Kindred in Madness (Lionfire and MAF)

[Tassadar]

Re: Kindred in Madness (Lionfire and MAF)

Spoiler

Toel: HP = 43/51, PP = 42, EP = 39, Status = Fine, Armor at 46/50 TP

Ruven Zelphar: HP = 34, PP = 36, EP = 62/76, Status = Fine, Telepathy

Veera: Stunned for 3 rounds.

Neptunia: Spent 10 EP.
Stalker 1: Dominated by Ruven.
Stalker 2: Looking at Ruven.
Stalker 3: Approaching Ruven.
The Last Goblin: Running as fast as his little legs will carry him.

Rolls

Spoiler

Ruven's stealth: 26 + circumstance bonuses again
Perception: 29, not enough, and 44...
Ruven's Dominate Resistance: 9 + 27 = 36 vs31 = 14 + 17, Ruven wins. ATTACK!

Toel gets to swing at a rude goblin.
Attack: Hit.
Damage: 6 + 10 + 37 = 53 damage. ALSO SLAIN.

The last goblin has had enough of this shit and legs it.

Veera uses Shield Slam.
Attack: Misses on a roll of 1.

Neptunia uses Stunning Gaze for 10 EP.
Attack: Hit.
Resistance: Neptunia wins. Veera is Stunned for 3 rounds.

The one stalker that Ruven mind controlled moves to attack Neptunia, but doesn't arrive in time. Neither she nor Toel notice it, however. Ruven, in the meantime, is discovered at end of turn by one of the stalkers, causing the other to start approaching.

Toel's ankle biters quickly went from one to two with a single sweep of his greatsword, cleaving open a second goblin's throat. Then he went from one to none in short order as the last glanced at Neptunia and then back to Toel, then turned and bolted towards the tree line.

That left him as a front row witness to the fight between Veera and Neptunia, the shaken guide shifting and rushing forward, keeping her spear held back and trying to bowl the attacking woman down with her shield. Neptunia blocked with both hands, sliding back and smiling, and rather than try to strike with the weapon she held Neptunia looked up and met Veera's determined glare. Her eyes flashed, and before Veera could look away she simply.... Stopped. Her eyes went unfocused first, and then her muscles began to relax. Her expression went blank.

"All too easy~" she purred, stepping back, straightening, and drawing a length of silver chain from her belt...

Ruven, in the meantime, felt his mental illusion land upon the cloaked being's mind, felt it take control, felt it bend to his will. He was inside of it, connected, and it turned and began to advance into the center of the camp, advancing slowly behind the woman as she seemed to have done something to pacify Veera. The other two invisible creatures, however, continued to search for him despite the fact that one of their number had wandered off in the wrong direction. And, as luck would have it, Ruven was found where he knelt behind a stone, causing the hazy silhouette to let out a sibilant hiss that caused the other blur still searching for him to stop and turn, though it at least didn't see him just yet.

 

[Mamono Assault Force]

Re: Kindred in Madness (Lionfire and MAF)

Everything went wrong. Everything. Their guide was paralyzed. Who knows what the chain did. Ruven was about to be killed by the creatures that found him finally. So, he looked to the book, and decided that it was opening the hellish thing, or dying. He figured he might die either way, and so he's got nothing to lose. Gripping the book, Ruven threw the pages open at the creature that found him, before cowering in fear, shivering at the monstrosity that came forth.

The black mist shot forth from the book with a grand display of horror. The very air it released seemed from hell itself or some other dark dimension. The shape it soon began to take was far from normal either. A beast that looked to be an abomination of nightmares that Ruven has had. It seemed to have the head of the slaughtered deer he saw from before. Inanimate and lifeless, while possessing the body of a fearsome bear, complete with a deadly spiked tail. He didn't know where it would go or who it would attack, but he hoped it'd be his enemies.

(Ruven summons Shadows Made Manifest. He uses 17 EP: 2 For the base cost, 1 For Razor Fingers, 1 For Dangerous Tail + Venemous Attack (Paralysis), and 13 EP for 130 Body. He places it in between him and the hunters)

 

[Lionfire]

Re: Kindred in Madness (Lionfire and MAF)

Another swing, and another goblin that hits the ground with a simple swipe. Man, these little fellas are thin, aren't they? Toel's raises an eyebrow however as the last little goblin just makes a run for the hills, though after a little stare he lets out a momentary hum. 'At least he is smarter than his friends.' Toel lightly scoffs, turning attention back towards Veera and Neptunia. Though his mouth does fall a little open in surprise as Veera seemingly locks up, and Neptunia relaxes to pull something out. None of that, now!

