• Solo • Burning Mountains and Collapsing Mansions

13th of Saun 721

The shallow bay Egilrun is situated upon is used, these trials, for crafts and crafting. From boatmakers to weaponsmiths, glassblowers to metalworkers, the sound of hammers and saws can be heard almost every break of the trial, with crews working in shifts to produce the beautiful craftsmanship which they might, one trial, become famous for.

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Rei'sari
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Burning Mountains and Collapsing Mansions

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13th Saun, 721

Location: Home


Rei'sari yawned, and stretched as she woke up. She hadn't slept well the night before due to the heat of Saun. Going to bed with a headache hadn't helped either. The combination had caused her to have uneasy dreams of fire falling from the sky and chasing her. In the dream, it had been far more of an annoyance that something that had frightened her, so Rei'sari didn't consider it to be a nightmare, but it had been a very weird dream. The image of fire falling from the sky felt very familiar to her for some reason, but she couldn't place how or why it would be. After a while, she simply gave up trying.

As she was getting dressed, Rei'sari realized why the image of fire falling from the sky was a familiar one. It wasn't that she had ever seen or experienced it, but she had "remembered" another segment of Ari'sora's memories. In them, Ari'sora had responded to a call for help from Baron Smooglenuff in Faldrass. During which, she had failed to be of any help, a volcano had erupted, Ari'sora had nearly died and had only been saved by being brought to Karem's realm, and the Baron had died when his mansion had collapsed.

Well. No one can say that you led a boring life, Ari'sora. Rei'sari thought with more than a little irony.

Ari'sora had blamed herself for being useless, of course. And there had been rumors afterwards that suggested that Ari'sora might have been responsible for the Baron's death due to an argument that she had had with someone else. Over tarps of all things. Rei'sari wondered if it was possible for Ari'sora to be more pathetic than she was. She rather doubted it. How could an argument with someone who wasn't the Baron somehow have caused the Baron's death? Without knowing what the rumors were, Rei'sari had no way of knowing if there was any truth to them or not based on the fuzzy memories she had now "remembered."

Either way, Ari'sora had been very disturbed by those memories. She had tried very hard not to think about them too closely because if she ever decided that they were true, and that she was a murderer...she never would have been able to recover from the trauma that that would have caused. Rei'sari thought it was completely and utterly ridiculous that someone could think themselves a murderer just because a stupid argument they had had with someone else might have somehow caused someone else to die. It wasn't like Ari'sora had actually killed the man...

If I ever start acting as ridiculous as Ari'sora did, I hope someone gives me a good whack in the head to set me straight. she grumbled to herself.

Rei'sari paused at that. Was Ari'sora acting ridiculously? Rumor was a very powerful thing. It would awfully easy for someone who was as weak...as vulnerable as Ari'sora had been to put more stock in rumor than she should. And for someone who had no sense of self worth, and only saw themselves as useful...as worthy of existing when she was helping others, rumors like that could be beyond devastating. When Rei'sari thought about it in that light, she had to question whether Ari'sora was really pathetic at all. She was weak, yes. There was no denying that. A strong person would have sought out help when they needed it. Rei'sari was very firm on that belief. Ari'sora was very vulnerable too. There was no denying that either. And yet...there was almost a different kind of strength about her. She didn't believe in herself enough to understand that she was as worthy of getting help when she needed it as anyone else was. But...she didn't complain about the bad things that happened to her. She didn't simply give up at the first sign of trouble. She still lived her life as best she could until she broke so completely that she couldn't function anymore. And...at least she tried.

When Rei'sari thought about it like that, she realized that she couldn't really say that Ari'sora was pathetic. Weak, yes. Vulnerable, yes. But not pathetic. Not someone she should feel nothing but contempt and disgust for. And as Rei'sari thought about that, she started to feel kind of protective of Ari'sora. Rei'sari would not exist if Ari'sora had not given herself away to the fresh start that Vega had offered her. All that remained of Ari'sora existed deep within her. Whether Ari'sora was truly dead, or just sleeping deep within her, Rei'sari wasn't sure. She wasn't sure that it mattered either. What did matter was that Rei'sari was almost like a guardian of sorts. A guardian of Ari'sora's memories? Her lingering essence? Something. Maybe that was why Rei'sari felt so compelled to rewrite Ari'sora's life and give her a better one than the one she had had. Perhaps that was why she felt that in doing so, she was giving Ari'sora some peace.

