The road to Getsemiel

[Graybeard]

Sister Rose did her best to ignore the by-play involving Harker, as well as the "explanations" that Brother Timothy was getting; she knew the situation with the half elves, and while she didn't necessarily exactly approve, she'd spent enough time in Snamish (and, to be sure, other places) to know better than to sit in judgment. She turned her attention, and her mind-speech, back to Argus, as soon as he recovered first from Harker's ministrations to Eli, then from Brad's to himself.

<"I don't think I want to know what that was about ... although I can guess,"> she thought at him. <"Back to what you were saying: I'd guess human too, but that's all I can tell. That, and the fact that it looks just like the statue on the way to Stone Man Pass. It's even the same kind of rock."> She shuddered, not just in her mind, but physically. <"I'm getting glad we didn't fool around with that statue. Let's look more at this thing when we get in for the night. For now, I want to finish up this diary.">

She returned her attention to Bree's journal, doing the best she could to focus on it despite the lurching of the wagon ... and some minutes later, she quietly murmured "Aha!"

Turning to Argus, she said, "I think you should look at this ..."

[OOC: What Rose has found in the diary is in the Background Noise thread, here.]

[Drusia]

"So, ah, then, is that the elf custom, what you use where you come from?"

It occurs to me that telling this stranger about Snamish customs might be an unwise idea. Time to backpeddle.

"It is a Rinkai Erufu custom," I reply. "My mother was a full Rinkai - she raised me to her traditions." There. Now I'm unique, not part of a large hidden town of elven-goddess-worshiping half-elves.

"I shouldn't have thought a Luminosan priest would be interested in such things," I add, smiling at him. I tilt my head slightly to the side, gracefully displaying my neck and cleavage. He seems flustered - problably best to keep him that way lest he thinks too much and asks more awkward questions.

-- Desiree

[Alberich]

Tim swallowed hard. The problem was, babbling and asking awkward questions was his preferred way of not thinking -

"Ah, uh, what's a Rinkai Error-fu...what you said? I mean, it's, ah, good to know their customs and all, in case we're travelling and we meet them or something, so I don't want to, you know, say the wrong thing. Sort of thing. Thing. Start a scene. That's what I don't want to do." He was thinking about Eli in the inn again. "I mean, wherever you go, it's a good idea to know what people are talking about, and where the lines are."

A strategist watching his face closely could map out an epic conflict between the "look" demon and the "don't-look" demon.

[Drannin]

Argus nodded grimly at the information. <"So everyone was in the dark about what happened there. And it was enough to turn stomachs. But what could cause Bree to become afraid? The woman seemed to absolutely delight in aggressive investigations.">

[Sareth]

Lillith snorted. "Oh, I wouldn't worry too much. If we see any Rinkai Erufu the proper response is to run. Very fast. The other way." Her expression looked quite sour. "Though I suppose you really don't have anything to worry about. Elves merely look down on humans."

At the look that immediately got her from Desiree Lillith hesitated a moment then sighed. "Alright, maybe one or two elves aren't maniacs." In a blatant bid to change the subject she bent over and looked at the pictures Harker had handed Eli. She casually reached over, grab a shovel that had been laying in the bed of the wagon, then gave Harker a solid whack with it. "These are pretty good," she commented.

Still under the shovel, Harker gave a thumbs up. "Thanks."

[Jack Rothwell]

Eli shook his head as the lewd images in his hand and the antics of the owner of the weird beastie which had handed them to him. His comment earlier to Desiree about this being 'a travelling circus' rung in his ears. Although, at least it served the purpose of distracting the half-elf from the Priestess' tormenting to newest member of the group. Eli wasn't surprised at the Brother's discomfort, Desiree had a way of turning men's brains to sludge when it suited her purpose.

"When are we leaving?" He said, changing gears with an audible clunk. "I don't think we'll be welcome much longer, strange customs or otherwise."

[Alberich]

Hearing Eli's words, Tim looked over the edge of the wagon in a moment of panic. Happily, the wagon had managed to get out of town, with Bryce and Maduin riding nearby. "We're gone already," he said, but his look conveyed sympathy. She did make it easy to forget where you were, and if he'd read the half-elf's wince correctly, that "casual" remark had not been easy on him. He looked up to remind himself whether the sky was blue.

He wanted to ask more about these "Rinkai Erufu" - from Lillith's comment he gathered they were a breed of elf - things like how to recognize them when you see them, or what their other customs were. The "disdain" for humans did not surprise him, given his traditional view of the Elven Captivity.

But Lillith had come through when he needed help, had maybe saved his life in the barn, and had shown more kindness to his fellow-townsfolk than anyone else in this group. If she wanted to change the subject, then he would honor that wish. He caught only the tiniest glimpse of the pictures they were passing around, and looked away fast. Well, he couldn't change the subject to that. So he asked about how Harker had survived Lillith's blow. Maybe that would lead to a different conversation, on a nice, boring topic that would eat up the miles and take his mind off the "scenery." If not, he'd volunteer to drive for a while...horses' rear ends would be a nice, safe, unalluring kind of view.

[Drusia]

"Oh, I wouldn't worry too much. If we see any Rinkai Erufu the proper response is to run. Very fast. The other way." Her expression looked quite sour. "Though I suppose you really don't have anything to worry about. Elves merely look down on humans."
At the look that immediately got her from Desiree Lillith hesitated a moment then sighed. "Alright, maybe one or two elves aren't maniacs."

I give Lillith a wary nod - I know she and my mother don't see eye to eye, so I'm actually rather pleased to hear her acknowledge that my mother is different.

I turn back towards Brother Tim.

"Lillith is quite correct," I tell him. "If we encounter any elves, we will be running for our lives. Some elves would spare a half-elf's human companions. Not all." I smile at Brother Tim. "So there's no need to learn their customs. And I think you'll find each of us here -" I nod to Lillith and Eli "- are all quite different."

-- Desiree

[Alberich]

Brother Tim wondered at that - he knew that during the Captivity, elves often used humans as playthings, and seemed to enjoy having children with them. Certain aspects of elven history were a sealed book to him. However, he figured these travellers would know what to run from better than he did. It neatly brought them back to his original line of questioning.

"I'm glad to hear that...So your marital customs are like these Rinkai elves, and your killing-me-for-being-with-you customs aren't, and you worship one of their gods...where is it you do come from? And does everyone worship this Anilis there?"

[Jack Rothwell]

"Where we're from isn't important." Eli interjected, immediately trying to squash a rising tide of panic that that line of questioning invariably brought out in him.

"Our kind doesn't do well to make that kind of information available and, besides, they say Elves have long ears..." He offered as an explanation, and then laughed as the double meaning of what he'd said struck him. "...and it's true."