Lorenzel, Part 2

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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Re: Lorenzel, Part 2

Post by Graybeard »

"A daughter I didn't know I had until then."

Sister Rose had been absently running her hands over the simple string of beads that nuns carried, called "Luminosita's Tears" for what they represented. It was a common enough gesture among nuns; many found the smooth texture of the beads soothing, regardless of whether they were holy artifacts as the Orthodox people claimed, or mere reminders of Luminosita, as her own people believed. Now, for the first time in her adult life, she simply dropped them on the floor, her motor functions momentarily interrupted by what she'd just heard. She sat for a moment, unable to get any words out, until her body started working again, and then she said just two words.

"Oh, my."

As she bent to retrieve the beads, her head spun as though she was dizzy from a roller coaster. Had she really just heard what she thought she had? Yes, it would appear so. Argus was looking at her, his face a mask. She couldn't imagine what her own expression looked like.

"I -- I can see that that would have had a -- strong effect on you," she managed to get out. "But how? This man Nikolai was a small-town gangster in an out-of-the-way village. His reach surely couldn't extend to Tsuiraku, could it? And you've never been in southern Veracia before this trip, you've told me. How could you have an unknown daughter that he could --" And suddenly the pieces fell into place.

Lillith had been raised by a single mother, her father never a part of her life.

Argus had traveled in the north, many years ago; she knew that from some story he'd told on the road, even before Centoriel, let alone the encounter with Nikolai much farther south.

He'd been acting protectively toward the girl for a long, long time; instinctively, no doubt. The genes knew things that the mind would never acknowledge.

Ever since Nautkia, when Argus and Lillith were within easy distance of each other, the man had had almost a hunted look to him, a look of walking on eggshells.

And when she, Rose Nuria-Lucas, teased him about the "family" he was traveling with, his stress level went through the roof; she didn't need the Empathy spell to sense that.

Her coordination locked up again, and for a second time, she dropped Luminosita's Tears. This time, she didn't bend so rapidly to recover them; if she had, she'd have collapsed entirely. No, she just sat there and said one more thing, in as soft and compassionate a voice as she could muster.

"Does she know?"
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Drannin
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Re: Lorenzel, Part 2

Post by Drannin »

"Does she know?"

"How could I tell her?" Argus' voice was an agonized whisper. "Rose, I-I... I was fourteen." Rose looked like she would fall out of her chair, but then recovered and nodded. Yes, she could do the math.

"How did it happen?" Rose's voice was full of compassion and understanding, as were her eyes. It was a balm to Argus' soul. Everything came out at once.

"Rose... when I was a boy... no, a young man...no. A boy. My family took trips up north to enjoy the scenery. One evening I had a bit of a spat with my parents over something stupid. Curfew, I think. I went for a long walk... well, not so much walking as storming away in anger... through the woods. I was a city boy. I must've been hopelessly lost within 5 minutes. I was wandering around for what must have been hours. And then I found her."

Argus looked at the ceiling, his eyes seeing something that happened over thirty years ago. "It was a clearing in the woods. Flowers everywhere. Full moon, stars. It... it was like a dream, Rose. Her name was Shamhat." He closed his eyes, remembering. "She was beautiful, and obviously exotic. I was fourteen, and scared out of my wits from being lost in the forest. She saw that, and was just so nice." A deep breath. "She... soothed me. Talked to me. Laughed with me. It was... well, I had been lost and was so relieved to find someone who knew their way around. And she was so beautiful... exotic... and I was a fourteen year old boy..."

Argus sighed. "Rose, one trait men in my family have always had is that our appearance matures quickly. That's working against me now, but part of that is alcohol abuse, and rough living. When I was fourteen, I looked a few years older. Seventeen, maybe. I could certainly walk into the senior students' social functions without any problem. And she... there was something in her eyes. I think... she was lonely Rose. So we were talking, and she was telling me about the woods and... well..."

"She seduced you."

"Yeah," Argus sighed. "I don't think she realized how young I really was. Or maybe was too lonely to care. But either way, the next morning, we both knew we had made a mistake. She was friendly, though, and helped me get back to the place my family was staying. I never saw Shamhat again after that. After a while, I started to think the whole incident was just a dream. But i wasn't" Argus looked at Rose with infinite sadness. "Rose, how can I tell her? What can I say? Tell her that her mother seduced a teenager in a one-night stand? Tell her that her father is a Tsuirakuan heathen? How... how could I do that to her? And... am a really a father after a lifetime of not being there? Do I have the right to call myself that? Hell, when I tried asking her about her background, her hackles raised to the roof... How can I even approach her?"

Argus shook his head. "But there's no doubt. I see it now. Her eyes... those are my mother's eyes. She's inherited some of my features... they're just buried under the half-elven blood. But they're there. I see them. She's mine. She..." Argus took a deep breath and said it.

