DIR Return Create A Forum - Home
---------------------------------------------------------
HTML https://anywherecafe.createaforum.com
---------------------------------------------------------
*****************************************************
DIR Return to: RP Logs!
*****************************************************
#Post#: 1051--------------------------------------------------
Storm Feathers Falling: Licking Wounds (Corine & Percy)
By: MAT Date: March 19, 2025, 9:15 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
## Percival ap Beaumayn / 2025-02-25 03:55:22 | 12917
Ugly ducklings don't turn into swans
Glide off down the lake
Whether your sunglasses are off or on
You only see the world you make
Knight-Errant | Bizarre Quality | Popular
[Games of Chance: Las Vegas, NV](/roomloc/21)
It had taken almost an entire day for Percy to regenerate the
injuries he’d sustained fighting the Tzitzimitlraja. It had
taken another several hours to dig himself out from the cave-in;
a slow, careful process that kept him constantly on-guard and
alert for the monster’s return. Then two hours to hike back to
his truck. For about an hour he’d sat in the cab of his vehicle,
slumped against the wheel, breathing through the dull ache of
his body knitting itself back together. Finally, he turned the
engine and headed back into the city.
He felt worn, tired, and defeated. The pain had faded, but the
exhaustion remained. He felt wrung out, stretched thin, the
weight of his limbs heavier than it should be. As he approached
Boulder Highway, a new sensation cut through the haze of
fatigue: hunger. Flipping the blinker, he turned left, and soon
enough he found himself parked in front of a restaurant with a
red neon sign outlining a buffalo.
**Ted’s Montana Grill.**
The interior smelled of charred meat and butter, a warmth that
wrapped around him as he stepped inside. The interior was pretty
standard ‘rustic americana’ decor - dark wooden booths, walls
lined with vintage rodeo posters, all accented by the giant
bison head mounted over the exit. He stared at it for a moment,
and could have sworn that its eyes turned to look at him. Then
it winked. He was sure of it.
Percy looked rough. His clothes were smudged with brick-colored
dirt, torn at the sleeves, and flecked with dried blood - his or
the monster’s, he wasn’t sure. His hands were clean, but his
knuckles still bore faint abrasions. He knew how he must look:
someone fresh from a fight, or worse. But there was something
about the way he carried himself - something in his posture, in
the sharpness of his gaze - that kept him from looking anything
but dignified. Instead of being mistaken for a criminal, he
looked campestral, like a man who belonged to the wilderness,
someone stepping into civilization only briefly before
disappearing again. Like someone from Montana.
The hostess hesitated for half a second before schooling her
expression into practiced politeness. “Right this way.”
She gave him a booth facing the door. Smart girl. Or maybe just
coincidence. Either way, he appreciated it.
Percy washed up in the restroom, the water running red at first,
then pink, then clear. When he returned to his seat, a server
had left a menu on the table. He picked it up, scanning the
offerings.
----
## Corine Ashgrave / 2025-02-27 00:23:42 | 12953
*You ask - who will answer?
In need, who will come?
When the last line is broken
When the day is all but done?*
Troll | Wilder | Approved
[Games of Chance: Las Vegas, NV](/roomloc/21)
The drive down the mountains had been long, but not unpleasant.
The weather nice enough to roll the Jeep windows down, play the
music loud. She didn't hurry the trip too much. She stopped in
roadside towns and trie dout local places to eat. She went
sightseeing. She bought souvenirs.
In the morning, she'd go to the leasing office to pick up the
keys for the furnished apartment that would be her home base for
the next six months,possibly longer. For tonight, though, she
checked into the first motel with a vacancy sign. She grabbed a
shower, washed the road off. Then, she looked at local
restarants. Something easy, something where she wouldn't have to
drive too far.
**Ted's Montana Grill.**
The décor inside baffled and amused her in turns. A
commercialized caraciture of the place she'd spent her teenaged
years. Someone who had only dreamed of *Montana* recreating out
of the haze on waking.
To most of the eyes in the restaurant, she was only really
notable for her height. To a particular eye, however, she was
probably unmistakable. Towering above the crowd. Slate grey from
the ends of her horns to her toes, as though hair and all, she'd
been hewn from singular block of granite.
Something caught her eye, or rather, the corner of it as she
waited for the hostess. She turned her attention off the big
taxidermy bison head towards the corner near the restroom. She
leaned one way, then the other. She put her hands behind her
back so she could lean a little further, trying to take a better
look.
It was about this time that the hostess came back.
"Oh! Sorry, I didn't realize you were meeting someone. I'll go
ahead and seat you." The hostess smiled, grabbing a menu and
turning to head off.
