RPGWW

by **Besyanteo** » Sat Oct 27, 2007 7:42 pm

He smiled appreciatively. He was pretty sure that, priestess or no, she couldn't really tell Reshtaha what to do. It was still nice to hear her say she would, though.

"Thanks... I'm gonna try to get some sleep. Another long day tomorrow."

by **Kai** » Sun Oct 28, 2007 11:35 am

Zea nodded back to Michael. "Sure. Do whatever you need. You know I'm here if you want anything."

The girl left her tent packed that night, preferring to stare up into the night air. Perhaps if she lay long enough staring up into the stars, the weight of that huge black expanse would be enough to crush out her thoughts. Maybe if she just didn't think about anything, she would be able to sleep. Eventually... she did.

"James," she said stonily. "Get your katars."

"What? Why, what's going on?" Standing. Concerned. Wondering if something was wrong and if maybe that something might be interesting.

"I'm sorry. I need you to go get them. Please."

"Uh, yeah. Sure. Just a second." Confused now. Why wouldn't she explain? Zea wasn't the kind to keep secrets. Starting now was more than strange.

Waiting for him to return, the priestess braced herself on the back of the chair James had just vacated. She stared down into it, against her own wishes still savoring these last few moments when he trusted her, when things at least seemed okay. Soon he'd come back.

Zea started awake, her mind dragging itself back to consciousness for just a moment before she felt the quiet and comforting presence of her familiar hanging over her and settling down around her. She wasn't alone. She was all right. Whatever happened, she wouldn't be alone. She closed her eyes and fell back asleep. Her mind returned to the broken, fragmented, and scrambled fears swirling through her thoughts, digging into her heart like splinters.

"What the--" An arm flew up defensively, parrying with a dagger. Alert but unwilling to attack. Yet. "Wait! The hell are you doing? Why?" But he'd have to attack. He deserved a chance to fight, didn't he?

"...I'm so sorry," she'd said, and meant it.

Wrenching herself awake again, she waved John away from her as she would a cloud of insects. She should have taken the belladonna before she retired for the evening. Now there was no way she'd sleep properly. At that rate it was better to stay up. Zea sat up on her bedroll and wrapped her arms around her knees. Running her fingers along her scalp, she knotted her fingers together over the back of her neck and rested her forehead on her knees for a moment.

Something she'd heard recently replayed unbidden through her thoughts. "I'm sure that boy you're spending so much time with'll miss you if you don't come back soon, y'know?" Except that now he wouldn't. And he'd never have to know. Let him be angry like a normal boy breaking up with a normal girl. Let him go back home, gripe to his family and make them miserable for a while. At least it was a normal thing for a boy to do. At least he'd be able to do it.

"Oh, Lord," she whispered fearfully into the darkness. "...I think I might be crazy."

by **Archmage** » Sun Oct 28, 2007 1:18 pm

It was then that Zea felt a hand on her shoulder. Cold, but still too warm to belong to John. The touch was too soft, the grip too light, to be an enemy.

"Hey. Can't sleep?" The voice was her father's.

Zeke knelt down next to his evidently-disturbed child. "You're lookin' a little shaken. Bad dreams?"

by **Kai** » Sun Oct 28, 2007 1:50 pm

Zea started so violently at her father's touch that she didn't even need to answer his question. She simply nodded and uncurled a bit to make room for Zeke to sit down. "Yeah, well. Comes with the territory, I guess."

It occurred to her--not for the first time--that a lot had changed since the last time they'd seen each other. When they'd met she'd simply been a necromancer and cleric of Reshtaha. It wasn't until after her friends had-- Don't think about it. --had rescued her that she'd been taken into the formal and direct service of her god. 'The territory' no longer just meant experimentation and theology.

It meant choices. Choices she might not be ready for when they came. Choices for which there was no right answer.

"What about you? Goren's taking the watches; shouldn't you be asleep?"

by **Archmage** » Sun Oct 28, 2007 2:00 pm

"I sleep light, too. You kill enough people in their sleep and you develop the instinct. Some call it paranoia, I call it sense. Besides, nothing against Goren, but I don't trust the senses of the dead."

Zeke cocked his head a bit. "You still shaken up by the fight earlier? Or is this about your dead buddy coming back against your expectations? Never expected a kid of mine to get the shakes after a fight, but I guess I wasn't exactly around to raise you. Bet it's something else, though." He scratched his chin a bit, resulting in a rough rubbing sound. Zea's father had clearly failed to achieve a sufficiently close shave.

He reached into his coat and produced a small silver flask. "Weird time for a drink, but maybe it'll help you sleep. Failing that, you could always do the crazy thing and talk about it." He unscrewed the flask and offered it to his daughter. "Rivan whiskey, the good shit."

by **Kai** » Sun Oct 28, 2007 2:18 pm

Zea glanced down at the flask with a vaguely-puzzled expression, then back up to Zeke's face. Abruptly she laughed. This was exactly the solution her mother might have offered. This echo of commonality between her parents brought together two seemingly-irreconcilible halves of her family. Her mother who knew her and her father who didn't, both facing their daughter's strangeness in similar ways.

