"Not prying at all." Ryn says with a smile, "And yeah, you're right, a lot of people find religion when there's some hulking behemoth across the ring from 'em." she chuckles.
"I am actually...not in the spend all my time in a temple sort of way...then again you could say my temple is the arena, or any battlefield for that matter." she passes her thumb over a beautiful jeweled ring on her finger.
"Have you heard of Falayna,the Warrior's Ring?"
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"Umm... she's another Empyreal Lord, yes?"
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"Mmhmm.... her domain is the intersection of battle, femininity and beauty...so I'm sure it's no surprise that all three are things I hold dear." she says giving a bit of a flirtatious smile. "So I worship her in the way I fight, or when I wear something pretty or dance.....in a lot of ways the things I enjoy, that make me feel alive also celebrate my goddess. Does that make sense?"
"I see," says Azura with a nod of her already-bobbing head. "That fits. Love is a battlefield, as they say. What's the significance of the ring, specifically? I get the idea of the warrior woman who's really woman, but that accoutrement seems to have special significance."
"Well Falayna is referred to as the Warrior's Ring. not all that sure how it came about, but the form of the circle is sacred to her, and represents both the ring of battle and the beauty of adornment. Most of the images I've seen of her shows her wearing beautifully jeweled rings." Ryn says grinning. She holds out both of her hands, displaying that she wears rings on two of the fingers of her left hand and one on her right.
"I've taken to getting one to celebrate a major accomplishment or event. I've got three so far. This one I bought after my first big win in the arena, and this one, I bought when I'd won enough money to get my parents out of debt and regain ownership of their inn" she says, a special glimmer of pride in her eyes as she recalls the moment.
"This third one I got the day I joined the Pathfinders." she says pointing to the lone ring on her right forefinger.
Azura leans over to look over Ryn's rings. "The circle is a figure commonly associated with womanhood, too," she says. She glances back up and says, "So Falayna reflects the things that you want to see from yourself? A strong woman with a dedication to martial skills and a good heart?"
"I'll go with the group, but the Pitt? Well I guess it will be alright." She responds to Zev.
When she walks into the Pitt and sees the group of half-orcs at the table she groans out loud, and ducks behind Ulfr. "Those are my cousins." She looks around Ulfr. And one of my brothers." Trying to stay in the middle of the group and not be noticed.
Ulfr motions to the bickering band and gestures that Ada follow him.
We can sick you in the back on a smaller drum or something.
”Okay!” Zev happily responds.
Once at “The Pitt” Zev has to watch to keep his mouth from watering, the smells were enticing enough outside, but once they were within it was starting to get a little overwhelming. Once Ada dashes behind Ulfr he tilts his head. ”Oh, are you and them on bad terms?”
"Yeah, I suppose so." Ryn says smiling. "I'd like to think I am at least. What made you ask?" Ryn inquires, tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear.
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Azura waves happily to Ada when she arrives, and the Zev as well; then adjusts her position in her seat and looks back to Ryn and says, "It's a good shorthand for getting to know people. There are some oddballs who claim to be followers of some religion but don't live up to the principles - folks who claim one thing but do another, or those who just can't live up to it - but usually when someone talks about their faith, they're talking about things that are important to them. So I know that being a strong, self-sufficient fighter is important to you, and based on your rings family is important, but you also want to be seen as a woman, not just a warrior. And since Falayna is an Empyreal Lady, she upholds positive ideals, hope, bringing out these good qualities in others, and making the world a better place. So your rings aren't just reminders of your past, they're a promise of the kind of future that you hope to live - one worth more celebration and more memories of good choices and triumphs over adversity."
Looking up as the others enter, Ryn waves as well before returning her attention to Azura. As the dazzling songstress displays a profound understanding of both her outlook and motivations for how she tries to live her life, Ryn practically beams at the assessment.
"If I portray half of what you see in me, then I'm thrilled. It means I'm becoming the person I want to be." the warrior says, her smile and body language softening her normally imposing profile. "You're very good at reading people......oh and if you ever want to learn how to dance.... it just happens to be one of my hidden talents." she says with a wink.
"So what about you? Which of the gods speaks to your soul?"
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"How people dress, what they talk about, what things make them smile or frown all tell you about what they value," says Azura. "For instance, Ana. She is so quiet, but she has such power - magical authority. See how she avoided her own family? She's not ashamed of being who she is; she's ashamed of the stereotype of what people think about half-orcs. So she's not boisterous, she's not opinionated or proud, because she is smart, she is sensitive, she hates when people treat her like she's dumb or rough. I bet she likes poetry but never tells anyone."
"And I'll take you up on that dance lesson," she adds with a smile.
