An Empty Confessional (Hafnium) GMed by Takimaru

[Takimaru]

Re: An Empty Confessional (Hafnium) GMed by Takimaru

Status:

Spoiler

Tessa: HP = 58, PP = 38, EP = 26/36, Status = Fine

One gold coin. It was all that Tessa had left to her name by the end of that day. Money had been tight, to say the least, and no one had donated to her little chapel in quite some time, let alone paid a proper visit, save for the drunkard and a few others too stingy to drop a coin or two into the alms box. Times like these were more of a test in her faith in Erion than ever. Provided, she would likely receive her pitiful share of the church's tithe sometime within the next several days, but that may as well be an eternity to stretch a single coin out with. It could be spent on only the simplest of meals--perhaps a loaf of bread and not much else... one that she would have to ration out.

The nun's stomach growled at her. Despite her thin frame, her body still craved sustenance the same way a ravenous beast might. She had just broken her fast from earlier as part of the church's tradition on certain days, but already she was hungry. It seemed that the bit of exertion she made in torturing the drunkard played a part in bringing back her appetite. On the other hand, she was still better off than the prisoner in the room. Perhaps the lack of food would take the vile man closer to Erion's light.

But whether or not Tessa cared to keep her ragged prisoner in mind, the scenes in Cerawal come nighttime provoked all sorts of thoughts about the state of the world. The number of guards on duty naturally dwindled, and so many of the city's less savory types came out to play during these hours. The main roads were still relatively safe, being part of the constables' occasional patrol routes and being properly lit, but even a glimpse into the alleys and smaller streets would say much about the sorts of activities that occurred at night. Some deviants even had the nerve to do so on more well-traveled avenues like the one Tessa walked upon. The nun was reminded of this when she spotted a fairly attractive, dark-haired woman making her approach towards a lone male traveler, probably a tourist of some sort from the looks of his clothes.

"Hello, sir... care for some sweets? I know the best dessert shops in town," she greeted towards him in a sultry voice.

Tessa was not quite a native of Cerawal, but she had lived there long enough to know what it meant: this was a proposition made by a prostitute. The slave trade was prominent, especially in settlements near Elynsor's southern border, as such activities were openly legal in Greybourne. And yet there were women who would willingly volunteer their bodies of their own free will--though whether or not it was really a choice might be a tough issue for Tessa, as her own monetary situation would remind her that making ends meet was not always the easiest of matters.

While walking along, she would spot a variety of hints to other activities illegal under Elynsorian law; gambling, drug use, extortion. Provided, they were relatively subtle indicators, such as conversations and odd-looking meetings between individuals, but enough for the cleric to have a good idea of their true nature. If Erion had blessed the Kingdom of Elynsor as his own, then this place hardly counted.

Besides the one coin, she did have a proper set of weapons and a body, though putting either of those to use as a cleric of Erion was probably out of the question. However, it was a matter made more complicated by the fact that she had already broken one of those rules earlier. Bringing harm to others, especially by way of torture, was considered a grave sin in church doctrine, but surely Erion would make an exception for Tessa, who had only done so for the purpose of enlightening a darkened soul. Wouldn't he?

Had she been wearing her nun's habit, then Tessa might have earned different reactions from those around her, for better or for worse. But tonight, she was a citizen like any other. Without her robes to communicate her purity in the eyes of Erion, Tessa was also subject to many of the temptations and vices that regular people underwent every day.

She didn't earn any propositions from the ladies of the night, nor did a random thug try to extort her for money just yet. However, she did get a man, one with spiked, flaxen hair and dressed in fairly fashionable clothes. He looked her over while standing just outside the door of a dive bar, and beckoned her towards him.

"Hey," he greeted her in a friendly yet low voice. "Need something that'll bring you up? I've got some good drinks for real cheap." While he might have made it sound like he was advertising for the bar, the way he shifted his hands around in his pockets told another story. Tessa knew what he meant; drugs. Ballweed, tullgrass, bitshrooms, or something along those lines. The guards had just made their pass, so he took the opportunity to be more bold than usual. Perhaps it was the rings under her eyes, or something made her look the part of someone interested in his wares. But was she?

 

[Hafnium]

Re: An Empty Confessional (Hafnium) GMed by Takimaru

There were probably few places farther from Erion's light than Cerawal at nighttime. Some part of Tessa preferred it that way, because when she was out there in the dark city streets and clad in her traveling clothes with her hair down and the weapons she had purchased for self defense slung at her hips, she was no longer a nun but rather just another transient human among a populace of the same. Seeing what happened in plain view when the sun went down was a potent reminder of that, and one that she sometimes took solace in.

She knew that if she was lucky, she would find enough things on her short trip to distract her from her hunger and to leave her exhausted enough to simply collapse into bed and into sleep when she returned to the church. If she were supremely lucky, she would happen into an easy task or a kind person who might give her the coin or food necessary to live until she received her share of the tithe. As her journey started out, however, the nun began to believe that it would be an uneventful night wherein she would find neither. Still, better that than being unlucky. Bad things happened to unlucky women in the dark.

The prostitute's boldness was, of course, a point of interest, but it didn't concern the redhead. The nun wasn't a cleric of Erion that night, simply Tessa, and Tessa had stopped being shocked and appalled by such displays a lifetime ago. Even if she had been of a more pious mood, she wasn't sure that she'd have harassed either the working woman or her client. She knew how hard it could be to support oneself, especially given how short the charities of the church could fall toward one who truly needed them. At the same time, though, while she accepted it, the cleric surely didn't like it. Sex might not have been holy as it ought to have been in her eyes as a nun of Erion, but she doubted that more than one out of every ten of the women who walked the streets that night in Cerawal were doing so by their own will.

Either way, she passed by the duo with little more than a passing glance. It was the same level of attention she paid to most of the illegal activities going on. Tessa was no hero; she wasn't in the city to wipe its streets clean of crime but rather just a woman traveling through some darkened streets in an attempt to find rest. Besides, most of the illicit transactions seemed most likely to hurt other petty criminals rather than any innocent bystander. As such, the first such transaction that the nun would pay more than passing attention to was the one directed at her. At that, she would approach the stranger and listen to his proposition.

Ah. Tessa knew this sales pitch all too well. And yet, despite the fact that she was a cleric of Erion.... "I'm looking for something a bit more lightweight, to help me sleep," she replied easily. Though it probably wasn't the accepted criminal code word for what she was asking for, she didn't imagine he'd have much issue picking up that she was interested in his ballweed stock. "Just a sip, I'm low on coin."

 

[Takimaru]

Re: An Empty Confessional (Hafnium) GMed by Takimaru

Status:

Spoiler

Tessa: HP = 58, PP = 38, EP = 26/36, Status = Fine

It was fortunate enough for Tessa that she was in her street clothes, as the stranger took to her response with a degree of warmth that she might not have otherwise been subjected to had she been wearing the robes of a cleric of Erion. The man rubbed his chin, taking on a thoughtful look. "Ahh. Some of the green drink then, huh? Well, I've got quite a bit, but if you're low on cash, I could always get you a nickel's worth. Or even a dime, maybe, if you've got enough for that much. Sound good?"

No one who lived in Cerawal, drug user or otherwise, was terribly ignorant of the lingo, thanks to the city's very poorly enforced laws on the matter. The nun knew what he meant. A 'nickel' was five coins, a 'dime' ten, with the latter being about a gram's worth of ballweed.

With her single coin, Tessa would be able to purchase a truly meager amount, less than the minimum he was offering, though it would still be enough to have a smoke on roughly four or five different occasions. It might be awkward to ask for less, but on the other hand, most dealers weren't one to turn down sales for reasons like a shortage of money...

On the other hand, there would be some predictable side effects of a good hit. It was highly likely that she would get noticeably hungry after a hit, as if she wasn't fairly peckish enough already. As if to capitalize on those concerns, the double doors to the bar closest to them swung open as a group of satisfied patrons strolled out. The waft of alcohol and good food passed by Tessa's nose in the process.

Promises of relaxation, sated hunger and the warmth provided by the fire in the tavern passed her by, almost mockingly. It was as if some deity out there, less Erion and perhaps Tzern himself, was taunting her with the temptations her body sought to enjoy but simply could not easily acquire--not with her current means, anyway.

