An odd calm falls over the tavern. A feeling as if the hairs on the back of your neck just stood straight up.
And then... it happens.
All the plates, knives, forks, spoons, candle holders, and goblets suddenly shoot from the tables and strike the roof of the tavern with a clattering as loud as thunder. As the bowls and goblets settle flat to the ceiling, there is, once again, a sudden odd calm.
As swiftly as the odd calm encompassed the tavern before... It breaks...
Pots, pans, tea pots, spoons and other debris release from the ceiling like a sudden storm's downpour.
<CRASSHHH....CLATTTTTERR..... BAAANNNNGGG>
And then there is silence again.... but the air feels a bit lighter now.
"The Shady Corners calls me home…" A man's voice echoes through the air in the tavern and Thalenir appears in a brilliant azure flash of light. He floats in midair for a moment, his robes fluttering, then lands softly.
Thalenir looks around at the mess and the other tavern patrons, then spies Glimmer flitting about. "I wouldn't say that's the strangest thing I've ever heard, but it certainly was one of the loudest. I caught the racket all the way from my cabin. Any idea what just happened, Glimmer?"
Glimmer flits back to the ground and says "Well, Thalenir, SOMETHING tried to break my teapot. I've already had my cookies broken, and my teapot got stuck to the ceiling after some very angry THING had a hissy and made all the trinkets settle on the ceiling. I was just retrieving them when you popped in. Whoever caused it, or whatever did it, it's not very happy. But it's going to have bigger things to worry about if my things get broken! I HOPE YOU HEAR ME ANGRY THING!"
Glimmer puffs her cheeks out and flits her wings rapidly as a show of determination, and then says "Well now. How are you? Did you see anything outside?"
Thalenir raises an eyebrow. "Teapots and trinkets on the ceiling? Hm…" He ponders for a moment and looks around. "A planar phenomenon isn't out of the question, though that would be more likely if everything in the tavern had ended up on the ceiling. A haunting, perhaps, or some capricious air spirit? It's hard to say. A shaman might be able to say more, but I'll see what I can find out."
Thalenir closes his eyes and incants. "Wardens of the seven paths. Candle that lights the unseen world. Hear my words and part the veil. Reveal the hidden hues. The rainbowed shades of enchantment. Thrice I command thee. Shine. Shine. Shine." (Inspect Magic)
Rasiri slinks quietly into the room behind Thalenir and Glimmer, "What is the noise for. Seems a bit unnessessary..." He pulls his hood up higher so it hangs down over his eyes, "Hey Thalenir, do you know?" Then he closes his eyes and smiles goodnaturedly as Glimmer stomps aroud like a child. "And it's good to see you too Glimmer. i heard the uordeq crack."
The air turns stale as a grinding noise is heard from the floor.
Suddenly...
All the forks, spoons, plates and kettles rush to the center of the tavern and pile up into a large mountain of metal...
The mound raises up, seamingly defying gravity, into a tall pillar that rotates round and round like a metal twister.
Then... As suddenly as it started.... the metal falls to the ground with a LOUD CRASH!!!
All is then silent as a cold breeze whips through the tavern...
As the dust from the crash settles and Glimmer is about to begin to retrieve her tea pot, you all begin to realize that the pile of silverware and plates did not fall in a random pattern.
In fact, if you look around carefully, you notice that the silverware has fallen into a rather neat pattern that spells out several words.
these words are:
"Our way...... It is blocked..."
As the debris flies about the room again, Thalenir stops chanting and braces himself. Once the tumult dies down, he adjusts his glasses and examines the pattern on the floor.
"Well, I'd say my first guess was right. We have some restless spirits on our hands, most likely spirits of the dead. Not my area of expertise, I'm afraid. We'll need a shaman to sort this out."
The door to the tavern swung open swiftly, one staunch and pale plam pressing it ajar, leaving a print of blood behind as the dark clad figure let the door hinge shut behind her. She looked at the items as they scattered about the floor, having caught the end of Thanelirs words as she entered the tavern, her wet robes clinging to her frame. She walked among the various pots and cutlery, before going to lean against the tavern wall, wet hood drawn up against the light in the tavern. "Indeed, the dead have spoken. You are correct. The gates to their fated rest are closed." she said, thin lips against the pale flesh of her jaw all that could be seen. "The question is no longer what, but why..." She folded her arms across her chest as she leaned there, hidden eyes watching glimmer flit to and fro. "The dead wander aimlessly amongst us as thier paths to peace or damnation cannot be completed. They are indeed restless. The question is...What could close the gates...and why?"
