• PM To Join • As one season ends, we look to the future

[Tristan Venora]

“Only one tail?“ the young noble asked incredulously and pouted a little, not really caring that it was a very personal story and telling it probably caused Aeon a great deal of pain. He was just so disappointed! “That doesn’t make any sense. In my opinion a monster that has two heads should also have two tails for the sake of symmetry. It’s interesting that the two heads were fighting each other though. That suggests that the monster also has two brains, so you’d probably have to hack both heads of to kill it. Did you hack its heads off?” he abruptly asked.

“You don’t have to thank me”, he said to Faith. “I was only telling the truth. You are the best cook that I know, and I know a lot of cooks.” With that he turned back to Aeon and watched with bated breath as he tried a piece of cake. From the dreamy look on the squire’s face one could have thought that he were making love to a beautiful woman and not just eating something – no a dozen beautiful women who were all quite eager to please him! He almost laughed out loud because it was so funny.

“Faith’s cake is divine, isn’t it?” he asked and smirked. That smirk was replaced by shock and vague confusion as Aeon spat his tea though. “Is anything wrong?” he asked innocently, although he thought he might have an idea why Aeon had reacted like that after all. “Are you allergic to something that Faith put into the cake or the tea? I don’t think I’ve ever met anybody who reacted to her cooking quite like that!”

“As for the prosthetic hand”, he continued, barely stopping to take a breath. “I can definitely make you one. I’m quite an excellent sculptor, if I might say so. Faith can confirm it.” He looked at her, hoping that she would do just that. “Elyna Burhan and Peake Andaris too, if you are looking for more impartial references. We’d just have to decide which material you want, stone, metal or maybe wood. I’d even make it for free because I like a challenge, and I’ve never made a hand before, only full body sculptures and occasionally busts. I don’t assume you want a bust that you can put on your mantelpiece in addition to a new hand?” He looked at Aeon questioningly.

He had expected Aeon to have done something heroic, so he was disappointed when the squire admitted that he had not killed the monster. “So the monster was lazy?” he wanted to know as Aeon said that it hadn’t seemed too interested in uncovering all of the rocks. “Did somebody else kill it then or did it manage to get away and is terrorizing a different part of Rynmere now?” Although he quite liked horror stories, he didn’t actually want to meet the subjects of those horror stories, so he really hoped to hear that somebody had slain the two-headed hound and that it wouldn’t show up in Venora and eat his family sometimes. Even though he occasionally disliked them, he didn’t want them to become food.

[Aeon]

In my opinion a monster that has two heads should also have two tails for the sake of symmetry. Aeon's mind was even more puzzled by the Lord's words now, considering he had never expected an answer like that one. Symmetry? He was listening to a story of a monster that could not be killed by any mortal means, and he was thinking how its appearance hadn't symmetry.. Were all lords so..so.. not even a word could come to the young squire's mind that could potently describe Tristan. Symmetry, for the Seven's sake!

Shaking his head to answer the man's question, Aeon tried going back to the moment. Even if, which was a big if, he was able to get close enough to the creature's heads, his sword would've broke before its necks would, most likely. Well, its tail wouldn't break when faced against the cold steel, why would its neck be any different? And how could the boy even know that? He never actually attempted at chopping off its head, after seeing how the arrow through the eye did nothing. Perhaps if he had tried, he might have saved all those people that the beast killed afterwards. What if it all could've gone differently, if he just wasn't afraid to go face to face with it? Then, on the other hand, would have he died along with the beast then? The matters were too dark for a moment like this, so Aeon just allowed himself to enjoy the cake.

Divine, the cake surely was that, and so the squire nodded at the question, with his eyes closed only so he could embrace the cake better. And as the tea came out of his mouth, the young one shook his head to respond to the man's question, before starting his own 'prosthetic hand' talk. Then, for a moment, Aeon was on the verge of cringing as he realized that the Lord did not seem to connect the prosthetic hand with his spitting of tea. Was it just a joke? No, surely the man couldn't have been such a good actor. These nobles, they aren't exactly of the brightest sort, Aeon thought.