"Wait. No, I'm - " Corine opened her mouth to protest,
stretching one hand after, to no avail. Then she sighed. Nothing
to do but walk after to try and explain.
Maybe this would be an easy misunderstanding to sort out.
----
## Percival ap Beaumayn / 2025-03-01 00:18:48 | 13137
Ugly ducklings don't turn into swans
Glide off down the lake
Whether your sunglasses are off or on
You only see the world you make
Knight-Errant | Bizarre Quality | Popular
[Games of Chance: Las Vegas, NV](/roomloc/21)
The waitress returned more quickly than he thought; he wasn’t
even ready to order yet. But then he saw the tall woman behind
her; the blue-skinned, horned Troll.
“Dame Ashgrave.”
The words tumbled out of his mouth, and for a few moments, it
was all he said. He didn’t know what else to say. He wasn’t
known for having a silver tongue, or for being politically
adroit. Back in Whitecliff he’d been estranged from the
freehold leadership and most of the nobility. Clearly, he was
completely surprised to see her, perhaps not even having known
that she was still alive.
His eyes flicked to the waitress, who seemed to have a puzzled
expression on her face. Her attention seemed focused on him, as
if suddenly struck by some strange, compelling sentiment. Still,
she set Corine’s menu on the table and flashed a practiced,
plastic smile. “I’ll give you two a few minutes to chat and
come back.”
Reaching up, Percy ran a hand through his hair to smooth it out
a little. He hadn’t really expected to encounter any kithain
here. He wasn’t particularly vain, but he also still looked like
he’d gone headfirst through a windshield.
“Please. Join me,” he said calmly, opening his other hand to
gesture at the open space across the booth.
----
## Corine Ashgrave / 2025-03-04 02:04:24 | 13270
*You ask - who will answer?
In need, who will come?
When the last line is broken
When the day is all but done?*
Troll | Wilder | Approved
[Games of Chance: Las Vegas, NV](/roomloc/21)
"..Sir Percival."
In kind, it's all she says at first. She looks down at him,
unblinking, the granite of her expression not shifting too much.
Maybe just the barest hint of a frown.
It had been some time, hadn't it. She didn't recall the sight of
him among the ranks of the usurpers, at least, but neither did
she recall him aiding Whitecliff when it fell. Her memory wasn't
perfect, of course. But she could probably have counted on one
powerful hand the times she'd even seem him in Court. The
freedom of a pariah was the freedom to keep to the outdoors.
At her side, that hand clenched, then released. Then, it lifted
to the strap of her purse. She slid into the booth to join him.
This put her back to the door, reliant on his eyes to see the
front. But gave her a view into the kitchen and the people
coming and going from there.
"It has been some time, hasn't it." She managed to voice the
thought in her head as she plucked the menu up.
"Have you been well?" She asks. He looks like ****, actually, as
much as any Sidhe can look like it. She asks anyways, out of
politeness and a curiosity she broaches but carefully.
----
## Percival ap Beaumayn / 2025-03-04 03:46:15 | 13276
Ugly ducklings don't turn into swans
Glide off down the lake
Whether your sunglasses are off or on
You only see the world you make
Knight-Errant | Bizarre Quality | Popular
[Games of Chance: Las Vegas, NV](/roomloc/21)
/roll 7d10<div class="alert alert-success dieroll mt-1">7d10: 4,
3, 6, 6, 5, 5, 6 = <b>35</b><br/></div>
----
## Percival ap Beaumayn / 2025-03-04 04:27:28 | 13277
Ugly ducklings don't turn into swans
Glide off down the lake
Whether your sunglasses are off or on
You only see the world you make
Knight-Errant | Bizarre Quality | Popular
[Games of Chance: Las Vegas, NV](/roomloc/21)
“Yes.”
Percy agreed in a perfunctory fashion that it had, indeed, been
some time. The last time he remembered seeing her was a training
session with the castle guard before the fall of the freehold.
As he recalled, his swordplay was not quite up to par with hers,
but he often tutored those wishing to learn the bow.
Her second question was more difficult to answer. He didn’t even
say anything at first because something else was distracting
him. It was like the ticking of a clock, but not quite a clock.
Maybe more like a metronome. It was so loud, and so familiar.
And it was coming from Corine. A measure. A march. Order.
It looked like he was lost in thought. Somewhere else. Then he
realized he’d just been calmly staring, and blinked a few times,
drawing in a deep breath.
