[Sclavaris Town] At what cost

[Winston]

At what cost

Origins of this plot

I recieved an official mod-bomb from Peg here detailing what I can discover/do in these threads.

This particular thread has Winston uncover the initial finding that there is a pirate child-napping plot afoot!

Theamage!

Will you hold the line
When every one of them has given up and given in? Tell me
In this house of mine
Nothing ever comes without a consequence or cost, tell me
Will the stars align?
Will heaven step in? Will it save us from our sin, will it?
'Cause this house of mine stands strong
That's the price you pay
Leave behind your heart and cast away
Just another product of today
Rather be the hunter than the prey
And you're standing on the edge face up

Continued from here.

Felicity was violently ejected from Winston's body, stunned for a moment by the manor with which she was replaced with something else. Something powerful. Much more powerful that she had ever seen.

Joe became a conduite to Sweetwine, to the Induk itself and Winston took into himself the power of the great turtle.

His eye burned a brilliant white and he glowed with the power coursing through him. He cast a becon in the dank celler that drew the surprised attention of everyone in sight.

"What the fu..."

Began the largest pirate before from the walls, the floor and the very air around them came Winston's booming voice

.

"Dis Es de price yuh pay!" As he reached out a hand and clutched at the space in front of him, all the air left the building with a whooshing, sucking noise that caused their ears to pop. The pirates clutched at their heads as a door, previously hidden, was slammed open by the pressure as he left only a bubble of air around himself and the child, almost entirely by instinct.

Rage filled him now, he didn't recognise who he was, somewhere between his own emerging devil and the power of the induk, he was not Winston Miller any more, not even a little bit. Any thought of what Saoire would think, which his friends would think... What he would think were gone.

Some of the pirates closest to the door, with the sense about them to do so, ran for the outside. The man on the floor scrabbled and panicked as the larger, violent leader, not even trying to take a breath, leered up at the ferret and draw his sword, igniting it in flame as he did.

He'd struggle to get to Winston normally, but that was fine. He simply pointed the thing at the ferret and grinned.

Winston gestured at the man, in his eyes, in this moment, in his melded state, an insignificant gnat let out a jet of flame from the sward,

it struck the Turtle Barrier

and burst out in a great arch, not setting fire to anything as a result of the lack of oxygen, but scorching the surfaces around him nonetheless.

The evil pirate's face dropped as he watched his attack fail without affect as the tiny creature practically ignored him.

A door opened to the exit where the guards had been and the man with his crossbow entered, struggling to breath and frantically looking around for some indication as to what the hell was happening. He locked on to Winston and with a grimace, took aim.

Winston raised another hand as the man let a bolt loosed at the ferret.

It ricocheted off, returning to the sender, embedding itself in his shoulder and forcing what little air he had preserved for himself from his lunges.

The wide-eyed pirate, brutish, violent and as unintimidated by a one foot tall ferret as he was, was panicking now and looking desperately for some way to take him down. Running was obviously not a great option so the only thing left was to kill the damn furball. Whatever this WAS, it might be unstoppable, but... His lungs were stinging now and all he could hear was the sound of his own blood thumping in his ears and spots were starting to appear in his eyes. Holding your breath for fun was one thing, but doing it while adrenalynn burnt through your body was quite another. Still, he press through the pain. Unless the ferret could fly, he might just fall...

As the first man reached the door to the outside,

there was an almighty crack as lightning shot down from above him and struck him of his last breath

.

The woman behind him let out a cry of shock before their eye bulged in gasping panic, tumbling backwards into another, the fear of death causing conflict with the fear of... well, more death. How sad they would be to get to the door only to find yet more death. Guess they should have made better life choices? Was ANY of this really justified?

Meanwhile, as Winston executed merciless vengeance from upon high, the pirate slammed into the boxes, toppling them and, to his great but short lived delight, the ferret.

Winston let out a little cry of surprise as his hubris was shattered and he attempted to land without breaking anything. What he didn't manage with skill,

his hardened forged body

made up for in resilience as he tumbled down the boxes.

He scrambled to his feet again as the desperate man reached for his weapon once more.

Winston shook his head in pity, activating the last of his arsenal gifted to him by Saiore

.

As the man brung the flaming sword down toward the ferret, passing through the first barrier which extinguished its fire and then crashing into the second, preventing any harm to the ferret.

