Coldness in the Heart (18+ Some swearing, implied scenes)
Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 5:40 pm
(Everything is from Audra's point of view and reflects what she is thinking at the time. Anything in italics is a thought. She's not stupid enough to say any of this out loud. She knows it'd get her killed.)
Audra sat high in the mountains above Silverymoon, in a copse of alpine trees that guarded the entrance to the temple of Auril. The wind was fierce and icy cold. It's frigid touch sucking the heat from living flesh to leave it cold and frozen. Snow sat heavy on the dark thin needled branches, shielding the thickly bundled young woman from the wind.
Her breath fogged the air, where the trees grew in the least windy spot on that part of the mountain, kept the air mostly still and calm. The sun was near the edge of the horizon, night readying itself to throw the cloaks of Selune and Shar over the world.
As the day quickened to twilight, the auburn haired girl sat huddled in thick wool blankets and a hastily mended torn robe. She stared into the distance, not seeing the thin low clouds of icy snow the wind blew, tears freezing on her cheeks as she thought on the events on the last few days. Of her 'family'.
You were kind to me, in a gruff way, Xujja. You took in and helped a lost girl. I can understand why, but I see it for what it is. She scrubbed the ice from her cheeks with a mittened hand, only to have new tears run over the cheeks to freeze anew. Your Pack, your 'family' and our goddess, Auril, and killing, is all you care about. You don't care for anything else. Audra thought, huddling and shivering slightly in the blankets.
I liked you, despite the fact you are a barbarian. You helped me, took me to bed. Which should have told me what you really wanted. Angrily she scrubs her face again, her pretty face scowling. The Pack, or family is almost as bad as you. You promised me things, then turned and married her when I was away in Silverymoon, Audra's thoughts turned to her 'family'.
Xujja... He was a barbarian of the Elk tribe. Hard and cruel, he could feign enough civilized behaviour to fool a lonely girl. She'd known he liked to hurt and see others be hurt. The first night with him had shown that. But she had persevered. for all of his cruelty, he was kinder than the apprentices, journymen and masters in the
Host Tower she'd fled from. She'd also been swayed by talk of marriage. It'd been enough to make her warm to him. Always before she'd been used, whether as a servant, apprentice, a object lesson or the focus of an arcane ritual, in an uncaring manner, to be sent back to the small cell that was her room.
Xujja had helped her find several small jobs, given some money to get her into the Silverymoon collage even though she wasn't a wizard, but a sorceress. He'd even helped her with her religious questions and needs to repay Auril for saving her life when she'd fled Luskan.
Now she saw him for what he was. A barbarian fanatic. Not for his tribal ways, which he still mostly followed, but a fanatic of Auril. He'd gleefully kill and let the world freeze for the Icy Goddess. Using the Queen of Cold to give his murderous intent a veneer of 'justification'.
It had come out with her first time with the full Pack. They'd been hired to 'convince' a group of elven colonists from settling nearby Silverymoon. By a man everyone else knew, but she didn't. It was her first time with everyone. Before then, she'd only seen Xujja, Lotus the most, Hollis and Al-Ham once or twice in passing. Everyone of the group, Xujja, Lotus, Holis, Al-Ham and Jasmine, the Auril priestess, had been more than enthused at the thought of killing. Any talk of getting them to leave peacefully was skipped over quickly and the talk settled on the most effective way to kill the elves.
It had shocked her and she'd voiced her surprize. Only to recieve a beating from Xujja and be given a choice. Are you a peasant or cutter? He'd asked her as she lay, sobbing on the ground, her face bruised and bloody. Right then she knew she had no choice if she wanted to live. They couldn't let her live, not with what she knew, enough to make real trouble for them if she ran to the law.
Well? Peasant or cutter? He'd asked again, when she stood, he had grabbed her arm and was starting to walk back up the mountain, to kill her she thought and blurted, Cutter. After that, he'd smiled, in a way that made her heart lurch in her chest despite her pain and dislike for what he had done to her.
At the encampment, Xujja had pushed the elves until there was no choice but to kill. As he'd always intended, she was sure. I hope you get hit with a giant's club in the crotch.
