[D&D 3.5] - Legends.

[Tyrael]

Shepard grunts as Ahuhi heads out the door and suppresses the urge to give chase. Instead, he follows Guillaume and pastes a polite smile on his face. The expression is vaguely panicked-looking, the smile finding itself all alone in a face with so many frown lines. "Well, Mr. Guillaume, if you think it's for the best, go ahead. Magic's not my area. I don't carry much around, so so you can have whatever the difference is for your heal-stick out of my cut. As for the horse, I don't mind picking yours out. Anyone else that asks is fine, too."

[Vox Clamantis]

Lu Xian

The slight foreigner sighs. He's never had much use for horses. Walking is so much more satisfying.

Please do pick out a horse for me as well, Captain.

And to Guillaume:

And I would be glad to contribute my share to your purchase. I have no material needs at the moment.

[Innis Cabal]

Fastefowarding here

With all his work done and his weapons returned, Ahuhi staked out the meeting area, he'd be damned to the hells and back if he was even the second one to show.

He leaned against a building, smoking his pipe. Maybe the Hound would be second....that would provide entertainment.

[llamamushroom]

Nirmaat Yantra

Seeing as Grathita was up and walking as soon as he left the throne-room, Nirmaat assumed that there was no significant damage to the homunculus. Listening to the others talking about the wheres and wherefores was, frankly, exhausting, and made Nirmaat just want to get back to his workshop and finish writing up those scrolls. I guess that it's not to be... Ah, well! he thinks, brightening. At least he'd get a chance to see Todim again before he died.

Once he heard discussion of horses, Maat felt the need to pipe in "No need to worry about me - I've already got a lovely clysdale named Bella. And I doubt we'll need much in the way of healing magic (I've got a couple of scrolls saved up), but I'll throw in a bit!"

AFTER LEAVING (So I don't forget to buy armour this time)

Nirmaat wanders the streets a while, eventually coming across a fair arms-maker. After trying to haggle the price down, with many complaints of "I could make better than this!", he finally manages to agree to buy a set of chainmail that doesn't look too pricey.

Spoiler

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Purchasing a Chain Shirt for 100gp

[Fishy]

"I also do not know much about animals," Adar confesses to Shepard, "Unless we are riding kat."

He pauses.

"Is joke. Nevermind."

He helps himself to his share of the purse, and then without hesitation or prompting, counts out 200 gold pieces, and hands them wordlessly to Guillaume. With that, he excuses himself from the table, "Was very good meeting all of you," and sets off out of the palace and into the town proper.

Packing does not take long: Adar owns little more than what he's currently wearing, which means a trip to the market is called for. Sure, this is a diplomatic mission, but, ever the pessimist, the dwarf feels certain that he'll make a number of enemies if something goes wrong. So along with the standard traveller's supplies, he makes a point of picking up some armor and weaponry. A number of merchants try to rip him off, because he's a foreigner and wouldn't know better, but enough give him the Mythical Creature Discount that he makes out even.

((And if nothing else happens, he shows up at the gate an amount of time later. Purchases noted on sheet.))

[Tyrael]

Captain Shepard

First things first. Shepard makes a beeline back towards his familiar Watch house, pushing open the door and clomping inside. A few minor officers rise to greet him, he acknowledges them with a curt nod, waving them back to their duties. Once he reaches his upstairs office, he hangs his helmet on a peg with a sigh, then collapses into his desk chair. His hand scrabbles automatically at the bottom of his desk, comes out with a bottle of Bearhugger's Finest Whiskey. Bite the cork off, drink. The world swims into focus. Rubbing his eyes with one hand to stave off the headache, he sighs. Well well, if that's what royalty's like, they can leave me out of it. After a few more swigs, he sticks the bottle on his desk, then laboriously begins undoing his ceremonial armor and chainmail.

Once it's off, he neatly folds it and places it in its own special drawer and begins pulling on his day-to-day uniform: Greyish-white leather undershirt, crimson chainmail, good solid steel breastplate. Badge. Double-sided Watchman's cloak, he'd had to pay extra for it. The outside was the standard red-and-white of the City Watch, but the other side was a swirling of fine greys and very faint browns. If he flipped the cloak inside out and wore it draped around his shoulders, then adjusted his stance just so, nobody would see him. Their eyes would just skip over. Thieves and assassins thought that black would keep you hidden in the dark. Hah. Maybe if it was a windowless cellar on a pitch-black night, but in the city you got all kinds of light everywhere. A person-shaped lump of blackness sticks out, and Shepard had caught a few thieves himself that way before the wiser ones started learning.

