"Thank you for your support, Lady." said Nym, standing. She gently pulled out the box containing her companion's remains and produced Wayrn's finger. After five years, it was basically mummified. She carefully handed it over to Wayrn's mother, took the letter of support, and left for the Lady's College. On her way out, she asked Fardel to send word to her about how Wayrn's resurrection went at the Wayward House.
It was mid-afternoon now, and Nym made her way to the Lady's College. Upon entering the grounds, she noticed a large statue that was clearly of her and her travel companions from when they'd left the college six years prior. Nym led Nesme to the college stables and then entered the building through a servant's door she'd used many times in her youth. She made her way though the familiar hallways until she arrived at the headmistress's office. She knocked on the office door and then waited. After a few moments, it opened, and the secretary peeked out. "Do you have an appointment?" asked the annoyed-looking halfling woman as she looked Nym up and down.
"No madam, but I'm here on urgent business with the support of the Ravenhelm family. I need to speak with the Headmistress as soon as possible." said Nym coolly.
"The Ravenhelms? Oh my!" said the halfling. Her attitude had changed considerably when the noble family was mentioned. "One moment." the halfling went back inside the office area. Nym looked around the waiting area. Finally the door opened again, and the halfling said, "The Headmistress will see you now."
Nym followed the halfling through the door and back to the Headmistress's office. Sitting just outside the office, in a small sitting room meant to hold those waiting on the Headmistress, was another halfling. She was about 17, and gave Nym a mischievious wink as she strode past straight to the doors to the Headmistress' chambers.
The Headmistress did not look up immediately when Nym entered as she was finishing a letter. When she did look up, her jaw dropped slightly. "...Nym? Is that you?" Her surprise was clear. Nym laughed and said, "It's good to see you really don't forget a student, Headmistress." The woman smiled at Nym. Nym continued, pulling out the letter of support from the Ravenhelms, "Although I am alive and well, I'm afraid that cannot be said for all of us who foolishly left Silverymoon on a dangerous adventure. I need your help."
Diplomacy
(1d20)+4+3
18+4+3 (NICE!)
25
Monday, March 8, 2010
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I made several small corrections and additions to your post. It is a single statue with 6 people on it, rather than 6 individual statues, and the area around the headmistress' office is slightly different than you described, including another halfling sitting outside the door to the Headmistress.
ReplyDelete"What do you mean, that cannot be said for all of us? What has happened to your companions? Please, sit, and tell me what has happened," said Headmistress Tainaste.
ReplyDelete"We made it to Thay, but we didn't know what would happen. We were tortured. The others were killed, but I was able to escape with their remains. We were only children, and foolish ones at that. They didn't deserve what happened to them, and I need the school's help to bring them back. They deserve to live their lives as they were meant to."
ReplyDelete"Lady Ravenhelm is resurrecting Wayrn now, but the others' remains are with me."
Nym pulls out the box with the four remaining fingers and places it on the Headmistress's desk.
Danelle (the Headmistress, but I'm tired of referring to her by title. Danelle Tainaste is her full name.) opens the box, inspecting the contents. "These appear to be several years old, though they are in reasonably good shape. How old were they when they died?"
ReplyDelete"It had only been a year... Morna was 13, Moran and Avarn both 16, and Rahm 28. We were all still so very young." Nym seemed to be talking to herself more than to the Headmistress. "We never should have left. Moran just wanted to know who he was, really, and so wanted to return to Thay so badly. We all planned on coming back to school after our little adventure, but..." Nym trailed off, staring at the box, looking wistful.
ReplyDelete"Do you intend to all re-enroll in classes, once you are all restored, then? What thought have you given to the future?" Danelle asked.
ReplyDeleteNym blinked. She hadn't thought of what she wanted to after she had her friends resurrected. "I... I suppose they would all re-enroll. That was our plan to begin with."
ReplyDelete"You all planned on coming back to school? It is sweet of you to say that. So you think that after this 'mistake' you all made, you'll just quietly settle down back at your lessons? I may appear young," She said with a wink, "But I've been on an adventure or two myself, you know. It's not that easy to just give up the traveling life and settle down."
ReplyDeleteNym smiled mischievously. "I never said I would return to school." The smile faded after a moment, though. "I suspect the others will return, though. Misfortune tends to make one desire home."
