A Brighter Mood Victory

Log Info

• Title: A Brighter Mood Victory

• Emitter: Ravenstongue

• Characters: Dolan, Ravenstongue

• Place: Temple of Daeus

The sorceress Cor'lana Lúpecyll-Atlon has hardly made an appearance in Alexandria lately outside of her adventuring robes, and today is no exception. The blue sky and fair weather on this Kesenday puts a light smile on her face, however, that doesn't really abate, especially when Pothy has decided today is a day for bird-cuddles. The white raven keeps nuzzling into Cor'lana's dark waves of hair as she walks into the Temple of Daeus, looking around for someone in particular.

"You better save all of that loving energy for Brydion, you know, Pothy," Cor'lana comments. "What's gotten into you today, anyway?"

"Merp," Pothy replies in a more typical raven noise. Either way, he gets an affectionate stroke of the beak, one that satisfies him for the moment as Cor'lana surveys the courtyard.

As it happens, Dolan and a white-capped gentleman working together outside of one of the doors leading into the main temple are quite visible. Both are dressed simply and practically, for working with wood, and Dolan is splitting logs under the watchful eye of the older man, who is talking him through the process.

"Good, good." He surveys a log that is nearly split in half, with a wedge in the end of it. "One last wedge ought to do it. Move in about a handspan down, that ought to be enough." Dolan does so, and picks up the flat metal mallet leaning against his leg. A good, hard swing, and with a cracking noise, the log splits in half entirely, exposing a rich grain to the sunlight of the temple and his booted foot to half of the log. He lets out a colorful swear word, removing his foot from beneath the thing, to a chuckle from the old man. "I've had that happen more than a few times, lad. She's beautiful."

"Yeah." Dolan immediately sets the mallet down and surveys the inside of the log, rubbing at the brace that covers his left shoulder.

It's Pothy who spots Dolan first before the colorful swear, and he repeats it quite handily in Dolan's voice into Cor'lana's ear. That earn him a blink and a look from Cor'lana before she murmurs, "You don't have to repeat everything you hear, you know," to the raven, and she walks over to the craftsmen that are hard at work.

Her eyes catch the way that Dolan rubs at his brace. "Looks like you need a break," Cor'lana comments with a small smile. "Vaire's verse with you, Brydion."

Pothy, of course, has a tail that flaps a mile a minute as soon as Dolan's in sight. But he greets the man with another more-typical raven noise, albeit one that's rather excited-sounding.

The choice of name earns Dolan an odd look from the older gentleman, and he grins sheepishly, scratching at his hairline. "Close friends are allowed to call me that," he explains without really explaining.

Another peer, but the older gentleman just shrugs. "As you will. Be back at the shop in an hour, I'll see that these are loaded on the cart and taken back, and we'll work these." Dolan nods his understanding, and as the craftsman turns away, he turns towards Lana, still rubbing carefully at the shoulder. It looks like he hasn't gotten a lot of sleep lately, either. "Brightest of days, Lana. What brings you here?"

Pothy gets a quirk of a halfhearted smile as well, definitely not his usual warm greeting. "Hello, Pothy."

"I have information to share with you," Cor'lana says, and there's a small glint of grim satisfaction knowing the next few words are fully relevant to Dolan's interest. "Regarding the full role of demons and how what you are hunting is connected to my own hunt. Beyond that, however, I wanted to ask some questions about your wedding. Telamon tends to have a taste for... The impractical and lavish, and I wanted to ensure what we got you as a present won't go to waste."

"Hello, Brydion," Pothy mimics in Cor'lana's voice. Notably, the bird doesn't go to fly over onto Dolan's shoulder, but he is eyeing the brace like he, too, picked up on the fact Dolan definitely needs a break from physical work, at least for the moment.

That is enough to get Dolan's attention. His head snaps towards her, his gaze suddenly intent and totally focused. "Yeah? I'm listening." He gestures that they should move a little further away from the craftsman, and he's being just a touch careful with that foot. A few steps and it subsides, though he is still definitely in need of that break. "The more we learn, the better. We're still trying to get in to see Seb, but the more we can learn, the better." Boots crunch on the cobblestones of the pathway as he walks.

It's not hard to find a quiet and private space along the path. Cor'lana waits until then for her to divulge, quietly: "Marsward is not simply working with the fiend known as V. He is a servant of V. He approached Dace Zinskas, a fervent belief of the Hound, in the beginning for an alliance. Dace did not know until far too late that his intention was to take the Red Maw --and the god that the Red Maw is tied to--and turn it into a servant in V's portfolio."