"I don't doubt your sculpting Lord, I just.. I do not know how to express my gratitude, if you did that for me, I would owe you a great deal. If- if there's ever anything you want from me, anything at all, I am at your service." This man, a noble, no less, a noble that this boy, a peasant, had just met, was offering to give back what was taken from the squire by the merciless mistress of life, and with no cost. Aeon could not just stand by and accept everything Tristan threw at him as gifts, he wanted, he needed to repay him somehow, and yet there was nothing the young one could think of that he had, and the noble wanted. The scarred man had completely disregarded Tristan's proposal for a mantelpiece, adding that to the forever expanding list of strange things about this noble. As strange as he was, the noble must have been a truly good person..or just an even stranger one, seeing how he offered to do something so time-consuming, and for free.

"I've heard several people telling me it was killed after it breached the gates to midtown, and yet I don't believe them. You're free to believe what you wish, Lord, but I saw the monster, and I fought it, and as far as I remember, it could not be killed by any means known to mortals. Its wounds healed within trills, and it banged its heads onto concrete stone blocks and crushed them without being hurt. I would like to hope it was dead, but the reality is, it's most likely just waiting to kill again." There was more than just that, of course. The beast grew flames within its mouth, its tail was like the hardest steel Aeon had encountered, and it appeared to be as agile as a volareon, and as fast as an ocelot, while also being as strong as an elephant. But who would believe him if he told the story that way? That the beast was something the immortals would keep caged, that it could easily serve as an executioner of divine beings? Raising his head towards the ceiling just for a brief moment, the boy enabled himself to remember a bit better. And just as suddenly, his head was back down looking once at Velma, and once at Tristan. He did not want to remember.

[Tristan Venora]

“I didn’t think you would“, Tristan replied as Aeon told him that he didn’t doubt his sculpting. “I’m actually one of the best sculptors in Rynmere! And you don’t have to do anything for me. I’ve always wanted to make a sculpture that is good for more than just standing on a mantelpiece, although the decorative sculptures I did were a lot of fun as well. Although … come to think of it …” He broke off and furrowed his brow because he had just realized what kind of opportunity Aeon had offered and that he would be a fool if he didn’t grasp it. “… if I ever needed a squire, would you help me? I wouldn’t make you do anything that is against the law of course. Maybe I wouldn’t ever need you at all. It would be good to be able to rely on a man like you just in case though, you know?”

He looked at Aeon. Actually he wasn’t sure what he would ever need a squire for, let alone a squire that only had one eye and one arm and possibly suffered from some sort of trauma, but if Aeon insisted on expressing his gratitude, he couldn’t just deny him, could he? That would just be mean, and Tristan Venora was hardly ever mean (intentionally, at least). It was just then that Aeon told him more about the monster though, and he stopped thinking about possible uses for one-handed squires and concentrated on the story instead. And what a story it was! He couldn’t have come up with a better one himself!

“So it was essentially invincible and invulnerable?” he asked and pictured the two-headed hound going on a bloody rampage through the countryside of Rynmere. It was frightening and exciting at the same time. “Do you think it belonged to one of the Immortals? Maybe an Immortal or a Mortalborn could slay it – or a mage?” He paused for a moment as something occurred to him. “If it is still alive, why haven’t we heard more stories of its victims? Do you think … do you think it’s intelligent and decided to hide somewhere until things have calmed down?” It made sense that the hound was more intelligent than a normal monster since it had two heads and thus two brains (although he was not entirely sure how intelligent monsters normally were).

As Aeon lowered his head, Tristan realized, for the first time since the squire had entered his house, that all his questions might make the other man uncomfortable, and he even had the decency to look embarrassed, for a few trills at least, before he remarked,

“You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to or can’t of course. I’d just like to find out more about it. I don’t want it to kill any more people, not even cousin Zvezdana, and I really don’t like her!” Actually he didn’t much care about a bunch of strangers being slaughtered, but Faith, his siblings or even the fallen false queen of Rynmere – no, that was simply unacceptable!

