The Little Things - Feast at Targarius Manor

-== New Scene: The Little Things - The Feast at Targarius Manor ==--
Roger takes a deep breath of the cold air, filled with the smells of bonfire and food, as well as the faint bouquet of a few hundred people who have been cramped in the tunnels without bathing for several days. As the music fills his ears and the first fresh warm food in days fills his belly, Roger feels like he’s allowing himself to relax for the first time in almost a week, the stresses of caring for hundreds of people melting away in the warmth of the fire and allowing much more minor stresses to occupy him.
Roger felt untethered in the world, unarmored and unequipped, his mind wandered to his carefully packed bag, filled to the brim with supplies in preparation for a call to adventure, resting dutifully where he left it at the edge of his bed in the now trashed tavern back at New Haven.
Staring into the fire, Roger wondered how he ended up here, how was he supposed to serve Rolf when he was on such a seemingly impossible goal? Not to mention the Tieflings… He couldn’t put his finger on it, but these people clearly needed help, he couldn’t just abandon them, but at the same time he privately wished Rolf had shown up with a little less… baggage. Almost worried someone could hear his thoughts, he stole a glance at some of the characters around him, Ozy was probably still about to kill someone, but it was still the most relaxed he’d personally seen him.
As the music dies down, Roger closed his eyes and thought of home, hanging off the rigging of his gaffer’s ship watching Freeport rise over the horizon. He takes a swig of his drink, and begins to sing: Well let the wind blow me back to Freeport Coz I’m tired and I ache for home And if you’re scaled or horned, or your freedom is cut short There’s no better place to roam
A flow of relief washes across Roger as the crowd slowly joins, though he jumps a bit at the booming voice of Lancyte suddenly joining in and drowning out everyone else.
She holds you tight, if you hold her tighter Though her heart is as black as coal
As the song continues to spread to neighbouring fires, Roger sees the party leaving the manor to join the feast. First Captios and Clemens, followed one by one by the rest of the team.
Coz once she gets in, there’s no way to fight her
Seeing Rolf appear behind some of the party, Roger raises his flagon into the air, ale sloshing over the brim into the fire, bellowing the next line in Rolf’s direction to greet him.
SHE’S IN YOUR HEART AND YOUR BLOOD AND YOUR SOUL
Rolf exists the manor slightly behind the rest of his friends following the voice of Lancyte; that unmistakeable Booming voice guiding him true. Rolf feels very lucky in the moment. He has been able to survive and grow stronger. He has made some great friends who are willing to risk their lives for each other. It could be much worse. Rolf feels like he owes them a great debt for their support.
The cold air biting at Rolfs skin might have bothered him something fierce only a few weeks ago. Many of the minor annoyances of on the road living don't seem to phase Rolf anymore. There was serious problems in the world right now and Rolf has found himself directly in the middle trying his damnedest to save as many as he could. His heart yearned for adventure and THIS is an adventure for the ages; maybe even the LAST adventure.
As Rolf gets closer to the fire, mug of ale and plate of food in hand, the words become clearer; he hears the unmistakable music clearly. The shanty, started by Roger, brings in thoughts of his youth. Roger, despite Rolfs status as the third son, was always dependable. He never waiver and was always ready and willing to get into all kinds of trouble a group of young men would find themselves in. He was also a top tier sailor vastly more skilled then someone of his age should be. Roger is probably the first person Rolf could have ever called friend.
Rolf approaches the fire as the last line was sung. In his deepest voice, one might call emulating Lancyte, he belts out the next line of song:
"Well let the wind blow me back to Freeport Coz I’m tired and I ache for home And if you’re scaled or horned, or your freedom is cut short There’s no better place to roam"
As Rolf approaches the fire, singing his heart out, he bee lines for Lancyte. Gives him a heart hug. Thanks him for being so willing to come help them and introduces him to Roger as The Immortal Bronze Spear, the man who gave him the ability to live a life of adventure.
Pleasantries are had and merry is made. Tales of previous adventures shared and conquests disclosed. As the initial conversation lulls with the refilling of Drinks Rolf approaches Roger.
"Thank you Roger. I don't know how we would have saved so many people without you being there to calm the unruly crowd and use your influence to assure them of our success. You remind me of my father in that way."
Despite his flaws his father was a Natural leader of men.
"I am sorry I didn't come find you sooner, or on purpose".
Rolf let's out a good belly laugh.
"I was so sure everyone was dead. I mean I don't even know how I lived. One second I was below deck working on some maps and the next I'm drowning in the water barely able to make it to sure if not for some lucky swells."
The images of his near death appear as traumatic slides in Rolfs mind theater.
"Do you have any idea what happened that evening?"
Roger smiles a little embarrassed at the first line, he wasn't of noble birth, he had no business leading people, he knew his place as a serf, that's where he belonged. He took a swig of his drink, a little embarrassed, waving away Rolf's concerns of not looking for him.
