{"id":1753,"date":"2016-07-10T10:06:40","date_gmt":"2016-07-10T14:06:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jeezjosie.com\/blog\/?p=1753"},"modified":"2016-03-09T22:10:47","modified_gmt":"2016-03-10T02:10:47","slug":"rhiallis-vehemence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/jeezjosie.com\/blog\/2016\/07\/rhiallis-vehemence\/","title":{"rendered":"Rhiallis: Vehemence"},"content":{"rendered":"

      Today\u2019s snippet, titled \u201cVehemence\u201d, is a piece I wrote about my PC in Mark’s new (Good) Pathfinder Campaign.
\n      Be forewarned, there may be mature themes and naughty language below.
\n– \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 –
\n      Rhiallis sat next to Tom Parris\u2019 cold body and tried to count how many this made. Ten, I think. Tom Parris is number ten. No – eleven. I forgot about Red – he was with us so briefly. Oh – twelve! How could I forget about Niro? <\/em>
\n      \u201cYou\u2019re doing it again.\u201d
\n      She glanced up. \u201cWhat?\u201d
\n      Ezekiel did not even look over his shoulder at her. He was hunkered down beside a boulder, scanning the horizon for danger.
\n      \u201cBeing morose. Counting up the losses. Focusing on the past.\u201d He tossed his head and his golden hair glimmered in the moonlight. \u201cYou said you weren\u2019t going to keep doing that.\u201d
\n      \u201cNo, I\u2019m- I mean, yes – I was. But I\u2019m not. I mean- Oh, to the Hells with it anyway. He isn\u2019t really one of the lost. He\u2019ll answer my call when I try it, slightly before dawn and be marching with us within an hour or two.\u201d
\n      \u201cRight.\u201d
\n      \u201cAnd besides that,\u201d she continued, smoothing down the cleric\u2019s hair where Sadie\u2019s tears had dampened it. \u201cIt isn\u2019t as if we fled in defeat. We put those annises down. And that Banshee retreated into that awful cloud – but we will return for her. We will equip ourselves with enchanted weapons this time – specifically crafted to deal with the incorporeal threat – and we shall eliminate her from this plane of existence.\u201d
\n      \t\u201cAnd then the dragon.\u201d
\n      \tRhiallis glanced over at Sadie\u2019s sleeping form and then nodded. \u201cAnd then the dragon. And then, if the Queen has no further orders, we will begin to hunt for those behind the widening rift and we will hire a team of researchers to find a way for us to close the bloody thing and then we shall seal it shut once and for all.\u201d
\n      \tHe cast a grin over his shoulder and she could not help but smile back.
\n      \t\u201cThat\u2019s more like it, Rhiallis,\u201d Zeke said, and turned back to the horizon.
\n