Rei'sari set those thoughts aside for now as well. The new set of "memories" did come with another question. Ari'sora had been saved by one of Karem's wolves. Ari'sora was dead now, so she couldn't pay back the debt she owed to the Immortal. And Rei'sari wasn't certain how much of that debt, if any was now her responsibility. Rei'sari didn't want to risk angering an Immortal if Karem thought that she owed her a debt in Ari'sora's place. On the other hand...Rei'sari was not Ari'sora. They were two different people, and technically, she had not been the one that had been saved by one of Karem's wolves because she hadn't existed yet. Even so, to be on the safe side, Rei'sari decided that she would look for things she could do that might be considered payment for Ari'sora's debt. It was better to be safe than sorry where an Immortal was concerned.



Last edited by Rei'sari on Fri Oct 15, 2021 9:13 pm, edited 2 times in total. word count: 1072
Rei'sari was formerly Ari'sora, but after getting a fresh start in life and a new appearance from Vega, she changed her name to Rei'sari.
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Rei'sari
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Joined: Thu Aug 16, 2018 3:47 pm
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Renown: 451
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Re: Burning Mountains and Collapsing Mansions

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13th Saun, 721

Location: Home


Rei'sari set that thought aside for now as well. Instead, she thought more about the "memories" she had just gotten. They were fuzzy and felt very much as if she was remembering something she had read, or heard once. And in some ways, it was a fascinating story. If she was reading an adventure story, this would be an incredible one. That thought gave Rei'sari pause. Well...no...no, it wouldn't. She realized. A real adventure story would never have a main character that was as weak as Ari'sora was. Or believed herself to be, which was really the same thing. No. A real adventure story would feature a brave, daring hero or heroine who responded to the call for help, and managed to save the day. One who actually contributed to the events of the story rather than needing to be rescued and worrying about how utterly useless she was. Rei'sari knew that if she was going to write an adventure about an erupting volcano, she would...

Rei'sari blinked, startled by her own thought. Why not write a story about it? She would change Ari'sora's name, of course. Ari'sora had lived once, after all, and she didn't want anyone who read the story to wonder if it was about the real Ari'sora. Or wait. Maybe she could write two versions of the story. One that she might try to sell once it was finished, and one that would give Ari'sora a better ending than the one she had had. Rei'sari would never allow anyone else to read that version of the story, but perhaps it would give Ari'sora some peace. Rewriting Ari'sora's story wouldn't change what really happened, of course. But Ari'sora was dead. She didn't exist anymore save in the memories of those who knew her. And that included her since she was "remembering" parts of Ari'sora's life. And perhaps giving Ari'sora a better life by rewriting her story would put the remnant of Ari'sora that existed in the back of her mind at ease.

After getting herself a quick bite to eat, Rei'sari got two stacks of paper and a pen. Then she began to write. On one sheet, she wrote out the "memories" she had just gained. And on another, she wrote down a bunch of names. She would pick the names of the characters she was going to write about in the story that she might show to others some trial out of that list. On yet another sheet of paper, she jotted down ideas. In Ari'sora's memories, she learned of something called an Induk. One named Faldrass. He, or it had been at the heart of the eruption somehow. Ari'sora had seen some of this, but she hadn't been involved in it directly, and since she hadn't really understood it fully, Rei'sari understood it even less. So she needed a different cause for the events of the story that she might show to others. Evil mages with powerful magic, maybe. Or a demon. Or...something. But when she rewrote Ari'sora's story, she would simply gloss over the parts where the Induk were involved. Or she might leave that part out entirely. Instead, she would focus on the part Ari'sora had actually been involved in. The argument that may or may not have had some impact in the Baron's death would never have happened. Ari'sora would have been far more useful in getting people to safety. Perhaps the snowglobe she had used would work and stop the eruption. Or at least buy them time to escape. And in this version of the story, the Baron and all of his staff would survive.



word count: 647
Rei'sari was formerly Ari'sora, but after getting a fresh start in life and a new appearance from Vega, she changed her name to Rei'sari.
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Rei'sari
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Re: Burning Mountains and Collapsing Mansions

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13th Saun, 721

Location: Home


After Rei'sari had chosen the names she wanted to use for the characters that would be involved in the adventure story, she jotted down a few basic ideas. The bad guys would be a group of demons that had summoned a demon to give them power. But the demon would prove to be too powerful for them. It would kill them and use their deaths to both gain its freedom and to increase its power. Then it would go on a rampage that caused the volcano to erupt.

