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Post by Shinko on Oct 1, 2014 7:00:19 GMT -5
Sieg sighed, "I definitely think we're going to need to try to figure out more about this creature before we confront it. Clearly this is a lot more complicated then a dog that turns into mist killing people." He looked at Orrin, "Well the cemetery is the only solid lead we have insofar as a confined location to check. The forest is huge, but at least with a graveyard there is a limited number of places to go. That's probably our best hope to try and catch this thing without having to wander aimlessly through trees it might never pass. And I think we should try to observe it for a night before we set the bait and make it solid, since we don't want to waste Stephen's potions if we aren't going to actually fight it yet- and I don't want to fight it without understanding better what it can do." The half-elf looked down at the boy again with a sad head shake, "Either way, I don't think there's anything else we can learn here... I feel as if we've just raised a whole batch of new questions instead of answering anything." Sieg suggests they try to catch the Hound in the cemetery, since they really have no other solid leads, and suggests they leave the undertaker. If you wanna move them to the next location or timeskip, go ahead Omni~
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Post by Omni on Oct 1, 2014 16:42:28 GMT -5
Orrin listened, a thoughtful expression on his face, as the half-elf thought aloud about how the cemetery was their best bet. The half-dwarf was silent for a moment, then he nodded. "Agreed," he said, "it's our best shot." "Come on. Let's go. We better get ready for tonight." ----- Sure enough, after leaving the undertaker's place, the two knights headed for the chapel. There they asked for holy water, and while there, offering prayers for the sake of the departed spirits, for guidance to solve the mystery, and for the safety of the townspeople. They also prepared salt pouches to keep with them, and made sure they had extra fuel for the lantern. Once they figured they had when they needed, they then practiced fighting before turning in to sleep... and up once sunset came. Once they were sure they were properly equipped, they set out for the graveyard. There, they stuck close to each-other, trying to watch one-another's backs. As the one with extra arms, Orrin offered to hold the lantern, and he tried to allow them to see without giving themselves away too much... though he felt he'd rather draw the hound to them than another helpless victim. Casting glances around the graveyard, Orrin spoke softly to his fellow knight. "I don't see or hear anythin' yet... Do ya?" The knights prepare for the night. Then: STAKEOUT!
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Post by Shinko on Oct 1, 2014 22:32:06 GMT -5
Sieg shook his head, his eyes sweeping the rows of headstones for any signs of movement. He'd learned a long time ago while working as a sentry that searching for features or colors was pointless, especially at night. A wary enemy always broke up their outline and covered themselves with colors to match the surroundings. The hound, black against the inky darkness, would be no exception. But movement... movement was very hard to hide, unless you moved with minute slowness. Even something seemingly inconspicuous like a rodent started out of hiding could signal an approaching foe. The half-elf fingered the hilt of his sword nervously, occasionally rubbing Rosalie's key with his thumb. Fiddling with his sword was a nervous habit, but one that would do him no good against this foe. He had the salt pouches at his belt, and the woocifix around his neck, and his water skin was full of holy water- those were the real weapons in his arsenal. Sieg couldn't exactly feel comforted by this thought. He prefered good old reliable steel. "Something's off," he said suddenly. "There should be crickets... frogs usually too in Corvus, though I guess with less water in Bern you might not hear them. But still, where are the calls of the night animals? It's way too qui-" A long, low note rose into the moonlit sky. Sieg tensed- it was a howl, but not like any he'd ever heard. It wasn't just the normal low, bellowing bay of a hound. It rose and fell in harmonic patterns, as if the creature were giving voice to some sort of eerie music. "It's here," he hissed. "But... but if it's singing, we're-" He didn't finish the sentence, instead clutching his hand instinctively on the hilt of his sword as he bolted in the direction of the song. But in his mind the unspoken words echoed over and over, as if his own brain were mocking him. Too late!As Sieg darted through the trees at the edge of the graveyard he realized that something was wrong. It was darker then it should have been, like a fine film of black mist was obscuring everything. He followed the howling as best he could, though it echoed all around him and it was hard to pinpoint the direction. There! He could see a spark of red light through