Winston looked up and let off another shock of lightning by the door, almost completely ignoring the man, who was destined to suffocate for his sins. What Winston would do for his was yet to be decided.

"Et didn't 'ave tuh be dis way." He advised as, with his last breath, the pirate brung the flaming sword down one last time towards the ferret. The flames upon it extinguished again like the blinking of a lighthouse.

Ignoring the man, he moved over to the dead Mer child and lifted it from the floor... He hated himself more than he could believe was possible in that moment. The mighty Induk, in its melded state with the tiny, insignificant ferret felt his rage now... not at the pirates, but at himself. All this power. The power of the Immortals, the Induk and of a life of study of his crafts and the best he can bring to this situation is death and destruction. Nothing he has can bring this child back... When had it passed, he could not tell?

The Devil on My Shoulder
Vengeance: But your rage brought this child justice!
Winston: Noh. Jostice wud 'ave included dis child nat dyin'.
Felicity: ...
Anger: If you were not here, more would had died!
Winston: What right does me 'ave tuh use de gifts given tuh meh like dis.
Righteousness: If they didn't like it they would not permit it!
Felicity: ....SSSTTTOOOOOONNN!
Winston: Felicity?
Anger: There could be more... Find them, kill them. Make them pay!
Winston: Bot at wat cast?
Felicity: Winston! *SLAP*

"For immortal's sake! Snap OUT of it! You HAVE to STOP?!"

The pirate around the building had fallen silent as their individual struggles were gradually lost long ago. The Mer in the tanks were safe from the effects of the vacuum as they breathed from the water, but how much time had passed..? What had he been doing? He looked down at his hands, still holding the poor infant, but beyond them, he saw his own hands burning with power. It was eating him, stripping him from the inside out as he held onto the rage and anger and POWER. The lust to rid this world of such hatefulness...To protect Scalvaris from this evil! It... Sweetwine's power was consuming him, figuratively and literally.

"Your body can't take this Winston. Where the hell is Joe?" Her words were frantic and she had clearly been shouting at the catatonic glowing ferret now for some time, despite his not hearing her. His control was fading now and the air was coming back to the building.

"Joe es wid me. 'im es busy right naw. We are very tired doh..."

"Let, the power, go!" She implored.

"Bot de children. Someone's gat tuh get de children back tuh dere Mer-mies an' Mer-dadies..."

He had not even realised while holding so tight onto the child, he'd been holding everything else in at the same time.

"It's OK, people will come, the Mer will be safe, you did it, but you HAVE to let this go so they can come." She knew he was losing his control now anyway, but he had to choose to let it go before it simply burnt him out.

"Dis par child..."

He caught something glint in his vision, his locket

. Cassion's Locket... He had not tried everything, not yet... He held the locket in his hand and pressed his thumb against it... He flicked it open...

Felicity fell backwards as Winston finally dropped his connection with Sweetwine and the spirits in the Locket poured forth into the hideout. Swirling colours and giggling summoned from the chaos within. His whole world swirled and his head throbbed in pain as the strain of everything hit him. He could not last but a few trills as he spoke to anyone listening. "Please..." And then fell unconscious.

[Pig Boy]

The Twins Judgement

All of that having happened, and finally Winston’s locket opened, almost of its own accord with barely a flick of his own finger. Spirits seemed to stream from all around, arranging themselves and doing this or that, but all Winston could focus on was the mirror that appeared in the locket, showing his own face, albeit with a magnificent goatee to rival the greatest of chin-manes.

Yet he was drawn into the locket himself, as the view of himself grew beyond the measure of his face. He was in a dark space, surrounded by featureless environs.

He could hear voices however, whispering and seeming to bicker among each other. Eventually, over the next minute, as he continued to hold the dying body of the mer child, the voices did come clear.

“But who will speak for or stand up for the disenfranchised, the savage, greedy, uncle-raping, child murdering pirates?” Pre asked. “Even they surely deserve justice?”

“They forfeited their defense by existing outside the law, Sister. Justice has been done, as you can see. No more japes about murdering cretins deserving a defense.” Pier replied, “We’re not here to litigate on their behalf anyway. Chrien will sort her own.”

“And doubtless no small mercy that she’ll be busy counting her own dead to notice the little one that brought about such destruction, holding the fading life of one of her chosen children.” Pier shrugged, as the appeared, and between them floated a magical scale of sorts, with a pendulum suspended between the scale weights.

