Douaga: the search for Brother Dalton

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Alberich
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Re: Douaga: the search for Brother Dalton

Post by Alberich »

"Mother Earth speaks to us only through life and death," he said. "She does not speak in the language of men."

"The same language as that hundred-pace snake!" she said brightly. "Hm, I don't suppose Desiree could..."

Musoke looked bewildered. [OOC: How he reacts further I leave to you, Graybeard.]

Anfisa shrugged. A little sensuously. Well if their local goddess was that stupid she'd take her chances with Anilis. Any day. He was wrong about the "language of men," though. Her countrymen spoke this "Mother Earth's" language fluently. And some, like Lord Duravsky, had a much broader palette of cruelties to paint the subtle shades of their meanings.
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Drusia
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Re: Douaga: the search for Brother Dalton

Post by Drusia »

"The same language as that hundred-pace snake!" she said brightly. "Hm, I don't suppose Desiree could..."
Anfisa shrugged. A little sensuously.


I shake my head. "No. No way," I protest. "A snake is one thing. Literally one small animal. If whatever's down there is some sort of mystical guardian, that's not gonna work. Like I said, maybe Lillith could commune with it or something, but that really isn't my area of expertice." The last thing I need is another monster chasing me out of a pit.

... although, with Eli and Tim not here, I suppose the only one who'd be able to carry me out would be Therese. Huh. Okay, maybe not an entirely terrible idea then.

-- Desiree
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Graybeard
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Re: Douaga: the search for Brother Dalton

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Minister Musoke's gaze returned to Desiree, and conflicting emotions played across his open face. He's a little ... volatile, Sister Rose deduced correctly. He's doing his best to forget that he made a fool of himself with Desiree, and get back to being our friendly, official point of contact, but he can't, not entirely. She sighed softly. Just another thing to keep an eye on. And speaking of which ... what's gotten into Therese? She's always been quiet, but ever since we got here, she's been almost completely withdrawn. She too is under Desiree's spell, that's easy enough to see. Is it just jealousy at having yet another competitor? Is she overwhelmed with a place that's more different from her homeland than anywhere she's ever been before? Or is it something else?

Let's see if I can defuse this,
her self-speech concluded, with a phrase that might as well have been her personal mantra. "Ah, thank you, Minister Musoke," she said softly, with a quiet smile. "We have so much to learn here, but if it would create problems for us to examine the place downstairs, then we just won't." At least until everyone is more comfortable with it. "Now if I may: we were told that we would be escorted to our destination by, quote, 'The Mushroom Men.' We have no idea who they are. Can you explain?"

The Douagan relaxed visibly and put a diplomatic smile back on his face. "That I can, Sister," he said. "We in our country do not have the overall magical skills that you do in yours; there are many things we cannot do. Our own priests --" he glanced again at Desiree, then focused back on Rose -- "use what magic we do have, to work within our environment. As you've seen, both plants and animals grow here with unusual vigor. The priests have the magical means to shape their movements to our own needs, as long as we are appropriately respectful to Mother Earth. We call them the 'Mushroom Men' because of the robes they wear."

Indeed, as if on cue, the door opened and a man walked in, wearing an outfit that made him look like a giant toadstool. [OOC: just imagine putting a face on a man-sized version of this one -- its common name, btw, is "Old Man of the Woods".] He and Musoke exchanged rapid words that Rose's translator gadget revealed to be a quick "what's up?" and response, then he smiled politely, pointed to his mouth and shook his head (the meaning was obviously "sorry, I don't speak your language"), and sat down to wait for the group's next actions.
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Alberich
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Re: Douaga: the search for Brother Dalton

Post by Alberich »

It took all Anfisa's strength of will not to double over in laughter at this ridiculous priest and his clownish costume. In her country, religious duties belonged to the clan and one of the senior clansmen led the devotions. In these foreign countries (except for Desiree's mysterious homeland) it seemed they went for weird, effeminate, men-who-were-not-men, who would rather wear dresses than pants, or like this fellow, wanted to dress up as a...as a....woo hoo hoo hee hee hee! Her face was merry anyway, but she kept quiet as she couldn't speak the stranger's language, so that it would fall to someone else to explain that "we need to get a look at that statue's lower parts, and these Veracians are too squeamish by half."

Hmmm, the upper part of the statue had a very strange man's face...could it be these priests' costumes were based on its..eh? She bit her cheeks hard and hoped someone would hurry up and move the conversation along.
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Drusia
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Re: Douaga: the search for Brother Dalton

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Anfisa barely represses a laugh - I can see her biting her cheek. I, meanwhile, don't do more thank blink in surprise. Yay Diplomacy.

I'll just be letting Rose deal with these... people. Yikes. Instead I step over towards Therese, who has been unusually quiet. I'd almost forgotten she was along, she's been so ghostly.

"Are you okay?" I ask softly, both to keep our conversation private and to avoid interupting anyone elses conversations concerning whatever the Mushroom Men have to say. "You've been extra quiet today."

-- Desiree

OOC: I wasn't sure if that was a Hint to go talk to Therese, but I'm taking it as one. ^^
Alberich
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Re: Douaga: the search for Brother Dalton

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Anfisa was quite sure that it was a hint, and that it was on purpose. Of course she'd been broadcasting that sad-puppy look just to lure Desiree over. Just like the way she'd "accidentally" stumbled into their room while Desiree was undressed, oh, ho, there were no accidents with that one!