Glimmer listens intently as Akon speaks. She begins flittling ever so slowly up off the ground, turning 4 shades of pink, then purple, then red. Glimmer turns to Thalenir and says "Thalenir, forgive me for the onslaught of what you are about to hear." She then turns to Akon, and seems to be almost another person to anyone else looking in on the situation. Her eyes grow cold, her face stays as red as the blood Akon had recently drained from the corpses close to Katri's campsite, and her voice echoes with a resounding acidic tone the likes no one in this town had ever heard.
"HOW DARE YOU! You come in here, confirming that the gates are in fact closed, but you stand there in all your putrid ignorance and ask why? WHY? Have you EVER considered, even once, in your Pit infested mind that all of these "sacrifices" you claim to have made, all of these bodies you have gathered and destroyed, all the blood of the fallen you spilled onto those grounds have something to do with this? Did you ever consider the lost soles from this very town who are trapped behind those gates? Souls of our fallen friends? You say you've made a personal sacrifice, that you've died willingly for this town. What does that amount to after the destruction you've amassed at that campsite? The briars and nettles. The smoke and ashes. Burned flesh and a spilled cauldron of blood. How many of these people who fight with you will you tell of what you've done? I've seen it with my own eyes. WHY can't you just leave things alone? Let the dead be peacefully dead? You say you do it for us, but "us" has never seen any good of your warlock ways. Yet you insult us all by saying we don't understand you or your sacrifice. There is a saying "Don't bite the hand that feeds you." Some of us are of this earth. Nature is our true heart, our true soul. And I fear you've bitten the hand that a lot of us depend on this time. This town, these people would be more accepting if you'd ask for help. You helped me once and look at our success in that together. The army is gone. Don't let your friends be beneath you much longer Akon, or the emptiness you felt in the Pit will be nothing to your own town shunning you eternally."
Akon's gaze then lifts from under her hood to meet Glimmer's own eyes. Her own gaze for once is not cold and removed nor the infernal hell fire usually seen in her eyes. Instead her gaze ets forth genuine and humble emotion. She nods gently, acknowledging her. "Forgive me." She says gently. "Our kind is solitary, and I come to our towns folk now with the answers I have found, to ask the questions that our whole town faces. I come here to be with you together, not alone."
"The blood in the cauldron was none other than the blood of a swine. The only humanoid blood in my offerings is my own. The dead are restless, so I saught to learn of their distress. So I asked them directly. It was not I that raised them in undeath, it was Scorch. I sought to know their sorrows, so that the being that raised them could be understood and destoryed."
"And though I could claim flattery in the thought that I am powerful enough to close the gates of jugdment, it is hardly a thought I even entertain. I am merely a mortal, nothing more, I hold not the power to close the gates of the dead. However, the fact is, the gates are closed. The dead are restless. I cannot close the gates of Fate my dear Fae, I dare ponder if any mortal could. So I come to you with what I know, and what I have learned. The gates are closed. The spirits are restless. That is all I have to offer."
"The question we all face, and a grave one at that....is who closed the gates...and why. I am here to offer what I can, so we can solve this together. I offer you what I've learned, if you choose to accept it." She says, still gentle in her tone, low and humble in action, keeping her gaze soft and even with the Fae's own.
"The path of the martyr is an intensely powerful one. " Mutters Blisdon in a cool tone to nobody in particular. "In part because of how strongly it resonates within each of our hearts and minds."
Blisdon continued to move closer towards the commotion as he talked, his strange monotone voice in contradiction with his already fairly contradicting self. "It's that...concept...of someone paying a price too high for anything. let alone for something they will never gain from at all. A true sacrifice."
"Though rare as it is, If Such a martyr seeks to gain from their sacrifice, whether it be gold, or treasure, or even something as seemingly humble as credibility...then it is no longer a true sacrifice. Merely an investment into the future."
The shaman's eyes Glazed across the crowd, seemingly staring slightly beyond the heads and bodies of those in attendance before looking at the strange spelling on the table with unfocused eyes and an open sight. [INSPECT SPIRIT]
"And then they are no longer a martyr, " Blisdon ended his monologue by turning his bored gaze towards Akon, The vision of his physical eyes still blurry and unfocused with the burden of his true sight weighing down his senses instead. "But merely a peddler, Who buys low...And Sells high."