“Well enough.” It was the truth for someone who spoke either
nothing, or nothing but. “I…left Montana after everything that
happened. I couldn’t face the shame.” He hadn’t really meant to
say that last part, but just shrugged. “I traveled for a while,
but found a job here, so I stayed.”
He frowned. “What a weird coincidence finding you here. But
maybe not.”
Percy tilted his head slightly. Suddenly he recalled the
dream-vision. The one with the bighorn sheep whose coat was the
color of blue shale. Unsettling how much she reminded him of
that sheep; the one who he’d chased into the desert. What did it
mean?
“What are you doing in town?”
----
## Corine Ashgrave / 2025-03-05 03:34:44 | 13313
*You ask - who will answer?
In need, who will come?
When the last line is broken
When the day is all but done?*
Troll | Wilder | Approved
[Games of Chance: Las Vegas, NV](/roomloc/21)
The silence stretched while she looked the menu over, scanning
first the appetizers list. Then, after looking up to make sure
Percival was still with her, she flipped over to peruse the
cocktails.
Seemed like she could use one all of a sudden.
She was smiling when he came back to earth. The absent
expression of someone who had been patiently waiting on him to
say something. The expression faded like a switched-off filament
when he did go on, though. Replaced by something else. An
understanding that came close to a concern of a kind.
"We all have our shame to bear." She said it simply. Shying not
from the words that came from the heart, as she'd been raised.
It wasn't quite an *it's alright*, but *I understand*. Or *I've
been there*.
"We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." She went
on, tapping one slate-grey finger to the menu as she scanned it
again. Content enough to not immediately start delving into it;
the pain and betrayal, the shame and bitter anger she felt, even
now.
"Maybe so, though." She didn't deny it. Maybe she wasn't as
tuned into the ebbs and pulls of *Dán*, but she believed in it
as much as she believed in anything the Dreaming wrought. Here
they were, the two of them sitting in a place that looked like
someone who'd only dreamed about Montana, that place they'd both
left under bad circumstances.
"I have a job interview with a climbing gym." She explained. "I
want to get up Red Rock, at least. Good climbing in the area?"
She asked him as someone who'd been here longer than her.
Someone who she knew liked to spend some time outside.
"What are you doing for work?" She held the remark about
getting beat up for a living; Trolls were not generally known
for brevity, and she knew the limits of her own tongue.
----
## Percival ap Beaumayn / 2025-03-05 08:22:26 | 13321
Ugly ducklings don't turn into swans
Glide off down the lake
Whether your sunglasses are off or on
You only see the world you make
Knight-Errant | Bizarre Quality | Popular
[Games of Chance: Las Vegas, NV](/roomloc/21)
“We may as well.” Talk about it. “Clear the air.” He swallowed,
then spoke. “I didn’t help them. I wasn’t there when it
happened. I…”
He trailed off suddenly, and a moment later it became clear why.
The waitress had returned.
“Are you ready to order?”
Percy flicked his gaze over to Corine. “I am. New York Strip.
Medium-rare. Guinness Draught. And a diet soda.”
When the waitress went to place their orders, he picked up where
he’d left off. “I was on my way to the freehold. A pooka I knew
from Bighorn Pass stopped me. Said there was another monster
rampaging through the hills. That they needed help.” Percival
let out a breath of air through his nostrils. “Something seemed
off, but I just chalked it up to panic. And it was all a ruse.
The Pooka wasn’t even the person I knew. Just someone wearing
his face. A Sluagh using magic. Metamorphosis. Once she’d led me
far enough away she dropped the act and tried to kill me. Stuck
me with a dagger right between the ribs,” he said, pressing his
left thumb into his left side. “She had a glass jaw, though.
Couldn’t take a punch.”
He frowned. “I managed to get back to Whitecliff but it was too
late. And I…” Percy trailed off again. It was obvious what he’d
done; he’d ran. “I guess that’s that.”
Percy nodded when she talked about climbing. “There are lots of
options depending on your skill and interest. Some are better at
different times of the year, but I haven’t really done a lot of
climbing here yet. Mount Potosi to the southwest of the city has
a lot of routes. Most of ‘em are tough but there’s some easier
ones too. North of that is Mount Charleston. There’s also a
place right on the northwest edge of the city called the Gun
Club. I did it once. Not difficult, but sometimes that can be
fun.”
When she asked what he was doing for work, he paused, looking
hesitant to answer. He was very protective of the kids that he
taught. Then he shrugged. “I’m an athletics director at a middle
school. I spend my days making twelve- and thirteen-year-olds
miserable. At least, that’s what they might tell you,” he said,
snorting softly.