"It was my job to look for you really. I think heading to New Haven was technically desertion if you can forgive me?"
Roger tensed at the next line, his eyes drifted to the hole in the tower.
"All I remember is the fire and the screaming, it can't have been more than a minute between grabbing a bucket to help and struggling to stay above water...." Roger said tersely.
He shook his head a bit and raised his flagon.
"To those who got left behind" He said, in a slightly stilted toast.
“Got left behind where? In New Haven?” Captios walks up behind Rolf and Roger, a short, juvenile-looking wizard so out of place amongst all these adult-looking heroes. “You do wonder don’t you, what happened to them.” He furrows his brow as he strokes his chin. “Given that Reth is the ultimate breaker, I’m curious what he’s doing with all the raw materials. Unless Jacob has a Builder at his disposal, but even then, can they build what Reth breaks, or can only Gig do that? Fucking Jacob. He’s still a step ahead of all of us. So many questions and not enough information. It feels like we have half the information we need and twice the information we don’t. Thankfully the books upstairs let us in on exactly the history of Gigareth. Very enlightening, though even I had trouble wrapping my head around what the Celestials are, outside of Celestian’s angelic hosts. And I usually don’t have trouble wrapping my head around anything.”
Captios grabs a slice of bread off the table and devours it. Turning back to the two men, with his mouth full, he continues to pontificate. Lore dump coming. “I think our existing strategy of heading towards the forges is a good one. There are other forward deployed caches, but I’m not sure we’d find anything of significant use there, maybe some items. But it seems like it won’t be enough to take on this bad boy that’s following us. We’ll need the power of the Celestials themselves. The book notes that Gigareth was at one point a Celestial itself that fell after being killed by an Astral dragon. That’s the astral dragon that’s here to finish the job. The Zodiarks were sent by Celestian to care for the greater good of Aber-toril til the astral dragon could get here. Gigareth landing here was a mistake and Celestian sent the Zodiarks here to fix that mistake, whatever that might me.” Captios air quotes “killed” and “fix that mistake” as he speaks. -- “I’m curious why Celestian didn’t come here himself. Could have taken care of this himself. Given that he wanders the astral plane, it is weird no? Maybe there is something about Gigareth that prevents him from getting here. Something to think about. We might be able to save the world if we can get him here too.”
Captios looks back at the two staring at him as he’s monologued for a bit now. “Sorry, sometimes I get caught up in my own thoughts. Like I said, more information leads to more questions. But Roger, I feel like I know nothing of the great hero of New Haven. What’s your plan now? Are you staying with your people or are you coming with us? This place is probably safe from Reth, given it’s role in supporting Targryn. Probably not safe from the Celestials, but I’m not sure there is a place on this continent right now that is."
Roger steels himself with a hefty swig of his drink, taking in Captios' words as seriously as he could, all the while watching the curious wizard pace around strangely.
This seemed well out of his skillset, so he tried to just listen intently, there was something about the way the wizard spoke that felt like his brain was having to stretch to catch the words as they flew through his ears.
Roger took another hefty swig, finishing his drink, at the words "fix the mistake" and turned to check Rolf's reaction.
"Well Rolf's technically my captain now" he smiled, punching Rolf playfully on the arm, "So my duties to him now, if he wants to fight what attacked New Haven, then I'll be by his side. "
He paused, about to take a sip again, before adding, "but I don't like the way you said fix the mistake..."
Just a few days ago, the town of New Haven was under attack and there laid the bodies of several. Huddled together through a long dim light tunnel were refugees and the party, pushing them along to what they had hoped would be safety.
Syn looks out across a great hall of the manor. Children laughing and playing, creating festive crafts as their parents gaze down on them with warm smiles of love. It was surreal to take in, knowing what they had escaped, knowing what they had left behind in the previous town. The others of her group had dispersed through the manor to seek out Roger and Ozy whom had gone through an intense snowball fight which she watched prior to, high in the tower from a large gaping hole from the great and wonderful Gig.
She makes her way through the manor, leaving under two large doors that opened to a snowy landscape. In the distance, campfires were scattered around with many bundled together enjoying drinks and food. A brief pause as a snowflake floats down from the sky and hits across her cheek.
…ah..I remember now, these things from the sky. I saw some of them fall inside that gate with Solus in that crystal and when that deal was made. She thinks to herself.
--- Hesitant boots step into the white fluff across the ground, leaving footprints in the snow as she slowly approaches the campfire. Easy to find by the obnoxious singing of familiar voices of her party. She had arrived in time to catch the tail end of Captios’ wizardly ramblings.