Thalenir sits calmly as Glimmer, Akon, and Blisdon exchange words. He conjures a cup of tea with a wave of his hand, sips it thoughtfully, and waits patiently for a turn to speak.
"I share in their concern, Akon. The Dark Arts are perilous magic at best, though you seem to wield them with impunity. I have known a few warlocks that I would deign to trust, but they tread carefully with their craft. If what Glimmer says is true, your actions endanger the town. You can proclaim your selflessness to anyone who cares to hear. Genuine or not, your recklessness will lead us to ruin."
He pauses and takes another sip. "Be that as it may, I have no doubt that you are incapable of barring the Gates of Judgment. Such a thing is said to be beyond the power of the immortals themselves. Even high magic would likely be insufficient to the task, and if you were arrogant enough to try such a thing, I have no doubt you would destroy yourself in the process."
Thalenir sets his cup down, rises, and regards the message on the floor one more time. "Though it is possible you've compounded the problem, there is something else at work here."
Akon turns her gaze to Thalenir, her tone just as gentle and even. "The spirits were within town restless and angered before I dared ask then speak. Spirits unwillingly awakened from their slumber are of course not the most pleased, but I didnt bid them speak until after thier slumber had been damned, and thier gates closed. They themselves seem clueless as to why, which leaves us with the question yet unanswered."
At this time a stranger walks into the tavern. He is draped in a traveling cloak pulled tightly over his head. He takes the cloak off revealing his stark white hair, dusts it off and places it on a peg on the tavern wall. He surveyes the people all gathered round the message written in silverware, gives a wry smile and speaks quietly to himself.
"Seems my gut feelings were true about coming here."
He takes a seat at the bar seemingly unfaised by the strangness of the matter and calls for the barkeep.
One of the side doors to the tavern opened and closed quietly, leaving a small figure cloaked entirely in black with hidden face to stand beside it and watch the exchange she had been listening to outside. In her hand is a small roll of parchment, on which is tied a black rose. This she slips into her bag before sliding back her hood just enough for her eyes to be seen in it's shadow.
"Well said, Glimmer, Blisdon and Thalenir. It's good to know I'm not the only one that thinks such things and better to know there are those who can convey them better." Katri's thick accented voice drifts from beneath the thick black mask covering her face. She studies the pattern of dishes and things arranged on the tavern floor and her eyes sparkle with unsounded laughter. It seemed that coming into town to seek out Glimmer and the new mail service had been to her advantage, even if the fae hadn't been in the space behind the tavern's kitchen. Her boredom, at the very least, would be fended off for the night.
Glimmer nods her head solemnly as Thalenir, then Katri speak. "I understand both your concerns and I assure you Thalenir, I speak the truth. Katri bears witness to my saying as well, as she promptly packed her campsite and left the grounds where these events took place. A lone fire lilly blooms in the now ashen nettles and briars of that treacherous site."
"Whilst I appreciate your words, Akon, your heed of mine and your actions are more important at this point. I have no doubt that in your own mind you feel you are doing us all a favor. Yet heed my words again when I say you are not. There are all things about our powers and nature we will never understand, and you are beginning to tread in waters you don't understand. I would suggest backpeddaling as quickly as possible. And stop doing these sacrifices, be it your own blood or the blood of a swine. I'm not asking that permanently, but I do ask you temporarily. None of us know what forces and spirits we are dealing with as of yet. Do not make this more difficult than it has to be. You are exhausted, and appear rought with confusion. I would ask that you seek solace from a healer and sleep the night through. You're destruction of those grounds should pose a warning to you that there are things far beyond your power and understanding at work. Let them be as they will be."
At that, Glimmer retrieves her tea pot once more and steeps a new pot as things seem to have calmed for the time being. She slyly passes a pouch of cookies and tea pouches to Akon and eyes her with a mothering look to rest now.
Katri took in the scene from her place between the tavern's side doors. Thalenir gave off a sense of urgency as he vanished from the tavern, as did Glimmer as she ran out. She watched the developments with interest. It seemed that just after the fae had rushed out after the Empyrean, he had teleported back with Solas en towe. She was about to answer when the stranger spoke up about the fae being fae and impatient. She glanced at him curiously before nodding with slight agreement with his statement. Her eyes traveled to Glimmer as she rushed back in, from apparently delivering mail and she chuckled softly.
"Yes, what's got you in such a rush?" She looked back at Thalenir and Solas.
