DreamLyrics™ Play-by-Post Forums Hall of Fame - Latest Top 10 completed games HWD: The Heartwood HWD: High Falls Tavern

there you go ...

As the days upon the road passed, Darian and Cesare took to walking with each other. Snippets of conversation and laughter occasionally floated on the eddies of wind to the others of their small group. On at least a couple of occasions they followed Longtooth into the brush. They spent nights keeping each other warm wherever they took shelter for the night.

Kadri comes down from the room upstairs, having apparently napped long enough, and goes to find a table. Looking around and seeing noone else immediately awake save darian, she pauses, and then moves that direction.

"Mind if I sit?"

Darian

"Sit if wish. I no mind," Darian tells her with a half smile.

KAdri:

"Alright then."

She slides herself lithely into a seat, then leans back. after a period of silence, she speaks again.

"Odd casting of fate, wouldn't you say? I mean. . all this. Reads more like some crazy story told 'round a campfire at night."

Darian

Her head tilts as she considers Kadri's words, not understanding all of them exactly but there is enough context for her to puzzle it out.

"That we all be here, together? Not common, true. Not know fate, just glad for good company on path. Path be long Darian think."

KAdri:

"All paths are long paths. No path ever truly ends, it just moves on to another campfire. Although my last stop was a good pause along the path, and I was. . sorry to leave it."

Darian

"Afore, path no leave territory. Many campfires there, know all. Now territory no more, must find new territory."

Kadri:

She tilts her head.

"I pitch my tent where need takes me, and take the company along the way as it comes. My territory is wherever I am, it travels with me."

She pauses.

"You have yourself. You have your companion. Longtooth. You have. . . "

She pauses.

"You have Cesare. You have friends willing to watch your back. It seems you have territory now; it travels with you, no?"

Darian

A brief grin. She has been enjoying her time with Cesare but she is under no illusion that it is a permanent thing.

"True, Cesare shares path. Friends also. Be good thing."

Then she shakes her head. "Territory no travel. Must find new. Master say so. Will know when find."

Kadri:

"Then. If you will know when you find it, it is not something to concern yourself over. It will happen when it will happen, and not until. You won't find it. It will find you, you just have to be ready for it when it comes. Myself. . . My path started long before, and my path will end when it ends, and who knows where that will be? In the meantime, it is. . merely important that I dance in the rain and live, breath, love, laugh, honor friends and spite those that deserve spite."

She grins and tilts her head the other way.

"Also, as my ma said. Sometimes I talk o'er much."

Darian

Darian returns the grin. "No, no concern. Darian travel path, see things not see afore. Make friends. Is good. Be long time since have friend."

"Aye, Kadri use many words. Darian not know all but think know what Kadri say."

Kadri:

She pauses again.

"My people. . .no. Not my people. The People that used to be mine, have traditions of. . telling stories. Fables. I listened to many. And old habits. . hard to break, I think, yes?"

Darian

"Aye, can be."

"We tell stories too. But... what mean fable?"

Kadri:


"Its. . . Hu'rafa. A story that teaches."

Darian

A look of understanding came into Darian's eyes. "Ah, we have teaching tales too."

"Do have teaching games too?"

Kadri:

"You mean. . like racing horses to learn? Back home. . back. . where I was born. Even the smallest child knows a horse, lives them, runs them and runs with them. Many. . many games are. . made around that."

Darian

"We run with...ruffs... chase, hide and find. Other games, no ruffs, still teach."

Kadri:

"YOu have your Ruffs. . . we have . . . they. . have their horses. Lisica. . is not just a mount. She is another piece of me. A friend. You understand, yes?"

Darian

"Aye, Lisica friend like Longtooth friend. We be lost without."

Kadri.

She smiles.

"Yes. That is it."

She pauses.

"It may be. . . too forward to ask, and if you do not wish to say, I will no longer ask. . but what happened. . back home? To you?"

Darian

"Grey Men come, say Pack must do what they say. We Hunt, kill all. This happen two times. Next time come, many horses, many men with no skill arrows."

"Master send Darian and Longtooth find new territory. Master go on Hunt. Hear days later from trader, mill built where lived."

