IC Knee Deep III

[CoffeeIncluded]

As Mithril drifts off to sleep, Natalia awkwardly shuffles over to give her more room, pressing her hands to her sides and trying not to think about how easy it would be to just move her leg and brush Mithril's bare foot with her own.

But when it's Natalia's turn to keep watch she hears the shouting of orcs and the sickeningly wet organic thwack of Henry's head lopped off on a perpetual loop, and every time she closes her eyes she sees herself rip his killer's throat open in retaliation.

If Mithril wakes up in the middle of the night, she notices Natalia, wide-awake and shaking, clutching her in a desperate attempt to feel something warm and alive.

[Cavelcade]

Kurt shifts uncomfortably at her gentle rebuke, feeling the words try to catch in his throat at her words of respect. Gently he touches her shoulder, then, looking up at her. "I respect it. I will not try to change it. But I will worry for you - a dwarf does not go to war without his armour, I wouldn't see a friend go defenceless. But if you say your god will protect you, I will believe you." He smiles a little at her. "And make sure I am the one they aim at."

When the others go to sleep, he starts walking around the edge of the camp. Only when everyone's breathing has settled into a rhythm do his shoulders relax and he leans over, letting himself feel overcome. While he had something to focus on, ignoring the blood had been easy. With the long night to pass, the memory of hacking the heads off the sleeping orcs, of literally splitting orcs in half, these will not be so easy to escape.

[Admiral]

After letting the dust settle for a minute, Shiny goes to sit next to Miriam slowly as she prepares for bed. "Sounds like you've been upset for a while," he says gently, not a trace of dishonesty or mockery in his voice.

Spoiler

Show

IC conversation Shiny's wanted to have with Miriam for a while.

[achinca]

Miriam looks tired and sight at Shiny's question "Shiny Storyteller, I am tired and drained. I am in no mood for your jokes and your lack of seriousness. I do not have time for your stories and your lies tonight."

Although there was not signs of mockery, she does not think the gnome is being truthful.

Spoiler

Show

Miriam does not Shiny can be serious for real or care about other

[Admiral]

"I know that's how you view me," Shiny says, tracing patterns in the dirt absent-mindedly. "I bet you think I don't know anything about what your're going through, or anything worth knowing."

He leans back a bit to look up at the stars, seeming shy for once. "But I do know a little. I know that you said you'd stop carrying any possessions, but that something's still weighing you down: your guilt, and your regret. And that even if everyone tells you you have nothing to be guilty about, you can't quite let go of it."

Spoiler

Show

FWIW, I am going somewhere with this.

[achinca]

Miriam stops, surprised at the sudden gravity and common sense coming from the gnome. "OK Shiny, I'll bite. I am just curious about the joke you are trying to pull. Yes I have guilt. Yes I have regrets. Yes I cannot let go. What do you know about such things?"

Miriam goes along with Shiny still not believing the gnome is serious.

[Admiral]

"I know more..." Shiny starts, but then he grows quiet, and there's an abnormally long pause before he starts again. "I think I know how to fix it."

"No one else can free you from regret. No matter what anyone tells you- that it's not your fault, that there's nothing you could have done- none of it helps. So to free yourself, you have to..." Shiny suddenly looks over his shoulder, like he's sharing a secret, before he continues in a lower voice. "You have to tell yourself, every morning and every night, 'it's not your fault.' You say it..." another long pause... "You say it even when you don't believe it, so that it becomes a habit. And you never stop, even when it's not working. And then one day..."

Shiny chokes on his words, and when he turns to Miriam his eyes have a desperate seriousness. "One day maybe you'll get so good at lying that you'll fall for it."

[Zman]

Valen, sits and listens to Miriam. As the battered and broken Cleric asks for a morsel of food Valen pushes forth most of his nights ration. "I need little, take your fill.". As Miriam states her vow, and her giving up of material possessions, "Do what your heart tells you is right. I grew up with little and have less value in such material possessions beyond a few trinkets and a well crafted weapon.".

