Visiting a Tavern in the Riverlands ππβｑΛ
I've been taking a lot of clips/pics of scenes from the story, and I plan on editing them into little videos for fun, and sharing the written story chapters with it. But before I get to the clips, I want to post some pics! In this one, Nemerites - The Aspect of water, visits one of the taverns in his lands. He loves doing this, visiting little towns with charming markets and taverns while admiring the culture of his people; the water Draeki. This is a lil snippet of what ive written of Nemerites on his doc:
Nemerites has the soul of an artist. He goes through life seeing art - and the potential for it, everywhere he goes. One of his biggest passions in life is to listen to all of the stories his people tell from their travels or daily lives, and to use them as inspiration to create art. By doing so, he freezes those stories and memories forever in time, to be seen and remembered by all. His art is like a love poem for his people, and it's scattered around everywhere in his lands in the form of paintings, sculptures, jewellery, little trinkets and even music.
I want to make a post with all of the Aspects, talking a bit of each of them in detail, and the world they live in and the different Draeki cultures! But now; I'm going to do a small summary of this Nemerites chapter in a very simplified form! (and maybe paste a few lines)
So as he enterns the tavern, he's very much appreciating the artistry inside. Someone has painted the walls with ocean critters, and hung glimmering pieces of sea glass from the ceiling.
He then meets one of his old friends; Riven, a traveling merchant. (Who makes a remark on how he looks like a fish out of fresh water standing by the door, in his shimmering fit)
Oh I also want to point out, the Aspects are seen almost as gods to the Draeki, and being in the precense of one of the Aspects is a great honour. Nemerites however, has always preferred to be treated like he's one of the Draeki, and not the high oh mighty Aspect of Water. He always makes it his priority to go to people and start conversations, making sure they feel they can approach him with anything. Though, try as he might, most of his people still gawk and gasp when they see him, and feel incredibly nervous when he's near. Not from fear, but from the knowledge of what he is to them, and to their world. So when he enters the tavern, the athmosphere immediatley changes. The owner of the tavern - Rowena, freaks out and rushes Nemeeri into the back rooms with a tray of dirty dishes. (You may remember her as Sednael, but I've since renamed her Nemeeri in the Ancient timeline. Her name remains Sednael in the Medieval timeline.) Heres a lil snippet of what she thinks when she sees him;
...when suddenly, the usually loud tavern got really quiet. The change in the atmosphere made her stop what she was doing and look around. That's when she saw him. The Aspect of water ~ Nemerites, standing at the entrance, deep in conversation with a local. She'd only ever seen him in paintings and books, but nothing could have prepared her for the sight of him in person.
She found herself unable to look away from his otherworldly beauty. The way his scales glistened in the light of the candles like dozens of little droplets of water. The sparkling glow of his eyes, visible to her from the back of the tavern ~ the most mesmerizing shade of aquamarine blue. She could feel and smell the pure magic of his element oozing off of him in waves. It reminded her of fresh rainfall on a summer's evening ~ the soothing feeling of the drops sinking into your skin. Of standing at the seashore, with the waves brushing against your legs in a gentle but powerful caress.
She was still staring when Rowena appeared next to her and gasped. "By the Aspects, is that THE Aspect?." She half turned to look at Nemeeri and noticed her mouth was wide open. Rowena smacked her shoulder, freeing her from whatever spell she was under and whispered in a hurried tone. "Stop your gawking and take these to the back rooms." She handed over the set of dirty mugs she'd been holding, then quickly wiped her hands on the blue apron around her waist, and approached the front of the bar, ready to serve the Aspect. Nemeeri did as she was told and disappeared to the back rooms, her heart beating fast.
Nemeeri is still freaking out in the back rooms, because she just saw the most beautiful male - that happens to be the Aspect, walk into their tavern lmao. Rowena is mixing the waveblenders (a traditional drink of the Riverlands) with slightly trembling hands, which Nemerites takes note of and immidiately begins a conversation with her, complimenting the art and the athmosphere of the tavern. Rowena is a bit taken back by him talking to her, but quickly recovers and explains how the tavern's interior was completely remade by her cousin. All of the artistic choices and art were made by her.