“Yes, I imagine she’d almost be pleased at what he accomplished, albeit with the help of a Induk.”

“Ol’ Tuck will conceal him so long as this furred one remains in his realm.”

“But can he be expected to stay put, when there’s something that needs doing?”

“Perhaps not, but then we’re not here to serve as tyrants, handing down arbitrary and untenable commands.” Pre retorted.

Pier and Pre then said in unison, “We serve only judgment.”

Pre nodded, “It’s not for us to coerce.”

“Or to reward vigilantism.”

“Very well, then we do the bare minimum?”

“Agreed.”

Pier and Pre spoke at once, “Send him home with his dying ward, to think about what he’s done, and consider what he’ll be doing next.”

“We’ll be watching. “ Pier warned Winston.

“As too will Chrien.” Pre also offered to the ferret, as a kinder sort of heads-up.

So the Ferret woke up from the strange dream, in the middle of the Sweetsong Settlement. Above, the canopy of the trees swayed peacefully in their autumn colors, one smaller leaves falling onto his nose, as the child in his arms expired.

The rest of the children that were left alive were transported by the spirits from the locket, whisked a way by the same power that had propelled Winston from Scalvoristown.

!	Message from: Pig Boy
	As requested in the ticket, feel free to bring Vega or any Sweetsong pc/npc whose name doesn’t rhyme with Mistake. I’ll review this thread with additional consequences when you’re all done.

[Winston]

Omlet anyone?

Winston opened his eyes and twitched his nose as the leaf fell to the side of his face. The trees above him were familiar and the air smelt good... fresh. Much better than the stench from the hideout.

"DE PIRATES!"

He bolted upright, still holding the limp child in his arms, surrounded by eggs and Mer children alike, all nestled into the healing oasis beside him. He was... Home?

Joe appeared by his side, his eyes darting left to right. "UN-REAL! Winston?!"

"What..?" He looked down at the child... "...Noh... Noh..." His body was still hurting from the experience of channeling the Induk for longer than he should and his inner strength was pushed to its limits, but the... Girls... Spirits? They brought him here..? "Ef only me cud... Vega wud kn... VEEEEEGAAAAA!" He felt his strength bolstered by his home and forced himself to his feet, his arms and legs protesting and his head still spun, but he stood. Summoning a

refined mirage stone

from his

pack

, he clasped it in his hand and yelled

as he focused on it

summoning a giant holographic image of himself in the air above him.

He began to run as

Joe transformed into a beast to trot along with him, helping him stay on his feet under the weight of the child and recent events

.

"VEEEEEEGGGAAAAA!" He stumbled his way as far as the orchard before

he spotted her racing towards him

.

As she approached, it would be obvious he was hurting, exhausted and if the charred whiskers, fingernails and fur was anything to go by, partly roasted. Behind him, in the oasis, if she noticed, were a wide array of Mer children, all very young as if right out of the creche and even a number of eggs. "Please help em."

The small child he barely managed to carry was thrust towards her, dead but minutes. "Hideout..." He pointed towards the road to Scalvaris town... "Pirates Ded... Children safe..." He pointed at the oasis... "He-e-e-e-elp..." The 'e's were pronounced in and exasperated shudder as the relief in being in Vega's presence washed over him. She didn't need any special powers for that, just that she was his friend and 'her' was enough to do that. He had such confidence she would know what to do, he almost chuckled (almost) as he pleading eyes darted from the dead child to the towering, fiery woman.

[Vega]

At what cost.....

Vega was peeling vegetables.

It wasn't glamourous, she knew, but it had to be done and she quite enjoyed the almost-mindless repetition of it. She was a much better cook these trials - she'd had to learn, after all. Somehow, the process of cooking always made her feel calm, almost serene. Vega was very aware of herself and she knew that 'serene' was a rare thing for her. So, she was sitting not far from the oasis, peeling some carrots and washing them in a bowl of water.

Martha, her dragonling, was sitting next to her and Vega was very aware of the creature's large head gazing at her hands and watching her work. "I know it seems weird," she said, with a smile. "But I like it. It's satisfyin' thinkin' that someone will eat this what I've....."

