A fair exchange. And then after, do you mind if I make a somewhat silly request of you?
[. . . But first, a memory.]
So, here is the story of how we became the Mighty Nein. It's not only one memory, since the actual tale of us meeting was simple, sort of uneventful. I want to tell the whole thing.
I was travelling with my little friend Veth. The, uhm, goblin girl you saw. [His hostage.] Veth and I had only been together for some months at this point. We met in a jail cell in a small town. I had been caught trying to steal spell components, and she pickpocketing. I had been alone at that point for about five years, living on the streets and traveling to pick up new knowledge where I could, but Veth convinced me we should help one another break out of the jail. It is, uhm, very dangerous to be a goblin in the Empire, she would likely have been killed regardless of her crime, so I felt for her, and I didn't want to be punished, either. So she picked the lock, I started a fire as a distraction, and we escaped. We meant to go our separate ways, but we worked well as a team, and she didn't ask me too many questions about myself, and she encouraged my pursuits, she understand that I needed books and components and access to arcane learning to become strong and she wanted this for me. She, uhm, encouraged me very much, she was kind, she let me feel protective over her like a little sister, hiding a bit from me how sharp and capable she was because she wanted me to grow confidence. She showed me friendship and, um, love, like a family, and I grew very attached to her. Very, very attached, despite my desire to remain solitary.
[As he speaks, he radiates a lot of affection and love. Gratitude, too.]
But it was always dangerous for us. I was not very strong then, and she had to hide wherever we went, and the roads can be deadly for travelers. In Trostenwald, we stopped at a tavern, and thought maybe we would find a group to journey with for protection. We met a group there that seemed promising. There was a half-orc man who seemed quite intelligent and confident and was a practitioner of the arcane. A very angry human woman who clearly had the strength to survive a fight. And a blue tiefling girl who, uh, immediately fell for the scam Veth tried to run on her, but seemed friendly and not to care that Veth was a goblin, and seemed to have some healing magic. They were heading up the road to Zadash, so we considered maybe going with them.
But as we were speaking, a purple tiefling in a very gaudy coat and a tall, intimidating woman with a big sword came into the tavern. They worked for the circus that was in town, and wanted to invite us all to go. Our new friends seemed interested, so Veth and I went as well. It was a pretty good show, but midway through it all fell apart; some magic went wrong, some people in the audience turned into monsters and began to attack the crowd. We had to fight for our lives. And then later when the guard investigated the incident, they blamed the circus and they also blamed us travelers who were strangers to their town and who had been seen speaking with the circus folk.
So. We determined we would have to clear our names and the names of the circus, and began working together. Some of our party were under house arrest at the tavern, so we would have to sneak out at night to look around. Eventually, we tracked the source of the disturbance to a creature at the carnival who was a fiend in disguise, a devil toad. We slew the creature, and brought its head back to the town's Lawmaster, and were able to clear our names. But the head of the circus was held responsible for bringing the fiend into town, so he was sentenced to work off a fine. This meant the circus was disbanded.
As a result, the seven of us - the three from the tavern, Fjord, Jester and Beauregard, my friend Veth and myself, and the two from the circus, Yasha and Mollymauk - decided to travel together north to Zadash. On the way there, we came to a town called Alfield, which was being attacked by Knolls, and had many townsfolk slained or carted away to be devoured. We accepted a contract from the townsguard to go deal with the knolls. When we were victorious, the townsguard asked for the name of our group. They had all had a joke on my accent, whenever I said the number 'nine.' They would say it in a Zemnian accent, like the word that means no in Zemnian, N-E-I-N, nein. So when they asked for a name, we told them that we were called the Mighty Nein, and asked to be paid for nine warriors instead of seven.
[she's been sitting, listening in rapt attention, so when he reaches the climax of the story, so to speak, her mouth opens a little into a teeny-tiny 'o'.
it's rare that she just expresses her surprise outright, but it's all just clicking into place in such a very satisfying, full-circle way, that it just bubbles out.
the connection with veth, the name, the coming together of the unusual group... her emotions warm as the story progress, and she nods, matching his fondness with her own.]
That's what Mollymauk meant when he said it was just a joke.
She's... [how to explain Rhea in a nutshell? something emotional tangles in her chest at the concept, and she purses her lips at her own inability to hide her complicated feelings on the matter.
. . . For good measure, once he comes out of his meditation and sees she's asleep, he'll do a couple other of the awkward stretches, kind of relieved she isn't awake to see it. Surely this will count, right?]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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Now we need to solve something else...
[...]
Have you completed your tasks?
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Have you?
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I could tell you... my wish?
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A fair exchange. And then after, do you mind if I make a somewhat silly request of you?
[. . . But first, a memory.]
So, here is the story of how we became the Mighty Nein. It's not only one memory, since the actual tale of us meeting was simple, sort of uneventful. I want to tell the whole thing.
