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Post by VecaVjestica on Jan 7, 2011 14:21:05 GMT -5
Luckily for them both, while Nura was lost in her panic attack, Barax managed to keep a cool head; Gods knew one of them had to, not only for their own sake, but for the sake of the people from the plantation as well, to whom Nura and Barax meant solid hope that the future they wanted for themselves, one where they would be free to support themselves trough honest work and wouldn't have to fear that the horror they survived would ever happen again, could actually come true. If they were to see Nura this disturbed...on a night like this, after a day like this, it could cause a disaster of catastrophic proportions. But Barax had seemed determined not to let that happen, and he kept asking Nura questions, forcing her to get her thoughts in order, at least, when he couldn't calm her raging emotions. "Nura, think carefully- when this abomination mentioned the king, what else did she say? Did she give any sign of knowing about those, erm, guards, the king has that you told me of?" he wanted to know, and Nura took a few moments to think, breathing deeply as she tried to clear her mind of the haze that the fear and exhaustion assaulted her with. She did as he demanded, playing the whole encounter in her head over and over again, until she could remember the exact words. "She said..." she started, gulping loudly as her throat still felt stiff and it took her a considerable effort to speak clearly, "She thinks it's not coincidence that she runs into us so often. Remember that village we came upon on our way to see your parents? She was going there too, to pick up the dead, like she did here, but we thwarted her by helping those people. And she's suspicious about why the King would assign you to me, and why doesn't he keep me close to him. She thinks it's because there is something about me that makes me a danger to him." She paused, remembering another thing Calasi said. "One of the gifts bestowed by Unbirth, is an intuitive knowledge of where all of my brothers and sisters are- and there are none anywhere near the king's palace- or even within the Palace City. She told me that. And she sounded...confused or maybe worried, I couldn't really tell. I think she knows something happened to those guards, but she doesn't know what, and that adds to her paranoia, because I tried to explain that you and I are harmless to pretty much anyone unless when we have to defend ourselves and that we weren't deliberately ruining her plans to gather the newly died, that the only place we actually planned to come to is here, but she didn't believe me." She shuddered when she remembered that knife and Calasi's tongue on it. "She also told me what she was doing in the Matchless Mine that night," Nura continued, snapping herself from that horrid imagery, "Barax, she came there to meet with the King! Only she wanted to do it without his knowing who and what she is, but those Elves ruined her plan and now...now she intends on finding out whatever it is that she wants to know about the King trough other means...and I'm afraid that it will include doing terrible things to people...to us." She tried, but she couldn't remember anything else that would be of importance. Calasi's threats danced around in her mind, those yellow eyes gleaming in the soft candlelight, overpowering Nura yet again. It was like a nightmare relived live a thousand times more vividly, and all she wanted was to forget, forget all of it, forget forever! The only thing that seemed to keep the horror of Calasi was being close to Barax, and Nura took full advantage of that. It felt good, to once again have someone she could lean on when the world turns big and scary on her. She thought, after her mother's death, that she will never experience that kind of closeness to another person, and if someone had told her mere days earlier that Barax will turn out to be that exact person for her, she'd laugh...but now she was happy, and she vowed to herself that she'll never be rude to him again and make his life more difficult than it absolutely had to be. She never realized what her closeness did to him, and that was a good thing - for Barax because it spared him the embarrassment, and for Nura because she was decidedly not ready to deal with a man aroused, even if he had no blame for his...erm... condition. After hearing her out, Barax made a decision: "Nura, I have been thinking- we must leave the plantation. If what you say is true, we would be endangering these people by staying. Perhaps we can glean some little piece of information about Carmine, maybe just his favorite tobacco, and that could give us a direction to travel in. Even if we discover nothing, we cannot stay here- if that woman is following us, we'd be endangering everyone left here."Nura nodded. "Yes...yes, you're right. We must go. With the way bad luck follows me around, everyone would be safer if they were as far the hell away from me as possible," she agreed, sounding sad, tired. Dear Gods, will the ordeals in her life never end? Was it not enough that she was born into an existence of pain? Did she have to bring misfortune to the rest of the world as well. She looked up to Barax. He never liked her much, she suspected, but now...now he must truly hate her. "Poor Barax," she murmured, running her thumb against his cheekbone, softly wiping away a smudge that was there, "The things you have to go trough just because you were unlucky enough to have the King force you to babysit me." She laughed bitterly, wiping the thumb against the skirt of her already irreversibly ruined dress, as she commented: "I bet you wish you never met me."