[Aeon]

"Of course Lord, if you ever have need of me, you can count on it." The young man smiled along with his response, being relatively satisfied with the fact that he would, eventually, get to repay the man for such a great deed. Even if there was a good chance he'd never be needed by the noble, the alive side of Aeon's face was shining brightly anyways. Those scars sure were painful, and even frightening, but the boy was not going to let them drown him. Even if he had to do things differently from now on, he couldn't forget that hope was always stronger than fear, no matter how great the fear was.

"Perhaps, but I don't know why would the Immortal that made it send it alongside the rebels." T'was an interesting thought, that the beast was in fact created by an Immortal. Except Aeon knew so little about the Immortals he truly couldn't know if that would be possible, or which Immortal would even make such a hideous creature. And then there came the point he addressed with his words. He didn't think the Immortals took sides in the civil war, but if the beast was created by an Immortal, it was obvious that Immortal was on the side of the rebels. Why didn't we get such a creature fighting for us? The thought briefly crossed the young man's mind, even though it didn't stick for long, as he remembered what the monster was like. It ate through all, rebels and loyalists alike, but it, for some reason, wanted to go deeper into the city instead of chasing runaway rebels.

"I.. appreciate it Lord, but I'll be fine." Aeon smiled, attempting to comfort the briefly embarrassed noble, even though in just mere trills he didn't appear to need comforting. "I just..I don't know what I'd do if it came out and started killing again. I guess, I'm just afraid to face my mistake." Why was he now talking about his deepest feelings with a strange nobleman he had only just met? There was something about Tristan's voice in that last sentence that made Aeon feel welcomed, as if the Lord wasn't a noble at all, but just another friendly man wanting to help. He didn't sound like that before, could have his voice changed in so little time, or was the young squire finally losing it. "As for your question, I doubt that thing knows much strategy. My best guess would be that it was called back by whomever could control it, since it didn't seem to be that intelligent on its own. When I fought it, all it could care about was food, and killing, so I wouldn't think it truly knows how to calm down or hide."

The subject was quite loose, since several details have been erased from the boy's memories just because of the trauma, and also, he didn't know much about monsters of that caliber. All he, or even they, could do was guess, and then hope that their guess was right or wrong, and that didn't exactly bring any comfort to Aeon. Knowing he had no influence on who died and who lived was something that hit him hard, and now, since he didn't even know where the thing that hit him there was, he was feeling even worse.

"Lord, if you wouldn't mind, I have a question about the prosthetic hand." The young squire said after several moments of their previous conversation, and then impatiently awaited for the noble's response. If he was allowed the question, it would be: "What would you need to make it?" Because surely, making a prosthetic hand wasn't a regular day-to-day job a sculptor would be doing. Just like Tristan said, he had never done such a thing, so it must have been harder and more challenging than making a hand for a sculpture.

[Tristan Venora]

“Oh, that’s easy to answer“, Tristan replied as Aeon wondered why the hound would be sent alongside the rebels. “The Immortal in question is obviously in league with the rebels. He or she probably approves of killing people and spreading chaos. If we went to a library and did some research, we might even be able to find out who created the hound with the information we currently have.” He was rather proud of the fact that he had thought of that. “I’m not particularly keen on spending the rest of the trial in a library though”, he admitted. To him it mattered little who had created the hound. All that mattered was that it was there now, killing people. Maybe it was also eating them. He doubted that a monster ate the same things as normal dogs.

“Mistake?” he asked and furrowed his brow as he wasn’t sure what Aeon had meant. “You didn’t make a mistake. You survived where a lot of others died. If the monster starts killing again, maybe we could just set it on fire and burn it though? I doubt that it would be able to recover from that!” He congratulated himself on another great idea, although he wasn’t sure how exactly they would get the fire on the hound. It was unlikely to hold still while they surrounded it with torches. Maybe they could just shoot flaming arrows at it? Or maybe they could drench it in acid and wait for it to just dissolve itself! He’d always wanted to conduct a little chemical experiment!

