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R.I.P. neildarkstar. Haven will miss you dearly.
| Tiercel's Peregrinations | |
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| Topic Started: Jan 10 2017, 09:00 PM (4,176 Views) | |
| Serethil | Feb 16 2017, 11:05 PM Post #201 |
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Et'Ada
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Oh, not to mention female circumcision.. And I must admit that my PoV on the family is personal (since this is Veri's family after all) - though I do also add in the very male-oriented attitudes in the game itself. Yeah, there are women in the guards. Not many, but they are there. And for that I give beth points. And I do give them major props for just making it possible to play a viable female protagonist from the word go - which if you look at the trailer, box art etc. you would be absolutely within your rights to have totally discounted.... But all that's just hot air and politics. The real bottom line is, Tier herself felt that her family would be.... uncomfortable.... and judgemental - when she told the whole thing. Not because they don't love her - but because the reactions are so deeply ingrained. |
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| Areial | Feb 17 2017, 01:35 AM Post #202 |
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Et'Ada
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A hard thing to look at yourself.. and hope your family doesn't see, what you think it is you see. very good read! |
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| Serethil | Feb 17 2017, 01:37 AM Post #203 |
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Et'Ada
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Thanks! Yep, you pegged it.... |
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| Serethil | Feb 18 2017, 08:29 PM Post #204 |
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Et'Ada
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30 - So the discussion continues.... ....with g’ma stating unequivocally that she wouldn’t appreciate having the man at the Manor after he’d done his best to kill me - and after he’d apparently killed local miners so his own folk were running the mines, not to mention subverting Torvik. And then da wanted to know why I thought it was all my fault anyway, you couldn’t help who you loved, and it wasn’t unusual to talk about family, where you lived, and so on, when with a lover after all! I rubbed the back of my neck. “Well. It’s just that I feel if I’d made a better choice, this wouldn’t have happened, we wouldn’t be looking at losing a hunk of property.” Ma laughed outright at that. “Tier - if he’s convinced he’s the last Windstad, he’d have done something similar eventually anyway! Perhaps without the rest of it involving you, but he’d have made problems at some point. Thought why he didn’t just go to the High King - or the Moot, whichever - and lay out his proofs....” Da interrupted “Because he doesn’t have proofs probably. And if he doesn’t, the only possibilities were marrying Tier - which apparently he chose not to do for whatever reason - or taking over by fait accompli, which he finally got around to trying (twelve years is a long damn time for messing around with this though) and has while not failed, not done the entire thing.” All true. “So, I take it you’d rather not get the High King in the middle of this?” Shrugs all around. I sighed. “I’m not in favor of starting a bigger war than we have already. He’s sitting out there, still in control of the Manor and the mine, we don’t really have an army to dig him out, and leaving him there isn’t.... optimal.” I left it at that. Da muttered something under his breath, and g’ma glared at him. I hadn’t caught what he said, but it was obviously not to his mother’s taste! G’da spoke up. “I think most of us wouldn’t want the High King messing in Hjaalmarch and Morthal business. Though I do admit that whichever way he decided, at least maybe we wouldn’t have any more locals missing and dead, and Tier under threat....” Uncle Hed shook his hair out of his eyes, and poked his bit in. “We don’t really have proof that we had a right to the property either. Sure, Idgrod said the last of the Windstads signed the properties over to her on his death-bed. And we can probably believe her - but that’s not to say, since we don’t know where that signed paper is now, that we actually have any better proof than yon git does.” He got up and went into the kitchen, and came back with ale all around. “I think - we’re better dealing with him ourselves. Especially since he seems a bit out of his mind, like.” So, yes, I could see that too. “All right then. We need food, rest, and thinking. Let’s get together over breakfast. I’m done in....” I went home with ma and da since Tovis was in the bed I’d been using. As g’ma’s father would have said - “The best laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft agley.” Mostly the very reason homilies are what they are is because they’re so often true. |
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| Areial | Feb 18 2017, 09:25 PM Post #205 |
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Et'Ada
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What's the quote... possession is 9/10th's of the law? Good read! |
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| Serethil | Feb 18 2017, 09:26 PM Post #206 |
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Et'Ada
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Yeah.... situation uncomfortable.... Thanks! |
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| neildarkstar | Feb 18 2017, 09:32 PM Post #207 |
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Overlord
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:thumb: |
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| Andra Hawksdaughter | Feb 19 2017, 12:15 AM Post #208 |
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Jarl
