Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
EN Publishing
Tizbiz Zeitgeist Campaign
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Lylandra" data-source="post: 7540537" data-attributes="member: 6816692"><p><strong>The Blooming</strong></p><p></p><p>In a quiet moment, Carlyle takes the opportunity to ask Auryn whether this trip to her homeland brought her the clarity she had hoped to find. She's a bit hesitant to answer the question and explains that she was really happy to visit her family after having been separated from them for almost a decade. Still she had to realize that the life and dream she had been living before she left Elfaivar are so far away now. Auryn then says that, right now, her dream of a prosperous, growing, peaceful new Elfaivar seems beyond reach. And that she's pretty much lost and doesn't know what to do next, now that she's stumbling across the broken shards of so many of her beliefs. </p><p></p><p>“So, you're unsure about us as well. That's all right, really. If you keep clinging to our relationship because you fear losing me as a friend, then I propose we end this without pain. I won't leave you and I'll stay your partner. I just... should have known you were too young to be burdened with all these decisions.”</p><p></p><p>“But that's not true. I'm just confused and I don't wish to upset my family. I don't want to sever all bonds with them, not after it took me so long to come back here. Still right now, nothing feels right. Maybe that's because I haven't been on the proper course for years. Ever since Old Stag's lightning ignited my magic, I've been growing everywhere at once, without direction, without guidance. Maybe you're right, a hitiko is too young to make these decisions, they belong to a blooming. But I am neither the former nor the latter.”</p><p></p><p>She then pauses for a moment as Auryn realizes that she maybe just found a way out of her misery. She asks Carlyle whether he'd mind to stay a couple more days in Pallita as the one thing she'd been clearly missing had been her mother's tutelage and guidance in the Blooming as she never went through the proper rituals of full adulthood. So she guesses that by performing the full ritual of the Blooming and complete this rite of passage, she might be able to find the answers she needs on her own. </p><p></p><p>Auryn explains that the rituals will take a few days to complete, and she'd be happy if he took the spare time to relax and get to know Pallita even better. Carlyle replies that this is actually a damn fine plan and no, he wouldn't mind staying in the enclave a bit longer. </p><p><span style="color: #008000"></span></p><p><span style="color: #008000">(I'm not sure whether intentionally Carlyle tried to provoke a reaction from Auryn here as he kind of teased her with being “too young” - she's 76 years old after all and he's basically human. But I'm pretty sure he meant every word he said and I'm also pretty sure Carlyle realized that Auryn would sacrifice her own happiness for the sake of Elfaivar) </span></p><p></p><p>Over the next days, Auryn takes some time to properly prepare for her upcoming ceremonies. This intensive preparation includes several meditation sessions, times of fasting, times of cleansing, secluded prayers to Srasama and ritual sacrifices to the holy fire, as well as communal rituals with the Matriarch and the older women. As the transition nears its end, her chosen guides ritually change her clothing to match those of a blooming woman. As usual, she prepared and embroidered these garments herself, thus choosing her own patterns. During all these small rituals, Auryn is filled with an ever growing feeling of calmness and serenity, giving her a clarity she never felt before. </p><p></p><p>After completing all these steps, she's anointed with sacred balms and finally presented to the whole enclave. The ceremony ends with a grand celebration, which starts with a proclamation of the new blooming. She starts her speech by performing the Dirge of Vekesh and thanking her mother and all the others for helping her transition to a full member of eladrin society. She then explains that she decided to follow the ideals of Vekesh and to make them guidelines of her future life. This means she'll restrain from following sudden urges of revenge while trying to make her opponents reconsider their ways and realize their mistakes. This way, she believes to prevent spreading further agony and war to Lanjyr, even if she perfectly knows that not every adversary will listen to a voice of reason and that there will be depravities even a follower of Vekesh cannot ignore. </p><p></p><p>After the big feast has started, Carlyle takes Auryn aside and asks her whether she found what she had been looking for. This time, Auryn can wholeheartedly affirm that this is truly the case and that, despite life will continue to be spiked with uncertainties, she now knows her way. </p><p></p><p>“So, you're not a girl anymore?”