Dragon's Egg - Act III

[Ankari]

((I guess I never left the common room.))

The desolation of frozen woods, or the endless chatter of my companions. Why I must suffer both extremes of existence, and not a more moderate one, is a curse that I must learn to bear. At least until I end Aslaug's twisted life.

There are ants that, from a distance, appear as any other. Woe to the ignorant that approach expecting the many-legged creatures to be of the insignificant type. These would peel away the flesh from a man's bones before death eased his torment. That is what I suffer when the party gathers. Each word is harmless, but the eat at the mind and leave a billowing husk.

"Excuse me, I have arrows to procure." I do. But another matter must be dealt with. One that may involve use the few I have left.

I step outside, wondering of the nature of the brown frozen muck that makes up the roads cutting through this decaying infestation of humanity. What it is about the men of cloth who think they can judge with the narrow vision of their deceptive patrons? I call upon that same right tonight. Judgement for judgement.

The temple shouldn't be too hard to locate. Scammers blind their audience with obvious signs of their deceit. The weak flock to such symbols, attracted by the promise of reward with arms held out and their newfound faith eager to fall from their trembling lips. Then come the conformists, followed by generations of begotten offspring told to follow the blazing symbol of their faith without understanding the faith itself.

At the temple door, I tease the symbol of Gefjon from beneath my tunic. He is not my deity, but the gifter has earned my tolerance to carry such proclamations of ignorance. Diamonds are found in the darkest of places. I knock on the door, savoring the words that form in the darkest places.

 

[Ireth]

Cadell

Ankari goes off on his own -- AGAIN -- and I narrow my eyes. What is he up to?

I finish my meal quickly, thank Gisla, then slip out to follow him. With luck the dark will hide me, and I hope I can pass unnoticed.

Cachu! Well, with any luck this will delay or distract him enough for me to find out what he means to do. He can't keep sneaking off like this; he could put us all in jeopardy.

 

[SomethingToPonder]

What is it with that obnoxious witch mauve. I have half a mind to have words with her, Always acting so superior, Shooting me dirty looks for no reason.We shall see what happens to her
I then continue to finish my meal, Pondering over the things that have happened so far

 

[Steerpike]

Ankari and Cadell

The temple of Tyr is not hard to find - it is the largest structure in Arendal. Ankari heads for it, with Cadell following behind, trying to remain hidden but not being very successful with the attempt.

The temple doors are closed, and Ankari knocks. For a few long moments, there is no response, then he hears the creaking sounds of someone moving across the wooden floor within. The temple door swings open to reveal a man in his middle years, not large and not in the shape he might have been in a dozen years before. A golden symbol of Tyr hangs from his neck and her grips a plain wooden staff in his hands.

He looks at Ankari, narrows his eyes, and says "Another one. Your people are at the Maiden's Spear, just back that way." He motions with his staff. "I have a busy night ahead, so unless you are here on temple business I'll thank you to excuse me." Without waiting for a reply, he starts to swing the door shut.

 

[Ankari]

The priest wears his arrogance like armor, hiding the vulnerable deceit rotting his heart. I place a firm hand against the door, preventing it from closing.

Cadell stumbles after me with the grace of a peg-legged drunk. I pay him no mind. Besides, he may learn how to act, rather than dream.

"You misunderstood, priest. I've come seeking the wisdom of Tyr. Indulge me for a moment."

 

[Ireth]

Cadell

I resist the urge to narrow my eyes in confusion, and no small amount of suspicion, as Ankari speaks to the priest. What is he up to? Maybe he has his own ideas for keeping Branwen from harm... though that doesn't mean this is a wise idea by any stretch.

<Are you even going to listen to what the rest of us have in mind?> I ask him, switching easily to elvish. <You really need to stop rushing off on your own. One misstep could jeopardize us all. 'Fools rush in', isn't that how the saying goes?>

 

[Steerpike]

The priest scowls when Ankari stops the door from closing. He gives Ankari a searching look, as though trying to discern some treachery in the elf, then says "What wisdom do you seek? I've not know many elves to follow the human gods, or to care for the words of their priests."

When Cadell speaks, the priest's mouth sets in a grimace. "In the human tongue, if you don't mind. It is considered polite. Have you come about the demon again? I've already promised to delay speaking to the Council until morning, and so I will."

 

[Ankari]

I touch the symbol of Gefjon hoping to draw the man's attention to it. Let the priest take it's existence for what he will.

"Tyr represents courage. What is his opinion concerning his holy symbols? His temples and priests? What would he ask of his legion if word spreads of a temple, and all of its inhabitants, are burned to ash and the enemy is known?"

 

[Ireth]

Cadell

I shake my head when the priest addresses me, and switch back to the human tongue. "I came only to find out what Ankari here is up to. I am content not to pester you about Branwen, and await the Elders' decision regarding her fate." I only hope Ankari will do the same.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

I head up to my room with Burnbright. When we arrive I present her with the gold holy symbol of Brynhild. ((—um… if Baldy didn't do that already. I forgot if she did at dinner!))