----
## Corine Ashgrave / 2025-03-06 03:11:46 | 13384
*You ask - who will answer?
In need, who will come?
When the last line is broken
When the day is all but done?*
Troll | Wilder | Approved
[Games of Chance: Las Vegas, NV](/roomloc/21)
/roll 5d10<div class="alert alert-success dieroll mt-1">5d10: 7,
4, 3, 4, 8 = <b>26</b><br/></div>
----
#Post#: 1052--------------------------------------------------
Re: Storm Feathers Falling: Licking Wounds
By: MAT Date: March 19, 2025, 9:15 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
## Corine Ashgrave / 2025-03-07 01:22:25 | 13420
*You ask - who will answer?
In need, who will come?
When the last line is broken
When the day is all but done?*
Troll | Wilder | Approved
[Games of Chance: Las Vegas, NV](/roomloc/21)
There was no sense in saying anything like *I know* to that. It
wasn't nice, for one, and rubbing it in wasn't going to do
anybody any good. She forced herself to put aside, too, the
thought that their shared shame might find some common purpose.
Forced that burning impulse back and made herself listen and be
patient.
They'd only *just* reencountered each other, after all.
"Uhh, yeah. Sorry. Could I have the Blue Creek burger with
bison, please? Onion rings instead of fries, and a Huckleberry
Margarita. Oh, and a glass of water, thanks." The waitress'
rearrival was the perfect opportunity to pause and collect
herself.She gave the woman a polite smile as she passed the menu
back over, then settled back in.
Her expression hardened a little at select points of his
telling. The idea of someone using his trusting and helpful
nature to isolate and betray him most of all. She picked at the
paper ring holding her napkin and silverware in place until it
came undone. Unfolded the cloth while he finished. Spread it on
her lap.
"I feel like I should have seen it coming." She said it first,
when he fell silent, when it was her turn. "You know? Like there
had to have been signs in court, or outside of it. Some kind of
sign there was going to be trouble. I spent awhile wondering if
there was anything we could have done to prevent it. Smoothed it
over so nobody had to bleed." Her voice goes a little distant.
Fingers hooking into the chain hung around her neck, worrying
the links with her thumb. Whatever hangs on the end of it feels
heavy, always. Something she'd never asked for and didn't want,
but held onto as a matter of honor. Honor and no small amount of
spite.
"In the end, the only thing I could do was just keep them from
getting what I could." She waits for the server to come and go
with their drinks. Then, she curls the chain up into her
fingers, closing them around the ring. And uncurls them so she
can show it to him - the gold baronial signet of Whitecliff,
inlaid with the green gryphon of House Gwydion in the enamel
blazon of Cerise's personal arms.
Then, she curls up her fingers and shoves it hastily back into
her shirt. She reaches for her margarita.
"Aww." His mention of kids and teaching brings that little smile
back to her face. "Do you like it? Kids that age can be little
shits. Did one of them get you like that? Or was it the
climbing."
She finally winds her way back to his disheveled appearance,
more curious than anything. Wherever he'd just dragged himself
from sure gave him a beating.
----
## Percival ap Beaumayn / 2025-03-07 04:26:11 | 13430
Ugly ducklings don't turn into swans
Glide off down the lake
Whether your sunglasses are off or on
You only see the world you make
Knight-Errant | Bizarre Quality | Popular
[Games of Chance: Las Vegas, NV](/roomloc/21)
/roll 5d10<div class="alert alert-success dieroll mt-1">5d10: 4,
8, 3, 4, 5 = <b>24</b><br/></div>
----
## Percival ap Beaumayn / 2025-03-07 05:19:54 | 13434
Ugly ducklings don't turn into swans
Glide off down the lake
Whether your sunglasses are off or on
You only see the world you make
Knight-Errant | Bizarre Quality | Popular
[Games of Chance: Las Vegas, NV](/roomloc/21)
“Between the Baroness and her pet Eiluned sorcerer, there was no
love lost for a Dark Star. They made sure I knew that I wasn’t
really welcome beyond…the obligations owed.”
He sighed. Being a social pariah had never crushed him the way
it might another Sidhe. He didn’t really care about being liked,
he cared about doing right by people. Where he lacked in support
from the nobility, though, he had earned some friendship and
respect of the local commoners. “It’s not really an excuse. But
it put me further away than I would have been otherwise.
Probably.”
When Corine showed the ring to him, Percy heard the metronome
ticking again. This time, however, it thundered in his ears like
a pounding storm. The sound rattled his teeth and caused his
eyes to twitch. He grunted slightly and raised one hand to cover
his left ear, and had to resist the urge to knock her
outstretched hand away. Thankfully, she chose that moment to
return the object to its hiding spot.
