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R.I.P. neildarkstar. Haven will miss you dearly.
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Tiercel's Peregrinations
Topic Started: Jan 10 2017, 09:00 PM (4,178 Views)
Andra Hawksdaughter
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Jarl
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"No sweetie, it doesn't make your butt look fat....but it does make your hips look wider than a trawler."

She didn't speak to me for a very long time.

AND....Uh Oh Tier!!!! This guy is a psycho!
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Serethil
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Et'Ada
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Well, people who ask leading questions.... heh. Yeah - I do think he's quite cracked. Not sure what happened - hope Tier gets around to telling me eventually.

24 - How do we find the Stonehills back door?

That is, without giving the game away.... I was mulling over just exactly what to do about that, when Uncle Hed walked in, followed by Borton and Medlan. He gave me a cursory kiss on the cheek - about as emotional as he ever got about anything - and then said out of the blue “We’ll go out to Stonehills tonight and see what we can see after dark. Hopefully they think no one knows they have a back door - so they won’t be real careful about light once it’s dark....”

“Oh, good idea! Be careful though - this man’s not at all chary of killing I think. Shall I come along?”

“Nah then. Let us see what we can see. Then you can work out how to deal with the crew there to get Tovis out - and get shut of that ‘friend’ of Torvik’s. Too bad I don’t think he’d just swan out the back door so we could kill him....”

“That would definitely save us some trouble. It’s not likely though, much as I might wish it!”

“Yon two boys are right good with sneaking around. I’m not so good at it, but I’m going along as backup mostly. And as heavy hitter if something goes wrong.” He grinned and hefted his huge ebony warhammer - and I knew he was damn good with it. “You make sure your da doesn’t get wind until it’s past dark - don’t need him out there tryin’ to help!”

I nodded. The brothers were good friends, but competitive. Since da wasn’t much of a fighter except with a bow - or words - Uncle Hed was right to want to keep it quiet. So I went off to bathe - had my own bath at home, but since I wasn’t home, I had to make do with the one at the inn. It isn’t that it was a hardship - it’s nice, it’s clean.... but it’s not mine, damn it. And I’m not generally one for stripping off in front of people....

But at least I had the place to myself - nothing much going on right now, so Seldri let me lock the door. “Only have a couple of rooms let - and both to men, out on the roads looking for trouble most likely.”

Her viewpoint was always a bit of down-at-the-mouth, but I just thanked her and took my bath. Then I bought a couple of sandwiches to have handy in case I wound up without dinner for whatever reason. I went back to the Hall just at dusk, and sneaked in without da seeing me - since he was working on a new ballad.

I took myself off to the room I was using, and settled with a book. Been a while since I’ve had time to read, and this is a new tale to me: The Long Dark and The Deep Green. I hope it’s worth what I paid for it!
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Andra Hawksdaughter
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I LIKE her Uncle Hed... :teehee: Sounds like a smart one for certain. :D Very nice touch Sis!! I'm enjoying it immensely!
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Serethil
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Et'Ada
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Thanks sis! The funny thing is that these people just keep popping up in my head.... so I have to do things with them....
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Andra Hawksdaughter
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Never had a story come to me the way this one has to you, in a dream. I think I'd freak just a bit, lol. But it's obviously a doozy, for you, and it's very good. :D

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Serethil
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Et'Ada
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Well.... I have stories in dreams all the time. Nightly, AAMOF. Thing is, most of them have no congruence or continuity.

The ones that do I've already put in file. This one was different from the beginning - because of Veri and Ger.... and Tier, who just happened to be a girl I'd made the day before....
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Andra Hawksdaughter
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I dream of stories a lot, but they are mostly bits and pieces of what I happen to be reading, changed though, into something that I would have done differently. So odd. Sometimes I can use some of the bits, so they do influence me some.
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Serethil
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Et'Ada
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Yeah. That's the thing - you have to have something usable. If not in the game you're playing, then it has to have coherence and congruence and continuity. I've got maybe 20 files of dream-stuff - since 1985. That's - not a whole lot. And of course - those were one-offs. I've never dreamed about any of them since.
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neildarkstar
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Well, we've all seen the chaos dreams do to my stories... Sometimes my dream stuff is fun, but almost never in a long-term form.

Good stuff here Sere! :clap:
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Areial
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Very good... planning and letting other's do thing's... smart cookie!

I use some of my dream's to fall asleep.. others come as they will, some I remember clearly, some are just faint impressions.
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Serethil
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Et'Ada
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Thanks guys!
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Serethil
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Et'Ada
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25 - Where there’s smoke....

....there’s not always a fire. But sometimes pretense is helpful.

Uncle Hed and the boys scouted out the rat’s back door, and were back by middle night. The crew at Stonehills hadn’t been careful at all, and the back way in was lit up like a giant’s bonfire according to Bor. So we settled to talking things over - how to get in, get Tovis loose, and get out without anyone getting damaged.

Ma said eventually, “Well, what we need is some confusion in the mine, so one person can get in the back way and find Tovis.”

And da came up with “Ah. Diversion. Good idea. We should.... hmmm, would Lami know something about that smoke that took out the miners at Windstad? If we could figure that out right quick, and get some of it made up, we could sneak in, set it off, get out and wait until the miners run into the settlement, and then get back in to grab Tovis.”

“That’s only going to work if she can make it harmless. We don’t want any more deaths, you know!” G’ma glared at da.

