Kerala's Inquisition

The stories and lives of the Grim. ((Roleplaying Stories and In Character Interactions))
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Aureilya
Lost
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Re: Kerala's Inquisition

Unread post by Aureilya »

(I second that. I find myself really looking forward to them. Everytime we have a guild meeting or RP at the cantina, I'm always waiting for these story posts because it's so interesting to read things from her perspective, and her thought process.)
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Kerala
Posts: 157

Re: Kerala's Inquisition

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((Oh yay. I'm glad to hear this because I know it's getting long, and sometimes I feel like I post too much. I don't ever want to seem self-centered or anything or like I want attention. I just like writing :) I added the summary to the start, like on the Gazette.))
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Kerala
Posts: 157

Re: Kerala's Inquisition

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Lonely Ones - Lomani spots Kerala on the way to the 5th Inquisition meeting.
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Kerala
Posts: 157

Re: Kerala's Inquisition

Unread post by Kerala »

Two and a half days, Kerala was ill. Her fever broke sometime Monday morning, leaving the soggy druid feeling empty, weak, and very sore. She was honestly surprised to open her eyes. The sun was shining, the waterfall beside her gurgled like laughter... it was as if nothing had happened.

Kerala groaned and crawled out of the water, cold. She peeled off the Grim tabard, and the dress she wore, and collapsed to the ground again. She slept then, nude in the sunbeam streaming down from the opening in the rocks, until the light left and the chill shadows woke her. Then, she found her clothes and dressed.

The inquisition meeting was held at the faire. Kerala took the portals early, and made her way through Thunder Bluff on foot. She was somewhat shaky, moving heavy limbs without feeling, as if she were an outsider having to think and plan each movement. It felt as though, if her will were to falter for just a moment, she would simply melt into a puddle, and cease to be.

It was good to move, though, and she had missed two meetings already. Eventually, someone's patience was likely to run out. She had enough troubles without willfully adding to them. Even the short walk was a labor, and as soon as she found herself on the island, she accepted one of their violet plainstriders to ride. Moving was good, but maybe not so much so soon.

She found the high inquisitor sitting in an area behind a tent, a circle of logs around a small bonfire. He nodded to her, his expression somewhat warmer than it has been since she met him. She eyed him, but did not see any sign of the madness that had seemed to come over him at the trial. She returned the nod, and if he noticed her hesitation, he gave no sign.

The elf hunter showed up, and Lupinum. It was a very small gathering. Greetings were exchanged by the others. While they did, Kerala shivered. She was still cold, even dressed in all the normal armor. She stood and tried to drag her bench closer to the fire. It was heavier than it looked, and did not budge at all. Or rather, she was not strong enough to move it. She sat back down.

The conversation turned to Lilliana, who was still missing. Kerala had trouble following along. She heard them speaking, but it seemed to take so long for her to extract meaning from the words. Perhaps she should have stayed away and slept more- she really was useless.

Kerala heard her name, with Lupinum's, and realized that she was under scrutiny. What was going on? Oh yes- Lilliana. The druid wished she could sit in the fire without getting burned. Maybe then she'd be warm. As for the troll.... well. The formerly red-headed scalped priestess could stay with whomever had her, and Kerala would never miss her.

Lupinum spoke up then, perhaps trying to distract them from Kerala's silence on the subject. She knew from the glare directed toward her from Khorvis that the priest's attempt did not work. It occurred to her belatedly that she was expected to participate. When the orc asked for her thoughts, he didn't really want them, he wanted her to act like she cared. Even if she didn't.

"Do..." Kerala's throat screamed at the abuse of using her voice, and the pain made her cough, which of course caused more. Stomach acids had seared and irritated it. It hurt to swallow, and so she simply breathed through parted lips, to keep her mouth dry. A little more rest, and she'd be able to heal again. For now, she had to say something. "... Do you need help? For the thing?" Rescue. Attack. Whatever. Her voice was hoarse.

Khorvis frowned at Kerala, not concerned but inquisitive. "Do you be well, tauren? Aye, any rescue can use more hands, but steady ones."

Steady hands indeed. Knowing that she would not be required to jump up immediately and go retrieve the three-faced bitch, Kerala almost growled "I'll be fine."

"Mrmph," Lupinum made a noise. He'd been peering at the druid after that cough. Khorvis looked at the undead, obviously not entirely convinced either, but he did not press the point.

They spoke of the Blackguard, apparently referring to Darethy. Everyone had a title, among the Grim. Soon enough, Kerala heard her name again, and she tore her eyes away from the mesmerizing fire.

"While your Inquisitor do be ... scalped, Kerala, I do have some tasks for your horns."

His choice of words confused her for a moment. The Horns of the Shuhalo no longer existed. "My horns... you mean me?"

"We Grim did celebrate your kills in the Trial of Combat. The second trial will test your ears and whatever mind you do possess. There do be an Elder druid of the Grim, very seasoned in his battles. Seek out the one named Sang'jai. Learn from him the history and meaning of the Mandate."

"The history, and meaning of the mandate." Kerala echoed, committing to memory. And she nodded, to show her obedience. She wanted to make sure he knew that she wasn't being... what had he called it? Rebellious. That his words were not 'lost.

"Maybe listen to a bit of his history too, hmm?" Lupinum added.

Kerala glanced to him, then back to the high inquisitor. She smothered the urge to cough again. "And The Cen and the orphanage later? Or also?"

Khorvis peered at the druid for a brief moment before he said "Fine. The second will be the Wanderer, Cen. May be in that you will find some solace, for a time." Kerala 's eyes narrowed at what seemed to be the high inquisitor's lapse in memory. The Cen was supposed to be the first for this trial- did he not remember? And that look in his eyes at the trial- she had glimpsed true madness there, she was sure. He did not tremor yet, but if he was afflicted, it would show in the next few months. "The last will be the felmancer Akorharil." he was saying. The orc grinned at Lupinum.

"That crotchety old Orc. Have fun, Kerala." the undead said.

"Be sure to ask the warlock of Raziel and its service in the Mandate." Khorvis finishes. Kerala struggled to file the instructions away in her memory. Right now, she wondered if she'd be able to recall any of this later, but, it would show weakness to ask for a written list, plus it galled her to liekly need one. She hated writing so much.

The polite Grim warlock appeared, and Kerala was done being the object of attention. A moment later, the druid felt something in her hands. Lupinum had slipped a piece of paper to her. Her hands were resting on her lap, slack, and it occurred to her how close he'd had to get to accomplish that. She was being stupid again. If there was a fight now, she really wouldn't be able to defend herself.

Kerala wondered if that even mattered.

Kerala glanced at the paper. It was a list of names. Then, she realized that the dead man had given her exactly what she'd been wishing for just a minute ago. Her eyes narrowed at him. Priests and their creepy ways of just knowing things. She suppressed a shiver that had less to do with mind magics, and more to do with a body's attempt to raise internal temperature from friction. Her arms wrapped around her torso, the paper smashed in a fist. Shaelie received her three assignments. Kerala did not listen.

The Priests voice echoed, only faintly "What's wrong? And don't lie, I'm probing only gently, for now."

Kerala looked at Lupinum, and absently scratched her ear, as if it could fix the itch in her brain. But she said nothing. She didn't even react to the threat of force.

"Do there be any other words to be spoken before the Inquisition this night?" the high inquisitor finally asked. There was some banter exchanged between Lupinum and Malhavik, and then Khorvis said "Bah, this meeting do be at its close! Dismissed! Enjoy the Faire!"

Kerala didn't move. Shaelie looked at her across the fire. "Do you feel better now? The next task is much easier." The elf's tone was genuine, as far as she could tell. No snark or bitterness in it. Kerala just nodded, saving her throat.

Lupinum chewed something while he watched Kerala. A scent wafted on the breeze, sharp but sweet, like green apples. She glanced to him, but did not see an apple. Her middle knotted tight, as if to rebel against even the thought of eating.

"How goes your trials miss Kerala?" The polite warlock inquired. She just wished for everyone to leave her alone. But, she glanced at the piece of paper in her hand. She had her second trial without a fuss. "I have people to talk to now. A hard part is over, it seems."

Lupinum scratched his head through his thick wool hood. "Combat was an easy trial for me...The talking was hard." Kerala wondered if he still had mites. Then she wondered why she bothered caring. It wasn't her hair.

"Why?" she croaked.

Lupinum lifts a shoulder in a shrug. "Didn't know what to ask, or who to talk to."

"He just told me what to ask."

"Yeah, I know. It's easier for Supplicants now than it was." As his remark, Kerala almost snorted, but it wasn't worth the energy. Easier. Right.

The little ignorant goblin, the harmless one, had arrived sometime and Kerala didn't even notice. Suddenly he was standing there, reaching out to Kerala with something in his hands "You look thinner than last time I saw you." It was a plate with a stringy sort of bread on it, covered in powder. "They are pure funnel cakes, no demons in there!"

Kerala smiled. The goblin really was smarter than he looked. She accepted the plate and thanked him. Despite the hard rock of her insides, the druid ripped off a tiny piece and put it in her mouth to demonstrate that she appreciated his kindness. He seemed satisfied with that, and then wandered away. Kerala held the bit of food in her cheek.

"Make sure you ask them about their pasts. Who they were before they were Grim." Lupinum said.

"Why?"

"Because we already know the history of the Grim."

"Well I understand that, but I assume you also know the history and meaning of the mandate. SO it's just another useless task."

"It's not, Kerala. We... they, the Inquisitors, want you to find out about the Grim as people. It helps to learn that everyone came from different backgrounds. They all have their own reasons for believing in the Mandate. Maybe it will make things clearer for yourself, who knows?"

Kerala frowned. "It helps what? Make supplicants understand that they can fit in here because others have too?" Lupinum nodded in answer and voiced affirmation, but the druid's thought wasn't done yet. "Because you forget one important thing, I think. They come to you. They want to be here."

"You aren't the only 'Poor me and mine' the Grim have taken in." he told her.

Embers flared to life within her. How dare he? "Poor me?" She stood, angry. "I have -never- said that."

The undead regarded her, and then his lips curled up at the corners. He hadn't been serious. "You say very little. I have to make some assumptions."

The druid was not amused. Not at all. "Well you're doing it wrong." She considered sitting back down, and decided against it. The fire was warm against her legs and back. "I will ask them those things you said too." She sighed.

She hadn't noticed the look on his face, reflecting glimmers of further thoughts, such as that maybe the Inquisition has a better use for its resources not carrying a pouty child around. At her words, the expression softened. "That's all I'm asking. And I'm not an inquisitor. You have every right to blow me off. So thank you, Kerala."

"Blow you off? You are the only one who doesn't just outright ignore me or hate me." the druid said tiredly.

"Oh c'mon. I don't think I'm the only one!"

No. That was true. "That little odd goblin. The simple one that gave me the noodle-cake." And perhaps another goblin. In his strange and barbaric way, Gazreeth had tried to help as well. Kerala glanced at her palm, still shiny where she had burned it, but mostly healed. Then, Kerala remembered the funnel cake Kizrax had given her. She picked it up, rescuing the sugary food from ants who had already discovered it. She brushed off the few insects crawling over the plate. She offered it to Lupinum bug-free.

The undead took a piece and chewed. He seemed surprised to find it good, as if something without blood or gristle should not have been enjoyable. She recognized the look that crossed his features a moment later. "Here, I don't want it." She dropped the plate next to him on the bench and turned to leave before he could ask her again about her plans for when she finished the Grim trials.

He let her go, but his eyes followed the druid, glowing yellow. The priest left the rest of the plate untouched.
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Kerala
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Re: Kerala's Inquisition

Unread post by Kerala »

Logging started on 06/10/2015 at 01:34:40.

Lupinum 's Warhorse's hooves clack loudly over the cave's gravel.
Kerala 's ear swivels
You nod at Lupinum.

[Kerala]: Hello there
Lupinum looks out over the water.
[Lupinum]: Hey, Kerala.
[Lupinum]: Did you have fun listening to the Insane today?
Lupinum cracks a smile.
[Kerala]: Who?
[Lupinum]: Anaie.
[Lupinum]: Syreena's sister
[Kerala]: Oh, no... she wasn't there tonight.
[Lupinum]: Probably got lost on the way there.
Lupinum cackles maniacally at the situation.
[Kerala]: I got to see the high inquisitor look like a fish out of water, though.
You smirk slyly at Lupinum.
[Lupinum]: Is that right?
You nod at Lupinum.
[Lupinum]: Well! I do be listening to this story, Kerala!
Lupinum attempts to mimic Khorvis.
Kerala smiles at Lupinum's impersonation.

[Kerala]: I don't know. He always seems so sure of himself, talking of killing alliance and such.
[Kerala]: And I know he said he battled the iron horde...
[Kerala]: I guess it was just strange to see him following someone else's directions.
Lupinum smiles again.
[Lupinum]: He's stubborn, but Khorvis isn't a fool. He knows when to follow orders.
[Lupinum]: And when to give them, certainly.
[Kerala]: I suppose


Lupinum listens to the steady drop of water from the stalactites above.
[Kerala]: It's peaceful here, yes?
[Lupinum]: It's pleasant, yes.
You smile at Lupinum.
[Lupinum]: Why does your fishing pole have a handguard?
[Kerala]: Um...
[Kerala]: I don't know. I just grabbed one.
Lupinum eyes you up and down.
[Kerala]: This one looked like maybe it wouldn't break in my clumsy fingers.
Lupinum giggles at you.
[Lupinum]: Fair enough. I suppose even the Tauren women are strong, yeah?
Lupinum giggles again.
[Kerala]: Stronger than you.
You smirk slyly at Lupinum.
[Lupinum]: Oh sure. Compare yourself to a fella who is literally rotting. My muscles have decayed long ago, Druidess!
[Kerala]: Mm
Kerala feels sorry for undead.
Lupinum shrugs his shoulders, as if he feels Kerala's thought.

[Lupinum]: Came to grips with that shortly after I was risen.


[Kerala]: You know... your question has been on my mind a lot lately.
Lupinum nods slowly.
[Lupinum]: Do you still not have an answer?
[Kerala]: Well... two questions, I guess, then.
Lupinum blinks. "Two?"
[Kerala]: Well I didn't really mean your silly question about after I pass trials.
[Kerala]: You asked if I wanted to die.
[Lupinum]: That was...
[Lupinum]: Not that recent.
[Lupinum]: I'm surprised that stuck.
[Kerala]: You didn't mean it?
[Lupinum]: No, I do.
[Lupinum]: You're not actively trying to kill yourself. But you're...
Lupinum furrows his brows.
[Lupinum]: I don't know what it is.
Kerala agrees, "I know."
Lupinum pops a [Small Sea Scorpion] into his mouth raw.
[Lupinum]: Sho what ish it?
Kerala shrugs.
[Kerala]: I don't see a reason to be, really.
Lupinum lets his lure be snapped away by a fish. He's looking back into the water.
[Lupinum]: I understand.
[Kerala]: But... I haven't survived this long just to throw it away so... here I am, still.
[Kerala]: I guess
[Lupinum]: When you ran out of the guild meeting... were you scared you were going to die?
[Kerala]: Yes
[Lupinum]: I found you, later..
Kerala blinks at Lupinum, and her eyes flicker across the water, to her place.
Lupinum smiles a tad.

[Lupinum]: Well hidden, but I can smell mushrooms.
Kerala doesn't know what to say to that, so she says nothing.
[Lupinum]: I wanted to make sure you were okay.
[Lupinum]: And it seemed like you didn't need my help at that point.
[Kerala]: I suppose I didn't.
Lupinum can't think of anything he hasn't already said, so he stays silent while he casts.
Kerala frowns.

[Kerala]: ....When was that?
Kerala 's question seems rather pointed, as if maybe the answer will confirm something she already knows.
[Lupinum]: When was what?
[Kerala]: When did you check to see if I was okay?
[Lupinum]: Shortly after we got back from the Night Elf place.
[Lupinum]: Maybe around midnight?


You look at Lupinum.
[Kerala]: Did you poison me?
[Lupinum]: Do I look like I have any knowledge of poisons?
[Lupinum]: I'm willing to bet it was a reaction to the meat.
[Kerala]: I know exactly what is was.
[Lupinum]: What happened?
[Kerala]: I already told you- I can't eat meat. Someone either poisoned me deliberately, knowing that, or tried to be helpful and did it out of ignorance.
[Kerala]: I couldn't purge it.
Lupinum scratches his head.
[Lupinum]: So did it feel arcane or something?
[Lupinum]: Nature magic?
[Kerala]: No. They used a vial Kex'ti gave me.
Lupinum flares his nostrils a bit.
[Lupinum]: A vial? Of what?
Kerala shrugs. "I don't know. A potion called Calm Waters. He gave it to me right after I told him what I had to do for the trial. He thought it would help."
[Lupinum]: Hrmph.
[Kerala]: It 'calms the stomach, and numbs the tongue'.
[Kerala]: Hmmph
[Lupinum]: It has nothing to do with you, but I do not trust him.
[Kerala]: Neither do I. But then, I don't trust anyone.
You shrug at Lupinum. Who knows?
[Lupinum]: I understand he speaks to you a lot, I don't care. But just be careful. He holds no love for the Grim.
[Kerala]: It's not his fault.
[Lupinum]: Not saying it is.
[Lupinum]: Do you think someone tampered with it before the Inquisition?
[Kerala]: They didn't need to.
[Lupinum]: Then I'm lost.
[Lupinum]: That Elf gave it to you, and no one messed with it. So it's his fault, albeit unintentional.
Kerala puts down her fishing rod so that she can rub her face with both hands.
[Kerala]: Look,
Lupinum turns his head to stare at her.
Kerala says, starting to get annoyed.

