Grendel's Intro

[Ebiris]

[12:55] <Carthrat> <->
[12:57] <Carthrat> Green fields gush out all around you, endless grass broken by a single tree, a literal pillar of oaken splendour. This is a memory, taken form as a dream. When you first came here, the tree was a mere sapling. Now, it reaches to the sky, mighty branches spread wide. (More.)
[12:59] <Carthrat> The woman sits propped up against it, all too human. Raven hair spills down her back, and she holds one hand over her chest, smiling, breathing in time with the world. "Come and sit," she says, in an inviting, motherly tone. "You're late for your lesson." Indeed, it took you longer than usual to get to sleep tonight.
[13:00] <Grendel> "I... you know me?" Grendel asks, slowly walking closer and studying the woman before him, straining his uncooperative mind for any memories. The tree... it's familiar. He *knows* this place. But who is this woman?
[13:02] <Carthrat> "Of course," she replies, turning her head a little. "Don't tell me... you forgot? But that's alright. I'm sure that you'll remember next time. But it's time to see if you've done your homework," she says. One of her eyes is green, and the other red; wearing a white shirt and a black skirt, she would appear like anyone else, if is wasn't for her face and hair. A more beautiful face Grendel has not seen...
[13:06] <Grendel> "I'm... sorry," Grendel apologises as he carefully sits down before the woman, folding his legs beneath him. "I have forgotten much... This is a dream?" he looks around a moment at their surroundings before devoting his full attention to the captivating woman. Whether a magical sending of a dream or a figment of his lost memories, she must be important.
[13:08] <Carthrat> "A dream is something false, or something longed for," she replies, gently. "This is not a dream, but merely a lesson. There's no time for it in the waking world, though..." She brushes her hair across her face, gazing up at the empty sky. "But don't worry. I wanted to ask you what you thought of good and evil. Would you prefer we talked of dreams?"
[13:10] * Grendel shakes his head. "No... this lesson, I would hear of it," he requests firmly, focusing intently on her. "You wish to know of my morals?" He wonders if his own mindset in such matters even matches the 'He' that he once was... none of the fragmentary memories he's had even touched on that. It's all just been dry knowledge, tantalisingly out of context.
[13:13] <Carthrat> "Yes," she replies. "Or, rather, how you came to form them... for, that was what I was to one within you," she adds. "What is good? What is evil? What is law? What is chaos? What are you?"
[13:18] <Grendel> "I am... unsure," Grendel admits after a pause. "I have no desire to harm others for the sake of it, as I have seen others do. But nor would I selflessly sacrifice myself for an ideal." He sighs softly and shakes his head, "Laws make sense, to ensure stability and civilisation, yet inflexibility deserves no admiration." He cocks his head, "Was this what you expected? Did I once hold stronger convictions?"
[13:18] <Grendel> Then, frowning as her first statement penetrates, "To 'one' within me?" he asks sharply.
[13:21] <Carthrat> "Sadly, only one," she says, her eyes closing. "One who, in the end, did not listen. One whose experience now makes up your own..." She twists her head, fingers trailing across the bark of the tree behind you. "A tree grows from the root, before spreading into a multitude of beautiful branches, each with their own character, their own leaves. But for you, it is the opposite..."
[13:23] <Grendel> "I have had... more than one life? Before this one?" Grendel asks, shaking slightly. Bad enough trying to piece together the fragments of one forgotten existence, but... just *what* is he? How long has this been going on for?
[13:23] <Carthrat> "In a sense, you have, but in another, this is all you have," she replies, standing up from the tree. "Let us take a walk, and see the memories the beat closest to the heart."
[13:25] * Grendel smoothly rises to his feet, nodding wordlessly and following the woman. Memories... perhaps now he will see something tangible as to what he was before?
[13:28] <Carthrat> "Perhaps, this time, you will find something appealing. And then, you might remember me," she says, walking through the fields... fields that become streaked with blood, a hellish miasma of battle and betrayal, of lies and terror. The first thing you see is the axe, glinting darkly, trails of it's terrible work still evident. "Was this you?" she says, gazing at the weapon.