She held up a hand between them to decline his offer. "No thank you, though ordinarily I would consider it." After several nights of dosing herself with belladonna to keep herself asleep, Zea wasn't shy about putting more intoxicants into her system, but she didn't want to drink right now. She needed to keep her thoughts clear, if only to prove that she was still in control of them.

"And even if you can't judge for a child of yours... at the very least I'm my mother's child and fighting is rarely a problem."

by **Archmage** » Sun Oct 28, 2007 2:29 pm

Zeke nodded. "Quinn wouldn't raise a kid that scared easily. I didn't mean anything by it. But something's bugging you, that much is clear. Doesn't make you any less of a..." He paused. "Less of a man" didn't really make any sense here.

"Less tough," he concluded. "Though I guess there're more important things from time to time."

"I've seen Quinn--your mother--do some nasty stuff. Like that one guy." There was another pause, and Zeke winced, just a little. "And there was the thing with that guy's tongue. Kazeros. You don't even...well, I'm getting off-topic. There's no way you're squeamish about death or violence, it's just not plausible. So what's eating you? In the bad way, that is."

The mercenary wondered idly if it was appropriate to use innuendoes while talking to his daughter. He decided that she was Quinn's kid, so it was probably alright.

by **Kai** » Sun Oct 28, 2007 3:01 pm

"Hmmm," she answered with a nod. Zea wasn't particularly disturbed by her father's completely unnecessary double entendres. At least, not now that she could be sure he didn't really mean them. It had just been tremendously awkward to have him, ignorant of her identity, flirting with her the night they met.

The way they met had been unusual, and this wasn't any great realization. What gave Zea pause was the fact that her father, in his reputed dedication to professionalism, must have had to make a similar choice. "I have a question, though. I mean, you always seem to make an effort to be..." She shrugged. "I don't know. Reliable, professional. All that." It was an uncomfortable question, and it was oddly appropriate that her father was the only one she could really ask.

"If you had a conflict between your job and your personal life... and I mean a big obligation on both sides... I mean, how do you handle something like that without... without failing somewhere?"

by **Archmage** » Sun Oct 28, 2007 3:11 pm

Zeke shrugged. "Tough question. Maybe I can help you, maybe not." He took a hit from his flask and frowned.

"Best advice I can give you, I think, is that you're the only one who gets to decide when you've failed, 'cause only you have the right to decide what obligations are important. I take on a job, I've made a contract with an employer. I'm supposed to do what I've been paid to do. But if I decide it's not gonna work out, or I botch the attempt, or I get double-crossed...I didn't necessarily fail. Maybe it was outta my league. Maybe I didn't have all the information. Doesn't mean I don't take responsibility for my mistakes. Just means that I'm careful about letting 'obligation' get to me, y'know?"

The mercenary gave Zea a look of concern. "Your work is always important, and if you say you're gonna do something on your honor, you should. But you can't let your work kill you, or you won't be able to work anymore, y'know? At least, not in my business. Maybe things're different for you," he concluded with a smirk. "Lotta people around here who'd hate to see you kill yourself over your work, though, even if you wouldn't be out of the job. And I'm not talkin' 'bout offin' yourself, either. I'm talkin' bout working yourself to death. That what's got you rattled? Workin' too hard?"

by **Kai** » Sun Oct 28, 2007 3:34 pm

Working herself to death. Now wasn't that a laugh. "It's not even myself I have to worry about, though everyone's telling me I should anyway. It's this whole situation where if I do one thing wrong or even just... not correct enough, sometimes it feels like I could be... letting down a lot of people."

Perfect Zea. Always with the answers. Always the one to find a solution. Everyone she'd met on the other side had been so impressed by her. Always reminding her how high their expectations were. Always reminding her how important she was, how vital her place was and how far she really had to fall if anything went wrong.

"So yeah. Maybe you're right. It's just... I'm not used to... not having the answer for something. I'm used to having people come to me for the big questions. I mean, I--" she faltered, unsure how to explain this. "I've done huge things! I've changed the way that death and life work!" She halted herself, sighed and shrugged her shoulders in resignation.

She continued more quietly. "If something isn't possible, I find a way. That's... that's what I do. Every time something of cosmic importance is going down, go ask Zea. Every time something is so weird that no one else could conceivably handle it, go ask Zea. Aside from a couple of colleagues... there's... nobody I can ask about anything and it sucks sometimes."

Zea hadn't intended for this to be an occasion to dump all her problems on her father. It wasn't precisely the way she wanted to start having a relationship with him. Just the same, there was no one else. Not anymore, not for this. Most of her problems were too weird for her friends to understand, but too banal and mundane for her to find much solace in her faith. Where the strange and the mundane crossed... then she was really lost. Then there was no one to ask when she didn't have the answers.

