Tristan's Purpose
Several days after their initial talk, Tristan and Cissa reconvene. Both seem a little happier than when last she spoke, so they resume their conversation in better spirits than they left it. Tristan refers to what she's said about accepting membership to the Feathers, how it is about accepting a philosophy, a way of life, and thus he assumes they are looking for a specific type of person to join. Cissa asks him what type of person he thinks this should be then. He doesn't know exactly, but what he's understood is that the group is striving towards ending suffering, and some would even call them pacifists. The word pacifism makes Cissa frown, and she explains she and most of her comrades do not believe they could ever end all suffering.
Cissa begins asking Tristan about his visit to her orphanage. Upon Tristan questioning her knowing about this, she says she has her ways. Her wards are the most important people to her, their safety is everything to her, and if a stranger randomly waltzes into her orphanage demanding to find Elijah without even knowing his name, of course she takes interest. The reason she brought up the orphanage is to tell Tristan why it's there. She explains she once adopted a human girl, more than a century ago. She died, or at least Cissa believes she did, serving in a war. She wasn't a fighter, but she was Thranian and had no choice. Cissa says her daughter was a painter, and points out the art all over the room, frescos of stars, the night sky, the moons around Eberron, a little fresco of an elf with long black hair and a little human girl with brown. Tristan says it's beautiful. Cissa asks what type of world he thinks she'd have wanted her daughter to live in. Tristan says one where she would be free to pursue her art, and not have to go to war. Cissa confirms this, but says change doesn't happen overnight. You have to sow seeds, slowly watch them grow, make a world they want to maintain. The orphanage has brought doctors, architects, artists, bards into the world, and has taught ways to try and at least choose to better the world. She's learned you can't force someone to want to end suffering, they need to choose to do it themselves. The orphanage is there to help educate those who would otherwise not have had the means to learn it otherwise. Cissa aks Tristan if one has seen suffering themself, wouldn't they want to try to change it. He says he would. He does. She says that that is what the Feathers are about.
Tristan states change will be resisted. Cissa agrees, it always is. That's why they need allies. He tells her he's a soldier and done things that aren't pretty, that he doesn't regret or apologises for. He's done things that for a cause he believes in , or to protect those he loves, he would do again. Cissa states she never said this was a pacifist route. Don't attack, but if there is need to defend himself, or someone he loves, while knowing full well the person across from him cannot be reasoned with and will cause worse damage, then he would need to do what's necessary. She says she's a soldier too, and has taken many lives during the war, Karrnathi lives, because she fought by the side of the man she loved. She explains that every person you fight against has their own story, their own troubles and woes. Their own family and friends. And causing suffering by killing them can cause suffering to those around them. And they then in turn can cause suffering to others. Suffering multiplies, but so can compassion. Tristan says there are those who will not listen to reason or care about compassion. Cissa agrees there are certainly exceptions to this rule, and he is relieved to hear her say that. He says he assumes she's aware of the organisation targeting the Feathers, and states that he doesn't think Len is very interested in stopping. Unless he is stopped, he will just cause more hurt, more suffering. That said he agrees killing Len on its own is a bad idea. Cissa says that how she understood it, is Sicklemen are just regular people being mislead, and rather than going after Len (which she is struggling figuring out if there is another way). she suggests going after the Sicklemen. Showing them the compassion they were shown in Windshire. Tristan says that even if they get the Sicklemen away from Len and Sickle, which he agrees they should as they're victims in this, he doesn't think the Eyes will stop even if they do that. While Cissa agrees he's not necessarily wrong, they don't have all the information yet.
Tristan asks if there is more she needs to know before she can offer or ask him anything. Cissa asks if he's an honest man. He says he tries to be. She says that's the first thing and one of the most important ones. She explains how she thinks Elizabeth is an exception to the rule of the type of people who've gone on the Trail. Everyone has something to prove, seeking some form of redemption or righting a wrong from the past. Because who could stop suffering better than those who know what suffering is. So if Tristan is asking her if he's the right sort, his sister is probably the only person she could say is the wrong sort for this. Tristan smiles and says Elizabeth knows what suffering is. He explains that he didn't come back from the war, he was carried out, but it wasn't him, not really. He doesn't remember much from the first months, just her voice, singing to him. He's been told later he was largely despondent, would have frantic moments where he was out of control, and the only thing that would calm him down was her song. Cissa starts singing 'Hero comes home' to him. Tristan begins to softly cry, but calms down as she continues. He's not hearing Cissa anymore at that point. She hugs him, and apologises, she didn't mean to hurt him. He says she didn't, he just misses her, and says his sister understands suffering. Cissa says that then she's perfect Tristan agrees she is, and calls her his better half. Cissa shakes her head and says they are whole. Two faces of the moon, causing Tristan to look up at the fresco of the moons.
