Author Topic: Chapter 5: A Hermit's Most Dolorous Recounting, or: I Wish I Was In Chancel (Read 36663 times)

Skyrock · « **Reply #20 on:** March 27, 2021, 01:26:47 PM »

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dman · « **Reply #21 on:** March 27, 2021, 07:53:53 PM »

Hank watches and listens with concern as Mist and Nadja walk away. He notes the change in the birds.

Raineh Daze · « **Reply #22 on:** March 28, 2021, 01:04:10 AM »

Yuki stares curiously at Mist and Nadja, though her intention appears to be to stare a hole into the back of Mist's head.

dman · « **Reply #23 on:** March 28, 2021, 11:39:29 AM »

Hank's fists blaze into fire as he turns toward Mist and Nadja. He advances toward Mist with the fierce single-minded purpose of a man who knows what he has to do to protect his daughter from a snake. But as he reaches back for his bow...

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tears begin to fall. He shifts the motion of hands to wipe his eyes, and as he does his tears extinguish the fire.

He places his hand on Nadja's shoulders. "Dearest Nadja, You are not a silly ginger. You are beautiful, strong, and capable woman. You've passed through suffering, abuse, and death and have lived to carry on. You are welcomed, loved, and appreciated in our family. You've been wounded and manipulated, and it will take time for you to recover, but know this - that I will do everything in my power to protect you and help you realize your lofty dream of being a nice, boring normal girl with a nice, boring husband and even nice (if sometimes nerve wracking) children. Perhaps you'll even get more than you hoped for." Hank winks and smiles reassuringly, but then becomes serious. "Mist has given her heart to shadow. She wants you to stay trapped like she is - beholden to some dark power. I would advise you not to trust her. Just remember that I care for you, that our congregation cares for you, and that you have a Heavenly Father who cares for you far more than you could ever ask or imagine."

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Hank turns to Mist and asks earnestly. "You are a precious woman, Mist. You don't have to be a slave to shadow. When did you give yourself to some dark patron? Who is it? Why did you do it, and for goodness sake why would you try to trick poor Nadja into doing the same?"

Skyrock · « **Reply #24 on:** March 29, 2021, 03:41:43 PM »

Nadja looks confused.

"You are all so awfully nice to me, but it is so conflicting how different the things are you offer me! Maybe it would make sense if I were real people."

David harrumphs.

"Sweet Nadja, maybe you could be of use to us with what you know about your fair folk patron. There are some... things marked with what appears to be the symbol of your patron."

He goes on to describe the grotesque effigies, not leaving out the bit about the broken axes and the mud tattoos. Nadja turns pale.

"Those are man-eating wodewose, some of the most fierce followers of my dear queen Devania. They run buck-naked through the woods, smearing themselves with the blood of their victims and gaining strange powers from it. Clearly my fair mistress must have taken offense at someone attacking her woods, and instructed her followers to eat those responsible. The White Guard must think I have something to do with it, with me carrying the same symbol."

She looks sorrowfully to the woods.

"We could still cut it cross-country and avoid the witch hunters. The wodewose won't go after a fellow servant of the queen, and if you stay closely with me, they may regard you as invited by me, or at least neutral."

Nanshork · « **Reply #25 on:** March 31, 2021, 06:42:57 PM »

"We were buried together, we are real people together. I sense things remember," Niko says to Nadja as if that solves everything. "Not fighting would be best, yes?"

skydragonknight · « **Reply #26 on:** April 04, 2021, 11:01:57 AM »

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"As long as we reach our destination, it doesn't matter how we arrive. Come Nadja, lead the way. Show us the right path."

Skyrock · « **Reply #27 on:** April 05, 2021, 03:46:14 PM »

You cut your way cross-country, led by Nadja. The white guards change their course, but as individuals you can easily outpace their rigid formation.

As you reach the outskirts, you come across the aforementioned effigies of human remains, many marked with a glyph resembling Nadja's holy symbol. You companion is visibly startled, but soldiers on through the undergrowth.

