As we play, occasionally we'll close a thread and open a new one to keep the size of threads (and relative complexity) down to a dull roar. Here's where we store the closed posts from the history of Errant Road.
[OOC: For Rose, Lillith, and Brad, at least, it's still near sunrise, so Eli and Desiree should have plenty of time to ... themselves. /OOC:]
Even though he was the last of the trio to arrive at the garden, Brad finished his prayers before his cousin. That wasn't unreasonable; he wasn't quite as -- "devout" as Sister Rose, and he probably didn't have as much on his mind to pray about, either.
He looked up from his meditations, ready to go to his beloved's side if she was done with her own -- but before he could move, he became aware that the novice was squinting myopically at him. I've seen this kid before, he thought, but didn't think any more of it ... until the boy spoke.
"Uncle Brad? Is that you?"
Because old is wise, does good, and above all, kicks ass.
Lillith's eyes popped open. She looked over to the young man and stood, starting to walk towards Brad, then stopped. If this was a nephew of Brad, this could be a happy meeting. Or it could not. The young man hadn't mentioned Rose. This suggested to Lillith that this was a nephew through Brad's former trollop wife.
The girl turned and went to sit very quietly next to Rose, careful not to disturb the nun. She watched Brad and his nephew carefully, wanting to see which way the wind blew with this particular turn of the weather.
Puzzlement crossed Brad's face as he rummaged the cluttered attic of his memory, trying to remember who this kid was. His ex-wife had come from a large family ...
Recognition dawned. "Cedric!" he said. "I haven't seen you in a long time, you've grown up so much. What are you doing here?"
The young priest-in-training looked uncomfortable. "Learning to do the work of Our Lord Luminosita. My dad said if I wanted to be a priest, I should go somewhere a long way from Emerylon and learn what it was like out there." His facial expression said that the "learning" was not proceeding without ... issues. "So he talked to a friend, who talked to a priest, who talked to another priest, and now here I am. How about you? Where's Aunt Annie?"
Brad fought down both the pulse of anger rising in him, and the desire to go get the real love of his life and introduce her. "I'm doing Our Lord Luminosita's work too," he said, hoping it was true. "She didn't come with me." That was certainly true. "I'm traveling with my cousin, Sister Rose -- I don't think you would know her. Is something wrong?"
It certainly looked like something was wrong; the boy's face was full of anxiety. He thought a minute before answering. "Uncle Brad, something here feels -- not right."
Because old is wise, does good, and above all, kicks ass.
"You know." The half-elf began. "I was going to get up, get breakfast, explore the town, memorise everything I saw, do some shopping, talk to the people, visit a liberary, check out the temples, climb the tallest building for a panoramic view of the town and..." He breathed. "...maybe get a cookie inbetween tasks but... after waking up next to you I think I'd prefer to stay in bed."
"You know." The half-elf began. "I was going to get up, get breakfast, explore the town, memorise everything I saw, do some shopping, talk to the people, visit a liberary, check out the temples, climb the tallest building for a panoramic view of the town and..." He breathed. "...maybe get a cookie inbetween tasks but... after waking up next to you I think I'd prefer to stay in bed."
I laugh softly, snuggling in closer to Eli. "That's quite a few plans you had," I tell him. I pause, curious. "When you say climb a building, do you mean climb the stairs inside, or climb up the outside wall?"
Actually, the cookie sounds pretty good. Still, I think I'd rather stay here and see what his... alternative plans are.
By now Sister Rose was through with her prayers, and the young man's words had caught her attention. She used her posture of meditation to surreptitiously put on her Empathy, and settled back into repose, but to listen, rather than to pray.
"I -- I don't know how to say it, Uncle Brad," the boy -- Cedric? -- continued. "Things just feel weird ever since the new priest and nun got here. They're scary." (Which was exactly what Rose was detecting in his emotions.) "And another thing. Last night, I was trying to study my detection magic." He smiled. "I'm not as good at that kind of thing as you are, but I think Our Lord Luminosita wants me to be able to detect bad people." (I wish I had that skill, Rose thought, as did Brad.) "But then it all stopped, and I just couldn't do magic any more."
So it wasn't just our party, Rose thought. And it scares the kid ... which means it should probably scare us too. Then the boy changed the subject. "Where's Aunt Annie? Is she okay?"
Brad had been dreading this question ever since he ran into his nephew, as Rose realized, but he'd had time to prepare an answer. "She -- she decided she'd rather be with somebody else." (That didn't hurt him nearly as much as when we caught up to him in Homontel, Rose observed.) "It's okay. Luminosita found me somebody a lot better." He smiled back in the direction of Lillith and Rose.
Cedric nodded, and Rose realized that he was curiously unaffected by this observation. "Well, Aunt Annie wasn't my favorite aunt anyway." He looked east, where the sun was now above the horizon. "I'd better get back to the temple. It was nice to see you, Uncle Brad. Be careful."
The novice headed back to the temple, and Rose took the opportunity to quietly slip out of the garden as well, leaving Brad alone with Lillith.
Because old is wise, does good, and above all, kicks ass.
Lillith walked over to stand next to Brad, watching the young lad go. She contemplated him, her hands held before her in an almost formal way. "He's right, you know." She turned to face Brad. "There is something very odd here. I can't place my fingers on it, but there are spirits here in this garden and they fell just the slightest bit different. I don't know what it is."
"When you say climb a building, do you mean climb the stairs inside, or climb up the outside wall?"
"Well..." Eli replied. "...given the people's reaction to a simple fire spell yesterday i think it'd be better if I just walked it."
His brow furrowed, since that incident he'd been more than a little 'distracted' but now his mind wandered back to the citizen's views on magic, not to mention their attitude to a different religious denomination, was cause for worry.
Well, it wasn't like they'd come busting into the inn room yelling 'Half-elves! Seize the abominations!' over a little incident like the one in the tailors... would they?
Despite his concerns, he was still acutely aware of the press of Desiree's body against his own, and he could feel his willpower draining away and his mind turning to other matters. He brushed the hair back from the side of the Priestess' face and ran his lip over the edge of her ear.
/OOC:]