"Hey, Neppy!" Toel's sudden mocking tone escapes his lips with a confident little smirk passing over his lips. "Y'know, I didn't expect much from the goblins, but I at least expected your dead little workers here to do more than just paw at my legs." One hand leaves his sword to pass over the air above the dead goblins next to him before he points his now bloodied claymore forth towards her direction. "How about YOU show me a fight instead? Maybe you can make me break a sweat at least, yeah?" He asks in a taunting tone, taking steady stamps of his feet as he approaches her, steadily regaining proper stance as he does, sword tip aimed right for Neptunia.

Though, feeling a sense of dread pass over the air from nearby, his eyes briefly look away from the pair to look towards the direction of the sudden chill. Seeing a moving shadow in the stark daylight however is warning enough to look away, looking back towards Neptunia, his confident look slightly shifted to worry. "Err... Mind the hellbeast, while we're at it?"

(Toel uses Challenge on Neptunia! Also tries not to stare at Ruven's shadow spook. No need for nightmares before a fight, right?)

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Kindred in Madness (Lionfire and MAF)

Spoiler

Toel: HP = 43/51, PP = 42, EP = 39, Status = Fine, Armor at 46/50 TP

Ruven Zelphar: HP = 34, PP = 36, EP = 45/76, Status = Fine, Telepathy

Veera: Stunned for 3 rounds.

Neptunia: Spent 10 EP.
Stalker 1: Dominated by Ruven.
Stalker 2: Looking at Ruven.
Stalker 3: Approaching Ruven.
The Last Goblin: Running as fast as his little legs will carry him.

Rawr: 130 Body, Dangerous Tail, Razor Fingers, 130 Body, 130/130 HP

Rolls

Spoiler

Ruven's Dominate Resistance: 9 + 27 = 36 vs31 = 14 + 17, Ruven wins. ATTACK!
Ruven summons an angry angry monstar.

Toel uses Challenge on Neptunia. He may regret this.

The stalker that Ruven mind controlled bops Neptunia 'cross the bonce.
Stealth: Stalker wins.
Attack: Auto hit.
Damage: 11 + 8 + 14 = 33, 33 x 2 = 66, 66 - 5 = 61 damage, lots o pain.

Neptunia, being presently at 1 HP, decides to leg it.
So do the other two stalkers.
She drops a flashbang at her feet though.
Resistance: Both PCs fail. Veera needn't roll. The monster auto passes. The stalkers fleeing pass on rolls of 19 somehow, the stalker mind controlled fails on a glorious glorious 3.

Rawr goes a rummaging for dudes to murder, chasing after the fleeing stalkers.

Neptunia paused, a dark scowl passing over her face at the derogatory nickname Toel bestowed onto her. "Well...." she said, turning towards Toel as her expression shifted into a grin and she placed the chain back onto her belt. "If you insist..."

She made it a step before a creature appeared out of thin air right behind he,r its flesh blurring into the environment as it lashed at both sides of her throat with clawed hands. Blood erupted in spurts from her neck, and she stumbled forward with a shocked look before spinning upon the creature as it materialized. A naked humanoid with scaly greyish skin appeared, their frame relatively masculine though their genitals weren't hanging out for Toel to know for certain. They had unusually long and sharp teeth, lips a little too long to look entirely human, had no hair of any kind that he could see, their fingers sported inch long sharp claws, and their skin had an oddly scaly look to it, but otherwise they looked more or less human-like.

Neptunia glared at them for a second, but as Ruven's horror appeared and her blood continued to pour from her shredded throat she made a tactical decision. Plucking a round metal sphere from her belt, something clicked, she dropped it with a soft thud, and then... The world went white and ringy, for Ruven and for Toel.

One moment he'd been cornered, the next an indescribable black horror formed defensively in front of him, materializing between him and his would be killers, and the one after that Ruven was blind and deaf. Toel found himself similarly crippled, and it would be almost a half minute before their vision began to clear. That left Toel facing an equally dazed Veera, now mobile, a dazed creature that had attacked Neptunia, and an otherwise empty camp. Ruven found himself under similar circumstances, his attackers and the creature that he had summoned gone, though he could still feel the shadow monstrosity through its tenuous connection to his soul. It was off somewhere in the woods, chasing down... Something. Toel would quickly spot a trail of blood leading away into the woods, but it stopped suddenly save a few droplets just outside their camp, and even those ended a few paces further.