But, what she could have was a nice enough high. It would help her sleep for the night, and once she returned to the chapel, she could always bother to search her prisoner for any leftover coin he might have for her own use. Erion gave, and so he reserved the right to take it away, after all. On the other hand, food and drink were available here and now. She probably wouldn't be able to order much outside of a bowl of stew or soup, but it was better than nothing. However, if she did opt to splurge on a meal, she would have to turn down the dealer, who waited patiently for her reply.

 

[Hafnium]

Re: An Empty Confessional (Hafnium) GMed by Takimaru

The nun certainly couldn't claim to be surprised that her single coin wouldn't even get her the minimum amount that her prospective dealer was looking to push. She knew well the usual prices and quantities that ballweed went for, as she had been a frequent buyer for the last year, at least. Even then, Tessa had enough ballweed to last her for a week, if not more, waiting in her personal lockbox at the church. That little fact brought her to the obvious question: why was she seriously considering spending her last coin on more of the stuff instead of food?

It was a question that she could easily answer, even if she liked to pretend it was a difficult one. The idea of being without the drug for even a day made her anxious, maybe even scared her. It wasn't that she liked the effects; quite the opposite, actually, she hated them. Tessa loathed it every time she consigned that control over her very senses to the drug. She considered the feelings of calm that it induced to be fraudulent in nature, and had come to the point of despising that false relaxation. And yet, without it, sleep did not come very easily, if at all, and when it did come it almost always brought dark visions and terror with it. Beyond being a drug, ballweed was the medicine that allowed her to sleep.

She probably would've been able to deal with him to turn her last remaining money into more of her medicine. After all, coin was typically coin when it came to those who would sell the stuff. In the end, though, she didn't. While Tessa would've liked to have been able to claim that introspection and willpower, or even her faith in Erion, had been what ended up turning her away from that path, it simply wouldn't have been true. It ended up being the tavern doors swinging open and allowing those tempting scents and promises of a filled belly to escape that prevented her from treading down that path. "I'm even lower than that," she replied, slightly disgusted at the unintended tinge of disappointment that had escaped into her voice. "Maybe next time, if I can scrounge up a bit more coin," she would conclude before moving to take her leave and enter the tavern, assuming the dealer didn't have anything else to say that would require further response from her.

 

[Takimaru]

Re: An Empty Confessional (Hafnium) GMed by Takimaru

Status:

Spoiler

Tessa: HP = 58, PP = 38, EP = 26/36, Status = Fine

The flaxen-haired man raised a brow, looking somewhat confused by the revelation. A nickel bag was about the cheapest anyone had bought from him. Exactly how low on coin was she? It was something of a surprise to see someone of her appearance so desperate for a hit or two of ballweed. Most of the worst addicts had decidedly more haggard looks to them. And here, this mysterious crimson-haired woman was, well, mildly attractive, if he thought to overlook the rings under her eyes and relative lack of preparation with cosmetics. The dealer paused, as if considering something, then ultimately decided that it wouldn't hurt to take a chance.

Then came his proposition. "Hey, I have a room inside this place for the night... maybe you could do a hit or two with me? We could work something out if you're looking for a bulk deal."

Adjusting his collar, he waited patiently for her response. If Tessa decided to shrug him off and move past him, he wouldn't move to stop her. Whether or not she chose to proceed with him at her side, the woman would be able to get a good grasp of what the tavern was like inside.

Definitely one of those late night joints, filled with all manner of strangers, though not quite as rowdy as it could be. It had two levels; a bar a room for several long, rectangular tables on the first floor, while the upstairs portion had a few small, round tables and a hallway leading to what she might guess to be rooms.

On a chalkboard near the bar, close to the entrance, were the specials. Each was listed as 1 gold: a small bowl of lamb stew, chicken soup, or some sort of chowder, each served with a mug of spiced water and a sizeable loaf of bread. All in all, it might have been considered a blessing from Erion for once, and a good deal for what she did have, which would serve as a rare, much-needed moment of indulgence for her. If the dealer was with her, he'd notice her looks towards the menu and offer her a full dinner on his wallet--but Tessa wouldn't be so dense as to miss the implied price she'd have to pay for that extra bit of gluttony.

Sitting at the bar was an assortment of individuals: a grim-looking, hooded man with a sizeable bundle upon his back, which Tessa could only guess to be weapons; two lightly armored and stubble-chinned town guards, who cheerfully conversed with one another, seemingly unaware or unconcerned with the aforementioned stranger's luggage; a rather attractive woman with short blonde hair and green eyes, dressed in traveling clothes and looking utterly bored as she took a sip from a mug full of ale; and finally, a somewhat familiar face.

Brogan D. Ethland, as Tessa remembered him by. A slightly heavy-set but square-jawed man, and a decidedly proud one, he was the warrior who taught her the art of swordsmanship, at a heavy fee of course--which explained why she hadn't visited him lately thanks to the tightness of funds. As he often reminded her, he was a self-proclaimed veteran of the Elynsorian Army.

But for all that training, it seemed that he hadn't yet noticed her, and she could keep it that way if she chose to skip to the upstairs portion and have the person accompanying her, if he was with her, make the orders at the bar. Otherwise, the choice to claim a chair between any of the patrons was available, for the bar had the only remaining seats, save for a lone table upstairs, which could be spotted through the railing.

 

[Hafnium]

Re: An Empty Confessional (Hafnium) GMed by Takimaru

Tessa hesitated, though only briefly, when offered a different avenue to obtain more of her preferred medicine. She briefly considered that a night with a stranger probably wouldn't be the worst thing she'd ever done, especially after what the drunkard had suffered under her whims that night. But, while it was slightly slower to rouse than the primal desire to get her fix, the more rational and prideful part of the redhead's brain was quick to react to the idea that she'd even considered it for a moment with disgust, although she avoided showing it in her expression. "You're kind to offer," she carefully responded, not wanting to insult her potential source of ballweed despite the implications present in his proposal. "But I'm only interested in the drink. Sorry."

She would proceed by giving the man a small nod as a farewell and then moving into the tavern proper. Her initial subconscious disappointment at not getting more of her medicine was assuaged in part by learning that her one gold on hand would buy her a decent meal there. A quick glance around for available seating revealed quite a few faces present, though Tessa's eyes were initially drawn to the guards. Their presence made her paranoid, even though she knew that logically she had no need to be. It wasn't like she was carrying her ballweed stash on her, it was secure in her lockbox at the church. And there was certainly no evidence on the redhead herself that she had kidnapped a man and broken his knees. Still, for some reason Tessa couldn't shake the feeling that these guards might somehow psychically glean that she was a criminal, so she initially gave them a wide berth as she maneuvered through the tavern.

The second and only other person that she paid any major amount of attention to was her former instructor. She had no reason to dislike Brogan. He had taught her several lessons in swordsmanship while few others were willing to, and while his prices were high, such that a month of his tutelage cost her a quarter of the not-insignificant amount of gold she had arrived in the Demilon fiefdom with, he hadn't required her to spend nearly as much in training supplies and hadn't minded that she purchased a less expensive sword, which had saved her gold in the long run. She would've continued training under him as well, but her limited wealth had simply run out too quickly.

Tessa still wished to avoid the man, though, if only because she lacked the gold to continue training under him. She was still prideful enough to not want anybody to know how poor she had become, especially given that her ballweed addiction had much to do with that. With that in mind, she ended up approaching a seat at the bar that firstly placed her as far away from Brogan as possible, and secondarily kept her as many seats away from the guards as she could be while still maintaining distance from her former trainer. She made no special effort to avoid the two apparent travelers, and would sit near either so long as it fulfilled her other two goals.

Once she took her seat and obtained the attention of the bartender, she would quickly order, having made her decision the moment she had spotted the menu. "I'll have a bowl of the chicken soup with water and bread." She could feel her stomach rumble as she spoke, almost as if in anticipation of the coming meal.

 

[Takimaru]

Re: An Empty Confessional (Hafnium) GMed by Takimaru

Status:

Spoiler

Tessa: HP = 58, PP = 38, EP = 26/36, Status = Fine

"Aw, that's a shame. Well, I'm here if you ever change your mind or find yourself with a bit more cash to spend," replied the dealer with a shrug and a slightly forced grin in spite of his disappointment.

Luckily for Tessa, the stranger wasn't too persistent about his more personal offer. There were many other potential customers cruising the streets tonight, and on top of that, the nun had already moved forward into the relative safety of a fairly crowded bar, making it more trouble than it was worth if he thought to pursue her further. The safety was, of course, in his eyes and not those of Tessa's, as the guards' presence would only serve to heighten her sense of paranoia. It was certainly an understandable sentiment, especially for one who had just committed a crime... one that would likely develop into a far worse offense in the following days to come--at least, in the eyes of men. Perhaps less so in those of Erion.

