The Amell Legacy: Transgressions

[NPCs]

"Got a handful or two of stories about mabari, if you're interested," Roland offers artlessly. "Right fine one you have there by the way. What's his name?"

[Merrill]

Merrill widens her smile, trying to be encouraging for her new maybe friend.

[Carver Amell]

"Hunter," says Carol, but she tightens her grip as though afraid to lose him. 

[NPCs]

"Suspect he's already bonded to you. If not, he's real close. Arentcha boy?" he asks, making a half tock, half click noise with his tongue. Hunter's head pops up to look at Roland but he doesn't budge from his perch in Carol's lap. The bard chuckles. "Oh yeah, he's yours. And you're his."

[Carver Amell]

Mine. His. Despite herself, Carol starts weeping silently, cradling the pup. 

[NPCs]

Girl's been hurt. Seems to be bonding with Merrill too. Could be good for both of them. "You ever heard of how mabari came to be?" Without waiting for a reply, Roland continues to talk. "Long ago, long before even the Sovereignty was a far-flung dream of some crackpot mage with too much talent and not enough humility, there was a small village. Place was next to a deep, powerful forest, filled with riches and dangers both- but too much of the later for the humans in the village to be able to hunt or forage there. Place was next to a river, one deep and broad, perfect for fish and travel both. Would have made a great spot really, thanks to that river, but they had little to trade and no wood to build docks or boats."

Placing a hand on the ground, he leverages himself into a sitting position, legs crossed in front of him. "Man after man went into the woods, trying to find rare plants or good hardwoods. Man after man went missing, never heard from again. Woman after woman went into the woods, trying to hunt meat and furs or magical reagents. Woman after woman went missing, never heard from again. One day, a small girl stepped into the woods, like so many had before her. Her parents were gone, one to the woods, the other attempting to travel afar to make a living. Her grandfather tried to feed her and her little brother from the river's bounty, as all were forced to do, but he was old and getting older. So she stepped into the woods, desperate, afraid and so very determined that her little brother would not starve come the winter. Her grandfather would not be able to break the ice over the water that year, she knew, and no-one could afford to feed three extra mouths. She had to succeed."

[Bethany]

Beth, having been lingering out of worry for her... out of worry, finds herself drifting back to the group.. Lured by the story, by the reactions from her twin, she approaches quietly. He really is good at this...

[Carver Amell]

Carol bites her lower lip, listening. Just like me -- a burden, a curse on her family.

[NPCs]

"Young as she was, she'd had a hard life already. Granda did his best, but she had to pick up a lot of slack. Too small to use a bow, she'd developed no little skill with a sling. Small birds, the occasional rabbit or mole from the scrublands around the village. More importantly, she'd learned how to be small and quiet. To move through nature without stirring the animals, without being noticed. So she made it past the tree cats that had taken the last man to enter the woods. She avoided the den of displacer beasts that had taken three villagers just that year because she was clever enough to notice that the nice big cave, a tempting home for all sorts of animals, was so suspiciously unused. She crept through briars and thorns, she climbed over stone ridges and mossy trunks. She watched in awe, quiet as a mouse and twice and careful, as a mighty green dragon did battle with a pair of forest trolls. She was terrified of course, tiny little thing that she was. But she had her little brother waiting in the village, depending on her. So on she went, ever forward, ever onward." 

Hmmm. No need to go the full Five Trials, Seven Tests and Five Foes I think. Let's see... "What the little girl did not manage to avoid was the curse over the entire forest. See, it wasn't just the villagers that entered the forest and never came out. All living things were trapped that way, from the tiniest butterfly to that might dragon, none of them could leave once they were touched by the shade of a single tree. Worse and better was that time did not pass as it should within the forest. Despite traveling for hours and hours, even days and days, the sun never set and the sun never set. She wandered, too clever and skilled to be caught, too small and weak to face a single beast and claim either pelt or territory to gather from. And yet..."

Roland smiles faintly, leaning forward ever so slightly as he lowers his voice at a small but steady rate. "And yet... she learned. As the hours of that endless day slipped by, she learned. She learned how the animals move, how they hunted. She learned the way the wind moved across the grass, how the trees swayed. She learned how the griffons defended their land, how the unicorns protected each other as they grazed and slept. She studied the massive tyrannosaurus as it attempted to make itself the ruler of the forest. She smiled, pleased, as the tyrannosaurus was defeated and cast down not by muscular trolls or fierce razorbacks, but by a pack of raptors. Little dinosaurs, no bigger than her, with only tiny claws and tinier teeth. What they did have, however, was a pack. Each raptor was nothing but a snack to the dragon, but together? When one would attack, the thunder lizard would roar and try to snap it up! But then that raptor's partner would rush in and attack as well, distracting the far bigger reptile. Again and again, she saw such things. The unity of the unicorns, the partnership of the raptors, even the comradery of the trolls. Brutish things, but also more together than alone. The little girl grew wiser and clever as she traveled this endless, eternal forest, though she never aged a whit."

Roland sighs softly, his smile turning sad and melancholy. "And then came a time she awoke- and realized she could not remember her brother's laugh anymore. Panic set in, a cold, furious panic that coursed through her as she realized that despite the education the forest was giving her, it was taking something far more precious from her. Her purpose reforged, she set out, not to plunder or learn, but to live. To escape. Ignoring all distractions, she set off for the very center of the forest, intending to find the source of the course and break it, no matter how dangerous or difficult. She passed by wonder after wonder- amazing beasts, priceless herbs and fruits, marvels of nature and places of such beauty that Astea Herself would only nod and smile Her joy. Not once did her path falter, not once did she stop, until eventually... she found it. The center. The source of the curse."