“Oh god, hes doing it again, huh?” She asks, standing there looking down at everyone huddled around a crackling campfire. “So, this Celestian person you are talking about? It’s his fault we now have to deal with all this shit about Arhor’ha?” She drops Wraeth to the ground and takes a seat on one of the logs, looking over to Roger for a moment. “And you, why don’t you fight for your own reasons instead of Rolf’s?” She sneers until her hands extend to the fire to warm her hands. “Arhor’ha is falling apart, why not do what you want to do?” Rolf Maximilian Sievert01/17/2021 "I agree with Syn; Roger. I more than welcome you to come with us, as long as you know the stakes, but I would like you to Fight and Die for what you want to fight and die for, not just something I decide. Digressing a bit, Syn poses a very good question though"
Rolf grabs his mug and takes a large swig of ale and continues to munch on some salted pork.
"Do you know who Celestian is and why he wouldn't take care of the mess he made himself Captios?"
Rolf States in between mouth fulls as it has been a sparse trip from New Haven and his belly was well aware of the lack of food.
Roger shifted uncomfortably at the question, partly because it seemed like such an odd question to him, he went to take a sip of his drink again, before realising he still hadn’t filled his cup.


“Erm… That is what I want to do... Rolf’s family pulled me off the streets of Freeport, without them I don’t even know where I’d be right now.”

He took a second to take in The Revolution in front of him.

“If you guys wanna go take on the celestials, that’s your prerogative, what’s my option though? Go live in the woods and hope you succeed? Rolf’s the only Noble that’s ever considered me an equal, and for that he’s earned my loyalty to the end.”
Roger shivered a bit as the wind blew his thin linen shirt and took a step towards the fire.

“There was a guy in Freeport who used to feed us in exchange for rumours,” He reminisced “he had this saying…”
He repeated the old mantra in Infernal, just like the strange merchant always did:


“Dying for a cause is what you make of it”
The wood feeding the campfire shifts and crackles, sending small flickers of orange glowing ashes dancing up into the sky above them. Syn pulls her hands away from the fire and places her elbows on her knees, hands cupping her face, watching the flames dance its own chaotic pattern.
“Well, if that’s truly what you are willing to die for.” She shifts her shoulder in the direction of Rolf. “We’ll have to send you in first the next time this idiot bamfs into a locked room full of enemies.” She looks to Rolf with a smirk before settling back on the newer face of the party.
“But seriously, what we are doing is dangerous, you could die. So long as you are aware of that, and whatever reasons you have are solid enough to push forward, welcome to this group of weirdos.”
"Considering what Captios is saying, it doesn't seem like I have that much of a choice. Either join you on the frontlines or get swept up in the end of the world later..."
Roger smiles at Syn, attempting to cut through some of the tension.
"But Rolf?! Charging head first into trouble? I'm shocked." He caught Rolf's eye before cheekily adding, "I will say my propensity for black eyes has somewhat decreased since we got separated..."
Rolf chuckles as his cheeks start glowing red from some mild embarrassment.
"Well...it's easy to jump through a key hole when you know you have someone, like you guys, to back you up...just kinda let's you leap into danger and expect to have it work out...I'll be safer moving forward. You got me through some difficult times Roger; we have always pushed through the difficult times. Syn here has too; though she is usually the one giving the black eyes."
Rolf laughs heartily
"Thank you though Syn. Without you I'd be dead 10x over. I'll always have your back"
Shifting himself a little bit. Rolf stands up and stretches himself out. The lack of refugees in your personal space is a much needed comfort returned to Rolf. Rolf give Captios a light pat on the back.
"Captios I'll always have your back too."
Syn’s grin widens, looking to Roger. “I mean, we can fix that if you want?” Alluding to his decrease of black eyes as of late and punching the palm of her hand with her other. Her hands fall back down to her lap. “Though, the last thing we need is your eye sockets swelling and you not being able to see. I’d imagine fighting Reth blind is a bad idea.”
She relaxes some, leaning back slightly with a stretch as she listens to Rolf. “And no problem Rolf, any opportunity to wreak havoc on Jacobs estate is a win in my books. Toss in a few swings of Wraeth to those in that room. Was a good time. Until it wasn’t…” Her eyes glance for a moment to her brother, Ozy.
“Anyway, for what its worth, getting here seems to have worked out. We have a moment to drink, eat, and take a breath which is rare, but the threat still remains. So, don’t get too comfortable. Or do, but I for one have things to do.” She sneers at the thought of Jacob still out there, Reth hunting the party down, and the Celestials grand plan.
Rolf pats Captios on the back just as he attempts to swallow a bite, causing him to cough up pieces of bread into the air. Looking around in embarrassment, Captios listens to Syn finish before responding to Roger’s original question. He has no sense of timing after all. “From what I can tell, those we know as the Zodiarks are avatars of the Celestial hosts sent by Celestian to guard the greater good of Aber-Toril. When Gigareth landed on this planet, they were sent to make sure it didn’t wreak havoc on the rest of the world. What we know as Arhor’ha is just an isolated continent on a greater plane. Anyways, they now feel the planet would do better with none of us on it.”
