I thought we were waiting on you to move things along Brainiac.
I understand, just makes me sad as this is a campaign I very much wanted to play through.
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Hope & Seri: Hope's fingers curled around Seri's as her hand was taken again and she cuddled up close to her. When she saw the lights spelling things out again Hope read and noticed Seri's expression as she asked to see her again. Hope's eyes widened in surprise that someone would want to not only be with her tonight but to see her again and she wasn't quite sure how to respond.
After a moment of silence Hope smiled, just a little, and said, "I would like that Seri, I would like that a lot." She put one arm around Seri and pulled her into an embrace, though she went no further than that for the time being.
Hope & Seri: Hope sat on the edge of the bed and took off her boots before she climbed into it with Seri and lie down next to her. She was positioned so that she could look at her new friend's eyes with her own pitch black ones. Her power was suppressed again and she was unsure of what to do. She wanted more with this woman but she was afraid to go further. She wasn't sure what she would now and hoped that maybe Seri would have some idea.
Hope & Seri: Hope's eyes widened at the sound of Seri's voice and her response was simple but true, "Beautiful." Hope very much wanted more than just to hold her new friend right now, to thank her for what she had done, but she knew they would be leaving soon and her friends would need her. She couldn't stay here and she was sure Seri couldn't come with them so anything more than friends would hurt to much when they left.
Hope decided that while going too far would not be right that at least, maybe, she could spend the night next to Seri and just sleep. Surely just sharing the bed wouldn't be a problem...right? Hope gave Seri a nervous look and asked, "Can I Stay with you tonight Seri?"
Hope & Seri: It took a while for Hope to calm down and stop crying but she eventually did. She was enjoying the touch of Seri, feeling the other woman's body pressed against hers but didn't dare let it go too far. Her hold slackened and she finally leaned back a little as she said, "Thank you Seri."
Hope & Seri: Hope saw how Seri held her holy symbol and the light motes began to circle her as the woman traced something on her palm. As the motes passed her Hope felt her pain lessen more and more until...it was gone!?
When she read what Seri had to say Hope leaned in to grab her into a grateful hug as she said, "The pain is gone, thank you Srei!" She held onto her friend and sobbed gratefully as she enjoyed being free of pain for once."[/b]
Hope & Seri: Hope felt relief when Seri took her hand again and was not surprised at being told the power was not going anywhere but was somewhat more uncertain of it being under her control. She felt grateful for the priestess' offer to help with her bruises but shook her head and said, "No, it can't be healed by anything but time. After a day it will go away only to be replaced by new hurts."
Hope smiled a bit sickly and said, "I don't usually feel it much anymore, I'm used to it, but today was really...rough, and I had to push myself to the end of my strength." Hope sounded like an injured child as she asked plaintively, "Can you make the pain stop Seri," with tears in her eyes.
Hope & Seri: Hope understood what Seri meant about her connection to her goddess and realized she was a cleric much like mama was just of a different goddess. When asked where she got her power from Hope tried to contemplate that and found it a challenge. After a few moments she finally said, "I think I was...changed somehow when I was wed to the hungering void by the cultists. It's like I carry a piece of it deep inside of me somewhere. I can use it to launch bursts of gravity and void and unlife but if I do too much or am going too fast then it hurts me to use it." She lifted part of her clothing to show a particularly nasty bruise across her ribs before she let go of Seri's hand and stood up.
"Right now I am...am...am forcing it to stay hidden but if I stop it will do this," she had moved somewhat away from Seri to get some space around her and unleashed her hold on her power. At first nothing seemed to happen in the largely darkened room but after a moment she moved to stand in the shaft of moonlight. The light seemed to lens around her her in an odd fashion and dust and debris began to pull in towards her and circle forming a disk of matter that was spiraling in towards her only to disappear when it got close enough. After letting Seri see Hope forced the power back within herself and moved back to sit by Seri. She reached her hand out to take Seri's but stopped, afraid of how Seri would react.
Hope & Seri: Hope was shocked and comforted by what Seri told her and she felt hope for her future once more. She looked at Seri and asked, "Is there a way to make it go away, to stop whispering to me all the time? Would that take away the power I have gained from it?"