</p><p></p><p>Auryn just laughs at his question and gleefully shakes her head. Carlyle takes this as an opportunity to tease her again as he tries to feign losing interest then. Auryn doesn't understand his comment at all, then thinks about it for a while and frowns. </p><p></p><p>“Well, I'd have a comment for that, but... it would be really bad taste.”</p><p></p><p>“Tell me then”</p><p></p><p>“No. It isn't suitable.”</p><p></p><p>“Now I'm intrigued”</p><p></p><p>“It is really inappropriate. Like, really, really bad.”</p><p></p><p>“Just spill it out.”</p><p></p><p>“Fine then, if you insist. Of course you'd lose interest in me as Mr. Carlyle is only interested in girls.”</p><p></p><p>There is a long moment of silence after Auryn's final statement as all emotion leaves Carlyle's face at once. Only his eyes seem to stare through her in disbelief while Auryn states that she warned him that it would be “really inappropriate”. And then, from one second to the other, he casts a teleport spell and vanishes. </p><p></p><p>Now it is Auryn who's standing there, being completely baffled. At first she thinks that this is just one big prank and that she misinterpreted his magic gesture, believing that he was simply turning invisible and is hiding somewhere. But then she repeats what happened step by step, again and again and realizes that this was no joke, but a genuine reaction. That she really hurt him this time. </p><p></p><p><span style="color: #008000">(When bad humor meets a foreign culture. So from Carlyle's side, he only wanted to tease her and didn't have any side thoughts about his comment. Coming from a culture where youth equals beauty and desirability, he thought Auryn would understand it as he meant it. </span></p><p><span style="color: #008000"></span></p><p><span style="color: #008000">Auryn on the other hand could see no scenario where a grown man would prefer a girl – something that ranges from an unblossomed to a hitiko - to an adult woman of marriageable age. So she asked herself how he could have possibly meant it and came to the conclusion that he maybe wanted to show her that he overcame his own grief by joking about his past relationship. Still the moment she came to this conclusion she also realized that this wouldn't suit Carlyle at all which is why she went to great lengths to explain that her comment wouldn't be fitting. She only proceeded when he insisted, thus reinforcing that maybe her thought was indeed correct when he most certainly thought she'd say something naughty. </span></p><p><span style="color: #008000"></span></p><p><span style="color: #008000">On top of that, he did make comments and jokes about Fordren before which really ticked her off but which also convinced her to think that he signaled he was ready for payback.)</span></p><p><span style="color: #008000"></span></p><p>As Auryn doesn't know where Carlyle might have teleported to, she decides to send him a magical message. And since she lacks the magic to actually send messages herself, she searches for Estelar and finds him in his study room. <span style="color: #008000">(That magister is clearly no party animal)</span></p><p></p><p>She explains that she just made a big, stupid mistake which maybe made her lose someone who's very dear to her, Estelar raises an eyebrow and looks at his daughter with stoic curiosity.</p><p></p><p>“So you finally managed to kill Thorandil? Huzzah, let's restart the celebrations.” he says in a dry monotone, catching Auryn totally unprepared and causing her to burst with laughter at this grotesque situation.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #008000">(and yeah, he isn't too fond of Galadin's first husband. Most likely because Thorandil is a master of understatement, seemingly lazy and because he helped young Auryn skip Estelar's magic classes for more artful practices. Not that he'd really wanted to see him dead, but he revels in this one-sided rivalry)</span></p><p></p><p>Once she catches her breath again, Auryn thanks Estelar for this more than welcome opportunity to get out of her worried state for a moment and then explains that, while Thorandil is perfectly fine, Carlyle isn't. She doesn't go into detail but tells him that she managed to upset him so much that he teleported away, so she needs another sending scroll to convince him to come back. Estelar just mumbles something about humans being too sensitive, but promises that she'll have the sending tomorrow. Auryn then returns to the aftermath of her party and tries to put on her best pokerface.