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Post by Trippy Hare on Jan 7, 2011 15:42:13 GMT -5
Barax tried to keep his pace slow enough to avoid bumping around too much, yet still fast enough to get them out of harm's way. It wasn't easy- especially since he had to unfasten his arms from the arm controls in order to hold onto Nura. The swing of the arms helped balance the suit, so without them, he was both off balance and defenseless- or offenseless, rather. The suit still provided plenty of defense, he simply would not be able to attack anything. "She said... She thinks it's not coincidence that she runs into us so often. Remember that village we came upon on our way to see your parents? She was going there too, to pick up the dead, like she did here, but we thwarted her by helping those people. And she's suspicious about why the King would assign you to me, and why doesn't he keep me close to him. She thinks it's because there is something about me that makes me a danger to him. One of the gifts bestowed by Unbirth, is an intuitive knowledge of where all of my brothers and sisters are- and there are none anywhere near the king's palace- or even within the Palace City. She told me that. And she sounded...confused or maybe worried, I couldn't really tell. I think she knows something happened to those guards, but she doesn't know what, and that adds to her paranoia, because I tried to explain that you and I are harmless to pretty much anyone unless when we have to defend ourselves and that we weren't deliberately ruining her plans to gather the newly died, that the only place we actually planned to come to is here, but she didn't believe me," Nura said, her words again spilling out haphazardly. Barax had to strain himself to hear her over the din of the suit, but he caught most of it. Calasi was a remarkably intuitive woman, if she had been able to simply guess as to the nature of their traveling together. And that bit about an intuitive sense of where her brothers and sisters are, yet none of them being anywhere near the Palace City... that, combined with his earlier train of thought, struck Barax like a bolt of lightning. She doesn't know the king has undead in his employ. That could only mean one thing- the king's immortal guards were not of the same make as Calasi and her ilk. That must be what she had been trying to interrogate Nura about. As if on cue, Nura continued, "She also told me what she was doing in the Matchless Mine that night. Barax, she came there to meet with the King! Only she wanted to do it without his knowing who and what she is, but those Elves ruined her plan and now...now she intends on finding out whatever it is that she wants to know about the King trough other means...and I'm afraid that it will include doing terrible things to people...to us." Yes, that must have been it! The Lich suspected something amiss in Waeleden, and sent Calasi to find out what- and it just so happened to be that the what she was meant to discover was that the king had undead of his own, outside of the Lich's knowledge or control! And, through some stroke of ill luck, he and Nura found themselves dropped in the middle of it all! "I have a sinking feeling this all has to do with the king's guards. Think about it- if Calasi simply knows where all the other undead are, she would know about the guards- but she claims there aren't any undead anywhere near the palace, which is obviously a lie, as we both saw the king's guards, and I highly doubt he would only have the two, miles away from the palace, to serve as escorts to a pub. There have to be more, and closer to home, as it were. So either Calasi is lying- or she doesn't know."It seemed to make sense- but that didn't give him any insight as to what they were to do next. Should they tell this Calasi? Maybe then she would stop following them- or maybe she wouldn't believe them, and carry out her threat. They could keep the information secret, but that would also mean being followed by a sinister hound, one that would never hunger, nor thirst, nor sleep, nor tire of the chase, for the foreseeable future- if not their entire lives. It was frustrating to think that he had figured out the why of all this, but not what to do about it. Nura nodded. "Yes...yes, you're right. We must go. With the way bad luck follows me around, everyone would be safer if they were as far the hell away from me as possible. Poor Barax, the things you have to go through just because you were unlucky enough to have the King force you to babysit me. I bet you wish you never met me," Nura whimpered, sounding thoroughly miserable and entirely unlike herself. Barax was stunned at the change in her demeanor- and he hoped it wouldn't last forever. "Nonsense! It is not your fault that strange