Hope & Seri: Hope was unsure of how to respond to Seri's words and was very quiet as she thought of how to explain. After a minute or two she finally had it straight enough to say, "A few years ago, when I was little, I started to hear the whispers, the darkness between the stars called to me, and one night they took me away." Hope shuddered at the vague memories of her years caught in the void between stars, where dark...things of madness lived. After a moment she continued, "I don't know how long I was there but I saw...things we were not meant to see, my mind quickly broke and then I was offered to it." Her eyes began to grow wide in remembered terror and her hand clenched Seri's harder, "Have you seen that which consumes all things, even light may not escape it's grasp? Have you seen how it eats worlds and stars, even time itself?!" She was starting to sound crazed as she explained the origins of her powers, "Even worse is when it pears back into you, when you feel it's hunger, its desire to consume you, and know that it will take forever to do so?" Once upon a time Hope would be in a manic state by now but Seri was serving as an anchor for her, the power of the woman's faith in Desna helping to keep the madness at bay, "When it devours it feeds, and yet it still hungers, it binds you, sucks you into it's depths, and forever changes you. If you get out the void remains within you, it desires to consume everything, to return it to nothingness! Even the hunger of Rovagug or the insatiable desires of Calistria or the incomparable beauty of Shelyn are as nothing before It!" Her gaze was not far from total madness as she said, "It holds me still, trying to consume me while it grants me a tiny portion of it's power. I can bend the force that holds us to this spinning ball, prevents us from flying off, and I can tap into the primal power of the Void..." she looked to Seri and said, "And it fears what Desna could do to it through you."
Hope & Seri: Hope began to understand the source of the fear deep inside her and, oddly found comfort in it. She saw how the, what she now knew to be, holy symbol that Seri wore seemed to glow softly as the hand reached out to her. After hesitating for a moment Hope finally reached out and touched that offered hand even as she felt the fear push the darkness within her deeper in hiding. "That is why the darkness, the hunger in me, fears you," she asked. It seemed right to her but she didn't understand why. The touch of Seri's hand in her's helped Hope to calm down some and, though still nervous, she relaxed just a little.
Seri's Room: Hope followed Seri as she was led to a darkened bedroom upstairs and found the place starkly beautiful with the moonlight as the only source of light. She watched, her gaze enraptured by Seri's movements as the woman sat on the edge of the bed. Hope read the words that Seri formed in the air explaining her devotion to Desna, her songs to Desna and her silence to her Shadow. Hope did not entirely understand what Seri meant with her explanation, Hope had little knowledge of Desna and the name of the goddess sent a shiver of dread through the source of her power. Hope wondered if this might be a way to rid her of her cursed abilities and the madness that came with them. If only she could afford to get rid of them now, that simply wasn't an option right now. Hope sat down next to Seri, kind of scrunching in on herself to avoid touching the other woman. It was fairly obvious that Hope was afraid and nervous being alone like this. "I'm not sure I get it. Who is Desna? Why does her name fill a part of me with such terror?"
Hope read the words Seri spelled out and quickly understood what she meant even if she didn't know who the deity was. That would partly explain the sensations her power's source was giving off, a deity might be the only thing that could stand up to it, and likely one would have some particular domain over it. This kind of relieved Hope, that something out there existed that could scare the source of her nightmares. When she saw how Seri looked upstairs rather pointedly Hope wasn't sure exactly what to anticipate but she nodded nervously and reached out for Seri's hand again. She let Seri lead her upstairs though her movements more than a little slow from all the harm her powers had caused her that night.
Hope's eyes brightened a bit when Seri said she was not frightened. Her eyes were still pitch black but unlike before, where even the light did not seem to escape them, the lights seemed to reflect off of them making them look almost like the night sky. "I'm glad." Hope looked to the pendant that Seri wore curiously. She felt the strange repulsion and fear of it that she had before, or rather the source of her power felt it. It was strange and despite the whispers from the void to stay away Hope decided to ignore them and asked, "Your necklace is pretty. Does it mean something?"
Hope's lapse did not last long as her inner void compressed the emotions into a tightly condensed ball that wouldn't escape to the surface again. Hope found her hand in Seri's as she spelled out more words and the softness of the hand and the words to focus on helped bring her focus back to the here and now. Seeing the way Seri seemed concerned for her made Hope feel better and she said, "I...I have been exposed to things that no one should ever meet, and it has hurt my mind. Sometimes I remember some of what happened, and it makes me...does what you saw." She smiled a little, it was weak but still a smile, and added, "but I am better than I was before." Hope's expression furrowed in worry, her fear that she would be rejected by Seri now making her start to think this had been a bad idea. Still, she didn't want to be alone, and she wanted to know this woman better and she was determined to not let her fear take control of her. Hope shoved yet another set of emotions into her own little well of darkness where it too was compressed and trapped then she looked up at Seri and asked worriedly, "Are you afraid of me now?
