Let's Pretend We Don't Know
New
K0mori
Servant Supreme
Option 1: 5 Votes (63% - Range: 1-63)
Option 2: 3 Votes (38% - Range: 64-100)
Fae Roll: 64
"Regardless of whether or not they've closed the border," you change the subject, "we're probably going to meet resistance everywhere we go, once we're on the other side. They can't stop us from traveling where we please, but they're not stupid. Even if they don't know us by name, they'll know what we are."
Kulka hums, dismissively. "That's nothing new for me, sister."
Meanwhile, Embryx drums her fingers on the bar, looking troubled. She knows you're avoiding talking about the "Sharyx" dream, but the new conversation you've chosen has given her other things to worry about. "...And what about the coven in Sonnamille?" she asks. "Kulka, you said that the elders don't talk 'like they used to,' but have you spoken about Agranne's pact and what we were doing with the fae? And do you think they'll want to help us, or turn us away?"
"I haven't spoken with Callypseae in two months," Kulka replies, unhappily. "But I know enough about her and the pact she leads to know that they'll help us leave as quickly as possible. The Kingdom of Sonnamille has been fighting for generations to clear the fae out of their sacred woods. Few people know this, but Lythrefang worked to further this aim, as the blight of madness that those faeries peddle has ruined more than a fair share of prodigious young witches to our south. What Agranne did will undo generations of work - and they already know what your alliance entailed; they'll know your minds are compromised. She's also a tabaxi, and unfortunately, the sorrority of the coven is sometimes inadequate for addressing some of the sorest ingrained biases. You won't fare much better, drow."
Embryx's weary expression burns away before the heat of her indignation. "...You can't be serious. Hating us for being fae-touched is one thing, but they'd actually be dumb enough to bother with prejudices like that?"
"Rather dumb indeed," Kulka replies, dejectedly. "Many years ago, I crossed the border from Athea into the elven kingdom in search of better teachers for my dark talents. Callypseae became my elder at that time, but she never quite invested the efforts she made for our fellow sisters there as she did for me. At first, I assumed it was because I was a foreigner, and so I learned their customs. I changed the way I dressed, the way I spoke, the way I lived. Nothing satisfied them; it soon became clear that Callypseae thought it would be wasteful to teach someone with a quarter of the lifespan that elves are granted."
"And yet, you're still here," Stalna says, encouragingly.
A grizzly smile appears on Kulka's rotted face. "Yes... I'm still here, sister."
"So you're walking proof that the elves are idiots," Embryx says. "Do you think that'll buy us a second glance?"
You snicker. "Ever hear of the exception that proves the rule?"
Kulka nods, bitterly. "Everything I've achieved in Turadal has made me 'exceptional' in their eyes, but hasn't had a single affect on their ideas about what goblins as a whole are and aren't good for. King Yedaelth has many goblins in service as royal knights, but few, if any, in service as royal mages, and that same attitude is reflected in the makeup of Callypseae's pact, and those of her pact sisters' pacts, all the way down. Many of the middling ranks are full of talentless elves - old, beautiful, and cultured elves, but talentless nonetheless."
With everyone's mood a bit soured, you try to get the discussion back on track: "What are you all so sad about? It sounds like most of them aren't even strong enough to be a serious help, even if they weren't assholes. They've already got one problem on their hands that they can't handle," you say, referring to the drow, "so they're sure as hell not going to want to get on my nerves."
"That's for sure," Stalna replies, with a hint of resignation in her voice.
Kulka nods in agreement, slowly and tepidly. "Try not to become a thoughtless killer, Agranne. My choice to leave Sonnamille for Turadal and lead by example inspired many to come and join me, and your conquest of Thandan would not have been possible with the stock of witches they have to the south... I will ultimately need to answer for your actions, so I implore you not to drive them away... Any further than you have, at least."
"What do you mean?" you ask.
Annoyedly, she answers: "Exactly what I said, and have been saying, since this discussion began." You weren't expecting such a fierce answer, and you decide that maybe it would be best to listen closely for a moment as she slowly and meticulously lays out her argument. "...Everything you've done in Turadal will have consequences, Agranne. Think carefully about your own induction to our ranks... When you arrived, the Kingdom was peaceful, and witchcraft was a dark secret held by otherwise normal people. You probably imagined a different future - I would assume - in which you would be free to seek happiness in such a land. Would you have ever thrown in your lot with us, if a fae-touched, relic-touting, hex-blooded mass-murderer was in the midst of leading armies of the dead, the insane, and her cultlike following against the nobility?"
"Yeah, I get it," you reply bitterly, "but you've never stood in my shoes, either, despite your long and experienced life, Kulka. If the Eldest had decided that you were the lynchpin of her Design, you'd have found it pretty hard to keep that olive branch in your hand. And I'm sorry that all that shit I did gave you so much to clean up, too, but it was your call to spite the elves down south by living as long as you possibly could. If you had just died when you were supposed to," you argue sarcastically, a hint of humor returning to your tone, "then all of this would be someone else's problem."
