What brings you to my corner of the world?

"You are also very correct about the honey, my dear. Though such luxuries are often wasted on the simple-minded populace in these lands. They often consider a wrapping of bandages accompanied by a stitch here and there to be enough." He chuckled at his own words describing his fellow Noxians, followed by another sip of the pleasantly-tasting brew. "Not to mention that honey is harder to come by, with most of the product to come from importing from across borders, with how harsh our climate can be for flora to bloom freely."

If he were to allow himself to show it, he would display genuine surprise at the knowledge of the woman on something so seemingly 'mundane'. But medical knowledge, no matter how insignificant was like a rare occurrence here. Though not extremely rare, the ones that cared not for far outnumbered those that did. And those that would make it a profession were even rarer amongst them.

"Off course, there are a lucky few in this empire that can permit themselves a more 'exquisite' healing arts as well. One that has nested its' way into even the military of this fine nation in offensive, defensive and even medical employment. Which, I suppose, is also a reason for most to shy away from other ways of keeping themselves healthy." The nobleman stopped for a few seconds, to take another sip as he kept his eyes on the woman, trying to spy any form or reaction to the mystery he proclaimed just now.

"You will have to take two bags then," Whether they were coming or not, the mage interjected in advance of any posh polite refusals. "I insist."

His description of Noxians was accurate to her experience; so far, half her labour had been simply convincing people to accept her help. It was a problem she had yet to solve, only fueled by a lack of comprehension as to why they would refuse the aid. Surely, strength entailed the ability to wake up tomorrow and the utilization of all resources at your disposal, healing included.

The pale-haired mage was more than happy to lean back in her chair and let the socialite speak; he seemed quite fond of his own voice. Besides, she could not quite recall the last time she had a proper conversation with someone. It was just her luck that she was sipping her tea when he shifted the conversation from honey and healing to more…delicate matters. Hopefully, it hid how her eyes narrowed the slightest, her silver gaze sharpening. Sitting the cup on the table, her hands settled in her lap, legs crossing with an amused smile that was anything but genuine.

"Ah, is that the "certain arts and crafts" that have your interest?" That crimson glean… Elise had never had the pleasure of watching it pass over her own silvery eyes, but she hoped it was not as predatory as the one aimed at her as she mirrored his words back at him. The pleasant smile on her face did not crinkle as the itching in the back of her mind was joined by a growing unease.

Respect your rp partners who are fast. Don’t shame them. It’s not a bad thing that they are excited about your reply or have a method.  Making them feel guilty is wrong.  Don’t fault people who want to reply to you.  It doesn’t mean that people who are fast, do not have a life.  Some people just are most comfortable being quick and are excited.  There is nothing wrong with being fast.

Respect your rp partners who are slow. Some people just have a longer process, ponder things longer, and genuinely are just busier. Some people just prefer to have a longer queue, take longer. It doesn’t mean they’re not excited.   There is nothing wrong with being slow. 

if you are sending to a multi-muse, remember to specify the muse that the sentence starters are being sent for .

who . . .

“ Who are you? ”

“ Who do you serve? ”

“ Who taught you that? ”

“ Who’s really in control here? ”

“ Who are you running from? ”

“ Who did this to you? ”

“ Who’s coming for us? ”

“ Who do you think I am? ”

“ Who else knows about this? ”

“ Who are you trying to protect? ”

what . . .

“ What are you? ”

“ What do you want from me? ”

“ What are you hiding? ”

“ What were you planning to do? ”

“ What just happened? ”

“ What did you see back there? ”

“ What did you promise them? ”

“ What happens if I don’t let you go? ”

“ What are the rules I’m not supposed to break? ”

“ What happens after the portal closes? ”

where . . .

“ Where did you come from? ”

“ Where are we? ”

“ Where are you going? ”

“ Where were you when it happened? ”

“ Where does this path lead? ”

“ Where did you get that scar? ”

“ Where is everyone else? ”

“ Where should I stand? ”

“ Where did you put the body? ”

“ Where were you hiding all this time? ”

when . . .

“ When did this start? ”

“ When were you going to tell me? ”

“ When was the last time you felt safe? ”

“ When do we leave? ”

“ When did you stop trusting me? ”

“ When does this end? ”

“ When did you realise the truth? ”

“ When do things go wrong? ”

“ When did you choose this path? ”

“ When will you look at me and be honest? ”

how . . .

“ How long have you been watching me? ”

“ How did you survive? ”

“ How much do you remember? ”

“ How are you this calm right now? ”

“ How bad is it? ”

“ How did you know my name? ”

“ How far are you willing to go? ”

“ How many lies have you told me? ”

“ How do you live with this? ”

“ How are we supposed to fix this? ”

are . . .

