Eline pauses, thinking back to her studies under her mother. Everything she learned, she learned from her mother. She can hardly contain her emotions. She was under her mother's tutelege for most of her younger years as an adept magic user. She was...
"My...mother. She taught me everything I know. I never had any formal schooling, just what she taught me. The rest is self-taught, for seven years ago..."
Eline grips her hand into a fist. "He killed her."
Roxaria is silent at first, not expecting that remark. “I-I’m sorry. I didn’t know. That had to be hard to experience. I’ve never lost anyone close to me so it’s hard for me to relate; however… Oh Eline…”. She reaches out to give Eline a comforting hug as Rox tries to imagine the loss of one of her parents and the impact hits her, “That’s awful!”
Rox steps back, stifling a sniffle, and then asks the question, “Who is he?”
"He," Eline replies, accepting Roxaria's embrace, "is Mikhail, and he was my father."
Roxaria stutters backwards, never knowing such horror. She was fortunate to have loving parents, but this was something unfathomable to her. “You’re father?! H-how? I mean, why?”
A mix of pain, anger and sadness flood Roxaria as she tries to grip what she’s hearing. She has felt this similar concoction of emotions herself, but under different circumstances. Roxaria looks at Eline, “If you’re willing to share, I’m willing to listen. I understand, however, if it is too personal and you do not want to discuss it.”
"Thank you, Roxi. I just wish I had been there sooner...had tried harder to be a better mage...had been more studious and more powerful. I need more power to destroy him." She looks up from her downcast position, her green eyes blazing. "I want to find him, kill him, and bring mom's death to justice. Seven years ago, I walked in on death. I saw mom writhing upon the bed to which she was cruelly bound to, a horrible knife protruding from her chest--her death throes." Eline's voice is distant and flat-toned as she recounts the tail.
"Then I saw him, his back turned to her, reciting dark sorcery out of dark and evil tomes floating around him. I squealed then, a stupid little girl. He turned and saw me and raced after me, books and all. I fled. He chased. My meager magic was no match for his intense power! He may have been extending his own life. He may have been summoning some dark creature that required a blood sacrifice. I don't know. I'll never know."
Eline's fingers dig into her hand, despite the thick mitten upon it. "Regardless, I will find him."
Her green eyes flare with a slight glow of her own innate magic.
Roxaria softly utters, “That is terrifying.” She inhales deeply, new resolution found as she follows the pacing of Eline’s story. As the story comes to a growing climax, the anger in Eline’s voice very obvious and filled with vengeance, Roxaria clasps a hand on Eline’s shoulder, “You are not alone, Eline. So long as I am around you have my word that I will assist you in any capacity you need. Whether it is my bow and blade or an ear to listen. I am here for you.”
She exhales as the sharp surge of adrenaline and anger fades, “Let us see what else this dagger has to tell us. I hope this smithy is as good as I was told.”
Eline nods affirmatively. She says nothing further on the matter, choosing instead to hide behind a sad, wan smile, one that seems almost forced. Talking about Mikhail was never easy, but at least these days she could get it out without bursting into tears.
Her smile fades though, and she notices Trem staring her way or of the corner of her eye. Beckoning to him, she invites the elf to join with her, Roxi, and Reginald. Here, at least, she had friends and people who cared about her, even if she had only known some of them for a day or so.
Eline's dark mood is broken by Trem's joke, and happy attitude. She cracks a genuine smile this time, and replies. "I don't even know what a warforged is, but go for it!"
Seeing Trem comfort Eline, Roxaria moves up to walk with Reginald. The packed snow crunches under her boots as the snow falls on her hair, decorating it with wet, fluffy flakes. “I was thinking about Verla Pelc. You know, she is technically the second person to die from this sickness, Urgon being the first. Tulgi was infected and when we saw her she was lethargic and all bundled up. My guess is that somehow Urgon picked up the sickness from somewhere, sold his stash to Verla and that contact somehow afflicted her. Then, when Tulgi stole from Verla, she ended up getting it also. Now, here is the interesting thing. Hulil is possibly sick too. That occurred when Tulgi passed on those other relics to Hulil. When did Tulgi last visit her sister? And…is it contact with the individual or is one of those relics that was passed on causing the sickness?”
