|
Post by Celestial on Sept 17, 2014 19:07:52 GMT -5
"Ah, I understand. I suffered from that too, when I was younger, though since I joined the monstery it has improved," Stephen gave Sieg a sympathetic look. "It amazes me that a knight such as yourself would suffer from such a problem. Though discipline, whether military or monastic as in our case, we can master ourselves. You did not say anything wrong, Sir Braham, I should have been less blunt and excited." The monk was taken aback at Sieg's tone of voice when the knight discussed the Courdonians. He turned to face him, slightly scared of the anger that came out in the elf's face. But of course, it made sense. Up here in Bern, the main threat was Lange, Courdon was merely a dirty word and a theory. Down in Corvus, however, it would be a different story. Stephen shuddered as the implication's of Sieg's mention of the mercenary raids settled in. The stories about the Courdonians and the elf slaves were true. He made a sign of the Woo and offered a silent prayer for those of his people who were taken and then turned back to the two knights. "I pray that they will work but if not, the Woo has placed the solutions to all problems in this world and given man the ability to reason in order to figure them out. You will find a way, one which hopefully will not annoy the local people. And if you do, please, be sure to tell us. We would love to know for future reference and for the sake of further research. When you return, of course." They approached a door with an intricately carved sign of the Woo in it. There was a lock but the key had been left in it and Stephen opened it. Inside there lay several boxes, all marked with different signs, joining the barrels that stood all around the wall. Scattered all around the room on shelves and on windowsills were various flasks of all shapes and sizes, some made out of leather while others were made out of glass. "This is the room we store all the wares we give to the pilgrims. Each of those boxes contains tokens with the triple feather sign of the Woo or the three-rayed sun of Saint Absolon respectively. We don't have any of the other chosen saints of the Lord Woo, since we are attached to the Cathedral and pilgrims come here for them so I hope they will do," the monk indicated to the flasks and the barrels, "The holy water is there. We usually bottle it before we give it away to those who need it but I trust you to take as much as you require. If you wait here, I will, Woo allowing, get everything you need from Brother Augustine and Brother Lawrence. Oh and," he turned to Sieg, "Sir Braham, I am sure Brother Benedict will appreciate your counsel when you return. I will stop on the way and tell him about you." With those words, Stephen dashed off down the corridors and towards the laboratories where he knew the other monks would be working. In his mind he was already working on a speech to convince them. Stephen is very sympathetic to Sieg and assures the knights that they will find a way. He leads them into the storeroom and tells them to help themselves to holy water and religious symbolism before dashing off to get SCIENCE things.
|
|
|
Post by Shinko on Sept 17, 2014 21:24:52 GMT -5
As the monk dashed off, Sieg turned to Orrin with a sigh. "I've often wondered about that- if a proper knight should be as easy to embarrass as I am. It's not exactly the heroic picture one normally conjures in their head when they think of a knight, is it?" He shook his head, and reached into one of the boxes Stephen had indicated. The half-elf felt cool wood under his fingers, and pulled out a woocifix pendant about the size of the palm of his hand. It was similar to the one that Sieg's friend Leif, the Jade archmage, had. The difference was that Leif's was made of metal, while this one was delicately carved from wood. He pulled out a second pendant, the three-rayed sun. "Got a preference?" he called to his companion, letting both dangle by their chords from the fingers of his right hand and holding them up for Orrin's inspection. "I'm inclined to go with the woocifix personally, since I actually recognize it. Not that I doubt the sactity of their Saint Absolon, but it never hurts to be safe over sorry." He leaned back against the wall, absently scratching the scar on his chin with one finger. "What do you make of it all? The kelpie sounds relatively straightforward to me, but I get the impression that the hound is going to give us problems. The only ghosts I've ever met were an elf ghost that had died a slave in Courdon and was trying to get home to Nid'aigle, and Kelcey Kidde at the King's Arms. The elf ghost passed on as soon as I helped her back home, and Kelcey is... about as dangerous as a dustbunny, really." He fiddled with woocifix pendant absently, tracing the lines of the feathers with a fingernail. "I suppose we could tell the people in the city to arm themselves with salt as a precaution, but if you have to throw it at the enemy it's only good if you see them coming. And I have to wonder- how is it that an apparition is apparently killing people?" Sieg comments on his awkward disposition and the fact that it's probably unknightly. Then he asks Orrin's opinion on the religious charms, and what they learned from Stephen.
