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Post by Vanitypirate on May 6, 2018 21:08:53 GMT -8
"You'd drawn in a wee picture right here..." Tilly lifted the book and turned it about so that the page faced Jacques, "It's a spitting image of what I saw."
She propped it up on her knees without complaint; she had read all she needed to.
"...Except I'm not a lecher." She pointed out indignantly, "And he'd never talked to me until after I was cursed, no wine included."
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Post by azmoham on May 7, 2018 15:06:01 GMT -8
He leaned over the side of the tub, eyes narrowed to slits in the low light as he struggled to make out the scribble.
"Hmm, indeed."
He sat back down, some of the water running over the sides of the tub and trickling down to the stone flooring below.
"Most strange, perhaps because you hadn't done anything to attract his attention yet, and the cursing was the instigator of his interest in you, and thus, your child?"
he theorized, pondering the exact cause of the events, and how they could reflect what the text had said. If there was one thing he had learned in his time in academia it was that people tended to be less than reliable when describing the acts and natures of deities, perhaps the accounts of drink-giving were the ones mistaken, or Lekalis elsewise had some clue...
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Post by Vanitypirate on May 7, 2018 15:32:14 GMT -8
Tilly nodded solemnly, laying the book back to rest with its spine on her lap. Both hands poised on either side of it to maintain its position atop her knees, and not on the underlying floor or bench...
She was quiet, debating whether to speak further.
"I think I'd gotten cursed at the same time as the child was... ehm..." She rubbed her eye and finished sheepishly, "...conceived. Which might've begotten some interest."
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Post by azmoham on May 8, 2018 14:22:38 GMT -8
He nodded again, brows furrowed as he thought on what he'd learned. More research, that was key. They could learn this thing's name, its designs and its nature and then, through that, obtain mastery of it. No, not mastery, one didn't master things such as this, they merely could hope to understand some slice of its ambitions, and attempt to thwart whatever ill plans it had for mother and child. But of course, what did that entail? Retrieving their souls, yes obviously, but how? He was given to imagine that there would be much to consider, and much to plan, and terrifyingly short time in which to do it. Precious few months, and each day their matter grew graver, the cold fingers of that thing stretching ever nearer. And of failure? Did they slay the child? He shook his head. They could never, it would break Tilly, that much he was certain of. In that case, there truly was but one option: Success by any means necessary, failure would mean too much.
"Troubling. I must admit. Has it...spoken to you? Said what it wants? What it is? Has Lekalis?"
He lifted his eyes to her face, a solemn stare.
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Post by Vanitypirate on May 8, 2018 14:55:52 GMT -8
"It talks to me, sometimes..."
Tilly folded her hands on her knees and hummed in recollection.
There was the beach...
"Mostly when I dream. I had a nightmare, once, where there were lights in the sky that lead all across the Estate: the forest, and the Warrens and the Ruins, the Cove... even up top to the highest point of the hill where that Manor is. So, I followed the one towards the Cove and... it lead me right towards the center of this boardwalk. That's where I was meant to go on my upcoming expedition-- to that boardwalk. I saw everything I dreamed of when I went right to that spot... and it was willing me to go there in the first place-- and it's making me want to go back, now."
Tilly scuffed the toe of her boot against the damp, stone floor. It all sounded like nonsense when she spoke of it.
"When I slew that beast on that Boardwalk, it was controlling my hands and willing me to slay it. When it was over, it wanted me to continue on-- it told me to keep killing everything around until there wasn't anything left."
She rolled her shoulders, as if to wring out the tension there.
"I've... never felt anything like it in my life-- not even when that Mind Mage had me."
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Post by azmoham on May 9, 2018 16:38:19 GMT -8
"Well, that is most disconcerting."
He stroked his beard in thought, his other hand gripping the rim of the tub. For a while, he was quiet, contemplating what he'd heard thus far and how it could be related to the woman's rather dire position.
"Is there anything at that dock that it may be interested in? Some trinket left in the waters, an abandoned homestead he'd want you to explore, some creature there he wants slain?"
He made a mental note to begin looking into the history of the pier, perhaps he could uncover some lost link between the red man and that boardwalk, some reason for his will.
"Whatever he is, he doesn't seem to be a friend to the thing that has created the other creatures of this land, so that's to our advantage at least. Perhaps we can discover a way to untether him from you and entrap him within the earth as the other monsters are, banish him to some relic which we may dispose of as we did my, ahem, the book."
It was a rather lofty idea, to entrap a god of any variety, even a lowly folk god such as this, and he had his doubts as to their ability to do so, but it wasn't impossible and even if it was, he had to offer the woman, his friend, some hope at least.
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Post by Vanitypirate on May 9, 2018 18:49:28 GMT -8
"It wants me to slay something at the center."
Tilly folded her arms against herself; the words came without thought, on instinct...
"And... something else. I don't know what."
Her lips made a hard line and she squinted in distaste; the last time they'd destroyed a relic turned to be rather disastrous, from what she could remember.