She looks at Dolan now. "There are multiple fiends that protect Marsward. If he were to die, he likely would not stay dead for long. In other words, this Marsward Seraquoix is very much your enemy, too."

"That explains a whole wagonload of horseshit," Dolan breathes, once Lana is done with the reveal, listening closely. "That twisted son of a pig's arsehole." The stare with which he fixes Cor'lana is wholly the stare of the inquisitor, even though it is not truly directed at her. "Still. I've got an idea."

Although his hand absently works the muscles around his shoulder, moving across to the back and side of his neck, that's not where his focus lies. His focus is wholly on the words. "Look. We know that V's sole interest is the Red Maw, yeah? They don't usually come to the human realms. We also know that Dace and Seraquoix don't get along. We learned from Micha that the werewolves, too, are divided in loyalties, split roughly in half, yeah?"

He drops the hand and starts ticking off points on roughened fingers. "Evil divides against itself, Lana, when it hasn't got common cause. V ain't gonna be happy with Marsward if he fails. Might just punish him, which may set him at a disadvantage. What's more, Dace'll turn on him if he's got an opening. What we need to do is take out the portal, which opens the Red Maw to destruction, yeah? Take out the portal, take away V's toy. V will probably take themselves off, and may or may not abandon Marsward. Either way, Dace and Marsward will probably turn on each other, and so will the werewolves. Follow me?"

"I know that Dace is turning on Marsward," Cor'lana says softly with a small smile, albeit a grim one. "Because he approached Telamon and I in the dream about doing just that. He does not want to see his god turned into a servant of a fiend any more than necessary. He admitted to me that Zalgiman was the man who was keeping their working relationship together--and the last straw was when Marsward demanded Dace to raise Zalgiman as one of the undead."

That final phrase is what turns the smile into a scowl, an angry thing that demands justice--something in firm agreement with the inquisitor's gaze that Dolan wears. "My next direction after our talk is to go to the Temple of Vardama and secure Zalgiman's ashes into my safekeeping, because Dace told me that--and this is thanks to you, as you were the one who brought us the words from N'thain that Micha needed to hear--because we took Micha away from Marsward's thrall, Marsward is intent on having Zalgiman brought back against his will, and will likely steal Zalgiman's ashes in order to do just that."

She looks at Dolan. "Dace wants to take out that device powering the portal. He's in the best position to do so, really. All he needs is a scroll of a spell called mage's disjunction. I have his word that he will not use it on the totems--he would need more than one scroll anyway to do so. At this point--all he wants is for his god to be free of fiends and free of V. And as despicable as I find the Nightmare to be--I have to agree. For now, however? I want to find out how many of these fiends Marsward has that are protecting him. It may be a moot point, as you make the excellent case that V might well abandon Marsward in the face of failure--but I cannot help but feel this won't be the last time that we deal with V."

Dolan listens to all of this thoughtfully, nodding. "Can't say as I blame him," he admits finally, with his usual unbridled candor. "You know he's taking a tremendous risk, though, right? I've seen the disjunction used, once. The mage who did it - it worked, but he lost all ability to cast magic for it. Damned terrible price. I don't mind getting him the scroll."

He frowns, pursing his lips. "The only thing bothering me - Marsward, Dace, and Jal'goroth have got the last of the totems. One thing I ain't rightly know is if the totems are capable of destroying that thing holding the portal. It's probably another divine artifact, probably something with the power of the Nightmare. I ain't said much, cause - well, I ain't seen much of you lately, and other shit's been happening." That quirk of a cheeky grin is short-lived. "Sure worth giving it a try, yeah? If not, yeah we can give him the scroll."

"Tel ain't told me what he found about the longsword, either. Supposedly those weapons'll help destroy the Red Maw."

Cor'lana nods. "He is taking a great risk," she says, "but that is the power of belief. A man who wants to do right by his god, and see the god free from the influence of fiends--is desperate enough to do so at great risk to himself. As any of us do. One of the tokens of information I got out of that communing is that the totems cannot destroy the device. I would estimate because it's perhaps another divine artifact--the totems cannot destroy it. But that's only speculation on my part."

Then comes the smile. "I have a good reason that I haven't been around," Cor'lana says with a small smile. "Telamon and I were in Charn just a few days ago. That demon that we were hunting ourselves--it's gone. I took it out of this world with the help of our allies. I've been recuperating a little since then. I admit that one of the first things I thought once we were back in the hands of safety is that you might have been proud of me. And, of course, the news of your wedding. I imagine you have been quite busy yourself."

