Private Tales The Monster and The Burning Heart

[Olvir]

"You know Kristen?" Ollie mused with no small amount of surprise, though he wasn't entirely sure why he felt that way at all.

He'd only met the darling daughter of House Pirian once or twice before at one Gala or another, but he'd heard that she'd joined the Academy after the Revolution. Things like that tended to make it through the rumor mill rather quickly.

It was a choice that he had admired her for. The decision could not have come easily, and sticking to it even more so. "Honestly she'd probably do a better job teaching you than I would."

Ollie said with a chuckle.

"But, being a noble isn't about any accent really.It helps, but just making sure everyone sees you as something more is the real trick." When the truth was the only real separation was the amount of money in your back pocket. "Tip number one?"

The noble leaned in towards his friend. "Don't declare in public that you're going to fuck someones brains out."

He let out a laugh, still not able to stifle the amusement from the moment.

"Master that one and the next few follow along the same lines." The nobility was all about presentation. Showing what you might be instead of what you actually were. "We'll have you attending Gala's in no time at all."

 

[Zael Castomir]

Honestly she'd probably do a better job teaching you than I would.

Ah, Ollie didn't need to sell himself short. Zael felt awfully comfy being a sort of protégé to him. Besides, Zael needed to learn how to become a nobleman, not a noblewoman. Though the thought of randomly curtsying instead of bowing just to confuse the ever-lovin' shit out of people occurred to him and it was hilarious. You had to be real secure in yourself as a man to pull a stunt like that, and you know what? Yeah, that was a stunt Zael could pull with ease. Maybe he should talk to Kristen.

But onto serious matters. Serious business.

"Don't declare in public that I'm gonna fuck someone's brains out, got it."

"You could still do it in private though..." Yuna said in a bashful, blushing tone that was, to Zael's estimation, half-genuine and half-put on to try and keep up her air of mischievous mirth.

"Nice double meanin there."

Yuna, realizing it, turned an even deeper shade of red and began to giggle compulsively.

"You know," Zael said to Ollie, clapping him in a brotherly way on the back as they walked, "when I graduate, you gotta get me in to one of these galas—I'll find time for it. Call it a test of all my learned noble skills."

Olvir

 

[Olvir]

Ollie let out another chuckle, his head shaking.

Before Zael attended any sort of Gala they would need to go over another lesson or two, but in all truth the thought made him inwardly smirk. It wasn't exactly out of the question for a Dreadlord to attend a party hosted by the nobility. Before the Revolution it happened all the time, why was now any different?

Besides, Ollie truly found that he liked Zael.

The Initiate was like no Dreadlord he had ever met. Free in a way that many of his peers lacked, and even without that his qualities had already marked him as a friend in the young Nobles mind.

"Gladly." Ollie finally replied. "They throw one every other week."

Not exactly true, but close enough to it. There was always an occasion, always something that someone wanted to celebrate. Usually Olvir left it to Aisling to attend such things, but few would deny the son of a Great House an invitation.

Even after the Revolution.

"Good thing to dream about." Ollie remarked with a smile, steering them back towards the task at hand.

"Should we tell Auntie what we're planning?" Olvir said, not quite sure what the etiquette around something like this would be.

 

[Zael Castomir]

"Yeah, we might as well."

There they parted with Yuna—after some coaxing from Zael, of course, convincing her she ought to head back up to Gier and Herrim. Off to find Sarah then. They were pretty early for their arranged meet-up, a couple hours to spare actually, but there was only so many places she could be. There were a couple inns other than the Drunken Stag, but there was only one harbor, so why not check there first? She might still be there hashing out a deal with a ferryman, or at least someone could tell them she had already been through.

Turned out it was the former. The Anirian caravan was circled up nice and neat close to the docks, and Sarah was over by an old, rotund captain and his riverboat. They came in at the tail end of the conversation. Yeah, conversation. Seemed the negotiation was already wrapped up, and Auntie and the plump captain were just swapping stories and having a good old time.

Sarah saw them approach, and gave a polite parting wave to the captain. She turned and walked to meet them halfway.

"Well, that was quick," she said, raising her voice slightly over the constant din of the massive Sayve river's flowing water. "Stumbled onto some juicy rumors already?"

"I got friends that turn up in unexpected places, as it turns out," Zael said. Then he lifted up the bag of Ahvelian berries. "Also got a little treat."

"Oh. Lovely. What might those be for? A midnight snack?"