I was travelling with my little friend Veth. The, uhm, goblin girl you saw. [His hostage.] Veth and I had only been together for some months at this point. We met in a jail cell in a small town. I had been caught trying to steal spell components, and she pickpocketing. I had been alone at that point for about five years, living on the streets and traveling to pick up new knowledge where I could, but Veth convinced me we should help one another break out of the jail. It is, uhm, very dangerous to be a goblin in the Empire, she would likely have been killed regardless of her crime, so I felt for her, and I didn't want to be punished, either. So she picked the lock, I started a fire as a distraction, and we escaped. We meant to go our separate ways, but we worked well as a team, and she didn't ask me too many questions about myself, and she encouraged my pursuits, she understand that I needed books and components and access to arcane learning to become strong and she wanted this for me. She, uhm, encouraged me very much, she was kind, she let me feel protective over her like a little sister, hiding a bit from me how sharp and capable she was because she wanted me to grow confidence. She showed me friendship and, um, love, like a family, and I grew very attached to her. Very, very attached, despite my desire to remain solitary.
[As he speaks, he radiates a lot of affection and love. Gratitude, too.]
But it was always dangerous for us. I was not very strong then, and she had to hide wherever we went, and the roads can be deadly for travelers. In Trostenwald, we stopped at a tavern, and thought maybe we would find a group to journey with for protection. We met a group there that seemed promising. There was a half-orc man who seemed quite intelligent and confident and was a practitioner of the arcane. A very angry human woman who clearly had the strength to survive a fight. And a blue tiefling girl who, uh, immediately fell for the scam Veth tried to run on her, but seemed friendly and not to care that Veth was a goblin, and seemed to have some healing magic. They were heading up the road to Zadash, so we considered maybe going with them.
But as we were speaking, a purple tiefling in a very gaudy coat and a tall, intimidating woman with a big sword came into the tavern. They worked for the circus that was in town, and wanted to invite us all to go. Our new friends seemed interested, so Veth and I went as well. It was a pretty good show, but midway through it all fell apart; some magic went wrong, some people in the audience turned into monsters and began to attack the crowd. We had to fight for our lives. And then later when the guard investigated the incident, they blamed the circus and they also blamed us travelers who were strangers to their town and who had been seen speaking with the circus folk.
So. We determined we would have to clear our names and the names of the circus, and began working together. Some of our party were under house arrest at the tavern, so we would have to sneak out at night to look around. Eventually, we tracked the source of the disturbance to a creature at the carnival who was a fiend in disguise, a devil toad. We slew the creature, and brought its head back to the town's Lawmaster, and were able to clear our names. But the head of the circus was held responsible for bringing the fiend into town, so he was sentenced to work off a fine. This meant the circus was disbanded.
As a result, the seven of us - the three from the tavern, Fjord, Jester and Beauregard, my friend Veth and myself, and the two from the circus, Yasha and Mollymauk - decided to travel together north to Zadash. On the way there, we came to a town called Alfield, which was being attacked by Knolls, and had many townsfolk slained or carted away to be devoured. We accepted a contract from the townsguard to go deal with the knolls. When we were victorious, the townsguard asked for the name of our group. They had all had a joke on my accent, whenever I said the number 'nine.' They would say it in a Zemnian accent, like the word that means no in Zemnian, N-E-I-N, nein. So when they asked for a name, we told them that we were called the Mighty Nein, and asked to be paid for nine warriors instead of seven.
The scam didn't work, but the name stuck.
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it's rare that she just expresses her surprise outright, but it's all just clicking into place in such a very satisfying, full-circle way, that it just bubbles out.
the connection with veth, the name, the coming together of the unusual group... her emotions warm as the story progress, and she nods, matching his fondness with her own.]
That's what Mollymauk meant when he said it was just a joke.
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[His feelings are warm, too. It was a nice story, it felt nice to tell it.]
. . . Your wish?
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To save Rhea.
And to see Dimitri victorious.
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well, base facts first.]
She's the archbishop of the Church of Seiros.
She was... taken prisoner.
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[That seems fairly straightforward to him. Little does he know.]
. . . I hope you get there, then.
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Me, too.
[...]
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. . . Would you indulge me in something a bit silly? I thought, um. Maybe we could meditate together.
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[...
she nods. because honestly, that sounds great—especially considering how she's feeling at the moment.]
By the artificial river?
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There are other techniques I'm aware of, but this one is called yoga. And I need a partner for it.
[Listen.]
Would you join me?
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To do it with you?
Do we sit side by side?
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[He. . . read a little bit about this in the library, so he knows how it works.]
But to start, I think we can just lie down and meditate.
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On our backs?
[huh.]
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That is how it is done in this practice. Though I suppose you could sit with your legs crossed as well?
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she lies down adjacent to him, with the tops of their heads nearly touching.]
Close my eyes and think of nothing, right?
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[His voice goes a little soft as he starts to try to do that for himself, the churn of his emotions starting to go a little more calm.]
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...
...
zzz]
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. . . For good measure, once he comes out of his meditation and sees she's asleep, he'll do a couple other of the awkward stretches, kind of relieved she isn't awake to see it. Surely this will count, right?]
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the motion of shadows will catch her, and she blinks awake again. oh.]
...I fell asleep.