Mel gets very defensive if asked about 'his' fear off heights.
Adjuntas comment makes Mel even more withdrawn. He doesn't speak at all on the journey back to town.
Heren keeps watching Mel suspiciously out of the corner of his eye, he too keeps sullenly silent, still battered and bruised. He stays this way for the whole jounrey back to the town.
When they are nearing the outskirts, he quietly pipes up 'Adjunta, would you mind lessening my and Hasims wounds before we return to town?'
"Thank you."
'Many thanks!'
"Begging your pardon, friends, but I must say something that you may not like.
"The first time we chased off the bird-woman, I thought that we should cut our losses. How can we kill a monster we can't chase? But when you decided to try again, I stayed silent. I didn't want you to think that my defeatist attitude was ruining your fighting spirit, and that we lost for that reason.
"But surely you must see that it was the force of Destiny that brought us into this situation. I mean, the first time the bird-woman encountered us, I was the only one to resist. And the second time, when I was resigned to defeat, I was the only one to FAIL to resist! Surely it can't be a coincidence. The hand of Fate was writing us a clear message.
"If and when kismet decrees it's time for us to defeat that monster, it will provide us with some means of flying, or of fighting it in some other way. But for now, it's time for us to plan to find the temple... on foot, with only the equipment we can carry ourselves. I suppose you could ask if anyone here has suitable animals, but I doubt it. We should wait for Edgral the hunter to come to town, or else find some other way to the temple.
"Oh, and one other thing: I think that we should divide the money, in case one of us is robbed again."
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"I suppose it's less likely that she'll return now that she's faced stiff opposition twice now," Adjunta says, "but the roads still need to be kept safe and clear. We have other obligations we must deal with obviously but I must remember this threat."
Adjunta rubs his holy symbol before turning to Keleshite sorcerer.
"Some would say there is no fate," Adjunta says with a shrug, "some would say that it's all divine providence, but I tend to believe that we make our own fate, and I for one am not interested in fighting a loosing battle. We've chased off the harpy twice now so we know we can beat it but the question for me is 'will it return?' If we think it will then I'm afraid that I'll insist that we also return, but if we think it's been chased off for good then I'm satisfied that we've done my god's work."
The priest quickly replaces his holy symbol, adjusts his veil, and then rests his scepter-like club into the crook in his arm. Standing to his full height Adjunta looks more like a oriental king then a priest.
"Also Hasim," Adjunta quickly adds, "splitting up the money would still have netted the same result as before. I don't necessarily disagree with you but I am curious why you bring this up?"
And 160 xp for each of you
"Also Hasim," Adjunta quickly adds, "splitting up the money would still have netted the same result as before. I don't necessarily disagree with you but I am curious why you bring this up?"
"I'm sure you remember when Malgasir was robbed of everything but his boots. Imagine if he had been the one carrying the party funds. What if Ianthé is the next one to be robbed of everything? If you truly believe that we make our own fate, you shouldn't let us put all our eggs in one basket."
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"I'm sure you remember when Malgasir was robbed of everything but his boots. Imagine if he had been the one carrying the party funds. What if Ianthé is the next one to be robbed of everything? If you truly believe that we make our own fate, you shouldn't let us put all our eggs in one basket."
"This is a misconception of fate, putting eggs in one basket is fine as long as that basket is kept safe. Putting you eggs in two baskets increases the chances of dropping the eggs by 100% but decreases the number of eggs that could be damaged by dropping one of the baskets. Putting your eggs in two baskets increases the chance of an accident but only helps your net loss.
"Ianthé is not a front line fighter and she is someone we shall strive to protect. Had Malgasir had those funds on his person he would have surely lost those coins as well. Who can say which is safer? I know that in finances I would advise someone to invest in more then one enterprise, having all your money in farm does you very little in times of a drought, but on the other hand should you have a monopoly diversifying would be very foolish as you can set your prices to whatever the market will allow."
Heren smiles back, a look of confusion on his face. Then he shrugs and leads his horse to the inn to stable it. Turning to the men he says, 'Let's continue our discussion with a nice ale, shall we?'
Mel sit's silently in the Inn head down waiting for whatever Adjunta want's to say. Having always had a problem with authority and especially priests she is now regretting ever having come on this fools errand.
Ianthe's touch makes her flinch and the womans attempts to draw her away are met with a flat though wordless refusal
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"Mel," Adjunta says when it's clear that she is waiting for him to speak, "I want to first stress that neither I nor anyone else here is disappointed with your performance thus far, yes you did have a moment in the trees there, but fear is a mind killer and thankfully we were able to overcome that obstacle as a group. I believe that we've grown stronger because of it. I believe that finding our strengths and weaknesses now will help us later when we need it.
"No what I wanted to talk to you about is your identity," Adjunta says holding his hands up in a reassuring manor, "it's recently come to our attention that you aren't entirely who you say you are. Now I don't know why you've been masquerading as something you're not, there could be a whole host of reasons, and I won't pry. Your secrets are your own. I can only assume that the reason must be quite great to deceive people whom you entrust your life too. But the reason we need to talk is this: I am a priest of Abadar and I cannot lie. I will not Voluntarily reveal your true identity to anyone but if I am asked you must know that I cannot tell a falsehood. Also, I'm afraid, now that I know your gender I will need to keep proper protocol around you. You and Ianthé, for example, should share a room should we stay in inns.
