Prophecies on the Quays
A tale freshly told of the Haradrim
Zigur-Ziguran tells the fortunes of mighty Corsairs
Tuesday, March 10, 2009, 8:36 PM
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Late afternoon sunlight slants from the west, setting the merchant ships in the main docks into sharp relief. Civil war has disputed much within the city, but the ports scarcely show it.
From the causeway, backlit by the western sun, walks a trio of Corsairs. The tallest is richly clad in reds and golds - Azradi anAzulada. \"I wish this were resolved,\" she says to one of her companions, another corsair woman. \"My preference is to just slit his throat and be done with it. But until we speak to Alphros, it cannot be.\"
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A bent form comes along the docks. He walks slowly gripping a black staff. His black robes shadow his form. A croaking voice as dry as dust cries, \"Alms! alms! your fortune for alms!\"
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\"Oh Azradi. You are sister to the Lord. Do you not think if you paid him a visit, you couldn\'t find an excuse why he shouldn\'t be killed outright? Just be a little lax with the free weaponry, let him get one...that is all the excuse you\'d need. Alphros might be peeved, but he\'d forgive you quickly, I think.\" This second speaker is Su\'ad, another Captain of Corsairs judging by her dress. The man crying for alms grabs her curiousity, and she stares at him as the two approach.
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The black-robed figure draws nearer, \"Alms! Alms for the poor! Your fortune for alms!\"
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\"It is tempting,\" grins Azradi, wickedly. Upon sight of the beggar, she slows. \"Su\'ad, you must get your fortune told. I did the other day, it was most fascinating.\"
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The cloaked man stops in front of Azradi and Su\'ad. He looks at Azradi and croaks, \"Zigur-Ziguran greets the Pirate Princess. Did she gain her pearl yet or is Zigur-Ziguran too soon?\"
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\"Oh really? What if it is a bad fortune. Would I get my money back?\" she asks in a light tone, and breaks away from her companions to slow, then stop, digging out a copper, then a second. \"Here you go, Grandfather,\" she says, paying him both coins.
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\"You are too soon,\" smiles Azradi. \"No pearls have come my way.\" She falls silent then, watching the man expectantly after Su\'ad crosses his palm with payment.
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Zigur-Ziguran takes the coins and says, \"The gods bless ye Lady.\"
He then pulls the hood off his head and his strange eyes look into Su\'ad\'s.
\"Zigur-Ziguran must look at the smoke to see the Lady\'s fortune.\"
He cackles and sits cross-legged on the dock and reaches into his cloak. He pulls out a small bag and says, \"The Lady must sit in front of Zigur-Ziguran so he may see.\"
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Su\'ad seems dubious, and gives Azradi a glance of askance for a moment, before she gets down onto the ground in front of the old man, crossing and folding her legs meticulously. \"I\'ll bet you didn\'t have /her/ sit on the ground...\" she mumbles.
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Jugartha, the name alone inspires fear in the black hearts of small inoffensive animals the world over, his bootheel the terror of the cockaroach species. His hands known by all mosquitos as the winged death. And his gaseous emissions have been known to paralyze entire colonies of termites. But today, today the Southerner is enjoying only a bowl of twice baked beans and salt pork. His spoon evidently broken, so from his perch just outside of the Cutter he scoops some up into the palm of his hand to chew the overcooked fiber and with an almighty struggle manages to swallow a bite.
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Azradi grins at Su\'ad and squats down to watch at a polite distance.
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Zigur-Ziguran cackles and says, \"Each who come to Zigur-Ziguran are different. For her it was her palm. Yet Zigur-Ziguran knows that for this Lady we must propitiate with the smoke.\"
The Seer then opens the bag and from within he takes out some black powder. This he makes a small pyramid of so that it is between him and Su\'ad.
He then takes out a piece of flint and strikes it so that a spark catches into the powder... it sparkles for a moment and then a great deal of black smoke rises... seemingly not with the wind. The black turns grey and blue as the Seer looks at the smoke and through it into the eyes of Su\'ad.
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Wrapped in silks, her face veiled as she is wont to do of late, the Corsair Alimah makes her way along the docks. Having to pass by the small group now gathered near the Seer, she pauses, watching and listening. The smallest incline of her head is given to Azradi.