"Uryll."

He waits just a beat before flashing a grin. "Well, not really of course. Not Uryll but Her avatar, Her Herald. Actually the reason this story came to mind in fact- you see, the Herald was of Her hunting aspect and, well, She's a simple, blunt sort of deity and so are Her Heralds. This one was called Hunter." He winks, amused at how the mabari lets out a yipped growl at his name. "Exactly so, pup, exactly so. See, even the gods obey rules, even if we don't understand them, even if they make the rules Themselves for reasons we can't but wonder about. Their Heralds are just the same, and Hunter was trapped. He'd taken on the form of a simple wolf, and for whatever reason, couldn't or wouldn't leave it, even to save himself from the pit trap he was caught in. Instead, he trapped the entire woods along with him. Well, the little girl took a bit to understand the situation, true enough- after all, would you suspect a normal if prime example of a wolf was a Herald right off? But figure it out she did- and get him out she did as well. Freed from the trap, the Herald took on his true tulwath form- and asked the little girl what she wanted as repayment for her deed, her kindness."

"Now most would have asked for riches, for power, or even just for food and safety for her family. But the little girl had grown and learned in her time inside the forest. She knew that riches could be stolen, power unearned would fade or turn on you and asking for mere food would be an insult to the Herald. So she asked for a partner. She asked for a companion that would always be with her, that would share of her skill and cleverness, and give of her strength and speed. She asked for a fellow, a peer, that would hunt alongside her, would sleep by her side and would love her for all time." The bard leans back, hands splaying out behind him as he gives Hunter a pointed look.

"I'd say she picked a good boon, yeah?"

[Carver Amell]

Carol holds her pup close, considering the story. A companion who would stay with me, and love me, forever. Isn't that what I set out to find? Isn't that what I asked for, when Beth suggested a pet? I don't need a twin. I don't need a mother or a father, or a suitor. I just need a partner. One perfect peer. One single thing to love and love me back. And I have to be small, and clever, and learn as much as I can. 

She doesn't notice the change inside her. No mortal does. But somewhere in Uryll's domain, Her Herald smiles, noting the change. Noting the beginnings of Carol being put to rights. 

[Marian Hawke]

Part 2

Marian Hawke rose from her sleeping bag early, her mind full of ideas and her hands refusing to remain idle.

It had been some time since she had time in the morning to make bread. She let it rise in a pre-warmed iron pot, raking the coals into greater life before heaping them over top to let it bake. It wouldn't rise fluffy that way, she figured, but it would be bread, and it would be warm. We all make sacrifices at times.

The bushes opposite stir, and a Herald walks out toward the fire.

Not literally, thankfully. It is only Haliel, the morning sun streaming through her golden hair, a warm smile on her perfect face. But Marian's heart stops just as if it were Adoration Herself heading toward her meager cookfire.

You're drooling. Say something.

"...hi," she croaks, flushing.

[Haliel Lightsong]

Haliel had risen shortly after Marian, but instead of making bread, she had gone to the pond nearby to wash her hair. She doesn't need to bathe often really as she doesn't sweat, but her hair has an annoying tendency to gather leaves and tiny branches in the forest, even when she puts it up. I really should cut it short but... I suppose I do have some vanity. And it provides some warmth, right? Right. Hair washed, damp and loose over her shoulders, she heads back to the camp still wearing the simple cotton robe she had gotten in Nyra. Marian is right, having more than armour and one set of vestments really is worth it. Otherwise I would have had to either come back in my underthings, dress and then undress in my vestments or bother someone to tag along to help me put on my armour. I really do need to upgrade to mithril soon...

Running a hand through her hair absently, she sniffs the air. Bread? Ah, that must be what Marian spent her morning on. The aasimar giggles softly. I hope she remembers to singe a few slices for Mister Varric. He's so adorable in how he tries to be all crusty and grumpy. But it is just a crust, over a soft and loving, ummm, bread filling What is the soft white bit of bread called? Can't be crust and not-crust... Stepping out of the brush, she sees Marian and smiles as joy fills her heart at the sight of her first friend. She seems in good humor still- I should see what she's been trying to talk to me about the last few days. We've just not been able to be alone...

"I hope your dreams were kind and refreshing, Marian."

[Marian Hawke]

They weren't, of course -- they were full of snow and howling Mabari and the cruel smiles of ambition. But she smiles anyway. "And yours. Oh! Do you have a moment? I wanted to tell you what Master told me the other day."

[Haliel Lightsong]

"Of course. I love listening to you talk about..." Haliel laughs, the sound soft and silvery, as she takes a seat next to Marian. Close enough that the merkos elf can catch the faintest whiff of that deep water scent that the aasimar gives off when she washes, as if by touching her, the water remembers what it once was. "Well, just about anything really, but especially when it's something that puts that light in your eyes."

[Marian Hawke]

Light in my eyes...? She shakes it off. So naive, so hopeful. She's the one who's special. Even if all the rest of us really are alike, she's too perfect to be real, like a dream you can't shake off.

"Helene was explaining the different sexualities. I only knew of two: homosexual, like me, and heterosexual, like almost everyone else. But there's also bisexual for both and..."

She pauses for dramatic effect. "Asexual!" She crows.