He pondered the matter for a few moments until Aeon remarked that the hound had probably just been called back. He nodded. “That makes more sense”, he admitted. “I also like that better. A monster that is intelligent and invincible and invulnerable would be a bit too much. As for what I would need to make you a new hand …” He paused and thought about it. He had never made a prosthetic hand before, so he wasn’t quite sure about it, although he was confident that he could make a hand that Aeon would be happy with.

“Wood or metal”, he eventually replied. “The prosthetic limbs I’ve seen so far were usually made of one of those materials, although I’m not sure which metal I should use. There are so many options! Do you have any preferences? Of course if you’d rather have a marble hand, I could try to make one of those as well. I’d also need leather as the prosthetic hand needs to be attached to the body somehow, and I don’t assume that you want me to drive nails into your bones. You’d probably die from an infection if I did that, and it would also hurt a lot. You aren’t feeling suicidal, are you?”

He looked at Aeon closely.

[Aeon]

Even though Tristan might not have cared much about the hound, or about finding which Immortal made it, Aeon did. He cared, a little bit too much, and he needed to find out. First of all, he was talking with the lord now, and reading through a thousand books in the library could wait. Kind of. But even if it couldn't, the only polite thing would be to at least finish this conversation.

"I think it would die to water, not fire. See, it appeared to be breathing fire, or at least spitting it, since when it took my hand, my wound was immediately cauterized. " He appreciated the fact Tristan didn't consider his failure to be a mistake, but that didn't mean it wasn't a mistake. He could've done better, moved faster, held on longer. If he was just less afraid, then the mistake wouldn't have been made. But those were the if only situations Aeon knew he should be avoiding, so his mind slipped away from the thoughts of what might have been, into what was going to be, as in, what was going to be with the prosthetic hand business.

The man talked fast, not allowing the young squire to speak his mind, not until he was finished. Well, Aeon could have interrupted the noble, but why would a sane man interrupt a noble? He wouldn't. "No, no, I may not be joyful, but nowhere near that." The young man smiled at the words of suicide. What good would that do, he always thought. Sure, he made a mistake, but suicide wasn't going to fix it, or make it go away, it would only stop him from fixing what he did wrong in the past. Suicide, it was such a cowardly thing to do, right after making a mistake. Everyone makes mistakes, the real issue is facing them.

"I feel like wood would be better suiting for a leg, and marble, well, I enjoy keeping marble as accessories. So metal, I presume? If you don't have a metal you think would work Lord, I could always find one that I think would be good, and show it to you, so you can see if it would work?" Aeon wasn't going to lie, he had no clue what metal would be good for a prosthetic hand, he didn't even know half of all the metals that he could find in Rynmere. He wasn't exactly familiar with melting metal, or mining, or even, sculpting it. How would sculpting metal even work? He wondered, as he always thought of those stone statues when he thought about sculpting. There were many wonderful arts of this world that the boy still hadn't learned about, perhaps it was time he began.

[Tristan Venora]

“So we’d just have to pour some water on it, you think?” Tristan asked and furrowed his brow for a bit before he firmly shook his head. That seemed a little too easy to him. Maybe they would have to bind the hound, drag it to a river and throw it in to kill it? That, he decided, made much more sense. It would have been a grave oversight on the part of the hound’s creator to make such a terrifying monster and then give it a weakness like that, and he didn’t think that people that had the power to make monsters made such mistakes.

“Good”, he said as Aeon informed him that he was not suicidal and breathed a sigh of relief. “Then I can let the nails and the lethal infection be. I’ve never killed anybody, either on purpose or accidentally, and I’d rather not start now. Metal it is then.” He nodded. “I agree that wood may be better suited for legs. Let’s do it the way you suggested. You get me a metal you like, and I’ll see what I can do with it.”

“Is there anything else you think we should discuss?” he wanted to know and secretly decided that now would be a good time to read up on metalworking and prosthetics to make sure that his idea would really work. He was suddenly aware that his knowledge of sculpting – no matter, how great it was - might not be entirely sufficient. Maybe he’d also consult a blacksmith before he started working on Aeon’s new hand. His ambition had been awakened, and he wanted the finished product to be perfect.

