"Yes, see to the horses. I think we will be leaving today," nods Ordric. "But other than that you are free to do what you like."
You find the Carim Knight and the Maiden entering the mess hall shortly after. Both look like they need more rest, but they do look better than when you rescued them.
Joan puts a hand on the knight's arm as you approach. "Good morning." she says. "We need but eat, and then we shall be ready to depart." she gives the group a reassuring smile.
Ordric nods and introduces Annalise. "Annalise here is a Fire Keeper. You might have a lot to speak about."
He then whispers to Annalise. "Would you like me leave you alone?"
She shakes her head in response
"Nay, this hall is filled with other ears aside from your own..." she mumbles, trailing off.
Annalize scrutinizes Joan once she is seated. She searches for some hint of a particular quality within the woman.
Annalise senses that there is a spark that would make of a Fire-Keeper, not stemming from pyromancy, but a spark of faith.
Joan takes a sip from her cup and smiles politely at the blind woman. "So you are already a fire keeper? Amazing. You must have much you can tell me about it!"
Annalise nods slowly. "Indeed, is it true that you wish to share the same fate, Joan of Carim?"
Joan nods, but is interrupted by her escort before she can speak.
"Of course she is, 's why we're trodding out here, through your territory." he grumbles.
"Please." Joan pleads. "We don't need to offend our escorts."
Marius turns back to his breakfast and grunts.
Joan smiles wanely. "Do forgive Marius. I feel recent events have... strained his good nature. But yes. That is my purpose. All Carim priestesses seeking to become one must take the pilgrimage."
Annalise ignores the knight. She was well-versed in the unsavory qualities of the knighthood of her own land so the Carim knight also being an unpleasant fellow by appearance is not something that bothers her.
Instead she nods along as Joan speaks "I see..." she says finally. "That is all I need to know for now, but rest assured that we will speak more on this later."
The group finishes their repast and get geared up to go.
Hours into the journey back, The maiden riding in the wagon and the knight walking alongside it. The going is slower this way, but he indicates that he has a duty to walk the pilgrimage, even if his ward can ride along.
The strange dream that you experienced lingers in your mind, and is only exacerbated by the rumble of thunder as dark clouds roll into the area. Slowly, but then with increasing frequency, raindrops start to fall around you.
It appears that in this rain, Marius isn't paying attention to much besides walking.
Joan looks around and finds a solid looking rise in the stone. "There, we can stop for the night there. Without a bonfire, though, it will still be a cold night." she says.
"We can travel a bit further, and perhaps find a place with enough wood to make a fire," suggests Ordric and adds, "But if you wish to rest, then we can stop here."
"Would that wood be any less wet than the wood around here? That rise looks defendable, I vote for stopping here."
"My fire is always available, my lord" adds Annalise, also from within the wagon.
"Then we rest here. Let's prepare the camp."
Drystan looks from Count Ethelred to Alder and then finally Joan. He switches his weight from foot to foot as he glances at the rise and the surrounding area. ”I’m tired after today’s journey. Extra-tired even. I’ll help get the horses rubbed down and fed and watered.”
He begins walking towards the front of the cart then asks, ”We can’t even have small fire?”
The group makes camp, and the rain never stops but never really gets worse than a miserable drizzle.
Marius grunts in approval when Annalise sets her bonfire blade into the ground and creates a warm, rain-defying fire. "You'll be doing that someday, if you got what it takes." he says to Joan.
"I assure you, I do." she says, still composed despite the discomfort. "Do you think you can do me a favor and do a patrol around the area? I thought I spotted wolves in the woods nearby."
Whether or not he believes her, he grunts. "Fine." he says. Marius turns to Ordric. "Her safety is your duty too, remember that." he warns before taking up his greataxe and stalking off.
Once he has departed, Joan turns to Annalise. "I sensed that you had some more to ask, but perhaps my company would have made that difficult. He should be gone for a little while." She says, folding her hands in her lap.