"But if you're right, and the world won't collapse if I don't do everything perfectly... I guess maybe that means I am doing the right thing. Even if it still sucks."

by **Archmage** » Sun Oct 28, 2007 3:46 pm

"I'm still not entirely sure what it is you're doing," replied Zeke. "But I know this much. You're worrying too much, and it's going to fuck you up. I don't mean in the sense of your own safety, you don't seem worried you're going to hurt yourself by overworking or whatever."

The mercenary seemed uncertain as to what was really wrong here. What was his daughter even talking about at this point? Reworking life and death? What exactly had she accomplished? What sort of foundation had she built that she seemed worried might suddenly collapse beneath her?

"Much as you might hate to admit it right now, you're still mortal, and even if you weren't, you'd still have the capacity to make mistakes." Zeke raised an eyebrow. There was something here that was way too serious, way too deep, for him to properly grasp it without more information. It was like having your arm up to the shoulder in a rabbit hole without even being sure it contained a rabbit. You could flail around clumsily in the dark with fingers unseen forever and never catch anything, and you wouldn't know if it was because the rabbit was too smart for you or you were being a moron and there was no rabbit in the first place. Either way, you were being flummoxed by a severe lack of context and perspective.

"Look, I've been alive a good bit longer than you have, which I've found only means so much, but at least I've had a chance to experiment longer than you have. One thing I can tell you for sure is that there's no mistake too serious to fix. If you fuck up, you can always go back and do something about it. I don't mean you can necessarily change what happened. I mean you can learn to live with it, get past it, let yourself move on. Unless your mistake ended the goddamned world, you'll get an opportunity to forgive yourself for it. And even if it did, I figure there's an afterlife where you've got an eternity to figure out how to do that."

by **Kai** » Sun Oct 28, 2007 4:29 pm

Now that did make sense. If she failed Reshtaha the consequences could be more dire, but he'd also be around a lot longer than any mortal. That meant that, whatever failings of hers brought her contributions to a screeching halt... she would have more time to atone with him than she would with James. If she failed him, it would be permanent. Perhaps, even in the face of failing her god, betraying James would be the far greater sin.

"Sorry. I guess I haven't told you much about what's actually going on. The short version is that I... in service to my god I have a really small but pretty important part to play in seeing that the dead are properly cared for. Keep things orderly. Make sure everyone gets where they need to go when they need to be there."

There was a question in her mind as to how much Zeke really ought to know. After all, he and James were acquainted if not actually friends. This was something James really shouldn't know about, because if he really knew what was going on he would undoubtedly show up, yell at her for being stupid, and put himself right back in harm's way again. James could probably never believe that he'd been sharing his bed with a maniac. A deranged fanatic.

But who could say? He might have been. And it had to stop.

"There's just... always the chance that I'll be called on to do something more. To make some sacrifices that'll mean... that'll mean trouble for people close to me. And I won't do it."

by **Archmage** » Mon Oct 29, 2007 1:58 pm

"Well," continued Zeke, "I'm not gonna tell you that the people around here are more important than your god. I'm pretty sure I'd never convince you anyway. You're doing your job, though, right? Handling the dead or whatever? That funeral service was pretty good, though I dunno much about rites. Makes me think I should drag you along on my jobs to put a gil under each of my mark's eyes or something." The mercenary smirked a little, reaching out and ruffling his daughter's hair.

"If your god wants you to do something important, you've gotta tell your friends. If they're really your friends, they'll understand. That's a hell of a lot better than running off without telling anybody what you're doing and refusing to explain it, y'know? Looks like you told most of them. They're here, no? 'cept that boy. You left him a note, at least. Guess you figured that was enough for him."

Zeke shrugged. "I'll tell you what. Sometimes you fuck up. And sometimes you hurt people by accident. But you don't make it better by running away. That's like cutting off your arm to get rid of a birthmark, y'know?"

by **Kai** » Tue Oct 30, 2007 10:28 am

Zea shook her head slowly. "I'm not doing this because I was told to, and I don't have any way to know whether it's what's expected of me or not." That wasn't even the worst part. The worst part wasn't that Zea was doing something solely on her own whim. That had been tolerated from her more than once, and there was always a sort of amused indulgent approach to the antics of the charmingly half-sane teenaged devotee.

This? She wasn't sure what would happen here in the eyes of her god and those who assisted him. But again, that wasn't the worst part. "I didn't hurt anyone by accident. Anyone that I hurt when I left, I hurt on purpose. James most notably." Holding back a frustrated growl, Zea pressed her fingertips between her eyes and shook her head. "He needs to be around someone he can trust, and he can't trust me if I could flip out at a moment's notice and do something weird for the sake of the cosmic order."

Something occurred to her, and Zea had to spare a quiet laugh. "I guess my mother and I have a tendency to lie to men about the big things, don't we?" she asked pointedly. "Does it bother you? That she didn't tell you about me, I mean."

by **Archmage** » Tue Oct 30, 2007 10:44 am

Zeke shrugged. "Not really. I can see why she did it. Same reason you're not being entirely honest with people. Trying to protect them from shit you don't think they want to deal with, eh?" He paused for a moment, uncharacteristically thoughtful-looking.