His mind running on autopilot, Shepard continued buckling on his gear, checking it off as he went. Backpack. Lantern, mess kit, chalk, hourglass, notebook. You never knew what came in handy on a crime scene. Sticking the manacles in his bag, Shepard noticed he had run out of locks. The fools at the Prison hadn't felt like giving them back, apparently. Oh, well. It wasn't worth raising a fuss over. He reaches into the Watch supply locker and sticks 2 average locks in his backpack, filling out a little receipt for when he returns.

Adjusting the straps on the backpack, Shepard leans in and buckles on his weapons belt that carried his sword, police cudgel, bolts and regulation crossbow on a hook, as well as pockets for odds and ends he might find. Running over the list in his mind, he nods to himself. Now he feels normal again. Humming tunelessly to himself, he goes to light another cigar and blinks. Hmm, out of tindertwigs. One more thing to pick up before we leave.

He stops by the duty officer's desk and informs him about the mission, leaving orders to direct all his office functions to the next superior officer, then steps out the door, whistling to himself and stamping his boots happily.







Shepard heads down Market Road, entering the plaza of the city's largest bazaar and marketplace, he bumps his way through the stalls and crowded merchants. Jingling the bag in his pocket, it takes a little bit of poking, but he eventually finds a fresh pack of cigars, a few packets of tindertwigs, and a week's rations of food and water. Other than that, he can't think of much else he needs. A Watchman is always a Watchman, and Watchmen travel light, no matter where they are on the rank structure.



Shepard heads down to Cable Street and meets up with his contact, Alexander. He was a short, shrimpy little fellow who was a good doctor for horses and often supplied the Watch with the occasional beast for wider patrol routes. After some negotiation and explanation, he manages to wheedle Alex into accepting the same Watch discount he always allowed. The Watch paid him back by ensuring that nobody got even close to stealing from his shop. Those that did often regretted it in the dungeons.

Remembering the wishes of Guillaume and Lu Xian, Shepard picks out three decent thoroughbreds that Alexander assures him are fit for long-distance travel. As a city-slicker, Shepard's knowledge of horses was limited to Kick It To Make It Go, Then Kick It Harder To Make It Stop. Still, he supposed it was faster than walking. Paying Alexander, Shepard cautiously leads the three beasts towards their home for the evening before the next day's trek.

Spoiler

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Items Purchased:
3x Light Horse: 225gp
2x Pony: 60gp
5x Bit and Bridle: 10gp
5x Military Saddle: 100gp
7x Feed: 3gp, 5sp
25x Tindertwig: 25gp
10x Cigars: 20gp (I assume 2gp per cigar is reasonable)
7x Trail Rations: 3gp, 5sp
1x Waterskin: 1gp

Total purchased: 448gp

At the Brass Gate meeting place, some time later

Shepard comes walking out of the pre-dawn mist, accompanied the clop-clop of several sets of hooves. The light of his cigar is all that can be seen for a second, then the rest of him comes into view along with three sturdy-looking horses, as well as two ponies. He raises an eyebrow at Ahuhi. "Enjoying the view, Mr. Flame?"

[MistressBaerne]

Back at her inn, Samantha surveys her possessions with a skeptical eye. It's been a while since her last excursion, and some of her gear is proving difficult to find. In particular, the mace she bought after the last one snapped in half seems to be missing.

"Catelyn, have you seen my mace? We'll be needing it, I think."

The golden-furred cat tilted it's head, staring quizzically at Samantha for a moment before lazily pointing a paw at the closet.

"Thank you."

Gear packed, Samantha mounts her horse, a grey palfrey, and trots off toward the meeting place.

[Toliudar]

Guillaume

Guillaume gathers 750 of the coins from the sack to take with him to the temple.

See you all tomorrow.

Returning to the temple, Guillaume reveals as much as he feels that he can about the mission to Father Hungan. Drawing the father into his private office, Guillaume explains softly.