He watched as she reached under the table to take out two glasses made out of green sea glass, and began mixing their drinks, her hands having the slightest tremor as she worked. In an attempt to put her at ease, Nemerites made a show of looking around at all of the little trinkets and paintings on the walls of the tavern.
"Someone with a very artistic eye must've been in charge of decorating here."
Surprised to have been spoken to by the Aspect, she made a high pitched sound that turned into a nervous giggle. "That would be my cousin. When she started working here, she completely remade the place." She kept her gaze down while crushing herbs using a stone mortar and pestle. "Before her, there wasn't a trinket or painting to be found. A huge improvement, if you ask me. Twice the customers, as well!" She let out another giggle, much quieter this time, and dared to take a glance at him, but quickly averted her eyes and went back to focusing on mixing the drinks. Nemerites let out a pleasant hum in agreement.
"Such artistic talent ought to be praised. She's done the place wonders, it seems." She smiled and nodded a few times. "Well, it just so happens that she's working the night shift with me today. So, if you wish, you may give praise to the artist herself." She clinked the spoon on the rim of the glass a few times, done with mixing in all of the ingredients. Then, with much more steady hands, grabbed both of the drinks and set them down on the table in front of the pair. They nodded in thanks, and watched as she moved on to the next customer, waiting to be served.
Of course the cousin is none other than Nemeeri, who finally decides to leave the back rooms and get back to serving people.
Nemeeri could hear the chatter and laughter coming from the bar, as she carefully washed off the dried out wine and beer from the mugs. She couldn't quite make out what was being said, most of it drowned out by Rowena's high pitched giggling.
After finishing her task, she knew that she needed to go back and serve the customers, but hoped that Rowena had already managed to serve the Aspect.
Before leaving however, she pushed the door ajar and took a quick little peek to monitor the situation. He was sitting at the bar with a drink in his hands, his body facing her way, but deep in conversation with someone next to him. Realizing how silly she was being, she left the back rooms with a huff of amusement at her own reaction, and told herself; it was just another normal evening at the tavern, and she would continue with her routine, as such.
As if one of the most powerful beings in their world wasn't sitting two feet across from her, watching.
Heheheeee, I'm not going to paste the whole scene here but:
Nemerites was listening with interest at Riven's tale, when suddenly ~ a deep shiver went through his chest. The sensation was so strange, he found himself unable to focus on what his friend was saying, instead, all of his attention was on the fluttering feeling andβ¦a sound. Humming. So faint he could barely hear it, but it was there. After a quick glance around, it seemed that whatever he was experiencing at the moment, no one else was having the sensations.
Could it be that the waitress had put something in his drink? Surely not, she'd been pleasant and welcoming.
Riven kept going on about his tale, completely unaware of his friend's inner turmoil.
He was absentmindedly touching his chest, when the door to the back rooms opened and someone ~ a female, walked in.
From the first sight of her, that feeling inside imploded and spread out, knocking the breath out of his lungs. At the sound of gasping, Riven at last noticed that Nemerites wasn't quite himself, and placed a firm hand on his shoulder. "Heyβ¦everything alright? You look a bitβ¦peaky."
Peaky wasn't a strong enough word for the storm that was brewing inside of him.
Again, leaving some lines/parts out, but:
Nemerites felt unable to answer his friend and instead, was completely enthralled by the Draeki in front of him. Her shimmering indigo scales were unlike anything he'd ever seen in his long life. And her hair, a shade of deep dark blue, reminded him of the darkest depths of the sea.
She was standing in the dimmest part of the bar and not facing him, focusing on wiping one of the glasses with a piece of cloth. He found himself as if by instinct, leaning in closer, unable to bear the wait a moment longer to see her features in full.
And when her gaze at last found his, it was as if time had stopped, and it was just him ~ and her sparkling sapphire eyes, with the sound of waves, and the melody of that otherworldly hum in his ears.