Percival released a heavy breath, as if he’d been holding it,
and his heart rate slowed. He knew that Cerise had been wearing
the ring when she’d died, even though he hadn’t been there. Some
part of her had imprinted on the treasure in a way that he could
hear and feel; psychic impressions and feelings. Even the ring
wanted to be away from him, he thought, as silly as that would
have been to say.
He decided not to. Instead, he took a long drink from the tall,
dark glass of stout.
When she said kids that age could be ‘little shits’, he let out
an unexpected huff of amusement. “Oh yeah. Very rebellious
sometimes. Testing boundaries because they want to spread their
wings and fly. They’re starting to feel like they need to be
adults, even though they’re still just kids. They crave
confidence, so I try to help them earn it.” She’d asked if he
liked it, but all he answered was, “it’s where I belong.”
He paused again, and his gaze seemed to wander again, despite
the fact he was looking right at her. “Get me like…this.”
Lifting up the fabric of his shirt, he shook his head. “No.” It
was an honest answer, but he seemed to very obviously think
about whether or not he wanted to elaborate. Rubbing the side of
his face, he eventually continued. “A few days ago I was out on
the soccer field and a woman showed up. Lurking. At first I
thought she might be trouble. I went over to talk to her and she
was kinain. The daughter of a Pooka woman who had gone missing.
The daughter, Nati, said that her mother Elena had run afoul of
some other woman Elena called ‘Boleros’.”
Leaning back in his seat, he went on. “My father is Irish, and I
called him to ask if he’d ever heard that word before. He said
it could be old Celtic, and the name of a mythic character.
Balor Balcbéimnech.” The implication was obvious, and he
shrugged.
“Anyhow, this ‘Boleros’ sorceress holds sway over a terrible
creature called the Tzitzimitlraja. Elena was apparently
terrified of it, and Nati thinks it might have kidnapped or
killed her mother. I don’t think Elena is dead. But yesterday I
tracked the Tzitzimitlraja to the Valley of Fire. The hunt
didn’t go well. When I engaged the creature it beat the tar out
of me. My…arrogance nearly got me killed.”
----
## Corine Ashgrave / 2025-03-10 02:56:24 | 13524
*You ask - who will answer?
In need, who will come?
When the last line is broken
When the day is all but done?*
Troll | Wilder
[Games of Chance: Las Vegas, NV](/roomloc/21)
/roll 5d10<div class="alert alert-success dieroll mt-1">5d10: 5,
9, 1, 6, 2 = <b>23</b><br/></div>
----
## Corine Ashgrave / 2025-03-11 00:32:21 | 13571
*You ask - who will answer?
In need, who will come?
When the last line is broken
When the day is all but done?*
Troll | Wilder
[Games of Chance: Las Vegas, NV](/roomloc/21)
"That's so strange to me." Her grasp on all the intricacies of
the way sidhe could hate and scheme against each other wasn't as
solid as one of their number, born to that world and life. It
didn't quite add up why somoene would turn away someone
obviously competent like that. It sat like a knot in her mind,
something she couldn't quite unpick.
It was hard to tell, but she swore she could see the shadow fall
across his expression when she brought the ring out. Honestly,
she hadn't known what to expect, revealing it. She didn't like
to unless she needed to, but it seemed like the thing to do
while they were clearing the air.
Either way, once she'd made her point, she was content enough to
let it go. The ring hung heavy like a weight around her neck.
Something she'd never aspired to and never asked for, but shone
as brilliant between her fingers as it'd ever had adorning the
Baroness'.
She picked up her margarita to take an experimental sip, then
another one. Better to think of more pleasant things, or at
least less unpleasant things.
Or, well. This story didn't sound so pleasant at all. Her
eyebrows drew together as she listens, lifting her chin just
slightly at the name drop. *Balor Balcbéimnech*. She of course
could pick that up just fine.
"Even here, they know to come for you." Something about that
seemed to touch her, a little, amidst the telling. She could
feel for the child of one of the local Kithain, be relieved they
could know somewhere to go for aid.Knowing nothing else about
the land, she could appreciate that much.
"Do you need backup?" She asked, offering it out freely and
without reservation. "I should be in the area for a little
while. I've still got all my gear."