|
|
|
Post by Omni on Sept 18, 2014 0:03:54 GMT -5
"I've often wondered about that," Sieg said with a sigh, "if a proper knight should be as easy to embarrass as I am. It's not exactly the heroic picture one normally conjures in their head when they think of a knight, is it?"Orrin paused. "Well... there aren't any rules against it that I can think of." He tried to give a reassuring smile. "If it's not gettin' ya into trouble, I think ya'll be fine. However..." he grimaced a bit. "...ya might still want to work on it. It still seems like somethin' exploitable." The half-elf looked at the holy symbols stored in the room. "Got a preference?" he asked, holding up one of each. "I'm inclined to go with the woocifix personally, since I actually recognize it. Not that I doubt the sactity of their Saint Absolon, but it never hurts to be safe over sorry.""I'm inclined to agree with ya," said the half-dwarf, holding one of each, himself. "Woo's symbol feels... more personal. I just know it better." Orrin listened to his fellow knight as he asked about how they would deal with the hound, and his own experiences with the deceased. "Ya met a ghost?! Wait... ya mean the inn really is haunted?" The half-dwarf paused again, then started rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "I guess it makes as much sense as anythin' else... Now I feel foolish." He put his hand back down. "Anyway, it sounds to me like the hound is huntin', maybe for food. We might be able to lure it with some meat. Or at least scraps of jerky." The half-elf continued, pondering how to protect the citizens, and how spirits could injure the living. "Maybe they could throw the salt around the house or somethin'? Lace the floors with it?" Orrin suggested, putting the tri-sun back and shrugging. "I dunno. Spirits can do some weird things." Orrin tells Sieg that awkwardness isn't disallowed (he thinks), but probably should be worked on. He feels silly assuming that the King's Arms being haunted was just a rumor, and suggests using bait for the hound. He's also not sure what to do about ghost-protection, particularly for citizens, but suggests lacing the houses with salt.
|
|
|
Post by Shinko on Sept 18, 2014 6:54:51 GMT -5
The knight grimaced slightly, remembering his conversation with Alain the previous summer. "I have a myraid of exploitable personality flaws, Orrin; that is the very least of them. I have been working on it, and I think I've even been making progress, it's just... not easy to change myself on a whim." He set the sun symbol back into the box, and slid the chord for the woocifix over the hilt of his sword as he turned his attention to the barrels of holy water. "How much of this, do you think? Not too much, water is heavy and we can only take so much weight on our pack animals... and probably there'll be at least one priest there we can ask to bless some water for us, if that's how you do it." He laughed suddenly, "I don't actually really know how water becomes holy." Ya met a ghost?! Wait... ya mean the inn really is haunted?" The half-dwarf paused again, then started rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "I guess it makes as much sense as anythin' else... Now I feel foolish."Sieg snorted, his expression amused. "'Haunted' is a very generous term. Ilsa pays that ghost to hang around her inn and spook people in the night if they want it. The most he ever does is float into the rooms and shout 'Boo!' which is a pretty tame haunting if you ask me. He seems a decent sort, though he's not terribly bright. Apparently he died of decapitation, and sometimes he'll pop off his head in the middle of a conversation like it's some novelty act. And then get confused why people are horrified instead of impressed by his trick." Turning back to the primary conversation, he nodded, "I suppose bait is as worth trying as anything else, worse case scenario it doesn't work and we feed some of the local mortal predators. Though I do wonder about that. Would ghosts even need to eat? I know the one at the inn doesn't, at least I've never seen him eating. Though I guess the hound could be a different sort of ghost." He laughed again as he added, "I don't know if folk would appreciate throwing salt all over their houses anymore then they'd appreciate a moat of holy water around the city, unless they were really desperate. For the short term it could help them while we're working on the problem, I suppose, but ideally I'd like to come up with a permanent solution." He glanced at the door of the storage room, beyond which the monks were still presumably conducting their various experiments. A thought struck Sieg as he remembered the monks, and he turned back to Orrin. "I don't suppose we could try following it around for a while? To observe it. If it attacks us outright whenever we approach that's obviously out of the question, but if we could get close to it unnoticed or when it's not 'hungry' we might be able to learn something useful about how to tame or even kill it." Sieg admits he has other personality flaws that are more problematic then just getting flustered easy, but assures Orrin he's working on the problem. He asks about Holy Water, tells Orrin about Kelcey, responds to Orrin's suggestions about the hound, and then throws out one of it's own- that they could try to study it, if it will let them get close, to learn it's weaknesses that way.