When I was writing this scene, I kept imagining him hearing something like this: π΅ (link to yt, song at 2:35 timestamp)
Why oh why could the Aspect of Water be having such a strange and strong reaction to seeing her π
Nemeeri's heart was beating so fast, it was threatening to burst out of her chest and explode. She had tried her best to avoid looking at the Aspect, tried her hardest to focus on her task and serve the customers, but somethingβ¦something had taken hold of her and dared her to look. Just once ~ look. And that had turned out to be a mistake, since the moment she had, his striking gaze had slid to her and their eyes had met. She'd frozen on the spot for what had felt like an eternity, the aquamarine blue of his eyes piercing a hole through her soul.
Only when the liquid she'd been mixing had poured over the edge of the glass and dripped on her toes, had she snapped out of her trance. She apologized, and hastily grabbed a cloth from under the table to clean out her mess. But she couldn't focus, couldn't hear through the rushing of waves in her ears. Rowena could see her struggling and swooped in to help her clean up, while she finished mixing the drink.
Meeri isn't doing much better!
I'd actually shit my pants if he was lookin at me like that
It had taken him a moment to be able to avert his gaze from her sapphire eyes and finally answer Riven's question. He'd looked quite concerned, holding onto his shoulder while giving his back a few strong pats, urging him to let out the air he'd been holding in his lungs. When Riven kept on patting his back, he coughed. "I'm okay, justβ¦inhaled my drink." He didn't look too convinced by his performance, but accepted his answer nevertheless, and continued his story. But Nemerites was focusing on the little snippets he'd gotten of her voice, the melody so soothing and soft.
Halfway through his talking, Riven finally took notice of how Nemerites' attention was focused wholly elsewhere. Curious, he followed his gaze and understood immediately the cause of his distraction. "Oooh." Riven's teasing tone managed to grasp Nemerites' attention, and he turned around to see him grinning though his drink. "What is it?" Riven shrugged. "You tell me. Though, I think the answer is quite obvious to anyone with a pair or eyes."
Love how I said I'd do a short summary and I just keep pasting snippets of the story π Okok but, for the last part I'll summarize. So Nemerites does actually start a converstaion with her, after mustering up the courage. A snippet from NemeeriΒ΄s pov:
...so she accepted her fate and took over at the bar, which at the moment wasn't busy at all. A few customers came for a refill, but most of the time, she was pretending to be cleaning or organizing cups, anything to avoid looking at his direction. When the tavern got more quiet, she could hear the male next to the Aspect say something about the rainbow jellyfish festival and market stalls. She realized she'd not yet heard the Aspect utter a single word, simply listening to his companions tales.
Just as she came to that realization, he finally spoke. But it wasn't directed at his companion, no. He was speakingβ¦to her.
...Why was he having these reactions? He didn't even know the female, hadn't even spoken one word to her, yet the strong pull he felt towards herβ¦it was as magnetic as the pull of the sea. Never in his life had he felt this strong of a need to talk to someone, and to hear them talk back. Which made him realize something even more strange; he was nervous to speak to her.
The Tavern around them got a bit quieter, and Riven had changed the subject to the yearly rainbow jellyfish festival, which was taking place in two full moons. Apparently he'd be there with his stall, like every year before. Nemerites nodded with approval, but in his mind, he was planning his next words very carefully;
"You must be the cousin responsible for the art around the place."
I again left quite a bit of the scenes out, but hgftrhgrhg I just love how he's realizing and confused at how nervous he's feeling. THE Aspect of water, nervous to talk to the waitress. Delicious.
So they do chat a bit but I'm not gonna talk about that part in this post! After, a customer comes over to the bar to let Nemeeri know that the keg holding the water has ran out, and requesting for it to be refilled. Without thinking, she uses her own water bending power to fill in the keg. Now this is a big deal, since the water Draeki - while being able to bend water to their will, they cannot summon it from thin air. Only the Aspect of water is supposed to have that power. Nemerites watches as she reaches out and summons water from nothing to fill the keg. This immideately catches his attention even MORE and........to be continued!
I hope you enjoyed this little snippet! Even though it's mostly just a summary of the actual chapter, I'd love any feedback! Would you be interested in reading more/the whole thing? Thank you so much for reading! π πΌ βο½‘Λ πβｑΛ
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