----
## Percival ap Beaumayn / 2025-03-13 03:07:08 | 13631
Ugly ducklings don't turn into swans
Glide off down the lake
Whether your sunglasses are off or on
You only see the world you make
Knight-Errant | Bizarre Quality | Popular
[Games of Chance: Las Vegas, NV](/roomloc/21)
“Yeah.” He didn’t expect her to really understand the ways Sidhe
regarded each other. He hardly understood it himself beyond kind
of an innate acceptance of it. He had no memories of a previous
life. No real leverage, no special wealth, no titles, no land.
Social warriors could be as lethal as physical ones.
“Their fear and distrust is tied up in a different time and
place.” That was all he could really say. The Baroness had made
many comments during the time he spent at Whitecliff, but all
the sentiments sort of gathered together behind that one general
idea.
“Even here,” he agreed, nodding slowly. “It’s the life.” Hunting
monsters, helping people - it was just the calling of the
Knights of the Good Hand. “I was surprised, but only a little.”
How did Nati know to come to him? “Pooka like to talk. Stories
spread. I carry one of their weapons, too.” Did it call out to
its brethren? Maybe even their treasures talked.
Percival’s face twisted a little when Corine asked if he needed
backup. He had to resist the urge to defiantly say no because he
was compelled to speak no lies. “Possibly.” True. “Probably.”
More true. “I mean, yes,” he admitted.
“I shot it twice in the neck. My arrows bounced off it. It had a
sonic scream. Control over gale-force wind. I barely escaped
into a small cave and it shook the rockface so hard it nearly
buried me alive. I did hurt it. In the face, with a piece of
stone.”
He sighed. He was loath to admit it, but, “what I need most is
to learn more about it. Every beast has a weak spot. I don’t
think that I can survive another bout to try and find this
one’s, though,” he said with a small twinkle in his eye and the
upturn of his mouth. “*Shoot it in the face* is all I’ve got so
far, and that’s not really much.”
That tactic worked on a lot of creatures.
“If you would lend your arm I would owe you a debt.”
----
## Corine Ashgrave / 2025-03-13 15:47:14 | 13647
*You ask - who will answer?
In need, who will come?
When the last line is broken
When the day is all but done?*
Troll | Wilder
[Games of Chance: Las Vegas, NV](/roomloc/21)
"Yeah, yeah.I get it, but between you and me, and..." She shut
up when the waitress came back with a smile and
"... that really good looking steak of yours." She went on,
looking down at her burger and onion rings with similar
approval. "I think maybe there's some things from the past that
could stand to stay there." She reached out to snag an onion
ring immediately, dunking it into the little metal container of
sauce.
"Not everything. But maybe there's just a point where you should
sit down and ask yourself what's worth carrying forward, and
maybe what's better to try and let go."
She took a moment to listen again, chewing the onion ring.
Crispy and perfect.
"Do you, really? I didn't think I knew that." That remark about
'pooka weapons' sounded like it had a good story behind it. One
that, by the interested look on her face.
"You'd said the rock hurt it worse than your arrows did?" She
asked to make sure she'd heard that correctly. "Maybe we can
meet up to do some scouting around. See if we can learn anything
else about its habits. " This was his show, and she wasn't here
to steal it, but the remark stuck out in her head like another
tangled knot. Something to file away alongside the beast's
painful vocalizations and ability to control the weather.
"Of course. I'm sure we can figure out how to help each other."
There was a part of her that wanted to forego the debt. Tell him
something like how doing her duty to protect Kithain from things
like that was a pleasure. Which was true, but duty, as she'd
painfully learned after what had gone down at Whitecliff, wasn't
a straight line.
It curved and twisted like a river, picking up silt and sediment
from wherever it went.
"Maybe you can answer a question for me?" She asked as she was
picking up her knife to cut the burger in half. "IF you hadn't
ran into me, and I hadn't offered, would there have been....mm.
Someone or somewhere else you would have gone? One of the
freeholds, maybe?"
She didn't have half the talent for guile it took to make that
question sound snakeish, even if there were two intentions
behind it. A little help orienting the landscape of their local
society - whatever a loner like him could do - felt like a good
trade.
----
## Percival ap Beaumayn / 2025-03-13 19:03:33 | 13650
Ugly ducklings don't turn into swans
Glide off down the lake
Whether your sunglasses are off or on
You only see the world you make
Knight-Errant | Bizarre Quality | Popular
[Games of Chance: Las Vegas, NV](/roomloc/21)
“Are you talking about me or them?” he asked, squinting.
“I can’t undo other people’s resentments or prejudices. And I
get it from both ends,” he added with a rueful smile. To many of
the nobility the Beaumayn were traitors and suspect; to many of
the commoners any Sidhe was an enemy. “The only way I can change
hearts and minds is to be competent,” he said, taking a bite of
his food. “I leave the politicking and scheming to others.”