"As for faith... I feel like I fit with the goddesses like Shelyn and Sarenrae, but I reserve my devotion for the Empyreal Spirit Arshea. Which is, itself, a complex topic." She chuckles and raps the table a few more times with her hands.
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"Not bad terms exactly. I'm tired of patching them up and dealing with their problems. I'm a librarian not a nursemaid. They keep trying to get me to come back to the arena to work." She responds to Zev.
She slips in behind Ulfr and takes up a drum. "This is probably a bad idea. I might be terrible at this." To her surprise she's not bad at drumming, and keeps her head down while staying in the back of the band.
"Shelyn and Sarenrae, beauty, art and compassion...that makes perfect sense, never heard of Arshea though." Ryn replies, clearly intrigued.
Azure sighs and says, "I've had this talk a few times, so forgive me if I'm a bit cautious about the topic."
She takes a deep breath and stills her hands, then says, "Arshea is also an Empyreal Spirit, mistakenly thought of as a 'sex deity'. Arshea is about the bountiful joy of love, of feeling comfortable with who you are, and the joy of sharing that feeling with others. Arshea teaches us how to be comfortable in our own bodies and to claim our own identity. They - Arshea can be male or female, both, neither, or other - teaches us to dance without shame, to find the beauty in all of us, and to live with passion."
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As she listens, Ryn nods slightly, grasping the importance of not only what Azura is conveying, but considering how easily the wrong person could interpret what she was saying the wrong way, or rather, how a selfish person would interpret it the way they wanted to.
"Ah...I can see how trying to explain that could go south really quickly." Ryn says, glad that all the background noise meant there wasn't much chance of anyone eavesdropping on the conversation and making things weird. "I get it though...it's all actually kinda similar in a way. The same way Falayna celebrates the beautiful perfection of what the body can do in combat, how it's more perfect than any weapon ever forged, and a lot of the art I've seen in Sheylyn's temples celebrates the beauty of what the body is, I guess Arshea celebrates the beauty of what the body can do in a different way?" she says blushing slightly despite herself.
"Martial training, dance, and.....sex...they're all really celebrating what the body is and is capable of. Honestly with the way a lot of gladiators tend to celebrate I'm surprised I never heard of Arshea before." she says with a giggle. "Uhm..sorry..I hope you don't think I'm making light of it or anything...I'm really not...I think it's beautiful...I should shut up now."
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Quite suddenly Azura grasps Ryn's hand and squeezes it. "No shame in who we are," she says. After an intense moment, she adds, "I see what you mean about the similarities. But... think about what Falayna can do for someone who doesn't or can't fight. She offers protection, or identity, or the means to find your own strength. Arshea, likewise, is not just sex, but realizing who you are and being the person you want to be in love and in form."
"Saersha, as a lust mage, gets power from sex because it is such an intense part of our existence. But it is personal; she gets what she wants, and uses it as a tool for power. It's a very... self-interested approach. Not to say that she's interested more in her own gratification - she's probably a very experienced lover - but it's mostly about what pleases and empowers her. Arshea is also about empowerment, but through giving. Through being ready for intimacy, because you can love who you are and, if you choose, share that."
"So, when do we eat? I'm ready for some vigorous mastication."
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Breaking into a huge grin, Ryn squeezes Azura's hand back before flagging down one of the servers, who despite recognizing the gladiatrix, was also well versed in recognizing when to interrupt patrons and when to just keep walking. "Heheh... I can definitely go for some of that!"
"Not bad terms exactly. I'm tired of patching them up and dealing with their problems. I'm a librarian not a nursemaid. They keep trying to get me to come back to the arena to work." She responds to Zev.
She slips in behind Ulfr and takes up a drum. "This is probably a bad idea. I might be terrible at this." To her surprise she's not bad at drumming, and keeps her head down while staying in the back of the band.
[dice=Drum Banging]1d20+4
Zev nods. ”Wait, librarian? So you get to be around books all day?”
As she moves to the drum Zev stands off to the side, happily smiling and tapping his foot to the beat.
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Breaking into a huge grin, Ryn squeezes Azura's hand back before flagging down one of the servers, who despite recognizing the gladiatrix, was also well versed in recognizing when to interrupt patrons and when to just keep walking. "Heheh... I can definitely go for some of that!"
"Aww, you didn't fall into my trap!" says Azura with a teasing smile. "Anyway, there's more to talk about later with regards to our respective faiths. Especially if we're going to be on the road traveling to track down these Sihedron shards."
When Ryn flags down the staffer she requests the stew.