"Well, isn't it obvious uordeq? I have been listening from outside for a bit now, and even I can deduce that this town has a problem with ghosts, this warlock seems to have agitated matters, and something about this firelilly has got the wizard here almost shaking in his boots. All in all it sounds like its going to be a long night, and I will not be getting my wine anytime soon."
Thalenir smirks at Glimmer's excuse before his expression turns grim. "We need someone to go to the druid's grove with all haste and verify the state of things. Preferably a druid, but at least someone who knows the way and can get there quickly. Tell them not to get too close. Pay particular attention to the three at the center of the grove."
Thalenir turns and speaks to the larger crowd assembled in the tavern. "If my suspicion is correct, and I pray that it isn't, a very old and powerful dryad named Firelilly may have been awoken by Akon's activities. The last time she dealt with Jastrey, it was to help us cleanse the corruption that several town members visited upon her grove using dark magic. Her last experience with us was brief and painful for her, and I fear she may not show patience the second time around."
Katri looked at the stranger, her tone mildly bland, "I am well aware of the ghost problem, they're hard to miss. I also saw that warlock's ritual first hand and upon my suggestion that she had aggitated something, I recieved a much less kind rebuttle than she offered here. I was mainly refferring to the lilly that seems to have worried Thalenir so much."
"A powerful dryad with a problem with dark magics near where the Nivarian was just using said disliked magics. That sounds as if it could be rather... unpleasant if she may lose her patience during a second visit and it really is this Firelilly." Katri turned to the Empyrean wizard.
Akon sunk into one of the tavern seats, her wet robes heavy about her, hand clutching at the bag of cookies in her still freshly cut palm. "And it's my fault..." She muttered. "Damnation..." Sure cursed at herself, a volly of emotions felt in the words as the warlock bent in form, head angled towards the table and shoulders broken in both exhaustion and remorse. One could almost feel the self hatred growing within the warlocks chest.
"An apt word if ever there was one, but such is the price of delving into dark magic. You'll have no pity from me, nor from Firelilly or the creatures under her command, I would imagine. If I have one regret, it is that you've dragged us in along with you. But I imagine you'll answer for that soon enough, and I for one will call it justice."
Thalenir turns away from Akon. "Be that as it may, we still have a crisis to deal with. Any thoughts on how to proceed?"
"Damnation, indeed. It took long enough and enough arguments for you to open your blind, red eyes." Katri stared pitilessly at the exhausted looking Akon and referenced back to their earlier... 'conversation,' taking a quick swallow from her flask. "Welcome to reality. Maybe next time you won't get so high and mighty. Also, I can't take you bleeding all over the place any more, will you kindly take up my previous offer and let me stop it?"
The young Uordeq looked to the wizard while she waited for the other woman's answer, "How did you deal with her last time? Is there any chance something similar may work again?"
A wineskin falls from the rafters landing squarely in front of the stranger. "Drink till your heart's content friend there's plenty more wine where that came from," an old, familiar voice calls from the darkness above. "Don't chastise her too much, Thalenir, you never punished me for anything that I used to do, of course, I don't beleive you ever pleaded my case either. It seems Akon here is only doing what she's always done best, nothing more, nothing less."
An adamant dagger with an ornately carved ivory hilt plunges from the shadows and sticks squarely into the table in front of Thalenir. "There's an easy solution to dealing with weeds, if you needs thoughts on how to proceed." A small dark circle begins to form in the table around the blade of the knife as the posions begin to leech into the wood. "Any good herbalist knows the only way to truly get rid of them is to make sure you get the roots."
"Hello Wreynn," Thalenir says without a hint of surprise as he gazes into the rafters. He casts a sideward glance at the dagger. "Eloquent as always, I see. You're welcome to volunteer for the job if you like, though I intend to have no part in it. Jastrey has and always will decide justice on its own, all too often brutal, terms."
Thalenir's boots begin to glow as he floats gently toward the rafters, until he's eye level with Wreynn. "You know as well as I do: In a land without laws, there can be no crimes. I tried to change that once, but the effort proved futile. I'll still speak up if I feel the cause is just. In her case, though," he looks back toward Akon, "she deserves whatever she gets."
Wreynn tips his hat to Thalenir and begins to slid backwards off the rafter as the wizard floats up to greet him vanishing from site only to reappear seated on the wizards own stool. "You're right old friend, this place is often too brutal. Its amazing how everyone seeks to tear open a problem to see the cause when a small incision in the right place will accomplish the same effect. I'd take the job, but you should know me well enough by now to know that it's none of my concern either. Either way, glad to see you're no longer stuck on guard duty. Are you and Haven taking shifts now?"
