Lorenzel and Ramanzel

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.
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Graybeard
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Lorenzel and Ramanzel

Post by Graybeard »

[OOC: Per request, a new topic, with the road part of things fast-forwarded; feel free to fill in what happened on the road via flashbacks, etc. ...]

Morning broke at the small inn on the outskirts of Lorenzel, as Sister Rose and Brother Miguel said their prayers.

They had straggled in late enough last night that they'd been almost oblivious to the details of the inn, between fatigue, lack of light, and the general down-in-the-dumps feeling that pervaded the group after events in Nautkia. Rose had been prepared for the worst; between the unlikelihood of finding a satisfactory inn so late at night, and the psychic upset that she expected following what happened to Father Egbert, she hadn't expected to get much sleep. In fact, she was pleasantly surprised. The light of morning revealed a pleasant little place, with comfortable rooms, a semi-rural setting with well-tended gardens and fields surrounding the inn, and above all, peace and quiet. She'd been asleep within seconds of her head hitting the pillow, and Miguel reported a similar story.

They were just starting on breakfast when Lillith and Argus came into the room, also looking refreshed. Greetings were exchanged, then Rose got down to business. "Miguel and I are going to have to go to the naval base here and make a report. That may take most of the morning, and I think we'd probably better do it by ourselves. The navy is touchier about letting non-Veracians onto their base than the army is. We should be back by noon and ready to move on to Ramanzel, if that's what we want to do. Lorenzel is a fairly big city, maybe a hundred thousand or so, and there might be things for you to do here while you wait. Or you might just want to stay here and relax for a while; Luminosita knows you've earned it. What's your preference?"
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Sareth
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Re: Lorenzel and Ramanzel

Post by Sareth »

In spite of having slept well and comfortably, Lillith simply shrugged. "I don't care. I'll probably just stay here." She poked at her food in a desultory fashion.

The girl had clearly been down ever since the incident with the half-elves, and hadn't found anything to perk her up again. It was like the wind had been taken right out of her sails and she was now just drifting along with the currents.
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Re: Lorenzel and Ramanzel

Post by Drannin »

Argus raised his hand. "Sleep, thank you. It's been a little exhausting lately, and I need some rest." Not to mention some time to work things out in my head.
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Re: Lorenzel and Ramanzel

Post by Graybeard »

It was a downcast pair of Veracians that returned to the inn for lunch, their business at the naval base transacted.

"I'm not sure what I was hoping would happen there," Sister Rose said as she and Brother Miguel stowed the wagon. "All I know is that it didn't."

Miguel nodded glumly. "I guess I was hoping for something that would make sense out of everything that happened in Nautkia, not just Egbert's death, but the rest of it. No such luck."

"You're right about that," Rose sighed. "All we got out of that was a job that I certainly didn't want to do."

"Nor I," Miguel agreed. "I didn't even know that Egbert had a son. And laying it on us to find him, and tell him what happened to his father ..." He shook his head wordlessly.

"Well, the job won't get any easier if we postpone it," Rose said. "Besides, maybe this Elric Kankaniel will have some insights into some of these mysteries. Let's tell the others and get moving. If we head out right after lunch, we can make Ramanzel tonight." They went looking for Argus, Lillith and Sasha.
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Re: Lorenzel and Ramanzel

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Lillith was indecently easy to find. The pair had proceeded to where the private rooms they had stayed in the night before. Pausing before the door to Lillith's room, they looked at one another, then with a shrug, Brother Miguel knocked.

The half elf's reply was too soft to recognize the words of, but it was clearly her voice. After looking at one another once again, as if trying to figure out if she'd said, "come in," or "I'm changing," Brother Miguel stepped aside and let Sister Rose be the one to try the latch. The door swung open easily, and Sister Rose stuck her head in long enough to verify that Lillith was, indeed, dressed, then let the door swing wide enough for Brother Miguel as well.

The girl was sitting in a chair, looking out an open window. Her hair, unbound, was swaying in a soft breeze. By the look of her, she had probably come up and sat in the chair the moment breakfast was done, and not left since.
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Re: Lorenzel and Ramanzel

Post by Graybeard »

She's not taking this well, Sister Rose thought as she surveyed the scene and watched Lillith's nearly motionless form. And I don't blame her in the slightest.

She and Brother Miguel exchanged a look, then a nod. "Lillith?" Rose called softly. "We're going to be moving out of here soon. We'll be heading north tomorrow, and we'll help you get back home. We might be able to connect you with some more of your own along the way." If Kenny's relatives are still alive, and if they haven't pulled the covers over their own heads to the point where they don't want to acknowledge that other half elves exist.

"But first, there is one more thing we need to do down here -- and we need your help to do it."
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Re: Lorenzel and Ramanzel

Post by Sareth »

"My help?" Lillith stirred, looking back at them. "What help could I possibly be?"

She sounded doubtful, but never-the-less she stirred herself, standing and walking over to begin sorting her pack to make sure that everything was properly stored.
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Re: Lorenzel and Ramanzel

Post by Graybeard »

[OOC: S, hope you don't mind me putting just a few words in Lillith's mouth to save time...]

This is going to sound as weird as when I first heard it, Sister Rose thought before answering Lillith. But all I can do is repeat what I was told.

"Father Egbert, the man who jumped off the cliff, the man we were looking for, grew up in a very small town west of here called Ramanzel," she said. (Did Lillith react at all to that name? It didn't look like it.) "That's our next and maybe last stop, for several reasons. Of course, we're still looking for clues to why he did the things he did. He also left a son there, and we need to tell him about his father's death, and as painful as it will be, see if he has any insights into what has been happening. I'm not looking forward to that conversation, but it has to be done."

She looked at Brother Miguel before continuing, got a barely perceptible nod. "And the other thing is that the military people are starting to ask some very serious questions about Ramanzel itself. I ... I'm not sure I'm at liberty to tell you what kind of questions they're asking, but they want us to check the town out."

Lillith looked unconvinced. "That all makes sense, I guess, but what does it have to do with your needing me?"

"Well, now we get to the strange part," Rose said, after another nod from Miguel. "Ramanzel is apparently set in the deep forest. Not just any forest, they say, but a forest that lives. Things --"

Lillith cut her off. "Of course, the forest lives. The trees are living things, just as the deer and the birds and the --"

Now it was Rose's turn to interrupt. "No, I mean the trees move. And they say that Ramanzel moves within the forest. The trees move to cover its tracks, to hide it from people that they don't want finding the village. And that's why we need you: we need someone who can talk to the trees and convince them to let us find Ramanzel, and whatever secrets are lurking there."
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Re: Lorenzel and Ramanzel

Post by Sareth »

"They... move?" For the first time since the incident, Lillith stood a little straighter as she talked to Brother Miguel and Sister Rose. "They protect the town from being found?"

She cocked her head to the side, then drew the string tight on her pack, then pulled the protective rain flap over the top. The pack was slung then over one shoulder and, still not bouncing, but with the most energy she had displayed in days, Lillith walked over to the pair. "Do you believe these rumors?"
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Re: Lorenzel and Ramanzel

Post by Viking-Sensei »

Sasha stood nervously at the door to Argus' room. The events of the last few days had shaken her more than she wanted to admit... she was going to have to go to Miguel and Rose eventually to tell them what she saw, what happened with Compassion and the elf... but first, she wanted to run all of it past another Tsuirakan, if only for a basic sanity check to make sure that what she'd witnessed was at least magically possible, or if she was perhaps under some sort of spell. If Compassion had been an illusion... or a halucination... she didn't even want to think about it.

She knocked, and awaited a reply.
How could a plan this awesome possibly fail?
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