Kiyoka, Douaga and beyond

[Alberich]

"Well," said Tim, "Can you tell me anything about this place we're going, like what's polite there, what they think of Veracians, and what you need to know to stay out of trouble? You can never know too much about that."

Tim was only too happy to stay away from knotty questions about which other races had souls. He was quite content to leave these things to the hierarchy. He had an opinion or two about elves and half-elves but felt no call to raise them in this company. Or any other anytime soon.

[Graybeard]

[OOC: Kinda waiting to see if anyone rises to the bait at the Temple of the Divine Dwarf -- Drusia, I know it's a busy week for you -- but Tim did ask, so:]

"To most people in the Southern Continent, including Douaga, Veracia might as well be on the surface of the moon," Brother Miguel answered. "They're too busy with plain old survival to worry about life in a country a continent away. There are a lot of nasty things to deal with there -- beastly climate, weird and deadly diseases, all sorts of creatures that want to eat you, although not in Douaga, of course. And some of the religions..." He shivered again, remembering what had happened to him as a boy.

"The people are generally friendly, though. Just treat them decently, and nothing too bad will happen to you." Like being sacrificed to a tree, for example ... although that may be more of a counterexample.

[Alberich]

"Thank you," said Tim - "Are there any religions or, ah, nasty things we especially have to watch out for?"

If it was just a matter of discretion and decency, he figured he could trust Rose and himself on the streets of just about any city. Argus too, for that matter, in his dour, colorless way. But if they were bringing Harker and Desiree with them, it might be better to know just what evil reactions they'd trigger if they started pushing the limits.

[OOC: Feel free to add questions like this from Tim, and to leave out details of what he gets told that have nothing to do with the adventure. He's playing plot exposition straight man here. Also, he's going to tell the other PC's everything he learns when he gets the chance.]

[Graybeard]

This line of questioning was getting uncomfortable for Brother Miguel. He grimaced and paused before answering.

"Douaga itself doesn't have too many nasties," he said. "Rats the size of small dogs, yes, and there's something called the 'hundred-pace snake' because that's how far you can walk before keeling over if one bites you. Just stay out of the jungle and you shouldn't have trouble with them. (Probably.) Out in the wilds, well ... there are lots of things." His eyes got distant for a moment. "There is this big, lizard-like thing called a Gornch lizard, ate a playmate of mine when I was a kid. Lots of things in the northern part of the continent, too, that I don't know the names of." He shook himself. "You'd have to be crazy to want to go there, from all that I've heard. Now as for other religions... well, some of 'em are scary."

-----------

Where is everybody? Sister Rose wondered as she arrived at the inn. The rooms were unoccupied, and nobody was in the sitting room ... or at least nobody human. As she looked more closely, she noticed a small, furry form peeking out at her from behind a potted plant.

"Harker? Where did everyone go? And ... what did you learn about my sister?"

[OOC: PM heading your way shortly, D.]

[Drannin]

Harker stepped out, sketchbook in hand. "Well, Boss took the ladies off on a tour of the city. They wanted to shop, and dance, so he figured he'd show them a few places. Could probably track 'em down if you want, but they shouldn't be more'n a couple of hours. As for your sister..." Harker hesitated and sighed. His expression turned to a serious one, but not without compassion.

"Rosie, your sister hightailed it outta town. I might have been able to track her, but it woulda taken some time. Honestly, I don't think she'll be found unless she wants to be found. That said, I know some guys who are good at tracking people. Detectives, kinda. If you want, I can get a hold of them, hire them for ya. But it'll cost you. And honestly? What'll you do when you find her?"

[Graybeard]

"And honestly? What'll you do when you find her?"

That really is the question, isn't it? thought Sister Rose, and her shoulders sagged as she realized there really wasn't a good answer. Surprising herself, she reached down to pat Harker softly on his head. "Thank you," she said. "You did everything you could. But if she doesn't want to be found ... she's a grown-up." She shook her head sadly. "I'll have to tell my mother. It'll hurt, Luminosita knows it'll hurt, particularly when there was hope for a little while there. But we'll all move on. We have to." And both she and I have moved on from worse.

She started to go looking for Argus and the other women, but then stopped herself. If Harker's estimate of a couple of hours was correct, there should be time for a quick run out to a certain vineyard on the south side of town ... and another conversation with the familiar. "If you don't mind," she said, "why don't you come along with me for a while? There's an idea I'd like to bounce off you..."

