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Rishi	The Arena has many chambers and side buildings. One of them, set aside for the healers, seems a forboding edifice outside. Stone walls and floors, built into the side of the arena, one expects to hear screams as bones are set and wounds cauterized with fire, along with floors stained by fluids. The job of healer is not for one faint of heart or queasy of stomach. However, inside, the room is ...not light and airy, but the lanterns make it surprsingly well lit. There are kegs of strong alcohol and cauldrons for heating water, so that the room remains clean. A large supply of bandages and poultice ingredients are on hand as well, for the other healers present. But, in the center, Rishi, Chosen of the Lady of Changing Waters, stands next to a wooden tub, the water inside clear and inviting. She awaits the next patient in need of her magical healing.
Serene Herald	A young man makes his way to the healing room. He moves with a tightness to his chest and body. When he sees Rishi, he smiles and walks towards her. "Hello," he says in Flametongue. "I'm glad there aren't major injuries. I've had a bit of a blow recently!" He smiles and opens his jacket to show severe bruising that is fairly obvious just under his sternum that has spread and become quite black, blue, and purple all over his chest. "I hope I'm the worst you see today."
Rishi	Rishi's eyes go wide "Oh, yes! Come over here and let me see to you!" She's also using Firetongue and motions to her pool. "Just remove your upper body clothing and I'll handle everything. You'll be feeling better soon." ...Probably it's just her lovely and musical voice and generally sensual attitude, but that sounded a little less like doctor's instructions and more like an...invitation?
Serene Herald	He smiles, violet eyes with a rainbow iridescent glow to them. He goes ahead and takes his upper clothes off, showing a fairly normal body, with with his middle chest greatly bruised. Perhaps a cracked rib. There's a slight flush to his cheeks at the tone. "Thank you. This was...my own fault sparring with Misa back out at her dojo."
Rishi	Rishi nods sagely. "I've heard of that place. They have enough rough and tumble types I'm surprised there aren't more injuries. In any case, simply lie back in the pool and I'll heal you." She helps him lie back, immersing his upper torso. "This may hurt slightly." She reaches down into the water and touches his chest, a cool sensation flooding his body, as the water starts to glow a liquid silvery blue. The Chosen's anima banner unfurls into a deep pool, shining with the dappled light of a pond under the full moon. Her hands roam freely, coolness following, as bones and flesh heal and knit together under the Exigent's supremely deft touch. She works for some minutes before the water stops glowing and Question may rise.
Serene Herald	Question inhales at the knitting happens, and he looks about to swear, but he then rests and slumps back. "Oh, ow. That hurt worse than getting hit in the first place, but it's over now. And well, yeah...I am learning a sword style from Sifu Misa, teaching her one in return. So...these things happen." And as he speaks, the giant spider that had followed him into her temple before follows in. It looks around, then skitters up into the ceiling to watch. "Thank you. Is there any proper donation I may make, to you, or to the one who chose you?"
Rishi	Rishi looks a little tired after that, but smiles sweetly. "You'll need to rest and recover after such a healing, to make sure everything is properly knit together. And, should you wish to donate, there is a set of cards near the door, with directions to the temple." She tilts her head to one side, thinking, her hair flowing across her back like it's literally made of dark water. "Ah! You came by the Temple once before, didn't you? It's nice to see you once again." She glances up at the spider, but doesn't seem particularly bothered by it, though a few of the other healers look surprised.
Serene Herald	"I did! And I saw a giant of a man, whom I have seen in the arena here. The Mountain!" He gives a smile, "I will certainly come by and give a suitable present, and hope to learn more!" He slumps back, "Honestly, this is for fun, and I am not sure how much longer it will be fun. I will let others get the glory and the prizes." At this point the spider chitters. "Yes, I know what I am doing."
Rishi	She looks up again and her eyes narrow, as she recalls the spider. Then she looks at the man, eyes taking all of him in, then she nods. "Ahh, you are a Sorcerer. That explains much of the oddness about you. Don't worry, I'm one too." She looks around, then lowers her voice. "I used to be a gardener and herbalist. Then I learned sorcery. Now...well." She smiles looking very satisfied. "I can help so many more people than I used to." Rishi nods. "Yes the fights are getting to be more dangerous. I hope no-one ends up dying, but that is why I'm here. They're in good hands, don't worry."
Serene Herald	"A sorcerer of small skill. Astrologer of great skill! And yes, a sorcerer I am. And I may have...liberated arms and armor from a manse when I...abruptly left the South. But since my pursuers then took the manse over, I think they are staying there." He smiles wryly. "And yes, that is my familiar. Doesn't like leaving me alone, a bit pestering from time to time,.."
Serene Herald	"And as for you, your healing and waters is amazing. I have heard of healing waters, but elsewhere--I suppose it is a regional god who does such things?
