Sibsuti

Sibatti

@Nisavi bid on Sibatti at the Duiran acorn (people) auction, mistaking her for a Sibsuti, a Grecht diviner of sorts. Luckily for shadowbat, Shamans aren't too far off from what she was expecting.


Nisavi is quick to shake her head, small drips of ale flying from her maw as she does so. "No, no," she replies, offering you the first glimpse of what appears to be a genuine smile upon the corners of her bat-like snout. "You have been a most gracious host. Thank you."

Nisavi just thought:
We are surprised at how much this off sets you, Nisavi. You are a killer, yes? Yet, the notion of table manners is difficult? No, no. This is unfamiliar territory for us. We have never been offered a meal in the home of one of these forestal folk. They serve good food though, yes? Yes.

You have emoted: Quietly, Sibatti observes Nisavi from her position, no emotion entering her expression. "Tell me what brought you to seek out my services. Take all the time you need.. leave nothing behind."

Nisavi leans into her posture, just as you did, and seems to idly fiddle with one of the various charms dangling from her barefoot sandals. "I seek the services of a Sibsuti because," she begins, her fiddling ceasing as two of her talons pinch one of the dragon bone charms. "... because I wish to know what the future holds. For the first time in a long time, I do not know." If the woman was capable of biting upon her lip, that is clearly the effort she displays. "I do not know if She Who Hungers will name me Her Talon, nor do I know what else I seek." There is a surprisingly lack of reticence as the words come, if mostly with herself. "I have power, I do not fear the cold iron chains in my dreams any longer, but I know not what else I wish for."

Nisavi just thought:
We must always be hungry for something, yes? We kill, and are feared. We are not afraid, are we? Escaped from Arget Kemau, purchased our freedom in blood. Stole the n-- [There is a lapse in thought, a quiet, eerie emptiness as all voices go silent, before suddenly resuming]. Not afraid, no.

You have emoted: "A divining of the future, then?" There's a gentle arch of Sibatti's eyebrow, her eyes widening slightly with the question. "Or is it more of a vision you seek? Finding one's path?"

Nisavi seems quick to nod at the first part of your question, though appears to do the same at the second. She seems to drive her wide-eyed enthusiasm back a bit, reining it in like one would an unruly taerilan. "A divining of the future would be good, yes," she quietly answers. "I think I know where my path is."

Nisavi just thought:
She is the first we have seen that offers their services as a sibsuti. We cannot trust the others from Neicel Arget, nor do we wish to go there, no. Toadies for the Imperium. Vile, vile cousins, yes.

You have emoted: Sibatti's mouth drops open and hangs there for a second, her lips threaten to pull a smile, and then don't. Closing her mouth, she nods dutifully, and rises up from her seat. "Then we must go somewhere else. This is not a suitable location."

Nisavi does not move her feet at first. There is a slight wrinkle of concentration upon her features and soon ambient shadow seems to rise beneath of her. With gravity defied, the creature rises in her cross-legged manner from the couch and allows her feet to lower upon the air itself. Daintily, she allows the tip of her long, thin feet touch the ground and soon she finds herself behind you once more.

Nisavi follows you to the south.
Towering bonfire surrounded by tall trees.
An overgrown path leads away from the barrow home into the depths of the Heartwood proper, surrounding you with the ancient and tall trees of its namesake. The scents and sounds of Lake Onimah could be picked up by keen senses, not far from this location. A clearing has been made here, tracks scratching into soil and suggesting the recency of activity here. A conical formation of large, dry cuts of wood form the frame of an enormous bonfire, much too large to be a simple woodsman's campfire. Smaller branches and dried leaves are stuffed into the base as kindling, and the scattering of a few more unexplained items litter around its base: cracked shells and finger-bones, tiny bird beaks and broken reeds. The thick trunks of the bonfire stand as ghostly ash pillars, fire having long stripped its outer bark away and bleached the wood pale.
You see a single exit leading north.