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Heh, I'm with them, forget the High King. He tried to kill her, has killed their people. Time to pay the piper... :angry: :D I'm having fun reading this. :thumb: |
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| Serethil | Feb 19 2017, 12:25 AM Post #209 |
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Et'Ada
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Thanks guys! Truthfully.... I'm a bit nervous with this.... I've got this "big cloud hanging" feeling.... |
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| Kane | Feb 20 2017, 09:21 AM Post #210 |
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Overlord
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Having intimate knowledge of the Manor helps formulate a strategem, methinks. They could easily cover the exits and smoke him out. |
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| Serethil | Feb 20 2017, 09:57 AM Post #211 |
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Et'Ada
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I didn't mind smoking up the mine - but the Manor would be another issue.... |
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| Serethil | Feb 20 2017, 09:40 PM Post #212 |
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Et'Ada
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31 - and the decision is.... Well, we didn’t really get around to making one. I woke up around dawn, uneasy and not sure why. I sat up slowly, and as quietly as I could, slipped out of bed and into the hall which ran along the rooms on the upper story, open to the floor below. There was definitely someone down there - and not one of us, because why would any of us have put all the night-lanterns out? I could just make out slight quiet whispery noises as whoever it was tried to make his or her way around the main room downstairs. Now what do you want to bet it’s Devis, or one of his lackeys? There’s no real reason for anyone else to be in here is there? And why am I always doing this sort of thing only half-dressed and barefoot? So, fine. There’s one sure way to surprise the hells out of whoever it is. I slithered back into my room, grabbed clothes and boots but didn’t dress yet, took my daggers - practically never used as I prefer bow (but you can’t do all that well with a bow in the near-dark) - and went through the open window onto the sloped roof, then dropped onto the soft heath. From there I headed for the door into the kitchen - which was conveniently opposite where I thought the intruder was. I hurried a little - what if whoever it was intended to kill or take ma and da? As I got to the open arch from the kitchen into the main hall, I remembered the mine lamp that always sat on the shelf to my right. Grabbing it, I also prepared the only bit of magic I know - a little fire spell.... a very little one, just barely enough to light a lamp wick.... I strapped the lamp to my head, started the spell cantrip in my mind, and with a dagger in my other hand, slid into the room ahead and stopped, trying to quiet my breath so I could tell where he might be. Ah. Just at the foot of the staircase. Gotcha. I picked up the pace a bit, hoping I wasn’t making enough noise for him to notice, and as I got within a yard of him, I loosed the little fire spell, which sent my headlamp flaring brightly. And that got a yell out of him.... which should do nicely to wake ma and da. I moved right into his back and pricked his neck with the dagger while pulling the other one out of my waistband. I planted one of my knees into the back of his right one, and he staggered. I slammed him into the wall, then turned him around to face me and held his eyes with the daggers as I wove them back and forth in front of him. He was wearing something over his head and face, like a hood with eye holes so he could see. He had tears in his eyes - my little mine lamp was fairly blinding close up. I kept track of his hands from the corners of my eyes, but he wasn’t doing anything to defend himself - so far. At that point, da barreled down the stairs, armed with one of those not-quite-a-club hunks of stalhrim mounted on an ebony haft. “Tier! What...?” “Sneak-thief - or kidnapper - or maybe killer. Not sure what woke me. Pull that thing off his head and let’s see who we have here, hmm?” Well, hells. It wasn’t Devis. I hadn’t ever seen this git before. “So - who are you, and what are you doing here? And don’t even think about lying....” I’m sure I must have had some death-stare on my face, for he turned pale as milk. “I - I....” he gulped and stuttered “D-devis sent me to....” With a gasp and tears, he slid to the floor. “D-don’t kill me, please! I d-didn’t want to come here.... but I - I owe him money, can’t pay. He said he’d call the d-debt paid in full if....” Damn. Another innocent (more or less) caught up in whatever all these schemes were leading up to. Good thing Baldr, the town blacksmith, had a cell of sorts near his work area - we’d only the one in the Hall, and it was full up with Torvik. No way we were putting this prat in the same cell with Torvik! A couple of hours into morning, the boy (for he wasn’t much more than that) Tannik was stuffed away in Baldr’s safe hold, and I went into the Hall for something to eat. G’da looked at me with a serious face, but a twinkle in his eyes. “Girl, you do draw out the worst in a man, don’t you?” I mock-snarled at him, kissed g’ma, and grabbed food before I even tried to talk, much less think. After my stomach stopped thinking my throat was cut, I got some coffee, laced it liberally with milk and honey, and settled on the dais steps. “This.... it’s like waiting for some deity to drop a mountain on the town. I just don’t know what to do next.” Two blank faces looked back at me. Oh lovely. How come all of a sudden, I’M the mom? |
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| Areial | Feb 21 2017, 01:16 AM Post #213 |
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Et'Ada
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Very nice.. poor kid, wonder if he was just a distraction or a test.... |
