GM Kiora's Wrath of the Righteous

Game Master Kiora Atua

Commander Irabeth nods. "Great. Thank you for doing this on such short notice. I know that you've had a busy week."

The Osirian man nods at Irabeth with a small smile. "No, the pleasure was all mine." He holds out his hand for Markus to shake. "You'll be reported to the high priests at the cathedral in Nerosyan, and monitored discretely for the time being. All I ask for is your cooperation. In any case, it was a pleasure to meet you."

He turns to Annabelle, drawing a spiral on his chest once more. "Good luck, Miss Kir."

Annabelle doesn't respond. She curls up into a sitting position, bringing her knees to her chin.

Commander Irabeth glances at Annabelle. "You can come downstairs, if you wish. I'm sorry I had to ask you to do that."

Annabelle shakes her head. "Nah. I'm gonna go to bed, I think," she mumbles, as Irabeth and Inqusitior Wardsev leave. They close the door behind them and stride past Hinagiku down into the common area. Irabeth glances at the monk, but does not try to disturb her from her prayer.

When the door closes, Annabelle glances up at Markus, annoyed. "Why didn't you correct him? I don't need to do that. I feel fine." She reaches for her plate of food and eats it miserably - on top of tasting horrible, now the pie was cold.

Markus takes a breath several seconds before any words come out of his mouth - he holds it while he thinks of what exactly to say. "Because he wasn't wrong - you won't be able to comfortably eat normal food for as long as you're in this state. And you will need to subsist on blood or lose control."

He scratches his head. "If you go a few days at a time without having any blood, you'll start to crave it very strongly. It won't be long after that when you attack people just to get their blood."

Annabelle stares at Markus for a moment, then closes her eyes. "You don't know that. You can't know that. The pie is just s&@$ty pie that's all," she says, defiant against an unspoken accusation. Her voice trembles. "The mead was fine. Or was it a melomel? Too dark to be mead."

Markus bristles a bit, indignant at her refusal to believe that he knows what he's talking about. "What do you mean, I can't know? I've dedicated twenty years to studying the undead. I'm partially undead. If there's anything I absolutely can know about, it's how vampires work." He frowns. "I know this is very difficult for you, which is why I'm here with you right now. But it's only going to be more difficult for you if you ignore what I'm saying."

Annabelle wilts, curling up on the bed. "Okay. You're the expert. What do we do?"

"Well, when you're ready, and you feel thirsty again... you tell me about it." says Markus. "And then you drink some of my blood, until you feel sated."

"We stay indoors during the daytime, so that you don't get turned to ash."

"No more garlic bread, I suppose... Or Taldan food in general."

"No more swimming in open water."

He lifts a finger for each thing, placing the index finger of his other hand on the end of each finger as he raises them, counting the things. "I'm sorry about all of this. I'll do my best to accommodate your disabilities."

"That's it?" the vampire jokes, weakly.

"I didn't mean that. I mean... I'm cavalry. I'm no good as a cavalryman when all I can do is ride at night." She stares at him. "Or are you saying I'm gonna follow you, for the rest of my life?"

In spite of herself, she giggles. "I wish I meant that in a romantic sense. Not in a "do this or go nuts and kill people" kind of sense."

Markus raises an eyebrow. "I mean, it's either me... or another person you find who is willing to let you drink their blood. I doubt that the Church of Pharasma would let you run wild, so to speak, drinking from anyone you can overpower. And being feral and hungry will be a horrible experience for you."

Markus thinks about his lifespan compared to hers, then... and frowns again. "Unfortunately, I'm not immortal. But you are. Fortunately, we have another... eight hundred years or so before we need to find you a replacement food source. Plenty of grace period."

"And about being a soldier... you're not likely to be effective amongst the foot soldiers like you were before. Neither am I. Neither are any of my friends, actually - we can have you along for...whatever anti-demon missions we happen to be on, and a horse is a horse regardless of whether it's alongside other horses."

He tries to ignore the romantic comment and keep going with the informative part of the conversation. It's not really that easy, though.

Annabelle watches Markus intently. She seems dissatisfied. "I'm not immortal. Like you said, all it takes is for me to run out into the sun, and then I'll melt into a puddle or whatever," she jokes at last, darkly.

She groans. "Ah, well. At least following you around won't be boring." She sits up suddenly. "You know... When you came up here wanting to cheer me up... I thought it was because you wanted to get to know me. Not because you feel obligated to take care of me."

She grabs her stomach and winces. She bolts to her feet and staggers out the door, bumping into Hinagiku on the floor.

