Right. You are a priest. You didn't forget that.
Ehehehehe.
You should probably start worrying.
...
Anyway, the break appears to be over, if the ringing of the bell is anything to go by. The scouts must've returned with news then.
You turn your back to the forest and return to the camp.
-•-•-•-
You make your way through the bustling camp, careful to appear busy enough nobody would volunteer you to help in one or the other task involving breaking the camp.
Besides, things are about to get interesting if the noise from the caravan's head tent is anything to go by.
Nothing indicates it's a private discussion, ( more like a shouting match ) so you invite yourself inside, just in time to hear the end of the phrase:
"... to do about the fucking avalanche? We go through it or we don't go anywhere, simple as that!"
Oh dear.
Your caravan has two scouts named Amari and Aarni. ( See, you were paying attention! )
Amari is a short, dark-haired, dark-skinned young woman with a fair share of Carashid blood and a temper like an angry wet cat surrounded by a flock of inveterate geese. She's the one shouting, incidentally.
You notice Aarni, a tall blonde man in his early thirties with an impressive collection of scars from what looks like half the residents of this continent have tried their swords, spears, axes, claws, and teeth on his arms and face. You're sure you are mistaken. It couldn't have been more than a third. You're also sure that the scars on the rest of his body are no less impressive.
Aarni notices you staring and quirks an eyebrow. You glance at Amari and back at him. He shrugs apologetically and flashes an almost imperceptible smile.
You're pretty sure they are an item.
"Fine." You hear the rumbling voice of the caravan head, catching you unawares. Seriously, the man has a basso so deep you can almost confuse it with the bear's roar. "Then find us another way."
"There is no other way," Amari says, suddenly calm. "The Festing Forest is... feisty this time of the year."
Aarni grunts disgustedly. Yeah, definitely an item.
"So what you're saying is," The caravan head ( Swen is his name, you think ) rumbles thoughtfully, "We either clear the avalanche or we go through the forest."
"We're not going through the forest," Aarni interjects forcefully. "There are almost fifty people in the caravan. We'd all be dead in two hours."
"Look at it this way," Amari says, "Sure the delay's gonna cost you money. Taking a shortcut through the forest is gonna cost us all our lives."
Swen doesn't say anything, choosing instead to look at... you? Uh, no, not you. You snap your head to the left and only now notice a tall woman leaning against the supporting bay, who appears to be... asleep.
"Lady Mage," Swen rumbles diffidently, like a very polite bear who's asking if you'd kindly prefer to be mauled or trampled. "Is this within your area of expertise?"
You can't remember her name. You can't remember her at all. Fuck mages.
In your defense, you're pretty sure you don't remember her name because she hasn't told it to anyone here, the caravan head included.
But now that you see her you can recall some pieces of information about her you couldn't recall a moment ago. She's a Kippassan Dream Mage, another of the guards Swen hired. Honestly, you can't help but feel impressed. You are no expert, but blocking surface memories isn't small-time stuff. You're also resentful she chose you as a target. Clearly, no one else in the tent had any problems with remembering her.
You notice Amari making a double-take and scowling at the mage. Not just you then. Well, okay then.
"I have no idea," The mage says, rather cheerfully, without opening her eyes, "But we can try. I'll have to take a look first, before saying anything else."
"Then we'll do that," Swen decides and walks past you to the entrance of the tent. He looks outside and shrugs, "Seems like people are mostly finished with packing up. We'll camp again by the avalanche before deciding what to do the next morning."
Amari is about to say something, but Aarni stops her with a look and a pat on her shoulder. She fumes but thankfully doesn't continue.
"Manosh," Swen calls you as if noticing you for the first time since you came in, but you aren't fooled. "you've heard everything. Good. I'd like you to help Lady Mage with the avalanche come the next day. Is there anything you'd be able to do? With Gods' blessings, of course."
"I might be," you say dubiously, "Although I don't know if it'll make a difference. Lady Mage," and you inject just a tiny bit of sarcasm in the title, "is a very powerful practitioner. If there's anything she can't accomplish with her magic..."
"It'd most probably be a grunt's work," the mage interrupts you, no less cheerful, "More willpower thrown at the problem will be great. So that my brain won't leak out of my ears, that sort of thing."
"Then I'm at your service," you answer with a flourish and a bow to no one in particular.
"Good, good," Swen says jovially, like a rockfall happy to bury you alive, "Then let's get going."
-•-•-•-
As you walk with the caravan, you notice the last guard of your little contingent moving closer to you. You mean, the last guard worth their name. There are others, but they're pretty much cannon fodder come fighting as much as you're concerned. That might not be the nicest thing to say about them, but that doesn't make it false. Then again, you've made small talk with some of them and that's more than can be said about this... character, so you can admit Joanne, Edrick and Finn are nice people, certainly nicer than this person.