"Quinn wasn't wrong. I'd have done a shitty job of raising you. Too much staying in one place. You probably guessed by now that's not my style. Wish I'd found out from her sooner, though. Could've told me after you were old enough to move out on your own instead of having me run into you by chance the way we did, heh."

"So basically," concluded the mercenary, "you're telling me that you need to push a bunch of people out of your life because you don't trust your own judgment. Doesn't make a whole lot of sense, if y'think about it. If you think you're crazy, how can you know what's best?"

by **Kai** » Tue Oct 30, 2007 11:31 am

"Hm." Another good question. The easy answer was that she had to get away before she lost it. The hard answer was that she knew damn well she could trust herself and just didn't want to have to make the choice at all. If she and James weren't together she would have nothing but her work and no one she cared about would be in danger. No choice. No risk for anyone.

But how much was she losing? Or more appropriately, how much had she already thrown away that could have made her happy?

Nothing you can't stand to lose, dearest. Startled by her familiar's sudden interjection, Zea tilted her head briefly to the side as though listening to some agonizingly faint sound. Says you. I don't have to say anything. You know as well as I do that he stayed with you because he didn't have anything better to do. You know damn well that's not-- Can you be sure? You think if a girl came along who could give him the constant attention he wants, he wouldn't leave you in an instant?

Zea frowned, shook her head and tucked her hair behind her ear uncertainly. She didn't want to hear that right now. It seemed like lately whenever she was coming to a decision, John came along and cast it all in doubt. It was an aggravating habit of his, but what could she say if he turned out to be right?

And then you'd have been taking the chance that someday you'd have to make a terrible choice. And for what? What happiness would you get in return from someone who's just going to leave you eventually?

Her nonverbal cues all matched up with a conversation that no one else could hear, and it dawned on her that now she probably did seem crazy. "Sorry. My familiar wanted to... to chime in." Chiming in as usual to point out that he was the only one she could rely on. Zea hated when he did that, mostly because as the years passed he always seemed to... end up being right on target.

She chewed her lower lip and glanced over at Zeke uncertainly. "You make a good point that if I were... If I were really having a problem I'd be handling it differently. But what's the alternative? If I stuck around up here I'd still be risking my friends' safety just because I like them too much to leave them. Sounds kind of selfish."

by **KingOfDoma** » Wed Oct 31, 2007 1:16 am

Goren watched the beginning of the scene, and was slightly touched. Father and daughter reuniting... that's cute. He smirked, and felt his eyelids droop. Huh. That's strange. I don't feel ti...

He looked around, down, at the bed he was in. It was... he was back. In Augusta's shack. He hadn't been here since... that day. But it wasn't the freaky uncertainty that accompanied his resurrection. It was warm, inviting. He felt like he belonged there.

The door was open. There was Augusta, stirring her pot as usual. She seemed so beautiful... radiant, even. Running away from her now seemed... impossible. There was nowhere else he wanted to be.

She turned and looked at him, smiling that cute smile. When she looked like that at him, he always felt at peace. She left the pot and sat by him. "Hello, my love," she said, stroking his face. "Did you sleep well?"

"As well as can be expected. What's cooking?"

"Oh, don't worry about that. All that's important is that we're finally together."

That was odd. If... this was when he thought it was, then she had just seen him a moment ago. "What do you mean finally?"

"All the years we've been apart, Goren, I've pined for you... waited for you.... and finally it's time."

At that moment, things got weird again. He felt... locked in. As if the blanket that covered him was maid of chainmail instead of wool. "Wha... what's going on, Augusta? What the hell are you doing?"

Augusta leaned in, closer and closer, almost whispering. "Don't you see, Goren? It is finally time... time for you to become my king." At that point, she kissed him, and Goren's eyes, his REAL eyes, opened wide, and he shook with a start from his spot in his tree, and began his descent to the ground below...

by **Kai** » Wed Oct 31, 2007 11:41 am

Startled from her reverie by the sound of something heavy falling from a nearby tree. Zea nearly summoned her scythe in readiness for combat, but when she realized it was Goren lying on the ground she knew that her father could keep an eye out while she checked on Goren.

Zea knelt by her undead friend, and felt her familiar manifest as well. He must have been curious to go to the trouble. Zea looked down at Goren with John standing behind her staring down watching in amusement. Neither of them was quite sure whether Goren had been attacked or whether he'd simply fallen on his ass from a considerable height. "Goren?" she asked. "You damaged?"

by **KingOfDoma** » Wed Oct 31, 2007 11:57 am

Goren did not breathe. Long ago, his body had abandoned the need for gaseous exchange, and traded it for the sustaining power of the Feratus stone. Yet, he still sounded breathless when he, eyes closed, spoke the name Augusta, reached up to Zea, and kissed her gently on the lips.