“ Are you human? ”

“ Are you okay? ”

“ Are you lying to me right now? ”

“ Are you scared? ”

“ Are you tired? ”

“ Are you hiding something? ”

“ Are you bound by oath or by magic? ”

“ Are you trying to start a fight? ”

“ Are you always this dramatic? ”

“ Are you going to explain or just stare? ”

do . . .

“ Do you trust me? ”

“ Do you remember your name? ”

“ Do you remember me? ”

“ Do you miss them? ”

“ Do you always talk this much? ”

“ Do you have any idea what you just did? ”

“ Do you ever sleep? ”

“ Do you want me to stay? ”

“ Do you think I’m stupid? ”

“ Do you believe in fate? ”

have . . .

“ Have you eaten yet? ”

“ Have we met before? ”

“ Have you been here long? ”

“ Have you done this before? ”

“ Have you ever killed someone? ”

“ Have you been lying to me? ”

“ Have you lost anyone? ”

“ Have you forgiven yourself? ”

“ Have you always been like this? ”

“ Have you already chosen a side? ”

is . . .

“ Is this place real? ”

“ Is something bothering you? ”

“ Is that weapon even legal here? ”

“ Is this your idea of a joke? ”

“ Is this your way of flirting? ”

“ Is someone watching us? ”

“ Is it supposed to hurt like this? ”

“ Is there a way out? ”

“ Is this what you wanted? ”

“ Is it too late to turn back? ”

can . . .

“ Can I ask you a weird question? ”

“ Can you hear that? ”

“ Can I trust you? ”

“ Can you keep a secret? ”

“ Can we slow down? ”

“ Can you help me bury a body? ”

“ Can you look at me? ”

“ Can we talk about what happened? ”

“ Can you stop pretending? ”

“ Can you promise me something? ”

will . . .

“ Will you stay with me? ”

“ Will you tell me the truth? ”

“ Will this ever end? ”

“ Will you protect me? ”

“ Will they come back for us? ”

“ Will you remember me? ”

“ Will you choose a side? ”

“ Will you regret this? ”

“ Will you still look at me the same way? ”

“ Will you stop me if I’m wrong? ”

should . . .

“ Should I be worried? ”

“ Should we be running? ”

“ Should I follow you? ”

“ Should I be afraid of you? ”

“ Should we pretend this never happened? ”

“ Should I stay or go? ”

“ Should I believe you? ”

“ Should I be honest with you? ”

“ Should we trust them? ”

“ Should I have come here? ”

would . . .

“ Would you do it again? ”

“ Would you lie to protect me? ”

“ Would this have been different if I had stayed? ”

“ Would you really let me die? ”

“ Would you have saved them instead? ”

“ Would you still care if you knew the truth? ”

“ Would you leave if I asked? ”

“ Would this hurt less if I understood? ”

“ Would you forgive me? ”

“ Would you choose me this time? ”

could . . .

“ Could you survive without me? ”

“ Could this world exist without you? ”

“ Could this get any worse? ”

“ Could you teach me how to do that? ”

“ Could you be wrong? ”

“ Could you be lying to yourself? ”

“ Could you forgive them? ”

“ Could this be a trap? ”

“ Could you handle the truth if I told you? ”

Fear burned bright in this place, a firm beacon, a steady (religious root.) Fear, of the world outside, of things strange & uncertain. Personal insecurities, perhaps, anxieties foundational to life. Fear, to keep one safe, instinct that drove creatures toward life. & Fear- fear, of course- of ( h i m. ) It haunts them. It spreads a quiet along their fields, pulls them to social gathering, silent cowering. Their wide eyes, their trembling, (basic souls.) He feels every moment of it, every weight of their terror within his very veins, [ as if his o w n. ] It burns inside of him, clings to his soul, slips across his ribs, a lover's whisper in his ear. Their Fear- this planet's Fear- & Their need. Their desperate need for (righting,) for Order, a guiding hand to bring them out of darkness & into light. .........At any cost. Yes. They were afraid, each of them, & the world that housed them. All drowned in it. All succumbed to it, when laid before the King of Terror. All but o n e. All but this. His face, sharp features, severe brow. His posture, coiled, tense, a monarch's rolling shoulder & elongated spine. Ankles press, militaristic, to each other. Expression is unfaltering in its intensity. His eyes burn, at this nail that does not bend to the hammer's Will. Palms upward, a voice. Thaal Sinestro, unmoved. He considers each moment of her, as she pauses, as she speaks. Parallax, inside of him, twisting, impatient & hungry, denied the horrors inside of her. Down. Control. Now was not the time- it would come later. "A bold question, to ask of one unknown." The Lantern's voice is thunder on a distant, glassy sea. He does not blink- his eyes smolder in the dark. "Had I intended harm, the fields & villages within it would be little more than cinders already. Be thankful for it- my business if none of your concern."

