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You're almost home, for what it's worth. It's been almost exactly two years since you left Dramasine. You've seen it since - you were there a month or two ago to break the siege - but you didn't really get to stay long or look around. The army was already moving, so the best you could manage was catching sight of your mother in a crowd - it was enough to know she was safe, at least.
You aren't in the city yet, but you can see it in the distance, and honestly, that's the problem. Dramasine used to be surrounded by orchard farms - apple, pear, plum, and cherry trees shading the roads, and host to cultivated vines, shrubs, and grasses. Back then you couldn't see Dramasine itself until you got to the shore of the South Silver River.
The forests and farms are all gone now, clearcut by the Icewalkers to make space for the siege, for food and firewood and the timber for siege engines. A lot of the siege engines are still here, catapults, ballistae, and covered bridges built to span the river and reach the center on which Dramasine was built. The most important parts, the Icewalkers took with them when they abandoned the siege, but the wood had been built on-site, and was left laying there. It'll probably get used for something, eventually, but it's a
lot of wood, and right now it's basically just getting vandalized - a lot of the dismantled siege engines are blackened by fire, and you've passed a handful that had some rather elaborate expressions written across them.
Dramasine herself was the prettiest city you'd ever seen (not that you'd travelled to the great sites of Creation). A few centuries ago, with the unification of the Talinin clans, its first King had built a capital beholden to none of the clans
in the Silver River - at her command men and women had built crannogs, artificial islands built of piled earth held together by timber stakes driven into the riverbed, and built the wooden roads, connecting bridges, and the walls and buildings of the city atop and between them. In the right light, it looks almost like jewelry, the light glinting off the water visible around the city's buildings and roads, and the whole city filled with gardens of fruit and flowers.
The water was never
drinkable, this part of the South Silver was rust-tainted by the time the water reached it, so no one felt any real qualms about dumping whatever they needed to into it. But it was still pretty. That hasn't really changed, but the damage to the city is clearly visible - you can see empty road where there used to be houses, thatched roofs that had been set aflame and haven't been repaired yet, broken walls and rough patches, and most of the gardens were burned out in the siege.
Unfortunately, it's not as nostalgic as you'd like. Home has changed.
You've changed. Everything has changed, and little of it for the better. Wars do that. You went out when the King started mass-recruitment, a bright-eyed girl of fifteen, hoping to make a difference against the vicious enemies ravaging Talinin cities and allies - you wanted to be a hero, like your grandfather Ioan had. You'd really thought you could.
You succeeded, in the end. Your homeland was ravaged as a war between Talinin and its neighbours over the High Kingship of Pretannia increasingly sidelined the Pretannic tribes and became a grudge match between great powers from far away. Cities burned and died in song and tears to your enemies and 'allies' alike. And finally, it was too much. Finally, you threw away the Realm's poisonous 'help', and lashed out at the perpetrators of the worst crime you had ever seen. And the goddess Luna approved, and gave you the power to make it work, to avenge the murdered city of Fallen Lapis.
But the victims of an avenged murder are
still dead. You don't regret your actions, even if they've complicated more or less everything. But even though everyone's calling you a hero now, and even though by any objective standard you
are, you aren't
satisfied. You understand that no better result was possible at Fallen Lapis. You didn't know what was going on until it was too late. You couldn't have known, the sorcerous horror used to extinguish all those lives was a thing of legend, not history, there was no way to have studied that. Even if you had known, having the strength to do anything about it was a miracle, something you could only grasp because you threw away your life and the hope of surviving the next five minutes. But it's not
enough.
You didn't really manage what you'd hoped to do. You stood out, made it into song (oh gods it was so embarrassing hearing it, you blush just remembering the notes of Aindriu Has Arrived, let alone the lyrics), and you made a difference in the lives of tens of thousands. But the difference wasn't enough for you. So many people still died, how can you possibly feel good about it?
"Maooow," Ealu meows from up on your back, and you can feel her adjust her sitting position and resume purring.
With the closest thing your lips can manage to a smile right now, you raise a wing, talons held back so as not to scratch her, and gently stroke her. It's a bit awkward while she's on your back, but cat. It's important. "Yeah, we're almost back, big girl."
Marcas is staring at you, from where he sits vaguely astride a large sickle-clawed, tooth-mouthed bird, with a broad-shouldered woman behind him holding the sicklebird's reins and keeping him from falling off. The lean, wiry man isn't used to riding, but the advance party was coming on striderback, so he needed one to keep up, and an ambaxtoi named Muireall had offered to bring him. Eventually, he shakes his head, chuckling. "... still not used to a talking clawrider. Especially not with such a pretty voice."
You blush, but fortunately the feathers make that basically impossible to see. Honestly, you aren't used to it either, and you
are the talking sicklebird in question. It feels surprisingly comfortable
being something else, but whenever you think about it it's kind of weird. You wouldn't have minded riding, but you kind of want your face covered in feathers if you're going to be spending a lot of time around Marcas so no one can see you blushing.