</p><p></p><p>Meanwhile, Carlyle, who had teleported back to his home, holes up there for a whole day, seemingly unable to go outside or interact with anyone. He cannot even bring himself to read through his RHC files again or find other means to distract himself from what happened between him and his partner. </p><p></p><p>One day later, Auryn sends her magical message to Carlyle, saying she knows she really hurt Gabriel, even if that was clearly not her intention. So she asks him to return to her and let her clear up this mess. As she receives no answer, she gets a bit anxious that maybe he didn't accept her proposal, only to see him arrive through the entrance of Pallita minutes later. Auryn walks straight towards him and deeply apologizes for causing so much pain. She then goes on to explain why she made that stupid statement in the first place:</p><p></p><p>“I'd never joke about the love you lost, Gabriel. I just thought you were trying to tell me that you'd managed to move past your grief. That you were the one who joked about her in the first place. And when I warned you, you insisted so much that I just... when I really should have known better.”</p><p></p><p>Carlyle's eyes go wide once he realizes how Auryn had interpreted his initial joke, only to shake his head again and state that he'd never ever joke about topics like loss and grief or the people he or she lost. </p><p></p><p>“But maybe I am truly bad at making jokes. Humor wasn't my specialty anyway.”</p><p></p><p>“Guess you are right.” Auryn replies. “Besides, it's not as if your jokes about a certain someone didn't hurt either.”</p><p></p><p>“So that makes us even, it seems.” Carlyle adds stoically.</p><p> </p><p>Auryn agrees quietly while silent tears form in her eyes, then run over her cheeks. She then says she feared she might have lost him over something as stupid and meaningless as a joke gone wrong. Also, in regards to Carlyle's past love, she truly values the role she played in his past life and that she'd never wish to damage that legacy. On the contrary, she'd really love to honor her for all she'd been. </p><p></p><p><span style="color: #008000">(Which is no easy feat as she doesn't even know her name. To this day, Carlyle never told her anything more besides the fact that she was a Vantrys daughter who loved him and that she was killed by her husband.)</span></p><p></p><p>She then goes on to say that losing Carlyle would have been both painful and ironic as she know decided on a path for the future, and that path would include him as well. And while she isn't sure where this path may lead her, she also knows that she has to conquer her own fate, that only she can decide whether she'd find happiness or not. So she asks him to continue their journey together. </p><p></p><p>“But there is one thing I need you to promise me: If you stay by my side, then only because you wish to do so. I don't want a follower who stays with me because his sense of duty gets the better of him.”</p><p></p><p>Carlyle returns that he understands her point, though she doesn't need to worry as he enjoys being with her. Not because she's an eladrin but because she's a person he holds dear. He adds that he's glad that Auryn found her way, even if that means that his path forward will lead through unknown territories which is something completely new for him. </p><p></p><p><span style="color: #008000">(Phew, so this session ended almost with a disaster caused by a really bad joke. Carlyle's bad humor has really become a recurring theme and we agreed that he has a roughly 50% chance of completely missing the mark and another 50% of being witty and hilarious. To his defense, he probably didn't have to make jokes as a butler, so there was no need for him to learn how to be funny. </span></p><p><span style="color: #008000"></span></p><p><span style="color: #008000">Also, these two really have a habit of misunderstanding each other. Which is quite ironic given the fact that they are both excellent when it comes to reading other people – albeit from different angles. But they are also quite the capable bluffers and tend to keep everyone else out of their inner thoughts. </span></p><p><span style="color: #008000"></span></p><p><span style="color: #008000">I don't know too much about Carlyle's thoughts regarding that incident, but I do write Tiz about Auryn's psyche from time to time, so I know about her mental state back then. And she swallowed much of her pride by apologizing almost unconditionally. Deep inside, she was really upset because she thought that he was as much to blame as she was – after all he told that incomprehensible joke in the first place, insisted on her telling him about her reaction and then simply vanished. And in her mind, they were far from even as he didn't apologize for his jokes about Fordren or the golden choker despite coming from an occupation where apologizing for even small mistakes is the norm. Especially as he ruined the end of one of the most important ceremonies in her life.</span></p><p><span style="color: #008000"></span></p><p><span style="color: #008000">But her newfound serenity told her all of this nonsense wasn't worth risking their relationship. Of course, there was this thought that Gabriel Carlyle was still too human to understand an eladrin like her. That he'd never understand that almost losing herself at the hands of Fordren was as traumatic as losing Zahir. That he'd never understand how much of a sacrifice she and her people made, how much of a risk she was taking just to cater to a risuri's idea of a monogamous relationship. But she'd live with that.