( message 01. 🔮 video. )

[thricefold]

Hello, everyone. I’m Zita.

[ the woman on the screen smiles at the direction of the far caster, giving a polite wave before she returns to the task of packing up some things for the day.

judging by her surroundings as packs her things while she speaks towards the far caster, it seems that she’s taken residence in, well, the queen’s residence. ]

I hope this isn’t presumptuous of me to ask on this but— I’m hoping to offer my healing services to those here in the Queen's Residence or around the city for free.

However I’ve been informed that it’ll be in my best interest if I had an escort with me when I do this. If anyone is willing to keep me company, I would be grateful for it and be willing to pay you back somehow. You're all welcome to seek me for healing too, of course.

[ she pauses. as if considering something.

usually, she would end her message here and refocus her attention on the next task at hand - in this case, her packing for her when she heads out - but... ]

If you’re not interested in that, you’re welcome to also make use of my fortune telling services instead. Payment for this will be required but I promise the price for it is reasonable enough. I only ask for a story.

And that's it. Thank you for taking the time to hear me speak.

[ added ooc note;; for those who would like to thread out their and zita's time out in the city for the free healing services, i now have a log post with that activity as one of the top-levels! feel free to hit it up if you're interested. ]

Comments

audio.

[thricefold]

[ zita certainly agrees with the sentiment but she also tries her best to be cautiously optimistic of the situation. she knows she has a bad habit of stewing on bad things if she allows herself to do so, and that wouldn't be a good impression on new folks so-

she focuses on the question instead, her answer for the young man at the ready- ] Any story will do.

Real or fictional. From one's world or made up on the spot. I would love to hear anything at the moment, since I would love to better acquaint myself with everyone else new here. We're all in this together, after all.

[ she hopes so, at least. ]

[warfares]

A good way to learn something of the people brought here as well, I'd think. Of their worlds and ways.

( the Blood and the Landen, as well. )

Do you read cards?

( he thinks of Lando and his sabacc deck. )

Or is it done some other way?

[thricefold]

Yes! I use tarot cards to read others' fortunes. I was fortunate enough to still have had my pack with me when I was brought here.

[ more fortunate that nothing had happened to them on the first night, considering some of the things that had occurred.

fires and stabbings and exhaustion do not do cards any good. ] I'm planning to do them all in a five card spread, something simple in execution but plentiful in details so the readings are accurate enough.

Are you interested in having one? [ he is asking about them, it seems like a logical thing to ask. ]

[warfares]

I would.

( can't hurt, right? and the practice is interesting enough that he's willing to set aside his skepticism. )

We have a similar practice, where I'm from, though I think the deck must differ somewhat.

( he wonders if the people of Draega don't, likewise, have their own version of a tarot deck and how difficult it might be to procure one. )

How did you come by such a skill? I assume you must have been taught.

[thricefold]

[ she's happy that someone else is expressing an open interest in her fortune reading services. it'll be nice to be able to do something she's so used to doing back at the circus.

perhaps that's why she's more than willing to share a bit more information, when she's answering the question: ]

I was. A fellow practitioner taught me the basics of divination when I was travelling through Europe.

[ she sounds faintly wistful as she speaks about this witch. it has been over thirty years since their first and last encounter. she wonders if they're still alive at this point, if they hadn't gone through their attempts to achieve immortality. ]

It was their chosen field and they were happy to share their knowledge. After that, I slowly learned it by myself; I like to think I'm sufficient enough these days to give an accurate reading.

[warfares]

( he has never heard of Europe, assuming it must be a planet in some distant star-system.

regardless: )

So, you feel everyone could potentially learn?

( there is a curiosity to the question that lacks the kind of hunger one might associate with someone hoping to learn themselves. he is asking to hear her thoughts on the matter, not as a segue into asking for anything more.

not yet, anyway. )

Most would say the talent is innate.

[thricefold]

[ oh. hmm-

she needs a few seconds to gather her thoughts on this. there are two answers to this and both are accurate enough, but she feels like it's only fair to give a combination of both. ]

Well- [ she pauses, even now wondering how to word this. ] Yes. In a way. Anyone from my world can pick up tarot cards or a handful of seering stones and attempt to peek down the path of someone's life. Humans can make attempts to predict the futures. Vampires can try to see beyond.

