Darkraven

Into The Dark: Tales of Maroleth

When the old man declares his intention to get Jezebeth released, the lady-knight relented. Beyond the fact that her free-will had been forfeit since her capture by the Wood Elves, beyond the fact that her choices were limited, the old man seemed to have understood at least that she didn't want her freedom bought with blood, or at least he'd understood that he would stand no chance against her captors.

The magic-girl had left as well, though not to put herself in the centre of attention to plea for her release, but to listen, perhaps await her turn.

That these strangers would do such a kindly thing for her had moved Jezebeth. It wasn't the first time that total strangers had so readily assisted her - with her fame, her position, and if nothing else, her divine beauty, who would not do so? Especially when there's the possibility of reward, be it in gold, prestige or... companionship? There are plenty who would follow her to the demonic ends of the Earth if need be, just to be allowed a gaze of her from time to time. But this time, it was different, the knight knew. This time, she had been stripped of nearly everything; everything that she was weren't so apparent.

Jezebeth shifted her gaze to catch another member of the group peeking at her from the corner of her eyes as he was warming up to the elves, for one purpose or another. It told of a pet hatred, and it wasn't a great mystery. Her homeland, Andred, hadn't been kind to the Skayleighs of the Kaelic Isle, and the general reputation of her kingdom had rubbed off on her.

If Jezebeth wasn't at her lowest point, she'd just plunged into its murky, tentacled depths. The Guardian Order of Knights was similarly stained by such a reputation, limiting their reach across that part of the region and damaging their fame. By the decree that made them shortly after the demon wars, the Guardian Order was formed to fight demons and only other similar foul creatures if need be - to help preserve humanity and to an extent, the other good races. Sadly, the Guardian Order wasn't entirely pristine in their conduct at times. For every organisation made of people, there was bound to be some bad apples who would sully one name or another.

And speaking of bad apples, Jezebeth knew herself to be one... In some ways. Even before she had led a hundred knights and men-at-arms of the Order to their doom, she'd taken certain... Liberties, when her mood swung one way or the other. This had reached a peak after her husband's death, when her bed was emptied, cold and lifeless. That she'd managed to keep this from her daughter, friends and fellow knights was nothing short of a miracle. Or natural cunning. (A knight - cunning!)

Her problem had been a constant companion, matched only by her necklace. Ever since she'd been taken in by old farmer George, Jezebeth had been craving intimacy of all kinds, and ever since she'd known how to, she'd spent her life trying to fight it - by distracting herself with games, intellectual or emotional company, with pursuits of work, music, the different arts and skills, with books, and finally with prayer and religious devotion. The good news had been that they had worked most of the time - she would grudgingly forgo the drug of her being. The bad news was that it'd continued to dog her throughout her known 15 years of life, and it'd resulted in adulteries still kept in secret, and secret relationships, both brief and long, that she'd maintained.

The knight looked away quickly, her eyes rolling to the ground, awaiting the judgement of the Gods and Goddesses.

Into The Dark: Tales of Maroleth

Well, I'm glad I contributed. Haven't done this for quite a while.

So in one corner we've got this new lady saying she's cool with being raped and mutilated as long as we don't die and then we've got this old werewolf here thinking she can be the daughter he never had

I blink and the whole thing suddenly turns super heavy! Kind of like my waistline over the christmas period...

@The Fated Fallen

LOL 😂 It's funny the way you put it.

It seems that whatever Jezebeth can do or say has been done or said. I'll post after Poohead as usual, maybe there might be something I can use when he does.

What games are you playing lately?

Heroes of Might and Magic II. It's a real classic, that one.

Into The Dark: Tales of Maroleth

Seems that diplomacy or trickery is the only way?

Into The Dark: Tales of Maroleth

Done and done! Lemme know if I need to change, add or delete anything!

Into The Dark: Tales of Maroleth

The old man, who had gotten on his knees, had expressed pity for her, launched into a campaign of words designed to alleviate her emotional turmoil, if such a thing was possible.

"I can only do this, however, if you want to try and get over these bad feelings as well. So what say you, miss..." He finally offered, a warm, comforting hand still on her shoulder. It had thoroughly melted her, and she did not reply immediately simply because she couldn't. It took all her strength to put herself under any semblance of control - it helped that she had simply been milked dry of tears by her evil circumstances.