Hope was surprised that the woman used a mote of starlight to spell out words instead of speaking but decided she had seen stranger and simply ignored the oddity as she read the words carefully. She puzzled a moment over the word piano but realized it must be the instrument Seri had been playing and said, ""No, I've hear lutes and ocarina and mama's voice," her words trailed off as she shuddered a little and added softly, "and the music of the hungering darkness hidden in the tapestry as it hunts for more to consume," her eys went blacker and the madness started to slip to the surface before she quashed it back down, imagining it being crushed and trapped in the depths of her power. Her gaze returning to normal she finished responding, "but never a pe-py...pi-an-o before."
Hope followed Triel over to Seri nervously and as she got closer met Seri's eyes. The woman had soft green eyes and wore a butterfly pendant that was almost entirely black except for a white star in the middle. Something about that resonated with Hope though she did not understand why, like something she once met was terrified of the symbol. Regardless of the strange familiarity Hope was entirely smitten with this woman as she was gently pushed forward by Triel after being introduced. Hope was a bit tongue tied at first by the woman's soft lips curling into a smile made her relax a little. After a moment Hope said, "I like your music very much Miss Seri, it has been a long time since I have heard anything that good, and I don't think I've ever heard any from this instrument."
Hope had felt nervous as she answered but it seemed that Triel was satisfied with her answer. When the drow offered to introduce her to Seri Hope's eyes widened at the thought that Triel knew the woman. Hope nodded and her voice was much more like the child she still showed at times as she said nervously, "Y-y-yes."
Hope seemed to realize specifically what, or rather who, was the topic of conversation and Hope tried to consider the question seriously. She had done a lot of maturing during their journey so far, even if she was still fairly withdrawn and childish at times. , so the fact she was not simply responding but thinking, or at least trying to, was a good sign. Hope had finished her food by the time she finished thinking, having matured or not she still work through her thoughts and feelings very quickly. Finally Hope took her gaze from Seri and focused on Triel instead as she said, "I don't know. I want someone who wants to be with me and won't hurt me by leaving or turning away like..."[-/b] her words choked off as the pain of what happened with Elanna washed through her. The mental scarring that had caused Hope was still in evidence even after all that had happened since. [b]"I don't think I can be....a fling, it is not in my nature." Hope looked back at Seri and then continued, "She is pretty, and her music is..." she seemed to be at a loss for words to describe what she felt for the moment but given her expression amazing or wonderful or divine might well apply, "If it is only a friend then I think I can handle that, if it doesn't go further. IF it did become more then I think I could not let go."
Hope considered the words while her eyes stayed watching the pianist and said, "Then I am not peckish, I am starving..." she frowned a little and gingerly touched the worst of her bruising, from the use of her powers and said quietly, "and I hurt..." Once the food arrived and Hope began to eat her gaze remained on Seri as she ate ravenously. The food would help her body recover but it would still take time because of this Hope answered Triel. Whether the answer was to the question Triel asked or just a comment was up in the air since she seemed to pre-occupied with staring at Seri while she ate, "Pretty."
I will be gone June 21-25, 2023 for Origins, and Gencon August 3–6, 2023.
Hope shook her head when Devie asked if she should carry her and said, "No, I can walk, I just need to rest." She let the others guide her towards a place to stay and found the place different than what she expected. She did find her gaze drawn to the pretty half-elf at the piano and then to the tiefling at the bar, before being drawn back to the half-elf. Hope's gaze stayed on Seri as Devie asked her what "peckish" meant. Hope had no clue what the word meant and she shrugged with a wince and said, "I don't know."
Hope was glad the flying thing went down when it did, she couldn't have taken another round with it so it was for the best. With the excitement over with she staggered and nearly fell into Devie when she came up to heal her. While the worst, potentially lethal, wounds largely away the bruising from the use of her powers did not. What she needed was a good nights sleep. Consequently she was not focusing so well and was being of little help in making the decisions about when to leave the city.
Hope was in really rough shape from the blast the creature struck her with before flying up in her face. She knew she was in a bad place but she was determined not to let it take her down without a fight. She stepped back from the creature and pulled in her power one last time before unleashing another blast of energy at the creature.
With so many of the others unable to engage at range Hope shifted her focus to the big bird thing that had appeared. She pulled in power to lessen the recoil of what she was about to do some and then unleashed a massive blast of raw void energy, she added extra power to make it hit even harder and weight it down before gasping hard as the recoil hit her.