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Su\'ad seems dubious, and gives Azradi a glance of askance for a moment, before she gets down onto the ground in front of the old man, crossing and folding her legs meticulously. \"I\'ll bet you didn\'t have /her/ sit on the ground...\" she mumbles.
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\"Hrrmmm,\" mutters the Seer. \"In dark of night, the hills are black, even in the stormy sea. Smoke rises, fires burn, babes wail in the night. Down, down, to Pelargir town. Thither are fortunes made. Remember Lady of the Sea, to bear the crooked sword that day for on the one hand fortunes shall be made, on the other shall her doom be seen. So says Zigur-Ziguran.\"
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Su\'ad winces and curls up her nose as the acrid smell of smoke tickles her nose, but she purses her lips and gazes through the smoke at the seer. Her mouth falls agape as the fortune is told, and she is stunned for a moment, silently wording her repetition to commit it to memory. \"What does it mean, old man?\" she finally whispers, glancing up briefly at Azradi.
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Spooning the beans into his mouth as he watches the little scene taking place before him. Casting aside the bowl at his feet and wiping his hands on his pants. Jugartha manages a smile, picking at his teeth with one fingernail, leaning in to listen closely to the tales that are told, with the smoke obscuring his vision. Standing up he wanders over to the edge of the water and splashing his face and hands before finally turning back to watch the ongoing preceedings.
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Still grinning, Azradi shakes her head when Su\'ad glances her way. She rises then, returning Alimah\'s silent greeting with similar one of her own. Her gaze shifts to the Cutter for a moment and the large black man seated outside of it.
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\"Lies and twisted tales and words to make you shrink in fear, when the Seer sees the cloudy future no better than you or I,\" Alimah answers in a voice made tart by skepticism. \"A lucky guess, knowledge of who you are or what you might likely face.. but meaning...that you bring to it yourself.\"
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\"Zigur-Zigaran only sees,\" says the Seer. \"The Lady would know best how to read his words. For if he were to say do this or do that, then the fates would be twisted.\"
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\"I see.\" Su\'ad says, glancing up at Alimah and nodding a knowing nod. Then she looks once more to the wizened. \"Does each person have only one fortune?\"
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\"Nay,\" says the Seer. \"For fortunes change when decisions are made. Man\'s fate by the gods is not immovable. Zigur-Ziguran says that only if the path that is shown to the Lady is followed will it be so.\"
You paged Azradi with \'oh I mean I just want to do a scene where I get to read some inner organs. :) Like the Romans and Etruscans\'.
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Su\'ad blinks. \"My path is laid before me, I feel. Even if the doom you fortell lies at the end, I must walk the path I see.\" She pauses for a moment more, then unfolds her legs to rise up off the ground. \"Do you have a benefactor, Grandfather?\"
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\"My brother is fond of consulting the oracles,\" Azradi replies, looking away from the black man to rest her gaze on Alimah. \"Evidently, many do come true. This Old Father read me my fortune the other day - time will tell.\"
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Grinning, the anAzulada gently nudges Su\'ad and gestures to Jugartha.
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Jugartha tilts his head to one side, a smile on his lips \"So if we don\'t do anything, at all, ever, then this man is never wrong?\" a shake of his head at that and wiping his palms on his hips as he slowly meanders back towards the entrance of the Cutter, the Corsair bar relatively still at this time of day. Settling back onto the stones beneath a window and pulling a small steel comb from his pocket he begins to fix his beautiful hair.
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\"Ah, your brother.\" Alimah gives a quick glance to the Seer, considering. \"Perhaps another time for me. But what was the fortune read to you?\" she asks Azradi. \"As cryptic as the one we just heard?\"
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\"Zigur-Ziguran\'s benefactor is the gods,\" says the Seer. \"For many a year did he sit alone in the desert. There he propitiated with Fate. Yet now they tell Zigur-Ziguran to come here. His words are his words, for he has the gift. It was bestowed upon him.\"
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Su\'ad glances in the direction of Azradi\'s nudge, but she pauses to hear the old man\'s answer. \"Well, perhaps the gods will tell you to come see me again, as I can use all the guidance I can get.\" she answers, then moves closer to Jugartha, \"Hello...\" she says, eyeing the way he teases his hair out. It\'s hard not to stare. \"You seem...more like your old self today.\"
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Tilting her head, Azradi considers Alimah\'s question for a moment. \"Cryptic? No, but it was unclear in places and very clear in others.\"
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Zigur-Ziguran rises from his seat and picks up his staff. He slowly begins to hobble away, \"Alms! Alms! Alms to read the fates!\"
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\"Clear?\" A moment of considering, and then Alimah turns after the Seer. \"Perhaps I will have you read my fortune after all,\" she calls to him, pulling out a coin. \"Though I will not sit in silks.\"
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Zigur-Ziguran pauses and then turns around. He looks carefully at Alimah.