You have emoted: Not far from the barrow, Sibatti leads you through an untended path into a section of the Heartwood. Tall pillars of ash, leaning against one another for support, suggest the presence of an old site of burning. Small offerings are scattered at its base, the old brush of dead winter entangling them together. "I will slay something," she tells Nisavi, turning swiftly to leave. She seems to remember something, turning back to her. "Wait here."

**Goes and kills a snake in the Morgun**

You have emoted: Sibatti returns, the corpse of a boa hanging around her shoulders. She stops short to assess Nisavi's reaction.

Nisavi's left ear cranes towards your direction as you arrives. She plants one of her feet to the side, shifting her posture and attentions set upon you. Silence rules her, though her eye does seem to drift briefly towards the boa upon your shoulders before finally settling back upon the Azudim.

You have emoted: After her brief pause, Sibatti continues her stride towards you. "Find a place where you will sit, and not move for the rest," she informs Nisavi. "Wherever brings you peace." he sinks down to a crouch, her long legs sticking out from the high slits of her dress, and begins to gather several things from her possession.

Nisavi does as she is bid and merely lowers herself to the ground, her posture taking on the same cross-legged fashion as she did previously upon the couch. There is no hiding the inquisitiveness upon her features, much as she tries to conceal it, her single blue eye watching as each item is brought forth by you.

You have emoted: Sibatti wastes no time drawing a circle in the soft layer of silt and ash surrounding the clearing, as soon as you sit. The circle traces around your form, but widely - she constructs the circle so you're sitting at the rear of it, with a large space in front of you.

You have emoted: "Spring is not the best time for divining," Sibatti explains, shaking her finger free of sediment. "But we will make do with what we have."

Nisavi seems to fidget slightly, reflexively inching away from you as the line of ash and silt is drawn behind her. She immediately seems to catch herself, and leans forward into her original posture once more as you begins to speak. "Very well," she replies, staring upwards at you.

Nisavi just thought:
She has the posture and bearing of a sibsuti, yes.

You take a small cocoa bean from a ripe cocoa pod.

You say, "This will help."

You give a small cocoa bean to Nisavi.

Nisavi holds the small bean into her possession, she lifts her palm up to her face and affords the tiny item a tentative sniff. "What is?" she asks.

You have emoted: Sibatti repositions herself just outside the edge of the circle, directly in front of Nisavi. "Cocoa will relax you, and open up your mind for clarity. It will help make your divination less muddled."

Encouragingly, you say, "Eat it."

Nisavi does as she is bid once more, although with some reticence. She takes the small cocoa bean into her maw and chews. The flavour and texture seems odd to her at first, but it does not take her long to swallow.

You have emoted: "As for me......" Sibatti's words trail off, and she dips her head briefly to fiddle with a dried herb with a fuzzy silver underside. She crushes the herb and places it under her tongue, her lips moving around distastefully. She closes her eyes, and for a long moment all you hear is her breathing, slow and even. When she next opens her eyes - all three of them - the thirdeye in the center of her forehead glows with a vibrant intensity, illuminating her cheekbones.

Shadow seems to almost reflexively flare about Nisavi as your third eye begins to glow and as you features follow. Catching her breath, the Grecht-like Azudim bids the dark to retreat, occluding itself within the fiber of her being. She is hushed, yet her own eyes are wide. She waits patiently.

You have emoted: Carefully, almost tenderly, Sibatti removes the boa from around her shoulders, setting it into the ritual circle, and a small wooden bowl just before it. "Do not look away," she instructs Nisavi. "You cannot let the spirits miss your divine presence."

Nisavi does once more as she is bade, looking to face you with nary more than a slightly agape maw. "Very well," she says, her jaw clenching as her gaze remains taut.

You start to wield a lavishly embellished dagger of curved bronze in your left hand.

