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I'm glad to see this story continuing as well; it features my favorite brand of humor - bawdy, yet erudite 
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The Chronicle of Burne, and Some Others of Lesser Importance *Updated May 17th, 2009*
- Thread starter Rolzup
- Start date
HalfOrc HalfBiscuit
Adventurer
Glad to see this story has survived the Big Crash.
Keep it coming ...
Keep it coming ...
Rolzup
First Post
Interlude: Ship of Fools, Part II, "Lovers and Other Strangers"
<Aboard MCSDF Windsprint, 4th night out of St. Tarte's, just off the isle of Petit Soir>
The warm ocean air is punctuated by the sound of Joachim Driftwood and Delphine Laxshmi St. Sous fighting, their voices rising above the rhythmic roll of the waves against hull and the rhythmic rolling of an entirely different sort rising then abruptly stopping from the crew quarters below decks. The sea moves on, priestesses give succor to sailors, and everywhere a kind of love is in the air.
"We should elope!"
"We can't! Think of your father!"
"Tell me what you saw in my father's house!"
"It was nothing."
"Don't lie to me!"
"Then don't ask me that question again."
"Then it's awful..."
"I had to leave. I needed...."
"What do you mean 'Had to leave'? You were impressed into the navy! Were you planning to run off before you were kidnapped?!"
"No, no, Delphine, I needed some time away to think. To do good works and pray...."
"Praying! It's always praying with you!"
"For f--k's sake Delphine, what do you expect? I'm a priest."
"For f--k's sake? Have you been hanging around with those girls from the Shrine? They're shameless and consort with sailors!"
__________________________________________________________________________
Rackhir and Mallus find themselves listening to the lovers spat on deck, both leaning against the starboard rail. Mallus says, " Care for a gin and rosewater? I find a few in rapid successions dull the sound of the quarreling and catting about,"
"Thank you," replies Rackhir. "Can I ask you something?"
"Funny how clearly we can here them, it's like they're using megaphones. And yes, they really are in love."
"That's not what I was going to ask. What did Joachim see?"
"Oh. When I Know a person's love, it's as if I'm looking out through their eyes. I get a rush of images, oddly enough, often accompanied by lush string arrangements; anyway, it's all a blur. There's no context."
"You're evading the question," presses Rackhir.
"And you're rather observant. I suppose that helps with the archery...."
The ronin's silent, steely gaze speaks volumes comprised solely of threats.
"Not to mince, and perhaps then sugar, words, what I saw scared the f--k out of me," says Mallus quietly. "I may socialize with Gate Mages and powerful Alchemists, but the truth is, I don't like magic. It frightens me. "
"You did see something."
"I...Joachim was standing in a basement kitchen looking out a window at carriage wheels, flowers; it was Delphine's family estate. Two well-dressed men were wrestling a third, a servant, into the back of a black carriage. There was the sound of clinking glasses. The men pushed the servant in and then a face appears in the carriage window...no, right through the carriage wall. It had slyly beckoning eyes and curves like sharp angles, impossible-looking. All feminine malevolence and then blackness....umm...because Joachim closed his eyes."
"Despite how... wrong she looked, I fear a man could lose an eternity tracing those sharp curves. Or a woman. I suspect she wouldn't discriminate."
Mallus takes another mouthful of gin. "That's what I saw. That and Joachim's hand writing reams of f-----g awful love poems."
<Aboard MCSDF Windsprint, 4th night out of St. Tarte's, just off the isle of Petit Soir>
The warm ocean air is punctuated by the sound of Joachim Driftwood and Delphine Laxshmi St. Sous fighting, their voices rising above the rhythmic roll of the waves against hull and the rhythmic rolling of an entirely different sort rising then abruptly stopping from the crew quarters below decks. The sea moves on, priestesses give succor to sailors, and everywhere a kind of love is in the air.
"We should elope!"
"We can't! Think of your father!"
"Tell me what you saw in my father's house!"
"It was nothing."
"Don't lie to me!"
"Then don't ask me that question again."
"Then it's awful..."
"I had to leave. I needed...."
"What do you mean 'Had to leave'? You were impressed into the navy! Were you planning to run off before you were kidnapped?!"
"No, no, Delphine, I needed some time away to think. To do good works and pray...."
"Praying! It's always praying with you!"
"For f--k's sake Delphine, what do you expect? I'm a priest."
"For f--k's sake? Have you been hanging around with those girls from the Shrine? They're shameless and consort with sailors!"