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Zigur-Ziguran approaches and stretches out his gnarled hand to the Alimah.
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Moved out of the way now, Su\'ad comes to a stop next to Jugartha and turns to watch the old man and Alimah together. She smiles and leans back against the outer wall of the cutter, folding her arms.
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The coin is deposited in the old man\'s hand with a quick nod of her head. One hand still holds Alimah\'s veil over her face, her eyes only showing.
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With interest, Azradi watches the interaction between Alimah and the old seer.
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The would-be prophet puts the coins away and then says, \"The Lady must give Zigur-Ziguran her hand.\"
He outstretches his hand again.
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Jugartha glances over at Su\'ad. \"Of course I\'m myself, who else should I be? As far as I can tell, I\'ve been myself my entire life. Though I admit the first few years are a bit blurry, so I might have been someone else at that point. You\'d have to ask my mother.\" offering the corsair his comb as he tugs a knot from his hair, ripping the hair from his skull and tossing it into the bay where it floats like a skinny drowned spider. \"Who is this man?\"
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Silently, Alimah offers her hand, but not the one that holds her scarf about her face as a veil.
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Zigur-Ziguran takes the hand and studies it saying, \"Strong lines this one has. Zigur-Ziguran....\"
He looks hard at Alimah, \"Yes, she is a woman... Zigur-Ziguran was confused...\"
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Though the rest of her face is hidden, Alimah\'s eyes blink in surprise at the remark...and there is a hint of color that comes to her face.
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The Seer then says, \"Zigur-Ziguran sees thus: This woman not to marry is she. For if she chooses thus to do, then surely shall it bring woe upon her. On the one hand fame and fortune, on the other a cage. So speaks Zigur-Ziguran.\"
\"For she is the Man-Fated.\"
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\"Some old man...who tells fortunes for money.\" Su\'ad answers muttering low, waving away the offer of the comb with one hand. She swears she sees hair clinging to it. \"I\'d give him alms just to help him eat...the fortune is just an added bonus.\" She smiles at him. \"And no...I could have sworn that when I met you...well nevermind.\"
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\"That is the fortune of any woman who truly seeks the path of the Corsair,\" remarks Azradi, nodding her head in approval.
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\"It is,\" Alimah says, though she also jerks her hand back abruptly and stares at the Seer with wide eyes.
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A shrug of his shoulders as he picks at his hair one last time as he places it back under his cloak. \"I should have him read my fortune. The old shamans preferred to kill himself then give me my fortunes.\" tilting his head to one side as he looks on, not bothering to mute himself from his perch near the waters side. \"So what in the end did he tell you?\"
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Zigur-Ziguran looks back at Alimah with his strange eyes for a moment and says, \"Zigur-Ziguran says have a good day. We shall meet again at the sacrifice.\"
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Zigur-Ziguran turns and begins to hobble along the docks again, \"Alms! Alms to read your fortune!\"
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Azradi grins at Alimah, \"The question is: How did he know it was your path?\"
\"It doesn\'t matter if he has some special gift from the gods or he is simply astute - the fortune remains true and knowledge of it beneficial.\"
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\"I do not know, yet my father expects me within the hour to discuss this very matter,\" Alimah answers, sounding rather spooked. \"Farewell. I still have to make the decision we spoke of, and will shortly.\" She hurries off.
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\"Well, I suppose I could have the interpretation wrong, but they say that only I can interpret my fortune...so it must be right! He said that one day when I am in Pelargir, I should be sure to wield a sword, which will bring great fortune. But I will also see my doom...which means either I will die...or perhaps it will bode the beginning of my decline.\" Su\'ad stares at Alimah and the seer and listens to their exchanges ostensibly.