"I should stress that I have the highest regard for women," Adjunta says in his best reassuring voice, "I believe that they're capable of most things a man can do, and are even better equipped to do some things. A priestess for example, I've known many talented and accomplished priestess in my time, and I believe that they are better suited for their role then most men. I have no problems with your gender, I believe that people of all races and genders should be free to use the gifts the gods have given them, but things will be slightly different between us and I wanted you to know why."
Mel sits with bowed head during Adjunta's speech..most off it goes in one ear and out the other a skill she had long practice with in the orphanage.
Her entire demeanour is one of expectation of punishment until his last statement. Her head rises slowly and he can see the look of ineffable sadness in her eyes.
"You want to know why I pretended to be someone else" she whispers her voice barely audible, flat, emotionless "I'll tell youI never knew who my parents were..some Skaldi sailor and a Riddleport whore by most peoples reckoning..and the priestesses of Sarenae who ran the foundling home never let me forget it."
"They made me feel as if I was guilty of something I had no control over..day in day out preaching at me about how I should atone for my parents sins..I hated them and they knew it.I was beaten,frequently and then I started running away. Off course they always found me and that meant more beatings"
"When I was 12 they decided that I was too much for them to handle so they sold me..not as a slave but as an indentured servant.The noble who held my contract..he..he didn't just want a young girl to work in his kitchens. The second time he came for me I tried to run and he had his servants hold me over a 80' tall balcony before he..did what he did. That is why I hate heights..the third time..I stole his dagger and killed him with it"
Her voice is still quiet the tone still matter off fact.
"I never realised that a person could hold so much blood and I knew if I didnt get away they would hang me or worse so I found some of his old clothes and pretended to be a boy. It worked, I managed to talk my way out of the house, found a gang that took me in and then a year or so later I joined the guild..it took over a year for them to realise I was a girl and when they did they congratulated me...so I was trained to spy on the nobles of Riddleport and mix in as a pageboy or a scullion or some other unnoticeable servant."
"A few months ago they asked me to do a job..I failed..badly so I ran before they could kill me and I stayed a boy because most men don't bother you for..well you know and those that did I could scare off with a sword or a cutting word.I took this job because I needed the money and those priests of Aroden seemed an easy mark..but..well..since I began travelling with you all I..I've come to think of you as my...friends. I've never had friends..not real ones."
"I'm sorry I lied to you..I hope you understand why"
She lapses into silence again
Heren listens quietly throughout the story, eyes growing increasingly wide. As Mel finishes her bit, Heren silently places one of the tankards of ale in fornt of her, pats her on the shoulder and takes a deep drink from his own.
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"Your life sounds unimaginably hard Mel," Adjunta says, "I can't even imagine. No child should have endured what you have endured. Thank you for trusting us enough to share that with us. I know you probably feel the last thing you need right now is a priest, I'm willing to be here just as a friend if you'd like, but I can offer you some absolution for your sins if you'd like. I know what you've done you've done to survive. Not even the god of Laws could hold that against you. But he does ask more of us . . . no, forgive me, I'll keep my sermons to myself, but you need to understand that not all priests are . . . I'll say self serving. I don't believe you've done me any wrong by concealing your true identity and I say we forget the whole affair. As far as I'm concerned it's as though you've always been a young lady. You owe me no apology."
Mel's answer is merely a soft smile but it's obvious that she needs some time to herself.
Heren takes a deep draught of his drink, then places it down on the rough wood of the table, he begins to smile as he says 'Grim as this day has turned, I have to say, dear lady, that that has vastly improved the quality of this ale.'
'The last ale I had of this quality was up in the World's Edge, I was fresh up from the border at Zimar, having lost my taste for fighting Keleshites over petty fueds and we were hunting a gang of orcs when we came across a shack halfway up a mountain owned by a bizarre little gnome, who said he made his brew from 'mountain barley'. When he eventually convinced us to try it, it was like the pallete soared higher than the mountains themselves.' Heren smiles as he trails off.
'Apologies, recollection is cantgious I suspect, especially with anyone whose done some soldiering.
Mel watches the kitten vanish with a slight sigh,sips her ale and her eyes widen slightly..
'If the Cypher Mages in Riddleport spent more time making things taste good and less time gazing at the skies they might be more popular' she muses to herself before turning to Ianthe and asking in an almost hesitant voice "Can you..teach me how to do that?"
Hasim isn't doing anything special.
Mel spends her time pestering Ianthe with questions about Magic and how it works.However despite being intelligent enough The Wizards spell books just seem so much gibberish to her although she thinks she can feel the power in the words
Looks around at his companions before standing and walking over to the rough-cut bar, he stands near the man, leaning on the bar and says 'Mind if I pay for this one, good man? Your Edgral, yes?'
I pay for the man's drink, then turn to him.
'Me and my friends have been waiting for you, would you mind sitting with is for a minute and hearing what we have to say?'
Mel slams Ianthe's spell book shut with a moan of annoyance
"It's no good" she complains.."these formulae are like eels that my mind can see but not grasp.....it's most frustrating because I can see how they are suppossed to work I just can't get them to work
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"No decision that I know of," Adjunta says, "we seem to start talking about it, but then the talks die off for some reason. I would like to see the matter decided once and for all myself. I assumed that the agreement was that we keep the money in the one pot but seeing as this matter has been brought up multiple times now I think I really must insist on a vote. Who is in favor of splitting the money?"
Adjunta watches the results.