You don't
think you have a crush on him, but you sort of made out with him in the exultation of winning at Fallen Lapis. You didn't even
know him at the time, he was just in reach and cute and you
really wanted to kiss someone right then, and now it's hard to stop blushing in his presence. Which is very awkward, because it turns out he was pretty well-respected among the Talinin gaescedach, and after your ascent to heroism you've been spending your time in the army's counsels, where he is.
The fourth and final member of the party, a tallish, scruffy-looking man atop a brightly-feathered sicklebird, chuckles. "You get used to all
sorts of weird things, sooner or later. You got used to me after all, didn't you, Marcas?"
You
do have a crush on Allim of the Bloody Hand, though. Despite his laconic, easygoing attitude, he's the greatest hero of the Talinin. He started off pretty much nowhere, and through pure ability, rose to ambaxtoi, and then to the Master of Arms of the Three-Lamina Clan, the greatest protector of the Talinin kingdom. He's a very impressive man, and since you're of the high-caste drui and your mother was one of the King's advisors, you grew up around him, seeing him burst onto the scene and steadily accomplish more and more. He was always nice to Yurilys's shy daughter, though he was sufficiently older than you that neither of you were really regular features of one anothers' life.
"I don't think anyone's used to you, old man," Marcas shoots back, a grin on his face.
"Wow, hurtful."
"He's only twenty-four..." you point out.
"Hey, that's seven years older than me. Totally an old man." Oh, Marcas was your age? You'd known he was
around there, but you were never great with reading ages or ancestries from a face.
"Sorry, could you repeat that?" Allim asks, voice weak and tremulous. "My hearing, you see... it's not what it once was."
Behind Marcas, Muireall sighs. "Our legends are low-wage jesters..."
Allim shrugs. "If it keeps me in house and home, I'm good."
"Strike that," Marcas shakes his head. "I am at
least mid-wage. I am not the type to settle."
You glance over your wing as the group walks down the road. "Is that why you were a slave?" You aren't clear on the details, but you remember hearing that before the War, Marcas had done some manner of pretty extensive criminal acts, and lost his freedom to repay the damage he'd done. The King had been desperate, and hired warriors from anywhere available, even enslaved criminals.
"Oof. Yeah, guess it was." Marcas grins. "
But I have earned my freedom back, along with a nice hunk of war booty to keep me by, so there are no worries on that account, cutie."
An avian mix of squawk and chirp escape your throat, and you whip your long head around to face Dramasine again, cheeks burning. Thank Luna for feathers.
... hopefully the 'cutie' meant in your human form, you are not sure how to react if he was into you as a sicklebird.
"Come on, Marcas, don't tease her too much," Allim protests, chuckling. "She's not used to people like you."
You pout, which was probably quite a sight to see coming from a riding-sized sicklebird. He made it sound like you'd never been courted before. Which, despite being entirely true, was not at
all the impression you want Allim to have! You could be cool! In theory! Depending on your definition of 'cool'!
You don't speak up, though, because you
know nothing you'd be able to say would actually get the results you'd be going for.
"Mow," Ealu speaks up from your back, not wanting to be left out of the conversation.
You reach back and stroke the kitty, earning a whole new storm of purrs. At least Ealu thinks you're cool.
Destination
Allim is the leader of the returning army, the man the King trusted to lead his ambaxtoi, and in his absence, all the warriors sworn to his banner. Marcas is a very skilled soldier, and he and Muireall will be fully capable of buying time for the people more important to the kingdom to escape if necessary, and probably get out themselves too. Aindriu's position is less clear, but she is a powerful Lunar Exalt. One would have to be pretty foolish to leave her behind if they meant to fight or to make plans for the future, and Allim is willing to act the fool, but is not actually one.
The four of them were the natural choices for the advance party travelling ahead of the army - a group that would be needed to report in, and was well-suited to handling any threats that might be lurking.
Dramasine lies ahead, and King Sgian died in the siege, with his heir-apparent already gone. That means none of them have any idea who the grad is in charge right now, of the city or the kingdom. It makes it a bit hard to report in, which you'll need to do soon. The War isn't exactly over, there are still a lot of bands of armed men trying to accomplish something in Pretannia by killing someone, and you've earned the ire of at least the two strongest of those. The kingdom needs to move, and that means you need to find who's in charge now and able to make those decisions.
[ ] Go into the city and ask around. The people of Dramasine may not know every detail of what's happening in Dramasine, but they should at least know who purports to be in charge.
[ ] Go into the city and straight for the fanciest building. The royal manor was burned down in the siege, but whoever is in charge has probably set up something to rule from.
[X] Go around the city, to one of the outlying farms - specifically, your family's. It's going to be ruined, but you can see a roundhouse rebuilt on the land, so they're probably still living there. Your mother was one of King Sgian's advisors, and she should be able to guide you around the current landscape of Dramasine.
Chargen
Since Aindriu is looking for important people to talk to, let's review her social expertise. Yes I am only holding up one sheet of paper. She's a shy nerd that spent as much of her time as feasible buried in books, she has never been a social butterfly.
Birdsong Princess Style (Master): Contrary to the lessons of Dungeons and Dragons, druids are not responsible for dealing with animals and the natural world. Aindriu is good with animals, very much so, but that is completely unrelated to her actual druidic heritage and has more to do her father's work as a physician and riding enthusiast, and her maternal family's complete inability to resist cooing over cute animals and insatiable desire to pat soft fur/feathers leading to the determined exploration of the skills involved in getting to do so.