The wood is filled with ancient trees, although there are several gaps where they have been felled. Some of the stumps are coated in old blood - and upon closer examination, the blood came from within the stump, where normally the sap would be. More than one of them has a crude cross carved into the surface; others show blood-sprinkled rotten water skins and other effects of labourers who have been struck down.

Eventually, you feel being watched. A couple of small, slender women with barky skin and green hair attempt to hide from you, and as your path leads you too close to their hiding spot for their comfort, they transform into trees, pretending they always stood here.

Others join to watch you - mishappen humanoids, covered in shaggy green fur and in crude tattoos of mud and blud, clad in raw animal skins and leaves, and carrying clubs, wooden spears and other primitive weapons. They try to follow you unseen as good as possible, but steer clear of Nadja. Sometimes, when one of you gets separated too far from her, one of them comes closer, bloodlust in his eyes, but retreats as soon as you manage to close up to your redhead companion again.

Eventually you reach a spot in the deep forest that seems special - overgrown, with flat rocks covered with thick moss, and eminating a strong but invigorating smell. "This is the spot I have seen in my dreams" Nadja whispers to you, "but I have no idea what I am supposed to do."

A slender pale hand appears on Nadja's shoulder and gently guides her to lay down on one of the mossy rock slabs. You get a better look of her - a slender but tall woman, her body barely covered by leaves, her red hair crowned with flowers - a tone of red that has striking similarity to that of Nadja.

"Oh, my little doe, my lost little doe Nadja" the strange woman purrs in a soft voice as she rubs your companions shoulders - setting off a transformation in Nadja's dress that gradually intensifies and wanders down, first linen becoming rough threads, then rough threads becoming crude bast balls, then crude bast balls becoming flax leaves and blossoms. The strange woman seems unfazed by this change, and instead proceeds to braid flowers into Nadja's hair.

"Lost little doe, you never have an idea what you are supposed to do. Or how to act when your Queen calls you. First you act as if you deny me, hiding in this ugly dead city. Then, you ignore my call for many springs. And finally, you have the audacity to bring strangers to this sacred place, guiding them right past the guardians who should have unseamed them from the nave to the chaps long before they even came within 2 miles.

I had hoped diminishing your magic would help you to correct your ways, but that apparently didn't teach you enough. What if I turn you into a literal doe to take away your ability to sillily gossip about our secrets, and then watch as the wodewose butcher and eat the people who brought here in front of your cute little doe eyes? Hm? Would that finally be a lesson you would keep?"

Nadja's eyes widen, while the woman continues her braiding handiwork, keeping the soft and cheerful tone of a young domestic doing embroidery.

"Things like this happen all the time in the jungle. It's survival of the fittest. In the jungle, it's the daily violence of the strong overcoming the weak."

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Nanshork · « **Reply #28 on:** April 05, 2021, 10:40:26 PM »

Niko tenses up but doesn't say anything or make any threatening moves. This could get violent quickly and he is better at killing these beings than talking to them.

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dman · « **Reply #29 on:** April 05, 2021, 11:50:41 PM »

"Great lady of the forest, forgive us for intruding. You have the enduring patience of the great oaks. Our dear Nadja has been entombed as a result of the machinations of dark powers and violent men. Upon her rescue I pledged to protect her and help her rebuild her life. We were on our way to right the injustice in which she has been caught up when she heard your call. Nadja is a simple girl who wishes to lead a simple life unentangled by the vicissitudes of the violence of the wild. Forgive me for being so forward, but I'm sure we can come to an agreement on the matter and leave quickly without upending the delicate equilibrium of your primal domain."

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Skyrock · « **Reply #30 on:** April 06, 2021, 07:31:56 AM »

Devania's proxy looks a lot of milder, and begins to tousle Nadja's hair.

"Entombed? Oh, is that what happened? Poor little doe, why didn't you tell me? Here, will you rub this salve on your tummy while we keep talking?"

She shoves a small crude clay jar into Nadja's hands, something in her tone making it clear that this is not an optional request. Only after your redhead companion obeys does she continue.