"Well," Kulka replies, having sensed the joking intent and not taken offense, "...I suppose that's true, too. If it weren't for me, it would be your problem. And in that case, I'd pity everyone in Turadal."
"Gods! A real bed," Embryx says as she throws her hat aside and flops onto the large, comfortable mattress with her arms spread out wide, taking your mind off the past and future for the moment and reminding you that you're not alone.
You walk over and begin unlacing her boots so that you can help her get them off. "You slept in a 'real bed' last night, too, didn't you?" you ask, beginning to worry that she had somehow forgone sleep or had been forced to sleep rough without your knowledge. She begins to answer you, but her voice is muffled against the covers of the bed below her, so she rolls over to face you.
"Yeah, I did," she says, "but only for a few hours. You don't even realize what hour it was when I finally got you to that inn in the city because you were out cold the whole time. First, I had to pick you up and carry you until I found some other members of the coven, and then I had to follow them to two different inns looking for a vacancy, since they had all been taken over by our sisters and brothers... Then, a messenger showed up and told me Kulka found out about me coming through the first inn with you, and was waiting for me at the third, and that's how we found you a bed. I got about two hours of sleep last night."
You grimace. "Shit, I'm sorry," you say as you tenderly brush her silver hair out of her eyes.
"It's okay," she sighs. "We stuck to our agreement, didn't we? On our first night back on the road, we've found a proper place to sleep."
You smile as you sit down beside her and start unlacing your own boots in the candlelight. It begins to dawn on you that you're finally in a comfortable, warm, private room, with full bellies and (for one glorious little moment) free of anything which would otherwise interrupt you or ruin the mood. Now, all you have to do is not say something stupid or get her thinking about tomorrow, and you'll have orchestrated a perfect night to spend with the girl you love.
1. Fade to Black - As she sits there smiling back at you, you undress in silence.
2. Read My Mind - "So you got into my head last night, and you saw what I was thinking," you begin. Embryx seems a bit uncertain where you're going with this, but she stays quiet and you press on. "...Can you do it again? I want you to get to know yourself through my eyes." She flushes a bit at the suggestion.
Option 2: 3 Votes (38% - Range: 64-100)
Fae Roll: 64
"Regardless of whether or not they've closed the border," you change the subject, "we're probably going to meet resistance everywhere we go, once we're on the other side. They can't stop us from traveling where we please, but they're not stupid. Even if they don't know us by name, they'll know what we are."
Kulka hums, dismissively. "That's nothing new for me, sister."
Meanwhile, Embryx drums her fingers on the bar, looking troubled. She knows you're avoiding talking about the "Sharyx" dream, but the new conversation you've chosen has given her other things to worry about. "...And what about the coven in Sonnamille?" she asks. "Kulka, you said that the elders don't talk 'like they used to,' but have you spoken about Agranne's pact and what we were doing with the fae? And do you think they'll want to help us, or turn us away?"
"I haven't spoken with Callypseae in two months," Kulka replies, unhappily. "But I know enough about her and the pact she leads to know that they'll help us leave as quickly as possible. The Kingdom of Sonnamille has been fighting for generations to clear the fae out of their sacred woods. Few people know this, but Lythrefang worked to further this aim, as the blight of madness that those faeries peddle has ruined more than a fair share of prodigious young witches to our south. What Agranne did will undo generations of work - and they already know what your alliance entailed; they'll know your minds are compromised. She's also a tabaxi, and unfortunately, the sorrority of the coven is sometimes inadequate for addressing some of the sorest ingrained biases. You won't fare much better, drow."
Embryx's weary expression burns away before the heat of her indignation. "...You can't be serious. Hating us for being fae-touched is one thing, but they'd actually be dumb enough to bother with prejudices like that?"
"Rather dumb indeed," Kulka replies, dejectedly. "Many years ago, I crossed the border from Athea into the elven kingdom in search of better teachers for my dark talents. Callypseae became my elder at that time, but she never quite invested the efforts she made for our fellow sisters there as she did for me. At first, I assumed it was because I was a foreigner, and so I learned their customs. I changed the way I dressed, the way I spoke, the way I lived. Nothing satisfied them; it soon became clear that Callypseae thought it would be wasteful to teach someone with a quarter of the lifespan that elves are granted."
"And yet, you're still here," Stalna says, encouragingly.
A grizzly smile appears on Kulka's rotted face. "Yes... I'm still here, sister."
"So you're walking proof that the elves are idiots," Embryx says. "Do you think that'll buy us a second glance?"
You snicker. "Ever hear of the exception that proves the rule?"