Valen is lost in thought for a few minutes, lost in a memory long neglected.

When the topic of the bag comes up, Valen remains silent.

Spoiler

Show

Did anyone tell Shiny or Kurt about Henry?

[CoffeeIncluded]

Spoiler

Show

Shiny knows Henry's dead, I don't know about Kurt. Neither of them should know that Henry's head is in the bag.

Why did we put his head in there anyway and not a finger or something?

[Athedia]

Spoiler

Show

Because Mithril was the one doing the "lets take part of Henry to try to resurrect him" and she was not thinking clearly

[achinca]

Miriam stands there as Shiny talks with the most seriousness he has ever shown. When he is done she is speechless and is not sure what to do. She was not expecting such a confession. She suddenly realizes what Shiny is saying and she starts crying and give him a huge hug. "Shiny, if you ever need to stop lying and telling someone what regret and guilt you have, I will be here for you. Even if awful things have happened because of you, you can always try to make they right or make amend. You can stop lying to yourself. Trust me it will hurt but you will be better off. Look at me. I was used and abuse by a man who acted in my God's name to do so. I nearly lost faith over it. I have guilt and regrets and it is my fault I went along letting him do things to me which are unimaginable. But I stopped lying to myself. It hurts a lot and probably for a long time. But I am better off. You have friend in me who will support in anything you need to do. If you want me to be the sacred place where you can be the real Shiny, I will be more than honored to do so."

She gives another hug before saying "Remember my offer, Shiny Truthteller. And remember that as long as I am not next to St. Cuthbert, you can count on me, a true friend."

As the gnome leaves and tries to go to bed, she stays up. When she believes he is asleep, she gets up and go caress his hair and put a kiss on his forehead, like a mother would do a child. "Poor thing. Being so afraid of your past that you live in a present of lies ..."

[Admiral]

Shiny listens to Miriam's response, but his sincerity is gone just as if one of his enchantments had broken. When Miriam hugs him he responds with just an awkward pat on the shoulder, and afterwards stands up in a hurry and scurries away, as if he were embarrassed. He lies down and stretches out on the other side of the camp from Miriam.

"It's not your fault."

Spoiler

Show

Reposted as happening after Miriam's action.

[Zman]

As Natalia starts her watch... Three dark shapes block out the moon...

Spoiler

Show

Spot(d20+8)[26]
Listen(d20+8)[24]

Initiative
Natalia(d20+7)[23]
Chimera1(d20+1)[3]
Chimera2(d20+1)[2]
Chimera3(d20+1)[15]

[CoffeeIncluded]

Natalia's eyes widen; she instantly runs over to shake everyone awake. "Chimeras!" she hisses. Is there any place they can run? Or are they going to be eaten here?!

[Zman]

As Natalia struggles to wake her companions, the Chimeras descend...and the first of her companions dies....


Natalia wakes with a start...horrid horrid dreams...

Spoiler

Show

Now,mthat was a fun little prank. Coffee, please take your pulse and blood pressure.

[CoffeeIncluded]

Spoiler

Show

**** you, Zman. Though I have to admit it was a good one.

Natalia wakes up with a scream halfway out of her throat, but she somehow manages to fight it back. The position of the moon's barely changed, she'd been out for less than an hour. She looks around desperately--Valen's still on watch, and he's alive...And so is everyone else. Mithril's breathing is light but audible as she sleeps next to her. Natalia curls up next to her shaking with fear and the day's memories, echoing the wizard's breath with her quavering own.

[Zman]

The night passes, uneventful and quiet outside of Natalia's nightmares. Its a grey morning, as the sky is full of clouds. The temperature is cooler than it had been and the taste of rain is on the air.

[achinca]

Miriam finishes her prayers to St. Cuthbert and feels full of divine energy.