He had only a moment to remark on her oddly unfamiliar but pleasant taste when he opened his eyes, saw the youthful necromancer, and shoved himself back two feet, plowing his head back into the tree. "OH jeez! Ah, crap! Oh... crap! CRAP, I'm sorry! I, I... I did NOT mean to do that! That was... that was FUN, but that is NOT what I wanted to do at ALL. I thought you were someone else, I was still dreaming, I apologize, and SHIT am I sorry," subconsciously adding, Please don't uncreate me...

Wanting desperately to get out of that situation, he quickly came up with an excuse to leave. "It's morning, right? You need food. I will go... get... us... some APPLES! Yeah! I know I could use one, and you guys probably... eat them normally, SO I'm just... gonna go... this way. Be right back!" Scrambling to his feet, he set off in some direction, not having any idea where ANY food was, and thanked his lucky stars there was no way he could blush.

What the hell was that? he wondered, going over and over the... dream? in his mind. That ... that can't have been Augusta. It's been over 80 years. There's no way she could still be alive... could she? And even then, why wait until now to say something? It's not like I haven't been available...

Old girlfriends... they always have the worst timing...

by **Kai** » Wed Oct 31, 2007 1:08 pm

Too stunned to move or speak after being kissed by an acquaintance completely at random. She blinked stupidly and her familiar began laughing behind her. She was momentarily irritated by his amusement at her expense, but when she realized she was still sitting on the ground with her fingers over her lips Zea had to laugh, too. Poor Goren was running off to get away from her after coming out of some dream about another woman and--

Wait. Dreaming. What the FUCK.

The sudden realization and mystification about this hit Zea so hard that she actually stopped laughing. John continued chuckling to himself, covering his eyes with one hand and shaking his head. "John, stop it," she said, pulling herself to her feet. He didn't, but he quieted down a bit. "I'm going to go talk to him. John, stay with the others."

Zea threw one last look over her shoulder to her father before she left to follow Goren. Her conversation with Zeke was over for now, but it had helped to talk to someone besides John. Perhaps in another day or so they could speak again. For now she needed to mull over what she'd been told.

"Goren," she called. "Where the hell'd you get to?"

by **Kelne** » Thu Nov 01, 2007 4:19 am

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the commotion seemed to have drawn notice. Cerene stirred somewhat at the crash when Goren hit the ground, but simply rolled over. However, the rather loud and panicked pleading for continued existence soon brought her out of her slumber.

Cerene sat up in time to see... Pretty well nothing, actually. A quick check revealed no sign of Goren, but Zeke seemed to be up and not panicked over anything. Still...

"Zeke? What's going on?"

by **KingOfDoma** » Thu Nov 01, 2007 2:18 pm

Apples, apples, apples, apples... thought Goren, over and over. Apples, apples, apples... oranges, grapes, pears, peaches, ANYTHING! Just... show me something!

Then he heard her voice. Oh, lords... "Um... right over here, Zea! I'm still looking for some apples, so just you wait! I'm gonna find a whole bushel for the lot of you guys!" He snickered slightly. "And all for a nominal finder's fee. You're getting a deal today, kiddo, that's for damn sure!"

Goren knew this was not masking his inherent, somewhat irrational nervousness, but it was all he knew. Somewhere deep inside him he knew that Zea wasn't like the other necromancers that he knew, but the innate fear of them that he had suppressed in her presence now came to the fore, and the only avenue he could think of to deal with it was to try and deflect the attention.

"So, uh... is there something you needed?"

by **Besyanteo** » Thu Nov 01, 2007 5:20 pm

Michael reacted to the sudden crash as well! However, it seems he's sleeping more heavily than Cerene. He turns over, and goes back to snoring lightly.

by **Kai** » Sat Nov 03, 2007 8:55 am

Goren sounded surprisingly panicky, and Zea wondered exactly what he thought she was going to do to him. True she hadn't exactly been terribly sensitive about the whole undeath thing, but she didn't realize she'd given him real reason for anxiety. Goren hadn't given her any reason to take him apart and he was too sociable for her to do it out of simple curiosity.

So it was with mild frustration that she tracked down her undead acquaintance. She wasn't sure whether she wanted to make fun of him for kissing her, mock him for running or be offended that he didn't seem to trust her. Eventually her professional curiosity got the better of her.

Zea pointed at him, almost accusingly. "You were dreaming. Tell me that's not normal, because it shouldn't be. Is it?"

by **KingOfDoma** » Sat Nov 03, 2007 1:24 pm

Goren's voice went up an octave. "It's not!"

He kept foraging, in an effort to keep his nervousness in check. "Um... the last time I dreamt, I was alive. And like you saw, I can still lose consciousness, but it's like a blank. Eyes close, eyes open, it's like nothing happens. But this time, I ... I NODDED OFF. I felt it happen... and then it was back on my first night as ... what I am.