the trees. He could see it- the outline of a hound dog, pitch black nearly featureless, with glowing red eyes and a black fog collecting around it's paws. And it was standing over a twisted, bloody human body. "Orrin!" Sieg called back to his companion, "It's over here!" Not waiting for his heavier companion to catch up, the half-elf darted out of the woods, thrusting a hand into one of the salt pouches and flinging the stuff in the direction of the black mass. The dog moved as if to dodge, but it wasn't quite fast enough.The hound gave a canine yelp of pain as the salt touched it, writhing and twisting, it's form melting into a translucent black blur. Then, all at once, it's matter congealed into smokey black comet that shot through Sieg, to re-solidify and land snarling behind him. "Orrin, I'll keep it busy, check the kid!" Sieg called, turning to face the thing only for it to dash in a circle around him, leaving a smokey trail with every pawstep as it tried to stay at his back. Enter the Black Hound
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Post by Omni on Oct 3, 2014 1:19:25 GMT -5
In a way, Orrin hadn't realized just how quiet the night was until Sieg pointed it out. He wasn't sure why he hadn't noticed it; it should have been so obvious. However, once made aware of it, it made the song of the hound that much more apparent. "Oh no..." the half-dwarf said as his fellow knight took off. "Oh no!" He tried his hardest to keep up with Sieg, but between differences in training and differences in bulk, it was impossible. Once the half-elf disappeared from sight, the best Orrin could do was try to follow his footsteps. However, Sieg seemed to disappear sooner than he should have... Holding the lantern up higher, Orrin could see the dark mist in the air. That could only mean one thing... "Orrin! It's over here!"The sound of his friend's voice confirmed his suspicions, and helped guide him to the location of the hound. He arrived the time to watch the hound fly through Sieg - something he hoped wouldn't leave a negative effect on the half-elf. "Orrin, I'll keep it busy, check the kid!"Orrin swerved to avoid the battle, stopping in front of the victim. Once there only needed to take a glance; it was obvious that the kid was gone. "We lost her," the half-dwarf said, loud enough for his fellow knight to hear. "We couldn't save this one." Having finished the task, he turned to face the battle, hoping to aid his fellow knight. ...Wait a minute... The hound's still here, and it looks angry. So why isn't it attacking?Orrin catches up to Sieg, checks the victim, and readies himself to help however he can.
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Post by Shinko on Oct 3, 2014 7:07:17 GMT -5
Sieg felt completely naked and vulnerable without a sword in his hands as the hound circled him, but he knew pulling his weapon out of the sheath would be a waste of time. It couldn't hurt this thing, and it would just be something in his hands getting in the way if he needed more salt or holy water. "We lost her," Orrin called, catching Sieg's attention. "We couldn't save this one."The half-elf was momentarily distracted, and glanced around towards Orrin and the child. As soon as he did, the black hound stopped circling and lunged towards him, making the startled knight jump back. However the hound didn't try to bite, or claw, or even follow as Sieg danced out of the way. Instead it landed in the spot he'd been standing a moment before, gave him a measured look with tail and head held high, then darted back in the direction of the cemetery. Sieg remembered that the villagers had said the hound didn't usually fight back when confronted- it just left, vanishing into mist. But it didn't seem to be "vanishing" just now, only running away. The half-elf hesitated, looking to Orrin. They didn't have any of Stephen's potions with them to fight the thing, and observing it might well be pointless if it already knew they were there. Should they follow it? A moment later it reappeared on the edge of the trees, teeth bared in a snarl, and lunged towards Sieg again. He dodged backwards, his hands instinctively flying to the hilt of his sword, but again the hound made no motions that indicated it had been trying to bite- or do anything except get his attention really. It turned again, lunging in Orrin's direction this time, but didn't even get to him before swinging back around and fleeing into the trees. "What is it doing?" Sieg demanded, baffled and cross. If it was going to attack, why didn't it just attack? Not wanting to get jump-scared again, he followed the thing into the trees, hands going into one of his salt pouches again. As soon as he was in sight of the hound, however, it darted away again. When he hesitated to keep following, it lunged at them, then ran again. "Orrin, what do you make of this?" Sieg asked softly. "Is... is it provoking us to chase it? Some sort of trap, maybe? What should we do?" The hound is behaving very strangely, and Sieg asks Orrin his opinion on how they should proceed.
