No Time for Arguing! Head for the Showdown! (2Gen, Invite)

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Besyanteo
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Unread postby Besyanteo » Tue Aug 07, 2007 9:18 pm

Well, thsis was only going to get worse. Very quickly. Acting quickly, Michael loudly cleared his throat.

"Uh, Goren, right? Why don't you step back here and tell me a few things about..." Think fast, smart guy. "Necromancy. I'm studying at Gunnir now, but I'm not advanced enough to take that course just yet."

It wasn't much, but it felt safer than openly telling him to give the girl a minute's peace. It would be just as well intentioned, but he wasn't quite ready to be accused of calling her a child, or weak, or 'interfering' with her. No, that needed to wait a few hours. They'd both be more prepared for it by then.

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Unread postby KingOfDoma » Tue Aug 07, 2007 9:36 pm

...

Goren couldn't believe it. He was taken aback a second time in a row. This was getting annoying.

"... me? Necromancy? Oh, no, pal. I'm NOT the guy to ask. All I know is, one, it can screw up your life forever, two, most..." He glanced sidelong at Zea, "are complete assholes, and three... in order for an undead host to be properly harvested, they must be prepared with ambergris and a saline solution."

He looked around a bit sheepishly. "That was from a close call I had a few years ago. Don't worry about it."

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Unread postby Besyanteo » Tue Aug 07, 2007 9:43 pm

... Ok. So he was a zombie, if Michael's nose wasn't too big a liar, along with the hints the man kept dropping, but he wasn't a necromancer. And he wasn't getting the hint, either. He could always tackle Goren, but that didn't seem appropriate. Yet.

"... Huh. Okaay... Then come back here and explain what IS your field of expertise?"

Michael really hoped he wouldn't have to tackle him. It wouldn't look good at ALL.

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Unread postby KingOfDoma » Tue Aug 07, 2007 9:56 pm

Goren kinda smirked. This kid must have NEVER experienced a zombie without intimate knowledge of the deathly arts before. But, then again, he probably hadn't experienced one who wasn't solely concerned with eating his brains, either.

"In general? Logging and pickpocketing. In regards to this voyage? Test subject, probably. I'm a bit of an anomaly, so we're ... PROBABLY... going to figure this out?"

He turned to his "hostess". "Zea? We are checking some of that stuff out while we're gone, right?"

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Unread postby Besyanteo » Tue Aug 07, 2007 10:14 pm

Michael ran his palm over his face. Apparently zombies didn't take hints. Further, they couldn't seem to hold a focused conversation very long. He'd have to remember never to build one. So what options did this leave? Well, he could let Goren continue to rub at Zea's fresh wounds, simply because he was too stupid to see them. Or, he could tackle him. Which would not really help Zea greatly, it would make Michael look like a fool, and Goren would still likely start after Zea again as soon as he was allowed to stand again. ... It would be satisfying, for certain, but no. So what else? The situation demanded a more subtle diversion, that wouldn't require Goren to understand it. Were he his father, he could simply summon a vine to trip Goren up and divert his attention from her. However, Michael was NOT his father, and his studies didn't including druidic magic just yet. So what else?

Then it hit him. It wasn't subtle, but it would at least have a chance of working. He WOULD forget, less than a week away from the school, that he'd already learned enough telepathy to have a basic conversation silently. He chalked it up to frustration and proceeded regardless.

Listen, Goren. The girl wants a minute to herself. Back the fuck off and shut your rotting yap, before you make things any worse.


... In retrospect, perhaps he should have been a LITTLE more subtle...

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Unread postby Nakibe » Tue Aug 07, 2007 10:28 pm

For his part, Solis looked at Goren like he'd gone out of his rotting undead mind. For a moment, anyway. Getting Zea to talk about this clearly WASN'T the answer. In fact, trying to drag her into a more accepting mode of speech would only cause her more distress. Even so, Goren was right about ONE thing: Something had to be done about the state of things. Solis just hoped that he could choose the right way to handle it. Might as well flip a coin at this point. he sighs. And people wonder why I don't gamble. I'd be better of if I cheated and I don't DO that.