[Kerala]: The potion did exactly what it was supposed to do.
[Kerala]: It kept me from getting sick.
[Kerala]: It's not a poison, so I didn't even know it was there until it was too late to do anything about it.
Lupinum blinks at you.
[Kerala]: It's not Kex'ti's fault that I was too stupid to throw the vial away, or give it back, or put my things in some kind of lockbox in the barracks to keep people out of it...
[Kerala]: And it's certainly not his fault that my insides are so ruined that I can't even eat a piece of fish without puking it up again.
Lupinum rubs his cheek.
[Lupinum]: Have you ever tried to... y'know..
Lupinum waves his hand in a circle.
[Lupinum]: Fix it up?
Kerala is not the type to bonk her head and make some snide comment about Lupinum's wonderful problem solving skills, so she just gives him a flat stare instead.
[Lupinum]: So that's a no.
[Lupinum]: I can do some work with muscles, ask Filora some time. Are organs any different?
[Kerala]: I don't know about other magics, but mine only work to restore things to their natural condition.
[Kerala]: If someone were born with a deformed hand, I can't fix that- it's the way they are.
[Lupinum]: We're not miracles workers.
[Lupinum]: So you born this way?
[Kerala]: This.... no.
[Kerala]: I just...
[Kerala]: it was a very long time.
Lupinum eyes Kerala up and down. She does seem svelte for a Tauren.
[Lupinum]: Do I need to pull everything out of you? What happened to you, Kerala?
Kerala fiddles with her fishing pole.
Lupinum peers at you searchingly.
Kerala says in a quiet voice
"I starved."
Lupinum sets his fishing pole down.
Lupinum runs his claws against his forehead.
"A long time. Hrmph."
[Lupinum]: How long is long?
Kerala thinks.
[Kerala]: Um. ...eleven... then the earthquakes... Seven years? I think.
[Kerala]: I'm not sure, I was very sick when the Circle got me.
Lupinum opens his mouth to speak, but shuts it again.
[Lupinum]: That's a very long time.
Kerala is quiet for a long time, then just says, "yeah."
[Lupinum]: Who would do that? I refuse to believe it was self imposed.
[Kerala]: Centaur. Look, I don't feel much like fishing anymore...
Lupinum holds up his hands.
[Lupinum]: Fine.
[Lupinum]: I'm not prying for a reason.
[Kerala]: I'm still not really feeling well after this weekend. I think I'll go get some rest.
Lupinum nods at you.
[Lupinum]: You know where to find me, if you need to.
Lupinum 's joints and bones creak as he stands.
Lupinum looks at you.
Kerala doesn't know what else to say... so she just walks off, tossing her pole back in the shack's pile.
Lupinum shrugs and dives into the water.
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Kerala
Posts: 157

Re: Kerala's Inquisition

Unread post by Kerala »

A week after Kerala's trial, the druid sat in the Brokenspear tavern, in her customary place at the top of the stairs. A creature of habit, she was there simply because she had no reason to be any place else. She had no one she wanted to see, or anything she particularly wanted to do. The gems Lomani had sent to the druid sat forgotten in her pocket, and she simply stared at the fire, passing time.

Her mind was quiet. The woman sitting here, who had woken in the waters of the Grim garrison, was not the same one who had gone into them. This one ate hearts. This one trusted no one, and was a survivor. But this one was lonely too. When Glagnar stepped into the tavern, and sat down, she found herself talking with him.

He was an elderly orc, which was perhaps why she liked him. Past his prime, he wasn't threatening like a younger orc would have been, and the weight of years was obvious. Kerala had always respected the wisdom of the old. After all- they had lived long enough to earn wrinkles, surely they were doing something right.

He sat there, not minding if she was quiet. When she did speak, he listened. He took the words she said, made sure he understood them, and then shared whether he agreed or not. He did not judge. They simply spoke with each other- meaningless and without expectation.

They spoke of draenie, and his feelings about them. That led to a discussion of carried grudges and burdens. She called him odd, because she didn't understand how he could believe it was good not to hate and yet he viewed the draenei through a similarly colored lens of predudice- even if he called it pity instead. He quoted some saying at her about pots and kettles. Eventually, the topic moved to the Grim, and her place in it. Why surround herself with those she did not trust?

He did not understand, anymore than anyone else did. He believed that she was following some code of honor. When she tried to tell him that she had no honor, he said she sounded remorseful. That simple fact, and that she listened to him, meant that she was not lost in his opinion. They discussed right and wrong, then.

Honesty and honor. Glagnar agreed that honesty meant not telling a lie... but then he went on to say honest people could lie, and dishonest ones could speak truths. That was wrong. She clarified the definition, just in case she was misunderstanding. Perhaps the orcish word for honor and honesty meant something different... but no. It was simple to Kerala- if you spoke a lie, you were no longer honest. If you went against what you knew to be right, you had no honor. She had violated every code of ethics and moral law she knew of- she had no honor.

Glagnar acknowledged their differing viewpoints finally with a comment about young minds and black and white.

The lack of clearly defined rights and wrong led to discussing the reasons why people fight- because each side believed they were justified. He said people must be true to themselves, and she asked what that meant. Finding a way to let go of past regrets, having future actions be ones that were with your beliefs, and reacting without doubt. But what if you had to do things that were wrong while you followed that one thing in which you had no doubts? He said if the reason was just, how could the actions then not be? Again, differing perspectives. They spoke of horde and alliance fighting, and Kerala expressed her confusions. There was no difference between the factions- why did they fight? She inadvertently mentioned the Grim, and Glagnar pointed out that she was one of them.

For now, she told him. This caused them to circle back around again- to burdens. He wanted to know what burden she carried that caused her to do all this.

"It's not a burden. It's.... more like a law, I suppose? Hmm."

"A law?"

"That's not right, but we'll call it that, sure. So far, no one I have tried to explain to understands it at all.

"Perhaps they choose not to."

"...That actually makes a strange sort of twisted sense."

"It happens from time to time."

"What about you? What do you choose?"

"I choose to understand even if I don't agree."

"...Alright. Let me try then." And she did. Kerala explained the history of the blood law, and when she was finished, he only had one question.

"Would they hold an entire tribe responsible or the individual?"

"No, just the one."

"Blood for blood, is more than just an orcish saying. I understand."

Really? "Ok, so that is older than living memory, for the most part. Ancient and no longer used, or even really known." Kerala had to think of where to go from there with the story... "Alright, the centaur. They are barbaric and vicious. Cannibals that came from the west, and the enemies of my people, or any people, really. They use up the land they live in until almost nothing is left... they capture people and eat them. They hate everything. So..."

And here, Kerala paused, searching for words. A way to tell it, without saying too much. "So, for the prisoners.... They might live for a while. Inside the spear wall, there are rules very different than outside it. There is no right or wrong there, there is only survive- or die. Inside the wall, the only law is one- blood law. Only that one matters. Among the prisoners, there was an understanding. Anyone could die at any time. Anyone could decide that the person next to them had to die next, so they could live a little bit longer. Centaur didn't care who was next, right?"

Glagnar nodded at her. He was following so far.

"So you learn. You learn not to make friends, you keep yourself separate. You learn not to trust. Those that don't die. In case any of us ever got loose, it was understood that there was no promise of rescue. Maybe they would, but if they left and never came back....Well that was understandable. But too, there is no erasing what is done. The one law is the only one that matters. Above all others. Everything else can be forgiven, except that. And so there is an agreement. No names. If you don't know the person next to you, and if they agree, there can be no revenge. There is no debt, then."

Glagnar interrupted, a look of confusion on his wrinkled face. "You mean if they were both prisoners, they could kill eachother?"

"Technically, yes. They would absolve themselves. There were some that did not."

"Seems like mercy to me, I would kill someone next to me if it saved them for a brutal slow death."

Kerala paused. "Many did." she said carefully. "It never really mattered. No one escaped."

"If no one escaped, how do we know these tales are true?"

"I did not escape. I was rescued." Then, she thought of Mudhide, and the whole stupid blackout thing. "Technically, I died in Desolace."

"You do not appear to be a Death knight." Glagnar chuckled.

"No. I was revived. For me, it matters. It's the only thing that does."

"The blood debt?"

"Yes."

"Owed to whom?"

Kerala answered him literally, listing the fifteen names burned into her memory. "And Konro Stormreaver."

"I think I may be missing something. The blood debt was for those who were killed by someone, did you kill all these people?"

"And forty seven other shu'halo, who agreed to be nameless. Konro was a debt I took on."

This was the part Glagnar did not understand, and it took many questions to explain the complicated situation that had led to Konro's death. He was not sure a debt was owed, and if it was, why Kerala was making payment rather than Breygrah, especially since the payment, to him, amounted to slavery.

"You would kill the person next to you, and call it a mercy to murder them quickly... but you would not step in to accept the blood debt of another?"

He said he would, and Kerala blinked. Perhaps the old shaman really did understand, then.

He left a short time later, leaving a tiny totem in her hand. He said it worked like a stone. If she needed him, she was to speak into it and if he was able, he would respond. He claimed that helping others reminded him why he fought- that it wasn't just for himself. That was the reason Glagnar gave, when she asked him why he had sat there and listened to her, why he cared.

* * *

The druid was in the same spot, still watching the flicker of flames, when Lupinum came into the tavern. He saw her, but went upstairs. Then, hanging over the balcony, he called.

"Hello down there." She moved to join him, taking the post on the left. "Feel any better, Kerala?"

"Some, yes." She answered honestly. "I was hungry today, so... there's that." The pangs had finally returned after being blissfully absent for the past week.

"Did you actually eat? Put some... mushy vegetable stuff into your mouth? Chew AND swallow?"

" ....no. Just broth." She didn't bother trying to explain that it would be some time before she'd be able to eat solid food again.

The undead priest expressed his wish that their two dilemmas were reversed, that he craved true sleep. He said he'd murder a field of babies for just an hour of it, and she blinked at him. Surely there was a potion or something that would work on an undead body. She knew some undead could sleep... or at least do something resembling it. It was merely a different process in the brain, different chemicals. She told him so, and he flipped the topic back to her.

"If you eat a little more everyday, will your..." Lupinum wiggled his fingers at Kerala's torso. "Y'know, get better?"

"Hmm. I'd have to eat an insane amount of food to get the same nutrients, but maybe? I don't know. I assume you meant make me fatter?"

He giggled. "No, you look rather nice for a Tauren." Kerala blinked at him. Well, he was undead, so she supposed maybe to him, her marred face and too-thin body would look perhaps alright. He was missing a jaw. "I meant your organs. Will that get them back into some sense of normalcy?"

"Oh. No." Kerala said dismissively.

"Hrmph. You don't even know!"

"I do know." she told him. "It would take some pretty extensive healing, if it could be done at all. I mean, magic does some amazing things everyday, right? But why bother?"

The priest shrugged. "I'd help."

"I'm fine as long as I don't do around eating... you know. Hearts and things. Honestly. It hadn't been an issue until now." She paused. ".... I do hope... to never do that again. Though."

He laughed. "I was going to say that it might, but you're leaving us so it doesn't even matter." Lupinum dangles his bony legs off the bannister.

"Only if they require it for the third trial." The druid frowned just thinking about it.

"You know, you make the choice as to what you sacrifice."

"You say that, and yet I still don't know if that will be true for me. And if it is, what sort of thing I could possibly do?" Kerala still didn't know what she had to give up, other than body parts. Even then, would the Grim consider that passing the trial? They knew she did not wish to stay, and proving that you did was the whole point of that trial. It weighed on her mind.

"That's up to you. I gave the Grim the life of my murderess. It was sufficient. Is there... anything or anyone who want vengeance on?"

She thought about that. She'd been about to say Lilliana, the Wordbearer, and Inzema.... but no. Not even them. She could understand the reason behind their act, even if it had been unjustified. "I could go kill centaur again, I guess."

The priest blinks, reading the druid's unguarded thoughts easily. "You guess. They starve you for... years, I'm guessing. And you 'guess' you could enact revenge on them."

She shrugged. "I've already killed enough of them." The priest wondered if there ever really was 'enough', but then she added. "I don't ever really want to go back there."

That, he could understand. Lupinum snorted. "I can imagine." He began digging in his pack, looking for anything to snack on.

Kerala guessed his intent easily enough. She offered some potions and then, when he didn't notice, pressed one into his hand. The priest blinked at her. "It's not food, but they are tasty." It's what she'd been consuming lately, and she told the truth. She found them delicious.

An orc came up to them then who apparently knew Lupinum. He crushed the forsaken man in a hug hard enough that Kerala heard joints popping from the pressure. When he was released, Lupinum looked down at his hand. It was stained from the purple rejuvenation potion, and shards of glass from the broken bottle were embedded in his skin.

"Oh wow. Are you alright?" Kerala asked immediately.

But Lupinum wiped his hand against his robes, uncaring about stains. The purple was streaked black with thick ichor. He looked at Kerala. "I'll be fine. I've had worse." He cackled.

"Has Hugg met you yet, tauren lady?"

"Make introductions." Lupinum waved at them, heading downstairs. "I need alcohol."

Kerala frowned, then called down at him. "No, you don't!"

The crusher orc tried to make friends with Kerala as the druid stared down at Lupinum. He and that blood elf priestess apparently started some sort of mind games, and promptly began yelling at each other. Hugg closed some distance to Kerala, and she sidestepped. "You don't need to be so close." she said pointedly. Lupinum was working his way through a line of mugs arrayed before him on the bar. She frowned.

Hugg moved again, to hug Kerala. "Hugg only saying hi!"

The druid leaped, her hand on the bannister the anchor point for her pivot. She fell over the chain, leaving only empty air where the orc's arms swung. She -yanked-, and since she'd been looking at Lupinum, that was where she ended up with the barest sensation of having broken a swift dive in a flurry of wings and feathers. Such a handy ability, that.

Hugg frowned at the avoidance of his hug, and Kerala arrived just in time to see Lupinum get slapped by Aaren. Her eyes narrowed instantly. "What is going on?" Instead of answering, the priest stalked to the end of the bar. He lifted another mug.

Kerala followed, not liking that elf woman a single bit. "Are you ok?" she asked again, whispering. She wasn't sure what she referred to- his shredded hand, the situation with Aaren, sleeplessness the reason why he was drinking so much. Maybe all that.

Lupinum paused in his back-and-forth with the priestess long enough to glance to Kerala. "I'll live." She scowled at the terrible joke. The touchy-feely orc met Aaren and her friend then, and crushed the two elves in another hug. Lupinum leaned closer to the druid to whisper "I could be like that, y'know. Wouldn't that be fun? ...hic!" Then he mimicked embracing her.

Kerala mimed punching Lupinum in the face, and he turned back to his cups with a grin. "You drink too much," she observed.

He snorted. "Not like I can die from it."

Kerala poked him then, gently, to see how much he wobbled. The forsaken swayed back and forth a good bit. He put his hand on the bar to steady himself. "Mhmm."

"Mhm what? You're juding ME now?" Lupinum turned in anger, and upset the row of steins he had on the bar with a loud clatter of pewter and iron.

"Yes." Kerala said simply.

"Fair enough. ...hic!" Lupinum's anger seemed to die instantly, and he resumed drinking, albeit somewhat slower.

"I don't really see what good you are, drunk all the time. You can barely stand up, and you make a mess everywhere. How do you even fight?"

The priestess turned sharply and screamed at Lupinum to stop even as he angrily answered the druid. "I fight fuckin' wall that you!" Realizing the nonsense he just spewed, he corrected loudly. "WELL EVEN!!" He angrily tried to pop his jaw, and instead dislocated it entirely. "Oh greaf..." Kerala laughed at the ridiculousness.

"He's a good fighter from what Hugg hears." the orc said helpfully. "Holy magic from a Forsaken demands some respect."

Lupinum turned his back on everyone and held his hand up for another drink. "Uhn oor 'eeze..." The bartender oblidges. The forsaken tries to drink, but the liquid falls down out of his mouth, all over his robes.

Hugg tried to offer a new jaw, but Lupinum was doing his best to ignore everyone behind him, supposedly concentrating on his drink. Kerala rolled her eyes. She didn't even ask, but reached out and seized the undead by the back of his head. Her fingers were large enough that she could hold him in one hand. Her other reached around to cup his chin. With a quick jerk- a practiced motion- she snapped Lupinum's face back together, then released him.

The druid gave the bartender a glare over the priest's head. "He's done." She spun the priest around roughly so he could see her. "You're done."

Lupinum worked his jaw up and down, the hinge connected in his mouth is squeaking loudly, but Kerala's hands had been sure. The jaw was where it should be. "Hmph."

