OOS 12

Numrenth 27, returning to the inn in Dunkelschwein after defeating the beast in Yumia’s temple. It occurred between sessions 14 and 15.
== Transcript ==
 Kiono:
On the way to town, Kiono hesitantly approaches Veggrek. "Squire Veggrek, I, uh. I didn't realize your Lady Dyana wouldn't be there. I... I probably should have realized, but... I'm sorry."
Veggrek: 
Veggrek looks up at her. “I— should you have? I didn’t realize either.”
Kiono:
"Perhaps. The medallion matched the map in the temple. I suppose it might have been obvious if I had thought to consider the source of the... sign." Kiono frowns. "You were angry with me, so I wanted to apologize for the mistakes I know I made."
Veggrek: 
“I was angry with you for killing that creature.” Veggrek sighs. “Do you know things about that weapon that you haven’t told me yet?”
Kiono:
"I know nothing about it."
Veggrek: 
“Then...” Veggrek furrows his brow at the road. “I’m not sure you could have done anything else. Certainly couldn’t have given them the halberd. But...” He shakes his head. “I don’t feel good about any of this. But I’m not angry with you. We’ve just gotten swept up in something beyond our control, I think.” 
Kiono:
"So it would seem..." 
Welp, her apology has been made and maybe received? But here we are.
Ondo:
Ondo gives Veggrek a squeeze on the shoulder, but doesn't know what to say about all that's happened.
After a bit, he speaks up quietly. "We'll find her."
Veggrek: 
Veggrek produces a small, muffled sound and balls his hand in Akaros’ fabric.
Ondo:
"Would you like...? Hm..." Ondo gives a long pause. "I know you didn't care for the one I made of you, but would you.... like a figurine? Of her? You would have to describe her, but I think I caught a pretty good glimpse in the portal and..." 
"Only if it would be something you care for, of course."
Veggrek: 
Veggrek makes that noise again. It is somewhat obviously a stifled sob. When he speaks, it’s almost a whisper. “That— I-I think I would like that, yes.”
Tallo:
tallo sighs and bends down to give veggrek an awkward hug
Ondo:
"Then I would be glad to make it for you."
Veggrek: 
“I would appreciate that very much.” Veggrek stands on his toes to hug Tallo, nestling his head on her shoulder. “I’m sorry I kept trying to nick your things.”
Tallo:
with resignation "don't do it again."
Veggrek: 
“Absolutely not.” Veggrek says firmly. “It was a moment of weakness and I have no plans to give in to those foul urges again.”
Tallo:
"i'll help you find your lady dyana, too, if...."
Veggrek: 
“If?”
Tallo:
quietly, looking away "would you help me too?"
Veggrek: 
“What with?”
Tallo:
"..........."
"there's.......i want to make my parents proud of me."
"and um...also someone else who'd i'd like to find...."
mumbling it out very reluctantly
Veggrek: 
“Would you like to tell me in the inn? Or perhaps cast Message?”
Tallo:
"....i need to go to auguste."
Veggrek: 
“Oh. I don’t have a problem with that, I don’t think. Wasn’t it on the way to Oceanside...?”
Kiono:
"We don't necessarily have need of going to Auguste if we can teleport directly to Oceanside."
"But Tallo has need of going to Auguste, and we have said we would go there."
Tallo:
tallo clams up. she didnt realize kiono was listening in. no like
Veggrek: 
“We did.” Veggrek gazes at the sky. “She seemed... worried, but she’s still alive. Maybe it would be good for me to slow down? I’m not sure. It’s more important that we said we would.”
Ondo:
"Judging by what you've told us of your Lady, I think she would want you to take the time to lend aid to your allies first. Forgive me if that is presumptuous."
Veggrek: 
“No, I think that’s right. It’s just... she’s the one that should be handling all of this, not me. She could well and truly help.”
Ondo:
"Ah... well I think that you have done a good job, all things considered. None of us may be ideal for these tasks but we have succeeded thus far, nonetheless."