[Aeon]

"I'd say it'd be a bit more complicated than that. Only that water would have a better chance of killing it than fire. Who knows, perhaps whichever Immortal made it hadn't considered the fact that we would pour water on it? Even Immortals make mistakes, surely." Because Aeon was simply too scared to think about what would be if that wasn't the case.

A little piece of his brain wanted to make a sarcastic comment at the fact that the noble had never killed a man, and yet he hadn't done it. Tristan had been nothing but kind, perhaps a little bit strange..alright, nothing but kind and strange since the young squire entered his home, and Aeon wasn't going to be rude towards a man that would do so much for him. Not that it wasn't polite, it wasn't right, morally.

Now, how, or where, or from whom was the boy supposed to get metal? What kind of metal? Would it be costly? He needed to tackle one of those questions at a time, and the first thing he decided was going to be the "where" part. Surely, that one would be easy to figure out once he was back at the..well, at the Inn, currently, or at the barracks, after the city had recovered from the civil war.

"No lord, nothing important. You're a busy man, I'd hate to waste your time just for nothing. I appreciate all that you're doing for me, but I have to be on my way now. Until another trial, I presume." And so he would part ways with the sculpting noble and his slave Velma, which was, in Aeon's eyes, and mouth, the greatest cook of the kingdom. He couldn't imagine eating such food every single day, but alas, it was not the time to drool over Velma's cooking. It was time for his recovery to begin. Slowly, but surely.

[Maltruism]

Come and get your Loot!

(There's plenty more where that came from)

FAITH:

Rewards:

• Story: +5
• Collaboration: +5
• Structure: +5

Knowledges:

• Aeon: Fought in the Battle for Andaris
• Aeon: "Fred' Will be Fine"
• Aeon: Not Overly Annoyed by Tristan
• Aeon: Takes an Personal Interest in Faith's Well-Being
• Animal Husbandry: Some Animals Like Their Master's Voice
• Baking: Need Better Equipment at Home
• Baking: Recipe: Chocolate Cherry Cake
• Cooking: Removing the Stones From Cherries
• Cosmetology: Dark Kohl Pencil Around the Lower Eyes
• Cosmetology: Subtle Eyeshadow to Emphasize Light Blue Irises
• Discipline: Not Reacting to Someone's Disfiguring Injuries
• Discipline: Staying Quiet During Aeon's Monster Story
• Discipline: Staying Out of Others' Negotiations
• Etiquette: Saying "Thank You"
• Etiquette: Sometimes Sympathy Can Seem Patronizing
• Location: Warrick: Known Only by Aeon's Description
• PC: Aeon: Injured Veteran
• Psychology: Fine Clothes to Accessorize Slaves' Chains
• Psychology: Staying Positive Under Extremes
• Psychology: Survivor's Guilt
• Psychology: The Right Degree of Compliments
• Story Telling: Talking to Horses in Andaris
• Strength: Toting Home a Ton of Groceries
• Writing: Copying from Library Books

Loot:

Another friend

Loss:

A couple pieces of cake

Injuries:

Just a tug on the ol' heartstrings for poor Aeon

Fame: 0

sorry, nothing much to gain

___________________________________________________________

AEON:

Rewards:

• Story: +5
• Collaboration: +5
• Structure: +5

Knowledges:

