Salticiel and beyond

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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Porcelain Fish
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Re: Salticiel and beyond

Post by Porcelain Fish »

Maduin glanced away from the intriguingly-shaped light spell in the side room and met Rose's strained gaze. He blinked, finished chewing and then stood, raising one hand.

His fingers snapped, but what rolled through the room and rebounded off of the walls was a peal of thunder, booming and reverberating until the glassware rattled. Light began to glimmer around him, outlining him in shimmering golden radiance, drawing every eye as Rose let her spell lapse. He smiled warmly, almost fondly at his audience, turning to ensure that every eye was on him, the stablehands coming from the stable, the staff peering from the kitchen, until every living soul in the inn was staring fixedly at his glimmering form, gazes turning glassy as he caught hold of their minds in a grip as tender as a mother cradling her newborn infant.

Hazel eyes glowed in their minds, glorious and inviting, irresistably kind, warming each of them to the very deepest parts of their psyche.

"Nothing," Maduin said sweetly. "Happened."

The light fled, the last roll of thunder nothing more than a memory, and Maduin sat down and resumed eating as people blinked, and then went on with their normal lives, feeling strangely at peace.

Nothing had happened.
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Graybeard
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Re: Salticiel and beyond

Post by Graybeard »

Sister Rose staggered, not so much under the impact of the thunder as with the recoil from the Luminosita's Visage spell that she'd just abandoned. "Thanks," she whispered to Maduin. "I wasn't going to be able to hold that much longer. Now if it worked..."

The cook was coming back around; the thunder had brought her out of the faint. She turned to the farmer, who had a transcendentally radiant look on his face. "Luminosita Himself!" the man proclaimed. "He spoke to me in the thunder..."

"And to me," the woman echoed, getting that same glow in her own visage. "What did he say to you?"

The beatific look on the man's face was replaced by one of bewilderment -- ecstatic bewilderment, perhaps, but bewilderment nonetheless. "I -- I don't know. I've forgotten or something. But -- I know it was beautiful!"

"I feel the same way," the cook said, her face still shining. "Come. We must tell Father Thaddeus of this miraculous thing!" And arm in arm, they walked out the main door, the cook leaving a pot of porridge on the stove that would come as a nasty surprise to anyone arriving late for breakfast.

As soon as the two cleared the doorway, Rose let out the breath she'd been holding, the sigh in the now nearly empty room sounding to her like gas escaping from a damaged airship. We may have just exchanged one problem for another, she thought to herself. Depending on what "miracle" those two report, this may complicate our interview with Thaddeus ... but one problem at a time. Clutching the banister for support, she climbed the stairs to their rooms, wondering what she'd find there.
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Drusia
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Re: Salticiel and beyond

Post by Drusia »

"I -- I don't get what's going on here, but it -- concerns me."

"What..." she whispered. "What..." she closed her eyes, then opened them to look at Drusia. "What's a ball gag?"

I ignore Brad's question - he will get his answer momentarily - but Lillith's throws me off my guard for a moment. All the tension rolls out of me in a laugh that's at least half giggle.

"A ball gag," I reply, "Is a gag with a rubber ball in the center that holds the mouth open but prevents speech. They're usually used during S&M, and any more than that... well, you're young, and if you're curious, I'm sure you can learn more if you like."

I sit back and allow Lillith to sit up. As long as she behaves we can conduct ourselves like equals.

"All right," I say, "What you need to understand is that this... hatred between elves and half-elves stems from events that took place between two and three thousand years ago. When I was a little girl, half-elves were part of elven society - to many, they were the children they could never have with another elf, the best friends and partners we knew. My people, the Rinkai elves, especially embraced our half-elven brothers and sisters. We even began building a city for half-elves in our territory, although now its a human city - Maudin lives there, you can ask him about it."