Tallo:
"someone once told me......to be patient. being rash and reckless can get yourself or your allies hurt. it's.....better to take things one thing at a time."
"um. if that's any help at all." 
Veggrek: 
“Thank you both.”
Tallo:
shrugs "whatever"
to veg "so will you?"
Veggrek: 
“Come to Auguste with you? Yes.”
Tallo:
"and....the other stuff."
"will you help with that too?"
Veggrek: 
“Which other stuff?”
Tallo:
remembers kiono is right there “....nevermind. let’s talk about it later.”
Akaros:
"Hey Kiono, are you coming with us to help Tallo in Auguste?" Akaros asks.
Tallo”
tallo curses akaros with the message cantrip in the most unladylike—er, ungentlemanlylike—fashion 
Ondo:
"I thought - I had already asked Kiono and the answer was yes. Has something changed?"
Kiono:
"No, nothing has changed that would affect my earlier answer."
Tallo:
message to ondo “when did you—“
Kiono:
"Unless Squire Veggrek has changed his mind about accompanying us...?" 
Akaros:
"She just absorbed a creepy wolf monster into her stick. Seemed worthwhile to touch base all around."
Kiono:
"Not a stick." Kiono seems a bit agitated by that remark.
Tallo:
more message cantrip cursing to akaros, followed by message: “and dont phrase it like i need her HELP—“ 
Veggrek: 
“I haven’t. I’m still coming with you.” Veggrek takes a deep breath. “This is the path the gods have seen fit to set me on. I’m blessed to have their guidance.”
Ondo:
message "Yesterday, after breakfast. I'm sorry it appears I may have forgot to bring it up."
Kiono:
"Belxari's guidance?"
Akaros:
Akaros blatantly not responding, humming "I have no mouth but I must smile"
Veggrek: 
“Sure.”
“I mean, more broadly the Council she’s evidently associated with.”
Kiono:
"She is the only one who has actually... offered any sort of guidance..."
Tallo:
message to ondo “...oh. okay. yeah you really should have mentioned that.”
Ondo:
message "After she confirmed, things got busy rather quickly, my mistake. It won't happen again." 
Tallo:
message to ondo “...no, i....probably should have checked in instead of just assu—sigh. yeah. can we talk once we get to the inn?”
Ondo:
message "Of course. Where would you like to speak?"
Veggrek: 
“Well, she was very... direct. More so than the Gods typically are.”
Tallo:
message “my bedr—no. well. um.” thinks a moment, maybe long enough to have to cast message again “yup. my bedroom.”
Kiono:
"It was nice, the directness. I like it more than the... vague indications and easily missed signs of subtle communication you had been describing."
Ondo:
"I thought it strange to meet a God. But then - it was stranger to remind myself it wasn't the first." 
quietly "I wonder what my people would have thought about that."
Tallo:
shrugs “she knew a lot of disappointing things about werewolves.”
Ondo:
"...Disappointing?"
Tallo:
“yes. the truth is so much sadder than fiction.”
she’s got a lot on her mind regarding belxari but this is all she’s sharing
Ondo:
"I do not know much about werewolves, truth or fiction. It will be a task to ensure the safety of this town."
Veggrek: 
“Wait, when did you meet a God?”
Ondo:
"Akaros. That is if he counts. I don't think he's immortal, but he is part of a pantheon."
Veggrek: 
“Oh. Right. But I mean— that’s different, isn’t it? He’s a dragon god.”
Ondo:
"Ah yes, of course. I wouldn't expect anyone here to regard him as their god, the same way I don't really pay much attention to the Council. The elves had their own pantheon." 
"And even then I suppose it was beyond the role of a warforged to even pa- I'm getting off topic."
If Ondo could blink owlishly he would.
Veggrek: 
“...I suppose it is something like that. It’s just not what I was expecting, is all.”
Ondo:
"I did not have any expectations to ever meet one at all, before a month ago. The world is strange."
"Although now that you mention it, I agree. Belxari was... unusual."
Ondo becomes lost in thought.
The group concluded their walk to the inn. Everyone obtained rooms and separated for the night. Mostly. 
