2015-02-09 - A humanely Brieson storytelling (log)

This log is from 2/9/2015 from the viewpoint of Geijon.

Summary

Brieson Cassle was in Wehnimer's Landing investigating Lichlings for their potential involvement in the murder of Earl Kestrel. He joined some residents to share his personal history with us.

Log

Lord Brieson's group just arrived.

Brieson glances between Rowmi and Riend. (I think they were pending questions still)

Brieson sighs.

Brieson says, "...and tonight was to be personal, to just enjoy the wind and the snow."

Brieson waves his hand in a dismissive gesture.

Brieson says, "And so it shall be."

Brieson walks over to the chair and settles down.

Brieson asks, "It is custom to tell stories on a porch, is it not?"

Brieson chuckles.

Brieson pours himself some spiced caramel apple cider.

Lylia says, "It is, at least on pleasant nights."

Brieson begins chuckling at Lylia!

Speaking to Brieson, Sareyna says, "You should have chosen a life on stage."

Brieson says, "The world is a stage, in many a way. Some parts of it ripe with poor actors."

Brieson asks, "Shall I tell a story of Highmount then?"

(People agree)

Brieson takes a drink from his caramel apple cider.

Brieson says, "It begins...on the banks of Lake Maelshey."

Brieson says, "You see, in Highmount, River Chaston is the lifeblood of the region."

Brieson says, "It's the main source into Lake Maelshey, and it also carries lumber and other supplies, especially from the Lowlands and Midlands."

Brieson says, "But if the River Chaston is the lifeblood..."

Lylia lightly places her hand on the barn owl, which responds by moving his body beneath her hand for a thorough rubbing.

Brieson says, "Lake Maelshey is the heart of Highmount."

Brieson says, "Every year, the region holds the Maelshey Regatta."

Lylia walks over to the chair and settles down.

Brieson says, "Renowned shipwrights put forth their best racing vessels, the three day event draws audiences from all over the Empire, even from Tamzzyr."

Brieson says, "My father is a shipwright."

Brieson says, "Well, isn't much of fun anymore, truly his hands are more wrinkled folds these days I'd imagine, which pains his heart more than his hands I'm certain."

Brieson says, "Of one...not fun...."

Brieson gazes in wonder at his surroundings.

Brieson says, "Either it's late...or this cider isn't cider."

Brieson takes a drink from his caramel apple cider.

You say, "Probably th' hour."

You chuckle.

Brieson says, "Then I will give the short version of the story."

Brieson says, "The one where I end up as a hero, discovering the fountain of youth, and whisking Bekke off into the sunset where we raise a small family on our farmstead, before I am called back into the thick of war to save the world from the villainous Grishom Stone and the Star of Khar'ta."

Raelee frowns at Brieson.

Brieson asks, "No?"

Brieson shrugs.

Brieson says, "No one would read that."

Speaking flatly to Brieson, Raelee says, "No."

Brieson asks, "Do you fancy your name in there somewhere instead?"

You say, "That sounds like "If Walkar lived"."

Brieson asks, "Me whisking off Raelee to build a family on our farmstead?"

Speaking abruptly to Brieson, Raelee says, "No."

Brieson asks, "Or the villainous Raelee and the Star of Khar'ta?"

Brieson chuckles.

Lylia says, "I think it would strain credulity in either case."

Lylia chuckles.

Brieson begins chuckling at Lylia!

Deckits says, "I think your story is losing credibility."

Deckits grins at Brieson.

Brieson says, "I'm merely mirroring your line of answers to my questions."

Brieson winks at Deckits.

Brieson says, "I learned from the best."

Brieson says, "So you see, I was pre-destined by birth, or so it was thought, to take on after my father."

Brieson says, "A shipwright."

Brieson says, "Renowned for a small time...and eventually, forgotten."

Brieson says, "I even once, years later, won at the Regatta."

Brieson indicates a small engraved golden plate suspended by a stained woven cord as a possible option.

Deckits adopts an agreeable expression.

Brieson says, "Gold, was the highest honor."

Brieson says, "When I was very young however, long before my first racing in the Regatta..."

Brieson says, "I was upon the shores of Lake Maelshey...my sister not far, tending to whatever girls do at that age..."

Brieson says, "Was she collecting berries? I can't quite even remember."

Brieson says, "I was fishing, the sun was warm and bright, and it did well to brighten the land, safe for the dark glades."

Brieson says, "Now it's important for you to understand...for ages, the forests of Highmount one bled straight into Wyrdeep."