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| Serethil | Feb 21 2017, 01:21 AM Post #214 |
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Et'Ada
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Yeah.... Tier's thinking that too.... Thanks! |
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| Andra Hawksdaughter | Feb 21 2017, 07:24 PM Post #215 |
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Jarl
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"...I'm the mom?" LOL Sis, I love that! This Devis is foul, I was hoping it was him...not some poor lad with something being held over his head to extort him to kill. Well done! |
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| Serethil | Feb 21 2017, 07:31 PM Post #216 |
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Et'Ada
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Thanks sis! I kind of know how Tier feels - but she shouldn't really have expected her family to have many more ideas.... |
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| Brambleberry | Feb 22 2017, 06:49 PM Post #217 |
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Jarl
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QFT - "Two blank faces looked back at me. Oh lovely. How come all of a sudden, I’M the mom? " I think I've said that a lot this past couple years only dad instead of mom. :teehee: Enjoying Tier's story very much! |
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| Serethil | Feb 22 2017, 06:53 PM Post #218 |
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Et'Ada
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Thanks Bram! There comes a point in every child's life when that sort of thing happens.... It's a shock.... |
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| Serethil | Feb 22 2017, 08:00 PM Post #219 |
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Et'Ada
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32 - It appears I’m going to have to take the bear by the tail - because I’m fresh out of ideas. Obviously, everyone else is too. Tovis is back to normal which means he’s ready to go out to the Manor and kill Devis. And of course, I got his dander up by telling him he couldn’t do that.... But he can’t - he’s too old, and Devis would put him down like a crazed wolf. I don’t particularly want to go out there and front Devis myself. If he’s got any more of that smoke stuff around, or if he’s got some magic now.... And I don’t know if he lied to me about not being mage-talented - but I wouldn’t bet against it. In fact, most likely everything he ever told me was a lie. It’s a sobering thought when you realize that you accepted someone at face value - and it was none of it true. Yes, I was young. Unfortunately, I was also dumb. I should be glad I lived to grow up I guess! That makes me wonder too - why didn’t he kill me back when he had me in his bed nearly every night? What changed in twelve or thirteen years? Another thing - I’d bet good money he lied about his age too. He’s likely a good decade older than I am, though he told me he was just a year older - and I base that on the look of his face in the light the other night. I was staring into space when ma and da walked in. “Stop that!” Da’s voice was sharp. “Stop what? What are you on about?” “I know you. You’re sitting there chewing over every thing yon git told you all those years back, and deciding you’re too stupid to live, because you believed him. So STOP IT.” I flushed. It’s really bad when your parents know you so well.... Of course, that was one reason I never got away with anything when I was younger.... “Well, da, the thing is that if everything he told me was a lie - and I’m pretty sure it was, considering - then I’m totally not sure at all what’s going on here. If he IS the last Windstad, that would be fine - if he were just doing the logical process to regaining his property. He’s not. Instead, he tried to kill me, hid out at the Manor, kidnapped Tovis after subverting Torvik, did away with miners at both mines, and sent a youngling to try to kill me at your home; and he’s still at the Manor, probably trying to come up with some other way to get to me.” I brooded a bit more. “I already had to stop Tovis going out to kill Devis. And truthfully, I’m not keen on going out there myself, so don’t worry on that. I could I suppose try smoking him out of the Manor - but damn - that means the house would have to be completely stripped and refurnished probably. I don’t really like that idea. So....” Ma interrupted. “We actually have come to the conclusion that Vartain’s our best bet.” I goggled. “Wait. I thought no one wanted to get the High King involved in Hjaalmarch’s troubles!” G’ma looked over at da. “We’d sort of come to that thought too. This is.... getting tricky - and far beyond a joke. Well, it always was past that.... but we need to end it with no one getting any further hurt. We already lost a lot of miners - or.... well, we don’t know do we? None of the families have come looking....” A puzzled look crossed her face. “So, Tier - you need to head for Solitude and hope Vartain’s still there. He didn’t seem to be leaving for anywhere....” I shook my head. “Fine. Don’t let Torvik or Tannik out of the cells. They’re both a danger - and in danger. In fact, probably we’d better put guards on both cells twenty-four hours a day....” G’da nodded. “Good thought. Off with you then!” Family. Can’t live with them, can’t live without them - and divines forbid you don’t do what you’re told! |
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| Andra Hawksdaughter | Feb 22 2017, 08:53 PM Post #220 |
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Jarl
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Yep, he's no doubt lying about everything. Tier's Da is a good'un, I lol'd at how well they know her, and her realization of just how well! (Children tend to forget these things as they get older, lol) Not so sure about trusting the High King... VERY well done Sister! :D |
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