|
|
|
Post by Omni on Sept 18, 2014 19:57:04 GMT -5
"I have a myraid of exploitable personality flaws, Orrin; that is the very least of them. I have been working on it, and I think I've even been making progress, it's just... not easy to change myself on a whim."Orrin grinned sheepishly again, somewhat apologetically this time. "Heh... I know the feelin'." The half-dwarf tried to give a reassuring smile. "Any progress is good progress, I guess." Sieg brought Orrin's attention to the holy water. The half-dwarf held his chin in thought. "Hmm... Hard to say. Not as much as a barrel - not all at once, at least. We probably should have some extra, just to be on the safe side. Maybe a large bottle, or possibly a jug?" He paused. "Yeah, I think that'd be good. We might want to ask the monk how they holy up the water, though, when he gets back." The Stallion knight listened as Sieg talked about the ghosts, a smile widening as he described Kelcey. "Sounds like I'll have to visit the inn sometime just to meet him. As for eatin', I think I heard stories about some dark spirits that described a 'hunger.' It might not be literal, but it might be close enough to confuse them into huntin'." He thought about Sieg's mention of needing a permanent solution for the ghost problem. "Maybe we'll learn somethin' about stoppin' ghosts for good while we're there. I hope we do; people could use it." The half-elf brought up the hound again. "I don't suppose we could try following it around for a while? To observe it. If it attacks us outright whenever we approach that's obviously out of the question, but if we could get close to it unnoticed or when it's not 'hungry' we might be able to learn something useful about how to tame or even kill it."Orrin nodded. "Maybe leave some bait and watch it eat... Whatever we need to do. I'm all for learnin' what we can before approachin' it. Well, unless we need to keep it from hurtin' someone, at least." Orrin tells Sieg he knows the feeling. The two knights plan some more.
|
|
|
Post by Shinko on Sept 18, 2014 22:15:16 GMT -5
Sieg nodded in agreement at Orrin's suggestion about the water, and shuddered at the half-dwarf's mention of spirits being "hungry." "I could see that- a sense of void from whatever unfinished business has them lingering, and a desperation to fill it. So since in one's mortal life you fill an emptiness inside by eating, the ghost would eat just for the sake of any sort of fulfillment." He smiled as Orrin seemed to agree with his plan, adding that they could work it into the original baiting idea. "Sounds like a good notion. Well now we have our destination and a plan. Once Stephen gets back perhaps I can leave my sword at the smithy before we go buy supplies- that way he can work on it while we're out and about." The half-elf suddenly grinned. "Spirits and kelpies and vampires... not to mention whatever other nastiness we'll bump into in the mountains along the way. I get the impression this is going to be a very hectic summer, but it certainly promises not to be boring! Thanks for asking me along Orrin." XD Sorry, not much else to add to this conversation. I think they've covered everything they need to.