Unworthy though I am, His Majesty has selected me to be part of a group leaving town on a mission of some discretion. I will be unable to check in until the completion of the mission, and dare not give a timeframe lest it give away more. Rest assured that, upon completion of the activities, I will report whatever their majesties allow. It is certainly my aspiration that the court will see all the more clearly the value of Z'ra's teachings in the furtherance of stable, balanced policy. All in the fullness of time, of course.

I will require some small stock from the temple's stores. Also, I will speak to Sister Jazia about taking over my caseload, and brief her as well as I can. Finally, I wish to acquire one of the wands that Brother Jansen is so adept at creating, in furtherance of this initiative. If the church is able to provide the wand at our cost, that would doubtless be appreciated, but I am your servant in this.

After answering whatever questions he felt he could, Guillaume made his way to the temple's storeroom. Selecting a sturdy-looking pack and blanket, whatever camping supplies whose use he could recognize, a sturdy knife. He rolled up half a dozen quills, a full pot of ink, and a blank sheaf of paper. Soon enough, the pack was full - or felt it, anyway - and he shouldered it heavily.

Returning to his simple cell, he dropped off the pack, and assembled his notes and papers from all his upcoming trials. There was an ache to this - there would be interesting points of law to be teased out in these cases, and several lingering mysteries to be resolved. Ah well. Sister Jazia had been an apt assistant over the past year. She would throw herself into this work with her whole heart.

After a long and detailed briefing with Jazia, accompanied by a simple lunch, Guillaume picked up the wand and slid it carefully into place in his boot, paying out as requested.

Finally, and most importantly, he lies down to meditate and pray to Z'ra for guidance, wisdom and strength for the challenges of the days ahead.

As much time passes as is required.

Struggling a bit under the weight of his pack, and very happy at the prospect of transferring most of the load to a saddlebag, Guillaume makes his way in the late afternoon towards the rendez-vous. En route, he meets up with Lady Samantha, and waves to her as cheerfully as he can muster.

Spoiler

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I hadn't bought up to WBL by any stretch of the imagination, on the assumption that I could access church resources for modest things.
10 sheets of paper
Vial of ink
6 quills
50' silk rope
food, waterskin
Flint & steel, stacking cookpans, bedroll, small tent
Healer's kit

If Guillaume is able to convince Father Hungan (Diplomacy (1d20+13)[25] to give him the wand at cost, he'll be paying the church 375gp for it - otherwise, 750gp.

[Innis Cabal]

Captain Shepard


At the Brass Gate meeting place, some time later

Shepard comes walking out of the pre-dawn mist, accompanied the clop-clop of three sets of hooves. The light of his cigar is all that can be seen for a second, then the rest of him comes into view along with three sturdy-looking horses. He raises an eyebrow at Ahuhi. "Enjoying the view, Mr. Flame?"

Ahuhi chuckles slightly.

"My my Hound. I had figured you'd be the first to come of those nit wits. We really should have left when you directed. More's the pity."

Ahuhi raises from his seat on the ground, brushing his trade mark long coat down with a gloved hand

"Tell me something Hound. How much do you really know? Its a wonder how you found that inn to begin with. It tells me you know alot more then we in the biz know. I find that highly interesting."

[Vox Clamantis]

Lu Xian

With a last bow to the ensemble, Lu Xian walks out of the palace and back to his quarters across the city. Anyone who'd seen him going the other way earlier that morning would notice that the gentle smile was gone, replaced with a somewhat distracted frown.

Why me? The assassin, the Watchman, the priest...all serve a purpose. But these people know nothing about me or the violence of my past. They couldn't possibly be hoping that I too would fill the role of assassin...could they?

Lu Xian's thoughts are no less troubled when he arrives at his own door and pushes his way in. Unlocked, of course. He has nothing worth stealing, and to lock one's door would be a sign of paranoia and weakness. Changing into his traveling gear, he hoists a pack onto his shoulders and walks through the door. He had been ready to depart since the day he arrived in this city; he just didn't know what his destination would be. All said, it takes him less than five minutes before he's out the door again.

At the Brass Gate

Arriving long before schedule, Lu Xian finds a comfortable spot some ways beyond the gate and sits down to meditate. It is Ahuhi's call to Shepard that brings him out of his reverie. Without perceptible movement, he sighs. His voice comes to them from the direction of the wilderness beyond the city.