She uses uses the mending spell to repair her outfit and get changed, making sure she pick a private spot away from any potential privy eye.

She returns to Natalia and gives her back her top "Thank you so much for lending me this. I really appreciated."

She approaches Kurt and smiles at the dwarf. "Good morning Sir Kurt. Would you mind sharing some food with a humble cleric of St. Cuthbert?"

[Athedia]

Mithril spent her watch cradling her bag in her arms. Leaning over it she kept a steady whispering mantra. "Please forgive me. Please forgive me." She had already removed her spellbook from the back, and once people started waking up she settled down in a quiet section to study.

Spoiler

Show

Mithril's Spell List
Level 0:
Prestidigitation
Mending
Mending
Prestidigitation
Level 1:
Leaving Slot Open
Mage Armor
Magic Missile
Magic Missile

Level 2:
Detect Thoughts
Acid Arrow
Leaving Slot Open

Can take 15 minutes to fill both empty slots at a later time.

[CoffeeIncluded]

Natalia smiles as she takes back the shirt from Miriam. There are deep black bags under the rogue's eyes; she couldn't have slept more than an hour or two the previous night and must have spent the rest of it staring into the black sky. She puts the shirt back on and says, quietly, "Don't...Don't need rags. You don't."

Later, when she sees Mithril studying and chanting her mantra, Natalia says, "Should...Be me, not you...Was there."

[CoffeeIncluded]

As the spellcasters prepare their daily spells, Natalia occasionally gets up and paces around the camp restlessly, frequently glancing at the hills and sky. If anyone asks, she mentions chimeras.

[Cavelcade]

Kurt smiles and happily splits his food with her. He's quiet this morning, and seems to have slept well enough, judging from his eyes. When he's done he excuses himself and moves to the side, stretching out and practicing his skills, before he cleans his weapon and armour again, even though he had done so last night already.

[CoffeeIncluded]

Natalia sits beside Kurt and looks mournfully at her own bloodstained clothes, stiffening and now an ugly rusty brown. It's leather, she can't polish it like armor...

"Never...Coming out," she says to Kurt. She isn't just talking about her stains.

[Cavelcade]

The dwarf glances at her sorrowfully and nods slowly. "Bear the burden and grow strong, or reject and be crushed...there are no other paths for us, now." He speaks softly and with doubt in his voice, not meeting her eyes.

[CoffeeIncluded]

Natalia shakes her head. That can't be the only way. "Why...Endure? Why not change?"

[Cavelcade]

He chuckles a bit. "We can only go on from where we come from. If we try and ignore that, well..." He glances over at Shiny, then shrugs a bit. "We have killed and will kill again. And we will carry that with us, even as it changes us. We can't change the past..." He trails off at that, frowning heavily at his axe blade, his knuckles cracking as he grips the shaft.

[CoffeeIncluded]

Natalia shakes her head. "I mean, change the world...Wolves into dogs. place for all kinds, no more fighting, not like this."

[Cavelcade]

He laughs at that, not meanly, or cynically, but almost bemused. "I am a wolf, then, and I wouldn't suit such a world. I will be free, and if that means I have to bite others who abuse that freedom well...my teeth are sharper." He hefts his axe lightly, seeming a little relieved to have found some clarity.

"Would you sit for dinner with a chimera? Or a dragon?"

[CoffeeIncluded]

She shakes her head. "Dogs bite to protect. Protect, not hunt. Half-orcs beside gnomes in Hillsfar, why not elsewhere?"

[Cavelcade]

"And what about when humans go to war with humans? Dwarves with humans, or elves, or orcs? Who is the dog there? I am a wolf because I don't sit in one place and protect it, I don't have to wait for a command to attack. I see a situation and judge it and act." He grunts a little at, almost a laugh but so bitter. "You are a wolf too, Natalia. The guards who stayed behind in Linwood - they are dogs. And maybe they are better than us, but they need us too."