But the words that would have fallen from her lips never did. Instead, the knife which she was using to peel the carrots landed on the ground and the carrot itself splashed into the water. As Vega stood, she knocked the bowl over as her gaze lifted up and she saw... "Schnizzle my snoot, that's a Giant Floatin' Winston! Martha! Check the surroundin' area an' let me know if there's trouble!" She couldn't imagine how there might NOT be trouble, with such a strange portent in the sky, but in fairness, she didn't really take the time to think about it. And without further ado, as Vega heard the cry of her name, she turned and began to run.

She was focused, listening to the sound of his voice. He was panic-striken, she knew that - but that wasn't much of a surprise since he was screaming her name at the top of his lungs. But what Vega noticed was that, even though there was a Giant Floatin' Winston in the air, that wasn't what was making the noise. The noise itself came from just over by the oasis, and she kept running.

Quickly, she saw Winston and Vega's eyes fair near popped out of her head. There was Winston, there were children - Mer children - and there was a dead child in his arms. Everything else fled from her mind and Vega ran to him, meeting him and taking the child, immediately.

"A'righ' everyone? Nice to meet you all," she said, her hands working checking the child for a pulse, for some indication of how they might have died as she spoke. "You're all righ' welcome here, an' I'm jus' gonna make sure that this little one is a'right. But Winston, listen to me." She didn't want to take the time, but she had to. "This can take maybe an hour an' while it's happenin' I have to concentrate. An' I'll experience what the child did. So, you need to be strong jus' a little bit more. My cousins will be here, an' the others. That water is magical, healin' water anyhow, so hopefully they'll beok. But get them food, an' drink the water an'... stay here with me, if you want to."

And then, Vega began to sing the song of the child's death, and her prayer to Xiur that, for this one, it was not the end.

It was, Vega thought, both a blessing and a curse, the ability that her father's blood gave her Lullaby
When she sings, Vega is able to heal children. This might be from a wound, or a disease but she must be singing and it must be a child (15 or under). The more complex the illness / issue, the longer she has to do this - a child who has died in the last ten minutes can be brought back but it must be no more than 10 minutes ago. Simple things such as a single cut will take five minutes of singing - whereas more complicated issues can involve up to an hour or more. The cost of this is that Vega takes on the pain the child was in and will have the physical sensation of the symptoms (although not the disease / cuts themselves) whenever she uses this ability. It will cause the physical pain the child was in and Vega will bleed from her nose, ears and / or eyes. If the child was dead, Vega will not die, but she will experience the death itself, and all the pain it caused. and she knew that this one was going to be particularly hard. Her voice raised in deep sorrow as she sang and she held the child to her. As she began the song, she cradled the child in her arms and she sang.

Her voice didn't waver as she sang, even as blood began to fall from her nose and then her eyes. Sweat stood on Vega's forehead, but with the kind of stubbornness and determination that she was so well-known for, Vega sang. Her body shook, but she did not stop. She bled from her nose, her ears, her eyes, and she did not stop. She looked at Winston and she smiled, even though her face was white with pain and tears left trails in the blood. No matter what else he saw, Winston saw a simple truth. Vega's expression was hopeful. She was filled with hope - and sadness - and anger. But mostly, it was hope.

What she didn't do - what she would never do - was stop. And so, there was time. Time for Winston to do what he needed. Within moments, Vega's cousins would arrive, but before that

Snuffle

and

Jeff

and

Madam Leona

all moved to him, to help him and provide what support they could. Snuffle was the talkative one of course, but they were all there for him.

[Winston]

Reassuring things...

Vega was so collected and calm, even in the light of what Winston very much could not entirely handle, and so he let her confidence and leadership wash away his worries while they set about the work to be done. As she addressed the newly arrived children the ferret looked a little surprised. He'd totally forgotten that the other children were just sitting there, almost certainly confused and terrified, requiring attention. He'd been so focused on the one dead child...

He nodded obediently as Vega laid out what must be done and then saluted with a chirpy "Radger dat!".

He turned "Chest, mun, cun me... Oh..." He stopped as he realised that Chest was still in Scalvoris Town. "Right, cars..."

As Vega's many Diris descended to help

, Winston smiled. "Noodal, Me need some fud-stuffs. Cun yuh get dat, please?"

The spirit nodded and made their way off to collect the food Vega had been preparing

. Winston didn't want to leave Vega or the children and so if food needed making, it would be made here. He took off his pack and placed it to his side for a moment as Vega bagan to sing.