"So... um. Zea. What's the sleeping order tonight?" To Solis' mind, the best thing to do NOW would be to wait out this storm. If only it were a NORMAL storm he thought for a moment. In any case, with luck, this would be the ONE avenue of discussion that WOULDN'T get his head bitten off.

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Unread postby KingOfDoma » Tue Aug 07, 2007 10:32 pm

"Hey, y-"

Oh, realized Goren. For the first time in his life, indignance and foolishness were at equal strength in him. He was trying to get him to leave her ALONE? Sheesh! There's being subtle and there's not saying anything at all! Sure, I didn't catch that at all, but...

He realized he might still be heard. But you see this "yap", kid? He walked over to Michael, AWAY from the hurt teenage angster, and opened his mouth, showing 32 mostly-white teeth, and a healthy tongue and gums. Not a bit of rot to it. I got the hint, but watch YOUR mouth, understand?

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Unread postby Besyanteo » Tue Aug 07, 2007 10:54 pm

Frankly, Michael wasn't impressed. It's not that the zombie didn't have a fairly malicious set of teeth on him. Certainly, he could probably take a good chunk out of someone's arm with those choppers. He also certainly liked his arms whole and in a single piece. However, none of that had any impact on the fact that, seeing as Goren was in fact undead, Zea had more than once pledged to seek vengeance on anyone that brought Michael to an early death. There would almost certainly be a wondrous spectacle of reprisal if Goren were to take a chunk out of Michael's body, for any reason. For that reason, he felt comfortable replying with a degree of flippance:

Rotten yap or not, your breathe smells like a rotting corpse that hasn't brushed it's teeth. Please close your mouth.

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Unread postby Kai » Tue Aug 07, 2007 11:12 pm

The young necromancer shrugged and looked down to the older man from atop her horse. It was apparently still going to fall to her to organize things. "It's not actually important to me what order we stand watch," she replied calmly. Zea was beginning to settle back into a detached concern for the details of the trip, and for now the particulars of their situation were beginning to fade behind a haze of professionalism and good old fashioned short-term repression. "When we stop to eat I can summon us some fresh food. Cerene can tell you that while it isn't necessarily a luxury now, it'll make a difference later when we're tired of what we've brought."

She remembered on her last trip with a group of enterprising adventuring types she'd summoned a raspberry bush for herself and the others to snack on, only to find that James had used it as a urination convenience the next morning, rendering inedible the food she'd bothered to bring them. She'd been so annoyed with him then. So why did the memory make her want to curl up into a ball and whine quietly like a wounded animal?

Never mind. Business. "I brought a few basics in Azrael's saddlebags for the trip in case anybody needs an extra blanket or something. I've also got a few dry goods marked that I can bring over." Most of them were back at her house, but she suspected that they wouldn't be touched there until she needed them. Not without James there, and Zea couldn't imagine him sitting in the living room of the house they'd shared, casually munching on food she'd left behind. Perhaps it was possible, though. She didn't have any way to know, and it was likely she'd never find out one way or the other.

Best not to think about it.

"I can actually summon us the odd bottle of liquor from my grandfather's store as well. I don't suggest getting plastered at the first opportunity but like I said. Might liven up our diet a bit if we find whatever we've brought isn't a suitable midnight snack or something."

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Unread postby KingOfDoma » Tue Aug 07, 2007 11:21 pm

Goren was completely unused to telepathic communication, and thus far, he was not enjoying it. It felt as if he was thinking rude, snarky comments about himself, in a twerpy little voice. So, he did what came naturally.

"Listen, you little snot! I may have a ... special condition, but I am still a fully sapient being, and you would show you've actually got a modicum of civility in that little head of yours if you would give me even that base level of respect! Understood?"

The zombie was seething. The nerve! He had no right to speak to hi- think at him in that tone! It... he ... the nerve!

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Unread postby Besyanteo » Tue Aug 07, 2007 11:24 pm

Michael blinked, looking over.

"I beg your pardon?"

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Unread postby KingOfDoma » Tue Aug 07, 2007 11:32 pm

Goren didn't know it at the time, but he was about to look like a raving lunatic. Were he aware, he may have acted SLIGHTLY differently, but his main drive would have remained. That drive, of course, was trying to get a LITTLE respect from this arrogant shit Zea SOMEHOW called friend.