|
|
|
Post by Celestial on Sept 19, 2014 16:27:13 GMT -5
Stephen pushed the door open with his back, his arms almost overflowing with various bottles all seemingly clustered around one bigger glass orb held by an iron frame and a wooden box. Once he had peered into the storeroom and saw the two knights, he smiled broadly and gestured with his head at what he was carrying. "It, uhh...seems that my Brothers were very keen to get their things tested out. We don't get many travelling knights, you see, especially not those who hunt the supernatural so they jumped at the chance. You might have to pick and choose, I'm afraid," the monk said. Kneeling down, he carefully placed the bottles and box onto the floor and lined them up neatly in order before finally, he picked up the handle of the orb and held it out to let Sieg and Orrin see. On closer inspection, it had an opaque liquid sloshing around inside. Suspended by iron in the liquid itself was a smaller vial, full of a powder of some sort. "This is with Brother Augustine's blessing, on the condition that you tell him how bright the light is and how long it lasts when you return, as well as any other improvements you can think of," Stephen brought the lantern back down, puzzling over the top. "Sadly the exact chemistry flew over my head but he explained to me how it activates at least," he touched a prominent pin sticking out of the top. "This is the safety. You pull this out and then push the lid down fully until you hear something inside break. Then it should begin glowing. Apparently the glow is strong enough to light up an entire room so, I don't know, I think that's bright enough. Also he said to be careful if it breaks. Apparently the chemicals inside are dangerous when combined and can burn if they touch the skin. But he reassured me that the glass is strong enough to resist the road, since he's knocked it over a few times off his desk and it has not broken yet. The iron is supposed to protect it." He put the lantern aside and turned back to the five bottles assembled in front of him. One was tall and thin, one was squat, one was miniscule and yet another was completely cylindrical while the last one was triangular with a wide neck. "And these are all the supposedly anti-ghost chemicals that Brother Lawrence cooked up. They all have different functions and the bigger the vial, the stronger it is," he paused, mulling over his words and shook his head. "No, wait sorry, other way around." Stephen pointed to the assembled bottles one by one, sometimes turning them around so that he could see the labels attached to their lids. The chemical formula was written on the label but also there was a crude pictogram of what exactly the effect was. "I can't reach the chemical formulas, I'm afraid so I can't tell you what's in them. Chemistry is not my strong point," Stephen laughed awkwardly before he coughed and starting pointing to each bottle in turn, "That supposedly dissolves the ghost, this one banishes it from this world, this makes it solid so that it can be attacked with conventional weaponry. I think this one can neutralise the malevolent effects of a ghost, not sure how, and this...uhh..." he checked the label on the last one, on which was drawn a very angry ghost clutching its head, "I can't tell. Makes them angry? Gives them a headache? Causes great pain is my best guess. Which you could do with the salt and holy water. But yes, that's the selection. You choose which ones you want. But there is one more thing-" Stephen picked up the box and opened it up, giving the knights a look inside. There was a small compartment full of a pale green paste and another was filled with neatly folded bandages. "This is my gift. Woo forbid you have to use it but I thought you would need something for your injuries if you ever sustained them. I'm not a physician but my special interest is herbalism This salve should help your injuries heal faster and prevent infection and inflammation in the meantime. It contains a mixture of willow bark, the active ingredient of comfrey, several plants that boost immunity such as-" Stephen broke off, realising he was going on a ramble again. He gave Sieg and Orrin an embarrassed smile. "I should not ramble, forgive me. But I prove it will come in useful. If anything, you can just use the bandages," the monk closed the box and placed it down next to the lantern and the bottles. "Now then, do you have everything you need here? Anything more I can do for you?" Stephen returns with stuff, like a lantern, anti-ghost chemicals and a salve for treating injuries. Isn't he helpful?
|
|
|
Post by Omni on Sept 19, 2014 19:21:35 GMT -5
Sieg seemed uncomfortable at the thought of a 'hungry' spirit, though glad that they could work out a plan. Then, filled with sudden excitement. "Spirits and kelpies and vampires... not to mention whatever other nastiness we'll bump into in the mountains along the way. I get the impression this is going to be a very hectic summer, but it certainly promises not to be boring! Thanks for asking me along Orrin."Orrin smiled back. "No problem! I'm glad ya could come with me, really." About then, Stephen pushed his way in (literally), his arms full of various do-dads. He brought them out and showed them to the knights, describing them one-by-one. Once he finished, Orrin smiled at the contents of the box. "That one seems like it would be useful, especially the salve. I do some work treating bones, and open wounds can turn nasty. If the salve works well, I might like some for my own kit." The half-dwarf looked over the rest of the items, turning first to the strange lantern that the monk showed them. "So there's no way to stop the light once it starts?" he asked. "Seems a bit strange to me, but if you need it tested, I suppose we can do that for you." He then turned to the bottles, first holding the one that was meant to solidify a ghost. "It seems like this one wouldn't help much in combat if iron already effects ghosts. Though I suppose it might make weapons more effective. It might also cancel out certain other abilities, like being able to vanish in an instant." He put the bottle down, looking down at the others. "I don't think I like the idea of dissolving a ghost. It seems like a fate worse than death." The half-dwarf paused. "No joke intended. I'm also concerned about what the banishment liquid might do if it doesn't do what's intended, or if we could even tell. In fact, it seems like a risk with most of these. Though if it's an emergency..." After a pause, Orrin turned toward the fourth bottle, picking it up. "This one... If I understand correctly, a ghost could stun someone, and this could free them?" He cracked a smile. "Wouldn't it be something if it could undo a 'death' effect? Bring someone to life?" he said, trying to make sure it was obvious that he didn't think this was plausible. Setting the bottle back down, he looked back over the spread. "I suppose we could take them all... We could easily take them in the cart." Orrin's glad that Sieg could come. When Stephen returns with the experimental items, Orrin ponders the usefulness of the different kinds, but figures they could take them all in the cart he brought.