</span></p><p><span style="color: #008000"></span></p><p><span style="color: #008000">From Carlyle's perspective, I guess he vanished because he really didn't know how to react to being hurt by a person he holds dear. He had not been close to anyone for 400 years, despite having short affairs here and there. He had also never been as vulnerable. So being hurt left him speechless. I guess he also didn't want to lash out against Auryn in “scary Mr. Carlyle mode” and so he retreated to his cave to sort his thoughts.) </span></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lylandra, post: 7540537, member: 6816692"] [b]The Blooming[/b] In a quiet moment, Carlyle takes the opportunity to ask Auryn whether this trip to her homeland brought her the clarity she had hoped to find. She's a bit hesitant to answer the question and explains that she was really happy to visit her family after having been separated from them for almost a decade. Still she had to realize that the life and dream she had been living before she left Elfaivar are so far away now. Auryn then says that, right now, her dream of a prosperous, growing, peaceful new Elfaivar seems beyond reach. And that she's pretty much lost and doesn't know what to do next, now that she's stumbling across the broken shards of so many of her beliefs. “So, you're unsure about us as well. That's all right, really. If you keep clinging to our relationship because you fear losing me as a friend, then I propose we end this without pain. I won't leave you and I'll stay your partner. I just... should have known you were too young to be burdened with all these decisions.” “But that's not true. I'm just confused and I don't wish to upset my family. I don't want to sever all bonds with them, not after it took me so long to come back here. Still right now, nothing feels right. Maybe that's because I haven't been on the proper course for years. Ever since Old Stag's lightning ignited my magic, I've been growing everywhere at once, without direction, without guidance. Maybe you're right, a hitiko is too young to make these decisions, they belong to a blooming. But I am neither the former nor the latter.” She then pauses for a moment as Auryn realizes that she maybe just found a way out of her misery. She asks Carlyle whether he'd mind to stay a couple more days in Pallita as the one thing she'd been clearly missing had been her mother's tutelage and guidance in the Blooming as she never went through the proper rituals of full adulthood. So she guesses that by performing the full ritual of the Blooming and complete this rite of passage, she might be able to find the answers she needs on her own. Auryn explains that the rituals will take a few days to complete, and she'd be happy if he took the spare time to relax and get to know Pallita even better. Carlyle replies that this is actually a damn fine plan and no, he wouldn't mind staying in the enclave a bit longer. [COLOR="#008000"] (I'm not sure whether intentionally Carlyle tried to provoke a reaction from Auryn here as he kind of teased her with being “too young” - she's 76 years old after all and he's basically human. But I'm pretty sure he meant every word he said and I'm also pretty sure Carlyle realized that Auryn would sacrifice her own happiness for the sake of Elfaivar) [/COLOR] Over the next days, Auryn takes some time to properly prepare for her upcoming ceremonies. This intensive preparation includes several meditation sessions, times of fasting, times of cleansing, secluded prayers to Srasama and ritual sacrifices to the holy fire, as well as communal rituals with the Matriarch and the older women. As the transition nears its end, her chosen guides ritually change her clothing to match those of a blooming woman. As usual, she prepared and embroidered these garments herself, thus choosing her own patterns. During all these small rituals, Auryn is filled with an ever growing feeling of calmness and serenity, giving her a clarity she never felt before. After completing all these steps, she's anointed with sacred balms and finally presented to the whole enclave. The ceremony ends with a grand celebration, which starts with a proclamation of the new blooming. She starts her speech by performing the Dirge of Vekesh and thanking her mother and all the others for helping her transition to a full member of eladrin society. She then explains that she decided to follow the ideals of Vekesh and to make them guidelines of her future life. This means she'll restrain from following sudden urges of revenge while trying to make her opponents reconsider their ways and realize their mistakes. This way, she believes to prevent spreading further agony and war to Lanjyr, even if she perfectly knows that not every adversary will listen to a voice of reason and that there will be depravities even a follower of Vekesh cannot ignore. After the big feast has started, Carlyle takes Auryn aside