Log file from Jaihyn.
Feb. 8, 1999
Palisade and North - Haven
Some have likened the Varati home to a geode--rough and plain on the outside, while opulence and splendor lie within. Certainly the first part of that analogy is true. The only hint that these buildings house the more prominent members of Varati society are their size. Massive structures loom on either side of the street, crafted from brick, marble, granite, and even metal. And here, also, is the grand embassy of the Varati. Only shaping magic could have created such a structure, for it gives the impression of having grown out of the earth itself. Like the others, its decoration is minimal, yet flowing curves and the use of obsidian and marble make such ornamentation unnecessary. Flanked by stone pillars, the entranceway is constantly guarded by sentinels who may as well be stone themselves, so humorless are they. Only guests of the kingdom and ambassadors from other realms may pass within. A gate leads out of the city to a road that eventually winds into the distant, northern mountains, though few ever dare venture that far.
Contents:
Khalil
Khalil walks down the street, eyes alert and he munches casually upon a steaming pita.
Jaihyn steps out of the gates, onto the street, almost running into a man in black, "Oh, I do beg your pardon." he says and then looks up. He blinks a couple of times. "Imphadi Khalil, excuse me, I did not see you."
Khalil frowns, more so actually, down at the priest. If looks could kill, Haven would be in rumble, but being the ever-polite one, "You are excused, Imphadi. Perhaps you should learn to walk with your eyes up?" Polite, but not exactly pleasant.
Jaihyn smiles pleasantly, and it is all pleasantness, nothing seems to be lurking beneath it and he shrugs lightly. "Perhaps, Imphadi." he says without rancor.
Khalil raises a brow. "See that you do, Imphadi." Ahh, there is some of that humor creeping out tonight. "On your way to see a lady, that you were in such a hurry?"
Jaihyn snorts a little, "No, not me, Imphadi, I was just out for a walk. How are you this fine day?"
Khalil nods slowly as he finishes his pita in one bite. Swallowing he shrugs, "I am alive to serve the Amir-al. Yourself?" As if he did not know already.
Jaihyn nods his head, "I'm sure there are other things to do in your... spare time." he says slowly thinking the man probably doesn't have any such thing. "Well, I do well, just fine even. Except that my student is gone and is constantly beaten within an inch of her life and I can no longer teach her..." and trails off, realizing he's babbling.
Khalil raises a brow, resisting the temptation to reach out and feel the priest's brow for fever. Instead he just grunts. "Perhaps in my next life... should I..." But of course his next life will be Agni-Haidar. "Your student? Auvrey is it not?" Concern that even though he tries to hide it still can be seen through those ever expressive eyes.
Jaihyn nods his head, "Auvrey, yes. No more, her... master will not allow it." the word 'master' is said with tight lips. "I know he must be beating her and almost senseless. If he were not... well who he is... he would not lay a hand on her again." he suddenly seems furious.
"It is her path, Imphadi..." Oh how he wished he could believe that. His own fury buried deep he can only try and quell the fires within the priest. "If not her then another. There is purpose and so we should not question. She has seen this and takes pride in her position." He shifts slightly, resting a hand upon the pommel of his sword, his eyes staring up at the sky. "But take comfort in knowing what you have taught her brings her peace."
Jaihyn almost explodes, "Inner peace perhaps! And I doubt she is very prideful and do you /really/ believe that!? That it is her path? I do not. But then again, I do not believe in keeping slaves." he sighs and brushes hair out of his face. "I may have been meditating but I could still hear you two. You love her, don't you?" he says as bluntly and gently as possible.
A fist as fast as lightning strikes out at the priest, all control forgotten. In a voice thunderous with pain and anger he warns the man. "It is as it should be. I am Kshatri, she is Naraki... there is no love."
Jaihyn blinks in surprise but his feline reflexes duck him out of the way and he leaps back a bit. "Forgive, Imphadi, but one day you may need to let go that and come to a release of your pain." he just watches the man, ready to move. "Truly no love? How badly does it burn that you know he beats her into unconsciousness?" is he pushing for a release or for his own death?
Khalil growls loudly and his outstretched fist lowers to his side, but does not unclench. "There is nothing to be done. And you speak of things you know nothing of. Love? Pain? I am Agni-Haidar, I feel nothing but the need to serve." He spits on the ground as if wishing to lose that foul taste of the lies he speaks now even as his heart bleeds within his chest.
Jaihyn sighs, "I sorrow for you then, Imphadi Khalil, and reel in disgust that you chose to dishonor yourself in such a way. The Amir'Al says nothing about removing these things from one's life. Both exist, love and pain, they cannot be without the other often."
"Save your sorrow and disgust for those who deserve such priest." The word is spoken with contempt, a curse more foul than any already in existance for the Agni-Haidar. "The Amir'al speaks nothing of removing them... but He does speak of the laws that bind the castes. In this life and in those to follow we pay for our sins. If we are meant to walk the path of pain or of pleasure, it is as it should be. We cannot change that."