Hope had flown herself down to the ground and stood with the others watching the ceremony and was caught by surprise when the sudden attack came. She stepped back slightly so she had two of the attackers in a line, pulled in power, and quickly unleashed the ball of gravity sending it flying with enough force to knock back her target.
Hope nodded and said, "Sure." She hesitated a moment and then looked at Sorshen and asked, "Do you want a lift back down?"
Hope was relieved to see the thing disperse once they had hurt it enough and breathed a sigh of relief. That could have gone much worse she was sure but they had made it through. As the questions were asked about what happened and if they could track the thing Hope said, "Time was stopped, or very slow," she shuddered as she remembered similar things in the past, in the Void between Stars, when she was given to the hole in the black."[/b] As far as tracking it she just shrugged and said, "I don't know."
Hope really wanted to really unleash on this thing as it tore into Triel but the fact they couldn't reliably hit it was a problem and she was unwilling to take the chance that she would suffer severe recoil only to miss it. Instead she pulled in power and then let loose an empowered blast of gravity knowing that this would be her best option for now. +6=44
Hope was displeased with how her attack had missed and tried once again. A condensed ball of gravity flew towards her attacker a second time.
Having come just in time Hope watched as the first flurry of blows were exchanged and felt Devie's magic settle over her. Hope began moving with better accuracy as she unleashed a major blast of gravity at the attacking creature.
Hope felt the change as time stopped, the unnaturalness of it. This wasn't like the being she was given to, the Hungering Hole that let nothing, not even time, go free. She quickly unleashed her hold on her powers letting the force of the Void manifest around her and then she blasted off from the ground towards where she last saw the others.
Hope was glad that she got a chance to play the game, even if she found it a bit awkward, and was kind of sad it was over. When Sorshen said she needed to speak with Devie and that they were welcome to join, or not, Hope saw how everyone else followed the pair and tried to decide what she wanted to do. She carefully stowed away the potion she had been given, she wasn't particularly drunk and felt no need to waste something so valuable, and thought for a moment about flying after them. After thinking for a minute Hope decided she would rather wander the festival some more. Going alone probably wasn't the smart thing to do but she was doing it anyway after all no one accused her of being particularly smart.
Hope got a feeling that Triel really wanted to be next again so she looked to Triel and tried to figure out what to ask. After a moment she asked, "What did you want to do for a job when you were a kid?
Hope gave Devie a curious look when it dawned on her what the oracle had said about Dollie and asked, "Hpw'd you know Dollie was cute?"
Hope nodded and said, "It is the truth." With that she stabbed the cup into the table.
Hope filled the cup with alcohol and downed it as Ahyoka asked her question. Hope took a deep drink from the cup, "My dolly," she exclaimed in child-like delight.
Sorry for the posting delay. I will get this done sometime today.
Hope's eyes widened in surprise that someone included her but she couldn't say she was displeased by any means. She filled the cup and ante'd her coin then watched Ahyoka and waited for the question.
Hope was proud of herself for doing so well in catching the pig. The game didn't make much sense, and she almost tried to crush the pig with gravity, but she fortunately retained enough control to not hurt the creature. It had actually been a little fun and had left a slight smile on her face, something that was very rare to see. When it came to the drinking game Hope said nothing about joining or not and just assumed someone would include her as she watched as the others played this strange drinking game. She didn't really get why anyone would want to because the stuff smelled awful. She was also a little disappointed that no one asked her questions or included her even if she wasn't sure she wanted to play or not. For the time being she simply sat there and wondered what would happen next.
Hope wasn't quite sure why anyone would want to grapple a pig and stick tags on it's ears but she felt a certain upswelling of desire to show that the darkness hungers and you cannot escape. Just after Triel made her attempt Hope did the same.