Wreynn casts a sidelong glance at the bag of cookies in Akon's hand. "Apparently I'm not the only one who's been busy in the kitchen these days. And where is the cat? I've been sitting here far to long to see nobody manning the floor. Did Ece get smart and finally run away or is she in the back doing Tin's laundry on the stove again?"
Thalenir descends and lands softly. "You've been gone for longer than I thought." He smirks. "And here I thought Reinholdts were better at staying informed."
"Haven is still suffering from the side effects of the high magic we performed. I would free her this minute if I knew how, but I'm not even sure how I managed it. As for Ecelece, I haven't seen her for at least a year."
"And what of yourself? Last I heard your brother Aylial was still looking for you with less-than-healthy intentions. What makes you so bold as to reappear in public view, I wonder?"
"What can I say," Wreynn chuckles to himself for a moment, "when you're playing dead, its a little harder to keep yourself well informed. Who's the barkeep around here now then? At least tell me there's a cask of Baumgarten's finest in the back, or one of Abagail's pies." Wreynn begins to speak with a bit more urgency in his voice, "Please tell me the Baumgartens are still around, their farm is nearly the only thing keeping this place from being uninhabitable!"
Wreynn stands up and walks to the ktichen, poking his head in the door. "Is there anyone in here? Dead man walking, looking for his last meal, anyone able to cook it for me?"
Valez with his eyes closed nods then opens the door to the tavern. His black hair falling over his green eyes as he scans the room matching the voices to the people in the tavern. He eyes take in Akon sitting and frowns. "That won't do at all." He whispers under his breathe and takes grabs a cup from a table then pours some water into it. He approaches Akon and gently lays the cup in front of her, a small white petal floated atop the water. He smiled then turned around not waiting to be acknowledged. "Valez Du'Urth is willing to lend himself and his knights to what needs to be done at this point in time. Whenever we discover what it is we shall do."
Katri picked up Wryenn's dagger, pulling it out of the table, as she watched the man catch up on news in Jastrey. She looked over it's ornate handle, and was careful not to cut her hand as she twirled it between her fingers. The Reinholdt listed through people she had never heard of and poked his head in the kitchen looking for someone to fix him a meal. Not bothering to reisit the urge to be a pest, she pulled a small, wrapped piece of bread from her pocket and chucked it at his head with a snicker, "If you're so starving, you can have that."
She eyed Akon again, still fiddling with the poison-tipped dagger. At this point, she was hiding behind her mask in earnest to stiffle the smell of fresh blood on the woman. Her fresh wounds did little to help. The little Uordeq tapped her foot somewhat impatiently, eager to see the woman's wounds closed so she could pull the hot mask away from her face.
Taklinn comes in the tavern excitedly, obviously oblivious to anything that has been going on recently. He takes a quick look around the tavern seeing the grave faces all around before settling in on Akon's. "It seems that Jastrey is once again called upon to play janitor fer one of yer many sacrifices that ye are makin' fer us. Once again I will say that it is all too convenient that trouble has found its way into town by yer hands, but I ain't fer pickin' up a mop fer ye this time. Too many "heroes" around here all too willing to overlook yer evil ways and set things right. Let the child nburn themselves on the forge and they should learn the lesson soon enough I say, and if they don't they ain't worth the effort!"
With that Taklinn goes in the back and begins stuffing foodstuffs in his backpack quickly. As he is doing this several large lumps of ore fall out onto the counter. He picks them up and reverently places them back in his pack before finishing his packing and filling up his waterskins before heading back out into the common room and saying to Thalenir "Got me a couple of chores what thats needin' done wizard, won't be able to make me watch fer a couple of days, but I should be back in weeks time or so." Without waiting for a response he bursts out of the Tavern with a bounce in his step and a determined visage set on his face.
"Taklinn Forgesplitter you get your hind parts over to me this instant and give us a kiss lovie, or meself thinks I shall have to pour you full of rotted gut stuffs, I shall I shall!"
Glimmer then turns to Wreynn and says "Dearest Uncle dear, please, be seated and rest your weary soles. I shall prepare you a meal of meals. A feast of feasts even!" Glimmer pops a red cellophane wrapped candy into her mouth, drools a bit, and then sets to pouring Wreynn a cup of tea and preparing a plate of cookies to snack on before she cooks.
