Gwendolynn Von Holden's Diary: Can't a girl get some sleep around here?

[Eeralai]

Orlane, again

Rest and cleanliness: what luxuries! I think the best part of an adventure is remembering it in the comfort of my bed. How lucky Chani is to have the ability to create songs about our heroic deeds. I can’t wait to hear them! Of course, she’ll probably paint me in an unflattering manner. We’re on speaking terms now, but far from best friends.

The rest of our time in the naga lair was spent battling the few troglodytes who decided to remain after they saw that their queen was dead. We found some people from Orlane who were being kept as slaves and of course freed them and brought them back with us. When we returned to Orlane, it was as if everyone was waking up from a bad dream. The constable was pretty embarrassed, as were most people who weren’t staying at the Slumbering Dragon. The outer farms got fairly crispy from the fire we set in the fields to escape the mob. But we’re staying to help rebuild those, and the people here don’t seem to be harboring any ill will against us for that little episode. Especially when they saw all the money being returned to them. I think it was their money and then some.

The priestess of Merrilee is the most grateful. I’m sure after seeing the demise of the insane priest, she is singing praises to her goddess for being spared. I feel kind of bad that the priest was killed by our party, but I can’t help but think someone who took so
violently to Explicticus, didn’t have a few things wrong with him in the first place. The priestess did some rituals for his soul, so hopefully everything has worked out for him in the after life.

I keep staring at my red rock, hoping to figure out what to do with it. I haven’t had anymore dreams about it or gained any new powers. I really have nothing to keep track of at the top of my journal entries right now. My magic is hiding from me, Falon is hiding from me, Jalik is far away, but I’m sure he would be hiding from me too. I guess I should go out and do some patching and repairing. Never was much good at that back home, and I can’t imagine I will be any better here, but I seem to be working myself into a slump the more I think about things I am lacking. Best get out for some fresh air.

 

[Eeralai]

Gwen gets Stoned

I don't think Gwen is introspective enough yet that she would do this next bit justice in her journal. So I am switching breifly to third person POV. I'll probably wrap it up with what her journal entry probably was.


Gwen slammed her inn room door closed and flopped down on the bed. Her head throbbed and her emotions twisted inside her. She had spent the day hammering and yammering with her group as well as some locals while they put the farms back together. She thought she had sparkled with enthusiasm and charm, but the local boys seemed to run from her while her group ignored her as usual. Sometimes she felt like she was spending her life speaking a language completely different from the rest of the world. She looked at herself in her small mirror and decided she must not be as pretty after all. No boys had shyly handed her tools as they had Chani. In fact every time she had looked at a boy, he had turned away rapidly as if she had some disease he might catch from her glance. “What do they think I am, a naga?” she asked herself.

She rubbed her hands on her forehead, but the headache continued. She tried to sleep, but a tingling sensation spread throughout her body and wouldn’t let her relax. She started to pace, hoping to shake off the tingles, but they intensified instead. Feeling like she must escape her body or go crazy with the sensation, she began tossing her possessions out of her backpack to get to her journal. Writing was always calming to her. Before she reached the journal, however, her hand closed over the red jewel she had found in the naga lair.

Shaking like a leaf caught in the wind before it is blown off of its limb, she pulled the stone out to look at it. “Perhaps I can send part of myself into here. But what a strange thought. Can one crystallize part of ones personality in a jewel? That was the dream, though. I’ve always thought the jewel was attacking me, but it wasn’t. I was putting myself into the jewel.” She stared at the stone and slowly a purple light surrounded it. Then another purple light shot from her mind into the jewel. Gwen saw a flash of brilliance before crumpling to the ground.

A canoe rocked Gwen gently along a stream, but to her, it felt like the waves were heaving her from side to side. Her head hurt like it had been used as a mallet for the gong in the naga lair. “Can’t I even have a painless dream?” she thought to herself.

“Fix it,” said a voice that sounded much like her own.

“Fix what?”

“Your head, of course.”

“But I’m not a cleric. I can’t heal people.”

“You can heal yourself. You can do anything.”

“I can?” Silence answered her. “If I could just make the canoe quit tossing me around, maybe I could find a way to stop the pain. She pushed against the canoe, but the harder she pushed, the worse the pain became. Finally, she relaxed into the canoe and let it move how it wanted. The pain slowly subsided, and she fell into a dreamless sleep for the rest of the day and night.

 

[Eeralai]

Krystal

“Are you gonna sleep all day, too? I’m getting bored with no one to talk to.”

“What? Who’s there?” Gwen lifted her head and realized she had slept on the floor all night. Dust stuck to her face, but she only swiped at it absently while she looked around the room for the person speaking to her.

“I’m over here. You made me last night and then fell asleep. I know it probably took a lot out of you to make me, but I think I’ve been patient enough.”

“The rock,” said Gwen, sitting up.

“I think Krystal would be a prettier name, don’t you?”

“Uh, sure. Why do you sound like me?”

“Because I used to be part of you. How can you not know that? You shot a bit of your personality into a rock, I’m assuming to help you on this adventure thing you’ve been doing. I’m the one who got your parents to agree to let you go, by the way. If I hadn’t made you be persistent in insisting that you could adventure and live, you’d still be on the farm fighting with the cow for a pail of milk.”

“I would?”