Either way, there was no going back now. While a hit of ballweed would definitely have done a great deal in easing Tessa's nerves over the situation with the drunkard tied up in her chapel's back room, her body nagged her for more basic, more important needs--sustenance. She would find few interruptions as she made her way towards her seat. Even Brogan was seemingly unaware of her presence, in spite of strong claims that his level of perception had been trained to a degree beyond that of most men, thanks to time spent doing dangerous missions as a member of the Elynsorian military. If he was secretly aware of her, then he was courteous enough to leave her alone for the time being. He was certainly a courteous man, at least to Tessa.

The bartender, a weathered individual with a graying beard, dark brown eyes and a bulky frame, greeted her with a quick nod. "Comin' right up," was all that he said in response before moving to the other end of the bar to collect a tip from a customer that had just taken their leave. It was hard to tell, between the various orders and requests made of the man, whether or not he had actually bothered to put her order in. Several minutes passed, and for one reason or another, the man appeared to be constantly sidetracked with the needs of other patrons. Had he even taken her order properly?

Then, he made a gesture towards a nearby waitress, who retreated into the kitchen for a moment before emerging with a wooden tray. On it was a tall bowl full of warm soup, filled generously with chunks of chicken and various vegetables, along with a sizable loaf of bread and a mug of sweetly spiced water. The dark-haired woman gave Tessa a polite smile before setting the meal in front of her and retreating to handle other matters. This left the nun alone with the food she had sought so much. Would she be able to make the next few days on such little coin? It didn't matter, at least, not for the time being. As temporary as the simple comfort might have been, it was here for her now.

When the redhead took her first taste of the soup, she would find it absolutely delicious. It might not have been the best meal she had, not by far--but thanks to her famished state it seemed that way in the moment. The bread was still warm, and the water was just a touch sweet, with a hint of honey and sage.

Then, just as she moved in for her second spoonful, a bump from behind knocked her chair forward, pushing her into the bowl of soup... which, of course, spilled onto the counter, along with her mug of water. Tessa managed to set them both upright, but not before easily half of the food and drink had been wasted. At the very least, the bread was still intact.

A glance behind her would reveal a small, red-haired child, brandishing a wooden toy sword in one hand. "Enemy towers!" he cried, doing his best to shove the next barstool over, which was occupied by the blonde-haired girl seated next to Tessa. She stood up with her drink in hand just in time to avoid the same fate as the nun beside her, though a bit of the alcohol from her mug sloshed onto her fingers, which incited a most irritated look from the stranger.

"Hey! Watch it, ya fuckin' brat! What's a kid doing in a tavern this late at night anyway?!"

A meek, brown-haired woman hurried down the stairs from the upper portion of the establishment, grabbing the child by the shoulders and looking up at Tessa and the other girl. "I'm terribly sorry!"

 

[Hafnium]

Re: An Empty Confessional (Hafnium) GMed by Takimaru

Patience was a virtue in the eyes of Erion, but Tessa's began to fray as it became uncertain whether the bartender had correctly taken her order or not. It might have just been the hunger, but her frustration at the wait was joined by a tinge of jealousy and bitterness as she watched him move to serve the other patrons one by one. Did he think her beneath him? Was her coin not good enough for this establishment? The redhead didn't voice her dissatisfaction though, and while a large part of that was not wanting to cause any scenes in the presence of guards and her weapons tutor an equally large part was that she generally wasn't the sort to do such a thing unless she had been pushed to her absolute limit.

Her remaining patience would eventually pay off when her food was finally delivered, or perhaps it was simply her willingness to settle for less than stellar service that had paid off. Regardless of which it truly was, Tessa couldn't be bothered to give too much thought to which side of the line between virtue and fault her action, or inaction, had fallen on. She was too busy giving a hasty, silent prayer of thanks to Erion to the meal so that she could begin to savor the most substantial meal she'd had in days. And before long, she received her reward in the form of her first spoonful of that soup, which easily beat out her usual recent fare of stale bread by leaps and bounds.

She was moving to take her second spoonful of the soup when a sudden shove from behind reminded her the hard way that as He gave, He could also take away. The redhead didn't even spare a glance back at what had started the chain reaction which had caused her bowl and glass to tip and spill most of their contents over the bar, she was too busy scrambling to set them right and gather as much of her lost meal as possible and return it to its rightful place. It was a task she undertook with a level of intensity and utter lack of care for how the others around her might look down on her desperation that would've looked far less pitiable if she'd been trying to keep a large pile of treasure from slipping through her fingers instead of soup.

But while she didn't care what others might think of her effort to salvage as much as she could of her meal, she cared even less after she assessed the damage and discovered that over half of her soup and drink were lost to the counter, as by then she was ready to openly sob over the nearly complete waste of what might be her grandest meal for weeks. It was almost worse that the only thing that had escaped unharmed was the bread, which she had intended to save so that she could break her fast with it the next day. Before she could lose herself in despair, however, she ended up losing herself in anger. Just what sort of fool would come into a tavern and casually attempt to knock over occupied bar stools, after all? She spun on the unseen thug, ready to give him and everyone in earshot of her a lesson in creative use of expletives... only to find her momentum stolen when she realized that it was just a child.

Tessa was still irritated at him, but she couldn't very well curse out a young boy. It was even less of an option when a brunette woman who seemed at a glance to have an even more unenviable life than the nun came down to grab him and apologize for him. The redhead sighed following her hasty apology. "All hardships and blunders are part of Erion's plan, you need not be sorry," she recited with a well-practiced tone of reassurance, forgetting herself in that she had only wanted to be Tessa that night and not a cleric. She considered following up by echoing the question that the woman beside her had asked, which was what such a young boy was doing in a tavern so late at night, but she had a feeling that it wouldn't be a pleasant subject for his apparent guardian. Instead, on a whim Tessa decided to approach a different avenue of conversation, which she had hoped might help ease the meek woman's nerves.

"Young man," she calmly continued, setting herself down on one knee in order to bring herself to eye level with the boy. "You're quite strong. I'm guessing you'd like to be a knight when you grow up, wouldn't you?" Her lips curled into a tired smile as she waited for him to answer.

 

[Takimaru]

Re: An Empty Confessional (Hafnium) GMed by Takimaru

Status:

Spoiler

Tessa: HP = 58, PP = 38, EP = 26/36, Status = Fine

"Erion... ?" echoed the brunette woman quietly, more to herself than to anyone else, as if she had never heard the name before. That, or she was trying to figure out why the plainclothes Tessa was speaking like a cleric of the aforementioned deity.

The boy, however, paid less attention to the style of Tessa's speech and more to its actual contents. "I know! I'm going to be the strongest knight ever! And make it so no one ever hurts my papa again! Or takes our house away, like the bad guys. Horrible people who put my papa away in towers like this one," he explained with no shortage of zeal, motioning to the wooden barstool as he did so. A closer look upon the chair that Tessa previously sat upon would show that it was rectangular in construction, with enough stretchers and crossbeams added over time and wear to make it look almost like a somewhat tall building. It became somewhat apparent how the child could see the barstool as resembling a tower in his fantasy world of sorts.

"Papa said he can't come back," he added, "but I'll bring him back." He then took a few practice swipes at the air, resulting in a few audible whooshing noises, clumsy as they were.

"That's enough of such talk, Cael," the woman interrupted in a scolding voice, before softening her tone and looking back to Tessa. "Truly though, I do apologize. It's past his bedtime but he just can't stay asleep in a bed that isn't his own."

The short-haired blonde who was seated next to Tessa, a pretty but sharp-eyed girl dressed in a green cloak and brown travelers' clothes, twitched an eyebrow at the two of them and huffed. "Yeah, well, that horseplay of his almost cost me my drink, so get his ass back upstairs, willya? I don't stay awake at hours like these so that I can deal with frickin' kids..."

"I'm not a KID! I'm six and a half!" yelled the boy angrily. "That's only a few more years until I can be knighted!"

"Yeah? Well, you still look like a brat to me, and a commoner at that, so that's never gonna happen. Now get the hell outta here," replied the cloaked one dismissively.

