[ He's quiet for a few seconds, considering. There's plenty of action and adventure stories to be had. A small handful of tragic ones — he'll be skipping those. But maybe something to lighten the mood is a little better.
The bar comes into sight, just as a good one occurs to him. He grins. ]
Alright, got it. So, to begin with, I should tell you that we healers usually stay back and let the warriors take on the many monsters of Rune-Midgard. But in the case of running into something undead, we're more effective than they are. A heal would do exactly what it sounds like to you, but to a ghoul, it rots their body. So, back when I was still an acolyte, I was taking advantage of that in the ruined city of Glast Heim. It's crawling with undead wraiths, druids, ghouls, things like that. If you're really careful—or stupid—you can take them on alone. Naturally, I decided I was ready for it.
[ He laughs. ]
I wasn't. I spent more time running than actually killing anything. But it meant I ran into a wayward knight, who had the idea that he could take on the creatures of Glast Heim too. I like to think my presence improved his chances a little, but neither of us were ready, really. I managed to keep both of us alive, but just barely. It's pretty safe to say our friendship began in a disaster.
[ His smile grows fond. ]
Mule Manning, his name was. And his peco— a bird that the knights raise and tame, to ride— I think he named her Jenny. He loved his peco more than any knight I'd ever met before or after. But when I say I think Jenny was smarter than Mule, that's not to say Jenny was any more clever than the usual peco.
Well, in any case, I kept in contact with my none-too-bright friend for a long time. We both got a little better at making it through the world without scraping past death quite so closely, and we helped each other out a lot. We were good friends. So good that he joked a few times that we should get married. I'd like to tell you I laughed it off, but knowing myself then, I probably just awkwardly changed the subject. But anyway, I even invited him to my ceremony— when I was finally ready to graduate from acolyte into priesthood, I mean. Now, Mule had somewhere along the line taken to calling me "Ash"— [ He says it with the short 'ah', as in Ashley. ] —Which was unusual, but I didn't mind. But when he saw me striding down the hall, proudly dressed in a priest's robes, instead of the androgynous outfit acolytes are given...
[ His story so far has taken them to a table in the back and gotten them drinks, and he pauses here to grin into his cup. ]
Poor Mule was heartbroken that I didn't graduate to priestess, like he'd expected.
no subject
[ He's quiet for a few seconds, considering. There's plenty of action and adventure stories to be had. A small handful of tragic ones — he'll be skipping those. But maybe something to lighten the mood is a little better.
The bar comes into sight, just as a good one occurs to him. He grins. ]
Alright, got it. So, to begin with, I should tell you that we healers usually stay back and let the warriors take on the many monsters of Rune-Midgard. But in the case of running into something undead, we're more effective than they are. A heal would do exactly what it sounds like to you, but to a ghoul, it rots their body. So, back when I was still an acolyte, I was taking advantage of that in the ruined city of Glast Heim. It's crawling with undead wraiths, druids, ghouls, things like that. If you're really careful—or stupid—you can take them on alone. Naturally, I decided I was ready for it.
[ He laughs. ]
I wasn't. I spent more time running than actually killing anything. But it meant I ran into a wayward knight, who had the idea that he could take on the creatures of Glast Heim too. I like to think my presence improved his chances a little, but neither of us were ready, really. I managed to keep both of us alive, but just barely. It's pretty safe to say our friendship began in a disaster.
[ His smile grows fond. ]
Mule Manning, his name was. And his peco— a bird that the knights raise and tame, to ride— I think he named her Jenny. He loved his peco more than any knight I'd ever met before or after. But when I say I think Jenny was smarter than Mule, that's not to say Jenny was any more clever than the usual peco.
Well, in any case, I kept in contact with my none-too-bright friend for a long time. We both got a little better at making it through the world without scraping past death quite so closely, and we helped each other out a lot. We were good friends. So good that he joked a few times that we should get married. I'd like to tell you I laughed it off, but knowing myself then, I probably just awkwardly changed the subject. But anyway, I even invited him to my ceremony— when I was finally ready to graduate from acolyte into priesthood, I mean. Now, Mule had somewhere along the line taken to calling me "Ash"— [ He says it with the short 'ah', as in Ashley. ] —Which was unusual, but I didn't mind. But when he saw me striding down the hall, proudly dressed in a priest's robes, instead of the androgynous outfit acolytes are given...
[ His story so far has taken them to a table in the back and gotten them drinks, and he pauses here to grin into his cup. ]
Poor Mule was heartbroken that I didn't graduate to priestess, like he'd expected.