Jaihyn nods his head and shrugs a little bit. "If you choose to see it that way, I suppose so. I do not, however. But then, I come from a clan of mystics in Atarism. I hope you find some sense of peace, in your own way then. And I pray I will not be singing funeral pyre rites for her anytime soon, although perhaps that would be a blessing, a release, in itself for her."
Another fist is swung at the priest, this time with more fury and less accuracy. Oh how the Lion growls this day. "You will sing no rites for her, priest. You speak of things you do not understand. Keep to your teachings and stay out of the lives of those who do not need your help." A lost soul knows not the way to salvation, save for his own death. But that is never an option. Torn between his heart and his teachings the Khalil can only do what his instinct tells him and that is to silence the source of the painful truth.
Jaihyn ducks back again, with a little more ease this time, since he was at least ready for it this time. "The truth can hurt an immense amount, can't it, Imphadi. I have been in pain before, pain of the heart, soul, body. You name it, I may have been through it. /NO/ man should be allowed to touch a woman in the way that... that /man/ does, not even one of the Khalid's direct line!" Jaihyn doesn't dare say not even Khalid himself in front of the Agni-Haidar even though he believes it. "She does nothing to defy him and one day he may just kill her for that nothing. What a /damned/ pity!" he suddenly growls. "But, I guess that is her lot in life, eh?" he snaps with more force and sarcasm.
"Yes! It is her lot in life. Her path to walk." How tempting it would be to just draw his sword and bathe in blood to forget all of this. Khalil steps away, his teeth grinding together. "We die in battle, we die in old age... death walks us as surely as life. What matter how it takes us, so long as we lived as we should." You do not understand priest, you cannot, and his eyes speak as much if his lips do not. "There is nothing to be done... she is Naraki, priest. Not some charity case. If she is meant to know more, then it will happen, the Amir'al will see to that."
Jaihyn shakes his head, "Not to me, she is not Naraki. She is Auvrey, a human being with every right to live without fear as any of us." he sighs again, a sound full of pain. "I will never see a Varati, Empyrean, Atlantean, Slyvan, mongrel, /anyone/ as anything less than beings who have just the same rights to live as well as anyone else, you or I." the last is said firmly but without rancor, he is just stating his hard beliefs.
Khalil attempts to run a hand through hair that is no longer there and it seems to make him more angry. "Your heart is too large priest and your mind not on your duties. Ask her what she is and she will say Naraki. Ask any of the guards what they are and they will answer Agni-Haidar." How can he cling to beliefs he ca barely stand, is he that dense or is his faith that strong? Either way he refuses to let anything except anger beyond his defensive walls. "No one lives exactly as another. I do not live as the Pasha, or as Shudra. I have but one existence in this life. Do you think I would not do something if I thought it could be any other way?"
Jaihyn looks at the Haidar and says flat out, "No, I don't think you could. You have been trained since you were five years old, most likely, perhaps earlier. It may be too engrained in your being to have any other template than the one you know now. And there is nothing wrong with a large heart. Perhaps I take my blows of emotional pain but I would not give that up for the dehumanizing of myself to become set in stone."
Laughter, even through the anger, he laughs. "Then you know me not, priest. You know nothing and for that I pity you. Standing there with yourself wanting to save the world... not realizing you cannot. How many naraki were beaten to death before this life? How many more will die after you pass? Save yourself before you worry about others. They have survived without you thus far, why decide that all of a sudden you are needed?"
Jaihyn looks at the Lion and smiles back, "I cannot save the world. I know this, but I do not have to bow down. It may only be a drop in the bucket to care, but at least I am one." and bows, his face peaceful. "I do not do anything actively as much as I would have liked to and that man beat me to it on my offer to buy her from Imphada Rabi. As such, I stay away, knowing that she may be killed for speaking to me. And we do not know each /other/ so I guess we can go about pitying each other to no effect." he shrugs a little, "Everyone has their own way of believing and each are entitled to it, with and/or without pity."
Khalil sighs softly, some of his anger receding. There are no angry words to be spoken. No more arguments to be woven. Tired and without a target he can pummel, the Agni-Haidar bows to the priest. "We fight battles both on the field and without, Imphadi. For this I cannot fault you or wish hurt upon your soul. I can only warn you that if you make any move that results in her death, the Amir'al save you, I will feast upon your bones. I may wear not my heart upon my sleeve, but I do have one... regardless of how you may feel." If you feel at all, priest. He seems doubtful that the man before him is even flesh, with his calm appearance and his distant eyes.