[Drannin]

"Yeah, sure," Harker said with a shrug, "Why not? Actually, there's a few things I wanna talk about with you, too..."

[Graybeard]

The vineyard was much as Sister Rose remembered it, although there appeared to have been an unfortunate fire in the house next door. [OOC: This is the house that contained the low-level Gewehr goons, not the neat, tidy little house occupied by Layla and family, which survives and is the subject of what Rose sees and discusses next; also not the "decoy," derelict farm house just past the other two, although it too has been destroyed by fire. /OOC] The grapes were obviously still being tended, and if the grass had grown a bit higher around the comfortable house that served as the vineyard's base of operations than the last time Rose had seen it, well, there were more important things than a carefully tended lawn. The "FOR SALE" sign out in front had been there for a few weeks, but not unreasonably long. At least it was good that it was still there...

"This is what I wanted to show you," Rose said to Harker. "I -- I had this idea. After everything with this -- I guess I'd almost say 'quest' -- of ours finally gets worked through, I was thinking that Argus and I could take this place over, get the vineyard back in operation, settle down. We're not getting any younger, Harker. After seeing the way Mom has been able to get her life back together after Dad died, re-marrying and starting a new life and all, it just seems like we could be happy and do the same, be a family." She gulped. "Maybe raise a family.

"But you still know Argus better than I do; you've been with him a lot longer. And I think it's fair to say that in your own way, you love him -- as I do, in my own way, our own way, I hope. So I value your counsel greatly, because you want what's good for him, every bit as much as I do. What do you think? Do you think he'd be happy here?"

[Drannin]

Harker thought about it. "I think he would. Nice spot. Close to the big city, but not in it. I don't think the boss'll ever want to move back to Tsuirakushiti; Fayna's taking care of the family finances just fine, there. But this is close enough that he could keep his hand in, if he wanted to." The familiar glanced over at Rose. "That's one thing you have to realize: boss IS going to want to keep his hand in. He's been getting back up to speed, but he's going to want to help Fayna re-assert the family name, even if it's just in an advisory way. No way about it."

Harker scratched the back of his neck "Children is something you're gonna have to sit down and talk about. Boss's situation there is... well. He lost a son. He learned he had an illegitimate daughter and just made good with the other one. Having another kid is something that's gonna give him pause. That ain't to say he won't want to," Harker added in a hurry, "but he won't jump at the idea. Something to realize."

Harker hesitated and took a deep breath. "And you need to talk to him about religion. Boss is totally secular. He believes in people, and the flow of magic. That's something real to him; it's why he's always swearing by the weave of magic, it's like swearing by the mountains or the sea. He won't convert, but he can probably accept your faith. But that's something you two need to talk about. Big time." Harker gave her a significant look.

[Graybeard]

This conversation was making Sister Rose feel a great deal better ... in all ways but one, and that one surprised her. [OOC: Isn't it nice of Harker to serve as a surrogate Argus here, so the we don't have to have ... that conversation in public? /OOC]

"Thank you, Harker," she smiled gently, and reached down and patted his paw. "Those were all things, every last one of them, that I was hoping you would say. I know exactly what you mean about him keeping his hand in, and it's one of the reasons why this place is so appealing. It's far enough out of the limelight that we can live our lives, yet close enough to Tsuirakushiti that he can get back there to see Fayna and get involved in the thaumatic and technical things without too much trouble." Her smile became droll for a moment. "Somehow I still don't see him getting into the politics of the place if he can avoid it ... but yes, he'll want the Cleiviein name to be one to be honored. I'm with him on that, and I can relate: we in Veracia don't have quite the same -- status issues as Tsuiraku, but my family name, Nuria, still means a lot there in places that matter to me." Meaning the Reformed Church and the military. If it's just another priestly family in a splinter denomination to the Orthodox power brokers, that's just fine with me...

She was interrupted briefly by the whssshhh of a pod of whales breaching out in the bay -- wow, what a beautiful thing to see right out your front window -- and then continued. "As for kids ... Harker, I want a family. It's hard-wired into our genes, and my chance to have one -- before, ended too soon." She raised a hand. "It's all right, I'm finally able to deal with that. Argus is luckier that way, particularly now that he's back on good terms with his daughters. But I -- Harker, human women lose their fertility some time in their early to mid-forties. I just turned thirty-eight." She took a deep breath. "I'm running out of time."

[OOC: More of this will follow: the thing that's really bugging Rose hasn't come out yet.]