He tried not to think of what she was about to go through too much, telling himself that, quite genuinely, she could take it and would not be doing it if she were not committed to doing so.

He looked at the children. Many of them simply huddled around in little groups. Most of the young were eggs, but somewhere in the region of a dozen very young adolescent Mer were either quivering or hiding in the waters of the oasis now.

'OK. Time tuh be de cutest and most charming ting yuh ave evan been', he told himself as he stepped forward.

Approaching the waters, he began to adopt a peaceful, warm and friendly manor, his voice and body-language both becoming gentle and bright. He watched for signs of of them taking flight, in what ever way that might manifest as he began to speak. "'ello. Me name es Winstaan an' yuh safe naw." He had no idea if they could even speak, let alone understand common, so he made deliberate effort to simply let his tone and body language do the speaking as his most powerful puppy-dog eyes came out in full force.

Right now, he also had no idea what the children liked to eat... What DID Mer eat? Fish? Was doing that blasphemy? He was going to have to start small. He summoned a plate, bread, ham and some fruits from his pack and assembled them into a simple pile and placed the plate at the shore before some of the older one that might be capable of feeding themselves.

One of the children snatched at the supplies, almost indiscriminately, as he placed it down. He remained for a moment before he went to leave before he felt a tug on his tail. He turned his head to find the child, not leaving his attention from the plate of food, had grabbed the ferret's tail.

Winston smiled. "Oh-key. Guess me will stay 'ere den."

As supplies arrived from Noodle and Vega continued to sing, he set about preparing anything else he could, with Joe's help,

whom had taken on a physical form to lend his assistance

.

It was not long before others in the settlement came to investigate what was going on, which was something Winston was very glad off, now his tail appeared to belong to someone else. Sweetsong had a unshakably tight knit community and not a single person had to be asked twice to help and most found the ferret and children most amusingly cute.

Within no time at all, Winston had gone from struggling to find spare scraps from his kitchen to having an impromptu lunch fully underway as people set about building a temporary campfire and singing along to Vega's song.

Looking around, he saw something glimmering and and dancing on the wind all around the children and Vega. It giggled as the children gradually began to recover from their physical ailments in the healing waters of the oasys. It was a spirit, something devoid of deliberate form, an Ank of

Children and Healing

! Winston shed a tear at the beauty as it struck him. Vega's eyes ran with blood as the air danced with song and childish giggles. The unyielding nature of her commitment to what she did, there, then SHE did it. It was not borrowed power, not Ol-Tuck, no. She was attracting the Ank here, they ALL were, not the other way around... It fell deep to his core... No power anyone could 'lend' him could do things he wanted... Ol'Tucks power allowed him to destroy... Saoire's power protected him, but not others...

He wiped the tears from his eyes and began to sing. He was going to stop depending on others, on Saoire, on Ol'Tuck to do things he could not do and instead just do things he COULD do from this point forward. Totrail? That was to spread some joy to attract a few more spirits, perhaps a little joy? Yes, joy would be in very good order. The more they sang and the more the joy rose, the more the children ate as Sweetsong worked as a single unit with the sole objective of supporting the children in their temporary new home. The smallest of the Mer were fed and the older ones grew increasingly convinced that Winston should become a water-ferret.

All of this continued until Vega was done, at which point, she would find herself surrounded by people, love and food to help restore any constitution she needed. The ank revelled in the presents of the Healing waters, resurrection and children as it feasted on its domains.

Winston wasted no time using a little of this in the cooking as he fed the children.

[Vega]

At what cost.....

As the people around took care of the children, Vega took care of the child.

She felt what the young mer child in her arms had felt and it took all of her self-control. She wanted to fall into the experience this child had, but she had to hold on to her self, to who she was and that was harder than she could explain. Thankfully, as overwhelming as the experience was, as much as it would give her nightmares for weeks to come, Vega had a very robust sense of who she was.

Noodle

helped Winston as much as he could but he also made sure to keep Vega's face as clean as possible. Noodle knew that Vega wouldn't want to scare anyone - especially the other children. Also, this child would wake.

And so, Vega sang and bled and she couldn't help that her tears mingled with the blood that came from her eyes because she found it so hard to hold on to hope when there were people in the world who would do this to a child. This wasn't a short term-in-the-moment sort of thing. Those were unforgivable, but this? This was premeditated, predetermined and ongoing and if she ever put her hands on the people who did this, she'd be squeezing until they popped.