"And then, everything changed," I sigh. "An Errant - that's our term for a half-elf who suffers from a congenital disorder, which include conditions ranging from mild asthema to homicidal insanity - blew up Malacia, the city where I grew up. I escaped before the place sank, as did most of the population, but that was where it all started to go wrong."

"A group of conservative elves, mostly Cimmerii the prudish bastards, pushed to brand all half-elves as Errants and claimed that genocide was the only answer. At first, most sane elves disagreed, but Malacia other disasters terrified a lot of elves enough to switch sides. After that, discussion turned into civil war. One side fought to eradicate all half-elves, and the other side, made up of both elves and half-elves, fought to prevent them."

"I fought along side my half-elven lover, to protect her and our future together. We fought for a long time, but in the end, we lost. She died, and her brother died, and my half-elven daughter died. I lived. And the war ended, the half-elves scattered, the elven population so decimated that now instead of four great cities and lands besides, all elves live in a single city. Everyone went around pretending like the war never happened, like we always lived in a fucking cave, but I remembered. So I left. I became a Peregin, an Errant hunter. And I track and kill Errants. But the thing is, unlike some of the others, unlike the psychotic bitch tracking you right now, I remember that not all half-elves are Errants. If you were a homicidal lunatic, I'd have already killed you. But you aren't. You're innocent, kind, gentle. Even fearing for your life, you couldn't stab me earlier."

"For several hundred years now, I've been fighting my own personal war. I created Snamish to hide the half-elven children I've had since then, and I've helped other half-elves hide there as well. One family became many, and now I have a whole town. Rose's husband came from there. I'd like to take you there, to show you a life without fear, or at least with far less fear than you have now. But I can't go near Snamish as long as another Peregin is sniffing around. I won't risk their saftey."

"So, hence our current situation," I conclude. "I know that was a lot to take in, so if you have any questions, now's the time." And, before he can say anything, I add "Not you Brad. I'm sure you're baffled as fuck right now, but this is Lillith's birthright, not yours. However, if you'd like to relate any of this to Rose later, I'd appreciate it. She married into this mess after all, she has a right to know too."

-- Drusia


OOC: Gotta give Drusia one thing - she's a hellava lot more concise than Sarine. ^^

Edit: Spelling and some sort of weird formatting thing...
Last edited by Drusia on December 18th, 2009, 2:14 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Drusia
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Re: Salticiel and beyond

Post by Drusia »

Graybeard wrote:Clutching the banister for support, she climbed the stairs to their rooms, wondering what she'd find there.
OOC: Ah, good timing. Feel free to have Rose listen in from outside the door. It will save repetition later.
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Drannin
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Re: Salticiel and beyond

Post by Drannin »

Argus mulled over Drusia's words, contemplative. Well, that had confirmed some old theories and completely refuted others. Vaguely, he wondered what role humans had had in this lovely society being mentioned, but had a feeling he knew. Well, screw it. It was, quite literally, ancient history. To his perspective, anyway.

Argus was aggressively forcing down his concern for Lillith. She was an adult, and would need to come to terms with this on her own. Furthermore, he was not the person to offer support; they weren't anywhere NEAR that close. Thus, Argus kept his peace and listened. This was also partly due to the fact that he still felt a little awkward around Drusia, but he could submerge that fact under his previous reasoning.

Some distant part of his brain wondered why Drusia had sex toys. This thought was brutally slaughtered and left as a warning to the rest of his brain.
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Graybeard
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Re: Salticiel and beyond

Post by Graybeard »

This is amazing, Sister Rose thought as she listened from the door. Traveling with Drusia is like having your own private Heretic Knowledge Vault. The things I read there that make sense now ...

It wasn't lost on Rose, however, that there had been times in the history of the Veracian Church when significant minorities held, loudly, that anyone with access to what was in the real Heretic Knowledge Vault should be executed.