Roxaria pauses a moment. “Trem thinks I’m overanalyzing this whole thing, especially when I told him I think other people are looking for this dagger. What do you think, Reginald? Am I overthinking this?”
Roxaria stops suddenly and then rushes up to Reginald again, “Wait a second! Tulgi stole twice! She stole the relics from Verla, but she must have known about this dagger and seeing that it was not part of the relics in Verla’s store, Tulgi went to Urgon’s place and found it there. Now, you said Urgon’s place was trashed, right? I wonder if Hulil sent bandits to trash Urgon’s place looking for the dagger too, not knowing that Tulgi already stole it!”
She pauses, “Though what is going on between Hulil and Tulgi? We should visit Tulgi again. I bet after two unsuccesful raids, Hulil is going to send visitors to Tulgi to look for the dagger.”
she tries to gather her questions into what she already knows, talking rhetorically to Reginald. “Urgon and Verla are dead. Urgon sold all his relics minus the dagger. Tulgi robs Verla’s store. She must know about the dagger and finds it at the already dead Urgon’s home. Tulgi sends all the relics minus the dagger to Hulil. Hulil must know about the dagger and trashes Urgons home looking for it. They don’t find it there and trash Verla’s store. Hulil must be going to Tulgi’s next. She must think that Tulgi has the dagger. Tulgi knew she cannot keep it a secret much longer and entrusted it to me to keep it away from Hulil.”
Vauthok walks slowly behind the others doing his best to listening to various conversations going on around him but wasn’t doing a very good job. So he settled with picking up the few things he was able to catch and just watching their surroundings the rest of the time, idly fiddling with the axe head hanging from his hip. The giant had strapped Urgon’s silver maul to his back alongside his great sword and seemed to be doing his best impression of a walking armory. Didn’t bother Vauthok in the slightest. Weapons were pretty cool.
Finally something he actually understood. Vauthok walked up a little closer behind Roxaria and Reginald as they conversed about the relics. “If Tulgi sent all the relics to Hulil, why hide the little knife?”
Roxaris is so engrossed in her thoughts, Vauthok’s voice startles her, “Geesh! You snuck up on me, Vauthok! I think that is the question we need answered and hopefully this smithy at the Hidden Forge can answer. Once we know what is so special about this dagger, maybe we will know more why Hulil wants it so badly. Right now, what we do know is this: The dagger has some property that may heal those who have been inflicted with this frozen sickness. Or, it is a key to the cure, somehow.”
Roxaria looks to see if she can see the docks through the snow where the Hidden Forge is located.
“Heh.. Sneaky is what I do, can’t you tell?” Vauthok snorts loudly with mirth and continues walking just behind the pair. It sure would be a pain if they went through all this trouble just to find out Tulgi thought the dagger was pretty and wanted to keep it for herself. A pretty dagger, not the all important key to the success of this quest. That was unacceptable. Vauthok would break the dagger as it’s punishment should that be the case. After all, breaking stuff was the key to happiness. “If this dagger is the cure.... I wonder if you have to stab the sick people for it to work.” The barbarian shakes his head at the thought. “Yeah... That would suck.”
Roxaria smiles, “That would be ironic! Having to stab them with the dagger to cure them! I certainly hope that isn’t true!”
She looks up at the Goliath and, for the first time, notes the scar on his face. She vaguely remembers him mentioning it before; however, he quickly followed it up with a distracting remark and she never thought about it again. Her lips become pencil-thin as she contemplates asking him about it.
She looks up to Vauthok and reaches a hand up, gently touching his scar as if it were still freshly given, “May I ask…what happened?”
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As Kha and Trem walk into the Jolly Dwarf you can hear him finishing a joke.
...your "alignment" is off!
Trem gladly accepts the offer of a drink, completely oblivious to the suddem change of the atmosphere in the room.
