Idina Doc
Wildgardian
Could we start again, please?
Posts: 258 
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Post by Idina Doc on Nov 5, 2014 19:40:36 GMT -6
There was another within the Church's reaches, but outside of its walls: a steadfast personal creed kept her from even approaching the doors. No, she was in more familiar territory, in the garden out back that she had designed.
An obsession kept Idina awake at this hour. Sitting in the middle of the garden with her back to the building and her hood pulled up, she passed a small object between her hands, the shiny surface catching and reflecting moonlight in the freefall. She needed to crack the code of these rings. If the Minister had needed prompting to admit that he had left out the detail of the rings being useful for communication, there could be any number of other things he was hiding. *See?* she wanted to shout. *I indeed do not trust this man, nor his silver tongue!*
But the people she wanted to shout at were the very ones she held the ring for, and the very reasons she was out in the garden. Aria would never forgive her for taking a ring and bringing it into her caravan after she herself had grilled them upon this strange man's arrival. No, she couldn't let the barbarian woman know what she was doing, despite their closeness. Nor could she tell Lila. The very reason she held the silver-and-blue ring now was to satisfy her anxieties that this ring, precisely like the one the caribou had taken and worn for only a short while that day, could be hiding something sinister. She needed, absolutely needed to know that the band wouldn't have any ill effects on her beloved.
Lila, oh Lila...
The healer debated returning to the Silver Scale and asking Ashen for another ring. Perhaps they would react if they were near each other, perhaps then they would show their secrets. But everyone in the Guild was likely asleep by now, and she had already made one person angry by waking them up this week. She doubted she could handle the anger of waking the matriarch of the respectable Silver Scale for something as trivial as another ring, a topic that already made the panther agitated. There wasn't much in terms of surprised that she could handle right now, not since the Day of Sun...
She stopped passing the one she had, took it between her finger and thumb, and brought it close to her eyes. So close, in fact, that by squinting her freckled cheek almost came into contact with the cool metal. She then brought it away a little and loosened her posture, rolling the band between her fingers. There had to be something this ring was hiding, some way to unlock it...
Frustrated at the lack of progress to her search, she put the ring around the very tip of her thumb, only so much that it went across the nail, and began using the index finger on her other hand to trace the edge. After a few moments of that, the same finger was spinning the ring where it was. It fell a little farther down her thumb after a few spins, and when it fell somewhat snugly against her knuckle, her finger came down on the blue gash on the field of silver and drug across it.
A score of emotions and thoughts swirled in her head for a single moment, then her mind went completely blank. Her strength deserted her, and from her seated position she collapsed, sprawled out on the night-chilled earth.
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Post by Sarea Riel Dirao on Nov 5, 2014 20:03:34 GMT -6
A little girl?
Sarea knew of no little girl that might have a ring. As a matter of fact, children were spare in the city, apart from a few urchin-like orphans that often handed out flowers in exchange for coins. She always thought of these children as sad beings, their lives sullied by all the evil that had befallen the town in days past.
But perhaps when he meant little girl with blonde hair and brown eyes, he was speaking in a more condescending manner. For the only girl who matched that description that the bard knew well was none other than Idina Doc. She was in her twenties, but her skin and features made her look to still be an adolescent.
However, the Raven was still correct in saying that she knew her. In fact, Idina was like a sister to her. They'd met under shaky circumstances, back when both were but buds waiting to blossom. Idina, shy of people and constantly avoiding them. Sarea, lonely and without true friends. But a bond formed between the two girls as time went on to the point where they swapped stories, shared secrets, and advised one-another.
She rubbed the circlet of flowers on her arm; a commission from the earlier days of their friendship. Something to remember Jennis by. As much as she knew that Jennis would return to her one day, the gesture and the band were far too precious to the elf to let go of it. Reminding her of the days where she only had to find the Clanless. Where she didn't have to betray her friend's trust. Where she didn't have to use her vile tongue to steal so valuable a secret from such a treasure. She felt sick just thinking about the things she'd done to her friend, and yet the girl still didn't know where her allegiance was. That was what marked Sarea's utmost guilt.