“We’ve got a big mission ahead of us. There are multiple threats all coming after us either directly or indirectly. Jacob, Reth and the Celestials. We will use them against each other. If we assume Jacob and Reth are on the same team, then they are honestly to powerful to go against head to head. So we cut out their knees while we get the more powerful.” He lowers his voice to only those at this campfire can hear him. "Attacking Jacob’s Nexus base can help us cripple his foundation. We’ve already done so to his Crystallis base and the one by the seal. But know that he will be on high alert. Assume he heard everything we said in the manor when we left with Ozy. He knows we are coming for him and he will be ready. When we go in, our goal is to smash and grab anything of use. If it’s not useful to us, we break it.” He smiles at Syn. “I imagine that won’t be too hard for some of us. Once we get through there, we move on towards the Dawn Forges. Remember the plan is to try and convince Sagittarius not to fuck us all up. That Reth is the threat here.” Captios plops face up into the snow, staring at the sky. “This isn’t gonna be easy, like everyone has said. I’m not even sure the plan itself is that great. And if we succeed, we’ll have succeeded in saving a bunch of people who, like Gig said, would rather kill us out of fear than be around us. Sometimes I waver on whether this is all worth it. Like in the tunnel, when those people turned on Syn and Ozy, I had half a thought of leaving them and their miserable existences in the tunnel. After all, they were slowing us down and being dicks to us along the way. Hell, we could all leave Arhor’ha today and probably make it of the continent alive before all hell breaks loose. But something keeps pulling me back to keep trying to save this place and all these people…" he looks off into the distance at another campfire. “No matter how ignorant they might be of all things."
Meanwhile, a certain Fire Genasi had been entertaining some of the children with another riveting episode of ‘Chicken Court’. Seeing the rest of the crew mingling at the other pyre, Pyro decided to leave Cluck with the children, and make his way over to the others.
As he came within earshot, he was able to hear Captios’ monologue. As the strange little man finished, Pyro decides to step in and add his own two copper pieces.
“Look Cappuccino, I don’t know this Jacob guy, or what his deal with Arhor’ha is. But if he’s part of the reason why everything’s been going to shit right now, I just want to say that I want to help you guys take him out however I can. I may be kinda clueless, but I’m no idiot. I just got back to from being a stuffed animal for a decade. It would be all kinds of ironic for the entire continent to be destroyed just as I get back.”
He makes a miniature, fiery mushroom cloud in his hand for emphasis.
“So yeah, I’m in the fight for the long haul.”
Rubbing his head from being thrown onto the hard marble floor of the library by Gig, Pyro looks around nervously to see if his patron had somehow made his way onto the manor.
“That is, unless Master Gig decides otherwise...”
Roger kicks at a mound of snow, splashing it onto Captios.
"Our fire-y friend is right Cap, we've got bigger fish to fry than your ego right now, now come warm your big brain by the fire and explain to us what to expect at this Jacob guys manor. Guards? Something more than that? The way you guys talk about him seems like we need to be careful, and my worry is that this group isn't exactly surreptitious in it's actions at times..." Syn.01/21/2021 Syn scoffs at Rogers words. “Yeah well that ‘Ego’ of Captios is probably the reason why we’ve come as far as we have. You can’t turn off his brain and its probably for the best. He’s making up for the lack of brains in this party.” One step forward two steps back. It’s best this way, probably, maybe.
“And besides…” Red eyes shift to the Fire Genasi, “You keep calling Gig ‘Master’, you’ll really get a glimpse of an ego. Please stop calling him that, its weird.” She hurls a small chunk of molded up snow at the Genasi, it melts and steams away before it makes any contact.
“Jacob Whyte.” She continues, this time addressing those around the campfire. “Is a wealthy man, with wealthy man resources and a scheming mind doing who knows what. He is the reason Reth is out now. As any douchebag would, he has many estates around Arhor’ha. What Captios is proposing, is getting back to one of those places and destroy it. Take what we can that could be useful and continue our path to the forges. Which by the way…”
Syn leans forward, looking down at the wizard laying face up in the snow. Her face blocking out his view of the dancing lights in the sky. “I am all for that plan.” Her eyes narrow as she looks at him in his existential crisis.
“Annoying isn’t it?” Eluding to knowing his struggles very well. “Can’t place it, but not quite ready to watch this world fall apart. It’s not for these people that throw rocks at me, its for something else. Same for you. It keeps pulling you back. Would be a real waste to see that atrocity of a statue melt to oblivion, wouldn’t it?” She looks up and points across the way to a statue of Captios.