o1 ⚢ video//action

[choseherownway]

[There is one very scowly looking blond looking at her surroundings, visible both on the network and in person outside the apartments. She mutters under her breath:] You piss off one mage...

[Clearing her throat, she tries and fails to force the scowl off her face] My name's Lena. I need to be - not here. Look, I'm grateful for the rescue, but it's a little too late. I made a deal, and I have six months - I have six months. None of which I can afford to waste here.

You people need to stop making other people fight your battles for you and learn to stand on your own two feet. It's not my job to hold your hand into a better future.

Comments

[choseherownway]

[A sigh] There's no point in speculating without more information, I guess. [hrmm] What are the chances of other people from your own world getting dragged in here as well?

[healplz]

Decent, it seems. There is only one other from my world, and some have none, but small groups of people that all know one another do appear to be common.

[choseherownway]

[Something in her expression tightens] I see.

You've been helpful. Thank you. [Unlike the other times she's said it thus far, she actually seems sincere] What's your name?

[healplz]

The trade of information is the very least we can do for one another.

Ashraf Salib, a priest. And may I ask yours?

[choseherownway]

Lena.

[There's a pause here, like she's not quite sure she heard right] A...priest? As in, of a god?

[healplz]

A priest of God. [ Just geeeenttle emphasis there on that lack of an article. ] And a healer, of course.

It's a pleasure to meet you, Lena.

[choseherownway]

[The distinction goes right over her head] I've...never met someone who believed in a god before. [Quite a bit of the surliness has gone out of her tone, replace by curiosity that she won't actually voice. After all, if she doesn't want people poking about in her life, she shouldn't poke in theirs.

That gets a snort out of her] If you say so. [She's aware that she can be difficult to deal with]

[healplz]

I do. [ with a SMILE BECAUSE HEY MAN HE MEANS IT ]

Haven't you? I'm sorry to hear it. Faith is common in my world, whether it be in God or the old legends.

[choseherownway]

[She opens her mouth and then shuts it, because she doesn't know what to say to that. She addresses his other comment instead]

People have faith, just not in gods. At least, not in Orandin. There's an Empire to the west where people worship, but no one's...really quite sure what to think of them. In my kingdom and most others, it's magic. [She falters for a moment, because magic has shaped her entire life, and she's not quite sure what to think of places where that couldn't happen] It's not the same for you?

[healplz]

[ weird, they have magic but not God?? WELL THIS IS ONE BEWILDERED PRIEST ]

My world has magic. In abundance, in some cases— you might even say the Mage's Guild worships it, although some of my order would consider that sacrilegious.

[choseherownway]

[She thinks about that for a moment] When you live in my world - or my kingdom at least - it's almost impossible not to believe that it's magic that rules everything. [Her lips quirk a little] Everyone knows someone who knows someone that was turned into a donkey, or so the saying goes. The magic feeds off the people in the kingdom and shapes it based on those who live there. The older the kingdom, the more - stuck in its ways. [Wow she totally sounds like a simple blacksmith's apprentice here, right??]

[healplz]

Then... [ the only part that really sinks in CLEARLY THE MOST IMPORTANT PART: ] You have no God at all? Or gods, even? Forgive me, it only seems unusual.

[choseherownway]

Believe me, the amount of people I've been running into here who seem to have them is just as strange to me. I mean, I understand the concept. I guess. But I never actually thought of them as real. Most people in Orandin just think the Riagan gods are a manifestation of the magic in the Empire. It's different for every kingdom. [A beat] Or so I've heard.

[healplz]

Well, you'll certainly find no shortage of magic here. Or of gods, perhaps. There are at least two here who would have been considered gods by some in my world. [ but not him. YEAH MONOTHEISM. ]

[choseherownway]

Great. [She doesn't sound super enthused] Is there anyone from a place that has neither?

[healplz]

I'm sure there are many, yes. We're from a great variety of worlds, after all.