Parallel Lines

[Sorren]

Sorren looked at the dwarf a moment, giving himself time to pick his words carefully. No amount of precautions we take will do us any good? We do not even know what we face, much less it's strength, and you have already given up? We were paid to protect this vessel sir dwarf, and I for one intend to do just that. We will not occomplish this by sitting around sharpening swords.

He turned to the others. But he has a point. There is obviously gold flowing through this ship, yet we are hardly an "honor guard". We are also not the typical guardsman used for common guard duty. So we know two things, our employers could afford a better honor guard but they instead chose to employ...us.

He motioned to everyone in the room. So why would they do this? A proper honor guard would draw attention. That's its purpose after all. We few look more like people booking passage than a group employed for guard duty. So are they keeping the fact that they needed extra guards a secret? If so, why? The answer to this may not directly concern us, but what does concern us, is the fact that, for whatever reason, they felt they needed more guards. And by the looks of you fellows, they wanted someone a cut above the rest. He nodded at Digger. You do not employ a warforged as a guardsman unless you need something guarded, or you want to make a statement, and we have already estabolished that we as a group would be a poor honor guard.

Looking at Digger he added, I do not know what you are being paid, but I can assure you that House Deneith is getting a lot more coin than you'll ever see for contracting you out. Warforged employees are a status symbol with merchants and nobility, and go for considerably more. So, since you aren't being used as a status symbol, you can bet you were hired for your kind's penchant for warfare.

I will be surprised if we make it to our destination without earning our pay, he said finally, looking at everyone. They are expecting a fight, or they are taking extra precautions to protect something important. Maybe both...

 

[Eluvan]

Samea looks unimpressed, but Vel's eyes widen as Sorren speaks. 'You know what? I'd just bet that this ship's hiding something. That's what I think. You said it yourself, you fellas aren't any kind of honour guard. I wouldn't even have known you weren't just passengers like myself if Dresda hadn't mentioned that you were guards before she rushed off. So I reckon they don't want folks to know that they've got a whole lot more to protect than it looks like. Bet all of yeh a silver, I would.' With that he pulls a silver coin from his pocket and starts toying with it, spinning it between his fingers and tossing it in the air. It doesn't look like he's seriously intending it as a stake though. You get the feeling that he was perhaps just getting carried away with Sorren's idea rather than actually talking from any knowledge of his own.

 

[ShaggySpellsword]

Systar, taking in the stories and the subsequent discussions with great intrest decides to join in.

'Since we have delved into the realm of the wildly speculative, I have an idea to add to the mix. In the rare times of war amongst my people, if ever a truly legendary warrior was taken alive in battle, he would be given an honor guard to escort him to a secure location and hold him there until his loyalties could be swayed, or his ransom paid. The esteem of a truly legendary warrior could be counted by the numbers of guards assigned unto him. A true master such as my patron, Kelaerys Thousand-Stings, could draw many dozen honor guards.'

Systar glances around the room, checking for signs of understanding from his audience before continuing.

'My point, then, is, perhaps we are not guarding this vessel to insure nothing gets in and steals the contents...perhaps we are guarding this vessel to insure that the contents don't get out. Like I said before, the realm of wild speculation. All I know is that our employer said to relax, and I can think of few things more relaxing than exciting tales of adventures amongst new comrades-in-arms.'

 

[Zweischneid]

'...or this job is so DEADLY that they didn't want to risk their own members. And if that's the case... then the owner is unknowingly... or even more depressing a thought, KNOWINGLY... flying us to our deaths, and no amount of precautions we take'll do us any good.'

Guess we're getting to the point of the dwarfs foul mood after all.. Celebren thinks to himself, still pointedly looking away from the group with clenched teeth and his arms crossed before his chest.

How can a man possibly go through his life with absolutely no faith in himself or his future?

'If you ask me, you got the tales end upside down Vel..' Celebren grumbles barely audible.

'Likely the last one returned, not because he had the right answer, but because he had not and despite of being given a second chance, he didn't know what he was seeking till the end of his days. The ones you never heard about again may well be the ones who found what they've been seeking. Or at least, they may have steered their little ropebound wreck of a life into a new direction.'

Finally turning around, the half-elf measures the motley gathering at the table, particularly the dwarf, with as fierce a stare as his blue, elvenlike eyes manage.

