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Topic: The Aielund Trilogy (Read 851 times) |
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Erik_the_Celt
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and turns to Elith. "Do you really think we can work with these two in a common cause? They seem more interested in their own pride than anything else."
Turning to Myridin and staring directly into his eyes, he says, "I will be plain as you seem not to be able understand the meaning of my actions. I do not like threats, they are the last resort of bullies and I have spent too many years suffering at the hands of my own brothers to tolerate threats from you. Now, would you like to work together or shall we disolve the Lions of Justice before we have begun to make a name for ourselves." Owain folds his arms across his chest and waits for a response from Myridin.
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anoikis
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and looks the rogue up and down.
He places a reasurring hand up towards his brother and speaks to Owain.
"Yes. I implore you to speak plainly. You have hitherto been sarcastic and mocking of us, our religion, and this good elf. It is apparent that you have fallen on hard times. It would seem we all have faced recent difficulties. Now I thought that we had a mutually acceptable agreement. I am sorry for whatever has befallen you to make you so bitter, but I can assure you that God has not forgotten you. Let me tell the both of you where my brother and I have been."
Leonidas tells Owain and Elith the story of the Barca brothers and his own recent fall from grace at the paladin school.
"Now, I'm not quite sure why all the hostility from you, Mr Rhys, but as you can see my brother and I have not had a straight and narrow path in life"
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Erik_the_Celt
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"So, you're the pampered off spring of some holier than thou knight and your father's mad at you so you ran away from home but you took your tough brother along to look after you. Well, you should listen to yourself. If ever there was a stuck up prig running around, you're it. You must be more like your father than this saintly Arlov you talk about."
Calming down a bit, Owain continues, "What's this Mr. word anyway, some fancy way of calling me a peasant. I'm Owain, or Owain ap Rhys or Owain the Knife, as Ned used to call me. I ain't no Mr., whatever that is. As for the elf, as you so condescendingly call him, I expect Elith can speak for himself."
"Now, shall we start over as brothers in arms?" Owain spits into the palm of his right hand and holds it out to Leonidas.
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| « Last Edit: on: Mar 31, 2005, 3:44AM » |
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neph
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"Pampered sons of some hollier than thou knight? Pampered? Ours lives arent some story of pampered lives. Look at me? DO you think as a child everone just exsepted me? And for standing by my side do you think that made Leo everybody's favorite person? We took our licks growing up, we were not pampered!" Starting to breathe heavy again but staying behind LEo out of respect for his brother, and knowing that he was more 'diplomatic'.
"The choice is yours as to weather you will travel with us to right the wrongs out there. But dont walk against us." He says leaning his head sise to side to pop his neck, then puffs out his chest.
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Skeeneyman
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At first Elith was disappointed in himself for once again playing the part of a fool when it comes to dealing with humans. The culture is so different then what he is used to, in fact, he has lived such a sheltered life that he hardly knows anybody other than his immediate family and they never communicated in this fashion. The feeling quickly fades however once the three of them start to argue and piss on each other like dogs marking there territory. He quietly watches, listens and even starts to take notes of what’s being said, utterly fascinated by the display of human interaction.
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Erik_the_Celt
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Owain turns to Myridin, "I'm offering my hand in friendship, will you take it or won't you?"
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anoikis
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,leaving Owain's hand in the air.
He grasps his holy symbol and once again looks at the rogue.
He hisses at Owain:
"More hostility. I shared our story with you and this is the response I get. We both had to work for everything we know. You dare insult us. I was taught from a young age to be respectful of those whom I do not know; moreso if they are hostile or wary of me- where i come from, 'Mr.' is a respectful title. Moreover, i referred to Elith by his race in deference to his noble and ancient culture. You are one to talk. You coyly insult him and he doesnt even realize it. Now- we all have been patient enough with you. We have offered to work together, including to find the murderer of your friend. I am willing to continue this...but we can all take only so much of your sarcasm and insults. If you wish a simple fight with me, I am ready- without the help of my brother- otherwise I suggest you start putting the needs of the group in front of your need for childish comments. Should you choose this path, you will ultimately find a friend in me."