Dolan snaps roughened fingers. "Damn, glad you remembered, Lana. I ain't read the whole thing. I knew about the communing, of course, but it, uh, wasn't the best day I've ever had," he admits, with sheepish and even downcast look. For a moment, it looks like he might say something else, but the other bit of news draws him right out of that. "You got it? Well done! You had to chase it clear to Charn, though. That's miserable, but if you got rid of it, then well done indeed. I hope nobody was hurt."

It is, perhaps, telling that he says very little about himself and what he's been up to.

"It's perfectly fine," Cor'lana says gently. There's a look in her eyes like she wants to ask something--but with how quickly he moves onto the Charn news, she doesn't get the opportunity. Not right away. She nods a little. "I have a feeling more visits to Charn are in our future," she says. "We encountered a demon summoning circle in that house--the house where they summoned the demon that we were tracking. It looked like it'd been there as a matter of fact and not that it was built for that one summoning. Hence why I think finding information on all of V's servants may prove useful in the future."

She looks at Dolan finally for a long moment. Concern's worn in her violet eyes. "The shoulder hasn't been treating you very kindly lately, has it, Brydion?" she asks, her voice soft and light.

"Yeah? You think that whole family's tied up with V? Sounds like a damned lot of 'em are. That's probably where Lady Calogref got it from. Her friend Lady Derwes was from a family exiled from Charn for demon summoning." The inquisitor's focus remains in Dolan's mien for a long, long moment. "We probably ought to learn more. We should go see Magpie. Magpie's got the book."

The second question, though, makes him start, and he lets out a long breath, his one-eyed gaze dropping a little, and his good hand reaches to scratch at his hairline. "Andie's working on crafting me a greatsword that's a little lighter, but supposedly just as effective. We'll see if that helps. I sold the other one to pay for it. Been spending more time with the carpentry lately. It's just a lot of work, yeah? You know, while we wait to get in to see Seb. Soon as Andie tells me they'll let us in, we'll go."

"This is all interconnected," Cor'lana responds with a solemn nod. "We thought it had been connected with Jal'goroth--and then it turned out to be different entities. The real connection is truly with V, and any road that leads to more information about that fiend is one that you should take."

She offers Dolan a placating smile, a light thing on her face. "She's wonderful to you if she's trying to make it easier on you," she says. "It's one thing to offer support--and it's a blessing when someone has a solution that they want to try. Sometimes the conclusion to a problem, if it isn't so simply resolved, is to flip it around on its head and try a new angle. I have to commend your soon-to-be-wife for that."

"Snacks," Pothy quietly requests.

That gets him a handful of dried fruit straight from the pockets of Cor'lana's dress. "The carpentry is a good thing, too, even if it's physically taxing. You have to occupy yourself with something besides the work, you know? Hunting your enemies is something that can become an all-consuming obsession if one isn't careful."

Dolan's answer grin is a quirk of a thing, holding a mix of relief, a hunt of his usual cheek, and boyish affection. "Yeah, I keep telling her I'm the luckiest man ever to live. Not sure she's buying it." Something of boyish giddiness, there. "It's good to have something else," he agrees. "We aren't going to take Guild jobs forever. Comes a time when a man's got to settle down, yeah?" The words are casual, but the thoughts are anything but. "They're telling me I'll still be welcome in the Knight's service even if I do, so there's that. But, I've got things to do still. Like this. You want me to research V's other servants?"

"I'd like you to, yes, because I'm not putting all of my money on V abandoning Marsward the moment that Dace ruins the portal," Cor'lana replies. "Meaning that those fiends that Marsward has protecting him--may bring him back from the death that Dace has for him. I expect he'd be given one last chance, and that means we need to bring everything we can to bear against him."

There's another moment where Cor'lana looks at her friend. Practically a brother, really. After all, he'd saved her in one of her darkest hours from a necromancer's intentions, and had seen her nightmares. "Brydion--it's true, what you're saying, in some fashion. But if what your wife's got planned for you pans out... I wouldn't be so quick to say you're retired." Finally the smile returns to her face. "You're one of the people who I think of that always bets on hope rather than despair, you know. Probably because you are so aligned with Daeus's light. There's always a way, I've come to find out."

Surprised, Dolan eyes Cor'lana, some of the inquisitor's stare falling away, and the lone chocolate brown eye blinks at her. Caught. I was hoping she wouldn't notice. It doesn't matter to him in that moment that she's seen his nightmares. She'll help, but - Telamon probably won't. He doesn't need to know. "Thanks," he answers, with a half-smirk that tugs at the mobile half of his face. It's not a full smile, and nothing close to the cheeky grin he often wears in his better moods, but it's something. "It's coming, though, Lana. I'll see how long I can stave it off. I'm hoping this'll help." Clearly not one of his better days. "In the meantime, I'll grab Magpie and see what we can learn, see who else of V's servants we need to know about."