Player: Any Good Alignment // DM: Lawful Evil
Roxaria is silent at first, not expecting that remark. “I-I’m sorry. I didn’t know. That had to be hard to experience. I’ve never lost anyone close to me so it’s hard for me to relate; however… Oh Eline…”. She reaches out to give Eline a comforting hug as Rox tries to imagine the loss of one of her parents and the impact hits her, “That’s awful!”
Rox steps back, stifling a sniffle, and then asks the question, “Who is he?”
"He," Eline replies, accepting Roxaria's embrace, "is Mikhail, and he was my father."
Roxaria stutters backwards, never knowing such horror. She was fortunate to have loving parents, but this was something unfathomable to her. “You’re father?! H-how? I mean, why?”
A mix of pain, anger and sadness flood Roxaria as she tries to grip what she’s hearing. She has felt this similar concoction of emotions herself, but under different circumstances. Roxaria looks at Eline, “If you’re willing to share, I’m willing to listen. I understand, however, if it is too personal and you do not want to discuss it.”
"Thank you, Roxi. I just wish I had been there sooner...had tried harder to be a better mage...had been more studious and more powerful. I need more power to destroy him." She looks up from her downcast position, her green eyes blazing. "I want to find him, kill him, and bring mom's death to justice. Seven years ago, I walked in on death. I saw mom writhing upon the bed to which she was cruelly bound to, a horrible knife protruding from her chest--her death throes." Eline's voice is distant and flat-toned as she recounts the tail.
"Then I saw him, his back turned to her, reciting dark sorcery out of dark and evil tomes floating around him. I squealed then, a stupid little girl. He turned and saw me and raced after me, books and all. I fled. He chased. My meager magic was no match for his intense power! He may have been extending his own life. He may have been summoning some dark creature that required a blood sacrifice. I don't know. I'll never know."
Eline's fingers dig into her hand, despite the thick mitten upon it. "Regardless, I will find him."
Her green eyes flare with a slight glow of her own innate magic.
"And I will kill him!"
Perception roll for Trem to see if he hears Eline's outburst: 6
Player: Any Good Alignment // DM: Lawful Evil
Roxaria softly utters, “That is terrifying.” She inhales deeply, new resolution found as she follows the pacing of Eline’s story. As the story comes to a growing climax, the anger in Eline’s voice very obvious and filled with vengeance, Roxaria clasps a hand on Eline’s shoulder, “You are not alone, Eline. So long as I am around you have my word that I will assist you in any capacity you need. Whether it is my bow and blade or an ear to listen. I am here for you.”
She exhales as the sharp surge of adrenaline and anger fades, “Let us see what else this dagger has to tell us. I hope this smithy is as good as I was told.”
Eline nods affirmatively. She says nothing further on the matter, choosing instead to hide behind a sad, wan smile, one that seems almost forced. Talking about Mikhail was never easy, but at least these days she could get it out without bursting into tears.
Her smile fades though, and she notices Trem staring her way or of the corner of her eye. Beckoning to him, she invites the elf to join with her, Roxi, and Reginald. Here, at least, she had friends and people who cared about her, even if she had only known some of them for a day or so.
Trem sees Eline gesturing to him and cheerfully them.
Are you coming too Kha? Hey, Eline do you know that joke about the Halfling that was dating a Warforged?
Player: Any Good Alignment // DM: Lawful Evil
Eline's dark mood is broken by Trem's joke, and happy attitude. She cracks a genuine smile this time, and replies. "I don't even know what a warforged is, but go for it!"
(OOC: Oops! Double posted!)
Seeing Trem comfort Eline, Roxaria moves up to walk with Reginald. The packed snow crunches under her boots as the snow falls on her hair, decorating it with wet, fluffy flakes. “I was thinking about Verla Pelc. You know, she is technically the second person to die from this sickness, Urgon being the first. Tulgi was infected and when we saw her she was lethargic and all bundled up. My guess is that somehow Urgon picked up the sickness from somewhere, sold his stash to Verla and that contact somehow afflicted her. Then, when Tulgi stole from Verla, she ended up getting it also. Now, here is the interesting thing. Hulil is possibly sick too. That occurred when Tulgi passed on those other relics to Hulil. When did Tulgi last visit her sister? And…is it contact with the individual or is one of those relics that was passed on causing the sickness?”