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Post by Omni on Oct 4, 2014 1:57:02 GMT -5
Orrin watched curiously as the hound ran away from Sieg, and then jumped back at him and not attack, over and over, even coming for the half-dwarf himself once. All the while, it seemed to maintain its aggression, but not once did it seem to aim to strike. "Orrin, what do you make of this?" his fellow knight quietly asked. "Is... is it provoking us to chase it? Some sort of trap, maybe? What should we do?"The half-dwarf paused in thought, keeping an eye on the hound. "Well, we're not goin' to learn much by standin' here. I say we try followin'. Besides, it seems to be headin' back toward the graveyard, and I don't want to get lost in the woods." He turned toward the half-elf. "If yer worried about traps, ya can stay behind by some distance. That way if somethin' happens, at least one of us can get out." Turning back to the hound, the Stallion knight followed, making sure to keep his lantern raised, so he'd be visible. He watched as the hound started forward, occasionally pausing and looking back, before continuing again. Orrin didn't move quite as quickly as he did when he heard the howl, and he could swear that at times the hound seemed impatient at his speed. Sure enough, with time, it led the knights back through the cemetary. It stopped in front of one grave in particular, pawing at the ground by the grave marker before vanishing into black mist. The Stallion knight paused, noticing that something peculiar hung over the marker: a necklace of humanoid teeth. The strange gift - at least, Orrin assumed it was a gift - gave him pause, and he held up the lantern near the marker to see if there was a name written on it. Orrin decides to follow the hound. It leads him to a grave with a necklace of teeth hung on the marker before disappearing, and he tries to see if there's a name written.
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Post by Shinko on Oct 5, 2014 9:46:56 GMT -5
Orrin suggested that Sieg hang back a bit, and the half-elf reluctantly nodded in agreement. Orrin was the bigger and stronger of the two, so it made sense for him to take point here. If the hound was leading them into some sort of trap, he had the best chance of being able to deal with it on his own until Sieg caught up- and Sieg being the faster of the two, he could catch up more quickly if there was some sort of trap. Sieg kept back so that he could see the lantern through the trees, but wouldn't be in range of most conventional attacks or immediately visible. It occurred to him that if the hound had some power that took out the lantern it could effectively cut them off from each other while they were like this, until Orrin managed to get a hold of a fire striker and relight the thing- by that point both of them could have been attacked and killed. Stephen's chemical lantern was back with the cart- not really in a position to do either of them much good. The half-elf made a mental note to keep it hooked to the back of his belt from now on. It was big and unwieldy, but hopefully back there it wouldn't be in the way too much and it might well save their lives somewhere down the line. Eventually it led Orrin back out into the open cemetery, and Sieg hung back just inside the tree line. If there was some sort of trap it was about to spring, he'd be on them as quickly as he could... But nothing happened. It led Orrin to a particular grave, then it vanished. Sieg saw the Stallion knight kneel beside the grave to examine it, and cautiously approached. "What is it?" he asked, looking around warily in case there was still some trap about to be sprung. He looked down, frowning. "Are... are those teeth?" He knelt beside Orrin in front of the grave, reading the name out loud. " Kenna Reid: November 1306 - January 1315. Whoever she was, she died just this last January... and she was young too, only eight years old." He glanced at Orrin with a frown. "Why would the hound bring us here? Was this one of its victims? I guess we could ask around town who 'Kenna Reid' is, but seeing as she's dead it's not bound to be a fun topic of discussion." He tentatively reached for the necklace of teeth, lifting one gently to examine it. "They're human teeth, or at least the teeth of something very like a human. I don't imagine an elf would have been around here and donated their teeth for this child's grave, at least. But why leave them here at all? That's not a very typical funerary gift." The half-elf pushed himself back upright, looking around. "That black fog that was everywhere has dissipated- I think the hound is really gone. But why show us this grave?" Sieg shook his head, an expression of frustration coming across his face, "I suppose for now we should go back in the forest and find the girl's body- we need to bring it back to the village so her family can give her a proper funeral. Curse it, we were so close to them, we could have stopped it!" He punched a nearby tree with a soft growl, then leaned his forehead against the bark. Sieg reads the tombstone, confirming it belongs to an eight year old girl named Kenna Reid. Why the hound showed them this grave is unclear, but he suggests asking in town to find out who the girl was and if she has any special significance. Then he gets a bit emotional over the fact that they failed to save the little girl in the woods.