I hope that in time you will concede the error of your judgement, Mister Ahuhi. It is good to see you again, Captain. Thank you for procuring the horse.

[Innis Cabal]

Ahuhi merely laughs harder

"Would that I could get this mark off me. He and I have unfinished business. To bad to bad though. I have no choice but to play nice. All things considered if this wasn't a job i'd be at one of my brothels or bars. I can think of alot more pleasing things to do then wandering the cold and moist at the crack of dawn with the whole lot of you.

But no hard feelings ya? Its not like you wanted to be paired up with me either. We're all suckers of fate here. I'll try my best to stay out of your way, so long as you don't bother me outside of work and all. As soon as the others wake up from what ever warm cot they've found themselves, we can meet up with some friends of mine. Should be interesting times for you all."
Ahuhi pulls out another pipe, lighting it and taking a deep breath

"Nothing smells better then a good pipe for free"

[llamamushroom]

Nirmaat Yantra

Once again, had it not been for Grathita, Nirmaat would have been late. However, the little sphinx wouldn't leave him alone the night before until he'd retrieved all of his old travelling gear (when had he bought so much rope?) from an old closet out back, packed both his little backpack and the old travelling saddle for Bella, and realised that there was no way he'd be able to get up on her haunches to ride her. Unless...

After a brief stint in the workshop with one of the lengths of rope, a couple of ludicrously large baskets, and a few blankets, Nirmaat was able to make a servicable pulley system that would allow him to 'mount' Bella, and ride her, without ever having to leave the comfort of a basket. Unfortunately, he also couldn't direct her. This is where he came up with a marvellous idea. He cut a few feet off of the pulley's rope, and fashioned a halter that he then tied around Grathita. Now all he had to do was shout out orders to the homunculus, and it would lead Bella, thus transporting him! Brilliant! Sheer genius! Unfortunately, in the exitement of creation, Nirmaat had messed up all of his packs and bags, so he had to start again.

In the morning, Grathita again had to wake him up and get him going, but after blearily starting to write up another couple of scrolls and being 'reminded' that he other things to do, Nirmaat was the epitome of efficiency. At least, as efficient as one can be while trying to kit up an animal several times your size with laden saddles and an experimental piece of equipment. When he got himself sitting in a basket suspended several feet off the ground from a clysdale's shoulders, Nirmaat ordered Grathita forward, and the machine did so. Bella, too, started forward, and together they all began the journey to the meeting place.

The system seemed to work, though thankfully the early hour meant that not too many bemused eyes watched a gnome shouting "LEFT!", "RIGHT!", or "STOP!" from a padded basket hanging off of a horse. One consequence of the system, though, was that the basket did swing perhaps a little bit much, so soon Nirmaat found himself using his Supporting-Column-Of-Air-Apparatus (or SCOAA, as he liked to call it) to create a force perpendicular to the basket and, holding it comparativelt steady. Every so often, though a little distraction would mean that he would swing wildly for a couple of seconds, but overall the method was a success.

Eventually, the strange troupe arrived at the city gate, and Nirmaat called out.

"Hello! Is anyone there? I'm here on a mission for- No, wait, I probably shouldn't say. But, if you're on the mission, too, you'll know what I mean, so if you are, shout out! Unless, your on a different secret mission, which could be a little bit of a problem. Just like at the prize-giving ceremony I was telling this lovely lady about the other day! What happened was I had entered an alternative ratio for the alloy used in the outer shell of metal constructs..."

Spoiler

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You've all seen the story before. Feel free to either listen to the whole thing or interrupt whenever.

I should probably make a craft chek for those things I made, so here goes!

Craft (Woodworking) - Pulley System
(1d20+12)[16]

Use Rope - Halter
(1d20+2)[19]

[Toliudar]

Guillaume

The priest hurries forward at the lurching sight of Nirmaat on top of the wheezing, overbalanced draft horse. Well, "hurried" was perhaps an exaggeration, but he did seem to be impatient in his movement.

"Sir!"

He smiled with the mix of patience and exasperation that sometimes got results in hearings. Not, he suspected, in this situation, though.

"I look forward to hearing more about your, ah, alternative alloys and shell ratios. Perhaps, some evening, I'll even understand it."