'It's merely a reminder to not get lost in some dark hole just because someone told you to. To go out there questing without faith in yourself or your purpose.'

With a noncommittal shrug, Celebren looks out at the passing landscape once more, wondering once more if he'll be able to simply enjoy the beauty of the sky and the rush of completing his first mission the way he imagined it night after night on the hard bunk of the acolytes sleeping hall, meticulously counting the days and hours untill now.

'If you cannot divine your purpose on this ship and question your place here, in combat prowess or in social standing, it must not be entirely our employers fault.'

A! shiver me timbers.. just listen to yourself boy, preaching like the ol' priests at new spring day. Maybe I've really been to long in that monastry.

'My point, then, is, perhaps we are not guarding this vessel to insure nothing gets in and steals the contents...perhaps we are guarding this vessel to insure that the contents don't get out. Like I said before, the realm of wild speculation. All I know is that our employer said to relax, and I can think of few things more relaxing than exciting tales of adventures amongst new comrades-in-arms.'

Just relax Celebren... he reminds himself, looking up at the fiery elemental ring. That strange storyteller at least knows how to keep fiction and life apart, so you should too.

 

[DEFCON 1]

Massif does his best to control his temper as the talk of several of the members around the table really begin to get on his nerves. Obviously the odd human and the khoravar (half-elf) have very high opinions of both themselves and their place in the world, and that bothers the dwarf to no end... mainly because of jealousy if he was to ever admit it to himself.

'No amount of precautions we take will do us any good? We do not even know what we face, much less it's strength, and you have already given up? We were paid to protect this vessel sir dwarf, and I for one intend to do just that.'

Well good for you... hope your relatives can access your bank account at House Kundarak when the airship goes down in flames, if that's the case.

'If you cannot divine your purpose on this ship and question your place here, in combat prowess or in social standing, it must not be entirely our employers fault.'

Massif tries his best to keep his sharpened tongue on a short leash before going completely off on the whelp of a khoravar.

'I can certainly divine my purpose on this ship and I do not question my place here at all, Celebren... thank you very much. I'm here because I was assigned to this detail. No more... no less. The rest of you might think you're so special that you're here because the gods reached down and chose YOU above all others to sit on a big cushy sofa and take an airship ride for a few days because of your intelligence, strength, tactical knowledge, and way with a weapon. If you really think that highly of yourself... then good for you, I hope that kind of high-faluten attitude works for you.'

And now Massif's eyes narrow as he glances around the room. And that short leash his tongue was on... starts to really stretch.

'Me? I'm just a dwarf who is good with an axe. One of hundreds of thousands. And quite frankly, if this detail was really so darned important, then as I said previously the House would have sent REAL Guild members to do this job, rather than hire out a bunch of schlubs like us. I'm sorry if that thinking takes you down off your high-horses, but I like to live in the real world, thank you very much. And in my real world, a rich socialite with Thrones to spend wanted a bunch of guards on board, thinking that this trip actually meant something. And House Deneith realized how completely stupid this was, and pocketed 9/10ths of the cash while dropping the last tenth on hiring us. Now is that our employer's fault? Not at all. But don't look down on me just because I have both my feet on the ground and can be honest with myself knowing my place on this world and what I'm really doing on this ship.'

He looks over at the warforged, who is standing quietly on the side and taking everything in.

'I have dug the graves of over three hundred men, women, and children in my yesterdays. However, House Deneith did not hire me for my skills with the spade, but for my knowledge as a builder of things.'

'At least Digger seems to know who he is and where his place truly is in the world. He was a gravedigger who now builds stuff...'

'You do not employ a warforged as a guardsman unless you need something guarded ... you can bet you were hired for your kind's penchant for warfare.'

'...unlike what role you'd put upon him Sorren, of him being here because of some supposed ideal that "his kind" as you put it are automatically going to kick major ass. I don't know where you get your ideas that all warforged are these grand warriors... but if you even just listened to what he said instead of making presumptions that because this job is sooooooooooo important that they HAD to bring in a warforged master of war to help out... you would have heard that he was a digger of graves. And now he builds things. No more... no less. He's not some sort of weaponmaster who will be the saving grace of all of us because of his martial skill. Again... many of you seem to be putting much more emphasis on this gig and your place here than needs to be.'

