Eeryn
He is escorted in the door of a large room by a young neophyte, who whispers something
about the Sister being with him momentarily, and then quickly leaves again. It's not a
well lit room nor entirely inviting. But it's warm, even if it is a little forbidding.
Candles are placed strategically around the room, but they look as if they're there for
nothing more then to keep the occupant from knocking their shins on the furniture. The
room is large, and neatly kept, and appears to be a study. A lit stone fireplace occupies
the center back wall of the room, and draws all eyes there first. Two large comfortable
chairs flank the fireplace, in which both chairs share a single table. It appears to be
well used, and is at the moment, stacked high with books, and papers. The rest of the room
is surrounded, floor to ceiling, by large bookcases that seem to hold every tome ever
written.
In the far corner of the room sits a large hardwood desk. It's not majestic, but it serves
its purpose. The top is piled neatly with correspondence and papers that are in need of
signing or reading. A single candle in a candle-holder reflects light onto the
bespectacled face of the cleric sitting behind the desk, intently reading a missive that
seems to be quite important to her. Behind her stands a woman who strikingly resembles the
cleric, except for her mode of dress, reading the missive over her shoulder...that is
until she catches him walking in the door.
She quickly steps back away from the cleric into the shadows behind the desk, and reaches
for the crossbow at her back, pulling it forward and leveling it in his direction.
Startled momentarily, the cleric looks toward the door, and then places a hand on the
other woman's weapon, gently moving it's aim to the floor.
"Tis alright, my most anxious, kin...tis only the one that wishes to hear our
story.", the cleric says softly. "Come sir, sit with us, and pray tell us what
ye would ask us." she smiles softly, with a barely perceived sense of amusement.
"Of course, you obviously know my name is Eeryn, the bundle of danger behind me is,
Maarena."
Eeryn stands and offers you a chair that sits in front of the desk. She is not the most
striking woman you have ever seen, but neither is she homely. She stands tall for a human
female, fair skin, black hair, and eyes the color of cut jade. She is dressed entirely in
black, a short swordsman's cloak sits on the back of her chair, and she is wearing nothing
more then her clerical vestments. Prayer beads at her waist, and the crest of her guild on
her hand, and the symbols of the God Phelim at her neck. Behind her against the wall sits
a weapons harness the hilt of a blade protruding from it, and a coat stand which holds a
suit of chain mail, and her protective gear. It doesn't appear that she owns much more
then this.
He sits, and look behind her at the woman who watches him warily. Her chin sits at a
defiant angle, almost daring him to do something which may cost him his life. The
similarity of the women ends with the physical features. This second individual resonates
danger, and seems to be nothing like the cleric. Unlike her look-alike, she dresses richly
and exudes extravagance.
Noticing the direction of the mans gaze, Eeryn looks fleetingly over her shoulder and then
smiles, saying, "The woman behind me who so rudely pointed her weapon at you, is my
sister. You'll have to forgive her suspicious nature, she prefers the anonymity of the
shadows and tends to be a little leery of anyone not of her...world." At the last
sentence, the woman shoots the cleric a glare and then shifts her attention back to him.
The cleric sits and carefully folds the paper she had been reading and slips it into a
drawer. She folds her fingers in front of her on the desk and observes the man
thoughtfully for a moment before speaking again. Pulling his staring gaze away from her
sister, and back to her instead, she says, "So, your letter says that you are sent
here on behalf of a woman who claims to be our half kin...that we share a mother, I
believe you said?"
"Aye, m'lady", he says, "I have been contracted by this woman to find you,
and possibly exclude you or not, as being the last of two daughters, her half sisters if
you will, that her mother had after her disappearance from this woman's village almost 3
decades ago."
The cleric watches the man for a moment, searching his face for any sign of lies. From the
shadows Maarena says, "And how do we know this to be true...how do we know that you
aren't here under a different pretense?". Maarena steps forward from the shadows and
again is staring at you with mix of suspicion, and now curiosity.
Reaching into his cloak, the man withdraws a small bundle. He sets it on the table and
slowly slides it to the cleric, while still watching the thief behind her.