"You're mean!" cried the lad before taking an angry swing at the traveler's shins. Though it was merely a toy sword, it was still made of solid wood, and the resulting impact actually did cause the girl to drop her drink this time around.

"Agh! Ffff---... you little BASTARD! That's it, I'm outta here! What kind of inn keeps brats around at an hour like this!? UGH!" The stranger raised a hand against the boy, but thought better of following through and instead, stormed out of the bar with her fists clenched.

This earned the attention of the barkeep, who could only frown and give the two a disapproving look. "Listen, Ayna, I said you were alright to stay for just a while, but this's the third time that I've lost a customer now because of Cael's antics. And I only agreed to since your husband already has a tab here. But listen, I want you out by the morning. Can't have everyone saying that this place has become a nursery, you know?"

"But..." started the woman.

The barkeep simply shook his head in response. "Sorry, but it's final. No hard feelings, just business. I can't be goin' out for one kid, you know?"

The brown-haired woman's expression drooped, her grip tightening on the boy's wrist. "Yes, I... I understand. I'm sorry for causing you trouble," was all that she could respond with before ushering her child upstairs.

After the two left the scene, the tavern owner eyed Tessa's half-full bowl of soup. "Sorry about that," he offered, before taking it from the tray. "Let me get that fixed for you." He retreated into the kitchen area for just a few seconds, then came back with the bowl newly filled. Setting it back on the redhead's tray, he offered her a nod. "This doesn't happen that often, I swear. Was just doin' a rare favor for an old regular. Anyway... enjoy your meal."

 

[Hafnium]

Re: An Empty Confessional (Hafnium) GMed by Takimaru

It did not surprise Tessa in the least that there was a darker story behind why an apparent mother and her child had been forced to stay in a tavern, although it didn't keep her smile from becoming even more weary as proof of her hunch was laid before her. She still managed to maintain that smile though, and listened intently to the whole of the child's story and even the mother's second apology. The nun was about to open her mouth to offer what little she could in the way of light to the duo, having intended on suggesting that the boy might come to church where she could read him the stories of those greatest crusaders of Erion so that he might gain a proper knight's faith and morals, but she wouldn't get the opportunity before the woman who'd been beside her had spoken up.

The redhead had to pinch her fingers against the bridge of her nose to keep a headache from taking root as the blonde traveler quickly ended up in an argument with a six year old. She regretted that in a way, because if she hadn't been so distracted with preventative measures against the pounding in her skull she might have been able to stop the swing that led to the mother and son being kicked out of the tavern, even though it wouldn't have been at all for the traveler's benefit. Instead, she was too late and at the end of it all she was forced to watch as the two departed toward the staircase, their lives even more uncertain now than they had been just minutes prior.

She couldn't do anything for them. That was what she told herself, at least. After all, she had no food, and the well behind the church was running dry and she'd have no water unless she dug another soon. At best she might offer them a place to sleep and shelter, and surely they could find a better option on their own soon enough. And, of course, none of that was to forget that she had a man who she had beaten half to death locked in the back room of her church. Tessa had all these excuses and more not to even try to help the two... but she still deeply wanted to.

It was easy enough to listen to that sort of logic if the person who needed help was a number, or just an anonymous face in a crowd. That, after all, was how she avoided both helping the majority of the homeless and starving and those who were otherwise tortured by their own circumstances in Cerawal and avoided the crippling guilt which would've otherwise haunted her for her inaction. If she could justify them as being criminals, or bad people, or having earned their own fate it made it even easier to rationalize doing nothing as they suffered. But Ayna and Cael were none of those things. The nun had seen their faces, seen how they were suffering, and seen enough of a glimpse into their lives and pasts to be completely unable to think of them as anything other than miserable innocents. Tessa couldn't simply stand back and do nothing, not while she herself wasn't completely without something to offer.

"Thank you. I'll be back for my food in just a moment," she remarked toward the bartender after he offered her a refill on her soup and water, and then she rushed to catch up with the mother and son. She would tap on the woman's shoulder when she caught up in order to grab her attention. "Ayna, was it?" she would ask once the woman had stopped to speak to her. "My name is Tessa, I'm the cleric charged with the local church of Erion. I can't help but feel responsible for what just happened, so I wanted to extend an offer to stay in the church. I must admit that I have little food to share and I've no beds, so you'd have to find your own meals for the most part and sleep on the pews, but you and Cael are welcome to what shelter the church can offer for as long as you need." I'm doing something extremely stupid right now, aren't I? the nun mentally punctuated her offer as her thoughts briefly wandered to the church's other 'guest'. It was too late to rescind the offer then, regardless.

 

[Takimaru]

Re: An Empty Confessional (Hafnium) GMed by Takimaru

Status:

Spoiler

Tessa: HP = 58, PP = 38, EP = 26/36, Status = Fine

The scene had also caused the two armed guards to direct a glance towards those involved. However, after seeing how it was handled by the owner, they were quick enough to return to their drinks. Brogan did the same, holding his look a little longer due to there being a face among the crowd that he could have sworn he recognized... but, perhaps to Tessa's relief, he eventually turned his gaze back to a more interesting attraction than some petty argument: the rather comely waitresses moving to and fro.

The barkeep simply raised a brow and gave a short nod in response at Tessa's sudden though momentary departure. The mother and son had just reached the top of the stairs when the crimson-haired cleric caught up to them. Ayna, as she was called, had tears welled up in the corners of her eyes when she turned to face Tessa.

"I'm so sorry," she blurted out in rather excessive apology, quickly using the back of her free hand to wipe away at her face once the salty drops began to roll down her cheeks. She grimaced and merely offered a nod and a sniffle in confirmation to the question of her name. But when the redhead identified herself as a cleric of Erion, and put forth an offer that would be all too difficult for any soon-to-be homeless person to refuse, a look of confusion and disbelief crossed the tired mother's features. After all, in her eyes, Tessa was the one who had been inconvenienced. What did she owe them? If anything, it should have been the other way around.

But as the meaning behind the nun's words sunk in, the other woman's expressions gave way to a hint of hope. "Are you... sure? I..." She paused, as if to consider an offer that hardly needed that much contemplation. Her and Cael had to leave by the morning, that was for sure. "If it doesn't trouble you too much, I... no, we, would be forever grateful," said Ayna, her voice wavering ever so slightly as she squeezed her son's hand. The boy could only look towards his weary mother, then to Tessa, with curious eyes.

"Your kindness is unheard of," she went on, trying her best not to break down. "We won't cause trouble for you this time, I promise," the woman added. "A church of Erion... was it the small chapel east of here?"

Her guess was accurate enough. Tessa's chapel bore the Cross of Erion, and it was the only building in all of Cerawal that carried such a mark. Though the name of her deity wasn't an unknown one by the various inhabitants of the city, for them it did not provoke an image of an all-powerful god, or rather, the only god, that proper citizens of Elynsor should worship. For those living in Cerawal, Erion was just one of many who had services to offer, promises to make.

But the promise of hope that Tessa offered was enough for the downtrodden mother and her child. Once she had given her confirmation as to her chapel's location, she would receive repeated apologies and words of thanks alike from Ayna, who then made her way back to the room with a much more upbeat air about her. Cael, noticing the change in his mother's expression after the interaction with the mysterious woman, could only smile and wave his free hand at Tessa as he was led along. "Bye lady!"

This left the cleric free to return to her meal, which was untouched when she got back to it and yet still warm enough to be satisfying. It was almost as if Erion himself had rewarded her for carrying out his work, as the meal was all too filling in a way that she hadn't felt for a long while.

After she finished her soup--and stored away the extra bread, if she so chose--Tessa could finally leave the tavern to return to the business that no doubt needed to be handled back at the chapel before her new guests could arrive the next day. The food did enough to energize her frail frame for the hard work to be done.

On the way back, she would catch a glimpse of the city. Though perhaps only an hour or so had passed since she first left, it was considerably darker now, with the majority of lit windows coming from late-night taverns and, interestingly enough, some large wooden towers on the north side of town. Those were once used as guard posts, as Tessa knew Cerawal to have once been a Greybournian fort town before it was taken by the Kingdom of Elynsor. But now that the relationship between the two nations had turned into a relatively peaceful one, many of those structures, once used to protect against sieges, fell into disuse over time. Most of those in Cerawal were eventually occupied by various businesses--including ones that operated late, so it seemed.

When she returned to her chapel, Tessa would find the chapel quiet... almost too quiet. But a quick trip to the dark room in which her captive sat would reveal that he was still there; perhaps passed out from fatigue, or even dead, given his lack of movement.

