Mists over the Musarde, Chapter Five

[Brock Marsh Runoff]

"He was deserving better," Dorgio agrees, and walks with Benn towards the woods to gather lumber. "But what had corrupted him? Cirdan would not be striking at an unarmed man, even if he thought the man a murderer. What had happened to his eyes, what was that?"

He is silent for a while as he collects the branches.

"He was raising serious accusations, though. Do you think Jon really could be the killer?"

[Adam]

"I do not know," Benn says, stooping over to grab some loose kindling from the ground. "The boy's been acting so strangely. It could be the creature in him taking over, and there are tales that lycanthropes are able in some way to control their descendants. Whatever the case, I am certain Van Deicks is somewhere laughing at us now." He turns, looking back towards the villagers and the moot. "Jon can say what he will, but he provoked that fight. He had a chance to walk away from it, and he spat in the knight's face. It is clear to me now that we can no longer trust him, and Norzak's loyalty to the boy makes him a danger as well. " His expression turns grave. "I hope if Jon's curse ever takes hold of him, that I'm there to show him the same mercy they showed Cirdan."

[JMaytr]

''Jon- why is the Boke-Man angry with us? We do not understand. Did he not see, did he not hear? We did not seek to slay the warrior- we only wished him to leave. He was demon-touched. He said so himself. His eyes, that awful voice! Will the Boke-Man curse us all, now?''

"No one wanted the knight to be slain, least of all myself. I am sorrowed to see him gone.

"Do not fear, no, for Bennidict is a good man. He won't curse anyone with his book power, he's not like that. He is angry and mournful over his loss of Cirdan, the two were very, very close you see. I believe it is this place that bothers him so. I saw him with his pack, he seemed ready to leave. After I get a good night's sleep, I think we should consider following him out of the woods."

[ewancummins]

in the Moot-Hall

Ottokar pats Jon on the shoulder.

''Yes, just get some sleep, boy. The women will bring you some herbs for the pain. May it pass quickly.''

[Brock Marsh Runoff]

He furrows his brow. "Let us hope it is not coming to that. I am not trusting him either, but sometimes I am thinking my mistrust creates a---what had that student been calling it?---a self-fulfilling prophecy. I am spiteful, and the boy reacts in kind. Am I spiteful because the boy is not to be trusted, or is he not to be trusted because I am spiteful? I am not knowing. I am not knowing anything, these days."

He sets his pile down and lights a cigarillo, his first since the fight. "It will be hard on Evie. Dennys, I am thinking he will be secretly pleased. He'll be marrying her off to some kurva Falkov noble or something equally pragmatic, yes?" He shakes his head. "We should be bringing her his ashes."

[ewancummins]

It takes hours for Benn and Dorgio to gather and stack enough dry wood to make a proper pyre for Cirdan.

Now, the sun is low in the western sky almost dipping below the dark gray-green blur of the misty, tree-clad hills.

Jon remains abed in the Hall, suffering a tearing agony in his limbs and back.

Wat snoozes quietly in one corner of the great hall.


Ottokar has gone back to his work of trading.

The folk are not laughing and dancing now, and the mood of the Moot has grown somber and serious.

[steveflam]

Norzak stays near the boy, concerned. He notices that the boy seems to have grown while he is in pain? "Now that ain't normal. An I din't see noone curse him. Mebbe better go ask Benn or Dorgio about this."

He moves away from Jon and finds Wat. "Hey bub, Imma gonna go see Benn or Dorgio a minute then come back. Keep an eye on Jon."

He exits the moot house and goes off in search of both men. Upon spying both he walks, nearly running up to them both. "Uh, listen. I bin watching Jon an he's grown since this morning! I mean I heard of curses like that but I dint see noone curse him. Can ye come see a minute? I left Wat with him."

[ewancummins]

Wat, roused from his nap, now stands watch over Jon.

''Uhhhh...Jon, you....uh...you look bigger. How do you feel?''

[Brock Marsh Runoff]

Dorgio stands in front of the bier, a torch in his hand. He is about to speak when Norzak arrives. Instead, the priest listens. "I will be looking in on him after the service. For now, we are having Cirdan to attend to." He pauses. "Would you be liking to stay?"

[steveflam]

"Well I knows I should be with him, but cant do nuthin fer him right now. I'll help ye get some wood fer Cirdan. Uh, anyone think about what we gonna tell Evie an Denys? I think we should tell them he dies heroically or somethin like that. I knows I be responsible but somehtin weren't right about him an he hitted the lad. So, what ya think might make Jon grow so fast? His weasel part of him?"

[steveflam]

As an afterthought Norzak orders his shadow Keep an eye on the boy. Any funny business an lemme know.

[Adam]

Bennedict tries not to let his lip curl as Norzak is discussing Jon's "issue."

He nods at the dwarf's other question, piling the wood next to the knight's still form. "She does not need to know what became of him at the end." He agrees. "Let her keep the fond memories of her heroic knight. Her heart will break either way, but at least her illusions won't have to be shattered in the process."

He turns, a thought occurring to him. He examines the knight's body for some sort of iconography, or some sort of keepsake to take to the girl, that is not covered with the grim symbols of the Eternal Order.

[ewancummins]

Bennedict tries not to let his lip curl as Norzak is discussing Jon's "issue."

He nods at the dwarf's other question, piling the wood next to the knight's still form. "She does not need to know what became of him at the end." He agrees. "Let her keep the fond memories of her heroic knight. Her heart will break either way, but at least her illusions won't have to be shattered in the process."

He turns, a thought occurring to him. He examines the knight's body for some sort of iconography, or some sort of keepsake to take to the girl, that is not covered with the grim symbols of the Eternal Order.

Benn finds a small, dun-colored cloth sack on Cirdan's belt. Under the knight's gorget, he finds a charm hanging on a string: a lock of Evie's red hair, tied up in a bit of green silk.

[Brock Marsh Runoff]

Dorgio nods. "There is a time and a place for lies. This is one of them."

When Benn has finished collecting Cirdan's effects, Dorgio speaks. "While I am having no fondness for the Order, I am sure Cirdan would be wanting his faith's prayers." With that, he begins the invocation.

"Oh Eternal Ones, who sleep beneath our sons, we commit to you the spirit of Cirdan Carnisir, knight of the Eternal Order, son of Lord Carnisir of the Mistlands, betrothed of Evangeline Sancerre. Accept your servant, old ones, and do not forsake your hold on the dead. Keep their bodies in your bosom, their spirits sealed in the dark recesses of the earth and stone. Do not let those who have fallen return, and spare us from the burden of your wrath.” His brows come together as he reads that part, but he manages to keep his lip from twitching in disdain. Instead, he continues, evoking the elven deities of the Eternal Order. “Badb, do not rain down your sixty illnesses. Balor, do not judge the departed harshly. Morgaine, do not teach your sins to our daughters. Do not destroy what we have created. In humble fear do we so pray.”

"Now, would anybody be liking to speak?"

[Adam]

Bennedict tries not to smirk in bemusement at Dorgio's discomfort at reading another faith's prayers, and doesn't entirely succeed when it comes time to list the elven gods and beseech them not to ruin what the followers of the Eternal Order had built.

He steps forward.

"This man, Herr Cirdan, was a knight t in every sense of the word. He fought with courage before foes that would have made many other men blanch and run. He was a rock to lean against in the uncertain maelstrom of darkness that has surrounded us since the beginning, and he has never wavered in that. Even despite the circumstances of his end, I feel that he truly believed that what he was doing was right. He would have given his life for us. Let us hope that he did not give his soul."

With that, he bows his head and steps back from the bier to let others speak.