Now that they have moved on from shoot on sight, her hands lowered again, settling at her sides, though still within line-of-sight. "I am Elise." The information was given freely, mostly because she doubted he cared. Her pale eyes trace the trajectory he had just been following, trying to make sense of the dark expanse that stretched below, illuminated only by the stars and the moon. This was a good vantage point, even if one was not hovering above the ground.

Still, as he gathered his wits, and did his best to breath in the renewed energy, he could feel a heavy wave of energy, so quick it was less something he felt coming and more an instant wave of vertigo and static shock.

Standing proves to be more of a challenge than thinking. Vertigo hits her immediately and hard, a ringing pressure in her ears and bones that sends her tumbling right back down. Resigning herself to the ground, she had a chance to observe the red vapours evaporate, whatever had allowed him to do this, either satiated or equally shocked by the wave of energy. What had that been? That the Grand General had access to magic was not foreign to her; one simply had to look at the corvids following him to realize that, but this was not like anything she had seen before.

Ringing subsiding, Elise braved to stand again, this time succeeding. Checking Jericho over it was a relief to see she had not done any unwitting lasting damage. Considering the Noxian view of injuries, she had a feeling that would not have gone over well, even if it was his own fault.

"You are not dead yet." Shaking his shoulder, Elise braced for any eventual backlash from the rude awakening.

Certainly he was a competent general, leader and above all visionary, but if he was seen as a cripple again, things were certainly over before they had begun.

As the blood mage approaches him, the air changes, stiff, stagnant, like static shock. Red and black flickers of magic, the shadow of a raven's wings, desperately surging forward to drain all life from his surroundings. Slow enough to not result in an immediate death, but certainly painful and selfish.

Despite the attack being unprovoked, Elise did not really blame Swain. He had not hidden the fact that he was plotting something ill-advised. No, this was her own fault. And she would probably do it again.

Stubborn legs buckled, and the mage was quite happy to let herself fall to one knee. Were hyperthermia symptoms common? The cold was giving way to warmth, and the lethargy was being pushed aside by energy...

@elisethetraveller

Call it professionalism or foolhardiness, but the mage does not retreat at the sneering or flash of red in the grand general’s eyes. Instead she follows his swaying, ready to step in should his balance fail. A scavenger following dying prey would not have been an inappropriate comparison, if it was not so obvious that Elise was trying to help. “You are bleeding.” The words do not quite carry the weight of a scolding tone, Elise has more respect for Swain than that, but this was no time for Noxian doctrine and pride. “I am a healer. Let me help before you lose another limb.” Stubborn, stubborn man. No matter how many times she has had it explained the blood mage does still not understand why accepting help was such a bad thing. What was the point of medicine and fellow people if not to step in when one stumbled in their steps? “I can be quick, alright? It will be over with and no one will know.” Granted there was a lot of blood around, but who were to say where it had come from. Glancing away she did a quick scan of their surroundings. It would not be long before someone else came to check on them. “Just let me help, please?”

🔴 - "And? I've bled before. A lot more." He seethes indignantly. Swain had been on the very brink of blood loss- this was nothing. He'd shed much in his time, enough to contemplate his mortality tenfold. Veins pulse and tighten painfully, heart racing and pounding loudly in his ears. Nothing he's not overcome before.

"I lost a limb from having it cut off and then shortened for sepsis-, not a laceration!" He hisses, the demonic energy is keeping the grand general standing, but without taking full form, a small stretch of magic should be more than enough to give him some vitalisation. She may not be eyeing him as a predator intentionally , but he is beginning to eye her as desperate scavengers are want to.

"And you are interested in losing another, is that it?" The snark was deeply unprofessional and mostly hyperbole. Swain would not lose the limb unless something particularly unfortunate got into the wound. But that did not mean he would not be better off with it tended to. "You can at least sit for a moment, allow yourself to breathe." And hopefully, the fatigue would hit him hard enough once he sat still that he would let her do her job.

The suspicion hit the second he acquiesced without more fuss. Elise was old enough to realize when something was too good to be true, and most likely a trap was being laid out. Unfortunately, a long-lived life also gave rise to the arrogant notion that some traps could simply be ignored and weathered.