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neph
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from Leo to Owain. He is starting to amire the guts of this human almost. He will have to wait to see if it some form of false bravado or true bravery. If ti turns out to be bravery then he will be an excellent "brother" in arms. If it is false bravado it will only get someone hurt, most likely him. Of course if he crosses his brother Leo, it will get him killed!
So he stands there silently for a moment. Then decides to try something only Leo has been good at up till now,diplomacy.
He steps foward and reaches out his hand " Fine we started this together, we shall see if we can finish this together. But know there are some limits."
Of course the jury is still out on the elf he thinks to himself.
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Erik_the_Celt
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Owain burned from the humiliation of his father’s sorry greeting as he slunk out of the gates of Fort Highmarch. At least the meeting with his father had not exposed the lies he had been telling the other Lions, he wouldn’t have been able to bare that shame if Elith learned that he had been lying to him. He cursed himself for a fool as he stumbled back down the roadway to Bracksworth. How could he have been so foolish as to go through the gates of the fort? He’d known his father was there with his brothers. He had felt his father’s presence as Leo had been talking to the Captain. He knew he had to hide, he couldn’t be seen, couldn’t bear to meet up with his father so soon after Ned’s death. How sorry he was, he should have died and Ned should have lived. His father would have been happier, a sorry son lost and useful guard retained. Not that his father had shown any interest in Ned’s death. Like an old boot. Just a servant, Ned was nothing more to Gareth, a useful tool to further his own ends.
No thought Owain, that was not fair, his father had been probably been more shocked to see Owain at the fort and not safe in Culdeny as planned. He wished he was dead, dead as his mother, dead as Llewellyn. Oh what a stupid fool I am, dreaming of the Knights of the Silver Chalice, the heroes of old. He wasn’t a knight; he was a cut purse, a thief, a liar, a cold hearted killer. Well, he would have his vengeance for Ned before he died, he would bring the Lions down upon those brigands and then it wouldn’t matter what happened. He would avenge his protector, the man who had shown him how to fight when his father would not. Ned, the man who had taught him how to hide from his brothers and how to sneak up on them when they weren’t expecting it. How to set traps and how to find all the killing points, the quick deaths from the rear and the side. Ned, who had taken a frightened miserable coward and turned him into a man? Was he a man? Or was that just imagination, his own desire to be like his father. He would avenge Ned and then perhaps he would provoke Myridin into killing him.
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neph
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trip home Myridin was keeping a very warry eye out for trouble while staying very close to his brother.
DAMNED little kobolds he was thinking. Never Knew they wer so sneaky. I cant believe I let Leo die. I never thought they could be so tough. I made a bad decision in that battle. I could have used our mother's lyre to stun the one he was fighting, but I chose to go after others. Its all my fault! I wont make that mistake again. Thankfully this dragon brought him back, but I cant count on that happening everytime. I MUST be more vigilant. He isnt as strong as me but he is head strong. Once he sets his mind it is all but impossible to change it. Which is why he is in trouble with his father. Speaking of that, wonder what happened between Owain and his daddy? He seemed pretty upset with it. Wonder if thats why he harbors a grudge for me and Leo? Thinking we were pampered? Because he was and he fell from grace? ANd now he thinks anyone from a family name had it better than him, or is he just jealous of the idea? Time will tell.
Mytridin looks over at Owain for a sec, then back to looking around for kobolds or any other enemy. Then steps one step closer to Leo.
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| « Last Edit: on: Apr 3, 2005, 2:42PM » |
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Skeeneyman
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Since Elith’s encounter with the dragon of death, “or life” he wonders to himself, has been almost franticly looking for anything in the book of god that might explain the presence of a dragon in the afterlife. The thought of an “afterlife” or life after death is so foreign to Elith that the whole experience has taken him completely by surprise. The book of god’s emphasis is always on life and never death, there is no mention of an afterlife at all. They teach elves of Riordan that once you are dead that is the end of it; there is nothing else. You will never awaken from the sleep of death, unless of course the ritual of resurrection is performed on your corpse shortly after you fall, which is very unlikely since few achieve that level of understanding of gods word. To younger elves, this can be a rather scary thought; so much of life is spread out before them that many will not even leave there home for the first twenty years of there life. However, this can be very comforting to older elves which have done all they have ever wished to and welcome a final rest.
