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[4e] Fallen - Prologue: The Crucible (Full)
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<blockquote data-quote="Insight" data-source="post: 4946032" data-attributes="member: 11437"><p><strong>Q'ynn Daelrith - Challenge II</strong></p><p></p><p><span style="color: slategray"><strong><u>Q'ynn Daelrith - Crucible Challenge II - A Fond Memory</u></strong></span></p><p></p><p><span style="color: Gray">"Q'ynn,"</span> Grumbar said. <span style="color: gray">"Tell me again of your time before the arena."</span></p><p></p><p>Q'ynn Daelrith turned to see his aged friend. Grumbar Addleren was probably the oldest gladiator, at least physically. The human former soldier was in his 50s and had seen so much war in his time that Q'ynn thought the old codger should have been a general or some sort of military advisor as opposed to a a forgotten slave seeing his last days in the arena. Of course, Grumbar laughed off such suggestions. At this point, Grumbar saw all of his life as a series of combats of one sort of another. Outwardly, the old soldier was happy to go into combat against some 'young upstart', just to show them that age and experience still sometimes beats youth and energy.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: gray">"Tell me of when you were a noble at Bael Surth," </span>Grumbar added. <span style="color: gray">"It soothes this old heart to hear of more peaceful times."</span></p><p></p><p><span style="color: gray">"All right,"</span> Q'ynn replied. <span style="color: gray">"I suppose I can recall something peaceful."</span></p><p></p><p></p><p><span style="color: white">***</span></p><p></p><p>It was autumn in Bael Surth. A festival was coming up. It was the Feast of Lanterns. People would gather by Lake Wunther near dusk. A band of minstrels would play songs of local color on a small island not far from the lake shore. People would often sing along and, drinking as the night went on, make merry. Children, both nobles and otherwise, crafted and released paper lanterns into the water. Magi influenced the lake's waves so as to cause the paper lanterns to move back towards the island and those minstrels. In time, the paper lanterns would seem to dance upon the waves in time to the music. I was once one of those children, the ones who crafted lanterns and set them upon the water. It was one of those rare times when a noble might mingle with a commoner, but the tale I am about to spin would happen later, during my adolescence.</p><p></p><p>I was fifteen. As a scion of House Daelrith, and a dashing fellow if I do say so myself, I had a great many young girls of the court at my beck and call. I could romance most of them at my pleasure and, being the son of one of the wealthiest families in Bael Surth, and filled with ardent demeanor, I did so. There was one girl, however, who was seemingly beyond my reach. That was the one I really wanted, of course.</p><p></p><p>Her name was Iana. I never knew her last name. Iana was a servant girl. She worked in my family's house, mostly carrying water and wine around during dinner and other hosted events. Iana was a vision of simplicity and grace. She had none of the affectations of nobility. She had no airs. She went about doing her job, saying nothing, even when insulted. Her beauty was a timeless one and I could do nothing but watch her as she moved about my house.</p><p></p><p>Iana and I bumped into one another seemingly by accident at that year's Feast of Lanterns. I say 'seemingly by accident' because that's how I arranged it. In fact, I paid Iana's mother a kingly sum to ensure that Iana would be at the event and to ensure she would be at a certain place at a certain time. Iana's mother understood what my nobles peers could not: that sometimes, a human heart knows not the boundaries of social grace.</p><p></p><p>I bought Iana a drink of peach juice and cinnamon and we sat down on a bench by the shore. Iana knew who I was and was a little reluctant to speak directly to me. I implored her to be frank and even with me as I would be to her. I told Iana of my love for her, to which she giggled, but I could tell she understood.</p><p></p><p>We sat there, at that bench, until well after the Feast of Lanterns. I learned so much about the lower classes, the advantages of having no burden of social standing, but also their hardships. Iana and her family appreciated how well they were treated at House Daelrith; it was common in other noble houses to beat slaves and that almost never happened in our house. I also learned of Iana's life beyond the walls of our estate. The truth of the matter was that Iana was engaged to be married to another servant and that, while she appreciated my love for her, Iana could not be mine.</p><p></p><p>I walked Iana back to her family's simple home in the Lower Quarter and bid her good night. On the way back to House Daelrith, I considered hiring an assassin to 'take care' of Iana's suitor, thus leaving her to me, but that seemed too harsh. I considered paying the suitor to leave her at the altar, but, after speaking with my uncle, Jord, himself wise in the ways of romance, I decided that I should let the marriage go on. After all, the truth was that Iana would never really be mine. My family would never let me openly court a servant girl. Iana's life would be better off with another servant.</p><p></p><p>On the day of Iana's marriage, I attended the ceremony, in disguise, hiding in the back. Her wedding party received a huge gift: an onyx statue worth 1,000 gold pieces and flowers to the tune of another 250 gold pieces. This gift came from an 'unknown donor', who was, of course, hiding in the back of the chapel.</p><p></p><p>Once Iana was married, I arranged to have her moved to the noble house where her husband's family worked. As much as I was happy that Iana was in a good place, seeing her didn't ease my heart any. I had to remove her from my sight so that I only had good memories of her presence in House Daelrith. </p><p></p><p>Last I heard, Iana and her husband were expecting their second child. On their anniversaries, until I was myself sold into slavery, the couple received a gift of flowers from an 'unknown donor'. I imagined Iana's face when she saw the gift arrive and I hope that, somehow, she knew they were from me.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: white">***</span></p><p></p><p><span style="color: gray">"This place, it changes you,"</span> Grumbar said. <span style="color: gray">"I was always a warrior. It don't make no matter to me whether I fight in here or out there. But you... you had a life once, didn't you? Someday, you'll have a life outside of here."