Brieson says, "Imperial expansion, logging, cleared out many of these areas."

[Hearthstone, Front Porch]
Airy and open, the porch is enclosed by smooth, freshly painted white modwir up to a height of about four feet. As you ponder the sky-blue color of the ceiling and a lacework of deep green ivy that crisscrosses the open space between posts, the hubbub of the world beyond quickly fades away. Rocking chairs of various sizes are an inviting sight, and an elegant green marble arch provides a tantalizing view of the splendors inside the old manor. You also see a handful of tiny peanut butter cookies, the Deckits disk, the Lylia disk, the Polveiss disk, an iron bucket, a barn owl, a tall scorched modwir bin, a doorman, a long oak sideboard with some stuff on it and the porch steps.
Also here: Raelee who is sitting, Lord Brieson who is sitting, Deckits who is sitting, Lady Lylia who is sitting, Rowmi who is sitting, Grand Lord Polveiss who is sitting, Sareyna, High Lady Evia who is sitting
Obvious paths: none

Brieson says, "But some...were avoided."

Brieson says, "Dark glades still exist in some places in Highmount, where we just...don't...go into."

You steeple your fingers in your lap, quietly observing your surroundings.

Brieson says, "I didn't know why then for sure, but I know why now."

Raelee raises an eyebrow in Brieson's direction.

Brieson says, "My mother once told Soffie and I, that when we misbehaved, the Darklens would come."

Brieson says, "I cannot truly remember the proper name mother gave them...."

Brieson says, "I think Soffie, never quite the linguist I was...called them that for a year or so."

Brieson says, "Now return to the lake shores...."

Brieson says, "I heard a scream."

Brieson says, "So horrible, so frightened...so..."

Brieson says, "Raw."

Brieson says, "Even now I still cannot put its description to the proper words."

Brieson exclaims, "My sister was unmoved. She tended to her...yes!"

Brieson says, "It was a bird she had found, small one, maybe a broken wing."

Brieson says, "But she did not hear it."

Brieson says, "I rushed to her, and she called me a fool."

Brieson says, "Then I heard it again, and she was not stirred in the least."

Brieson says, "Then the wind bade me south."

Evia leans forward and rests her chin in her hand, a thoughtful expression on her face.

Brieson says, "I cannot tell you how, or even...why to be honest."

Brieson asks, "Why anything, truly?"

Brieson says, "So I ran, and Soffie soon followed."

Brieson says, "I saw a fisherman near the banks, flat on his back, his two young daughters mortified, frozen in terror at his side."

Brieson says, "Worst of all...above the fisherman....towered a great bear. That is all I can say, of its shape. Dark, gnarled, but more....oily and black, less fur, more sinewy flesh."

Brieson says, "It was in fact, a Darklen. Or...whatever they shall be called."

Brieson says, "It had stirred from the pits of the dark glades..."

Brieson says, "It held the fisherman down with two massive paws...."

Brieson says, "And I rushed forward, like an idiot...."

Lylia murmurs, "But a brave one."

Brieson says, "And still I ran, and I saw it begin to reach for the two girls."

Brieson says, "I screamed then myself."

Eugenides just arrived.

Eugenides sits down next to Lylia.

Brieson says, "And it heard me. Its head turned, and its eyes were like the hottest coals, bright as a red star."

Brieson says, "Before it could reach me, I reached it."

Brieson holds up two hands, and hot white glowing threads of lightning spark to life, dancing between his fingers like the a pulsing spiderweb. The tiny bolts of energy twist in his palms, occassionally arcing up the length of his arms.

Brieson says, "My magic manifested itself for the first time that day."

Brieson says, "And I will be honest, when I say I wish I had known what I was doing."

Raelee quietly observes, "Fear can be... energizing."

Brieson says, "The lightning happened briefly, a simple flash, little fanfare, but enough power to tear the demon in half."

Brieson says, "I was celebrated as a hero, while still just a boy, throughout my town, and some nearby villages and farms."

Brieson says, "Of course, it was only a matter of time until that story reached the ears of someone in the Hall of Mages."

Brieson says, "But days before they even knew...."

Brieson says, "I fell deathly ill."

Brieson says, "Soffie tended to me...rarely leaving my side."

Brieson says, "Healers did their best to examine me, to help, to offer remedies..."

Brieson says, "Nothing worked."

Brieson says, "Miraclously, weeks later...I recovered."

Evia ponders.

Brieson says, "And days later, the first representative of the Hall arrived."