 

[Hafnium]

Re: An Empty Confessional (Hafnium) GMed by Takimaru

The nun's smile lost its weary edge when faced with Ayna's genuine gratitude. "Yes, it's that chapel," she would initially offer to confirm Ayna's question and was content to leave it at that. When the woman continued to offer gratitude, however, Tessa added; "Do not worry about it. It might actually be that I'm being a little bit selfish here, as I think I'll like having a bit more company. So you two will be doing me a favor in this." When the two moved to depart, she said her farewell. "I'll see you both tomorrow morning."

With that, Tessa herself returned to the bar in order to savor her meal, which was all the sweeter for the simple act of charity she'd performed. The soup and water satisfied her hunger and thirst such that she wasn't distracted by even a single thought of what she would need to do in order to prepare the chapel for the arrival of her new guests. Soon she had drained her bowl and cup dry and stowed away her bread before ensuring that she had appropriately paid for her meal and exiting the tavern.

It was on the way back to the church that she gave any real thought to how she would handle evicting her old guest. But as much as she'd have liked to pretend that she was having a moral crisis about it, no matter what line of logic she followed it seemed only sensible to her that the man's life would have to end that night, regardless of what other penances she had intended to exact on him. So, it wasn't very long into her walk at all that she had stopped thinking about anything in particular and simply allowed her mind to wander as she made that slow trip at the end of which she would enact the drunkard's death. It also happened to be that wandering of her thoughts that caused her to notice the lit towers, and while it wasn't the first time she had ever seen them the structures certainly seemed far more striking following Cael's comments about them. What an odd coincidence.

It wasn't like she was going to rush over to investigate the buildings just out of a vague interest when she had something far more important to do though, and so before long she found back at the church where she slipped in through the side door and barred it behind her. The nun checked to ensure that the door leading out into the main hall was still barred, as she always did when she returned, before slipping into her study to deposit the bread she had kept from the tavern and ensure that nobody had slipped in and was hiding in there. Normally she did so simply out of fear of what scheme a bandit or thug might try to enact if they ever spotted her leaving through that side door, though her reasons that night were far more related to ensuring that her own plotting hadn't been uncovered.

She briefly considered using up a bit of her remaining ballweed stash before what was to come next, but decided that it wasn't right not to be lucid for it. With that decided, she retrieved the key to the storage room, exited the study, and then went to check on her 'guest,' who she found was either sleeping, unconscious, or dead. And when she looked upon the man she found that she was no longer enraged or angry but nor was she scared or remorseful, Tessa simply felt a cold indifference toward him and his suffering. To her, he was little more than a corpse regardless of what state between life and death he was actually in, so perhaps he would be lucky if it turned out that he had stopped breathing after the nun had left.

This did not stop her from barking at him; "Wake up!" She followed up by placing her heel to his side and roughly nudging him. "Terrifying, isn't it?" She would remark coldly while trying to wake the man, before she had even confirmed whether he was truly alive or dead. "Deprived of control and enslaved to the whims of another. You never know what they'll do to you or when or even why. Was it something you did or said to earn it? It doesn't make much of a difference what spawned your punishment when you're undergoing it, and there's nothing you can do but hope to avoid more in the future." If he hadn't visibly awoken by then, she would stop nudging him and instead reposition in order to instead step on one of his shattered kneecaps and put her full weight upon it. Regardless of whether or not she needed to brutalize him further though, Tessa would continue her cold rant. "And once you've been in this situation long enough, you'll realize that you've never had any real control or protection from this. That it was all just a comforting illusion and that it was only luck that you were allowed to hold onto it for as long as you were. That feeling of vulnerability will stay with you for the rest of your life as sure as any of your wounds will."

It was only then that Tessa let off of the man and waited to confirm that he was truly alive. It wasn't that she wanted or even expected any response at all from him, it was simply that there wasn't much point in continuing to speak to a dead man.

 

[Takimaru]

Re: An Empty Confessional (Hafnium) GMed by Takimaru

Status:

Spoiler

Tessa: HP = 58, PP = 38, EP = 26/36, Status = Fine

Upon returning to her chapel, Tessa would find that the bar keeping the main hall secure was indeed properly barred, and on top of that no other signs of a break-in--or an escape attempt on the part of her captive--were apparent. Conditions were perfect for the judgment that she would pass on Erion's behalf.

As she surveyed the unconscious man, he would remain silent for a few seconds... before managing a sound that might pass as a snore. Her loud command roused him into consciousness, or at the very least a groggy state that resembled it. He grunted and snorted. "Nnffhhhrrkk... huuu-yuuhh... kuh," started the man, only to crack his eyes open. It was something of a delayed reaction; perhaps he thought he was back home, or somewhere other than here. But the re-emerging pain in his knees and the sight of the redheaded nun reminded him that the nightmare that awaited him was not in the world of sleep, but in the world of the living.

"Guuwaaah!" he shrieked, his eyes growing wide in terror once more as tiny droplets of spit flew from his mouth onto Tessa's dress. The sight was pathetic. It was as if he was more animal than man now, given the way he communicated more in guttural noises than actual words. Did he even understand the words she was saying to him anymore? It was difficult to tell. His expression, however, said much about what he did feel: a raw and primal sense of fear.

And when she sunk her bodily weight down onto his kneecap, he started with a yelp that soon escalated into a blood-curdling scream. "GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" For someone with a body as broken as his own, he could still manage quite a loud sound--it was sharp, almost painful to Tessa's ears. While the hour or two of rest hadn't repaired his mindset, it apparently served to restore his ability to cry out loudly. She would likely have to stop him within the next few moments in order to avoid suspicion.

 

[Hafnium]

Re: An Empty Confessional (Hafnium) GMed by Takimaru

Tessa was more prepared for his screaming this time than she was the time that came before it. "Enough already," she coldly demanded before removing her foot from his kneecap and seizing the wad of cloth she had used to gag him earlier and shoving it back into his mouth. "You are fortunate," the nun continued more tonelessly once she had managed to muffle him again, trying to calm him down enough so that he could at least understand her. "I have lost my taste and interest in this, and wish it to be over now. Your punishment ends now, and soon you will doubtlessly be reunited with your family—may Erion protect them from you." She paced a few steps away from the drunk, allowing a few moments the words of hope to sink in so that he might escape his primal state of fear and listen more intently to her, before spinning and inspecting him.

"But before you can go, you must know why you were here, and it is an answer that I shall provide. And once I'm sure you understand, this will all be over. Do not interrupt me though, or I will cut your manhood from your body and gag you with it instead of that cloth," she threatened in the same manner that someone might threaten that a child would have no dinner if they misbehaved. Her tone became more pensive as she continued. "But to understand why you're here, you need to understand why I'm here...."

"You see, I was born to a miller in a place several miles away from here. I did not have a particularly eventful childhood. My brothers and sisters and I all did our share of work for our father, and in our free time we played. I have my share of good memories and bad memories from then, though the former outweighs the latter. The memory that sticks with me the most, though, is when I fell in love...." Tessa could not stop the pain from entering her expression as she mentioned that, so she carefully turned so that he couldn't see her face as she continued. "I wasn't even a woman grown when I first met him, a farmer's son, but I knew immediately that I was infatuated with him.... It's funny, to this day the thing I remember most about him physically is that when he held me close his hair always smelled of the harvest, of freshly hewn crops. But I don't think it was his appearance that attracted me so much as his character, he was a good and loving man, and his promises were as good as any coin. We married as soon as we were old enough, and I moved to live on his parent's farm with him."

It was then that her expression became cold again, and she turned back toward the drunk man to sneer at him with it. "Little did I know, his father wasn't even a quarter of the man he was, and his mother was a witch who seemed to think I'd stolen her son and was attempting to steal her loathsome husband. Outside of the time I spent with my own husband, those were the most miserable months of my life. His own father made sure of that, groping me and attempting to get me into his bed whenever he was gone and reeking of alcohol all the while. I was so terrified of what he'd do that I barred my door on those rare occasions when my husband was gone and I was sleeping alone."

