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 Veyza, Shadar-Kai Convert to Melora (Avenger) "Hey, Brother Aelethas. How's it going?" Despite her casual tone, the youth approaches her mentor respectfully, remaining at the edge of the glade until bidden. Aelethas, a relatively young elven ascetic who serves as Camp Bluegrass's Meloran cleric, sighs and beckons for his student to come sit. "I hear you've been fighting again." His tone is neutral, as if he may as well be remarking on the tree Veyza had just been leaning against. It's a tone Veyza has come to dread - it means he's testing her. She fights back the urge to get defensive. Taking a deep breath, she tries to respond the way he's taught her, simply explaining events without trying to justify her actions. "I was teaching some of the kids to hunt today. Brandis shot a deer after it was already down, so I punched him in the head. We fought." More words come to her - excuses, blame, anger, pride at how easily she took the burly human down - but she swallows them and waits for Aelethas' response. Much to her annoyance, Aelethas makes her wait, simply regarding her with the same neutral expression for a full minute before opening up. "I sympathize with your anger. If I saw an adult hunter displaying such cruelty, I would not be inclined toward mercy. But Brandis is fifteen. You're supposed to be teaching the younger kids, not beating them up." A hit of annoyance creeps into the elf's voice. He is quick to correct it, taking a deep breath of his own before continuing gently, "I believe in you, Veyza. You've grown a lot since you first arrived, and you've been a great help over the last year. But we can't go back to you getting in fights. You know I've-" "-had to fight hard to let me stay. Ironically." Smirking at her little joke, Veyza lifts a pacifying hand to get ahead of her mentor's inevitable exasperated retort. "Don't worry, I'm taking this seriously. I can't stand the Erathites sometimes, but I'm working on channeling that emotion. Like you taught me, right?" "Just please don't let it happen again." Aelethas bows his head slightly to signify that the talk is over. "Before you go, how's the ritual offering coming along?" "If you keep letting me do it, I'm going to be a better carver than you." Veyza beams. As much as she's tried to distance herself from her upbringing, the old shadar-kai boastfulness shows no signs of going away. "I'll have it ready for tomorrow." Self-satisfied with her answer, she bows and gets up to leave. Brushing a few leaves off her clothes, she turns and walks back out of the glade, picking up an axe she stashed behind a tree before taking off at a run through the forest, grinning from ear to ear. She can ruminate on the talk and feel bad about herself later. Here in the woods, her heart puts those emotions aside. Here, alone, it has only room for joy at Melora's beauty, and joy at bounding through it as wild things do. She's come to actually like the camp after her three years here, but the forest is what she loves. ------------------------------ Veyza has been a year-round resident of Camp Bluegrass for three years. Her adventurer parents dropped her off at the age of 14, seeking either glory or the Raven Queen's embrace by raiding a blue dragon's lair. They never came back. Bitter at their abandonment and possessed with the same thirst for conflict that permeates most shadar-kai, Veyza's first year at the camp saw her earn a fearsome reputation for trouble. Things had gotten to the point where some of the camp counselors started talking about potentially kicking her out. Thankfully, Brother Aelethas, the camp's Meloran cleric, saw something to relate to in her tendency to hang out in the wilderness alone and intervened. Two years later, Veyza is a much more constructive presence around the camp, hunting and gathering to help provide food and even helping out with building projects now and again. She still has a lot of growing up to do, though - she has a competitive streak as wide as the horizon and a short fuse that still gets the best of her from time to time. She doesn't seem to have a ton of ambition other than a vague desire to follow Melora and "be a better person", but her inability to be idle for more than a few minutes at a time means she's never far from adventure. Wol fucked around with this message at 05:51 on May 16, 2018 |
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May 16, 2018 04:32
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| # ¿ Apr 19, 2024 17:33 |
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