"In keeping with all of that, I like art and fashion, I like gardens and wild natural places. So, I sort-of fit with Shelyn's following. And I like helping people in need, and finding ways for people to be friends and have common ground, so I sort-of fit with Sarenrae's following. And I absolutely did not fit in with my grandmother's plans for me, and had to figure out how to be comfortable with who I am instead of who other people wanted me to be, which is a strong part of what pushed me to find Arshea as a patron," she says.
She leans over and speaks softly to Ryn, under the general din of the crowd.
Ryn lets out a giggle when Azura confirms her wordplay nodding at the thought of discussing things further. Ordering the stew and a couple loaves of the hearty crusty bread for the table. She could definitely identify with not fitting into what parents expected, though getting the inn deed back had finally brought her mother around....at least as far as the being a warrior part.
As Azura leans close, she feels the color in her cheeks rise, the curse of being really bad at keeping what she was thinking off of her face, though this time there wasn't any accompanying embarrassment. Instead a slow smile.
"So, what're your thoughts on this new task? The Sihedron shards? Seems like a wild adventure to me. Supposedly a shattered artifact, scattered all over the continent. Maybe two or three pieces are in close proximity if we're lucky, but this could be the sort of thing that takes you faaar afield. Not that this is a bad thing!" says Azura to Ryn.
Andrezi takes the the offer on the bow, deciding it's worth a shot in the field. After paying the cost with his newfound coin, he heads off to join the others.
Strolling in fashionably late as usual, he searches around for his companions in the crowd. Strolling over to the group he slides in quietly and responds to Azure, "How far do are you thinking? Outside of Varisia?"
Azura turns her head back over her shoulder as Andrezi slides into a seat on the other side of her. "I have no idea!" she says excitedly. "Isn't that great? Maybe there's one in Tian Xia! Or on the bottom of the sea!" She breaks into a wide grin. "Just finding the one piece that Ada has was pretty exciting, but this gives us a whole new reason to travel all over and experience new places, meet new people, and find... well, who knows what?"
Eyes widening, "Tian Xia!" He leans back, "I... I hadn't considered this was going to be taking us out there. Surely these pieces are closer and not scattered to the corners of Golarion."
Andrezi signals to someone to get a mug of ale.
"Who knows? Could be anywhere. Heck, someone else could have one of the pieces, maybe we'll meet them halfway. Or maybe some evil demon or something has a piece and is waiting for other treasure-hunters to come to it so it can kill them and take their pieces! We won't know until we go out there and find out!"
Azura seems quite happily excited, considering that she's talking about walking into a demonic ambush.
Ulfr's drumming reaches a furious pace. The band struggles to keep up, and then it doesn't... A wave of adrenaline sweeps the room as the music crescendos and everyone in the room can Feel The energy in their bones.
Raising an eyebrow he repeats, "Evil demons, eh? I suppose we will likely have our hands very full."
As the pace of drumming begins to dominate, the slayer turns to feel the performance. Nodding in Ulfr's direction once, Andrezi starts to chuckle. "That man is intense in all endeavors."
Azura's head starts to bob again in response to the increased ferocity of the drumming. "Powerful!" she agrees. "No way of knowing if there's a demon or devil or something though. Just wild guesses on my part." She releases Ryn's hand and goes back to drumming on the table as well, carrying alongside the increased percussion as her head bobs up and down, side to side, and she grins happily.
Ryn considers Azura's question, smiling as she watches the beautiful healer drum and bob happily to the music. It was pretty infectious, she wasn't sure whether it was bonding with Azura, or something about Ulfr's drumming but she felt more alive, almost invincible. Smiling blissfully she sways rhythmically to the music, utterly enjoying the moment.
"They could be anywhere and just finding out where is half the adventure. Considering there are possibly other people looking for at least the piece Ada has, one way or another we're bound for some excitement."
Zev happily gets lost in the music, bobbing and swaying, what sounds momentarily like a bone breaking can be heard behind him, though his coat obscures anything.
Ada has to give up the drumming when Ulfr really gets going. She sits back and watches as he does a drum solo exciting the entire pub. There's going to be a fight from all of this excitement. That's what gladiators do. They fight.
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As Ulfr reaches his musical crescendo, Azura arches her back and throws her head back as well, weaves back and forth while beating her hands on the table, and lets out a loud whoop as the beat peaks. When the drumming subsides she claps eagerly and swishes her head side to side to get her golden hair to fall back into place.
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Thoroughly exhilarated by both the music and their conversation, Ryn lets out a throaty chuckle reminiscent of a purr.
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At that moment someone bumps someone into someone else and they all go tumbling into the signature Pit. All three gladiators spring to their feet and a good ol' fashioned brawl breaks out. Calls for bets instantly go out and money starts falling onto tables.