[13:31] <Grendel> Grendel works his mouth for a moment, though no words come. Slowly reaching out, he clasps a hand around the hilt of the axe, lifting it up and bringing it to bear with both hands. "It feels... it feels familiar," he acknowledges. Oddly, he has a sense it's heavier than it should be, yet there's no denying the form of it speaks to him on some level.
[13:31] <Grendel> Looking around at the aftereffects of carnage displayed all about, "This as well... it's almost on the edge of my consciousness..."
[13:33] <Carthrat> "Really?" almost shouts the woman, sounding suddenly exuberant. "Then... then... what about this?" A mosaic of images swirls around you, a grim story of demons and their ilk being played out. Through badlands, desert, and ocean; on top, on high, and under the ground, a party of hunted figures evades a fate wished on them by others. The impetus of blood and peer draws them towards the evil side of a great axis, even as they try to escape it.
[13:37] * Grendel buckles slightly, axe dropping from now nerveless fingers with a clatter as he brings his hands to his head, straining at the sensory overload. "It's... no!" he almost snarls, "I feel something close, but I can't grasp it! I should know this, but... gah! It's just out of reach!"
[13:37] <Carthrat> "But it has to! You have to remember!" she yells, sounding terrified. "If.. if you don't remember then.. you can't tell me who I am!"
[13:39] <Grendel> "Who... Hells, woman, I don't even know who *I* am! Aren't you the one with the answers, here?" Grendel growls, looking up at the woman through slitted eyes as he wrestles with the memories, trying to bring them into definition.
[13:43] <Carthrat> "That's.. that's why I'm trying!" she says, eyes quivering a little. "Am I one of these people? Am I someone you walked with now, or before?" Faces twitch in front of Grendel... (a white-haired assassin, with raven tips. She sees the weakness of all things... a frosty witch, aqua hair and thick cloak, standing back-to-back with an identicle woman. One wields a spellbook, the other a bow...) (more)
[13:44] <Carthrat> (The newest addition, a loose-lipped fellow, embers trailing around his tightly gripped blades.) "I must know..  I need to know.. I don't want to be just an idea forever..."
[13:47] <Grendel> "And I don't want to be an amnesiac half-man, forever!" Grendel snaps back. "Dammit, I walk alone, now, but... Gah, these faces all feel familiar to me. Who are they?! Who are you?! Who am I?!" he rattles off frantically.
[13:50] <Carthrat> "They've touched the place you come from," she whispers. "And while you do not know whom you are, they might find not knowing their blood a blessing. They might know, though. Know who you could once have been. And if they know that, then they may know me.."
[13:51] * Grendel takes a deep breath, calming himself down. "Then where are they? Are they in Calimport? Ever since waking, I've felt drawn here - is it because of them?"
[13:54] <Carthrat> "Soon, they will be returning... but forces work against them already," she whispers. "Something from a past of yours stalks towards them now..." Her eyes lower, and she sounds sad again. "I.. I am just a messenger, I think, from you, to you. I can send you to another dream, but... it may not be as pleasant as this one."
[13:55] * Grendel barks off a short, sharp laugh. "This was supposed to be pleasant? Woman, I'd hate to see what you consider to be unpleasant." Shaking his head, he goes on, "But if it brings me closer to finding myself, I don't care."
[13:57] <Carthrat> "I.. yes, then. Don't.. don't look at me like that," she adds, refusing to meet your gaze. "You're my only hope, I just..."
[13:58] * Grendel snorts. "If I'm you're only hope, you have my pity, woman."
[14:00] <Carthrat> She gazes sadly at the ground, before the vision around you twists, and you feel yourself as if on legs you can't control. You walk the backstreets of Calimshan, meeting with your companions. You huddle in the corner, glancing about fearfully. (More.)
[14:01] <Carthrat> "Fearlorn's making us go out again," whispers Derik the Face. Today, he is a palace guard, so he wears loose robes and a protective shirt of chain, clutching a large falchion. A master of disguise and presumption, he always loses his cool when Fearlorn's name is mentioned. (More.)
[14:02] <Carthrat> "Ain't nothing we can do. Another suicide mission, it seems," states Morgan the Hand. The stocky dwarf didn't get his name for being quick, he got it for being *brutal*. In the all-too-frequent cases where someone needs to be brought back alive, he's the one who brings them down- and it doesn't matter if they're armed or not. (More.)