KAdri:

"I remember you mentioning. . grey men. Dazi said. . Montague. Why would they. . want your people?"

Darian

"Want people for mines. Want littles learn not our way. Place we live good place, with fresh water, much hunting. Darian think ... we have, they want; find reason to take."

Kadri:

She nods a little.

"Vultures."

She turns her head to one side and spits. . into her cup.

"Those that deserve spite."

Darian

The Hunter is obviously confused.

"Know vulture...carrion eater. No like but needed."

A pause.

"Not understand this spite. Is like Mikal's vengeance?"

Kadri:

She pauses.

"Vulture. . . does what it does because . . . it must to live, yes? But does not think. Not view people, thinking things, its own kind, as Carrion to be had, as something to be had for the sake of pain. So, I suppose. . yes. . you are right. Vulture. . is better."

A pause again.

"Revenge? Revenge. . . "

She says rolling the word around on her tongue as if tasting it.

"No. Izdira. Is . . . contempt."

Darian

"To live, aye. Also serves purpose, if carrion left, not eaten, then sickness come."

"Con-tempt," she repeated, thinking hard. "No respect? Like way some see female with weapon?"

Kadri:

"Not No respect. Less than no respect. Opposite of respect."

Darian

She nods her head. "Understand now, this con-tempt."

"How you come here? Why leave place where born? If no want say, Darian understand."

Kadri:

She shrugs.

"Parents tell me to marry someone, did not want to do so - so I left. Went away with the North wind and make my own path, yes?"

Cesare

He comes in from outside, hair wet, eyes looking around the room. Seeing Darian, there is an immediate smile. Kadri is there too which could be fortuitous as he wants to talk to her about something. He walks over to them, looking for signs that he might be welcome in case they are talking about something personal.

Kadri waves at him, waving him over with a smile.

Darian

Darian offers Cesare a smile and pats the seat next to her then looks Kadri.

"Own path, aye."

The tone of her next words indicate she is talking about the world in general as she knows.

"No understand this make marry thing. No make sense. Marry who want or not."

Kadri:

She shakes her head.

"Only sometimes, on the plain. More often, used as. . . barter for making friends. My the Father."

She shrugs.

Darian

"Stupid way make friends." Darian said definitively. "Borrow to get pups, aye, but no stay after pups birthed. All must agree, otherwise pups be weak, poisoned by bad feelings."

Mikal

He enters the tavern, stamping the mud off his boots just outside the door. He shakes loose hay out of his cloak, having just come from the stables to settle Talia in for the night.

Seeing the small group around the table, he heads that way. "Mind if I join you?" He asks.

Cesare

He settles down next to Darian, one arm slipping loosely around her as he listens to the conversation.

"Marriages are often arranged within the Rhoni. Parents often making choices but I have not heard of anyone being forced to marry. Doubt I could be forced into anything like that, though I suspect it is harder for females in that many of them would not find leaving and coping on their own easy. We seem to have some exceptions in our group."

He grins, thinking that the females in this group are very different from the normal and in a way he approves of. Darian definitely has an interesting view of things.

He looks up as Mikal enter and waves him in. His question for Kadri may get a wider audience but then that might be a good thing.

"Something I want to ask, if I can change the conversation for a moment. I would like one day to own a horse. I accept that there are things I would need to learn first. Riding, obviously, but before that knowing how to care for it. So i was thinking that maybe in exchange for that learning I might look after someone's mount?"

Kadri motions over Mikal as well.

"Go right ahead. Join the throng."

She looks back to Cesare.

"Absolutely, I would be happy to teach you what I know."

Darian

She settles comfortably against Cesare, her head cocked in listening as he speaks. She offers Mikal a nod and a brief smile as he joins them then turns her attention back to the conversation at hand.

"Think Kadri find Cesare good student," she comments after Kadri agrees to teach him horsemanship. "Learn quick."

Mikal

He sits down, hanging his cloak over a nearby chair, stretching his arms over his head and cracking his knuckles. "Long day. And still need to get some sparring in with Daxia later." He grimaces. "She doesn't pull her blows. Still black and blue from last time."