 

[Mamono Assault Force]

Re: Kindred in Madness (Lionfire and MAF)

Ruven, rather than stunned, was still curled up into his ball, facing away from the events that transpired. Only when the sounds of chaos faded, did he slowly turn his head around, trembling, somewhat shocked that...

"E... Ev... Everyone's... A-alive?" he inquired, shaking like a wet dog.

 

[Lionfire]

Re: Kindred in Madness (Lionfire and MAF)

Overconfidence aplenty with him today, Toel smiles back towards Neppy as she turns her attention over towards him, tightening his grip on his claymore... Just in time for a rather freaky looking blur to come into existence between him and her, the Anudorian flinching and stepping back in surprise and confusion. Another one of her workers? Given it just lashed her throat into nearly ribbons, safe to guess no... Unless they really don't like her. In which case, goodness, her workers have some serious morale problems!

Claymore still held forward, Toel winces as he sees the nasty wound on Neptunia's throat, blade held in the direction of the... That thing, that did that damage to her. "What is...?" Toel mutters a tad as he looks at it, clearly unsettled by it's rather imposing appearance. While it wasn't a shadow monster, it was definitely not something he has seen before!

Having been paying more attention to it than her though, he gets his eyes drawn back towards her just in time to see that orb hit the ground... Then, he sees the light... Way too much of it, the man yelling in surprise as his ears ring, and a hand leaves his claymore to rub at his eyes. By the time his eyes have gotten at least somewhat recovered from the flashbang, the ringing was dulled down enough for him to hear some. "I... I'm fine, yeah." He shouts over to Ruven, rubbing at his eyes a few more times for good measure. Afterwords, he lets out a sigh before he looks back up to see that... Weird thing, still there, his eyebrows furrowing as his eyes glance over towards Veera. "Hey, you alright, Veera?" He asks her, glancing between the creepy looking thing that tore out Neptunia's neck and her, still tense.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Kindred in Madness (Lionfire and MAF)

Spoiler

Toel: HP = 43/51, PP = 42, EP = 39, Status = Fine, Armor at 46/50 TP

Ruven Zelphar: HP = 34, PP = 36, EP = 45/76, Status = Fine, Telepathy

Veera: Confuzzled

Neptunia: Spent 10 EP. Leggin it.
Stalker 1: Dominated by Ruven.

Rawr: 130 Body, Dangerous Tail, Razor Fingers, 130 Body, 130/130 HP, Somewhere :3

"Uhhh... Y-yeah... What just happened? And why is... A stalker here? Is it another one of Neptunia's lackeys?" she answered Toel, her voice still a little shakey and dazed. Ruven, it seemed, was going to be left up to his own initiative to rejoin the other two.

The stalker, now named, stood placidly unless Ruven ordered it to do otherwise, the demon still under his control.

 

[Mamono Assault Force]

Re: Kindred in Madness (Lionfire and MAF)

Seeing as how the beast outlived his usefulness. Ruven drew a line along his neck, ordering the creature to kill itself. After a moment, Ruven calmed down, before he approached Veera with a stern expression. "You were almost enslaved, and I was almost killed! When I say we hide or run away, that's what we do!" he announced, scolding both Veera and Toel. "Don't put me in a position where I have to open the book! I never know if I'll survive the experience or what it'll do to me if I do it excessively! For shame on the both of you for this foolishness!" he said with a grumpy expression, now wide awake for the time being as the fear did well to wake him up.

 

[Lionfire]

Re: Kindred in Madness (Lionfire and MAF)

Toel's eyebrows furrow as he glances back towards the 'Stalker', shrugging his shoulders to her. "Considering the... Uh, stalker, clawed Neppy's throat, I doubt it." He says to Veera, perking up as he notices Ruven making his way over to them both. Toel sighs lightly as Ruven speaks to them both in a scolding tone, scratching behind his own head after a moment or two.

"Well, it worked out in the end, yeah?" Toel asks Ruven with a smile on his face. Pointing towards the gruesome blood trail from where Neptunia threw that blinding orb. "I doubt she will be back to bother us any time soon, what with this fella clawing her throat." He points a thumb towards the stalker before he continues. "Might as well get ready to get moving soon, though." Wasn't exactly a good idea to stay behind with all of the corpses, lest more of the knee bonking fellows come by for revenge.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Kindred in Madness (Lionfire and MAF)

Spoiler

Toel: HP = 43/51, PP = 42, EP = 39, Status = Fine, Armor at 46/50 TP

Ruven Zelphar: HP = 34, PP = 36, EP = 45/76, Status = Fine

Veera: Confuzzled

Neptunia: Spent 10 EP. Leggin it.
Stalker 1: Well shit.