“Nothing, Nothing” Elith shouts as he turns from page to page, “This makes no sense to me.” Looking up he asks, “Leonidas, you do not seem to have any trouble accepting this dragon of the afterlife. You seem almost thrilled to discover that it exists yet I have read your ‘Book of God’ and you know as well as I do that such a creature is not mentioned in the text. Please explain this to me.”
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anoikis
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"Indeed the dragon is not mentioned specifically in the Scolex, but in the book of Algorforus, mention is made of a long road to the paradise of the afterlife.
We must have faith in God that he does not reveal all of his secrets to us mere mortals. I was rejuvenated by the sight of the good dragon. I feel that the almighty has blessed us; ALL of us," looking around at the group.
"We have a purpose. The Lions' mission is righteous. This has given me the fortitide and purpose to pick up the sword of my family again. To realize that I have a place in this world, even if I am not to be a Paladin."
Drawing his sword from his back, Leonidas pointed in the air
"For Justice!"
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Erik_the_Celt
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Alone, on a pew at the back of the church, Owain sat thinking about the fight with the bandit chief. He saw himself, sneaking up slowly behind the bandit in his camp, plunging the dagger in his left hand deep into the left shoulder of the bandit. As the bandit spins around in surprise, Owain slashes the bandit’s left thigh with the rapier and blocks the blow of the bandit’s rapier with his dagger. Snarling into the bandit’s face, he hisses, “This is for Ned”, then slaps away the bandit’s rapier and plunges the tip of his own into the sword arm of his feeble opponent. As the bandit sags back against the tree, the thin edge of Owain’s dagger slices through his neck into the artery and blood spouts from the neck out over the bandit’s right side. Owain stands back and watches happily as the bandit slowly bleeds to death.
Shaking himself back into awareness of his surroundings, Owain listened to Leo and his mentor drone on about the power of God and church politics. I could easily hate Leo, he thought, although Myridin seems to be a decent enough sort. Ned would probably have liked the big half-orc. Quick with his blade, even though he’s a little loud when he’s moving around. I wonder what Ned would have made of Elith, he thought. A little naïve and wonderfully curious, but he seems so much younger than I am, even if he is 120 years older, what a strange character. Oh well, only a motley crew of Lions would take in a whelp like me. I wonder what it would have been like if mother had lived. He could see her combing her hair in the moonlight, reading at the side of a brook in the afternoons, laughing and hugging him, brushing his hair, washing his face. He sobbed a little to himself in the pew, wishing it had really been like that, wishing she had lived and had loved him. Damn barbarians tearing up the estate, the only hope he had of finding something of his mothers to console himself with.
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| « Last Edit: on: Apr 9, 2005, 12:56AM » |
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anoikis
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and toasted his friend and mentor.
"To you, Arlov. Words cannot describe the respect and admiration that I have for you so I will not try."
Drinking down his wine, Leonidas looked around at Arlov's quarters. The priest definitely had added his own touches to the place. The apartment was small, but comfortable. Arlov was something of a church historian and Leonidas noted various pieces that he recognized from his previous home in the Capital. The familiar painting of his late wife hung over the mantle, as well. She must have been so beautiful. Leonidas wished he could have met her.
Leonidas looked around at his companions and then turned to Arlov, "So, the Lions of Justice. That is what we decided to call ourselves. It was so fortunate for Myr and I to meet up with Elith and Owain; I feel that it was meant to be."
Leonidas went on to discuss their adventures thus far and the moral conundrum of dealing with the Mayor. He also expressed his disgust and anger at his Father for leading the charge against Arlov.
Dinner was a simple, but delicious rabbit stew with potatoes and freshly baked bread.
Towards the end of the dinner, after the wine had smiled upon him, Leonidas began telling stories of his training with the senior priest.
Leonidas smiled "The reason I was so excited about finding those concentration gloves is that focus of concentration was literally beaten into me by our good host here!"