Olvir

 

[Olvir]

"Before bed snack, actually." Ollie said, glancing over at his new friend and considering for a moment if Sarah would approve of this plan.

He knew a few people who most certainly would not have.

"While talking to people we found out that the Stalker tends to enter peoples dreams." Ollie began to explain, well aware how ridiculous this would all sound to someone who was not well versed in the arcane and monstrous. "Other than that, we came up mostly empty."

The woman's face fell for a few seconds, but then Ovir could see the gears churning within her own mind. Sarah opened up her mouth to speak, but before she could Ollie continued. "So we're going to lure it into our dreams and learn what we can."

For a moment he thought Sarah dumbstruck. Then she spoke.

"That has got to be the stupidest plan I have ever heard." A small wince flickered over Ollie's features, his lips thinning as he shook his head and tried not to immediately back pedal. "Do you know how dangerous that thing is?! How many people it's killed?"

Sarah continued, pointedly looking at both of the boys.

 

[Zael Castomir]

Well...damn, Zael thought Ollie put it well enough. He didn't expect Auntie to be so reprimanding.

"The danger is why I'm here," Zael said. "I'll handle that."

"No," Sarah said sternly—but unlike all the Proctors Zael knew and loved, this sternness came from a place of genuine concern. "You're here to carry the Burning Heart. Not to offer yourself up like bait, sweetie! And that goes double for you, Ollie!"

Zael hooked his thumbs into his belt and glanced down and then back up to Sarah. "See, that's the thing. Ain't no gettin the Burnin Heart without bein bait. Figure there's a reason no one's been able to claim it yet, and that it's because the Stalker has the Burnin Heart."

Did he know that for sure? Nope. Was it conveniently a good guess, as well as falling neatly into place with the plan they hatched with the Elbion students? Yup.

Zael shrugged. "Wish there was a better way." He didn't. Fighting a monster was going to be spectacular. "But this is what we got."

Sarah crossed her arms and puffed out her lips and looked to Ollie. "You can't be serious about this, can you Ollie? What would your sister think?"

Olvir

 

[Olvir]

Olvir glanced over at Zael, nodding in agreement at the Initiate's assessment. All odds pointed to the fact.

If the Stalker didn't directly have the Heart, then it was more than likely protecting it. Why that was they couldn't say, but luring it out and learning more information was the only way to find out. He tried to stand a bit more straight, look more official as Sarah turned her attention on him.

"She would deem it necessary to get the job done." Ollie lied, leaving out that Aisling would likely box his ears for even considering such a thing.

She had been a Corsair, she understood risk, but also that it needed to be mitigated. A fact which Olvir and Zael both were entirely ignoring.

"Think about it." He began. "At least in our dreams we'll be on our turf."

Ollie had no idea if that was true. "We'll know it's our dream. We can control the battlefield and what happens. No one here has had that chance, but we will."

He looked to Zael for some backup.

 

[Zael Castomir]

"And no one's died in their sleep," Zael said. Granted, that was also something he didn't know for sure, but if it had happened, he had little doubt that the Grishies would all be sleeping with one of that merchant guy Paul's tilapias on their forehead.

Sarah still looked unconvinced, that tight bunching of her lips yet to relax, her expression full of concern she was reluctant to let go. Man, it was...kind of odd. So this was what it felt like to have a parent who really cared about you, huh? Sure, Sarah wasn't his mom, but it was a damn shame that she was, in this moment, the closest thing Zael ever had to having one. His own mom wasn't even pissed that his dad had left him for dead in the burning mill, and she was glad when the Proctors from the Academy had come to take him away.

"Auntie, all we're doing is lurin it. Makin ourselves look weak. Makin ourselves look nice and juicy for when we cross the Sayve. If we don't, that thing'll crawl into whatever little hidey-hole it's got and we'll have come all this way for nothin. Now, I don't know ol' Sebastian Weiroon, but what would he think about that?"

Perfect pass to Ollie.

Olvir

 

[Olvir]

"My father would expect us to do whatever we needed to get the job done." That was a diplomatic way of putting it.

Sebastian Weiroon would have made every single person in this party take those berries and use them as bait. There was no end to the lengths that the man would go to if he thought he would get what he desired, but the idea of saying such a thing out loud pained Ollie in some way.

The man was a bastard, but he was still his father.

"If I didn't think it would work, Sarah." Ollie said, trying to inject some confidence in his tone. "I wouldn't do it."

A glance at his companion. "I trust Zael."

His attention turned back towards her, trying to make himself appear as grown up as possible.

 

[Zael Castomir]

Sarah let out a long, deep sigh.