"Thalenir, I know the way to the grove. Corvax, though it was long ago, was in talks with me about my membership into the grove. Is there anything I can do to help? And what are the talks of the poisons Wreynn seemed to be implying be root bound? Though not as fine as he, I am a strong herbalist and I will take on the task if it doesn't bear against my nature. This Dryad, Firelilly. MOTHER ABOVE BLESS HER SPIRIT. MAY HER ROOTS GROW STRONGER AND MAY SHE BLOSSOM PEACEFULLY FROM THIS DAY FORWARD!"
Glimmer flits closer to Thalenir and encircles him in a warm, yet squeezy tight hug and whispers "I miss Haven, too." Glimmer sheds a slight tear, releases Thalenir, and sets to preparing the last bit of bear meat she has stashed away from her kill with Kirell for Uncle Wreynn. She can be heard quietly humming a solemn song, almost like a lullaby.
Akon sat in deep thought, listening to those around her, but her broken shoulders nor her figure moved save for shallow, quiet breath. "And the child shall be burnt....if I have any say in the matter." She said, taking the drink offered, a thread of crimson staining the clear water in the class as she removed it from her lips. "Thank you.." She muttered low but sincerely to the Knight, leaving the glass upon the table as she rose. "It is not the town's folk that the Dyrad seeks quarl with. It's me. And so it shall be." She slides from the tavern seat, and stalks tiredly towards the doorway. "I doubt any of you would oppose me going to face the wrath of the creature alone? I'd rather not let my naitivity bring any of you harm if I can at all atone for it myself." She pauses in the doorway, looking back towards them.
The stranger takes the wine skin the male uordeq drops infront of him and smiles.
"Come have the first drink good sir. It would be rude of me to drink anothers wine without offering the gifter some. After all this dangerous journey you just been signed up for may be your last, you might as well enjoy it some."
With that the stranger pours a goblet full and offers it to Wren.
Katri started at the warlock's muttered words, her head whipping around with an unreadable expression between shock and a glare. Her hand slipped slightly on the dagger in her grasp and she very narrowly avoided cutting herself, mostly courtesy of all her training. However, just as quickly, all signs of her shock and startle were gone, as though they had never been. She just eyed the woman as she rose and turned to go.
"You think awefully highly of yourself sometimes, Nivarian. Here, I thought I was foolish. Did you not listen to a word Miss Glimmer just said to you? Stop with the sacrifices, self or otherwise, and ask for help occasionally. Essentially: Quit. Your. Shit. Step one was owning up to it. Congrats, you've figured it out. Step two, however, is NOT "let's mope and have a pity party and run out on our own to 'sacrifice' ourselves becuase we feel all emotional." Step two, happens to be APOLOGIZE and ASK FOR HELP." Katri shook her head, mildly disgusted.
"I don't ask for your pity, nor your forgiveness. Though I am sorry for what my actions have brought. I only seek to rectify and repair the damage done. Help will be gladly accepted, hense why I asked before I went off doing things alone again. The grounds need to be cleansed..."
Akon runs a hand to her head, rubbing her forhead there. "I can almost feel their sorrow...their burdens..." She mutters to herself, letting a heavy breath fall and closing her eyes for a moment, then looking quietly back to the tavern.
"The spirits are restless. The way is closed. They seek respite. So have the told me. Can you not see it on their faces? They are screaming, but it cannot be heard.....hense why they clattler and cause a rukkus. A haunting merely a means to try to communicate to us. To reach out to us. They need us. They are not angry with us....they are restless with their unresolved fates. But they cannot open the way themselves....that's where we come in."
"You, Akon Niviarian, are a hopeless, wasted case. There is no getting through your own self-importance, let alone that thick skull of yours. You did not ask for help. You made a somewhat snide and self-pitying comment." Katri spat, utterly disgusted now. "You are not the woman you were or claim to be. You see what we all see, I'm sure! These spirits aren't exactly hiding are they? No, they're wandering straight through town. We all know something is wrong with them. Get over yourself."
Katri fiddled with the dagger in her hands in frustration, glaring at the woman who had gone from high and mighty to one giant pity party in a matter of hours. It was sickening and a low hiss formed in her throat. The Nivarian woman was either the greatest actress in the world or the greatest fool.