Her cold expression contorted into a mask of rage mixed with murderous intent as she furiously spat out her next words. "But it didn't save me when he sold me to slavers!" The nun found herself grinding her teeth and clenching her hands into fists so hard that both immediately hurt, all in the service of calming herself down enough to not gut the drunkard then and there. It took her nearly a minute, during which the room was left in silence beyond whatever noises the bound man might make, to calm down enough to continue. "Yes..." she continued more quietly, though that rage had also continued to boil beneath the surface of her words and threatened to explode with any misstep by the man, "come to think of it, I don't believe I've introduced myself to you. I am Sister Tessa. And, in a past life, I was Tessa... your daughter-in-law." Following the revelation, she removed his gag before continuing to stare at him with hate in her eyes. The nun wasn't entirely sure why she did it, as she simply knew that she would only hate him more for anything that his pathetic mouth might utter. Perhaps, though, baiting him into saying something that might anger her enough to gut him actually was her reason.

 

[Takimaru]

Re: An Empty Confessional (Hafnium) GMed by Takimaru

Status:

Spoiler

Tessa: HP = 58, PP = 38, EP = 36/36, Status = Fine

It wasn't hard at all for Tessa to shove the dirty cloth that served as a makeshift gag right back into the man's maw, as he had opened it nice and wide for her while screaming out in agony. He tried several more yells as his vocal cords strained to produce a sound that someone outside might hear, but these proved fruitless as the cloth did enough to muffle the noises he made. Once he realized this, the effort in his cries began to die down. And once the nun delivered her stern warning, that she might feminize him and replace his current gag with a much less pleasant one, he went completely silent. She might have appeared frail, but she had the upper hand here, without a doubt. If she wanted to do something to him, be it on a simply whim or otherwise, there would be little, if anything, that he could do to stop her. Given what she had done to him already, it wouldn't have been a surprise at all for her to follow through on the brutal threat.

As the ability to make any meaningful choice was taken out of his hands, all he could do was sit... and listen. If the circumstances were different, he may have been able to afford ignoring what the cleric had to say. But now, she was his captor, and so listening to her tale was mandatory. Though he could offer no input, at least not with the wad of fabric stuffed in his mouth, he could at least get the answer to a question he had asked himself repeatedly as he waited in the dark--'why am I here?'. Indeed, within Tessa's story lay some sort of revelation, to be sure. What kind of sick person was this nun? Was she someone hired by a loan shark to get money or tangible resources out of him in order to repay some sort of old debt?

At first, her background seemed basic enough... actually, not terribly different from any other girl living in his hometown, when the drunkard thought about it. Still, he struggled to see her as anything close to a decent human being--not with the throbbing pain still lingering in his legs and ribs. Whether he cared to hear it or not, she would continue to talk. Her tale turned into something like the beginning of a rather plain love story. What was this? The confusion showed itself in his eyes as his brow furrowed ever so slightly. Clearly the fool still didn't know what to make of Tessa's speech, nor did he show any signs of catching on to her true identity. The question still lingered in his mind--why was he here?

Then, the answer came. Not in a single instant, but gradually, hint by hint, which allowed a cold sweat to form upon his forehead. Things he had long tried to forget were dug up once again, and the guilty look in his visage told Tessa all she needed to know about this man. She either had a past that bore an uncanny resemblance to someone he was once familiar with, a daughter-in-law... or she knew secrets about him that nobody else should. His mindset shifted immediately towards denial as it struggled to deal with stresses he once thought long buried. And when she removed his gag, allowing him to speak, he began to go off on a rant. Perhaps not so much to the one in front of him as to himself, in a manner of thinking out loud, wondering where he went wrong. His voice was ragged, but now there was clarity.

"N-No... NO! They told me you'd never be seen or heard from again! They promised me! Those BASTARDS! Unreliable, filthy fucking cheats," he began to rant. "This can't be happening... this can't be HAPPENING! You should be dead! Or someone's sow in a faraway land! There's no way you could be her!" he cried, his tear-filled eyes opening wider. He struggled in his bonds, but the action only served to remind him of his injuries. It was like he had seen a ghost. Perhaps, in a way, he had.

The gaze he set upon her afterwards was far more focused and intense as he began to find a sense of familiarity with her features. After a bit of a squint, he would ignore the striking resemblance no longer, and confirm her to be the girl he once knew. Yes--without a doubt, it WAS her. A bit of wear and the dark rings beneath her eyes had eroded some of the beauty she once carried, as did her expression. The Tessa from his memories was a meek, almost naive sort of beauty. This woman in front of him now was... cold, capable of rage that few women had ever shown before.

Clarity seemed to return to him, afforded by a combination of the drink's waning effects and the successful appeal to his memory that she made. His eyes then began to shift around him, as if searching for a proper answer. The man's mind raced, and he remembered the things he just said--that she should be dead, or someone's sow. Those words couldn't be taken back, and so he had just confirmed his identity, which ruled out his plan of feigning ignorance. Unable to find another solution, he began to sob loudly.

"I... I'm sorry... I had to do it, don't you see?" he choked between loud sniffles. "I did it to preserve my marriage that was made in the name of Erion. You were destroying our family... my wife was constantly accusing me of having an affair with you behind closed doors, even though you were the one making the advances. She was going to leave! My entire family would have been split apart! We had it good before you came into my son's life. If only you didn't present yourself the way you did around me... no, if only you didn't exist! None of this would have ever happened!" he cried, perhaps yelling as much to himself as he was to her.

 

[Hafnium]

Re: An Empty Confessional (Hafnium) GMed by Takimaru

Truth be told, Tessa couldn't say what stopped her from killing him outright when he responded in the manner that he did. She certainly wanted to kill him for the utter lack of remorse, if nothing else, and his words did him no favors when it came to alleviating her rage or earning any of her limited mercies. The nun's hand grasped at the the handle of the sword on her hip, ready to rip it free of its scabbard and tear his throat out with it. And yet, she did none of those things that she expected she might do, but instead simply cackled at her former father-in-law.

Her hysterical laughing fit lasted for the better part of a minute before she came down enough to explain to the man exactly what she found so funny. "You're a pitiful little man, aren't you?" she asked with a certain cruel sense of joviality. "Do not hate them too much for breaking their promises, for they are all dead. Well, maybe not all of them, but enough that I don't think they'll ever bother me again. It wasn't by my hand," she quickly added, preemptively answering the unspoken question that had likely crossed the drunkard's mind. "Rather, those mercenary types who would title themselves 'adventurers' found the place where I and many others were being imprisoned and they stormed it, killing most of the slavers in the process."

"But they weren't much better than the slavers, in my opinion. I could see the coins in their eyes when they looked at those of us who had been enslaved, and it wasn't hard to tell that they were imagining all the rewards they'd receive for returning us to our families. I chose to flee both adventurer and slaver alike when the opportunity arose. I even claimed some of the slavers' gold for myself," she explained patiently. It was odd, it felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of her shoulders when she had explained her reasons to the man, and she found herself explaining what had become of her after he had sold her off as if she were catching up with an old acquaintance—albeit one that she would probably soon murder.

"But I hadn't truly escaped, and in some ways I still haven't. Being raped and otherwise victimized on a daily basis does things to you. I could not show my face to my own family for shame, and I certainly couldn't show up on your doorstep. With a desire to try to forget those days and find a new life beyond the abuses I had suffered, I avoided my home of so many years entirely. It didn't matter though, even in a new city the triggers were always there, and I suffered daily breakdowns at simple things like a hand brushing against me or the sight of a man staring at me. To this day I still feel a tinge of fear that I'll be abducted every time I lie down to sleep alone, and I still have nightmares of the abuses I suffered," she admitted, a tinge of sadness escaping in her tone.

"But," she just as suddenly became jovial again, "amidst all that I did find Erion. It was mere chance, really. Happenstance, even, but I became a legitimate cleric in His name. And His strength has allowed me to take many otherwise impossible steps on the road to recovering and moving on from what was done to me.... I had even thought that I was truly past most of it, at least until you came along." Tessa began to restlessly pace around the man, unable to keep herself still while knowing that her own explanation would soon come to an end and that the man's judgment would come soon.

"But, the more I think about it... it's almost as if He delivered you to me, don't you think? As if He sent me a sign that you shouldn't be allowed to go unpunished for your sins. Why else would you have walked into that confessional and spoken of that? If you had done so at any other city, if you'd done so a few weeks earlier, or if you'd simply never had your crisis of conscience then I'd have never seen you or even been given this chance. This seems like fate, doesn't it?" The nun began to close on him then, like a predator approaching its prey, with each padding step taking her closer and closer to her father-in-law's oblivion. "As if Erion Himself is telling me that I've been trying to put the past behind me in the wrong way, and that I should be much more hands on about it," the rasp of her sword being pulled from its sheath accompanied that suggestion. "I certainly won't ignore His guidance."