Rawr: 130 Body, Dangerous Tail, Razor Fingers, 130 Body, 130/130 HP, Somewhere :3

Rolls

Spoiler

Resistance: Failure. Ruven does not succeed at making the demon kill itself.

When he commanded the demon to kill itself, Ruven felt the mental demand immediately hit a wall of resistance. The insistent howl into its thoughts was met by a louder shriek of denial, and he felt himself violently thrown from its mind. Toel would see it stumble slightly, its eyes wide and confused, but it was quick to recover and promptly vanished into a vague outline, still barely visible even as it activated its camouflage. It kept in sight as it bolted for the treeline, moving too quickly for its stealth to be effective, but if it got too far away it would likely disappeared. Veera immediately raised her spear and stepped forward to follow it, but Ruven's interruption and Toel's relaxed comment gave her pause.

"Yes.... Perhaps we should just get out of here and put this place behind us," she said uncertainly.

 

[Mamono Assault Force]

Re: Kindred in Madness (Lionfire and MAF)

"Indeed." Ruven said, deciding to just move on.

 

[Lionfire]

Re: Kindred in Madness (Lionfire and MAF)

Able to see the Stalker as it stumbled and suddenly seem to fade from sight, the Anudorian's eyes open a bit wide as well as he takes a short step back. Only able to see it's outline, he stared as it bolted towards the treeline, and by the time it was gone, his eyebrows had furrowed as he looks between Ruven and Veera. Given both of their reactions, he lets the matter drop rather quickly, his hand going up to his head to scratch through his hair. "Alright... Towards the Vale and Hill then, yeah?" He says to them both, seemingly keen on the whole getting going part. Though he does momentarily make a short detour to the camp to make sure they have all of their things before they go along.

Veera, being their guide, would probably need to lead they way to the correct direction though. "Hey, Veera? Who was that Neptunia woman?" He asks her in curiosity, mainly trying to strike up conversation to pass time. "Safe to guess you both know each other somehow, yeah?"

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Kindred in Madness (Lionfire and MAF)

Spoiler

Toel: HP = 43/51, PP = 42, EP = 39, Status = Fine, Armor at 46/50 TP

Ruven Zelphar: HP = 34, PP = 36, EP = 45/76, Status = Fine

Veera: Fine

Rawr: 130 Body, Dangerous Tail, Razor Fingers, 130 Body, 130/130 HP, Somewhere :3

Hastily collecting their things, it didn't take the trio long to pack up and be ready to move. In the meantime, however, Veera would explain; "I used to work for her... Sort of. Well, we worked for the same people, and she was technically above me. You know how hierarchies work. Anyway, I was paying off a debt, but when I left everything was square. I've got no idea how she thinks she has the authority to come after me... Or why she'd be willing to be this violent about it."

Once they were on the way a few minutes later, Veera making a trail through the woods, she would add; "We'd best get away from Acheron. It'll make it harder for her to follow us if she decides to try again. Luckily we're going to get away anyway, so it shouldn't cost us much in the way of time. I know you want to get this done with fast. Still, I hope you don't mind if I keep us in the woods for a while."

The next leg of their journey took them through dense forest, trees and underbrush keeping their line of sight short and making their passage noisy. Veera seemed perfectly comfortable going through the trees in relative silence, but neither of them were so inconspicuous. She did bring them to a few places to snack or catch a drink of water, but the forest didn't yield much. Ultimately, they were left to stop early without reaching any further civilization, in the midst of a pine wood, and Veera set up some rocks for a fire pit to keep Ruven from having to rest in the dark before heading off to see if she could find something more substantial for them to eat without dipping into their supplies.

Toel and Ruven were left to prepare camp as they liked once more, with dusk just starting to set.

 

[Mamono Assault Force]

Re: Kindred in Madness (Lionfire and MAF)

"Whenever the discrepancy occurred, it doesn't matter. This is why you don't get into debt in the first place, especially with demons. No offense." Ruven explained. "If their reasons are actually petty, then hopefully they'll give up after I unleashed my living nightmares from the fucking book. If they're extraordinarily stupid, they'll kill me, put me out of my suffering, and then they can enjoy this freakish trinket." he griped, his situation no less pleasant with the addition of problems. He honestly didn't care about Veera's dilemma enough over his own problems. They were honestly insignificant in comparison to the neverending horrors and constant threat of death. So a constant threat of death isn't a big deal when he already has one.