Hugg offered the jaw he'd ripped from a skull in his pack anyway. The forsaken accepted it, though he said he liked the metal one more.

Aaren's silent friend stood on the other side of the Grim priest. Kerala thought she seemed familiar, but she wasn't sure if they officially met. She was eying the woman when she saw the elf pass a bottle to Lupinum discreetly.

Aaren screeched again. "Hey! Stop it!"

Kerala glared at Lupinum. What was he doing to that elf? He ignored her, and poured the bottle of liquor into a cup. He toasted the sneaky elf before downing the entire thing. The druid debated knocking the stupid undead's jaw back askew for him.

The priest leveled his drunk eyes at Kerala, which meant he gazed up at her blearily. "Wanna punch me?"

Yes. "Absolutely." For many reasons. Because he kept badgering her with questions. Because he didn't understand the answers she gave him. Because he was nice to her. Because he'd offered help and she'd stupidly believed him. Because when she had needed him, he'd been so deep in his cups he could barely think, let alone stand. Exactly like now. "You're an idiot."

Lupinum stuck his chin out. "C'mon, Druid. Get angry! HIT ME! ...hic!" He teetered in that position, still holding the empty mug. Kerala instantly suspected a trap. He wanted her to hit him, to get her in trouble with Khorvis. Or, less likely, he wasn't really drunk at all, and was baiting her. The druid struck out with an open hand- at his cup, not his face. The mug went clattering to the floor, and Lupinum looked at it dumbly for just a second.

The Tesonii slammed her forehead into the back of Lupinum's skull. The priest dropped forward instantly boneless. His knees hit the floor first, and he pitched forward, his head crashing into Kerala's knee, then landing against her hoof.

"Hey!" Kerala shouted at the woman. The elf was down too, but she wasn't attacking, and Kerala halted her impulse to lash out at the elf. Tesonii rubbed Lupinum's back, making shushing sounds. She gestured to Kerala, forming an O with her index and thumb. Then she stood and returned to Aaren, smiling widely.

The strange orc started putting together some sort of needle injector, and Kerala held up a hand to stop him. She didn't know what was in it, and he seemed to want to help, but she was not about to let him stick that into Lupinum. Then, she had an idea.

"Watch this, then." she told the orc. She grinned at him, and knelt, placing a hand on the priest sprawled on the floor.

Kerala released her magic. It flowed through the undead. She felt the terrible weight in his lungs- the result of his drowning death. She felt the sheer -deadness- of him, and it was unnerving. She worked quickly, focusing on the liver, the ichor that once was blood, and the other important systems. She urged the forsaken's metabolism to process faster. The alcohol saturating him began to wane. His body twitched slightly as she worked. She mended the undead's head.

She noticed the orc, still looking as if he might try to stab Lupinum. "No." She finished, and released the forsaken. Lupinum stirred, coughing as he woke. He pushed himself up off the floor on hands and knees, then promptly voided his stomach under the bar. He finished and sat back, looking confused.

"The Fel just happened...?"

"Congratulations," Kerala announced. "You're sober."

Hugg went into more detail. "Someone bonked you by bonking themselves and so you bonked the floor. Or did you bonk yourself with a druid before you bonked the floor?"

Lupinum noded, following the clear logic of the Orc. "I remember hitting her knee. Then..." He looked up at Kerala. "Was I asleep? Did I really... blissfuly..."

"No. Unconsciousness is not sleep." Kerala crossed her arms.

Hugg offered Lupinum the injector. "Was gonna try to give you some fuel."

The priest accepted the contraption, and promptly placed it on the bar above him, nodding. "I'll keep it for later, Knight."

"Let me know what happens!" Then, after a pause, "Unconsciousness is just an illusion of death just as sleep is."

Lupinum rubbed the back of his head as he climbed the bar to his feet. "He's got a point... Even though I'm already dead."

"Sleep is very different from death. Sleep is revitalizing." Kerala pointed out.

"You still move and talk and walk and kill and eat and drink." Hugg added. "All things that the living do. You're still alive. Just because some squishy bits don't work doesn't mean the machine's broke."

Lupinum nodded. "So..." he looked at the druid. "Can I drink more... or...?"

She smirked at him. "No."

"Thanks, Mom." The undead snatched a mug and tried to drink from it right in front of her. Kerala's arm immediately shot out to punch the forsaken right in the jaw, but he was indeed sober, and prepared for it. He scooted away, sideways like a scorpid. "Personal space, Kerala!"

"Really?" she snapped. She grabbed for him.

"Yes. Really." The priest smiled as he sidestepped again. Then, he stilled.

Kerala was wise to this trick, now. Her eyes scanned the tavern. "Fine. You drink alcohol, and when I get Coqui to make the tonic I request, I'll keep it all for myself."

Predictably, he'd gone up, to the top landing. His preferred spot. He reappeared up there, even as he yelled. "WAIT WHAT TONIC?"

Kerala snatched herself through the air, suddenly standing right there in his face, and he squawked in surprise. His cup dropped to the tavern floor below after ricocheting off the chain at the edge of the balcony. Apparently, he still wasn't wise to -that- trick. "I'm a druid healer, silly. Forsaken are dead, yes, but they just work differently."

"We hardly work at all." He patted his rotted torso with an equally decayed palm. Then he stood there looking at her. His hands fidgeted at his sides, as if he didn't know what to do with them without a beer to hold. His eyes dropped to the chain where his mug had disappeared.

"Sure you do. You expect to be just as you were, and that is not possible. You... are like a different animal." It made sense to her. She often felt deprived, shifting back to tauren form. Her sight was limited and dim, she missed the thoughtless grace of the cat, or the careless power of the bear. Most of all, she regretted the earthbound lack of the falcon's wings. But she was not a bird, any more than Lupinum was still a human.

"Suppose that's true. Though, to be honest, I hardly remember my life before. Only my time at the parish." Lupinum leaned over the railing for a moment. Then, he straightened, and scooted a little closer to Kerala. She tensed, on edge after the altercation below, but he wasn't really -that- close. She stayed where she was. "So. I remember hitting the ground. How did I come to?"

"I did that."

Lupinum pointed a claw in disbelief. "You."

"Yes me. Why is that hard to believe?"

"Because you... You just don't care!" The priest let out a laugh.

"You were drunk enough to halfway rip your jaw off, and this guy had some sort of needle with I-don't-even-know-what in it." she pointed out. She was confused. Should she have let the orc inject him? The sobriety... well. She couldn't deny a small satisfaction in wasting his hard-earned drunkenness. He used alcohol just like Konro had, self-medicating. He wanted to drown his problems, and it never worked. Drinking like that was a weakness- running away from problems rather than facing them.

"Piece of slag's been iffy the past few weeks..." Lupinum raps his knuckles against the jaw in question. "Was bound to happen. But you... You touched me? Put magical goodness into my body?"

The druid blinked at the terms 'magical goodness'. "I made you process the alcohol, yes. You drank too much."

"Drinking too much would be killing myself. But we've been there before." Lupinum smiled a tad.

"Too much as in- you could barely stand, idiot." she retorted.

He blinked at her, the yellow glow of his eyes winking out of sight. "I just think you like me."

He was a liar, she realized. He claimed that he existed because of the Grim. They were a family, and they supposedly gave him his reason to be, but it was all false. He was just like her. He existed, without purpose, but without a good reason to end it all either. But he was different too. He was obviously in some kind of pain, whereas she wasn't.

That he believed she liked him irritated her. She almost had, and then he showed up before her trial stinking of the drink. She got angry. Fury smoldered- at him for betraying her, but mostly at herself for not expecting that he would. She knew better. The rules were simple.

"Oh, so you're a liar now? Is that it? You drink because you'd like to die? I -don't- like you. In fact, I'm pretty mad at you."

"Mad for what? You're the one with the deathwish. Or rather, the not-really-living wish!"

"You're the one who thinks someone has to have some grand scheme to live by, some fight to participate in or something." she shot back.

He rubbed the back of his head where Tesonii's head had smashed him earlier. "Maybe. You do to, or did you forget about the Horns?"

There was no hesitation at all. She'd already been over this with him. "I told you. The Horns are dead."

Lupinum changed with those words. His eyes flashed a brighter yellow. The lost man craving alcohol to drown himself in vanished, overwritten by something else entirely.

"LULU DAMN IT STOP IT!" came Aaren's yell from below.

The priest's lips curled into a smile, hearing it, but his attention was still on the tauren. "I've been nice. I've been patient." He said slowly. Quietly. "But I want to know what's going on in your head, Druidess."

Kerala took a step back from him, then. Any illusions that this man in front of her was an ally vanished in that instant. He had been nice. Patient, so long as he got what he wanted from her. Apparently, he was no longer satisfied with asking nicely. She should have kept her distance. Would she never learn? The rules were simple.

The elves down below attracted Lupinum's attention for a moment. Apparently, Aaren was making for the stairs. "It's okay! Really! I just gotta yell at him sometimes! Because he's a JERK!"

Kerala didn't waste the opportunity. She spun on her hoof and descended the stairs fast, right past the angry priestess. Lilliana had soundly proven that she knew nothing when it came to wielders of light and shadow. Lomani's piercing sage gaze came to mind, raising the fur along her spine. She didn't even like the idea of her twin sister knowing the things she did. She did -not- want a Grim holy priest doing.... whatever he had planned.

"Goodnight, dead man," she whispered as she ran.
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Kerala
Posts: 157

Re: Kerala's Inquisition

Unread post by Kerala »

Logging started on 06/15/2015 at 13:34:04. Brokenspear.

You look at Sang'jai.
Kerala double-takes.

[Kerala]: You.. Sanga... erm.
Kerala can't remember the troll druid's name.
You wave at Sang'jai.
Sang'jai greets you warmly.

[Kerala]: Hello
[Sang'jai]: Sang'jai be mah name
Kerala smiles.
[Kerala]: It is you. Do you have a minute to talk with me? You are one of the three for my trial of resolve.
[Sang'jai]: da lettah said jah needed ta talk wit' me?
You nod at Sang'jai.
Sang'jai grins at you wickedly.

[Sang'jai]: joo got questions, ah gots answers!
[Kerala]: I'm supposed to ask you about the mandate. It's meaning to you, and who you were before you joined the Grim... how you've changed.
Kerala just blurts everything at once.
Sang'jai smiles

[Sang'jai]: ah gettin' a mug, joo wants one?
[Kerala]: No, thanks. Alcohol... mm. Doesn't agree with me.
[Sang'jai]: well den
Kerala gets comfy beside the fire... which means she just plops to a seat.
[Sang'jai]: da Mandate be a pow'ful heavy ting ta uphold, but at da same time it be free'in
Sang'jai sits also
Kerala cocks her head, confused already, and waits for Sang'jai to elaborate.
Sang'jai frowns and concentrates

[Sang'jai]: sometimes, it be hard ta know right from wrong, dat what choo be doing be da right thing, ya tink?
[Kerala]: Yes?
[Sang'jai]: da mandate make dat part easy, we be bringin' da peace, and we do what we must ta achieve dat objective

[Banjin]: Eh. I know that banner. You goons is mad as they get. Great brawlers, but still mad.
You look at Banjin.
Banjin mildly glares from across the fire.
Sang'jai grins wickedly at Banjin.

[Banjin]: 'Peace through Annihilation', eh?
[Sang'jai]: heh, dat what we call all others. it be da only way, mon
[Banjin]: Nonsense.
[Kerala]: So, to you, the end result is what is important- not the things that must be done to get it.
[Sang'jai]: aye, dat anuddah way ta put it, I s'pose
[Banjin]: Same goalsh ash the Alliance. Cept more of them want us as slaves, rather than just dead.
Kerala ignores Banjin.
[Sang'jai]: aye, ah use ta tink like dat, but you see what da Alliance be upta, and dey be liars and cowards, dey just needs ta go
[Banjin]: Theresh plenty o those here too. You remember Garrosh
Sang'jai spits
[Kerala]: Liars are not specific to one race or another.
You agree with Banjin.
[Banjin]: He was welcomed to the Horde. Celebrated a hero. and even in madness, he was treated as that by so many. So what does that make that mandate of yours? 'Peace through Annihilation'. It's the same as that brown skinned fool.
[Sang'jai]: Garrosh be a puppet ta madness, he was not da way fer da Horde
Banjin chuckles at the response.
[Banjin]: Then if that motto isn't fer the Horde. What are you? A pool of water waiting only for someone to corrupt it.
Sang'jai chuckles
Kerala raises a brow. Banjin raises points similar to ones she would have, but he talks faster. She waits to see how Sang'jai responds.

[Sang'jai]: ah not a good fighter wit' words, ma friend, so ah not da best speaker fer da Grim
[Banjin]: I've shpoken with plenty. You're the only one who has backed out. the others merely shpat that 'We're Different' crap. A blade covered in blood is a tool of murder. It doesnt matter if it'sh a dagger, or an axe. ...hic!
[Kerala]: So to you- three words- 'Peace through annihilation' includes everything you consider for your moral code. Right and wrong... it's all explained through that?
Sang'jai ponders
[Banjin]: The same ash the Kor'kron. The leader's will.
[Sang'jai]: ya gots ta pick ya battles, and ya gots ta have a purpose, and peace be da ultimate purpose
[Banjin]: With that Mandate. Your battles have already been picked.
[Sang'jai]: too many wants to be weak, and lean on words ta bring dat peace, but always, ya gots ta be watchin' joo back if dat be da case
[Kerala]: Peace. It is a state of harmony. The absence of strife and conflict.
Sang'jai nods at you.
[Banjin]: That too, won't happen.
Sang'jai grins
[Banjin]: No matter what you do, how many you kill, how many you inspire. No matter how much you work. There will always been one who awakens in the morning yearning to destroy that harmony you forged.
[Sang'jai]: mebbe, mebbe not
[Kerala]: And annihilation- that's the utter destruction of something, yes? So... basically the Grim aim to simple eliminate anything they see as a source of conflict. To the Horde. Right?
[Sang'jai]: da relationship between da Horde and da Grim be a interestin' one
Kerala thinks that is the biggest understatement she's heard recently, but she restrains a snort.
[Banjin]: These ideals live in impossible futures.
[Sang'jai]: when da interests o' da Horde mesh wit' ours, den all be good, but sometimes, like when Garrosh went mad, we gots ta split, and make tings right
[Kerala]: The entire horde was against Garrosh. Were the Grim in support of him?
[Banjin]: Garrosh was merely the lingering bloodlust suffered by the horde. There are many more like him, wearing all sorts of skin. Tauren, troll, undead, even goblin.
[Sang'jai]: bloodlust wit' no purpose but ta fulfill itself, dat not be peace
[Banjin]: Then what be your mandate? You will destroy bonds that could be forged. and in the end you will suffer just as many enemies, if not more.
Sang'jai shrugs
[Sang'jai]: if'n dat be our fate, den so be it
[Banjin]: Fate ish for the weak willed.
[Kerala]: When have Grim interests not meshed with the horde's?
[Banjin]: Fate had me in chains. not once, but twice. My will is what made me free. I dishonored horde and alliance alike. killed just as many orcs ash ive killed humans.
You look at Sang'jai.
Sang'jai looks to Kerala

[Banjin]: Nothing of it mattered. I merely survived. A mandate would have weakened me. My mandate. Is to live now, by MY hands. and to those who would bind them, Death. simple as that.
[Sang'jai]: hmm, Ah knows we had our problems wit' da amount o' diplomacy dat Thrall was lookin' fer. and we definitely had problems with Garrosh aftah it became clear dat he be mad
You nod at Sang'jai.
Sang'jai focuses on Kerala:
"Did dat answer joo question?"
[Kerala]: I have the basic idea, I think. Yes.
Kerala gaze flickers to Banjin, briefly. His outlook seems pretty sound, to her. She returns her full attention to Sang'jai.
[Kerala]: What did you do before you joined the Grim? Who were you?
[Sang'jai]: before ah joined da Grim, ah was just anuddah Darkspear trainin' ta be a healah. mah sistah trained ta be a priest, and ah took ta da druid ways
Banjin sighs and stands.
Sang'jai wanders back over to the bar to get another round
Banjin turns and leave without a word.

[Kerala]: And now? Do you heal the Grim, or did joining them change you at all?
[Sang'jai]: ah have been busy wit' udder tings lately, but yes, ah have always filled da mender role
Kerala considers that.
[Sang'jai]: joinin' da Grim gave me purpose, and fills da need ta be needed, ja know?
[Kerala]: But... why did you choose Grim, over any other group? Menders are always wanted.
[Sang'jai]: da Grim be suggested ta me by a friend, and aftah ah joined ah knew dat it was da right place fo me. ah respect mah guildmates fierce-like. ah protect dem, and dey fight fer a righteous cause
. ah have no love fer da Alliance, ah have no love fer any of our foes dat we have fought against. ah would do anyting fer mah guildmates
Sang'jai grins and absentmindedly rubs a scar on his forearm
Kerala glances around the tavern, to see who might overhear.

[Kerala]: Do you think it is righteous when they eat people? The alliance?
[Sang'jai]: eh, ah tasted most o' da meat, and it not as good as fish
Sang'jai shrugs
Kerala breaks into a genuine grin at that.

