driftfleet | Nightal 1 1369 dr- Feast of the Moon

Who: Syeira and Open!!
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: The Red Fish, if you want. Or she can go other places. I'm flexible.
When: From the night of 11/30 through all day 12/1.

[Syeira hasn't broadcast anything since her first day. That was a long time ago. She almost doesn't remember how, so it takes her a moment of fussing around with her device before realizes it's actually working. She's in the cargo area of the Red Fish, sitting on the floor against a wall. Her knees are pulled up, and the device is resting on them so she doesn't have to hold it. She's wearing her Nymph cloak, so she looks a little shinier, and seems a bit more compelling at the moment. She's not wearing it to command attention, just feels the need to be wrapped up in something familiar.]

So I realized tonight that I've been with the Fleet for exactly seven months. I'm still so unused to this thing...

[What an awkward way to start.

She sighs, leans her head back and just...talks.]

Today is a holy day in Faerun. The Feast of the Moon. It's the start of winter. On this day, people do a lot of things. One of them is recounting stories of heroic slayings.

[Yes, slayings. Not deeds. Slayings. Murders.

She fidgets with a strand of her hair.]

Since I've been here, I've hardly killed anything. It's surreal.

I hate this day. I don't want to hear stories of death and murders. Don't we all have enough of those? Does anyone have a nice story? I'd really like to hear them.

Please.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[as if he'd want any other kind of reaction... weird as the situation is in his head, it's still nice to have someone hanging onto his every word.]

The ghost reached for the girl. She swore she could feel the cold of its corpse-fingers just as a sudden, crackling arc of lightning surged between them. It barely had the time to stumble back in agony, both of its hands burned away in an instant, before a horrible rumbling filled the tunnel. It sounded like a thunderstorm rolling through the very stones, an angry echoing that shook the ground under which they stood.

It was a warning. The King of Suffering had heard the girl's prayers, and he was furious.

The noise began to fade off into the darkness, but the message had been received. The ghost, now stuck in a form with no hands, had toyed with something much more powerful than itself--and it sank down in defeat. It released the father and daughter from their bargain, swearing bitterly that it would not bring further harm to the family for as long as they lived.

The father took the girl home. He wept with joy, relief, and the mother joined them. "I'm so sorry," he told his daughter, "But you've saved us all. I will give you the treasures that the ghost first gave me, and I will do everything I can to help you live comfortable and happy for the rest of my life."

His daughter was nothing but kind and loyal, and wanted only for her father to be happy... But her father had also failed her, and she knew that she could never be truly happy herself, living to soothe his guilt. And since she could not be happy, he would never be happy, and so the girl knew what it was she had to do.

"You have already given me all you can offer," she told her father, head bowed. Soon after, she took a few things from the cottage and walked into the woods, intending never to return again.

And though the woods were filled with dangerous monsters, not a single one was brave enough to come near her. It's said that wolves would walk beside her during the day, and that a bear would come to sleep next to her every night. She walked for so long that she eventually passed through villages and cities, where she became revered for her kindness and her patient counsel. By the end of her very long life she was a favorite of Riem himself, and they say that he personally walked her spirit to the Gods' Kingdom when her time in the mortal world was over.

[and that's the story. a horrible thing happened, but the girl got a happy ending, and the "god" in question wasn't a dick about it. no one died, no one was slain. that's why he picked this one, and not any of the hundred others he knows.]

[It's a good story. Visceral and engaging, and in the end it was a positive ending. Not perfect, but it hit the right note for her.

Though the last thoughts about the girl and her father sit heavily in her, somewhere around the chest area. She thinks of Gorion. She thinks of Bhaal. Where she from Earth, she'd think it was like the Father's Day from hell.

But his story, ultimately, helped. She doesn't seem any cheerier. But the outcome of the girl has a strengthening quality.]

How very brave she was. Thank you, Robin. You always have good stories.

[and that'll do. makes everyone feel a little bit better.]

You're welcome. Stories are best put to use anyway.

Well, if you're feeling generous, I'd take another.

[Said with a little playfulness, but she'd like to keep Robin on the line a while longer. Company is good. Company she relates to is better. Even if it is only his voice.]

Oh, is that so?

[he snickers, just a little. he hadn't planned on it, but... now that she's got him thinking...]

How about a silly one? It's short.

[Yay! Got him laughing!

Who is cheering who up again?]

I could really go for silly.

All right, one more story. This one is popular with the kids.

[which he clears his throat for, despite not needing to clear his throat at all--because he may as well be telling this to a kid anyway, and a little dramatic effect goes a long way.]

Once upon a time, there was a young boy named Ulrae. The boy's father had died, and his mother had become very sick. To try and help her, he found a job with a farmer who was willing to pay him for helping out in his fields.

His first day, Ulrae worked very hard and the farmer paid him for his work in coins. The road home was a long one, and along the way, Ulrae threw his money into a field to scare some birds. When he got home, his mother was very upset with him. Why would he throw his money away? She told him, "Next time, put it in your pocket so that you don't lose it."

The next day, Ulrae went to work and was determined to get it right. This time, the farmer paid him with a stick of butter. He put the butter in his pocket, like he'd been told to do, but as he walked back home in the hot afternoon sun, it melted through his clothes and down his leg into an awful mess. When he got home, his mother threw up her hands. She couldn't believe it. "Again?" She berated him, "Think about it next time, Ulrae! Be more careful!"

So the next day, Ulrae went back to work. He thought long and hard about how to be more careful... And when the farmer gave him a cut of steak to bring back to his mother, Ulrae tied a string around it and pulled it along behind him so that it wouldn't be too close to him, but he wouldn't lose it, either.

...But, as he was dragging it behind him, it was eaten up by a pack of dogs. By the time he got home, there was nothing left of the steak. His mother, exasperated at this point, could only hold her head in her hands over what a dumbass her kid was turning out to be.

[...so he broke character a little, whatever. it's so true.]

"Ulrae... This is the last straw. Carry whatever you get on your back next time, so that you can't lose it. Surely, you can do this right."

So the next day, when the farmer gave him a donkey as payment for his work, Ulrae sighed. But he always did as his mother asked, so instead of leading the beast around, he hoisted it up onto his shoulders and started on the long, somewhat-clumsy walk home.

Now, it just so happened that a very rich family lived in a house that Ulrae passed on the road. Their daughter had been terribly sick and could barely leave her room, but when she saw our young hero stumbling down the road carrying a donkey on his back, she started laughing so hard that she giggled herself right out of bed.

It was the first time she'd laughed in weeks, and the family rushed out to meet whoever had helped their daughter. They agreed to help him in return for a friendship with their daughter, who started getting better again very soon after having someone to talk to and laugh with. Eventually, the two were married, and both families lived happily ever after.

Nightal 1 1369 dr- Feast of the Moon

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