Frontier City of Nunkreet

Reverie looks at Brin and then frowns ever so slightly. "I see, and then you were captured by Rufus... I am sorry about what you have gone through. Though, once again, we are appreciate of your aid with Ana. Thank you."

Jack (the human bard in the party) raises a tankard in salute to Froskan, drinks from it, and resumes his activities.

He has that large plaque purchased from Egg Chen, salvaged from flotsam and jetsam washed ashore on the coast west of Nunkreet. At a surface glance, it looks like gilded and decorated wood. You see Jack shake it, rotate it, and poke various places, acting like it is a puzzle box. After some time, a hidden compartment pops open. He pulls out a finger-sized roll of waxed paper. He unrolls it, glances at it (a map of some unfamiliar coastline), rolls it back up, and stuffs it inside his jacket.

Noticing that others in the party have seen him, Jack smiles broadly. "Who knew that piece of debris had something fun like a hidey-hole in it? And you know how I like maps. I'll have to look at it later." He puts the plaque back into his Bag of Holding, relaxes in his chair, and takes another swig from his tankard.

Isk raises an eyebrow at Jack's nonchalance, "Say Jack, what was that a map of, perhaps we can help you figure it out?"

Reverie rests her chin on her palm, and gazes at Jack, nodding as she agrees with Isk. "I would like to see it as well. What is it, a treasure map?"

Jack continues his casual smile. But he does angle his jacket a little further away from Isk and Reverie. "Don't worry about it. The map looks like a place I used to visit with my shipmates. If it is, I'd like to visit again. I'll let you know if I need help." (Leans forward, conspiratorially.) "Marine corp secret handshakes and stuff like that. Not supposed to let outsiders know about it."

(Insight 10 plus 4 from guidance )

Ana looked at Jack closely, trying to figure out his motives and intentions and murmured a prayer for guidance. "Is that so...?"

Quote from ikarbino >>

(Insight 9 plus 1 from guidance )

Ana looked at Jack closely, trying to figure out his motives and intentions and murmured a prayer for guidance. "Is that so...?"

Jack has that roguish heart-of-gold appeal. His jokes and tricks may annoy at times, but his charm wins people back. He is up to something, but it does seem to be something personal, and not malicious.

As the party is unwinding over food and drinks, there are more than a few stories where Jack has come through in the clutch. (Jack is the one telling most of these stories. He exaggerates here and there, but the others agree that for the most part these events happened.)

Brin glances over at the discussion of the map, but shrugs when no map is forthcoming.  He turns back to his ale and takes another swig.

Isk leans back a d softens his expression, "Ok Jack, just let us know if you need anything.  We've been through a lot, no need to take on anything by yourself if you don't have to."

"Why isn't there peace?" Ana asked suddenly apropos of nothing. "Why do people put forth great effort, endure stress and peril, compete and fight over unnecessary,  meaningless things? Sure, some things are unavoidable - getting food, shelter. But beyond the basics...? That giant, earlier, for example. He went through all that and for what? Satisfaction. He must have gotten to a point where this was the only way he could feel satisfied, he thought. A mistake. And in he end it cost him his life. But our ability to feel satisfied is limited, while our ability to be unsatisfied seems limitless.  I think it's because of ambition - elevated desires, creating problem where none need to be. They start out small and simple: hunger, thirst, cold. Danger. So we develop ways of dealing with these problems, and we feel satisfied. For a time. But then our minds trick us into elevating other problems which used to be beneath notice to high priority. Suddenly it isn't enough to have food, it must be tasty as well. Or we must have more of it - where just a short while ago less was enough. So instead of resting and being satisfied we go out and work harder, face greater danger... Cause greater harm and disruption to the world around us, to nature. Or say we build a home to shelter us from the elements. Problem solved - but shortly after the house is no longer big enough. Nothing has changed, other than our minds, our desires, our standards. But the old home no longer satisfies. It seems sometimes we don't actually want peace, since we spurn it so much." She paused and looked at her new companions, inviting comment, ready to continue. 

Reverie chuckles quietly. "Indeed. Just like what Iskander says, let us know if you need anything. We are always here." Then she looks at Ana when she speaks about the peace. She hums as she scans her friends and new companions for a moment before she sips her drink. "I think it is because the term of peace is different from what everyone is expecting. About the Peace as well... I still remember how the Eggchen express his surprised when he heard that I am a paladin of Eldath, the goddess of peace." She looks down on her now uncursed scimitar. "This weapon was belonging to my family, Forestgleam, also dedicated for the Eldath. And yet, I still do not know the reason why the Eldath has created her paladins and given this sword to our family, and for what reason." Realizing that she is somehow off topic, Reverie shakes her head and looks back at Ana. "Perhaps, we both are looking for that very answer, related with Peace. Maybe we will learn the Eldath's true meaing of peace."

Trimyrai: (to the party) "I'm sorry Ana, but I have to disagree. Ambition is not the enemy of peace. I can speak from my own experience in my quest to be the best archer in the world. I have brought no evil due to my desires."