Well, this was no time to think about that. She knocked softly and admitted herself to the room. "I heard enough of that to be able to confirm much of it," she said. "Drusia is right: Snamish is a village of half elves. They've been able to hide for years in a world full of danger, and they wouldn't have been able to do it without her help. My late husband's family -- of whom Drusia is a member --" she smiled -- "told me the most amazing stories. And they haven't just survived; they've flourished. It's as prosperous, and more importantly, as happy as any of these small towns that we've passed through. I think you'd like it there." (And Brad, so would you, she thought but did not say.) "When we've finished the tasks that the Church has given us to accomplish, I too would like to take you there so that you can see for yourself. Oh, there's self-interest in that too; I'd love to see my former in-laws again..." Her smile broadened, even if there was a bit of sadness to it, but then she became serious.

"But first, you must survive."
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Sareth
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Re: Salticiel and beyond

Post by Sareth »

"I wonder if it's anything like home..." Lillith sighed, homesick, bewildered, and feeling very small and vulnerable. She looked over to Sister Rose. "You trust her?" At the simple nod, Lillith turned to face Drusia. Though she still looked frightened, her voice was steady as she asked, "What must we do?"
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Graybeard
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Re: Salticiel and beyond

Post by Graybeard »

"What must we do?"

Much better, Sister Rose thought. She really couldn't blame Lillith for being on edge under the circumstances, but what followed would be much easier to achieve if the girl bought into it. That she was settling down and starting to cooperate could only be good.

"I think Drusia started to explain that already," she said. "We have to sell this other elf on the idea that you're already dead, so that she'll go away and not come after you. So we'll stage a little masquerade with this drug that Drusia mentioned. Maduin has an important part to play in that as well, with his skill at makeup and changing people's appearances. Speaking of whom, we'd better get him up here to be part of the planning. Argus and Brad and I --" she glanced at her cousin, her expression not totally filled with warmth -- "will then have the job of behaving in a way that makes the whole thing convincing. That got harder after what happened downstairs, because of the witnesses, but I think Brad and I can take care of them, in conjunction with a little magic." She avoided any hint of criticism; the girl was stressed enough already, and after all, Brad had been a significant part of the problem too...

"We two have to make a quick trip to the local temple, partly to head off suspicions from those witnesses, but mainly to do the job I came here for. You all can work on the plan while we're gone, and catch us up on the details later. I have faith in you." She smiled and patted Lilllith's hand. Now if I only had faith in my idiot, lovestruck cousin...
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Drusia
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Re: Salticiel and beyond

Post by Drusia »

OOC: Sorry, long day. I'll post a reply in the morning, promise! ^^
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Drusia
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Re: Salticiel and beyond

Post by Drusia »

"What must we do?"

"We two have to make a quick trip to the local temple, partly to head off suspicions from those witnesses, but mainly to do the job I came here for. You all can work on the plan while we're gone, and catch us up on the details later. I have faith in you."


"Can you send Maudin up on your way out," I ask before Rose leaves with Brad. "He should be here for this as well." Plus he deserves a quick fill in on the details I just gave Lillith. At some point, anyway. Besides, I'd like a more throrough update on the downstairs situation and I'm betting he's the one to give it to me.

Rose and Brad head out, leaving me with Argus and Lillith. I keep forcused on Lillith.

"I'm sorry about how this went," I tell her. "This morning, I hoped to bring you in on the plan without all the messy details. Most half-elves I take back to Snamish don't know I'm an elf until after we get there, and at that point I've already proven my story. It makes an already stressful situation that much worse that you had to hear all this right now."

I sit down in Brad's now unoccupied chair and offer her my hand.

"Rose already told you what you need to do," I say. "But what she didn't ask, what no one's really had a chance to ask yet, is how you feel about all this. If there are points of the plan you're unclear or scared about, let me know, and I'll do my best to reassure you. If you have any ideas you'd like to propose, this might not be a bad time for that either. So yeah, tell me what's on your mind. I'm listening."

-- Drusia
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