Reaching the meeting place, he nods solemnly to Shepard, Ahuhi and Lu Xian.

"Excellent. Mister Shepard. I thank you - I take it that this one is mine?"

He lumbers over to the horse not yet claimed, and begins gratefully transferring camping gear from his own pack to the horse. In a moment, he manages to mount up, still favouring his left leg.

"Well, as my friends in the entertainment business, of which I have none, would say, 'we are losing the light.' Shall we be off?"

[Tyrael]

Captain Shepard

Shepard nods and hands over the reins to Lu Xian and Guillaume along with a reciept. "You'll have to pay me back later of course," he tells them. "Right now, we should probably try to be off as soon as everyone arrives."

He then glances over to Ahuhi, his face a careful blank. "The Watch has always worked closely with helpful citizens in its investigations," he replies blandly, letting Ahuhi assume from that what he will. You'll have to be a little more cunning than that to get any admission out of me, he thinks, shaking his head and sucking on his cigar.

He then removes his cigar and performs a head-count. Greywater, Guillaume, Nirmaat, Lu Xian, Ahuhi, Adar, and himself... "I think that's all of us. If you don't see someone who should be here, give a shout."

[Xanos]

The Brass Gate is the commoners' exit and entrance to Royan. Here, farmers and teamsters drive in their corn and meat, and as always, the gate is brimming with activity. It is, however, also the second-largest of the 3, the smallest being the Iron Gate, and the largest being the City Gate (which is closed at the moment. It doesn't open for another few hours).
There is an ever-present scent of.. Commoners, around the Brass Gate. A mixture of hay, droppings from various animals, corn, dead meat and fish.
Around the gates are cheap houses and tanners, which only makes the odor worse.

A boy runs the opposite way of the more or less one-way stream of farmers coming into the city with their goods, with a pony at his heels. "Excuse me sirs! Sirs! Excuse me!" the boy shouts. He heads towards you.
He is a small boy of about 12-13 years of age. He is wearing a once-white shirt too large for him, and a pair of very baggy brown trousers. He has no shoes on, and is dirty from head to toe. In his hand he has the reins for the pony, which looks unbelieveably pretty for a horse. It is a black pony - the most expensive kind of horse - with iron plates covering its' head and body. It has a well-crafted red-dyed saddle, and those of you who knows how to ride, recognize the saddle as a "beginner" saddle.
In his other hand, the boy holds a letter. As he reaches you, he leads the horse up next to Adar, and holds the reins and the letter towards him. "Here milord, they be both for you."
As the dwarf accepts the reins and the letter, the small boy darts off into the city again.


The letter carries no official seal, and is just hold together by plain red wax.

To Adar:

Spoiler

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The letter:
In South Darthigian with a beautiful feminin handwriting:
I apologize for my husband's offence to you yesterday. He did not realize you were of what we consider noble standing in your Dwarven Empire. Do accept this mount as a token of our apology, and let there be no bad feelings between us.
The mount's name is Starshine. She's a good horse, a little eager at times, but generally good-tempered and very brave.
I wish you luck and safety on your travels, and I will be praying for you all in my evening thanksgivings to what I assume is our common lord Magran, the Life-Father.
Dame Shandria Lily Ryold.

You've never heard of Magran being refered to as "The Life-Father"

[Innis Cabal]

Ahuhi

Ahuhi stands fully, taking a step towards Shepard

"Really now....how evasive Hound. No matter. It seems the entire pack is here."

Ahuhi gives a low bow to Guillaume

"At least there is one among you who knows how to greet properly. Perhaps this won't be to straining on my time."

[Toliudar]

Guillaume

The priest is a bit confused, but nods his appreciation of Ahuhi's compliment.

Mister Flame, I believe we shall endeavour to keep you from nodding off in your saddle.

He watches Adar's reaction to the gift and letter, suppressing his own curiosity.

"Clearly, my Lord Adar, you have an admirer with excellent taste in horses. Will this mount suit your needs?"

[Tyrael]

Shepard raises an eyebrow. "Hmm. Guess we won't be needing one of these." He attempts to call the urchin boy back.

[Xanos]

The boy seems to be in a hurry, and doesn't notice anything as he zig-zags into the crowd and disappears.

