As Lady Jezebeth was readjusting the breastplate, or more accurately, putting it back together again, the knight was struck with another episode of pain. They were nothing serious, just backaches and her bruises and flesh wounds aggravated, but inconvenient. That was when another member of the group appeared.
"Do you need some help, madame?" came a man's voice. Jezebeth turned to regard him, at first aware that she could be harassed again for she had dropped her guard, but relaxed when it was apparent that she wouldn't be harmed. Jezebeth did not respond immediately, for she sensed that he had more to say - that his first question was all but rhetorical not just by his mannerism but by her own admitted need for assistance.
"I don't suppose you've been treated particularly fairly, eh?" he went on as he came up to her, and knelt down,
"I can only imagine how you're feeling right now, battered as badly as you've been... I shall be sure to pray for your swift recovery, m'lady, that you might return to your former glory just as swiftly. But, ah, I don't believe I caught your name earlier?"Jezebeth studied the man. He had been rather short, shorter than she was in fact, a sign of low birth because of the poor welfare afforded to people of that class. But it didn't matter to Jezebeth - as far as she knew, she had woken up in the clearing of a forest with literally nothing but a name that held no sentiments and her necklace, lower than low for even women of the low class knew a family, a home, a trade. It was only when old farmer George took her in that she had become someone. The Guardian Order itself had no respect for societal classes. They took in anyone who showed promise, mixing the high-born and low alike in the mission to rid the world of demon scum - and Jezebeth believed every word her elders preached.
He appeared to be the ratty type, though somewhat handsome - perhaps showing that he had pulled himself from the bottom by the bootstraps and done his fortune some good. But only somewhat handsome, for he couldn't seem to meet her gaze, his eyes always drifting left, right, or down to her body on occasion.
But what was most important was that he had offered help, kinship in misery. Appearances were one thing - Jezebeth appreciates strength of character just as much, such that she believed that it could shine so brightly that it could somehow enhance a person's outward beauty.
"Your prayers will be much appreciated. I am the Lady Jezebeth, Daughter of None, Knight and Commander-Aspirant of the Guardian Order, Bane of Demons, Poverty & Famine, Ruby of the Knighthoods of Andred," Jezebeth replied, her titles were beginning to ring hollow, now that it had been repeated under her dreadful fortunes and circumstances that she was beginning to feel ashamed of them. Her face showed it, as her own gaze dipped away from this gentleman who'd offered her help. This was not to mention the fact that she couldn't muster up a half-hearted smile, in light of what she had suffered.
"I apologise," Jezebeth said, keeping the reasons for her apology to herself. She had a feeling that it was all too obvious, the way she felt like breaking into tears again when her various titles had reminded her of everything. But she would not make that mistake again, showing such pathetic weakness like a little girl where the Order had already been gravely wounded by its great loss in the Southlands. She took a deep breath to steel herself.
"How the Elves had treated me so bothered me little. Perhaps it is my fate and punishment for having failed my Order, for some forgotten, grievous sin I had committed. The Gods and Goddesses have never answered my prayers, not in my entire life." Her eyes had been distant as she said this, as if she could physically see herself in the past once more, but they soon returned to the man before her.
"I would be glad for your help." Jezebeth finally said, but before she started giving him instructions, she went on, for it would be rude not to:
"And by what name and title should I call you, priest?"Yes, he was indeed a priest - His efforts to speak on her behalf hadn't gone unnoticed, and his demeanor and words supported that theory. Character could shine better than apparent looks, indeed, and Jezebeth thought she might like this young man just as the other members of the group - most of them, anyway - had charmed her so with their charity when they were most needed, even when she had appeared to them quite clearly to be of a higher station, and thus less worthy of empathy because of their differences. The Southlands had been a harsh and unforgiving place, and to find such goodness in a place so dark and tainted... Words escaped Jezebeth.
The knight promised herself to meet every single member of this questing group which had so kindly taken her in, including the Skayleigh that had been giving her the death-stare all the time. Yes, she hadn't failed to notice the half-giant either, just that her surroundings had been pushed to the back of her mind until now.
The Guardian Order was unique in that it cared not for the petty politics and squabbles of the world, declaring only demons and other aberrant creatures to be their enemies. Jezebeth herself had seeked, in all her time in the order, to be a paragon of its virtues, agreeing fanatically with its teachings - her failures were her own and of a personal nature, but never in the ideal teachings of the order.
As such, the Guardian Order had been known to operate across borders, with many different kingdoms, people and races, though with the Skayleigh that trust had been strained because of the order's parent kingdom's actions. Unfortunately, they could still be faulted, for there were dark times in the Guardian Order's history that had tainted their name. While they weren't with the invading forces of Andred when it took over the Kaelic Isle, an incompetent and delusional Grandmaster centuries ago had participated in a massacre alongside regular Andred forces in a bid to expose some demon cults, only to find none, and not even a single demon. There had been Skayleigh Guardian knights before, but no longer since that incident.
Perhaps it is an opportunity to make amends betweeh the Andreds, Guardian Order and the Skayleigh, however small and insignificant it would be in the grand scheme of things?@POOHEAD189@Fetzen@BCTheEntity@Banana@The Fated Fallen
Despite this, urm, accommodation, it'd still be a tight fit for Jezebeth though.
/lecherous_mode_activated