And in that moment, Vega began to have an idea. An idea for what Sweetsong could be. Should be. And, if she had anything to do with it, would be.

She knew that there were others around them, she understood that. But she couldn't focus on that, her whole attention was on the child in her arms and the song of life she sung.

As the final notes of the song faded in the air, the child in her arms took a single breath and Vega stood. Her knees shook, her legs trembled but she had put up with worse and she moved with strong strides. Her cousins, the people of Sweetsong, they moved to help her but she lifted her head to meet their eyes and she shook her head firmly.

It was, after all, only a few steps to the Oasis and so Vega carried the child there. Gently, she placed the young Mer into the water and she watched as the child was returned to its family.

"Cowpats an' furballs," she said, her voice shaking despite her best efforts. "I'm that hungry that you all look like roasted chickens. What's cookin'?" Her words were very genuine, but they also had the effect she wanted them to have - people smiled and there was a sense of relief. There were smiles and an awareness that this was typical of Vega and therefore she must be alright. It was not what she would have normally said, had she been alone , but the people here needed her to be who she was, and so she made sure that she was.

"Wow, look at all this," she said with a smile. She looked at both the food and the people and the spirits, though for a moment it was the food that took most of her attention as she grabbed something to eat. "Oh, isn't this great?!" she said that and meant it entirely. It brought her hope, made her happy and restored her belief in people - something that was never really very far away. She turned to Winston then and gave a grin. "Come on, then, you," she said with a smile but an entirely honest expression. "What happened, an' who am I punchin' next?"

[Winston]

Sorry, murdered pirates, godda go!

Vega was so unbelievably awesome, it hurt the little ferret's inside not to scream aloud with joy as she placed the child to the waters with it's kin. Anyone looking at the tiny creature would be forgiven to believe someone had thrown a bucket of water at his face as the tears of happiness soaked his cheeks. Warm as sunshine and clear as trial, he offered her some of the delectable food he had prepared, it was charged full of the energies of the spirits she and the oasis itself had attracted. Whatever the healing spirit concept offered her,

the childish glee from the spirits of children might take the edge off her struggle, if she wished it

.

"Tuh save os al fram de fate af de roasted chicken, please, 'ave yuh fill af dis." he said with a bright smile.

When Vega asked him what had happened, he looked over his shoulder. If anything, he was looking for the courage to wear his 'big boy pants' as the short reprieve from thinking of what he just did ended. He gestured for them to to move aside, not far, but just enough to gain a little privacy, particularly from earshot of the children. Vega would see right through the little ferret's attempts to hold up pretense as they spoke. She might also gather that the pretense was for the sake of others, not her.

He laid it all out to bare... "Dere was a pirate 'ideout en Scalvares dacks. Dem are... WERE 'oldin' dese par cherishables 'ostage from de Mer en arda tuh achieve some nefarious means." There was obviously something on the horizon of the story to be told that he was not comfortable with as he continued to approach the reveal. He quickly described where the hideout was, based on his understanding of the area. "We, me un Angela, followed a pirate back dere. We bumped intuh dem snatching one af de Mer children." He gestured to the children with them. "Dis es all de children. Me tink an Immartal... Noh, two immartals brought os 'ere fram wat wus left af de 'hideout. Two young girls. Argued ova wat tuh duh wid os." He chuckled, quite glad with the outcome of that discussion. "We don't need tuh worry about de 'ideout any mar... Me... We... Wid de 'elp af Ol'Tuck... Dem's all dead. We might need tuh arrange dat someone infarm de authareties... I'm not aware af anyone dat suvived bot us." He averted her gaze, on and off during this conversation. He was under not illusion that should children-abusing pirates had been met by Vega, they'ed have met no better a fate... nonetheless, it was not a thing he would ever have seen himself choosing... Though choose he did.

He glanced at the children as if to affirm in his mind the choice he had made. It was not the only choice he had and some trial, he'd face whatever it brought him... but for how, he was set on being selfish and seeing the saving of these children through to it's end...

Whatever Vega's response, he stood and placed something in her hands from his

pack

. "Please. Take dis an' 'ave

Chow

an'

Cenija

make yuh a 'ala-cam

."

