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D

"Is possible," he agrees with Zoltan. "I profess to known not. Ultimately it doesn't matter. The choice I have made serves my own purposes. Should it align with such a lofty goal, I am happy to have it so."

At the exchange from the Captain and on to the Seneschal's words, D can't help but frown ever so slightly. Only someone paying quite a bit of attention would notice the flicker of emotion that crossed his visage. It is gone in an instant as he recovers his composure.

The humor at the poor orc's name doesn't seem to faze D. To him names are just something that exists, whether or not you ascribe meaning to them, that is your choice. Certainly he had when he chose his own moniker, but others might not, and that matter not to him.

[Ghosted for Owain]

Nestaron

He spoke to D and Zoltan.

"I know little of Heaven, but of Hell I will say that it cannot be fought with armies. The demons are not invaders or conquerors, like the Crusader would have us think. Those ideas reveal more about him than the demons.

"The demons want only to feast on our souls and cannot resist that one desire. They shouldn't be thought of as a rampaging horde. They are fire. They burn, they consume, they destroy.

"Some, like the Diabolist, would say that fire can be harnessed. Maybe it can. But it will always be fire and if unleashed..."

He sipped his wine and broke off a hunk of bread.

"Sorry. My point is: Whenever you explain to yourself, that what you do is for a greater good, you risk losing sight of what 'good' is."

Heilbutt

Well now he just looked confused, looking around for anyone who could explain the joke.

"The halibut is a noble fish, most prized amongst the bounty of the depths."

<Weston>

He saw the 'exchange of glances' between Zoltan and the Captain. For all his alleged piety, Zoltan had plenty of failings of his own, as did most people. So it seemed a bit hypocritical, of him. In stead of making a scene about that, he ignored that and instead nodded at the seneschal's remark and smiled at the Captain. "I =do= appreciate the offer. If I ever learn anything, I will be sure to seek your aid."

(OOC - MikeD - To clarify. Zoltan is certainly 'pious', but not in the way we think of piety. He is fanatical in his belief and following his god, but his god doesn't care about petty things like drinking, fornication, gambling, killing, and such. So what Weston may see as failings, are not failings for Zoltan.)

[[ Oh I get that. No, Weston was 'thinking out loud' more along the lines of how ironic it was that Zoltan was 'thinking badly' about a man who 'failed' and lost his sobriety while he, himself, has a tendency to 'fail' and lose his temper ... at least that is the impression he was given by those who recruited him <weg>

And Weston hasn't seen any reason to =completely= discount that ... yet <wink> ]]

Seyja


Her laughter dying down to an occasional chuckle, Seyja cocked her head to one side and gave Heilbutt an appraising stare, wondering if he was just pretending not to get the joke.

No, she decided after a moment, he really didn't get it.

"Just a joke... it struck me that halibut sounded sorta like hell of it if you said it fast."

She leaned toward the half-orc and slapped his shoulder.

"Just struck me as funny."

[Ghosted for Khamsin]

Jex

He sighed and caught his breath, and seeing Heilbutt put somewhat at ease by Seyja, he followed her lead.

Jex poured some of that ale into their goblets and raised his.

"Well said. To the mighty halibut! A fine fish indeed."

Tindarien

There are several conversations going on and some laughter. He cannot follow all of them and is currently focused on the discussion between D and Zoltan, two people who interest him.

He responds to D's early comment.

"So your thinking is that those of us that lack a firm beginning in life might be looking for something more and that makes us more likely to take up the call to adventure? Interesting theory and probably right in my case."

<Weston>

He looked at Tindarien and shrugged. "Maybe I am the exception that proves the rule. I had a pretty decent upbringing. Better than a =lot= of folks all things considered. And the fact that I was ... 'adopted' ... I didn't know =that= until much later. No, I got into this when it became clear to me that I was not cut out for my 'fathers' business, running caravans."

Seyja


She smiled and nodded, lifted her tankard and intoned, "Well, here goes all our woes!"

Seyja's expression grew solemn, even troubled, for a moment, but she forced a smile back onto her face and drank down a healthy gulp of the ale.

GM

Heilbutt toasted the halibut and quaffed another cup of the brown ale. He thought Seyja was sharply minded to have asked for the ale. It hadn't occurred to him. He took things at face value. No ale on offer meant there was no ale. At least he was learning something on this trip, rather than just acting as the mule like he did for Fuldroik.

The Baronessa sat and watched the rest of you seated at her table. She sliced wafers from a sausage with an ornate khanjar, eating them straight off of the sharp, curved blade.

She looked very relaxed, but for the subtle roving of her eye, and shifting of her head to hear better. Her Ladyship was far from bored, she was ferociously interested in her guests, but was physically nonchalant by nature.

Having heard aplenty, she finally spoke.

"Is 'who a man is', what he has done, or what he may do? Is it where he is from, or who his parents are?

"It is what he does. In this moment, with his next breath. And I think what has drawn you to this life you lead," she said, "is that you know this."

Lady Morgen smiled, sly, sultry. "But do you know you know this? That is a question."

A pause.

Clearing his throat, Captain Achelus pushed out his chair.

"Milady, my thanks! You have been a delight as always, but with my next breath I must bid you a good night, I deem.

"Perhaps our esteemed guests would like to join me for a smoke?"

[[Captain Achelus will take a walk along the wall and smoke a pipe. You can join him, or stay, or any alternative you wish. Indicate whether you wish to play out scene, otherwise we will scene-shift to morning.]]

[OOC D would stay and talk to learn more of her ladyship. But I am fine with glossing over that and heading to the morning post. Even a little note as to what might have been learned.]