And relented. With this condition: "Look out for each other, okay? I don't...I don't know how you might do it, or if it's even possible for what you'll being getting yourselves into, but...just do it, if you can." Sarah's expression stretched long and she said, "Sure, the Stalker hasn't killed anyone in their sleep. But I'd never forgive myself if it somehow ruined either of you."

Ruined. Now that, funnily enough, was a word that was scarier to hear than death. Zael hadn't considered the possibility of that. But there was no backing out. If they wanted the Stalker to be attracted to them in the waking world once they set foot in Rostok, they had to make themselves look like easy prey in the dream.

"We'll get through this, Auntie," Zael said, projecting as much certainty into his tone as he could. "Don't you worry."

It seemed to work a little. Sarah offered a thin smile, and offered some good news to boot, "Well, you'll each be comfortable, at least. The first thing I did was find the nicest Inn in Grishino."

"Is it the Drunken Stag?"

Sarah swatted a hand dismissively. "Oh no, I got enough word that the Stag is cheap and therefore packed. Besides, you don't like ogres, right? That's where they were staying."

"Saw some of em there, yeah."

"So no, not there. I got rooms for us at the Limansk. Now, say what you will about the proprietor, an elf, but he had the place squared away nice and tight. I think you two will enjoy it...well, until you have to actually go to sleep."

Olvir

 

[Olvir]

"Well that sounds pleasant enough." Olvir said with a glance towards Zael, quietly confident they had brought Sarah around.

This plan wasn't going to be easy. He had absolutely no idea how they were actually going to do this, but it was better than walking into the situation completely blind. At the very least the Stalker will think them easy pray. With any luck, they would know far more about it than it did them.

That was the hope anyway. "Hopefully it was expensive."

Ollie commented, his voice dry. Then he subsequently added.

"Nothing I love more than spending my fathers money." Though he supposed that it was more Aisling's money now. "So lets get a drink while we can."

He offered. "On me."

 

[Zael Castomir]

"Yeah, let's."

Zael knew he, for whatever dumb reason, couldn't handle drinks like a lot of his beer-chugging peers. Maybe it had something to do with his Fire Immunity, he didn't know. But there had plenty of other Initiates who had all yucked it up calling him a "lightweight." But by Zael's lights, hey, look, the shoe fit, didn't it? So he was never upset about it.

And he never turned down a free drink either.

Sarah was permissive of it. Probably because a drink or two was a far less shaky proposition than luring the Stalker of Minds to one's dream. "Just be back at the Limansk at a decent hour, okay? You're each going to have a lot on your plate tonight."

"You got it, Auntie."

Still it was weird to have such concern leveled his way. If Sarah had been a Proctor, it'd be something more like: No. You're not going anywhere. Get your asses to the Limansk or you'll be begging for the Stalker to take you.

Zael turned. Started walking out from the Grishino harbor.

"That went well enough," he said to Ollie. "I, uh...well goddamn, I didn't expect her to care so much."

However much of a delightful surprise it was, the unexpected nature of it remained.

Olvir

 

[Olvir]

A small smile touched Ollie's lips. No pity sat in his eyes as he looked at Zael, but it was clear the young noble felt for his newfound companion.

Affection had been rare in his childhood, but he knew the Dreadlord had it twelve times worse. "She's a good lady."

Ollie said reaching out to wrap an arm around Zael's shoulder.

"But lets find you someone closer to your own age, eh?" He jested. "I'm starting to like you."

The Noble admitted, the words truer than even he'd thought they'd be. "So I'm going to need to get someone to really look after you for a while."

 

[Zael Castomir]

"Don't you worry about that, Ollie," Zael said amicably. "I got a nice pair of fists that've been lookin out for me good for a long while now."

Alright, alright, all swagger aside, he did have a point. (And hey, did he say he was starting to like him? Man, Ollie, what a guy.)

"But hey, well..."

Zael glanced around, as if a Proctor might be hiding behind any of those crates or little storehouses on the Grishino harbor.

"...don't go spreadin this around, but there is a girl at the Academy I like."

He nudged his close arm into Ollie's side. Grinned.

"Ain't like gettin betrothed for me and other Initiates, so...wish me luck."

Hell, it wasn't just luck with the girl in question he needed. What was the most charitable way to put it? Hm. Open displays of affection weren't very appreciated still. Yeah. Sounded right.

Olvir

 

[Olvir]

Olvir's eyebrow rose for a brief moment, his expression softening ever so slightly. Briefly wondering how it was to have to go through life only depending on oneself. Even he'd had Aisling growing up.