things happen around you, nor can you be blamed for the various tribulations the two of us have undergone. Don't forget, we have done a great deal of good on our journey- so this 'bad luck follows me around' thing is utter rubbish. I'll bet the villagers we encountered just after leaving Swordstroke Moors wouldn't call you bad luck- and I'll bet the people here wouldn't call you bad luck. we've saved lives, Nura!" Barax said, trying to sound firm, yet cheerful. It was true, after all- they had done a lot of good, and had saved many lives, even despite being hounded by Calasi, and encountering that dragon-like creature. "I am going to be perfectly honest, Nura- when we were first traveling together, I was a little resentful at the nebulous terms of our mission. I didn't like not knowing what I would have to do, or for how long. But since then, you've proven to be a remarkably resourceful and clever woman, and we've had quite a few adventures- some more humorous than others. My life before this was dull beyond description- simply tromping about the countryside, occasionally arresting someone, helping my parents around the house for a day or two before tromping off again. It was indescribably boring- and, if nothing else, life with you is never boring. I don't regret any of it- I only wish we had met earlier, as then perhaps we could have arrived here in time to fight off the slavers."Barax cleared his throat- that had been almost a speech, and he had tried not to sound too friendly, since doing so in his present state could be seen as an attempt to come on to her. That was another thing he couldn't bring himself to say- Nura was a very pretty woman, and they'd already had several experiences of the more personal nature. He didn't want to think too much about those, though, as it was hard enough to concentrate on balancing the suit while thinking of a plan and having a very attractive woman pressing against his entire body.
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Post by VecaVjestica on Jan 8, 2011 6:33:46 GMT -5
"I have a sinking feeling this all has to do with the king's guards. Think about it- if Calasi simply knows where all the other undead are, she would know about the guards- but she claims there aren't any undead anywhere near the palace, which is obviously a lie, as we both saw the king's guards, and I highly doubt he would only have the two, miles away from the palace, to serve as escorts to a pub. There have to be more, and closer to home, as it were. So either Calasi is lying- or she doesn't know," Barax mused, and Nura nodded along. Yes, that made sense. "I don't think she was lying," Nura concluded after a moment of thinking things through, "But, then again, she's legendary Necrid with more experience and tricks up her sleeve then I could even imagine...she could just be a very good actress. Only...the way she spoke, how determined she was - and how irritated that I won't talk...I can't imagine anyone could feign it so believably."The more she thought about it, the more Nura suspected that Barax's reasoning could be on the right track, even if it wasn't exactly correct. But either way, the two of them were in a mighty high pile of crap, all thanks to the King and his games. What the hell was that man thinking? That he could just pull one on the Lich Lord and get away with it? The Lich has been around for centuries, millenniums even, if he could be tricked, someone would've found a way a long, long time ago - and Nura honestly doubted it would've been a mere human. Resourceful as their race was, they weren't exactly equipped to go against a creature such as the King of the Necrids, who was the closest thing to a god on earth as the world of Eshathar had. And now, because of the utter arrogance of the Monarch and High King Waeleth III, of the Wael Clan, innocents had to pay. Worst thing of all, Nura suspected that the King couldn't care less about who pays for his mistakes, as long as it wasn't him. Needles to say, thoughts like that weren't exactly boosting her morale. She was already feeling weak and powerless, and now that the fact about just how low their odds were and who put them in this unenviable position was sinking in, the unfairness of it all only dragged her down even more. Nura, who had never been the moping around, helpless, cowardly type, now felt herself beaten, and that's where her current depressive state of mind sourced from. Only Barax wouldn't have any of that. "Nonsense!" he exclaimed, "It is not your fault that strange things happen around you, nor can you be blamed for the various tribulations the two of us have undergone. Don't forget, we have done a great deal of good on our journey- so this 'bad luck follows me around' thing is utter rubbish." Nura sighed, leaning