Lundi 16 novembre 1768 (Saximilian, lemmingfolks, bateau)

-Well, tis a calm city to begin with. 'specially during the winter. People tend to be more, eh... deliberate about going outside during winter. They'll go in the forest to chop some wood, they'll go fishing, they'll conduct errands and all the usual, but no goofin' around at this time of the year. If you are out, you have some business being out, or at the bare minimum some activity even if it's just snowshoeing or skating y'know? Business. Even the fun kind. Otherwise, you'll just freeze right through if you just sit there. And if you aren't sitting there, then there's no time for quibblin' and whatnot.

So yeah, on one side you have purposefullness. On the other hand, most people who were so inclined or had any sort of disposition toward violence have... pretty much left y'know. That recruiter did a pretty neat number I'd say.

- It makes sense. People live with the cycle of the seasons. I'm simply... always impressed as cold weather, I think. Where I hail from, snow never has been a thing. Perhaps on winter months on the highest of mountains, and even then. We're more prone to volcanoes than any kind of snowy conditions.

And I suppose the war affects a village this way as well. It takes its more... dynamic elements and brings them far away.

Who was this recruiter, who did such a great number? Convincing people to go to war is never easy.

-Volcanoes! Ha, I met a dwarf once who sailed under them volcanoes, he had the strangest stories I tell ya. Never seen any though. Not well travelled enough I s'pose.

[...]

The recruiter was eh... I'm not too good at names, but he was Diamond... Red Diamond? Sum'thin' like a... like a Diamond but rare. A silly made up name. Didn't see the guy, but I lost a shipmate to him and he was blabbing incontinently about so-and-so the Diamond!

- Diamond Peerless, yes. A bard of great renown, as well as a man of faith, I hear.

He's the man I'm up to meet in Saint-Cuthbertsburg. I hear that's where he is at the moment.

-A Bard? A bard recruiting for the army? Well. I'm sorta sad now.

- How so?

-Had I seen him, I could say that I've seen everything! Y'know?

- How is a bard recruiting for the army such an unorthodox thing?

-Haven't met a lot of them, have you?

- Not really, no.

-Even the more, eh... grounded (?) ones...they are still free spirits they don't suck up to "the man" and they... well... 'z'far as I know, they don't go out and actively seek to work for him or his system. They have their own rules, they do their own thing. So to have one just go out of his way and start recruiting for the army? Like... I can appreciate that it's a good thing that Diamond would do that, but that does make him an oddball character by the standards of his profession.

- Interesting. I -have- heard he was a chosen of Sergoneus as well. Perhaps it might have to do with that?

Perhaps his powers aren't even that of a bard, but something close, rather divine in nature.

Or mayhaps he is just a bard with a calling and an oddball, indeed.

I'm even more curious to meet him, now.

-Chosen? Sergoneus chose a bard? Yeah, he must be quite odd. Like, from what I get, it's one thing to have a calling, it's an entirely different thing to be called. Y'know?

- Oh, believe me. I do.

-You sound like somebody with either a story or an opinion. Care to share a bit too?

As you may know, there is a reason I know men quite a lot, and a reason why I know Zarians quite a lot. The Empire is where I hail from.

In the Empire, Psionism is not only considered a proof of superiority of the mind. The Gift of Psionism is not a work of the self; is it instead, known as a divine favor of Zarus. It comes with responsibility and a certain amount of surveilance.

Most importantly, for a young noble such as I was, it meant that whoever I had been up until that point, had just validated by Zarus himself. Wicked as I was, it seemed fitting that Zarus had given more power to someone whom he wanted to pursue his ambitions in the same direction he had already been advancing towards. It gives an individual a form of self-righteousness and incredible confidence that can hardly be topped.

Time passed. While at first, I was validated, many strange events unfolded, one after the other. My life was transformed, and many times, I lost everything.

I learned more, was guided to a better understanding of the self. I know now how psionism in and out of itself, relates to the self.

Although everything around us is divine, from the smallest pebble to the greatest of immortal kings, psionism is not a "gift from the gods". This discipline, that I perfected, and that I still aim to hone, is all about the decisions that one makes, and the goals that one pursues.

Back then, I thought I had been called by Zarus. Today, I know my calling is about making the world a better place, and that my powers come not from a godly power, but from the strength of the willpower I am ready to pour into the projects I devote myself to. I do not have confidence because I feel backed by the gods; I feel confidence because I feel what I do must be done, for the right reasons. I am reflexible, adaptable, know that my mind, as much an aegis is can be, is not immutable. Its malleability and the power that I have to give it rigidity at a whim, is what makes it strong.

While I believe gods are out there, I believe that they, as we are, are all part of a greater world. We are all flecks of light when facing absolute potential and infinity. But as small as we are, we can influence each others' destinities. Gods' included.

-Ho... must be something to live with the responsibility to be such a man. But that being said, I can hear that you have a calling, you do speak like someone who's found his way and could guide others. I've heard a few.

- Having a calling and sincerely believing in it is a responsibility in and out of itself. People will listen, people will follow, which is why words and actions must be weighted carefully. And I'm also always curious to meet others who have such a calling. May they be friend or foe.

-They certainly are a colerfoll bunch. Even those who are lost and only think they're on the way, y'know?

- Someone who is lost still has the same impact on peoples' lives, however mislead they may be. Their intentions might be good, bad, misled or wise. A path is a path. They all lead somewhere. Some of them lead to the betterment of lives, while others might be a poison to oneself and others. It's often hard to know without proper experience, enlightenment, or sometimes even the proper mentor, whether the path you are walking is the right one for you.

And that is the only question. Are you walking your own path, or one that others have set you on?

Bit''s 'o both if that's possible I'd say?