He drops his eyes back down as he again realizes that his angry rant has probably had the exact opposite effect of what he was trying to get across, and that he's just made more enemies unecessarily within the group. It's not the first time, and until he's finally allowed to get off the road and go back home, it certainly won't be the last.

'Sorry for being harsh. But just because I know my place is low, doesn't mean I like those who are above me talking down to me. Especially when you haven't earned your place that far above. So never mind me. Just go about your business and try to figured out what precautions we can take to keep the monsters, spies, and assassins from killing us all. I'll just try and sit here quietly. Maybe Vel should tell us another story... since listening to him was probably the most peaceful time we've had on this ship thus far. I know I'd like to hear another.'

 

[Zweischneid]

'I can certainly divine my purpose on this ship and I do not question my place here at all, Celebren... thank you very much. I'm here because I was assigned to this detail. No more... no less. The rest of you might think you're so special that you're here because the gods reached down and chose YOU above all others to sit on a big cushy sofa and take an airship ride for a few days because of your intelligence, strength, tactical knowledge, and way with a weapon. If you really think that highly of yourself... then good for you, I hope that kind of high-faluten attitude works for you.'

Laughing mirthlessly the young half-elf responds.
'In this, Massif, lies your mistake I believe. It is certainly not me who goes through his life downtrodden and subdued, meekly accepting the fate some higher force or another has chosen and bestowed upon me.
I was born lower than your wretched self-pity could possibly phantom and it was I who chose to go beyond it.

Emphazising his words with a tip, first to his temple and than to his heart, Celebren continues.
'I know what I am seeking and I believe that Dol Dorn favors the brave, those who are willing to take on a fight - and fight to win - in every aspect of their life, just as I believe that there will be no clemency for those afraid to make your own destiny. Not in this world or the next.'

But just because I know my place is low, doesn't mean I like those who are above me talking down to me. Especially when you haven't earned your place that far above.

Shaking his head sadly, the young priests bitter anger seems to be spend.
'There is no high place, nor a low one. There is only your place and all the wrong ones. If you spend your life seeking the one your own, it will be a life lived well.'

Obviously the Abbess send me here to learn why priests age so quickly, why a bit of optimism sometimes requires more work than building a soaring cathedral.
Did she maybe hire that strange dwarf just to set me up with a test? If his bitterness wasn't so sincere, on would come to that conclusion.

'Anyways, I think I've had my share stories for the day.'

With another low bow, Celebren resigns from the gathering and walks over to the ships prow, staring at the passing clouds and thoughts.

 

[Badger]

As those in the room with him erupt into a battle of philosophy, conspiracy and social class status Digger tries to take it all in and see all the various points of view, but fails in the task. While he knows he should speak, nothing in his life has prepared him for such a situation and he knows his words would do little to help those around him.

If there is danger to them ahead, could it be greater than what they face among themselves now?

As an uncomfortable silence spread in the room, Digger's voice carried through the room easily and it seemed almost too loud to his ears.

'I do not hold any illusions that when people see me, they first see the death and destruction that many of my brothers and sisters have caused, as it is a reputation that we have earned for ourselves time and time again. However, when House Deneith hired me, they knew they were not hiring a mindless killer and I had hoped that those who I travelled with would not think of me as such.'

Digger paused and looked once more at those around him and before his fear could steal his words, he pressed on.

'If there is danger ahead, we will face it and it will end in one of two ways. We overcome it, or we die. As my yesterdays have taught me, there is no room for anything inbetween. In the between time, snapping at each other like caged dogs will only weaken the ore of a sword that has not yet been forged and brittle iron will not withstand many blows.'

 

[Sorren]

Sorren just stared at the dwarf as he went through his rant. It seemed Massif had missed the point entirely. When he was finished, Sorren decided that an argument was a lost cause. The dwarf was in an emotional state and was obviously beyond reasoning with. Instead, he decided to point out the obvious, and let the dwarf draw his own conclusions. Again, he motion toward Digger.

Perhaps I am mistaken, as I am not privy to the inner workings of House Cannith, but as I understand it, the warforged were created for war, not carpentry, nor grave digging. I suspect that while Digger here may have chosen another vocation for itsself, it was created to perform some duty during the war.

He looked at Digger. Please, correct me if I'm wrong, but I assume craftsmanship was not your intended purpose, or not your primary purpose at least? Sorren had heard stories of warforged artificers who augmented the other warforged in their unit. Even still, the end result simply meant more effective warriors.