__________________________________________________________________________
Rackhir and Mallus find themselves listening to the lovers spat on deck, both leaning against the starboard rail. Mallus says, " Care for a gin and rosewater? I find a few in rapid successions dull the sound of the quarreling and catting about,"
"Thank you," replies Rackhir. "Can I ask you something?"
"Funny how clearly we can here them, it's like they're using megaphones. And yes, they really are in love."
"That's not what I was going to ask. What did Joachim see?"
"Oh. When I Know a person's love, it's as if I'm looking out through their eyes. I get a rush of images, oddly enough, often accompanied by lush string arrangements; anyway, it's all a blur. There's no context."
"You're evading the question," presses Rackhir.
"And you're rather observant. I suppose that helps with the archery...."
The ronin's silent, steely gaze speaks volumes comprised solely of threats.
"Not to mince, and perhaps then sugar, words, what I saw scared the f--k out of me," says Mallus quietly. "I may socialize with Gate Mages and powerful Alchemists, but the truth is, I don't like magic. It frightens me. "
"You did see something."
"I...Joachim was standing in a basement kitchen looking out a window at carriage wheels, flowers; it was Delphine's family estate. Two well-dressed men were wrestling a third, a servant, into the back of a black carriage. There was the sound of clinking glasses. The men pushed the servant in and then a face appears in the carriage window...no, right through the carriage wall. It had slyly beckoning eyes and curves like sharp angles, impossible-looking. All feminine malevolence and then blackness....umm...because Joachim closed his eyes."
"Despite how... wrong she looked, I fear a man could lose an eternity tracing those sharp curves. Or a woman. I suspect she wouldn't discriminate."
Mallus takes another mouthful of gin. "That's what I saw. That and Joachim's hand writing reams of f-----g awful love poems."
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That's entirely fitting and absolutely unintentional. I wish I was that clever, I really do...demiurge1138 said:
As Rolzup mentioned, there's a lot of gin drinking because I have a certain fondness for the stuff. And it really is the perfect drink for a Mallus; a bitter, cynical, worse, proffessional, romantic.
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Well since my description of Rackhir Mk.IV didn't make it back in, here it is.
Rackhir is the fourth version of the eponymous character of my user name. Of course he's modeled loosely on the character of the same name from the Elric Saga.
The first two were waaaayyyy back in high school in D&D 1E, used the Archer NPC class from one of the Dragon issues and were among the luckiest characters I've ever had. Especially Mk.II who always seemed to get a crit or make his save in these knock down drag out fights that usually ended with him and maybe one other character (of a party of like 8) left standing. Both essentially came to a bad end at the hand of the other party members, a fate Mk.IV seems likely to be the first to avoid.
Mk.III was in Wizadru's Campaign and was a Fighter/Barb/Modified OoBI. He was a dark and bitter character, having had his wife betray him and sacrifice their children to Iuz. I was starting to suffer badly from depression at that time and he reflected that.
Mk.IV the current incarnation despite often being described in grim terms (Did we mention that Burne is not a reliable narator) is far more laid back and easy going. He also differs in that he has generally horrible luck and I've been banging my head on the table more than one night due to hiddeously bad rolls. He's often described as a Ronin, though technically he doesn't qualify since in a fit of perversity one night I decided that he would come out of a peasant background and Ronin are masterless Samurai.
Rackhir is the fourth version of the eponymous character of my user name. Of course he's modeled loosely on the character of the same name from the Elric Saga.
The first two were waaaayyyy back in high school in D&D 1E, used the Archer NPC class from one of the Dragon issues and were among the luckiest characters I've ever had. Especially Mk.II who always seemed to get a crit or make his save in these knock down drag out fights that usually ended with him and maybe one other character (of a party of like 8) left standing. Both essentially came to a bad end at the hand of the other party members, a fate Mk.IV seems likely to be the first to avoid.
Mk.III was in Wizadru's Campaign and was a Fighter/Barb/Modified OoBI. He was a dark and bitter character, having had his wife betray him and sacrifice their children to Iuz. I was starting to suffer badly from depression at that time and he reflected that.
Mk.IV the current incarnation despite often being described in grim terms (Did we mention that Burne is not a reliable narator) is far more laid back and easy going. He also differs in that he has generally horrible luck and I've been banging my head on the table more than one night due to hiddeously bad rolls. He's often described as a Ronin, though technically he doesn't qualify since in a fit of perversity one night I decided that he would come out of a peasant background and Ronin are masterless Samurai.
He's also the only remotely heroic character in the campaign. Actually, he's fairly close to heroic, the 'remotely' comes from the company he keeps.Rackhir said:
Rackhir's only real competition comes from Kenji-sama, who would be named "Honor Like Apathy" if he were a Culture starship.
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