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Post by Omni on Oct 5, 2014 21:57:51 GMT -5
"Whoever she was, she died just this last January... and she was young too, only eight years old." The half-elf frowned. "Why would the hound bring us here? Was this one of its victims? I guess we could ask around town who 'Kenna Reid' is, but seeing as she's dead it's not bound to be a fun topic of discussion."Orrin furrowed his brow. "January... Didn't they say the attacks started around five months ago? So around the same time... ...Maybe she was the first victim? Did somethin' wrong and triggered the attacks?" "They're human teeth, or at least the teeth of something very like a human," said Sieg. "I don't imagine an elf would have been around here and donated their teeth for this child's grave, at least. But why leave them here at all? That's not a very typical funerary gift."The half-dwarf took a closer look at the necklace. "They look small... I think they're baby teeth." He paused, then shook his head. "I think we're gonna have to ask about Kenna. It's the strongest clue we've got, and the hound showed us this for a reason. We should find out-" The Stallion knight's thoughts were interrupted when Sieg began to express frustration. He saw as the half-elf took his stress out on a tree, then leaned against it. Orrin stood and walked up to his fellow knight, pausing before speaking softly. "...Come on, let's go," he said, gesturing toward where they found the victim. "I'm sure she'll want us to keep this from happenin' to anyone else." Orrin thinks Kenna might have been the first victim, and that they should ask about her. He tries to calm his frustrated friend and suggests they press on toward figuring this all out.
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Post by Shinko on Oct 5, 2014 23:09:33 GMT -5
"...Come on, let's go," Orrin said softly, indicating the direction they had just come from in the trees. "I'm sure she'll want us to keep this from happenin' to anyone else."Sieg hesitated, then nodded. "You're right. We'll take the girl back to town- and since there've been no reports of two attacks in one night, I think at this point we're probably better off just getting some sleep once we've done that. Though I have a feeling it's going to be a hard duty to discharge..." The half-elf looked away again. "I guess we can ask about Kenna in the morning. Once things have... calmed." * * * * * It was indeed a very long rest of the night. The young dead girl's family had been distraught when the two knights brought her back into the village- everyone in town had heard the howling, and it seemed the parents of children in town were now in the habit of checking for any missing little ones when the song started. Of course, as Sieg had half anticipated, there were accusations. Why hadn't they saved the child? Weren't they knights? What good where they, if they couldn't even do what they'd been sent here for? It made him feel smaller than a gnat, the pain in the eyes of the parents, but he kept calm, just as he'd been trained to. He apologized sincerely, but refused to rise to the emotional baiting. It would help nothing. Eventually the knights were freed to return to the inn for a rest, by which point Sieg was exhausted. They had slept a bit before going out, but the shift in schedule was not really agreeing with him. The half-elf was asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow. Four hours later, he was thrashing awake, soaked through with sweat and jaw cramped from where he'd been clenching it. Between the nightmare and the mid morning sun filtering through the windows he'd been badly confused, and eventually he gave up on further sleep and went down to the common room to wait for Orrin to rouse- which he finally did, around lunch time. Tired, but doing his best not to show it, Sieg turned towards his friend and offered a roll and a slice of ham. "Morning- or was good as, I suppose. I asked around a bit of the inn patrons, and they told me that Kenna's family lives on the western edge of town. She apparently wasn't killed by the hound though. She-e-e-" He was cut off by a huge yawn, and grimaced. So much for not showing that he was tired. With a head shake, he went on, "She froze to death, out in the woods one night. But they wouldn't tell me what she was doing out there. Everyone is being oddly quiet about it." The half-elf yawned again, and scowled. Attempting to cover for it, he added, "You might need to take point asking the questions this time. Last night's run did a number on me." Scene change to the next day- Sieg has had a nightmare again, though he tries to hide it from Orrin. He found out that Kenna wasn't killed by the hound, but not much else. Time for more awkward interviews!
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Post by Omni on Oct 6, 2014 13:39:24 GMT -5
As the accusations came, Orrin found himself getting defensive. As was his practice, he held his tongue. As he was trained, he filtered out any comments that might be hurtful and influenced by anger. He tried to think up a comment that was reasonable. It took him some time, but before they returned to the inn, he came up with this: "I assure ya, these things can take time. Unfortunately, it was not on our side this time. Believe me, we wish we could've saved her, too. However, her death led us to a clue, and we plan to use it well. We'll make sure the attacks are stopped soon. And we'll make sure her death wasn't in vain." When they returned to the inn, the half-dwarf almost didn't bother changing into something more suited for sleeping. When he woke up, the brightness of the sky and the lack of shadows told him it was noon already. After pulling himself out of bed, he changed into some day clothes and headed downstairs to the common room. There he found Sieg, who didn't look any more rested than he was. "Morning- or was good as, I suppose," the half-elf said, offering something to eat. "I asked around a bit of the inn patrons, and they told me that Kenna's family lives on the western edge of town. She apparently wasn't killed by the hound though. She-e-e-" Sieg gave a yawn, which Orrin found himself sharing in. "She froze to death, out in the woods one night. But they wouldn't tell me what she was doing out there. Everyone is being oddly quiet about it."The Nid'aigle knight gave another yawn. "You might need to take point asking the questions this time. Last night's run did a number on me."The half-dwarf finished up a yawn of his own, then nodded. "Alright. Do ya want to come with?" he asked. "If ya could point out the house, I'd appreciate it. But if ya'd rather stay and get some more rest, I won't stop ya." Orrin wakes up late. He listens to what Sieg learned while he was sleeping, then asks his friend whether he want to help with the questions, or stay and take a nap.