her head against his shoulder, cradled comfortably in his one free arm. "You're probably right," she mused, "It's arrogant to think I'm to blame for every bad thing that happens when I'm around...but it happens so often that sometimes, you just can't not wonder about it." She wasn't excusing herself, just explaining her train of thought. Nura was the kind that fought against the ugliness of the world by rationalizing it, finding a way to connect causes and their consequences, and when a person like that encounters something they can't make sense of...it's never easy. "I'll bet the villagers we encountered just after leaving Swordstroke Moors wouldn't call you bad luck- and I'll bet the people here wouldn't call you bad luck. we've saved lives, Nura!" Barax continued, determined not to allow her to wallow in self-pity, and for once, Nura was grateful for his stubbornness, because he was helping her find a path out of the mental wolf-pit she found herself in, "I am going to be perfectly honest, Nura- when we were first traveling together, I was a little resentful at the nebulous terms of our mission. I didn't like not knowing what I would have to do, or for how long. But since then, you've proven to be a remarkably resourceful and clever woman, and we've had quite a few adventures- some more humorous than others. My life before this was dull beyond description- simply tromping about the countryside, occasionally arresting someone, helping my parents around the house for a day or two before tromping off again. It was indescribably boring- and, if nothing else, life with you is never boring. I don't regret any of it- I only wish we had met earlier, as then perhaps we could have arrived here in time to fight off the slavers."She laughed. She couldn't help herself. "Well, let's just hope you don't get bored of adventures, cause it seems that no matter how much I crave a peaceful, boring life, I am obviously not meant to have one," she joked trough the chuckles, lifting her head to look to Barax. She was more than grateful for having him by her side, even if it was a selfish feeling to have. Being alone was something that was forced on her, not something Nura wanted for herself, and she was happy she didn't have to go trough this on her own. "Thank you," she gave him a tired, but warm smile, "It's good to have a friend around when you're having a nervous breakdown."Looking out the glass "window" of the Templar Suit's cabin, Nura could see they will soon be reaching the plantation manor house. People will be waiting for any kind of news Barax and Nura could give them; she doubted anyone had been asleep, not with all this ruckus outside. They'll have to think of a way to persuade them that there was nothing to fear out there and also to make arrangements for them, so they wouldn't feel abandoned when the pair leaves in the morning. "Barax...I was thinking...since we have to go so soon, maybe we should make a stop so I could draw some money from the nearest bank and have it sent to Sureeta Dawn. We helped them fix the place up enough for them to be able to concentrate on replanting the fields, but they'll still need to buy a lot of things if they want to restore the plantation to it's old glory. They won't have a problem with the vegetable and grain fields, but other things take much more time and investment - the orchard, the dairy, the vineyard..."And then she remembered something Barax said earlier: "Perhaps we can glean some little piece of information about Carmine, maybe just his favorite tobacco, and that could give us a direction to travel in." Carmine Lax didn't smoke, at least Nura never saw him with a pipe or a cigarette...but there was something that he loved and enjoyed very much, so much that he personally supervised the suppliers when the time would come to replenish the plantation stock, traveling with them to the remote and sunny shire of... "Dubica!" Nura exclaimed excitedly, "If you're right and Lax decided to hide himself somewhere where he knew he could easily get his hands on something he likes to consume, then he would go to Dubica! The man was never a drunk, but he adores expensive wine." But then another thought crossed her mind and her enthusiasm deflated like a hot air balloon. "But maybe we shouldn't go there," she added much less chirpily, "Your mother mentioned one of your sisters lives in Dubica...Carisa, yes? If Calasi were to follow us like she said she would and find out about Carisa, she might decide to attack her to get to us." The idea seemed so good at first, but now Nura could see how it could easily be the wrong thing to do. She didn't want any innocents hurt on her account, especially not a relative of Barax's, so she supposed they'll simply have to come up with something else.