"Ah.... Senpai?" she manages. She looks really sick. "What are you doing on the floor out here, silly?"

Hinagiku is startled, as she had started dozing off. She looks up with a smile until she sees Annabelle's face. In one swift movement she is up.

"Annabelle? Are you sick? Come, the latrines are not too far." she says, leading the young vampire to the closest toilet.

Isilme actually blushes slightly at Val's suggestion that she'd caught Aravashnial. For all the talking and joking that had been done, she wasn't really sure Aravashnial saw her that way, and she didn't really know how she felt either. How could she? She'd only been awake for two days now after what seemed like an eternity. She truly did want him to be happy though.

Instead of responding though, she waited until the topic changed to what had been lost in the battle for Kenabres. "It was a terrible loss to be sure, but as Ary has been fond of saying, we should count the living. If we had failed, things would be far worse now. The city will heal in time, I'm sure. People are remarkably resilient, especially with the sort of hope this victory instills in them. Look at how high spirits are here! This day will be remembered in tales a century from now, probably told at every year's Armasse," she says confidently.

Hey, I came up with stole that phrase from Battlestar Galactica!

Markus sighs. He knew this was going to be more difficult than just a few words. He hadn't truly expected to be suddenly better, had he?

"Annabelle, there's no reason it can't be both. But I'll leave you and Hinagiku together - I know she's wanted to talk to you for a bit." He gets up and leaves the room as Hinagiku leads Annabelle to the latrine. He's got other people to talk to - he heads down to the center of the party to find his friends.

"Actually, I stole it from Markus. He said it a few times. It... seems appropriate. A lot less tears, that way." she says, taking another drink, and wincing again. "Yeah... booze sucks." she says after a moment.

"Imagine how the demons must feel. They attack us to try to destroy Armasse, and they just give us another holiday a week later." she says after swallowing a bite of food, trying to wash down the taste of alcohol.

"Yeah, I'd like to see Markus tonight," Aitha says in response to Isilme with a small smile. She sips from her tankard and frowns. She smiles appreciatively at Valaria. "You're right. I don't mean to bring down the mood. You all did a great thing! I was starting to become sure that we'd need to evacuate the city. Now I can at least try to rebuild our home."

Aravashnial's ears turn bright red at Valaria's comments. He stays silent, reluctant to heap praises on the heroes. He had seen a lot of heroes pass through the last four crusades, after all.

Anevia scoffs at Ary. "I just don't get it, Bishop. This is the best mead I could find! You're so damn picky."

Klarah defends her, grimacing at her own tankard (though she only drew a small amount for herself). "No, she's right. It's just so bitter! I don't understand why people like alcohol."

"That's because you're a kid," Aitha says, exasperated.

----

Meanwhile...

Annabelle gratefully allows Hinagiku to escort her to the latrines. As soon as she gets there, she vomits into the basin, heaving up mostly liquid.

"I guess I had too much to drink," she says weakly to Hinagiku.

"And see, that's the problems with acquired tastes. If you have to drink something until you stop hating it, why did you even start drinking it in the first place?" Ary says, shaking her head.

"Now, pie. Pie is something that you can just settle into. It isn't an acquired taste... unless it's blackberry." she shakes her head. "Some things, while edible, should never be eaten. Oh, Hey Markus. We were just talking about you. Before we went to alcohol!" she calls out to him as she spots his one-of-a-kind suit passing through the crowd in their direction.

Markus waves at Ary. "You were talking about me?" he asks, raising an eyebrow. "Um. Any particular reason why?"

Isilme laughs at Ary's reaction to drinking what Val had given her. "You should try wine Ary, it's more refined and might be more to your tastes. It certainly is to mine, and Ai'sintar appreciates it as well," she says with a grin.

"Welcome back Markus," she says, greeting the dhampir as he approaches. "How is Annabelle doing?" she asks, concern evident in her voice.

"She tried to eat some pie." he says, furrowing his brows. He wasn't sure how much he could really explain here, in the midst of the party. Still, he'd try. "You know how she is - she gets sick so easily."

"And Wardsev came to see us. Had some questions - he seemed satisfied, though. I think we're in the clear."

Markus fills a mug with mead and sits beside his friends, and only then does he notice Aitha and Klarah. "Oh. Hi, you two."

Val grins. "Good! I thought I might have to kick the sh*t out of more than one inquisitor today. I'm in entirely too good of a mood to fight my way through the entirety of those arseh*les left in the city." Her face doesn't show blushes well, but there's a hint of purplish on her cheeks and she's grinning like a maniac. "So, do you need to comfort Annabelle? I'm sure she feels better with someone around. Maybe all night. Or maybe you'd rather spend some time with Aitha here." She winks at the shopkeeper.