Kearan likewise takes up a post nearby but out of earshot for quiet conversation. He'd appreciated the warmth of the bonfire, but it wasn't a knight's duty to rest in the glow of flames; it's his duty to stand vigilant in the rain.
Alder huddles close to the fire to keep away the wet cold, and after noticing that the two ladies were looking at him, says "Don't mind me, ladies, anything you want to say to each other will never be repeated by me - cleric's oath, don't you know." But he moves to the other side of the fire, anyway.
Satisfied that this is the most privacy she will get in the near future, Annalise turns to address Joan:
"Why is that you seek to become a firekeeper?" she asks without hesitation. There was no point in pleasantries anymore - best cut to the heart of the matter. When she answers Annalise scrutinizes her with her unseeing eyes, searching for any hint, even the slightest, of falsehood or hesitation.
Joan tilts her head. "I felt the calling." she explains simply. "I cannot identify any one moment that crystallized it for me, but it was many little things that led me to this path. The fires need keeping, and I have the potential to do that."
She gives a wan smile. "I'm certain your land's traditions and training are less... Arduous to perform, but are nevertheless equally important. This pilgrimage is a test of my resolve, more than simply a ritual to perform. If I cannot handle this, I do not have what it takes to keep the flame."
She holds a hand out to the bonfire, admiring its light and warmth. "Already, I can feel the humanity welling up inside me. If I succeed, then it will grow, and my soul will be as strong as strong as yours. If I fail... Well, then Marius takes care of the rest."
-Posted with Wayfinder
"Then there is something you must understand. Consider it a warning if you will, but I intend nothing more than a statement of fact:"
"To become a firekeeper is to cease being human. You must give yourself wholly over to the fire, and you shall receive nothing in return. Your life, your past, your future, your country, your Gods, all will be meaningless in the face of this duty. Without the bonfires the world will die..."
-Posted with Wayfinder
Joan nods "I understand. This is not a duty I take on lightly."
A few minutes later, Marius returns, his armor bearing a few new scratches and wiping blood off his axe with a rag. You didn't hear any sounds of combat, but the sound of rain and the forest around you likely muffled any sounds.
"No wolves, but there were some wild dogs." he grumbles. "Must've wandered away from town during the massacre."
"No doubt the fire will keep them at bay" offers Annalise in response.
Marius only replies with a grunt, taking a seat near the fire and setting his axe down with minimal interest.
"I think I shall turn in for the night." Joan says, giving a tired but friendly smile. "We have a lot of Astora to cover before we're out of your hair, I'm afraid."
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Your night is plagued by discomforting dreams, but none are remembered when you awaken. All that remains is a sense of foreboding.
You have an incredibly vivid dream of being thin, naked, and scrambling around in the dark. That is until you see light for what must be the first time in your life. A single, solitary flame remains in this massive kiln, and it is a black thing, tinged in white, but it is surprisingly comforting to pick up and hold to your breast, where it sinks in and gives you new life. Your flesh fills out, breath enters your lungs, and for the first time, you feel your mind become clearer than the knot of primal desperation you were before.
The night goes otherwise uneventful; Watches set have no trouble, and the drizzle stays throughout the night only to be broken up by the sunrise, as if Gwynn himself decreed it to be so.
Your group finds itself on the second day of their journey, this time pestered by the flies and mosquitos that came out on the humid air. Soon enough, you come across the part where your old path starts to diverge, and not a moment too soon; for further along the road lies the way to the bridge the drake sacked. This route is supposed to take you north along the river a few days before crossing at a nearby church.
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Sorry I don't have a google image or something better to work with here. I'm not very good at that part of doing this pbp gm-ing.
Annalise rides in the wagon itself, near the rear.
Ordric sits in the front of the wagon.
= 7
Alder spends his time in the middle of the wagon.
Kearan holds his watch in customary silence, and wakes the next morning with an ominous sense about him... but he says nothing, for he knows not why he has such foreboding in any case. So he packs his things and mounts his horse, ready to face another day.
Drystan spends his time in the front of the wagon, when he isn’t walking by the side. By the end of the day, he is walking along the right side of the wagon.