He almost reached into his satchel to grab the weapon, eager to
show it off, but stopped himself and looked at her, as if to
silently acknowledge this wasn’t really the place. I wouldn’t
work here, anyways. “It was a gift from a family of Pooka I
helped up in Bighorn Pass,” he said with obvious pride. “It
shapeshifts back and forth from a bow into a…well, some might
say shillelagh. I tend to think of it as an escrema stick.”
For a moment, he thought that something important was escaping
his attention. Some flickering fragment of memory. Something he
should have noticed. Then the moment passed.
“All I know is that I picked up a rock and hurled it at her like
a knife. It hit her in the face somewhere. The cheek, maybe. For
like, a second, I thought I saw drawn blood. But you gotta
remember I was kind of…” Panicking. *Not true.* Not quite. “It
was really hectic. I had crawled into a little cave not much
larger than a - I don’t know - rowboat and she was trying to
reach through to claw at me. When I hit her with the rock she
freaked out and caved in the opening and nearly brought the
whole side of the canyon wall down on me.”
When she asked what he would have done or where he would have
gone had he not run into her, Percy had to think about it. “I’m
not sure,” he finally answered. “I literally unburied myself
earlier today, so I hadn’t really gotten time to think about the
future.
“I only know of one local freehold. I haven’t presented myself
yet.” After what happened with his last association, it was
maybe understandable why he kept to the fringes. There was a
second reason, though. “Another Baron. Another *Gwydion*.” He
raised an eyebrow to silently emphasize that bit. “Jean
Le’Chance. The commoners call him Lucky Jack.”
----
## Corine Ashgrave / 2025-03-13 23:52:58 | 13656
*You ask - who will answer?
In need, who will come?
When the last line is broken
When the day is all but done?*
Troll | Wilder
[Games of Chance: Las Vegas, NV](/roomloc/21)
"Them." She was quick to clarify that it wasn't him. At least,
that hadn't been where that had been pointed. As much as the
past came to her at times, it was far away at the same time.
"Well, it sounds like you do a pretty good job, there." She went
on with another smile. Another sip of margarita. She tried the
burger, also seemed to find it delicious. Ate with a real
relish; good food good company.
"Aw, that's so cool. What an honor, too. A familiay heirloom."
Another little piece of gossip that never made it to the
accolades of Baroness Cerise's court. Notable. Something to
remember.
"Her? It's a she?" She asked to clarify his shift in the way he
talked about the beast. "It might have a nest somewhere, you
think? Hopefully it doesn't have any young." She laughed
quietly, shaking her head as if to banish the thought. "Guess
we'll find out more when we get back out there. How's your
steak?"
She dunked another onion ring while she listened, took in the
knowledge of what he knew of the land. She didn't ask for
directions to the Freehold, because when the time came she
wouldn't likely need it. She didn't take the compass sitting in
th ebottom of her purse out to show him, either. Not the place.
"Got it. I'll want to make my way there before too long. Meet
Baron Lucky, you know, all the formalities." She said it like a
given; to her, it was.
"You can come with me if you want." She offered readily. "Or, if
you don't, I could keep an eye on things at court for both of
us."
----
## Percival ap Beaumayn / 2025-03-14 20:31:59 | 13689
Ugly ducklings don't turn into swans
Glide off down the lake
Whether your sunglasses are off or on
You only see the world you make
Knight-Errant | Bizarre Quality | Popular
[Games of Chance: Las Vegas, NV](/roomloc/21)
“Maybe someday I’ll understand.” It didn’t feel likely right at
that moment, but anything was possible. “Anyhow. Like you said,
can’t carry everything forward.”
He smiled at the praise for the weapon and the situation that
had earned it. It was one of his prized possessions - one of his
few possessions at all. “It makes me feel connected. To others.”
To the so-called commoner kits that might have very good reason
to distrust him.
When Corine asked him to clarify the Tzitzimitlraja's gender,
his cheeks turned pink and he hesitated. “Well, yeah. She…it…she
hmm. You know. Had lady….parts.” His forehead creased with
uncertainty, but then he laughed. “She didn’t give me her
pronouns. She was busy murdering me.”
Percy nodded. “I’ll go with you. I ought to. If nothing less
than to offer my services. I…like to know what’s going on in the
territory, too.”
Squinting, he paused mid-bite and looked at her. “Visiting the
freehold, applying for a job…you’re…planning to stay, then?”