|
|
|
Post by Shinko on Sept 19, 2014 22:23:45 GMT -5
Sieg turned to Stephen when the man walked back into the room, and listened with interest as he explained what each of the tools in question did. The knight couldn't help but smile at the monk's obvious enthusiasm, and when he apologized Sieg flapped a hand dismissively. "No need to be sorry, we're happy to have your help and happy we can give your experiments a field test for you. I just hope the other monk's enthusiasm does not turn against us if we have to tell them something or other didn't work as planned!" He indicated the small first-aid box with a smile, "And I agree with Orrin. Any experienced campaigner knows how detrimental infection can be, and how easy it is for even a minor injury to become tainted when travelling through rough country. Your herbel remedy is very much appreciated." Orrin examined the lantern, remarking, "So there's no way to stop the light once it starts? Seems a bit strange to me, but if you need it tested, I suppose we can do that for you.""Mm-hm," Sieg agreed. "If it only lasts a short while after being activated, and can only be activated once, we should probably save it for an emergency- stick with normal oil lanterns where we can. But you never know when a gust of wind could put the flame out, or the oil could run dry, so having this in reserve will be useful if it works properly." "It seems like this one wouldn't help much in combat if iron already effects ghosts. Though I suppose it might make weapons more effective. It might also cancel out certain other abilities, like being able to vanish in an instant."Sieg blinked, tilting glancing at his friend in confusion. "Orrin, maybe I'm misremembering, but... Didn't Stephen say that normal weapons don't work on spirits? It seems to me something that makes them solid would simplify our jobs a great deal if it works properly." When Orrin expresse skepticism about what the potions would do if they didn't work properly, Sieg shrugged. "We knew already that these were a shot in the dark. If we turn them down now because we aren't sure they'll work, there was no point in having them brought out in the first place." He winked at Stephen and gave Orrin a playful slap on the shoulder. "If one of them blows up in our faces, we'll just have to give this Brother Lawrence a stern talking to when we get back, that's all." The half-elf laughed outright when Orrin mentioned he had a cart with him. "Well now I feel like I'm not trying hard enough. I just have a pack mule to carry my things. Certainly I wouldn't trust a collection of breakable glass like this to his saddlebags. But a cart... yes, I could see it all fitting in a cart. Though there is still the fact that we can only bring so much of it with us at one time when we confront the ghost, but we can cross that bridge when we get closer to it I suppose." Sieg glanced back at Stephen, looking slightly embarrassed. "Sir Orrin and I were discussing this while you were gone, and I feel I need to ask... forgive me if this is an odd or blasphemous question, but erm, how does one go about making water holy, precisely? Is it something the local priest in Haflinger could do if we ran out for whatever reason?" Sieg reacts to the kit, brings up counterpoints for some of Orrin's concerns, and then asks Stephen how to make holy water holy.