"I shall find her, Master Raven. I shall go to Idina. What would you want me to do with her?" She shuddered, not wanting to know exactly what the Raven was planning. She knew how he worked: he'd give her a task, give someone else a task to go along with it, and then the end result would be horrifying and scarring to the soul. Only when everyone had done their job would the Raven make his plan known, and by then it would be too late to do anything about it.
She just hoped Idina wouldn't get hurt.
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The Raven
Apprentice Roleplayer
I am Her champion...and I will not retreat from Her will.
Posts: 52 
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Post by The Raven on Nov 5, 2014 20:08:15 GMT -6
"The girl is too knowledgeable. I have felt her listening to our conversations before. Tonight, she joins us for the first time. But already she knows too much. Bard, you will find her. You will be her friend. And a little bit more than that. You are, in the eyes of most, a beautiful creature. And your magic is astoundingly great. You will convince her that she has acted treacherously. We shall demonstrate to her why she shouldn't spy on others. Why there are things better left unknown."
He knows that the girl is to be married. His choice is based on this fact. He turns on his heel and continues pacing thoughtfully.
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Post by Sarea Riel Dirao on Nov 5, 2014 20:13:50 GMT -6
"Tha-that's awful! Master Raven, sir, I do apologise, but that is something I cannot do. She is a dear friend of mine, and I know that her fiancée makes her so happy! I was to perform at their wedding, and to hold it at my college. I will not allow for this to happen to her."
She stepped forwards, her face contorted into a desperate grimace as wisps of tear-shaped light ran down her cheeks and fell off her chin. Her lip trembled, but her hands were in determined fists. She knew the Raven was a treacherous man, but to ask this of her was just outright dreadful.
Sarea didn't know Idina's fiancée very well, apart from seeing the two together and the very few times that they'd spoken. There was the night that the girls of Fort MacNeil, before its abandoning, had decided to go to the local tavern. Sarea played, Idina and Lila danced. They seemed so happy togethe, Sarea just wished that they could dance forever, smiling at each other, laughing merrily in each other's' embrace.
"Please," she begged, "there must be something else we can do."
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The Raven
Apprentice Roleplayer
I am Her champion...and I will not retreat from Her will.
Posts: 52
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Post by The Raven on Nov 5, 2014 20:21:40 GMT -6
He looks at the begging girl, unfazed by her desperate air. Her fists are no threat to him, and her tears nearly make him grin. The one thing about the bard is her heart, far too big for any true fraud. But even when her heart is big, she can mask it well enough.
"This is your task. Do not ask anything else of meas you did with the elf. You are to convince Idina that she betrayed her fiancée. Due to their recent arguments, heir relationship is already strained. You are to be the final blow that shatters it. Make Idina look like the villain of this affair."
He steps closer to her, towering over the small elf. His mask's long beak brushes her bangs aside, giving him a clear look into her big, green eyes.
"Or would you rather I speak with the Minister, I wonder. I can tell him that you no longer wish to work alongside me. In turn, you will no longer work with him. As an effect of your departure, a promise broken. A warrior for whom your heart beats. No room for any more affection when she is all you think about. Death shall be death, and the lonely bard shall wander with an empty heart for no one to mend until death is hers, too."
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Post by Sarea Riel Dirao on Nov 5, 2014 20:28:50 GMT -6
No
All she could think was that word.
She'd made a promise to help the Minister, and that promise would eventually lead to the resurrection of her love, Jennis Mul Moongem. A proud and fair warrior, nobler than any person she'd ever met. Greater a fighter than any soldier, so beautiful a woman that ever was created.
Killed in the Century War.
That war brought only misery to her life. It killed her wife. It drove her only remaining friend mad. Had she never known his history as the Clanless, perhaps she would never have been forced to partake in the awful tasks that 'She' deemed so important.
But her heart was too full of regrets. She loved Idina, and she loved Faljere. But, above all, she loved Jennis. She felt Jennis. She knew Jennis. She was always with Jennis. There was nothing that could remove her from her heart, or lessen the amount of love she reserved just for the Half-Elf warrior.
