Salvus and homeward

For in-universe game play. Journey through both familiar and foreign settings, explore lost ruins and forgotten cities, and try to bring light to the darkness of the world... or, you know, blow stuff up. Either way.
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Graybeard
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Re: Salvus and homeward

Post by Graybeard »

"Unless Lilith is behind this. She has some very odd magical talents."

Therese thought about it. "Well, maybe. Before the veggie fight started, I thought for a minute that I could sense something out of the corner of my eye -- not really 'see' it, just know it was there, out in the woods. It's not there any more. Hang on a second." More detection magic swelled, as she focused her attention momentarily on the forest along the side road, now receding behind them as the wagon advanced.

"Nope, nothing there but the things that are supposed to be," she said. "Now, tell me more about Lillith and her 'spirits.' You traveled more with her than I did."
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Drusia
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Re: Salvus and homeward

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"Nope, nothing there but the things that are supposed to be," she said. "Now, tell me more about Lillith and her 'spirits.' You traveled more with her than I did."

"I'm not sure I can," I reply. "I never really understood what exactly she did. Most of the time, Lillith just acted like a normal healer like me or Rose. Other times... things got weird." I try to think of a good description, but I don't really have the proper frame of reference. "Sometimes Lillith would go into a sort of trance and ghost-like-things would appear. Sometimes they were dangerous. Other times they just seemed to tell her stuff. It was always kinda freaky."

-- Desiree

OOC: I can't remember which of those happened in front of Desiree and which in front of Drusia, so just assume that Drusia filled Desiree in on any she missed.
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Graybeard
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Re: Salvus and homeward

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"And you think that gnome-thing could be something she summoned, or created, or whatever?" Therese persisted.

[OOC: Just kinda volleying it back until Udo gets back in touch. I know that Alberich is in a situation with very spotty access. As soon as he's ready, though, I think we can move forward to Santuariel. Or we don't really need to wait, if you're ready, D.]
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Alberich
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Re: Salvus and homeward

Post by Alberich »

[OOC: I haven't gone anywhere - there just wasn't anything for Udo to say after the "spirit" shut him down, and since he's not in the same wagon as the others, I figure he wouldn't be part of the conversation even if he knew who Lillith was. Since - as I first misunderstood - the two wagons are heading in the same direction, Udo has nothing to do but wait, and maybe solicit some healing when they reach Santauriel.

Now, if Tim had been around, he could've shared a memory about Lillith's spirits. Forward is fine for me!]
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Graybeard
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Re: Salvus and homeward

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[OOC: OK; forward, then. A little stage setting, consistent with what we know of Santuariel:]

The forest had been thinning as the wagons picked their way through the low mountains and hills separating Santuariel from Salvus on the one hand, and the Veracian border on the other. Therese wasn't completely sure why. The area was in a rain shadow from the higher mountains to windward, but that didn't seem enough to explain the increasing bleakness of the terrain. Whatever the reason, the broad valley, really more of a plain, that housed Santuariel was looking quite desolate. Eventually a time came when the road turned a sharp corner and emerged from a dry canyon ... and there it was.

"Looks almost scenic, in a dry, dusty sort of way," she judged as she looked at the town in the distance. "Not really my kind of place, though." She squeezed Desiree's hand. "It sounds like the mountains of -- your home town are a lot more like the ones around Refuge-Nouveau, green and forested and alive. I think I'd like those better."
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Drusia
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Re: Salvus and homeward

Post by Drusia »

"And you think that gnome-thing could be something she summoned, or created, or whatever?" Therese persisted.

"I think it's possible," I reply cautiously. "I could imagine her setting something like it up, anyway. Not that Lillith's involvement would make it any safer than the alternative."

"Looks almost scenic, in a dry, dusty sort of way," she judged as she looked at the town in the distance. "Not really my kind of place, though." She squeezed Desiree's hand. "It sounds like the mountains of -- your home town are a lot more like the ones around Refuge-Nouveau, green and forested and alive. I think I'd like those better."

"Yeah," I agree, both to Therese's assessment and the comparison between Refuge-Nouveau and Snamish.

Actually... Refuge-Nouveau? I've been picking up certain similarities between the language in Therese's part of the Northern Confederacy and Veracina. Refuge-Nouveau... new refuge? I'll have to ask her later if that's the meaning - it might be relevant.

As for Santuriel... it is a little... grimmer than I expected. And a little more open. I guess they must figure that the elves will find them eventually one way or another so there isn't really a reason to hide better. That's kind of grim.

On the other hand, they don't have to worry about Errant culling here. I wonder if they're less afraid of pregnancy and birth here. I know I find the prospect personally terrifying. The idea of having an Errant child....