As you chant a prayer to the Praadi an-Kiar in throaty Sylvan, you rip a lavishly embellished dagger of curved bronze deftly across the corpse of a dwarf boa's belly, splitting it wide open, letting its viscera splatter into a simple wooden bowl.

A simple wooden bowl detonates with concentric ripples of ghastly green flame, the blood bubbling with phantasmal heat. Already, it has begun to cool.

You cease wielding a lavishly embellished dagger of curved bronze in your left hand.

You have emoted: The acrid and coppery scent of blood and fell flames rise to your senses, wafting more strongly from the bowl held in Sibatti's hand. She shifts forward onto her knees, either one just shy of touching the outline of the circle in dirt, and slowly lowers the bowl to rest in the circle before you.

Anticipation seems to dominate Nisavi. Her breath is slow, her attention fixed square upon you as you moves, just as instructed.

You have emoted: Both of Sibatti's normal eyes close, leaving only her thirdeye open. Glowing and pupilless, it shifts around with a frenetic sort of movement. Her mouth opens as if to speak, but no words come - only the movement of lips forming words.

The visions are striking, powerful, and come one after the other. A spindle, all-encompassing darkness, notions of fever, a glittering necklace. As the images fade, you find yourself left with only a riddle.

You shake a pouch of divining bones and empty the bones. The pattern in which they fall seems to indicate "Yes."
You quickly gather the bones back up.

You shake a pouch of divining bones and empty the bones. The many triads of the resulting pattern point to a stroke of good luck.
You quickly gather the bones back up.

You shake a pouch of divining bones and empty the bones. The pattern in which they fall seems to indicate "Yes."
You quickly gather the bones back up.

Both of Nisavi's long, wide ears seem poised, as if leaning forward to catch wind of what you is saying. She is eager, perhaps too eager; and yet, there is also a tinge of fear, of uncertainty. She watches the bones, the blood, the bowl, and you.

You have emoted: Both of Sibatti's hands hover over the bowl, long and spindly black claws frozen in a grasping of something unseen. The rest of her body only makes minute adjustments, twitches, the result of muscles shifting and cramping, perhaps. Her eyebrows push together in a concentrated look of concern, eyes remaining shut. Her thirdeye continues to seek, drinking in sight and energy both.

Nisavi's curiosity and anticipation seem to both be getting the better of her. Much like her ears, the small woman now too leans forward, however just only slightly. What pretense of concealing her emotions previously seems to vanish, her eye moving to catch sight of each mote of energy, each twitch of a brow, every subtle adjustment of your muscles. Her maw begins to hang open once again, and still she waits.

You have emoted: The haze of ritual slowly begins to disperse. The bowl is cold and empty on the ground, and the glowing eye in the center of Sibatti's forehead has begun to wane in strength. Sleepily, her eyes blink open, looking herself like one woken up from a pleasant dream, or after imbibing in too many mind-altering substances. She slumps back, ungraceful, landing on her rear with legs crooked at the knee in front of her. "Ah....." she sighs.

As the ritual subsides, so too does Nisavi's near unbridled impatience seem to wane. She stares at you with some measure of concern, though it is clear that she is still nonetheless eager to hear whatever words and answers that will follow.

Nisavi just thought:
You must accept whatever may come, Nisavi, yes. We must accept. Fate is never set, but it is hard to defy. Perhaps the answers will be kind, perhaps they will not be.

Nisavi just thought:
The clap of iron is the only that I shall never accept again. That we shall never accept.

You have emoted: Sibatti shakes her head with a great motion, two sets of horns - one broken - clattering loudly as trinkets clink together and against chitin. With a quiet groan of discomfort, she pulls herself back up and tucks her legs beneath her to sit on them. A deep breath, and an exhale. "I asked three questions of them. The ungodly writer, the one behind the mask, and the one who counts the stars."

Nisavi seems to listen as each of these words come in turn. She does not seem to understand any of them, but she nonetheless seems to accept them all the same. "I see," she murmurs, finally leaning back and relaxing her posture. "What questions did you ask, sibsuti?"