She was desperate for that love to go somewhere. Somewhere physical, that she could actually touch and have hold onto her. A body reborn from the Earth where she now lay, heart beating and beating only for Sarea. She would do anything to hold onto that dream, even if it meant destroying another. She knew it was blind and dumb, but she just couldn't help it.
She stepped away from the Raven's mask and let her fists soften. "Alright," she managed to croak, "I'll do it. I will be be the reason that a beautiful love is shattered. But if I do, know that my heart will sing no more. Once this is done, you must convince the Minister to do what he promised."
With that, she slid her finger across her ring and disappeared from sight, leaving nothing but the sound of her voice in the plane.
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Post by Ibelin Dumont Baltonien on Nov 5, 2014 20:32:06 GMT -6
Well, titties was gone. That made his interest in this meeting drop by a ton. But, still, he tried his best to pay attention to what was going to happen next, as to hopefully not end up having to cry like she did. He doubted that would happen. He'd get his wenches and gold soon enough, so he'd do whatever he could for as long as it took.
"What's my job, then, Chipper? And what o we do about this girl? Want me to go find her?" he wondered aloud drumming his gloved fingers along the hilt of his sword. "I'm a good host. I'll make her feel welcome."
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The Raven
Apprentice Roleplayer
I am Her champion...and I will not retreat from Her will.
Posts: 52
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Post by The Raven on Nov 5, 2014 20:40:24 GMT -6
He looks at the warrior with disgust in his eyes. This blithering idiot is too confident in his lack of skill for his own good. He only uses him as his monkey, and why he cannot see that is beyond him.
"We will wait for her to join us. I have a new plan. Initiated by the bard, but to be continued by us. In time, when I know her part is successful, we shall do our part. Until then, our meeting shall continue."
His feet kick off the stone, his arms outstretched with his cloak, and he flies backwards into the night, his body joining with the maddening winds of black and purple. He makes his thoughts hard once more, and his face is everywhere and nowhere at once, like flashes of lightning, concealed by a mask.
The Minister told you about my displeasure.
I am displeased because there is a flaw.
The integrity of our mission is in danger.
The people still do not trust the Minister.
He is a fine man.
No harmful intentions.
He simply wishes to spread Her word.
You are to convince the people of this, no matter the cost.
Lies.
Bribery.
Deals.
Anything to gain trust.
Then, and only then, will they willfully disregard that fact that he is alligned with me.
Let the third one know of this that I speak.
Her mission has just begun.
But she must know the rest.
His eyes wander from subordinate to subordinate. Each of their faces is so ripe with emotion, he can tell their thoughts from a single twitch or blink. They are fearful, full of worry.
I am not pleased.
But I will not harm you.
It is the others that I must harm.
Your mission is what bridges mine and the Minister's.
With me, you hunt the Wood Elf.
With him, you build his Church into a powerful nation.
It is Her that connects the two missions together.
To hurt you would be to disrespect Her.
And that is something I will not do.
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Idina Doc
Wildgardian
Could we start again, please?
Posts: 258
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Post by Idina Doc on Nov 6, 2014 14:27:17 GMT -6
Trees zipped across Idina's vision as her consciousness crossed over from her physical body to the Insubstantial Plane. Familiar oak, birch, cherry, altogether too many types of tree to be able to name them all, passed her as they would in her childhood memories of running through the forest of her youth. The trees were dense and the underbrush thick, but a path had been stamped down through them by frequent travel, and her feet were so used to this path that she hardly had to think of where they touched down. She knew that the edge of the forest wasn't far away now, and if she kept running she would break through soon. The farther she ran, the more the trees lost their saturation, fading from brown and green to black and purple-blue at a rapid rate.
The transition from forest to field was sudden, and when she left the trees and came to a stop, a look behind her showed vast flatness. It had been an transitory illusion. She turned her head back, noticing green wisps of light from where her eyes had been. Yes, this was familiar. She had come to the Plane a few times in dreams, and most had begun in his manner. There was what appeared to be a furious storm spinning about seventy feet away from her, however; that for sure what new.