He orders an ale and looks around the group. "Couldn't help but overhear some. I am a strong believer in Fate. If not Fate, it is too odd that so many who have reason to hate Montague have all come together by chance."

He turns to Cesare. "I'd show you some things about caring for horses, but from what I've seen Kadri knows a lot more than I do. Always better to learn from the best when you can."

Cesare

He is pleased with Kadri's offer and Darian's comments. He waits for Mikal to finish speaking before finalising the offer.

"Then I will happily accept Kadri's offer. Thank you."

He smiles at her, before responding to Mikal's comments.

"I have nothing against Montague personally that I don't have against nobility in general."

He grins, showing that there isn't too much he has gripes about.

"But there is much I don't know about my past and who knows, there may yet be a connection. I do believe the Fates have brought us all together though. There are other connections between us, myself and Lia for instance. But it might not be past associations that are important other than to help in forming a common bond, I believe it might be for some future purpose, something that might need a group such as this."

Kadri:

"Fate. Don't believe in it. There is me. There is you. There is what happens to us and how we choose to act and react."

Daxia

She came striding in through the door, grinning broadly, clearly in a fine mood. Catching Kadri's comment as she walked in, she laughed. "Of course there is 'fate'. There are only so many Paths one could take, yah?" she asked as she removed her cloak and draped it over a chair. "That is 'fate'. What Path you walk? That is up to you." She sat down beside Mikal.

"So we will talk philosophy tonight? That will make Mikal so sad, yah?" she said with a sly grin. "He looks forward so much to Dazi's teaching."

Mikal

He grins at her. "I look forward to it, but my bruises do not." He chuckles. "And you owe me an hour, before bed tonight, showing me the ripostes to that low-line double-beat move and helping me on the broadsword. In turn, I'll pick up where we left off on small unit tactics."

Daxia

She chuckled. "Your bruises can look no worse than mine after training with the Captain of the Allaine Guard. Verchovai Reena measured how much complaining one did about their bruises; those who complained the most never seemed to be assigned the duty of guarding the Allaine family themselves. They had the honor of keeping the grounds of Dawnview Castle safe."

Daxia grinned. "It was amusing to see how many of my Sisters did not make that connection. I could understand the Initiates not grasping some of her subtleties, but Starriders should not be so blind to the Captain's wiles."

Mikal

"Sounds like Cameron. He'd take his turn at sparring, just like the regular trainers, even with the new recruits. Not too big for it. Liked him for that too. But after he'd thrash you, if you just got up and came back at him, no complaints, no whining, just trying your best, he'd make sure you got easy duty the next day to let your bruises heal. If you bitched and moaned, said he wasn't being 'fair', you had duty digging latrines for a week. Amazing how long it took some to learn."

He chuckles. "I miss the Lights. Little brotherhood when you're on your own. There is a lot to be said for being able to sleep with both eyes closed."

Daxia

"Oh, yes. The Initiate's first journey from the Vale is usually a solitary one, so I am grateful for having company on the road." She laughed. "That is what started this philosophical discussion, isn't it?" Daxia looked at Cesare. "I confess I don't understand your Fates, Cesare. At times, you speak of them as though they are as real to you as Dayala is to me, or Jvrill is to Mikal, or Lady Attera is to my sister. At other times, it seems as though they are just ideas that guide your life.

"If it is not forbidden for others to know, I would be most interested in learning more about the Rhoni beliefs." She smiled as she shrugged her shoulders. "I have always been most curious about these things, which -- I think -- is what gave Kassia the certainty that I am to become a Priestess."

Mikal

He chortles and grins. "Not with that mouth. Priestesses need to be,... well, a bit more.., restrained. What was that word Cameron once used...., of yeah. Demure."

Darian

To Mikal's statement, she looks what puzzled. "What means demure?"

Daxia

She laughed heartily. "You have obviously never met a Dayalan Priestess, Mikal! The majority of them are also Starlords... the most elite of the Dayalan warriors." Daxia turned to Darian.

"Demure mean shy, quiet, polite... Dazi not so good at that," she said with a grin. "Bekkah much better. Even Kadri pretend better than Dazi!"