After that, Ruven just kind of coasted along, sometimes looking like he was going to fall asleep while walking. So when they made camp, they'd find that the moment Ruven sat down against a nearby tree, he was already unconscious.

 

[Lionfire]

Re: Kindred in Madness (Lionfire and MAF)

"Well, hopefully she learned her lesson from getting up close and personal to stalker claws, yeah?" Toel asks with a brief little chuckle, arms going behind his head lazily as they trek onwards through the woods. Looking to Ruven as he talks, he lets out a light sigh as he continues. "Hopefully it doesn't come to that, friend."

Following with Veera on the woodland trail, Toel shrugs to Veera with a short smile following. "It does not matter to me, as long as we are heading in the right direction." Ending up at their next camp site, Toel helps move the stones to the fire pit before he'd begin putting together their little camp further. No river here to get distracted by, Toel just kept getting their camp prepared, keen on resting after the camp was prepared. Best to hurry before it gets dark after all. While he had hopes that the darkness would attack any intruders that tried to get to them in the night, he did not want them to be the ones attacked as well.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Kindred in Madness (Lionfire and MAF)

Spoiler

Toel: HP = 43/51, PP = 42, EP = 39, Status = Fine, Armor at 46/50 TP

Ruven Zelphar: HP = 34, PP = 36, EP = 45/76, Status = Fine

Veera: Fine

"None taken," Veera replied softly to Ruven, seemingly falling into thought. After a moment, she added; "Yeah, hopefully it just won't be a problem from now on."

When they made camp and Ruven promptly passed out against a log, Veera paused and smiled indulgently, gently ruffling his hair, and then went off into the woods. That left Toel to set up camp, a simple enough task for the by that point experienced traveler, and with Ruven's curse to "protect" them from would-be intruders in the night they hopefully wouldn't have to worry too much about security beyond the light to protect them from that very curse.

Veera returned with firewood, a quail, and some bird's eggs, and they settled in for a meal, leaving some prepared for Ruven when he awoke from his torpor. The night was quiet, blessedly, and the morning was peaceful. Veera seemed as eager to be off as Ruven by that point, however, and after a hasty breakfast it was on to another days' travel. This one passed much like the last, Veera leading them East and North through the woods. They seemed to be gaining altitude, climbing up into the hills, and the scenery became increasingly wild. By the end of the fourth day there were no signs of sentient habitation at all, and they had had no issues with wild animals, demons, or any of Ruven's shadow beasts.

They came upon a river on the fifth day, and took to following it East, downstream, which took them a ways South. It was wide and fast and in a deep chasm, much too dangerous to ford, but eventually they found a tree spanning it that let them cross, and in the meantime it provided easy meals in the form of fish and animals come to drink at its shores, plus easy access to water. By that night, however, Veera was looking a little tired, and looked to Ruven and Toel with an increasingly predatory gaze. Their camp that day took the form of a shallow cave that Ruven's lightstone easily flooded, keeping the shadows at bay. It was located in a rocky outcropping, leaving them fairly visible because of the light but not exposed directly, and with a fairly defensible position.

 

[Mamono Assault Force]

Re: Kindred in Madness (Lionfire and MAF)

Setting up in the cave, Ruven noted how well it seemed to light up everything in the room. Even reflecting off of the rock to illuminate his back to prevent the horrors that be from taking hold. He looked to Veera, who seemed to be worse for wear. He figured it was almost that time, the one that made their payment cheaper. Still, he wasn't a man to just throw his clothes off and let that be that. He also wondered about Toel, then decided it didn't really matter. How could he go through as much as he had and still give a shit about such things? If Toel didn't like it, he could leave.

"I've read books, especially nowadays with my recent circumstances, about the nature of the soul. Some women, even human beings, can be born with what they call a broken soul, or one that can't sustain itself. They need to borrow some of the resupplying energy of someone with such a soul as mine or Toel's, and apparently there's another interesting bit to it. Every soul has a taste." he declared, to either Toel or Veera, or no one. Whoever was want to listen. "I'm sure that Veera knows all about this. Though what was never said was what makes a soul 'tasty'. Just that there was a difference. I'd imagine superior creatures have tastier souls. I'd even imagine that a human like Toel and an elf like me would taste radically different. Or perhaps only a little. So, Veera, with your knowledge of taste..."