The other members of the Pack were...
Hollis The smal lmurderous hin was a true fanatic. She could still see his enthusuasm and eagerness to kill in her mind. He'd shown great skill in sneaking into the tent to grab the female elf and use her as a hostage. His laughter as the elves died. and the joy he'd shown in killing for Auril. I hope you die in a fire Hollis. You little shite
Al-Ham, human male, a bard or something, she wasn't sure. He'd shown nearly as much pleasure in killing as Hollis. He'd also frightened her when he heard her whispering 'I'm so sorry" as she fired her crossbow at the elves. I hear you, he'd hissed through the twanging of bowstrings, screams and the clang of blades on armor and chopping into flesh. He was watching her more carefully, she was sure.
Jasmine The female cleric of Auril. So different than the clerics she'd met in the Luskan Temple. Harder, more cruel and cold, and not bound by the overbearing hands andf eyes of the true rulers of Luskan that those clergy had been. The young white haired ,not by old age More's the pity you spiteful hag, she thought angrily, was what the Luskan clergy would be if not constrainted by the HostTower. She'd also shown great enthusiasm for killing the elves.
She'd also put Audra on the spot back at the temple after the murders were done. She'd noticed Arudra's shivering and had asked, ordered really, Aurdra to remove her heavy winter robe and 'embrace Auril's cold'. Audra had refused, reciting the oath she'd given Xujja and Auril. The murderous hin gleefully stripped, to kneel beside the white haired cleric. Who had demanded again Audra remove the robe. When Audra refused, she'd torn the robe and kept up her ranting spiel while Audra fell to her knees in the snow and fierce wind. The torn robe no longer protecting her. Only when Audra was lying on her side on the snow, frostbite starting to set in, had she helped Audra into the temple and used her ability to remove the cold from the freezing girl. Vicious bitch
Then there was the drow...
Lotus.... The drow dancer/courtesan. Who Aydra thought was the most friendly and likable. She was now Xujja's wife. Wife of the cruel Elf barbarian, yet Audra could not easily hate the woman. She was everything Audra had missed out while growing up. She knew how to deal with people, how to be polite, kind, gentle, graceful and polished. The drow woman had also offered to teach Audra, to be more cultured and striking. A whore's skills, but Audra knew they could be used for more than that.
Lotus had enjoyed killing the elves, but that didn't bother Audra as much as the others. Lotus, at least, had a racial reason to hate surface elves You.. I'd hit with a hard pillow, and because of you, I will not hurt Xujja. She was the most like a sister to the young half elven Audra than any of the others.
All of them were the Pack, her 'family'. I'd leave, but I did help kill the elves. My hands are stained with their blood. more so. They have killed before and often. This is the first murders for me. Fresh tears freezing on her cheeks, Audra looked at her mittened hands, seeing blood on them even though she had only used her crossbow in killing them. For better or worse, I'm like them. A killer, murderer for mere money under a veneer of respectability. I don't want to be like them or with them. They'd kill me if I left. She covered her face, sobbing quietly. Damn them, damn them ALL, Auril! I'm not a killer like that barbarian son of a rancid bitch! I am NOT A BARBARIAN! I hate him. I hate Hollis, I hate the darkie and I hate Jasmine! I hate them ALL!
She cried quietly, the wind covering any noises she made. When the tears dried, Audra srubbed the ice from her blotchy red eyes face. I hate them, but Xujja is right, damn him. With them I have a family. People that will protect me. Except for Hollis. He'd giggle if I was dying. But the others will help, I think. I hate them, but .... The young woman sighed heavily, looking up into the now dark skies. The bright pinpricks of stars sparkling in the velvet shroud of night that now swathed the world. The moon was a thin sliver on the eastern horizon. I might hate them, but they are all I have. You saved me before. I hope I can make a home here with you and them. She thought.
Sighing, Audra stood, wrapping the blankets around her. She trudged through the thigh deep snow, headed to the temple. It was time for worship. At the entrance, Audra cast a last look up at the starts. Seeing their cold beauty shining in the black night. Then without a word, she went inside to walk the path she'd chosen. With the cold hearted goddess she had sworn to serve.