[Tyrael]

Shepard sighs to himself and nudges one of the ponies towards Ahuhi. "Fine. Ahuhi, this one's yours. I'll go return the spare, don't slit any throats while I'm gone."

He trudges off towards Cable Street to return the other pony, and is gone for about 15 minutes.

[Innis Cabal]

Ahuhi

Ahuhi hops up on the horse

"Oh I promise hound."

[Fishy]

The dwarf accepts the mount and letter, which he reads in silence.

"I think it will haff to," he says to Guillaume, watching the boy run off and Shepard take the 'spare' horse with him. "I am sure is good horse, but for riding through bandit lands to secret place? I do not know."

Nevertheless, Adar loads Starshine up with his packs- which make rather heavy clanking sounds- and the mythical creature mounts the most expensive pony in Darthig's royal stables, and takes his natural place in the procession, next to the gnome in the basket/pulley/horse/sphinx contraption.

"Maybe she is quick."

[llamamushroom]

Nirmaat Yantra

Nirmaat, who had up to this point been re-living the prize-giving and shuddering quietly to himself, looked up to see the stock-standard jaded-captain-of-the-guard fellow riding off with an extra horse. Looking around a bit more, Nirmaat almost collapses out of his basket - the dwarf had appeared out of thin air! And he (at least, Nirmaat assumed it was a he, but the stories hadn't been all that specific, from memory) was riding the most beautiful black horse Mat had ever seen. Taking a chance and leaning a little out of the basket, Nirmaat called across to him,

"Woah! Where'd you get such a nice horse? I don't remember seeing Captain... Shepherd with it. Is it yours? By the way, where's the Captain going?"

[Innis Cabal]

Ahuhi

Ahuhi just glares at the gnome

"Are your ears for show? He said he was going to return the spare horse. And for me not to kill any of you while he's gone. Like I could. Your Lordship saw to that."

Ahuhi then spits on the ground

[Toliudar]

Guillaume

The priest's voice is soft and probing.

"Should we infer from that, Mister Ahuhi, that if there weren't external constraints upon you, that you would like to kill us? Puzzling.

[Innis Cabal]

Ahuhi

Ahuhi shrugs

"Its best not to kill the people that are supposed to help you. But its a precaution. I am after all a "Dangerous Man" by your governments standards. To keep me unchained going into an enemy nation? Its very clerver. None of you have anything to worry about. Your lives are safe.

Where you diplomats and nobles were trained the nuainces of court life and the use of a salad fork, i've undergone far different training. And while the vast majority of you would all -be- on my hit list, you priest are at the very least polite enough to treat me with a modicum and deceny. So that alone will save your life regardless of what my orders become at a later date.

As for the Hound? And the Dwarf? Both would fetch alot of gold."

[Vox Clamantis]

Lu Xian

Pulling his horse alongside, Lu Xian responds without turning his head.

If we were to account for the men that we've killed, Mr. Ahuhi, I suspect that I would leave you choking in my dust. War is a bloodier business than assassination. He glances at the assassin. It makes no difference that I never did my killing for money.

After all, dead is dead.

[Innis Cabal]

Ahuhi

Ahuhi snorts

"Death is not a contest of numbers. And if your going to do it, you might as well make a profit. Your just a blood stained murderer opposed to one with killing intent."

[Vox Clamantis]

Lu Xian

Completely unruffled by Ahuhi's antagonism, Lu Xian nods his head once in agreement. I can't disagree. Having killed for my ideals, I sometimes wonder whether there was any profit or reason to it at all.

Another look sideways at Ahuhi.

It is curious that you make a distinction. Men kill for every reason. Why should you be proud to kill for one reason or another?

[Innis Cabal]

Ahuhi

"Anyone can kill another person. Even a new born child has the ability to take anothers life. Death is not equal in the eyes of those who survive. Nor is it to the one who's hand caused it. Those who choose to take a life have a different view on the experiance then those who were put in that position. Not everyone is as somber about the experiance.

I know one man who practically....well, best not to speak of it in front of the lady hmm? Honor, pride....emotions in general are in what you do and how it effects you. No one alive can tell you how to feel about your actions, and you should never be forced to explain them to anyone for any reason. To do so makes you nothing short of a slave."