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Post by Shinko on Oct 6, 2014 16:42:32 GMT -5
Sieg shook his head. "I'll come along," he replied. "I've been awake long enough I probably wouldn't get back to sleep at this point anyway, and naps tend to just make me feel even more draggy." He laughed awkwardly, "Besides, after the ah... scene last night, I could do with a friendly face to talk to for a while, at least until we get to the Reid house and start poking their sad memories." The half-elf stood, jerking his head to indicate that Orrin follow him. As he walked out of the inn, Sieg said, "You alright, Orrin? You've been awfully quiet since we talked to the undertaker yesterday. Something on your mind?" As he spoke Sieg led the way through the streets of Haflinger, trying to ignore the stares that they were garnering. Some were just curious, but a noticeable minority were a little hostile- perhaps people who sympathized with the family of the girl who'd died last night. We'll stop this, Sieg thought firmly. We'll stop it and there won't be anymore deaths. By Woo's holy wings I swear it!Sieg admits he could do with some company, tired or not, and notes that Orrin has been a little quiet compared to his usual cheerful, boisterous self since the visit to the undertaker. Sieg asks if there's anything on his mind.
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Post by Omni on Oct 7, 2014 0:03:12 GMT -5
The half-elf declined the suggestion to stay behind, saying he'd been awake long enough to be pretty alert, and more rest would actually be counter-productive. He then laughed, saying "Besides, after the ah... scene last night, I could do with a friendly face to talk to for a while, at least until we get to the Reid house and start poking their sad memories."As he walked with his fellow knight, the half-dwarf gave an affirmative smile. "Alright. I don't mind ya comin' with. But I guess ya have a point; I wouldn't mind havin' to face them alone, either. Though I'd like to head to the Reid house right away, get the info straight from the source... and not feel like I'm goin' behind their backs," Orrin said before taking a bite of the roll Sieg gave him. The Stallion knight was somewhat surprised when Sieg showed concern over how quiet he'd been the night before. He supposed it made sense, though he wasn't exactly expecting to be asked about it. Thankfully, needing to chew gave him some time to think. "Well, if yer talkin' about the graveyard, I didn't really want to spook anythin' away. Which in hindsight doesn't make much sense, seein' as the lanterns could've brought a lot of attention to us. "As for after that... Well, my knight-master always taught me 'A true knight thinks twice and speaks once.' I just didn't like the way they were treatin' us. It didn't make much sense and it didn't seem fair. But I didn't want to yell at them... Well, okay, I did, but I didn't think it would be a good idea. I wanted to make sure I didn't say anythin' that would hurt them... and our efforts." Orrin comes with and suggests they head straight to the home of Kenna's family. He explains that he was quiet basically because he was angry.
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Post by Shinko on Oct 7, 2014 6:52:49 GMT -5
"That makes sense," Sieg agreed when Orrin explained that he wanted to talk to Kenna's family right away instead of quizzing the villagers. "Honestly I wasn't trying to go behind their backs, just to learn what I could before having to ask the grieving family. Like you brought up with the woodsman, it can be..." he swallowed. "It can be hard to talk about a loss like that. But I do hope they'll understand if we explain why we need the information." He listened as Orrin elaborated on why he hadn't been talking much, and winced, "Ah, yes, I did figure you were trying not to draw attention to us in the graveyard while we were waiting. There's nothing wrong with that. The lantern would have been problematic, but there's no reason to add more things on top of that. But after..." Sieg smiled apologetically, "I can see why you'd be upset about how they were talking to us. But it's been my experience that when someone suffers a loss like that, their instinct is to find someone to lay the blame on for it. Whoever is convenient really- just someone to be angry at so they don't have to think about the pain of the grief. Some get angry at the person who did the killing, if there is one. If not, they might get angry with the person who died, for leaving them like that. Some people even become angry with themselves for not protecting the loved one better. It's... just a coping mechanism really." He smiled a little sadly, putting his hands up to his shoulders as if he were hugging himself. "You'd think they would be angry with the hound, but they can't really rage at it and vent their feelings- we were accessible, and even if logically it really wasn't our fault that doesn't matter. Logic and ration doesn't factor into it when you feel like you're being torn apart at the seams." Realizing how much he'd said, the half-elf coughed. "Or so it seems to me, at any rate. I didn't so much enjoy that either, if it's any consolation. It made me feel guilty- I wish we could have saved her." Sieg opens up a bit and discusses the subject of grief with Orrin- getting a little close to home with his own issues inadvertently.