"I was at - oh yeah, I've never told you about this. Um... well... where to start... sit." He found himself a log, and invited her to sit by him. "Well, let's see... I grew up with my mom and my brother in Doma City. Good all-around kid. Here's something that'll probably throw ya... I joined the guard when I was 22. Yeah, I believed in all that 'honor and truth' bull back in the day. But man, I would have given it all up for Augusta. Man I had it bad for her. She was the castle cook, and she had it as bad for me as I for her. But we were both too chicken to make a move." He chuckled to himself. "It's so silly. On the DAY I was going to make my move with her, I slipped on some oil on the floor, knocked myself out with a pasta strainer, knocked some cutlery on the floor, and landed chestfirst on the business end carving fork."

Goren paused for a moment, then burst out laughing. "Ah jeez... stupid way to die, huh? Impaled on a fork. It's like something out of a bad novel. Um, anyways, where was I? Right, right, I was dead. What I WASN'T expecting to happen next was that I woke up. I knew that wasn't the thing that should be happening. I was supposed to be... well, not in someone's bed. I saw Augusta, and she essentially told me that the cooking was practice. 'To get proportions right', is what she said. She said she brought me back for a reason, but I was... I was too busy hungering for brains to care. But luckily, I got out of there. Next place I stumbled into was this chemist's place in the castle, and I kinda asked him about this POSSIBLE scenario, where SOMETHING could happen, and if there was anything that could counteract it. He gave me this."

Goren dangled his bauble from his hand, and looked almost longingly at it. Despite his disdain for his reliance on it, it was all he had. It was what kept him human. "Anyways, went to resign after that, shook my CO's hand, and... sorta drained him by accident. Was barely feeling human before that, and that helped me clear my head. Went and made a place in the woods, and ... well, you get most of the rest.

"But... wow. That was way offbase. Point I was trying to make was, the dream I just had? It was like waking up from death again. But it was different. She said something about... waiting for years for me? Then, I couldn't wake up, and she was kissing me, and... I don't know. It was weird. Can you make ANY sense of any of that?"

by **Kai** » Sun Nov 04, 2007 1:19 am

Zea listened intently as Goren talked, but didn't actually look at him as he spoke. She stood with her arms folded around her and one thumbnail between her front teeth. This was incredibly odd. First of all, it would be immensely valuable to speak with this Augusta person, even if Zea would potentially be obligated to kill her as soon as she learned what the woman had discovered.

And that stone. It was possible that it was imbued with some sort of conditional life-draining effect, and while Zea was tempted to confirm her guess the hard way, this probably wasn't the time. These certainly weren't the right controlled conditions to be testing the panicky zombie's life-draining artifact.

"Well, if you'd asked me a couple of weeks ago I might have been morbidly curious as to how in the hell you were sleeping like a mortal. I mean, theoretically you shouldn't be capable of it and even if we assume that you're being..." Something seemed wrong. She couldn't tell if it was alarming or exhilarating to seize on something that could be important, but she didn't know what was wrong, why, or for whom. It was.... it was right on the tip of her memory.

"Anyway. Even if this woman were around now and sending you some sort of message in your dreams..." She shook her head. "You should also be immune to that kind of mental manipulation. I mean... you're undead!" She sighed. "The problem here is that I'm making too many assumptions about your nature. You're undeniably undead, but any time I try to factor that into any judgments I make... all I come out with is that all this isn't possible. Except that it's clearly happening, so calling it impossible is moot. Which means that working this out like you're undead is probably also not helpful either."

Then something else. "Wait. You have this problem with necromancers. Has one of them ever tried to control you? If yes, did they ever succeed? The answer to that question might give me more information about the relationship between you and your... well, your creator I guess."

by **KingOfDoma** » Sun Nov 04, 2007 1:43 am

Goren rolled his eyes a bit. "I think REcreator is probably a better term. I've had some time to think about that. Creators build the house. What Augusta did was remodel.

"Anyways, to answer your question, no, none of them did. I'm good enough at dodging them that they never actually hung on to me long enough to do anything." Then it hit him.

"You mean the necromancers weren't in this for how fascinating I am? They're in it for her?"

by **Kai** » Sun Nov 04, 2007 1:54 am

Zea held up a hand. "Let's not leap to the conspiracy theories yet. What I'm trying to do is figure out exactly to what extent you're like the undead I create. When I create them, I maintain some semblance of command over them unless another necromancer takes it. It's the one area of... well, sort of mental coercion that applies to all undead. If you could be commanded, I might suggest that she's exercising some bizarre measure of control over you. I mean, granted it's manifesting in a way I've never seen before but... it's a theory."

She took a deep breath. "This is not the time to test this, and I don't expect you to be comfortable with it under any circumstances at all. But I could... potentially test whether or not you could be commanded. Barring, of course, the definite potential that I'm simply not powerful enough to commend sentient undead. Also possible." The necromancer shrugged.