"Afraid that I can't just let my sweet little doe go, not before she has served her corvée. As you may have noticed, there are evil humans, invading my realm and murdering my subjects, especially the dear and rare woodwifes. Only one in 1,000 children of the wild people becomes one, and they grow up with the sublime slowness of their tree brethren, so each of their deaths is keenly felt. Something must be done about it."

Nadja looks at her mistress, not a little worried.

"So, m-my fair queen, you want me to go out and destroy their encampment?"

Devania's proxy breaks out in bell-like laughter, obviously amused.

"Oh, sweet little doe! Look how adorable she is, so eager to ram her cute stubby antlers against the palisades, just to please her mistress.
No, sweet little doe, such a dangerous and aggressive role is not for someone as weak and precious as you. You have other gifts with which to serve the strong."

Nadja looks a bit puzzled. "G-gifts...?"

Devania's proxy speaks slowly, as if explaining something obvious to anyone but a silly child.

"Sweet little doe, only very few woodwifes are born among the wild people, and their numbers are getting scarcer and scarcer as the evil men hunt them down. Fewer woodwifes mean also fewer wodewose born, whose numbers are already too low to raze the camp and slaughter its evil inhabitants, and it is only getting worse every season.

You, on the other hand, are blessed to only bear daughters, with inborn loyalty and love to your Queen, and your Queen's pretty and magic-infused crimson locks.
The salve I gave you will limit that blessing to your immediate daughters, but will not affect your children's children, and their children, and their children henceforth.

Therefore, I volunteer your hand to the Wodewose King, to become his eager and prized consort-mate enjoying his protection from all danger and scarcity."

Nadja looks at her Queen - looks at the shaggy, mishappen faces of the blood-covered wodewose staring at her - and then
s c r e e e e a a a a m suntil she breaks down in inconsolable sobs.

Devania's proxy looks a bit lost at the reaction of her subject, and caresses her shoulder while continueing her tousling.

"Tut, tut, tut, sweet little doe. I know I ask a great sacrifice of you, but it is only until the tribe of the wild people is strong enough to overcome those wicked lumberjacks. The time for trees to fully grow up and therefore for your woodwife daughters to become ready for breeding is just... like, what, a third of a human life span, or a quarter? Or maybe it was three human life spans, I don't recall.
I promise that I will restore the gift of your blessed ancestry afterwards, and if you are good consort-mate, will also give you back your other powers. Hm? Now calm yourself. Calm yourself!"

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skydragonknight · « **Reply #31 on:** April 06, 2021, 07:43:49 AM »

"We are grateful, Great Lady, that you will be taking care of Nadja. We were concerned when we found her and started taking care of her, but we are relieved that she has found home and kin.

"We are on a task from the Wintercourt that takes us to the mountains and seek safe passage through your lands." Mist says. "The Men in White who trespass your lands also seek to end our task, as it's completion would harm their position within the cities of men. I can explain in further detail if the Great Lady requires it."

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dman · « **Reply #32 on:** April 06, 2021, 06:56:30 PM »

"Lady of the forest, as you care for your children so I care for mine, and I represent Nadja as her father. You see that Nadja is distressed. The situation of your woodwives is distressing. As you have heard Nadja's presence is important for own mission of justice against evil men. The time we need to fulfill our mission is a trifling in comparison to you own. Tell us more about your story and perhaps we can find a solution that brings swift justice and restoration to all sides."

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Raineh Daze · « **Reply #33 on:** April 07, 2021, 03:21:44 AM »

"How about we remove the lumberjacks now?" Yuki says, opting for stating the simple solution. In Sylvan, at least; she didn't want even more misunderstandings--when she said now she meant now, not some time in the next three seasons.

Diplomacy wasn't her forte, by any means.

Skyrock · « **Reply #34 on:** April 07, 2021, 03:40:47 AM »

The divine nymph gives a warm smile to Hank and Yuki

"Removing the evil men hurting my little ones now would be a possibility, yes, if you consider yourself capable. Although I would need to keep Nadja here until you are done, my little doe is much too precious and delicate to risk her on an expedition like that."