- It just might. You cannot be sent on a path that nothing or no one has sent you towards. The sum of your experiences is what defines you who you are, along with decisions that you make on those situations. So I suppose whatever path is yours is somehow someone else's, at least partly.

Your path is yours to follow. Only you can know and feel whether you're walking the right one or not.

-It's not like ther'sn't mor'n a few that will try to tell ye how to live yer life anyway, ha!

- Some will force you to live it differently, with words or actions.

I hear that sailors are among the free-est people in the world. How true is that?

-'Tiz a pretty good life freedomwise. There is a sort of brotherly bond between sailors, we know how tough that life can be at times. We know of the dangers of the see others may have faces, the greif and the loss of others, either suffered at sea or in a former distant life. Camaraderie and respect under misleading guise.

The captains are the free-est of all, but if you don't like yours, yer pro'lly free to find employement wit' an other. People do it. Some on purpose, traveling far jumping from one boat to the other. Heard of people who came from the farthest lands of the south jumping from ships to ships. Never seen any of them extreme-sotherners but stories say the do come from time to time. And it is likely they have stories of us in the extreme south as well, you know?

- Unsure what stories people of the extreme south would have about us. I've heard so many things about how life is impossible down there. Monsters prowling about, the air so hot it's almost unbreathable. That's when there aren't poisonous plants about, making the air literally mortal. I've met a strange creature once, a sphinx, that came from Africa. A lethal predator it was, cunning and ready to do anything for its survival. It was as large as a horse, with massive claws and a sharp set of teeth.

Yet... it was in the lowest creatures of the food chain, where it hailed from, the throes of Africa.

How strange it must be to hear that to them, northerners are soft people who have an easy life.

-Interesting story... I've heard the land in the south is famed for it's perils as well, although I'd expect poeple to live in the kinder part of such a land. You'd need to find one of those elusive fellows though.

- There has to be such a place. Kinder lands of the south. Perhaps we only hear stories of their forests and deserts, and not of their lush cities and gardens. As if they only heard stories of the Pilouki from the north, or of the Offerlaander blasted lands, both of which aren't very representative of "northern" life.

-Erh... my humble imagination fails to imagine worse that the demonwoods. Funny though how you casually mention things most poeple avoid thinking of.

- I've studied it, academically. My curiosity will lead me there, sooner or later. The woods hide more than one secret that I'd wish to unravel.

-You know... pretty sure the feeling is mutual. Those secrets would pro'lly be glad to unravel you as well. But if knowledge's your poison there's a branch of my church that does know about it I heard...

Mouquet arqua les sourcils, surpris, et intéressé.

- Really? May I inquire about this branch?

-I'm not clear on any specifics... But I know that in Riga Pelor's church is evaporating seawater to make salt and when I asked what the deal was, they told me it was about their duty at the Demonwoods.

- An interesting start. I'll take note of it. There might be creatures that are kept at bay with salt. Or perhaps some incantations that require salt as a component.

-There must be a reason, yeah. The churches ain't gen'raly big on pointless gestures... well, not the respectable ones at least.

- They all have goals and traditions, and most of all, meaning. Some less honorable than others.

- I get that. Might be my agrarian background, but I'm a big fan of things that are useful. Pelor's Cleric and Druids, they will bless feilds and get you to have better crops. They'll also use the light of the lord to Kill Wølt's legions dead. I don't quite picture them as the kind of people who are big on "gestures" if there isn't an appreciable result.

St Cuthbert is the patron saint of common sense. Not big on meaninglessness.

Sergoneous is the god of the nation and I feel his opinions er on the side of usefull as well...

And as I said before, lots of people find a faith that they find some usefulness in. I don't know that most things are done for a reason, but I feel they are even if just to keep the gods in a good mood like so many sailors do.

My point wasn't that there is a lot of priest doing useless busywork, more that their job is important in some fashion even when inscrutable.

- True. In which case... perhaps it helps to stave off the forest's advance, even. And if Pelor is doing it... it must be for some righteous reason. Saving people, I would gather.

- In any case... Righteous it must be for the good church of pelor to risk its men in an other country's territory. I doubt defending Wølt's lot is high on Pelor's list of priorities, y'know?

- True, that. This case is interesting, and piques my curiosity greatly. It's worth looking into, as someone who's interested in that dreaded forest.

- Must be hard, your life. Having such extravagant interests... I cannot imagine

- It's put me in loads of trouble in the past. It has also been what has redeemed my soul. It's a quality that one needs to learn to live with.

Le temps passerait à discuter normalement de la vie sergonniene et/ou marine. L'homme n'était pas particulièrement connaisseur, mais il avait le sens commun de son pays, ce qu'il serait utile de découvrir. Environ une heure plus tard un barbu dans la fin de sa quarantaine monterait à bord et remarquerait Mouquet:

-I was'about to ask Will if there was anything worth mentionning, but your being-there-ness, is already informative on that matt'r I s'pose!

- Indeed. I take it you are Captain Ytruss?

-Only if yer here for business or fer drinkin'! Debt collection, that'll be some other Ytruss! No jokes, there's an other one and his lifestyle's expensive!

- You'll find that I don't care much for money, but I am here on business. I wish to bargain passage for Saint-Cuthbertsberg, for my companion and I.

Diplomacy: 28+8= 36

-Don't care about money and want to bargain? MY MAN!

- I don't, but you do. And that's how things are done, are they not?

Avec un sourire en coin.

- I can know how things work without being endeared with them. Shall we?

-Standard price is a silver a mile. And my ship's quite standard. So... 25 gold each? Or better offer.

- Are there any stark dangers on the sea, from here to Saint-Cuthbertsberg, captain?