Tessa knelt beside the drunkard then, placing the cold edge of her side sword to his neck. "This is how it was always going to end, you should thank Erion that I couldn't keep you around to torture you for longer. Perhaps soon I will send your wife, my former husband, and his new little wife along after you to keep you company and really erase my past. For now, though, farewell, Kennard!" Unless she was somehow stopped, the nun proceeded by yanking the blade across his throat, leaving a deep gash in his neck that she believed would leave him dead soon. As he died, she caught his eyes with her own and stared into them as the light began to fade from them, watching him as if he was no more than a rabid, feral dog she had needed to put down. "May the the void take your rotten soul," Tessa cruelly whispered her parting words to the man.

 

[Takimaru]

Re: An Empty Confessional (Hafnium) GMed by Takimaru

Status:

Spoiler

Tessa: HP = 58, PP = 38, EP = 36/36, Status = Fine

As Tessa moved her hand to the hilt of her sword, the man's eyes followed the motion in sheer disbelief, as if the argument he had just made was not one that she could, or even should, attempt to punish him for. His nerve was amazing, and yet he looked back at the cleric as if she was the one who carried such audacity. How could she not understand? He had done it all with noble intent... didn't he?

While the nun might have known that some individuals would go through great lengths in order to not blame themselves or shoulder any heavy responsibility, her former father-in-law was in a league of his own in that regard. He had remained as she always remembered him; simply unable to accept any form of criticism and always the first to blame others for his own shortcomings, projecting each and every one of his blatant insecurities onto the closest scapegoat. It was like a joke, and so the nun's laugh was, in a way, appropriate. Her captive, however, did not share her sense of humor.

"No..." he replied quietly, in ponderous denial of the original slavers' failure to keep his former daughter-in-law imprisoned, and the turn of events that lead to the terrible situation he was now in. What tremendously bad fortune, he thought to himself. It was as if some otherworldly powers had conspired against him. Then he was made to listen to the torment that Tessa herself was subject to at the hands of the slavers. It was like torture to hear as much, as truly taking her story to heart and believing every word of it would lead him towards feeling a sense of implacable guilt. He couldn't allow that to happen.

Instead, he allowed his gaze to wander as he searched his mind for some kind of response he could make. Anything would do. To feel guilt now for what she went through, on his behalf, wouldn't be something he'd allow himself to do; if it was actually his fault after all, then he would indeed deserve to die in his own mind. Such an admission would never come. What he did find, however, was an excuse. It wasn't a truthful one, but it would do.

"L-Listen, I... I didn't know they'd do as much to you! They just said that you'd be taken away! You understand, don't you?! You'd have done the same thing in my place!" His stories no longer matched up, considering he mentioned expecting her to be someone's 'sow', but at that point he was simply grasping at straws, desperately clawing through a mountain of excuses to find the one pebble that might save his life.

Even when he did find an excuse that he felt appropriate, it was an one that Tessa was all too quick to discard before his eyes. Almost frantically, he scrambled for another. "Wait, b-but, Erion preaches forgiveness, does he not? Didn't you t-tell me that the other day?" he asked in a louder, more urgent voice, hoping his point would get across.

Then, he felt the cold, sharp edge of her blade against his neck. He knew at that instant that Tessa was serious, and was not going to stop in light of the reasons he had vainly attempted to give. At her final words about his family, his eyes widened, and at her mention of his 'name', they showed a flash of anger. Kenneth was his real name, but many around Tessa's home village called him 'Kennard', an amalgamation of 'Kenneth' and 'drunkard' in a derogatory sense, reserving the title for conversations made behind his back or within the safety of a home. Still, it was a title he had eventually caught wind of, and would fly into an angry rage over hearing, threatening violence and all sorts of other things towards the person unfortunate enough to whisper it. Everyone in town, Tessa included, knew that to make him angry, one only needed call him by such a nickname. And so he would be called as much just before the woman's final farewell.

Kennard found himself unable to make a suitable response before his throat was slit with a brisk movement on the cleric's part. Tessa's deep cut severed his windpipe as well as his carotid artery, causing blood to rapidly flow down his neck and chest. It was not as clean a death as the woman might have expected, as he did not die in that very instant. Instead, he could only wheeze noisily as his gaze wandered down to see crimson rapidly spreading over his filthy shirt. The bleeding simply would not stop. Fear took root in his expression as he realized that this was the end for him. Instinctively, he began to struggle in his bonds, but his death throes grew weaker and weaker over time as the massive loss of blood eventually claimed his consciousness. Tessa could see the light leaving his eyes. What was he seeing? Erion? No... surely not.

Then, after several minutes, he stopped moving completely. The man went still... he was dead.

By the time it was all said and done, a sizable pool of blood had collected beneath him, even with his attire having soaked up much of the crimson liquid. Reality hit; now, it was time for Tessa to dispose of the body somehow. She remembered that Ayna and Cael would likely be over by the morning, and naturally it wouldn't do for them to discover a body in her chapel's spare room.

 

[Hafnium]

Re: An Empty Confessional (Hafnium) GMed by Takimaru

Once there could be no doubt and Kenneth was truly dead, Tessa couldn't stop herself from shivering. She very suddenly felt a cold that chilled her to her very bones. But why was she feeling this way? She should've been happy, by her own account. The man who had kicked off the events that had tortured her for so many long months and even years was dead. Not only was he dead, she had killed him and could be completely sure that it was him. But that thought only provoked another chill to run through her spine.

This was it. She had gone well beyond the point of no return. There was no bringing this man back to life, for he was already far beyond it. Even if she had been more accomplished with cosmic magic and healing in general, it was nigh impossible to repair the artery she had just severed without severe ramifications, and even if she did there was no returning the blood that had already escaped him. This was it, she had killed Kenneth, her former father in law, and while she may have very well believed it was justified and believed that Erion was on her side in this, she knew that she had just crossed a line. Queasiness overtook her in an instant and she fell to her hands and knees and vomited to the side of the drunkard's body. The chicken soup had tasted much better going down than it did on its return trip.

After several minutes of heaving afterward and once she was sure that she'd lost all that she was going to lose of her meal, she picked herself up on shaky legs. It did not matter how poorly she felt about it after the fact, this was her burden now. She had murdered, and while she did not feel a second's remorse for the man she had killed and was even considering pursuing the rest of her former family that did not alleviate the weight of the act from her shoulders or the rush of adrenaline that had taken her from nearing ready for sleep to wide awake. His death was very much a part of her life now, and she desperately needed to clean up after herself if that was to remain a secret.

Tessa moved quickly, realizing the fate that might await her if anybody discovered her crime, leaving the room that now held his corpse and locking the door behind her. She strode into her office and grabbed the lone, rusty shovel that had remained in the church solely for the purposes of digging a new water well. Afterward, she snuck out of the side door of the church, being careful and trying to ensure that nobody noticed her as she crept from there to the empty plot of land behind her church with her tool of choice. And if she managed to get there unnoticed, then it was time for her to begin digging a hole. She could only hope that the remaining soil in Cerawal wasn't as difficult to deal with as the land around her hometown, because she was much less hardy than she had been back then.

 

[Takimaru]

Re: An Empty Confessional (Hafnium) GMed by Takimaru

Status:

Spoiler

Tessa: HP = 58, PP = 38, EP = 36/36, Status = Fine

In addition to the mess she had just made by losing much of her dinner, Tessa would find that the amount of blood that Kenneth had spilled was just enough to inconvenience her further, as the task of burying him and eliminating any traces of his existence was no small one by any means--a process made even more daunting by the fact that she had no experience in dealing with it. However, as the drunkard lay completely still, lifeless in the state that the nun had rendered him, she would find that the bleeding eventually stopped, curiously enough.

The sheet she used to bind him earlier would have to do as something of a sack by which she could drag him outside after cleaning up the blood. It would also keep him from creating too much of a telltale trail as she transported him out through the back door. The man's body was heavy, no doubt. While he was not a particularly large man, he was still hefty enough to overpower her, which he ironically might have done in a more sober state, and so his lifeless frame took no small amount of effort to drag, even with the sheet in place to help him slide along the wooden chapel floor. However, it was a weight she was already familiar with due to having moved him while he was unconscious, and it was still far easier than having to lift and carry him.