[Sang'jai]: ah know some be rather zealous about dat, a show o' powah, ah guess, but not really mah ting
[Kerala]: Fish is delicious, the bit I tasted.
[Sang'jai]: aye, dis land be good fer fishin'
Sang'jai grins
[Kerala]: Alright. So, you simply trained as a healer, and someone recommended the Grim. They were the first group you considered joining, and you believe you fit here, so you stayed?
[Sang'jai]: gnome ears be pretty good fried, but den, most tings be good dat way
Sang'jai chuckles
[Sang'jai]: aye, dat be da story, sorry it not be excitin'
Kerala shrugs, not saying anything to the fried ear comment.
Sang'jai shrugs embarrassed

[Kerala]: No one said it had to be. Simple things are sometimes the best.
[Sang'jai]: aye, dat dey be, dat dey be
Sang'jai nods
Kerala tries to think if there is any question she forgot to ask...

[Kerala]: Oh. Do you know any history of the mandate? I don't know how long you've been wearing the tabard... but I'm supposed to ask that too, if you know.
[Sang'jai]: da mandate be in full standin' long befo' ah joined. Ah knows some o' da history, but ah'd just be listin' off names o' leadahs dat ah nevah met
Sang'jai ponders
[Sang'jai]: ah tink Greebo was in charge when ah joined *frowns* or was it da little grouchy undead, Abric?
Sang'jai shrugs again
[Kerala]: Really? How long ago was that?
[Sang'jai]: it was shortly aftah Deathwing brought da Cataclysm
Kerala blinks. Only four years.
[Sang'jai]: so da world was a bit crazy when ah enlisted
[Kerala]: I kind of thought Awatu had always been the leader...
[Sang'jai]: he been da leader fer a long time now
[Kerala]: Hmm. Well, I'm bad with names, so I won't ask you to list them all off for me. It would be a waste of your time.
[Sang'jai]: not sure, ah tink he took ovah before da Mists opened up Pandaria, but mah memory may not be right
Sang'jai looks relieved
[Kerala]: Thank you for speaking with me.
[Sang'jai]: anytime. mah minion, Druthers, he said choo been doin' well in da Foundry
You eye Sang'jai up and down.
[Kerala]: I've been healing there, yes.
Sang'jai nods. Sang'jai grins "keep up da good work"
Kerala relaxes.
[Kerala]: Thank you. I'll keep them strong.
You smile at Sang'jai.
Sang'jai nods and stands

[Sang'jai]: if'n ya done wit' ya questions, ah be headin' back ta mah garrison, gots ta keep on da grunts
You nod at Sang'jai.
[Kerala]: Good bye
Sang'jai waves at you.
Last edited by Kerala on Sun Jul 26, 2015 11:43 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Posts: 157

Re: Kerala's Inquisition

Unread post by Kerala »

Inquisition.

* * *

The toad sat there, staring at her.

Kerala hugged her knees, staring back. In the darkness of the night, he looked black instead of blue, and his yellow belly was bleached pale. She spoke to him in taurahe. The toad seemed to like that language more than orcish, looking at her and occasionally changing the angle of his head, or chirping softly. Like he was actually listening.

"Alright fine. I have a pet now. If only to keep those others from eating your legs."

She still wasn't certain why Lomani had sent the thing to her. She'd tried to heal him, assuming maybe he was sick, but there was nothing wrong. She'd mailed him back to the seer, and a day later, there was a croak from the ground. The toad was back at her hooves, staring at her, and he hadn't arrived in the post. She'd dropped him off in a pond in gorgrond, and a day later the thing was back at her hooves. Apparently, he did alright in snow. She hadn't thought frogs could deal with low temperatures. She hadn't thought a creature would attach itself this way to a person, and certainly not to her. She was no hunter to form that kind of a bond to an animal companion.

"I've never had a pet before. I'm not going to feed you, so you might as well go bug someone else." The toad croaked at her, almost like a snorting laugh. She almost smiled at him. Hehe. Bugs. Toad. Instead, she glared.

"You're probably going to die. Especially following me around." She cocked her head. "How long do toads live? I'm not giving you a name. If you go belly-up, I won't care. I don't want you. Go away."

The toad expanded his throat once, flashing a giant stretched globe of skin. As fast as it appeared, it deflated, and the amphibian hopped closer to her. He stopped beside her hooves and blinked at her.

"Fine. Don't say I didn't warn you. I'll try not to step on you."

Kerala shifted on the gritty ground, laying out on her back. She could see a small window of stars in the gap in the rock ceiling. Occasionally, a heavy mist from the boil across the lake drifted across the opening, obscuring the points of light. The fog was shadowed and thick, almost like a cloud that shapes could be seen in. The druid thought of Khorvis, of the mist of his face, and the meeting that had been held earlier that evening.

"You know, I haven't the foggiest idea why you've decided to attach yourself to me, but it doesn't worry me. Maybe you think I have food. Maybe you just like the way I smell. Animals are simple. You have a reason, and I just don't know it yet, but whatever it is- it'll make some kind of sense." The toad blinked at her. "But people.... I still don't get people. Just when I think I've got it, something happens to prove just how wrong I am."

"Today for instance. I did just what I supposed to. I thought. I talked to the troll. I asked all the questions, and he answered them. And then I told them what he said... and they were mad at me. Was I supposed to lie?" Kerala frowned at the stars overhead. "I don't think so. I think they would be even angrier at me if they caught me lying. I'm not good at it."

"Hmm. They take my silence as open rebellion. They take truth as... I don't know..." the tauren repeated the orcish word Ruuki had used. 'Insinuating'. She didn't know what it meant. "Mocking, maybe? She said I insulted the druid somehow."

Kerala turned her neck, looking at the toad. He was, predictably, just simply staring at her.

"Maybe...? Maybe I could just twist it. The best lies are grounded in truth, so I hear. Maybe this trial is to teach me how they do it. How they see the world through such tainted vision. They are a lot like the Magram..."

The toad chirped.

"The Magram believe their own reality too. They hate everyone, the Grim just supposedly hates alliance. But... the Magram didn't care if anyone else agreed with them. I guess the Grim do. A supplicant... is supposed to go through inquisition... to become a Grim? To prove they -are- a Grim?"

Kerala was silent for a while, thinking about that. Then she started talking again. Moving helped her think, but she was comfortable. So, she moved her tongue instead. Talking with Glagnar had been satisfying, and the strange orc that had been present when she spoke to the Grim druid had been right. Sometimes just saying things out loud helped. It wasn't as if the toad could understand, so she felt safe enough voicing her thoughts.

"They know I don't want to be a Grim. I've done everything I'm supposed to, and still they don't like me. The first trial was to obey. I did that... and I nearly died. And it doesn't even matter. I've made sure to obey everything since then. I make sure they know I'm listening now- I always nod when they tell me things. I just seem to make them angrier when I talk..." She sighed.

"But... I think I understand now. They aren't the Magram. In this case it isn't that actions speak louder than words, is it? It's more like... say whatever you should to seem like you are following a code... and then do whatever you want."

"Peace through annihilation. That could be the motto for every creature that has ever tried to destroy the world, couldn't it? The Magram would definitely shout that, if they could pronounce the words. I've been Magram, before... in action. The Grim... maybe the Grim just want me to be Grim in words instead. Words speak louder than deeds."

The druid almost laughed. It was the part of her sense of humor that bubbled up when people told her that she looked hungry- she, who had nearly starved to death. When it was -not the possibility of her death that had drawn people to offer assistance- but the eating of hearts. When they walked up and expressed concern that she was somehow violating the code of honor they thought she had. That was funny.

"It's not the strongest that is the best, in this clan. They are more complicated. Not actions. Words. The one that screams the loudest, is the most devout? The one that says it the most- 'Peace through annihilation'? When I open my mouth, they hate me. Is it because I have not said the words?"

Kerala shifted, sliding her weight and twisting onto her hip and shoulder. She propped her head up on her elbow and stared across the lake, at the buildings outlined in the darkness. Her thoughts were distracted from their current course.

"That elf today... he was supposed to be getting ingredients for something. For the high inquisitor. I remember what they are. The elf has been given another task, but surely the things are still needed. Lightning spirits... blood infused with the hormones of despair... These are powerful things, not just trophies. I think I will get them. It will be good to do something while I wait to speak with the warlock. Who knows when the wandering elf will return? I don't know if it will even be within the month, and if she doesn't get back, my trial will take too long. Perhaps, if I get the high inquisitor those two things, he will have a project to distract him from me?"

"I don't have to convince everyone that I am Grim... just the leaders. If I start shouting the words now, they will be suspicious. I would be. But, if this trial is all about learning... If I start sofly... maybe they will believe. They don't want strength. They don't really want obedience- that much is clear. They didn't punish me for missing meetings, or even for when I got too mad and clawed the death knight. Or that troll inquisitor. So what is it?"

Kerala frowned again, thinking. The first trial tasks were definitely themed. Kill alliance. Prove you hate them as much as we do. "They hate... alliance. Many have families that died to the humans or others, and they treasure that emotion, to justify continued killing... Hmmm. Annihilation. They... they are shu'halo. Before the blood law! They cannot stop now, because to stop would be to admit they are wrong!" Misery loves company? The druid sat up, her bending knee shoving the toad across the grit. Instead of hopping clear, the thing's spindly toes grabbed and he climbed onto her.

"They want others to feel as they do. They need someone else to hate the way they do, to prove they are right. So... it's NOT the deeds that really matter. It's the words. That's how they twist the truth... because as long as it sounds close enough, they hear what they want to hear. And I never said anything that was close enough for them to even pretend. The tauren said to pay more attention to my next two interviews. She believes that I did not listen properly. But I think I understand now. Anyone can become Grim... if they can mimic well enough. I can do that."

Kerala looked down at the bumpy animal on her knee. She pushed him off, and not gently. "Oh no you don't, Toad. I don't like to be touched. Go sleep over there."

The druid laid back down, and curled into herself. Elbows clasped tight to her chest, legs folded up, head and tail tucked in. She stayed still, waiting for sleep to come. She thought about the Grim, and of the Magram. She thought she understood the rules, now. It was a strange game, to be sure. This one was still about bluffing and posture, but without the physical acts to reinforce the position. This one was about subtlety and illusion. She wasn't good with either of those things, but she didn't necessarily have to be.

There was a lizard that lived in Desolace... a harmless one. But, it had adapted to look like another, highly poisonous species. It avoided predators this way, and lived a quiet life in the otherwise harsh environment where everything fought for food and survival. It went ignored by the animals that normally would eat it, and only because they thought they could not.

Perhaps Kerala could play this grim game after all. She didn't have to lie. She just had to make the right noises, and let everyone think she was the lizard she looked like.
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Re: Kerala's Inquisition

Unread post by Kerala »

He hadn't attacked her... yet.

Kerala smiled at the priest as he entered the Brokenspear. "Hello." She was in her customary place, perched on the log in the nook at the top of the stairs. Quiet. Out of the way. She leaned on the wine barrel beside her. There was nothing to do right now but wait.

Lupinum eyed her up and down. He was decidedly in a bad mood, for he did not return her smile. His coldness toward her lately had not gone unnoticed. "Hello, Druidess."

He had stopped using her name. She knew what that meant probably even more than he did.

It was freeing, in a way, to have him acting just like the others. He was closer than the rest, and that made him more dangerous. The rogue had stopped trying already, ever since that day Kerala had grabbed her arm to keep her from chasing the stupid elf. Or maybe it was since the first trial was passed? Regardless, it seemed that some threshold had been crested- she was still disliked by the Grim, but now it seemed she was regarded as just another supplicant- no more and no less. It wasn't quite as good an anonymity, but it was an improvement. But Lupinum... Lupinum still noticed.

They sat in silence for a moment. He thought whatever dark thoughts he was wont to, and she considered him, and his mood. After a while, he sniffed loudly. "Given any more thought to what we discussed a few nights ago? Or are you still going to be a stubborn cow about it?"

She paused. He'd been drunk the night his eyes had flashed brighter. He'd asked about the Horns. About her. But there was also that elf that had been fighting with him. It could be anything, really, that had set him off. So she didn't touch it. Not yet. There was still the possibility that she'd been wrong.

"I'm not a cow. Why did you get new robes? I liked the others better."

"I got tired of blood staining my robes. Mending the Grim is a lot of work. Especially when other menders slack off, or don't help at all." The robes he wore now were dark. Like Lilliana's, with lots of deep red.

The druid blinked. "Oh." She supposed there would be a lot of blood involved in healing Grim against alliance. Especially when people like the deadshot troll liked to bathe in it. "I guess so."

Lupinum rolled his shoulders. "Hrmph."

"Is that why you're grumpy?" She finally asked.

"Part of it. Part of it is you."

"Me? What did I do now?" Kerala sighed. So it was her. She really had hoped it wasn't.

"I've strained my patience with you. Trying to be nice, to be cordial. But it's like hitting a wall, and frankly I'm very, very tired of it."

This annoyed her, and she couldn't help but retort. "You're the one who wants to talk to me. I never asked you to be nice. Go. Fight your alliance or mend or whatever. You won't hurt my feelings if you ignore me." The tauren waved at the door.

Instead, Lupinum smoothed the front of his robes. "I'm not leaving." Kerala shrugged at him. "I think it's a masochistic thing on my part - trying to find out what you're thinking... why you act like a petulant child."

He used words she had never heard before in orcish. "Petulant. I don't know that word. Or the M one."

"They're... human words."

Not helpful. So Kerala cocked her head. "And what does it matter what I'm thinking?" She couldn't help the tenseness that crept into her muscles, then. She recalled the times she'd heard the priest's voice in her head instead of her ears. It was unnerving. He'd always made sure to mention how he wasn't being demanding... implying that at any moment he had the ability to get what he wanted by force.

"It matters to my morbid curiosity, I suppose. Perhaps, some part of me thinks that if I find out what has happened to make you so apathetic.. I don't know. Mending is in my blood, little that is left, and I do hate to see a patient suffer so." Lupinum grinned at that, somewhat sadistically. It was a frightening expression, made more so because it only extended to half his face- the lower half being iron.

"That's like the pot calling the kettle black." She used the new phrase she learned a couple days ago. A distraction.

"In what way? The only magic I've seen you use was to make that skull disappear."

Kerala had been rather happy at being able to remove the curse that had manifested the chittering skull annoyance to plague Lupinum earlier. It surprised her that he seemed resentful at her help, and that he disregarded the healing she'd done with him prior- both in the Arakkoan mountains and against the alliance. She may as well have not been there at all, in his eyes. "You're the one without enough self-respect to keep yourself clean and free of bugs that obviously irritate you, and you try to drown your troubles in alcohol."

"Oh, then won't you come bathe me?" Lupinum cackled.

"No, I won't." Then she remembered something, and smirked at the priest. Her annoyance at him diminished.

"Then get over the bugs! Maggots are attracted to rot, and become flies. There's not much I can do." Lupinum doesn't say that the fleas and such probably come from the other races of the Horde... the more... animal-like ones.

"I had a better idea. Still no mail?" she asked.

"...No."

Kerala sighed, disappointed. It still mildly bothered her that he chose ignore the things she had done with the Grim, when she hadn't even wanted to. Her magic -had- been used."Oh well. You don't always need magic to help people, you know."

Lupinum peered at the druid. "How do you mean?"

"I mean, what good is it for you to bathe? You might wash off some critters, but the important ones don't care about a little water." She resisted the urge to scratch, thinking of the mange and lice that had afflicted her for so long. "And you'll just go out and get more."

"None at all. I also fear my condition will worsen with water. Y'know. The decomposition."

"Exactly." She nodded to him. "So, I spoke with Coqui. She's supposed to send you something."

The forsaken blinked, the glow of his eyes vanishing a few times. "For me?"

"Yes. You're doing it wrong. Just like Konro."

"Don't bring him up," the priest warned.

"Why? He did the same thing you are, try to drown himself in drink, and it didn't work out for him, just like it's not for you."

"He was murdered. I just drink."

"You were too, dead man."

Lupinum growled menacingly. "And what happened to you? Centaurs didn't feed you enough? Go graze somewhere."

Kerala laughed. His anger was quick and flared. Not dangerous. This was good. "So very grumpy. Here, I'll go see if she sent it to me by mistake." Lupinum watched her walk away, saying nothing. The mailbox held nothing for her, and she returned to her seat on the logs. "Nope Wait til you get it. You'll be less grumpy then, I promise."

"Hrmph. I hardly doubt it. The bugs aren't irritating." He clung to his grumpiness, determined, it seemed, not to be happy about anything.

"Oh. Well that part is just a perk anyway." She grinned at Lupinum, surprised he hadn't asked what it was yet. She was more excited than he was, it seemed. "You'll just have to wait and see."

"If I don't like it, I'm using whatever it is on you." The priest nodded, satisfied with himself.

"I just promised. That means you will like it." Didn't he know what a promise was?

"Fine." His tone was still surly, but Lupinum looked at the door, toward the mailbox. Kerala noticed, and smirked. He -was- curious. "Made any progress on your list or are you delaying that as well?"

