I look around in confusion. What was that about a half-elf? What would one be doing this close to Snamish?
"There is," she said. "A small town called Roquiel, no more than an hour's drive from here. We should be able to find something there, but I have to warn you: the natives aren't particularly friendly."
Great... more unfriendly people. I keep my mouth shut - and try to figure out what all this means.
Umbertiel
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Graybeard
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Re: Umbertiel
"I'm sure they'll warm up to us in no time."
"I don't think it's going to be quite that simple," Sister Rose demurred, as a moment from her past came rushing back into her consciousness. [OOC: Warning: backstory ahead... /OOC:]
Ten years ago:
"Honey, why are we meeting your parents here?" Captain Rose Nuria-Lucas asked her brand-new husband.
Lieutenant Kenny Lucas smiled at his beautiful young wife, patted her hand, kissed her cheek. (More serious kissing would come later.) "Don't worry, everything will be fine," he said, not exactly answering her question, a fact that she chose not to call to his attention, not yet.
He looked absolutely smashing in his military dress uniform, Rose thought. He'd insisted that she wear hers, too, and both had medals on their tunics recognizing their "conspicuous valor" in the Albigenish Incident -- not that a single other person in this small town of Roquiel would be likely to know what the medals meant, or where Albigenish was and why there had been an "incident" there. That made some sense; the army cap served, among other things, to conceal Kenny's half-elven ears, ears that Rose had found titillatingly sexy from the moment she'd laid eyes on them ... but also ears that might draw unwanted attention. Why that attention would be unwanted, to be sure, was something Rose didn't fully understand yet, and wouldn't until many years later, although she'd had a glimpse of the ... issues ... about half elves at Albigenish. Anyway, she understood (or so she thought).
Another advantage of the outfits, she thought while they waited for the Lucas family (and for the rather surly, tardy human waiter to bring their drinks), was that the small towns of Veracia tended to get excited about the military. Patriotism was never more alive and well than in places like Roquiel. In many small towns in northern Veracia, people sporting uniforms like their own would find it literally impossible to buy a beer; the moment they pulled out their money to place the order, some ancient townsman would hobble over, push it back to them, insist on buying the drinks himself, and proceed to regale them both with tales of his service in Our Lord Luminosita's Army against the godless heathens from Tsuiraku. Down here, of course, Rose had no intention of getting that kind of obsequious treatment -- which was good, because she wasn't getting it. Still, showing the Luminositan colors could only help in such a place. Couldn't it?
The newlywed officers were still a bit naive in their own ways, though.
Something didn't feel completely right about the way the innkeeper had welcomed them, nor about the way the heavy-set, sweating young man had looked at them as he took the drink order. In later years, Rose would realize that she herself had been part of the problem; men in military uniform got preferential treatment all over Veracia, but women just didn't wear such things, particularly not the uniform of an officer. If she'd shown up in farm-wife threads, preferably pregnant, they'd have made a perfectly acceptable couple, she would come to understand. Well, she couldn't do that. And besides, there was something else about the place, an undercurrent of hostility that she wouldn't fully grasp until ten years later, when an unexpected traveling companion told her about Tytrian's Uprising.
Kenny caught her uneasiness, though. "Really, honey, it'll be okay," he repeated, with another kiss and a smile. "We always make introductions to the families of -- our town in places like this. You know they're skittish about saying too much about the place." (The kiss didn't distract Rose from the realization that Kenny wasn't going to name Snamish, nor from the observation that he hadn't said even this much until the traffic around them had cleared and they were alone.) "Just good security. Sometimes I think they pick places like this one on purpose for the introductions, places that have just a little hostility to them." He chuckled. "I almost wonder if we cultivate a little of that surliness ourselves, to keep the townsfolk from asking too many prying questions."
(Ten years later, Rose would look back on that line, and think, you know, it's probably not beyond Drusia to manage that ... but that thought was still years in the future.)