Ana smiled. "No need to be sorry. But your ambition causes you to be dissatisfied, doesn't it? You are not the best archer, are you? You're trying to become one. And why? Do you think it will bring you satisfaction? Will it bring you accolades, recognition? Not everyone will recognize you. Will you then obsess with gaining their recognition? Push yourself ever harder, take on ever greater challenges, ever greater risks. And then what...? What if you could be satisfied now, without all that? Your ambition prevents it, keeps you from it. Yes, you could be at peace, if it were not for your ambition." She paused. "I'm not saying that we should want nothing. I'm not that extreme. I just think that most people would be better off living a simple life, and avoiding ambitions. Why struggle to make a feast when a simple meal will do? Why build a huge house when a small one will do? People are led astray by their ever rising desires. They become unbalanced, inevitably miserable. It's a cycle - from desire to accomplishment to satisfaction to greater desire. First to satisfaction - then away from it! I'm saying we should deliberately break that cycle."

"There is yer problem." Brin speaks up, looking over at the discussion of peace. "If everyone be doing as ye say, then peace be possible. If even one person no be doing what ye say, then ye cannot have yer peace, as that one person would make it no be possible. A better option is fer balance. Some do as ye say, but some have to step up and balance the ones out there who no be doing it yer way. Those who balance out the scales be people like us, those who work to try to make the world a better place, and to balance out those people who be doing evil things. People like the giant-kin we slew out there in the cursed fey wilds."

Isk nods at Brin, "Aye Brin, war is an unavoidable state as they will always be people looking to take what others have. The best we can do is help those who may be inclined to violence before they fall fully under its way, yet be ready to visit violence upon those who are already too far gone."

He sits back in his chair and adds, "It is not enough to simply be good, to do good, or to encourage others to do good. You must also be capable of violence. Otherwise you leave all the good that you have done vulnerable to the whims of evil."

It occurred to Ana that her words and the manner she spoke them might be misconstrued as personal attacks, so she made an effort to dispel that impression. She leaned back in her chair, took a moment before replying in a murmur. "I'm talking about inner peace... A mindset in which there is no anxiety, no worry. Most people are not evil doers. Can we agree on that? Yet many of them suffer from stress, from overwork, from anxiety. They reach too high, driven by their ambition, and experience only disappointment. And their inner turmoil spills over to the outer world and can end up causing harm to others. A farmer clears away more of the forest by slash-and-burn methods to make room for more crops, just so he can afford a bigger house he does not need, and which won't satisfy him for long. That sort of thing." She paused. "And as for evildoers... how many of them could benefit from thinking this way? They chase satisfaction just as ordinary people do, just to greater lengths and with no scruples. Maybe... Maybe if they could think this way, they wouldn't do evil."  

Jack decides to pipe in. "Maybe it isn't ambition that is the problem, but desperation from a lack of self-esteem... If any of you are worried about your mental state, I'll be happy to loan you some self-confidence. I've got plenty to spare." With a mischievous grin, he orders another tankard of ale.

As the party continues their friendly debate, you notice as the evening goes on that the newer arrivals to the restaurant are progressively more covered with snow. There is a blizzard outside, a worsening snowstorm which was not predicted by any of the weather clerics.

The discussions of nearby tables can be overheard. Signs/posters had been (secretly) placed around the city, proclaiming troubles and disasters unless Bane is given his due. People around the dining hall are getting moody, worried about what will happen next.

Jack: "People yelling about Bane, and ice magic? Sounds like more mischief from that Darvin guy and his winter hag."

Reverie watches Ana for a moment and then to see Trimyrai, Brin and Iskander for another moment. Then she returns to look at Ana. "I am agree that most people are not evil doers, though I am not sure people would experience only disappointment. The disappointment is another term of new start in the corrected way or taking a new challenge. Just like a little baby tries to take their first steps on the ground. Satisfaction and disappointment comes together." She smiles at Ana. "I've learned that not too long ago as I traveled with this party. Some of them are gone of course, but we also meet and greet the new people as well." A pause. "Unfortunately, there are people who do not look back of themselves but only looking for their own peace with their own conception. And... It is hard to change their minds." A sigh escapes as she crosses her arms in front of her chest. "All we can do is do our best in our places. Maybe one day everyone will seek for the answer of the inner peace." Another pause. "It is actually pleasurable conversation. Had we ever talk in this kind of matter before?"

"Aint be nothing natural, that be fer sure." Brin comments as he glances to the door and takes in the latest person to enter, snow coating them nearly from head to foot. He frowns back to the group. "There be no balance in this sort of thing." He nods to the door again. "What do ye be knowing about this ice-magic and its caster?"

Reverie frowns, noticing the moods from the new arrivals. But covered in snow? What makes her worry about is when the group talks about Bane, along with troubles and disasters. She shifts her gaze towards Brin and then to Jack and the other friends. "If this is the Winter hag and Darvin, then this can be the problem..." She murmurs, "... Should we go ask them?"