Lily's Memoirs

… Cont’d
That is why I walk this windy highway
And stop and hark
And peer through the moonlight–always my way!
And listen up the dark
And knuckle my forehead to remember her truly,
The very She;
And that is why I cling your rein unduly
To answer me!”

But the eyes were deep and dark, though somehow tender.
Haste was manifest
In the gauntlet, the greaves, the irid splendor
That pulsed on his breast.
He did not even gesture to the night grown holy,
But shook his rein
As his steed leapt forth; while I–turned slowly
To the cities of the plain.

The Two Albinos

So it has been a good, long time since we saw the Loyalists in Puddleby. They’ve disappeared along with the members of the True and Gentle Knighthood.

And then a Thoom, one mister Quincy, or rather.. “Lord Quincy Tiberus Broadfin IX,” has announced that he is collecting tax on the citizens of the Lok’Groton islands. A Thoom of apparent noble standing, or bloodline, or something. I have to admit, the title posturing bored me.

Obviously, this would not go over well with exiles. The self-proclaimed Sheriff of Puddleby made a statement to pay nothing, one mister Rosencrantz – I’ve seen this young man around, he’s quite a sourpuss – rebutted by claiming it was treason to not pay your taxes. Then, miss Borkiron pointed out that the punishment for treason was to be exiled to the Lok’Groton islands. The entire exchange was excellent!

So on an ordinary day, nothing out of the ordinary, during a quiet time in town center, both these men – mister Quincy and mister Rosencrantz – happened to wander into town.

The spectacle was amazing. The first thought that crossed my mind was that they looked like a pair of Albino Mahas seeing each other for the first time. As though they did not quite believe the other existed.

There was a great deal of posturing, mister Quincy was exiled for “court intrigue,” while mister Rosencrantz was exiled as “a victim of conspiracy.” All in all, they sounded very much as though they were more interested in impressing the other as to their standing within the Imperial nobility.

mister Geotzou and miss D’Ead decided it would be fun to come and antagonize the Thoom, which resulted in threats back and forth, involving nobility versus the strength of the exiles.

The conversation continued into what seemed to be an invitation for mister Quincy to go and visit mister Lugubrion’s keep through the Thoom-only entrance in the marsh.

The timing was interesting as the Falinea’s Blade crew finished their hunt and came to join us in town center. mister Geotzou took the opportunity to cast sideways insults at mister Quincy, and causing mister Rosencrantz to act as though he were a protector.

mister Quincy did seem to humble himself to sir Coldy. Apparently Knighthood exempts mister Coldy from paying the tax, but for a respectful request of assistance. Funny how these things work. If only ser Slyph were around, that would be quite the show.

The exiles of Puddleby continued to torment mister Quincy and mister Rosencrantz, though the latter to a lesser extent. Comments were made about a pig eating the emperor, and jokes made about the expense of currency.

mister Geotzou seemed terribly disturbed by the entire ordeal and left after a final insult directed toward mister Quincy.

My opinion of these two: These loyalists give a bad name to their cause. Their posturing and lack of any sort of respect toward exiles will only lead toward animosity. Of course, the smartest course of action would be to be polite, kind, and overall sociable. These two manage to make smart seem downright genius. The animosity they managed to accrue in such a short period of time makes me amazed that we have the reputation of being a helpful and friendly community. Though, on the other hand, I suppose if we are antagonized as a whole, it is easy to rile the strongest among us to defend the weakers.

Champion Training and Mandibles

Somehow I managed to go along on a trip to the Arachnoid cavern to accompany mister Quincy on his quest to become a Champion. A champion of what is what I so longed to ask him, but I presumed it would only lead to more haughty posturing, so I refrained.

miss D’Ead accompanied, along with miss Aurelie, and of course, mister Rosencrantz. I am not entirely sure why ‘Noids was the pick for Champion training, but it was definitely lucrative. mister Rosencrantz seems to have trained with mister Longtooth somewhere along the way.

As a side note, miss Aurelie was quite protective of my safety. I was impressed and flattered! She made sure to position herself between me and the Arachnoids at all times, I’ve never had a healer be quite so protective of me. I feel this begs a nickname, something that reflects this quite flattering and generous behavior of miss Aurelie’s. Her hair is quite flowing and fiery, perhaps simply calling her ‘Red’ would suffice. Perhaps not, I will give it more thought.

Back to the story, mister Quincy seems particularly sure of himself, as he claims to have led troops back on the mainland. Either way, we kept being pushed back due to his continuing to fight from behind. I suggested we head out of the deep cavern in order to allow for a repositioning in the choke, and I was informed it was unnecessary. Not ten minutes later, mister Quincy is ordering us out of the cavern to reposition. I refrained, wonderfully, from commenting.

Science was brought up, as miss Aurelie went about testing her range with her mercurial staff. mister Rosencrantz decided that calling me lazy would shut me up when I contended with him that science is not just for mystics. This stereotype is an interesting one, I wonder how I developed it.

And then the crucial moment of revealing that I am not, in fact, a boosting mystic came to light. mister Quincy completely surprised me by respecting, or at least accepting, my decision. Mention of inquisitors and mystical training seemed to upset Aurelie to a degree, I will admit that I am intrigued, but I won’t pry on her stories. After all, I wouldn’t want someone to do that to me.

I managed to get somewhat protective of miss Aurelie and began to antagonize the two. I feel somewhat silly for allowing it, though still, it was clear their glorifying the Empire and demeaning Puddleby was upsetting miss Aurelie to a large extent. It could be argued that I was upholding my Knightly duties, I suppose.

My ultimate conclusion on these two is that they feed off of each other, without a care to anyone else involved. As one made a comment, the other would take it and either expand or correct it in great detail. Somehow, they believe they are of the highest authority, and they don’t have any need to pay attention to what others around them say. If they had any of the honor they claimed, they would surely have noticed when a lady such as miss Aurelie was getting distraught and at least have the decency to avoid the topic.