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Post by Omni on Oct 8, 2014 19:30:10 GMT -5
"Honestly I wasn't trying to go behind their backs, just to learn what I could before having to ask the grieving family. Like you brought up with the woodsman, it can be... It can be hard to talk about a loss like that. But I do hope they'll understand if we explain why we need the information."Orrin nodded. "I agree... and I didn't mean to imply ya were bein' sneaky. It just seems like if anyone knows about the teeth, it'll be them, and they're more likely to know the real story, or at least give us a good idea where to start." He paused. "That... and ya mentioned that the others weren't talkin', actin' weird. It seems like there's somethin'... but I don't know what." Orrin listened quietly as Sieg described why he thought the people reacted the way they did. As he did, the half-dwarf's expression grew distant - saddened, even - as if something came to his memory. Silently, he touched the pommel of the shortsword at his belt as he continued to listen... "...they might get angry with the person who died, for leaving them like that. Some people even become angry with themselves for not protecting the loved one better..."The half-dwarf winced. Yeah, glad I didn't try to use that as reasoning.Having been pulled out of his reverie, Orrin looked at his fellow knight. He noticed the half-elf's body language, and it struck him as odd. Now why is he holding himself like that? he thought. Then Sieg paused, coughing before continuing. "I didn't so much enjoy that either, if it's any consolation. It made me feel guilty- I wish we could have saved her."Orrin was quiet for a moment, then nodded. "So do I, Sieg. So do I." The half-dwarf's gait slowed, and he stopped near a house. "This looks like the edge of town. Do ya think this is the place?" Orrin mentions some more of his reasoning why he thinks they should talk to the family first. Then he gets quiet as Sieg speaks.
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Post by Shinko on Oct 8, 2014 22:31:51 GMT -5
Sieg noticed the distraction in Orrin's expression as the half-dwarf listened to the discussion of grief. It concerned the half-elf a bit, though he couldn't really be certain if Orrin was just sad about the little girl or if there was more to it. Either way he sensed now was not the time to pry. He could always ask later, when there were less pressing issues at hand. Orrin seemed to snap out of his reverie, and when Sieg admitted that he wished they could have saved the little girl, Orrin nodded. " So do I, Sieg. So do I." The half-elf ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "My knight master, Sir Gavin Monfort, told me once that one of the hardest lessons for a knight is that you can't always save everyone. He's hundreds of years old and he still can't really accept it. But in a way, that's probably for the best. I mean, if we were just okay with letting people die on our watch, we'd be no better than the monsters and brigands we fight." He looked up at Orrin with a sad smile. "I'd rather hurt than feel nothing at all. My... My father used to say that numbing your heart to pain is the first step on the road of true evil." He was quiet, giving Orrin a chance to respond to that if he was inclined to. Then the approached a house, and the half-dwarf asked if it was the right place. "Could be," he said, rubbing his eyes a little to clear the lingering bleariness of his lack of sleep. "Only way to know for sure is to go and ask, I suppose. You still okay with taking point on this one?" Before Orrin had the chance to respond, however, a thin woman with tired grey eyes came around the side of the house. She had a small hand spade in one hand, and her eyes went wide with shock at the sight of the two knights. She dropped the spade, backing up several steps so that she was pressed against the side of the house. "Wh-who are you? What are you?" Sieg winced- well this was going to go splendidly, he could already tell. "We are knights, Madam; I am Sir Sieg Braham, and my companion is Sir Orrin Ironbeard. Is this the residence of the Reid family?" She frowned, but gave a shaky nod. "Yessirs. I'm Elise Reid; what can I do for you?" Sieg glanced at Orrin indicating that he should take over. Based on the woman's age, she was most likely Kenna's mother or aunt- though he supposed that she could also perhaps be a much older sister, but he didn't think that was likely. Sieg is sentimental some more, then we meet one of the Reid family- time to learn about the mysterious Kenna and see if we can crack her relevance to the black hound!
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