Ruven sat down next to her, looking directly at her. "Who would you rather taste? We cannot both be drained, so please choose one."

 

[Lionfire]

Re: Kindred in Madness (Lionfire and MAF)

Staring up at the cave's ceiling and how much the light seemed to dance around in the cave, Toel seemed rather delighted by such a pleasant sight. After the camp was all set up, Toel was pretty much keen on admiring the pretty, soothing sight from the first spot he planted himself at. Though as Ruven spoke, Toel looked over to him in curiosity. 'Every soul has a taste', hm? What would his taste like? Though by the end, the Anudorian's eyebrows were furrowed as he looked between the elf, and Veera, frowning slightly.

"I'd... Prefer saving myself, but I could, if needed." He says to both Veera and Ruven, Toel glancing away from the two for a moment in thought before looking back towards the two. While a passing thought did get him to fidget where he sat, he calms down just as quickly as the thought left. Not like he didn't have a libido anymore, he just tried to... Keep it kept down.

 

[Mamono Assault Force]

Re: Kindred in Madness (Lionfire and MAF)

Ruven chuckled at that mention. "Wow, Toel..." he gestured with amazement, but didn't look too bothered in all actuality, just amused. "I offered her a choice to make her feel happier that she had one. For as much as I'm displeased with her... Former associates causing a problem, I do appreciate her not fearing what she's seen thus far. It's enough to scare even demons away, let alone the nightmares it's caused *me*!" he said, before gently putting his hand on Veera's. "Thank you, for putting up with this deadly curse of mine. I promise, touching me won't make you catch it... But killing me probably will." he indicated, a bit of shine in his eye indicating he even considered the possible event of her betraying him, and reminded her that it wouldn't end well for her even if she succeeded, thanks to how the book latches onto you and never lets go.

Which reminded him... That man was cursed by the book... Indeed, if he got free of it and passed it onto Ruven, surely there was a way to do the same... Though was the method required? If he gave the book to someone else... He sighed. 'Problem is, I'd need to find someone quite guilty. Even then, I have no idea if it would just jump back to me. I wish I could find that man and learn more. I still don't want to risk someone innocent touching it, though.'

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Kindred in Madness (Lionfire and MAF)

Spoiler

Toel: HP = 43/51, PP = 42, EP = 39, Status = Fine, Armor at 46/50 TP

Ruven Zelphar: HP = 34, PP = 36, EP = 76, Status = Fine

Veera: Fine

Veera's gaze flicked to Ruven as he began to speak, predatory hunger making way for a degree of sympathy, followed shortly by surprise. She barely glanced at Toel, and then sighed softly and settled her back against the cave wall, eyes closing for a few moments. "You don't need to worry about that... If I made it a habit of betraying my contracts, eventually I wouldn't have any left. Or someone would turn the betrayal around on me. It'd be something common to do in Hell, but... Things are different here. That's part of why I left. I don't like having to worry about my allies trying to kill or break me. It's relieving that it's not something that I have to think about anymore... Not often anyway... And yes, it's hard to describe but... Souls do have different flavors.

"I don't know for sure what causes it... Some say race and power are the biggest defining factors, others say temperament and emotion are more important, but the theory I like to ascribe to suggests it's more based on accumulated life experiences. Joys, friendships, triumphs... Angers, sorrows, and all of the smaller things in between; they're what ultimately make us what we are, no? And isn't that what a soul is? The combined parts that make us... Us." She opened her eyes again, and looked at Ruven with a soft but slightly sad smile, "even as hard as this curse of yours has affected you... I'll bet you still have happier memories driving you, don't you? Something that you'd want to get back to, or maybe even something that you want to do that this curse has kept you from, that you can get back to when it's gone. After all, if all you had in your life was misery, why even bother trying to be rid of it?"

She reached out and offered Ruven a pat on the shoulder, giving his shoulder a gentle squeeze before setting her hand back down so that he could place his over it. She looked to Toel next, however, saying; "I'm not picky... But I also don't want to seem too pushy. If you aren't interested, I don't feel like I need to push you for it." Then she looked to Ruven, "as for you... I know it's part of the contract, and we aren't likely to get much privacy out here anyway, but... You shouldn't feel obligated to do it now. I don't know how experienced you are, but it can be... Intense, especially the first time. Me being what I am... Only makes it even more so." Her fingers closed slightly, pulling his in until they were interlocked against her palm.