The druid ignored his jibe. "I talked with the druid Monday, you heard. I was hoping to corner the warlock while we explored the Foundry, but he didn't show up. The Cen is.... wandering. I guess."

Lupinum finally cracked a smile. "Yeah. The Cen does that... Which Felbreather is it? They all smell alike."

"A..." Kerala had to consult the list Lupinum gave her. "Akor...haril."

"I won't be mad at you for that name. Him and his... associates are a mouthful. You'll enjoy meeting him." Lupinum smiled again, wider this time. The strange creepy smile.

"Why... Do I not believe you?" The forsaken giggled, even though his expression worried her again. "Ah, well. Nothing is ever easy."


They fell quiet again for a while. Kerala watched the people moving in and out of the tavern. Ordering drinks. They wanted to relax, or forget their troubles, or inject courage. They were mildly interesting.

Lupinum blinked out of his reverie when he heard the loud goblin postman sauntering up to the mailbox outside. Kerala grinned at the priest immediately left his seat, then watched expectantly as he returned.

"You got them! Yay." Kerala was still grinning.

He re-perched himself and placed the box on his crossed legs. His eyes, bright and clear of any alcohol, sparkled a light gold. "I love presents." Lupinum drew a claw along the thin paper wrapping and pulled apart the two halves. Kerala watched excitedly, because she's wasn't sure what exactly Lupinum got, just what she asked to be sent to him. He repeated the same action across the silver tape and opened the box proper. So slowly! A small letter was taped to the bottom of one flap. The forsaken read it, his lip mouthing the strange, harsh words of Gutterspeak to himself.

Kerala blinked, waiting.

Lupinum finally finished with the note, and looked in the box. He scratched the tightly packed snow... snow? ...away with his claws. They eventually clinked against some glass with a sharp chime. "Well."
The priest used his long nails to gently extract a triangular glass vial, one of a pair, with a spidery tracing of cobalt as reinforcement and a sea-foam green liquid inside.

"Oh. That's pretty." Kerala gasped at the beauty of it.

"Deepstone oil... with some other things. ...your friend is very well connected." Lupinum set the vial back into the snow, according to the letters instructions.

Kerala smiled. "And? Do you like it?"

"Yes. Thank you, Kerala. I'll be using one after our meeting with the Alliance this evening." Lupinum giggled.

"So... maybe not so much drinking... if you can sleep?" she pressed.

"Maybe."

Kerala smiled. That wasn't a 'no'. "See? You don't always need magic."


The quiet stretched again. Kerala had hoped that her gift would improve Lupinum's mood, but that didn't seem to be the case. Instead, the priest might even be more broody than before. She wondered if perhaps she'd made a mistake. It wouldn't be the first time. She sat and waited, either for him to be nice and ask what he wanted to know... or for him to not to. She tried to think of some other way to diffuse the situation between them. And how did one fight with one's thoughts?

The toad, forgotten on the floor let out a giant croak. Kerala flinched, startled. She glared angrily at the creature. "Don't DO that!"

Lupinum giggled. "I like it," he said, pointing at the toad.

The druid scowled. "Do you want to eat his legs? If not, you take him." She nudged the toad toward Lupinum. It hopped over her hoof rather than be pushed across the floorboards. That was a 'no' to forsaken ownsership if he had ever seen one.

Lupinum giggled at the animal again. He set the box on the less elevated crate beneath him

"I would save the bottles. They are very pretty." Lupinum grunted noncommitally. "Well then... can I have them? When you're done?"

"Yeah, you can." Kerala beamed at that, picturing how the vials would sparkle in the sunshine. The priest looked at her. He rubbed his cheek gently with his claws and glanced towards the bar. "Kerala."

The thoughts of crystalline beauty vanished at his tone. "Hmm?"

"What are you doing after the Grim?"

Kerala shrugged, and Lupinum clicked his tongue, seeing the gesture. She eyed the priest then, her face thoughtful. Sound like the lizard you look like. Maybe she needed to convince this forsaken even more than the high inquisitor. "I haven't made plans yet..." she let her words trail off, maybe implying that there wouldn't be an 'after the Grim' because she wouldn't leave.

"Because why? You're leaving, you've said it over and over."

False. Kerala shrugged again. "I've said I haven't found a reason to stay. That might change. You never know."

"Hmm. I would be very surprised."

"Me too." the druid said truthfully. "So, I'm not planning anything."

"Alright. What WOULD you do?"

What did it matter? "Find a quiet place somewhere green. Eat fruit. Fly around. I don't know. Why do you care?"

"Because I like you. And I know you like me. I even think there are other Grim you like."

This was bad. The fur along Kerala's spine stood up when he said he liked her. Even though he didn't mean it in the same way, his words echoed in her memory. She squashed the thought. "Really," she said to the priest.

Lupinum nodded. "I can name three right now." Th druid just looked at him, waiting to hear them. He smiled as he ticked them off, "Shaelie. Khorvis. Gazreeth. Though I doubt you know the first or the last names."

Kerala 's mouth dropped open. "NO."

Lupinum tilted his head a little, misunderstanding. "C'mon!"

Kerala copied Lupinum, ticking off on her fingers. "The elf has freely said she'd go murder the farm children for no reason, the high inquisitor eats his own people -and- children, and that GOBLIN threw a bag of hearts at my head. From BABIES. I have problems with that."

"Why?"

"Because children are innocent! Especially babies."

"Revenge is powerful. I've told you this. We've fucking TALKED about this before!"

"A baby doesn't even remember! It can't feel hate if it doesn't even know!"

Lupinum rubbed his forehead with two fingers. "The Alliance won't stop until we're all dead, Kerala-"

"-And neither will you."

"-We're protecting ourselves, and that child will hear 'The Horde did this' its entire life. And you don't think it won't join the fight? I think you are naive."

Kerala resisted the urge to copy the forsaken's gesture and rub her face. "I already know I don't fit in here, why do think my answer is- 'alone, someplace green with no people'?"

"I think it's too late for that. There won't be any green place left, certainly not one for a tauren. But if you want to lay down and die while the Blue Lion rolls over you, feel free."

Kerala frowned. There were two entire planets, how could he think she wouldn't find some place? "Feralas, Un'goro, the ogres haven't destroyed Nagrand. Who said anything about laying down and dying? It doesn't have to be kill-everything-you-don't-like, or fall-down-and-die. There is a middle you know."

"That's what I hear when you say that. And that makes me angry, because I think you can be happy here."

It was his own twisted Grim perception causing all of this trouble! How was she ever going to convince anyone she was a Grim when they were so.... so stupid! "Well you are wrong. Be angry if you want, I don't care. You're your own person, and I am me. Leave me alone."

Kerala stood and started walking out. The glow of Lupinum's gaze followed the tauren woman. He stood as well, and the druid instantly tensed. It was a struggle to keep walking relatively calmly. But, he stomped over to the bar. She forced out the breath she'd held and continued out of the Brokenspear. He was letting her go. She fled again, and hated herself for it. How was she going to get this priest away from her?

Back in the tavern, the forsaken at the bar stood unnaturally still. After about a minute, the shadow of him disappeared completely.
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Re: Kerala's Inquisition

Unread post by Kerala »

Kerala kicked through the stupid snow. The toad hopped beside her. She's made her way to this lonely spot instead of trying to go inside the walls. She needed to be alone. The wind whipped up here, icy and unforgiving through the fur left exposed by her armor. The mild numbness and aching pain was welcome. The druid glared angrily at the toad as it crouched there. She paced around it, moving for the sake of motion, expelling anger as well as generating heat.

Unbeknownst to her, Lupinum was crouched behind some rocks near the edge of a drop. His robes were gathered about him in an effort to stop them from flapping. Lupinum watched Kerala kick up large tufts of snow, almost engulfing the toad beside her. Her track was rather short, much less than she could have been traveling in the openness around her.

"Does he really think I'd be happy? How can I?" Kerala snorted. She pointed at the frog as she turned around him. "Why can't they just leave me alone? You too!"

Lupinum lost grip on the flared end of his robe in a hard gust wind. It waved and snapped briefly before he caught it again. The forsaken huddled down, but the rocks he chose weren't really suited for hiding.

Kerala turned sharply toward the noise as it carried to her, her eyes scanning the rocks. "I said leave me alone!" she called, guessing that someone was hiding, and who it was. She tried to keep her thoughts neutral.

Lupinum figured the game is up and stood. The druid frowned at him. "It's too late for that!" He had a wry grin on his face, a look that Kerala didn't like. Not at all. He hadn't let her go after all.

Lupinum fumbled over the low barricade of stones before striding towards Kerala. She eyed him warily, and her hand slowly went to her spear. "You should be more bundled up than you are, Kerala. Hardly any padding to keep you warm." The priest's grin slowly faded.

"I had a cloak." she answered. "Awatu made me burn it. I've got fur..." She stood, cautious. She was pretty sure Lupinum was not about to be nice, but maybe she didn't have to fight him...

"Why come out here anyway? There's a nice fire in the walls."

"And more people. Why would I tell you to leave me alone and then go where they are?"

"I've given up trying to guess what you would do. Plus.." Lupinum pointed at Toad. "You're stuck with that."

Kerala glanced at the amphibian, half-buried. "Well, he doesn't seem to care what I do or why." She raised her voice over the wind. "What do you want from me, dead man? Ask! Get it over with."

"I want to know why you're acting like a child."

"You have to explain that. What makes me childish, to you?"

"You don't care about the people around you, and not just the Grim. The people who try to help and be there, you push them away. Instead of facing what made you like this, you're running from it."

Kerala held her spear casually, in loose fingers. "I'm not. There's nothing to face!"

"Then what happened to the Centaurs? Where's this blood thirsty murderess you allude at?" Lupinum straightened his back for a moment and stepped towards Kerala.

The druid stepped back. "What murderess? What are you talking about?"

"You, you thick headed cow!"

"I don't know what you want to know! The centaur are in Desolace, the Circle united the tribes..."

Lupinum took another step forward. She recognized stalking when she saw it. "I want to know what happened to you, Druidess."

"It doesn't matter! I already told you." She had told him, so why was he out here harassing her?

Lupinum let out a low snarl. "It matters to me."

Kerala tried to answer whatever it was that the priest had confusion about. "The centaur caught me, I was their prisoner and I nearly died. The Circle rescued me. That's it."

"What happened between then and now?" Lupinum continued to stalk forward.

Kerala sidestepped rather than continue backing. Behind her somewhere she knew was a giant boulder and a tree, and she didn't want to get stuck. Her spear was no longer held loosely. "Nothing."

"Answer me!" he shouted

"I got better!" she screamed back.

Lupinum 's eyes flashed once again as he continued through the snow. "I don't think you ever recovered..." The priest sidestepped as well. Now they circled.

Kerala didn't know what to say to that... but this was not going to diffuse now, she knew now. There might as well be a ring marked out in spears.

Lupinum continued towards Kerala. "If you won't tell me, you're going to show me."

"Are you mad because I can't eat the alliance?" she asked, almost desperate now. She didn't want to do this with him. It was the only reason she could think of- he'd begun to gain interest in her after he'd found out she couldn't eat meat.

"That doesn't matter! "Eating or not eating. They're a plague none the less. And I know about plagues..." Lupinum chuckled darkly.

Kerala stood her ground, but leveled the spear. "I didn't do anything. I recovered. I tried to find the Horns... when that didn't work I tried to remake them." She tried again to answer his question. "Don't do this, whatever you're doing."

Lupinum took one step towards the spear. "I'm only trying to help, Kerala."

Her name on his tongue was offensive. "No... you're not."

"I think you're more ill than you realize." He stepped closer.

"Leave me alone." Kerala doesn't move the spear from it's aim at Lupinum.

The priest reached out with the arm closest to Kerala and gripped the bar of her weapon tightly. Impossibly fast, he finally attacked her.
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Re: Kerala's Inquisition

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(written from RP log by Lupinum, edited by Kerala)

It did not matter if she leveled a weapon at him, Lupinum was going to find out what he wanted to know. The spear was held just below the sharpened stone point to prevent any sudden movements. This was all the priest needed to send his mind probing towards Kerala.

"No..." her voice was nearly lost on the wind. Shifting and churning tendrils of Shadow leaped from Lupinum's fingers and traveled down the length of the spear towards the druidess. Kerala threw the weapon to the ground but it was too late, the vines of shadow had crept up her arm and began to form themselves into a thick shroud of inky violet. The magic working down into her skull was slow moving; the druidess snatched and pulled at the ethereal cloth, "Stop!" panic was evident in her tone.

The priest hardly heard. His face was pulled in with concentration as he willed the magic IN. In a moment of desperation, the tauren lashed out with her horns, "Don't do this!" she shrieked as she leapt forward. The thick skull caught Lupinum over his left eye and shattered the socket.

The Forsaken let out a roar of pain and frustration - his work was undone and the second attempt would be much more difficult. While Lupinum reeled from the blow, Kerala ran a gloved hand over the wisps that remained in her fur. With her other hand, she gripped the fallen spear. The chilled wood shocked some sense back into her. The half-blind priest cried out again and raked at her with his claws. The druidess swung about with the spear's length in both her hands.

Lupinum and Kerala connected with each other at the same moment, but the tauren's blow was unaimed and too wild to do much good. The priest felt the soft graze of fur and immediately sent a wave of shadow magic into Kerala's flesh. He would invade her body to get to her mind.
She hauled the spear back for another shot at Lupinum, this time for a serious jab with the pointed stone, but his good eye caught the movement in time and shocked her muscles into paralysis with a rush of Shadowfrost. "Keep... STILL!" he growled into the wind.

Kerala's attack was stopped short and a strangled sort of gurgle escaped her jaw. She could no longer move, however hard she tried to will the spear in her hands, it wouldn't so much as stir. Lupinum paid no attention, he was concentrating on finding out... something... anything that might help him understand the tauren woman better, something to help her...

Kerala was glaring up at him. A mental invasion like this was new to her, that was clear... but she would learn to fight as she went. Lupinum's own mind was a blur of images. No form or chronological system seemed to be in place... His voice was an airy whisper in her mind, "Show meee..." His own mind produced the image of a tauren in Horns regalia, representative of what he wanted.

"Stop it! The Horns are dead!" her own mental voice was thin and small, yet defiant. She wasn't able to stop the priest, not yet. Some things came to him easily then, like objects thrown in desperation. Lupinum had a sense of time on based how faded the images were. The first across his vision was bleak but vivid.

A small pack in the mail contained a neatly folded tabard. That it had belonged to Breygrah was known fact. The box and cloth fell slowly away into a small depression in a snow drift. Sluggish waves of betrayal and grief slosh in the priest's stomach as he watches.

A figure, unseen but heard, is telling Kerala the outcome of the Mak'Gora. More waves of grief, overwhelming helplessness...

The scene shifts to one of shadowed hulks of tauren surrounded a campfire, there is laughter. The priest feels that she is happy... but suspicious of the gathering. He must investigate... That too is gone as quick as it came.

Kerala, pacing with energy. Words, almost indistinct tumble out of her mouth as she speaks with a priestess. Lupinum recognizes Lomani. Kerala seems younger, or at least her hair is shorter, and her coat thinner. She is determined. She speaks of Cairne and of potential new members. Where did this druidess go? Lupinum pauses as a hard punch in his chest stops him. There was nothing before she tried to remake the Horns. Why did she try so hard? Why is she so alone? The priest grasps that question and urges his consciousness towards it, further into Kerala's guarded thoughts.

She puts up a harder fight. The memory Lupinum wants is very old... he feels the push back and his grin returns. He forces his mind deeper into Kerala's.

A whine escapes Kerala's throat, sounding much like the child of her memory. An elderly shaman woman is hunched over, speaking to Kerala. Lupinum notices the telltale signs that she is of Skytotem clan of tauren healers. His mind is warmed by the feelings of a young girl wishing to be rescued, swept up by courageous warriors. The decayed face of the Forsaken softened involuntarily. The scene reminded him of how he felt when his parents sent him to the Parish... all those years ago.

This did not fail the druidess' notice and she mentally shoved him as hard as she could. It succeeded and Lupinum was forced out. A growl once more escaped his lips and he pursued other memories around the periphery. Kerala's body trembled in the snow as she fought against the paralysis in her limbs even as her mind was attacked.

Lupinum's voice was a hard gale of wind buffeting her resistance, "Show me the centaurs, Kerala!"

She resisted and the Forsaken grasped and snatched at flickering thoughts. The Horns... she wanted to resurrect a force to stand against external threats - to protect each other. Lupinum heard a low growl from Kerala's throat as he found one of the memories he wanted.

There is a rough pit in the ground surrounded by burly Centaur, jeering and laughing. They fight each other, fight her or other tauren.

Lupinum couldn't keep track, too many scenes... too similar to pick apart. His vision was slammed into Kerala's head and he latches onto a chaotic memory, full of emotion.