Aitha lights up as Markus appears, and opens her mouth to say hello... but then Valaria speaks up. She turns bright red at the drunk tiefling's comments and clams up to process them. Her sister, Klarah turns an identical shade of red when she figures out the double entendre a few moments later.

Anevia laughs. "You were up there for at least an hour!" she teases.

Ary, meanwhile, just eats her pie.

"We were talking! Does everything always have to be about sex, or is it just with drunk people?" spits Markus, pushing away his mug of mead. He was just about to drink some, too. It hadn't been an easy day.

Markus scoffs and looks away from the table, irritation evident on his face. He crosses his arms and purses his lips.

"I'm glad to hear that it's been taken care of," she says to Markus.

Isilme laughs at Val's enthusiasm for matchmaking. She was glad to see the attention turned to someone else for the moment, and was pretty certain that Aravashnial did as well. "I think you're almost as blunt as Anevia tonight, Val!" she says teasingly.

She gives Aravashnial's hand another squeeze and excuses herself for a second. "I'm going to get some wine." As she heads off, she stops by Aitha and whispers into her ear. "Don't let it get to you, dear, talk to him. Otherwise you'll be fretting about it all night." She places her hand reassuringly on her shoulder before continuing on.

A minute or so later she returns with a glass of wine for her and Aravashnial. As she sits down she offers Ary a taste. "Here, see if you prefer this," she says, extending the glass towards her.

"Oh come on Gloomy. Annabelle's just pretty and you're pretty or handsome or whatever you call guys. I bet you two would be so good together. You're all cute when you get flustered. You've got this pouty thing going on that gives you this smoldering look. It's no wonder the ladies are drooling over you. And it wouldn't kill you to have some fun for once." She fills her mug for her sixth drink and sits back down.

Aitha stands up, smiling awkwardly, still beet red. "It's getting late, so I think I'm going to bed. You too, Klarah, or you'll miss the morning service. Thank you so much for saving Klarah, everyone! I'm so glad I got the chance to thank all of you in person."

Klarah pouts, but she defers to her big sister. "Okay." They turn and leave, getting halfway across the room before Aitha rushes back, alone, to Markus.

"Hey. Just so you know, if you wanna get breakfast after the morning prayers, I'd like the company!" she says quickly, unable to make eye contact. She quickly heads back to Klarah afterwards, and they head to bed.

"Yeah, I suppose I did promise you s-" he stops mid-sentence, realizing the potential for double entendre in the sentence, and not wanting Valaria to have something else to take advantage of. "-Uhm, a meal. I'll see you tomorrow, then. Have a good night."

Ehren takes one look at Valaria, and then one at his almost-empty tankard.

"Hm. I said one or two, but I think one and a half was more than enough," he says wryly, pushing it away from himself. Perhaps it was just his imagination, but their table's levity seemed to be waning. Maybe it was because there were things they should be talking about that they couldn't talk about. That just reminded him of how busy of a day they had in store for them.

No rush! But once I've got three of you in bed, we're moving on to tomorrow :)

I'm hanging a on bit longer so Hina can get some quality Annabelle time too. Dragging her to the latrines doesn't count ;)

Isilme watches as Aitha runs back to ask Markus something. "Good! Even if those two don't end up hitting it off, she'll feel much better in the long run not having been cowed into silence." She gives Aitha a subtle wink and a smile as she turns to leave. Once she's gone, she turns to Valaria. "Val, you have quite the gift for causing young women to blush, poor Aitha was red as the dawn."

Turning her attention to her ever-so-quiet escort, she pokes him gently in the side of the ribs. "I got you some more wine. How are you holding up?" she asks, and then more quietly "Are you enjoying yourself?"

Anevia catches sight of Irabeth in the common room once more and she grins, staggering to her feet. "Speaking of bawdy tales.... I've tried hard enough to get you all laid tonight so I'm giving up for now. Desna watch over your dreams tonight, friends!" She's pretty intoxicated at this point - she's having difficulty walking, and her broken leg doesn't help matters. Regardless, she manages to make her way to Irabeth, whispers something into her ear and then drags her up the stairs.

Aravashnial murmurs back to Isilme after taking a sip of wine. "I'm fine. Being around so many people is just.... Exhausting. But I'll stay here if you need me." He offers a small smile and laces his arm around hers. He isn't typically this affectionate, either, but this is his fourth glass of wine.

