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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Re: Lorenzel and Ramanzel

Post by Drannin »

Argus was deep in thought, and thus it took him a minute or two to register the knock. For a confused moment, he thought it was Lillith. Back to reality, Argus. With a sigh, he heaved himself to his feet and walked over to the door...

To find Sasha on the other side of it.

Argus blinked. He'd never really talked to Sasha before. "What can I do for you?"
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Re: Lorenzel and Ramanzel

Post by Graybeard »

"Do you believe these rumors?"

Sister Rose thought for a moment before answering. "Truthfully, I'm not sure. But I think so. It seems far-fetched ... but the person we talked to was the base intelligence officer, and it's his job to sort out fact from rumor. Besides, most of the rumors of the south that we've heard on this trip have turned out to have a kernel of truth to them. And if the forest really does conceal the town..." She let her voice trail off, but Lillith had obviously figured out the implications involving another town that didn't really want to be found. Not to mention Snamish, where Kenny's relatives live...

Her thoughts were interrupted by a flash of lightning, and only a second or so later, the crash of thunder. She and Brother Miguel had been so preoccupied by the exchange at the base that they hadn't noticed that a storm was building. "Whoops," Miguel said as heavy drops of rain began to pelt the window. "We might not want to be traveling in that. From what we understand, Ramanzel is only fifteen miles or so from here, but the road is supposed to be rough and slow, even if we can find the place. It's likely to take at least two hours, in a thunderstorm. Not good." As if to punctuate his opinion, another lightning bolt hit nearby as the rain intensified.

"Well, let's sit tight for a little while and see if this passes," Rose said. "We can always take today to re-provision and otherwise take advantage of being near a large city, such as it is." She smiled reassuringly, but something in the back of her mind was giving a different message. Maybe it's just my imagination ... but that storm came up remarkably suddenly, just as we were talking about going to Ramanzel. The elements couldn't be conspiring with the trees to keep us from going there ... could they? No, that's ridiculous...
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Re: Lorenzel and Ramanzel

Post by Viking-Sensei »

"I... I need to talk to somebody." Sasha said quietly. "Can we go inside?"

The two of them stepped inside Argus' room and Sasha carefully closed the door behind her. "Ok, I admit... I've not had a particularly good last few weeks... between discovering that I was really a secret half-elf that was trained to kill other half-elves by an elf with an evil sense of humor to being nearly killed... several times over... but I'm afraid I'm actually cracking up."

She sat down and put her head in her hands. "Remember when we opened the time portal and let out the it's-not-actually-a-dragon-dragon from either the past or the future... and how I had to smash all my power crystals to break the connection? Well, the night before the boat launch, I broke into the temple's magical supply hut to try and steal some supplies to fix my tools... after I saw the complexity of their security systems, I figured that if anybody was going to have compatible power crystals. Well, I found some...I also had a rival smugglers group try and bribe me into stealing the boat for them, but I had already stolen all I wanted by the time they discovered me, so I wasn't overly worried about completing their quest... but what happened afterwards was the weird bit. I didn't want to go back to my room because I didn't want to waste the time de-bugging it, so I went and camped out under a tree to sleep - it was along the path here, so I figured if I overslept, you guys would pick me up and toss me in the cart (as usual) on the way out of town. But this time... well..."

Sasha looked up at Argus. She was on the verge of tears, and was also blushing. "...I don't know how to say this except... I got attacked by a fairy. A little winged woman about the size of one of the parrots came at me from the tree spouting stuff about destiny and purpose. Then, an elf wandered past and caught us... and at the fairy's prompting, I fought the elf and defeated her. That's how I got my armor. I took it off a near-dead elf after a fairy told me to beat her up. That's also how I wound up on the side of the hill so I could take out the errant when he started attacking people - the fairy told me where to be. Granted, my method of knocking him out via a calming crystal wasn't what she had in mind... but..."

