Nero's caution regarding the issue is its own kind of answer. As is all the latent nihilism that spilled out when agitated. He doesn't find it shocking or subversive, but it does give him an idea of what to expect from the man.

Both of the threats Nero has made thus far seem to be based on misunderstandings, but someday that may not be the case.

He stays at the counter, and only watches out of the corner of his eye as Nero heads back to his table. For the moment, all Estinien wants to do is eat his goddamn borscht and get out of here. ]