and asks her whether she found what she had been looking for. This time, Auryn can wholeheartedly affirm that this is truly the case and that, despite life will continue to be spiked with uncertainties, she now knows her way. “So, you're not a girl anymore?” Auryn just laughs at his question and gleefully shakes her head. Carlyle takes this as an opportunity to tease her again as he tries to feign losing interest then. Auryn doesn't understand his comment at all, then thinks about it for a while and frowns. “Well, I'd have a comment for that, but... it would be really bad taste.” “Tell me then” “No. It isn't suitable.” “Now I'm intrigued” “It is really inappropriate. Like, really, really bad.” “Just spill it out.” “Fine then, if you insist. Of course you'd lose interest in me as Mr. Carlyle is only interested in girls.” There is a long moment of silence after Auryn's final statement as all emotion leaves Carlyle's face at once. Only his eyes seem to stare through her in disbelief while Auryn states that she warned him that it would be “really inappropriate”. And then, from one second to the other, he casts a teleport spell and vanishes. Now it is Auryn who's standing there, being completely baffled. At first she thinks that this is just one big prank and that she misinterpreted his magic gesture, believing that he was simply turning invisible and is hiding somewhere. But then she repeats what happened step by step, again and again and realizes that this was no joke, but a genuine reaction. That she really hurt him this time. [COLOR="#008000"](When bad humor meets a foreign culture. So from Carlyle's side, he only wanted to tease her and didn't have any side thoughts about his comment. Coming from a culture where youth equals beauty and desirability, he thought Auryn would understand it as he meant it. Auryn on the other hand could see no scenario where a grown man would prefer a girl – something that ranges from an unblossomed to a hitiko - to an adult woman of marriageable age. So she asked herself how he could have possibly meant it and came to the conclusion that he maybe wanted to show her that he overcame his own grief by joking about his past relationship. Still the moment she came to this conclusion she also realized that this wouldn't suit Carlyle at all which is why she went to great lengths to explain that her comment wouldn't be fitting. She only proceeded when he insisted, thus reinforcing that maybe her thought was indeed correct when he most certainly thought she'd say something naughty. On top of that, he did make comments and jokes about Fordren before which really ticked her off but which also convinced her to think that he signaled he was ready for payback.) [/COLOR] As Auryn doesn't know where Carlyle might have teleported to, she decides to send him a magical message. And since she lacks the magic to actually send messages herself, she searches for Estelar and finds him in his study room. [COLOR="#008000"](That magister is clearly no party animal)[/COLOR] She explains that she just made a big, stupid mistake which maybe made her lose someone who's very dear to her, Estelar raises an eyebrow and looks at his daughter with stoic curiosity. “So you finally managed to kill Thorandil? Huzzah, let's restart the celebrations.” he says in a dry monotone, catching Auryn totally unprepared and causing her to burst with laughter at this grotesque situation. [COLOR="#008000"](and yeah, he isn't too fond of Galadin's first husband. Most likely because Thorandil is a master of understatement, seemingly lazy and because he helped young Auryn skip Estelar's magic classes for more artful practices. Not that he'd really wanted to see him dead, but he revels in this one-sided rivalry)[/COLOR] Once she catches her breath again, Auryn thanks Estelar for this more than welcome opportunity to get out of her worried state for a moment and then explains that, while Thorandil is perfectly fine, Carlyle isn't. She doesn't go into detail but tells him that she managed to upset him so much that he teleported away, so she needs another sending scroll to convince him to come back. Estelar just mumbles something about humans being too sensitive, but promises that she'll have the sending tomorrow. Auryn then returns to the aftermath of her party and tries to put on her best pokerface. Meanwhile, Carlyle, who had teleported back to his home, holes up there for a whole day, seemingly unable to go outside or interact with anyone. He cannot even bring himself to read through his RHC files again or find other means to distract himself from what happened between him and his partner. One day later, Auryn sends her magical message to Carlyle, saying she knows she really hurt Gabriel, even if that was clearly not her intention. So she asks him to return to her and let her clear up this mess. As she receives no answer, she gets a bit anxious that maybe he didn't accept her proposal, only to see him arrive through the entrance of Pallita minutes later. Auryn walks straight