[RPG] Anaris Family ~ Triumphs

[Timothy Collett]

Anton ~ Eyes of Flame of the Bright Path

(Meta: before he left Tucha)

Anton looks up in deep satisfaction at the small temple.  It may not  
be large, but the shack it replaced was far smaller.

The Bright Path is growing, and growing fast.  23 converts--3 of them  
already priests--and two more temples, in just a month...his eyes  
shine with pride at the triumphs he has gained for Her in such a  
short time.  People are beginning to contribute some gold, too, which  
will allow the whole Church to grow in previously impossible ways-- 
like this temple.

Anton closes his eyes, and feels the warmth of Arelien's gaze upon  
him.  She is pleased now, and he is devoting his life to Her--finally  
fulfilling Her will in all his works.  Some day, he knows, he will  
take up the Sunsword again, and free his homeland from its  
oppressors.  But now, he is here, doing Her work...and every soul  
that turns to the Sun is a triumph.

Delvin ~ Prime Minister of Riombara

Delvin sits in the house of a (former) wealthy merchant in eastern  
Mio Dupaki, looking over the maps and reports while his men pick over  
the remains from the recent battles.  The Enweilians and Luz de Bians  
remaining in Grehk will have a very hard time getting safely home  
now, and with any luck, the Luz de Bian reinforcements coming up from  
the west will not be able to arrive in time to stop the Riombaran  
advance...

He sweeps his gaze over the rest of the map, smiles, and shakes his  
head in satisfaction.  The war has turned so solidly in their favour  
over the past months that there can be no question of the winner:  
merely the timing.  He reaches a hand out to the marking on the  
southwest quarter of the map indicating the city of Irombro, cupping  
it as if to hold the city in his hand.  Soon...very soon now, he  
thinks.  Soon, we will be able to put down this meaningless  
rebellion, send the fools who started it packing, and return Riombara  
to its former glory...or at least its former regions.

He goes to the window and looks out to the east, where the city of  
Grehk looms large--and, further north and a long way off across the  
Bay of Margos, the shining spires of Rines twinkling on the edge of  
vision.  To reunite Riombara--and even restore to it the capital it  
held before the first invasion, before it was destroyed...that would  
be a tremendous triumph.  No: that will be a tremendous triumph.

Phoebe ~ Triumph of the Undead

(Meta: before the 25K undead horde formed)

Phoebe tears the bandage off and tosses it on the ground as she  
starts back toward the city.  "Bah...stupid old hag.  I'll be fine; I  
just need to take out that thrice-cursed undead leader!"  She had  
awoken that morning in the crude bed of a local herb-woman, who had  
found her lying on the beach and treated her wounds the best she knew  
how.  She had tried to keep Phoebe there, resting, until her wound  
was fully healed, but Phoebe couldn't sit still.  Now, she makes her  
way into Joppo to find the demon who wounded her and destroy him.

The first likely hiding place she checks just has a few undead hiding  
in it.  They didn't even have any treasure worth mentioning...  Not  
long after leaving them, though, she stumbles upon exactly what she's  
looking for (though not quite as literally, this time).

In another abandoned warehouse down by the docks, the champion waits,  
surrounded by his army.  This time, Phoebe is prepared for them.  She  
attempts to lure some of them away from the pack...but to be  
susceptible to a lure requires more intelligence than these rotting  
corpses have left in them.  She sighs and grimaces.  "Right, then,  
nothing for it..." she mutters, and charges.

The battle rages for hours this time.  She manages to find a place  
where parts of the walls have collapsed, forming a bottleneck in  
which only a few of them can come at her at a time.  But the undead  
fight tirelessly, while her body becomes weaker and weaker with each  
passing minute--and the scabbed-over wound on her back has started to  
ooze again, weakening her further.  Still she fights, though, crying  
out the name of Arelien with every blow, invoking the fire of the sun  
to burn their bones to ash.  At last, though, she sways, and a blow  
that she could have blocked instead puts a deep gash in her right  
arm.  With a cry, she falls back--but in that moment, the undead  
champion leaps forward, his frigid aura enveloping her, sapping the  
last of her strength.  Desperately, she lifts arms turned to lead,  
parrying powerful strokes as she scrambles backwards to the doorway.   
Before she reaches it, though, the champion lands a deep blow to her  
side.  The last thing she sees before she loses consciousness is the  
light of the doorway, growing brighter and brighter...

Alanna ~ Formerly Dame of Nidalery

"Finally," Alanna sighs, "I'm getting out of here."  Her few  
belongings packed, she heads down to the dock.

This place has been...unpredictable, to be sure, she thinks.  I  
certainly don't feel stuck the way I did when I came here...in fact,  
I think I've started to really find myself again at last, if only by  
discovering that this is not where I belong.  If I stay here much  
longer, I'm afraid I'll end up drawing pictures like Danira, or  
baying at the moon like Garm...  I'll certainly never forget this  
place, and I think it's done me good...rather like a faceful of cold  
water--but it's not where I need to be anymore.  A small triumph, but  
a triumph still.

She jogs down to the nearest docked passenger ship and marches up to  
the captain.  "When are you leaving?" she asks.

The captain, taken aback by her abruptness, sputters, "Well, we-- 
we're leaving within the hour."

"Excellent.  Here's your fee.  Drop me off at your first port."

As she turns to go into the cabin, the captain calls after her,  
"Don't you even want to know where we're going?"

Alanna flips a hand up without looking around.  "So long as it's far  
away from Outer Tilog, I really don't care."

Ariana ~ Hollow Triumphs

What am I doing here? Ariana thinks.  Is there really anything left  
for me here?  ...Besides Morthwyl, of course...but he was willing to  
come away with me, too, before--

She stands abruptly, and looks out the window.  The summer sun lights  
up the garden below with brilliant colours, though it is still only a  
pale shadow of the garden in Palnasos...

A figure walks through the garden, seeming listless, almost  
apathetic.  Well, and so do I feel, too, she thinks.  "Hoshi..." she  
whispers, almost a sob, looking down at her in the garden.   
"Hoshi...how is it that all my triumphs come at your expense?  All  
this seems so hollow, seeing you like that..."  A tear trickles down  
her cheek.

Suddenly, she bolts out of the room and runs down the stairs, three  
flights at breakneck speed.  She comes out into the gardens, and  
makes her way through them to the bench where Hoshi likes to sit.   
There, she walks up to Hoshi, face wet with tears, and drops to one  
knee at her feet.

"Hoshi...can you ever forgive me?"

--

"The only thing you can't trade for your heart's desire is your heart."
  ~ Miles Naismith Vorkosigan

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