[14:04] <Carthrat> "I bet I'm the one who goes down this time," you say, morbidly. Kharan the Heart, you are called, and while you're a skilled wizard, you're not one to mess with the likes of Fearlorn. Demon witch has a cruel streak a mile wide, matched only by her greed. "Remember, you grab him, and say the word," you say, handing Morgan a badge. "It'll break and you'll be safe. Once you've got him, we're out..."
[14:04] <Carthrat> (more.)
[14:06] <Carthrat> Stanley the Leg, the final member of your band, packs a mean kick; "So grab her quickly, I'm sick of this crap. We're pulling out a noble from the middle of his ball, we'll be lucky if we get out alive..." Still, if you do get out, you'll be safe; Derik is good at disguising everyone, finding false pretenses.. yes, he's a master of the setup, leaving the execution to strike at just the right moment. (more.)
[14:07] <Carthrat> The mission commences. It doesn't go well. Morgan gets the man, but your invisibility spell was disrupted. Now you're running. You're seperated. You're lost. You're in shadows you haven't seen before. An elf steps before you, he's not one you recognize. Your spells aren't working, he's too strong-willed! His rapier is out, and-
[14:07] <Carthrat> <->
[14:08] <Carthrat> Grendel wakes up in the seedy inn, breathing hard. The tug that's been pulling him ever since he awoke is as strong as ever, tugging towards the northwest...
[14:09] * Grendel rolls out of bed, breathing heavily. Taking a second to realise he's awake, he immediately grabs his journal and begins to frantically scribble in every detail of the dream before it's forgotten, even going so far as to draw a picture of the woman he saw. Everything has to be recorded while it's still fresh!
[14:11] <Grendel> After recording his thoughts, the journal goes into the folds of his clothes, a little magic from his ever so useful ring cleaning him up far better than the poor bathing facilities of this inn. Going downstairs, he gets himself a quick breakfast before heading out, following the tugging pull and seeing where it takes him. That dream gave him more to consider than anything he's had so far, and it looks like answers could be near...
[14:13] <Carthrat> <->
[15:51] <Carthrat> The tugging feeling is getting stronger. Grendel is sure he's getting close, as he hurries through the desert. It seems to be coming towards him, as well... and, after a single day of travel, his efforts are rewarded; a group of riders is in the distance, apparently conversing...
[15:54] * Grendel wonders if those riders are the ones he seeks... Currently in the form of a hyena for travel through this environment, he approaches, blending in against the sandy dunes to avoid drawing attention to himself in case they aren't ones he wishes to confront.
[15:56] <Carthrat> It seems that the two groups are leaving each other. You recognize three of them as the same ones from your dream... but they are going further into the desert, while the other six are turning back towards the path to Calimshan. Four of their faces you definately recall as the ones that woman showed you...
[15:58] <Grendel> Startled at recognising so many, Grendel lays down on his haunches atop a sand bar, watching both groups and waiting to see which way the tugging pulls him. The three going into the desert seem like a band of misfits from his dream, but somehow the others feel more important, from what the woman said, even if they are more mysterious.
[15:59] <Carthrat> The tugging feeling is still there, but, strangely, it's beginning to get weaker. "It's sometimes easier to make a new sword than find an old one," you remember. Where did you hear that?
[15:59] <Carthrat> In any case, it seems to be pulling to the larger group.
[16:00] * Grendel watches the smaller group recede into the distance for a bit, feeling some irritation at being forced into this choice. Nonetheless, he feels compelled to investigate the others, first. Rising on his paws, he begins to follow after them, trying to get close to perhaps listen to their conversation while hopefully avoiding notice.
[16:02] <Carthrat> Make a hide check
[16:05] <Carthrat> OOC: Act in here, for the sake of hilarity, so I can report back in-channel.
[16:06] * Grendel growls softly at being spotted so easily. Then at the bow-wielding woman's comment, he decides perhaps an introduction is in order.
[16:06] <Grendel> OOC: I'm going to transform, so shall I go in #dunes?
[16:06] <Carthrat> OOC: Sure