You've never seen the warrior-priest look offended but he is now, totally aghast. "I would /never/ harm her! I see that we do not indeed know each other. Nor would I do anything to /lead/ to harming her." Okay, he has been thinking of kidnapping her and smuggling her to his home clan but it's not like he'd follow through with it... "Perhaps in your next lives, you will be granted to be together in... caste legality." the two words are said with distaste and you get the feeling he says it only for the benefit of the Lion, perhaps he's crazy enough to wish there weren't a caste system? Well, he is a warrior-priest from a weird clan of mystics, craziness is probably a given.
Surprise perhaps, or just the play of light upon his eyes, but something startles the Agni-Haidar. "It... will be as it should." It is all he can. Falling back to those words like one whose mind has been wiped clean save for those repeating ideas. "Just.. make.. sure you stay away from her. Her troubles are enough without a meddling priest such as yourself." His concern still overflows like a flood, despite his efforts to hide it.
Jaihyn snorts in anger suddenly, his offendedness growing, "I do not meddle. I was teaching her the Surahs. I do not consider that meddling, it was my duty and a pleasure. I doubt Atar himself would take kindly to her being kept away from the priesthood since she is devoted to learning more of Atarism. I would not do a thing to hurt her." he snaps, the normally calm, unruffled facade very ruffled now.
Khalil takes a step forward almost daring the priest to act. "You teach her the Surahs and yet flaunt your disdain for the caste. How can you call yourself a priest?" Once more he spits on the ground with his disgust, but for whom? "And you meddle, you seek to change how it has been for lifetimes before this. You seek to make me act by using my emotions against me. You are weak if you cannot act on which you feel. Cowering behind your robes you are just as those winged-ganikas, crying about injustice by taking no action but to whine."
Jaihyn bites down, he's already been reprimanded by his Imam for insulting Kiral on his knowledge of the Surahs. "The Surahs are all up to interpretation. Some take them to the letter, some see them in a negative light, some in a positive one. It all depends. And it all depends how you grew up, doesn't it, Imphadi? And I did not grow up like you, nor even in the main lands of the Varati. I am a Kemetian Varati. I have blonde hair and light skin and eyes. I am not like you or many other Varati but my blood is just as pure as yours. If I could put a sword through... anyway, each person has their own beliefs and they should stand by them. This does include you. I cannot change yours, just hope it were different."
Khalil laughs. "You wish my beliefs were different... perhaps all the Agni-Haidars? So when you sleep at night who would assure that you would awaken in the morning if our beliefs were so weak? Everyone has the right to live as we do, so let the murderer live. Is that what you want? And your blood means nothing to me. Shudra have more faith and more honor than you priest. You did not grow up as I did, but you should have. Perhaps then you would have a spine and I would not have to listen to your sniveling." He straightens to his full height and rests a hand upon the hilt of his sword.
Jaihyn sighs, "Oh go ahead." he says, lifting his hands away from his waist, almost in a 'on the cross' type move. "If you're so eager to rid the world of me, go ahead."
Khalil laughs. "And deprive the world of your ugly face? I think not. My soul will not carry the shame of your death. If you wish to move on to the next life find another who will indulge your weakness."
Jaihyn snorts, folding his arms across his chest, "As you wish, Khalil." using the name without any title. It's hard to tell if it's on purpose or not. He's not rising to the Lion's bait, but he can throw in a little of his own, if it was on purpose....
If it insults Khalil he does not show it. Instead he just folds his arms over his chest and without a bow moves toward the gates of Atesh-Gah. "I will say a prayer for you when you die..." He laughs softly.
Jaihyn grins suddenly, "Thank you, I will consider that an honor." he sounds quite sincere and moves off towards the market place after a small bow.
Khalil just grunts and passes through the gates, leaving the priest to his own destinations. Khalil passes between the heavy stone pillars that flank the entrance to Atesh-Gah. Khalil has left.
******************
Jaihyn
He is a tall man, over six feet but not by much, muscled but somehow he seems rather willowy and lanky. Unlike others of his Varati race, he has much lighter bronzed skin than most. Also incongruous to the others is the mop of mostly curly, sort of short, red-blonde hair and the flint grey eyes that don't miss much at all. He does have the sharp, chiseled Varati features to his face however, giving him a slightly predatory cast. All in all, he could be called handsome. He is dressed entirely in red. His loose, flowing pants are tied up at just below the knees and at the ankles, still giving him movement while not being in the way. His upper thigh length tunic is tightened with a heavy, tooled leather belt upon which several pouches hang on the left side. It's hard to tell if this tunic is long sleeved or has no sleeves as over all of this he wears a thick red cloak with a 'mandarin' style collar that he keeps snapped around his throat. He wears simple sandals almost in the tone of the caligae of the Empyreans without the straps crossing up his ankles. Beneath the cloak, there is an odd bulky shape on his right hip. He appears to be in his mid-twenties.
Carrying:
Sword
Back to the Jaihyn Log page!
Back to the main Jaihyn page!
Back to the home page!
ŠJune 1999
Get your own Free Home Page