After another moment of straggling sniffles and gasps, Jezebeth scrounged up the little dignity she had left, and finally spoke with confidence borrowed from the ether, her eyes alternating between the old man's and the magical girl: "I am Lady Jezebeth, Daughter of None, Knight and Commander-Aspirant of the Guardian Order, Bane of Demons, Poverty & Famine-" the knight pauses for a moment to let a stray gasp pass. Belatedly, she debated letting anyone know of her stained name, but decided that, after looking at the rest of the party of humans and assorted members of race, that it would occur to them sooner or later, if they hadn't identified her already.

"-Ruby of the Knighthoods of Andred-" Jezebeth stops again, as all her titles had felt meaningless in the face of such catastrophic casualty she'd brought upon the order that'd so kindly took her in. For a moment, her eyes grew distant and she became at risk of losing herself to the maelstrom of hopelessness and despair once more. But she concentrated on the hand on her shoulder, pulled herself back.

"I thank the both of you for bestowing such kindness upon me, before you even know my name," she said, blindly maintaining an air of nobility, but could not help the tinge of forlorn and regret in her voice, as if a cruel wound that would not stop bleeding. "The world needs more people of your moral ilk."

Jezebeth took the old man's hand and squeezed it, her own hands still weak and shivering and cold as if immersed in ice. Intense pain gripped her for the ropes had bitten into her skin. They were tight enough that her fingernails were blue from the lack of blood: "But I fear that I am beyond hope. You say that you've lost your 'party', but I have all but lost an entire army of friends and supporters, nearly all that I have. I can't return home like this, with such shame and guilt on my shoulders."

Her gaze, for a moment, fell on the other adventurers who were arguing for her sake, or had at least taken notice of her, their faces quite telling that they seemed to at least sympathise with her. For a moment, she'd looked eye-to-eye with what appeared to be a young warrior monk - dark-skinned, scarred. For a second, her piercing, silver eyes searched his, but flits away quickly. Something had glowed underneath his shirt, and it reminded Jezebeth of her own necklace.

She could hear the conversations going on between this group and her captors; The elves would not release her.

"Then there is your lot. I fear that my release would come at the price of your companions," she continued, "I would rather be mutilated and raped than to have more deaths on my conscience, and from your story I believe you would want your group unmolested."

"Take word back to my people. Tell them that I am sorry. Tell my daughter I love her - that I will be with her always." Jezebeth finally finished, releasing the old man's hand before her eyes became downcast once more. Yes, there's her daughter too, who would soon be orphaned when she join her husband in death. Pain racked the knight's face, but no tears came for they had all already been expended. She closed her eyes, trying hard not to imagine what life would be like for Elizabeth, her young daughter - would she be taken in by the Guardian Order only to be surrounded by enemies? Or would she be forced out into the streets to live the life of a beggar? Instead, she tried hard to remember the good times - Her marriage, giving birth, holding Elizabeth in her arms, teaching her to walk and talk, and showing her a little of the Guardian Order.

@POOHEAD189@Fetzen@BCTheEntity@Banana@The Fated Fallen

Into The Dark: Tales of Maroleth

Well, my internet has not been able to connect to the site ALL day, pardon my tardiness.

@POOHEAD189

If anything, take comfort in the fact that it can't be worse than what I'm getting in Indonesia. On the second day of my stay, there was a power blackout for the whole morning, of course knocking out my wifi. I'm only thankful that power's fine when I return from the mall in the afternoon.

Then there's the fact that the speed is roughly 100 kb/sec or 6 mb/min. Yeah, I'm using my boarding house's wifi, and it's a decade out of date.

What I do is that I write offline first during the blackout - it's all the same when I write in the mall, as I have no access to the wifi systems there. Whatever research that I need, I'll get later when wifi's back.

I imagine that something similar can be applied to roleplaying.

Into The Dark: Tales of Maroleth

@BCTheEntity *salutes* Noted, my friend.

@DarkravenPosting on the morrow, gents!

@POOHEAD189

Great! I'll be waiting patiently!

Oh, and by the way, the Christmas story I posted is 'canon'. I'll just put it under my Character Sheet.

Into The Dark: Tales of Maroleth

Hey @POOHEAD189, I'll be posting after you.

Also, @BCTheEntity, I think your character's interaction with the NPC is fine. Jezebeth is 'fully occupied' anyway.

Into The Dark: Tales of Maroleth

Merry 2017, one and all. Let's hope it doesn't kill as many famous people as last year did.

By the by, @POOHEAD189, I'm not entirely sure what the timing on the current post schedule is. How much time do I have to make a post in this? I want to make sure I don't overstep that bound, and if I have already, I apologise in advance.

@BCTheEntity

Personally, my posting schedule is very simple: ASAP