Tessa could already feel the burn in her arms and legs from the exertion as she finally managed to transport the body into the church's back yard. It was a rather empty and relatively barren spot, with large patches of browning grass here and there. Had the chapel seen more business, this open area could easily be fashioned into a place in which to hold outdoor weddings or sermons when the weather proved good. But for now, Tessa was to use the plot of land as a burial spot. Whether the one she sent underneath would be remembered or paid tribute here, however, was another matter.

With her large, rusty shovel, which in appearance seemed more at home in the hands of a worker like the one she had just killed, she found the most suitable spot in the yard and began to dig. It was dark outside now, and the moon, obscured by a series of heavy clouds, only gave her the bare minimum of light to work with. She found that while she could actually move the dirt, it was dry, and hard. The first dig of her shovel proved easy enough, but it only grew more and more difficult with each consecutive motion. Over the course of several minutes, which may have felt much longer than they really were to the one digging, Tessa only managed to get a foot and a half deep into the ground. Yet her arms were already straining with every movement due to a mixture of fatigue and malnourishment.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, she felt something hit her eye.

It was a drop of water. Of... rain? A glance above showed that many of the heavy clouds were indeed right above her. Several more followed, and while the nun soon found herself soaked by the gradual buildup of precipitation, she would also find that it made the soil she scooped somewhat easier to dig into. Provided, it was still a difficult task nonetheless, but thanks to the rain, she found a tinge of hope, one that led her to believe that she just might actually get this done in time.

Even with that bit of assistance, seemingly from Erion himself, there were periods of time where it seemed impossible to finish, especially if the cleric cared to remember that she would also have to fill the hole right back up after dumping the body in. Perhaps it would have been better to have forced Kenneth to literally dig his own grave, but that opportunity was long gone.

But, with enough perseverance, she eventually would find that the hole she dug was deep enough--roughly six feet down. It took no less than four hours, or maybe five... it was hard to tell, given her fluctuating mental state. Either way, this left her free to dump Kenneth's body into the hole. Tessa could then give him a word or prayer of farewell, if she even thought him deserving of it. Afterwards, it would be time for her to gain a second wind and finish the job. Luckily, filling in the grave was marginally easier than digging it. By the time she finished, her body could barely do any more. The task of burying Kenneth was done. With a few pats of her shovel, she flattened the spot out, allowing it to blend in with the rest of the dirt. While it wasn't a hard spot to remember, she could also give it a subtle marker if she cared to.

Either way, it was time to make the finishing touches and find some rest. Cleaning up the blood in the small room was fairly difficult, but not nearly as much as the more physical digging process. Scrubbing and wiping were tasks that Tessa had grown more accustomed to as a woman, and the abundance of rain outside also made things somewhat easier in that she didn't have to constantly lug buckets up from a well.

By the time she finished, Tessa would find the urge to sleep stronger than she had ever felt in a good, long while. Normally, she might have had to indulge in a hit or two of some ballweed to help her relax... but this time around, her body was all too willing to shut down on its own. Collapsing on her bedroll, the redhead would find herself in a deep sleep within seconds.

~~~~~​

The period of rest, despite being more fulfilling than any she had managed to get in the past week, wasn't nearly long enough. Tessa found herself woken up by a repeated knocking on the chapel's front door. It wasn't particularly loud or forceful, but it was persistent, enough so to keep her from sleeping in. Judging from the light coming in through the stained-glass windows, it was morning already. Perhaps she had gotten two hours of sleep... maybe three. She wouldn't be getting any more today from the looks of it, as the repeated rappings on the double-doors of the church didn't seem likely to stop until she answered them.

 

[Hafnium]

Re: An Empty Confessional (Hafnium) GMed by Takimaru

It did not take long into digging to discover just how much less hardy she had become since her days before the slavers, back when she had often enjoyed adequate meals multiple times a day. By the fifteen minute mark everything about her burned. Sweat poured from her brow as even in the relatively cold night air she was burning up with effort. Her lungs struggled to intake enough air to fuel the rest of her body, which in turn sapped the strength from the rest of her limbs. Her arms and legs soon crossed into that point of exhaustion where there was no pain, nor any feeling at all, just a constant struggle against the feeling of being boneless. Her lower back more than made up for any lack of pain elsewhere though, radiating the feeling well before she was ever done.

Tessa began to have serious doubts about her ability to see her task through. In all her digging she had only barely marked out a plot long enough and wide enough to stuff the drunk man's body into, and in that plot she couldn't have dug more than a couple feet deep in any given spot. At this rate the sun would rise and shine light on both her and her victim, and allow any who might glance at the land behind the church to see everything. That timeline itself was assuming that the digging stayed at the same level of difficulty as it currently held. What if there was clay or it was stony beneath the topsoil? The shovel she had wasn't built for dealing with those digging conditions, and its wielder wasn't either.

She would have to think up another plan. Perhaps she could hide the body in the room and keep it locked and her guests away from it for a few more nights? That would give her the time to dig the hole deeper. If anybody stumbled across the disturbed soil then she could simply say she was digging for a new water well. It wasn't exactly in the shape that it ought to have been, but she could always feign ignorance and simply claim that she had thought it was how a well was supposed to be dug. She didn't like it, but she might not have a choice. It was all becoming much more risky and dangerous, and there were so many more things that could go wrong than she had expected when she had first set out to take her former father-in-law's life.

Her thoughts turned. Maybe she had been wrong. Maybe this wasn't Erion's will after all. Perhaps she had simply grasped at any available straw as a reason to seek bloody vengeance on Kenneth, and she had used her own god as a convenient excuse to murder a man. Her thoughts, fueled by exhaustion caused by lack of sleep, food, and overexertion, began to drift into delusion. What if it had all been a test, and she had failed? What if Erion had made taking vengeance so easy solely to see if she could overcome the temptation, stay on the just path, and forgive him as His holy books commanded. She wasn't entirely certain if that thought terrified her more or less than the prospect of being found with a dead body and a shovel behind the church that she ran.

But then that first drop of rain hit her. The downpour that ensued did so much more than simply make the dirt a little bit easier to manage. It seemed to wash the manic thoughts from her head and it rejuvenated her for what remained of her grisly task. It was almost a personal message from Erion, that He was still with her. The rest of the night passed in an exhausted blur. She worked hard and dug quickly to get Kenneth into the ground before the sun rose, and, once she had unceremoniously dumped him into it, she worked even harder to get the grave filled in before the disturbed dirt became unmanageable clumps from all the water. With that done, the nun patted it down carefully, trying to leave the mound as low to the ground as possible so that nobody would be able to spot it simply by glancing.

Tessa didn't even bother to offer him a prayer before dragging herself back into the church with her shovel in tow; the words Kenneth had received as he bled out in front of her would serve well enough as his rites. Besides, she hadn't been able to muster a rational, coherent thought since the first hour of her efforts had passed. After putting her shovel away, she cleansed the evidence that the man had ever even been in her chapel, not even trying to budget the water necessary to scrub away the blood and dumping it outside amidst the already wet soil when she was done. And after it was all said and done, Tessa entered her office and simply collapsed into a state that could probably be called more unconsciousness than sleep.

~~~​

Despite being beyond exhausted, the knocking would wake Tessa up relatively easily. Mostly because subconsciously she simply knew it was the city guard knocking on her door, and that they had discovered the body and found enough evidence to haul her off to the executioner's block. She practically leaped out of bed, tearing off her clothes, which were still filthy with blood and dirt, rolling them into a ball, and tossing them toward the corner of the room and then quickly donned her nun habit without her usual daily check for tears and missed stains. The moment her body had sprang into action, her mind went into action as well. Tessa came up with lies upon lies in her head, and worked to make each new revision more convincing than the last. It wasn't until she was dressed, out of her bedroom-office, down the hallway that separated the worship hall from her storage room and bedroom, and through the main room of the building halfway to the double doors that she realized it might be Ayna and Cael, or even faithful worshipers of Erion.

Calm down, she told herself, assuming a more confident stride as she took the last part of her trip toward the double doors and slid the bar that locked them out of the way. As she opened them for her still-unknown guest or guests, Tessa greeted whoever might be waiting at the doors with one of her prepared lies. "Sorry for making you knock for so long. The roof sprung a leak last night over my bed. It woke me up and I was up late trying to patch it," she offered, not bothering to hide the tiredness from her voice since it corroborated with her story.