Darian

The Hunter grew even more puzzled. "Quiet make sense when stalking prey...but why want shy? It make lame priest? Or be like camouflage?"

Then something came to her. "Or be because ye not male?"

Kadri:

"Pretend?"
She raises an eyebrow.

"When am I ever anything but exactly what I say I am?"

She waggles an eyebrow.

Daxia

She shrugged. "Nah, all Dayalan warriors, priestesses female. Don't know why priestess should be shy." Daxia looked at Mikal. "It Mikal idea... he should say why, yah?" she said with a smile.

Then she looked at Kadri. "Oh, so sorry, most delicate Kadri, please forgive Dazi," she said. Although she tried to restrain it, after two heartbeats she burst out laughing.

Mikal

He shrugs. "Every Priestess I've ever met has been that way. Of course they've all been Atteran. Never met a Dayallan, Priestess or not, until a few days ago."

Daxia

"Atteran Priestesses are very much different than Dayalan Priestesses. Hoi! Bekkah and I are very different from one another! No one would know we were sisters unless we share that information." She grinned broadly. "We don't look alike, we don't act alike, we even follow different Goddesses... but she is my sister.

"There are only a handful of Dayalans outside the Vale; that you have met two of us already is quite an amazing thing, I would think." She looked at Mikal, attempting to maintain a serious expression. "Every Priestess at the Temple could very likely beat us both black and blue. Not individually. Both of us at the same time."

Daxia paused, and then grinned slyly. "Give me another fullhand of years, and I think perhaps you might find me at the Temple with the title of Priestess. Although..." She tilted her head, staring off into the distance. "...it might be more interesting to establish a Dayalan Temple outside the Vale."

Darian

She listened to Dazi speak of her order with a wistful expression.

Into the lapse of silence she said, "Darian miss Master. Taught all could in time had, but... "

Longtooth looked up with a soft whine and put his nose into her hand. He had run with her Master many years before he had agreed to run at her side. She looked down to the ruff and rang her fingers through his fur.

"Longtooth miss him too."

"Darian had much more to learn. Now must teach self."

Kaderi:

She pauses.

"Really, I have no master."

Daxia

"I understand Darian, Longtooth. Even though Kassia had taught me all she could, I still miss her," Daxia said. "Even though I would miss you both, I hope you find the new territory and Pack you search for."

She gave Kadri a long, measured look. "No. No, you don't."

Darian

She gave Dazi a grateful smile and nod. "Thank ye, friend Dazi."

Cesare

He listens as the conversation turns, more easy in this company than he was but perhaps much of that is down to Darian. He has not ignored Daxia's question but waited for an opportunity to answer it. That might be now.

"The Rhoni believe only that it is best to float like a leaf on water, and when the winds push the leaf in a direction, why try to expend your energy to stay in one place or to draw attention to yourself. Best to sail where the wind blows, the Heartwood will provide, there is opportunity for all in many places."

He looks around those assembled.

"As I see it, we are all leaves but in coming from so many directions, how did one wind bring us all to the same place at the same time? There are forces at work that we cannot see, cannot touch. Currents. Fates. Just names."

Mikal

He grunts. "So, for the sake of argument, when the wind and current are taking your leaf towards the giant waterfall, is it not more prudent to paddle towards the shore?"

He takes a swig of ale.

"I am a believer in Fate, but I also believe that we are in control of how we react to what Fate hands us. Our actions are not pre-determined for us, and sometimes...., not often, but sometimes, one can change their Fate."

Cesare

He grins.

"Paddling for the shore is a good idea. Trying to paddle away from the waterfall and against the current is a waste of energy. I too do not believe the Fates are absolute but I do not think it a coincidence that we all met entering the town for the first time. Too mant connections, two many coincidences and in all my travels I have never seen a collection of people such as this one."

KAdri:

She looks at Cesare in an appraising manner.

"I like you, I think."

She says with a chuckle.

"Fate. . no. There are. . .situations, circumstances, people weaving their individual paths through the here and now to the there and then sometimes actors and sometimes acted upon. But fate? Fate is a fancy name for decisions we make, and other people make. Still, at the end, people making decisions and doing things."