"You said you wanted to ask me something else, though."

"Retirement--and death--comes for everyone," Cor'lana answers gently. "But they're not the same thing, and a man who knows as much about demons as you do can still be of immense aid to his Temple. There has to be someone to train the next generation of Redeemers about demons, and you might make a terrifyingly good teacher, I think." That makes the smile on her face all the wider.

She nods to Dolan's next question. "I was wanting to see if there was anything you and your wife might particularly appreciate for wedding gifts. If I leave it up to Telamon, he might give you something like a high-grade llyranesi handkerchief to tuck into a pocket. Pretty, even useful for some things--but not immediately relevant to your everyday life, you know? And I am fond of gifts that are lovely but useful."

The words settle gravely onto Dolan's expression, and the smile fades entirely. "Yeah. Well, I might have a thing or two to say about when that happens." A fuller smile finally appears, with more of his usual cheek, and he even chuckles. "Tell Tel to ask himself this - would Andie laugh? If so, it's probably not the right thing. A high-quality handkerchief would crack her up. Remember Andie's cats, also, and they'll destroy anything too fancy. If I'm honest, sofa cushions or pillows might suit, maybe a blanket. Patches is pretty hard on the blankets."

He regards Cor'lana with both artificial and natural eyes for a long moment. "You're too damn glib for your own good, Lana." The tone is admiring.

"I get it from my mother," Cor'lana says with a small sigh. "And from the fey bloodline that runs in my veins. I... It is a curious thing, you know. For all of my power, all of the things I have done--I do not really fully understand myself. The ideas that I have, the actions that I take--sometimes they surprise me even though I'm the one in charge of putting them into action. That is what comes of being the daughter of a woman who might well have taken the world by storm if she didn't choose to die to save me from what she thought of a monster... And a descendant of a lineage born from Quelynos. I can feel I am dancing to someone else's music and trying desperately to follow in their frenzied steps. The more powerful I've gotten--the closer I come to my mother. And yet the more and more aware of how alike and unlike she and I really were. And are."

She offers Dolan a small smile at the end of all of that. "It sounds bizarre. Insane, even. I have learned it is better not to fight it and to embrace the whim as it comes to mind. It tends to work out better for me than when I try the well-reasoned and logical path. I'd attribute it to Vaire, but it's in poor manners to attribute one's own quirks and wellspring of decisions that turn out poorly to a goddess of inspiration. Instead, I will call on Her when I look at the market for ideas."

Cor'lana reaches up to stroke Pothy's feathers. "Pothy is surprisingly not a bad hand at picking out gifts, either. He's a thoughtful bird these days." All of Pothy's feathers puff up, like the bird is blushing out of bashfulness.

"Be yourself, Lana. That's a pretty damned fine person to be, I've found." Dolan is still wearing that half-smile despite tired eyes. "I'll be happy to tell you whether something you're thinking of is worth trying or entirely harebrained." There's the cheeky grin, blooming across his features. "And ask yourself if you'd like it if someone did it to you, and if you wouldn't, don't do it. That's what Mama told me, and she was right."

Cor'lana's violet eyes are twinkling with Dolan's words. "You are, as always, a dear and valued friend to me," she says. "And that is why I offer my words to you when you clearly need them. Trust in your wife's efforts, Brydion--I have a feeling they will pan out. And if they do--well, I don't have to tell you the obvious, then never let her go."

Pothy makes soft, whining noises in her ear, and Cor'lana gives Pothy a small, affectionate sigh. "Now he's all raring to go to the market to find that wedding present," she says. "Brydion, take care of yourself, please? And walk in His light."

"Lana, I' ain't letting her go whether they pan out or no," Dolan counters with a boyish grin. "We'll see what happens. I ain't done yet, you're right about that. We'll just take it one day at a time, yeah? And maybe one of these days I'll get some damned sleep." The smile half-fades. "All right, if you're sure. That's some damned valuable info you got. I'll see what I can find out about V's other servants, but if Zinskas is going to try to disable the portal, then we'd better be ready to move on the Maw as soon as he does."

He straightens up and moves to turn away. "I'd best head back to the shop. I always do. You know that."

He does, at least, seem to be in a brighter mood than when she arrived. Sometimes, that in itself is a victory.