“Yes. I’m your resolve. Of course there’s still some resolve in you. It would never do to put all of it in here. Then you’d never do anything. I’m just here to encourage you a bit more than the other parts will allow me to do when I’m entirely inside you.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean the other parts of your personality talk you out of doing a lot of things. Like when you left Greerson and you wanted to give Jalik a big kiss when you were saying goodbye to him. I wanted you to go for it, but then Insecurity said he’d never like that and you’d just look foolish, so you didn’t. Too bad, too. What if that creature who eviscerated you had actually killed you. Then you would’ve died without ever knowing what it was like to kiss Jalik. It still might happen.”

“Oh, that’s a great way to look at things. I’m going to live and make it back to Greerson. And then maybe I’ll kiss him.”

“Hello, Optimism. I’m glad your still there.”

“Optimism? Oh, I see. Do you think I could make more of these jewels?”

“Of course, but do you really want to? Then we’d be arguing all the time and you’d never get anything done.”

“Hmm. Probably true. Were you the one who told me I could heal myself in my dream last night?”

“I have no idea what you were dreaming last night. I’m in a rock now. I wonder, though, if I could still connect to you while you are dreaming. I will have to try that.”

“If it wasn’t you, I wonder who it was. I almost want to go out and hurt myself to see if it would really work.”

“Why don’t you try some more hammering today. You’re bound to hit your thumb.”

“Very funny. I think I might’ve found a way to damage someone elses mind too. I’ll have to wait for a battle to try that power out though.”

“Chani would make a good target.”

“Krystal! That would be wrong.”

“Yeah, but it’s not really my job to decide what’s right and wrong. Just to encourage you to do the things you want to do.”

“Well, I don’t really want to hurt Chani, so you can just forget about her.”

“If you say so.”

Gwen and Krystal spent the rest of the morning getting to know each other, or at least Gwen was getting to know Krystal. They had quite an argument about how Gwen was to carry Krystal. Finally, they decided on a black velvet bag that would always be tied to Gwen’s belt.

At lunchtime, Gwen ran out to find some members of her party to share the good news. The first one she ran into was Ternell. “Look, Ternell! I have a new companion! Her name is Krystal! Say “hi” Krystal.”

“That’s a jewel, Gwen,” said Ternell.

“I know that. But it has part of me in it. Can’t you hear her?”

“I can’t talk to him,” said Krystal to Gwen.

“You can’t?”

“Can’t what?” asked Ternell.

“She can’t talk to you. Well that’s great. You probably think I’m nuts don’t you.”

“Uh,” said Ternell. “Are you feeling all right?”

“Oh, forget it,” said Gwen. She walked away and said to Krystal, “Why didn’t you tell me you couldn’t talk to other people?”

“I didn’t know.”

Gwen walked through Orlane describing things and people she saw to Krystal. It really didn’t matter if the rest of her group could'nt hear Krystal because at least she had somebody to talk to now.

 

[Steverooo]

Ha!

“Uh,” said Ternell. “Are you feeling all right?”

Best line of the day!

I wonder if Gwen can speak to Krystel, without speaking? And me without my Psi Handbook!

 

[sandtiger]

Just wanted to say, I have been reading this story hour and enjoying it. I guess I'm a sucker for
instrospection.

I greatly enjoyed the last two writings. Krystal sounds like a cool thing. Since "she" took some of your resolve, does Gwen become more indecisive?

Please continue writing it.

Sandtiger

 

[Eeralai]

Thanks Sandtiger! It's always a treat to me to hear someone is enjoying the story hour. I am very sorry I have not updated in so long. I am taking an online writing class and I was working on my short story for it all last week. Couple of things going on this week that are a little bit stressful, but I am hoping to start regular updates again after next weekend.

As far as Gwen goes, she is going to spin a bit out of control for awhile, probably a long while when I write it out in the story hour. Krystal will try to keep her in check a bit and later a bit with the rest of the group. Probably shouldn't explain too much now


Edit: Okay, BSF has pointed out that her spinning out of control is not for a looong while so I guess the answer is I played her as no more indesisive than before, but now she has someone telling her what to do all the time.

 

[Steverooo]

I am hoping to start regular updates again after next weekend.

Is it "after next weekend", yet?!?

 

[pogre]

How in Hades did I miss this!?

Oh yeah, football...

Hey, great stuff! Now write some more.

 

[Eeralai]

Thanks Pogre! I appreciate the encouragement Sorry Steve and anyone else waiting for me to get on with it. My writing time is very limited and I have been spending all of it on this class I am taking. Hopefully the story hour will reap at least a few benifits from it.

The good news is I have finally finished another draft of the story I am working on for it. So I should be able to add to the storyhour this week, just not tonight since I need sleep too. I have been hoping for a little help from some of the compatriots here because this part of the story has a lot going on that wasn't as pertinent to Gwen as it was to the others. I'll do my best to bring some of it out, but I know one of the big events I missed because I was too tired and went to bed. Perhaps BSF will fill it in if Aaron remains silent when we get there.

So, if I can't post in the afternoon during nap time, I will try to stay awake and post after watching Ghost in the Shell :Stand Alone Complex second gig Vol. 2 which is released tomorrow

 

[Eeralai]

Orlane end of month

Made pet rock today. I have someone to talk to finally!