Vega would find he had passed here what she might recognize (or not) to be a Class 1 Mirage Stone and one half of a Class 4 Refined Chii (Unityte) well

. "Et will only cannect tuh me far now, bot through me yuh cun connect tuh me sheps far command, Horatio far Saoire an' a few oddas..."

He stood back, lingering a moment for a scratch behind the ear if one was going.

"Anyone cud return dem now, me know, but me kinda need to do et." He said, looking wistfully over at the Mer. "Dats a ting far me, nat far dem, bot non-de-less, dem will get 'ome. Me 'ave tuh go back tuh Scalvaris Town first doh, tuh get Angela an' Chest. Dem are safe, bot me need to make sure dem are oh-kay befar me work out 'ow tuh get dees littalens back to dem's 'omes... Where-eva dat es."

And with that, a very fond hung that gave thanks, love, apologies and a dozen other unspoken and indecipherable things, he waved, opened a City Portal at the closest arch, tent flap or doorway and hopped through.

Continued here.

[Pig Boy]

Winston

Rewards

• Renown: 5
• XP: 15

Knowledges

• Discipline: Fighting against the rage
• Athletics: Falling from a pile of boxes that got knocked over without hurting yourself
• Endurance: Being burnt out by a phenomenal power
• Endurance: Fighting long enough
• Strength: Running with a Mer baby in his arms
• Discipline: Doing what you need, not what you fear
• Socialization: Soothing children that are scared
• Caregiving: Not just giving the things, but the emotions people need
• Navigation: Describing where a place is inside your 'home area'

Loot

• A surprise from Pre and Pier, see consequences.

Losses

• I'm not sure what the actual consequences are for slaughtering a building full of pirates... but if that becomes common knowledge it could be an issue? Right now, as this thread currently stands, it is not.
• Winston has burnt himself out very seriously. What's more, he's fracture himself. From this point forward, he'll not be able to access his Avatar of Sweetwine without suffering the same extreme personality split and loss of control.
• Vega would find he had passed here what she might recognize (or not) to be a Class 1 Mirage Stone and one half of a Class 4 Refined Chii (Unityte) well from his personal supply

Consequences

• A stone wrapped in a paper note find their way into Winston's pack when he steps through the portal. If he unravels it, he'll see a dark stone, almost charcoal gray. But its energies are unmistakably emean, he can tell it's a well of some sort.
  
  The note reads:
  
  To Winston:
  
  This curse stone containing the condemned curse of Gwelliph served Faith well in her war, may it serve you well in yours. Give it to a well-informed pirate, and they won't be able to resist sharing what they know.
  
  Will only work on one we deem deserving. And only then, once, before we will reclaim it.
  
  Regards:
  Pier & Pre

Vega

Rewards

• Renown: 10
• XP: 15
• Leadership (T2) XP: 2

loot

• 1 holocom from wInston's works.

Knowledges

• Detection: Listen to the tone of voice, when someone is screaming
• Detection: Listen carefully for where a sound originates, rather than assuming it's coming from an obvious place
• Singing: Singing a death song
• Discipline: Fighting to hold on to your own sense of self
• Caregiving: Sometimes, you have to fake it to make other people ok

I really enjoy reading about the relationship these two characters have. Winston is lucky to have Vega, just as she is to have him, even though he occasionally drags dead animals in the door that Vega then has to resurrect.

All kidding aside, this was a warm and heartfelt thread, and I loved the fact that the merbabies had a little impromptu pool party in the oasis. Handy thing that Lovalus Oasis.

Enjoy the rewards! And looking forward to where this goes.

[Vega]

Thread: [Sclavaris Town] At what cost
City/Area: Scalvoris Town
Wealth Skill: Leadership
Total Capstone Bonus: 10

Are you claiming a Language Fluency Bonus - Y
-- if so for what location: Scalvoris

Are you claiming a Loyalty Bonus? - N
-- if so - provide links or refer us to your UCP

If your Wealth Skill level has not been identified above - confirm it here, please - Leadership (Tier 2)



Additional Information - Nope.

Additional Bonuses - If you been awarded any additional bonuses to your Wealth since your last Wealth Thread
- Do they appear on the "Wealth Bonus" portion of your UCP CS?
Y - no further action needed
N - tell us about them and provide links!

!	Message from: Pig Boy
	Done!