"You heard me! You had better quit acting like such a fucking non-undead SNOB! I refuse to be treated like I'm a second class citizen just because I have a ... because I'm DEAD!"

Piff. Goren was incensed. They wouldn't treat vampires this way, nosiree...

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Unread postby Besyanteo » Tue Aug 07, 2007 11:39 pm

Michael looked awfully confused. Of course he knew what Goren was mad about, but he hadn't come this far to fess up now. After all, what was being 16 and truly irritated for if not to piss off old people and make it look like their fault?

"Uhm. I'm not sure what I did, but ok... Uh. Sorry? Calm down, jeez."

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>:O I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE

Unread postby Nakibe » Tue Aug 07, 2007 11:45 pm

" Look, Goren. I don't know what's going on between you and this guy right here." starts Solis, "And quite frankly, I don't CARE. Whatever is going on right now, you two are giving me a HEADACHE. And if I get a headache, BOTH of you will have one to match, I guarantee you."

All of this noise WAS NOT HELPING AT ALL, Solis thought. For once, the quiet man was thoroughly annoyed by this. It was already bad enough that Zea was acting weirdly as it was, but to have THIS bull on top was just too much.

"Now if you two would please just SIT DOWN and at least ACT civil. I don't want to hear or see you two still arguing. And don't think too loudly either." He tapped his temple idly to get the point across. "That'd just piss me off."

Suddenly this trip, which seemed so simple when it began, was becoming more of a headache by the minute. He was actually starting to wonder if he should volunteer for first watch just to clear his head.

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Unread postby KingOfDoma » Tue Aug 07, 2007 11:59 pm

Now Goren was angry with himself, along with the brat. He... well he HAD meant to lash out at Michael, but he didn't want it to get in the way of having a good trip. Oh well. Friction was bound to happen anyways... it always seemed to around him.

"... as long as everyone gets the RESPECT..." he spat those words at the boy, "they deserve, I'll behave."

"Just... no one get in my head without permission, alright? That's just personal space issues..."

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Unread postby Kelne » Wed Aug 08, 2007 8:14 am

Cerene sighed. It seemed as if these two were going to have to be kept widely separated. Barely five minutes into the trip and already the group was fraying at the seams. Well, she wasn't getting involved. Nobody had ever accused Cerene of having mediation skills. Truth be told, the thought of simply flying away and leaving all this stress behind was a tempting one.

But that wasn't really an option. Simply abandoning Zea at what had to be (whether she'd admit it or not) a time of need was out of the question. Nor was she about to let a couple of argumentative so-and-sos drive her off. Thankfully, Solis seemed willing to clamp down on the pair. Hopefully they'd stick to low-level sniping from here on.

Zea seemed to have retreated into her shell, and Cerene decided she could use a bit of companionship. Time to bring up a topic with absolutely nothing to do with anything.

"It's a pity we can't travel by catapult," she said wistfully, "The miles just fly by." On the face of it, a completely ludicrous statement, and there was a distinct sparkle of merriment in her eyes as she said it. On the other hand, the wistfulness in her voice seemed genuine.

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Unread postby Nakibe » Wed Aug 08, 2007 11:41 am

"Yeah, but... um... isn't that a little unsafe? I mean, what with hitting the ground and all." Hey, look. Someone that WASN'T going to, directly or indirectly, make things worse. Solis would be a fool if he didn't JUMP at this chance to have a non-violent conversation about now. "On the other hand, we WOULD already be more than halfway there, so I suppose it has some merits. Still."

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Unread postby Besyanteo » Wed Aug 08, 2007 11:57 am

Michael remained quiet. Those around him might mistake it for sulking after he had been scolded, but that was not the case. Rather, he was disappointed with himself, realizing just how far he'd let his annoyance at a stranger carry him away. And like it or not, this was in fact one of Zea's friends, dammit. Once again his tail fluffed and his ears fell back against his head. It would probably be best to keep quiet for a while. While she wasn't saying anything, Zea had to be pretty disappointed in the pair of them.

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Unread postby Kelne » Wed Aug 08, 2007 6:30 pm

"Oh, absolutely. It's the landing that's the tricky part. Would you believe that the original system involved catapulting a pile of pillows first so you had something soft to land on?" Cerene grinned at the madness of this system, "Needless to say, nobody was keen to be the first test subject. Thankfully, one of the inventors came up with the idea of giving us parachutes to open near the end of the trip."

