News:

- Chubby Dwarves are low fat.
- Pippen accused of getting drunk and feeling Merry
- Mexican Hobbit corrupted by One Ring. Known as Smiegel

Main Menu

T' Riad & Erinalia conversation: 07 Goodmonth 591

Started by fraz, May 11, 2005, 10:31:18 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

fraz

Erinalia & T' Riad conversation
[conducted through e-mail 17-21 Mar 05, edited by fraz 10 Apr 05]

07 Goodmonth (Aug) 591: Nightime at Beachstock:

Erinalia sits alone on the outer fringes of the usual "beachstock" festivities.?She notices T' Riad approaching and, after speaking softly to her hawk companion, thrusts her left arm upward to launch the bird into the air.?The hawk flies away gracefully as T' Riad addresses the small half-elf woman.

T? Riad: "Erinalia, I?ve noticed that in the brief time that we?ve been affiliated that you seem remarkably in tune with nature. We are not so different, you and I. I also seek to be one with nature and maintain a universal balance?in and outside myself. I have the discipline to defend and attack which lends itself to pain and injury by me and to me. I find that this causes imbalance at a basic level. I would like to learn the art of healing through nature so that as I cause pain so too I can heal it. This will help maintain the universal balance that I embrace with my very soul. I ask if you would teach me your healing arts through the life around us. As you teach me, I gladly offer to teach you an art in return."

Erinalia listens as T' Riad speaks, yet there?seems to be?something amiss. She seems a bit distracted, although the tone of her reply is honest and sincere.

Erin [replying in Elven]:  "Ah.??I would be honored, T' Riad, to teach you the useful, yet small amount of lore that I have acquired on the arts of herbal healing.?I?am still a novice in the arts of healing as well, although I hope to further develop my skills and knowledge while here on the isle.

"However, please keep in mind that there may also be a limit in what I am permitted by my order to teach you.?Some of the ways of my order have been closely guarded secrets for many turns of the seasons, and I would be risking much if I were to divulge too much of our lore.?Yet, I'm certain that we can work around these limitations..."

Erinalia's voice trails off.? She seems a bit shaken as she passes her small hand over her face...

"I...? T' Riad, I feel a bit ill.?There is a matter that weighs heavily upon my shoulders this evening... It would likely seem a small and trivial matter to the others here on the isle, yet I believe you would understand..."

Her voice trails off softly again. Her head is bowed and she gazes down at the sand at their feet...

Concerned, T? Riad approaches closer, ?Are you alright? If there is something that is troubling you, tell me. Some troubles should not be burdened alone. As a fellow kin and kindred I think that maybe I?d understand your concerns better than most.?

Erinalia seems?distraught; her hands seem to be shaking slightly in a nervous manner. She seems reluctant to meet T' Riad's gaze and continues to look downward as she speaks.

Erin: "Yes, you are right of course, yet everyone here is still a stranger to me, so it is very difficult for me to know who to approach and when...

"You see...", she finally looks up and briefly meets T' Riad's eyes with her own before nervously glancing away again, "I've *never* intentionally killed anything before today and I find the experience rather... unnerving.

"While it's true that I did need to defend myself, I find that I am asking myself if I truly needed to use the amount of force that I did on that centipede.? Yet, after my summoning expired and the viper vanished, I... I just lashed out defensively with my staff.? I didn't think I would actually strike the creature, and I certainly didn't think I would *kill* it.

"Does this seem silly to you?  I'm certain none of the others will lose any sleep over our brief encounter today, yet I feel... ill.

"How do you, and the others, deal with these feelings - this guilt?? I have destroyed a creature that was doing only what it does naturally.? We were invaders in *it's* territory - it's world. I feel in some strange way that I have altered or upset the balance of things..."  Erinalia rests her head in her hands...

T' Riad: "I don't find any first experience at all silly. Life gives us challenges and we must rise to meet them. I do this everyday. If it's not a challenge on the outside then it's a challenge from within. Yours is a challenge from within. The struggle of trying to justify your actions...I do sympathize with your struggle. However, you came here knowing what was expected. The fish men died defending their home too. Although you may not have been directly involved you are still a part of that as well. As you take life so too shall you give it...THAT is how you achieve balance. Surviving can be a cruel business. Sometimes that is the way of things. The fact that you are feeling this way is to your credit as it shows how passionate you really are about your devotion. Don't lose heart. You did what was necessary to stay alive without compromising your beliefs...and that is a very difficult path to stay on."

Erinalia lifts her head again, shrugging off her gloom.  "Yes, you are correct, of course, T' Riad...

Indeed, you see a lot.? Yet, the truth is, I didn't really want to come here, you see.? I was very happy back in the forest of my home, surrounded by familiar trees and the animals that I loved.? I was surprised and taken aback when my superiors in the order decided to send me away...? I was hurt a little too.? Yet, I?suppose I need to have faith in my order and trust in their decisions, since they are wiser and more experienced than I.

"I think that they realized that I was too protected within their groves.? That I had, perhaps, reached a limit of sorts and that for me to progress beyond the limits that I had unknowlingly set for myself, I would need to leave - leave and learn some lessons elsewhere.? I believe that they sent me here on this expedition in part to learn these lessons first hand.? It is sometimes difficult for me to accept, yet I try.

"I suppose I did know that I would eventually face this day...? It just happened so suddenly that my own reaction took even me by surprise...? if that makes any sense.

"Thank you, T' Riad, for listening to me.? I am grateful for your words of encouragement...

Erinalia gazes at T' Riad finally meeting his eyes with her own.

T' Riad: "I?m glad to see your spirits lift.

"I think that your superiors saw something in you that you couldn?t see yourself. There?s something about you that the others of your order didn?t have. You have a fantastic chance to learn things about this island that no one else knows. It seems that it would be a severe misjudgment from many wise people to send someone that wasn?t outstanding in her field?so to speak.

"Now, if you teach me herbs I?ll teach you this?" T? Riad picks up three rocks and begins to juggle them.

Afterwards he says, ?lets go to the fest, I?d like to play my pan pipes. I like to play my pipes and make merry. I spend so much time in serious meditation that that I need to balance that off with some pleasant happy tunes.? He begins to run to the party??Keep up with me if you can!!?
nothing