Tristan breathes deep and says asks what's next. Cissa begins the initiation by asking him to swear that he will not willingly cause suffering. Tristan visibly struggles with it for a moment. He thinks deeply, then something clicks for him and he smiles before swearing it. She then asks him to swear that wherever he goes, if he sees something that he knows he can better, he will do so. Tristan thinks back to the conversation about how he helped the group with Valarie and Jenny, and swears it. Cissa asks, stating this is the most important one, to swear that he will ensure he is not the cause of suffering, to the best of his ability. He swears this as well. She then asks for his feather, and asks him to sing the first verse of Flight of the Silverbird. He does so, his soldier's mark begins to glow.
Cissa sings the second verse, while holding the feather. The red glow of the mark turns to blue. She gives the feather back.
Tristan inquires about the practical workings of being a member of the Feathers. Cissa informs him as best she can, though there are things she doesn't know, and clarifies there are things about the Dodecaphony she still cannot share, as he isn't a part of that. She also asks what his next steps will be. Will he follow the Trail? Tristan says he's not sure yet. Cissa informs him that if he does choose to follow the Trail, the next Bird awaits him at Starilaskur. Her name is Cygnus.
He asks about the rules concerning his sister. As he understands it, if he'd been part of the Dodecaphony, there would have been a specific situation where the rule that they can't see each other doesn't apply. Cissa confirms this, but explains it's more complicated now because he's not giving anything up, while his Elizabeth gave him up. So there's one Feather he cannot engage with: her. Tristan asks if this applies even if she's in trouble. Cissa confirms this. He had expected this response, but isn't very happy about it regardless. Cissa says there are little loopholes. While Elizabeth is not allowed to reach out, cannot ask him for help, cannot talk to him and cannot see him, if for some reason Tristan is able to talk to her, without her seeing him, she is allowed to respond. Cissa explains this loophole mainly exists for family members who happen to have Sending or something similar and reach out, without realising why their relative is doing what they're doing. Tristan says he'll think about practical applications for this later, and thanks her for telling him.
Tristan says there is something he hasn't shared. Originally he had hoped she'd be able to tell him more about it, but now he thinks she knows nothing about it and maybe isn't even supposed to. He admits he lied the other day when saying he didn't have an instrument, and apologises for it. Taking out the bamboo flute, he lays it on the floor in front of him. Cissa clearly recognises it, and asks where he found this. He tells her it was in a little cave on an island in the Lhazaar Principalities. She picks it up, runs her fingers across it, and a silvery aura glows around it. Underneath the regular wood there are detailed elven designs, which disappear again after. Cissa explains it's the flute of Svecica, Lucinia's husband. While to Tristan it may be just a regular flute, in the hands of a Bird it's more powerful. He has something special there. Tristan says that's not all there was in that cave, but Cissa responds she's not sure she's supposed to know more. Understanding this, he says that though he's looking for answers, if she says she doesn't want him to share more (and he emphasises there is defnitely more), he will respect that and they need not speak of this again. She says maybe one day, but for now there have been too many revelations for her to handle. Tristan says he'll be patient and asks in the mean time, what should he do with the flute? He's not sure he should have it, based on what she just told him. She says that the one person who should have it is his son. Tristan says he heard Corvus is coming to town. Cissa confirms this. He says he intends to try and meet with him.
Looking at the flute, Tristan says he's going to miss it, even though he's only had it for a year. Cissa says she knows what it's like to give away something that seems to have become a piece of you, and then asks him to follow her down to the music room. Once there, she explains she owns all the instruments there, and tells him to choose what he wants. Tristan says he's learning to play the guitar, but he also liked the flute, so he's not sure which to go for. He asks to be shown one of each that could be a good match for him. She asks if he has a preference in color, other than black. He tells her he's considering trying some more neutral colors. With a chuckle sheasks him if there is something called 'neutral black'. Tristan says he believes they call that gray.
Cissa shows him a couple of different guitars and flutes, and after trying them, Tristan decides he likes the cherrywood guitar for it's warmer and fuller tone, which should match his singing voice well. He thanks her for the instrument, and promises to make sure the flute ends up where it belongs. Then he asks if he could ask her a personal favor. As he begins saying that he's been working on a song for a while, Cissa's eyes light up. He explains he has been on and off working on it for months, it's his first attempt at writing a song. It's not like he doesn't know what he's doing, he has some musical knowledge from his father and sister, but it would probably be good if someone more practiced had a look, to see if it all makes sense. Cissa is more than happy to help. They agree he'll come by at a later time so she can help with that, and if he needs any help with the guitar. She also offers to teach him more tunes as he's learning to become a bard, it's good to have some repertoire before he starts up. Tristan had not given a lot of thought to actually performing. He seems uncomfortable and admits he may need some help there indeed. Smilin, Cissa says she's there for him. With that, they say their goodbyes and agree to stay in touch.
