{ so have a little mingle }

[falconing]

Who: Visitors aboard the S.S. Huntress.
Action: The Huntress.
When: It's a mingle!

[ create top levels, mingle, say hello to the recently awoken comatose pilot, etc ]

Comments

[beardstrokes]

There always will be.

So your people fight these Dark Powers?

[bythewaves]

[ The smile has too many teeth to be called pleasant ]

He killed my grandfather. [ Maglor says simply ] I may hate myself, for all my choices, but I never forget whose fault it is, that my father went mad and that I began on this road. Nine thousand years of the sun and more I have walked and grieved my choices, but never that one, that I have killed His servants wheresoe'er I can find them.

[beardstrokes]

[ Obi-Wan isn't taken aback. He's seen this kind of anger before, felt it for himself. He simply doesn't agree with it. ]

A long life indeed. I'm sorry.

[bythewaves]

[ Maglor shrugs, tiredly ]

It is as it is. I thank you for your compassion, but truly, many of my problems are my own fault.

[beardstrokes]

So are many of the ones we make for ourselves. It never hurts to show compassion.

[bythewaves]

Even so - many would not have bothered, so I thank you. Truly, I begin to see why folk might think you an old soul in a young body.

[beardstrokes]

[ Obi-Wan cracks a faint smile. ]

Usually, it's the beard.

[bythewaves]

It is a reasonably impressive one. [ Maglor agrees wryly, the anger and simmering sense of danger gone as if it had never been, buried deep again ]

I have been told that Men often consider it distinguished.

[beardstrokes]

I sit on the Jedi Council. I doubt they'd ever take me seriously without this.

[bythewaves]

Ah now, but surely a beard is not the defining characteristic of one of the Wise?

[beardstrokes]

I wouldn't know what the defining characteristic would be.

[ Obi-Wan's not one to boast and compliment himself. He prefers to bury his strengths. He is of the Force and as such, credits only the Force. ]

[bythewaves]

[ Maglor makes a low amused huff ]

Mm, well - to be wise, I suppose! But a beard is scarce a marker of that!

[beardstrokes]

What would be a marker for wisdom then?

[bythewaves]

[ Maglor shrugs a little, eyes a little distant ]

And what is wisdom? How would one judge it? But to me, I think, that the Wise are those, young or old, who see the world through clear eyes.

[beardstrokes]

[ Obi-Wan mulls over this, folding his arms. ]

A Jedi tend not to have attachments, in order to see the world clearly.

[bythewaves]

I suppose that is one way. [ He hums softly ] But there are some lessons, I think, that can only be learnt from the perils that come hand in hand with the joys of those beloved.

[beardstrokes]

[ Obi-Wan hunches his shoulders. ]

I've already learned all those lessons.

[bythewaves]

There are always more to learn.

[ Maglor says softly and his eyes are gentle ]

But you have been burnt, eh? I am sorry. The hurts from family are always the deepest.

[ And you are so very good at inflicting them, aren't you Makalaure? whisper his ghosts, and they sound like his brothers ]

[beardstrokes]

[ Obi-Wan shakes his head. ]

Everyone has been burned. I'm no more special than anyone else.

[bythewaves]

Perhaps there are those more or less fortunate - it makes you no more or less deserving of the compassion you offer to others.

[beardstrokes]

I certainly wouldn't reject it.

[ But it makes him uncomfortable at times. ]

[bythewaves]

[ a small smile, and Maglor drops his head in a nod, hands brushing across the harp again, a soft ripple of song ]

But it makes you uncomfortable. Not unlike me, I suppose. Would you tell a stranger your tale? They say sometimes to tell is to gain comfort from the telling - although I do not know if it be true.

[beardstrokes]

[ Obi-Wan manages a rueful smile. ]

There are many tales to tell. But the crux is that I am a servant. I serve the Light. I'll always be in the Light.

[bythewaves]

There always are.

[ Malgor hums softly and the harp echoes him ]

Some would say there is only one tale - a Great One, and we all but play our parts in it, for it continues on before and after us.

[beardstrokes]

Fortunately, I doubt I'd hold any great roles.