Collab with HokumPocus and Pezz570
ChresTayla
There was a particular sort of exasperation that would overtake actors hidden backstage. Every fumbled line drove the dull knife of a feeling further, leading to grit teeth and forehead sweat until it was finally one's turn to perform. Octavio wasn't one to show irritation so openly, so he settled on a grin that certainly looked real, but felt as if it would make a creaking noise if one got too close. Ru'Tev, their target, the man they were meant to sway through shared repartee, stepped on and involved in improv comedy regarding... the colorful world of human anatomy. The steps he took towards Karina's table had a heft to them.
Octavio exhaled a draconic puff of breath at her words.
"The stage's actors are already in motion. Fortunately I'm here to intervene." He leaned a bit closer to her.
"I believe the proper terminology from someone of your background is a pincer movement." Not wanting anyone, illusion or companion, to take his place in the spotlight, he approached the now injured lord in a series of strides only found in fine men who traveled across smooth floors and not the wilderness. Octavio's facial features spoke before his words, a grim frown that demanded the lord's attention. His robes and armor were no longer that of nobility, yet Octavio's armaments retained a lightness and dignity to them. Only mild changes to his typical script would suffice.
"M'lord, it is splendent luck that we have met, yet everything but misfortune for what may come. I am a traveling priest representing the land and her people, a mender of the harm brought about by Divergents." Lord Ru’Tev groaned audibly as the latest addition to his growing list of morning annoyances approached him.
“Pluck out my eyes.” The Lord cursed with a hiss.
“Another Priest of the Senses? Today? At this very moment?” He grumbled under his breath.
”And in a tavern, no less! How scandalous.” A bemused Tayla chimed in.
Lord Ru’Tev eyed her sharply with a look that would silence anyone. In response, Tayla held up her hands innocently, smiled, and retreated back to an empty table with Týfurkh.
Turning his attention back to Octavio, Lord Ru’Tev put on a smile that did not meet his eyes.
“Greetings Reverend. How nice to see you on such a… pleasant day. I must say, for a people who like to preach about the sinful act of living in land that scorns The Lord of Senses’s fortune, you all certainly do like to show up here quite often.” He said, as he painstakingly raised his broken foot and set it on the chair positioned across from him.
"Sin must be quelled where it is most wicked, m'lord. And I cannot speak for my brethren, but when in a region as rife with misfortune such as this, venomous drink and sultry women are naught but obstacles." Octavio fired a glare at Tayla as he spoke. In response, Tayla returned a mocking smile. Lynx had opted to keep his distance, but perceived the two members of his party the way a man would see two alley cats fighting over a fish bone.
Octavio's hand made a flourish in the air without shame, as a pair deft from twirling knives could do the same to scripture.
"This day is anything but pleasant, m'lord. Calamitous acts around these lands are growing more severe by the day." One of his hands made a partition around his mouth. Tradition dictated that one lowered their voice in tandem with the movement, but Octavio spoke much, much louder.
"Men of the faith and the nation's people speak of growing unease. They say even the prisons could start to pose a threat."More than a few heads turned at Octavio’s words. Instantly, the Lord’s mood shifted. His gaze almost seemed to darken. And… was that a murderous look in his eyes? Was it suspicion? Or did he just not appreciate people touching on topics that threatened his position and livelihood?
As soon as it appeared, the cold atmosphere seemed to vanish. He turned to Octavio, and took the man in, along with the strange familiar accompanying him and sitting awkwardly in a chair.
“A traveling priest with a familiar that appears to think its people?” Lord Ru’Tev said coolly.
He eyed Octavio for a minute before stating, “You’re referring to the incident.”
A little over a year ago, Horizon’s Dip had experienced its first jailbreak in centuries. Due to a malfunction in magic nullifying equipment, at the dead of night, many Crazed managed to breach the security of the prison. Free from their bounds, many Crazed escaped Horizon’s Dip and fled into the surrounding lands. While several of these Crazed were quickly captured, many remained on the run to this day.
The jailbreak had resulted in massive collateral damage to the surrounding settlements including many settlements in the neighboring Empire of Touch. It was well known that the Empire had used this jailbreak as his excuse to invade the Nation of Sight. Some even believed that the Emperor somehow orchestrated the event! A theory further supported by the investigation that followed after.
“Perhaps you were unaware,” Ru’Tev continued, “-but the
failure to our equipment was an act of sabotage. Any
threat that this prison might pose is one caused by external interference-” Ru’Tev eyed the priest intently as if to emphasize his point, “-not one born of negligence. This prison… it is what keeps you safe.”
Lynx shifted his weight but said nothing. The clashing of so many personalities made him want to scurry off, yet he resisted.
"What keeps us safe, m'lord." Octavio turned a foot and slid his leg with the movement, allowing onlookers a better view of his body and the spectacle it was opening. The worst case scenario for most street artists was their audience walking away, but the main event had couldn't quite manage that with a broken foot.
"Fate is a cruel but patient guide.” His voice projected across the tavern.
“She teaches us to expect the unexpected, to never let one's guard down or become accustomed to routine. If it has already been, external interference may happen again. Fortunately, there is a possible solution, a provision of sorts..."Lord Ru’Tev chuckled softly at Octavio’s words, as if laughing at an inside joke. He cocked his eyebrow, a bemused smile on his face.
