Guards and Order

[Solras, The Protector]

"The bigger price to pay would have been to see those deaths, to witness the aftermath of the rapes, and the mutilations.... And to know that I did nothing to prevent them. That larger price, Is not one that my soul could bear." Solras responds, her head drifting down to look at the floor once more, but the emotion, the passion of her voice does not yet revert to her usual Monotone. "You are not Dwarf. I am not Catfolk. We are not Clanbound. We are not tribebound. But I am Alive, you are Alive, and tonight there are Catfolk in this city that are Still Alive because I made the decision I made."

[NPCs]

The catfolk teen's eyes narrow and he glances sidelong at Lelldorin, who murmurs something to him. The priest pitches his voice low enough that Solras can't make out the words, but he catches enough to suspect he's translating or summarizing. "And what now, not guard?" the catfolk finally asks. "You made your choice of last night. What do you want from it now?"

[Solras, The Protector]

"I... I.... I don't know right the words for it." Solras admits "I want... I want it to matter. I want to make things better, so that no one else will be given the choice that i was given. I want the catfolk, and all the other non humans to be able to trust the guard to protect them, instead of fearing the guard as a tool of the rich.... I want.... so much more than that too. Jot just for me, but for everyone."

[Father Lelldorin]

Lelldorin leans back as he studies Solras. "It seems to this old man that perhaps the first step to your... dream, I suppose, is to understand those you wish to help."

[Solras, The Protector]

"I...." Solras starts to say before falling silent and thinking that comment through more carefully. "I think that would be a good idea."

[NPCs]

"Tch. Like some haughty what-what dwarf knows a bit of what it's like being poor," the kender-blooded girl says disdainfully. "Or could. Just looking to slum it for a bit. She'll be walk'n off to some good pay job soon. Some noble's jawbreaker or toughface."

[Solras, The Protector]

"I know what it is like to hunt for your food because if you do not hunt you will not eat. I know what it is like to make your own clothing from the animals you hunt because if you do not you will have no clothes." Solras says slowly "I remember keenly the loneliness of being alone in the wilderness with no sapient for company, because the nearest sapient is leagues and leagues away from you through the wilderness..."

She shakes her head and looks directly at the girl who questions her "I never once thought of myself as Poor because of that... I think.... If I am going to do what I want to and help people... I think I should know what it is like to be Poor, not just what it is like to not have material possession."

[Theta "T" Roidmet]

T snorts. "Living off the wild sounds good to me. Better than being city poor. You're welcome to give away all your shit and get the real Poor experience."

[Solras, The Protector]

"I... that would give me context, understanding, yes.... But what can I do with that? I'm not afraid to do it, but I do not wish to rush in without a plan to lift those around me out of.... to lift them up."

[NPCs]

"Well, you might want to start with not be so damn smug 'bout not having any problem with being poor. Not alla us got so much confidence we gonna last out the week," the merikos lender says waspishly. 

"Mallis," Lelldorin murmurs gently, reaching over to rest a hand on her shoulder. She tenses for a second before tossing a scowl at him that lacks even a dash of anger or scorn. "There are far too few willing to even try to help to push away one who is trying just because they have some quirks that you dislike."

[Solras, The Protector]

Solras looks at Mallis and tries for a smile.... She fails rather spectacularly, but the attempt is clearly there.

"I know my Common is... strange. Hard to read. It is... it is. I am not feeling what you name as smug... There is fear of the unknown, there is fear of tomorrow, of what may happen if a change is not made... I am afraid... But I want to be a part of a solution to the future that scares me."

[Theta "T" Roidmet]

"The future isn't a puzzle to be solved. It's a shitshow you're constantly fighting against. If you can carve out space to breathe, you're winning."

[Solras, The Protector]

"There must be more to life than that..... No, that's not correct. there should be more to life than that. I want there to be more to life than that. ANd I want to help make that a reality."

[NPCs]

"There should be, yah," the catfolk agrees with a faint nod. "But you need that space first. No breathing, no more, you ken?"

[Theta "T" Roidmet]

T snorts. "Fairy stories. Some people have everything and the rest of us suffer. That's just how city life is."