Source of the Mournlands Epilogue (Naomi)

From Toosigma

Title	Source of the Mournlands - Epilogue
Author	Philip Mann - Naomi
Campaign	Convergent Threads
Session	Intersession
Posted
Game Date

We were back just two days when I received an invitation to a gala to be held at Morgrave University. Our sponsor into the Mournland donated the statue we retrieved to their collection and he was kind enough to inform the school that we played a part in the acquisition. I imagined it to be a very formal event not unlike the Tain Gala that I attended, and I knew just whose arm I wanted to be on; my only hope was that she would be available for the evening.

When Kayli saw the messenger leave, she came to me and asked, “So, must you go again so soon, Naomi?”

I could feel the sadness in her voice, but I smiled warmly. “This adventure, Love, is for both of us,” I told her as I handed her the letter. “That is, assuming, you do not already have a date.” She squealed with delight seeing the invitation and gave me a huge hug. I wanted to kiss her, and in her eyes I could see she wanted it as well, but I held firm to my commitment to her not to reveal our relationship before she is ready to tell her parents.

The next morning I took her to see Himmel to get fitted for a gown for the gala. He measured Kayli and then they began looking at colors and patterns while I watched and listened. I enjoyed listening to her opinions and Himmel's ideas for her. Watching her model as the master tailor worked his art was absolutely amazing, as if the whole affair was being put on for my benefit. When he had his plan together for her outfit he told her that we should come back the day of the event for the finishing touches.

When I took her hand and turned for the door Kayli asked, “Aren't you going to get fitted today?”

“She has no need to, madam,” Himmel told her. “I have measured her so many times that my dreams swim with ideas of how to dress her.”

“What if she...if her measurements change?” Kayli quizzed.

Himmel, with a knowing smile, told Kayli, “Oh, my dear, she is perfection. I am the master and I would notice the smallest blemish on my perfect canvas.”

“Well then,” she commented looking at me, “I guess you have your work cut out for you then.”

“I do, madam, I do,” the tailor commented. “Two radiant women wearing my creations to such an event will be a sight to see. My business always booms when Miss Naomi spends an evening in a dress I have made her.” He smiled at me.

“We shall return in a few days then, Himmel.” I told him as I backed toward the door with Kayli.

“A pleasure as always, Miss Naomi,” he said to me and then to her, “and Miss Kayli. I shall see you both then.”

We stopped on the way home at a hawker who sold different things throughout the year. Her name was Malilla, a tall woman not long past the prime of her life whom I believe came from Cyre with a band of refugees. She is rather quiet, almost mousy, and never says much. I always greet her when I see her and try to buy something when I pass her cart. During the cold months Malilla always had warm treats, and Kayli and I stopped many times to sample the roasted chestnuts and hot cider. Now Rhaan, she offered something frozen and sweet to let passers-by forget about the heat. I purchased some of her wares for my love and I, looking at Malilla who would always look away from my eyes. I thought it just the quiet woman's bashfulness before, but this morning some of the words I heard while in the Mournland struck me. I could not help but feel I had some part in dislodging her from her land, along with Arabel and Mathis, and everyone else who came from Cyre.

We walked away and Kayli noticed the shift in my mood. She did not speak right away, but when I, lost in my thoughts did not say anything for several long minutes, Kayli knew that I had something on my mind.

“Okay, you,” she said. “What has your tongue just now?”

“It's just,” I began but found the words difficult to capture. “I believe that I am nearing something, Love.” I told her.

Puzzled, she prodded, “Nearing what?”

I looked up at the sky and took a deep breath before I looked at Kayli. “When I was last away...”

“Yes?”

“When I was last away, we went into the Mournland.”

“The Mournland?” she asked. “Isn't that a creepy place?”

“Yes, Love, I suppose it is,” I began. “But we spent most of the last few weeks there to find the statue.”

“I'm glad you are home now though. Maybe your next adventure will take you to somewhere that you can find out more of yourself rather than that creepy place.” She commented.

I just looked at her, unsure of how to continue.

With a shocked look she asked, “Your past is not connected with that place, is it?”

“I found some things there, yes,” I began, “but I am not sure what it means. Not exactly.”

“What does that mean, Naomi?” she queried.

“It means,” I said, trying to shift the focus of my mood to something more pleasant, “that I'll have to sort some things out before I dump it all on you, Love.”

“You promised to tell me everything,” she reminded me.

“I did, Love, and I will if you want though I have only my guesses about what it means.”

Kayli stepped in front of me, placing her hands on my arms and fixing her beautiful emerald eyes on mine before she spoke. “Tell me everything.”