"It looks just like mine, only I gave you the gold and kept silver for myself. The gold looks better on you, I think, because of your golden hair." I place the symbol on her. ((Not sure if it's a pin or necklace, but I assume it can be worn.)) "Wear your faith proudly. You've seen a Valkyrie, so you know this piece of pretty jewelry stands for something very real."

 

[Nihal]

Baldhart's Room

I am already dozing off when Baldhart arrives. I shake my head and peek over my shoulder.

"Oh, hello." I yawn, touching the recently filled pages of my spellbook to be sure the ink is dry before closing it and returning to my backpack. "Did they like Nissa? Oh, yes, true—"

I turn around to face them. "When we have some free time I would like to hear more about this shadow she saw..."

 

[SeverinR]

[Weren't we going to speak of a plan other then the one Aliron has set?]

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

"They loved her, of course… though Nissa did give us all a shock by getting down to business in a hurry.

"Speaking of which, Gisla did not express confidence that the Council will side with us as long as Father Geralt does not. She did say we should not worry about pursuit or persecution. As long as Branwen is out, the Council will declare her lack of presence in Arendal a non-issue. I say, Aliron does as he plans—to get Branwen out in the morning. As for the rest of us, we go on watch as planned and do out best to defend the innocents here. I'm not fond of Father Geralt, but this dress—" I hold up Nissa's outfit. "—once belonged to a baby, who may be a year old now. Gisla, Aga, and the innocents are worth defending. Father Geralt only needs to know Branwen is no longer his problem.

"Also, the gnolls were planning to take Burnbright to Verstenn Hold. Drimmen-delve is on the way, but it's a two week trip. If there's a human town with a ranch, I'd like a steed… thoughts on where we go next?"

 

[Nihal]

Baldhart's Room

((SeverinR, they're supposed to be all in Baldhart's room to discuss, but no one moved there...))

"Aliron is not the only one who intended to take Branwen out of this place. I will take her before the sun rises, gambling with her life was never in my plans. Baldhart—" I hold her gaze, serious. "—it is about time for you to accept our reality. It is clear they will decide to burn her, it is what they do to people they fear, and they fear easily, they fear everything they can not understand. Can you see now what they truly are? We will face unnecessary perils in this journey if you—if everyone keeps this naive, careless notion that everyone is good and deserves our patience and sacrifice. Always expect the worse.

"Listen, I know you are thinking I may have trust issues, but it kept me alive. Here I am, safe and sound, at least for now. If I lowered my guard, if these people knew, they would not give me the chance to get away before the morning. Burnbright is in danger too; I need to know she will be well protected in this aspect when I am not around. I need to know you are not keeping unrealistic expectations, that you are being vigilant from now on.

"We have a long journey ahead, I will get exhausted if I am the only one on guard." I nod. "Yes, I know where they intended to take Burnbright, I knew since Darin first described what they saw when they reached the hold. Where is everyone? We must settle with a plan. Oh, and avoid saying names aloud, you can never be too careful. They had eyes and ears in Srilkind, they may have there as well." I start unrolling my map.

"Since you are already here tell me what you think about my route suggestion. I believe we should keep along there..." I trace the road from Arendal to Melar with my finger. "It will be faster. Shortcuts make delays, we should avoid them while we can." I keep running my finger along the road to Balara. "Here we should follow west. You remember what Darin said about their journey in the dark lands, don't you? It will take longer, but will be safer if we do not cross the borders." I trace the Taint edge, ending in Drimmen-Delve.

"I do not know where exactly it is located, but it should be in this region. If we are lucky they will see us before we see them, and send someone to fetch us. They saw the hold before journeying to investigate it. Hah. Do your remember what I said before Burnbright was sent back to Srilkind?" I smirk weakly. "It turns out I am right more often than everyone would like to admit."

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Accept reality? Really!

"Mauve… I know you think I'm naive, but don't you see by now that I was making an attempt to prevent people like Father Geralt from seeing Branwen in the first place? The first thing I did was to find one person in the area who would be an ally to us—one person—Gisla. We had it all worked out to sneak Branwen in the back way—precisely because I knew of the danger we'd be in if she were spotted. I resent you calling me careless because I give people the benefit of the doubt. If I had this 'trust nobody' mindset, we wouldn't have Gisla's help. If Cadell dismissed Geralt as an impossible man like the rest of us did—myself included, he couldn't have talked him out of that three hour time limit.

"That said, I'm glad you and Alin aren't so trusting. We can keep each other in check this way.

"However, you misunderstood what I was saying about the Council. Perhaps I was unclear. I meant that we'd have to convince Geralt, and I believe that is impossible. Gisla said as much." I lower my voice. "We all saw the look on his face when he thought of the burning ritual. Honestly, I believe there is something sinister about him. He may have meddled with magic himself, and is hiding his own corruption and burning others so none could suspect him. That or he's developed a bloodlust and enjoys watching a little girl's body being consumed by fire. I don't like this man at all, but his 'flock' is misguided. These simpletons see his position, and assume his ritual has Tyr's blessing. We don't need a valkyrie among us to confirm that's a load of crap. Gisla agrees, and thinks the ritual comes from an older faith that has nothing to do with Tyr."