Audra sat high in the mountains above Silverymoon, in a copse of alpine trees that guarded the entrance to the temple of Auril. The wind was fierce and icy cold. It's frigid touch sucking the heat from living flesh to leave it cold and frozen. Snow sat heavy on the dark thin needled branches, shielding the thickly bundled young woman from the wind.
Her breath fogged the air, where the trees grew in the least windy spot on that part of the mountain, kept the air mostly still and calm. The sun was near the edge of the horizon, night readying itself to throw the cloaks of Selune and Shar over the world.
As the day quickened to twilight, the auburn haired girl sat huddled in thick wool blankets and a hastily mended torn robe. She stared into the distance, not seeing the thin low clouds of icy snow the wind blew, tears freezing on her cheeks as she thought on the events on the last few days. Of her 'family'.
You were kind to me, in a gruff way, Xujja. You took in and helped a lost girl. I can understand why, but I see it for what it is. She scrubbed the ice from her cheeks with a mittened hand, only to have new tears run over the cheeks to freeze anew. Your Pack, your 'family' and our goddess, Auril, and killing, is all you care about. You don't care for anything else. Audra thought, huddling and shivering slightly in the blankets.
I liked you, despite the fact you are a barbarian. You helped me, took me to bed. Which should have told me what you really wanted. Angrily she scrubs her face again, her pretty face scowling. The Pack, or family is almost as bad as you. You promised me things, then turned and married her when I was away in Silverymoon, Audra's thoughts turned to her 'family'.
Xujja... He was a barbarian of the Elk tribe. Hard and cruel, he could feign enough civilized behaviour to fool a lonely girl. She'd known he liked to hurt and see others be hurt. The first night with him had shown that. But she had persevered. for all of his cruelty, he was kinder than the apprentices, journymen and masters in the
Host Tower she'd fled from. She'd also been swayed by talk of marriage. It'd been enough to make her warm to him. Always before she'd been used, whether as a servant, apprentice, a object lesson or the focus of an arcane ritual, in an uncaring manner, to be sent back to the small cell that was her room.
Xujja had helped her find several small jobs, given some money to get her into the Silverymoon collage even though she wasn't a wizard, but a sorceress. He'd even helped her with her religious questions and needs to repay Auril for saving her life when she'd fled Luskan.
Now she saw him for what he was. A barbarian fanatic. Not for his tribal ways, which he still mostly followed, but a fanatic of Auril. He'd gleefully kill and let the world freeze for the Icy Goddess. Using the Queen of Cold to give his murderous intent a veneer of 'justification'.
It had come out with her first time with the full Pack. They'd been hired to 'convince' a group of elven colonists from settling nearby Silverymoon. By a man everyone else knew, but she didn't. It was her first time with everyone. Before then, she'd only seen Xujja, Lotus the most, Hollis and Al-Ham once or twice in passing. Everyone of the group, Xujja, Lotus, Holis, Al-Ham and Jasmine, the Auril priestess, had been more than enthused at the thought of killing. Any talk of getting them to leave peacefully was skipped over quickly and the talk settled on the most effective way to kill the elves.
It had shocked her and she'd voiced her surprize. Only to recieve a beating from Xujja and be given a choice. Are you a peasant or cutter? He'd asked her as she lay, sobbing on the ground, her face bruised and bloody. Right then she knew she had no choice if she wanted to live. They couldn't let her live, not with what she knew, enough to make real trouble for them if she ran to the law.
Well? Peasant or cutter? He'd asked again, when she stood, he had grabbed her arm and was starting to walk back up the mountain, to kill her she thought and blurted, Cutter. After that, he'd smiled, in a way that made her heart lurch in her chest despite her pain and dislike for what he had done to her.
At the encampment, Xujja had pushed the elves until there was no choice but to kill. As he'd always intended, she was sure. I hope you get hit with a giant's club in the crotch.
The other members of the Pack were...
