[IC] Industrygothica's "The Hive"

"Nope, no map," Loddie says. "And no voucher either. Didn't know I needed one."

Loddie looks around the table. "Hey, you don't think I'ma get in any trouble fer this, do ya? I mean, I didn't think I was doin' anything wrong."

Loddie brings his hands to his face and begins to sob again. "Oh, it's that Duran I tell ya! He's gonna be the death of me fer sure."

"It'll be fine I'm sure," says Scodi, "and Duran won't cause you much more grief, it'd be a waste of his time. It's not like it's going to get him the walnuts any the better. I'm suprised he's so desperate for some nuts to go this far to be honest. There's not anything we should know about them is there?"

Scodi pays particular attention to Loddie's body language, wondering if he knows more than he's saying (OOC: Sense Motive +7)

Courage is leaning against the door, her pack slung over one shoulder, and has been looking at the ground. Her bow has been balanced against the wall, but other than that she looks ready to depart. At Scodi's question, she looks up, and turns to Loddie to see how he answers. There certainly is something going on... she muses.

[After he answers]

"I propose we begin our journey, if we want to make the Iron Hills by nightfall," she suggests to her companions.

"If there's more to them nuts besides good eatin', it's sumptin' I don't know about, and that I swear to ya. Though yer right to be concerned; he sure does want those nuts real bad." Loddie gets up from the table and offers to fill your waterskins and give you some dry rations for your troubles, which include several handfuls of the barnuts that Courage previously spotted.

[sblock]As best you can tell, Loddie honestly believes (or believed, in light of recent events) that Duran wanted the dryad walnuts for no other reason than that they are a delicacy.[/sblock]

Assuming you move on...

There are only four ways to get into Irongate: West through the Headlands in Onnwal, north or south by ship from the Dunhead Bay or from the Azure Sea, or east through the Iron Hills.

You'll see that the road is marked plainly enough, as it is the only one available and is fairly well used. The journey itself is uneventful. The land is mostly flat until late afternoon, when you can see the hills come up over the horizon. As you enter the hills themselves, the sun leaves you just enough light to set up camp near a small ravine.

Tanith, female human illusionist

Silent for most the journey, Tanith quietly helps getting camp set up and retires early, offering to take a later watch so that she can have uninterrupted sleep.

Night falls quickly and, thankfully, unventfully. Everything seems right thus far and, for now at least, it seems that you'll be able to get a good night's rest in preperation for another day's hard march through the Iron Hills.

[sblock]I think a watch schedule is in order, for those pesky random encounters. [/sblock]

It has been a long day's walk, and Courage is pleased that the drinking and excitement from the night before has not slowed their pace much. As the group arrives at the proposed campsite, Courage immediately begins to gather firewood. She is smiling, and apparently whistling a half-forgotten tune--the same thre bars, over and over, each time followed by an attempted continuation, that never quite sounds right.

In twenty minutes or so, there is a small pile of wood ready to be lit. Courage is finishing off some blackberries she has found and picked, popping the last three or four in her mouth. She takes her canteen, and pours some water into her hands and rubs them together, removing thedirt from the wood and the juice from the berries. She dries her hands by rubbing her fingers through her hair. As her hands work their way towards the back of her scalp, she reveals the elfin ears that her dark hair usually keeps hidden.

"Will you all excuse me for a while?" she asks to the group generally, as she makes her way for a mossy mound, encased in the shadows from the Iron hills. The sun had set before them over an hour ago, now, but the proximity to the hills suggested that the twilight might continue for hours yet, before it truly got dark.

She removes her armour, revealing a dark wool undershirt, and dark green trousers. She lays the intricately worked armour beside her posessions, covers them with her pack, and does some stretching before laying down on her back, pillowing her head on a forearm.

Courage falls asleep.

She wakes automatically about two hours before midnight. She sits up, stretches, and greets anyone who is sitting around the fire (assuming it was lit). "I can take the night watch, if you like," she offers, smiling. She goes to the mound, pulls on her mithril shirt, the cable-knot designs rippling in the shadows. Courage vacates the mound, leaving room for someone else igf they wish, bringing her posessions to where the others are, and there she sits through the night, either alone or in the company of others--waking people for their shifts, or not, as they wish--until morning.