I recounted the adventure for her right where we stood. I had sent her messages along the way through our link, which gave her an easy reference for the passage of time to my story. When I got to the part about Serafina, Kayli reacted as I did, saying that this manipulative minx could not be me. I told her that I thought so as well until I met the Lord of Blades face to face. I recalled every word I said, and every reaction the monstrously powerful man gave me through his otherwise controlled demeanor. I explained that he had to be Aaren as it was the d'Cannith exile who embodied the dream that the Lord of Blades sought to fulfill. It was also Aaren who Serafina hurt, and who recognized me as that woman I no longer am.

Kayli was stunned that I had been face to face with the Lord of Blades and lived even though she could feel the emotions and the complete lack of fear that I had as the moment replayed in my mind. She had heard the tales in the Eyrie of this super warforged commander who ruled the Mournland with his armies. I assured her that I was unharmed, though that may not be the case should we meet again as I angered him such that he crushed a chair on his way out.

“In retrospect,” I said offhandedly, “I am surprised that he did not take his anger out on me right then and there.”

“Naomi!” she shrieked, drawing the attention of all within hearing and causing Kal'ryu to duck behind me. “Don't say that!” Her face was flushed, and her grip on my arms would have been painful were I of flesh. My comment, made so casually, enraged her in its seemingly thoughtless disregard for her feelings. Her glare and intensity were too much so I looked away from her gaze, something I have never done before.

“I am sorry Love, I truly am...” I began, my voice seeming only a whisper, but she cut off my words with her furious tone.

“Do you not understand what you are telling me?” she begged. “'Oh, we had a lovely little trip, Kayli', you tell me, but then it's '...and then I almost got taken from you because I just had to provoke this monster!'”

“I don't...” I tried to get in, but only seemed to stoke the fire behind her words.

“No! You don't understand! You who are so brave; you who are such a hero; you who can stand before certain death with a smile and a calm remark about the weather! Of course you don't understand! You can't imagine what it is like to be afraid and to feel so out of control!” Her voice began to weaken and her breathing was becoming ragged as she began to hyperventilate. “You don't understand how I stay my fear of losing you to some beast by keeping busy all of the time. Nor do you seem to know how I have to fight off panic if my messages to you go unanswered for days on end...”

All I could do was try to look into her eyes, into the storm as her anger questioned my heart. Even as her voice trailed to a whisper and words came between gasps, I simply waited for her to stop; and then she fainted.

I caught her in my arms and gently lifted her. A bystander asked if everything was okay and if I needed some help. I thanked him for his concern and offer for help, but that she would be fine and that I could manage to get her home on my own. When he realized that I had picked her into my arms with such apparent ease, he tipped his hat and bid me good day.

My journey home was met with various looks and quiet comments from many quarters. Some thought Kayli had been attacking me, or that we were fighting over a man. Still, others mused that she had been fighting with her husband and were shocked to see the small elf girl carrying her home as her husband must have left me on the sidewalk. I pressed on, walking into the Eyrie with my love and finding papa with my eyes.

“We heard,” was all he said as I took her down to our room.

I laid her on our bed, carefully undressing her and putting her beneath the covers. I made sure she was okay and then I went to the kitchen to get some of her favorite tea to have it ready when she awoke even if hours passed...

Kayli's sleep had been tormented early on, as if the argument continued to play through her dreams. In the last couple of hours, however, I saw the angel I loved so dearly sleeping peacefully. Kal'ryu had been in and out several times during the first hour or so to see if there had been a change or if anything interesting might happen. Eventually, however, he remained out of the room, presumably discovering interesting things about the inn and its visitors.

It was dark before she stirred and it took a moment for her to realize she was in our softly lit room and in bed. I had been standing next to her, watching her, for hours without a sound save the whisper of Light and to keep the pot of tea hot, all the while unsure if she wanted me to be the first person she saw when she awoke. Once her vision cleared of sleep, she answered my unspoken question by throwing her arms around me.

“I'm sorry Naomi, I am so sorry that I yelled at you,” her words flowing with tears of regret. “I didn't mean to...to...” she sobbed.

I remained silent as I held her tight to me while she clung to me and cried. She did mean what she said, and she had every right to feel that way after my comments, but she did not mean to say it that way. My Love just let her emotional side have control of her for a moment. I could not fault her for it, nor for anything else, because it was my carelessness of how to explain what happened that caused her grief to surface.

“...Please forgive me...” came through her tears as they soaked my tunic.

“Kayli, Love,” I began as I stroked her hair. “Your heart has spoken in a way that I had to listen; you have done nothing wrong. In fact,” I lifted her chin to look at me, “it is I who should apologize to you for allowing my own detachment to affect you so.”

“But...”

“No 'but', Love. I am sorry for every moment I must spend away from you. I am sorry for the dangers that hide my past, and the disregard I have expressed for them. Kayli, Love...” She ceased my words with a kiss that told me she forgave me too...

The intervening days before the Morgrave Gala were as before, with renewed enthusiasm for the event. Kayli asked that I continue to recount my adventures to her, but to not tell her such things offhandedly. She, in turn, promised to always remember that my first priority is to come home safe to her...