To Mist, she is much more curt.

"As friends of my little doe, you are free to go, as long as you don't disturb my little ones including these very woods. Now if you want to do something about the Men in White, I first want the ones hurting my little ones removed.
Once my realm borders the big dead city, or they send new evil men from it, I will care about it."

dman · « **Reply #35 on:** April 07, 2021, 06:18:04 PM »

"We would be happy to remove the lumberjacks who are threatening your realm. In return I would ask you to free Nadja from your service and into my care. It is her dearest wish to lead a mundane life without these supernatural gifts and obligations, and as you can see from her countenance and as you have already indicated she is ill-suited to the rigors and duties which you require of her. I ask as a father on behalf of his daughter. She just wants to be a normal woman."

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Skyrock · « **Reply #36 on:** April 08, 2021, 07:05:12 AM »

The proxy again breaks out in bell-like laughter.

"If you manage to raze the camp, afterwards you may pick up Nadja and take her along again, for I would have no immediate use for her.

But you are quite mistaken about being released from service, or that even being possible. My little doe has been born into service to me, her crimson locks show as much, and they make her so much more than a 'normal woman', something so very different from a 'normal woman'. That request would be as nonsensical as a wolf rebelling against its breed, and instead wanting to brachiate the trees and living off nuts and berries like a 'normal squirrel', and asking me to release it from its calling.

Her body has just grown too soft spending so much time in civilization, her mind too confused by what dead city 'humans' have fed her, her soul too alienated from her natural calling..."

At this, Nadja takes a break from her sobbing for the very first time since he learned of her planned future as breeding stock, and looks up confused.

"M-my soul? But as a silly ginger, I thought I have no soul, that you have taken it from me..."

Devania's proxy looks very angry and slaps your redhead companion, yelling at her in a foreign tongue completely forgetting about you, occasionally slapping Nadja again.

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Raineh Daze · « **Reply #37 on:** April 08, 2021, 07:23:08 AM »

"We will be on our way, then," Yuki states, giving a deep but swift bow and then moving away from their current position--presumably, someone else could navigate to their new destination at that point. And she could translate the proxy's outburst once they were sufficiently out of earshot--they were under some time pressure now if they didn't want more problems.

Though, privately, she considered that this could do Nadja some good. This idiocy about trying to escape her fealty and sacrifice its benefits was doing more harm than good.

dman · « **Reply #38 on:** April 08, 2021, 06:02:39 PM »

Hank cringes when Nadja is struck and yelled at, but he quickly regains his composure.

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He moves slowly toward the dryad with his eyes fixed on her and speaks in a calm and melancholy voice. "I am sure you have suffered much at the hands of men who in their wanton greed have abused and used your bounty for their own selfish ends. The bitter fruit of such treatment can lead one to think that power and struggle are the only truth in this world. Once upon a time before men rebelled and nature grew cruel we lived in harmony under the watchful guidance of the Father of fathers. We ate the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control."

Hank looks down at Nadja and places of comforting hand on her cheek. "I come as the representative of the Creator of creators to bring freedom to the captives, healing to the hurting, and protection to the weak. You see this world was made for love and peace. It is we who have broken it, and by his sovereign will we can restore it."

Hank looks up at the fey lady and dares to draw closer. He speaks softly and firmly. "You have suffered too much cruelty by the hands of those who would use you for their own ends. So has Nadja. Please, let us work to break that cycle of using each other and forge a new destiny of mutual love. Don't hurt Nadja anymore, and tell me what it would take to redeem her from your 'service.'"

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skydragonknight · « **Reply #39 on:** April 09, 2021, 09:21:22 AM »

Mist looks at Yuki and signals them to start walking. She would be no part of this.

"I swear, cultists, living in another reality and trying to drag you down into it" she mumbled to herself while walking past Yuki before sighing and speaking louder. "Anyway, we have a lot of wicked people to punish and a person to help. Let's not have faith without deeds, or whatever."

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Author Topic: Chapter 5: A Hermit's Most Dolorous Recounting, or: I Wish I Was In Chancel (Read 36663 times)