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Post by Trippy Hare on Jan 15, 2011 3:30:37 GMT -5
"I don't think she was lying, but, then again, she's legendary Necrid with more experience and tricks up her sleeve then I could even imagine...she could just be a very good actress. Only...the way she spoke, how determined she was - and how irritated that I won't talk...I can't imagine anyone could feign it so believably," Nura said. Her voice was much more measured and calm, so Barax assumed that she was beginning to come back to her senses. His words seemed to cheer her up a bit, and at one point she actually laughed! "Well, let's just hope you don't get bored of adventures, cause it seems that no matter how much I crave a peaceful, boring life, I am obviously not meant to have one. Thank you, it's good to have a friend around when you're having a nervous breakdown." Barax was stunned- and his face grew flushed and hot. Worse yet, he couldn't turn away to hide it, because of how cramped they were. "Barax...I was thinking...since we have to go so soon, maybe we should make a stop so I could draw some money from the nearest bank and have it sent to Sureeta Dawn. We helped them fix the place up enough for them to be able to concentrate on replanting the fields, but they'll still need to buy a lot of things if they want to restore the plantation to it's old glory. They won't have a problem with the vegetable and grain fields, but other things take much more time and investment - the orchard, the dairy, the vineyard..."Barax nodded, glad that Nura hadn't called attention to his embarrassment. "I agree, and honestly, I was going to suggest the same thing. They'll need considerable funds to make this place self-sufficient again, but with a little hard work, it should be up and running soon enough. We won't be able to stay to see it happen, I'm afraid." Barax sad, with an air of resignation. They really didn't have a choice- their man was long gone, and their presence endangered everyone. These people deserved some peace and tranquility after all they had been through. "Dubica! If you're right and Lax decided to hide himself somewhere where he knew he could easily get his hands on something he likes to consume, then he would go to Dubica! The man was never a drunk, but he adores expensive wine," Nura proclaimed. Barax's face fell- now that she mentioned it, he had heard earlier that Carmine liked Dubica wine. The problem was, if they went to Dubica, Calasi would follow them- and his sister Carisa lived in Dubica. Though he hardly spoke to her since she left saparte, Carisa had done very well for herself- she wasn't extremely wealthy, but she was fairly prosperous. Truth was, Barax was a little resentful that with the wealth she now possessed, she didn't even bother sending money to help their parents. But personal issues aside, she was still family- and going to Dubica meant putting her at risk. As if reading his mind, Nura immediately verbalized his concerns. "But maybe we shouldn't go there. Your mother mentioned one of your sisters lives in Dubica...Carisa, yes? If Calasi were to follow us like she said she would and find out about Carisa, she might decide to attack her to get to us." "You're right- it is Carisa who lives in Dubica, and the unfortunate truth is that our arrival could potentially put her in harm's way," he began, with a heavy sigh. "But this is the only lead we have- and the sooner we find Carmine, the better- every town he slinks off to will be in danger when we catch his scent, so the fewer towns he has the time to hide in, the better. I admit, I do not like the idea of an undead monster following me to my sister's home. But heavy as my heart is, I must consider more than my own feelings." The pair of them were within sight of the manor house now- there were a pair of torches and what looked like two people standing watch. Barax was pleased to see that, even after all they had endured, there were still some who had their wits about them. He and Nura would have to speak to the eldest among the survivors and explain that they were leaving, but not before providing the plantation with enough funds to keep it afloat. "We should still try and get as much information about Carmine as we can, in case we get another lead. But I am quite certain that Dubica shall have to be our next destination. We'll have to travel westward, towards the foothills, before heading north, so we can avoid Cormorac. I am already endangering one sister, I do not want to risk endangering another. So when we go to acquire funds for the plantation, we should also get some wintering gear and clothing."
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