You have emoted: Sibatti settles back into a calm, seated position, her claws outstretched over her thighs, just at the slit of her gown. "You cannot hear the questions, only the answers," she admonishes hastily, as if speaking this were a curse. Her eyes are briefly aflame with an intense expression, but is extinguished in an instant. "These words were only for them." She leans forward over the circle, etching symbols into the silt with an extended claw. "The first answer."

Nisavi is quick to silence herself after the admonishment, instead choosing to focus upon each of the symbols that you etches into the silt with her claw. Nisavi seems to visibly relax at this point, lacing her talons together and resting them in her lap.

Nisavi just thought:
Patience, Nisavi. Patience, yes? She is still the host. One must not offend the host, even in our search for answers.

You have emoted: "You have an..... an overwhelming amount of darkness in you," Sibatti states, squinting her eyes as if pained by this, solemn in speech and in expression. "But it is not something to be feared. She Who Hungers has just as infinite of an appetite as the shadows that surround you. You match. You must chase that hunger, knowing that you may never sate it. Hoping you may never sate it. To be sated would mark the beginning of your decline with the Dragon Mother."

Nisavi nods her head slowly towards you, her own features turning solemn in response. "The Law of Growth," she murmurs under her breath, but she does not say any more; instead, she resumes her silence and chooses to continue listening to you.

Nisavi just thought:
The darkness is still a concern, Nisavi, yes. Shadow Plague could be our fate, but -- if the sibsuti says it is not to be feared, perhaps it is not. Czjetija may be kept at bay for years.

You drop a vibrant hibiscus flower.

You have emoted: Sibatti gingerly sets a fresh hibiscus flower into the circle, within Nisavi's reach. "You are far from the cold iron of your past, but you are almost too far - you have been lucky that it has not given you trouble, but you cannot coast on luck. You must cool the hatred that bubbles up within you." She gives Nisavi a severe look, communicating severity in her stormy eyes. "Eat hibiscus for a month, at least. You can add it to a salad, or make it into tea. You must cool your spirit and dissolve your trauma."

Adding, with the barest trace of humor, you say, "If you cannot visit Enorian to buy more, I will sell you some at a fair price."

"Hibiscus," Nisavi repeats with at first a look of uncertainty, but soon shakes her head at you towards her offer. "The Beacon does not care for my presence, to be sure, but my coin is enough for them to tolerate me," she replies as she tears her attentions away momentarily, though there is an air of bitterness at this, bereft of even the smallest traces of humour. Still, she casts that disdain away, almost as if silently chastising herself after realizing what she had just been told. Her gaze lifts once more back towards you, in anticipation of what else that may come.

You have emoted: "The last answer was... admittedly, confusing to me." Sibatti's hands return to her legs but there is a bit more tension and uncertainty in her posture. Her claws are poised to pierce, and her elbows are bent, as if her entire being were ready to act. "You must buy more with your power. Be generous of your strength, and share it."

Nisavi, too, seems as equally perplexed by the answer. "I see," she says, "you have given me much to consider, sibsuti." Leveraging shadow and gravity once more, she lifts herself to her feet and stares at you. "While our transaction was paid for in coin -- know that what you have given me outweighs the price I have paid. Should you have need of me in a capacity that does not defy my promises upon the Air, I will aid you."

Continuing, Nisavi of Kemau says, "Know that I make this promise, too, upon the Air. The Law of Promises and Oaths will be kept."

You have emoted: "Yes.." The words do not appear to fully sink in to Sibatti, and when she rises to her feet, there is a noticeable tremble in her legs that nearly spells a falling over. "I must rest, Nisavi of Kemau. There will be a restless night of dreaming ahead of me. I need to take it easy for the next few days."

Nisavi extends a hand and there is a sensation of gravity extending to help steady you as you rises to your feet. "May you slumber like the Dragon Herself. Do be well, Sibsuti of Duiran."