----
#Post#: 1053--------------------------------------------------
Re: Storm Feathers Falling: Licking Wounds
By: MAT Date: March 19, 2025, 9:16 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
## Corine Ashgrave / 2025-03-15 03:40:16 | 13701
*You ask - who will answer?
In need, who will come?
When the last line is broken
When the day is all but done?*
Troll | Wilder
[Games of Chance: Las Vegas, NV](/roomloc/21)
"Or you'll find people who understand you." Maybe that didn't
make so much sense in context, but she said it anyways and meant
it. Maybe in conjunction with what he'd said about the weapon,
the treasure that made him feel connected to people, part of a
community.
"I'd love to see it if you want to show me sometime." She
remembered she had a glass of water and took a moment to drink
some.
Only to about spit it out when he elaborated on the
Tzitzimitlraja's anatomy. Then, she laughed as well, holding a
hand to her nose
"It's okay, I believe you." She waved her other hand, still
reaching for the napkin on her lap to wipe her face. It took her
a minute to recover. She looked at him and grinned again.
Sniffed once as if to clear the las tof water from her nose.
"For a litle while, at least." she settled, the girn on her face
going from full wattage to a smile like a sun-warmed rock. "I
did a lot of traveling after what happened. Wound up in some
places. You know, Whitecliff isn't the only place that has...had
trouble. People angry at each other, people fighting over
things they might not if they just understood each other better.
You know? Maybe if Baron Lucky's got that kind of problems too,
I could help while I'm here."
She picked up her other half of burger with her right hand. Laid
her left on the table, draped casually on the tablecloth a
little ahead of her plate.
----
## Percival ap Beaumayn / 2025-03-19 02:42:57 | 13848
Ugly ducklings don't turn into swans
Glide off down the lake
Whether your sunglasses are off or on
You only see the world you make
Knight-Errant | Bizarre Quality | Popular
[Games of Chance: Las Vegas, NV](/roomloc/21)
“Yeah.” He leveled a glance at Corine, and after a moment said,
“You seem pretty hell-bent on cheering me up.” It wasn’t an
accusation, just an observation. He seemed just slightly amused,
but good-naturedly.
“Let’s make a plan to go to Lucky Jack’s, then. I’d prefer a
Friday evening, Saturday, or Sunday. Another weekday evening
would be fine, too, but I get up pretty early to get to school
so I like to turn in early too.”
Percy shrugged. “We might be able to find some information
there, or someone who knows better magic.” He knew that he
wasn’t much of a magician. He certainly didn’t know anything
that might reveal any knowledge, or anything esoteric that other
nobles might know. He wasn’t even really sure what was possible
with the arts.
“But be careful when we go. I don’t know what’s going on there,
but we might ask.” He chewed his steak, and looked hesitant to
continue. Eventually, though, he said, “Last week, I saw this
guy standing outside my building. Just... standing there. Middle
of the night, not moving. Next morning, he was gone - but there
was a cigarette still burning on the sidewalk.”
He rolled his neck. “I had a dream about him. Or, at least, I
think it was about him. Or maybe her. And for some reason I
think they were somehow connected to the freehold.”
Percival didn’t really like talking about the visions he
received, in part because he was so bad at interpreting them. He
felt like he always sounded like an escaped mental patient.
----
## Corine Ashgrave / 2025-03-20 00:16:51 | 13892
*You ask - who will answer?
In need, who will come?
When the last line is broken
When the day is all but done?*
Troll | Wilder
[Games of Chance: Las Vegas, NV](/roomloc/21)
In reponse, Corine took another bite of burger. While she
chewed, she made an coy little expression, pulling her mouth to
one side as if to say *so...?* Perhaps just equally amused by
his observation.
"I can do the weekend. I don't have a schedule yet, depending on
how this interview goes. Let's trade numbers, we can get a good
time." She reached inot her purse for her phone, set it on the
table. Shouldn't be too hard to go the upcoming weekend, even.
Even if she got this job, she probably wouldn't be starting
until the following Monday.
"A Freehold is usually a good place to find those things." She
agreed. Kithain who knew different things, who had different and
better talents. It wasn't like she was some puissant sorcerer
either. She'd learned things that would be helpful to her thus
far, or just fun to know.
She was swiping her last onion ring through the last bit of ring
cause when his warning left his lips. She looked up, lifting one
eyebrow. Listening.
"We'll be careful." She promised, taking him seriously. "If
there's a problem, maybe can help with it."
Or maybe they'd just find themselves tangled in a bunch of weird
nonsense. But at least they could try.
When the waitress came by with the check, she immediately
stretched out her hand to take it. This one was on her.
*****************************************************