Session 88a

## Gar & Kakeru

After taking his plate back to the serving board and giving it a quick wash in the mismatched but functional buckets provided, Gar grabbed two simple ales and looked around the room. Even filled with a Very random assortment of villagers, reptilian or not, his quarry was easy enough to find.

While they seemed to want to look unassuming and ignorable, the dark robes and pulled up hood didn't hide that... beak.

He eased his way through the people and random bits of dinning furniture and, quite deliberately acting 'orcish', thumped down next to the birdperson, and held out one of the drinks.

Kakeru tilted their head to the side and turned it to look at the Orc holding out the ale to them. "Thank you. You are Gar?" They take a careful sip of the ale and timidly says "I am still not used to the taste of ale".

Nodding. Gar sniffs and tentatively tastes the local brew, "I'm not actually sure this'll help... possibly ale... but ...could be anything..." With a frown he drinks more, "...Goldie'd be able to tell... probably drink ten of 'em, set something on fire, then a day later see fit to inform us that it's not a safe drink..."

"I've heard your companions mention Goldie. They all seem to miss them. I didn't realise that they had left your company so recently when I met you all. I was so relieved that I had finally met the people that I had been guided to, but now I worry that you will think I'm trying to replace them by insisting that I join you and your companions," Kakeru quickly sips more ale, almost embarrassed at the stream of words they let flow. They drop the hood they are wearing having learnt in their travels that those unused to Tengu often have a hard time reading their expressions because of the unfamiliarity of a beak instead of the mouth more common in humanoids.

"Mmm... yeah... I'm surprised actually," Gar sighs, "You'd think you'd feel safer, not traveling with someone whose main joy in life seemed to be explosions.

"Ehh... people come and go. Whether you want them to stay or not doesn't seem to matter much." His eyes seem distant for a moment, but then he rearranges himself, sitting a little straighter in an attempt to shake the sudden melancholy. He laughs bitterly, "You cant be held responsible for trying to replace someone who left because they found a bigger reason than destruction to live for."

He pauses for a moment, peering closer at the darkly feathered face.

"Huh... a beak's got to be even harder to blow smoke rings with."

Kakeru is silent for a moment. The conversation seems to have wandered a little. "A bigger reason for living other than destruction sounds like a good thing."

They pause and think for a moment. "I don't think I've ever tried blowing smoke rings. You know, I don't think I know exactly what you, or I guess we are doing from here. I just know that I am supposed to follow the visions." They pause again, dipping their head somewhat and, in a low whisper, as though sharing a secret with the mug of ale, add, "besides, I'm not sure if I can or should go back".

Gar splutters into his ale. A noise comes out of his throat and, after deliberating for a moment, decides that it's a laugh. "Welcome to my life," He coughs out. Wiping ale off the table with his shirt edge, he looks to Kakeru in consternation.

"Ehh..." he shrugs, "Vision are stupid, but stupidly accurate as well. Its annoying as shit."

For a minute, he looks like he's going to elaborate, but instead, glances down at the newly-formed damp patch on his shirt. He shrugs again, "Can only improve the stink."

He glances around, taking in the half-ruined main hall of the village. "Main Hall," he thinks, "More like a trash-heap with pretentions." The walls are cracked and gaps are dotted here and there, but none of the villagers seem to mind much... or if they do, they've accepted that there's not a whole lot any of them can do about it right now.

"Yeah... anyway...," he pauses again, "So... what do you want to do...?" and then, in a darker voice, "...and what cant you go back to and why? I want to know, before I let you join us."

Kakeru tries to hide in their hood, even though it's down. "I am the third child in my family and have some magical skill. As such, I was promised to the temple. I was expected to become Shugenja - a priest. I had begun my training at the Temple of Fire when I was shown my path lay elsewhere. So I followed the visions and find myself here. I intend to keep following the visions as, having left the temple, I cannot go back."

"..mmmm...," Gar settles back, visibly relaxing a bit, secretly pleased his attempts to act like a leader interviewing a new hire seemed to be working. "That's... fair. And if we're bein' fair, I'll share back. I ran away from my family because I thought I was cursed, and because I stole the family sword... and a marriage that would have been a big mistake."

He grins at her, all tusk and almost proud, "...So, I get the whole 'different path' thing."

The grin dies, but the tusks remain visible, "These visions, though... what's the deal there?".

"I guess it started with the tea set... There was something about it that, I guess called to me. I was looking forward to using it to prepare tea for my evening meditation. When I prepared the tea in it and drank the tea, I had my first vision."

"A magic tea set?" A few months ago, Gar might've thought that sounded pretty sketchy, but these days, hell, it's not even the weirdest thing he's seen this week. "I assume you checked the leaves hadn't been swapped out by a prankster...so..what did this vision show you?"

Kakeru looks shocked at the thought of anybody swapping the tea leaves. "The tea was not swapped. To do anything to interfere with a tea ceremony would be unspeakably wrong. The vision showed me wind and flame. It guided me beyond the forest and mountains with a demand to follow. It told me that I would find the path I belonged on, that there were people I would meet and things I needed to do. In the way of visions, it wasn't always clear, but there was a sense of inevitability or destiny about it."