Brieson says, "They examined me, and instructed my parents of my need to register, and when I was older, I was welcome to attend their Halls."

Brieson says, "The rest of my time? Simply boring."

Speaking to Brieson, you ask, "Your illness returns periodically it seems? What do you take made you recover?"

Brieson nods to you.

Brieson says, "From time to time, it would return."

Brieson says, "Sometimes for a few hours, sometimes for days."

Speaking quickly to Brieson, Rowmi inquires, "Wait wait..where was your sister during all this?"

Brieson says, "Soffie tended to me when I grew sick."

Brieson says, "When I was...my version of healthy..."

Brieson says, "I was never far from her sight."

Rowmi nods understandingly.

Brieson says, "She sacrificed a lot for me."

Speaking to Brieson, Lylia says, "And she remains close, I have noticed."

Brieson says, "I suppose it makes sense. I have a short time left, and she will have many more decades."

Brieson says, "Shortly after my seventeenth birth year, a terrible flare up of my...illness occured."

Brieson says, "I was incapacitated for weeks."

Brieson says, "Upon my recovery, I finally decided to venture to the Swale."

Brieson says, "To take up the Hall's offer, and my sister....like before on the shore of the lake..."

Brieson says, "She followed."

Brieson says, "They were worried, all of them."

Brieson says, "Mother, father, Soffie."

Brieson says, "It was a concern of theirs, that perhaps my next....incident, would be the last."

Brieson says, "I was taken on at the Swale as a student."

Brieson says, "And still, the infliction occured."

Eugenides rubs his hand, flexing the fingers with a pained grimace.

Brieson says, "I went from student...to scholar...to magister...to inquisitor."

Evia asks, "I would speculate you were also an object of study for a time?"

Brieson says, "Even the skilled mages, they had no cure for me."

Brieson nods at Evia.

Evia says, "Sister must have clung to hope that help would come to you."

Brieson says, "For 16 years I've been in the Swale..."

Brieson says, "No help has come."

Brieson says, "They all have various theories."

Brieson nods at Evia.

Brieson says, "But no results."

Evia nods.

Eugenides curiously asks, "Has she ever been sick?"

Brieson says, "They do agree on one thing almost."

Brieson asks, "That my magic?"

Brieson says, "It's poison, and I will have a short life."

Rowmi winces.

Brieson says, "I am 33 now."

Brieson says, "They gave me until I was 32."

Brieson shrugs.

Geijon falls asleep in the chair, but keeps rocking back and forth.

Brieson says, "I've been successful, in my short time in the Hall..."

Brieson says, "Likely out of charity, more than true respect."

Brieson shrugs.

Lylia says, "I doubt that. You clearly have a good deal of power; that earns respect."

Brieson says, "But I am good...and what I do."

Brieson says, "...and the world...and the wind...responds to me in ways that surprise me every day."

Brieson says, "So there is a moral to this story, if you're still taking notes."

Brieson nods to you.

Evia says, "He is never not taking notes."

Brieson says, "I follow Imaera, I celebrate nature....and life."

Brieson says, "Of those things, freedom reigns in them both, or it should."

Brieson says, "I am not here to tread on the freedoms of your people, or to cast blame, or merely throw people in the gallows, for the sake of saving face."

Brieson says, "But I also...am dying...."

Brieson says, "And that makes me as equally as dangerous as it does merciful."

Speaking to Brieson, Raelee asks, "Do you have any expectations as to how much time remains?"

Brieson shrugs at Raelee.

Brieson says, "Tonight could be my last."

Brieson says, "Whose to say."

Speaking dubiously to Brieson, Rowmi asks, "I am confused. Your magic is killing you? Or is your disease using your magic?"

Brieson shrugs at Rowmi.

Brieson says, "They claim the magic innate inside of me....."

Brieson says, "Is killing me."

Speaking to Brieson, Raelee asks, "Air is your strongest, is it not? Or I have misinterpreted that?"

Brieson says, "It is."

Brieson says, "I suffocate inside, truly."

Brieson says, "That is why I wander so often."

Brieson says, "When my sister is more content to early nights, warm chambers...."

Brieson says, "I believe, that concludes the story for now."

Brieson says, "The hour is late, thank you for your time and your company."

Brieson says, "Goodnight everyone. Imaera's blessings on you."

Brieson stands up.

Brieson takes a drink from his caramel apple cider.

The doorman nods to Brieson.
Lord Brieson just went through an elegant green marble arch.