Rishi	"Well that sounds an interesting story! I'd love to hear it when you stop by with the gift you were going to bring." Rishi does that odd headtilt again, questioning. "An Astrologer? I am not knowing much of the night sky myself. What is it telling you?" Rishi smiles. "I was Chosen by the Goddess of the Changing Waters, Lady of the Shifting Pool, and ...many other epithets besides. She watches over a lake where those who wished to have their bodies fit their souls bathed, in order to be changed. I journeyed long, found the lake of transformation, and returned with some of the water. When I bathed in the water, I came out like you see me, blessed." She smiles wistfully. "As changing and transformation is close enough to healing, my skill there was greatly enhanced as well, when I was blessed. And a good thing too, or this Arena would have likely killed someone recently."
Serene Herald	"It speaks of...a tangle here. Everything opaque. It is as though the stars shout cacaophany, each contradicting the last. The only thing for certain is deeds great and terrible. For only beings strong enough to withstand fate acting over time causes such. First, well, the stars' predictions fail. Then they become jumbled. Eventually..../eventually/...they take into account the actions of the great and powerful again, and things settle. At this point, we are in the jumbled phase of things, it looks like.
Rishi	"Most interesting. And Most concerning." She headtilts again. "Then it seems we shall simply need to do what we can for each other until this time passes." She nods, then pulls Question into a light hug, though it still makes him aware of just how thin the cloth Rishi wears is. "Thank you for the opportunity to help another. Please go rest soon, lest you undo the healing. And...try to help another person." She gives him a smile.
Serene Herald	He returns the hug gently, almost correctly, but even politeness and courtesy does not fully hide the desire in the scholar-philospher. Pressing just a little close and just so, to maximize the touch before her reluctantly lets go. "I will rest...if you like, I can rest here and hear more about your Lady, and learn more about her. Otherwise, well, I do have rooms in the city elsewhere."
Rishi	"Hmm." Rishi looks around. They don't have that many people here at present. "There is a pallet over there and you probably should rest before trying to go home." She nods. "Yes, you may stay over there for awhile." And so she picks him up and places him in the bed fairly easily. "Now, in return, I should like to hear about you as well. What of this place you found and the weapons present? How did you become a Sorcerer?"
Serene Herald	Question smiles, still a bit astonsihed at her strength, as he starts to rest. "There were accounts of a town that had vanished, only to emerge from time to time. It seemed there was a manse there somehow protecting it, and I was able to plot things, and find it. An adventure to be sure, and penetrate it I did. It seems to have been one dedicated to the Stars--probably Jupiter, for keeping the area a secret--and within there was a minor armory. The stone...not useful for me. And besides, I didn't want to take their protection away--it was helping me avoid scruitiny from either Paragon or Chiarascuro, and this way, well, the city could avoid notice by hostile eyes." He pauses, "If they were smart, and no longer hostile or to treat with avarice to control...they may find the city as well. As for sorcery?" He smiles as the spider comes and scuttles next to him, and he pets it as another might pet a dog. "I am not a priest, but even a scholar and philosopher knows the gods exist and sees patterns of diplomacy and propitiation. And so...letters of philosophical debate, scholarly examination, and the like, showing that I understand...not necessarily any god in particular, but the gods as a whole. To communicate with them, to help them assert rightful order over the earth. It is a different way of viewing things, to be sure. What of yourself? How did you learn sorcery?"
Rishi	"Once I was a gardener for a noble, responsible for his menagerie as well. I always felt a connection with the plants and I learned much from watching them, tending them, seeing how they changed. I was also allowed to read the books they had. And, one day, I realized that I saw things ...differently. I understood." Rishi shrugs. "And thus was my quiet enlightenment, well before my ..louder one." She grins.
Serene Herald	"Interesting....I certainly see how that can happen. And philosophy certainly provides a strange lens to look through." He stretches slightly and then reaches a hand to hold hers, if she accepts. "I should like to visit the pool, and give my regards to your Lady some time, if you do not mind. And if you forgive my professional curiosity....what is it like? How did your enlightenement change you? What was different? The sensations, knowledge, anything! Perhaps I can make a monograph--or more!--on Exigence!"
Rishi	She accepts his hand, though she looks ill at ease when he mentions meeting the Lady. She headtilts, visibly thinking. "It's ...hard to explain exactly. Exaltation... I have many things I just ...know how to do, as if I was moving a hand, yes? And then there are things that are, mmmm, more similar to taking that new hand and learning to use it to do surgery? Or to fight with it?" She shakes her head. "It is most difficult. Akin to trying to explain color to a blind person."
Serene Herald	He holds her hand and thinks a moment. "I understand. You can try making the analogy of sound and voice, and how tones, music, voice, and the like, can correspond to colors and sight, but..." He trails off a moment. "It is...strange. Some records I've seen say that if the exigence has been used before, memories of those who have used it can come through. Impressions. Emotions. Skill. Urges. Still...those who have such things are generally strong-willed enough to endure such, yes?"
Rishi	"I wouldn't really know anything about that. Previous lives and such." She shakes her head, then tries to change the subject. "Would you tell me more of this lost city you found? It sounds most interesting."
Serene Herald	"It was in the hills north of Valen, maybe a bit to the east, and so southeast of Paragon, southwest of Chiarascuro... Mostly a peaceful people, tilling fields, raising crops and animals. I didn't study them much since they were...unhappy at a stranger coming in. I do recall that the water flowed into a broad marsh, so difficult to go upstream to find them. And since it was coming out from an underground source..."