The combatants fight hard, but they don't seem to be trying to kill each other. Ulfr's music has them fighting fast, furious, and dramatically with a feeling of invincible strength pulsing in their veins. After all, every gladiator is a performer at heart.
Azura likewise chuckles at Ryn's comment, then as people go tumbling into the pit she rises slightly from her seat. "Wasn't expecting that!" she says, but she quickly sits back down. "Does that happen often?" She folds her hands into her lap and looks back to her other side at Andrezi and says, "This isn't the kind of thing that gets out of hand, is it?"
Andrezi laughs and leans in to Azura to attempt to speak over the sounds of music while giving her a You must be joking look. "Yeah, this is where you pull out some coin and place a be."
Grabbing some currently leftover over from his shopping trip earlier, he sets it on the table. "I've got half a mind to bet on Ulfr diving into the mix, but I'll throw down on that red headed fellow over there."
"Oh!" says Azura with a look of some relief. "Umm... how much are you wagering?" She shifts in her seat and digs around for her coins so that she can look through her silver. "Ryn, who would you bet on, as a gladiatrix?"
"Well, if Ulfr doesn't get in the thick of things.....I'd have yo go with that blond dwarven fellow over there...see how he just sent that huge fighter tumbling...... a lot of tall people tend not to look down...stupid move.......they don't call him Kneecap Kurgan for nothing." Ryn says as she assesses the mayhem unfolding.
Ulfr's drumming slowly fades as the attention focuses on the brawl. It goes for some minutes with no clear upper hand to any one fighter. Then, almost too fast to see, Kneecap Kurgan takes the legs out from the red head just as he dodges a swing from the big guy. The swing clocks Red good and the fighter hits the ground hard. There is an audible groan from the audience and a few curses as money is exchanged and bets shift. Red drags himself to the side and is quickly helped out of the Pit.
Both remaining fighters are winded and getting loose. The room divides pretty evenly between the two and a good shouting match gets going across the actual fight.
Over in the drum pit, Ulfr hands off his responsibilities to one of the larger drummers and goes over to Ada.
Ulfr is coated in a sheen of sweat and takes a long draw from a skin of something that should be water but probably isn't before speaking.
Hey, these guys are just the warm up. You wanna get in there with me? I'm going to need a partner.
Azura watches the crashing of combat and makes a somewhat intrigued expression as Kurgan smashes his foe to the ground. "Huh. You were right!"
She accepts her stew as it arrives along with food and drink once the fighting has reached a lull sufficient for the servicepeople to cross the floor without worrying about a wild hit. She stirs the stew a bit with a wooden spoon to see what's in it, then tentatively takes a bite.
When Ulfr approaches Ada, she looks intrigued again. The din of the shouting drowns out her words to anyone who isn't seated next to her.
Ada tips her head and listens to Ulfr. She smiles just a little.
Ulfr smiles in return, revealing a few more of his orc teeth than he usually does.
Ryn accepts her order, grinning as Kurgan proves her right. ”Combat has a rhythm and beat to it kind of the same way music does, so sometimes I can look at a conflict and…I don’t know…feel the flow of it?”
Taking a spoonful of stew she sighs as the flavor is just what she was hoping for.
Grumbling from the fall of Red, Andrezi looks at Ryn. "That looks like someone with a lot of experience speaking there. I'm impressed."
Ulfr continues to speak.
Ada gives a wide grin and climbs into the pit. My cousins are going to get a kick out of this for sure.
She walks up to the biggest tallest fighter she sees. She gives him a shy grin, and stands on her tiptoes to be heard over the crowd. "I challenge you. Two for two."
Zev tilts his head as Ulfr and Ada converse before she’s makes her way into the pit, making him bounce on the balls of his feet. ”Yeah!” he shouts when she calls out the challenge.
Her enterance is distracting, sure. Most people think she's going to join the brawl, but when she walks over to a guy standing on the side lines and challenges him two for two everyone stops looking at the current fight for a moment, including the big guy currently fighting! The dwarf takes his opening and leaves his opponent laying in the dirt as the crowd half-cheers and half-groans.
Money is collected but it is laid down immediately after. The man Ada challenges slowly steps down into the Pit like the 6 foot drop was nothing more than a stair. Assuming he was half giant probably wasn't far off the mark. He grins at her like a wolf eyeing a wounded deer and grunts. Do fer do, eh li'tle orcie? Fine. I bite. WIMP! Get in 'ere!
The man named "Wimp" was a scraggly fellow who looked like a stiff breeze would blow him over, but there was a dangerous grace in his movements.