"Am I mad, Doctor Argus? I always thought fairy folk were urban myth, something that mothers who lived too close to the edge of the city told themselves had happened because they didn't want to face the fact that their children had wandered too close to the edge and fallen off... but this one was very much real."
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Re: Lorenzel and Ramanzel

Post by Drannin »

Argus' first impulse was to ask Sasha what in hell she was talking about. This was quickly quashed when he realized that the young woman was basically on the verge of a breakdown. He allowed some of what Sasha had said to wash over him. Slowly, a gentle smile formed on Argus' features. "Sasha, you're talking to a man who honestly wanted to turn Tsuirakushiti into an animate, mobile fortress. My closest friend is a talking beaver. I am in no position to call anyone crazy."

Sasha actually chuckled at this. Argus chuckled himself. "Actually, it's not impossible. My wife... may she rest... had a fondness for obscure literature. There is mention of some sort of fairy in very old manuscripts. The type of manuscripts that are historical, not fanciful. Now, most people write this all off as superstition, but... consider what we've seen in our travels together. Does the thought of a real, live, fairy really seem that strange to you? So impossible?"

He let Sasha mull this over. Argus could relate to having a few bad weeks. He'd been having a few bad years, for the Weave's sake. ANd he was curious about this 'secret half-elf' business. But first things first.

(OOC: Sorry, is that 'secret half elf' something we went through already? Having a hard time remembering...)
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Re: Lorenzel and Ramanzel

Post by Sareth »

Lillith appeared to be ready to nod, and possibly press the question further, when the sharp flash of the lightning colored the room. She turned to eye the window, as the rolling boom filled the air. She stood as though enraptured by the sudden appearance of nature's primal fury.

As Brother Miguel discussed the damper that the storm was likely to put on the travels, she walked across the floor to the window. She lowered her pack from her shoulder, then leaned out the window to grab the shutters just as another flash filled the air.

Half in the window, and half out, she wavered there a second as the crash rolled across the town, seeming almost to weave like a dancer on some sort of euphoric trip. There was a soft moan from her...

And then she jerked herself into the room, slamming the shutters shut. Her hands bolted the shutters with perhaps inappropriate haste, and then she turned her back to the window, leaning back against it with a sigh.
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Re: Lorenzel and Ramanzel

Post by Graybeard »

I felt it too, Sister Rose realized with a start, as Lillith recoiled from the window. That storm doesn't want us to be out there. I don't know whether it's a living thing, or part of a magical defense of Ramanzel, or Luminosita alone knows what, but it isn't just a thunderstorm, I'd bet on that.

The rain intensified as she turned to Brother Miguel. "Looks like we may need a Plan B here," she said. "There are some loose ends in town that I'd like to tie up. For one thing, I think we need to understand the Millenarian Church better than we do. What we saw in Provatiel leaves me with a queasy feeling." Miguel nodded as she continued, "I wouldn't mind looking for a temple of our own denomination, either. At the very least, we should probably pay our respects, if there is one in town. There might be some things Argus could do usefully, too. Lorenzel is big enough that I bet he can find a crystal ball here somewhere that'll work better in his communications system, and who knows, might there even be some Tsuirakuan expats for him to interact with?"

Miguel laughed humorlessly. "Based on everything we've heard from Argus, I think those 'interactions' would be more likely to lead to life-threatening violence than to any sense of camaraderie."

Rose considered. "Point well taken. Okay, no searching for Tsuirakuan expats, then. But --"

She was interrupted, indeed almost deafened, by another crash of thunder, the nearest one yet. For a moment, she thought her ears were playing tricks on her; there seemed to be reverberation in the building itself, a dull thumping noise that kept repeating itself. Then she realized that the explanation was more pedestrian: someone was knocking at the room's door. She cracked it slightly ...

... To see a nondescript-looking young man, perhaps in his early twenties, standing in the hallway. His features looked vaguely familiar ...

The young man cleared his throat. "My name is Elric Kankaniel," he said. "I heard you were looking for me. May I come in?"

And the storm dissipated like that.
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Re: Lorenzel and Ramanzel

Post by Viking-Sensei »

[OOC - We briefly covered the half-elf thing, but part of it did take place while a partially dressed Sasha and Lillith were rolling around in the mud... so it's entirely believeable that Argus only got some of it]

"Point taken." Sasha admitted hesitantly. "I mean, I figure she was real... the elf I fought could see her, called her a pay-de-oh-gassy or something like that, demanded I release her. By the freaked-out look in her eyes, I'm guessing the fairies are culturally significant to elves. But still, it's not every day that a mythologicaly significant and previously-thought-to-be-extinct species of fairy descends from a tree and orders you to KILL two people because it's your destiny. I just wanted to get some independent outside confirmation that this is seriously f'd up. Also..."