It seemed to have slipped Cerene's mind that virtually nobody on the face of Gaera would know what a parachute was. Still, this would lead to questions, which could only be a good thing.

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Unread postby Kai » Thu Aug 09, 2007 10:12 am

Zea listened with half an ear to the conversation that the others were having. She wasn't sure she had the will to get involved in the argument between Michael and Goren. Under other circumstances she might have said something, and in the past she had.

On the job for Jesiah Black, Zea had had to come between James and Bulworth at least once. They were being so annoying Zea had considered letting them duke it out and then finishing off the winner so that she could bring their corpses along to finish the job. Would've made for better team cohesion and she might have been able to keep their share of the pay.

I didn't even know him then, Zea recalled. He was just this boy. Kind of easy to manipulate if you get used to the idea that he just wants attention. She hadn't actually expected to see any more of him after that, but she had. The next time she saw him was after being kidnapped and nearly killed. When she'd recovered her senses... there he was. Tired and bloodstained and full of rage and anxiety... there he was, right by her side. And there he'd stayed for over a year.

She put it out of her mind. None of that mattered now. He'd go find himself a normal girl. Zea tried to listen to the others again. They seemed like they were in better spirits and it was good that they were talking again, that they had found something to pay attention to besides Zea's problems. This alone was an effort worth supporting.

Zea decided to make her half-hearted contribution to the conversation. "Cerene, what are you talking about?"

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Unread postby Kelne » Thu Aug 09, 2007 6:35 pm

"Why, the next big thing in long-distance transportation - catapults. They've developed a prototype up in Riva. Unfortunately, there's just the one, so you have to walk back afterwards, but I'm sure that in a few years they'll be popping up all over the place. Just think of all the siege catapults standing idle that could be converted..."

Again, it was difficult to tell how serious Cerene was being. It didn't sound as if she really believed travel by catapult would take off, but as for the rest...

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Unread postby Nakibe » Sat Aug 11, 2007 12:11 am

Solis merely shakes his head. "I mean, it SOUNDS like a good enough idea. And yet... it sounds really strange as well. At least I won't have to..." Suddenly, a swishing can be heard from the trees. "... what was that?" Solis asks, straining his ears to hear more of that sound.

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Unread postby Besyanteo » Sat Aug 11, 2007 12:16 am

Michael's head snapped up and his ears perked forward. The source of the sound seemed to be approaching, but he waited and listened a full second before speaking to be sure about it.

"It's headed this way, whatever it is. On your toes..."

He quickly rummaged through his belongings for his parrying knife. It wasn't really meant for be used this way, but he'd been foolish enough to forget it's companion... It would have to do, if things went badly.

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Unread postby KingOfDoma » Sat Aug 11, 2007 1:24 am

"Oh come on! Trouble ALREADY?" Goren achingly. He dropped his sack, pulled it open, and started rummaging. "I thought nothing would try to eat us until after we tried to sleep.

He hated that he was rummaging for it, like it was vital to his very existence. Sadly, it WAS vital to his existence. The old chemist had called it the Feratus Stone. Goren had no idea what it really was. It was a bracelet, of sorts, a green metallic chain, with a large red stone, in a matching green metal setting, designed specifically to go around the hand, like a terribly ineffective glove. But where it failed to keep his palm warm, it succeeded in draining the life out of any living organic material. It could be a person, a cow, a tree, or even an apple, and its lifeforce, however small, would enter Goren, and drag him back from the brink of mindlessness. And oh, how he was dragged back. Death had laid its claim to him, marking him with its stench, and it would not rest till it claimed him.

Goren hoped Death would be eternally insomnious.

He found the charm, feeling its cold ... steel? against his skin, and put it in place, remembering its familar weight. Luckily, next to it was his trusty longhandled axe, sharpened to perfection. He pulled out the weapon quickly, checking to see if his companions had let a grue sidle up behind him quickly. Upon finding nothing, he breathed easy, bound up his bag, and placed it over his shoulder once again, ready to move, but ready to drop it again at the sign of trouble.

"OK, ready. Something tries to eat me, I'll at least be a hard meal..."

