The Desperate Rescue. [In Game]

[Kalnath]

Dirk listened as Valira recounted her story, envisioning the events as best he could. The way she told it, it sounded less like an anecdote of youthful recklessness and more like some heroic epic. A quick bit of mental arithmetic told him that Valira would have been about eighteen years old at the time – not much younger than he was now. And at that age, she'd had a sword, a steed, and a shitload of courage. In her shoes, all alone against such a creature, Dirk knew that he would have lost his nerve and fled.

“So it beat you to unconsciousness and you didn’t even get a decent scar out of it? I’d almost feel robbed." He smiled good-naturedly. "Still, it sounds like you were a pretty vicious fighter, even then. Or at least a very lucky one.”

Judging the meat to be done, Dirk pulled a goat’s leg off of the spit and offered it to the storyteller. After speaking for so long, it seemed only proper that she should get the first bite; if for no other reason than to give her a chance to rest her voice.

 

[MagicBanana]

Daisy gave a soft clap once Valira finished, clearly impressed with her past accomplishment and enjoyable story. "That's quite the tale indeed. Felling such a ferocious beast on your own and living to speak about it is a supremely impressive feat. It seems you've always been an exceptional knight then, even when you were still wet behind the ears." She smiled, earnestly meaning every word. "I think I'd like to see the bear as well one day. Such a beast is something to behold. Though still not as good of a sight as the one who slayed it."

"But I have to agree with Dirk. Scars are hot, and you got cheated out of a pretty good one." Daisy continued, quietly giggling. "Potions of that caliber are something to be feared. Healing that deep of a wound and leaving no scar? They must have been very powerful indeed. Even mine leave a faint trace of the wound. Or perhaps you can simply bounce back from anything. Though I wouldn't advice testing that theory." Her eyes followed the goat leg as it went from the fire to Valira. She didn't feel quite as hungry, though the meat did look appetizing. Regardless, Valira told a good story and needed to find her voice once more, so it was best if she got the first bite.

Daisy took a sip from her own waterskin as she looked back to the fire and meat. They smelled good, and the sounds of sizzling meat and crackling fire brought a nostalgic warmth to her heart. "Well then, does anybody else want to go next, or should I? I don't have many stories to tell about myself, though I did sense a bit of curiosity when I mentioned my mother, so I could speak of her at least." She offered. She couldn't talk about the village, though she might be able to speak a bit about her apprentice. The safest bet was still her parents, since they already knew of her condition and hopefully wouldn't be too shocked about her lineage.

 

[Kalnath]

Dirk picked up his own share of lunch and turned to Daisy, who seemed to be volunteering for the next round. That was fine by him, as it gave him a chance to finally eat something while they all listened to her.

"I'd rather hear about you, personally, but go ahead with whatever you're comfortable sharing!"

 

[MagicBanana]

"Me personally, huh?" Daisy asked, more to herself than to Dirk. "There isn't all that much to say, honestly. Beyond, you know, all of this." She motions to her body, looking down at herself and then back up. "I'm pretty normal. I grew up in my mom's cave before my older brother took her role in guarding it, then we moved over to my dad's old tower. I learned magic from him, though he kept the more dangerous and dark magic away from me until I was older. I moved out about three or so years ago and started living in the village as an apothecary for the most part, performing a small amount of magic on the side as well. I met my apprentice a month after I began living there and she's been a joy since, even with her strange habits."

Daisy closed her eyes as if entering deep thought, trying to find some kind of interesting personal exploit from her life. A memory came forth, and she opened her eyes before smiling. "It's not as good of a tale as Valira's but there was my attempt at trying to create a familiar. That's definitely a good cautionary story." She claps her hands together, preparing to begin.

"So, this was from when I was much younger, about thirteen if I remember correctly. I was still living in the cave and it was during one of dad's magic lessons. The binding of a familiar is a very important occasion for most aspiring witches, though not entirely necessary. The issue is that no beast dared approach the cave since all that did were killed without mercy by mom. So we had to improvise a little when it came time for me to try and get one. We gathered the parts of various small creatures that were foolish enough to skitter to us, mostly rats trying to pick at the bones that littered the entrance for scraps of food. Along with that, we gathered the necessary herbal agents to create arcane charcoal for the sconce we'd be fusing the parts in. Wisteria blossoms, cattail stalks, juniper berries, and a circle of salt. We performed the ritual of binding along with a ritual of reanimation, to try and save time and resources given their scarcity at the time. Some magic words were said that I dare not repeat, and out came a mangled simulacrum of a ratking that begged for death!" Daisy paused, both to catch her breath and for dramatic effect.

"Of course, the poor thing could barely be considered alive in the first place, and was easily disposed of. So we killed it and burned the body, and never told my mom. Though I think she did find out somehow since her and dad didn't leave their room for a few weeks, which usually only happened on either their anniversary or when she was really angry at him. Anyways, the moral of the story is to do things the right way the first time, or else you just end up with a mess. Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast as they say." Daisy concluded with a smile on her face.

 

[Kalnath]

Dirk listened well to Daisy's explanation of her past as he quietly tore into his lunch. He found it amusing that the witch called herself "pretty normal." Nothing about her upbringing sounded mundane to him: she'd lived in a cave, with a mother who killed everything near it, while learning magic from her father, and her parents would spend weeks at a time in their room without leaving. Any one of those struck him as abnormal, but all of them at once?