towards him and deeply apologizes for causing so much pain. She then goes on to explain why she made that stupid statement in the first place: “I'd never joke about the love you lost, Gabriel. I just thought you were trying to tell me that you'd managed to move past your grief. That you were the one who joked about her in the first place. And when I warned you, you insisted so much that I just... when I really should have known better.” Carlyle's eyes go wide once he realizes how Auryn had interpreted his initial joke, only to shake his head again and state that he'd never ever joke about topics like loss and grief or the people he or she lost. “But maybe I am truly bad at making jokes. Humor wasn't my specialty anyway.” “Guess you are right.” Auryn replies. “Besides, it's not as if your jokes about a certain someone didn't hurt either.” “So that makes us even, it seems.” Carlyle adds stoically. Auryn agrees quietly while silent tears form in her eyes, then run over her cheeks. She then says she feared she might have lost him over something as stupid and meaningless as a joke gone wrong. Also, in regards to Carlyle's past love, she truly values the role she played in his past life and that she'd never wish to damage that legacy. On the contrary, she'd really love to honor her for all she'd been. [COLOR="#008000"](Which is no easy feat as she doesn't even know her name. To this day, Carlyle never told her anything more besides the fact that she was a Vantrys daughter who loved him and that she was killed by her husband.)[/COLOR] She then goes on to say that losing Carlyle would have been both painful and ironic as she know decided on a path for the future, and that path would include him as well. And while she isn't sure where this path may lead her, she also knows that she has to conquer her own fate, that only she can decide whether she'd find happiness or not. So she asks him to continue their journey together. “But there is one thing I need you to promise me: If you stay by my side, then only because you wish to do so. I don't want a follower who stays with me because his sense of duty gets the better of him.” Carlyle returns that he understands her point, though she doesn't need to worry as he enjoys being with her. Not because she's an eladrin but because she's a person he holds dear. He adds that he's glad that Auryn found her way, even if that means that his path forward will lead through unknown territories which is something completely new for him. [COLOR="#008000"](Phew, so this session ended almost with a disaster caused by a really bad joke. Carlyle's bad humor has really become a recurring theme and we agreed that he has a roughly 50% chance of completely missing the mark and another 50% of being witty and hilarious. To his defense, he probably didn't have to make jokes as a butler, so there was no need for him to learn how to be funny. Also, these two really have a habit of misunderstanding each other. Which is quite ironic given the fact that they are both excellent when it comes to reading other people – albeit from different angles. But they are also quite the capable bluffers and tend to keep everyone else out of their inner thoughts. I don't know too much about Carlyle's thoughts regarding that incident, but I do write Tiz about Auryn's psyche from time to time, so I know about her mental state back then. And she swallowed much of her pride by apologizing almost unconditionally. Deep inside, she was really upset because she thought that he was as much to blame as she was – after all he told that incomprehensible joke in the first place, insisted on her telling him about her reaction and then simply vanished. And in her mind, they were far from even as he didn't apologize for his jokes about Fordren or the golden choker despite coming from an occupation where apologizing for even small mistakes is the norm. Especially as he ruined the end of one of the most important ceremonies in her life. But her newfound serenity told her all of this nonsense wasn't worth risking their relationship. Of course, there was this thought that Gabriel Carlyle was still too human to understand an eladrin like her. That he'd never understand that almost losing herself at the hands of Fordren was as traumatic as losing Zahir. That he'd never understand how much of a sacrifice she and her people made, how much of a risk she was taking just to cater to a risuri's idea of a monogamous relationship. But she'd live with that. From Carlyle's perspective, I guess he vanished because he really didn't know how to react to being hurt by a person he holds dear. He had not been close to anyone for 400 years, despite having short affairs here and there. He had also never been as vulnerable. So being hurt left him speechless. I guess he also didn't want to lash out against Auryn in “scary Mr. Carlyle mode” and so he retreated to his cave to sort his thoughts.) [/COLOR] [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
EN Publishing
Tizbiz Zeitgeist Campaign
Top