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Unread postby Kelne » Sat Aug 11, 2007 5:52 am

Cerene didn't go for her sword. Truth be told, she wasn't all that good with it, and somehow, she never really got around to practicing. Fiery death generally sufficed for dealing with most attackers anyway, and if not, well, there were plenty of people willing to hit things with sharpened bits of metal.

Eyes trained towards the source of noise, Cerene poised herself to move swiftly. No sense standing in the road of whatever it was, after all.

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Unread postby Nakibe » Sat Aug 11, 2007 2:41 pm

The swishing of the trees and bushes told a sinister tale of predators stalking in the night... or perhaps bandits positioning themselves in the trees. For a tense moment in time, the party had to be ready for anything... or at least to HOPE they were... and then...

"Um... hello?"

Wait, that sounded like neither a horrible beast or a murderous bandit...

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" A response from Solis, one that only held a small hint of fear to it.

"I'msorryI'msorry, Ididn'tmeantobotheryoupleasedon'tkillme"

The bushes issue forth a scrawny man apparently walking along with a pig on a leash. For his part, he seems just as scared of the party as they were of whatever demons of thought crawled through their brains earlier. The pig, however, merely oinked its disapproval of the party. Who knows? Maybe the thing came from a family of wild boars...

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Unread postby KingOfDoma » Sat Aug 11, 2007 3:08 pm

The zombie groaned. "Oh, THAT'S all," he mumbled, stashing his weapon back in his bag. That was an annoyance. All that anticipation, and he was left cold. It's not that he WANTED a fight. Far from it, in fact; he had spent a good portion of the last few years of his life avoiding confrontation. It's just that if he was going to go to all the trouble to get ready for a fight, he wanted to ACTUALLY fight. But whatever. This worked too.

"Hey pal, don't worry. Just a group of people passing through... uh... move along... I guess......"

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Unread postby Nakibe » Sat Aug 11, 2007 4:45 pm

"You mean... you're NOT bandits?" the man replied, completely unsure whether to cower in fear at these... people. And what a group this was indeed. The pig, however, seemed to have a better idea. It sniffed once or twice at Zea, then at Solis and Michael... and with a "huff" went around to start digging at other things. Apparently the pig was MUCH braver than her master.

"Well, we haven't tried to rob you yet." Solis said between chuckles. "I'd say you're alright with us."

"Oh, oh thank goodness. Thank GOODNESS.... for a moment I was thinking... but... wait, why are you folks out here? Are you, like, adventurers or something?" "Oink"

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Unread postby Kai » Sat Aug 11, 2007 5:14 pm

Zea looked around to the other members of her little expedition, and while she could see why a common pigfarmer might be concerned about such a diverse group... it was still a little odd to be mistaken for a highway robber. These are not the kind of assumptions teenaged girls expect to encounter.

Reluctantly leaving the relative isolation that the height of her mount afforded, Zea hopped down to the ground next to Solis. "Not all of us. We're just out because I'm headed home and these guys were coming with me."

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Unread postby Besyanteo » Sat Aug 11, 2007 5:38 pm

Michael had already put his knife away at this point. He didn't have much to add to the conversation just yet, so he stood by Cerene, just waiting. He might have tried to smile disarmingly, but that never seemed to go over well with humans. Something about the teeth.

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Unread postby Nakibe » Sat Aug 11, 2007 7:34 pm

"Oh, um, well..." the guy started. Tonight wasn't going nearly as he'd expected. He knew he shouldn't be out THIS late, but Bonnie seemed a little restless and... well... "I'm surprised that you're staying out here for the night. I mean, I'm sure that you could get some nice rooms back in town and all..."

Solis looked up at this proclamation, and almost groaned inwardly. It WOULD figure that they'd find a wanderer from Varrock sooner or later. As if the day needed any MORE aggravations to add to the list. "Varrock, I take it?"

"Yes, sir. Its a great place and the priests and priestesses protect us from the unnatural beasts that pop up on occasion the likes of which necromancers often pop up..." "Well, yes... you see... we're following a faster route due to emergencies and all..." Solis looks back at Zea, almost apologetically. This man had ALREADY said a touch too much to expect anything less than a tongue lashing.

And to make matters worse, the man eyes the party even further around this point, and adds. "Are you SURE you're not bandits?"