The story itself was equal parts intriguing and horrifying, and he shot a sidelong glance to his other friends to try and gauge how they felt about Daisy's description of her nonchalant crime against creation. Dirk balked as the story ended, before swallowing the bit of meat that he'd been chewing on.

"...Y'know, the more you tell us about your parents, the more I get the feeling that I should never, ever meet them."

 

[MagicBanana]

"Yeah, they're a little bit eccentric." Daisy sighed, grabbing one of the goat legs herself. "They're good people though. Or at least I think they are. Mom can be a bit quick to anger, but she needed that for quite some time. Living in a cave and being known as a monster who kills anything that approaches, yet hides a godlike treasure that tempts knights and warriors to challenge her for it isn't exactly a comfortable life. And yeah, dad was an evil wizard who wanted to steal the treasure for himself to attain godlike power, but he became a better person after meeting mom and becoming a father."

Daisy idly picks at the meat whilst defending her parents, popping a few shredded pieces into her mouth and chewing. "Besides, both of them have retired from being a beast in a cave and an evil wizard. Now dad does normal wizard stuff like advise politicians on how to handle supernatural phenomenon and making potions. And mom hasn't killed a knight since she left the cave to my brother. And yes, they do go and visit him sometimes, I went with them for most of them."

Daisy continues eating from the goat leg, now ripping into it with her teeth rather than picking it apart. She chews and swallows before going on. "But if you do ever meet my parents, you wouldn't have much to worry about. Just be calm and courteous with dad, give him respect and he'll return the favor. And if mom asks if we've had sex, say yes. But in an embarrassed and cute way. If you don't I'll get an earful for it." She finishes off, scrunching up her face while thinking about the times her mother scolded her.

 

[Kalnath]

“Embarrassed and cute? If your mother actually asked me that question, I’m pretty sure that would happen automatically.” He smiled. “In all fairness, your family does sound pretty nice. At least going by what you say of them.”

Dirk pulled at a stubborn piece of meat, until he realized things had gotten a bit quiet.

“Oh, right. I suppose it’s my turn, then. Hmm.”

He ate quietly for a moment while he thought. Daisy and Valira had both gone into some detail about their respective pasts. How much did he want to reveal about his own? He wracked his memory for a decent story, but after several introspective minutes couldn’t come up with one that he liked. There was nothing in his past life that painted him in any decent light; Dirk had wanted to leave it behind for a reason.

There had been stories that were told to him, but under the pressure of the moment, he couldn't remember any of them no matter how hard he tried to.

After a long, quiet minute, Dirk shook his head shamefully. “I… I got nothing. Sorry.”


(Sorry, I just couldn't come up with anything I liked...)

 

[Ecnalab]

[Just let me know when you guys want to progress the scene.]

 

[MagicBanana]

(I'm fine whenever. Haven't been online for a bit due to the holidays.)

 

[Ecnalab]

[So, are people ready to get going again?]

 

[Kalnath]

[Ready and eager!]

 

[MagicBanana]

(Yep!)

 

[Ecnalab]

The group would continue to tell stories long into the night, everything from the daring, to the saucy. But, eventually, the sun would slip below the trees, and sleep would take them.
When morning came, they had to make a decision; continue on course to the smoking mountain, that now loomed over them and confront the ultimate target of their quest? Or, turn back, and go home?

 

[MagicBanana]

Knowing that she was in a bit too deep to back out and go home at this point, Daisy leans towards continuing forward. Those crowns of slavery weren't good news, and she shuddered to think what Garam would use them for if left to his own devices. She couldn't rest comfortably knowing that a magic item like that lingered somewhere in the world, even if it was trapped within a dragon's horde. More important than all of that though, was not wanting to abandon the friends she'd made during the journey, despite her late arrival to the group and the small amount of time she'd spent with them.

Along the way, Daisy had changed back into her human form. Being a beast of wanton lust and destruction had its perks, but she was more comfortable confronting the dragon while she was able to focus on spellcasting rather than trying to kick and bite it to death. She'd also put her clothes back on, despite the damages done to them by her transformation, with her new necklace now sporting a rune to ward off fire. It wouldn't stop a dragon's breath, due to it being a rush job and not having the proper tools for it, but it should help somewhat.

Daisy checked over her supplies once more, taking a count of what potions she still had left and in what ways to ration them. Three moderate healing, two lesser healing, a single stamina recovery, and about half of a magic recovery potion. It would have to do. She took a breath to calm her nerves and looked at the rest of the group.

"Is everyone else ready? This will be a difficult battle, so take your time and make sure you've got everything you need. Spare nothing that you've been keeping ready when we confront Garam. There won't be another fight after him, or at least not another fight that compares, so saving resources for later is pointless." Daisy stated with a calm and cool tone. Despite this, she was still fidgeting with the strap of her back and the hem of her torn blouse.

 

[Kalnath]

Dirk hadn't had as much sleep as perhaps he should have: he'd stayed up a bit later than the others to finish burying Zira's remains. The act had brought a sense of relief to him; a bit of closure for his single greatest mistake, and what little sleep he did get had been all the more restful for it. There were no signs of exhaustion in his eyes as he pulled on his boots - only steely resolve.

You've been a part of this from the beginning; now see it to the end.

"Whatever happens to us next, I am ready." he said tersely, as he passed his gaze over each of his friends. "Let's finish this."