Roxaria pauses a moment. “Trem thinks I’m overanalyzing this whole thing, especially when I told him I think other people are looking for this dagger. What do you think, Reginald? Am I overthinking this?”
Trem wraps an arm around Eline and frantically starts telling everything he knows about warforged (which is very little).
Player: Any Good Alignment // DM: Lawful Evil
Yes Trem hears Eline's outburst
Roxaria stops suddenly and then rushes up to Reginald again, “Wait a second! Tulgi stole twice! She stole the relics from Verla, but she must have known about this dagger and seeing that it was not part of the relics in Verla’s store, Tulgi went to Urgon’s place and found it there. Now, you said Urgon’s place was trashed, right? I wonder if Hulil sent bandits to trash Urgon’s place looking for the dagger too, not knowing that Tulgi already stole it!”
She pauses, “Though what is going on between Hulil and Tulgi? We should visit Tulgi again. I bet after two unsuccesful raids, Hulil is going to send visitors to Tulgi to look for the dagger.”
she tries to gather her questions into what she already knows, talking rhetorically to Reginald. “Urgon and Verla are dead. Urgon sold all his relics minus the dagger. Tulgi robs Verla’s store. She must know about the dagger and finds it at the already dead Urgon’s home. Tulgi sends all the relics minus the dagger to Hulil. Hulil must know about the dagger and trashes Urgons home looking for it. They don’t find it there and trash Verla’s store. Hulil must be going to Tulgi’s next. She must think that Tulgi has the dagger. Tulgi knew she cannot keep it a secret much longer and entrusted it to me to keep it away from Hulil.”
Vauthok walks slowly behind the others doing his best to listening to various conversations going on around him but wasn’t doing a very good job. So he settled with picking up the few things he was able to catch and just watching their surroundings the rest of the time, idly fiddling with the axe head hanging from his hip. The giant had strapped Urgon’s silver maul to his back alongside his great sword and seemed to be doing his best impression of a walking armory. Didn’t bother Vauthok in the slightest. Weapons were pretty cool.
Finally something he actually understood. Vauthok walked up a little closer behind Roxaria and Reginald as they conversed about the relics. “If Tulgi sent all the relics to Hulil, why hide the little knife?”
Roxaris is so engrossed in her thoughts, Vauthok’s voice startles her, “Geesh! You snuck up on me, Vauthok! I think that is the question we need answered and hopefully this smithy at the Hidden Forge can answer. Once we know what is so special about this dagger, maybe we will know more why Hulil wants it so badly. Right now, what we do know is this: The dagger has some property that may heal those who have been inflicted with this frozen sickness. Or, it is a key to the cure, somehow.”
Roxaria looks to see if she can see the docks through the snow where the Hidden Forge is located.
“Heh.. Sneaky is what I do, can’t you tell?” Vauthok snorts loudly with mirth and continues walking just behind the pair. It sure would be a pain if they went through all this trouble just to find out Tulgi thought the dagger was pretty and wanted to keep it for herself. A pretty dagger, not the all important key to the success of this quest. That was unacceptable. Vauthok would break the dagger as it’s punishment should that be the case. After all, breaking stuff was the key to happiness. “If this dagger is the cure.... I wonder if you have to stab the sick people for it to work.” The barbarian shakes his head at the thought. “Yeah... That would suck.”
Not this again! It's just a pretty dagger that stabs slightly better. Give it to me! I'm the one using daggers!
Player: Any Good Alignment // DM: Lawful Evil
Roxaria smiles, “That would be ironic! Having to stab them with the dagger to cure them! I certainly hope that isn’t true!”
She looks up at the Goliath and, for the first time, notes the scar on his face. She vaguely remembers him mentioning it before; however, he quickly followed it up with a distracting remark and she never thought about it again. Her lips become pencil-thin as she contemplates asking him about it.
She looks up to Vauthok and reaches a hand up, gently touching his scar as if it were still freshly given, “May I ask…what happened?”