"I'd rather start with the likely explanations we can do something about than the big conspiracy option. That one requires a lot more killing than the former, which probably only requires one." She raised an eyebrow as she realized that perhaps Goren was not as disturbed by this contact as Zea would have been. While the simple--if not easy--solution was simply to kill this necromancer who'd taken a fancy to Goren... perhaps he wouldn't have wanted her to do it. "Unless of course you're not worried about the potential mindfuckery. I'd be the last person who could criticize you if that were the case, but I do need to know."

by **KingOfDoma** » Sun Nov 04, 2007 2:05 am

He looked at Zea's inquisitive little face. Always trying to understand life-impaired schmucks like me. Gotta appreciated it. In the end, he knew he could trust her, just due to the fact that he was still here, aware, alive, experiencing the world. It proved she was better than a lot in her profession, or even a lot in her race. It put him at ease, if only a little bit more.

"Zea, if someone's gonna fuck with my mind, I'd want it to be you." With a wink, he added, "You seem like a gentle lover." He got up, and brushed himself off, facing her. "So, what do you do? Do you need to slaughter a chicken or something?"

by **Kai** » Sun Nov 04, 2007 5:13 pm

Zea swept her hands to the side in an unmistakeably negative gesture. "Oh, not here. Much as I trust our friends to keep an eye on us, I'm not starting any complicated and potentially dangerous experiments with your mind out here." Privately she added, Especially if your lady friend might be lurking about someplace. I'm not leaving us both compromised at such a convenient time for her...

"When we get to the Netherworld, or when we come to a good ritual space for me to use, we can try it. There's always the possibility I'm not powerful enough anyway." Which was another good signal that this Augusta person would probably be far out of Zea's league if anything truly went wrong. She reanimated Goren and could potentially have found a way to communicate directly with his mind. It made Augusta brilliant, her work groundbreaking, but it also made her dangerous.

"Right now I'm going to have to run on speculation. If you notice anything else out of the ordinary--and I mean for you, not in general--let me know or let Solis know. In the meantime, I don't think anyone's hungry this time of night. Can we quit the search for fruit trees and go back to camp?"

by **KingOfDoma** » Mon Nov 05, 2007 3:32 pm

"Yeah, I guess," Goren sighed. "I don't even think there ARE any fruit trees around that aren't poisonous anyways."

He made a deep sigh. "I'm sorry about the freaking out. You can understand me being weird about aggravating a necromancer. You literally have my life in your hands. It was a mixture of me being worried about stepping over a line with a friend and me scared of you wishing to unweave my very essence. You understand."

He started back towards camp. "And yeah. Most likely all our allies think we're making out back here..."

by **Archmage** » Tue Nov 06, 2007 7:58 pm

"Absolutely nothing I can help you with," responded Zeke, shrugging at the phoenix. "Zea's talking to Goren. Goren's being weird. They're having some sort of jibbering conversation about necromancers and manipulating the dead and mind control, I think. Don't fuckin' know, don't really fuckin' care, aside from the fact that my daughter is involved in it. But that's not really a big deal right now."

The mercenary raised his eyes skyward. "Man. Zea is into some crazy shit."

by **Kelne** » Tue Nov 06, 2007 9:29 pm

"Yeah, you said it," Cerene said, "I suppose you get past it if you don't run screaming on day one. Doesn't make some of that stuff any less creepy, though."

She yawned, "Well, back to sleep for me. Early start tomorrow and all that." So saying, Cerene settled back into her sleeping bag, intent on getting a bit more rest.

by **Kai** » Wed Nov 07, 2007 12:45 pm

"Yeah...." Zea began. The particulars of where death and her sex life overlapped were not always as clear-cut as she might have liked. Depended on where creatures like vampires and gho--

Not worth considering right now.

"I'm sure that's exactly what they think."

As they walked back to their friends, John fell into step beside Zea as if he were sensing her concern. The situation wasn't under her control for now, and that was somewhat disturbing. Zea was also a little bothered that Goren was seriously worried that she might tear apart the forces holding him to his body. It was a rare moment when Zea had to face her own strangeness, but hearing things like that from what amounted to a magically-impossible sentient corpse wasn't something she could ignore.

Even if she didn't like Goren worrying about her intentions, Zea couldn't ignore that he would be wrong not to keep an eye on them. She'd told him before in no uncertain terms that she would never create something like him, even if she could. It was simply too dangerous for her, and even now Goren could be a risk. After all, if there were some necromancer still alive somewhere who could command Goren... that meant the necromancer was in control and Zea did not trust anyone who would create something like Goren. Even if Zea had no intention of harming him, the necromancer who let him happen was an enemy until Zea had some indication to the contrary.

Zea stopped at the edge of the camp. "I just worry about the meantime," she said suddenly. "I mean, if there's a problem and we don't figure it out because I'm worried about proper protections. Then there's the fact that even if we try a couple of things, I may not be powerful enough to replicate what Augusta can do."

"Zea, dearest," John offered out loud. "If you're concerned about your capability to test your theories... this is one area my talents do outstrip yours."

Zea sensed that there was something here John wasn't telling her, but then he was always pretty good at hiding his thoughts from her even if the feelings came across. "Yeah... yeah, I know. I thought of that. But it's up to Goren whether or not he wants you doing that to him or not. In the meantime, I'm going to try and get back to sleep."