The priest watched her being pulled through a dense wall of spears by another tauren in the midst of a frantic fight. He is an enormous bull, the fur markings less chaotic but very similar - it has to be a father or close relative. Having broken through the wall, the two continue on running. Hoofbeats of the Centaur continue behind them. Panic and a scream, the flash of teeth. A hyena latches onto Kerala's arm out of nowhere and she fights it. She quickly wraps an arm to choke it, but it will take too long... they are coming. And then the bull is there, and with a yip and a whine the hyena releases her. Kerala's father hits the ground. Blood rushes from a leg wound and mixes with the hoof-torn sands.
She grabs the two halves of the broken spear and wrenches them from the packhound. The child-Kerala turns with eyes glistening with rage to face the oncoming rush. The centaur surround her, tall. There is laughter.

"NO!" Kerala screamed out in psychic anger. Lupinum could sense his paralysis waning on her limbs.

"Kerala!" He yelled back mentally and attempted to restrain where her thoughts are going. She shoved back against him and he lost his grip. Lupinum was used to brute strength, slippery thoughts were difficult to pin down and this one had been yanked from him.

The druidess whispered strange words out loud, but their meaning was clear in the priest's mind: "Lupinum. Stop. Please." She used his name. He jerked his head in response, trying to ignore her. He further lost his grip.

The scene changed to Kerala as a child, sitting next to the same Tauren who took her through the spear wall. Another, very starved-looking tauren, is telling them about Centaur life, "I don't need to know your name, stranger. I'm not your friend, and no else here is either. We'll kill each other, you'll see. No names."

Kerala's thoughts flashed now, very swiftly with her anger as she fought him back. He saw her killing, surrounded by the cheering ring of Centaur, Magram. Various scorpids, hyenas, other creatures from Azeroth fall before her rage. The scene shimmers and Kerala is in combat with Centaur of different clans, designate by the patterns of their warpaint and color of armor. They're connected only by the blood that the druidess spills. Kerala has dry eyes as she pushes a broken spear tip into a fellow taureness. Dispatching her with a form of mercy, without the savagery of fierce combat. It's the shaman woman from before.

Unbidden, the feeling of being held down stopped Lupinum's limbs. He watched Kerala's form in a low lit hut. Her figure is obscured by another tauren with dark fur. Another similar bull watches the door until his comrade finishes.

The scene switches, there are more tauren. Kerala's arms are held spread and her face is exposed. She jerks her head in resistance and her eyes burn in the harsh light of small collection of coals nearby. A large palm encloses over a thick iron band and slowly approaches Kerala's sweat shined cheek.

Through these vivid images, Lupinum failed to notice Kerala slowly moving and stretching her muscles against his hold. A deep snarl reached his ears even as the memories came like a cyclone of color, sound and feel. A pain wrenched Lupinum's mind free of Kerala's completely. His eyes opened and he saw Kerala breathing with anger - the spear was gripped in her hand tightly.

Perhaps the priest didn't know quite what he was digging into... he brought to light many hellacious memories for this woman, what kind of reaction was he to expect? He worked to clear his blurred vision. He saw Kerala's svelt figure standing before him now, her muscles pulled into cords of rage. With little else to say, the Forsaken whispered "Kerala... I... I had no idea..."

It was much too late, the druidess was fully engulfed in her anger. Her spear swung, gripped in both hands like a sword or an ax. The stone edge came for his neck.

Lupinum noticed her motion far too late and Kerala's spear head hacked his head from his body. His mouth opened and a wild yell escaped... and continued as his head sailed through the air before it smacked into packed snow.

Kerala hurried after the noisy projectile. She found Lupinum's head where it lay sideways and lifted a hoof. Her eyes were hard and merciless. The Forsaken glared up at her, his only defense left.

The druidess brought down her hoof hard.
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Re: Kerala's Inquisition

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Grim are experts when it comes to saying one thing, and meaning something else. Kerala had learned this many times.

Syreena had said she would cease attacking Breygrah. Then tried to stab the warrior again.
Lilliana had claimed to want to talk. Then instead had initiated combat in a cellar.
A trial given that was impossible to complete.
A changing of the task required.
Peace, through annihilation...

Lilliana had been trying to deliver a message, that day she'd had Kerala beaten in the dark. Trying, and failing. She'd exploited a weakness, and in doing so, had rendered their efforts completely useless. Kerala had laid sleeping for a month, and woke without any memory of the retaliation that had taken place. Even though she now had the knowledge... the message itself was lost.

They wanted to say 'Don't attack a Grim again- you'll regret it'. What they actually communicated was more akin to 'We enjoy violence without reason.'

Kerala knew of another group that did as well, and they were much better at declaring themselves to the world with certainty. She'd lived among them for seven years. Prisoner. Pet. She had learned many things from the Magram. She knew how to speak in their primitive language, with few words. She also knew how to communicate without any words at all...


Message of Intent
Last edited by Kerala on Fri Jul 24, 2015 3:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Kerala's Inquisition

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Logging started on 06/22/2015 at 16:26:55.

Kerala looks at Cen. Kerala greets Cen warmly.
Cen smiles at Kerala.

[Kerala]: Welcome back.
Cen nods gratefully for the warm welcome. Cen reaches out toward the fire, wiggling her fingers to warmth over its flames.
[Kerala]: Did you learn much while you traveled? Did you enjoy it?
Kerala stirs a bowl of something pale, and steaming.
[Cen]: I did enjoy it. Yes. And hopefully I have learned, almost certainly I have.
Cen looks at the grim fire.
[Cen]: Whenever the Cen returns here, this fire remains burning.
Cen turns to Kerala.
[Cen]: Do you think always it will?
[Kerala]: Only as long as there are people to tend it. If they leave, it will burn out.
[Cen]: Mhm, mhm. The core of the question. Do you think always there will be tenders?
Kerala cocks her head at The Cen. Kerala considers -this- fire.
[Kerala]: No.
Cen nods at hearing the curt answer.
[Cen]: Funny... Funny... tenders not tender's. So close, so far.
Cen smiles warmly and winks at Kerala.
Kerala blinks in confusion.


[Cen]: Have you questions for me?
Cen takes a seat, palms tuned up and open on her knees.
[Kerala]: I do. You are one of the folks I must speak with for my second trial.
[Cen]: Have the others shared words with you?
Kerala glances at the fire again, wondering briefly what that was all about, then shrugs and moves on.
[Kerala]: I've spoken with... *has to think to recall the name* Sangjai.
Cen is tilting her head side to side as she listens intently.
Kerala remembers her manners only after a spoon is almost to her mouth. She offers the bowl to The Cen.
"Would you like some?" It smells of apples... but has no scent of spice and it is obviously cooked to death.
Cen looks at the bowl gayly.
"One spoon. For I am not hungry, but should revel to taste it."
Kerala holds the bowl out to The Cen to pass it to her spoon and all.
Cen pulls a spoon from her pack and dips it in. She blows on it watching the steam move from her efforts.

[Kerala]: It's just apple mush.
Cen closes her eyes and eats the mush, nodding and rocking as she absorbs the flavor.
[Cen]: Ooo... I taste... orchards, not young, but old. ... Mhm, mhm... and the wind is rattling the fruit, it, it, yes, it fell to the ground I think. Mushy before mush. How wonderful!
Cen opens her eyes.
[Cen]: Thank you.
You smile at Cen.
[Kerala]: There are not many that would enjoy it. I'm glad you do. I do too.
[Cen]: Now. Ask me matters that you would.
Cen smiles.
[Kerala]: Alright... I am supposed to find out what the mandate means to you.
Cen nods slowly, narrowing her gaze in thought.
[Cen]: Alright.
Cen drums her fingers upon her lips as she forms her answer.
[Cen]: The Mandate is... a lens.
Cen tilts her head to the side considdering her answer, before nodding and pursing her lips.
Kerala waits for Ther Cen to explain further.

[Cen]: A lens is a fantastic thing you see. It helps us see, and so achieve, things that we are otherwise blind or blurry to. ... But, it is also a tool used unique to the eye which peers through it. For a lenscrafter is an artist, deliberate in her craft and intention. But her lens cannot account for each eye in its making. So seer is part of the lens, inseparable from it in that the tool is tooled only in relation to and through them.
Cen looks to the flames.
[Cen]: These flames are these flames, regardless of Cen or Kerala. But, what we see on the other side is at once a result of the flames, as much as a result of our eyes.
Kerala struggles to simplify The Cen's concept from her rambling words.
[Kerala]: But
Cen turns back to Kerala and nods.
[Kerala]: Hmmm. What we see through the flames is the way it is regardless of how we see it. The fire distorts the truth of it to our eyes.
[Cen]: Yet in the distortion is also the ability. For imagine it was dark: the distortion of the flame allows the sight.
Cen grins.
[Kerala]: But a lens is useless in the dark.
[Cen]: Agreed. And so the Cen hopes that darkness is never truly complete. But I have not answered your question as you meant it, have I?
[Kerala]: So.... the mandate... is a lens, because it gives people a... a vision. But it means something different to everyone because they are all different, with different eyes to see it?
[Cen]: Perhaps, perhaps. But to that it is also the same. The Cen's meaning in this analogy is that the sight seen is a product of the lens as much as the seer, and so it is also one and unifying. I would not go so far as to say "different" but rather ... ... subjective.
Kerala is lost.
[Cen]: Now. That said and said it I have. Most grim ones would say there is nothing subjective about the Mandate.

[Kerala]: What does the mandate mean to -you-?
Cen nods acknowedging she will answer that question.
[Cen]: For each member, the Cen would say that the relationship to the meaning of the Mandate is in the relationship of the subject, to the objectivity therein contained. subjective object - relationship. And this leads to the meaning for the Cen.
Kerala spoons warm apple goop to her mouth
[Cen]: The Cen's relationship to the Mandate is one of choice.
Cen nods and closes her eyes.
Kerala nods.
"Everyone here has chosen to be, even me, in a way.
[Cen]: That is good to know. For the Cen would say, if you do not chose the Mandate, you should leave, and better serve elsewhere. ... But I say this with affection, and yet to come, yet to come. As to me... forgive the rambles. A fortnight without using my tongue and it seems to have forgotten the manner of sense!
Kerala smiles at Cen.
Cen chuckles to herself.

[Cen]: The mandate, for the Cen, for me, is a tool. It is NOT the end, but a means. The word within its content that I seek is peace.
Kerala cocks her head, listening.
[Cen]: This grim choice has the Cen made, that those who are yet young, on BOTH sides, may not have to hate in the future. Too many orphans, too many broken families, tribes, homes, towns, hearts... bones are the least of it. Peace is the word that the Cen focuses on through the lens.
[Kerala]: But... it isn't just peace. There are two other words. Do you ignore them?
[Cen]: "Annihilation"?
[Kerala]: Through it, yes.
Kerala nods at Cen.
[Cen]: That is the most dangerous word.
Kerala agrees with Cen.
[Cen]: And when one holds that word first, than "peace" is infused with meaning therein. But. But, but, but.
Cen winks.
[Cen]: When the heart of the meaning is given to the last word spoken, the first word becomes of service thereto. I would see the annihilation of many things in the service of peace. Cruelty, bigotry, war. And institutions that promote these most of all.
Kerala frowns.
[Cen]: This upsets you?
[Kerala]: But... the Grim are cruel, and make war.
[Cen]: mmm...
Cen nods in response.
[Cen]: Are the grim cruel, or are grim ones cruel?
[Kerala]: What?
Cen becomes particular.
[Cen]: Am I cruel?
[Kerala]: I don't believe so, no.
[Cen]: Am I grim?
[Kerala]: Grim as a description, or the title?
Cen grins widely.
[Cen]: I am certainly not one, but the other?
[Kerala]: I think I see what you mean. There are Grim who are not described as grim, like you. I.... just have not met them, I guess.
Cen looks at Kerala with soft eyes.
[Cen]: The lens, or the tool as I called it... The Cen sees the grim ones as the most effective means to peace, for the Alliance is dangerous in concept and conception. Is there evil within the Grim? Yes. Evil within the Horde too? Yes. But when a tool can be used so potently for a cause deserving, I would help direct the slice, that maybe more good and less evil may come in the path toward the end sought.


[Kerala]: The Cen, who were you before you joined the Grim? Were you different? Did you change?
[Cen]: That is a large question... Yes. Yes, I have been different, and I have known change. Perhaps again I will too. And perhaps the end will see me too it in different manners again and yet again. But in the now I am content to seek peace through annihilation. And that brings us to the third word. "Through" ... this is the word often forgot. And this is the key to the relationship between the two so focused upon. Again, remember the Cen said that Mandate exists in relationship.
Cen nods and continues.
Kerala listens closely, her food long forgotten.

[Cen]: "Through" annihilation is taken to mean "by", and so it does. But also, "through annihilation" can mean within the thing moved through. ... So within the field of annihilation, the thing thought complete in and of itself, there is room for the peace ... ... to be brought. "Throughout" one might understand it, yes? I seek also peace WITHIN the annihilation, and by the annihilation, that the end may negate the annihilation.
Cen nods complete.
[Kerala]: I don't understand.
Cen turns back to the fire.
[Cen]: I could burn something "through" use of the fire. Yes?
[Kerala]: Yes
[Cen]: That is the meaning taken as default in the Mandate. And it is true, to be sure. But through also has a temporal meaning, not only a directive one. For could I not also say that there are wood and things that the fire is living through?
[Kerala]: I suppose.
Kerala rubs her face, because language is hard.
[Cen]: So for the Cen: peace is sought at once by the fire, and within it.
Cen narrows her eyes and then grins simply.
[Cen]: But then, the Cen may just be rambling! Listen too long seeking wisdom in a fool, and you may become foolish!
Cen chuckles.
[Kerala]: So peace is the fire. It burns things- annihilates them, but it needs them to live. So peace lives through annihilation?
Kerala shakes her head. "I'm sorry, I feel very dumb. I'm really not very good at talking with people."
Cen shakes her head firmly. "No! Well, not for the Cen. Those words belong more to and through other lenses."
[Cen]: You are not dumb. You are brave to be walking through waters that do not make sense. I know the grim path does not feel natural for you now. This I will say simply. The Mandate is a tool through which the Cen seeks a future where the children will not need fight. Concise. True. Yes, that will do.
[Kerala]: You work with children a lot? I forgot, but the high inquisitor told me to meet you in an orphanage.
[Cen]: Did he?
[Kerala]: I may have upset him.
[Cen]: I have convoluted simple things with foolish words. Perhaps he wanted you to see what the Mandate means to me.
Kerala says slowly "Maybe...."
[Cen]: I can ramble and blather with words or silence, but in action I find clairity. The orphans: if the Cen achieves her goals through the Mandate, they will never need to. Will that come through so? It does not matter. That is where my heart beats.
Kerala smiles at Cen.
Cen smiles simply.



[Cen]: If I may say one more thing?
[Kerala]: Yes. I had no more questions to ask.
[Cen]: Find how the Mandate might fit in your eye, that the two together serve you better than the each apart. For the end should be that Kerala is more Kerala for the Mandate, and the Mandate more the Mandate for Kerala. If this is not possible, well... I am certain you can find your path.
Cen smiles and winks.

[Kerala]: I do have one more question, actually. Have you succeeded so far- In changing anything that you wish to?
Cen nods in thought as she responds.
[Cen]: Yes. There are lives lived that may not have been had I walked a different path. And those lives, should I succeed, will know less hateful hearts than the ones who came before. Also... though, I will not be false. I have seen horrible things done that haunt me.
Cen sighs.
Kerala is reminded of the farmer question asked of those wishing to join the Grim. She wonders what sort of trials the Cen had to do... but doesn't ask.

[Cen]: Again, as I said before. Th relationship I have with the Mandate is a choice. And I must hope more good is achieved than evil.
Kerala stirs her cold apple mash.
[Kerala]: Maybe.... maybe I could be like you.
[Cen]: You have the power to do great good. I have no doubt.
[Kerala]: I know you wish the best for me... but I still really don't see how I fit in here. You are only one of very many, and they are... they are not good.
[Cen]: I do not know that any one is good or evil in its whole. Perhaps they are struggling within. An individual is not so different from an institution like the Horde. The Cen has seen much trauma, much pain. And these things when not cleansed and stitched, fester: and then greater evil grows. Often an evil-doer as a victim of the same cruelty they inflict.
[Kerala]: Hmm.
[Cen]: I am called, at times, a healer. But broken bones? The least of my tasks.
Cen points to Kerala's tabard where Cen stiched the bloody ythread scar over Konro's wound. Cen nods silently.
Kerala does not look at the stitching.

[Cen]: Anything further?