Tindarien

He smiles at Weston & the Baronessa's responses and figures out that this announcement by the captain is an invitation to follow observed practice here. Having finished his food, he tops up his initial cup of wine and moves to accompany the captain, intending to stay upwind of any smoke and to enjoy the fresh night air before retiring.

Zoltan

Zoltan nods to the Captain as he rises to leave. Zoltan himself remains in the company of the Baroness and continues the conversation. All things being equal, the Baroness is easier on the eyes than Captain Achelus.

(OOC - Am fine moving on whenever you are.)

<Weston>

With so many leaving, it seemed as though it would be OK for him to leave as well. He didn't have much interest in more drinking or in standing around the pipe smoking Captain. He decided he was ready to get some sleep.

D

D sat and toyed with his wine goblet as people stood to leave.

Seyja


There was a considerable amount of pretty good ale left and Seyja decided to keep it company, at least for a while longer.

She downed another tankard full and began to sing in a happy but not overly boisterous tone.

"Glorious, glorious,
One keg of ale for the for of us.
Thanks to the gods there's no more of us,
'Cause one of us could drink it all alone."

[Ghosted for Khamsin]

Jex

He stayed while he was welcome, and accompanied Seyja was his lute and his own goblet.

The bard had a sneaking suspicion that this would rile the Seneschal.

[Ghosted for Owain]

Nestaron

He nodded to Heilbutt and pushed out his own chair.

"Our thanks for your hospitality, Ladyship. We have enjoyed our day here, but tomorrow will be an early rise. I promised Master Casados of The Issitia we'd see them off, before we also set out.

"So on on behalf of our party, I bid you a pleasant evening."

Making sure his half-orc companion was in tow, Nestaron headed straight for their apartments with Weston. He wanted to be asleep by the time Seyja and Jex rolled in.

Nestaron didn't disapprove of their behaviour one jot, but he always liked to watch the sunrise in the morning and at this time of year, that was early.

GM

The Seneschal twiddled his thumbs and forced a neutral expression onto his face, as Seyja and Jex decided to stay and finish off the ale. Was the local mild that good? He didn't drink it himself. Maybe they would've stayed for any ale. Louts.

The Baronessa grinned and watched Jexric's technique, the swivelling of the wrist, playing with thumb and fingers.

"I like this style of yours, Señor Jex." She said, rather amusingly pronouncing his name Hex, "It reminds me of a home I once had."

The Seneschal sniffed, saying, "I rather prefer a humble madrigal myself."

Lady Morgen curled her lip and huffed, "Ah, the perfect music to slit your wrists by!"

"Some solemnity might be appropriate, milady? These are troubled times."

"And those are exactly the times that you need passion for life! That is the meaning of the music of the flame, flamenco, born amongst the gypsies of the Empire's South."

The Seneschal held his hands up in mock surrender, then bowed his head in deference.

"Alas, I am a Northerner like your late husband, milady. My ignorance of the South has always been a terrible burden on me. I shall withdraw and leave you with our guests. The guards are outside if---"

"Thank you, Seneschal," Lady Morgen said, "please send in my handmaidens."

The Seneschal bowed curtly and left through the main archway, pausing to inspect the guards standing either side.

The Baronessa watched him go with a subtle, perhaps exasperated shake of her head.

She sipped her wine and smiled charmingly at you.

"Pay no heed to my Seneschal. You are fine company."

***

Out on the battlements, the Captain had unpocketed a tobacco pouch and stuffed a clay pipe with remarkable assuredness for a drunkard. He lit the pipe with a tindertwig and leaned with his foot on one of the crenels.

From here, they had a view inland. It wasn't one Tindarien had seen up till now.

On a summer night like this, there was a lingering luminance to the sky. The stars dazzled, but it was the myriad of subtle, cosmic shades between them that gave it the breathtaking depth and beauty.

The high elf saw one of the flying realms far overhead, a darker mass against the cosmic backdrop, a floating island, speckled with clusters of yellow light. Civilisation. It was commonly called Clock Land, and signalled midnight.

Below, the land south of town seemed ill-defined, jumbled. Pale rock terraces topped with dark forest, criss-crossing into the night. It was hard enough to navigate by eye, even those as keen as Tindarien's, navigating by foot, under a hot sun was going to be a slog.

Achelus was puffing smoke, watching the high elf out of the corner of his eye.

"Just stick to the river, it will lead you right to the Titan's Elbow." He said, sounding entirely sober.

Seyja


"He's hard to ignore, Lady," Seyja said as she refilled her tankard from the keg which was now almost empty.

"He looks like his upper lip smells bad."

D

He watched and listened. "His type are everywhere," he commented softly. "I imagine that you keep him around because he is efficient, though to be fair that is just a guess."

He considered for a moment and then decided direct was better than any other way. "Have we met? Before that is?"

Tindarien

He is content to enjoy the night air and the silence but the captain feels a need to say something. Tindarien had been tracing their proposed route with his eyes as best he can, just in case it revealed anything.

He turns slowly to look at the Captain. Either he is a good actor. either pretending to be drunk before or sober now.. or that pipe smoke has some miraculous properties.

"The knight went the other way. Was he given this same advice? And apart from it being shorter, are then any other reasons to support taking the river route?"

Zoltan

He sips at his wine, listens to the music, and watches as the Seneschal takes his leave.

At the Baroness' words he shakes his head. "We pale in comparison, my Lady. You grace us with your company."

As Jex continues to play, he stands, holding out a hand. "Might I be so presumptuous as to ask you to dance? It is music that needs movement to fully appreciate I think, yes?"