Sasha walked to the door, opened it, and pulled in a large covered object. Closing the door, she lifted the cover off it to reveal a bird cage with a tiny woman asleep inside it.

"...please tell me that you can see her too." Sasha whispered.
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Re: Lorenzel and Ramanzel

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Sister Rose stared at the young man. He was bone-dry despite the intensity of the storm that he had passed through. He did not carry an umbrella. "Come in," she said, after a quick look at Lillith.

Introductions were made, with certain facts revealed and others not, then Rose got down to business, mustering all the compassion and sympathy in her voice that she could manage, which was considerable. "I'm afraid that I have the most terrible news for you," she began. She recounted a ... partial ... version of what happened in Nautkia as Elric Kankaniel sat listening impassively.

When she finished, she stopped to grit her teeth and prepare to provide comfort for a bereaved son grieving his father. However, nothing of the kind happened. "Thank you," Elric said. "I see that this must have been hard for you." Not a tear was in sight (other than the ones that Rose herself was holding back), and the man's face was completely neutral -- not studiedly so, just flat. Rose might have been telling him of the death of one of the cattle she could see grazing in the fields beyond the inn. Just like that? she wondered. And it's sunny out there already...

"Let me explain," Elric said. "I never knew my father. He left Ramanzel shortly after I was born and never came back. I was raised by my mother and her people. Her descriptions of him were ... unflattering." He left it at that.

Brother Miguel, who'd observed proceedings in silence after the introductions, cleared his throat. "I'm sorry to hear that. If it wouldn't be too painful, might it be possible for us to speak to your mother? Even under the circumstances, this kind of news needs to be heard, I fear."

"She is dead." His voice was still flat. "Some of her people remain in Ramanzel, though."

What in Luminosita's Name is going on here? Rose said to herself. This kid seems completely detached about what happened to Egbert. I don't get it. A thought occurred to her. "Would it be possible for you to guide us to Ramanzel so that we can talk to her people? Some of them may want to hear the news of your father, and there are some things that we'd like to discuss with them." I hope.

Elric considered. "Yes, I can do that. I'll return in the morning to take you there." He turned on his heel to go.

Miguel just happened to be between the young man and the door, and took his own sweet time about getting out of the way; another question had to be asked. "Are you sure you don't want to stay a little longer, have some tea, wait out the storm? There appears to be a break in the weather, but we don't know how long it will last, do we?"

A faint bit of surprise registered on Elric's face, the first emotion any of them had seen from him. "Oh, no, no need," he protested. "She brought me here, then she moved on. There is no need to wait."

"'She'?" all three other occupants of the room said at once.

"The storm," Elric said, as though explaining things to a rather slow child. "See you tomorrow." He walked out the door without another word.
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Re: Lorenzel and Ramanzel

Post by Sareth »

There was a feverish light burning in Lillith's eyes when the two Veracians turned back towards her.

"She brought him. The spirit of the storm brought him..." She looked up at Sister Rose, intense. "We have to go there!"
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Re: Lorenzel and Ramanzel

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Now that's a switch, Sister Rose thought. Lillith has been down in the dumps for so long that I almost can't remember what it's like for her not to be. Wonder what brought that on? "We shall," she answered. "Even with Elric told about his father's death, we have several reasons to go to Ramanzel. I think we're best off waiting until tomorrow, when he can guide us, though. That'll give us time to get some preparations made. We've been on the road a long time now." And it'll also give me time for some fact finding. Something just doesn't seem right here...

She made more reassuring noises to counter the girl's disappointment at not launching out for Ramanzel immediately, then rose and headed across the hall to Argus' room; he and Sasha had to know the plan too, and if they objected, something would have to be worked out. The door was slightly ajar, and she quietly knocked, then stepped inside ...

... To see Argus and Sasha inspecting a tiny figure in a birdcage.

"What is that?"
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