Leave before dawn? Yes.

"Those of us who don't need to stick around for supplies should get Branwen moving before dawn as you say. I only wish to stay long enough to get my armor and your gift, Mauve. I also want those beast hides. Liadan, do you think Cadell will let me borrow Llucheden and meet the boy delivering them if he's not here by morning?"

I see Mauve's path on the map.

"Yes, I agree this is the best way. Perhaps Alfoss can be considered if horses can be purchased there, if not in Melar. Um… I wonder if there's a bridge Ballara? Anyway, I think we all agree that before entering a village, we need to set up a camp site where some of us can rest with Branwen and Batos. We won't find another innkeeper like Gisla!"

 

[Ireth]

Líadan

I tilt my head thoughtfully, then shake it in answer to Baldhart's question. "I doubt he would mind. He seems to trust you with her. But we should discuss all these things with Cadell and Ankari once they return." Goodness knows where Ankari went; I assume Cadell followed to keep him out of trouble. There doesn't seem to be much trust between those two.

 

[Nihal]

Baldhart's Room

"Then why you wished to show Nissa to them, giving them the 'benefit of the doubt'? If Gisla weren't here to say exactly what I said, who knows if you weren't to learn yourself how unforgiving these people are?" I cross my arms.

"If you saw smoke on the horizon after we are out of this cursed place, would you turn back to help? I bet you would. It would place Burnbright in incredible danger, we might lose everything, and for what? To protect people who dismiss everything we say, who sit and watch while he kills the people they ought to help? When these peasants are conniving with him to practice evil deeds, when they themselves help him to constrain and drag the person they're about to murder painfully, what does it make them, Baldhart?"

When she answers my suggestion of route I wave my hand, "Pssssst, avoid saying names! I agree with your suggestion in case we get horses, the farther from her lands we travel the better, but if it will delay us significantly then we should take the path I suggested."

I sit more stiffly when Líadan cites Ankari.

Hah, then he was really there!

It's good to know I'm not hallucinating yet, however, where were him the whole time we risked ourselves to rescue Burnbright? I don't like this. I stare at my feet and pull my hair to the side, braiding it.

At least I will have another chance to get her journal, if it still exists.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

She has a point.

Well, it wouldn't have been on us if we did what I was thinking, but… it was too risky anyway. If they didn't think it was Branwen's illusion, the consequences would have been worse than what Mauve's thinking.


"Okay… so maybe I am naive. But there's nothing naive about protecting this place while we're here. If enemies followed me here then the innocent deaths could be my fault! But that's why I say we go on watch—to prevent that.

"And make no mistake about the ones we can't trust. They'll blame us if the gnolls come and we flee. Gisla will die and Father Geralt will hide behind the militia, blaming Branwen for the attack. Even if he dies, he'll live long enough to blame us. And THEN runners would spread the word of our demon bird, making no place safe.

"Anyway, why are we discussing this? Surely you're not opposed to us keeping watch. If you don't care about the fate of the innocents here, you must care enough about our own survival. If the gnolls come when we're long gone, it is my hope that people will say Burnbright went with us to… wherever… and the gnolls will believe we didn't mention a destination."

 

[Nihal]

I roll my eyes. "I am not against keeping watch. We should not only be ready to the gnolls, but to these people and the gods know what else." I also know what else. "I am only pointing that these are not innocent people. Don't you realize everything happening now would never happen if people of these towns did not kill you-know-what? If they never killed Aslaug's mother?

"If people showed only a tiny bit of gratitude after the Great War and bothered to help people like us instead of shunning and hunting us down nothing—" I open my arms, showing the whole room. "—of this would ever happen. No, these are not innocent people. If it weren't for the sacrifice of people like me in the past, the same thing that brought the corruption to afflict the few of us who remained, these peasants wouldn't be free or alive today. They show gratitude by killing the children of their saviors of the old. I know only one name for this: Betrayal.

"And now, they killed her mother and brought it upon themselves."

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

"Brought what upon themselves? What is this discussion about, Mauve?

"You have every right to be angry about the burnings. I'm outraged as well, but… you act as if Father Geralt and the people around him are the same. They're not. Gisla's not. The children are not. Even those stupid fishermen are ungrateful morons who lack the honor to keep their mouths shut after we saved their sorry asses, but they're still innocent men.

"And why exactly are the children here guilty by association? When I told you Burnbright called Branwen a demon, you said it's not her fault she was misled. But you blame younger children here? How old do you become when it's suddenly your fault you were misled as a child? Happy birthday! You're 18! Oh, and by the way, the beliefs you grew up with? If they're wrong, that's on you.

"Mauve, I'm not saying you shouldn't be angry, but if you condemn an entire village as 'evil' over the actions of one so-called holy man, how are you different than those people who call all magic users 'evil?' In the sense you're blaming all over the actions of a minority, I mean. Of course the vast difference is you're not killing people."