[X] Ranger
An agile fighter, adept at any range. Especially adapted to fight in nature.
Weapons: Bow, dagger, axe, spear
Armor: Light
Support: Survival, lore, stealth
and the secondaries are:
[X] innate
[X] magic
[X] deception
[X] medicine
[X] etiquette
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"No! No you're not! This is stupid and… and you're stupid!" Lirra's voice resounded in the classroom.
For those who knew the shy, friendly Changeling, it would have been a surprise hearing her talk - or rather shout - like this to a teacher, but for the other students present said surprise had worn off, as it'd been going on for some time now.
The other Changelings in the room, however, apparently agreed, and Tanwen was also glaring at the teacher although she wasn't the one grabbing all the attention for once.
The teacher, a pretty young blonde woman dressed all in soft greens, didn't react much to the outburst. If anything, her smile widened.
"It's fine, Lirra, you're angry. I forgive you. And you know why?" She put a hand on the smaller girl's shoulder, and it looked as if her smug grin grew too big for her head to contain. "Because dragons are forgiving and I am one. Truthfully."
Lirra's eyes widened in surprise, while Tanwen glared from her side.
"Wait, really? I thought they were-" Lirra's eyes narrowed, her expression almost matching Tanwen's. "You! I! No! You can't just say things that aren't true… That's not how it works!" she howled the last part, tears welling in her eyes.
The class had started well enough with most if not all of the new students from Emoulin entering the room and finding a seat. The students had been full of curiosity, many of them - the less human ones in particular - not understanding what they were here for and speculating about it enthusiastically.
The discussion had stopped when a woman entered the room. She was a pretty young blonde woman, one that Lirra realized she'd already seen, singing in the tavern when she was looking for Lucilia. She walked up to the pulpit and leaned on it, waiting for a few seconds to be sure to have the class' attention before she started talking.
"Hello, everyone." Her voice was smooth and attractive, commanding more attention speaking softly than many others' would have by shouting. "I'll be your teacher for this class. I'm new here, so I hope we'll all get along. You may call me Greensleeves."
"Great name, did your tailor sell it, or was it your village buying it?" came from next to Lirra, who simply sighed and put her face in her palms.
"Ah, you must be..." Greensleeves made a show of looking through a sheet of parchment. "Tanwen. I've heard about you." Surprisingly, she smiled instead of poking her. "Don't worry, by the end of this lesson, you'll be angrier that you'll ever make me."
Tanwen leant back in her seat, looking unconvinced and Lirra idly wondered if she felt something was amiss, not having been poked for once.
Her mind wandering, Lirra finally remembered where she'd heard of Greensleeve's "name". After all, it was hard not to. After the plague, tales of the one who ended it had been told all across the land; the lone bard who'd walked into the royal court of the Fae armed only with her wit, and came back victorious if devoid of her actual name.
For all her undeniable heroism, Lirra's opinion of the woman was more ambivalent than her countrymen's. Of course, it was good that she stopped the plague, but… couldn't she have done so just a bit sooner? Bargained for the sick to be healed instead of it no longer spreading? Couldn't a hero have saved her father instead of allowing him to die and leave her all alone?
It wasn't fair to resent her for that, of course. Lirra knew that. It still didn't stop her from thinking these things. Nothing would. The plague had killed countless innocents, but for her only one of these victims had ever mattered.
"Now that that's taken care of, let's get to the lesson." Lirra was brought out of her reverie by Greensleeves clapping her hands. "This class aims to help you acclimate to certain habits that kingdoms other than Emoulin have. Notably that it is, actually, possible for you-" she waved in the direction of the human students. "to say things that aren't actually true because you-" her other hand encompassed the Changelings and other Fae "aren't around to make that a bad idea."
Lirra leaned forward, intrigued yet not certain she understood what Greensleeves implied.
"Now, can one of you give me an example of how it'd be possible to say something that isn't true?"
Immediately, a few non human hands were raised.
"You can't, obviously," was the first answer.
The teacher shook her head, and all hands were retracted. Eventually, another rose.
"You could, maybe if… if you understood something wrong, or made a mistake?", came from a student with dark antlers and the expression of someone thinking about something very, very hard.
