Campaign
"I-I wasn't trying to threa- but I just-I didn't-I-Sorry!"
I release almost all of the flames, leaving a single mote near me lit, and then carefully put it back in the jar and see if the stone reacts to it.
if it doesn't then I ask him:
"H-How do I fix the light-jar?"
either way I stay still, curled up in the chair, and see what he says next.
"sorry..."
"I-I wasn't trying to threa- but I just-I didn't-I-Sorry!"Kassiver says nothing, he simply continues looking at you. He relaxes a bit when you release most of the flames.
You slowly put the remaining fire back inside the light-jar, but the stone does not turn back into a fire.
"H-How do I fix the light-jar?""You probably scared it. Just give it some time to feel the flow of fire. The magic inside the lantern should- Ah, there it goes."True enough, the stone dissolves, transforming back into floating fire.
"sorry..."*quiet*
"... We should try to remain calmer."He slowly crouches and reaches for the chair so that he can get it upright again, not taking his eyes off of you.
"Make no mistake though. If I feel-" it looks like he's about to start shouting again when he is interrupted.
Campaign, Ike!
"Massah, massah, why is screaming? Is it I? I will leave if it is I! Innocent children are waking!" Ike reacts, speaking under his breath as if completely shocked while averting his eyes completely, trying to shrink away from the hostile atmosphere in the room.
Suggest fearfully.
Ike can hear the two guards outside conversing.
"Yes, but he said he didn't want to be disturbed. Maybe that's the reason why?"
"Look, with all the things going on here it doesn't hurt to check."
"Doesn't it? What if he burns us alive for stumbling upon some great arcane secret?"
"Screw that, I'm checking."The moment the tent flap opens, Kassiver immediately stops talking to Irene and yells towards it.
"I SAID NOBODY DISTURBS US!"The flap immediately closes, followed shortly by someone responding "Sorry!".
Ike continues to hear talking outside.
"See? Told ya."
"Yea, goddamn mages."Kassiver looks at Ike for a second and then back at Irine.
"What is wrong with him? Is he always like that?"He immediately shakes his head slightly.
"Nevermind, don't answer that.""I understand that what happened at the Tower was not entirely your fault. And I understand that you are not human, not from this world, so there are perhaps a few things that... escape you. So I will give you the benefit of the doubt."
"We both hold weapons that we cannot be disarmed of. And we have no understanding of the weapons of our enemy. So let us at least try to not brandish them, even by accident."
"Do you know why it happened? Whose fault it is? Why they would create a portal to such a... gateway world as you described it? Could it had been because of the one you are hunting? Do you think it could be nearby?"
((I apologize deeply for being so late and out of the loop. Real-life chaos and all that smooth jazz...))
Campaign
Zechariah twitched his fingers, digging into the rough ground a bit. He was fighting with himself to choose the right words. He didn't want to break the momentum that they were gaining with his energy and train of thought. Still, he would feel wrong if he were just to idly agree with River. That wouldn't agree with his conscious thoughts.
The physical body of the demon was long gone, but the spirit was still tormenting Zechariah in all of his waking hours. Making him doubt his every decision. Sending him into melancholy and depression, allowing his dark thoughts to pervade his mind and cloud his judgement.
"Look, I... I understand that you may have gone through different things in this.. place. There are different paths that you took, and maybe there are different things that I can do here. But that still doesn't forgive what I did so long ago. I still have ghosts that haunt me. There are so many things that I could have done to give us a better chance against the Shadow, but I didn't. I know that it's not the end result that counts, that it's the journey that makes us who we are. But even I can't believe in that now.
I know I'm being stupid. I know it's silly, and that I should be focusing on what I can do now. And I am. That's why I am here now. But there's still a feeling of.. loss. I'd call it loss. It's like something was torn from me that I can't get back. The Medium was my addiction. I loved being there, I loved helping people and creating things. There were many people that I met and talked with, interacted with and stood with.
But I didn't plan on coming back. I was planning on dying. I wanted to leave it all behind so that I could no longer cause suffering through Artemis, and myself. I didn't plan on leaving loose ends. I didn't plan on... being alive again." Zechariah brushes some of the dust away from his surrounding area and stares at the ground, not knowing what to say.
"It just feels like... I'm lost. That was my final goal. I wanted to die. But now... I'm still here. And I don't know what I will do."
((No problemo. I'd prefer it if you didn't go too far ahead in time anyway (to avoid time travel and paradoxes), since Irine's conversation will probably take a while. Especially if she keeps almost causing diplomatic incidents.))
River appears confused, looking at you and then around you. He starts speaking quickly.
"I do not understand. Did you- Do you want to give up? To die because of a mistake you did in the past? Why? I do not understand. Do you have no purpose? Nothing to live for?""Even when I lost the thing I cared for the most, the reason I am alive,... I kept on fighting. I found a new purpose. Because I knew- The people. Did you not have any others that you cared about? Any that would want you to keep on fighting? To find a new purpose? She chose you. She must think that you are strong or important or useful. That you have a purpose. You were chosen by her for a reason.""Why? I do not understand. I-"He raises his hand and moves it towards you, as if he is about to touch your shoulder, but he stops halfway through, hesitating. His hand moves slightly for a second before he lets it fall back down. He looks down.
"I do not know how to do this." he half-sighs half-growls.
"Is that really what you want? To give up?" he asks more slowly and quietly.