(Tavern) City of Orussus, The Red Dragon Inn VII

[ajanders]

"I am...not from around here...Like you. Although I must admit we did not train our hearing with cows. Your land sounds like a strange and wondrous place, where even the celestial orb need halt for two hours extra to give you peace and reprieve from the day's heat. Do you channel the energy to do this yourself, or have your people found a way to make a pact with the sky as well as with the Sela?"

"Nope. We're just small and unimportant and far from everything. We can't even see Zivaash, so you can imagine all the things we miss out on."

 

[Rystil Arden]

"Not everyone has the talent to see Zivaash, although many were simply never taught. Those who cannot often live happy, productive lives, but those who can....we are more often than not doomed to lives of unhappiness. Duty, as they say, is a constant pressure on those gifted to be able to help others. Only death brings a reprieve..."

 

[ajanders]

"Not everyone has the talent to see Zivaash, although many were simply never taught. Those who cannot often live happy, productive lives, but those who can....we are more often than not doomed to lives of unhappiness. Duty, as they say, is a constant pressure on those gifted to be able to help others. Only death brings a reprieve..."

"I'm sorry your gifts bring you no pleasure. Could you always see Zivaash?"

 

[Rystil Arden]

"I'm sorry your gifts bring you no pleasure. Could you always see Zivaash?"

"No...not always. Once, I was just an innocent little girl, happily at play with my friends. But then...then I...I had to grow up very fast. For my little brother if for no one else. But...I...I failed him..." She hangs her head.

 

[ajanders]

"No...not always. Once, I was just an innocent little girl, happily at play with my friends. But then...then I...I had to grow up very fast. For my little brother if for no one else. But...I...I failed him..." She hangs her head.

"If you would like to talk about it, I will help you as I can. I encourage positive emotions myself, when I can, and would rather see you lifted up than borne down."
Michael fixes his eyes on hers as reassuringly as he can manage.

 

[Rystil Arden]

"No, please...I'd rather not...let's talk about something else. Your family, at least, sounds like it was loving and...normal. You had two first-brothers named Pavel and Donnel, yes? Did you have a good relationship with them?"

 

[ajanders]

"No, please...I'd rather not...let's talk about something else. Your family, at least, sounds like it was loving and...normal. You had two first-brothers named Pavel and Donnel, yes? Did you have a good relationship with them?"

"Five, actually, and three sisters. Pavel, Donnel, Kevin, Molly, Frances, me, Jude, Connor, and baby Elenor."
Michael grins.
"We got along pretty well, though it was hard to keep us in shoes. Connor actually apprenticed out to a shoemaker when he was twelve and said he never wanted a pair of hand-me-down shoes again."

 

[Rystil Arden]

"Eight brothers and sisters? That is a respectable beginning of a sept. Tell me, how many sister-wives did your father have to achieve this many offspring?" Lasair ponders the thought of eight siblings, "...It would have been nice to have a big family..."

 

[ajanders]

"Eight brothers and sisters? That is a respectable beginning of a sept. Tell me, how many sister-wives did your father have to achieve this many offspring?" Lasair ponders the thought of eight siblings, "...It would have been nice to have a big family..."

"Just the one wife. And Aunt Jo, but she was Mama's sister. I don't know if that would count. And Granny Hengrave was with us for a few years, but she just helped raise us."
Michael shrugs.
"Big farm, plenty of food, plenty of work. We always had people come in for a week or two."

 

[doghead]

Jaan Saaresar of the Osilia

The door to the tavern is pushed open and a man steps through. He is of farily ordinary height and build. His clothes are faded and travel stained and there is a tiredness around his eyes. But his face is freshly scrubbed, and his long hair, pushed back from his eyes by a broad swatch of cloth, is damp.

"I am Jaan Saaresar of the Osilia," he says clearly, but clearly not particularly interested in whether anyone is listening. He pauses for a moment, his gaze moving intently across the room.

"It has been a while since I was here last," he adds quietly in the distracted voice of one thinking aloud. "But it has not changed so much. I'm not so sure I am glad to be back this time."

Jaan moves over to the bar. He leans forwards to get the attention of whoever is attending it.

"Some time ago I took a commission from a fresh faced member of the town guard in a shiney new breastplate. I left with Troi, a forester of sorts and keen on his whip, Ioleta who carried a big sack everywhere and could talk the leg of a donkey and Velbrik," and here Jaan pauses for a moment to think, "who said very little. Later we were joined by Garret, a hafling ranger. Have you seen any of them in here recently?"