I repress a shiver and try to smile. I don't want to look all grim for the locals. After all, I'm probably going to be welcomed to the village here shortly. Or... something.

-- Desiree
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Graybeard
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Re: Salvus and homeward

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[OOC: A rare opportunity to work someone, or rather, two someones, from Errant Story itself into the action, without worrying about running afoul of canon. Just don't kill these two and everything will be fine. ;) On the contrary, feel free to put words in their mouths.]

"I think you'll like Refuge-Nouveau," Therese said. She normally tried not to talk about her homeland with people who hadn't been there, but Desiree certainly didn't qualify as a "stranger" any more. The drayman did, but he seemed harmless enough, and he didn't seem to be paying attention to the conversation going on behind him, although his presence was enough to deter certain... intimacies. She continued, "Very different from this. It's in a high mountain valley, with only one way in or out, and we protect that way carefully." She chuckled and lowered her voice; the next part was something she didn't really want the drayman to hear. "Well, only one 'public' way in and out. There are other ways that, let me just say, aren't so public."

By now the wagon was approaching the fields, such as they were, that surrounded Santuariel. A crop that Therese didn't recognize [OOC: someone from cold country wouldn't recognize a field full of chile peppers... /OOC] was being tended by hand; half a dozen people were pulling weeds, checking the irrigation system (they should really have a magical way of doing that, thought Therese), and so on. The nearest pair perked up their conspicuously pointed ears as the wagon drew near, a beaten-down-looking woman and a small, frail boy who looked about eight or ten, although being a half elf, he was almost certainly older. The boy's eyes were covered by a band of black cloth. "Blind," Therese murmured softly, and shook her head.

"Mornin', Miz Darrow," the drayman said cheerily. "Be bringin' some vittles t' exchange for some o' that good stuff."

The boy looked at his mother, made a face. "Sounds like he's got turnips, ma," he said. "I don't like turnips. And who's that he's got with 'im? One of 'em sounds like us, but one of 'em... don't." The look of distaste at a turnip diet turned to suspicion, even as Therese marveled that the lad had heard the muted conversation she'd been having with Desiree at such a distance.
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Alberich
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Re: Salvus and homeward

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Udo hadn't been too far away...he wanted to keep an eye on this dangerous turnip man, as well as spying out the way ahead...and his ears perked up at the conversation. "Ho there," he said, "Are we actually in Saint...Santy...town yet?

"And what's the going rate for that 'good stuff'?" This wasn't the Californican country but it might be what he was after after all!
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Re: Salvus and homeward

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The mother and child turned their attention to the second wagon, just in time for the girl riding in it to emit a long, agonized cough. "Ma!" the boy said. "Is that Maggie? Or maybe Leah's got a kid sister? 'Cause they cough just like that."

The woman had been trying to assemble an answer to Udo's question, without much luck, and was grateful for her son's interruption. "Here," she called, and tossed an unripe hot pepper to Udo, making sure to wipe her hands afterward. [OOC: Mildly funny story from my past coming on that subject some time. /OOC:] Then she turned to the man driving the wagon with the sick child, looking just as beaten-down as when she was first seen. "I suppose you'll be wanting some healing," she sighed. "Try the infirmary in the middle of town, or there's a new young couple here, moved from the south, trying to set up a new church and clinic. Have to tell you, though, they're -- odd." Then it was back to the wagon with Therese and Desiree. "But what brings you women here? You don't look like you need healing. Hell, I need it more than you do." As if to make the point, she winced as she rubbed her throwing arm, getting a quiet "Ma?" from her son.
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Alberich
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Re: Salvus and homeward

Post by Alberich »

Udo thanked the woman cheerily for this free dose of Enlightenment. While she was paying attention to the wagon, he hopped down off his mare to give it a closer look. It wasn't like the peppers of his native land or favored cuisine. In fact, he didn't recognize it as a pepper at all, imagining it instead to be a distant cousin of his favored poison.

"Hey," he asked the boy, hefting the unfamiliar vegetable. "How do you, you know" -- he made some unhelpful gestures -- "use this?"

The boy gestured and made a gobbly-face in a way that clearly said, "You eat it."

No time like the present!

Let it simply be said -- if Udo had been a Veracian who believed in Redemptive Suffering, he'd've wiped out a couple weeks worth of sins right there. As it was, he sucked air like a near-drowned man, while the boy who'd shown him what to do covered up his face to hide his emotions.

The lady who'd supplied the pepper cocked an eyebrow. "Needs milk, that man," she said conversationally.
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