Kenny was starting to say something else, when he looked up, and his face lit up with pleasure. "They're here!" he said, drawing his bride's attention to an approaching quartet: a very tall man whom she'd seen before at the farmhouse, a shorter woman that she hadn't, and two similarly unfamiliar girls, one possibly in her mid-teens and the other younger ...
... Not one of whom looked any happier to see her than the disagreeable people of Roquiel did.
======
"No, I don't think it'll be that simple at all," she repeated almost to herself, as another farmer (this one fully human, as far as she could tell) passed them on the road, showing no more signs of welcoming them than the previous one had.
"I don't think it's going to be quite that simple," Sister Rose demurred, as a moment from her past came rushing back into her consciousness. [OOC: Warning: backstory ahead... /OOC:]
Ten years ago:
"Honey, why are we meeting your parents here?" Captain Rose Nuria-Lucas asked her brand-new husband.
Lieutenant Kenny Lucas smiled at his beautiful young wife, patted her hand, kissed her cheek. (More serious kissing would come later.) "Don't worry, everything will be fine," he said, not exactly answering her question, a fact that she chose not to call to his attention, not yet.
He looked absolutely smashing in his military dress uniform, Rose thought. He'd insisted that she wear hers, too, and both had medals on their tunics recognizing their "conspicuous valor" in the Albigenish Incident -- not that a single other person in this small town of Roquiel would be likely to know what the medals meant, or where Albigenish was and why there had been an "incident" there. That made some sense; the army cap served, among other things, to conceal Kenny's half-elven ears, ears that Rose had found titillatingly sexy from the moment she'd laid eyes on them ... but also ears that might draw unwanted attention. Why that attention would be unwanted, to be sure, was something Rose didn't fully understand yet, and wouldn't until many years later, although she'd had a glimpse of the ... issues ... about half elves at Albigenish. Anyway, she understood (or so she thought).
Another advantage of the outfits, she thought while they waited for the Lucas family (and for the rather surly, tardy human waiter to bring their drinks), was that the small towns of Veracia tended to get excited about the military. Patriotism was never more alive and well than in places like Roquiel. In many small towns in northern Veracia, people sporting uniforms like their own would find it literally impossible to buy a beer; the moment they pulled out their money to place the order, some ancient townsman would hobble over, push it back to them, insist on buying the drinks himself, and proceed to regale them both with tales of his service in Our Lord Luminosita's Army against the godless heathens from Tsuiraku. Down here, of course, Rose had no intention of getting that kind of obsequious treatment -- which was good, because she wasn't getting it. Still, showing the Luminositan colors could only help in such a place. Couldn't it?
The newlywed officers were still a bit naive in their own ways, though.
Something didn't feel completely right about the way the innkeeper had welcomed them, nor about the way the heavy-set, sweating young man had looked at them as he took the drink order. In later years, Rose would realize that she herself had been part of the problem; men in military uniform got preferential treatment all over Veracia, but women just didn't wear such things, particularly not the uniform of an officer. If she'd shown up in farm-wife threads, preferably pregnant, they'd have made a perfectly acceptable couple, she would come to understand. Well, she couldn't do that. And besides, there was something else about the place, an undercurrent of hostility that she wouldn't fully grasp until ten years later, when an unexpected traveling companion told her about Tytrian's Uprising.
Kenny caught her uneasiness, though. "Really, honey, it'll be okay," he repeated, with another kiss and a smile. "We always make introductions to the families of -- our town in places like this. You know they're skittish about saying too much about the place." (The kiss didn't distract Rose from the realization that Kenny wasn't going to name Snamish, nor from the observation that he hadn't said even this much until the traffic around them had cleared and they were alone.) "Just good security. Sometimes I think they pick places like this one on purpose for the introductions, places that have just a little hostility to them." He chuckled. "I almost wonder if we cultivate a little of that surliness ourselves, to keep the townsfolk from asking too many prying questions."
(Ten years later, Rose would look back on that line, and think, you know, it's probably not beyond Drusia to manage that ... but that thought was still years in the future.)
