The road to Gervasiel

[Drusia]

Lillith actually laughed at this, though she did release Drusia's arm. "The Ensigerum are just a bunch of monks. My folk have..." Her eyes slid over to Drusia a moment, then away. "My folk have met a few of them. They practice some physical combat, and a few of us have learned it. It's no good in real combat, but it's good for subduing rowdy people. They're quiet people, not the sorts to destroy entire villages. They dress like monks!" She darted a look at Drusia. "It's certainly nothing to be scared of."

"Monks?" I ask, mildly baffled. "The Ensigerum was the human branch of the Viradior - they're like elite royal guards - founded back when elves and humans lived together and... you guys have no idea what I'm taking about, do you?"

"Yeah. We'll get back to that," I sigh. "The Viradior are mostly defensive, but the Ensigerum was their offensive wing. They specialized in assassinations. During the war, I went up against them a few times. I wouldn't have survived without Luna." I miss Luna. I'll have to use Maudin's Felicitous spell tonight, take another trip down memory lane.

"I have no idea how the Ensigerum might have changed over the past fifteen hundred years since the Viradior dumped them," I add, "But I sure as hell don't want to find out. I might not make it out alive this time."

-- Drusia


OOC: Did I reveal Drusia's half-elven lover/partner's name before? I can't remember....

[Graybeard]

Sister Rose didn't really want to think about what might terrify an elf.

"I think we've lingered here long enough," she said. "Let's go." She set the horses plodding forward at a slow, almost thoughtful pace. The leisurely walk wasn't so much a matter of a contemplative mood, however, as that she wasn't concentrating fully on the driving ... because there was something behind the group that she wanted to keep an eye on.

She turned back to Argus, glancing past him down the road as she spoke. "Your last question, about others out there to cause us harm, still makes me wonder," she said. "I don't think there are any more of whatever that girl is, because if there were, they'd take better care of her. My guess is that you were exactly right, and she's a refugee from the destruction of the town -- maybe the only one. She couldn't have been more than eight or nine when it happened, if I'm right about her age and the stories those two farmers told were accurate." Rose shuddered involuntarily. "Think about that -- living alone for all that time, scraping by on what she could pilfer from surrounding farms, and knowing that the entire place she'd called home had been utterly destroyed. No wonder she wouldn't interact with us. But as for others who -- ah."

Out of the corner of her eye, she'd seen what she was looking for. Behind them, there was that blur of motion again ... and when she looked back to where she'd left the clothing, it wasn't there any more.

Well, if I've done nothing else these last few days, I've at least followed Luminosita's command to clothe the poor. Now if I can only do the rest of my duties to the church and the people...

She coaxed the horses into a faster gait.

[Graybeard]

OOC: So we're at a more or less natural break point if we want to advance the action to, or at least toward, Stone Man Pass and Gervasiel. However, there is no "need" to do so. The thread isn't of unmanageable length yet, there are still conflicting interpretations (that's the polite term...) of what's been going on here, and this group always has plenty of opportunities for interesting personal dynamics. What are people's druthers? Forward toward the pass, or let the wagon move slowly along and chat? I'm OK either way. (Side note to Drusia: I find no prior mention of a "Luna." Thanks for putting the name out there.)

[Drusia]

OOC: So we're at a more or less natural break point if we want to advance the action to, or at least toward, Stone Man Pass and Gervasiel. However, there is no "need" to do so. The thread isn't of unmanageable length yet, there are still conflicting interpretations (that's the polite term...) of what's been going on here, and this group always has plenty of opportunities for interesting personal dynamics. What are people's druthers? Forward toward the pass, or let the wagon move slowly along and chat? I'm OK either way. (Side note to Drusia: I find no prior mention of a "Luna." Thanks for putting the name out there.)

OOC: **Shrug.** I could go for more here. I mean, I just very intentionally had Drusia do one of those elven "casually mentioning things as if everyone understands what she's talking about" so I kinda thought people might want to ask her questions.

[Graybeard]

[OOC:

OOC: So we're at a more or less natural break point if we want to advance the action to, or at least toward, Stone Man Pass and Gervasiel. However, there is no "need" to do so. The thread isn't of unmanageable length yet, there are still conflicting interpretations (that's the polite term...) of what's been going on here, and this group always has plenty of opportunities for interesting personal dynamics. What are people's druthers? Forward toward the pass, or let the wagon move slowly along and chat? I'm OK either way. (Side note to Drusia: I find no prior mention of a "Luna." Thanks for putting the name out there.)

OOC: **Shrug.** I could go for more here. I mean, I just very intentionally had Drusia do one of those elven "casually mentioning things as if everyone understands what she's talking about" so I kinda thought people might want to ask her questions.

OK, then more it shall be ... /OOC:]

Viradior, Sister Rose thought. Have I heard that expression before? She searched her memory of that long-ago visit to the Heretic Knowledge Vault, couldn't find it. It was obviously some kind of elven concept, but it hadn't shown up in any of the texts she'd read, at least that she could remember. Well, if Drusia wanted to talk about it, there'd be opportunities.

Brad, however, had been awakened by the changes in the motion of the wagon, and was less shy about hopping into the middle of the conversation feet first. "What's a -- was it 'Viradiator'?" he asked. "And while we're at it, what's a Luna?"

[OOC: There, a narrative hook, just for you. ]

[Drusia]

"What's a -- was it 'Viradiator'?" he asked. "And while we're at it, what's a Luna?"