Eeryn retrieves the bundle and opens it, sliding a locket into her palm. It's not very
big, but it's beautiful. The gold looks to have been formed of dwarven hands, oval in
shape, and engraved with ivy vines circling the outer edge. She slides one finger along
the edge, releasing the catch at it's side. The locket springs open, and she gasps
momentarily. She looks up at you, and without losing your gaze, she hands the locket to
Maarena, who registers momentary surprise, and then resumes her look of perpetual
irritation.
"Where did you get this?" Eeryn asks.
"The woman who seeks her family gave it to me as proof of who she is." the
man says.
"I see. Is this woman in the locket her mother?"
"Aye, she is." He says. "Can you tell me about where you came
from?"
Eeryn looks at you momentarily, and says,"The picture in the locket speaks
volumes...I probably don't even need to, I imagine you ask out of curiosity?"
The man smiles slowly, and merely nods affirmatively.
Smiling at the man, Eeryn says, "Very well...".
"I don't remember anything about our mother except that I was told that she abandoned
me...us. I was found as an infant on the Temple steps in a basket. Barely hours old, in
the dead of winter, with nothing but a thin blanket. That woman was lucky that a priest
was inside doing rituals and found me. Actually...I think I was the luckier for it. He
took me in, and gave me to one of the sisters, telling her he had no idea what to do with
me." Eeryn smiles at this, and goes on," I was raised by a Priestess and her
ailing sister. They taught me what I needed to know, and unwittingly through stories of
the World Dragon, and Nissa groomed me for the life of a cleric."
A small harumph comes from behind her where Maarena is leaning against the wall, staring
out a window that you missed observing earlier, Watching as rain that wasn't present at
your arrival, streams down the glass.
With a sigh of impatience, Eeryn says, "The woman who raised me and her sister died
not long after I completed my training. But they were there for me when I did, they were
the ones that encouraged me, and showed me where my life was supposed to be, not my
mother. She left us for the Gods know where. I didn't even know that I had Maarena until
recently. We have roughly come to the conclusion that we're twins. We celebrate our
birthdays on the same day...we look alike..and sometimes we act alike. Though more often
then not, we're two totally separate people, from two different worlds. I can't help but
ask if we were kept together would we have been closer then we are now?"
Sighing, and leaning back in her chair she says softly, "Maarena was found in a
sewer...why she was put there, and I was left on the Temple steps I'll never understand,
but I'll never forgive her for doing that to her. I didn't know of Maarena's existence
until another cleric that I know, about fainted at the site of her dead body
once...thinking she was me, and that I had dressed oddly that day." She chuckles
wryly at the memory and continues, "He was lucky enough to bring her
back...thankfully. I learned that my sister had been raised by thieves...if you can call
it raised, having to fight and scramble for every bite of food, and every possession you
own."
With that Maarena looks away from the window in your direction. "My sister likes to
think I was a martyred child. In actuality, I had a wonderful man who helped me while I
was growing up. He kept me fed, and clothed, and I pilfered and took the rap for him. Down
there, that is a typical and accepted way of life. I knew no other, I suffered little from
it. I wasn't beaten, and I wasn't mistreated...often. The only serious injury I received
was from my benefactor for fighting in his haven. I knew better, and that's really all you
need to know. Now...what we'd like to know is, who are you and what does this woman want
from us?" Maarena concluded, staring at this man who had so rudely interrupted her
life.
Looking at Maarena with a combination of disgust and annoyance, the man turns his
attention back to Eeryn, "My name is Antony Au Trigyeh, I am a contractor. People pay
me to find things, and people. The woman of whom we speak is looking for her mother. The
last trail we found ends with you. To put a long story short, your mother was once married
to an elven diplomat. She of course, was human. This did not sit well with the council
that her husband sat on at the time, but they did nothing out of respect for her. In the
years that they were married, she had your half sister. 8 years after her birth, her
father the diplomat was assassinated while on a mission of peace to the Province of
Illithi. Without further ado, and before the man's body was even cold and buried, her
daughter was wrested from her arms and she was exiled from the elven village. From there
we have found that she made her way north here to the Crossing. The only information we
had here was that she met and married another man. Only it seems that luck still was not
with her...while expecting another child, her husband was lost at sea to pirates. We have
been told that she felt she had no choice but to leave her child...children, with someone
who could better care for them."
Eeryn breaks her gaze from Antony, and shifts her gaze to her hands…not knowing what
to do with the information she had been given.
To Be Continued....
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