nightmare medx

Goodbye, my almost lover. [Numenera]

No worries! Life happens, and I have done the whole dropped off the face of the earth for a month thing too. In the words of a wise old GM of mine, "Take care of yourself. Your spot at the table is secure."

I would love to continue whenever you're ready.

Ideas Galore!

Bump.

Goodbye, my almost lover. [Numenera]

She knew that voice, even though he was trying so hard to disguise it.

Raul.

Her hands froze for a split second before continuing on with the last of the work she had to do, willing them not to shake until she was finished and his footsteps had faded to silence. She thought she had forgiven him, thought she had let go of all the anger and confusion and hurt but there it was all over again, settling in to the pit of her stomach.

“All done,” she announced tersely to Alandi, as if the woman couldn’t see the light shining again. Her jaw was clenched as she made her way back down the ladder, the metal snapping shut a perhaps a bit more loudly than she intended. “Might see you tomorrow, might not.”

“Have a good night, Kari,” the woman said gently, pressing a hand to her shoulder as she left. She knew it was not the time to pry, not when Kari was looking like one of the storm clouds above, maybe about to send a bolt of lightning down, maybe about to open the floodgates and drench the ground.

She prepared a tray for him: food, water, the works, and headed down the hall, rapping softly on the door. “I know you only wanted water, but it’s on the house tonight, if you’d like. I won’t be offended if you’re not hungry, either.”

Goodbye, my almost lover. [Numenera]

She finished eating in her own time, pushing the dish back across the counter before heading to the back room where she knew there was a ladder. She threw her hair up as she walked, the green clip she always had on hand clashing with her copper coloured hair.

"Does everyone else just let you walk in and do what you want?"

"More or less if I'm fixing something," Kari replied, the old and worn metal screeching when she opened the ladder up. She gave it a push sideways, watching it tip, then right itself as the stabilizers kicked in. All good for her to go up.

She climbed up, sitting right on the top of it, pulling the light panel out of the ceiling and onto her lap. It was some artifact that had been here when they bought the inn, Alandi had told her. It didn't usually have problems but every once in a while...

Her fingers traced along the lines inside, trying to figure out what went wrong and how to fix it. There was a broken connection and there was an oil mark right next to it- the oil had probably heated the line up too much until it disintegrated into drit. She buffed the spot out first before pulling out her tools.

She heard the door open but paid it no mind- it was very precise work, if she didn't want to burn herself. After a few moments Alandi was back, having heard the door chime.

The woman came into the room with a chuckle. "Well, hello there. Miss Karidhi, you have an admirer," she teased.

"It's curiosity. Everyone wants to know what I’m doing when I'm up on a ladder. Hello," she said, still not looking, eyes focused on the work in front of her.

"What can I do for you, stranger?"

Goodbye, my almost lover. [Numenera]

No rush!

Goodbye, my almost lover. [Numenera]

It was one of the last villages before the Beyond. The people who lived here were the kind of people who wanted to be left alone, but not so alone.

Karidhi was lying to herself if she said that hadn’t been one of the reasons she came here. The other reason was that everyone here mostly kept to themselves, didn’t go poking around- which meant plenty of things for her to find. There were the caves that she wanted to go to: they weren’t natural, someone had dug them into the ground and built a metal framework for them, long ago; surely there must be something interesting in there.

Today, however, was not a day to be out and about, much less climbing through caves. Rain and wind, a lightning strike here or there- but none to the lightning tower. So instead she found herself at the local inn; she couldn’t be bothered to cook for herself. Lively music came from an oddity in the corner. You could put shins in to change the kind of music playing, but usually it was only the owner, Alandi, who did.

One of the lights burnt out as she ate her stew. “I’ll fix it for you,” Karidhi said with a wave of her free hand in between bites of food. She could recognize frustration when she saw it.

“Thank you, it’s just... you’d think he’d want to help fix his home, his livelihood,” the other woman sighed, resting her head on her hands. “You know we’re all glad here to have you around.”

Ideas Galore!

Bump.

Ideas Galore!

Bump.

The Bright Wave

Sina did not flinch when he called her m’lady. She had never personally disliked orcs, finding their blunt honesty refreshing. Years of pretense made it difficult, but she tried to adopt a similar mindset. It was far better than the elven way- if someone didn’t like you, you would never be told. Everything was done behind your back. You knew about it, of course, but not directly.

“My name is Sina. Why do they call you Vick if your name is Seth?”

It was not the most important question (she called the elf Élan when his name was Éledan, after all), but it bought her time and, more importantly, substance to decide what she thought of them.

She looked over at the man. “No, I am not lost, nor am I one of them. I know you are not one of the Others because you would have shot me by now if you were. This is the fourth one they have sent.”

She gestured in the direction of the farm house. “If you are intending to improve your way in the world by raiding us, I would suggest you leave now. I’ve been in the woods to keep watch for any threats. I don’t know if you are one or not.”

If he was one and managed to get to the house, Élan would take care of it, or one of the orcs would. If not, maybe this was a sign that it was time to move. The Silencers had known where they were for some time now (Sina figured they must have known, or else they wouldn’t keep sending them); it was only a matter of when they would send more than they could handle here.

Ideas Galore!

Bump.