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A shake of his head, hair swaying for several moments after he stops. Jugartha nods his head \"Well if you are ever in Pelargir, I would hope you\'d be armed. It would be stupid to land at that port without weaponry. The Pale Skins are a cruel and unforgiving people. So perhaps the weapon will be needed, a fortune to be made, as to your doom. Perhaps you will be struck on the head with a paving stone?\" checking his fingernails, buffing them on the front of his robes. \"I don\'t know really. If any action or word can change the future, isn\'t the fact that what we\'re speaking of now simply changing your future? If you know already that you need your sword when invading the stonelands, well, just invade with your eyes closed, that way you will not see your doom.\"
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\"Good luck, Alimah!\" Azradi calls out to the spooked Corsair. She turns then, and walks over to join Su\'ad and Jugartha. \"I think \'doom\' just refers to a strong fate, not a dire one - though one\'s fate could be dire.\"
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Su\'ad laughs a dark chuckle at Jugartha\'s interpretation. \"I\'ll be sure to wear a helmet.\" She watches the old man move away and then adds, \"Of course, it is no stretch to guess what I do, and it is no stretch to guess I would go to Pelargir. And fortune and doom can come down at any second during battle, so his bet was hedged.\" She pauses for a second. \"But that doesn\'t mean it is not my future.\" Now Su\'ad looks directly at Azradi. \"But I disagee. I think doom would be a negative fate. Fortune would be a positive fate.\"
\"Then perhaps the meaning was meant for your understanding,\" Azradi replies with a shrug of her shoulders. She takes her seat next to Su\'ad and stretches her long legs out with contented sigh.
Kicking a pebble off the end of the harbor and watching it sink, the ripples vanishing in the lap of the waves up against the ancient stonework at the bay. \"Well, next time you\'re sent off to Pelargir, I\'ll kidnap you first, spare you from fortune and doom.\" He looks at the other woman and bows his head \"You\'ve made a remarkable recovery Princess. Most people don\'t get over being dead. But I suppose in this as in all other ways, you\'re exceptional.\"
Su\'ad just laughs at Jugartha\'s promise, and even harder at his comment to Azradi. \"How about if I just try to avoid Pelargir? Would that suffice? Here...lets go inside. I\'d like to hear what fortune he predicted for you, /Princess/.\"
\"Thank you, my good man,\" Azradi smirks, nodding her head graciously - as if he\'d just complimented her dress at a grande fete. \"And in my curious recovery, we have Su\'ad\'s doom and fortune mix. As she reckons, it was my doom to be assassinated but my good fortune that he was incompetent.\"
She rises, glancing to the other corsair woman. \"I would prefer to tell you in private.\"
A shake of his head at that, Jugartha scratches at the side of his face. A nod of his head \"I\'m not sure Su\'ad, after all you might still be tempted to see your fortune. It\'s alluring that glimmer of gold. So pretty....\" he shrugs and then watches as the other woman rises to her feet \"That\'s fine, you shouldn\'t trust me princess, after all, your brother seems to think I\'m a bit of a fool. Despite my best efforts to change his mind, he doesn\'t seem to have a sense of humor.\"
\"Well, if my fortune and doom is anything like yours, then I should hold on to hope, and not fear to meet my fortune with eyes open. But you are right...to avoid Pelargir just because of a soothsayers intonations is to severely hamper my ability to fulfill my destiny.\" She pauses a bit, listening to Jugartha\'s account of Alphros\' estimation of him. \"He thinks you a fool? Why would that be, Jugartha?\" Her sarcasm is thin, but it is still there.
\"Trust? No, it is for privacy. My fate is entwined with another.\" Azradi replies, waiting for the others to rise as suggested. \"You must remember that Lord Rat is...a lord. His sense of humor is lordly and capricious - it can end abruptly along with his forbearance.\"
Shoulders roll, waves crash and salty spray washes across the docks, thankfully a few feet down where it won\'t accidentally wash the clothing of those gathered so near unto the Cutter \"Well, keep your privacy ladies. As I\'m sure you\'re both well aware now, I don\'t intend to hide anything from anyone. I will be the most honest liar in Umbar. I\'ll leave the wicked untruths to erupt from your own two sensual mouths.\" he bows his head and winking at Su\'ad he stands up and glances at the bar. \"if you\'d prefer silence, I will go get rip roaring drunk now and see if I can\'t hunt down a willing serving wench.\"
\"If I prefered silence, I would extract it in the bowels of Farside\'s dungeon. Lets go in.\" Su\'ad says, then opens the door to go inside.
Azradi offers Su\'ad a queer look and walks past her into the tavern.