Kenny was starting to say something else, when he looked up, and his face lit up with pleasure. "They're here!" he said, drawing his bride's attention to an approaching quartet: a very tall man whom she'd seen before at the farmhouse, a shorter woman that she hadn't, and two similarly unfamiliar girls, one possibly in her mid-teens and the other younger ...
... Not one of whom looked any happier to see her than the disagreeable people of Roquiel did.
======
"No, I don't think it'll be that simple at all," she repeated almost to herself, as another farmer (this one fully human, as far as she could tell) passed them on the road, showing no more signs of welcoming them than the previous one had.
Because old is wise, does good, and above all, kicks ass.
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Drannin
- Prince of Space
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Re: Umbertiel
Argus sighed. "Whatever the case may be, we'll just have to face it, and deal with it."
Though that is certainly easier said than done.
Though that is certainly easier said than done.
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Graybeard
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Re: Umbertiel
"Whatever the case may be, we'll just have to face it, and deal with it."
"I hope you're right," Sister Rose muttered, unconvinced. There'd been three or four more farmers passing on the road, and they all had that same sullen, passive hostility to them. Nor had things following her first meeting with the Lucas family exactly suggested that Roquiel would be welcoming ...
It looks about the same as ten years ago, she thought as they reached the small town. The thought was directed not only at the town itself, but at the tavern at its center. It had been the only place in town to get something to eat when Rose was here before; so it appeared to be now. The townsfolk eyeing the wagon as it pulled up in front of the place could easily have been exactly the same people as back then, too, just ten years older and more beaten down.
Inside, however, was a surprise.
Sitting over in one corner, and surrounded by a vast mound of food (Rose had to admit, the place had served fairly decent fare, in a "farm" kind of way) and tankards, was a man who looked quite different from the townsfolk. He was dressed in the kind of outfit one might expect of a prosperous merchant, and he was volubly holding forth for three more conventionally dressed men, two of them looking like they might actually be from the area (albeit the limited merchant class rather than farmers) ... while the third one had that Millenarian look to him.
The two upper-crust (for Roquiel, anyway) Veracians looked suspiciously at the door as Rose and Argus came through, then turned back to their plates without a word. The maybe-Millenarian took a long moment to study the newcomers, as though trying to remember (or memorize) a face, before doing the same. The trader's reaction was entirely different. He blinked, twice, then raised a ham hock in a beefy hand (not to mix metaphors...) above his ample belly, as a big smile spread across his face.
"Argie!" he bellowed. "Argie Cleiviein! Be that really you, you old reprobate of a Tsoo-rakyan? What be ye doin' here? The last time I be seein' yez, ye be beltin' down the brews wit' me in that cruddy bar what be in Kee-yoky! Good times, but it be half a big world away..."
Now it was Rose's turn to blink. <"Exactly who, or what, is that?"> she said in Argus' mind.
"I hope you're right," Sister Rose muttered, unconvinced. There'd been three or four more farmers passing on the road, and they all had that same sullen, passive hostility to them. Nor had things following her first meeting with the Lucas family exactly suggested that Roquiel would be welcoming ...
It looks about the same as ten years ago, she thought as they reached the small town. The thought was directed not only at the town itself, but at the tavern at its center. It had been the only place in town to get something to eat when Rose was here before; so it appeared to be now. The townsfolk eyeing the wagon as it pulled up in front of the place could easily have been exactly the same people as back then, too, just ten years older and more beaten down.
Inside, however, was a surprise.
Sitting over in one corner, and surrounded by a vast mound of food (Rose had to admit, the place had served fairly decent fare, in a "farm" kind of way) and tankards, was a man who looked quite different from the townsfolk. He was dressed in the kind of outfit one might expect of a prosperous merchant, and he was volubly holding forth for three more conventionally dressed men, two of them looking like they might actually be from the area (albeit the limited merchant class rather than farmers) ... while the third one had that Millenarian look to him.