Ary takes her small sip of wine and shakes her head. "I can still taste the burning moldy taste. Like... week old bread with way too much pepper. But... with fruity jam?" She says. A wine connoisseur she was not. As the other two slip off... and then Anevia slipped away, she looked over to Markus.

"So... how is Annabelle, really?" She asked after a small moment. It wasn't that she didn't trust Anevia, just that Anevia was drunk enough to probably go investigate if she had mentioned it. Avi was more likely to treat it as something to study... and honestly, Markus could probably use someone to talk to that actually understood method, as opposed to results.

Val practically cackles. "Well it's not like Markus is going to make a move himself! He's nice, but entirely too introverted. I don't care who his dad is, he is alive and needs to learn to actually live a little. If I have to throw a couple women at him to get him to realize that, so be it! And I can take bets on the inevitable cat fight." She breaks off giggling. "I'm with Anevia though. I've done my job for tonight. These things require time and subtlety. Markus won't be able to resist their womanly charms forever."

"I understand completely, a bit longer and we'll go," she responds to Aravashnial happily.

Isilme laughs at Ary's description of the wine. "Fair enough, Ary, I suppose even wine is an acquired taste."

Speaking slightly more seriously for a moment, Isilme adds "Do try to remember that you're throwing women at him, Val. One or both of them may end up getting hurt, so do try to be gentle." Less seriously, she teases Markus, whose love life is being discussed in his presence as if he wasn't, "Poor Markus, you apparently get no say in the matter."

"Hey, if they're not willing to share, that's something they need to work out. And sharing can be very rewarding. There was this one time I needed to get into a nobles mansion down in Taldor and I had to seduce the head maid and the butler at the same time..." She breaks off giggling again. "That was a fun night."

"Not everyone likes sharing," Ehren says in a mumble, resting his chin on a hand. Clearly, he had some conventional wisdom to share. "Nor should they be expected to. Besides, Markus doesn't just need a night of fun, he needs a... a..." His mouth opens, letting out a loud yawn that he is a second too late to stifle. Fortunately, his face is already flushed as is; unfortunately, it is rather easy to tell when he is flustered regardless. "Hm. Well, maybe not that."

And as Val finishes her anecdote, somewhere off in Elysium a young elven petitioner bursts into flames. :p

"Well put, Ehren... yawn notwithstanding. Not everyone is quite as adventurous as Val!"

"That's why I'm so much fun!" Val declares, now looking a bit more purple than pink.

"You know what. I have an idea. I think I'll take Val to her room, and Markus can take Ehren to his... and Isilme can take Avi to his. It's getting rather late, so it'd likely be a good idea if everyone made it to their own rooms. Headaches should be the only thing you lot regret in the morning." she offers with a smile. "Besides, I have a few more things to do before I get to bed, then we'll be up early in the morning, mending fences or something."

"But I thought you said you already had someone," Val draws, her words beginning to become slurred. "I don't do that kind a' thing. Cheatin's bad you know."

"You know, that might be a good idea." answers Markus, standing from the table. "We can talk later if you want, Ary. I'll be up for awhile, I think." He gives Ehren a hand up in case the druid is a little dizzier than he may have expected. "Ready for bed, Ehren?"

Ehren nods. "It's about that time," he says, taking Markus' hand. He wobbles slightly when he stands, but quickly reasserts his balance. Only the gods knew how much he could drink if he lacked the good sense not to. Waving at everyone at the table, he adds, "Have a good night, everyone."

"Night, you two. And I said to our own rooms, and no regrets. Not share rooms and many." she says with a smile, as she helps Val up. "Let's get you to your room. Do you have any last will and testament for the morning when you're wishing for death?"

Val is surprisingly steady on her feet, but she still sways a bit and Ary's help keeps her upright. Another manic giggle escapes her lips. "A horde of demons couldn' kill me! This is nothin'."

"Yeah, yeah. This is nothing, now." she nods to her. And with luck, it won't be anything tomorrow, either.

"I've got a mission for you, if you'll accept it." she says after a few thoughts. "It's really, really important, and what we do tomorrow may hinge upon it." she snatches up a few pieces of bread, which technically counted as festival bread, no matter what anyone said, and a tankard of water. "I want you to eat one or two pieces of this, and drink a glass of water before you climb into bed, alright? I'll know if you didn't, so no cheating. Cheatin's bad, remember?" she says as she guides Val to her room, water pitcher in her shield arm, Val and bread in the other.

With Ary having slain the festivities as if they had been a pack of ill-fated cultists standing between her and the wardstone, Isilme agrees that it's time to call it a night. "Very well then, good night all of you! Do be careful heading to your rooms. Especially you Val. The wardstone protected you against the demons, but I'm pretty certain it does nothing against the stairs." She gives Val a wink, and then helps Aravashnial up out of his chair. "Lets be off then," she says to her companion.