She has a small pile of berries waiting for anyone to take when dawn arrives, but it is really not enough to count as a suitable breakfast for one. Courage has not kept the fire going, and it is clear she has sifted the coals to ensure there are no remaining embers. She is ready to continue the journey.

Jonas had been watching over things between dusk and the time when Miss Bloodstone returns. I'll stay up a bit longer. Loddie gave me some of his green tea, care for some? He says, walking around to the other side of the fire and then sitting. So what's your story? You're an Ehlonnan if I'm not much mistaken. I'd be interested in learning more about your beliefs if you don't mind sharing.

Eva of Sirrion said:

You're an Ehlonnan if I'm not much mistaken. I'd be interested in learning more about your beliefs if you don't mind sharing.

Click to expand...

Courage smiles, and instinctively reaches for the silver unicorn she has hanging around her neck. She takes a quick glance down, and glances up. She bites her lower lip, as if in thought, and then begins.

"Yes, I worship Elhonna. Of course there are many gods, and many have power, but the Lady of the Forest has always blessed my family, and our village had a special shrine to her. Well, once we did..."

Courage stops for a second. This isn't the story she wanted to tell. She begins again.

"My training was living in the forest growing up. My Lady was always with me, as indeed she always is. But a few years ago, I felt a calling. Like she wanted me for a purpose, a special purpose, and so I left my village, and retrained myself to serve her as one of her devoted champions. And she rewarded me. I feel her love for the world coursing through my soul every time I look at the trees, or a river, or indeed the Iron hills this evening, as we approached them and the sun was dropping out of sight. She holds the natural world..."

And again, Courage hesitates, knowing she is speaking to a cleric: "But this must seem foolishness to you. Hm. Yes. I am a testament to My Lady's power, and of her devotion, even when someone fails to live up to their calling."

Her head drops again, and she closes her eyes, her hand holding the unicorn tight. Then she exhales. "Despite My Lady's love for me, I was not worthy of her calling. I was not good enough, or smart enough, or focussed enough to persevere in her devoted service." And then she relaxes, and her eyes open again. "But she has remained true to me, despite my failing her. I cannot be one of her devoted champions, but I can continue to serve her, to prove myself worthy. The glory that she shows me every day in the land--the moss on that stump over there, the berries I found when we arrived, the pureness of the line of the horizon on the road from which we came...--show me that her glory knows no bounds."

Courage stops, not because she is embarassed, but because she feels she is monopolizing the conversation. She decides to switch the subject.

"I shall tell you something."

She turns to Jonas, her posture perfect and straight on the hard ground, the fire illuminating the right side of her face, leaving the left in simmering shadows, and continues.

"I am concerned about this task. It is foolishness that walnuts are a matter of such import, but I feel they might be for the Dryad who is their source. I feel that if we find these nuts, we must return them to the Dryad if we can, and we must ensure that no more nuts are taken. I've only seen a Dryad once, and that was in an oak tree--I've never heard of a Walnut dryad--, but the stories told all suggest they cannot travel far from their tree. For humans to be making a profit on their helplessness, well, it seems such a violation. I would not want to return until I felt I had helped My Lady's servant as best I can."

She smiles at Jonas, the corners of her mouth forming a shape like a crescent moon, and finishes. "Heh. I hope that answers your question?"

I believe it does, and I thank you for sharing. Jonas says. So many people have only a superficial understanding of Olidammarnism, so I try to avoid the same mistake myself. And it is truly fascinatiing for me to talk to people of their beliefs. I've found that beyond a deity's substantive portfolio or sphere of influence is a less-tangible aspect of our lives, that we learn from them how to appeciate. Take my church and brethren as an example: so many people dismiss us as miscreants and revelers, but they don't see at the core, we espouse above all else the need for belief in oneself. To believe in Olidammara is to believe in oneself, to put aside all the doubts and fears that hold one back and act for what one believes is right. And we can take your faith as another example. You see the beauty in naature and I'd imagine, many other things most folk readily dismiss or take for granted.

Which leads into our present situation. Neither of us wants to see a dryad exploited for monetary gain. I said I'd aid you in preventing that and I will. The question is whether or not the rest of the gang will be on board. It may be more work than they thought they signed up for.