|
|
|
Post by Celestial on Sept 20, 2014 8:57:00 GMT -5
"Oh that would be wonderful! If I'd known you were a healer, I'd have mentioned it instantly. If you come back here and it has proven effective, I'll make more for you. And what's more, I can submit my recipe to the physician's college too, since they require testing before they approve of te use of any medicines. But that would only be the icing on top, I would just have been glad that it works if it helps you both, " Stephen clapped his hands together, grinning widely with exictement. The monk monk shook his head at Orrin before giving Sieg a nod, "Iron works on spirits if you can hit them, otherwise it will pass right through them. They are far more difficult to fight than normal supernatural creatures. And no, it will not solve death. I don't believe that is designed for use for humans, or cure anything, at least that's not the impression I got. It will just prevent a ghost from using its abilities but I doubt it will help with acutally curing anybody of a ghost's effects. That's up to an ordinary healer or physician." His smile faded as he looked down at the bottles again. "A lot of these are untested, since as I've said, when it comes to the supernatural, we are lacking around here. Good for the common folk and for everyday life but not good when it comes to finding out ways to combat them. So I'm afraid you're going to have to put a little bit of trust in us and our research if you want to use these. It can't be helped, I'm sorry. If you don't want to take the risk, I won't blame you, you're going to be the ones putting your lives on the line after all," Stephen's smile returned, however, once he heard what Sieg had said, "Thank you nevertheless. I'm sure Brother Lawrence would not be happy but he is kind enough, he will recover. Besides, we are only human. Sometimes we misinterpret the Lord Woo's creation and so we must go back to square one. That is the nature of our work and we understand that." "As for the lantern, well," the monk lifted it up again to examine it, "I believe it was designed for conditions like wind and rain in which normal lanterns would not work. Otherwise it is not very practical for the reasons you mentioned but if you are going up to the mountains, wind and rain are a danger. But it lasts for some time, several hours if I remember Brother Augustine's boasting correctly," he gave a small chuckle and bowed his head. "Thank you for agreeing to test these out nevertheless. I do understand it would be hard to carry for you, especially with so much glass, so please only take what you feel like you need. Though I must confess, we are using you as test subjects a little but I hope it is a fair exchange. And you will be helping others in the future, regardless of whether these work or fail." To address Sieg's question about the holy water, Stephen got up from where he had been kneeling and went over to one of the barrels. "That's hardly blasphemous, Sir Braham. It's a relatively simple process. If you don't want to take any of this, I'm sure you could find a priest in Haflinger who could do it. All that's required is a woocifix to be dipped into the water and the correct prayer to be said over it." The loud tolling of a single bell broke the silence that hung over the monastery. Stephen looked up as he heard it before turning to the knights, his face slightly alarmed. "That is the first call for the reading of the holy word of the Woo so I'm afraid I must be leaving you soon. If there are no more questions, if there is nothing more that you need and you have all your supplies, I'll escort you out. I left the key in the lock and I must retrieve it or the abbot will have my head. Plus if you need help carrying everything..." Stephen answers all the questions posed to him and explains a little bit more about what he's giving the knights while admitting that they are essentially guinea pigs for the science monks. Then a bell rings, signifying the beginning of the end of the conversation. Last minute questions welcomed before you're thrown out, Sieg, Orrin!
|
|
|
Post by Omni on Sept 20, 2014 16:35:31 GMT -5
Orrin was a little taken aback by how excited Stephen was that his salve could be tested, meaning it might be possible for the recipe to be published. "Well... Good luck to you. We'll let you know if it works," he said with an assuring smile. Stephen continued clarifying the effects - and lack of effects - of the contents of the bottles. The half-dwarf paused. "Hmm... Well, something that helps cure or protect against ghost effects might also be helpful. Perhaps that could be researched as well? We can still test the current solutions" he indicated the bottles "in the meantime." "We knew already that these were a shot in the dark. If we turn them down now because we aren't sure they'll work, there was no point in having them brought out in the first place." He winked at Stephen and gave Orrin a playful slap on the shoulder. "If one of them blows up in our faces, we'll just have to give this Brother Lawrence a stern talking to when we get back, that's all."Orrin winced slightly before turning to Sieg. "I was more worried about the spirits," he explained quietly to his fellow knight. Stephen voiced some concern for the knights' well-being, seeing as they were using untested products. "Thank