"Of course," John answered. "Do let me know if there's anything I can do," he told Goren.

by **KingOfDoma** » Wed Nov 07, 2007 3:31 pm

Goren wanted to like John. He really did. He seemed nice enough, and Zea appreciated him enough to keep him around, but... there was something about John that didn't sit right with him. The way he looked, the way he moved...

No. It was nothing. He was being suspicious for no good reason. "Yeah, sure, John. Maybe later. I'm just going to get back to the watch for now, alright? ... and maybe look around for a coffee bean plant."

Using his axe as extra leverage, he pulled himself into the tree, and climbed to a good height. "If you sleep, goodnight," he called down to the spook, and settled himself in once more.

Augusta... whatever you are... stay the hell away from me.

by **Nakibe** » Sun Nov 18, 2007 9:56 pm

Solis yawned and watched quietly as Zea and Goren talked. He wasn't sure what it was about, and it probably wasn't too important to him. Except for a vague bad dream he couldn't quite remember, it was a nice, restful night. Good to have one every now and then. he thought idly as he looked at the stars above. It was nights like this that you could never have in the city. A night of beauty only nature could create, despite the workings of mortals and their magics. A night spoiled for Solis once he saw that John was again speaking from... somewhere nearby. It was hard to contain his feelings about the spirit, especially after the last time they'd butted heads. And now the spirit was all too calm, too self-possessed. He bears watching, I'd say. Maybe its not important, but maybe it is.

Thinking that, Solis sat up straight, and began to see about creating a soft bit of magical light to read by. There was no way he was going to get to sleep now, so he might as well make a go of finishing up a book or keeping a silent watch of sorts.

by **KingOfDoma** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 5:28 pm

The sun seemed particularly bright the next morning, despite the air being a bit crisper than anyone was used to. It would have been a particularly serene awakening if not for the distinct tone of chittering that hung in the still air. Before vision could take centre stage, one could sense motion in the outdoors, stemming from several small, quick objects.

Goren wished he was still in that blurred state, wondering what that subtly mobile mass was below him. Before this, his eyes were locked on the horizon, scanning for outside threats. But just after daybreak, he noticed that there was commotion brewing below him. Trying not to wake his peers, he dropped down to the ground to investigate. He had never seen the like in his life.

Squirrels.

DOZENS of squirrels.

A mostly oak-brown bunch, with a few grey ones mixed into the group, were scurrying around the campground. They weren't doing anything PARTICULARLY mischievious, maybe a nibble at a tent here, a sniff at an exposed foot there, but their number was impressive to say the least. It also gave them the boldness to not be bothered by the presence of a zombified human, let alone a sentient being. Knowing no good would come of their presense (but not knowing what exactly that "no good" would be), Goren attempted to shoo the little rodents away from the camp.

Twenty minutes passed, and he had made no real headway. Being a bit hungry, he had drained a few of them, but even he had his limit. He became "full" of them very quickly. And thus, the chittering continued, unabated. into the morning. And Goren knew they would wake the others soon...

by **Kai** » Tue Dec 04, 2007 10:05 am

What the hell are you laughing at? was Zea's first thought upon waking. Her familiar had woken her up with that silent, bodiless laughter she heard down in her soul but never with her ears. No really. What are you doing? Now, dearest, why do you always assume I've done something? I'm merely watching your undead lumberjack friend try his hand at some variety of wild rodent herding. ...What?

Zea emerged from her tent unsure what she was going to find. John had been fairly vague, and wild rodent could have meant anything from mice to beavers. Once she was out of the tent, the sound of excited squirrels finally drowned out the mirth of her familiar and Zea just stared.

"What the hell?" she cried. She didn't even know what else to say.

by **KingOfDoma** » Tue Dec 04, 2007 3:23 pm

"Zea! Um... good morning?"

Goren took a few more swipes at the little bastards, but they seemed to move with ungodly speed and inhuman agility. "I don't know what hell they're from, but they're from SOME hell! Ack! Don't do that!"

One of the grey ones had taken a nibble at his ankle, leaving a small, unbleeding but brown goo-oozing mark on his leg. "Little son of a bitch... can you help me make these things dead, please? You've got to have a squirrel-killing spell in your repetoire somewhere, right?"

by **Besyanteo** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 2:38 pm

Michael sat up from his bed roll, rubbing the last bits of sleep from his eyes. As he did so, his ears twitched. What in the world were Zea and Goren on about... and what the hell was that chittering noise? When he finally fully opened his eyes and looked around, he couldn't help but stare, and then laugh. Squirrels! A mess of them! Whatever could have gotten so many of them to gather into a single place?

Then Goren said something about killing them... Michael couldn't help but think that that would be a bit excessive, and certainly tedious. Anything any of them could do that had enough area to get them all would hit the travelers as well, and picking them off one at a time hardly bore thinking about. ... And why did they need to be killed, anyway? They weren't well known for their hostile tendencies. He looked about for an oak tree, and at the same time said:

"Why are you bothering with them in the first place, Goren? They're just squirrels."

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