Tentatively, she stepped towards the storm, assuming it wouldn't harm her but cautious just in case. The swirling clouds were thicker than they were dense, and every so often a little bit of colour could be seen between two of them. Least notable of these colours was the blue or purple or gray, of which there were many hues and shades on the Plane. Amid this, however, an occasional flash of red or gold would catch her eye, and some distinctly blond hair made its appearance at times as well. There seemed to be someone, at least one person, within the spinning clouds and colours, and they seemed unaffected by it. A voice was sounding now, somewhat familiar but largely different from any she had heard before. She drew a breath, ready to call out to them--
The image of that mask appeared before her, and she fell back after a scream. A mix of scared, surprised, and confused, she remained frozen on the ground ten or so feet away. The voice sounded still, resonating across the Plane.
A glimmer of curiousness flickered in her brown eyes. The mask had been of a raven, but the voice did not belong to the face she'd seen unmasked on the Day of Sun; it was much too deep and slow to be Faljere's. This was someone different, and yet she felt it was connected to the Raven's mask.
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Post by Lukis "Drunkard" Vinterheim on Nov 6, 2014 18:20:01 GMT -6
There it was!
A scream amongst the chaos and darkness that the Raven seemed to call 'home'. A sound like that certainly wasn't a noise he was accustomed to in the storm, and despite his infrequent visits due to lack of regular meetings, screaming usually only came from Ibilin when Sarea kneed him in the balls or if the Raven surprised any of them. Usually, Lukis had the highest-pitch scream. Odd, considering the female among them, but Lukis always practiced.
"Um, Master Raven, sir, what was that noise?" he asked dully, searching his rear and his sides. If it was who he thought it was, then he didn't quite need his weapons, considering seeing the Raven was scary enough, but if it was just something that the Raven added to the little concoction of anarchy, then it just wasn't funny.
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Idina Doc
Wildgardian
Could we start again, please?
Posts: 258
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Post by Idina Doc on Nov 6, 2014 18:30:54 GMT -6
Another voice came from the storm, this one clearer than the previous. Not only more understandable, but more familiar, too. She'd know that drunken Nordic accent anywhere!
Cued by the voice she recognized, Idina's mind began analyzing everything she'd seen since coming to the Insubstsntial Plane. So that was Lukis' voice she'd just heard, which meant he was one of the people in the eye of this storm. That fit the blond hair she'd seen, but not the red and gold. She'd never seen him wear colours that bright, but there had to be someone else who did... Immediately an image of Ibilin came to mind, and she willed it away just as quickly. Perhaps he was the other one within the chaos, though. But why would he and Lukis be there, especially with someone like the Raven present, if that was indeed him...?
She hadn't noticed until now, but she bore a silver ring on her thumb in this realm, the slit upon it glowing blue. Upon seeing it again, an epiphany began to form: the two men in question both wore rings like those the Minister had been distributing as wraith-be-gone charms. That had to be the reason they were both here!
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The Raven
Apprentice Roleplayer
I am Her champion...and I will not retreat from Her will.
Posts: 52
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Post by The Raven on Nov 6, 2014 18:36:16 GMT -6
A scream.
Of course.
She must have seen me, if only momentarily.
Yes, she is among us now.
Hiding.
Seeking.
Wanting.
Wanting what, you ask?
An answer.
The face of the Raven is one she recognises.
The voice is not one she knows yet.
The clouds continue to circle around him, concealing his figure and making it appear as if he is floating among them. He remembers seeing a flash of brown and green among the chaos: the girl with the illegitimate ring. He remembers her squirming, writhing in fear at the sudden and momentary appearance of the rogue. And he smiles.
You all know your tasks.
This meeting is done.
But first, something else.
Shall we see who's at the door?
Why yes, a little girl.
With a wish for death.