Hollis The smal lmurderous hin was a true fanatic. She could still see his enthusuasm and eagerness to kill in her mind. He'd shown great skill in sneaking into the tent to grab the female elf and use her as a hostage. His laughter as the elves died. and the joy he'd shown in killing for Auril. I hope you die in a fire Hollis. You little shite
Al-Ham, human male, a bard or something, she wasn't sure. He'd shown nearly as much pleasure in killing as Hollis. He'd also frightened her when he heard her whispering 'I'm so sorry" as she fired her crossbow at the elves. I hear you, he'd hissed through the twanging of bowstrings, screams and the clang of blades on armor and chopping into flesh. He was watching her more carefully, she was sure.
Jasmine The female cleric of Auril. So different than the clerics she'd met in the Luskan Temple. Harder, more cruel and cold, and not bound by the overbearing hands andf eyes of the true rulers of Luskan that those clergy had been. The young white haired ,not by old age More's the pity you spiteful hag, she thought angrily, was what the Luskan clergy would be if not constrainted by the HostTower. She'd also shown great enthusiasm for killing the elves.
She'd also put Audra on the spot back at the temple after the murders were done. She'd noticed Arudra's shivering and had asked, ordered really, Aurdra to remove her heavy winter robe and 'embrace Auril's cold'. Audra had refused, reciting the oath she'd given Xujja and Auril. The murderous hin gleefully stripped, to kneel beside the white haired cleric. Who had demanded again Audra remove the robe. When Audra refused, she'd torn the robe and kept up her ranting spiel while Audra fell to her knees in the snow and fierce wind. The torn robe no longer protecting her. Only when Audra was lying on her side on the snow, frostbite starting to set in, had she helped Audra into the temple and used her ability to remove the cold from the freezing girl. Vicious bitch
Then there was the drow...
Lotus.... The drow dancer/courtesan. Who Aydra thought was the most friendly and likable. She was now Xujja's wife. Wife of the cruel Elf barbarian, yet Audra could not easily hate the woman. She was everything Audra had missed out while growing up. She knew how to deal with people, how to be polite, kind, gentle, graceful and polished. The drow woman had also offered to teach Audra, to be more cultured and striking. A whore's skills, but Audra knew they could be used for more than that.
Lotus had enjoyed killing the elves, but that didn't bother Audra as much as the others. Lotus, at least, had a racial reason to hate surface elves You.. I'd hit with a hard pillow, and because of you, I will not hurt Xujja. She was the most like a sister to the young half elven Audra than any of the others.
All of them were the Pack, her 'family'. I'd leave, but I did help kill the elves. My hands are stained with their blood. more so. They have killed before and often. This is the first murders for me. Fresh tears freezing on her cheeks, Audra looked at her mittened hands, seeing blood on them even though she had only used her crossbow in killing them. For better or worse, I'm like them. A killer, murderer for mere money under a veneer of respectability. I don't want to be like them or with them. They'd kill me if I left. She covered her face, sobbing quietly. Damn them, damn them ALL, Auril! I'm not a killer like that barbarian son of a rancid bitch! I am NOT A BARBARIAN! I hate him. I hate Hollis, I hate the darkie and I hate Jasmine! I hate them ALL!
She cried quietly, the wind covering any noises she made. When the tears dried, Audra srubbed the ice from her blotchy red eyes face. I hate them, but Xujja is right, damn him. With them I have a family. People that will protect me. Except for Hollis. He'd giggle if I was dying. But the others will help, I think. I hate them, but .... The young woman sighed heavily, looking up into the now dark skies. The bright pinpricks of stars sparkling in the velvet shroud of night that now swathed the world. The moon was a thin sliver on the eastern horizon. I might hate them, but they are all I have. You saved me before. I hope I can make a home here with you and them. She thought.
Sighing, Audra stood, wrapping the blankets around her. She trudged through the thigh deep snow, headed to the temple. It was time for worship. At the entrance, Audra cast a last look up at the starts. Seeing their cold beauty shining in the black night. Then without a word, she went inside to walk the path she'd chosen. With the cold hearted goddess she had sworn to serve.
*giggles* 