The two upper-crust (for Roquiel, anyway) Veracians looked suspiciously at the door as Rose and Argus came through, then turned back to their plates without a word. The maybe-Millenarian took a long moment to study the newcomers, as though trying to remember (or memorize) a face, before doing the same. The trader's reaction was entirely different. He blinked, twice, then raised a ham hock in a beefy hand (not to mix metaphors...) above his ample belly, as a big smile spread across his face.
"Argie!" he bellowed. "Argie Cleiviein! Be that really you, you old reprobate of a Tsoo-rakyan? What be ye doin' here? The last time I be seein' yez, ye be beltin' down the brews wit' me in that cruddy bar what be in Kee-yoky! Good times, but it be half a big world away..."
Now it was Rose's turn to blink. <"Exactly who, or what, is that?"> she said in Argus' mind.
Because old is wise, does good, and above all, kicks ass.
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Jack Rothwell
- Teller of Tales
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Re: Umbertiel
Eli unlimbered himself from the cart and dropped to the ground fairly frying in the crosshairs of the townsfolk staring in his direction. The half-elf caught himself wishing that he'd thought to bring a bandanna or something to conceal the tips of his ears with so he wouldn't feel as self-conscious. The armour wasn't helping matters either. The guard made a promise to himself to change into something less conspicuous at the next opportunity, and then followed the rest of the group into the tavern.
'Cheerful as the plague, this place...' He thought.
'Cheerful as the plague, this place...' He thought.
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Sareth
- RPG All-Star
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Re: Umbertiel
Lillith blinked three times at the sudden boisterous greeting. Her thoughts were jarred away from finding a nice salad to dig into and she turned towards Argus. "Father? You know this man?"
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Drannin
- Prince of Space
- Posts: 1350
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Re: Umbertiel
Argus froze, his expression like that of a deer staring at a pair of magical lanterns. The color drained from his face, and he uttered a small cry of dismay, somewhere between a groan and a scream, so quiet that it was nearly inaudible except to those standing right next to him.
"Um... Boss?" Harker asked, confused.
"Argie!" Dess Marson bellowed again, "C'mon over so's I ken seeya better!" His bearded face had the same smile Argus remembered from so long ago, albeit the image was sharper on account of Argus being sober now. Not entirely willing, he made his way ginger way over to Marson's table.
"Um... hello, Dess... it's been a while..."
Marson sprang to his feet and began pumping Argus' hand so hard that he was afraid it would fall off. "Argie, ye dunno how good 'tis ta see a familiar face 'round here!" An enthusiastic slap to the shoulder nearly knocked Argus to the ground. "An' so spiffy!" Marson took in Argus clothing approving. "It does this old sod's heart right good te see ya doin' so well!" And then, as a topper, Dess Marson grabbed Argus into an enthusiastic bear-hug.
Mortified, Argus looked over at his companions. <"Help.">
"Um... Boss?" Harker asked, confused.
"Argie!" Dess Marson bellowed again, "C'mon over so's I ken seeya better!" His bearded face had the same smile Argus remembered from so long ago, albeit the image was sharper on account of Argus being sober now. Not entirely willing, he made his way ginger way over to Marson's table.
"Um... hello, Dess... it's been a while..."
Marson sprang to his feet and began pumping Argus' hand so hard that he was afraid it would fall off. "Argie, ye dunno how good 'tis ta see a familiar face 'round here!" An enthusiastic slap to the shoulder nearly knocked Argus to the ground. "An' so spiffy!" Marson took in Argus clothing approving. "It does this old sod's heart right good te see ya doin' so well!" And then, as a topper, Dess Marson grabbed Argus into an enthusiastic bear-hug.
Mortified, Argus looked over at his companions. <"Help.">
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Graybeard
- The Heretical Admin
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Re: Umbertiel
[OOC: 
Sorry, D, but I can't resist ... /OOC:]
Sister Rose couldn't help herself.
All eyes in the tavern seemed to be on the mini-drama playing out at the table full of food, so she decided to risk turning away from the diners and using just the tiniest bit of her polymorph magic. It wasn't necessary to change her own physical appearance at all; just a minor tweak to her outfit, to conceal the insignia marking her as a nun of the Veracian Church, would do.