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Unread postby Kai » Sat Aug 11, 2007 8:10 pm

Zea stepped forward and laid a hand on Solis' arm, a gesture that might have either been intended to reassure him or signal that he ought to leave this stranger to her.

"It's nice of you to be concerned," she said coolly. "I've heard about the priests of Varrock and while I'm pleased that you're happy with your home... I assure you that as a priestess of the lord of death I know more about necromancers and their unnatural beasts than any life-worshipper you'll meet," she finished imperiously.

It's not his fault he's never been taught to see beyond the end of his nose, Zea thought. And he's certainly not going to be any good for a theology argument. He probably knows slightly less than what he's been told and certainly no more.

"Convey my regards to your priests when you see them next. I don't intend to stop in Varrock."

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Unread postby KingOfDoma » Sun Aug 12, 2007 1:37 am

"Gk."

That's all anyone heard from Goren, and after saying it, he prayed to whoever would listen that his fears were unjustified.

It's not that he was superstitious. He didn't care where black cats walked, ladders really got in his way, and he never owned an umbrella (he liked having his hair wet). It's just that whenever he heard someone state something like "I will NEVER do that!", it turned out that they'd do that soon after. So when Zea made that definite remark, it sent visions of Varrockian consecrated torture through his brain.

He bit his lip, not daring to say more. Who knows what would come next...?

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Unread postby Nakibe » Sun Aug 12, 2007 5:37 am

The man's eyes for a moment looked as if they were going to bug out of his head at that statement, and without much ado he was dashing back the way he presumably came through the woods, pig in hand. For his part, Solis fought off the strong urge to smack his palm to his face at how poorly that interaction had gone, but eh. No angry yells, no cries in the night. And for once he let himself sneak a peek into the man's mind... A confusion of thoughts, but no coherent ones other than to go home and hide under a bed somewhere.

"Well, that most certainly could have gone better." Solis mused aloud. "But as long as there's no angry mob.." Apparently what with all of this going on, the older man was getting to the point where he was too tired to even appear to care about the situation. Besides, he told himself. There's only one or two ways this can go. Poorly or well, and its not really much of a problem either way. In any case, it didn't hurt his piece of mind any to silently cast a spell he'd researched a while back over the surrounding area, so that loud noise would be heard in his mind if someone new intruded on the place.

After all, as sure as he THOUGHT he was that there would be no more trouble... that still wasn't sure enough.

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Kelne
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Unread postby Kelne » Sun Aug 12, 2007 5:40 am

That had probably been a bit harsh towards the poor man. Granted, he kept suggesting they might be bandits, and the whole evil necromancers spiel wasn't exactly calculated to endear him to Zea.

Still, scaring him practically on the doorstep of Varrock might not be the best of plans. Cerene could just imagine the scene when he arrived back in town - 'Bandits! Necromancer bandits! Demon necromancer bandits!!!' Well, maybe not the demon bit...

Unfortunately, she couldn't think of anything to say to soften Zea's statement. She settled for a reassuring smile. It couldn't hurt.

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Kai
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Unread postby Kai » Sun Aug 12, 2007 11:08 am

Zea frowned and turned away. "Life worshippers," she muttered to herself. "Seldom have to make any real sacrifices and still they look down on me."

As individuals life-worshippers weren't usually that bad. The average devotee seemed to revere life simply because it was the first thing that came to mind. They like life, all their friends like life, even Zea liked life. It wasn't difficult to see why some people might decide that life isn't just important, but it's the only important thing and the only thing worth revering.

Zea had found that actual clergy tended to understand the place of death a bit better. Even though Reshtahans were often a better choice for handling funeral services, Ishtarian and Ashuran priests were still called upon for such things from time to time. A priest can only utter the same comforting platitudes about the necessity of death before eventually deciding they're true. Still, though... Zea couldn't help but feel sometimes that worshipping life was the easy way out.

It was intuitive, it was easy, and it didn't require followers to do or feel anything that they wouldn't otherwise. All they have to do is like being alive and understand that everyone else does, too. Where is the sacrifice in that?

Of course now wasn't the best time for Zea to dig up those old objections. Hadn't Zea proven her priorities? Hadn't she proven herself willing to sacrifice everything she cared about as an individual, as a human being and as a woman, so that she might better be able to serve her god and the order he represented?