Aspect: Solar
Violet Wallflower Style (Practitioner): While being socially awkward and tending towards long periods of complete silence aren't exactly the strongest social combination, social invisibility can be very, very convenient at times. Aindriu has had her own parents forget her presence before.
Aspect: Air
Read Between the Lines Style (Expert): Bearer of an inveterate curiousity, Aindriu has always wanted to know what's going on since toddlerhood, forever loathe to go to sleep and miss out on what people are doing. Being also terminally shy and preferring not to bother people with an unending storm of 'why', she became very good at figuring out from very limited clues, with a mind capable of organizing and juggling very large quantities of information while keeping a firm organization between 'confirmed', 'attested', and 'speculated', and developing theories to chain those pieces of information together.
Aspect: Lunar
In the chaos of her Exaltation and its immediate aftermath, she did improve here - essence was flooding through her, a lot was going on, and she learned a couple of things she otherwise wouldn't have had opportunity to.
Choose one Style to Enlighten, and one Style to gain at Practitioner level:
[ ] Enlighten Birdsong Princess Style. The animals didn't survive the horrible song that killed Fallen Lapis any better than the people did. But there were some that, for whatever reason, couldn't hear it. And cavalry poured in to attack the survivors, when the song had ended. And Aindriu, always good with animals, got better, turning mounts against their masters, encouraging sicklebirds to do what should have been impossible, and recruiting deaf alley cats and sicklehounds whose ears had been covered into the absurd army that avenged their home and their humans.
[ ] Enlighten Violet Wallflower Style. Aindriu doesn't cope well with attention. As it turns out, even positive attention can get too spicy for her, a fact she has learned now that she has achieved fame and recognition and been provided with the attention of everyone in the vicinity. Sometimes, she just really needed to be overlooked. And while that's pretty hard, when you're a pretty girl and a well-known hero, for someone enlightened, it gets a lot more doable.
[ ] Enlighten Read Between the Lines Style. The Battle of Fallen Lapis continued even after the city's murder, in the most brutal and bitter house-to-house urban combat of the War. But for all its brutality, everyone involved had certain needs, capabilities, and desires. That left every participant with what was actually a fairly small set of options. With little bits of information, Aindriu deduced more. And once she had enough, she read the entire battle like one of her books, and skipped ahead before the Icewalkers and the Tepet even finished writing their next passage.
[ ] Learn Razored Tongue Style. There were a lot of hateful people in Fallen Lapis. The Icewalkers that had started the War, and the Realm that had escalated it beyond the point of madness. While Aindriu doesn't like to make a habit of chatting with people she doesn't like, some of them didn't die on the first exchange of blows, and in between, she figured out the truth they least wanted to hear, and told them that. Use her mouth to hurt them while her arm rested.
- - - Razored Tongue Style (Abyssal): Sometimes the strongest weapon isn't a blade - instead, it is the words you speak. When something inside is already broken, why make a new hole when you can just hammer on their weak spots? Those who practice this Style can get to people, they can anger them, hurt them, and force them to realize things they didn't want to know.
[ ] Learn Passed-Under-the-Bridge Style. Even though Aindriu's wish was to avenge Fallen Lapis, it was the capital city of Ardeleth - Ardeleth being the kingdom that had initiated the invasion of Talinin in the first place. The people of Ardeleth had been her enemy hours ago, before the cruelty inflicted on them became too much. Those Ardelethi soldiers who had survived the song were not well-inclined to a Talinin from the army assaulting their city, and the Talinin soldiers she had entered with were not necessarily immediately coming to her own conclusions. But the fact was that the crime committed had been too great, and that while their own quarrels were deep, the ones responsible were a far worse enemy. And with her earnestness, Aindriu was able to convince many of that fact, drawing Ardelethi bands to her aid and convincing Talinin to fight for the survivors of Ardeleth.
- - - Passed-Under-the-Bridge Style (Water): Circumstances can change fast, at times. What was once your enemy may now be your only ally. But that doesn't erase the bad blood, the reasons you were enemies in the first place, or the things you did to each other. But those who practice this Style are good at getting past it. It's not forgotten, but they do a good job putting it aside, and convincing others to put it aside, so that they can pursue their common interests and settle old accounts later.
[ ] Learn Shining Icon Style. Aindriu Exalted. She decided things had gone too far, and she stood up for what everyone's conscience was saying - that this was not acceptable, this way of waging war was abhorrent, and the great powers of Creation that had brought these ways to Pretannia weren't wanted. When someone dives down the path you desired with such force, it's natural to fall into their wake. And having been entrusted with leadership, Aindriu started to learn how to wield it - how to keep people going, how to bring out their best.
- - - Shining Icon Style (Solar): Someone always has to stand at the front. To lead the way, set an example, and prove to everyone that following their path was the right choice. Those who practice this style are good at this sort of leadership - they encourage their subordinates, earn the loyalty of those who follow them, and understand how to best use them.
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