Thus "sanitized," she bustled over to the table, planted a quick kiss on Argus' cheek, and beamed at the merchant ... and then she put on her best rural-Veracia accent.
"Argie, honey, aint'cha gonna be introducin' your daughter and me?" she grinned, hoping the man didn't just drop dead on the spot.
I believe there is precedent for the term "gream" to describe this small cry of dismay, which Argus seems good at producing.Argus wrote:Argus froze, his expression like that of a deer staring at a pair of magical lanterns. The color drained from his face, and he uttered a small cry of dismay, somewhere between a groan and a scream, so quiet that it was nearly inaudible except to those standing right next to him.
Sorry, D, but I can't resist ... /OOC:]Sister Rose couldn't help herself.
All eyes in the tavern seemed to be on the mini-drama playing out at the table full of food, so she decided to risk turning away from the diners and using just the tiniest bit of her polymorph magic. It wasn't necessary to change her own physical appearance at all; just a minor tweak to her outfit, to conceal the insignia marking her as a nun of the Veracian Church, would do.
Thus "sanitized," she bustled over to the table, planted a quick kiss on Argus' cheek, and beamed at the merchant ... and then she put on her best rural-Veracia accent.
"Argie, honey, aint'cha gonna be introducin' your daughter and me?" she grinned, hoping the man didn't just drop dead on the spot.
Because old is wise, does good, and above all, kicks ass.
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Porcelain Fish
- Mage/Priest War Veteran
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Re: Umbertiel
While Maduin was amused by the greeting Argus received upon his entrance, he was slightly less enthusiastic about the peck, however slight, that Rose gave the older gentleman, and behind his small, pleasant, unfailing smile, his eyes were sharp enough that they could have skinned rabbits without the animals even noticing until after the fact as he weighed every nuance of Argus' expression in his reaction.
Bryce wasn't particularly paying attention to the reunion. He was keeping a steady eye on the other diners. Some of them seemed to relax at least slightly, most returning to their own affairs, but there was one man, toward the back, watching them with narrowed eyes that gleamed darkly beneath the brim of his soft hat, tobacco smoke curling around its edge toward the rugged beams of the ceiling from the pipe in his mouth.
He had on a long, discolored jacket that might have been a respectable green once, and the folds didn't quite conceal the end of a polished walnut pistol butt at his belt. Bryce kept watch on him out of the corner of his eye and moved infinitesimally closer to Maduin, ready to knock him over and lay flat on top of him if necessary.
If there was one thing he was certain of, it was that Maduin, lovely bird though he was, had no notion that he was out of his element in tiny, rough towns like this one.
Bryce wasn't particularly paying attention to the reunion. He was keeping a steady eye on the other diners. Some of them seemed to relax at least slightly, most returning to their own affairs, but there was one man, toward the back, watching them with narrowed eyes that gleamed darkly beneath the brim of his soft hat, tobacco smoke curling around its edge toward the rugged beams of the ceiling from the pipe in his mouth.
He had on a long, discolored jacket that might have been a respectable green once, and the folds didn't quite conceal the end of a polished walnut pistol butt at his belt. Bryce kept watch on him out of the corner of his eye and moved infinitesimally closer to Maduin, ready to knock him over and lay flat on top of him if necessary.
If there was one thing he was certain of, it was that Maduin, lovely bird though he was, had no notion that he was out of his element in tiny, rough towns like this one.
Last edited by Porcelain Fish on May 13th, 2011, 1:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Sareth
- RPG All-Star
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Re: Umbertiel
Lillith was taken aback for just the briefest of moments when she heard Sister Rose put on such an accent and act. Then she got a smile that may have had a touch of teenage (tweenage?) mischief in it. She flounced up to the other side of Argus and planted a kiss on his other cheek. "Yes, daddy!" she chirped, her accent already slightly rustic. "You really must give mommy and I an introduction."