Kulka nods, bitterly. "Everything I've achieved in Turadal has made me 'exceptional' in their eyes, but hasn't had a single affect on their ideas about what goblins as a whole are and aren't good for. King Yedaelth has many goblins in service as royal knights, but few, if any, in service as royal mages, and that same attitude is reflected in the makeup of Callypseae's pact, and those of her pact sisters' pacts, all the way down. Many of the middling ranks are full of talentless elves - old, beautiful, and cultured elves, but talentless nonetheless."
With everyone's mood a bit soured, you try to get the discussion back on track: "What are you all so sad about? It sounds like most of them aren't even strong enough to be a serious help, even if they weren't assholes. They've already got one problem on their hands that they can't handle," you say, referring to the drow, "so they're sure as hell not going to want to get on my nerves."
"That's for sure," Stalna replies, with a hint of resignation in her voice.
Kulka nods in agreement, slowly and tepidly. "Try not to become a thoughtless killer, Agranne. My choice to leave Sonnamille for Turadal and lead by example inspired many to come and join me, and your conquest of Thandan would not have been possible with the stock of witches they have to the south... I will ultimately need to answer for your actions, so I implore you not to drive them away... Any further than you have, at least."
"What do you mean?" you ask.
Annoyedly, she answers: "Exactly what I said, and have been saying, since this discussion began." You weren't expecting such a fierce answer, and you decide that maybe it would be best to listen closely for a moment as she slowly and meticulously lays out her argument. "...Everything you've done in Turadal will have consequences, Agranne. Think carefully about your own induction to our ranks... When you arrived, the Kingdom was peaceful, and witchcraft was a dark secret held by otherwise normal people. You probably imagined a different future - I would assume - in which you would be free to seek happiness in such a land. Would you have ever thrown in your lot with us, if a fae-touched, relic-touting, hex-blooded mass-murderer was in the midst of leading armies of the dead, the insane, and her cultlike following against the nobility?"
"Yeah, I get it," you reply bitterly, "but you've never stood in my shoes, either, despite your long and experienced life, Kulka. If the Eldest had decided that you were the lynchpin of her Design, you'd have found it pretty hard to keep that olive branch in your hand. And I'm sorry that all that shit I did gave you so much to clean up, too, but it was your call to spite the elves down south by living as long as you possibly could. If you had just died when you were supposed to," you argue sarcastically, a hint of humor returning to your tone, "then all of this would be someone else's problem."
"Well," Kulka replies, having sensed the joking intent and not taken offense, "...I suppose that's true, too. If it weren't for me, it would be your problem. And in that case, I'd pity everyone in Turadal."
---
The discussion at dinner about your impact on Lythrefang's future caused a lot of reflection as your prepared to end the night in one of the lodge's rooms. What if you hadn't turned eastward, those years ago, when you were floating down the Turus River? What if you had gone west toward home, instead?
"Gods! A real bed," Embryx says as she throws her hat aside and flops onto the large, comfortable mattress with her arms spread out wide, taking your mind off the past and future for the moment and reminding you that you're not alone.
You walk over and begin unlacing her boots so that you can help her get them off. "You slept in a 'real bed' last night, too, didn't you?" you ask, beginning to worry that she had somehow forgone sleep or had been forced to sleep rough without your knowledge. She begins to answer you, but her voice is muffled against the covers of the bed below her, so she rolls over to face you.
"Yeah, I did," she says, "but only for a few hours. You don't even realize what hour it was when I finally got you to that inn in the city because you were out cold the whole time. First, I had to pick you up and carry you until I found some other members of the coven, and then I had to follow them to two different inns looking for a vacancy, since they had all been taken over by our sisters and brothers... Then, a messenger showed up and told me Kulka found out about me coming through the first inn with you, and was waiting for me at the third, and that's how we found you a bed. I got about two hours of sleep last night."
You grimace. "Shit, I'm sorry," you say as you tenderly brush her silver hair out of her eyes.
"It's okay," she sighs. "We stuck to our agreement, didn't we? On our first night back on the road, we've found a proper place to sleep."
You smile as you sit down beside her and start unlacing your own boots in the candlelight. It begins to dawn on you that you're finally in a comfortable, warm, private room, with full bellies and (for one glorious little moment) free of anything which would otherwise interrupt you or ruin the mood. Now, all you have to do is not say something stupid or get her thinking about tomorrow, and you'll have orchestrated a perfect night to spend with the girl you love.
1. Fade to Black - As she sits there smiling back at you, you undress in silence.
2. Read My Mind - "So you got into my head last night, and you saw what I was thinking," you begin. Embryx seems a bit uncertain where you're going with this, but she stays quiet and you press on. "...Can you do it again? I want you to get to know yourself through my eyes." She flushes a bit at the suggestion.
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