She walks him slowly back to his room before leading him in. She's still a bit flushed from the drinks, so she speaks slowly and quietly to him. "I'm glad you came down, Ai'sintar. Having your company for the evening was delightful. Thank you." She places a hand on his shoulder and leans in to kiss him on the cheek gently. "I promise I won't drag you to any more parties for a while now, alright? And we'll work on a proper script for your tactile spellbook. It'll be fun!"

Val giggles again and leans against Ary. "Not that kind of cheatin'. Cheatin' in games and stuff can be all sneaky and stuff. Cheatin' on your special someone is all nasty and stupid." Despite her words, she takes the bread and tears into it with her teeth, quickly consuming both pieces before downing the water in long gulps.

"Alright. There you go. I think I'll trust you to be able to get out of your own clothes, lest I get accused of lechery next." she sticks her tongue out at Val as she unloads the woman just inside her doorframe. "And no, you do not get a kiss goodnight. Fen'wen would kill me. Then I'd kill me. It'd be a huge mess that we really don't want to go into. Do you need anything else?" If not... Ary went off to finish her quest for having everything ready for tomorrow.

"'Kay. I'm kinda sleepy anyway." She stumbles across the room and makes her way to her bed in slowly wavering steps. "Mmmm, Fen'wen would want to have fun with me." She curls up on her bed without bothering to get undressed. "Never got the chance to tell her... miss her still..." She promptly rolls over and begins snoring softly.

Hinagiku held up what she could of Annabelle's hair while she was vomiting. Luckily, the cavalier had tied it moments earlier when the inquisitor had come to her room, which made Hinagiku's job much easier. While gently rubbing her back, the Tian woman answers her companion’s comment.

"Yes, drinking can do that, I hope you found the taste of mead worth it. The others down in the dining hall seemed to enjoy it. she days, helping the vampire up. Annabelle, I need to ask for a favor from you. May I sleep in your room? I do not have my own, I was here for such a short time before our mission that I wasn’t assigned any.” she continues, while bowing down to pick up a clean chamber pot. ”I won’t even occupy the bed, I prefer to sleep on the hard ground anyway."

Once they arrive to her room, Hinagiku gently sits her companion on her bed and puts the chamber pot next to it. She leans her newly acquired longspear on the wall before heading for the door again.

”I am going to get some water to wash your face, I will be right back. ” she says, closing the door behind herself.

Outside in the corridor, she takes long strides to get to and back from the kitchen. Once back, she gently opens the door and slips inside, putting down a tankard full of water on the night stand and dipping a piece of fabric in it.

”Here, let’s get your face washed.” she says, helping the young woman clean her mouth and face.

During all these events, from the latrines to the face washing, Hinagiku keeps her a gentle and barely visible smile on her lips, happy to be tending to a friend which she knows is in distress. Although, by the end she has to work harder and harder to avoid yawning. Finally, once Annabelle is more presentable, she looks at her.

”I have to sleep now, it is becoming harder and harder to concentrate. I will wake in less than 3 hours though, so we can talk then, if you are awake.” she says, apparently joking.

Hinagiku lays down her things in a neat pile next to a spot on the ground. She takes off her belt and shawl but keeps her pants and top. She lays on her back, body straightened, and closes her eyes. Her face is serene. And, right before falling asleep, she whispers to Annabelle.

”I am sorry of how I reacted when I touched you earlier. It is not excusable, I should never have feared what I did not understand. You are Annabelle, and I know that whatever comes in the future, that is who you will be.”

Aravashnial smiles when Isilme kisses him. He offers her a hug – it isn’t as wooden as it usually is, as he is far more relaxed than normal. ”It was nice to spend the evening with you, Isilme.” He pauses for a long moment, as if he had something further to say. Evidently he judges against it, because he just smiles weakly. ”Ollo vae, Isilme.”

------
”Of course you can,” Annabelle offers a tight-lipped smile. ”I’d like the company.”

She and Hinagiku walk down the hallway and back to her room. Annabelle looks distant and sad. ”I’d really like to just fall asleep right now,” she murmurs. ”I’ve had a terrible evening.”

Annabelle waits for Hinagiku to find a spot to sleep, then extinguishes the candle. She curls up under a woolen blanket and closes her eyes.

”Good night, senpai.”

------

One by one, the heroes retire and fall asleep. It had been a very, very long day – so it does not take long. Before long they’ve begun to dream.