He turned back to the others. Which only makes this more suspicious. Why hire a warforged to act as a guard if it has forsaken its role as a soldier but is not playing the role of show-piece?

Sorren's time living in Sharn had granted him the opportunity to meet several warforged. And while he had trouble understanding how, he knew their minds functioned like that of any other sentient creature. He hoped the term "show-piece" hadn't offended Digger. In fact, he realized he should find out whether Digger considered itself male or female. It might also take offense to being called "it".

It simply boils down to this. I don't like sitting around doing nothing when it looks like there is a good chance we will be attacked. He looked at Massif. Though you are welcome to sit here and accept what lies in your Path, I for one preffer to look ahead, and place my footsteps carefully.

With that, he turned and headed up the stairs. He had never been on an airship, and he certainly didn't want to let the opportunity go to waste. Maybe on the deck he could find their employer and get information out of her. The view from the sky would simply be an added bonus.

((OOC: My post was still being written when Badger posted above. Hopefully it will still make sense.))

 

[Eluvan]

((I think I should make the situation a little clearer, since people seem to have conflicting ideas on where they actually are in the airship. Firstly, Sorren is right in thinking that you are currently below decks, and that the stairs that were on your left as you came in lead up to the deck. To your right as you came in were the benches on which you have been sitting, each one with a table in front of it, and beyond them the back of the ship's hull. Hence Zweischneid, for instance, was mistaken when he talked of looking up to see the fring of fire around the ship. In order to see it you would have to go up to the deck as Sorren is now doing))

Vel has listened with clear interest to all the different points of view, and seems to perk up even more (you wouldn't have considered it possible if you hadn't seen it) when Massif suggests another story. He politely allows Digger and Sorren to speak before leaping on this chance, however, and when they do not second the request he looks a little deflated. When Sorren leaves for the deck, though, he seems quite cheerful again and, getting up off the bench in a very leisurely manner, calls out as Sorren leaves 'Well, that's a good idea if ever I saw one. Never have seen the view off the deck of one of these things...' With that he strolls after Sorren. It doesn't seem to occurr to him that the lack of an invitation might call for hesitation or consideration.

 

[Badger]

'Perhaps I am mistaken, as I am not privy to the inner workings of House Cannith, but as I understand it, the warforged were created for war, not carpentry, nor grave digging. I suspect that while Digger here may have chosen another vocation for itsself, it was created to perform some duty during the war.'

He looked at Digger. 'Please, correct me if I'm wrong, but I assume craftsmanship was not your intended purpose, or not your primary purpose at least?'

Digger's head turned to face the warm blood who spoke to him as in the tone he had come to expect from the world around him. Digger's voice seemed oddly distant as he spoke, as his mind's eye recalled the moment of his awareness.

'While it is true that my kind were created to be nothing more than tireless pawns for those who waged war, I am not sure what purpose those who shaped this shell I wear had in mind for me. I am only aware of what Bataner's purpose was for me. I was a digger of graves for him and I completed that task when it was required. That was my world until the day the world began to move on and I moved with it.'

Digger's eyes locked onto Sorren's as he spoke and his tone, flat and emotionless up to this point, grew hard and flinty.

'I chose the path I walk. There was no absent god's hand guiding my creation, no wind of fate blowing across my face as my eyes opened, there was only death to greet me. However, I do not fault death for being death, as it was death that gave me the desire to find life and grasp the joy in the art of creation that proves my existance.'

He turned back to the others. 'Which only makes this more suspicious. Why hire a warforged to act as a guard if it has forsaken its role as a soldier but is not playing the role of show-piece?'

'It was hired because as it learned from death, it became aware of how life and magic are tied together in bonds that can be harnessed and captured if it only focused its will to do so. It learned the secrets of science and how turn those secrets into useful tools for those it would one day meet. These are the reasons it believes that it was hired, as it would one day like to be seen as what he is, vice what it once was.'

Digger felt for the first time in his existance what the warm bloods called frustration. While he did not understand why the one called Sorren could not see him as anything than another tool to be used vice who he was, or rather trying to become, he knew that this blindness was making him feel slightly agitated and it was another feeling he was not prepared for.

How do they do it? How do they cope with so many conflicting emotions racing through them all the time?