Gar snorts, "Based on my experience, if something is unspeakably wrong, then it's practically a foregone conclusion that *someone's* going to do it."

He mutters a prayer/curse to Bellarus about visions and continues, "...but that doesn't sound like a prank..." he turns it over in his head for a bit, "So, weird tea dream it is, I guess. So...when you saw us..something in your head went 'That'd be the tea vision, then', and here we are." With a sigh, he looks at the empty mug. He smiles ruefully and, with the air of someone sharing a confidence, adds, "Its terrible ale, but getting drunk sometimes has an appeal when dealing with visions. Still, I don't think my new aunt would appreciate that."

He puts the mug down on a crate that has been repurposed as a table.

"What do you think the vision wants you to do? And also..."

Gar pauses dramatically for effect....

...

"...Are you prepared to fuck with the Gods themselves?"

"I don't know exactly what the visions want me to do. I know that they are guiding me. To be guided means I'm only shown enough to see my way through to the next step or decision; it doesn't allow me to see or know all."

Kakeru thoughtfully considers Gar's last question before carefully replying, "I do not know Gods as people in Terrinoth do. I guess you could say that we see nature and particularly the elements as divine forces. The elements cannot be fucked with. Gods however, are merely manifestations and can be."

Gar's tusks jut a bit, as he listens. Visions really are as annoying as prophesy it seems...

And Kakeru didn't even have the decency to be amazed or shocked at his dramatic share. He lets out a resigned snort, "Well, I suppose that level of indifference to The Gods, yet still enough faith to follow visions from magic tea sets means you probably *are* fated to join us."

Then, he looks at them quizzically. "Um..I'm curious. Whats this about not knowing Gods as people? And nature as a Divine Force? Dont you have Gods popping up and being all, 'Do this because I'm a God. Worship Me, I'm a God. Go kill that lot with death zombies because I'm a God!!'" At the end, he realizes he's almost shouting, and settles down again.

"Er... I might feel a bit angry with some Gods."

Kakeru pauses for a moment and tries to process what they've just heard.

"Gods sound very demanding and confusing. At least the elements make sense and can be seen and experienced. They also seem a little like the Emperor, but we see the Emperor as the embodiment of all the elements and he very much does command people to do things." Kakeru thinks for a moment, "It sounds like you have reason to be angry with the gods. As for visions, I never expected to have any but it feels more right to me than the path that had been chosen for me."

"So, the elements are in charge, but only through a God like Emperor? Is he Immortal? Maybe he is a God that took over and banished all the others? How do you Know?" He leans forward, bring his arm up to idly scratch the back of his neck as he muses on the nature of this different god set up.

"I gotta admit," he shrugs, "it seems weird to worship natural elements, when they can't do things for you.

"Me? I bargained directly with my chosen God, because I think they gain as much from us, as we from them. So I wasn't going to bow down just because he's a God. It could have gone very badly though. A different god might very well have smote me." He shifts uncomfortably for a bit, "In our pantheon, death and my god are seen as.... indifferent to the actions of people. They just look after their... things. So far as I've seen, that's the truth. They are... polite, in their way. The rest... so demanding and interfering or just plain expecting worship and people to do their bidding...

I wonder why yours are different?"

"The emperor is supposed to represent all the elements, but while he rules Shenzhou I've never really thought much about him. As for worshiping the elements, it seems natural to me. They control everything around us Fire is life and energy - it gives us heat, Water is fluidity and adaptability - it reminds us that even the greatest barriers can be overcome, Earth is stability - it's our home and protects and nourishes us and Wind is movement and spirit - it reminds us of our inner strength and that we can go anywhere. The elements literally shape the lands and our lives we need them all to survive."

"Huh," Gar frowns in thought, "Kelios is a fire god, ...but..I wonder..." He trails off, thinking.

"... What... what if... somehow... godhood... comes from..." he gesticulates vaguely around him, "the land?  No... that's not right..." His voice trails off again as he stares at the rush light hanging from the roof, lost in thought as though that was where the answer was.

For a moment, he's quiet, before he snaps back to attention and turns, suddenly, to stare at Kakeru. He pauses for a second, just to make sure the words are all in the right order and very pointedly, asks, "Do you have things such as Prophecy or Natural Elemental Miracles or Weird Appearances?"

"I'm not entirely sure what you mean or what would qualify as miracles and weird appearances. There are... what I guess would be called supernatural beings, but we mostly leave them alone and don't place the same importance on them as the people of Terrinoth do."

"Well...," Gar grunts at that in consternation, "that...complicates things." For a moment, he looks contemplative but then, almost as though his body wasn't under his command, he stands and marches over to the bar. After a quick conversation regarding the strongest booze they have, he returns with two. Placing one in front of Kakeru, he downs half of his...

"You have *No Idea* how much this complicates things," And then downs the other half.