Daxia

Daxia smiled. "I recall a conversation from long ago that I had with Gilly. I believe she had said something outrageous about how plans not working out the way you expect them to could be fun. I was completely baffled by that. But she said that only in the delicate balance between chaos and absolute order are people able to make decisions, to do things that matter.

"If all is chaos, then nothing we do will make a difference. If there is absolute order, everything is pre-determined, and again nothing we do will make a difference.

"I remember sitting at the edge of the practice yard as a youngling, and she was lying on the ground watching the clouds." Daxia laughed. "It took me a good while to get to the answer that Dayala -- or any of the God or Goddesses, I would imagine -- want us, want people to feel as though we matter. And the only way that is possible is if we have a say in our own lives, and are able to decide what we do." She shook her head, a look of remembered bemusement on her face. "When I realized Dayala, the Goddess of Order, the Creator of Time itself, allowed just enough chaos to exist in the world so that humankind could make decisions, I was well and truly stunned." She waved at the innkeeper, signaling him to bring her an ale.

"When I feel as though I am being swept along by events, like a leaf in the wind as you say, Cesare, I know that I am not in control of my life, that I have not been making decisions as I believe the Gods intended us to do -- or at least as Dayala intended her children to do."

She shrugged and smiled at the others in the group. "Gilly also said I would find that people who were a bit unpredictable, no matter who or what they believe in, would be the most interesting to know." She grinned broadly. "She was right about that, too."

Cesare

"So the most interesting question for those of us that believe in the Fates.. or an order to life.. is why we have ended up together at this time? What is in store for us?"

Daxia

"There is no way to tell what is in store, Cesare," Daxia said as her ale was delivered. She took a sip before continuing. "Each decision we make creates its own possibilities. Do we stop in Bordertown, or do we not stop in Bordertown? Do we travel the Highland Path north of Skaefla Plateau, or follow the Satin River south of the Plateau? To we visit Talesan's Village or Sherman's Keep? We will find something anywhere we go... whether it is a morass of intrigue as we found in Cragside, or a quiet evening conversing as we've found here tonight.

"Why have we ended up together, at this time?" She grinned. "I was told to go out and learn about the Heartwood, and the people of the Heartwood... that is the purpose of Duksheviya, the Initiate's Journey. Perhaps we are all together at this time because it was Dazi's time to journey, yes? And who better to teach about the different people of the Heartwood than this diverse group?" She took another sip of ale, looking at Cesare over the rim of the mug, a merry twinkle in her eyes.

"I don't worry about the 'why' of it," she said after lowering the mug. "I accept that it is... and enjoy the company for however long it lasts."

Cesare

"I do wonder the why of it.. and it is not that it is unwelcome.. i have found much to interest me in all of you.. some more than others."

There is a warm intimate smile for Darian and an accompanying squeeze around her waist.

"But the reason I wonder is so that I watch for the signs. If I am here for a reason, I don't want to walk past the Fates signpost and miss out on all the fun."

Kadri:

"If fate and I disagree, then, quite frankly, fate will have to go stuff it."

She smiles.

"You spend too much time watching for signs, you miss out on the opportunities. What happens only rarely resembles what you think will. The reason I am here. . is because I chose to be here, when a choice was there to be made - and I chose to continue."

She gives a bit of an inscrutable smile.

Daxia

Daxia chuckled. "I have to agree with Kadri. If signs are so minute or hidden that you need to be so careful in watching for them, you might miss something even better." She glanced between Cesare and Darian with a smile that showed her happiness for their good fortune in meeting. "I would think signs, or even messages from the Gods, ought to be large and obvious. We poor humans are not terribly observant most of the time." She took another sip of her ale, and then laughed. "I am fairly good when it comes to observing people, but I think Dayala would have to drop a unicorn in front of me to be able to see any 'signs' that are related to our coming together!"

Darian

She returned Cesare's warmth, comfortable against him.

"Aye, Darian be told 'find new territory', not which way go or where look, only find. So look. But also not forget teaching. See other things, people too. Watch, learn. New knowings make better."