She's turned to you and is about to ask something. Ugh.
"Why do you hate me?" Jennifer asks you bluntly, without a preamble.
You sigh before answering:
"I don't hate you, I dislike you. Deeply."
"Why?" She asks again.
"You are a Caesian. I'm a Carashid. Your people and my people have killed each other from the first moment you louts sailed to this continent. There doesn't have to be a specific reason," you explain as if to a four-years-old kid.
She nods thoughtfully, before concluding:
"So you're a racist then."
This is going to be a long day.
-•-•-•-
Well, you're about to stop being a puppet stringed along and start being a character with agency. ( sorry for being late, had some rl issues I had to take care of with no time for writing. )
But before that, some last character creation choices. The priest option won, so you have to choose additional Aspects your character is aligned with.
It works like that: a priest is associated with Four Aspects they draw their powers from.
The first depends on the past or the backstory in our case. It won't probably change, ever. You are from Carashid, so your first Aspect is Freedom.
The second depends on the present circumstances. Sometimes what you think about them matters, sometimes it doesn't. In this case, it does not. Your second Aspect is Strife.
The third Aspect is specifically what your priest chooses to follow as his life's philosophy. You can change it later, but it takes time and may cause some temporary or permanent if you're particularly fickle, problems. More on that later.
The fourth Aspect is your ambition. For now, they are all related to your exile but you can change them down the line as often as you want to. First opportunities probably when you finally get to Deloni.
I've added these two sentence descriptors to indicate what each Aspect means, and I'll expand on them once you choose.
Without further ado:
[] You Follow
-[] Haedwen, the God of Power and Fate
--[] Fate. You believe the collective weight of people's actions around you creates a current of predetermined outcomes. By affecting the current you can change the outcome.
--[] Power. Power without will is meaningless, yet will without power is impotent. Seize the power, lest you find yourself helpless to survive.
--[] Rulership. The simple logic that those who are willing and able to lead others deserve to rule always appealed to you.
-[] Walla, the God of Justice and Mercy
--[] Justice. Justice is a concept always imperfect in its realization. Doesn't mean people shouldn't aspire to be just. For the given value of just, at least.
--[] Mercy. Sometimes, mercy is a weapon deadlier than a sword and more terrifying than any ungodly torture under the sun.
--[] Union. One person working alone can achieve greatness. Many people working together can accomplish the impossible.
-[] Yirrik, the God of Strife and War
--[] Strife. You will rise and you will exalt. Or you will die. Most of all, you will strive.
--[] War. The world is in constant turmoil. Violence is inescapable. But accepting this, you can defeat anyone. Theoretically.
--[] Contest. Any competition has a winner and a loser. Both benefit from the contest: the winner proves their skill and the loser realizes what they can improve to win the next time. If there is the next time, that is.
-[] Selaken, God of Freedom and Memory
--[] Freedom. To be free is to willingly constrict yourself every waking moment of your life. Your freedom ends where freedom of others begins.
--[] Memory. Remembrance is a bittersweet gift, yet without memories, life would not be worth living. They say that every time you die and are reborn, the library of your memories beyond the Parting River expands more and more, both with the greatest triumphs and the greatest regrets. You hope it's true.
--[] Hope. The cruelest gift of them all, yet hope can help when nothing else will.
( Understand that an Aspect is a coin of two sides. The priest who follows Hope may induce despair like no other, the priest who chooses War understands its price all too well and can defuse conflicts around them with a silver tongue. The priest who follows Mercy can grant such mercy that the word itself loses its meaning to the horrified onlookers. )
-[] You don't follow any God in particular.
--[] Death. You will die. Everyone dies, sooner or later. That's what makes your life worth living, in your opinion.
--[] Choice. The ability to choose is the direct manifestation of free will, even if the choice is no choice at all.
--[] Balance. Good and Evil, Order and Chaos, Selaken and Haedwen, Yirrik and Walla, even Balance itself is just a point of view. All is one is none is all.
--[] Good. For the Good to triumph, the evil men only need to do nothing. What is even Good anyway?
[] You Choose
-[] Memory. Asummar may yet live, but you won't forget the fear and the rage. Whatever else, you will Remember what happened to you.
-[] Contest. Two can play this game. You will return and you will avenge yourself by the Right of Contest Asummar seems to flaunt so much.
-[] Justice. You consider what happened to you unjust. When the moment of truth occurs and the time of judgment comes, you promise yourself that you will be Just.
-[] Power. You have to admit, the things happened the way they did because you lacked Power. You intend to rectify that.
( No, choosing the same option twice doesn't mean you get a boost, it means I will have to ask to make another choice. If you refuse, then it counts as Choice. If it results in an option of Choice chosen twice winning, it would mean you get one choice and waste another option with almost no benefit at all, aside from feeling smug about bamboozling the poor QM. But not really, because I predicted it. )