"Lillith is my daughter."
Last edited by Drannin on September 14th, 2009, 4:12 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Graybeard
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Re: Lorenzel, Part 2

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Sister Rose sat for a moment, silently running through all the Scriptures and Commentaries of Bishop Nuria that she could think of, looking for something that could guide her to help this man, finding next to nothing. Guess I'm on my own on this one. But there was one thing ...

She bent to retrieve the Tears, finally able to do it without fear of passing out, and moved to sit next to Argus. She thought a brief, silent prayer for wisdom, decided that wisdom or no wisdom, she knew what she had to say.

"Argus ... you've been her father all along. You just didn't know it. That's common enough in our world, sad to say. You had no way to know. And you will be her father until the day she dies, or the day you die." She paused for a deep breath, then continued.

"But there is a world of difference between being a father and being a daddy. You've been a daddy to Fayna all along too, haven't you? Even though you feared that you hadn't been. You'll be her daddy for the rest of your life, and hers. And if you want to ... you can be the same for Lillith. Because being a father is all about biology, but being a daddy is all about love, and there's no statute of limitations on that..."

That was all she could say, because as Argus crumpled, she enveloped him in the warmest, most comforting hug she could deliver...

... And that was when she realized that she'd left the room's door open a crack.

And that there was traffic in the hallway.
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Sareth
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Re: Lorenzel, Part 2

Post by Sareth »

A brief flare of lights as someone further down the hall opened a door illuminated the shadow that could be seen through the crack. Feminine curves. A simple homespun dress. Long, flowing brown hair.

"Lillith," Rose called out, carefully, trying not to frighten the girl.

The answer she got was the sound of a sob, and then the girl was running down the hallway.
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Drannin
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Re: Lorenzel, Part 2

Post by Drannin »

"No..." Argus closed his eyes as a wave of despair threatened to overwhelm him, paralyzing him. "No...no...no..." He gripped his face tightly.

...How could this happen?
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Re: Lorenzel, Part 2

Post by Graybeard »

Sister Rose swore silently to herself in a most un-nun-like manner. Damn, I really screwed up there... So what now had the higher priority, continuing to comfort the devastated Argus or calming the similarly devastated Lillith down? She decided to keep on doing what she was doing; the man needed all the comforting he could get, and once he pulled himself back together, he was going to have to be part of the process of engaging Lillith anyway.

In the event, circumstances made the decision for her. The unsuspecting Brother Miguel was just emerging from the equally unsuspecting Maduin's room, with Maduin himself right behind him. Their backs were turned as Lillith rushed down the hall, sobbing so hard that she couldn't see where she was going ...

... And there was an audible whumpf as Maduin, Miguel and Lillith all tried to occupy the same volume of space at once.
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Re: Lorenzel, Part 2

Post by Porcelain Fish »

[OOC: How did Maduin end up at the inn? He was staying at the abbey only that morning. I hope someone moved all his luggage!:/OOC]
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Re: Lorenzel, Part 2

Post by Graybeard »

OOC:
Porcelain Fish wrote:[OOC: How did Maduin end up at the inn? He was staying at the abbey only that morning. I hope someone moved all his luggage!:/OOC]
LOL ... OK, so it was Miguel's own room, where Maduin had visited after getting changed at the abbey (how else was he going to know where they were having dinner, after all), that they were emerging from. The main point is the collision, anyway.
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Drannin
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Re: Lorenzel, Part 2

Post by Drannin »

Argus took a deep, shuddering breath and tried to pull himself back together.

"Boss?" Argus looked up to see Harker standing in the doorway, looking shocked. "What..."

"Fayna says she misses me."

"Oh... good."

"Lillith's my daughter."

"Wha-" Harker's eyes appeared to bulge out of his skull. He took a long look at Argus, then leaned back into the hall and looked at something else. Lillith, probably. He looked at Argus again. "...You okay?"

"...Not really, no."

"Oh." Harker looked at the floor for a moment, then padded over to the bed and hopped up beside Argus. In a startlingly tender gesture, Harker put his paw on Argus' back, about as close as the beaver could get to putting an arm around him. "...So... now what?"

It was a damn good question.
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Graybeard
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Re: Lorenzel, Part 2

Post by Graybeard »

Sister Rose flashed Harker a rare smile of appreciation for the comfort he was giving Argus; the perverse little creature did care for his boss, at least, there was no doubt about that. Maybe she could afford to release her own hug for a moment and see what was happening in the hallway. With a quick "Be right back," she poked her head out to see what was going on.

Brother Miguel was extricating himself from the tangle of limbs, trying to figure out what had hit him. Actually, he was pretty sure about that; a collision with Lillith wasn't the most unpleasant thing he could imagine ... in fact, it had its agreeably soft and ... pneumatic ... aspects. There remained, of course, the "why." As he picked himself up, he wondered idly whether Maduin was going to find it necessary to go back to the abbey and change to an outfit that didn't have dust on it. Well, not his problem, but Lillith did need some attending to.

"Are you all right?" he asked, helping Lillith to her feet. "What's the problem?"

Rose knew exactly what the problem was. "Lillith, let's talk..."
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