Chuckling, Leonidas continued,"So I was in a training room, drapes covering the windows so it was basically pitch black. I had my training sword and shield- which were wooden but twice the weight of my regular sword and shield. I wore only a training tunic. My task was to repel any attack."
"How can I fight if I cannot see you?", I said. Arlov then reminded me of the prayer for light that I had recently learned. As I began to utter the prayer, he swung at me with his training sword; which despite being wooden and wrapped in padded leather hurt like hell when it slammed into my ribs. Cursing, I stood up and complained that he did not let me finish the prayer. Arlov grabbed me by the shoulders and said "Boy- you think that the enemies of God will let you pray before they try to take yer head off!?" So this went on for hours, but eventually I learned to focus my mind to be able to pray to the lord for light while fighting. Needless to say, I was sore for days!
"I still have a lot to learn, but I feel that I will continue to grow in my focus and concentration, thanks to those early, sore-arsed days!"
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| « Last Edit: on: Apr 11, 2005, 5:38PM » |
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neph
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silently while he ate. He watched Arlov suspiciously. CAn this guy be trusted? He has started some kind of problems in the church, he has set Leo against his father. What is he up to? I'll have to keep an eye on him and watch Leo's back. Leo would do anything for him. I'll have to make sure he doesnt ask Leo to do something stupid.
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Skeeneyman
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Elith studied the various church artifacts for hours, touching them, taking notes and even muttered what some would guess were spells of some kind. All the while, he was utterly confused by power he kept finding in this church. “Why is god here?” He wondered to himself. He never sensed any power from the Scolex or any other piece of human holy tomb but Leo could heal wounds with just a simple prayer and in this church, he was surrounded by a divine presence. “Could this be the key I have been looking for?” He muttered to himself.
During there meal with Arlov, Elith only ate a tiny bit of stew, excused himself and went straight to work reading every book in Arlov’s apartment. Elith did not speak to anyone; he just studied every piece of literature he could get his hands on. Except at one point, he went into a bad coughing fit, hacked up a large amount of blood, and then excused himself to go outside. Once outside he drank a large amount of his medicine, then once he felt better, he went back inside Arlov’s apartment to continue reading. Though he would never admit it, Elith is trying to hide his illness as much as possible from his companions. The conversation he had with Myridin a few days before weighed heavily on his mind. He deeply loved his new friends and wanted them to like him as well and thus he was determined to do whatever it took to prove his worth to them.
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Erik_the_Celt
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across the back of Owain’s hand, almost mesmerizing in its speed. Owain felt himself falling under Leo and Arlov’s new spell, Death by Boring Reminiscence. He spun the coin into the air and rose from his chair by the table. He wrinkled his nose and said “Pwew, what’s that smell, no wonder Elith’s sick again. It’s that bandit head, isn’t it. I’m going to take it and clean it up before we all die from the stench.” Owain picked up the sack with the head and left the room without waiting for a response from any of the others. He quickly took the path down the water’s edge.
Owain stood for a long time watching the waves roll against the rocky shore. He’d never seen anything like this wide expanse of water before and he felt like he was staring out into forever. He wondered what it would be like at the edge, if it even had another edge. He wandered a little along the shoreline until he came to a rime rimmed pool. He chuckled as some little creatures skittered sideways as he poked at the rocks with the toe of his boot. He pulled the head from the sack and placed it in the pool, the crusted blood putting small red swirls into the water. He jumped back as the pool exploded into life, the water boiling with an army of little critters pouring out of every tiny crevasse in the rocks. I’ll have to ask Elith what these are, he thought. He dipped his finger into the pool to brush one of the critters of the head and then flung it quickly into the waves as its sharp pincers cut into his finger. He sucked the wound and watched as the little beasts tore into the head. Can’t have that, he thought, the mayor will want to see some kind of face on this, a bare skull won’t convince him. He took out Ned’s rapier and flicked the head into the waves and chased after it. After swishing away the little beasts in the waves, he carefully washed the remaining blood and brains from the head. He found some salt scum by the edge of a pool and rubbed as much salt as he could into the skin. He plucked out the eyes and dropped them into the pool, grinning at how fast the little critters scurried up and demolished their meal.