Hope was to distracted by Sorshen's presence to be of any help with the moth but she did listen to the story that was told with some interest as well as the additional information about another Runelord in the process of returning. It was quite disturbing to know more of them were coming back but that seemed to be the way of things lately. Once they went to eat Hope noticed Sorshen making no move to pay for her meal and decided to do something she had never done before. She pulled out the money herself to pay for someone else's food and then enough for her own as well. Unfortunately it seemed Sorshen was not enjoying things as much as she expected and demanded to be entertained with stories. Hope was unsure how she felt about this but she decided to join in and do her part. "There was once a little girl from Sandpoint who had the best life a little girl could ask for. A loving mother, a fearsome aunt who spoiled her, and many other children she considered her siblings. One day though her mother left, she said it would only be for a time and she would be back soon but her Mother never came back." Hope's eyes grew a bit haunted as she spoke but Triel, at least, would notice that Hope was staying more grounded in the present than she did the last time she spoke of this. "The little girl was scared and in pain and she tried to leave and find her mother. Unfortunately little girls who run away from home are bound to suffer and she was no sooner gone from her home than she was snatched up by things best not described," Hope shuddered a bit but retained her self control...for now. "The little girl found herself in darkness, in the great blackness between the stars and only the presence of the unspeakable horrors connected her to anything. She felt them slither into her mind, speak to her of darkness and the insatiable hunger of the hole in the darkness," Hop's voice began to aver and her eyes started to grow darker with a hint of madness in them, "The things told the girl she was to be the bride of their god, the hole in the darkness, and they took her to it and threw her in. Time flowed in strange ways, she aged quicker than she should to those outside but inside it felt like an eternity." Hope's control began to slip as the near hysteria entered her voice but she choked it back and clamped down on the insatiable, endless, unrelenting hunger of the void and took back her control. After a moment or two to control herself Hope continued, "In the end the Hole in the Dark released her from its embrace. She knew not why or how it could release her but it did and she found herself far from the home she once knew with no way to ever return. It is said that even to this day she is haunted by the terror, the voices, the hunger of the void for though it released her it never let's anything go once it has entered its embrace." Hope shuddered as she finished her story and reached for her silverware to continue eating but her hand shook so badly that she put it down after a moment and focused hard on calming herself down.
Hope watched Ahyoka's performance as the woman conjured orbs of light and made them dance around her. It wasn't the most amazing thing she'd ever seen, particularly compared to some of the other performers, but it was interesting and she clapped for Ahsoka when she was done Since it seemed most of the group might do different things than spend time with Sorshen, Hope said, "I'll go with you again."
Hope didn't quite grasp the explanation she was given entirely about why one of the two was more attractive to her than the other, but she decided it wasn't that important really. She listened as Sorshen explained what she wanted with them and what she would do and, since Triel seemed to be going off to look for ingredients and Ahyoka went with Sorshen, Hope decided to do the same. Hope walked fairly close to Sorshen and found herself being almost as awkward as she had been around Ella at times. Still, she made herself stay calm as she went with Ahyoka and Sorshen towards the entertainment. She didn't have any talent in performing anything, so she instead stood with the other two and watched the performers with her powers currently suppressed and said in almost child-like delight, "Wooooow!"
Hope was a bit surprised to see Ayavah, surprised but happy. The tiefling artist was nice and she kind of liked being around her. She didn't feel quite so alone. When Ayavah turned into Devie though Hope was more than a little confused. She couldn't quite comprehend what was going on here but from what it seemed Devie was Sorshen...? Despite the near identical look Sorshen was somehow...more? Hope couldn't quite explain it but she felt her eyes drawn more to Sorshen and she finally said, "Devie is pretty but Sorshen is prettier...why is that?" She just couldn't comprehend why two seemingly identical people could strike her so differently.
Hope rolled her eyes at Devie's question and said, "Because she said we all got a gift from ourselves."
Hope felt the weird way time flowed all of a sudden and simply shrugged her shoulders about it. She'd experienced strange timey whimey things before when she was in that void with the singularity. The appearance of the woman was odd and what she said was also strange. Ultimately Hope just went with the flow on this one, she'd experienced stranger so this was nothing by comparison. When she felt the gift from herself settle in the sensation was odd but then so was she. Eventually the woman disappeared and time went back to normal. "That was different," she said, "What did you all get from yourselves," she asked like it was the most normal thing in the world.
Hope wasn't comfortable talking to Zincher so she let the others handle that instead. When it came to celebrating and the suggestion of eating Hope was more than happy to do that. She liked eating, she liked it a lot, both because she had been largely starving and homeless when she first met everyone but also because the piece of the void in her was always hunger. As they all sat eating Hop noticed how Devie kept looking at Triel and tried not to get caught. It was obvious she was into Triel, and Hope didn't get what her hang up was. Grinning mischievously Hope pulled together a tiny ball of gravity, one that wouldn't cause any harm, and launched it at Devie's back to try and make her stumble into Triel. Hope then pointedly looked elsewhere like she had no idea what had just happened.
I don't have a use for any of it either.
Realizing the blast had not entangled her foe Hope pulled together another blast, this time of raw gravity, and filling it with the weight to weigh her victim down once more.
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