Chataya only moved from her position to stand against the tavern wall as she watched everything unfold. She never spoke a word, just occasionally nodding at things that were said by Glimmer and Katri. Finally, having enough of Katri playing with the knife, she walks over to her friend, reaching out her hand. "Please, Katri, stop playing with that blasted knife. I don't want to have to try to heal you from whatever poison is on it. I don't doubt your skill with a knife, but please, for the sake of my nerves, put it down." She smiles so that there can be no mistake that she meant no insult to her friend.
She also says to Akon, "Don't be a fool. Let someone heal your wounds. I don't care whether you go face this Firelilly alone or not, but if you're going to stand there feeling sorry for yourself, let someone heal you." She scoffs. "Remember all that crap about prophesies saying the town needed a warlock to survive that you used to spout all the time? Where is that prophesy now when you're all set to go 'sacrifice' yourself for the good if the town again? Huh? Is it no longer true? Or was it just a convenient truth at the time?"
Akon looked to Chataya. "I am not here for self pity, I am here to rectify what has been done. I've said it already, and I say it again. I am sorry for what my actions have caused. They have caused disruption. I openly admit to it. If my words are not enough, then damn well let my actions speak. I wish to cleanse the curse I have brought to the land before the Dryad seeks vengance on those not responsible for it. I am. I'm responsible for it. I admit to it openly. What more do you wish of me? I am not seeking pity, I'm damn well trying to fix what I have done."
Wreynn walks back from the kitchen munching on the piece of bread that was thrown at him and strolls behind Katri on the way to sit next to the stranger. "I'll be taking that young duskling," he says as he gently lifts his dagger from Katri's hands. "Like the nice Ixifar says, you may have skill with the blade, but it won't take but a scratch to see you laying on the floor. I'd hate to see what daddy would have to say if he lost you too."
Gently placing the dagger back in his scabbard he sits down next to the stranger and takes a sip from the glass that was poured for him. "Don't worry friend, its safe, I wouldn't taint my own wine. That would just be a waste of good spirits. I don't believe I've made the pleasure of your acquaintance." Extending his hand he introduces himself, "I'm Wreynn, of the Reinholdt house, and you are?"
Chataya snorts at Akon's speech, but otherwise makes no response save to turn more towards Katri. When the man approached that she knew only by reputation, and a bad one at that, she moved to stand slightly behind Katri, against the wall again. It wasn't from cowardice, but more from caution, a trait Jastrey taught it's residents very quickly.
"Victor is my name sir. Quite a strange town you all have here isn't it? I have passed by what seemed to be an angori war camp, and now a family of uordeq, and even two of my own kind. What happened to all the humans round here? You couldn't have sold them all already?"
Victor chuckles wryly and takes a sip of wine.
"Although I do have to say, this is my kind of town. Seems trouble brews easy here."
Katri releases the dagger, but steps down hard the man's foot with her bootheel before he walks away, "Wreynn, you aren't that much older than me, ass. As for 'daddy' he seems to be quite well without me, being that I'm still here. Don't you have others to harass 'duskling'?"
Instead of pulling out her own dagger, for Chataya's sanity, she muttered a short incant, "Don't be such a bleeding heart" [1 spell] The small ball of violet energy rested in between her palms and she kneeded it between them, occasionally tossing it between her hands, to keep them occupied. She merely rolled her eyes at Akon.
"Oh, these two have been going at it for years," Wreynn chuckles. "I think its about time the little one finally started to cut her teeth. She'd make a terrible queen if she didn't." He absentmindedly swirls the wine in his glass before taking another sip. "I've been a bit out of the loop lately, so I can't tell you much about the comings and goings of town, but it's always been a lively place for someone wishing to make a name for themselves."
Wreynn breaks from his conversation with Victor to shout back to the kitchen, "Gilimmer, how long does it take to bring out a slab of month old meat and cold broth? I'm dying of hunger here!"
Pulling another glass from the table, Wreynn pours some more wine for his new drinking buddy. "Drink friend, for tomorrow we may be no more!"
Excusing herself from Chataya with a smile and nod, the small Uordeq extiguishes the spell energy into her closed fist, producing a little puff of violet smoke. She then strides over to Wryenn and tugs his hat askew with a wink, "Better to be cutting teeth, than being gutted, my dear Reinholdt."
With little more than a nod to everyone else, she exits the main area of the tavern into the kitchen. Katri slips the roll of of parchment, rose still attatched and in decent condition, from her bag, hoping to give it to the Glimmer and her mail service before she heads back to her camp for the night.
Victor turns to Wren, takes the goblet and takes a sip.