“Ooooh? And what might that be?” Ru’Tev said, humoring Octavio.
The bulge on Octavio’s throat wavered. He hadn’t expected the Lord to acquiesce so readily, even if his words had a concerning undercurrent to them.
“A state of unity among the righteous. Through cooperation we’ll see to it that the prisons remain sturdy and her prisoners inside. Things have been unfortunate enough as of late, so a more proactive approach would be most useful.”This time Ru’Tev flat out laughed in Octavio’s face. “And what are you going to do to secure these prisons, with mechanisms that you know nothing about? Will you bless them under the lord? Pray away the ill fortune? Or do you plan to preach to the prisoners and magically un-craze them?”
Lord Ru’Tev waved Octavio away with a chuckle. “No.” He said. “It's the most crazed thing I’ve heard all day! The church offering to help us?! The people they call ‘sinners’ just because we live here, sacrificing our luck day in and day out, to keep miserable hypocrites like you safe?
“But we aren’t safe!” Chres shouted from the back of the tavern.
Everyone in the tavern, including Lord Ru’Tev craned there head in an attempt to make out the person who spoke up. Only with Lord Ru’Tev’s current limited mobility, he was unable to make out Chres. Chres had made sure of it by positioning himself behind another group of patrons before speaking up.
“What was that?!” Lord Ru’Tev challenged the unwelcome interruption, in a voice that sounded like half a growl.
“My daughter, she was murdered that night when the prisoners escaped. Chres growled back.
“They snuck into my home and murdered my little girl!”Mouth twitching, Lord Ru’Tev started to speak but was quickly cut off by another of the tavern’s patrons.
“I hear one of them Crazed slew all of Ms. Hayeth’s goats that night for no particular reason sides just being there. ‘Sploded them he did. Was a right mess.”
“They killed my brother who worked at the prison!” Said another. “He was on duty that night. Just doing his job.”
“Perhaps it’s time for a change!” Chres shouted.
“Perhaps it’s time for any kind of change!” “Enough!” Lord Ru’Tev slammed his fist down on the tavern table. An act that somehow managed to give Lord Ru’Tev a giant splinter. Though given the misfortune common to the region, perhaps the act of getting a splinter from what should have been a largely smooth surface was unsurprising.
The lord drew in a deep breath and cursed as he turned over his hand and worked to pluck out the splinter. Dropping the splinter to the floor, the lord breathed out and rubbed his brow with his thumb and forefinger.
“All I wanted today was a bit of peace and a nice meal to go with it.” Ru’Tev spoke. “But considering where we all live, perhaps that was too much to ask for.”
The Lord lowered his good hand and turned to the tavern’s patrons. “Sabotage or not, you are right to be upset. The incident did all of us harm… Harm that, perhaps I’ve either been too busy or too foolish to address. You all sacrifice to keep this prison and settlement running. We all have sacrificed to keep things in order.”
Lord Ru’Tev paused. He looked down to his hands. “We all have sacrificed.” He repeated.
Slowly he balled his hands into fists. “My own family has sacrificed… My very brother… Locked away by my own command… Trapped in his cell to this very day… A constant, painful reminder…”
Lord Ru’Tev raised his head and looked back at the tavern’s patrons. The remorse he held faded from his face. Instead, it was replaced by the faintest hint of a smile that crossed his lips.
“Reparations are in order.” He said. “Monetary reparations…”
The words lingered in the air. Some of the patrons began to whisper excitedly.
This was not a good situation for Octavio to find himself in. Coin was to men what seed was to birds, and he consciously resisted the urge to examine the man’s clothes for these reparations he spoke of. It was worse then, he knew, for the rest of the tavern. Their emotions were about to swing in another direction if he remained quiet.
“Lives which have been lost will never be repaid for in full. I urge the rest of you onlookers to ask yourselves: What is more important, letting oneself recover from the pain of one tragedy, or preventing another from shattering our lives once more?”He wondered if a shady priest rejecting gold seemed uncanny. In another life he would have found a way to involve himself with these reparations the lord spoke of, but he had a party now. A lot of them. People with morals too, to his chagrin.
“I believe it is time to address this harm, Lord Ru’Tev.”“He’s right!” Chres roared channeling his own grief and anguish to sell his words.
“My little girl is dead! This man’s brother is dead! Countless others are dead! Perhaps a bit of coin will buy Ms. Hayeth some new goats, but our friends and family are still dead! Who’s to say it won’t happen again?!”At this point there seemed to be a divide in the tavern. Some seemed keen on accepting the money, while others were against it.
Chres further pressed the issue.
"It is not money that we need, it’s action!”Some cheered to this, while others hesitated as if worried that agreeing with Chres would hurt their chances of getting coin. The tavern grew rowdy. The situation was starting to get out of hand.
“QUIET!” Lord Ru’Tev roared. The arguing stopped. Heads turned to Ru’Tev.
Before continuing, the lord shot Octavio with an accusatory glare. “It is clear to me that we are not all of one mind here. While reparations are still on the table, you people are the ones we rely on to make this settlement work. It would be foolish of me to not take your desire for change into consideration. However, I implore you to understand that the Faith of the Senses is not the way. People like this priest shun our people. They will not support us in the matter we require…”
Lord Ru’Tev hesitated for half a second, his pride seeming to hold his tongue. Finally, he relented with a sigh. “I will… use my clout with the royal family to look into better solutions.”
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