[Kerala]: The Cen, what did you have to do to become more than just a supplicant? What were your trials?
Cen twitches her ear, nodding her head as she often does.
[Cen]: A talked with three members. One who is no longer with the Grim, Khorvis, and Syreena.
Cen nods.
[Cen]: The latter two where generous with vulnerability, and then and there the Cen knew that a mother's love was needed for these grown orphans, as much as for the children.
[Kerala]: That is this trial like I am doing. What about the first- did you have a trial of combat? And of sacrifice?
Cen comes back from remembering the wounds that were shared with her.
[Cen]: erm...? Ah, yes.
Kerala is incredulous at Khorvis being called a grown orphan...
[Cen]: The Cen aided the peoples of Pandaria in their most challenging of tasks, receiving golden recognition for her aid. And her final task was one she chose herself: to find members for the grim ones who there belonged, to strengthen the family beyond herself.
[Kerala]: You found people to be supplicants?
[Cen]: Yes. Three. Ahag, a beast, and an intellect.
Cen coughs ... "A hag."
[Kerala]: Did they all pass their trials?
[Cen]: Two did. Intellect... erm, Bjarnemon, is still amidst his.
[Kerala]: Hmm. Alright.
[Cen]: Do you worry as to your own?
[Kerala]: Not this one, but the next. The first... was terrible, but it is passed.
[Cen]: Yes. Yes. I knew of your first, through wind words only. Terrible for you. Do you know your last?
[Kerala]: No. I'm told I get to choose something.
[Cen]: Wonderful! ... perhaps therein, you can find a thing that serves you and Mandate equally as one and two. Then and only then would you truly belong.
[Kerala]: But... I do not know if that will be true.
[Cen]: Fight for it, if'n you belive it will help you find home.
Cen smiles at Kerala.
Kerala looks fully at The Cen.

[Kerala]: Home?
Cen nods and gestures about at the grim compound.
[Cen]: Home.
Kerala looks around.
[Kerala]: There are reasons why this cannot be that. Do you think they would let me change them?
[Cen]: Hmm... I do not know, for I do not know what they are. But the Cen can tell you for her the change is within in the witnessing of the without. This, this place is but another orphanage, and where the lost children are, so is Cen home. Perhaps there is a home here for you hidden within the things that could never be home?

[Kerala]: Are you a mother?
Cen becomes very still.
Kerala nods, seeing much in that sudden stillness.

[Cen]: I ... I will ... ... I will say... in a manner, yes. But that is too much of a question to probe here and now.
Cen smiles warmly through heavy thoughts.
[Kerala]: I will not pry. You've told me enough.
Cen nods.
[Cen]: Wonderful! And do remember. You have a friend within the thing you see yourself without.
Cen points at herself and then winks and grins.
Kerala smiles at Cen.

[Kerala]: Thank you for speaking with me.
Cen takes Kerala into a big hug, while little from the size of the elf, but big in affection.
Kerala remains frozen.
Cen squeezes tighter for a second and then wanders away unceremoniously.
Kerala eyes Cen up and down.
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Re: Kerala's Inquisition

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Kerala left the Grim walls after her meeting with The Cen. She squeezed through a portal to Warspear, then again to find herself in the dimly caverns of Spirit Rise. She was early by hours and hours, but she hadn't come just for the meeting.

The druid shifted immediately and flew hard for the glow of real sunlight outside the bluff. No longer crippled by fear of the dark closeness of earth and closed-off places, she still did not like them at all. Once free she pumped her wings, gaining altitude through the hard work of her wings. The air was warmer above the surface of the rise. A great bonfire burned for some solstice festival that Kerala barely remembered. She could see people learning to juggle torches, and tossing them in some sort of contest. She didn't care.

Kerala strove for the clouds. She flew higher and higher, until the great rises themselves were mere specks below her, and people impossible to discern. The contours of Azeroth spread out beneath her in millions of ripples and crevices and colors. It was beautiful.

Her talk with The Cen had left her optimistic. If the kind priestess of such confusing words could find a place among a group of people such as the Grim, to do good things, then theoretically Kerala could too if she wished to. Surely, the inquisitors would be happy that she had learned that. And so, Kerala spent the hours before the meeting soaring high, safe and alone and not really worried about what would happen when she stood before the Grim.

When the time came, it was with a good deal of reluctance that the druid rode the winds in a giant spiral back down to earth again. She landed on the canopy of the large tent that occupied most of the space of Spirit Rise. The tauren inquisitor was the only one there. Slowly, a few others arrived. An orc, then the elf huntress with her metal scorpid. Syreena. Even The Cen appeared, and then Khorvis himself. Kerala shifted, watching them all from above. Why did no one look up when they scanned for danger? The tauren stood then, because the inquisitors planted their banners right there in front of the canopy, rather than inside the tent. She'd be staring at their backs.

There was a thick rope that led from each corner of the entrance canopy to a large totem, a line to hold the skins up and stable. Kerala stepped onto the rope carefully. The thick spiral fit into the wedge of her hoof perfectly, ensuring she would not slip off. The tauren moved quickly, placing one hoof in front of the other, walking the rope across to the totem. There, she turned and sat down, hooves dangling above The Cen who sat at the base.

Kerala was immensely pleased with her chosen sitting place... until she realized that she could not hear the inquisitors talking. Up here, the sounds from the festival were not blocked by the tent between, and the crackling of fire, and voices of revelers carried over the orc she sat looking down on. Frowning, Kerala swung her legs out, then levered her body free of the seat. The Cen didn't look surprised at all when a tauren fell from the sky next to her. The elf wove grasses around her fingers idly, looking quite comfortable and content with her own spot.

The orc, Ruuki's supplicant, was called before the inquisitors. Apparently, he was also on the trial of resolve, and Khorvis was one of his assigned interviews. He informed the tauren paladin that he would be making progress on his trial immediately following this meeting, and Khorvis confirmed.

"Aye, we will have words after the rest of the scum vomit out their reports. And ale, I do wager." Kerala frowned at the orc's words that betrayed his sour mood. Her own disposition darkened to match. This was the ground, and the Grim. On guard!

The inquisitors both seemed to be less than pleased at the turnout of supplicants for the meeting. The two trolls were conspicuously absent, a punishment was mentioned. Something about scrubbing with an herb and itching powder. It was during this time that Darethy wandered over to them. Surely, a gathering of Grim would attract anyone's attention. He was quiet, and merely took a seat in the back of the group, watching.

"Do that be the Blackguard I spy?" Khorvis demanded.

Darethy nodded slightly at Khorvis. "Am I interrupting? I was just visiting kin and sort of bumped into you."

"Phaw, not in the bloody least. Come up here, felmancer."

Darethy nodded again in the same fashion as before. "Very well then."

Khorvis gestured between Shaelie and Kerala. "Choose one." The druid waited quietly. Darethy glanced between the two supplicant, somewhat unsure of what was happening. "You do have a nose for finding weakness. Sniff out the slack in our Inquisition."

Kerala knew then who the warlock would choose. She met his eyes as he turned them to rest upon her. She stepped forward. "I'm sorry, but Khorvis did request, and the answer was...obvious." She said nothing to him as she took her place before the inquisitors.

Khorvis frowned at her. "I did have some high hopes for this one, after the slaughter she did bring to the Alliance." The druid kept her face blank, both at the mention of her terrible first trial, and the high inquisitor's use of the past tense. She had a feeling there would be nothing she could do that would be right, this evening. "Tell us, Kerala - how does your trial fare?"

"I spoke with The Cen earlier today." she answered.

The orc's eyes flickered to the elf, who must have nodded. "What did you learn of the Mandate through the Wanderer?"

Kerala had given this some thought, high up riding the thermals. Whatever speeches she had planned were suddenly inadequate and out of place. Given his mood, she knew it would be best to fall back on old habits. Quiet and to-the-point. Quick and done, and back away. Still, she felt it important to at least try. She was bound to be wrong, whatever she said at this point.

"She is one I have met before, a kind soul. Her point of view is, I think, rather unique of anyone else you could have assigned to me. I admit, much of what she said confuses me, but I think I know the general meaning behind her words..."

"If ending the lives of pinkskin filth do be a kindness, then aye, Cen do be a merciful wench." He frowned at Cen the entire time. "What meaning did you hear?"

"Her view is opposite of the druid's." Kerala felt it was important to point that out. Standing here now, she couldn't remember why, exactly. Had she really thought it would make a difference, to point out how unalike they were, when she tried to sound like she was learning from them? She didn't think, in this moment, with the high inquisitor in this mood, that it actually mattered. "To her, the mandate is the means, and not the end. It is the way to achieve peace. She called it a lens. It helps us see and achieve things we were otherwise blind to.

Darethy started to nod. Ruuki listened to Kerala's answer, and seemed to be a bit more mollified as well. Perhaps it -was- the right thing to say.

"A lens." Khorvis repeated.

Kerala glanced to Ruuki, who gave a slight nod of encouragement. "That part honestly confused me," she admitted, "but basically, I know that if she has found a home here, anyone can."

Khorvis looked foul within his face-guard and rankled images swirled within the soulmist of his reconstruction. Kerala flinched as he began shouting. "The Mandate do be more than a bloody lens! It do be a purpose! It sustains the strength of our clan! It does not be something you throw aside when a little "peace" do be carved out. The Mandate do be a hunger!" The high inquisitor did not look entirely in control of himself, and Kerala stood very, very still not to provoke him further. "CEN! Come bloody forward and explain yourself!"

The orc pointed at an elf, which happened to not be Cen. He blinked at the strange woman for a moment, then found Cen sitting at the base of the totem and redirected his finger. The elf stood and approached calmly. She even winked warmly at Kerala as she passed.

"Yes Lasher? Shall I explain the Cen? Or rather something of Kerala?"

"What words do you be filling the new blood with?"

Cen nodded as she collected her thoughts. "The Cen shared words with the listener, herein Kerala, so the words for one might be different than the words for an other. Kerala is, to the Cen it seems, struggling to find her place amidst the grim ones."

"We all do be the same under the Mandate! No special treatment for the weak or infirm!"

"How can she honor herself in a code she does not find her honor in? Such a trouble, such a trouble... The Cen invited her to understand that the Mandate is a tool, like a lens. You think you see the truth but until the tool and the wielder are one ..."

Khorvis interrupted again. "Supplicants must understand that the Mandate do be their whole life!"

"... the truth is not perceived. The Mandate is the lens, and she must fit it to her eye, her eye unique just as mine, or yours. And in the melding of the Mandate and the self, can she see her unity within it."

Khorvis stomped past Cen towards Shaelie. "And you, elf!" Kerala dared to breathe again, no longer in the direct path of the high inquisitor's ire... or his Lash. Near the banners, Darethy was watching, looking between them all and seeing that things were going very, very badly. "Tell us of your second trial!"

Shaelie lifted her shoulders slowly. "I've been busy scouting Grim Batol and helping to prepare to bring home two of our own. So I've had no time for interviews."

Khorvis frothed within his feedbag. Some drool dripped out. Beside her, Cen winked playfully at Kerala. The druid glanced to the woman, but returned her attention immediately to the angry orc. "Goat sucking wench! Why do you not follow my bloody ORDERS!"

Somewhere to the side Syreena asked "Can I have her ears?"

Shaelie kept her response even, meeting Khorvis's gaze. "Has the deadline changed?"

Khorvis reached over and ripped away the scope of Mohan that was gifted to the huntress. He flung it to the ground and smashed the heel of his boot into it.

Everyone moved then, except Kerala. Darethy immediately began casting. The tauren inquisitor, who had been watching and shaking her head, glared at the forsaken warlock and approached him with a warning. The troll that looked like Lilliana just bit his arm. Syreena and the orc supplicant squared off at each other. Shaelie bowed up at Khorvis, angry, before eventually making the decision to back down again. Kerala wasn't sure what Khorvis' reaction to that might have been, because Darethy's spell whipped into the orc's back like a fel version of the high inquisitor's own Lash. The force of the blow knocked the taladite gem from his eldritch device, and Khorvis himself crumpled at the hunters feet, an unconscious heap. There was a lot of shouting.

Darethy stared at the lot of them, even as Bloodshine bit deeply into his flesh, but he held fast. "One, you so much as think of killing me and this whole platform goes up in fireworks. Two, your Lasher has been corrupted."

Ruuki growled slightly, and stepped in. "Darethy, that's enough! You were invited here with no ill will."

"Your Lasher has been corrupted by an OUTSIDE FORCE, that was a bit angry even for Khorvis." the warlock replied.

Awatu arrived then, and everyone turned toward him. Greetings were made, and explanations. Kerala eyed the gem on the ground. It was a murky white, seeming to collect the sun's light and glow. It was beautiful, and very close.

Kerala snatched it. She thought everyone was distracted. The Cen was watching, though. The elf mouthed to herself as the druid glanced around at those assembled. "...the lens..."

Darethy asked for the gem to prove it, and Kerala simply stood there, the thing closed in her hand. She was loathe to give it up, the way it seemed to glow... Gazreeth provided a handy distraction. "Does anyone notice beside us that when Darethy shows up is always 'Possession this and corruption that'?"

Kerala pocketed the gem, and then approached the unconscious high inquisitor. The Cen asked nicely if Awatu would like her to revive the orc, but Kerala had no such hesitation. She had more than simple healing on her mind. This was the perfect opportunity to get a hand on him. Though a corruption like Darethy mentioned could explain it, she had to know for sure...

Kerala laid a hand on the orc, and let go of the magic. It burst forth like a flood, inundating her mind with knowledge. Every small scar became visible to her, like tiny beacons calling to her to look and see the orc's violent history. The one on his wrist, in the clear view of her druid's knowing, was indeed from some kind of spear or lance. She ignored them all, and the dark -something- within his lungs, and set the body to repairs necessary to restore his awareness. That done, she shifted focus. She examined the high inquisitor's brain, searching for the tell-tale signs of the Shaking Death.

There were none.

Kerala snatched her hand back, releasing the orc just as he began stirring. He promptly coughed, and spit up something black and smelly onto the wooden plank. He lifted his head to the crowd. "What the fel ... what hit ... Ow!" He slowly gained his feet, and Kerala stepped back quickly out of range of his fists. "My bloody eye! Blackguard, you struck me!"

Kerala's retreat of course proved wise for Khorvis lashed out then, at Darethy. He missed, due to the sudden lack of depth perception. Cen, still close, offered the orc a drink.

"It was for your own good, I doubt you wanted to be enslaved to another creature again...demonic or otherwise."

Khorvis looked angry, but within reason, it seemed to Kerala. "Corruption? How do you know this?"

"Soul sight, something wasn't right with that gem, and you were acting irrationally angry. Your anger, at least usually, has some semblance of reason, but it was quickly ramping out of control." Darethy said calmly. Cen shook her gourd of fresh crisp water gently, in case Khorvis wanted the drink."If you kept going, you would of done something you'd regret to one of the supplicants." Khorvis nodded thanks to Cen and reached out to take a long drink and gather his thoughts as Darethy expounded. "...By the way, someone still hasn't handed me the gem."

"Aye, where is the bloody thing?" The orc demanded. Cen retrieved the emptied gourd from Khorvis, after he was sated, and used it to scoop up the sticky black goo. She replaced the stopper and continued watching. Khorvis glared about, searching faces.

The druid did not intend to give up her prize, but The Cen turned to her. "Please, let us find trust in this Kerala. Yes?" Her eyes were gentle, as they had been earlier during their talk.

Kerala sighed. She stuffed a hand in her pocket and brought it out again, fingers curled into a fist. She held it out, then opened her fingers. Khorvis' gem was in her palm. The Cen smiled and winked.

"...Thank you." When it became obvious that the druid had no intention of actually handing the crystal over, Darethy moved over to Kerala, reaching for it. She did not prevent him from taking it from her, though she really wanted to. Then, her glove was empty, and the urge to snap her fingers closed and run with her treasure was gone.

Darethy held up the item in question, looking at it carefully "It was master crafted by a rather skilled Artisan, this tainted...thing...isn't from Azeroth, at least not all of it. Some of it's origins trace back to the original...or I suppose new....Dreanor."

Kerala resisted the urge to scowl and draw further attention to herself. The gem was taladite, of course it was from Draenor! She slowly stepped backwards away from the group, invisible again, as it should be.

The group continued to talk about the gem, and they concluded immediately that there was a traitor among the Grim.

Darethy wrapped the crystal in a cloth and offered it back to Khorvis. The orc pocketed it and looked at Awatu.

"How do we know it still won't take control of him and make him all....mean and stompy again?" Syreena asked.

"And why is it not shattered at this moment?" Awatu added.

With a great deal of reluctance, Khorvis ended up tossing the milky white cyrstal up into the air to be destroyed in a glittering spray of shards by a bullet from Shaelie's gun.

"My thanks ... Shaelie." That the high inquisitor had addressed her by name was not lost on the huntress. She slowly shouldered the rifle again.

Cen stood on her tippy toes to obviously whisper to Kerala, and so the druid resisted the urge to sidle away from the Wanderer's nearness. "He could not see through his lens... ... ...there is much and more good you can do here."

Kerala did not acknowledge the elf's words, her eyes lingering on the high inquisitor's empty eye socket. He was healthy. The question now on her mind- was a non-gem-corrupted Khorvis still a cannibal?

A late supplicant arrived, a goblin who was still obviously injured from something. She brought a bag with her, and Kerala's eyes narrowed. Not again. It turned out to be the brain of a gnome, who had retaliated his death by poisoning the goblin. She gave the bag to Khorvis, who accepted it, glancing at Ruuki. The orc declared the trial of combat passed, and said that when she was healed, she'd be assigned her second trial.

"Do there be any others who would show their face before the Inquisition this night?" he asked.