Then a smile broke out back onto his face. "That's great."

Love, from what he imagined, was not all that common among the Initiates. There was the story of Zana and Talus of course, the two Dreadlords who were either reviled or beloved depending on who you asked, but other than them Ollie had never heard of two Dreadlords loving one another.

Though then again he was hardly an expert in the matter.

An idea then flashed through his mind.

"You should invite her." Ollie told his new friend. "To the Gala, I mean."

Of course he would have to first find a Gala for them to go to, but he was still confident that wouldn't be a problem.

 

[Zael Castomir]

"You know what, Ollie," Zael said, his stroll slightly changing to one of an even more jovial swagger, "that's a fine idea right there. As it so happens, me and Ever both missed the Ball—"

Alright. Back up. That probably needed some explaining. Zael held up both his hands in a gesture which said I know you won't believe it, but I'm just the messenger as he went on to say:

"Okay, so the Academy had an actual Ball this year. Called it the First Annual Solstice Ball, big thing for all us in the seniormost class. I guess it was probably close to these galas you yourself have been to, but not like I would know, cause like I said I wasn't there."

Closest thing to those galas for him was the Elbion trip with Delaney, the Festival of Fiery Skies Ball they had there. But anyway.

He flashed a grin up at Ollie, "I suppose it could be the Ball me and Ever never got to experience if you did get us in."

Olvir

 

[Olvir]

Ollie blinked for a moment, trying to process the thought of a Dreadlord Ball. Things really had changed after the Revolution.

He wondered how Zael and the other Initiate's managed the sheer whiplash of it all.

One moment they were sent on missions were they all but seeking death, the next they found themselves dressed up and attending their own Gala. It seemed utterly chaotic to Olvir, his head shaking with disbelief as Zael continued.

His impression of the Academy once again changing.

"I'll get you in, both of you." Ollie assured his new friend.

"Maybe Elspeth will even have the time." He continued, though knowing that his betrothed as was busy as he was. "We'll call it a double date."

That always took some of the pressure off. "Either way, I'll be happy to show you all the tricks."

Ollie jested with a wink as they reached the tavern door.

 

[Zael Castomir]

"Ha. Double date. I like that," Zael said, never having the occasion to have heard the idea before.

The tavern in question that they meandered up to? A cozy little hole-in-the-wall with a truly inviting name.

"The Slop Shop, oh this ought to be good."

Zael pushed open the door, and the first thing that hit him as he entered the tavern was the smell of tobacco smoke—a thin haze lingered in the air along with it. You had your typical attractions in such a place: card tables, barmaids with plunging blouses, some cheap bard who knew a couple tunes on a lute strumming away in a corner.

And guess what else there was. Ogres. A big fat trio of ogres clogging up the bar. Because of course there had to be.

"Goddamn it."

Olvir

 

[Olvir]

Olvir stopped in the doorway just a breath behind Zael. His eyes settling on the hulking grayish trio sitting directly at the bar.

They were huge, to say the least. Even sitting their heads were just a little bit from the seating, and beneath their hulking forms all three of the ogres had two seats each. By themselves they took up the entire space at the bar. Olvir's lips thinned for a brief moment.

His gaze sweeping away from the bar and towards the other end of the tavern. "Hey look at that."

He said, gently nudging Zael's shoulder.

"I think they're playing Allir Hold Em." The classic rules of poker that most people in the commons played. The nobility, of course, called it by another name and played with slightly different rules, but the game was familiar enough. "Do you know how to play?"

Ollie asked, trying to distract his friend from the presence of the ugly gray giants. "You basically have to if you want to be a Lord."

He half pushed Zael away from the bar and towards the table of card players. "More deals are made over cards than any negotiation tables."

 

[Zael Castomir]

Yeah, Zael wasn't too keen on navigating past all that fat to get to the bar anyway. Drinks could wait. Or maybe one of the barmaids could swing around that mass of ogres and get some for them.

"Funny enough, hadn't had too much time for gamblin," Zael said, the funny part being, well...guess you had to know Ever to get it.

He turned from the bar and glided easily toward the card table. A surprising insight from Ollie followed, one Zael had a hard time imagining. He just couldn't get it out of his head that pretty much all nobles were overly stiff and formal. But then again...Ollie wasn't, so maybe his impression was just fanciful and not all that based in the truth of the world.

"Damn, is that right? Well, I guess I oughta see how quick I am on the uptake. Give me a quick rundown before we sit down, eh."