you nevertheless. I'm sure Brother Lawrence would not be happy but he is kind enough, he will recover. Besides, we are only human. Sometimes we misinterpret the Lord Woo's creation and so we must go back to square one. That is the nature of our work and we understand that."Orrin grinned. "In that case, you should be glad you're speaking with a knight who's not just human," he pointed to Sieg, "and one who's not human at all!" He pointed at himself before stopping the grin. "In all seriousness, I'm sure we'll be glad to try these. As knights, we heal with risk very often, so it's not something we're unfamiliar with." To address Sieg's question about the holy water, Stephen got up from where he had been kneeling and went over to one of the barrels. "That's hardly blasphemous, Sir Braham. It's a relatively simple process. If you don't want to take any of this, I'm sure you could find a priest in Haflinger who could do it. All that's required is a woocifix to be dipped into the water and the correct prayer to be said over it."The Stallion knight blinked. "That's it? It sounds like we could do it if we learned the prayer." He turned to Sieg and ribbed him slightly. "Sounds like that moat might be feasible after all!" he said with a grin. The loud tolling of a single bell broke the silence that hung over the monastery. Stephen looked up as he heard it before turning to the knights, his face slightly alarmed. "That is the first call for the reading of the holy word of the Woo so I'm afraid I must be leaving you soon. If there are no more questions, if there is nothing more that you need and you have all your supplies, I'll escort you out. I left the key in the lock and I must retrieve it or the abbot will have my head. Plus if you need help carrying everything..."Orrin guffawed. "I don't think we'll have any problem carrying these," he said, indicating his extra arms. "If you could carry them, I'm sure we could, too." He paused. "I do have one question though: what would happen if you mixed salt with holy water? Would it be a super-effective mix against ghosts?" They discuss the experimental items some more before the bell rings. Orrin asks what happens when you mix salt and holy water.
|
|
|
Post by Shinko on Sept 20, 2014 18:33:21 GMT -5
Sieg was a little surprised when Orrin explained quietly that his concern was for the effects the potions might have on the ghost. While in theory Sieg could understand his concern where benign ghosts like Kelcey Kidde where concerned... this black hound, if the implications from the stories were true, was killing people. Sieg didn't like having to kill any more than any other sane, rational individual would, but it seemed to him that they couldn't really afford to be merciful towards a malevolent spirit. Then again, perhaps that was Orrin's heritage talking? Certainly his appearance was one that could be regarded by some as monstrous, if they were inclined to jump to conclusions and judge soley on appearances. Sieg didn't really know much about Orrin's past, but it was entirely possible he'd been judged harshly back in Kine for looking like he did- and consequently was more inclined to sympathize with unusual supernatural creatures. All well and good, and Sieg could respect that, but he hoped it wouldn't stop the half-dwarf from doing what needed to be done when the chips were down. Sieg listened to Stephen explain how to bless the holy water, and Orrin's suggestion that the two knights might be able to do it themselves. The half-elf laughed somewhat nervously. "If you want to try that, by all means be my guest. I confess I'm a little leery about appearing presumptuous if I beseech the Woo for a blessing normally reserved for His servants." Sieg didn't really have any other questions for Stephen, so he just smiled and started picking up some of the things that Stephen had given them- the lantern and two of the five bottles, leaving the box with the bandages and salve and the other three bottles for Orrin. "I really must thank you again for your generosity, good sir," Sieg said to the monk. "You and your brothers have been very kind- I hope when we return we can give you some good news with regards to the success of your experiments." Sorry if this reply isn't very meaty, Sieg doesn't have much to say. >>
|
|
|
Post by Celestial on Sept 21, 2014 8:12:50 GMT -5
"Problem is that cures are much harder to make than killing items. A cure needs to do something specific without doing harm. It's why the physicians need everything they use tested before they accept it. We haven't even figured out how to cure with chemicals, I'm not even sure if it's possible," Stephen replied to Orrin, his eyes growing a little downcast for a moment. However, at the knight's next comment, he flushed slightly and gave a sheepish laugh. "I did mean me and my Brothers but...yes, I suppose you aren't. We are grateful either way, believe me. And who knows, maybe your...natures will give you a bit of an advantage in the experimentation?" He chuckled to indicate that was a joke and grinned when Orrin pointed out his extra arms. "Certainly gives you an advantage in something. What I wouldn't give for four arms sometimes..." the monk opened his mouth to answe about the holy water just as he heard two peals of the bell. His face paled slightly. "I'm sorry, I must hurry. Once