But to give an accurate reading - a true look into the future itself - one needs an innate connection with magic to access and execute the divination field.

[warfares]

Vampires?

( curiosity; it's not that he'd really bat an eyelash at the notion of non-human species ㅡ even particularly predatory ones ㅡ but she'd felt the need to distinguish. interesting. )

We have something similar, I think, where I am from. A field of energy that unites and binds all living things.

[thricefold]

[ he doesn't have vampires...? how strange. ]

If that's the case then how could you not have vampires? Don't you- [ hm.

how to word this...? perhaps she should get some things cleared up first. ]

With how you speak of this field of energy, is it safe to assume that your world doesn't see it as 'magic' then?

[warfares]

We have something similar ㅡ they feed on brain fluid. ( and doubtless there are sanguivores, he's just not encountered any off-hand that weren't sub-intelligent parasites. )

I'm sure corners of the galaxy must. ( it's a large enough space. ) But it is probably likened more to a god or a force of nature, depending on who you ask.

[thricefold]

Ah. Those begins sound- [ a polite word, a polite word. ] -sufficiently eerie. Certainly can be compared to vampires.

[ but not quite and she's glad for that. she never thought she'll come across another species that would make vampires seem friendly by comparison. yet here they are.

after letting herself think on what else he said, she finally asks him: ] And if I ask you?

What would you call it, given your experience with this field?

[warfares]

( "eerie" is a good word for the Anzati; he's never encountered a member of the species before but has heard enough stories to be glad for it. )

I would say ... that it is more like a deep pool, and that the further you venture the greater the risk but also the reward.

[thricefold]

[ zita falls quiet once more, thinking over the words and recalling her own experience when she first truly understood magic and its powers, its consequences.

she hums, distant but thoughtful. ]

That's an interesting description. Perhaps the most accurate description for anyone to use for when one face something they both don't understand and have known if they had a tie with it, an inkling of it.

[ then she laughs, a little nervous. ] I'm sorry- I- I got too serious there. It happens.

[warfares]

The nature of the discussion invites seriousness. ( and he welcomes it, honestly. it's not like he has many opportunities to sit down and chat about things. )

The user is the one that imposes their morality onto it. It has no morality of its own.

[thricefold]

That's- [ she pauses.

zita is careful to pick her words for her side of this conversation. though it's more out of habit and instinct than anything else, having learned what was and was not acceptable to speak around others.

unless, of course, they were also like-minded on certain subjects. ] That is a very forward way of thinking where I'm from. Very bold.

[ she sounds a touch melancholic now. ] I think you would have gotten along with my brother, Curtis. He also thinks our magic has no inherent morality. No true set values of what it thinks is right and wrong.

[warfares]

( his surprise gives way quickly to curiosity. there's something in the way her voice dips at the mention of her brother, soft and pained.

a wound of some kind - estrangement, perhaps. though there is something soft in her voice as she speaks of her brother, something sad. whatever it is that lies between them is something she mourns. )

But not you?

( there's no judgement in the the question, only curiosity. )

[thricefold]

[ she falls quiet for a little bit.

actually- no. not a little bit. she falls quiet for almost half a minute, not saying a word. the only thing that keeps one from assuming she ended the connection is the sound of her busying herself with packing and arranging her items. partly need to be responsible and diligent with her tasks at hand. mostly a desire to keep her hands (and some part of her mind) busy.

then she finally speaks: ]

I do think the system that we have in place isn’t- [ she hums, trying to find a diplomatic word for it. ] -an accurate one. Nor a fair one.

It causes others those who simply find themselves being more attuned with fields considered 'dark' getting judged or ostracised by a community that's supposed to be helping them.

That said- [ she tries to sound lighter now, as if reaching a joke of some sort. ] My brother and I- I have to be the diplomatic one should we meet others and these sort of topics come up. Curtis wasn't- [ ah. no. ] Curtis isn't interested in that sort of thing.

[warfares]

Ah, I see.

( this is someone accustomed to negotiating difficult topics. a skill that will serve her well here, no doubt. )

Fortune telling, I take it, is not considered a problematic discipline?

[thricefold]

Not at all. Divination is considered a white magic field. Like healing and warding, it benefits mostly others and can be done without harm befalling someone else. The field’s specialties also means it usually cannot be used against others.

[ she would like to emphasise 'usually after her run-in with the coven but she stays quiet on that matter. ]