Olvir

 

[Olvir]

The art of distraction was an oft held skill in business negotiation. Letting someone only look where you wanted them to was a fantastic way of ensuring some deal or another got made. His father had always stressed that fact to him, and it seemed to work out well enough in this situation too.

No need to get caught up in the pudgy gray Ogre's when there's some cards to be played. "Poker isn't really gambling."

Ollie explained as they continued towards the table.

"Not if you know how to really play." He reached out and stopped Zael just a few tables short of where the cards were being played. "It's about reading your opponent, and knowing what's on the table."

The Noble continued to explain as he recited some of the rules. Pointing to the men and some of the cards that they could see before explaining what combination of cards would earn them victory and what combinations were not as good. "That man only has two pair."

He said quietly, motioning.

"But he's betting big. Trying to bluff the others at the table by making it seem like he has an easy win in hand." Ollie frowned. "Don't think it will work though."

The man was sweating terribly, and his expression was obviously tinged with nerves.

 

[Zael Castomir]

Not an overly complicated game on the surface of things, no. Remembering some of the combinations of cards that Ollie had mentioned (the ones that weren't obvious like "two pair") might be a little tricky to start off with, but it was the sort of thing which eased its way into your head effortlessly with time and experience.

The man Ollie pointed out wasn't no Ever, was he? It was a bit stuffy here in The Slop Shop but sure wasn't as bad as his forehead suggested it was. Looked like he'd need about two or three handkerchiefs to wipe up all that sweat.

"What're you thinkin?" Zael asked of Ollie. "Maybe we could take home a little bonus gold along with the Burnin Heart?"

Olvir

 

[Olvir]

Ollie watched the game for a few more seconds before he finally answered Zael. "No, well maybe."

Nobody in his circles really gambled for money, but saying that out loud made Ollie feel as though he would vomit on his own privilege. More often than not gambling in the nobility was more about bragging rights than the actual coin on the table.

Most of them more Gold than they could ever spend in a lifetime.

"But it's mostly about learning the game." He said, putting a hand on Zael's back and shoving him forward as the sweaty man finally bowed out. "And making new friends."

Ollie grinned, and then stepped in behind Zael. Taking a chair from the table behind him and swinging it around so that he could sit down besides his companion. "Evenin, gentleman. Mind if we play a few rounds?"

The other men at the table looked at Ollie, then to Zael. "You got coin?"

One of them asked.

"Sure do." He answered, pulling out the purse of silver and coppers he kept tucked on his belt.

 

[Zael Castomir]

Olvir was getting real handsy as of late. Heh, nice, Zael was rubbing off on him. That's the fucking spirit.

Both he and Olvir sat down at the same time, replacing the sweaty man with not one but two newcomers to the table.

"Yeah, got plenty enough to lose," Zael said, not so humble about it. Hey, wasn't like it was his money. If he actually walked away from this table with more than he sat down with, then that would be his money—that nice little bonus he was talking about.

The man with the long, drooping mustache at the table seemed to be the big shot, because it was him who said, "Alright. Deal 'em in." A skinny guy with a long neck and an academic face was the dealer, and he puckered his lips and nodded and shuffled the deck and the new game was in motion.

Two cards came Zael's way. He knew enough to take a peek and not to let anybody else see, that shit was basic. And he had: a two and a seven. Now, given some of the combinations Ollie had mentioned, that didn't sound very good.

But he kept his face blank as he glanced around the table—that was the easy part. Thanks to the Academy, and special thanks going out to Proctor Kimble, Zael could make his expression look dead and blank when he wanted to. Almost an unspoken requirement for Initiates.

Olvir

 

[Olvir]

Ollie flicked a thumb beneath his cards, raising only the top edges enough for him to quickly glance at what he'd actually been dealt.

A King and a Jack.

Decent enough start, and when the river began to flow another King showed his face. The depiction was of an Obanese Monarch, Ollie could tell that from the depiction though the name escaped him. "You fellas from Oban?"

The noble asked as he slid a few of his coins in for a raise. It was always good to make conversation, at least in his experience. People tended to let their words flow over cards, and it kept their focus away from the game. The man with glasses raising his eyebrows ever so slightly.

"Just me and Gerard here." He said as he motioned for the others to raise or fold. "How'd you guess."

"Well, I doubt Rostok would be stocking cards from Oban." Ollie said cheerfully.

Gergard, the big man seemed to frown slightly, looking at Ollie as though he were trying to measure his word.