"The little ones got feist I'll give her that, the taller one seems a bit......well off kilter if you ask me. To dabble in dark arts is folly anyways, but to think you can do it and not suffer....well lets just say. Anyways for now lets drink to a tomorrow.....maybe."
Victor raises his glass and takes a sip.
Blisdon rubbed his temples with an exhausted sigh as he poured himself onto one of the long benches throughout the tavern.
"Want to know a funny joke? Uordeq politics." Grumbled the uordeq shaman as he pulls a small canteen from his satchel and takes a deep swig of the refreshing spring water.
"It seems as if we as a town are being called to action, The Dryad being just another piece in a much larger puzzle. A storm will be coming our way soon, And I can only pray to the four to at least know why before the thunder begins to shake the skies."
After a long absence Akon returns, looking into the tavern and pulling her hood down to rest about her shoulders. She gazed across the occupants and set her eyes upon Blisdon and Chataya. "Blisdon....Chataya. Will you help me cleanse the grounds that lie around the Firelily?"
Blisdon cocked a questioning eyebrow at the warlock before turning his gaze to Solas with the same cocked eyebrow and between a brief, almost telepathic and wacky dance of our eyebrows,eyelashes and pupil dialations between the uordeq and the Empyrean the shaman once again directed his head back towards Akon.
"The Wild Hunt will do what we can to cleanse the taint. Nature keeps few scars that last, but the ones it does possess run deep into the earth like the roots of the everwood tree. One can only hope it is not too late to begin."
"Aye Uncle Wreynn if it wasn't himself asking meself such a question in such a way, the dust would be flyin' it would, it would. But tis yourself and your food is served dear man."
Glimmer places a plate with a hefty slab of bear meat doused in a glaze of herbal sauce in front of him. She runs to the utensils that formed words, stands about a foot from them and quickly jumps at a fork and knife. She returns to Wreynn's table and places them before him. Glimmer pours another cup of tea and says "Eat well and fill your belly with treats afterwards!"
Glimmer turns to Akon and says "You apology did not fall on deaf ears. But you must understand the mistrust. All things take time, and time can be the devil himself."
She turns to the stranger and says "Victor, did you say Knight? I am Glimmer. I run our mail services here and I'll be needing your location in town should anyone need to send you anything. Here are some cookies, and you are welcome to some tea. But only after Uncle Wreynn there is finished. Musn't disturb the man as he dines you see." Glimmer offers a low curtsey, and begins stuffing herself with cookies and candy.
Victor nods his head cortly to the fae.
"Ah sweet fae words do seem to ramble and merge in your little ears, he is the Knight" gesturing torward Valez "I am simply Victor. Tis a pleasure to meet you miss, or is it mrs? After all you did pay close attention to the dwarf that came in." Victor gives a smile to Glimmer. "As for where I reside, right now I reside nowhere since I have just arrived, but rest assured once I find a place I shall immediately let you now."
Solas stands in silence, watching everything play out carefully. He licks his lips at the wine produced by the Uordeq catching up on history. He shakes his head, recalling the last time he drank. "All those frogs." He mutters to himself, snapping out of the fantasy. Finally he crosses the room deliberatly toward Blisdon, his Uordeq Companion. "Did you just volunteer us for something?" He asks quietly.
Glimmer can be heard squeeling quite angrily from her postal room at the back of the tavern. "NOW LOOKEY HERE! I DON'T KNOW WHO YOU ARE OR WHAT YOU WANT, BUT THIS IS MY TOWN, YOU HERE ME!!! YOU BETTER GET PAST WHATEVER IT IS YOU'RE LINGERING HERE FOR AND GET MY TEA POT OFF THIS CEILING RIGHT NOW! SO HELP ME I WILL HUNT YOU DOWN AND GUT YOU LIKE THE WORTHLESS, SHAMELESS TRIFLE YOU ARE. SHOW YOURSELF!" Glimmer sprints into the front of the tavern to see if anyone else was present for the latest disaster. She begins mumbling to herself upon seeing the same site as her tea pot and says "Well I'll be smelly Uordeq. Not Katri or Wreynn, but any of the other smelly ones. WHAT DO YOU WANT?" Glimmer screams at the air. "So help me I will see to the end of this. You could have BROKEN MY COOKIES YOU FOUL AIR THINGY! All this mess and you can't show yourself. BAH!" Glimmer shakes her fists wildly at the air and begins flying around the room trying to collect things from the ceiling, cursing in a strange and lilting tongue. Anyone who hears it would probably feel ashamed.