He uses the shadows to float around the meeting place. He stays out of everyone's sight. No friend or foe can see him within the darkness. It is then that he finds her once more and circles around her. She cannot see him. He can see her. His hands are placed on her shoulders.
It is time for you to wake up.
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Idina Doc
Wildgardian
Could we start again, please?
Posts: 258
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Post by Idina Doc on Nov 6, 2014 23:04:20 GMT -6
That deep, foreboding voice had begun again, seemingly occupying all the space in this realm, yet she couldn't make heads or tails of what it was saying. The freckled healer distracted herself from it with her own thoughts as she tried to piece together everything that was happening. So Lukis and Ibilin both had rings, and they were both here in the company of the Raven, but this Raven was a different one than that whom she knew, or whom she thought she knew. The rings had to be the connection, and she believed she knew how they worked. But something didn't make sense still...
Suddenly she felt pressure upon her shoulders; her whole body chilled as though she'd fallen into a frozen lake, and fear welled up inside her as though she were staring at a burning forest. The voice boomed in her head, this time perfectly intelligible, informing her that now was her time to wake up. Her mind went blank again, thinly veiled by several different thoughts and tangents that blurred together as her consciousness shifted locations again.
Idina awoke with a start, once again in the garden behind the church, paying no heed to the crumbs of dirt now plastered to one cheek. She waited for her breathing and heartbeat to slow, waited for the sickening feeling of those otherworldly hands on her shoulders to fade. She had much thinking to do, but it would have to wait for a few moments.
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Post by Sarea Riel Dirao on Nov 7, 2014 17:28:11 GMT -6
"Find Idina. Find the girl," Sarea reminded herself as she passed slowly made her way down the vertical steps of the Church, cautious not to make too much sound in the nighttime's silence.
"Ruin the engagement."
She had been given a task by the Raven, and she knew that she had to carry it out. Shaking her head in dismay, she thought back on the situation that had occurred only recently in the Insubstantial Plane, shrouded in darkness with an eerie note just drifting in the backdrop. She's tried tried bargaining, she'd tried pleading, but the rogue seemed only to be indifferent to her display of emotion. In fact, it was almost as if it pleased him, like he enjoyed watching others suffer.
Then he'd brought up her wife, and how he's talk to the Minister about holding on to her reward for working with such a nasty man. Jennis would remain dead so long as Sarea still had doubts about her task.
But now she wore a mask. This mask was not like his. It didn't conceal a mysterious face so that none may see the features and make sense of who that person was. It didn't resemble any creature, its features contorted and strange and nightmarish to strike fear into the hearts of those unfortunate enough to look upon it. Rather, this mask was subtle, plastered to her face as if it were her own. Obscuring what would normally be a frown and tearful eyes was a gentle smile and a glow that radiated happiness. This mask was meant to deceive, to make someone unaware of what was truly transpiring behind it, and in that regard, it was all the same.
"Idina!" the bard cried out, her voice like a song. "Idina!"
She would search the barren, silent town for her friend. She would search the River Ann's shore. But where she did find the girl was in the garden behind the Church, both an obvious spot and an unlikely one.
Sporting her best smile, Sarea advanced towards her. "Idina! I've been looking for you!"
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Idina Doc
Wildgardian
Could we start again, please?
Posts: 258
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Post by Idina Doc on Nov 7, 2014 17:51:32 GMT -6
A voice was calling her name. Her heart still raced with fear, and the word shot through her and made her jump in surprise. For a moment, the healer's thoughts were too muddled to be able to distinguish whose voice this was; it was feminine, that she knew, but she knew many lovely women and girls in the city. However, upon hearing her name again, the accent jogged her memory. There was only one person with such a distinct accent, one person whose every word could sound so much like a song.
Her blood began to cool, and a smile grew on her own face. "Sarea!" she called back. She still felt too jarred to stand, but hopefully her call would bring the elf to where she was.
Sure enough, it wasn't long before Sarea was in the garden with her. "Looking for me?" the human repeated. "What for?" Catching herself, she added, "I mean, of course it is lovely to see you! It always is! But why at this hour? I would have thought you to be asleep by now."
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