• Discipline: Determined to Become Something Better
• Discipline: Don't Let Inner Turmoil Show on the Outside
• Endurance: Dealing With the Pain of Battle in Everyday Life
• Etiquette: Helping a Woman With Her Bags
• Faith: An Exceedingly Serene Individual
• Faith: An Incredibly Good Cook
• Faith: Holds Kindness to be a Privilege
• Faith: Must Be a Very Good Housekeeper
• Faith: Not Ashamed of Her 'Slave' Status
• Faith: The Many Rules a Slave Must Know
• Faith: Truly Likes her Master
• Faith: "Velma' Will be Just Fine"
• Medicine: Aloe for Burns
• Medicine: Hot Weather Exacerbates Injury Pain
• Negotiation: A Prosthetic Hand for Squire Service
• Negotiation: Haggling with a Clothing Merchant
• PC: Faith: Tristan Venora's Slave
• PC: Tristan Venora: Heir to a Noble House
• Persuasion: Leave Unbelievable Details Out of an Account
• Politics: Peasants, Not Nobles, Win Wars
• Politics: Rules for Slaves are Confusing
• Psychology: A Truly Happy Slave has the Right to Remain One
• Psychology: Coming to Terms With the Itch of a Phantom Hand
• Psychology: Coming to Terms With Two-Dimensional Vision
• Psychology: Does the Hopelessness of Others Justify Your Own?
• Psychology: Healing on the Outside is Only Half the Battle
• Psychology: Taking All the Blame for the Monster's Rampage
• Ryqos: Probably Dead
• Story Telling: Describing Warrick
• Story Telling: Fighting a Two-Headed Monster Hound
• Story Telling: Speculation About the Hound's Controller
• Story Telling: The Battle for Andaris
• Tristan Venora: Blunt With His Questions and Comments
• Tristan Venora: Not Your Average Aristocrat
• Tristan Venora: Says "Hart" has a Boyfriend Named "Ruq"
• Tristan Venora: Says He and "Hart" Look Alike
• Tristan Venora: Says He Has a Cousin Named "Andraska"
• Tristan Venora: Says He Has a Half-Brother Named "Hart"
• Tristan Venora: Sculptor, Artist and Playwright
• Tristan Venora: Very Interested in the Monster Story

Loot:

A taste of perfect lemon cake

Loss:

25gn (already done)

Injuries:

None you don't already have

Fame: +3

General Good Deed - helping Faith with her supplies (+1)
Spontaneous call here - I'm figuring meeting Tristan is likely to get your name brought up here and there. (+2)

___________________________________________________________

TRISTAN VENORA:

Rewards:

• Story: +5
• Collaboration: +5
• Structure: +5

Knowledges:

• Aeon: A Veteran of the Battle for Andaris
• Aeon: Fought a Two-Headed Monster Hound
• Aeon: Has Many Very Real Scars
• Aeon: The Monster Hound Gave Him His Scars
• Acting: Mimicking Hart's Voice for Fun
• Etiquette: Clean Up Paint Supplies for Visits
• Etiquette: Don't Touch An Injured Man's Scars
• Etiquette: Food is the Best Social Accessory
• Etiquette: Offer a Guest to Tell Their Story
• Etiquette: Offering to Sculpt a Prosthetic Hand
• Monster Hound: Still Out There?
• Negotiation: A Prosthetic Hand for Squire Service
• PC: Aeon: A Squire Acquaintance of Faith's
• Painting: Heroic Slaying of Shadow Beast
• Painting: Subjects are Rendered Best When Memories are Fresh
• Painting: The Right Shade of Red for Gore
• Persuasion: Don't Hesitate to Drop Names as References
• Psychology: When You Realize Your Questions May Be Too Much
• Psychology: The Need to be Admired More
• Story Telling: All About Hart and Ruq
• Story Telling: Speculation About the Hound's Controller

Loot:

An Entertaining Afternoon's Story of Monsters

Loss:

Cost of Faith's Supplies (already done)

Injuries:

Nothing to speak of

Fame: 0

Sorry, meeting Aeon isn't going to make your name any more prominent

Comments:

A very engaging story.
I have to say that so much internal dialog often doesn't imply a lot of shared knowledge.
There are some realizations, that can be awarded as knowledges, and I tried to do that.
But don't think of that as a criticism. In fact, skill-light, IC development threads deserve generosity.
Where I find you already have enough knowledge to go legendary, I try to find other skills they could be classified under.
That is mostly for you, Faith...lol...soon to be Queen...
Certainly no structure issues! Pfffft....the very idea!
PM me with any comments or concerns