Hadn't Zea had enough by now?

No, life-worshippers surely had their own conflicts of faith, but their denials would never be as harsh as Zea's could potentially be. There were things she could be asked to do, choices that were expected of her, sacrifices required of her... and no life-worshipper had to face the very real potential that they would need to betray themselves for their faith. Zea did. And Zea had.

Zea pulled herself back up onto Azrael's back. "Sorry about that. He just bothered me. If I thought he'd be good for a theology debate I might have asked him to come along, but he's just a layman and a prejudiced one to boot." She looked down at the others. "Incidentally, it's getting dark and if any of you want to set up camp at some point, we can."

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Nakibe
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Unread postby Nakibe » Mon Aug 13, 2007 11:58 am

"Yeah, sure, why not rest up here" Solis says, sounding more than a little annoyed. At this point in the day it was definitely time, before any MORE tempers started to flare. At this rate we'll be lucky to even GET to our destination without trying to tear each other apart. he thought. Something has to be done about this. GAH. Solis' hand met his temple in an attempt to soothe the pounding headache that was growing slowly as the hour passed.

It was with a sense of painful irony that he realized that he may have accidentally predicted this headache when he was threatening Goren and Michael. Wincing just a bit, he managed "And good timing, because I'm already tired."

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KingOfDoma
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Unread postby KingOfDoma » Mon Aug 13, 2007 1:19 pm

Goren stretched. "Works for me, folks." All of a sudden, he was glad for the little scare from the pig and her man, because he would need his stone to keep him going through the night.

"Get comfy. I'll stand watch. I don't sleep, so don't worry about switching shifts." He stretched some more, and put his hand on a tree, which began to wither, bit by bit, till Goren removed the Feratus Stone from its surface.

"And now you don't have to worry about me eating your brains. Just fey getting cranky..."

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Besyanteo
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Unread postby Besyanteo » Mon Aug 13, 2007 5:40 pm

Michael hadn't been willing to offer much in the way of conversation since he was chastised by Solis earlier. Their encounter with the man and his pig had distracted him for a minute, but now he was back to sulking about his own foolishness. He managed to keep from making a public display of himself for now: No sagging ears or head or tail, no refusal to make eye contact with anyone, and so on. However, he continued not to talk as he went about unpacking a thin blanket from his pack, and layying it out where he planned to sleep that night.

Since Goren had been good enough to provide some dead wood, Michael went about breaking off pieces of it to build a fire with.

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Kai
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Unread postby Kai » Mon Aug 13, 2007 11:46 pm

Zea dropped a blanket from Azrael's saddlebag onto the ground, and after it was a bedroll and a small tent. She set her things up some distance away from the center of their camp. It was going to be difficult enough to sleep tonight without the light of the fire keeping her awake.

She didn't have much of an appetite, but she summoned a watermelon for the others to add to their dinners. Seemed like a nice treat for the others after they'd spent an entire day dealing with her. Zea went about her task wordlessly before sitting down in front of her tent, facing the fire. She wrapped her arms around her knees and watched the others silently. After several seconds, just as she was about to drift off into her own thoughts, John demanded her attention once more.

When will you be ready to retire for the evening? Later, and I really wish you would give me some space tonight. Dearest, it isn't healthy for you to be alone at a time like this. Healthy. I'm being lectured by my incorporeal familiar about healthy relationship strategies. That sound weird to you? I have a neutral point of view. You should give it more weight. I don't need to give you my time every time you demand it. You're so choosy about your time. Do you think anyone else wants it?

That gave Zea pause. No, she supposed no one did. And why would they? Why should they? She'd been terrible today, and most terrible of all to the person who'd been there for her ever since she arrived on the surface. Hadn't she effectively proven that her life and everyone else's were to remain separate?

No, it was probably better. She couldn't divide her attention and her loyalty between her friends and her duties. Her friends would move on. They were living creatures and adaptable by nature. Socially she was fairly replaceable, but there were obligations to the natural order Zea needed to fulfill and she couldn't count on someone else being there to do it.

This was the most efficient way to ensure that everything got its due attention and maintenance. Leave the living to the living and the dead to Zea.

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