</span></p><p></p><p><span style="color: gray">"I hope you're right, Grumbar,"</span> Q'ynn Daelrith replied. <span style="color: gray">"I hope you're right."</span></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Insight, post: 4946032, member: 11437"] [b]Q'ynn Daelrith - Challenge II[/b] [color=slategray][b][u]Q'ynn Daelrith - Crucible Challenge II - A Fond Memory[/u][/b][/color] [COLOR="Gray"]"Q'ynn,"[/COLOR] Grumbar said. [COLOR="gray"]"Tell me again of your time before the arena."[/COLOR] Q'ynn Daelrith turned to see his aged friend. Grumbar Addleren was probably the oldest gladiator, at least physically. The human former soldier was in his 50s and had seen so much war in his time that Q'ynn thought the old codger should have been a general or some sort of military advisor as opposed to a a forgotten slave seeing his last days in the arena. Of course, Grumbar laughed off such suggestions. At this point, Grumbar saw all of his life as a series of combats of one sort of another. Outwardly, the old soldier was happy to go into combat against some 'young upstart', just to show them that age and experience still sometimes beats youth and energy. [COLOR="gray"]"Tell me of when you were a noble at Bael Surth," [/COLOR]Grumbar added. [COLOR="gray"]"It soothes this old heart to hear of more peaceful times."[/COLOR] [COLOR="gray"]"All right,"[/COLOR] Q'ynn replied. [COLOR="gray"]"I suppose I can recall something peaceful."[/COLOR] [color=white]***[/color] It was autumn in Bael Surth. A festival was coming up. It was the Feast of Lanterns. People would gather by Lake Wunther near dusk. A band of minstrels would play songs of local color on a small island not far from the lake shore. People would often sing along and, drinking as the night went on, make merry. Children, both nobles and otherwise, crafted and released paper lanterns into the water. Magi influenced the lake's waves so as to cause the paper lanterns to move back towards the island and those minstrels. In time, the paper lanterns would seem to dance upon the waves in time to the music. I was once one of those children, the ones who crafted lanterns and set them upon the water. It was one of those rare times when a noble might mingle with a commoner, but the tale I am about to spin would happen later, during my adolescence. I was fifteen. As a scion of House Daelrith, and a dashing fellow if I do say so myself, I had a great many young girls of the court at my beck and call. I could romance most of them at my pleasure and, being the son of one of the wealthiest families in Bael Surth, and filled with ardent demeanor, I did so. There was one girl, however, who was seemingly beyond my reach. That was the one I really wanted, of course. Her name was Iana. I never knew her last name. Iana was a servant girl. She worked in my family's house, mostly carrying water and wine around during dinner and other hosted events. Iana was a vision of simplicity and grace. She had none of the affectations of nobility. She had no airs. She went about doing her job, saying nothing, even when insulted. Her beauty was a timeless one and I could do nothing but watch her as she moved about my house. Iana and I bumped into one another seemingly by accident at that year's Feast of Lanterns. I say 'seemingly by accident' because that's how I arranged it. In fact, I paid Iana's mother a kingly sum to ensure that Iana would be at the event and to ensure she would be at a certain place at a certain time. Iana's mother understood what my nobles peers could not: that sometimes, a human heart knows not the boundaries of social grace. I bought Iana a drink of peach juice and cinnamon and we sat down on a bench by the shore. Iana knew who I was and was a little reluctant to speak directly to me. I implored her to be frank and even with me as I would be to her. I told Iana of my love for her, to which she giggled, but I could tell she understood. We sat there, at that bench, until well after the Feast of Lanterns. I learned so much about the lower classes, the advantages of having no burden of social standing, but also their hardships. Iana and her family appreciated how well they were treated at House Daelrith; it was common in other noble houses to beat slaves and that almost never happened in our house. I also learned of Iana's life beyond the walls of our estate. The truth of the matter was that Iana was engaged to be married to another servant and that, while she appreciated my love for her, Iana could not be mine. I walked Iana back to her family's simple home in the Lower Quarter and bid her good night. On the way back to House Daelrith, I considered hiring an assassin to 'take care' of Iana's suitor, thus leaving her to me, but that seemed too harsh. I considered paying the suitor to leave her at the altar, but, after speaking with my uncle, Jord, himself wise in the ways of romance, I decided that I should let the marriage go on. After all, the truth was that Iana would never really be mine. My family would never let me openly court a servant girl. Iana's life would be better off with another servant. On the day of Iana's marriage, I attended the ceremony, in disguise, hiding in the back. Her wedding party received a huge gift: an onyx statue worth 1,000 gold pieces and flowers to the tune of another 250 gold pieces. This gift came from an 'unknown donor', who was, of course, hiding in the back of the chapel. Once Iana was married, I arranged to have her moved to the noble house where her husband's family worked. As much as I was happy that Iana was in a good place, seeing her didn't ease my heart any. I had to remove her from my sight so that I only had good memories of her presence in House Daelrith. Last I heard, Iana and her husband were expecting their second child. On their anniversaries, until I was myself sold into slavery, the couple received a gift of flowers from an 'unknown donor'. I imagined Iana's face when she saw the gift arrive and I hope that, somehow, she knew they were from me. [color=white]***[/color] [COLOR="gray"]"This place, it changes you,"[/COLOR] Grumbar said. [COLOR="gray"]"I was always a warrior. It don't make no matter to me whether I fight in here or out there. But you... you had a life once, didn't you? Someday, you'll have a life outside of here."[/COLOR] [COLOR="gray"]"I hope you're right, Grumbar,"[/COLOR] Q'ynn Daelrith replied. [COLOR="gray"]"I hope you're right."[/COLOR] [/QUOTE]
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