Her face visibly hardened with her heart, but only for a second while Desiree's back was to her. By the time Desiree's eye turned her way, her face was sweetness and light again. No, she wasn't going to play that hang-dog game. It wouldn't work. No, if she ran up, Desiree would blame her for being clingy and if she talked she'd blame her for being oppressive and if she kept quiet she'd blame her for being unfriendly and if she stayed away, she'd probably blame her for not caring any more! Anything to put the blame on her while she tossed her heart on the ash heap...! As her thoughts raged her feet fidgeted, and she floated a step or two closer, then back, then stopped where she was.

Just right now she wanted to be a man - a real man of the Duravsky, not like this stupid pillow-head priest (too little bollocks to be a man, too little dress sense to be a girl). Then she'd know just how to settle it.
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Re: Douaga: the search for Brother Dalton

Post by Graybeard »

[OOC:
Drusia wrote:OOC: I wasn't sure if that was a Hint to go talk to Therese, but I'm taking it as one. ^^
It wasn't intended that way, but I'm glad you took it. ;) Something has been bothering Therese for quite a while, and having her discuss it with Desiree offers some interesting possibilities, so ...]

"You've been extra quiet today."

"I've been -- thinking," Therese answered. It didn't require great powers of observation to see that that was true, nor that her reserve slipped for a moment, to be replaced by something else. Concern? Distaste? Puzzlement? All three?

She motioned Desiree away from the discussion of Douaga and the Mushroom Men; whatever was being discussed, she was pretty sure, would either become obvious soon, or be such that she could catch up on it quickly enough. Her voice dropped to a near-whisper that the foliage of the room damped out more effectively than an actual whisper would have been.

"Tell true," she said. "I've been -- bothered ever since that moment when Rose was about to cut that man's nuts off to get him to talk." She quickly recapped the "interaction" with Matysh Gyermanov during the great battle up north.

"Do -- do you think she'd have carried through on that threat if she hadn't been distracted by the firefight?"

------------

Completely unaware of this side conversation, Sister Rose was studying the oddly-dressed man who had just joined them.

"That -- is a different kind of religious vestment than anything I've ever seen," she said softly to Minister Musoke. "Would he be offended if I asked you to translate, and ask him why he wears that headgear?" She didn't mention that her translation gadget could accomplish that without Musoke's help; part of the man's role with the group was obviously that of interpreter, and it would be best to let him play it.

The Douagan chortled unexpectedly. "I can answer that for you, Sister. You saw the hundred-pace snake, yes?" A nod confirmed this, rather unnecessarily, and he continued. "They are common in our forests, and very deadly ... and they climb trees."
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Alberich
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Re: Douaga: the search for Brother Dalton

Post by Alberich »

Anfisa couldn't very well get close to the whispered conversation between her lover and her rival, but she entertained the liveliest suspicions as to what was transpiring in those whispers. No doubt Desiree would give her a cool, satisfied look in a moment, well crafted to wither her within. But she wouldn't mean it, not really.

Audie couldn't fathom what the various movements of these strangers and near-strangers meant as he tried hard to drink in the information...

"You saw the hundred-pace snake, yes? They are common in our forests, and very deadly ... and they climb trees."

Oh oh. Well that definitely made his mind up about something. (No, not to get one of those hats.)
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Drusia
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Re: Douaga: the search for Brother Dalton

Post by Drusia »

"I've been -- thinking," Therese answered.
"Tell true," she said. "I've been -- bothered ever since that moment when Rose was about to cut that man's nuts off to get him to talk."
"Do -- do you think she'd have carried through on that threat if she hadn't been distracted by the firefight?"


I make a face. "Ewww, I hope not," I reply honestly. At her flat expression, that wasn't exactly a helpful response. I pause and consider.

"I'm not sure," I reply honestly. "That sounds more like something my mother would do. Then again, the reason my mother would do it is because she's a war vet. From the losing side." Not that there was really a wining side in the Errant War, but for all intents and purposes.

Still with that flat look. Oh, right, Therese probably doesn't see the connection, what with it only existing in my head and all. "Rose is a military vet too," I explain. "She looks young, but she's older than she looks. And she's been through some messy campaigns. She saw her first husband, who served with her, blown up right in front of her." It speaks quite a bit about how far I've come that I don't even flinch talking about Kenny's death. Maybe it was dealing with Eli - at least Kenny didn't go Errant.

"I'm not sure if you're country has seen an actual war lately," I tell Therese. "Mine hasn't. It's hard for me to imagine doing that sort of thing. Rose though... she has. If she felt that peoples lives were at stake, then... yeah, I think she might. She's go slow, hoping the guy would change his mind, but I think she'd do it if it meant saving someone else."

That is one of the reasons I like Rose - she takes protecting people very seriously.

-- Desiree

OOC: ^^ It's nice to get to show off Desiree's brains once and a while. I'm not sure she was spot on there, but her reasoning is pretty sound. And if Therese has seen a real war, feel free to have her chime in on the matter.
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Re: Douaga: the search for Brother Dalton

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Therese got a most uncharacteristic deer-in-the-headlights look at Desiree's answer. "I -- well, thank you for that," she said. "I guess I'm not sure what answer I was hoping for. But it's good to know that Rose looks after her people that way. So did I, back home..."

And that opened the floodgates. For the first time in a very long time, tears formed at the corner of the redhead's eyes. "But I'm not at home any more, Desiree. I'm in a strange place, not like anything I've ever seen before. My organization, the Sisterhood, doesn't work outside the Confederacy, and there's just nothing like it up there. I thought I was strong enough for whatever this quest would take. Damn, by the Five Great Mothers, I am strong ... but I'm not this strong. This place ... it's much more your kind of place than mine. And it's running up against the limits of my strength. Beyond them."

She took a deep breath, said it. "I'm scared, Desiree."
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