Gazreeth presented the body of the elf death knight that Kerala had tried to help with his trial. Gazreeth had tried as well, but the man had been spineless and whiny, expecting those with him to do all the work. They all had been forced to retreat, unable to complete the task. The failure supplicant had been murdered, and was now presented to the Grim like some kind of prize. Kerala's stomach flipped. Surely they would not try to eat him, here in Thunder Bluff? And decayed undead flesh besides...

They did not. But, they had to remind Awatu who Gallid even was. The commander had no memory of the supplicant.

"Do any gathered find fault with the blade of Gazreeth and his purging of the useless one?" Khorvis asked the gathered. Kerala, of course, bit her tongue and said nothing. So it was true, what happened to supplicants who failed the inquisition. No one else spoke up on the dead elf's behalf either. "This meeting of the Inquisition do be sealed to the Mandate. Dismissed!"

Grim began filtering away. Kerala knew she should go. She shouldn't press her luck, either with the unknown temperament of the no-longer-corrputed high inquisitor, or with the eyes of the commander on her. She didn't want attention... but Khorvis still held the bag of gnome brain. She was torn. She stayed.

They discussed the high inquisitor's gem, and who had been present in the installation of it, but Kerala wasn't really listening. She circled around the totem pillar to approach Khorvis from behind and to the right. She stopped behind a basket. He was between her and everyone else, so she could keep her voice low and speak only to him.

She paused again, debating. But, she had just confirmed that he wasn't infected. He very well could ruin it, if she did not say something. "Don't... don't eat that."

The high inquisitor continued talking for a moment, and Kerala thought maybe she hadn't been loud enough. Her nerve was frayed already, and she was about to just turn around and flee, when he grumbled softly. "Why do you assume I would do this, Kerala?"

Awatu was very close, and his voice became louder. The commander must have turned to Khorvis. "You are the afflicted. What are your thoughts?"

No... Khorvis was not afflicted. At least, not yet. "Hearts and flesh are not the same as brain and offal. I didn't know if you knew this." she whispered to him. There was a pause that lasted what felt an eternity as the high inquisitor continued his discussion with the others. Kerala stayed in place, crouched down, waiting.

The high inquisitor finally grunted softly to her. "Hrmph, if what you say is true, then I will offer the brains to our worgs." Awatu noticed a spear-head sticking over the top of the large basket, and leaned forward to see its owner. It was Kerala. He leaned back. She didn't notice this. Louder, Khorvis addressed the others. "I do know this one thing. I will not let a traitor keep me from my good work under the Mandate. I do have a Supplicant to interview."

"Give it to me," she whispered, almost hissed. He couldn't leave with that bag! "I will burn it." It worked. Khorvis tossed the brain at Kerala's feet before marching off. The druid immediately snatched the bag and retreated, running for the fire. The feel of it in her hands, knowing what she carried, made her fur stand on end. She reached the bonfire and, festival flame or not, tossed the terrible bag onto it to burn. She watched for a moment, making sure the flames had begun to ruin the forbidden meat in earnest, then turned to leave.

She came face-to-face with Awatu.

"Supplicant."

Kerala successfully mastered the reflex to flinch away from him, but she did step back. She eyed him more than a bit nervously. He obviously wasn't here for the festival. "Yes?"

"What was importance of the... sack of some creature's organs?"

He asked simply enough, but the question was complicated. How many shu'halo, or even people in general, knew about the disease that came from eating the flesh of other people? If she told him, he might wonder how she knew of it, and that was not something she wanted to talk about. With anyone, commander of the Grim or not.

"It was a brain." She said. Confusion crossed the dusky gray of his features. He said nothing, but he obviously expected more of an answer than that. "It is... dangerous. Not like hearts or other flesh. Brains and the digestive tract should never be eaten."

The commander continued to give her a confused look. "Who was eating it?"

"I didn't know if the high inquisitor knew that. He might have?"

Awatu shrugged. "Then he would suffer the consequences of consuming something he should not have. Why would you care for his well-being?"

He obviously didn't know about the disease. It was not some stomach virus that would run rampant through a person for a day or two and cause internal distress. It was insidious. A person could carry unawares for their lifetime, and spread it. Once the tremors began, though, the longest Kerala had seen anyone suffer was two years. Most died after only a quarter of that time. It was not a death the druid would ever wish someone to experience, even if they were her sworn enemy.

Kerala looked down. It was hard to look at Awatu when her memory produced such vivid recollections. "I don't want anyone to die. Even him."

"Death is natural. You are a Druid, and should understand this."

Yes, she understood that perfectly well. The spark of life was just that- like a tiny flame at the end of a wick of wax snuffed to nothing more than a curling wisp of vapor at the smallest breath of air. That's why it was better to stay alone, to not care. It hurt less that way, when they all died. "Sure."

"'Sure'?" he repeated. Awatu regarded the druid, uncertainty in his brown eyes. "Something bothers you." It wasn't a question, and she wasn't sure what the commander wanted from her, so Kerala said nothing. Her eyes stared at the lumpy back of Toad, crouched so still on the ground at her hooves. Like a simple rock. "What ails you?" the commander tried again.

Kerala raised her eyes. "Me? Nothing." The commander appeared unconvinced. "Why do you think I 'ail'?" she asked carefully.

Awatu raised an eyebrow, and pondered for a moment. "You are quiet. You were not. You have been reclusive as of late. Do not believe that your absences and illnesses have gone unnoticed." The druid blinked at him, surprised. "This debt is under my charge. You are my responsibility, in as much as The Lasher oversees your Inquisition."

His responsibility. Remember what I am owed. It reminded her of the way a farmer might feel about his livestock. She was an asset, nothing more. "I was ill," she told him, stressing the past tense. "I'll be fine."

The commander gave Kerala a questioning look, but Kerala had been around Lilliana too much to believe even slightly that it might be genuine concern. "Very well. Seek me out with your questions. You need not make this more difficult than it must be. Hunt well." He turned and left.

Kerala stood there, in a rather stunned surprise. She was glad for him to go, but she was confused. How had she made anything more difficult? Attacking Lilli had been a mistake, sure, but honestly the druid could say she was happy to have the missing pieces in place, even if the method of getting them there had been rough.

Did he expect her to go running to him like a child being tormented by a sibling? She knew better- that would be a stupid thing to do. She'd be calling attention to herself, declaring herself weak in the process, and there was no doubt in her mind at all that any fault would be found in Kerala, not anyone else she might have issue with.

Kerala jumped in the air as she shifted, caught air in the wide sweep of wings, and flapped hard for the open sky. She had failed to help the strange elf death knight, and now he was dead. She had failed to make the inquisitors think she was becoming Grim. She had attracted the commander's attention... She didn't want anyone else to notice her, try to help her, or lie to her, or anything else weird to happen.

She just wanted to be alone.
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Kerala
Posts: 157

Re: Kerala's Inquisition

Unread post by Kerala »

Logging started on 06/24/2015 at 18:31:17.

Kerala looks at Akorharil.
[Akorharil]: Ah, Kerala. Welcome.
[Kerala]: Hello
Kerala takes in Akorharil's appearance for a moment.
[Akorharil]: Tell, me...Who sent you to me? Was is Bloodstar, the paladin, or the chatterbox?
[Kerala]: The orc. Why?
[Akorharil]: Simple curiosity. I was in attendance when you underwent your first trial. You strike me as somewhat more...gentle souled than the rest of our number.
[Kerala]: Hmm. Gentle-souled? No. I wish to be less violent than.... than I have been.
[Akorharil]: You appeared quite shaken. I wonder what has drawn you to us?
Kerala cocks her head at Akorharil.
[Kerala]: It is not common knowledge yet, but I cannot eat meat. I was very ill. I am surprised you don't know the Debt as well. I thought everyone did.
[Akorharil]: You are indebted to us, then? I confess that I have not heard. My studies tend to keep me away from the supplicant class.
Kerala waves dismissively. "An old shu'halo custom. I came to ask you questions, not the other way round, though."
Akorharil smiles at Kerala.
[Akorharil]: Questions for questions, then.
[Kerala]: A trade?
[Akorharil]: Certainly. What is it you wish to know, Druid?

[Kerala]: I am supposed to ask what the mandate means to you.
Akorharil laughs at Kerala.
Kerala blinks at Akorharil.

[Akorharil]: Ahh, now this DOES sound like the work of Bloodstar...
[Kerala]: Why is that funny?
[Akorharil]: In truth, girl, I find the Mandate to be....unimaginative. Peace through annihilation? Such a waste, don't you think? There is strength to be gained in belding the enemy to your will. I have my own version of the Mandate. Peace through assimilation. Much better for the enemy to serve than to be anihilated. Do you agree?
[Kerala]: To serve... I suppose so.
[Akorharil]: Now...tell me of this debt of yours.
[Kerala]: That was not really an answer to the question asked.
Akorharil smiles at Kerala.
[Akorharil]: Wasn't it?
[Kerala]: No. You said it was unimaginative, which is a description.
[Kerala]: What does it mean to you?
[Akorharil]: Stand with your allies within the Grim, Druid, and the Mandate can mean whatever you like. To some, it is dedication. to some, simple killing. To me, well... To me, the Mandate is a tool to advance my studies. I serve the Grim, and in turn, the Grim serve my ends. It is a mutually benefitial arrangment.
Kerala nods at Akorharil.
[Kerala]: Alright
[Akorharil]: You, on the other hand, I find curious.
Kerala lets out a long, drawn-out sigh.
[Kerala]: A question for a question. The blood law is an old way of my people. If one were killed by another, their life was due to keep the peace, and balance. Konro was a Grim when he was killed, and Breyrgah a Horn at the time. I am here to satisfy the debt.

[Akorharil]: Hmm. Are you here, then, against your will? What does the tauren behind the debt feel of us?
[Kerala]: My turn. What is a Raziel? It is my choice to follow the old law, so no- not against my will.
[Akorharil]: Ahhhh, Raziel the Carver, yes.
Kerala eyes Akorharil up and down.
[Akorharil]: Raziel is a being of the lower planes. A Baatezu. Excruciarch class. They are tasked, primarily, with torture. This one was repurposed.
[Kerala]: A demon.
[Akorharil]: Not a demon, no, but I suppose close enough to a demon for the sake of those not familiar with the planes.
Kerala looks at Rokuvok [demon]. Kerala looks at Akorharil.
[Akorharil]: There are many planes, Druid. Demons are native to the Infinite layers of the Abyss. The Baatezu, on the other hand, come from the Nine Hells. Both 'lower' planes, but both different. I find that the Baatezu are more....reliable than demons.
Kerala cocks her head, sort of interested, but not enough to trade the questions that come to mind.
[Akorharil]: Khorvis Bloodstar does seem a touch more bloodthirsty since the operation. A side effect, perhaps.
[Kerala]: It turns out his eye-gem was corrupting him. It has been removed. And destroyed.
Kerala frowns.
[Akorharil]: Hmm. Facial reconstruction was carried out by Greebo the Undying. Quite unlike him to make a mistake...
[Kerala]: Ask your question.

[Akorharil]: What, then, are your personal plans with the Grim? How will WE serve YOU?
[Kerala]: I aim to pass trials until I am no longer a supplicant, at which point the Debt will be paid. Unless something changes, I will leave, then. This Carver demon- the high inquisitor said to ask about it's service to the mandate. It fixed his face?
Akorharil laughs at Kerala.
[Akorharil]: You join us so that you may leave us? What a curious creature you are...
[Kerala]: A supplicant is what was demanded. It's not common, but there is a history of service to pay the debt instead of material goods, for a death like Konro's.
Kerala shrugs.
[Akorharil]: The Carver did not, in fact, work on Bloodstar's face. That was the handiwork of Greebo the Undying. I believe you would have met him back in the foundry. Skinny. Very dead.
[Kerala]: The Twice-Made.
[Akorharil]: Raziel was summoned to aid me in restoring....well...the REST of the Lasher. He was in a very sorry shape when we found him. At deaths door.
Kerala doesn't try to hide her interest, listening to as much as Akorharil will reveal without her having to ask.

[Akorharil]: Now. Strange that a Druid Supplicant would be so interested in my involvement with the Lash. Idle curiosity? Or has Bloodstar steered you in this direction?
[Kerala]: He told me to ask. About 'Raziel and it's service in the mandate'. What nearly killed him?
[Akorharil]: I couldn't say. Some botched raid upon the Alliance. Many of his wounds were self inflicted. I suppose he felt guilty, the fool.
[Kerala]: Self-inflicted? Suicide?
[Akorharil]: Perhaps. The wounds he inflicted upon his face were very deliberate. Whether or not he intended foth them to be fatal or not is anyone's guess. I suspect he would have bled to death, had we not intervened.

[Kerala]: Hmm. What were the other wounds?
[Akorharil]: Hmm. Bullets. Various arrows. His breastplate was fused to his chest, so I suspect some sort of fire based magic. Now, what does the Inquisition think of all this? You joining to leave? Are they aware?
[Kerala]: It is no secret that I am less than happy with my situation. If they do not, they are not as smart as I believe.
[Akorharil]: What strange customs you tauren have. You owe us nothing, and yet you stay.
Kerala shrugs at Akorharil.
[Kerala]: And you consort with demons. That seems odd to me.
[Akorharil]: Yes, but I benefit from the situation. Thus far all you've gotten from the deal is a free meal. One I rather suspect you'd rather have passed on.
Kerala frowns. "A meal that cost seven lives and nearly my own." She nods.

[Kerala]: I am supposed to ask about your past. Who were you before the Grim? How have you changed, joining them?
Kerala combines a couple questions into one.
[Akorharil]: I was of the Shadowmoon clan before the first invasion of Azeroth...of the Necrolyte caste. Perhaps before your time. Alas, that order is now extinct.
Kerala listens intently to Akorharil.
[Akorharil]: After the initial invasion I was conscripted into the Stormreavers by agents of Gul'dan. This was after Doomhammer had purged the first generation of Warlocks. Gul'dan recruited their replacements in secret from what was left of the Necrolytes.
Kerala wonders how old Akorharil is... hard to tell, covered up as he is.
[Akorharil]: Then there was the complete disaster at the tomb, and the subsequent crumbling of the Horde as a result of the civil war. The rest is rather standard. Survivors were rounded up into internment camps until Thrall led what was left of us to Kalimdor.
[Kerala]: Still a warlock then, obviously. And it sounds... as if you have not changed? Still following your own wishes, while trading services of others?
[Akorharil]: As for immediately before the Grim, I spent most of my time in the Undercity. Orgrimmar does not appreciate my kind.
Kerala nods at Akorharil.
[Akorharil]: I myself joined under Inquisitor Aureliya Raindawn approximately two years ago, during the march on the Thunder King. Alas, Aureliya took ill soon after, and returned to Silvermoon.
Akorharil smiles at Kerala.
Kerala cocks her head, unsure why the orc would smile speaking of an elf becoming ill.... unless he was the cause of it.

[Kerala]: So... it sounds as if the Grim is merely next in a list of those you have used to further your own ambitions. You have not changed.
[Akorharil]: It is a mutually beneficial arrangement, Druid. The Grim allows me access to the Hellfire Citidel and Gul'dan, and I slay those that get in the way of the guild. Win/win.
Kerala nods at Akorharil.
[Akorharil]: Tell me, who else has the Lash sent you to? Traditionally there are three, yes?
[Kerala]: A troll druid named Sang'jai, and The Cen
Kerala nods at Akorharil.
[Akorharil]: Ahh, yes. I served with Sang'jai in the Ten Thunders. Rather quiet, for a troll. And Cen... well... you're better off not talking to Cen.

[Kerala]: Do you know... did he consume the flesh of people before his near-death, and the reconstruction of his face? Or only after?
[Akorharil]: I could not say. Bloodstar was a rather private orc before he took the mantle of High Inquisitor. It is certainly not uncommon for my people to take the hearts of the fallen, however. Why he would task YOU to do it, however, is a mystery. Traditionally the first trial is a test of combat, not intestinal fortitude.
Kerala lets the subject die. "Why not talk with the Cen? I have learned the most from her."
[Akorharil]: Have you? She is most peculiar in manner. Dropped on her head as a child, I suspect.
[Kerala]: Perhaps.
[Akorharil]: And next, the sacrifice. I wonder what the Lash will bid you do, before you leave us?

[Kerala]: I do as well. What did you do?
[Akorharil]: As I said, Aureliya Raindawn became very ill before I completed my third trial. My third task, as the saying goes, fell through cracks.
[Kerala]: Convenient for you.
[Akorharil]: Life is full of happy coincidences, Druid.
[Kerala]: I believe that was all I needed to ask of you, warlock. You have one more question of me.

[Akorharil]: I think I will save my final favor from you for a later date, Druid Kerala. It has been a pleasure.
[Kerala]: Favor? No. The agreement was question for question. You get no favors from me.
Kerala frowns at Akorharil.
[Akorharil]: Favors, questions, time enough for all of them tomorrow.
[Kerala]: As you wish. Save your -question- then. Thank you for speaking with me.
[Akorharil]: At the moment, my curiosity is sated, girl.
Akorharil smiles at Kerala.
[Akorharil]: A pleasure, my dear. I will look upon your progress with interest.
Kerala shifts uncomfortably.
[Kerala]: Goodbye.
Kerala turns to leave.
Akorharil nods at Kerala.
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