Continued from here...
59 Zi’da 719 – Face of a Healer
Brent slept restlessly. His dreams were a tangled mess of faces and shifting features. Women who morphed from one appearance to the next. He was surrounded by a hundred women who looked like Freya before he finally woke up sweating.
What had he done? Was there even a chance that this strange shapeshifting woman would return? How was he going to explain it to the other villagers that he had let the Outlander go when he had her in his very house? What was Ted going to say? That he had been blinded by her beauty? Like the enchantments Mer used to ensnare their prey?
A shiver went down his back as he got out of bed, his sweat cold in the chilly room. He fumbled a bit in the dark as he got dressed. He had told ‘Freya’, the Yludih, to meet him at dawn. That meant she would only have yesterday afternoon and the night to flee from Alivilda, if she chose to do so. He put on a pair of slippers to take the chill off the cold floors and went downstairs.
It was just barely twilight as he began to prepare a simple breakfast and tend to the coals in the fireplace. But of course, since it was Zi’da it took longer for mornings to begin. The previous day was still completely surreal in his mind, and it was hard to imagine it wasn’t a dream along with his others. But after Yludih had left, he had gone to the Alivilda Aesir to ask if there were any villagers who had ailments that needed help. All Brent had said was that he had gotten word from a healer friend who might be able to help some of the people of Alivilda before continuing on her journeys. If he found himself questioned afterwards, he could point to his friend Ashling or say that his healer friend had got caught in bad weather. Still, he managed to create a list of people with common symptoms as well as where they lived.
The second favor he asked was of his brother Ted. Brent didn’t know if Yludih would accept it, but he asked Ted to carve a simple leaf out of wood and with a hole to put a string through it. A simple necklace. Maybe she would see it as it was, a means of identification, but Brent hoped she might accept the gift. The pendent was small, no longer than a finger and Brent found some twine to string it. It looked quite pretty, although Brent felt his insides churn when Ted mentioned he’d never heard a lady in such distress.
The morning light started to catch the sparkling snow and Brent fiddled with the pendent in his pocket. Any time now… He wasn’t sure if he was more anxious about the damage she could do if she didn’t show up, or the action he would be forced to take. What if she simply balked and was too afraid to come. And if that started another mob, then how was he any different from the rest of the traditional Melrathi? But he had still given her a choice, a chance to prove herself. And after today’s events, would she be free to go? Was it even possible to make such a firm judgement with only two encounters?
Other than his slippers, he was fully dressed and with his outdoor clothing waiting near the door. He tried to sit leisurely, but he was tense and anxious. He wondered how people like the Aesirs and Ragnari made such judgement calls. But even they, he recalled, made mistakes and with them the stakes were just as high or even higher.
OOC: At Tier 4, Brent can have 1 set of average jewelry (up to 3 necklaces), and would compensate Ted Forrester accordingly.
59 Zi’da 719 – Face of a Healer
Brent slept restlessly. His dreams were a tangled mess of faces and shifting features. Women who morphed from one appearance to the next. He was surrounded by a hundred women who looked like Freya before he finally woke up sweating.
What had he done? Was there even a chance that this strange shapeshifting woman would return? How was he going to explain it to the other villagers that he had let the Outlander go when he had her in his very house? What was Ted going to say? That he had been blinded by her beauty? Like the enchantments Mer used to ensnare their prey?
A shiver went down his back as he got out of bed, his sweat cold in the chilly room. He fumbled a bit in the dark as he got dressed. He had told ‘Freya’, the Yludih, to meet him at dawn. That meant she would only have yesterday afternoon and the night to flee from Alivilda, if she chose to do so. He put on a pair of slippers to take the chill off the cold floors and went downstairs.
It was just barely twilight as he began to prepare a simple breakfast and tend to the coals in the fireplace. But of course, since it was Zi’da it took longer for mornings to begin. The previous day was still completely surreal in his mind, and it was hard to imagine it wasn’t a dream along with his others. But after Yludih had left, he had gone to the Alivilda Aesir to ask if there were any villagers who had ailments that needed help. All Brent had said was that he had gotten word from a healer friend who might be able to help some of the people of Alivilda before continuing on her journeys. If he found himself questioned afterwards, he could point to his friend Ashling or say that his healer friend had got caught in bad weather. Still, he managed to create a list of people with common symptoms as well as where they lived.
The second favor he asked was of his brother Ted. Brent didn’t know if Yludih would accept it, but he asked Ted to carve a simple leaf out of wood and with a hole to put a string through it. A simple necklace. Maybe she would see it as it was, a means of identification, but Brent hoped she might accept the gift. The pendent was small, no longer than a finger and Brent found some twine to string it. It looked quite pretty, although Brent felt his insides churn when Ted mentioned he’d never heard a lady in such distress.
The morning light started to catch the sparkling snow and Brent fiddled with the pendent in his pocket. Any time now… He wasn’t sure if he was more anxious about the damage she could do if she didn’t show up, or the action he would be forced to take. What if she simply balked and was too afraid to come. And if that started another mob, then how was he any different from the rest of the traditional Melrathi? But he had still given her a choice, a chance to prove herself. And after today’s events, would she be free to go? Was it even possible to make such a firm judgement with only two encounters?
Other than his slippers, he was fully dressed and with his outdoor clothing waiting near the door. He tried to sit leisurely, but he was tense and anxious. He wondered how people like the Aesirs and Ragnari made such judgement calls. But even they, he recalled, made mistakes and with them the stakes were just as high or even higher.
OOC: At Tier 4, Brent can have 1 set of average jewelry (up to 3 necklaces), and would compensate Ted Forrester accordingly.