"I don't think we're in any shape to fight any more fire-beasts..."
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Post by azmoham on May 9, 2018 20:40:05 GMT -8
He nodded, suppressing a shudder at the memory of the thing. The smells of simmering meat and burning ink filled his nostrils so strongly for a moment that he held his hand to his nose, trying not to gag.
"Dear lord no, never again. I shan't engage in any more of that lunacy, any more than I strictly must that is."
While he was strongly against ever returning to those cursed depths, and he had just as little wish to explore the dark woods which sprawled around the town, he had the inkling that such a thing would become necessary at some point if they wanted to resolve this matter once and for all.
"What do you mean, 'at the center'? The center of the lake? How on earth would it expect you to accomplish that, unless you can hold your breath for far longer than I give you credit for."
He scoffed.
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Post by Vanitypirate on May 10, 2018 8:37:06 GMT -8
"The Boardwalk-- it cuts right through this inlet from the sea, and it's covered in fog." Tilly explained quickly, rubbing her brow; it was an unpleasant expedition she tried not to think about, save for when great wealth punctuated the horribleness if it all. "You get ambushed by the fish-folk at every step and you can't see more than a good ten-feet into the fog."
She sat back on her palms and hummed,
"The Boardwalk spirals right into the fog. Some of it will branch off into smaller walks and the like, but the main path goes right into the heart of the fog."
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Post by azmoham on May 14, 2018 19:03:58 GMT -8
He leaned his head against his hand, which still rested against the rim of the tub.
"Mmmm, well it would be wise to begin investigation of said boardwalk as soon as we are able, perhaps it may reveal some aspect of the being's will, or we may at least discern its motives in sending you there."
He tapped his fingers against the side of his head, peering off into space in thought. After a minute he sat up, stretching and arching his back.
"Well, given the advancing hour, I would recommend we end this conversation and reconvene tomorrow with the aid of our allies, then we may begin in proper."
As he spoke, he scooted forward, preparing to exit the bathtub but paying proper respects to decorum, giving Tilly plenty of time to avert her eyes.
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Post by Vanitypirate on May 15, 2018 11:47:12 GMT -8
It was a terrible idea, Tilly thought instinctively; they had only just barely made it out the last time, and that was with the expedition half-fulfilled. She would jeopardize the health of not only herself on this next expedition, and her luck was finicky at best...
But there was a will apart from her own that was desperate for her to return to the boardwalk and the fog.
"We could go off for the boardwalk tomorrow, after breakfast." She proposed, averting her gaze, which shined with a red hue, if only briefly in the dim light.
In another passing moment, it was gone, as she shielded her eyes, a visual identifier that Jacques could proceed unseen.
"And tonight I'll find some cats' blood and... fennel, was it?"
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Post by azmoham on May 15, 2018 16:46:45 GMT -8
His eyes widened briefly as he realized he had failed to express himself properly.
"Ahem,I meant that I would like to begin combing the church archives for records pertaining to this boardwalk, I have no wish to venture out to see it myself."
He explained, sticking one leg up out of the water and placing it onto the stone flooring.
"After all, I came for a wedding first and foremost, and I would like to witness the event, rather than risk spending int duration in the hospital."
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Post by Vanitypirate on May 15, 2018 19:05:58 GMT -8
"Oh."
Tilly deflated some, oddly disappointed; she rubbed her brow awkwardly.
She felt oddly disappointed.
"You won't find anything new in any book. The inlet got fogged up just a week or so ago..." She shifted in her seat, squinting at the window...
There was someone who would know a fair amount about it, though.
"But we did rescue some folk that got stranded on the boardwalk. Religious folk that were keeping a tower before the fog rolled in, before their entire... group or what-not got ambushed by the sea-beasts that live there. You could go and ask around for an Elaine in the abbey, here, maybe?"
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Post by azmoham on May 17, 2018 16:22:10 GMT -8
He hummed in thought, not willing to commit one way or the other. He and those of a particularly religious bent rarely got along terribly well, especially given his past proclivities.
"Well, always worth a check mm? Worst case, nothing gained, nothing lost."
He lifted his other leg out of the tub and now stood, sodden, on the stone flooring. Looking about for a towel, he spotted them resting on the bench beside Tilly.
"Pass me a towel, would you?"
he asked, nodding to the stack of said linens resting beside the woman on the bench.
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Post by Vanitypirate on May 18, 2018 7:53:05 GMT -8
Tilly nodded, looking over briefly to locate Jacques before she rose, folding up one of the towels that sat next to her.
She'd thought to throw it, briefly, but wisely chose not to test Jacques's catching prowess at risk of dropping the towel on the wet floor.
She was merciful.
With her gaze directed towards a point above Jacques's head, she held out the towel for him to receive.
"Long as you don't talk about any of this curse-business. The Church is a bit ham-fisted when it comes to managing these sorts of things."
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