ReplyDelete"Do I understand, then, that you are asking for the school's charity in return for the possibility of having several of our students return to our classes? Do I understand, also, that these students willfully ignored their teachers' warnings in order to leave the very establishment that you have so graciously chosen to return to in order to request their resurrection? Finally, do I understand that you, the one requesting the service, would like to have this institution provide it to you without a charge and without returning, yourself, to the studies that were so abruptly put on hold by your diversions? Is this all correct?" The Headmistress' voice was no longer friendly and chatty, but cold and distant.
ReplyDeleteNym raised an eyebrow. "If you tell a child not to play on a rock, he does, and he hurts himself, do you not still heal his injury? If you forbid a little one to read your spellbook and she does and summons a monster, do you force the child to face it alone or banish it? We are talking about children, not grown men and women who have learned the ways of the world. We're talking about a band of naughty children who found themselves on the rock or reading the spellbook after being told not to. Yes, punishment for misbehaving is deserved, but would you truly not help the naughty child who has made a mistake? Children should be taught, allowed to learn, but death is far more than mere children deserve, regardless how stupid and reckless they have been."
ReplyDelete"So you have learned a bit of the ways of the world in your journeys. Yes, child, we will heal your friends, and re-enroll them in their classes. I just wanted you to be aware of what you are asking, and why we are doing it. Obviously, you are well aware. Fortunately, several of instructor Ezekiel's treatise on the use of color by cultures around the Shining Sea in their burial rituals has given us a small nest egg we can build upon to buy the required materials. I was hoping to expand the solarium, but this is a worthy cause, and must be attended to." Headmistress Tainaste tapped the table with her two pointer fingers. "I believe we should have a public ceremony to resurrect your friends, our once and future pupils, and welcome them back. We did have a public memorial service, after all, to mourn your loss. The ceremony will be tomorrow morning, at sunrise, and they will rise with the sun. The ceremony will, of course, be brief, because even the best of us who is resurrected is a bit shaken by the experience, and their deaths were not in the best of circumstances." The Headmistress stood, as if to indicate the meeting was through, and walked around the table to Nym. She put her hands on Nym's shoulders, and appeared to be about to say something, but instead gave wrapped her arms around Nym, giving her a big hug. "Welcome back, child." After a long moment, she released Nym and held her at arms length, just looking at her.
ReplyDeleteNym found herself crying openly, looking back at the Headmistress. Finally she smiled, despite the tears. She glanced at the box on the Headmistress' desk, and then whispered "Thank you." The Headmistress smiled back, and Nym turned to leave the office. "I can never thank you enough for this. I will return for the ceremony in the morning." As she left the office, she wiped the tears away and walked out toward where Nesme was tied. As she walked, she began to laugh, too happy to contain herself. As she led Nesme from the stables, still crying and laughing, several students looked at her strangely and went out of their ways to avoid the crazy crying-laughing half elf. As she left the school grounds, Nym rode toward the Mulgate. As she exited the city, she kicked Nesme into a hard run. The wind on her face dried her tears quickly, and she yelled into the wind, elated.
ReplyDeleteAfter a bit, she slowed Nesme and led her to the river for a drink. Several badlands ducks swam happily along the bank. Nym looked at her reflection in the river, fixing the paint she'd cried off, and then sat with Nesme for about an hour before heading back to town. It was nearly 6pm when she rode back through the Mulgate and around 7 when she arrived back at the Wayward House.
Nym's father was waiting in their room for Nym to go to dinner. At dinner, Nym told him of her conversation with the Headmistress and the resurrection ceremony in the morning. Pipper snuck to Nym's feet during dinner and followed her up to the room afterward. Nym promptly fell asleep snuggling with her fox pup, exhausted, while Ollin asked the innkeeper to wake them two hours before dawn.
As Nym was leaving the room, the Headmistress said, "Oh! I almost forgot. Your friends are in the city looking for you. Their names were Darvin and Talathel. Would you like me to let them know you're here?"
ReplyDelete"Darvin and Talathel are in Silverymoon?" Nym was surprised. She expected them to continue sailing along, enjoying the fair summer weather. "Yes, it would be wonderful if you could let them know I've arrived. Thank you again." Nym smiled, bowed, and left the office.
ReplyDeleteSee previous post for what she did next