I held up a hand. “We don’t need anything but plain old smoke really. Oily rags would do it - we could use some of that oil slick that bubbles up out in the marsh."

Ma nodded. “That’s a thought. Bor, you and Med go first thing in the morning and collect a couple jugs of it. We’ll get rags together and - hmm, wrap arrows in them? Will that work?”

“Should do, ma. I’ll just have to get inside before dark so I’m hidden somewhere. Once they’ve gone to dinner, I can send arrows into dark corners between the dining hall and the back door - that should drive them out the front way. Then I’ll have to be quick about finding Tovis. And we need to know where Windstad is - has he gone back to the Manor, or the mine? Or is he still at Stonehills?

“Hmm. I think I’ll ride out to the ruins tonight. If he’s at the Manor I’ll be able to tell - he’ll have lights on I’d think.”

“No, send Melki. You should stay under wraps - we don’t know what he got out of Tovis by now.”

So that’s how we set it up. Melki left right away, and agreed to take the long route out the old wood bridges like I had - we really didn’t want to alarm Windstad. Da said, “You stay just until daylight, if there’s lights when you get there. If he doesn’t show outside the house by daylight, then he’s probably not there. And don’t try to look over the mine! That’s too risky right now.”

Uncle Hed’s boys rolled into blankets by the firepit instead of going home. They planned to leave before first light so no one could see which direction they headed. Uncle Hed went on home, as did ma and da. I headed up to bed. This was all wearing me out something awful.
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neildarkstar
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Gonna go get 'em! :)
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Serethil
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Et'Ada
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Well, I hope so! Guess we'll find out....
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Andra Hawksdaughter
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Hehe, I can't wait for more!! (figuratively speaking) Wonderful Sere! I love how devious it all is!
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Serethil
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Et'Ada
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Thanks sis! The really odd thing is - I'm not devious at all, IRL (or normally when I write). So you can credit Tier for this in toto. She's.... a very interesting person....
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Areial
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Et'Ada
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Very nice... Clever or devious.. it's a matter of perspective...
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Serethil
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26 - Working blind is just not smart, but you don’t always have a choice.

Melki was back just after sunup. “He’s in there I guess - lights were lit, all over the house, he doesn’t seem to care how much oil and candles cost. I didn’t see him - he didn’t show up at all, but someone went in the back door just before I left. I couldn’t get a good look at him. Definitely a man, was in there a while - then I had to leave since it was daylight.”

So yes, he was likely there. I was starting to have some serious issues about the man (well, aside from the fact he’d tried to kill me) - he HAD to be someone I’d known or at least interacted with at some point, otherwise why was he doing all this? And yet, I couldn’t come up with a thing.

If he really was a Windstad, he should have shown up when g’ma took over from Idgrod Ravencrone. Though - if he was my age or so, well, he wouldn’t have been around at that point.... Still, did the man not know that if he really was a Windstad, he could go to the High King to press his claim? I found that very hard to believe.

Well, I found the whole thing totally unbelievable from start to whatever would be the end of it.

Sighing, I kissed Melki and sent him home. “Get some rest. I want you along tonight as backup. When it comes to sneak, you’re better than Uncle Hed’s boys by a lot. I’ll square it with ma and da.”

He grinned, swatted me on the butt, and loped away. Brothers....

So I headed for the common room. Ma and g’ma were already stripping rags, soaking them in bowls of the oil, and winding them around the arrowheads. “Ma, I want Melki along tonight as backup. He’s as good at sneak as I am, and smaller than Uncle Hed’s boys (the which I did NOT say to him thank you! Stupid I’m not....) He’s a lot more - um....” I wasn’t quite sure what to call it.

G’ma provided the word: “....present. He’s always in the moment, unlike Bor and Med. They.... get... sideways over things....”

Right. Well, she did know all her grandchildren very well after all.

Ma sighed. “Fine. But if he winds up hurt, it’s on YOUR head!”

“Yes, of course it will be. Ma, I’ll do my very best to make sure he’s kept in one piece. But he’s a man grown, even if you won’t admit it!”

“Enough. We’ll not argue over that sort of family linen right now.” G’ma could shut anyone up, even ma. Well, anyone besides da....

Dusk saw Melki and me perched just above the back way out of Stonehills. We were waiting for the dinner bell to ring. And then - Windstad walked out the back door, and turned face on into the light.... and I knew.

I whispered “Oh SHIT.”
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Serethil
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Et'Ada
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27 - The past is always just waiting to bite you....

We’d laughed about it time and again, after making love, while swimming, when eating something lovely. That his name was similar to the place I called home. He’d known my body the way a true love did.... but then.... he’d said his family had some problems, and he had to go deal with it. I was.... eighteen. He was.... older. Smooth. Practiced.

He had my virginity. I cringed as I remembered it. Well, as deflowerings go, it was delicious - and for that I could still be grateful....

Devis Winsten. I’d thought I loved him. And.... I’d forgotten him after he went away. Years.... the years take their toll....

Still, what’s he playing at? He tried to kill me. Did he - does he? - really believe that he’s the Windstad scion?

It doesn’t matter what he believes, of course. What matters.... is that he tried to kill me - and he’s subverted the son of our long-time mine manager, and has ordered the deaths of any number of miners at both Windstad and Stonehills.

Oh.... Devis... you will pay my price. You will.
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neildarkstar
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Nobody is more cruel and vindictive than an old lover... they know you, and still don't care about you, and if they DO happen to still care about you, then you're REALLY in trouble! :)

Good read! :)
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