Flight From Ironheart IC

[Dorizzit]

Korram Alstan

Katrina looks up sharply at the sound of your words, and angrily wipes at her face.

“You could have stopped the Baron from getting his hooks into Mom!”

The accusation hit you harder than anything Katrina could have managed physically, and she seems to recognize it a moment later as her anger fizzles away.

At Katrina's enraged outburst, Korram flinches back and looks away from her as though he had been struck. Although there is little he would have been able to do other than get himself killed on that day, he still hasn't forgiven himself for his perceived failure, and Katrina's harsh exclamation rips open that old wound.

“That wasn’t fair. I’m sorry.” Katrina said a moment later, holding up her wounded hand, and beginning to critically examine it, probing the injury with her other hand.

Korram can't bring himself to meet Katrina's eyes after she says this, and by the time he works up the courage to do so, she has already begun to examine her self-inflicted injury. His next comment is subdued but still audible.

"I'm in no position to be throwing blame around."

“It’s just . . . the past few days have been simply Hellish, and then you dropped that bit about maybe Mom still being alive.”

Korram nods solemnly.

"I was still in shock about it. I could have chosen a better time."

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Katrina winces as her fingers find the exact spot where her ring finger was broken.

“Everything was fine until you came along Korram. Well, no, that’s not true either. The Baron was slowly wiping us out without even really trying, but at least it felt like I was doing something.”

Katrina sighs heavily as she lowers both hands down into her lap. She glowers at the memory as she continues.

“The day I left Moloch’s private little hellhole I swore I’d never be helpless again. But the Baron, the gods-damned Baron, he made me feel that way all over again. And he did it without even really trying, like I was some insect he found squished into his boot.”

Despite the pain it caused, Katrina clenches her hands into fists.

Korram can empathize with Katrina's pain. He remembers his own group's futile struggles against the Baron. Sure, they made some headway, killed some important people, and disrupted some important trades, but at the end of the day they had been no more than a bee against the powerful noble. Painful, perhaps, but not any real threat. Admitting it had been almost impossible, but they had all known it to some degree. They had all recognized the futility. Despite his commiseration, Korram remains silent.

“I hate him, Korram. I used to think I hated you too, but at least I’m not so sure about that anymore.”

Katrina manages a slight smirk at the dig before she continues.

Korram smiles wanly.

"Well, that's something."

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“But the Baron’s been directly responsible for every awful thing that’s happened in my life – and it doesn’t mean a thing to him, like I’m nothing more than an afterthought. I want to hurt him – kill his wife, kill his family, and bring everything he’s ever cared about crashing down around his ears and then leave him to suffer as I have suffered. And –“

Here Katrina’s voice quavers just a bit.

“And, now I’ve found I can’t switch that feeling off. Cheran and Seraph are monsters – they deserve what they get. So do the rest of his sons. But his daughter . . . damnit, why did she have to make it hard? I HATE HER FOR THAT!”

Katrina pounds her hands into her thighs, and then sighs deeply.

“Hate is all I have left now. Am I supposed to give that up now too? How can I survive, when that’s all that’s gotten me this far?”

Korram does not speak for several seconds after Katrina finishes. He struggles to compose a response. Words had never been his strong suit. A farmer didn't need to speak well, and a revolutionary leader had little use for flowery speeches. When he finally speaks, at first it is slowly and hesitantly, but it gains strength over time.

"For us...the day the Baron...took...your mother...was the day that our lives were ruined. But for him...it had no significance. It was....just another day. A day that he accomplished a...goal, but no more. That man...he's a complete monster. He cares for no one...other than himself. If you want to hurt him, going through his family won't work. They're tools to him. You say that hate's the only thing that's gotten you this far? How far is this? Injured, on the run, your deadbeat father your only ally? I'm not saying that you should give up your hatred. I haven't, and I never will. But if you let your hatred take control of you, it will ruin you. I speak from experience."

Korram takes a shuddering breath before continuing.

"The Baron has to be stopped...no. Destroyed. But he holds all of the cards. If you want to kill him, you have to think. You can't let emotion dictate your actions."

He pauses momentarily.

"Also, that girl is special. Her part in these events is not done, I think. Cheran, you're right about, and he deserves the most painful death I can think of, and I have a very active imagination thanks to Ironheart. Seraphan...is more complicated. I'm just not sure about where he stands in all this. Hell, I don't know. Maybe I misjudged him."

He sits dejectedly back on his haunches.

"Anyway, if you're feeling well enough we should probably get moving."