Ondo:
Ondo waits for Tallo to get a room, and follows her into the bedroom.
Tallo: 
“....so”
Ondo: 
"There was something you wished to speak about?"
Tallo: 
“okay ive been trying to be open-minded about more stuff, but sometimes i just slip into habits, okay?“
“and no matter how much i try to be okay with what you’re trying to do, i cant stand it!”
comes out quickly and with a lot of emotion, like she’s been dying to say it 
“....MAN that feels good to get off my chest.”
Ondo:
"What I'm trying to... do?"
"Have I done something wrong?" His voice sounds concerned.
Tallo: 
“yes!! well no. urgh. well, you made me mad.”
“you want to go back to the way you were. you think your feelings are such a teeeerrible thing.”
Ondo:
"Oh - right."
Tallo: 
“i think that’s—well i wont say the word because it’s not proper.” 
“i dont like it.”
Ondo:
Ondo stares in confusion.
Tallo: 
“for you to say you dont want your emotions—you dont want to be a person anymore—i mean, how dare you really?!”
“you promise me all these things and then you’re just going to turn around and—“
“you said you consider veg and kiono your friend, right? you want to throw that away?”
“i think you’re just trying to run away from your problems like a quitter. i’d say that’s hardly fair.”
she’s in full vent-mode
“so you know what? i’m not okay with it. i’m not okay at all. you know how mad i got when we were at crow’s peak and you were trying to get yourself ‘fixed’? you know how hard it was not to say anything??” 
“you are the worst, ondo.”
her breathing has hastened in frustration, she pauses to slow her breathing
Ondo:
"I... I-I..." He seems startled, a little shaken, from what you can tell without a face to give expression.
It takes him a good long pause to compose his thoughts. "I was capable of having... friendship, even as I was before the calamity. Perhaps Kiono and Veggrek would still want to be my friends even if I were repaired."
"If you are worried that I will not want to travel with you anymore, I -" 
"You could order me to stay, when that time comes." 
Tallo: 
“i dont want to have to order you to do anything!!!” that made her even more mad
“i want you to stay right her with me, because you want to be here. because your feelings make you want to be here!”
“i used to think warforged were just tools, ondo. i was wrong. you’re the one who taught me that! don’t you dare just—“
trying to calm down a bit
“i dont want the old ondo. i want you as you are right now.”
“the one who cheers me up when i’m down. the one who makes all of this....adventuring chaos much easier to get through. the one who has my back when i fall. the one who goes along with my silly games.” 
Ondo:
"I could still do all of those things! I - I would just - I would be different but I could still do the things you want me to do, that is the point of being a warforged."
Tallo: 
“NO.”
takes some deep breaths to keep herself from tearing up
“you don’t get it. of course you don’t get it. what else could i think was going to happen, really.” 
Ondo:
"Help me understand. What is it that you want from me Tallo?"
"By your admission we're not friends, but you don't want to be my master. What then is it that you want?"
Tallo: 
“i want you to stay the way you are.”
“i want to keep traveling with you the way you are.”
it’s probably at this moment that the ‘friends’ thing sinks in
and tallo gets REALLY red
and her eyes get super wide
and she covers her mouth and starts to back away a bit
Ondo:
Ondo becomes quieter. "Well then we are faced with a sorry contradiction. Because if I am to be a person, then what I want becomes... unobtainable."
Tallo: 
“.......”
Ondo:
He looks away. "I'm sorry."
Tallo: 
a lot quieter than before “...anyone who wont accept you as you are now isnt worth your time.”
Ondo:
"...You're referring to the new elves."
Tallo: 
“i dont want you to go to them.”
“especially if it means you wont be you anymore”
“i, um.....” her cheeks are still super flushed
Ondo:
"They are my people. They are the reason I am, the purpose I was built for."
"I failed them during the Calamity. Now I am the last."
Tallo: 
“that doesnt mean you have to give up everything for them!”
“....”