This time, Greensleeves nodded.
"Good. Does anyone have other ideas? Perhaps from a human this time?"
There was a minute or so of reflection, a few humans whispering among themselves before one hesitantly raised a hand, looking at the others with a dubious expression.
"Well, actually, uh… isn't it possible to just… do it? Say something untrue willfully?"
A few shocked gasps could be heard around the room after this outrageous theory. While the fae were in shock, some humans looked pensive, mulling over the implications of such a thing.
"Exactly," confirmed Greensleeves. "Now, why would you not say untruths if you're able to?"
This time almost all hands rose at once.
"You're very likely to die, or worse, if you do."
Everyone nodded at this answer. Everyone knew that fact of life.
Most of the lesson was then spent on Greensleeves explaining that Fae weren't that common outside of Emoulin and what that meant for lying. That done, she had them spot when she lied, using the worst and most obvious lies possible, which eventually led to where we started.
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"And you told off a dragon? Just like that? Wow, Lirra, skalds shall sing of your bravery for years to come!" Alvi couldn't contain it anymore and laughed loudly, his large hand shaking her slight frame as it hit her back. "Oh, come on, don't glare like that, it is funny. Right guys- er, guy and girls?"
He looked around the table where a few Swords had gathered to talk about their day. Dylis was laughing, though she looked a bit guilty doing it while Carwyn at her side did his best to remain stoic although his lips were starting to rise despite his best efforts. Pupa and another girl were talking further away at the corner of the table and hadn't followed the conversation. Tanwen, however, had, and didn't find it funny. She didn't waste any time informing Alvi of this and they soon were throwing insults at each other like every other night.
Despite the two fighting next to her, Lirra found herself smiling and she relaxed in her seat, closing her eyes for a moment.
"Lirra, try to remember," said a voice just behind her.
She snapped her eyes back open and looked around in a panic. There was no one behind her. Of course there wasn't. He couldn't be. This voice was achingly familiar, but she knew she shouldn't - couldn't - hear it anymore.
"Hey, you alright?" Alvi asked from the side, pausing in his fight with Tanwen.
"Ah, I'm..." Lirra hesitated, voice trembling. "I think I'll leave for the night. I… good night."
And with that she left as fast as she could without outright running away.
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Sitting on her bed, in the dim light of a candle burning low, Lirra looked at the bowl in her hands. Lost in thought. her fingers traced the figures embossed on its side. Just what was it that she'd forgotten?
She'd heard the voice several more times these last few days but she couldn't understand why. It happened seemingly without rhyme or reason. She'd heard it during spear lessons, while aiming her bow learning archery, one time when she was in the baths and even when she was just wandering alone in the Academy's hallways. Still, she heard it the most while eating or relaxing in the mess hall.
She massaged her eyes and temples then blearily looked at the mountains engraved at the bottom of the bowl - she hadn't slept much since she first heard the voice a few days ago. Looking at the cloud piercing peaks, the only mountain range she could think of was the Kimon but she just didn't understand what it had to do with anything.
The only clue she had to solve this mystery was this damned bowl that had appeared when she woke up from her forgotten week. But what had happened then? What was it that she forgot that was so important? Would the voice disappear if she remembered? As a matter of fact, did she even even want to know what it was she forgot if it meant silencing it?
She didn't know. Her head hurt. She was just so tired.
"Please take care of yourself. Try to sleep tonight, it'll still be there tomorrow."
Lirra nodded wearily and blew the candle. She lowered her head to her cushion, brought the bowl to her chest and curled around it, holding it tight.
"Yes. Good night… father."
A faint rustling came in from the other side of the room, two faint embers opening from the other bed.
"You said something?" Tanwen asked blearily.
"I- I just said goodnight."
"Yeah, yeah, goodnight, just let me sleep." The covers rustled again and the other girl was soon asleep again.
Lirra took a long time before also drifting off to sleep, a lullaby only she could hear helping her along the way.
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There clearly is something going on. What should you do?
[] Try to find just what you've forgotten, just in case you aren't actually going insane
[] Chloe knows things about voices in your head, get her help
[] This is fine. Whatever is going on, it is fine, as long as you can hear his voice