you have everything, you best follow me. Don't bother with the storeroom door, I'll get it when I can," he turned and walked briskly out towards the front entrance. "As for the holy water, yes, in theory, any person could bless it since it is so simple. But it is most effective when a servant of the Woo does it. Some also consider it blasphemous to presume that anybody else could do it but it depends on the person. In a pinch, however, I would not blame you if you did that. As for salt...it would increase its effectiveness exponentially. I heard that this is what they do in Albion when they need holy water for protection against evil. The simplest ways are the best ways, aren't they?" They approached the front entrance and Stephen quickly opened it, smiling at the two knights and giving them a bow. "The pleasure was all mine. Come back safe and sound and hopefully," his eyes glimmered, "With plenty of stories and results. I and all the monks here will be waiting for your return." Once Sieg and Orrin had left, Stephen quickly shut the door and turned the key in the keyhole. He grabbed it tightly in his hand, having no time to attach it to his belt and sprinted through the cloisters towards the chapel. Even though he was likely going to be late, he didn't care. It had been worth it. *** The opening of the monastery's door caught his eye from across by the cathedral but it was really the two who stepped out that drew it. Orrin was unmistakeable, there was nobody else quite like him. Sieg was a little harder to distinguish from this distance but there was no doubt it was him. Who else could it be? He had heard the rumours of the two being in town so he thought it might be worth seeing if he could spot them when he went out incognito. There was no need for the knights and him to interact, not yet anyway. He knew what they were doing and they did not need his help. Nor was he going to spare time and resources to help two knights who were more than capable of going without, judging by all they had in their hands as they exited the monastery. Neverthless, it was still nice to see them during his round of the city. Alain smiled to himself and, after adjusting his hood, walked away in the direction of the High Bridge. It seemed like he was going to get some of those nagging problems taken care of very soon. Stephen answers any lingering questions and sees the two knights out, super-excited at having met them.
Oh hi, Alain...bye, Alain.
|
|
|
Post by Omni on Sept 21, 2014 13:49:11 GMT -5
Orrin wasn't sure whether or not Stephen caught that the 'not human' thing was a joke, but either way, he did have a point about possible advantages... even if that was meant to be a joke. He grabbed the remaining items before they were hurried out the door, making sure to give a few thanks to the monk before said door was closed behind them. After a short pause, he turned to his fellow knight. "So, get these back to the inn, buy some supplies at the market, then head out tomorrow?" he suggested, flipping a bottle to get a better grip. "We didn't get any holy water, but I'm sure we could buy plenty of salt. I'd also like to send some mail before we go; Alain's going to want a report of where we're goin'." Orrin thanks Stephen as they're hurried out the monastery (which they totally went to after someone at the cathedral suggested it would be better), then suggests to Sieg that they get working on supplies and head out tomorrow. Looks like this part is wrapping up!
|
|
|
Post by Shinko on Sept 21, 2014 19:31:58 GMT -5
The rest of the knight's stay in the Bernian capital was uneventful, and as Orrin had suggested they left around mid-morning the following day. Two days passed mostly without incident; the knights talked about various topics from the battles ahead to stories of battles of old, and of things completely unrelated to knighting. On the third night down the road from Destrier Sieg and Orrin had stopped to camp as they had twice before. Hours of darkness passed, both of them sleeping relatively soundly. Every so often Orrin would start snoring for a while, prompting the mostly-still-asleep Sieg to pull his covers over his head and drown out the noise. About four hours shy of dawn, however, a soft whimper emerged from Sieg's sleeping bag. He clenched his arms and legs close to his torso, curling himself into a tight ball, and his entire body started quivering. There was a low, soft crackle as he ground his teeth together, clenching his jaw hard as another whimper emerged. The half-elf clutched his head, fingernails digging into his scalp, and started shaking harder. The whimpering was almost constant now, but instead of being indistinct it was now emerging as a low string of incomprehensible muttering. It rose and feel with the tonalities of genuine speech, but speech unlike anyone in Bern would have ever heard- Elvish. The volume increased steadily, absolute panic edging into his voice. His words become choked, tears streaking from his tightly clenched eyelids, and he jerking occasionally as if he were trying to fight his way out of the sleeping bag. " Arrêtez, arrêtez, arrêtez, arrêtez, arrêtez, s'il vous plaît faites que ça s'arrête!" Bad memories come back to haunt...
8D Feel free to PM me if you have a correction for my French, and don't hate me if it's utter nonsense. I tried.
|
|