“...do you really hate your feelings that much?” 
tears welling up
Ondo:
"Yes!" If he was sitting down, he stands up. "I hate that I am capable of wanting things that are contradictory to the needs of people around me! I hate the burning, terrible pain in my chest when I think about everything that has happened, of everything that is gone and can never come back." 
"It would be so much simpler if I could just be a warforged. I would not be able to, for example," he gestures to Tallo, "cause so much distress in others!" 
Tallo: 
“you hate being friends with kiono and veg. you hate goofing off with me. you hate traveling along with us.”
Ondo:
"No! Of course not."
Tallo: 
“you hate the feelings that come with those things.”
Ondo:
"No! No."
Tallo: 
“then why are you in such a hurry to get rid of them?” quietly, hurt
“sometimes people feel bad and it hurts, but that’s just....well that makes the good times feel even better.” 
“you’re lucky if you feel pain because that means....you really have something good that’s worth hurting over.”
wipes away a couple of tears
Ondo:
"You... you wouldn't - couldn't understand. You've never lived without it."
Tallo: 
“no i couldnt.”
Ondo:
"I wasn't... I wasn't so bad before. I... I wasn't devoid of all emotions, I was just... different. It wasn't so overwhelming. It was quiet."
Tallo: 
quietly “im glad you changed.”
Ondo:
"They faded so easily into the background, so I could attend to my duties. Follow instructions. Serve others." He hears her. "I-"
Tallo: 
“if you hadnt, i...wouldnt be here today. i mean, tallo wouldnt exist at all. i’d probably be dead a bunch of times over, really.”
Ondo:
"Yes I... I probably wouldn't have made it far if I hadn't been able to adjust."
Tallo: 
blushing intensifies “i—“
“i guess, um, i guess probably, i—“
mmble mmble
Ondo:
“?”
Tallo: 
averts her gaze, switches into her true form
Ondo:
“!”
Tallo: 
“...i probably consider you a friend. i guess.”
blushing cant intensify any further, it’s still going strong
Ondo:
Something in Ondo's form relaxes. Deflates?
"I... am glad. I do too."
Tallo: 
covers her face
Ondo:
"Are you alright?"
Tallo: 
“im fine.”
“not many people have seen my true form, i’m just shy about that”
Ondo:
"I had -" His voices lowers. "I had seen it once already. When we switched bodies."
Tallo: 
“yeah.”
“i dont....it makes me sad to hear you want to throw away our...um. your emotions.”
“you say you can still be friends if you go back to the way you were, but it’s not the same.” 
switches back into boy tallo, but with green hair and slightly taller 
Ondo:
"I..." Ondo is still. "I need time to think, about all of this."
Tallo: 
“yeah. that’s...fair.”
“sor—sigh—sorry for not being open-minded.”
“i cant help myself.”
Ondo: 
"You are trying though."
"I am having an equally hard time, deep down, understanding why somebody wouldn't want a warforged friend and servant guard, or why emotions are so important."
"But there we are."
Tallo: 
“a month ago i would have gladly taken you on as a servant guard......but here we are.”
Ondo:
It’s hard to read Ondo's mood by face but he seems more relaxed.
Tallo:
tallo has also calmed down, her frustration is released
Ondo:
"You should get some rest. We fought hard battles today."
Tallo:
“yeah. after i write some things, i will.”
“you’ll stay in here?”
Ondo:
"Of course."
Tallo:
“...thanks”
after a short pause “actually.” 
“maybe not in this bedroom specifically. with the full moon so close, we should probably sleep in the normal bedroom so we could easily be notified if anything happens....” 
Ondo:
"Yes - and admittedly the knowledge that this bedroom can be rolled up from the outside makes me rather uncomfortable."
Tallo:
“yeah, it is a bit....discomforting.”
“okay let’s go then.”
Ondo:
Ondo follows her out.
Tallo:
tallo goes to write—in her journal, letter to cecily, working on ID forging, whatever she has time to get to before she inevitably crashes, pen in hand 
Ondo:
Ondo watches Tallo sleep for a short while, before entering his rest looking at the door.
Category:OOS