He found a long branch by the edge of the water and stuck it into a sandy spot by the shore; he then impaled the head on the end of the branch to dry. Owain picked up some pebbles and began tossing them at a log floating near the shore. He took the rapier in hand and sliced at the sand. For a while he stood and thought, then he began to write in the wet sand where the waves were rippling over the shore.
A tear I give to the gurgling child
A tear I give to the dew laden blossom
A tear I give to the joyful living
Three tears for the whole world round
For Ned, for Osric, for Gwyneth
He watched as the sky and water turned pink and red with the setting of the sun. He watched as the waves swept his words out to sea. Owain turned back to the bandit’s and gave it three quick cuts on each cheek. Then he pulled up his tunic and cut his thigh three times, the mark of the Lion he thought. This is how they will know us. Placing the head back into the sack, he skipped back to Arlov’s.
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| « Last Edit: on: Apr 13, 2005, 1:08AM » |
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neph
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Elith's coughing fit. Myridin walked to a window and watched him outside as he kept coughing. I wonder how much life this elf still has in him? He wondered. If he starts that in the middle of combat someones dead for sure. I wonder if thats what happened the last time he fell in battle? And because he fell noone else had a healing kit*Myridin started breathing heavy, his hand tightening on the grip of his sword* and without a healing kit Leo fell as well. If it wasnt for that dragon or whatever Leo would be gone! I would have had to bury him. *His throat tightens and he swallows hard to try to lossen it up so he could breathe properly* Need to watch that, that feeling got me in all kinds of trouble before.
Elith returns and walks past Myridin. He didnt seem to notice me, Myridin thought. Not that it matters now. Just as long as he is ready to fight. Then he watches as Owain walks out. Now what I wonder? Then he shakes his head and heads back to where Leo and Arlov are still speaking. Doesn't matter, I got more important things to worry about right now.
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| « Last Edit: on: Apr 13, 2005, 2:23AM » |
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anoikis
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and seemed quite pleased at the elf's interest in Arlov's literature.
"I mentioned to you that there are those that can, with God's blessing, control the weather.
Indeed Arlov is one such," he said, making the holy sign.
"Indeed, God has filled Arlov with great wisdom. I cannot understand why others do not see it. I have been so blessed to have learned from him."
Turning to Arlov, he continued "I still remember the prayers you taught me- the ones to bring down the fury of God's thunder and lightning. I pray that I will be worthy of them someday."
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Stravinsky
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Arlov relaxed in his chair, sipping at his wine. "The Lions of Justice, is it? Well, I see you have done well for yourself since we last saw each other. The country needs more people wishing to become a force for good. These are dire times my child, dire times indeed. Sometimes I'm rather thankful that your father pushed for my reassignment...Fairloch is not the place it once was."
Arlov notes Leo's scowl at the mention of his father. "Now, now, my son, it is not fitting for a son to show such anger towards his own father...misguided though he may be. Your father forced me out because he thought it was right. He saw me as a blight upon the church...called me a heretic even." Arlov smiled "I was actually rather proud of that...the best new thinkers are generally branded heretics and deceivers in their own times, only to become the saints or martyrs we seek strength from in our darkest hours. But I digress...your father as you know is quite powerful. A schism between him, as well as the other paladins, and the main church would be disastrous. So I stepped aside, and thus you find me here. But, if I hadn't come here, then I wouldn't have run into you, now would I? The globe turns as God wills, once again."
Arlov suddenly jumps up from his seat and takes the wine glass from Leo's hands. "But come, you have supposedly done much since I last saw you...let's see what you've learned. I'm sure you recall this." Arlov pulls out an old wooden sword, barely covered with thinly stuffed padding. "It's a bit more decrepit since you last knew it, but I'm sure it still works." Arlov takes a few practice swings, suprisingly nimble for a man of his age. "Come now, bring your fancy gloves and we'll see just how you've progressed."
There were quite a few more curses than commonly heard in a house of worship that night.
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