Rei'sari would keep some things somewhat similar to what really happened in that there would be a group of heroes who go into the volcano in an attempt to stop the demon before the volcano could erupt. But the part that involved the fictional versions of Ari'sora and her "twin sister" would be very different. They would be confident and certain in their actions as they helped the King with the rescue efforts. And when the volcano did erupt, they would help everyone to escape the collapsing castle and get to safety using magic that allowed them to control ice and snow.

After a while, Rei'sari paused and looked over what she had written. She had the bare bones she would need to write a story. Now she just had to actually write it. And she would. But for now, she set it aside, in favor of her self imposed task of rewriting the events of Ari'sora's life. For this, she kept close to the events that she "remembered" for the most part. But Sei'ari's presence was a source of strength for Ari'sora to draw from. The argument over tarps never happened because growing up with a twin sister she was very close to had given Ari'sora the people skills she needed to understand that the leader of an expedition would be the one that brought any extra supplies that an exploration party might need as well as understanding that it wouldn't be her fault if something went wrong because she personally had not brought the right equipment.

Ari'sora wasn't injured by her own anger because nothing had happened to make her angry. But when asked if they were certain they wanted to go into the volcano, Ari'sora and Sei'ari decided that they would be better able to help if they stayed at the manor and helped the Baron. When the volcano erupted, the snow globe that Ari'sora had brought bought them just enough time for most of the people to escape.

Rei'sari didn't know if Karem would ever know about her attempt to rewrite the events of Ari'sora's life, but she didn't want to take the risk that she would find out and be upset if she cut out the part that involved Ari'sora being saved by one of her wolves. So Ari'sora was still caught in the collapse as was her twin sister who refused to leave without her. But since she had gotten into trouble while buying the time that the others had needed to escape, she didn't feel useless and helpless when she was rescued. She and her twin were returned home when everything was safe once more.

When Rei'sari had finished writing, she stopped, and checked over what she had written. She felt a deep sense of satisfaction as she fixed the errors that she found. She could almost imagine Ari'sora thanking her for fixing her life so that she could rest peacefully.

"You're welcome." she said softly.

Then she put the latest installment of the story about Ari'sora's life with the others she had written; safe from any prying eyes.





word count: 638
Rei'sari was formerly Ari'sora, but after getting a fresh start in life and a new appearance from Vega, she changed her name to Rei'sari.
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Re: Burning Mountains and Collapsing Mansions

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Player Name: Rei'sari

Points awarded: 10
Magic xp: none

Knowledge:

Storytelling: x 3
Writing: x 3

Renown: 0
Loot: The story she wrote, and the notes she wrote about a second story
Injuries/Overstepping: none
Wealth Points: n/a

Skill Review: All Skills used appropriately to PC's level
Notes:

I find the contrast between Ari’sora’s personality and that of Rei’sari so stark and different. While I do think Rei’sari goes a little hard on her former self, she at least seems to have a good handle on her self-esteem as compared to Ari’sora. Even so, I wonder if her writing about Ari’sora may not lead to a sort of acceptance, or tolerance of who she was? Perhaps Ari’sora can be the memory of a mother that Rei’sari never knew? Just a thought…

I enjoyed the reference to tarps, and the futility of arguing over them. But I agree with Rei’sari, that Ari’sora can’t be held responsible for someone’s death, even if she hadn’t performed so well during the mission. She’s not at all responsible for it failing, ultimately. The blame for that is on another’s feet for sure.

I think I can See Rei’sari coming to a real acceptance of who she was, as she learns more about the person. I think the description of Rei’sari as a guardian of Ari’sora’s memories was an interesting concept.

I thought the idea of writing a story about those memories was a fantastic idea of Rei’sari. The ending was just about perfect, saying ‘You’re welcome’ to the shade of Ari’sora, and giving the story the spin that puts Ari’sora in a more positive light. That was really touching.

Great writing, enjoy the rewards.


If you have any questions, comments, or concerns regarding this review, feel free to PM. Enjoy your rewards!
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