I smile a little sadly. "Luna is a nickname," I tell him. "Short for Lunatari. She was my partner - we fought together during the Errant War. She was a lot better than I was, or ever will be, in a stand-up fight; watching her fight was a thing of beauty." We made a great team - she stabbed people in the front, I stabbed them in the back. Or she'd stab them in the back while I distracted them. Always good to be flexible in the planning department.

I consider answering Brad's other question, but if he'd been paying attention he'd already know that the Viradior are an elven elite royal guard unit, since I mentioned that part already. Maybe one of the others who was paying more attention can fill him in later. I'm certain the others will have more relevant questions, like about humans serving in the elven military. Besides, I'm feeling wistful at the moment, and politics is likely to kill the mood.

"She was half-elven, of Sanguen blood," I add absently, stairing off at the woods. I keep an eye out for motion, aside from panty-collection, while looking at her in my mind's eye. "If it hadn't been for the war, I might never have met her. So, there's that, I suppose."

-- Drusia

[Graybeard]

Sister Rose smiled sadly, that locked-away part of her soul hurting again. "Well, we have some things in common," she said. "After all, I fought beside a half elf that I loved, too. At least for some definitions of 'fought.' I think I can count the number of times either of us actually used a weapon in anger, or cast an offensive spell with intent to harm, on my fingers. It was more our jobs to try to find ways to get the military objective accomplished without anybody dying unnecessarily." And, if killing was necessary, to have our enlisted men do it ... although if it was dying, not killing, that had to be done, we officers certainly partook of that. "I always thought bloodless conquest was the way to win, not by just killing all the enemy. That was more our tactical doctrine." Although there was that damned colonel, and I don't use "damned" lightly in this case.

She decided to risk a question. "So does that make Kenny and me like your Viradior?" Her attention was finally back on the road and the wagon (and its occupants) ... although she still had the sensation of being watched.

[Drusia]

"I think I can count the number of times either of us actually used a weapon in anger, or cast an offensive spell with intent to harm, on my fingers. It was more our jobs to try to find ways to get the military objective accomplished without anybody dying unnecessarily. I always thought bloodless conquest was the way to win, not by just killing all the enemy. That was more our tactical doctrine."

"So does that make Kenny and me like your Viradior?"

"Not really," I reply, "The Viradior might be defensive, but they're pretty fanatical - kill first, ask questions later, that sort of thing. Not the smartest organization either, which would seem to be another difference between you and them." I smile at Rose. It takes an inteligent soldier to avoid killing. Subtle.

"Actually," I say, "You and Kenny's operations sound more like what Luna and I got up to. Albeit with less throat-slitting at the end of it."

-- Drusia

[Graybeard]

Sister Rose took note of some subtleties in what Drusia was saying. "The Viradior might be defensive, but they're pretty fanatical" -- present tense. So they're still around. And they're "fanatical." Presumably that means on the subject of half elves, among other things. She filed that information away in her memory for later use; when her time in Kiyoka ended, she'd probably get called back to Emerylon, and that would likely entail supporting some diplomatic work, possibly even involving the elves.

Well, back to the here and now. There was something about that blasted site of Leonish(?) that was still nibbling at the back of her mind. "Lillith?" she asked. "You say you were getting a sense of spirits scared, and in pain, back there. Could that have been something you were getting from that girl? Or was it from the dead? And if it was, do you have any idea how long it had been since they were alive?" I'm not going to say it out loud, but I just have this nagging feeling that we're not completely shut of that place yet...

[Sareth]

Lillith shifted and sighed. "I'm sure she was scared, and in pain of more than just the flesh. But it wasn't her I was feeling. I..." She shuddered, then leaned in as Brad immediately moved in closer. "An entire town, man, woman, and child..." She shook herself, and then her eyes widened and she whipped around to look back at the woods where the girl had been. "Six... Seven years... Years! How has she survived so long?" The half-elf woman scrambled for the side of the wagon, looking as though she were ready to throw herself out of it and scramble for the woods.

[OOC]I came to the time frame after a bit of forensic work. In this post going back to practically the start of the game, Sister Marilyn mentions her eight year old brother. Then, in a later post it is mentioned that they left a town slaughtered by the Ensigerum shortly before that slaughter, about the time Sister Marilyn and her twin, Eva, were "about ten years old." Her mother then remarried some time later. Further, it is said "and ten or so years later, here they are." Finally, in this recent post Sister Marilyn says, "we don't talk about Leonish, remember? ... It's the one that I grew up in ... the one that the cultists wiped out just after mama, Eva and I left."

Now, the dates given would put Sister Marilyn at approximately 20. ("about ten years old" plus "ten or so years later.") However, we can fudge factor things a little given that both of those were stated by the late Father Egbert, who may be approximating or be having trouble remembering accurately. Now, it seems reasonable to assume the little brother is a half brother, as he is around 12 years younger than Sister Marilyn, who left Leonish at around ten years of age. Thus, he was not born until after they left, and there is no mention of a father leaving with them. That gives us around nine years since they left, minumum. (Eight year old, nine month pregnancy, and a whirlwind courtship.) In order for the town to have been destroyed "shortly afterward" in regards to their departure we're probably looking at within the year, but we can fudge that a bit by assuming that Egbert is misremembering just how shortly afterward and add a year, maybe two. Even so, anyone thinking that six or seven years of living as a wild thing is a bit much... here's my chain of logic.[/OOC]