* * * * *<\/center>
\n      \t\u201cThere\u2019s nothing pulling it,\u201d she hissed.
\n      \tThey were deep into third watch, crouching side-by-side as they peered into the interminable darkness of the \u2018Wound. Ezekiel put a hand on her shoulder.
\n      \t\u201cThat doesn\u2019t mean they\u2019re evil, Rhiallis.\u201d
\n      \t\u201cYes, but-\u201d
\n      \t\u201cWe\u2019re not prepared for a battle right now and you know it. Tom has hardly been breathing for an hour or two and we exhausted so many of our resources.\u201d
\n      \t\u201cI know, but-\u201d
\n      \t\u201cRhiallis.\u201d
\n      \tShe pursed her lips. When did you become such a reasonable, rational fellow?
\n      \t\u201cWe can try to track them later.\u201d
\n      \t\u201cI suppose,\u201d she said, clenching her fists. \u201cI sort of want that wagon though. Why did I never think of having my little wagon enchanted all those years ago? I could have saved my mules a lot of strain, had I done that.\u201d
\n      \tHe shook his head ruefully and moved quietly toward their camp site.
\n      \t\u201cAnd we could march through the night to get to Kenebres sooner, with a wagon like that,\u201d she continued, whispering, \u201cImagine that. I could sit up all night on the driver\u2019s seat while the rest of you sleep in your shifts, and we could keep rolling and make so much distance in a single day.\u201d
\n      \t\u201cYep,\u201d he nodded.
\n      \t\u201cAnd\u2026\u201d Rhiallis kept talking, softly to keep their position hidden, until dawn came and with it, the sensation of a well filling up with water once more. She could not help but wonder if she glowed at this time, when the queer powers that they had inherited upon the destruction of the Wardstones were at their fullest. Was her pale hair incandescent? Did her amber eyes gleam with a metallic golden sheen? Was her sun-kissed skin nearly translucent beneath the tender caress of dawn\u2019s newborn rays?
\n      \tSoon, Sadie and Tom woke. The camp was broken in what seemed like seconds and before the sun had risen more than a few inches upon the horizon, the Valorous Order – such as it was these days – began another day of marching.
\n      \tBy this time tonight<\/em>, Rhiallis thought, stretching her wings behind her with a grunt. We will be back in Kenebres once more. How much will have changed in the two or three fortnights? Will the Defender\u2019s Heart be letting rooms, or will there be other Inns yet? Will we be able to find enchanted weapons to kill that damned banshee or will we have to try and hire a wizard to<\/em> – Her mind flickered to a memory of pretty, blonde Aimsley and their adventures in teleportation – teleport us to Phoenixa or some other grand city?<\/em>
\n      \tShe felt a tingle at the base of her spine and tried to massage it away.
\n      \t\u201cBy Iomedae\u2019s Blade, I cannot wait to close my eyes and rest upon a real mattress again. Straw or feather, I don\u2019t even care. Just a real, actual bed.\u201d
\n      \tZeke chuckled. \u201cMe too. And not alone, I tell you that now.\u201d
\n      \t\u201cA bath. A hot steamy one. With gobs of scented soap. I\u2019ll soak until my fingers and toes are little pink raisins!\u201d
\n      \tTom Parris was quiet, but he smiled down at Sadie when she spoke. Rhiallis wondered how he felt, having been returned so unceremoniously to his body, but did not ask. The cleric volunteered little, but that was quite typical for him.
\n      \t\u201cA drink, too.\u201d Sadie said, walking backwards so that she was facing her friends. \u201cOr three, or a dozen. Strong as they make them.\u201d
\n      \t\u201cAye,\u201d Tom Parris, said with a nod.
\n      \tZeke and Rhiallis agreed.
\n      \t\u201cThat\u2019s settled then. Whiskey and ale and wine, and a good clean girl for Zeke. We\u2019ve more than earned a night off the trail, don\u2019t you think?\u201d
\n      \t\u201cAbsolutely.\u201d
\n      \tSadie hopped in place for a moment, letting the slowest amongst them – a fact Rhiallis still had trouble reconciling with the fact that her legs were longer than anyone else\u2019s – catch up a bit.
\n      \t\u201cBut just one. Then we have to get ourselves re-equipped so we can come back out here and find that bitch and kill her. This time, she\u2019ll stay dead, damn it!\u201d
\n      \t\u201cWe\u2019ll get her, Sadie.\u201d Tom Parris adjusted his shoulders and Rhiallis noticed the slight frown. He must miss the familiar weight of his bow on his back, she thought, and her hand unconsciously dropped to Radiance\u2019s hilt at her hip. I felt much the same, when Graves carried her.
\n      \t\u201cYeah.\u201d The halfling\u2019s expression was feral – almost terrifying. \u201cYeah we will.\u201d
\n      \tSomehow, rather than bolstered by her little friend\u2019s vehemence, Rhiallis was perturbed. She wondered if the Worldwound was getting to her, if the halfling\u2019s innate goodness was being tweaked or twisted by the permeating evil all around them. Then she shrugged and forced the thought away.
\n      \tEveryone is a little bit bitter these days. There\u2019s so little joy and so much pain. And she nearly lost Tom Parris – so if she\u2019s a little angrier than normal – well, what is normal anyway? She\u2019s right. We\u2019ll find that banshee and we\u2019ll vanquish her once and for all. <\/em>
\n      \tRhiallis gripped Radiance\u2019s hilt.
\n      \tOne more evil conquered. A few million to go.<\/em>
\n      \tShe paused.
\n      \tAt least.
\n<\/em>
\n– \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 –
\n\"Signed,
\nNote: Image is “King Jagiello Statue Central” by (Mulligand) from SXC.hu; edited by me<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Today\u2019s snippet, titled \u201cVehemence\u201d, is a piece I wrote about my PC in Mark’s new (Good) Pathfinder Campaign.       Be forewarned, there may be mature themes and naughty language below. – \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 –       Rhiallis sat next to Tom Parris\u2019… <\/p>\n

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